LOGIN

Yesterday, was National Sibling Day and Josh Naylor (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 3rd homer) and Bo Naylor (2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 2nd homer) showed us what it means to be a brother. A brother’s bond is an unshakeable promise to always be there for each other. I can think of two sets of Gallagher brothers alone that show this:  Liam and Noel Gallagher, who found an Oasis in the desert of 90’s rock, and Leo and Ron Gallagher, who showed us there was room on a watermelon for more than one sledgehammer.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

In our 26th episode, Mike Couillard and Jeremy Brewer are joined by Keelin Billue for a preview of the AL Central in the first part of our 2024 preview series. For the next six weeks, we will analyze our favorite buys and identify sells on each team. We open with a discussion of the latest and greatest signings including […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?

installment of the 2024 Dynasty Rankings, with players No. 300 to 201 being unveiled.

When it comes to putting your dynasty team together, you want to build and then maintain a squad that can contend for years. The formula to do this, however, varies from person to person.

For me, when evaluating players for dynasty leagues, the formula for success is a dash of gut instinct mixed in with past experience and a whole lot of what the eye sees. You know a good player when you see him. But a good 34-year-old player is not the same as a good 24-year-old player. Thus, for my dynasty teams I try to follow these simple guidelines:

Youth over Age
You will need veteran players, but you don’t want a whole team of veteran players. If there is a “tie” between a young player and the player four or five years older, I’ll take the younger player.

Hitters over Pitchers
As a whole, young hitters perform better than young pitchers, and veteran hitters are more consistent than veteran pitchers. Basically, I trust my gut when it comes to hitters versus pitchers. Unless a starting pitcher is superior to a solid hitter in the round I am drafting, I will wait on the starting pitcher and go with the hitter.

Starting Pitchers over Relievers
This is pretty easy to understand why. As a group, relievers are so up-and-down it is maddening. Without fail, there will be five or six closers you can pick up in the middle of the season. DO NOT DRAFT A CLOSER EARLY. I will fill out 90 percent of my starting staff before I add my closers/relievers. In my rankings, you won’t see a reliever ranked in the top 150.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Nice to see a team (the Jays) that has to play well actually play well. Feels like a rare thing this final week. It’s been like teams have been taking must-win as a challenge and saying, “Prove it!” Or like a spiteful child saying, “I don’t want to must win, you must win!” Chris Bassitt (7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 3.60) went out and must-won’d his behind off, and, from what I know of Bassitts and their rear porches, there were some dramatically wide swings and they smelled some other dog’s butts. Maybe that analogy got away from me, but you can’t spell analogy without anal. Hey now! Just opened Chris Bassitt’s player stat page, and you’re never gonna believe this, but what he’s done for the last six years? He’s doing it again! Wild, right? Chris Bassitt has made a career out of being criminally underrated. Look at his stats: 8.4 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 3.60 ERA, and guess where he ranks for starters on the year on the Player Rater. That’s top 20 starter numbers. He will barely be a top 40 starter in drafts again in 2024. Underrated, always. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

I looked at Jake Alu. To repeat for emphasis, I looked at Jake Alu. Again, but with an exclamation mark, I looked at Jake Alu! That’s how random I was willing to go for a hot bat for this week’s Buy column. Loyalty and long-term outlooks mean nothing. I’d cut my grandmother if it meant a fantasy league win! Sorry, Nana. So, ended up on Willi Castro, because he’s been hot, that was first and foremost, but also: I haven’t talked about him nearly enough this year. The drawback to my style of roundupping (totally a word!) is if a guy doesn’t hit a lot of homers, he could fall by the wayside. I mentioned Willi Castro a total of seven times this year.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

What is up party people? He is risen. Jordan Walker has finally come to be. Loved him tons in the preseason (as did the whole Razzball crew) and these past two weeks have been heaven. Power was always one of his calling cards and oh boy has it been on full display. Beyond that light tower power is the ability to hit for a strong batting average. League average has fallen to .250 so he’s already way above that at the .274 he’s rocking this season. Just like his power numbers should spike I think that he can boost his batting average up into the .280 or .290 range. Heck he could even challenge .300 and if that happens… Oh boy, the sky is the limit for him.

Please, blog, may I have some more?