Top 20 2nd Basemen for 2020 Fantasy Baseball: On The Corona Timeline

1. Hard times spreading just
   like the flu. Watch out homeboy,
   don’t let it catch you.

   • Blimey Grimey you Poet you
     You should write full time
     if you do not already!

     Cheers,
     Ante

     • Ante!
       It’s not me.
       It’s Run DMC son.

   • Reminds me of Kingdom on Netflix…I’m now on 2nd season, what is this show you’ve got me watching?

     • https://twitter.com/TheRealOJ32/status/1245434661196550144

       • *phone rings* Hello?

         This is the pot?

         Whaddup, kettle!

         • His audacity and lack of self awareness is fascinating.

           • Yeah, imagine he didn’t actually kill his wife and Ron…I mean, of course he did, but what if he didn’t and this whole time everyone assumed he did

             • Of course, again, he did

     • You’re not digging the Korean zombies? Haha

       Watch Peep Show next!

       • I don’t like horror, but it’s honestly not bad…I’m watching it, so it can’t be that bad

         • I enjoyed season 1 more but still

           Since we both enjoy BBC shows Peep Show is fucking excellent.

           • Really? Okay, will watch when done with zombieland the Chinese TV show…BTW, The Scheme on HBO was great, one 2-hour movie about amateurism

   • are you any relation to Burliegh Grimes the hall of fame pitcher that was the last guy grandfathered in to throw the spitball

2. Grey!!!!

   Masterclass theater in the land of the Razzball.

   a. I keep landing the right guys to have on your posts. Don’t want to jinx myself but it’s kind of eerie. Didn’t sign up Sano, but like Walker, Dozier and now La Stella. Keep ’em coming, man!

   b. Plenty to do in the lockdown, plenty to do. My wife cleans a different part of our apartment every new day so by the end we’ll have a clean apartment. Sounds like a positive. Also, the weather has been fab so Simba is enjoying the lockdown too.

   c. MLB quote of the day for October 2, 1980

   ‘Ninety percent I’ll spend on good times, women and Irish Whiskey. The other ten percent I’ll probably waste.’

   Frank Edwin ‘Tug’ McGraw Jr., aka the guy who struck out Willie Wilson to win the 1980 WS for the Phillies, their first WS. RIP Tug McGraw.

   Cheers,
   Ante

   • Love that quote.
     Love these old quotes by the way.
     Thanks, Ante.

     • Packers!

       Thanks a lot. Enjoy your content just as much!

       Cheers,
       Ante

     • Me too.

   • great quote Tug McGraw was so fun to watch as the philllies made that playoff run the guy just channeled positive energy

     • Tug was a great one

   • Tug, “Ya Gotta Believe”

   • Haha thanks Ante. Where do you dig these quotes from?

     • Coolwhip!!

       Thanks, man! I just pick a date in MLB history like today October 2, 1980. Then I click on photos from that date and then I choose someone who the computer picks. Simple. Yesterday was a date in 1978. The computer picked Sixto Lezcano yesterday but he didn’t quote anything. Next to him on the photos was Dave Parker so I took Dave Parker. I also have to stay woke as Grey has made me promise so that’s about it. Then I type in google ‘Tug McGraw quotes’ and….Bob’s your uncle.

       Cheers,
       Ante

   • Ante!

     B. Make sure you give her extra appreciation

     C. Haha, RIP

     • Grey!!!

       I’m showing it trust me. Can’t divulge too much, you’ll have to trust me.

       Cheers,
       Ante

       • Ok, counting on you

         • Grey!!

           I bought dinnerware and I bought some jewelry for a pretty penny to be sure ’cause it’s our 20th wedding anniversary. For our 1st I spent about 100$, this was a bit more and by a bit I mean a lot.

           Cheers,
           Ante

           • You’re doing good work, now tell her something sweet for no reason

3. I’m seeing more articles about a 100 game schedule starting July 1st.

   Neutral warm weather site for the WS. Dodger stadium the favorite to host because they lost the ASG. Away games if they are in the WS to be held in Anaheim or San Diego.

   Two off days a month, a couple DH’s a month.

   At least they are talking about having a season. Feedback is it would be a waste of time to figure out an earlier date schedule.

   • Yeah, that’s what its looking like: July, 100 games.

     I saw this morning Toronto has banned public events through 6/30. No bueno for Canadian baseball. Bye, bye economy. Good luck recovering from a 3 1/2 month shutdown. The cure has become worse than the vrius there for sure.

     • Unless you die or have loved ones who die, asshat.

       • If the economy tanks too far and supply chains break people will die as well ……….famine and and civil unrest are unpleasant possibiltiies……..there has to be a balance and there will be

         • Well said-

       • Calling him names, because he has his own opinion. How open minded of you. News flash, not everyone is worried about dying. It will happen whether you like it or not.

         • Terrible Ted’s attitude is running rampant. The sheeple begging to be put on lockdown for months. Just brainless fear mongering without have any clue.

           • Fear mongering LOL! You mean like “We need to build a wall”?? Your orange leader knows all about fear mongering

             • Lol I don’t even vote . You have no say.

       • Many more will die in a Great Depression as it seems we’re heading because of this. Suicides doubled during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Most of them were men in mid-life who previously were providers. We’re far more likely to lose fellow commenters on Razzball in the next six months for that reason than the virus. If suicides double over the next couple years of economic downturn that would likely mean about a doubling from 35000 to70000 annually. If it lasts 3 years thats over 100,000. Thats not to mention all the increases in relapses, overdoses because people have no AA, NA meetings or cannot get into a treatment program which is nearly impossible right now.

         Here’s a study by the NIH if you can prefer educating yourself to name-calling:

         Impact of Business Cycles on US Suicide Rates, 1928–2007

         Feijun Luo, PhD, Curtis S. Florence, PhD, […], and Alexander E. Crosby, MD

         https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093269/

       • Agree 100% with Terrible Ted (minus the tone.) All of the comments that “the cure is worse than the virus” are ridiculous. The economy is resilient. Has ALWAYS bounced back. Americans love to spend. Though, can’t spend if you’re dead.

         Suicides from Depression wouldn’t come anywhere close to total deaths from virus if we come back too soon to business as usual. President is now warning of 100k to 200k+ total deaths…these number far exceed expected number of suicides from being unemployed for a period of time.

         • 80,000 american and 650,000 worldwide die from contageous respitory the flu annually. Look it up. Bet your ass flu deaths will be way down as every death blamed on corona.

           • People die from the regular flu…AND there is a vaccine for it. You’ll note there is not, as of yet, a vaccine for the corona. In other words, if we all just go back to business as usual, the numbers you listed will be far worse.

             This virus is far more contagious than the regular flu and the death rate is likely higher as well.

             • They’ve got you right where they want you.

               • Was thinking the same of you Dave. You guys are all drinking the Kool Aid

                 • Enjoy your vaccine when it arrives. Hopefully its more effective than the flu shot. Ill eat my steak and shoot my gun. Thanks.

     • Many more will die in a Great Depression as it seems we’re heading because of this. Suicides doubled during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Most of them were men in mid-life who previously were providers. We’re far more likely to lose fellow commenters on Razzball in the next six months for that reason than the virus. If suicides double over the next couple years of economic downturn that would likely mean about a doubling from 35000 to70000 annually. If it lasts 3 years thats over 100,000. Thats not to mention all the increases in relapses, overdoses because people have no AA, NA meetings or cannot get into a treatment program which is nearly impossible right now.

       Here’s a study by the NIH if you can prefer educating yourself to name-calling:

       Impact of Business Cycles on US Suicide Rates, 1928–2007

       Feijun Luo, PhD, Curtis S. Florence, PhD, […], and Alexander E. Crosby, MD

       https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093269/

   • As I’ve been saying, May is a long ways off for the entire country to be doing nothing…By June, people will be scaling up completely

     • By July, there will be baseball, in some form…Might have some neutral stadiums

       • Grey, why can’t we just play in Japan ? Everyone is working over there. Just all wearing masks. I like that idea.

         • Yeah, could be like that here in 6 weeks

           • Sure hope so.

       • Hell Yea!!

4. Hey Grey,

   Hope you are doing OK, Fantasy Master Lothario. Enjoying the pods with Ralph and also B underscore Dom and DT of course. Thanks for all the content during these difficult times.

   One quick silly Q if I may. Yahoo gave Civale NA status so I can pick someone up in my 12 team Yahoo roto league. Any guys you have been eyeing lately? I already have a bench bat or two so probably a starting pitcher would be good for a flier. Think of guys like Quintana, Hamels, Wood, Eovaldi, Cease and under…. Thanks!

   I’d imagine your plans for Japan are on hold. If you want to consider Taiwan instead, we’ve done a good job (so far) against the virus and we’re the birthplace of boba. I’ll take you on a boba tour and actually buy Grey a boba! (When the world gets back to normal of course.)

   Hope all my Razzball folks are well and staying safe and at home. Take ‘er easy!

   Jake

   • Hey Jake,

     I’d take a shot on Cease of that group, go for the upside

     • Thanks DT!

       Yeah was thinking upside too… Cease over Canning for you?

       Hope you are well, sir! Looking forward to the next Goin’ Deep with B_Don (not Dom lol)!

   • Agree with the beast of burden, I also like Wood. Assuming he keeps the gains that showed in spring training his velocity was back up to when he wore the blue the first time. Cease also looked good before the hiatus.

     • Thanks Coolwhip!

       Yeah, Wood is on my watch list. I think I owned him during his last stint as a Dodger and it’s a quality start league and there were quite a few 5 IP outings (which seems like more of a thing in LA than elsewhere).

       Hope you are hanging in there!

   • Thanks, Jake! Hope you’re doing well where you are too…Yeah, Japan is off for now for us…Taiwan is supposedly doing one of the best…How’s it on the ground over there? People back to work? Everything fairly normal?

     Sure, try Cease

     • Thanks, Grey!

       Good. I don’t think anyone should be going anywhere if they can help it. Nice thing is, Japan will still be there and will be great when all this settles down.

       Yeah, we are doing OK here thanks (except with the ever-present dread that this thing could still blow up). I’m wearing masks more than usual (they are common here for numerous reasons so it’s not a big deal to wear one, even for us foreigners ha!) and washing my hands (and thinking about washing my hands) way more than usual.

       There are between 10-20 new cases announced per day but all (or close to all) are traceable and most are coming from overseas. Kids were delayed for two weeks going back to school, so they started in late Feb. Been back for a month now and there are temp checks and masks on at all times. Work has been OK but some industries are down like they are everywhere.

       Social distancing guidelines have just been put in place but they are not yet rules or enforced… We’ll see if things get worse here and schools and work get shut down. Hopefully not, but we’re all preparing. Govt here is on top of things which is good, but this virus is nasty.

       On a macro level back home things seem crazy but it sounds like everyone is staying home and protecting themselves as much as possible and that is the best way to beat this. Thanks for asking and apologies for the lengthy reply. I’m sure sometime in the next couple months we can begin thinking less about the virus and more about baseball and our teams…

       Stay safe and healthy!

       Jake

       • Don’t apologize, I was curious…Thanks! My guess here is a lot of people were slow to react at first, and those are now sick, but now people are being better/more vigilant and now it’s a matter of time, bc we still have to go through the 14 days when people who didn’t realize they were sick were spreading it… You too, stay safe!

5. I don’t see how this doesn’t help younger guys with jobs like Dubon and MCmahon. Probably hurts mediocre vets most.

   • I’m leaning towards that as well. Guys that there is no book on yet could have a big year as there’s less time for league react to them. Those rookie campaigns that usually dwindle in the 2nd half might go the whole season in 100 games.

   • What about even younger guys like Hampson tho?

     Dubon I don’t think is in any serious trouble of not having a job

6. With people trying to curb their baseball fix with any type of information I felt the following names are synonymous correlations to relief pitcher and closers in particular. Just a fun read.

   1. Nick Anderson – Tim Anderson
   2. Archie Bradley – Jackie Bradley Jr.
   3. Aroldis Chapman – Matt Chapman
   4. Wade Davis – JD Davis
   5. Edwin Diaz – Yandy Diaz
   6.Liam Hendricks – Kyle Hendricks
   7. Raisel Iglesias – Jose Iglesias
   8. Kenley Jansen – Danny Jansen
   9. Joe Jimenez – Eloy Jiminez
   10. Trevor May – Dustin May
   11. Roberto Osuna – Marcel Osuna
   12. Hansel Robles – Victor Robles
   13. Will Smith – Will Smith

   With the exception of May, and only 30 closers possible in MLB baseball and out of all possible last names in this world the odds are incredible they have a common last name with another MLB player. To be a MLB is hard enough.

   • I don’t think this intel is fully incorporated into the draft values yet! I smell an arbitrage opportunity!

   • Not only on Will Smith – Will Smith but Will Smith, the actor/rapper, was a thing at the time they were born so their parents leaned into naming their kid after the guy from Fresh Prince

   • Me likey.

7. As Baseball is a game of averages, and all hitters are streaky, is there a case for moving all the speedsters up in our rankings as they are the only players whose projections can be dependable in a shortened season. Speed is the only thing that doesn’t go into slumps.

   • Maybe a little bit of a bump. I think everything depends on how shortened the season is. I think a 100 game sample would still be big enough for stats to normalize, for the most part.

   • speed can be COMPLETELY slumped, by
     1. horrible OBP’s
     which could lead to just getting say benched in the worst case scenario or turn out like a 4th OF that ONLY comes in for defense late in game (and might even get a steal very often per at bat, BUT do you want to be starting that guy, think the king rajai in the last few years or even better names that don’t come to mind right now)
     2. manager’s allowing them to steal or not (go look at wong’s career steal arch due simply from matheny’s ass being in there until last year, or most of correa’s career (remember that guy was supposed to be a nice steals source and he’s still not old, but, alas, HOU))

     HR’s are the thing that doesn’t slump, assuming a guy can get at bats of course.

     • T Gore is another example.

       Also a SB is not giving you a R, RBI, AVG.

       Should be interesting to see how it plays out after multiple double headers in a row. Not going to be a whole lot of fresh legs.

       • GORE, ex CUBS, THAT IS EXACTLY WHO I WAS THINKING OF, thanks. for sure platooners that sustained large per game $ (like joc) and only were underdrafted from missing games will now have tons of daily at bats (at least one of the games played, if not both), also catchers that are good per game that might’ve missed games over 162 now won’t miss that much. ANY good hitting “backup” catcher will now get probably quite close to 1 game nearly per day.

         basically one more huge reason to draft for $/game not total $ per rudy’s projections machines. all players will play tons due to so many doubleheaders. obv the biggest info gained here is this will just lead to probably like 5x or so more injuries too (esp to pitchers)

         • thumbs up signal

       • True, fresh legs could be a drag on speed

   • True — also pure speed vs. steals speed — meaning Mallex will steal, but will Springer?

     • What I meant here was guys who can steal 10 bags in a month have speed and will steal…Guys who could give 1-2 SBs per month might only steal 3 bags all year

       • right, so possible speed guys that don’t necessarily do it might slow down almost entirely since tired (springer, correa, many many others, goldy) from playing far more than they ever have their entire lives per week/month

         • Yeah, maybe…That’s my thought…If a guy is actually fast vs. a guy who picks his spots

8. Mock Drafted with the Fantasy Alarm guys, Had Fensty and Spiteri. It’s a different world drafting with non Razz folks. Spiteri was testing out an all batters first strategy to see how it turned out.

   This is probably my best draft of year, only came up light on batting average as far as I see, Everything else had positive dollar values. I waited on pitching just because guys I was targeting weren’t getting taken.

   https://www.rtsports.com/baseball/draft-board.php?LID=532920&UID=fantasybaseball

   C T. Murphy (28)
   1B Olson (3) – First Time got him this year
   2B Biggio (12)
   SS Story (1)
   3B Sano (9)
   CI D. Murphy (19)
   MI Baez (4)
   OF JD (2)
   OF Robles (5)
   OF Jimenez (6)
   OF Kingery (14)
   OF McCutchen (17)
   UT Gregorius (16)
   UT Eaton (20)

   P Paddack (7)
   P Giolito (8)
   P Hand (10)
   P Neris (11)
   P Kimbrel (13)
   P Paxton (15)
   P Maeda (18)
   P Heaney (21)
   P Richards (22)

   Bench (23-27) Karinchak, Kopech, H Harvey, Givens, W Davis

   Baez in 4th? Biggio in 12th? Paxton 15 with the time to heal? Maeda 18th! By the site’s rankings I was 7th. War Room disagreed.

   • paddack in the 7th is awesome. karinchak just got put down recently (see my freakout below). maeda value is even sicker (esp if roto rather than h2h). heaney too. does olson tend to go ahead of baez these days (i’ve done few online drafts, mostly turned all my leagues i run into slow ones now since WhyTF not)

     • Not worried about Karinchak. He’s just an elite K guy whos easily dropable. Plus he will be back up once season starts. Its procedural.

       Baez typically goes in front of Olson. I grabbed OLson because I hadnt gotten any shares yet. Baez just made it back to me.

       • yeah i figured decent chance of that, but the one thing that did change is clase was going to miss at least a month, now it appears maybe none of season, karinchak was only on active roster while clase was ruled out.

       • nice luck on baez getting back to you then.

   • Thats legit dude. In a short season its hard to predict how some guys’ AVG will shake out, like Sano could get flaming hot and end with .280 (or .230 lol), well done.

   • Love that pitching staff and hitting looks solid too…You look low on BA and maybe speed

9. ugly tale of 2 deepish leagues with karinchak (put in minors with the reasoning appearing to be that season is starting late enough such that clase will be back by then)

   1. 16 teamer h2h with holds/QS added, have these RP (max 7, but i generally run with an 8 SP/6 RP 1 BN hitter group, it tends to work well while also racking up holds/ratios/saves and innings for the wins/K’s/QS’s)
   SP: carrasco/lynn/corbin/musgrove/gausman/gibson/cueto/wright
   RP: d.castillo/rogers/magill/kintzler/magill/barlow/karinchak (so here i didn’t want him getting saves anyway, but i DID want him in MLB of course)

   2. 20 team redraft h2h with same settings except innings themselves are a category (but i’m rocking the 8 SP/5 RP (max 5 unless somebody had a SP elig, even then i’d probably be best off doing 8 SP from the innings category)
   SP: clevinger, lynn, j.gray (should’ve gone musgrove over gray here), archer, gibson, gausman, wright, junis (streamer here)
   RP: osuna, barlow, watson, gott, karinchak

   1. options (unless just holding should be done, which it might, a LOT of shit could change before MLB starts again): clase, wittgren, hirano, rico rod, lorenzen, romo, chafin, kolarek, a.miller, t.rogers (SF), bass, soria
   2. options: mostly same, add ginkel, wick, crick, duffey, subtract romo, hirano,

   • oh yeah, if lynn sucks this year i’m in pretty deep shit by the by, including slow drafts pretty sure i now have that dude in maybe 90ish% of drafted leagues including slow drafts. all are QS leagues so that’s a plus. he’s ridiculously cheap ADP compared to both you and rudy’s QS rater says he should be. this pointed out months ago too by one reg.

     • I expect Lynn to be good

   • 1. I’m sitting on Rogers in a few leagues — Hirano might get saves too

     2. Some people like Ginkel if you’re speculating, Wick or Crick seem like decent flyers too

     • not worried about lynn clearly, or i wouldn’t just keep drafting him constantly, just noticing how badly this would hurt if he sucks. looking mostly for solid ratio holds guys (in these leagues though very often i end up with like 5 closers later in the year once managers start just using their best RP as closers when they didn’t do that to start the year, which isn’t optimal for saves and holds sold separately like in these). duffey’s skill set screams best RP available in league 2 (20 teamer) but MIN is damn crowded for holds/saves whatever. i did make sure i won him in a 30 teamer back in early feb though from that.

       • Yeah, totally…I haven’t speculated on Duffey in any league, I don’t think

         • makes sense if in non deep holds leagues (i would bet you’ll be daily streaming guys like him for ratios alone though or vulture wins and K/9), rogers is very solid and t.may along with romo (and his “experience value”) in there too.

           • Yeah, true, these are non-holds I’m talking about

             • yeah i know you are nearly in all saves only spots as far as what you type about you’re in. whereas i’m in almost all holds+ saves or those but separately.

               • Yeah, Holds helps Duffey

     • Taylor or his brother on the Giants ?

       • I’m taking Tyler Rogers flyers in deeper leagues

10. Well it happened. My main league finally drafted. Wanted to get feedback. 10 team dynasty league. 6 x 6 with OPS and SV+H.

    C – Omar Narvarez
    1B – Rizzo
    2B – Moustakas
    3B – Bregman
    SS – Trea Turner
    OF – Trout
    OF – Yordan
    OF – Springer
    UT – Austin Meadows
    UT – Moncada
    BN – Mark Canha
    BN – Carlos Santana
    BN – Victor Robles
    BN – Carter Kieboom
    BN – Sam Hilliard

    SP – Flaherty
    SP – Darvish
    SP – Zac Gallen
    SP – Zach Wheeler
    RP – Giovanny Gallegos
    RP – Nick Anderson
    P – Zach Britton
    P – Hector Maris
    BN – Aaron Nola
    BN – Mitch Keller

    • why the 5 BN bats?

      • Sorry we have 3 UT spots. So it’s 4. And I just drafted them as fillers. I normally stream at least 2 pitchers. So it’s likely those spots will be very fluid to what I need that day / week.

        • in a 10 teamer that makes more sense than anywhere else (more than deeper anyway), as the replacement level bat (or pitcher) will be quite strong. if you don’t have moves limits you can destroy your competition here, esp if h2h. i’d still lean towards less BN hitters, but if you can just move around 3 or so roster spots a day it’s not a big deal.

          what you should do with all those roster spots is find SP elig holds or saves guys to plug in every day if possible. find those and turn those 4 BN bats into at most 2.

    • Your team looks stacked, your pitching looks plenty strong enough…and your hitting looks solid, good power and speed…Not much to complain about, Hilliard and Santana are prolly a waste of BN space that can be used on arms

      • Awesome! Great advice. I was thinking the same thing of basically dropping my bench bats and adding arms. And maybe some bats as needed on off days ect.

        Thank you!

        • No problem

11. Thanks for these updates, Grey! My question is on the rationale for injury prone guys, especially the Sano/Dozier/Walker types. Their 100 game projections are great, but they don’t necessarily play 100, then get hurt and call it in. They get hurt part way through, then miss a bunch of time. So who’s to say they wouldn’t get hurt 60 games into 2020 and miss the last 30? You seem to say they’ll play the whole season, but I’m wondering why they wouldn’t be more likely to play the same percentage of the season that they did in past seasons?

    • h.dozier missed 82 games total over the last 3 years, 60 of those with an oblique in 2017. if you meant c.walker he’s missed 3 games total over the last 2 years all 3 of those in 2018 with a sinus bone fracture, walker certainly doesn’t seem injury prone. h.dozier had one long term injury in 3 seasons. if you meant b.dozier just don’t draft him for almost any sized league. sano is a fat dude who’s missed 35.5 games per year over the last 4, so no argument there. never once less than 24 in any of those years.

      • Sano is also in the BSOHL and is moving to 1B and is going to lead the league in HR.

        • i’d easily believe he could lead the league in HR’s, but that’s not a new thing, he always could’ve.

    • No problem! They’re healthy now, hard to predict injuries…If you’re saying these guys were randomly injured in past and because of that will be injured again, well, I don’t know, maybe but I’m not betting on it

      • outside of sano the 3 he listed we have no reason to believe they are likely to be injured, esp c.walker. a guy who’s missed 35.5 games per year across the last 4 (all for shins, hamstrings and heels) sure is though.

        • and that average isn’t schewered by one large number with a bunch of very small numbers they range from 24-49 per year.

12. I see Hiura benefiting the most and likely ends up as the top 2B.

    • don’t disagree, Baez might benefit too, last 2 seasons he has come out of the gate hot

      • Could be…I’ve been targeting Albies or Hiura at that time in the draft

        • All day, e’eryday!

    • I could see it…In a super short season, he might hit a quick 20/12/.310, I’m banking on Ketel in a lot of leagues

      • Ketel is interesting case, last year he had those crazy 20 HR in 1st half, then in 2nd half his AVG jumped way up. So in a short season, I wonder which Ketel we’ll get.

        • His peripherals say he’s about the best pure hitter in majors from BA standpoint — at least top 5 AVG guy

          • The power? I have no idea, maybe 12-15 HRs in 100 games

            • Yeah last year i predicted 12-13 in the 2nd half, and he indeed had 12. So i think you are on the money there. 15 is probably the over/under line. He’s probably the top bet to win the NL batting title in short season.

              • Yeah, agreed…He could hit .350 in a short season

      • https://arizonasports.com/story/2086684/d-backs-shut-down-ketel-marte-for-remainder-of-season-due-to-back-injury/

        • What are you doing to me? You trying to freak me out?

          • Belated April Fools

            • Oh JFC

        • Belated April Fools.

      • Had him all over the place last year

        • I got so many Ketels, I’m drunk with Ketels

          • I’m in the middle of doing 100 Turkish get ups at present!

            • with a ketel bell

              • Right in the nuts

            • I’m doing a Turkish sit-down with extra steamed dumplings

              • My dumplings are definitely steaming.

                Wake is getting upset!

                • I have massive love for any dumplings

13. Hi Gray,

    I’m in a 12 team keeper roto league, 7 x 7. Added cats are Batter K, Batter XBH, Holds, and QS, and Pitcher BB replaces WHIP. Each team keeps 10-12 (I got 10), for a total of 125, then we drafted the remainder. There is an added roster spot for a NA player. There is no penalty for keeping a player, and once you have him, you can keep him forever. You just declare your 10-12 each year (# determined by where you finished the prior season)

    Pre-plague, I put on my Trader Chin G.M. hat and made a series of trades of upsidey guys like Gore, Lux and Lamet, and some draft picks, and I also sold high on Arenado.

    We’ve drafted and the full team is looking like this:

    C W. Smith
    1B Abreu
    2B Albies
    3B Moncada
    SS Correa
    LF Soto
    CF S. Marte
    RF Mercado
    U Eloy Jimenez
    Bench Puig

    SP1 Buehler
    SP2 Clevinger
    SP3 Nola
    Sp4 Paxton
    SP5 Odorizzi
    SP6 Urquidy
    Sp7 R. Hill
    Sp8 Kopech

    RP1 Knebel
    RP2 H.Harvey
    RP3 Lorenzen
    RP4 W.Harris
    RP5 Karinchak

    IL J.Hicks
    NA Nate Pearson

    also, I took Severino with a late pick (right after another huy took sale) for the 2nd IL slot in case there are no games until 2021.

    Draft was 2 weeks ago, I was figuring at the time it was highly doubtful any games would be played before mid-May. Now, I think it’s a longshot we get any 2020 season and I don’t know what happens with this roster.

    I got pretty shut out of the decent closers, but I think I can address it and shoot for not being the worst in the league at saves, while trying to be the best at holds. As soon as teams drop out of contention, they always look to cash in their closers.

    • Your pitching is very solid, prolly more than you need…You have three potential aces — Your hitting is solid too, I’d say it looks light on power tho, which isn’t great — obviously you have no closers

      • Hoping to turn Mercado and a SP into a RF power bat. Yeah, I’ll be chasing saves and monitoring handcuffs. Worst case I can always get a closer or 2 if I am willing to burn a 2021 (supplementa) draft pick. Closers in this league are a lot easier to acquire than keeper-quality position players in their 20s, and top 25 starting pitchers under age 30.

        • That makes sense

14. https://youtu.be/rSaC-YbSDpo

    • Hahahaha, nice

15. Btw, Lynn and Montas were gone when I came [email protected]/112.
    I actually went against your rankings and took Luzardo. I did read your fantasy sleeper on him and that was way before spring training and the shortened season. Assuming the A’s are legit, and we’re looking at 100 games, and given his outstanding stuff (and how he’s rocketed up the boards) I wanted to own him somewhere.
    Then had to decide among Lamet, Gallen, and Wheeler. Like the Phillies with Girardi, and per your projections, with innings and k’s, I took Wheeler. As you said, he’s been pretty good in the 2nd half and looks like we’re going to get mainly a 2nd half.

    • Yeah, don’t hate Luzardo in a shortened-season…Might like him a tad more even….Wheeler’s fine there, a bit safer than other two, but other two higher upside prolly — he is great in 2nd halfs tho, that is very true

    • i would think if anything that wheeler argument goes against him, he’s only been good the last 2 years AFTER 3ish months had been played. here 3 months in will be near end of entire season (by this “metric” he’ll start doing well in like september or maybe late august if we buy his “curve” the last 2 years). obviously this isn’t any kind of “metric”. if it’s just the hot weather he likes and it took till late june/early july to get hot in NY well in that case i guess yeah he’ll start out great then suck by september or so.

      • Yeah, I can see this side of argument too…Does Wheeler take long to get going, or does he like pitching in very hot months? I don’t know

16. Thinking of going after an of or m.i. and a 4th s.p. or 2nd r.p. @129/132, depending who’s available. A m.i. would allow me to turn Ketel into my 3d o.f. Pitching depends on who is available.

    • That makes sense, I like moving Ketel to OF

17. 129/132- Available hitters: Biggio
    Edman
    Seager
    Gurriel Jr.
    Polanco

    Pitchers: Hendriks
    Jansen
    Rogers
    Urias
    Diaz
    Hand
    Ryu

    I like Edman’s multi position, Biggio’s upside, Gurriel’s bat, and Polanco as a util./s.s.

    I like Hendriks, Rogers, Urias, and Ryu in that order.

    Like to hear your take. On the clock.

    Guy in front of me has back to back picks.

    • Hmm…Polanco is very good in Best Balls, but he’s prolly there later…I like Edman and Urias in shortened season

18. Mercado also available.

    • Oh, Mercado for sure if you need OF

      • Well, if I move Ketel to the o.f. I have 3 o.f.’s, but then no m.i.

        Mercado over Edman ?

        Urias over Hendriks ?

        • Edman would give me m.i. and c.i. cover, and I can flip Ketel to o.f., as i have Hiura.

          • Yeah, he makes sense in that respect

            • Going to take Edman now, and if he grabs Urias, I’ll draft Ryu over Hendriks, makes sense ? Already have Aroldis, Darvish/Luzardo/Wheeler.

              • Yeah, makes sense

        • Kinda think Edman in your situation — I like Urias in a Best Ball

19. Mercado and Ryu stand the best chance to be there @149. Around 146 adp. According to your projections, you have Biggio a drop ahead of Mercado and then Edman and then Polanco.

    Hendriks and Ryu ranked close to each other but you get negative for hits and earned runs, which would favor Hendriks/ Rogers. I can’t figure the pitching points as easily as hitting points.

    • Mercado was hitting 7th in spring which would hurt him and Ryu in Best Ball in short season doesn’t excite me as much as Urias

      • I have to assume if I don’t take Mercado now @129, the guy ahead may well take him (or biggio) as he doesn’t have a 2b. or c.i. Hope he doesn’t read razzball and takes Urias in the next 2 picks. He already has 5 s.p.’s.

        • Haha, hopefully!

          • We’ll soon see. Ryu is ranked ahead of Urias on the draft board, so here’s hoping. I bet he’ll now take Biggio, but will he take a 6th s.p., and will that be Urias.

            • Well, when EdRod wins the Cy Young this year, don’t blame me. I tried pimping him, Andrew!

              • I would have taken him @109/112, but he was already taken.

            • Yeah

      • No 2nd r.p. yet I presume, even if he takes Urias ?

        • He took Hendriks and Gurriel Jr.

          • Nice!

        • Yeah, Urias

          • Thanks as always Grey Man. I also call my grandson Gray Man. Feel honored !!

            • Haha, nice!

20. Thanks for keeping the content coming Grey. You’re definitely helping us get through these times! I was wondering if you could give your thoughts on my RCL team I drafted a few weeks back.

    C: Will Smith
    1B: Olson
    2B: Moustakas
    SS: Mondesi
    3B: Donaldson
    CI: Abreu
    MI: Biggio
    OF: Acuna
    OF: Dannys Antana
    OF: Willie Calhoun
    OF: Akiyama
    OF: Hays
    UTIL: Swanson

    SP: Giolitto
    SP: Glasgow
    SP: Gallen
    SP: Weaver
    SP: Houser
    SP: Civale
    RP: Diaz
    RP: Doolittle
    RP: Bradley
    Bench: Pressly, Pomeranz, Poche

    • No problem

      Looks like the kind of team I’d draft…If I had to quibble, I think you didn’t need Gallen, could’ve got a better bat at that point, then went safer on back end of your rotation…It’s a solid team tho

      • Yeah it was either Gallen or Odorizzi who I probably could’ve got a round later.

        • I like both, Odorizzi might be a tad safer, but I do love Gallen

21. Wondering how you feel about some not on the very top of the list players. Tim Anderson batted 6th to 7th now prolly leadoff or second. Might help the run category. Ashamed to ask but Starling Castro. I heard might bat 3rd for Washington. Understandable he has been ignored but you look his stats, its not that bad. Lastly Kolten Wong is said to be a candidate and a strong one to lead off. You think any of these situations presents itself to fantasy relevance ? Opinion on Carlos Martinez ? He is always available even in deeper drafts.

    Thank you for your good work. Razzball is the place to be for any fantasy study.

    • Starlin is not good, and won’t bat 3rd…Trea Turner is batting third, last I heard

      Anderson is solid, has been for a few seasons, I like him

      Wong isn’t that interesting, but he’s going around 220 overall, I think, so little harm in drafting him there

      I like C-Mart a lot, I’ve been saying to draft him since Jan. He’s in starter rankings https://razzball.com/2020-fantasy-baseball-rankings/

      No problem!

    • I love me some CMart along with Grey! especially now on the corona timeline. Heres my sleeper post if interested: https://razzball.com/carlos-martinez-2020-fantasy-baseball-sleeper/

      • This!

22. Btw, your 1st few opening sentences were hysterical. Love your sense of humor.

    • Thanks!

23. @Grey: Saw your Alonso comment too late last night but to answer your Q, so far Alonso is batting around .200 with 3 HRs – Game 7 is currently streaming

    • More interesting is that this sim is playing JD Davis every game so far at 3B and batting cleanup behind Alonso

      • Haha, nice!

    • Ugh

      • Mets are 1-6 in this sim

24. might not matter in the long run but w/ the chatter of a 100 game season and games being played at spring training sites instead of team stadiums (since fans won’t be allowed/able to attend and strict travel restrictions throughout the rest of 2020) .. this would obviously negatively impact Colorado hitters the most and possibly positively effect Colorado pitchers the other way .. this should be enough logic for me to drop Daniel Murphy in a 10 team AVG/OBP/OPS league right? been trying to find a reasonable excuse to drop/trade the 2 shares of Daniel Murphy I’ve accidentally acquired this draft season and you’d think his stats for the past few seasons would be reason enough plus his age but ya know the whole Coors thing keeps me from clicking the drop button

    • I don’t like Murphy so don’t have to twist my arm into you dropping him

25. So it looks like an RCL we had going for tonight now is a guy short. This also also happened to me last year with one of the free leagues.My personal feelings are if you join a league you commit to drafting & participating. I think perhaps that is a flaw of the free RCLs
    Anyhoo ….if someone wants to join the league there is one opening in RCL43
    To make it easy…here is the link (I hope) Please join & kick my ass.
    Just checked & now it’s 2 openings …I assume if a league is not full then it does not count toward the RCL championship.
    The draft is tonight @ 7PM CDT. Since we are all bored & social distancing …lets make the best of it & have some drafting fun. Here’s the link:

    https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=yepu8hzfk62zljp1&isSubmit=y

    • Let me know if you still need people and I will make effort to fill

      • I’m in an plan on drafting next to a campfire. Chicos Bail Bonds is drafting and you know what that means….bad news for RCL43!!

        • Huh?

          • Thought you would get the bad news bears reference

26. Got one takerso far so just one more warm body & it’s full again.
    Thanks Grey & .thanks to whoever joined & the next to grab that last spot

    • I am still counting 11

    • It’s full now?

      • Many thanks we are full …drafting in 23 min. Thanks to those who joined. On a positive note I went from drafting 12th to picking 4th when they reshuffled the draft slots once the league filled again.

27. Love my power walks. Walkers so courteous, going from walking path to bike lane. Now that I’m re-invigorated.
    2 general questions about 15th/16th rounds- picks 149/152

    After 14 rounds:

    Arenado
    Turner
    Ketel
    Alonso
    Hiura
    Eloy
    Darvish
    Rosario
    M.Chapman
    A. Chapman
    Luzardo
    Wheeler
    Edman
    Urias

    need 2 catchers, 1 util., 2 o.f.’s, 2-3 s.p’s, 1-2 r.p.’s

    Planning on taking s.p. or r.p. , depending on availability, and an o.f.

    Would you be targeting any specific players in that adp range, not knowing, of course, if they’ll be there.

    2 multi positions players so far: Ketel/Edman

    Thanks Grey

    • I wouldn’t mind an OF and an arm…Be nice if OF had other elgib.

      • Dannys, JD Davis, Kingery, maybe Joc probably best that come to mind in that range

        • I like them all

          • They’re all there with 3 picks ahead of me. Couple of s.p.’s, couple of r.p.’s I like. Kind of like the 10th slot better. At least I can take whichever 2 I want. With the 9th pick, have to resort to prayer. Sometimes it works and sometime it doesn’t.

            • All but Dannys, who went 47 picks ago.

              • JD

        • Dannys gone at pick 100.

      • Dannys gone in the 11th round. Yeah, I like JD, Dozier, and Kingery. Joc goes a little later, but like his 1b eligibility.

        Agree on an o.f. Any preference for s.p. or r.p. ? Have 4 s.p.’s and Aroldis.

        • JD’s nice there

          Depends which RPs/SPs are there

          • Don’t want to mention the s.p.’s and r.p.’s just in case; still 3 picks ahead of me. Hopefully you’ll be around when I’m up.

            • Ok, I’m around

              • Damn, Rogers and Ryu just went.

                Available: Hand/Paxton/Maeda/Odorizzi

                Kingery/JD/Dozier

                I would take Kingery here @149, and take 1 of the pitchers @152. Odorizzi is going at around 175, so he’s still possibly a get @169.
                I’d probably rank them Hand-Paxton-Maeda-Odorizzi, with adp a consideration.
                You said JD, but your projected numbers over 100 games seem to favor Kingery. Mercado also still available.

                • naaagh, Mercado is gone.
                  Going to walk my dog….look forward to your reply.
                  Dozier batting 4th…and steals a few bases. Kingery a 5 tool guy w/ multi position, as do Dozier and JD.

              • Back from walking Charlie. Any problem w/taking Kingery over Dozier and JD @149, and then 1 of Hand, Paxton, Maeda, Odorizzi, who I can possibly get @169 (adp is 175).

    • Who are all these people letting Alonso fall to the 4th?! smh, and why are they never in my leagues? sigh. Looking good bro.

      • This best ball Cool. I could have taken him @29, but wanted Ketel 1st, so took him @32. All on my own. Didn’t even ask. Though Dave told me Grey would have said take him @29. haha

        • lol yes, Grey will take Alonso in the second round of any draft without fail. Right best ball, still though, lol. In my Razzslam he was gone by second pick of Round 2… hmmm… might have been a Greybot.

          • In 1 of mine he went in the 2nd. In another he went right before me @28. Guess I rolled the dice w/ Ketel. Love all 3 of those s.s.’s Albies, Ketel, and Hiura.

          • Yeah, I don’t get why not as I’ve been saying for months

      • Yeah thanks Cool, happy with the team so far. Thank goodness for you guys. Can’t conceive of my retirement life w/out baseball !!!

28. 16 teamer roto near dynasty (we can keep 1 each of the starting hitter positions but NOT the 4th any OF and NOT the IF slot, can keep the 1 util. also 5 max SP and 5 max RP, and in addition up to 10 elig prospects per year). slugging, OBP, holds+ saves (not just saves), QS added, K/9 added
    3rd round of slow draft, i obtained e.suarez and w.smith (LAD) in 1st 2 rounds. we had been a 20 teamer till now.
    C w.smith
    1B rhysus
    2B mostsuckass (3B)
    3B suarez
    SS story
    IF lux (could slot to one of the 10 prospect slots)
    LF mcneil (2B/3B/RF)
    CF laureano (RF)
    RF harper
    OF ketel one (2B/SS/CF)
    util otani (hitter only)
    prospect slots: o.cruz, larnach, kelenic, brujan, n.jones
    SP (want 7 or 8): marquez, ryu, clevinger, ed rod, matz (but could drop to improve on him)
    RP (max 5): giles, buttrey, iglesias, ginkel
    prospects: d.garcia, puk

    was about to draft antana but missed him by 2 picks. only prospects that have gone so far are rutschman/vaughn/abrams. most of the top guys are owned and it’s probably too early to go them now. best options:
    hitter (otani will have tons of off time): voit, walker, tsutsugo, hampson (the steals are my only weak points really, and not even that weak), arraez (but no slugging)
    SP: heaney, stroman, musgrove, j.gray (COL), pineda, weaver, skubal, bundy, f.peralta (could SP slot him even if he stays 8th inning guy), a.wood, canning
    RP: (probably don’t need to draft my last guy here till much later): pagan, duffey, d.castillo, montero, wittgren, barlow, karinchak, clase many others

    was thinking hampson, then start hitting the SP and some prospects later as i already have some pretty top end types.

29. In a S+H league. I have Rogers, Neris, N. Anderson and the Astros Ryan Pressly.

    Last year Pressly was a dominant setup man and had 31 Holds and 3 Saves. Year before that he had 14 Holds.

    My league is very shallow in number of teams and 20 roster spots. Trying to balance S+H counting stats with good ratios and if I should drop Pressly for a closer to keep pace with another team that carries Yates, Chapman, Ottavino and Lugo.

    The best remaining closers are Raisel, Colome and Kimbrel (who had a miserable outing in spring training to follow up his miserable 2019). None of them are great from a ratios standpoint with not so great peripherals.

    It’s my first time playing in a S+H league and not sure if I’ll get more out of a set-up guy or a closer for counting stats. Would you keep Pressly for Holds count or drop him for one of the closers for Save counts?

30. I’m in a 10 team Yahoo Roto and I need a bench player who is also an everyday player;

    I can get the following off the waiver:
    Wong, C. Hernandez, Odor, R. McMahon, Castro, Arreaz, Peraza, Berti, Goodrum .
    Too many choices, who should I pick?

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