To paraphrase Tupac from Brenda’s Got a Baby, “I hear Grey’s got 2017 fantasy baseball rankings, but Grey’s barely got a brain. A damn shame. That guy can hardly spell his name. GREY’S….GOT EM….RANKINGS! Don’t you know he’s got ’em. He wrote them solo, and he wrote them on his bathroom floor and didn’t know what to throw away and what to keep. He crumbled these rankings up and threw them in a trash heap. GREY’S….GOT EM….RANKINGS! Don’t you know he’s got ’em.” Don’t say I don’t keep my shizz socially conscious. Or is it socially conscience? Meh, doesn’t matter, I do it either way. So, this top 60 starters has seven pitchers I’m not crazy about. That’s more than the last post, but still not that many. I.e., there’s a ton of starters to draft. As with previous rankings posts, my projections are included and where I see tiers starting and stopping. Anyway, here’s the top 60 starters for 2017 fantasy baseball:
41. James Paxton – This tier started in the top 40 starters for 2017 fantasy baseball. This tier ends at Ray. I called this tier, “These guys give me the good willies.” I don’t know why I only see certain things. I’m like Haley Joel Osment but I see pitchers. Or could I be wrong. We’re drafting for 2017, right? We’re not drafting for last year, correct? Okay, then I’m so confused about the people not in on Paxton. Last year, he had a 8.8 K/9 and a 1.8 BB/9. To give it to as simple as possible, if you strike out hitters and don’t walk them, people can’t score. I know, rocket science. Then you throw in some of his mind-blowing attributes. He had a 97 MPH fastball on average. That’s amazing…for a closer! Two starters were better: Syndergaard and Eovaldi. That’s not even Paxton’s ‘see ya’ pitch, that would be his cutter. You can imagine when a guy is setting up with a 97 MPH fastball, a cutter is killer. He had the 4th best cutter in the majors behind Lester, Wainwright and Kluber. He had the 11th best walk rate. Only guy above him in that list that had a better K/9? You guessed it, Kershaw. Paxton had the 19th lowest pull percentage. Everything people hit, they hit the other way. Hard to do damage like that. So, why did he have a 3.79 ERA last year? Cause he had a .347 BABIP which was partially unlucky and partially due to hard contact. People hit the ball the other way, but they hit it hard. That’s the big problem. If he can use his terrific command to make hitters make less solid contact or miss more bats or simply walk a few more guys here and there to avoid grooving a pitch, Paxton will be an ace. 2017 Projections: 14-10/3.53/1.26/181 in 178 IP
42. Jameson Taillon – I have a slight concern that like so many starters before Taillon, in history and in this ranking, Taillon is going to disappoint this year after a terrific rookie year and then he’s going be worthy of this ranking in 2018. Happens so many times, but this is obvi anecdotal. Nothing says Taillon has to take this route to success. He doesn’t need to wait until his third year, maybe he’s great in his sophomore slump year while pronouncing the second O in sophomore. Taillon’s numbers say he should not disappoint. I mean, seriously, really, awkward sentence interjection, what kind of rookie comes up and has a 1.5 BB/9. That’s insane with a 6+ K/9 and Taillon has 8+ K/9 ability. 2017 Projections: 10-7/3.44/1.10/163 in 180 IP
43. Matt Shoemaker – I swear to you, every year I draft Shoemaker, and every year I drop him some time before April 10th. That’s not to say he’s bad every year. Some years I regret dropping him, some years I don’t. I just know that I love him in March and can’t stand his stupid face come April. In my defense, his peripherals always look so much better than his ERA. Okay, his ERA in 2014 was 3.02, so I have no defense for that year. 2017 Projections: 10-12/3.49/1.15/161 in 180
44. Carlos Rodon – All of the guys in this tier, and there’s a shizzton, had reasons for not being in the Gausman tier in the top 40 starters. There are some negatives. Rodon’s negative is a positive, which is just irony for irony sake. What are you, Wes Anderson’s production design? We get it, Rodon, it’s quirky to have a 94 MPH fastball while it also being your worst pitch. Cute, why don’t you get Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson to argue over it too? Rodon’s saving grace is he’s young and he had a great 2nd half. He builds on that (9.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 3.45 ERA), and it’s going to be lights out, though with some more fossil fuels we can get the lights back on. 2017 Projections: 10-12/3.78/1.30/188 in 185 IP
45. Joe Ross – Why am I hearing music in my head when I rank Joe Ross? This awful club beat. Now I hear a slow clapping. J.B.’s Disembodied Voice, “Grey, Joe Ross is going to be a top 10 starter in my rankings and the higher you rank him, the less gong you will receive during our podcasts.” Is where I have Ross now high enough? “It’s not bad, you might only get two gongs.” So, I like Ross, obviously not as much as J.B., but I do think he’s capable of a 8 K/9 and a 3.50-ish ERA, but he’s still failed to pitch more than 105 IP in a season and the Nats’ GM is saying Ross will have to earn his rotation spot. I don’t buy that, seems like some kind of weird negging motivational tool like a gong. 2017 Projections: 11-7/3.56/1.25/139 in 153 IP
46. Michael Fulmer – Full Disclosure Alert! I juggled Fulmer from a tier I didn’t want to this tier where I can see myself owning him. In the end, I liked his youth and upside enough to put him here. He’s too young (24 in March) to label a 7.5 K/9 guy simply because he was last year. Fulmer is a number three starter with potential to be a number two. He has three pitches, one being a 95 MPH fastball, while relying on his breaking pitches. Here’s Trout meeting a breaking pitch:
Bye-bye, Trout, bye bye. For changeups, he had the 6th best one in the majors last year. The top ten isn’t all gorge (F-Her’s there, Marco Estrada, Brandon Finnegan), but Fulmer’s fastball to change is dramatic enough of a difference to make it highly successful. Hoping Fulmer doesn’t disappoint for the next four years, then get traded to the Red Sox and put up a Cy Young year. 2017 Projections: 13-10/3.64/1.16/169 in 182 IP
47. Robbie Ray – Already gave you my Robbie Ray sleeper. It was written without a safety word. 2017 Projections: 13-9/3.67/1.24/226 Ks in 190 IP
48. Jake Odorizzi – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Happ. This tier I call, “Trying to find a balance like Atmosphere.” This tier is another tier similar to the Tanaka one in the top 40 starters where we attempt to cushion the fall from beginning our staff with Salazar/McCullers/Paxton, i.e., “Holy crap, my pitching is going to be scary good or scary awful.” This tier should help with that. All the guys in these tier could be better than this, so they have slight upside, but they, more importantly, lack dramatic downside. Their range of outcomes are fairly closely aligned like the threads on my 1500 count sheets. As for Odorizzi, his K/9 the last two years is 7.97 and 7.96. Kyle Seager called and said stop copying his predictable reliability, then Odorizzi said, “Is this Dominos Pizza? I’ve been waiting almost two hours.” 2017 Projections: 9-12/3.54/1.16/169 in 192 IP
49. Julio Teheran – The Iron Sheik’s fantasy baseball rankings: Teheran, Trout, Curled Boots. That’s overall! “Teheran is #1, ptooey everyone who says otherwise.” If Trump bans Teheran because he sounds like an Iranian city or because he’s Latin, then I’ll move him down the rankings. The Latin thing could really play havoc on my rankings, in general. 2017 Projections: 10-13/3.39/1.14/175 in 200 IP
50. Jason Hammel – After he signed with (insert team), I said, “Insert thoughts!” And that’s me Mad Libbing me! Honestly, it doesn’t matter where Hammel pitches, unless it’s Coors. *looks at his player page* Wow, he once pitched on the Rockies? I didn’t remember that at all. The, uh, uh, uh, the thing inside my head that I use to think is not what it once was! Unrelated Story Alert! While Cougs was getting stitches out of her foot (don’t ask), the foot doc tells me a story about how one day when Dr. Dre’s “people” were waiting in the lobby to pick up orthopedic pads for all his wife’s expensive shoes, P. Diddy walked in and had to wait in the lobby too. Cougs’ foot doctor starting a turf war! UPDATE: Hammel signed with the Royals, and the above remains true. Even about Diddy! 2017 Projections: 13-10/3.71/1.23/171 in 185 IP
51. J.A. Happ – The ‘safe’ starters this year are all on some sucky-ass teams. Sorry, Jays fans, but your team is not good, and, if you think it is, you need to ask an unbiased third party to look at your potential Opening Day lineup. Pillar, Smoak, Ezequiel… Sounds like a blacksmith in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Happ is exactly this tier. Somewhere in the 7+ K/9 range, 2+ BB/9 guy and a great ERA with luck and a terrible ERA with no luck and an okay ERA with neutral luck. 2017 Projections: 12-11/3.67/1.23/157 in 188 IP
52. Steven Matz – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Manaea. I call this tier, “*pulling off daisy flowers* I love him, I love him not, I love him…*sees it’s the last flower* Well, maybe next year.” This tier is filled with guys that I have enjoyed in years past, and might enjoy again as soon as 2018 (really, I might like them by May), but, as of right now, I am not drafting them. Brucely, if a guy is on waivers and pitching well, I’ll pick him up in-season, no matter what I think about him in the preseason, but these guys won’t be drafted by me. As for Matz, you know what I don’t love? Beyonce’s latest album? Yes, but the world is obligated to not say that. What I don’t love about Matz is before drafting him, you need to Google, “Is Matz’s arm still attached to body?” That makes me not want to draft Matz. 2017 Projections: 10-7/3.55/1.22/145 in 154 IP
53. Matt Harvey – Another name for this tier could’ve been, “Man, the Mets effed up their pitchers.” Scott Boras says Harvey will be ready for the 2017 season. Boras also said the Easter Bunny exists, then sold the Easter Bunny’s ‘chocolate hiding services’ to the Shah of Sunset for $40.5 mill over two years with a no-trade clause. The Easter Bunny still has not shown up to camp to train. They say it’s a visa issue. 2017 Projections: 8-6/3.71/1.23/129 in 145 IP
54. Jeff Samardzija – It’s a bit of a lie to say Samardzija fits in a tier of guys that I could love next year. I’m never going to love Samardzija again. This is you owning Samardzija, “Hey, he’s in Coors, I think I’ll bench him,” and he goes out and pitches a gem. Then the following start, “Well, he’s going against the Padres at home, so I have to start him,” and, after the game, you’re justifying it with, “At least I had Corey Spangenberg active in one league for his four homer game.” 2017 Projections: 12-10/3.69/1.24/163 in 204 IP
55. Sean Manaea – I could just say I didn’t like the huge innings jump from 2015 to 2016, but that would be lame like Verducci saying it every year, while ignoring everything else and pretending it’s a successful strategy for picking pitchers who will break down. I could also say how Manaea is going to be on the A’s and will struggle to win even nine games, but wins are fickle yadda3. I could say how Manaea is Samoan and I’m more of a Thin Mint man, but I hate minty sweet things, so that’s just a lie. Samoans are so bomb dot gov. What I will say after saying all that which I won’t say that I did kinda just say, Manaea’s average vs. righties and he’s mostly just a MediOAKer. In fairness to him, he’s mostly just an untrustworthy 7+ K/9, 2 BB/9 guy. 2017 Projections: 9-11/3.78/1.25/154 in 176 IP
56. Dallas Keuchel – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until the top 80 starters for 2017 fantasy baseball. I call this tier, “The Board.” By the tier name I mean, when I was a kid, I used to race Hot Wheels cars. The Corvette Hot Wheels with a Lego Yogi Bear was always the fastest. Pure, innocent fun had by me and all my imaginary friends. To race the cars, I had to lug a stupid ironing board up from the basement and every time I carried it an adult would make some forced joke about how I was finally going to do the ironing. That ironing board led to fun, but was a pain in the ass. This tier will lead to fun, but it’s not fun itself; this tier is the board. As for Keuchel, he throws a 88 MPH fastball. Is it that surprising that he cut his change usage by five percent? A change is not going to work when it’s set up by junk. This made him very reliant on his slider, upping its usage almost 7%. When you know a pitch is coming, it’s also not going to be effective. Keuchel is one of those pitchers I’d actually like to face, and I haven’t faced live pitching in 27 years. I still contend the last pitcher I faced was rubbing pimple juice on his pitches. 2017 Projections: 12-9/3.87/1.25/165 in 202 IP
57. Drew Pomeranz – I expect Eduardo Rodriguez starting for the Red Sox by June and Pomeranz to be moved to the bullpen or to a phantom DL stint. I loved Pomeranz last year, but I just don’t see him surviving in the AL East and Fenway. In the 2nd half last year, he had a 4.59 ERA with a .306 BABIP and 79.3% of men left on base. Neither number is particularly unlucky for Fenway, a park where he had a 6.43 ERA. Ironically, if you stay away from Pomeranz, you’ll be yappy. 2017 Projections: 8-11/3.94/1.25/165 in 170 IP
58. Hisashi Iwakuma – How did Hisashi get so old so fast? He went from a rookie five years ago to 36 years old this year. It’s almost like he was a 31-year-old rookie. Haha, so weird! *intern whispers in my ear* Say what now? Oh. Any hoo! The shine’s worn off and Hisashi my dashi — slurp SLURP’s ramen is now gluten-free, and buckwheat noodles are mad funky. 2017 Projections: 13-11/3.87/1.31/150 in 204 IP
59. Ian Kennedy – Is he really this bad? I’m guilty of thinking Kennedy is, but there’s strong evidence he’s not. So, why is he ranked in a tier to avoid? I just told you, I don’t think much of him. Elements are here for Kennedy to be safe, but that’s also what the Secret Service said in 1963. 2017 Projections: 9-12/3.94/1.28/176 in 190 IP
60. Collin McHugh – His peripherals have been better than Keuchel’s and should likely be above him, but his results have been less than stellar for two years and the one year he had a solid ERA it came with a .259 BABIP. Also, McHugh’s 1.41 WHIP and 4.34 ERA last year has more blemishes than Cameron Diaz. 2017 Projections: 13-11/3.95/1.32/181 in 195 IP
Grey!!
Great post, been waiting for this post all weekend like the kid in those old Shake’nBake commercials – I haven’t had Shake’N’Bake in nearly 2 weeks! ‘Member?….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB7j3sUWohE…
a. One of my pharmacology professors was named Dr Pomeranz. His class was interesting but like you said, it’ better to stay from Pomeranz.
b. Some great pitchers to be had here!! Love Paxton, this could finally be his year. Actually I would love to own that entire tier.
c. Not much happening except our reaction from HQ should be pretty severe after The Donald’s executive order. Our representative has already outlined how he’s going to trim the fat (i.e., 10%) from somewhere but the cuts will be way more drastic! No one knows exactly what will happen.
Cheers,
Ante
@Ante GALIC: A. Ha B. Lots of good SPs there C. He should take it off from the rear
@Grey: Grey!
a. Ha! He should take it from his own rear.
b. What’s the best TV series you’ve seen of late apart from Mirror?
c. Otherwise, dloaded the new Black Sabbath – Ultimate Collection 2017. Not really ultimate, just every one of their best songs more or less.
Cheers,
Ante
B. Line of Duty, BBC show on Hulu, you have to watch this C. You lost me at Black Sabbath
@Grey: Grey!
a. Thanks for the Line of Duty.
b. Sorry to lose you. I also downloaded Run DMC discography to relive my youth. Are you back?
Cheers,
Ante
B. I’m here!
@Grey: Grey!!
a. Thanks, that was quite a relief! Btw, nice rap to start the post!
b. Late breaking news out of Chad…Some Sudanese who have already been screened and cleared for departure by INS but were stopped by The Donald’s executive order have now been given a window of opportunity to be resettled stateside!!! They have from February 2 to February 17 to do it! About 47 people will be moved to N’Djamena for their orientation course and then they fly stateside!!! Some lucky people to be sure.
Cheers,
Ante
A. I’m a baller! B. We’re still sure N’Djamena isn’t a chorus for a Lionel Richie song?
@Grey: Grey!
Planning to go with the family for the Easter break (April 15-22) to Lisbon. Have you been? Any ideas on cool stuff to do?
Cheers,
Ante
I haven’t been, but I hear you can do drugs in Portugal and not get arrested
@Grey: wait, there is a show about BBC’s?
Haha
Nice! I’d like to see you group the last bunch into tiers based on Jim Bakker’s buckets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hZVWuMEbFI
61-68: Red Beans and Rice (Wacha – Richards)
69-73: Potatoes Au Gratin (Cobb- Leake)
74-81: $6 Eggs (Moore -McHugh)
82-89: Cheesy Brocoli Soup (Bartolo Colon – Junior Guerra)
90-100: Enchiladas (Davies – Helickson)
@Mrs. Featherbottom: $6 eggs? Those are some fancy eggs! $6 eggs would be in front of red beans and rice then, no?
@Grey: Perhaps. It’s my big take away from the doomsday preppers.
Where is this $6 egg coming from? Is it a 60-degree egg?
Over easy? Sunny side up? Tell me, Featherbottom!
@Grey: Did you watch the video? Jim Bakker saw them in his dreams.
Nah, I had no idea what you meant… he saw them?
@Grey: This dude Vic Berger makes these great videos of Trump, and Jim Bakker. They are like LSD nightmares.
Do you know Longmont Potion Castle?
Sorry, tangentially related
@Grey: Never heard of him – looks like I have some listening to do. Wrapping up my third article, full of alternative facts. PhD is in view.
That’s awesome, man! Congrats! Yeah, LSD reminded me of Longmont, pretty good and pretty far out there
@Grey: Thanks! This Longmont Potion Castle is funny!
Yeah, it’s good shizz… He’s nuts, which I appreciate
Freeman for Bregman in dynasty?
@Freddyfreeman: Freeman. Not close
@Freddyfreeman: Agree with Curious
McCullers Q: Last year his BB/9 was 5.0.
If his WHIP decreases from 1.50 to 1.19 as you project, what would be his BB/9?
Love your work!
@Dodger Rabbit: ~3.1
Great list. I plan on taking two aces within first 7 picks and then targeting high upside guys late in the draft. Love Paxton, Rodon, and Ray for sure.
@Tim: Thanks!
Dynasty league, Scherzer or Hendricks+Urias? Thanks in advance!
@DBo: Scherzer
To follow up on Paxton, his BABIP should also improve with a better defense behind him. Fangraphs had the Mariners as the most improved D projected for 2017 with Segura and Dyson added to the mix. I’m all in on him this season.
@Warren: Nice!
Better start to a rotation (15 team roto)
Kluber
Duffy
Paxton
Or
Darvish
Rodon
Velasquez
@M:
Klu, Duff, Pax
Klu roughly the same as Yu.
Duffy > Rodon
Paxton > Velas
@Lance: thanks!
@M: Agree with Lance
Morning Boss,
Would u draft cespedes in the 6th Rd as your 6th offensive piece or Carrasco as your 1st pitcher? Thanks cheers!
@Jason: carrasco easy, but neither of them will still be around in the 6th
@Jason: I’m not your boss! I’m your supervisor. Carrasco
Don’t sleep on Shoemaker, his numbers were terrific after a rough April.
Across his last 20 starts in 2016 he posted a 2.83 ERA, 8.36 K/9, 1.17 BB/9, 1.08 WHIP.
That’s a large and continuous enough sample size for me to buy on him ahead of some other guys going into 2017.
@SR: the head injury might mess with him psychologically
@SR: Was I sleeping on him?
@SR: i’m betting grey here is higher than most spots. yep, upon checking ADP data shoemaker is going about 64th or so. jebus, people are drafting AAron ahead of duffy too, that’s batshit.
Hey wasn’t that a great half time show??
terrible FUPA comment tho….she looked great c’mon! those shorts were hella tight cuz she had a harness on, or so I rationalize., having looked at many nude pics of her online.
@peacecoast: HA, Hey, I love FUPA! She looked the same she always looks
Awesome stuff as always
Was offered Myers for Pollock in 10-team H2H keeper, thoughts?
Trying to decide between Yelich, Bregman, Rendon for last keeper slot
Have Trout, T.Turner, Marte, Bogaerts, Votto, Pollock, Polanco
Thanks!
Pollock > Myers. Bregman is your 3b being as you already have your 3OFs
@Celery: I’d want Myers
I’ve been cross-referencing these lists since I have my first draft tonight. It looks like there should be a lot of starter bargains in Yahoo leagues, according to these rankings.
Sonny Gray – 248
Matt Harvey – 273
Jon Gray – 300
Carlos Rodon – 305
Robbie Ray – 373
Taijuan Walker – 412
Meanwhile Yahoo has four pitchers ranked in the Top 10 and eight in the Top 20, so I am optimistic about my chances of getting three of the Top 20 hitters.
@Brian: Gray and Harvey aren’t bargains, they’re avoids
@Brian:
I <3 Yahoo valuations
@Brian: I have drafted in yahoo. Walker will go in 190 range. Kershaw in the first and scherzer, Bum, and possibly Thor in the second. The ADP is posted by their names instead of the ranks and they generally follow the ADP closer than ranks. Desmond is a good shot in the fourth round giving you 4 of his top 20. I had Berlandwr slide to the 54th pick the other day!
Yahoo is diffferent with the in big caps but it’s all I have ever played and I’m too boring to try something new.
@Sport:
Here is how the two drafts went. By rounds
Sonny Gray- 15th and 14th
Matt Harvey- 11th and 11th
John Gray-16th and 17th. Both to me!
Rodon- 17th and 15th.
Walker- 16th and 18th
Tailon- 13th and 11th
Paxton- 15th and 15th.
You need to forget Sonny Gray and Harvey
@Grey:
John Gray, Walker, Rodon, and Paxton all seem like good value there but do you see the 11th as too early for Tailon?
12 teams? Nah, not too early
having owned rodon and matz since they came up I can say that
1-completely agree on Matz, he is great but his arm is sadly a mess
2-Rodon is SO frustrating to own, omg, and to watch. Maybe he puts it together this year. But no thanks.
Love shoemaker and plan to pick him up.
Joe Ross music stupid JB I hear it in my head right now.
@peacecoast: Haha, JB!
@peacecoast: @Grey: WHERE ARE YOU NOW?!?!?! …it’s hard to type out anything more than that…
JB just ducked into a bathroom with glowsticks and started singing into a mirror, only instead of his own reflection, he saw that of Joe Ross.
@Grey: is the French dj on the 1’s and 2’s?
DJ Fair-a-shaka?
@Grey: no, Lah Hey Ewwwwwwe
Ha
@Grey: and pretty sure he was fapping (forgive me I just discovered this word recently)
Now, you’re letting it all hang out, literally
Grey,
Always love the starting pitching post. I do have a questions when it comes to pts league and weaving in your strategy. My league has for hitters (1pt – 1B, 2pts – 2B, 3pts – 3B, 1pt – BB, 4pts – HR, 1pt – RBI, 1pt – R, 1pt – Steal) and for pitchers (10pts for W, 7pts for S, 1pt for SO).
I have always used your strategy of loading up on hitters early and then those pitchers from the tiers that you suggest in rounds 5, 6 &7. I have landed 3rd or 4th in the last 2 years. Wondering how you would fit your strategy to my pts league. We have 12 people in my pts league.
@Blake: We have a Points League guy, Malamoney, who writes on Points… You need to draft starting pitchers stronger than regular roto/H2H
@Grey:
ok but your strategy calls to draft starting pitchers starting around the 3rd tier down? Are you saying draft one of those 10 top starting pitchers?
In a 12 team league, even Points, you should be fine starting your pitching at Verlander and down
Don’t get the Jays hate (and especially the Pillar hate? Guy is a 3.5WAR player) .. yes they lost EE and that will hurt but still a pretty solid lineup and easier to fill holes at 1B/DH than anywhere else.
@Alex: Have you ever seen Pillar do that stupid stir the drink thing?
@Alex: You’re a Jays fan if you think the Jays lineup is better this year…
@Grey:
it’s different, our plate approach last year was our demise. We could use a 6th starter though, depth will be an issue.
Smoak? sure but also Donaldson, Tulo (his defense is still +), Devon Travis – I understand though you need to cherry pick to fit a narrative.
And you ranked Sanchez criminally low – you actually ranked him below Stroman, you’re right a lot but you’ll be wrong on that one.
No, cherrypicking… Tulo, Travis and Bautista have injury concerns or no? And I like Travis, but I mean this isn’t a narrative… Sanchez’s peripherals have problems, also, not a narrative, sad truth… I have no ill will against the Jays, I’m just calling as I see it
@Roger Podacter: check AAron’s K rate, and with that innings bump…. DN injured in june or earlier.
@Blind Umps have Rights too (seriously their union is that strong):
… innings count is garbage, he’ll be fine. Look at teams who baby their starters and their track records for injury, mets and nats come to mind.
Aaron has been cool under pressure, rarely unravels on the mound and trains extraordinarily well.
@Grey: Better? Maybe, but very unlikely I would say. But still a good lineup.
#61…. is Martin perez correct ?
@Old School Brother: 121?
How do we feel about the World Baseball Classic?
Pro: It’s baseball
Con: It doesn’t count for fantasy
@ERad: No good can come of it, only unnecessary injuries
@Grey: I will be downgrading all players in my rankings that participate in WBC.
I hear that
@ERad: same as olympics for hockey. injury risk and at least players can get tired, mostly pitchers of course.
How would you rank these possible picks for the 1st rd (pick #83 overall after keepers) in a 14-Team H2H OBP Keep 5 Forever League (adds a keeper every year):
Carlos Santana
Eric Hosmer
Anthony Rendon
Carlos Martinez
Gerrit Cole
My keepers are Betts, Trea Turner, Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Carrasco; I traded away my 2nd and 5th rd picks (#86 and #139 overall) last year if that changes anything, but I still plan to compete this year.
@RePete: Santana, Hosmer, Rendon
Hey Grey – how does you pitcher drafting strategy change for weekly leagues (v. daily), if at all?
For example, one of my leagues has weekly lineups with 10 active pitching spots (typically people start 6-7 SPs and 2-3 RPs). No innings limits or mins.
My sense last year is that it was more about volume . . . i.e., having about 11 SPs to shuffle back and forth between starting and reserve based on who had 2 start weeks.
How many teams matters a bit more….Deep leagues, you need better SPs… Shallow leagues, you have flexibility
@Grey: This is a pretty competitive 12 team-er. Feels like you want at least someone from the top 10-15 tier and 1-2 from the top 30 (darvish, duffy, hill sort of top 3?) before filling out with the fun guys at in the late 30s and early 40s.
Lower end 10-15, and another top 30 is fine… That’s basically the same amount of pitching I tell people to draft
@Grey: Yeah that sounds like the usual strategy. Great, thanks!
No problem
Over/Under on amount of times Ralph has kissed his life-sized cardboard cutout of Tom Brady today?
You see Ted 2? That seen in Brady’s bedroom is Ralph today
@Grey: Ha, a combination of that and the donor scene.
Ralph is Downtown Julie Brown and Brady is every rock star that came into MTV’s studio in the 90s
@Grey: when he kisses brady and belichek it will be like kissing trump and ralph hates trump. Hate to be in his shoes
Ralph’s position on the football field is right wing
@Grey: Like the song says he’s blinded by the right revved up like douche another runner in the night
Haha
Dynasty, OBP instead of BA, $160 budget
$8 Adam Eaton for 1 year or $1 Aaron Judge for 3 years?
Realistically, I’m expecting to be a middle-of-the-pack team (took over a dumpster fire of a team last year), but don’t think I’m ready to compete with the top dogs yet this season. I could keep Eaton next year for around $12, but not sure he’s enough of an impact guy to be worth that much of a limited budget.
Judge
Good to see you finally come around on Paxton. I still have concerns about his strand rate. Last year at 66% it was awful but felt unllucky and considering it was league average the year before, 73%, I think he will be a frustrating guy to own if he doesn’t figure it out with either an improved change up or pitch sequencing.
If his K/9 is near-9, BB/9 is under 2, hard for him to be frustrating
@Grey: If he only strand 66% percent of runners again it will be.
He had a high BABIP, he wasn’t that frustrating last year
@Grey: Okay, I called all this out last year in the comments and you said he wasnt ownable and talked shit to me. I called him extremely unlucky with the high babip and low strand rate.
Well, he wasn’t really ownable last year so I guess I was right…
Grey!
a. Sorry had to start a new thread. Thanks for the tip, though will be hoping to stop my daughter from finding out. LOL!
b. We have a refugee camp called Gaga. We have a colleague who goes there frequently as part of regular daily duties, her name is Madam Koubra. We call her….Lady Gaga!
Cheers,
Ante
Does she have FUPA?
@Grey: Grey!
Haha, no! She is around 62, just waiting for retirement age to go and crash. Honestly, she is as slow as a turtle!
Cheers,
Ante
@Grey: Some women I work with also call it a gunt (lol)
That’s almost as bad as the word moist
This list looks a lot like what my rotations will look like in every league this season. If I can get 4-5 of these guys to go with one or two studs earlier, I’ll dance.
All of them have upside, some of them have huge upside. I know there is a lot of dice rolling, but if I draft 4 of these guys, one of them comes out to be a suitable #3 starter and the rest settle in at #5s, I’m going to have a pretty decent rotation to go along with my bat heavy draft strategy..
Exactly
@CMUTimmah: It’s always dice rolling when you get to upside guys. There are enough pitchers to where you can draft 4 of “these guys”. Had two studs last year and 5 ranked in the preseason between 30 and 60 “these guys”. Corbin, Iglesias, Severino, Nola, Ross. Obviously my pitching did not go well. Luck is huge when you get this deep.
are you doing a bust list? last years calls (which i didnt see until midseason haha) were uncanny
Every year I do, yeah
@dhouse42: it’s the schmohawks posts.
Oh I forgot….did you watch Santa Clarita Diet?
Nah, I have no interest and while Cougs does inconceivably like Barrymore, we still have to watch The Crown
Did you?
@Grey: Oh I thought you were forced into watching what she wants, like me. We only watched one full episode. I laughed a few times. Timmy O swearing as a wholesome dad made me laugh.
Yeah, she wants to watch The Crown and she chose that before… We literally take 4 months to watch one Netflix show… I could watch sixteen shows in the time it takes Cougs to watch one… We have about a 64 minute window a night for her to watch an hour show
@Grey: I’m hit or miss binging. I never even finished the second season of Bloodline but I just ran through 30 Rock with the quickness.
All 7 seasons? Damn, opposite here, I watched Bloodline super bingey, but have been watching 30 Rock here and there for 2 years
In a slow draft, I took Jason Hammel with the 468th overall pick, behind guys like Archie Bradley and Josh Tomlin. Really digging your rank of him.
Nice!
Grey –
I’m having trade proposal thoughts … me offering Trevor Story for one Trea Turner ….
What say you?
I’d take Turner, it’s fair
Having a tough time with this one, would you give up Dozier for Lamb/Dee Gordon in a dynasty league if you need a 3B?
Sounds fair, could pay off nicely
12 team 5×5 Roto keeper
C,1b,2b,3b,ss,mi,cl,4OF,2UT
Rizzo
Lemahieu
C Seager
Bryant
Rendon
Trout
Schwarber
G Polanco
Who should be my last 4 keeps?
Grienke
G Cole
Stroman
Nola
Velasquez
T Anderson
E Nunez
Leaning the first 4 pitchers but it seems steals is thinning on our draft board so hard not to keep one of those bats. I completely agree with your Nunez SF write-up so I’m not big on keeping him as well as SP being deep so I am wavering daily, ha.
Thanks Grey!!
G Cole
Stroman
Nola
Velasquez
@Grey: I like it, that name brand of Grienke isn’t worth a keep. Thanks a bunch
No problem
20 team roto with XBH/OPS and holds/QS added. keep 7-9 no round costs, for each guy under 9 you keep you’d get a before main draft draft pick. this team got 2nd last year (was 6th-7th for most of year right till the end). short amount of innings, so probably only 5-6 regular SP needed (1250 max innings), even then you can easily bench a lot of starts with that few innings. probably more BN spots used for hitters than in any of my other leagues (usually 3 or so here)
1 of every hitting spot (3 OF), 1 util. 2 NA, 2 SP, 2 RP, 3 P (so obviously it’s optimal to have 5 RP every day), 7 BN, 3 DL.
keeper options: treat urner, cano, cargo 1 (COL), g.sanchez, carpenter, dahl, a.jones, jose ram, piscotty, porcello, f.martes (HOU). can probably trade porcello for pick.
@I don’t want to brag but i have irritable bowel syndrome: not “the end” but team skyrocketed to 2nd (and was gaining on 1st for about 2 months) from 6th with maybe 1.5 months left.
@I don’t want to brag but i have irritable bowel syndrome: also have rodon the monster as option.
@I don’t want to brag but i have irritable bowel syndrome: i have a trade offer of dahl for cole as well.
Meh
treat urner, cano, cargo 1 (COL), g.sanchez, carpenter, dahl, piscotty
@Grey: last year when i first joined this league i overvalued who my keepers were (a.jones/ellsbury/heyward/rodon were part of the 9 at the time along with cargo/cano/piscotty/carpenter/dahl) and watched as players better than i had went in the 2 rounds for those who kept 7 or 8, this will likely resolve this problem, even as my current picks would be at 19th and 22nd overall in the predraft draft rounds. i’ll get at least a first round regular draft (round 10) for porcello, maybe even a before draft draft pick.
@I don’t want to brag but i have irritable bowel syndrome: and of course i’ll draft the shit out of SP right away having this offense already in place
C sanchez
1B carpenter (i think 3B is less weak than 1B in FA guys, but could go other way if i’m backwards on that)
2B cano
3B
SS
OF cargo/piscotty/dahl
util treat urner
Totally!
Gotcha
I have to admit, your proposed starting staff of Salazar/McCullers/Paxton makes for a pretty terrifying WHIP.
The cold water thrown on guys like Sanchez and Manaea is a good reality check. Those were looking like guys to target until you look under the hood.
Yeah, WHIP could be an issue with them, grab Nola!
Dynasty league trade which side wins? Rounds attached H2H 5×5 league
Thor(11), Lindor(12) for Story (10) DeGrom(25) ? Thanks!
Thor side, it’s close