Author Archive: Paul Sporer

11/27/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb – Producer

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• The Braves debacle (3:00)
  • What’d they do?
  • Who’d they lose? (Kevin Maitan)
  • What happens to those prospects?
• Ohtani’s Orrival (23:15)
  • Info on Memo he sent
  • Where’s he going?
• Doug Fister to TEX (32:40)
• Hisashi Iwakuma back to SEA (34:20)

Read the rest of this entry »

11/26/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb – Producer

Guest Episode

• Steve Moyer & Greg Lumsden from YakkerTech join us to discuss their technology!

Read the rest of this entry »

11/22/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb – Producer

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Aaron Judge shoulder surgery
• Shohei Ohtani coming
• Twins talking Gerrit Cole
• Brewers seeking big arm?
• Mark Appel DFA’d
• Blue Jays in J.D. Martinez market?

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to review every position and take stock of where we’re at heading into the offseason. We will tackle the primary skills, look at some playing time jumpers, check in on some prospects, peek back at 2017’s ADP, and get an early look at the 2018 pool. There is definitely going to be similarities across all the positions with these overviews, but each will have its own idiosyncrasies tailored to the depth and expectations. Let’s start with fantasy baseball’s thinnest position and dive in on catchers!

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks for coming out!

Read the rest of this entry »

11/16/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb – Producer

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Ryon Healy trade (2:00)
• Giancarlo Stanton rumors (8:30)
  • Eno’s piece
• NL ROY Down ballot in ‘18 (19:56)
  • Paul DeJong (200 ADP)
  • Rhys Hoskins (38.5 ADP)
  • Luis Castillo (160 ADP)
• Corey Kluber & Max Scherzer win Cy Youngs – both 1st rounders? (39:50)
• Chad Green likely to start (46:15)
• Archie Bradley likely to relieve (47:55)
• Alex Reyes targeting May 1st & likely RP to start (49:50)
• Thyago Vieira to CWS for Int’l $ (55:25)
  • Seattle gearing up for Ohtani? (57:30)
• AFL Final Thoughts
  • Michael Chavis (1:02:45)
  • Austin Riley (1:08:27)
  • Sheldon Neuse (1:12:02)
  • Kyle Tucker (1:15:00)
  • Touki Toussaint (1:18:30)

Read the rest of this entry »

There are many paths to success in baseball. Some guys hit the ground running as soon as they’re called up. Others fall on their face immediately and then find their footing and reach or exceed expectations. Then there are those who take a little while. The prospect sheen has worn off and the fantasy community has long since forgotten about them before they finally get it. I mention the fantasy community specifically because as a whole we’re really bad about sticking with prospects.

A player pretty much has to be from that first group of guys who get it immediately or their stock plummets. Part of that is the nature of single-year leagues. We can really only focus on the here and now. Even keeper leagues can’t always wait. In most keepers, you have a limited number of spots or escalating costs meaning you can only hang on so long. Dynasty leagues are different altogether, which is why you get more stories from those leagues about hanging onto the late bloomer for 3-4 seasons before he finally popped. Today I’m looking at a group of once-heralded hitters who’ve yet to click, but still hold at least a flicker of hope. That hope may finally come to fruition in 2018.

Read the rest of this entry »

I love going to the Arizona Fall League! It coincides with the Baseball HQ First Pitch Forum conference and it’s my favorite trip every year without a doubt. It’s a handful of regular games, the Fall Stars game, and tons of fantasy baseball talk crammed into four days and three sleep-deprived nights. There’s always a group of elite prospects in the league that garner the attention, but perhaps my favorite part is learning about the guys just below that tier. I got my first exposure to guys like Brian Dozier, Mookie Betts, and Cody Bellinger at the AFL.

I didn’t even know of Dozier when I first saw him and while I did know Betts and Bellinger, it was seeing them firsthand that really sold me. I don’t always land on the next big thing when I’m there. I’ve had plenty of misses in my nine years. I was really excited about Grant Desme and Chris Heisey my first year out there. Desme became a priest and Heisey hasn’t really surpassed a 4th OF role. My hitting favorites over the years include Desme, Heisey, Dozier, Betts, Dustin Ackley, Brandon Belt, Nolan Arenado, Mike Olt, Junior Lake, Michael Choice, Rymer Liriano, Brian Goodwin, Albert Almora, Eddie Rosario, Hunter Renfroe, Gary Sanchez, and Harrison Bader. A decent mix of hits and misses.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks for comin’ by!

Read the rest of this entry »

The offseason begins with a decent bit of uncertainty in the closer’s role for many teams. The free agent and trade markets could shuffle a lot of 9th inning plans across the league for contenders and pretenders alike. Looking at the free agent market, I’ve identified four middle relievers who I think have a real shot at landing a closer gig this winter.

Read the rest of this entry »