Author Archive: Paul Sporer

Let me just state out front that this isn’t just subject to change, but that it will change. I don’t think that fact makes it useless to roll out an early top 24. This gives us a baseline and hopefully fosters some discussion that will impact that changes sure to come over the fall and winter. Heck, I might have an update in early November after marinating on the entirety of the 2016 season for a month or so.

Here are my top 24 with a quick comment on each:

1. Clayton Kershaw: He sits fifth on ESPN’s Player Rater among starters despite just 135 innings because he’s insane.

2. Max Scherzer: Had a 4.05 ERA and big home run issue through two months of season, but he’s rallied with a 2.10 ERA in his last 20 starts and now rates as the best fantasy pitcher for the season. He allowed 15 HRs in those first 11 starts, but just 11 in the last 20 along with a filthy 169 strikeouts in 137.3 innings.

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Chat will start around 2 PM!

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9/21/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot finally up

Other notable call-ups recently:

• Matt Olson
• Renato Nunez
• Rio Ruiz
• Dan Vogelbach
• Roman Quinn

Strategy Section: Streamers

• Thursday (32:30)
• Friday (40:12)

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9/18/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Hanley Ramirez – we decided to discuss him before a 2-HR night (Jason’s piece, also Petriello & Swydan on him)
• Khris Davis
• Mark Trumbo
• Danny Farquhar

Strategy Section: Streamers

• Monday: Jharel Cotton, Carlos Rodon, Tyler Anderson, Braden Shipley
• Tuesday: Joe Musgrove, Matt Boyd, Kevin Gausman (shallow leagues)
• Wednesday: Daniel Mengden, Collin McHugh, Chad Kuhl, Bartolo Colon

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Baseball is a long and glorious season and as we near the finish line, I’m more inclined to push for a longer season* than a shorter one just because I don’t want to let go, but one of the downsides of the six-month grind is that some seasons go unnoticed. A big April can overshadow regression down the road and a bad one can leave the turnaround overlooked. Sometimes a guy just comes up midseason and never really hits the radar despite performing.

*kidding (sorta)

Here are three solid seasons you might’ve missed:

Hernan Perez [MIL, 3B/OF]

Perez didn’t suffer through a bad April because he only played three games that month. The issue with him is that he was just so far removed from anyone’s radar that if you’re not a Brewers fan, I’m not sure how you would’ve noticed him until the numbers reached a level where we all had to give it a look. Perez has been a counting category stud with 13 homers and 30 stolen bases and the most impressive aspect is that he has needed just 371 plate appearances to reach those marks.

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9/16/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Logan Morrison
• Hanley Ramirez

Strategy Section: Streamers

• Friday (20:10)
• Saturday (25:16)
• Sunday (30:00)

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Chat starts around 2:15 PM Central!

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9/14/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

I think I’m a little echo-y throughout, but we know exactly why and it won’t happen next time. With our new setup, Eno has to use his earbuds to prevent that feedback and we forgot this time. 

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Aaron Judge done for the year (6:00)

Let’s talk 2H rookie hitters:

• Gary Sanchez (10:20)
• Alex Bregman (18:55)
• Trea Turner (26:30)
• Ryan Schimpf (36:17)
• David Dahl (49:30)
• Ryon Healy (43:26)

Strategy Section: Uncertain Bullpens Down the Stretch

• Colorado (52:50)
• SF (55:40)
• Cleveland (57:26)
• Arizona (59:15)
• Angels (1:02:40)

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We haven’t even closed the book on 2016, but I’m already in a mock draft for 2017. What do you mean I have a problem? I don’t have a problem, you have a problem! I would normally say something trite like “it’s never too early to start studying for 2017”, but of course it can be too early. If I had done something in mid-May about the 2017 season, that definitely would’ve been too early. And let’s be honest, this current mock draft with the InThisLeague guys & company might also be too early for any sane person, but I take these bullets for y’all.

You’re welcome.

We’re just wrapping up the third round as it’s a slow mock so we’re going to focus on the first round of this 12-team standard 5×5 draft. Before we do that, let’s look at the ESPN Player Rater for the year so far. I obviously don’t think the top 12 from this year should comprise the first round, but I am interested to see how many of them go in the first round.

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9/11/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Rich Hill – yeah, we’re talking about it (2:50)
• Kevin Kiermaier (15:00)
• Hanley Ramirez (22:30)
• Robbie Ray (29:30)
• Byron Buxton (40:30)

Strategy Section:

• Middle Infield Power – Jason’s Rotowire piece [$] (46:00)

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