The big trading-deadline FAAB bids have been made. Who are the winners? Who are the losers?
Mastersball has all the action here.
George Bissell of Baseball Prospectus takes on Tout AL and NL, plus LABR mixed, with his commentary here.
Category: About Tout Wars
Tout Daily P5 W2: Pianowski Says It Loud!
Scott Pianowski led the field in Week 2 of Period 5 of Tout Daily by RTSports.com, five points ahead of Brian Walton, who edged Week 1 winner Steve Moyer.
He did it by rostering the day’s big pitchers, Stephen Wright, who was owned by just six-percent of teams, and a resurgent Justin Verlander, who was owned by a resounding 61 percent. The two combined for 39 points.
Second place Brian Walton paired Verlander and John Lester for 34 points, while Moyer continued the daisy chain, mixing Lester and Jameson Taillon (who pitched well, but didn’t win) for 28 points.
Pianowski’s offensive squad received significant contributions from newly-annointed Seattle catcher Mike Zunino, who hit a three-run homer, and Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler, who also homered, but all his hitters contributed something to the win.
You can see the complete results at RTSports.com/tout-wars.
Halfway through the final tilt for the last golden ticket to the Tout Wars finals, Moyer and Walton have sizeable leads over Jake Ciely and Lawr Michaels.
Three tickets to the August 26 finals will be awarded to the Top 3 finishers in the fifth period.
View the entire leaderboard here.
Check in here at ToutWars.com next Friday, August 12, for a preview of the Week 3 contest and Tout picks.
And play every day for prizes (even New York residents!) and/or fun at RTSports.com.
The Final Countdown For Tout Daily!
It’s Week 1 of Period 5 in Tout Wars Daily, by RTSports.com.
All the Touts start fresh, though 11 of them hold tickets to the August 26th Tout Daily Finals. Jeff Erickson has two tickets already, and is pursuing a third. Follow the action tonight at RTSportsc.om/tout-wars.
We asked the Touts who they were picking in tonight’s contest:
JEFF BOGGIS
I’m rolling with Jose Quintana ($7,800 @ Minnesota) at starting pitcher and Josh Donaldson ($6,800 vs. Baltimore) as my top hitter.
LAWR MICHAELS
I like Jose Quintana ($7,800 @ Minnesota) and Vincent Velasquez ($6,800 @ Atlanta) as starters. Well, I picked them and hope I like them in the morning.
As for hitters, Joey Votto ($6,500 @ San Diego) and Tucker Barnhart ($2,500 @ San Diego) going against Edwin Jackson.
CHARLIE WIEGERT
Top Pitchers..still trying to find a diamond in the rough, I’m going with Ivan Nova ($4,500 @ Tampa Bay). Hoping he’ll put up a good game for all the scouts that will be watching. Staying on the cheap, Kendall Graveman ($5,100 @ Cleveland) has been good his last three starts, hoping for one more at Cleveland.
Top Hitters…Riding some hot hands; Freddie Freeman ($5,500 vs. Philadelphia), Justin Turner ($4,200 vs. Arizona), Neil Walker ($4,200 vs. Colorado) and Aledmys Diaz ($4,300 @ Miami). And went big in the OF with Matt Kemp ($5,400 vs. Cincinnati), Mark Trumbo ($5,700 @ Toronto) and Andrew MuCutchen ($5,500 @ Milwaukee).
MIKE GIANELLA
Top Pitcher: Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ San Francisco) – After some bumps in the road earlier in the year, Scherzer has been a near-automatic points machine in DFS. There is a risk he doesn’t cash in on the win in a tough matchup in San Francisco, but he is worth the start anyway.
Top Hitter: Trevor Story ($5,900 @ NY Mets). Story’s pedestrian numbers on the road bury a significant split against left-handers and right-handers away from Coors. His match-up against Steven Matz looks very favorable for Story in this light, and while it is a high price to pay, Story is a strong play this evening.
SCOTT SWANAY
Pitcher: Vincent Velasquez ($6,800 @ Atlanta) – one of the few times all season the Phillies should be heavy favorites on the road; facing Atlanta will do that for you.
Hitter: Jay Bruce ($5,300 @ San Diego)– assuming he isn’t traded by game time, he’ll get to take batting practice against Edwin Jackson for at least a few innings.
BRIAN WALTON
Phillies starter Vincent Velasquez ($6,800 @ Atlanta) is a steal at just the 10th-most expensive pitcher. After averaging 13 points over his last five outings, the right-hander draws the power-free Braves Friday night and his mates should tee off on rookie Tyrell Jenkins.
I had been looking at Milwaukee shortstop Jonathan Villar’s ($4,700 vs. Pittsburgh) splits closely, as I just acquired the National League steals leader in NL LABR on Thursday. Villar has a stellar .910 OPS this season against lefties and draws one in Bucs’ rookie Steven Brault Friday night.
GENE McCAFFREY
Pitcher: Steven Matz ($7,800 vs. Colorado) at home against the Rox, who are better vs. righties.
Hitter: Tim Lincecum is begging to be hit, let Travis Shaw ($4,300 @ LA Angels) answer the call.
JEFF ERICKSON
Going with Mad Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ San Francisco) and Ivan Nova ($4,500 @ Tampa Bay), who’s been surprisingly capable lately and allows me to afford right-handed Red Sox, who get their turn to paste Tim Lincecum.
There is an incredible battle royale going on in Tout Wars Mixed Auction! Check this out!
Check this out:
You can see the whole standings, with category breakdowns at onRoto.com.
Although it’s hard to parse, a gander at the Transactions All Teams By Period might astound. A total of 187 players have been traded in this league. In the similarly configured Tout Mixed Draft, a total of six players have been dealt.
Everybody is looking for an edge. They will need it.
Mini FAAB Reports for July 18!
A second FAAB run, three days after the last, but there is still action, especially for a man named Pomeranz. Todd Zola and his henchmen at Mastersball have comments on five leagues.
Mike Gianella tackles the Pomeranz issue, too, with charts, plus all the other moves in Tout AL and NL, with some mixed league discussion too at Baseball Prospectus.
Jeff Erickson Tops Tout Daily Field with Strasburg and Pham!
The top two Tout Daily teams last night rostered Stephen Strasburg and Thomas Pham, and when the two players combined for 32 points those teams gained an edge. (Only Hector Santiago (18) and Chris Taylor (18) scored more points on the night, and no team owned them both.)
But after that the two leaders went about accumulating points in different ways.
Winner Jeff Erickson also got strong contributions from Paul Goldschmidt, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty, and Jonathan Villar. Of this group only Piscotty was owned by more than 5 percent of RTSports.com teams last night.
Jeff also had no players who scored a zero, and got double-digit points from the night’s most expensive pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, even though he failed to win his game.
The second place finisher, Eno Sarris, did get a win from his second pitcher. But Carlos Carrasco only scored .66 more points than Bumgarner.
Sarris also suffered from a no-point night oh-fer from Travis d’Arnaud, but still finished a solid second because of strong performances by Yasiel Puig, Travis Shaw, Howie Kendrick, and Addison Russell. Only Kendrick was owned by more than two percent of RTSports.com owners.
The rest of the night’s results sent the Period 4 competition topsy turvy, as only Todd Zola and Bret Sayre repeated in the Top 10 from the previous week.
Zola, the only player to finish in the Top 10 all three weeks so far, has a huge lead on the whole field, leading Erickson by 16 points and ahead of the rest of the pack by 23. You can see the whole leaderboard here.
While anything can happen, the final week of Period 4 looks to be a battle among Zola, Erickson, and Mike Gianella, Howard Bender, Eno Sarris, Tom Kessenich, Brian Walton and Derek VanRiper for the three Golden Tickets.
Of that group only Jeff Erickson and Brian Walton already have tickets into the Tout Daily Finals, on August 26th. Check back next Friday to ToutWars.com for the Tout’s picks for that night, and Saturday morning for the Period 4 final results.
Tout Wars Daily Per. 4 Wk. 3 Previews: The Touts Picks
Todd Zola is in the lead by 15 points over Andrea LaMont and Howard Bender, who are just barely ahead of Mike Gianella and Steve Moyer. And there are many right behind them. This week will be make or break for some of those teams. Especially if Zola continues to score big.
The whole leaderboard is here.
In an unusual turn, we’re playing this week’s contest including the 2:20 ET matinee at Wrigley Field. Those who missed that starting time will be allowed to submit legal rosters (no Rangers or Cubs) up until 7pm ET tonight. The salary list is here: RTDaily-Baseball-Salaries-2.
Who do the Touts pick tonight? Look for the results here at ToutWars.com on Saturday morning.
BRIAN WALTON:
Though Carlos Carrasco ($8600 @ Minnesota) allowed five runs in his last pre-break start, four were unearned due to shaky defense behind him. Over the last month, seven starts and 32 innings, the lndians’ ace has an ERA of 1.97 and takes on the toothless Twins Friday night.
Despite Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph ($3300 vs. NY Mets) being best known as a lefty-masher, more than half of his hits in his current 10-for-18 hot stretch were against righties, such as Friday’s opponent, 43-year-old Mets All-Star Bartolo Colon. Joseph’s price cannot be beaten, freeing money to use elsewhere.
PHIL HERTZ
I’m recommending Carlos Carrasco ($8600 @ Minnesota) as a pitcher and betting that Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 @ St. Lous) didn’t leave all his home run swings in San Diego.
LAWR MICHAELS
Still, I am guessing that by going with Madison Bumgarner ($9400 @ San Diego) pitching in friendly PetCo. I also suspect that just as a gaggle of us thought Sale would manhandle the Braves that MadBum will have his way with the Friars. Still, it is a logical choice to me, offset by my crapshoot of Ervin Santana ($6,500 vs. Cleveland), twirling against the dangerous Indians. Big Erv is coming off a monster two-hit game against the lesser Athletics, but Santana actually has four solid starts in a row.
The pricey Bumgarner did force me to quiet my outfield down, but I still grabbed the fine troika of Marcell Ozuna ($4800 @ St. Louis), Denard Span ($4400 @ San Diego), and Stephen Piscotty ($4300 vs. Miami) all of whom can simply hit.
JEFF BOGGIS
My top Starting Pitcher is Madison Bumgarner ($9,400 @ San Diego). Bumgarner was the second-best pitcher behind Clayton Kershaw in fantasy baseball for the first half of the 2016 season. In his last outing against Arizona last week, he stuck out 14 on a one-hit gem. Bumgarner has never pitched a no hitter in his career, so maybe this will be his night to accomplish this feat.
My top Starting Hitter is Josh Donaldson ($6,800 @ Oakland). My top DFS strategy for tonight is to not start any players that participated in the home run derby, so I’m going with Josh Donaldson as my top starting hitter. Josh Donaldson is the second best hitter behind Jose Altuve in fantasy baseball for the first half of the 2016 season. Donaldson is the best hitter over the last 30 days before the all-star break. Donaldson is facing right-handed starting pitcher Daniel Mengden of the Oakland A’s tonight. Donaldson is batting .290 with 19 home runs and 51 RBIs against right-handed pitching this season. Last week, Daniel Mengden gave up 6 earned runs in only 4 inning pitched at Houston. He owns a 4.54 ERA and 1.37 WHIP on the season.
TIM HEANEY
SP James Paxton ($6,900 vs Houston) He’s typically better at pitcher-leaning Safeco Field, and the Astros’ OPS vs. southpaws is one of the league’s worst.
OF Stephen Piscotty ($4,300 vs Miami) .351/.468/.597 against lefties this year. Always a nice DFS bargain when he faces one. Wei-Yin Chen carries a .507 slugging percentage vs. RHB on the road.
CHARLIE WIEGERT
Going Cheap on Pitchers again. Jorge De La Rosa ($4,900 @ Atlanta) and Anthony DeSclafani ($6,500 vs. Milwaukee). Both have pitched well lately, have strike out potential and a good chance to get a win.
Hitters, with the dollars saving on the cheap pitchers, taking Mike Trout ($6,800 vs Chicago White Sox) and Kole Calhoun ($4,900 @ Chicago White Sox) at home tonight against Miguel Gonzalez. Nolan Arenado ($6,800 @ Atlanta) and Charlie Blackmon ($6,500 @ Atlanta) against Atlanta rookie (Harrell) and sleeper picks Jedd Gyorko ($2,800 vs. Miami) (if in line up at home against MIA — Chen) and Kennys Vargas ($2,600 vs. Cleveland).
MIKE GIANELLA
Top hitter: Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 @ St. Louis) Even the bad Stanton has mashed against southpaws this season. His ISO is sixth among qualified hitters. Jaime Garcia isn’t a gimmie, but I’m betting on a resurgent Stanton to go yard tonight.
Top pitcher: Madison Bumgarner ($9400 @ San Diego). A well rested Bumgarner Post All Star against a Padres lineup that is thin after their top two or three hitters is a pretty safe place to put my money.
Tout Wars All Star Break FAAB Commentaries.
From the crew at Mastersball, notes on five Tout Wars leagues.
Mike Gianella’s FAAB Notes at Baseball Prospectus are up. They’re presently behind the paywall, but they’re usually available for everyone. I’ll let him know and we can hope they’ll be available later.