(Just leaving this here so I can remember the good times once his elbow explodes.)

Why yes, yes I do have Mason Miller on literally all of my fantasy teams.

Might have something to do with scheduling around Passover tonight?

Number 18 absolutely wrecked me.

Revisiting the 2023 Fantasy Model Portfolios | Baseball Prospectus The best competitions are the ones where you don't know that you're participating.

Revisiting the 2023 Fantasy Model Portfolios
by Bryan Grosnick (@bgrosnick.bsky.social)

Thank you @euqubud.bsky.social, @ginnysearle.bsky.social, @cdgoldstein.baseballprospectus.com, and the incredible team who contributed to and put this book together.

Picture of the 2024 Baseball Prospectus Annual.

I cannot believe that this year’s version of the book has my name on the cover.

Thoughts on Fred McGriff, 1987 Topps Traded? I’ll hang up and listen.

Davis Schneider‘s MLB beginnings were sensational, the kind of stuff you make magical realism baseball movies about like The Natural or Rookie of the Year. By September 13, it was unavoidable: the unheralded rookie with the distinctive look was having the best start to a career … possibly ever. But we’ve been there, we’ve seen that. I lived through Kevin Maas and have a devalued 1990 Score rookie card to prove it. Like I said with Yandy Diaz last week, no one really expects that elite level of performance to continue unabated in 2024. (Heck, it didn’t even last through all of 2023.) But what can we expect? And what are reasonable best- and worst-case scenarios for the Jays’ presumptive starting second baseman? (Or maybe third baseman? Jeez, this team could use another infielder that isn’t Isiah Kiner-Falefa.) That is what The 10/90 Scale is for! He’s available late in drafts and already shown us what the upper bounds of his performance could look like … knowing what PECOTA projects fo

The 10/90 Scale: Davis Schneider
by Bryan Grosnick (@bgrosnick.bsky.social)
www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/arti...

Part 1: Good Relievers on Bad Teams Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sign RHP Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million contract. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sign LHP Matt Moore to a one-year, $9 million contract. Pittsburgh Pirates sign LHP Aroldis Chapman to a one-year, $10.5 million contract. The Angels appear to believe that they’re in contention for a Wild Card spot, as they’re adding depth to a bullpen that needs it badly … but also could use a few hitters, a few starting pitchers, and some non-uniformed staff. Robert Stephenson is something of a risk as he’s a pop-up guy without a sustained track record of success, but also that cutter absolutely whips. There’s some consternation about whether or not the Angels are a good fit for him from a development (or contention) standpoint, but for fantasy’s sake, Stephenson is probably one of the three best setup investments you can make in the short term. (For dynasty … well, he’ll still help you contend in the short term, and that’

Fantasy Transaction Analysis Snapshot: January 25, 2024
by Bryan Grosnick (@bgrosnick.bsky.social)
www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/arti...

Almost a decade later, the player I profiled in the Annual looks–like, literally looks, but I also mean this figuratively–quite a bit different. The fundamentals of great contact and solid patience are still there, but the defense … not so much. “Ground Beef” is more like “Medium-Rare Air” after belting 22 homers last season and posting one of the 5-10 best offensive seasons in the league. He won a batting title! You’d have to be crazy to expect anything like his 2023 again in 2024; hitting .330 with solid power just doesn’t seem like something the Rays’ first baseman should be able to pull off with any consistency. So let’s take a look at PECOTA, and let the machine do the thinking for us. What should we expect from a good Yandy Diaz season in 2024, and what might the low end of his production look like?

The 10/90 Scale: Yandy Diaz
by Bryan Grosnick (@bgrosnick.bsky.social)
www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/arti...

Bob Didier barely crested that PA number in his age-20 season in 1969, and he’s the only example of a C this young not being an All-Star-caliber backstop.

Fun fact: there have only been 13 catchers in the last 90 years who had more than 250 PA in their age-21 season. Francisco Alvarez is the 13th. *All* of the others are multi-time All-Stars, and five are in the Hall of Fame. (Johnny Bench, Josh Gibson, Ted Simmons, Gary Carter, and Ivan Rodriguez.)

The ultimate fantasy baseball compliment paid here. So glad you enjoyed our work this year, @rockiesvsconnor.bsky.social !

This is an outstanding deal on a great product.

(I am not just saying that because I am a co-editor of the 2024 Baseball Prospectus Annual.)

And that brings us to the point: this column. The Comeback Kid is designed to help me (and you) play fantasy baseball in a way that optimizes for fun and for time, without sacrificing performance. I’m going to explore every possible hack to have an enjoyable experience and be in the thick of the fantasy baseball pennant chase, without having to dedicate my life to it. THE HOW Leverage existing expertise in the field Minimize distractors where possible Automate easily where we can Malcolm Gladwell was wrong; it doesn’t take 1,000 or 10,000 hours to become an expert … that’s a gross oversimplification of skill and knowledge acquisition. Still, if we don’t have time to build our own expertise, then maybe it’s best to focus on what we can and outsource the rest of the expertise. For me, that’s a little easier than most; I’m the editor here for all the fantasy content. I have access to about a dozen of the best minds in fantasy baseball here at BP, plus several dozen of the best minds in

The Comeback Kid: Introduction
by Bryan Grosnick (@bgrosnick.bsky.social)
www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/arti...

This isn’t just a Dave Magadan autoshare. (But it is also a Dave Magadan autoshare.)

The 1993-94 offseason was a turbulent time for the sport of baseball. For the second straight year, America’s Game was conquered by Canadians, after Joe Carter’s historic three-run home run off Mitch Williams. The NFL and NBA both inked major new television contracts, which, combined with declining national ratings, impacted MLB’s revenues. (Teams lost an estimated $7 million each with the change in the league’s broadcasting partnership.) Fantasy football was beginning to conquer Rotisserie baseball the way its parent sport had. And as the offseason opened, the rumblings of ownership were growing impossible to ignore. Faye Vincent, the league’s previous commissioner, had been deposed by his employers for being too soft. A salary cap was coming to baseball, if not this offseason, then soon. But despite it all the stove was already lit. The Braves had been shocked by the Phillies and their Macho Row, but they remained the undisputed dynasty of the 1990s, edging the hard-luck Barry Bonds

TA94: The Mariners Get Their Catcher of the Future of the Past
by Patrick Dubuque (@euqubud.bsky.social)
www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article...

The Comeback Kid: Introduction - Baseball Prospectus Presenting a new fantasy column on maximizing your enjoyment and performance while minimizing your time and effort.

Starting a new fantasy baseball column! The Comeback Kid is geared toward people returning to the game or folks without an infinite number of hours to put into it. Hope you enjoy.

Congrats! You’ll be missed!

Should probably just trade Brett Baty for a serviceable two-win veteran on a reasonable short-term contract. Maybe a team like the Giants has a guy?

My three-year-old is using it exclusively to ask for candy

No. Of course I’d much rather that more people have access.

Uh, yeah. When I saw how much I could get for my Valkyrie Profile copy I couldn’t ditch it fast enough

Just sold that Tactics Ogre on eBay, still have the ps1 Ogre Battle

That’s an awesome start! I thought I’d get a smaller number on my bottom left, but lots of folks got him.

By far my best one yet:

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 139 9/9:
Rarity: 42
IMMACULATE!
🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
Play at:
https://immaculategrid.com
@immaculategrid x @baseball_ref

Of all the baseball players whose names are full, grammatically correct sentences, I think Rob Deer has to be my favorite.

(Followed shortly thereafter by Don Black and Don Drysdale.)

On today’s IG, if the Tigers row and .300 AVG column were swapped, there’d be one current player who would’ve been an answer for six spots. Alas, he’s only good for 4.

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 133 9/9:
Rarity: 41
IMMACULATE!
🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
Play at:
https://immaculategrid.com
@immaculategrid x @baseball_ref

Transaction Analysis: The D'Backs Are Phams; Yarbrough for the Mann; Pirates Are Hedges-ing - Everyone loves platoon hitters—at least, they do when deadline day comes.

The D'Backs picked up Tommy Pham, the Dodgers added a lefty pitcher (not the one they wanted), and the Rangers find a backup catcher. Transaction Analysis courtesy @bgrosnick.bsky.social and @euqubud.bsky.social: