I start the podcast by letting Ralph’s real first name slip on air by accident in a conversation about me fearing that I would let Ralph’s real first name slip on air by accident (I don’t think he heard me, though, shhhh). We then discuss the blockbuster Eloy Jimenez trade, along with how much the news of Jay Groome’s father’s arrest should impact his fantasy value, if at all. We talk fake call-ups (Yoan Moncada), real call-ups (Zack Granite), and prospective call-ups (Amed Rosario, Rhys Hoskins, Brent Honeywell, Dominic Smith, Scott Kingery, and many more). Finally, I look forward to Rappin’ Ralph and Nick the Smooth Dick being featured on an upcoming RotoRhymes track, but in the meantime, make sure to head over to RotoWear.com and enter promo code “SAGNOF” to get 15% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy game right now.

Razzball Prospect Podcast: Eloy Jimenez Trade, Jay Groome’s Dad, and 2nd Half Call-Ups (Ep. 47)

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

*Completion of the 2017 Mid-Season Top 100 Prospect Rankings coming Thursday (Update: Final list coming Monday now. My bad guys.)

Grey was in such a great mood to begin the podcast, talking about frolicking around town on his off day eating rolled ice cream and LA ham sandwiches with little Asian girls. That is until I mentioned a bad podcast review we got on iTunes, which irreversibly changed the tone of the entire podcast and had him flying off the handle. He talked crap on the comments he gets under his daily articles which bother him, he goes hard at Fangraphs for incorrectly predicting Rougned Odor’s lack of power would make him cry at the all-star break, and he threatens to ban the IP address of the rogue bad reviewer if he ever finds out who did it. Through the angst, we manage to breakdown his Top 100 2nd Half Rankings, starting at the top with Bryce Harper, Paul Goldschmidt, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, and Mookie Betts. We dig into his optimistic Aaron Judge ranking and cautious Cody Bellinger ranking, and also discuss his ranking of young aces Lance McCullers, Luis Severino, Alex Wood, and James Paxton. Finally, we bring on our boy Kenneth Cashman from RotoWear.com to talk t-shirts and rapping, and he leaves us with an insane Razzball rap to end the interview.

Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Breaking Down Grey’s 2017 Top 100 2nd Half Fantasy Baseball Rankings

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

It’s prospect list madness this week with mid-season top 100 prospect lists dropping faster than Ralph’s productivity at work. Ralph posted his top 100 last Sunday (and continued on to 200 earlier today) and I’ve been slowly ranking the top 100 over on my website ImaginaryBrickWall.com (currently up to 70). We discuss the discrepancies between our rankings, including Triston McKenzie vs. Walker Buehler and where we slot the 2017 MLB Draft guys, along with comparing our rankings to the behemoths of the industry, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. We talk similarities too, as we both gush over some of the top breakout prospects, such as Estevan Florial and Ryan McMahon. Finally, we rep our podcast sponsor RotoWear.com, who is hooking up all Razzball readers/listeners with 15% off their purchase by entering promo code “SAGNOF.”

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: The 2017 Mid-Season Top 100 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Show (Ep. 46)

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

Controversy was a-brewin’ in the fantasy sports world this weekend when Matt Berry called out a Fantasy Pros writer for copying his article idea. Grey weighed in on it on Twitter, and then we continue that conversation to start off this week’s podcast. After getting all of the drama out of the way, we dig deep into the fantasy baseball world, discussing the Trea Turner injury, Freddie Freeman and Aaron Sanchez’ impending returns, and Clint Frazier’s callup. We also try to find some hope in a group of falling aces (Cole Hamels, Jake Arrieta, and David Price), while getting excited by a group of young up and comers (Mike Clevinger, Jon Gray, Luis Severino, and Jose Berrios). Finally, I congratulate “nightpandas” on another hard fought Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest victory (there will be no contest this week), and also implore you to head over to Rotowear to get 15% off their awesome shirts by entering promo code “SAGNOF.”

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Fantasy Gossip, July 4th, Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman, Clint Frazier, and Many More

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

This podcast is step one of the process to start a real-life Ralph and Halp Dynasty Baseball Prospects All-Star Game presented by Razzball and sponsored by our friends at Rotowear. Like LaVar Ball, our plan right now mostly revolves around speaking it into existence. As the old saying goes, it’s 90% inspiration and 10% perspiration. Or did I get that backwards? Either way, Ralph and I pick our Dynasty Futures All-Star rosters sandlot style, going back and forth until we each have a full lineup and pitching staff, while discussing many of the top guys at each position along the way. We also begin the podcast with a mini update, talking about the Nick Williams and Franklin Barreto callups, Dustin Fowler’s devastating injury, Miguel Andujar’s short lived MLB debut, and Scott Kingery’s Triple-A assault.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: The 2017 Ralph and Halp Dynasty Baseball Futures Game Rosters

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

*Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball Prospect List coming Thursday

Technical difficulties forced us to re-record the final 45 minutes of the podcast, and Grey came out extra punchy for the second take. One second he is threatening to strangle me, and the next he is professing his love for me. Speaking of love, Grey also reveals that he was actually trying to get a job the first time he accidently hit on Cougs at the Chiropractor’s office (he still struggles to get her to read his scripts). On the fantasy baseball side, we cover a lot of ground, starting with Starling Marte, Carlos Rodon, Franklin Barreto, and Blake Snell, before moving on to some players on the rise, including Cody Bellinger, Trey Mancini, Mike Montgomery, and Travis Shaw. Finally, I congratulate MattTruss for absolutely dominating the Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest last week, and look forward to attempt to take him down in tonight’s contest

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast, Take Two: Starling Marte, Carlos Rodon, Franklin Barreto, Blake Snell, and Many More

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

There’s no time for small talk this week, because Ralph Lifshitz and I set out to break the record for most prospects talked about in a single podcast episode. Here are just a few of the names we discuss: Julio Urias (recorded before news broke of his season ending shoulder surgery), Patrick Weigel, Lewis Brinson, Brendan Rodgers, Rafael Devers, Gleyber Torres, Nick Senzel, Shed Long, Michael Chavis, Yordan Alvarez, Bo Bichette, Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcastle, Colton Welker, Logan Allen, Nick Neidert, Tyler Mahle, Joey Lucchesi, Jordan Humphreys, Estevan Florial, Taylor Trammell, Brett Cumberland, Tyler Wells, Randy Arrozarena, Jordan Luplow, Luis Escobar, Zack Littell, Zac Gallen, Beau Burrows, Nabil Crismatt, Jesus Sanchez, Khalil Lee, Monte Harrison, Mario Feliciano, Josh Ockimey, and many more. Also, on this week’s episode of Real Husbands of the Crab Army, El Presidente Lifshitz begins to fear a military coup is afoot.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Injuries, Call-Ups, and First Half Prospect Breakouts

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

Grey Albright (fake name) and Michael Halpern (real name) kick things off by discussing Brandon Funston’s split with Yahoo, and what this says about the Fantasy Baseball industry as a whole. I then get Grey’s opinion on the Francis Martes vs. Derek Fisher Twitter debate that Mike Maher started between myself, Ralph Lifshitz, and Chris Towers of CBS (Towers takes the early lead with news of Fisher’s demotion), before moving on to discuss Gleyber Torres’ season ending elbow injury, Madison Bumgarner’s current trade value, and how much you can trust AJ Pollock to remain healthy upon his return. Finally, we both get excited for the return of the Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest, so make sure to sign up and get in on the action.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: The State of Fantasy Baseball Writing

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

Time was, when you looked terrible in a photograph, it was something you and the other people in the photo would get a good laugh over. These days, it gets blasted out to thousands of people, destined to be immortalized for eternity. Let’s all get a good laugh at the worst photo of Ralph ever taken. If you’ve ever watched his YouTube show, you know he doesn’t actually look like that, which is what makes it so funny. It would be pretty messed up otherwise. On to the podcast! We start by talking about the recent call-ups of Derek Fisher, Lewis Brinson, Matt Chapman, and Tom Murphy, before moving on to discuss our post MLB Draft thoughts on where certain prospects landed, including DL Hall, Jeren Kendall, and Pavin Smith. Finally, we close the show by figuring out where Mickey Moniak, AJ Puk, and Bo Bichette would fit into a top 100 ranking, and also try to predict who will be the next big-time prospects to get the call.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Call-Ups, MLB Draft Recap, and Low Minors Update

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

Turns out there is a 50/50 shot that I’ve hit on Grey’s mom in Whole Foods. I would raise those odds to like a 90% chance if she likes wearing yoga pants. What can I say? I’m a sucker for yoga pants. If you haven’t figured it out yet, Grey and I found out this weekend that Grey’s mom and I live in the same area and shop at the same supermarkets! We also found out that JB doesn’t have to be the host in order to get sucked into a Brewers vortex for the first 20 minutes of the show, as talking about Lewis Brinson bled right into Domingo Santana, which bled into Orlando Arcia. We finally do move on, and get to such luminaries as Aaron Judge, Jeff Hoffman, Brad Peacock, Aaron Hicks, Corey Seager, and many more. I then congratulate “nightpandas” on his Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Lewis Brinson, Jeff Hoffman, Aaron Judge, and Many More

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)