*I extended the MLB Draft Rankings out to a Top 40. Full Top 40 will post on Monday morning.

Lisa Ann just followed me back on Twitter! Oh wait, where am I … ummm … the podcast, right, the prospect podcast! Ralph and Halp deliver a jam-packed episode this week, starting with the recent call-ups of Francis Martes, Sean Newcomb, Jacob Faria, and Brett Phillips (we recorded too early to cover Josh Hader’s call-up). We then get into a 2-man mock draft of 2017 MLB Draft prospects for fantasy baseball purposes, discussing everybody from Hunter Greene, Kyle Wright, and Brendan McKay, to Tristen Lutz, Stuart Fairchild, and Brian Miller.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Mocking 2017 MLB Draft Prospects for Fantasy Baseball

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

*MLB Draft Rankings will resume tomorrow

I start this week’s podcast by wondering if JB still listens to the show and/or reads Razzball, but based on the nugget of information Grey passes along, I’m going to assume the answer to that question is no. I also thank everyone for the awesome podcast reviews this week, while Grey is unsatisfied and unimpressed. On the fantasy baseball side of things, our main focus is middle infield, kicking things off with the surprise of Elvis Andrus being the current #1 SS in fantasy, and Zack Cozart being the current #1 SS in real life. We also talk about if Grey is coming around on Daniel Murphy, how real the Whit Merrifield breakout is, and debate Carlos Correa vs. Trea Turner in Dynasty Leagues. Finally, I get excited for the return of the Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest today, so make sure to sign up and join in on the fun.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Middle Infield Edition

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

Ralph and Halp are coming at you hot off the press this morning, or more accurately, hot off the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). This is our farm-to-table, grass fed, free range edition of the Prospect Podcast. We started the recording at 8:45 AM and it’s hopefully going to drop at 11 AM (if I can finish this write-up in time). The podcast gets off to a rolling start when we debate just how early is too early to teach your child that beautiful Cody Bellinger uppercut, rather than hammering home that boring “keep your elbow up” batting stance that I’m sure every single kid to ever play Little League is completely sick and tired of hearing about. We then transition into tons of prospect talk, starting with Gleyber Torres, Rafael Devers, Dinelson Lamet, and Tom Murphy, before moving on to some players who are absolutely killing the game right now, including Ronald Acuna, Kyle Tucker, Corey Ray, Jack Flaherty, Dustin Fowler, Brendan Rodgers, Scott Kingery, and many more.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Ralph and Halp Coming at You Farm-To-Table

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

I tried to re-create the magic of last week’s podcast, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t take. Instead, Grey goes full Reality TV villain mode, and not so sneakily tries to chip away at the unbreakable Halph relationship. He’s an only child, he doesn’t like to share! He then announces I will be sold off to the 16th person to sign up for next week’s Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest (there won’t be a contest this week), in our new “Win a Date with Halp” segment. Yes, even if it’s a dude (apparently, I didn’t read the fine print in my contract). I also congratulate MattTruss for breaking through and absolutely dominating the field in last week’s tournament. On the fantasy baseball side, I point out that nobody in “the industry” (that term just bothers me for some reason) was as high as Grey in the preseason rankings on two of the bigger pitching breakouts this year, Lance McCullers and Michael Pineda, while also discussing the past and future rankings of Mookie Betts, Charlie Blackmon, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, and many more. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: A Quick Look Back at the Preseason Rankings

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

I start the podcast with what I thought was the excitement of Lucas Giolito’s no hitter on Thursday, but it turns out Ralph couldn’t have cared any less about it. I then try to lighten the mood and ask about his weekend, but it just sends him into a deeper spiral of despair. Amed Rosario and Luis Robert did start to pull him out of it, though, and then we really hit our stride by digging into the upcoming 2017 MLB Draft and First-Year Player Fantasy Baseball Drafts. We discuss if Hunter Greene is worthy of the #1 overall pick, and who the other top contenders for that slot are, including Brendan McKay, Royce Lewis, and MacKenzie Gore. We also debate the strategy of taking high risk/reward prospects, such as Austin Beck and Jordon Adell, over some of the safer college players, like Kyle Wright, JB Bukauskas, Adam Haseley and Pavin Smith.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast: 2017 MLB Draft Edition

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

Grey Albright drops a bomb to start the podcast. A Twitter bomb to be exact. Head over to Razzball’s Twitter page to see if you notice a difference. I then use that as an opportunity to pepper Grey with questions about what he is really up to out in Hollywood. We eventually shift focus back to fantasy baseball, and talk about the ramifications of Freddie Freeman’s injury, along with the impending return of Steven Matz and David Price. The meat of the podcast is all about general trade strategies and specific trade targets. We discuss strategies based on where you are in the standings, such as “buying high” on recent breakouts rather than trading your best player for four mediocre ones. We also dig into the merits of specific targets, including Danny Salazar, Justin Verlander, Rich Hill, Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Sano, Jose Berrios, and many more. Finally, I congratulate the winner of last week’s Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest, MuneForNothing (who I believe is VictoriaB), and look forward to JOINING THIS WEEK’S CONTEST.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Trade Strategies and Targets Depending on Your Place in the Standings

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

I remember when I got the call to the big leagues like it was just a few weeks ago. I was lounging on the couch, re-watching all of my favorite Paul Giamatti flicks, Lady in the Water in particular, when the name “Grey Albright” flashed across my cell phone. I knew immediately. I was being called up to the big league podcast. I texted Ralph, and he confirmed what I already suspected, that he was being called up to the MLB pitching staff, as well. All of this to say, Ralph and I could perfectly relate to Ian Happ, Brad Zimmer, and Anthony Alford getting called up to the Major Leagues this week. We discuss just how long we expect them to stay up, along with how much damage they can potentially do. We then move on to some of the other minor leaguers knocking on the door, including Rhys Hoskins, Dylan Cozens, Austin Meadows, Derek Fisher, Erick Fedde, and many more.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Ian Happ, Brad Zimmer, and Anthony Alford Get the Call

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

Not even fantasy baseball is safe from the Robot Revolution, but fear not, it is situations like this that Razzball has a standing militia on call, The Crab Army. Lord Tehol Beddict is not your true enemy! We must all unite and take aim at the bots! Or, we can just give up and admit that Rudy’s Streaming Tools are far superior to human intellect. Grey and I bring on Razzball’s own MattTruss to discuss the robot takeover and try to make sense of the entire thing. We also talk about how last week’s Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest was our most competitive yet. Congrats to “therizzo” for taking home first place, and make sure to get in on the fun by JOINING THIS WEEK’S CONTEST. Between all the robot talk, we do manage to squeeze in some fantasy baseball analysis, as we discuss just how good Alex Wood and Jose Berrios are, along with the buy low merits of Masahiro Tanaka, Rougned Odor, Jonathan Villar, and Alex Bregman.

Click here for the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Robots Have Invaded Razzball

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

It’s that time of year again when Ralph and Halp enter the Grey area and talk about Major Leaguers on the Prospect Podcast. It somehow felt more subversive when Ralph wasn’t writing the Top 100 Pitcher Ranks and I wasn’t co-hosting the Baseball Podcast, but them’s the breaks of going mainstream I guess. We start by discussing the value of slow starters such as Alex Bregman and Byron Buxton, before moving on to the power hitting breakouts of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Eric Thames, and Yonder Alonso. On the pitching side, we debate just how good Michael Fulmer is, and also if Marcus Stroman can be anything more than a solid fantasy starter.

Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Valuing Young Major Leaguers for Dynasty Leagues

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