Midseason Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: First Base (1B)

Welcome to the All-Star break, which gives us the chance to catch our breath roughly halfway through the marathon of the regular season. Rather than the composite approach we took to our preseason rankings, we're offering tiered rankings for each position. I had planned to name each tier after Coen Brothers films, but Alex Chamberlain... Read More

Midseason Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Third Base (3B)

Welcome to another installment of RotoBaller's midseason fantasy baseball rankings! Today we're taking a look at the hot corner, where the 3B rankings and tiers are named after Paul Thomas Anderson films. As with my first base/Radiohead album rankings, I welcome dissent from our readers. You can find me on Twitter @amoralpanic. Editor’s Note: You... Read More

Midseason Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Outfield (Part 1)

Welcome to the final installment of RotoBaller's midseason rankings for fantasy baseball. We'll cover the top 25 outfielders today, and the rest of the top 60 will be released tomorrow. The outfielder tiers for both rankings will be named after television dramas. The invitation to berate me on Twitter (@amoralpanic) for either set of rankings remains... Read More

Luis Valbuena (3B / 2B, HOU) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 36% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Valbuena is nursing a sprained big toe, but that doesn’t appear to be negatively impacting him at the plate. June was actually his best month of the year, as he compiled an .883 OPS with nine homers and 32 R+RBI. Valbuena continues to be... Read More

Justin Bour (1B, MIA) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Bour homered in four consecutive games last week, giving him 10 on the year. That tends to draw the attention of fantasy owners, but he’s still free in nine out of every 10 leagues. Michael Morse is nearly recovered from his back injury, but... Read More

Aramis Ramirez (3B, MIL) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 46% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: It’s been a difficult season for Ramirez, who has looked every bit his 37 years of age more often than not. Over the last month, however, he’s hitting .304/.343/.533 with four homers and 23 RBI. He’s reportedly drawing some trade interest, which could lead... Read More

Logan Forsythe (1B / 2B / 3B, TB) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 33% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Forsythe has been a pleasant surprise for the Rays and for fantasy owners this year, making solid contributions across the board. For the season, he’s slashing .281/.365/.425 with eight homers and seven stolen bases. In addition to his current positional eligibility at first and... Read More

Miguel Sano (3B, MIN) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 44% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Sano has hit safely in every game since his promotion and went yard for the first time last night. The 22 year old has been thrust right into the middle of the Twins’ lineup and, to his credit, hasn’t looked overmatched. He’ll get plenty of... Read More

Five Corner Infield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 14

The last few weeks have seen some high attrition to fantasy rosters, as several stars have landed on the disabled list. Chief among those at the corner infield spots has been Miguel Cabrera, who will miss six weeks with a calf strain. Despite his questionable conditioning, Miggy had gone his entire career without needing a... Read More

Gerardo Parra (OF, MIL) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in NL-Only and Deep Mixed Leagues Ownership: 23% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Over the last two months, Gerardo Parra has hit an impressive .333/.376/.505 with seven homers and six steals. He’s likely to be a popular trade target as we approach the deadline, and he may see a reduction in playing time as... Read More

10 Bold Predictions for the 2015 Fantasy Baseball Season: Revisited

Back in March, I offered 10 bold predictions for the 2015 fantasy baseball season. Now that we've reached the midway point, it's time to look back and see just how terrible they were.   The Results 1. Joey Votto is a top-five first baseman. Votto was a monster in April, but has been merely very... Read More

Chris Coghlan (OF, CHC) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deeper Leagues OWNED IN: 4% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: In 2009, Chris Coghlan won NL Rookie of the Year honors. Then he forgot how to play baseball, possibly after aliens stole his abilities in order to win an intergalactic showdown with beloved cartoon characters. The Cubs took a flyer on him last season, and here’s... Read More

Alejandro de Aza (OF, BOS) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 14% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: de Aza is the only player to appear on this list while with two different teams this season. Released by the Orioles and picked up by their division rivals, de Aza has taken a shine to Beantown. He’s hitting .317/.364/.610 with three homers since... Read More

Marlon Byrd (OF, CIN) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 36% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: You don’t need me to tell you how precious a commodity power has been in recent years. Byrd has shown no ill effects from a wrist fracture last month. Since returning from the disabled list, he’s hit .333/.344/.533 with four home runs and 14... Read More

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 14

About a month ago, I was talking to another owner in my home league and mentioned that my team had been fairly fortunate on the injury front. Fast forward to last week:  George Springer's broken wrist gave me a whopping eight players on the shelf, half of them outfielders. The others: Matt Holliday, Jorge Soler,... Read More

Week 14 Buy and Sell Starting Pitchers

Two out of three on both the buy and sell sides last week. Michael Pineda was dominant in defeat, going the distance against the Astros while striking out seven and walking none. Danny Salazar stifled the Rays, though he uncharacteristically only notched two whiffs. Sonny Gray's two-start week became a zero-start week after he contracted... Read More

Carlos Beltran (OF, NYY) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in NL-Only and Very Deep Mixed Leagues Ownership: 32% of Yahoo! Leagues ANALYSIS: Carlos Beltran stumbled badly out of the gate, and the impact of that rough start is still apparent in his overall numbers. However, he’s been a different player since April ended, putting together a .297/.363/.500 line with seven homers. This is roughly the level... Read More

Randal Grichuk (OF, STL) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 22% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Grichuk has made the most of his opportunity after Matt Holliday went down with a quad strain. He’s currently hitting .273 with six homers and 42 R+RBI in 44 games, and he’s even chipped in three steals. Grichuk’s 43/7 K/BB ratio isn’t pretty, but... Read More

Adam Eaton (OF, CHW) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 36% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Eaton continues to climb back from the abyss he fell into in April. Though his slash line for the season still sits at a middling .252/.318/.388, he’s posted an .855 OPS in June with three homers and four steals. He’s been the leadoff hitter for... Read More

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 13

The deeper we get into the season, the harder it becomes for a column of this nature to avoid getting repetitive. Guys who are playing well tend to be owned in the majority of leagues, for obvious reasons, but for one reason or another, certain players get ignored. Often it’s a lousy start that obscures... Read More

Week 13 Buy and Sell Starting Pitchers

Solid showing on the buy side last week, as all three pitchers produced quality starts. Of course, both Scott Kazmir and Carlos Martinez spun gems of their own. At least Dan Haren had the courtesy to toss out a clunker against the Cardinals, although he actually pitched well. For once this season, the vagaries of batted... Read More

Juan Lagares (OF, NYM) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in NL-Only Leagues Ownership: 10% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Juan Lagares has bounced back from a lousy May, hitting .309 with a .811 OPS thus far in June despite nursing an elbow injury that is limiting him in the outfield. Overall, he’s got a solid .271 batting average and 30 runs scored, with five steals... Read More

Yunel Escobar (3B / SS, WAS) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 37% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: It’s almost July and Escobar is still hitting the daylights out of the ball. He’s batting .329 /.380/.408 as the regular number three hitter for one the best offense in baseball. As hard as it might be to believe, he’s stepped up his game... Read More

Brock Holt (1B / 2B / 3B / SS / OF, BOS) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 31% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Holt was a last-minute cut from last week’s column after news of Byron Buxton’s promotion broke. Since then, his ownership rate has tripled. A combination of injuries and ineffectiveness on the part of his teammates has allowed Holt to carve out consistent playing time... Read More

Kevin Pillar (OF, TOR) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 30% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Though his overall numbers are still recovering from a vicious slump in May, Pillar has been an unsung hero in the Jays’ leviathan lineup of late. This month has been much kinder to the rookie, as he’s hit .403 with four homers and three... Read More

Joey Butler (OF, TB) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 25% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Butler is a 29 year old rookie with a 40/5 K/BB ratio and a .420 BABIP. Skepticism is merited here. But as the season wears on, waiver bargains become more difficult to find and teams begin to fall back from the pack, and it... Read More

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 12

We’re getting to the point in the year where some owners may need to go for broke to save their season. Hopefully that doesn’t include you, but if it does, these outfielders could aid in your quest. As always, the baseballers below are available on the wire in the majority of Yahoo leagues. Second star... Read More

Week 12 Buy and Sell Starting Pitchers

While Taijuan Walker kept things rolling with another strong start, the tragedy of Tyson Ross continued unabated and Carlos Carrasco was let down by his defense yet again. On the sell side, Tanner Roark pitched his best game of the season and had a baby, and Alfredo Simon and Wei Yin Chen both turned in... Read More

Chris Heston (SP, SF) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 45% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Heston has been one of the season’s biggest surprises, a lightly regarded rookie whose minor league track record didn’t move the needle much. 14 mostly good MLB starts (including a no-hitter) later, it sure seems like it’s time to start taking him seriously.... Read More

Billy Burns (OF, OAK) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 46% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Burns has cooled off since the calendar turned to June, but he’s still reached base in all but one game so far this month. He remains a good source of runs and steals as long as he maintains his grasp on the leadoff... Read More