Champ or Chump: Joey Wendle and Chris Archer

Of all player profiles, Chris Archer's has to be the most bizarre. His raw stuff and strikeout totals suggest an ace, yet his ERA never seems to match up with metrics such as xFIP. Analysts like to say that he's consistently hit hard, but his career BABIP and HR/FB align almost perfectly with the league […]

Champ or Chump: David Bote and Jacob Nix

If David Bote and Jacob Nix had gotten off to the starts they've had in May, they would be nearly universally owned as fantasy owners pounce on the next big thing. However, it's August. The vast majority of fantasy baseball rosters have been abandoned in favor of the real-life pennant chase, hockey, basketball, and that […]

Champ or Chump: Ken Giles and Roberto Osuna

This column doesn't usually venture into relievers, as I generally believe that their small sample sizes and dependence on saves (a stat that basically measures how much a manager trusts a given guy for whatever reason) make a quantitative analysis moot. However, I (and many others) have struggled with Houston's decision to give up real […]

Champ or Chump: Francisco Cervelli and J.A. Happ

We've reached a point of the year where choosing players for this column becomes more difficult. There's still plenty of season left, so it's too early to shift gears to 2019. Yet fantasy trade deadlines are rapidly approaching, making it impossible to acquire any player not currently on your roster or on a waiver wire […]

Champ or Chump: Asdrubal Cabrera and Nathan Eovaldi

We're back to cover a few more guys who moved at the Trade Deadline. I didn't mention Lance Lynn before, but his acquisition by the Yankees was strange. The ball flies out of Yankee Bandbox, and Lynn had a severe case of gopheritis in Minnesota. He's not an option in any competitive format. This column […]

Champ or Chump: Tommy Pham and Brian Dozier

The Trade Deadline has passed, but the dust is yet to settle for fantasy purposes. The Brewers acquired Jonathan Schoop to apparently share two positions with Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas. You probably don't want to count on anybody in the timeshare until it's clear how often everyone will play. Jonathan Villar figures to get […]

Champ or Chump: Cole Hamels and Mike Moustakas

The moves just keep on coming. Joakim Soria no longer has an obvious path to saves, so he can be dropped in most formats. Luke Voit, Chasen Shreve, Jonny Venters, and Ryan Pressly are not fantasy-relevant in most formats regardless of their home park. Eduardo Escobar is heading to the desert, where a superior lineup […]

Champ or Chump: Dereck Rodriguez and Willie Calhoun

The moves continue to trickle in. Zach Britton is heading to the Bronx, where he figures to have zero fantasy value as the team's sixth-best reliever (if he proves he's healthy). Brad Brach got the first save opportunity in Baltimore after Britton left, but the team has a bunch of arms who could receive ninth […]

Champ or Chump: Zach Eflin and Manny Machado

The Trade Deadline moves started early, with Manny Machado heading to Hollywood. Elite players are likely to remain elite regardless of where they play, but Machado's fantasy value is probably due for a slight hit. Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia are the other notable fantasy options on the move, and both figure to see a […]

Champ or Chump: Nick Markakis and Matt Kemp

It's officially the All-Star Break, a time when it's always fun to take a closer look at who was on the rosters. You have surefire studs like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. You have guys who came out of nowhere such as Blake Snell and Jesus Aguilar. Finally, you have elder statesmen like Nick Markakis […]

Champ or Chump: Enyel De Los Santos and Jake Bauers

Several rookie pitchers have been sent down to the minors in recent days, including a few that we've previously examined in this column (Walker Buehler, Freddy Peralta). Teams are just manipulating their rosters in light of the upcoming All Star break though, so there's no need to panic if you've invested in them. Speaking of […]

Champ or Chump: Jorge Polanco and Steven Duggar

I tried to give up the prospect beat in this space last time, but then the Giants summoned Steven Duggar from the minor leagues. He had some buzz during Spring Training, so he probably warrants a closer look even if he's a little older than the average prospect (age 24). Jorge Polanco also returned from […]

Champ or Chump: Brad Miller and Kyle Tucker

This column has spent a lot of time covering prospects so far in 2018. We've had some calls that proved correct (Shane Bieber, Ronald Acuna, Fernando Romero) and others that don't look as great in hindsight (Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres). The Astros called up top prospect Kyle Tucker prior to Saturday's action, so we'll take […]

Champ or Chump: Adalberto Mondesi and Daniel Robertson

This column usually examines players in the midst of a breakout or slump and tries to determine if it represents a change in a player's baseline. This time, let's do something different. Let's look at two candidates to break out in the second half, before they become hot waiver wire commodities. Both of the names […]

Champ or Chump: Jon Gray and Luis Castillo

The early portion of any fantasy draft is filled with household names, but rarely gets truly exciting. Things don't get interesting until it's late enough to start calling out your sleepers, the guys that you just love but want to wait on because you can. Get those picks right, and you can enjoy watching your […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets For June 30

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week. We're coming up on the halfway point of the season, but there's still plenty of options on the waiver wire to aid your championship quest. For those who are […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets For June 29

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week. We're coming up on the halfway point of the season, but there's still plenty of options on the waiver wire to aid your championship quest. For those who are […]

Champ or Chump: Anthony DeSclafani and Aaron Hicks

It can be very tempting to search your waiver wire using each player's production to date. Most platforms allow you to sort available players based on your area(s) of need, seemingly encouraging you to do exactly this. It's fine in certain situations, but the underlying peripherals may tell a completely different story. For example, Anthony […]

Champ or Chump: Frankie Montas and Jonathan Loaisiga

If you're participating in the Rotoballer Challenge on the RT Sports platform, you've probably noticed that they have a list of the most acquired and dropped players for the week on every league's homepage. This past week, all 10 of the listed adds were starting pitchers. Everybody is apparently looking for an extra arm. With […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets For June 25

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week. For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be available on […]

Champ or Chump: Kyle Gibson & Eduardo Escobar

Most fantasy owners are searching for the latest toy from the minor leagues on their waiver wires, but sometimes it's better to invest in a player with a more extensive track record. For example, fantasy baseball experts have been touting Kyle Gibson's potential for years, and he appears to have finally figured something out in […]

Champ or Chump: Daniel Palka & Dylan Covey

Pop quiz: Name three position players on the Chicago White Sox not named Jose Abreu. If you're an active fantasy owner, you can probably answer the question...with more difficulty than you care to admit. The same is true of the team's starting rotation. While the team as a whole isn't great, they still have a […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets For June 18

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire. This article, which began last season, runs seven days a week. We are always ready to stream. For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be […]

Champ or Chump: John Hicks & Willy Adames

Injuries are always a touchy subject in fantasy baseball. Nobody ever wants anybody to get injured, especially if you paid a high price to acquire them in March. Yet if your roster is light on saves or in need of a particular position in a deeper format, somebody getting hurt is the best chance you […]

Champ or Chump: Alen Hanson & Max Muncy

Personally, I use a player's track record as my primary means of evaluating minor leaguers. While other owners chase after the Juan Soto's and Ronald Acuna's of the world based on their prospect ratings, I tend to let other owners burn their early draft picks and FAAB on those guys. They could be studs right […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets For June 11

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week. For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be available on […]

Champ or Chump: Jalen Beeks & Miles Mikolas

While fantasy baseball owners would love to roster a rotation consisting entirely of Max Scherzers and Corey Klubers, it's not feasible if you're in a remotely competitive league. Breakouts help, but the true key to maintaining strong performances in the pitching categories is to stream effectively. Basically, that means starting streamers in favorable matchups while […]

Champ or Chump: Niko Goodrum & Brandon Nimmo

There's a lot of fantasy analysis out there, and everybody has their own likes and dislikes when it comes to the numbers they look at. Personally, I can't stand Hard%. It was invented as a proxy to measure contact quality, but Statcast gives us specific numbers to measure the same thing much more precisely. It's […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets for June 4

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week. For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be available on […]

Champ or Chump: Jorge Soler and Shane Bieber

Even if you're happy with your current position in the standings, it's important to avoid complacency. Any production from an unexpected source (such as Jorge Soler of the Kansas City Royals) is liable to disappear at the drop of a dime, so it wouldn't hurt to start looking into a backup plan. Likewise, even first […]