Champ or Chump: Sonny Gray & Yu Darvish

The Trade Deadline dust has finally settled, leaving a brand new fantasy landscape in its wake. Jonathan Lucroy will try to rebuild his fantasy value at altitude, so he should be a Champ over the rest of the season despite his struggles. Alex Avila becomes a Chump with the Cubs, as he remains in the […]

Champ or Chump: Lucas Duda and Jeremy Hellickson

If teams keep completing this many trades, the actual deadline will be boring. The Mets acquired Marlins closer A.J. Ramos, whose fantasy stock now depends on whether Addison Reed gets moved to open up the ninth inning. The Rockies added Pat Neshek to their pen, a ballpark change that makes him a clear Chump. The Rays […]

Champ or Chump: Rafael Devers & Eduardo Nunez

Deals have continued coming in, with the focus again on relievers. Anthony Swarzak becomes a Chump with his trade to Milwaukee after looking like a possible saves candidate when David Robertson was moved. Kansas City acquired three arms: Trevor Cahill remains a Champ with increased win potential, Brandon Maurer becomes a Chump after losing saves, […]

Champ or Chump: Luis Castillo & Scooter Gennett

It can be tempting to focus exclusively on the trade market this time of year, but it may also be your last chance to add a significant piece via the waiver wire. Sellers are especially likely to give different players playing time over the next few weeks, creating one last wave of worthwhile waiver pickups […]

Champ or Chump: Yoan Moncada & J.D. Martinez

Deals have been coming in fast and furious, giving fantasy owners a lot of things to consider. A lot of the moves have centered on relievers thus far, with Sean Doolittle looking like a Champ after debuting for the Nationals in a save situation last Tuesday night. Ryan Madson appears to be his set-up guy, […]

Champ or Chump: Johnny Cueto & Jose Quintana

The All-Star break is behind us, meaning that we are in the middle of trade season. Some people want the Giants to sell Johnny Cueto, but they won't. His contract gives him an opt-out if he is traded this year, leaving any acquiring team stuck with an expensive has-been if he's bad and nothing if […]

Champ or Chump: Cody Bellinger & Carlos Martinez

It's All-Star Week, forcing weekly formats to get a little funky. Some leagues will have an extremely short three-day scoring period, in which case you should bench any starters not scheduled to pitch and platoon guys who may not see a lot of playing time. The alternative is to combine this week and the next […]

Champ or Chump: Mike Clevinger and Rich Hill

It is time to start making fantasy baseball moves based on your league's standings page, not absolute value. If your situation dictates that you need to hunt Wins, you're in for a difficult task. They are notoriously unpredictable, forcing you to rely on quantity over quality (if possible) or otherwise seek arms on strong clubs. […]

Champ or Chump: Mark Reynolds & Logan Morrison

It's All-Star season, and the entire baseball community is debating who should have been left off of the roster for their favorite "snubbed" player. There are plenty of quality options, from the superstar allure of Kris Bryant to  underappreciated gem Justin Turner. Fans can vote for one more player to join each league's roster from […]

Champ or Chump: Stephen Vogt & Mike Zunino

While there is no shortage of contenders for the title of Worst Individual in Human History, whoever decided that fantasy owners should roster two catchers ranks highly on the list. They put up mediocre stats roughly five days a week, losing to every other position in both quality and quantity. Bearing this in mind, you […]

Champ or Chump: Jimmy Nelson & Jordan Montgomery

Regular readers will know that this column makes extensive use of PITCHf/x data to determine the value of a given arm's repertoire. Starting with this edition, Pitch Info will be used instead. We'll have the same information to work with, but Pitch Info is more sensitive. For example, if a pitcher throws both a straight […]

Champ or Chump: Rick Porcello & Miguel Cabrera

Nothing is more frustrating in fantasy than an absolute stud you paid up for deciding to decline as soon as you roster him. You don't want to get rid of last year's Cy Young award winner or the most recent man to win a Triple Crown, yet the clock is ticking on your fantasy season. […]

Champ or Chump: Kyle Scwarber & Jonathan Lucroy

There are two viable approaches to the catcher position in fantasy. The first is to accept mediocrity, secure in the knowledge that most of your competitors will not be getting much from the position either. The second is to pay a premium for one of the few catchers who can actually hit, likely hurting your […]

Champ or Chump: Jose Berrios & Alex Wood

It wasn't that long ago that fantasy experts advised waiting on starting pitching, as aces were popping up on the waiver wire every year. A few still are, but the SP landscape as a whole is bleak. Between injuries and ineffectiveness, seemingly every owner in every league is in the market for starting pitching. Therefore, […]

Champ or Chump: Nicholas Castellanos & Robbie Ray

Potential should be a swear word in fantasy baseball. We think our roster could do this or should do that, so we stick with "our guys" through their early slump. This is usually the right call in April, but if we keep sticking until August with no improvement our fantasy season comes to an early […]

Champ or Chump: Edinson Volquez & Justin Smoak

Fantasy owners frequently limit their knowledge of the MLB player pool to only those who may be interesting from a fantasy perspective. Guys who stay in the majors without producing fantasy-relevant stats are generally assumed to have retired until we see them in a game. At that point, we say, "Player X is still active!?" […]

Champ or Chump: Whit Merrifield & Marco Estrada

At this point of the season, available players tend to fall into one of two categories. The first is a breakout performer on a weaker club no one is paying attention to, such as Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals. The second is a boring veteran player who seems to be performing as he […]

Champ or Chump: Tyler Anderson & Masahiro Tanaka

Nothing is more discouraging than watching your fantasy pitcher get lit up like a Christmas tree every time he toes the rubber. ERA and WHIP are both rate stats, meaning that it takes a lot of good performances to smooth over a disaster. Furthermore, owners with IP caps eventually reach a point where they don't […]

Champ or Chump: Adam Frazier & Hunter Renfroe

By now you've probably heard that Mike Trout will miss approximately 6-8 weeks after tearing a ligament in his thumb. This injury is worse than it seems if your fantasy roster relied on Trout, as most batters struggle to regain their power stroke after sustaining a hand injury. If you're in the tough position of […]

Champ or Chump: Trea Turner & Manny Machado

The first few guys you take in any fantasy draft are supposed to be your rocks. If their production falls off, it is easy to find yourself in a hole that can be difficult to climb out of. Do you hang on to your studs and bank on a rebound, or sell for pennies on […]

Champ or Chump: Kevin Pillar & Michael Conforto

The fantasy community hypes up a few players every draft season without driving their ADP too high. Kevin Pillar was viewed as an intriguing speed play if he could hit enough to receive regular PAs, yet his ADP was just 321. Michael Conforto was buried on the Mets depth chart, but everyone thought he would […]

Champ or Chump: Ervin Santana & Michael Pineda

One of the most amazing things about pitching is how many ways there are to do it successfully. Ervin Santana has compiled an ERA of 2.07 by allowing his defense to gobble up every ball in play. By contrast, Michael Pineda has succeeded by limiting the number of balls in play against him, striking out […]

Champ or Chump: Todd Frazier & Jake Arrieta

Fantasy owners frequently pay attention to the shiny new toys that spring up every season, but underperformers may not be noticed as quickly. If your platform of choice lacks a write-up on a particular player, it is easy to assume that he put up a boring game like 1-for-4 with a run scored. Only when […]

Champ or Chump: Scott Schebler & Yonder Alonso

Power is the result of two things: hitting fly balls and hitting the ball with authority. If the ball is stuck on the ground, it can't go over the fence no matter how high its exit velocity is. If a fly ball is weakly hit, it becomes nothing more than a routine play for an […]

Champ or Chump: Trevor Cahill & Dallas Keuchel

This has been a rotten year to invest heavily in starting pitching. Perhaps your ace is on the DL, like Madison Bumgarner or Noah Syndergaard. Maybe they are just underperforming, like Matt Harvey or Julio Teheran. Either way, you're probably looking for a reliable arm, or three. Trevor Cahill is far from the sexiest name, […]

Champ or Chump: Jay Bruce & Ryan Zimmerman

Fantasy baseball owners tend to roster two types of players. The first type is the flavor of the moment, whoever is hot lately or has scouts drooling over their potential. The second type is the boring veteran whose track record is so consistent he has to be valued highly. This approach frequently leaves the players […]

Champ or Chump: Joey Gallo & Aaron Judge

The old saying "Chicks dig the long ball" applies to fantasy baseball owners as well. Billy Hamilton is frequently criticized for offering nothing outside of steals, yet similar players who provide nothing but bombs are not only rostered, but taken inside the top 100. Hamilton goes high too, but at least two owners in every […]

Champ or Chump: Trey Mancini & Taylor Motter

Every year, fantasy owners scour minor league rosters in an effort to find the next breakout star that no one is talking about. We always think that anyone with the slightest chance of mattering in fantasy is on our radar. Then, April rolls around and somebody we have never heard of does something extraordinary. Left […]

Champ or Chump: Charlie Morton & Jason Vargas

We're getting to a point in the season when it is tempting to trust a player's numbers, but barring some major change, preseason projections are still a better indicator of future performance. The two names below were selected for entirely different reasons. Charlie Morton was seen as a sleeper based on 2016 success in an […]

Champ or Chump: Robert Gsellman & Luis Severino

It is Sunday again, meaning that fantasy owners in leagues with weekly lineup changes are scouring the waiver wire for arms scheduled to make two starts. This is a fine strategy, as the extra work can give you a boost in counting stats such as wins and strikeouts. It can also blow up in your […]