Champ or Chump - Yangervis Solarte and Mitch Moreland

Much is made of a team's projected batting order early on in the offseason, but the discussions quickly become moot as the realities of the regular season alter every team's plans. Slumping players move down the batting order, replaced by their more productive teammates. A utility guy could escape the bench and become a fixture […]

#TrendingNow - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Risers and Fallers

We are just under 30 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting! Just under 30 days from the smell of pine tar and freshly cut grass. Just under 30 days from the sounds of fastballs hitting catcher’s mitts and the crack of a wood bat. Just under 30 days until another summer full of memories. […]

Fantasy Implications - Stephen Piscotty Traded to the Athletics

The trade of Stephen Piscotty to the A’s is one of the feel-good stories of the offseason, as the St. Louis Cardinals front office moved the Northern California native to the A’s so Piscotty could be closer to his ailing mother. It was a rough year both on and off the field for the former prized prospect. […]

Champ or Chump: Chase Headley & Starlin Castro

The following analysis is presented with some misgivings. Both Chase Headley and Starlin Castro were moved this offseason, making them candidates for a change of scenery examination. However, these veteran players do not present an obvious fit with their presumably rebuilding clubs and have been included in trade speculation, with Castro reportedly asking to be […]

Fantasy Implications - Yonder Alonso to Indians

It was a breakout year for Yonder Alonso in 2017, as he recorded career-highs in home runs (28), on-base percentage (.365) and slugging percentage (.501). Alonso has generally been able to get on base at a good rate with a career .340 OBP, but it was the power surge that was the most surprising for […]

Champ or Chump - Christian Arroyo & Denard Span

We have previously seen that both West Coast teams and bad teams are great places to mine for fantasy gold because nobody is keeping up with their games. There is a third category that also goes underappreciated: the Tampa Bay Rays. The team isn't projected to be bad (80-82 projection by Steamer) and they're not […]

Champ or Chump - Magneuris Sierra and Matt Moore

Last week, we looked at how West Coast players frequently become fantasy values because not everyone can stay up late enough to watch them play. The same principle applies to teams that fantasy owners expect to be utterly terrible. The 2018 iteration of the Miami Marlins is therefore a great place to look for potential […]

Champ or Chump - Jhoulys Chacin and Yonder Alonso

If you want to know the secret to finding unheralded fantasy assets, the answer could be as simple as looking at poor teams out west. Most media coverage centers on east coast players that the entire country is awake to see. Exceptions might be made for studs like Mike Trout or Clayton Kershaw, but no […]

Champ or Chump - Zack Cozart and Evan Longoria

Fantasy baseball has long been a game of perception. Will Player A continue his hot start or slump back into mediocrity? Are Player B's recent struggles signs of things to come or a temporary blip on the radar? An analysis of each specific player is the best way to answer these questions, but fantasy owners […]

Champ or Chump - Stephen Piscotty and Carlos Santana

As sabermetrics become more widely accepted, analytical stats such as OBP are replacing more luck-based metrics such as batting average in a lot of formats. Playing in leagues like this frequently indicates a willingness to embrace a more realistic approach to the game, but many owners fail to adjust their rankings to their new reality. […]

Champ or Chump - Ian Kinsler and Marcell Ozuna

The last day of the Winter Meetings continued the same trends that had previously categorized them. The Angels added Ian Kinsler to capitalize on the contention window opened when Shohei Ohtani decided to sign there, and Miami continued their fire sale by shipping Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals. A change of scenery should result in […]

Champ or Chump - Brad Boxberger and Welington Castillo

The hot stove has been more of an ice box so far this season, as few moves have been made of any fantasy consequence. This seems poised to change in the near future, as both Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton should provide some clarity regarding their intentions before the new year. That said, the two […]

Champ or Chump - Ryon Healy and Doug Fister

Thanksgiving is over, meaning that it is officially time to start preparing for 2018 fantasy baseball drafts! This column usually uses sabermetrics to determine whether a given player is worth his current cost, but draft data isn't reliable this early in the offseason. Instead, we'll do a deep dive on the lesser offseason transactions. Players […]

Reviewing Kyle Bishop's Bold Predictions for 2017

What’s even more fun than making bold predictions? Looking back at the end of the season to see how good (or so, so hilariously bad) they were. Just like with the preseason pieces in March, I’m kicking off the review of our RotoBaller staff’s 2017 bold predictions. Let's get to it.Be sure to check all […]

Champ or Chump: Chris Archer and Justin Verlander

Way back in March, I wrote a multi-part tutorial on how to use all of the metrics cited in Champ or Chump. I concluded the series by introducing Barrels and Brls/BBE, arguing that the metrics could have been used to predict Chris Carter's 2016 HR title had they been available before the season started. Gary […]

Champ or Chump: Avisail Garcia and Andrew Benintendi

Owners in weekly formats have set their last lineup for the season. The transaction wire for daily formats has likely fallen silent with most of the teams settled into their final place in the standings as well. There are probably a few leagues out there with races going until the final day, but rooting for […]

Champ or Chump: Joe Mauer and Blake Snell

If you play in a weekly league, this weekend is likely your last opportunity to set a lineup before the winner is crowned. There is a widely held belief that you cannot move up in rate stats such as batting average or ERA this late in the season, but you actually can most of the […]

Week 26 Cut List: Players on the Chopping Block

Welcome back, one last time in 2017, to the Cut List. With the season coming to a close next weekend, almost any player who isn’t helping your cause could justifiably be considered a cut in redraft leagues. That makes this final installment somewhat more challenging, and necessitates a minor tweak in format. Instead of spotlighting […]

Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 26

This is it - the final week of the baseball season (sheds single tear). For those trying to clinch a championship or just a better final position, here are some players that could warrant starting, sitting, adding, or dropping, depending on your league and team's circumstance. I'll focus on lightly owned players to add or […]

Champ or Chump: Jose Reyes and Jed Lowrie

With only two weeks left in the regular season, it is not an exaggeration to say that anything can happen. Power hitters could hit for a high batting average if the ball bounces their way. A pure speedster could win a league by hitting an unlikely pair of homers on the last day of the […]

Week 25 Cut List: Players on the Chopping Block

Welcome back to the Cut List. Each weekend from now until the end of the season, I’ll be offering my thoughts on players who don’t deserve to keep drawing a nonexistent salary on your fake baseball teams. Now that we’re beyond most league’s trade deadlines, the only way to improve your team is via the […]

Champ or Chump: Yolmer Sanchez & Jeff Samardzija

While it's easy enough to target stats like SB or HR if you need them from the waiver wire, counting stats are a little more challenging to predict. Runs scored in the past are a poor indicator of future performance in the category, especially if a player's real life lineup slot has changed since April. […]

Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 25

We are nearing the home stretch, which means precious few days of baseball left! If you're still fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot, here are some players that could warrant starting, sitting, adding, or dropping, depending on your league and team's circumstance. Scouting players who may be undervalued and re-assessing players who may […]

Champ or Chump: Willie Calhoun & Tyler Glasnow

The minor league shuttle continues to deliver players of interest into the fantasy pool. The Rangers are taking a look at Willie Calhoun, a 22-year old bat-first prospect received in the Yu Darvish swap. Meanwhile, the Pirates summoned 24-year old Tyler Glasnow after a dominant stint at Triple-A. He was awful in his previous stint […]

Week 24 Cut List: Players on the Chopping Block

Welcome back to the Cut List. Each weekend from now until the end of the season, I’ll be offering my thoughts on players who don’t deserve to keep drawing a nonexistent salary on your fake baseball teams. Now that we’re beyond most league’s trade deadlines, the only way to improve your team is via the […]

Champ or Chump: Michael A. Taylor & Matt Olson

If somebody with solid season numbers is available on waivers this time of year, you can almost assume that something is awry under the hood. Every team in your league has had to deal with injuries and poor performance at this point, plucking whoever they felt was the best fill-in at the time. How could […]

Champ or Chump: JP Crawford & Cameron Maybin

The list of top prospects given a taste of the major leagues expanded by one last Tuesday night, as the Phillies decided to take a look at shortstop JP Crawford. Anybody with his pedigree deserves fantasy consideration, but his numbers figure to be underwhelming at first. It seemed like we were done analyzing players who […]

Champ or Chump: Paul DeJong & Tommy Pham

September is always a challenging month for this column, as nearly anything can happen in a month-long sample. The production expected based on underlying metrics is still the most likely outcome, but it is impossible to say that it will be realized over the next 30 days. Trade deadlines have also passed in most leagues, […]

Week 23 Cut List: Players on the Chopping Block

Welcome back to the Cut List. Each weekend from now until the end of the season, I’ll be offering my thoughts on players who don’t deserve to keep drawing a nonexistent salary on your fake baseball teams. Now that we’re beyond most league’s trade deadlines, the only way to improve your team is via the […]

Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 23

Trade deadlines have already passed in many fantasy leagues, so I'll focus more on lesser-owned players to assess their value, rather than potential buy-low or sell-high candidates. If your league doesn't cut off trading in August, remember that it's never too late to take advantage of a desperate owner trying to stay out of the […]