ADP Champ or Chump - Tommy Pham and Avisail Garcia

My main mantra when it comes to fantasy baseball is "value, value, value." I will often try and set myself up in the first two or three rounds in such a way that I have the flexibility to take advantage of value later in the draft. One of the best ways I have found to […]

Jordan Hicks - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks was a fireballing rookie last season that dazzled with 70 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings; he also only had a 3.59 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. A starting pitcher in the minors, Hicks made 73 appearances out of the Cardinals pen last season, walking 45 batters as well. The 22-year-old […]

NL-Only Deep League Draft Targets

Objectively, deep-league AL or NL-only fantasy baseball is the best format to play this summer. For one, NL-only leagues were the original formats of fantasy baseball. With both an expanded and limited player pool, the unique challenges of balancing depth with team need come to the fore. While this writer might be in the minority, I […]

RotoBaller MLB Radio - Fantasy Baseball Rankings and News with Brian Kenny

RotoBaller fantasy baseball experts Mike the Roto Cop, Anthony Aniano, and Danny Baseball take a look at the at latest fantasy baseball free agent news, and dig deep into second and third base rankings with MLB's Brian Kenny. In this podcast you will hear about: Manny Machado, Jose Altuve Adam Ottavino, Whit Merrifield Javier Baez, Matt […]

Danny Jansen - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen had a .275/.390/.473 slash line in 88 games with Triple-A Buffalo in 2018, enough for him to earn a call up to the bigs. In his 31 games with the Blue Jays, he slashed .247/.347/.432, walking nine times and striking out 17 in 95 plate appearances. This came after […]

Brian Dozier to Nationals - Fantasy Impact

In mid-January, the Nationals inked Brian Dozier to a one-year, $9M contract. Following a disappointing season in which he was hobbled by a knee injury, the veteran second baseman will try to re-establish himself in the pursuit of a long-term contract next off-season as he heads into his age-32 season. It is worth noting that […]

Mike Zunino - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

There are three distinct tiers at the catcher position entering 2019. Gary Sanchez and J.T. Realmuto stand alone as one and two. Behind them in no particular order are, Salvador Perez, Wilson Ramos, Willson Contreras, Buster Posey, and Yasmani Grandal. However, by season's end Mike Zunino may find himself in that discussion as the 12th […]

Jed Lowrie Signing Pushes Mets Prospects Aside (For Now)

The New York Mets recently added Jed Lowrie to their already-packed infield. In his age 33 and 34 seasons, he impressed with slash lines of .277/.360/.448 and .267/.353/.448, respectively. He also added a career-high 23 home runs in 2018, his first career All-Star season. Lowrie did show some regression in the second half of 2018 […]

2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper - Jesus Luzardo

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo has yet to pitch a big league inning, yet the 21-year-old is being as hyped up as any rookie starter coming into 2019. While hype can easily lead to disappointment, the young Peruvian has allowed just 43 earned runs in 152 2/3 minor league innings. He has also struck out […]

Nicholas Castellanos - Unfortunate Barreler of Baseballs

In 2017, Nicholas Castellanos made outs on 17 of his barrels, which led Major League Baseball. In 2018, Castellanos again made outs on 17 of his barrels, which led Major League Baseball. Even stranger, it was a continuation from the 2016 season, when Castellanos barreled up 13 outs, which ranked ninth and was also the most of […]

2019 Points League Draft Strategy - Fantasy Baseball

When discussing fantasy baseball. An often neglected-but-entertaining format is the points league. These exist in both cumulative season-long and weekly head-to-head formats. While existential debates about scoring categories and their true depiction of player worth are endless, points leagues arguably get closest to the objective of sabermetrics. Points leagues attempt to define a player’s contribution […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 4 - Batted Ball Distribution (Hitters)

Fly balls can turn into home runs. Ground balls never do. It would seem as though fantasy owners want their batters to hit nothing but flies, yet this is not the case. Why would this be? The answer, of course, comes down to batted ball distribution and the manner in which batters make contact. In […]

Top 420: Points Leagues Tiered Staff Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers. Today we are here to start looking at points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) formats. In this column, you will find our staff's preliminary 2019 fantasy baseball points league rankings for January and the top 420 players. Over the next few days, we will also be publishing individual tiered rankings analysis columns for each […]

Jake Cave - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Bouncing around from the Yankees to the Reds before he found a home in Minnesota, Twins outfielder Jake Cave made his MLB debut in 2018. After a 2017 season where he had a .305/.351/.542 slash line in the minors with the Yankees, Cave was sent to Triple-A with the Twins after he was acquired, posting […]

Freddy Peralta - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freedy Peralta only had a 6-4 record and 4.25 ERA after being called up from the minor leagues in 2018. In his 14 starts, he allowed at least three earned runs in seven of them and walked multiple batters in 11 starts. All of that being said, Peralta is lauded as […]

Nick Mariano's 2019 Early-Round Overvalued List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) are almost all about finding the next superstar and unearthing talent late, but we can't forget that surrendering value by over-drafting can be just as crucial. In order to evaluate overvalued players here, we're going to utilize Average […]

Jorge Soler - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

You’ve probably heard this one before, but for the umpteenth time, Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Soler is officially on sleeper watch. The 26-year-old has been flirting with a breakthrough ever since he made the move to the American League in 2016. Amid their World Series run, the Cubs were happy to part ways with […]

Jung Ho Kang - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Is there a better feeling in fantasy sports than drafting or claiming a guy that no one else even sniffs, but he pans out to be a valuable contributor to your roster? Aside from winning your league, finding that stud sleeper is what makes your countless hours of research and prep time well worth it. […]

Ross Stripling - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

As fantasy baseball managers, we all love the sleeper. There’s always that gratifying feeling at season's end where you can go back and say “I told you so!” Every year there are endless amounts of articles and debates on who will emerge as a top-tier player from out of the shadows and into the limelight. […]

Ronald Guzman - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Texas Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman was regarded as another one of the powerful young lefty bats in Texas (see: Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara), even though he had never hit more than 16 home runs in the minors (2016 in Double-A/Triple-A). While the power was not there in the minors, Guzman did have a […]

Brian Dozier - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier entered the 2018 season bolted in as a top-five 2B in fantasy baseball after posting four consecutive seasons with 100 or more runs scored, 20 or more homers, and at least 12 stolen bases. While there was a bit of a step back in the power department for Dozier […]

Lourdes Gurriel - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

There are a multitude of reasons to like what Lourdes Gurriel has to offer at his currently very low draft price. The 25-year-old shortstop from Cuba is entering just his second MLB season after spending 2017 and about half of 2018 accelerating through Toronto’s minor league system. He definitely impressed in his brief taste of […]

Merrill Kelly - The 30-Year-Old Rookie Sleeper

It’s almost becoming a trend for players to travel overseas to play baseball after struggling to make it in the MLB, only to end up back in the Majors better than before. In 2017 it was Eric Thames and last year it was Miles Mikolas. You can now add Merrill Kelly to the list. The […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - National League Central

Now that the National League East and all their moves have been covered, it's time to look at the NL Central and discuss the lack of movement in that division. Several teams in the NL Central could benefit from strengthening their relief corps, yet only one team has made any noise in free agency or […]

Steven Souza Jr. - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Earlier this offseason, I wrote about the sleeper value of Luke Voit and how believing in him was a conscious decision to move on from a blind spot I had for Greg Bird for a couple of years. Well, in this article I am going to break down a player who I do not think […]

Mallex Smith - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a safe speed option on your fantasy roster that doesn’t completely drain all your other roto categories. With the sport changing to selling out for power instead of hitting for average and playing small ball, stolen bases have been a lost art. Not counting the strike-shortened 1981 and 1994 […]

Is It Legit? Marco Gonzales' Breakout

We're back with another edition of "Is It Legit?" to discuss another surprising breakout performer from the 2018 MLB season in order to assess his value heading into 2019. With so many players seemingly becoming fantasy baseball darlings overnight, it can be challenging to sift through the multiple hype trains and determine which players are […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Peter Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Prospecting can be an excellent way to find value on draft day and beyond, but every year a couple are hyped to the point that you need them to reach their full upside just to break even on your investment. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. seems to be that guy in 2019, as he is currently being […]

AL Rookies to Target in 2019 Mixed Redraft Leagues

As the New Year has finally come, and fantasy football is over, at last, fantasy baseball draft season is right around the corner. With that comes mock drafts, draft previews, ADP analysis, and of course, player recommendations. This article will help owners get ready by looking to the American League All-Star team of rookies to […]