Chris Archer To Pirates - Fantasy Impact

The Tampa Bay Rays were long rumored to be unloading their ace (former ace? *cough Blake Snell cough*), Chris Archer, and many thought he would land with a clear contender like the New York Yankees or the Atlanta Braves, since he’s a relatively young pitcher with elite stuff and a team-friendly contract. Then, as the […]

Fantasy Reflections: To Trade, or Not to Trade?

I am, by nature, a procrastinator. This has been true for 31 years and counting, and at this point I am reasonably confident that it will remain as such. Sometimes the universe is so courteous as to provide distractions without me seeking them out. The writing of this article was slightly delayed (albeit still ahead […]

MLB Closers and Saves Report - Week 19

With the non-waiver trade deadline now a few days behind us, we can confidently say: "a lot happened." But, seemingly more so than other trade deadlines in previous seasons, this time around we can also say: "a lot didn't happen." Zach Britton changed teams, to a team that absolutely no one suspected. Brad Hand changed […]

Holds Leagues - Waiver Wire Pickups and Adds for Week 19

Well, that was a fun trade deadline! While holds are even tougher to predict than saves, the players we’ll highlight today include some elite setup men to target off the waiver wire in Week 19. One-inning middle relievers are the constant sources for holds and specialists can manage to secure a hold even with one […]

Week 19 Waiver Wire: H2H Category Streamers

I like to consider myself a pioneer of the streaming approach. I won a league about seven years ago completely ignoring saves and just stacking up the starts each week. While streaming is undoubtedly more directly associated with pitching, there's plenty of value in streaming for offense as well. Maybe you have a stacked roster […]

Tommy Pham To Rays - Fantasy Implications

In what has to be classified as one of the more confusing trades during this year's crazy trade deadline, The St. Louis Cardinals shipped outfielder Tommy Pham to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for left-handed pitcher Genesis Cabrera, outfielder Justin Williams, and right-handed pitcher Roel Ramirez. The Rays, in addition to Pham, receive $500,000 […]

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 […]

Week 19 Waiver Wire - Catcher

With the MLB Trade Deadline fully behind us, it's time to start preparing for the Fantasy Baseball playoffs. With likely major trades happening in your league, one position that could be forgotten is catcher. There's only so many superstars and many teams have to dig through the waiver wire to find their starter. That being […]

Rookie Report: Recent MLB Prospect Call-Ups (Week 18)

The calendar has turned to August and we still have yet to see some of the big-name prospects that were expected to come up this season. Yes, Kyle Tucker, Willie Calhoun, Juan Soto, and Willy Adames have all made their debuts this season but I seriously doubt that we will see any more of the […]

MLB Trade Deadline: Analysis and Fantasy Implications

The 2018 version of the MLB Trade Deadline was one of the most memorable in recent years. With players being dealt left and right, multiple teams around the league have changed the identity of their franchise for the present and future. With so much movement going on, the fantasy baseball landscape has taken a major […]

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 18: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 18 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season has blown by into August and the MLB trade deadline has passed, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or […]

Kevin Gausman To The Braves - Fantasy Implications

With so many big-name players changing teams this trade deadline Kevin Gausman may fly under the radar. On the surface, he doesn’t look like much, with a 5-8 record and 4.43 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and 7.55 K/9 in 21 starts with Baltimore this season. However, this move to Atlanta could be exactly what Gausman needs […]

Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 18: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, we'll be looking at some players that have seen an increase in contact rate and some that have seen it decline. Contact rate can foretell a player's batting average […]

2018 Prospects - Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 18)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. What a crazy week it has been! The trade deadline passed with […]

Week 18 Waiver Wire - Starting Pitchers

I can't believe it's August! I hope every single one of you somehow benefitted from the Trade Deadline wheelings and dealings. While I urge you to test your league's trading market before the deadline hits (if applicable), we're here to check in on widely-available arms that you can hopefully get for free, but without going […]

Week 18 Start/Sit Matchups - Starting Pitchers

You know what it is--it's my updated starts/sits column for Week 18! Your friendly neighborhood @Roto_Dubs is back again this year with his weekly starting pitcher matchups. This is our fifth year now writing this weekly column, helping fantasy baseball managers pick the best pitchers weekly. Below are the projected starting pitching matchups for Week 18, and […]

Relief Pitchers Deeper Dive - Week 18

Today and every Tuesday moving forward throughout the 2018 MLB season, we will take a deep dive into some of the lesser-owned relief pitchers on the market that are worth keeping tabs on. This can be a good tool for those in deeper holds leagues, although any pitcher in a position to make a move on […]

Start Your Dynasty Team Rebuild From The Waiver Wire

If your dynasty or keeper team is at the back of the pack, now might be the time to rethink strategies. At the very least, it is time to take stock before other under-performing teams do the same and the resource pool becomes limited. Minor moves now could set your team up for success starting […]

NL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 18

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to […]

Statcast Hitter Analysis - Left-Handed xwOBA Splits (Week 18)

A left-handed pitcher takes the mound, a left-handed batter hits the bench. We see it all too often, especially in the later innings when managers love to play the same-handed split matchups in the bullpen. Your star players (does Bryce Harper still count?) won't be affected, but many others will. Not all left-handed batters suffer […]

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 18)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. The Texas Rangers took it to the Houston Astros this weekend, becoming the first team to sweep the Astros this season. That […]

Hot Prospects to Watch Week 18: Beeks, Phillips, Spanberger

Today is the trade deadline and it seems safe to assume we'll be seeing more prospects landing on new teams by the end of the day. Last week we took a look at some top prospects that could potentially have a path to the majors open up by trade or that could themselves be traded […]

Potential Risers/Fallers After the MLB Trade Deadline

The MLB Trade Deadline is one of the most exciting parts of the baseball season. Contenders get to bolster their rosters for the playoff push while rebuilding clubs get to add potential studs to their growing farm system. With players such Manny Machado, Zach Britton, Mike Moustakas and many others already moved, teams around the […]

Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - Middle-Inning xBA (Week 18)

Welcome back to Rotoballer's series using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performances. The weekly series will be dynamic as we fine-tune our findings and enlighten ourselves on the information and tools at our disposal. Throughout the season, a common theme in our discussions has been pitcher efficiency. Whether […]

Surplus to Requirements - Minor Trades and Fantasy Implications

For fantasy baseball owners the trading deadline is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the hope is that players move into better spots on better teams, or at the very least, do not move to worse spots. On the other hand, trades lead to changes, and changes are not always good […]

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 […]

Trading Up: Pitching Category Targets

This article is the fourth in our series on trade and acquisition targets for the second half of the season. Part 1: Top-50 Players to Target Part 2: Mid-Tier and Bargain Targets on Offense Part 3: Mid-Tier and Bargain Pitchers Part 4: Offensive Category Targets Part 5: Pitching Category Targets Each section focuses on players […]

AL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 18

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to […]

Nathan Eovaldi to the Red Sox - Fantasy Implications

As if the Boston Red Sox didn't already have one of the top rotations in baseball this year, they managed to improve upon it by acquiring Nathan Eovaldi from the Rays on Wednesday. Eovaldi has been working his way back from his second Tommy John surgery, and in his first action in over a year […]