ADP Sleepers and Busts - First Basemen

RotoBallers, it’s that time of year when we’re starting to really get into the grind of draft season. With that comes plenty of early ADP data that will either have you jumping for joy or scratching your head. With this article, we aim to bring you a few first basemen who we believe are either […]

Jose Abreu Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

We on the RotoBaller staff have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but there's plenty of debate over individual players' proper place in the pecking order. In this space, we'll hear from rankers with the biggest differences of opinion on a well-known player and have them defend their position against each other. […]

Champ or Chump - Jake Odorizzi and Eric Hosmer

It took the better part of four months, but baseball's offseason is finally starting! Eric Hosmer signed a massive contract to vacation play baseball in San Diego, while Jake Odorizzi was traded to the Minnesota Twins for a ham sandwich and a few extra baseballs. One of these players is capable of turning a substantial […]

2018 Catchers - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

As we move closer to the 2018 baseball season, we at RotoBaller have released our Dynasty Rankings. We have been dissecting the tiers of each position, showing fantasy owners where to find value in their draft. At the catcher position, we have a total of 41 players ranked across eight tiers. When looking at dynasty leagues, […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 8 - FIP and xFIP

The first advanced pitching stat most fantasy owners encounter is FIP. FIP stands for Fielding Independent Pitching, and attempts to measure a pitcher's actual skill instead of the effects of luck or his supporting cast. According to the DIPS theory that the metric is based upon, pitchers control only Ks, BBs (and HBP) and home […]

Nick Mariano's 2018 Dynasty Sleepers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. The term "sleeper" remains a volatile one, but when you add the dynasty-league wrinkle to it then you really open yourself up to a can of worms. Some people are in 12-team dynasties with a rather healthy stable of prospects available for the picking, […]

Fantasy Spin - Eric Hosmer Signs with San Diego

On Feb. 17, Eric Hosmer inked an eight-year, $144 million deal, the largest in Padres franchise history. Many are confused by the signing not only because eight years is an awfully big contract, but also because the Padres already have an All-Star first baseman on their roster in Wil Myers. Irrespective of this fact, the […]

Luis Severino Rankings Debate - Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

We continue our long-running series of articles debating fantasy rankings with a player that is sure to be one of the first few pitchers off the board in all formats. Or is he? RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - Third Basemen

Take a quick look at the NFBC ADPs of third basemen. What do you notice? Is Manny Machado going too high? Is Joey Gallo the boom-or-bust pick of the year? Is Josh Donaldson the best early-round value pick? Third base might just be the deepest infield position in fantasy this year, so it's important to […]

Relief Pitchers Set to Breakout in 2018

Drafting relief pitchers is always tough. Should you go for the elite closers and try and secure saves, or are you better off using those high picks on a hitter or starting pitcher and adding cheap saves later? The reality is no strategy is better than the other 100% of the time, but the old […]

ADP Myth Busters - Debunking Myths in the NL East

This series will attempt to help fantasy baseball owners make informed opinions on players whose ADP may not be in line with their value for the 2018 season. As fantasy owners, we can fall into a "group think" mentality and start to overlook certain teams and players. If we aren't careful, those ideas can turn […]

Nick Mariano's 2018 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 […]

The Rockies Pitching Rotation - A Wise Investment?

For years Coors Field has been seen as a hitter's dream and a pitcher's nightmare — a place where hitters' slugging percentages grow and pitchers' ERAs die. When it comes to fantasy baseball, the general rule of thumb has been to sit your starters when they're in Colorado. But what about the Rockies' rotation? They […]

Second-Year Pitchers Poised for a Breakout

The first year in the big leagues is full of ups and downs for most players, particularly pitchers. Adjusting to the best hitters in the world simply takes time, and many hurlers need multiple seasons to find their footing. Thus, identifying breakout candidates among second-year pitchers is no easy task, as the league has time […]

Champ or Chump - Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish

One great way to identify sleepers and busts is to take advantage of any biases that may impact the community's perception of a player. For example, older players are frequently bargains on draft day because owners assume that they're going to collapse. Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers seems to fit into this category so […]

Three Up, Three Down – 2018 First Base Prospects

Power. Nothing else defines the first base position more than pure, raw power. If you have it, you better display it in abundance or there will be concerns. If you are smaller in stature, there will be concerns. If your talent is just hit tool, there will be concerns. If your defense is lacking, there […]

NL West Preview - Anthony Aniano's RotoBaller Podcast

RotoBaller fantasy baseball expert Anthony Aniano gets a jump on the 2018 MLB Season with a preview of the NL West. This radio show is sponsored by our good friends over at RT Sports. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every Saturday and Sunday between […]

Is Ronald Acuna Being Overdrafted?

With the recent glut of top prospect reports emerging from Keith Law to Baseball America, opinions on the future stars of baseball are myriad and loud. We all look longingly at the next generation and dreams of pennants dance in our heads. Of course, each pundit brings their own flavor to the conversation, and each […]

The Most Profitable Pitchers of the Last Five Years

If you missed last week’s column on the most profitable hitters of the last five years, you can find it here. That post explains the methodology behind this work, and acknowledges the considerable help I received from colleagues throughout the process. Today I'm here to take a look at the pitchers - players who have […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 7 - Lineup Slot

To this point, this series has focused exclusively on trying to predict and validate home runs and batting average. There is a reason for this--modern sabermetrics tend to reject the idea of a "clutch RBI guy" and therefore do not bother inventing predictive metrics for it. Runs and RBI are team-dependent stats, and are unhelpful […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - Catcher

Catcher is generally considered the weakest position in fantasy baseball. That is exactly why getting reliable production from the position is so important. There won’t be many good options on the waiver wire to replace a bad pick. This article looks at some catchers that are undervalued and overvalued based on their NFBC ADP (as […]

Three Up, Three Down - 2018 Shortstop Prospects

Much like the wave of third basemen to sweep the league, we’ve had an equally impressive push of young shortstops. Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Corey Seager are all 24-years-old, or younger, and are in the Top 30 in fantasy baseball rankings. Who will be part of the next breath of fresh air […]

Nick Mariano's 2018 Late-Round MLB Fliers (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Howdy, RotoBallers! I hope you're ready to take chances, make mistakes and get messy. We’re here to dig a little deeper into the draft room and look for players that would be wise to take a flier on in the late rounds. It can […]

Champ or Chump - Ian Desmond and Jonathan Villar

Early draft data from RTSports drafts has been added to FantasyPros, making the latter's composite ADP data a little more reliable. Your host site's ADP data is worth looking into, especially if any absentee owners are auto-selecting based on the site's default rankings. However, FantasyPros' composite ADP is the best way to feel an unbiased […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 6 - Pull%

Earlier in this series, we saw that fantasy owners generally prefer batters to hit the ball into the air in order to have a chance at a home run. Yet, all fly balls are not equal for this purpose. A player can maximize his power production by pulling the ball in the air. Today we'll […]

Manny Machado Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

We continue our long-running series of articles debating fantasy rankings with a player that is sure to be a first-round pick in all formats. Or is he? RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from rankers […]

Should We Be Wary Of All Mets Starters?

On July 26th, 2012, the New York Mets called up a hard-throwing right-handed starting pitcher by the name of Matt Harvey. Harvey dazzled the Diamondbacks in Arizona that night, striking out 11 over 5 1/3 innings pitched without allowing any runs. This was supposed to mark a turning point in the Mets’ rebuild, the first […]

Tommy Pham Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

This is the next piece in a long-running series of articles debating the overall ranking of some of the most fantasy-relevant players of the 2018 baseball season. RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from rankers […]

Three Up, Three Down – 2018 Second Base Prospects

The keystone should be a position for players developed to keep everything together, both offensively and defensively. However, that is not the case in most years. It is generally comprised of athletes that move off of shortstop for one reason or another. Therefore, the position is usually very thin in the minor leagues. It is […]