Hitter Streamers (Week 3) - Head-to-Head Leagues
Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 3, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week. If someone jumps... Read More
Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 3
If your fantasy baseball team looks anything like most of mine, then you've got a couple of injured players occupying bench spots because your DL positions are already full. That didn't take long did it? The 10-day DL has been both a blessing and a curse for the fantasy world. On the one hand, it... Read More
How Superior Setup Men Provide Value to Closers - NL Focus
The era of the home run has been a bit of a double-edged sword for fantasy owners. On the one hand, the bench bat drafted in the 27th round can emerge as a 20+ HR hitter, adding value from an unexpected source. On the other side, pitcher ERAs are up, and the value of the... Read More
Dylan Bundy Has Been Unleashed, Is Kevin Gausman Next?
It has become a trend among starting pitchers with one dominant pitch to throw it earlier in counts and to throw it more often. This defies conventional baseball wisdom, but several starting pitchers have found or recaptured success by featuring breaking balls more heavily. Rich Hill, fighting for his baseball life, began using his curveball... Read More
2018 Prospects - Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 2)
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. The Shohei Ohtani train keeps rolling along. He’s quickly become a... Read More
Relief Pitchers Deeper Dive - Week 2
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... Read More
Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 2)
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. This week we'll be going over Sean Newcomb's dominance at Coors Field, and great two-start performances from Reynaldo Lopez and Andrew Triggs.... Read More
Hitter Streamers (Week 2) - Head-to-Head Leagues
Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 2, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week. If someone jumps... Read More
Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 2
The first week of the season is officially over, so it's time to start trading assets! That actually may not be the best idea since we've yet to get a firm grasp on trends or values, although the start of the season could be the best time to acquire assets cheaply in some cases. Cutting... Read More
Hot Starts to Watch from Traditionally Slow Starters
If the Major League season were to end today, two of the favorites for the World Series (Cleveland and Los Angeles) would not be making the playoffs, and Pittsburgh would be a top seed. Not that we can put much stock into six games, they still serve as the beginning of some insight into the... Read More
Could Your Pitching Staff Use a Jakob Junis?
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis raised some eyebrows at the end of the 2017 season, boasting an increased strikeout rate and a 3.61 ERA in the final two months. It wasn't enough to put him on many draft boards in shallow fantasy baseball leagues this past March, but his first start in 2018... Read More
2018 Prospects - Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 1)
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 debut for Shohei Ohtani? Aside from a rough second inning,... Read More
Are You For Real? A Look at Surprising SP Starts
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. This week we’ll look at the debut performance of Shohei Ohtani, as well as Kyle Gibson’s domination of the Orioles and Ty... Read More
What to Make of Jose Martinez, Matt Davidson, and a Couple Other Quick Starts
Even though it's barely 50 degrees in Brooklyn, it feels like spring is finally nigh now that the 2018 MLB season is underway. As a Yankees fan, I'd been especially looking forward to opening day ever since Giancarlo Stanton was signed. He certainly didn't disappoint when he launched an opposite field home run at 117... Read More
Week 1 Waiver Wire: 25-50% Owned Pickups
First, winter was here and the night was truly dark and full of terrors. But now, now it's Opening Day and the ills of the world are all invited to screw off. I love you all, what a great day! In light of this, let's give that free agent pool one last look over before... Read More
Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Preseason)
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. This might be one of the most star studded prospect lists to... Read More
Post-Hype Middle Infielders Set to Break Out in 2018
Scouting prospects who will be future big-league stars is an inexact science. Middle infielders can be hard to project because defense often outweighs offense at those positions. For every player who went on to become a superstar right away like Corey Seager or Francisco Lindor, there’s another one who never panned out like Dustin Ackley... Read More
Deeper NL Starting Pitcher Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs
Nothing helps deepen a fantasy rotation like scooping up late-round values. Having a few sleepers in your back pocket allows for a heavier investment in hitting earlier in the draft, and gives you some names to target once the player pool gets thin. For those who love to do last-minute drafts, start their league a... Read More
Later-Age Fantasy Breakouts for 2018
Common wisdom used to suggest that a hitter’s true prime was his age-27 season, but in recent times that seems to have shifted to a younger age as more and more players break into the league earlier. That said, we’ve still seen our fair share of late breakouts over the last number of years, with... Read More
On the Rebound - Starters Coming Back from Injury in 2018
As owners prepare for draft day, one strategy many owners will use is drafting pitchers who are returning from significant injuries. These pitchers will likely be undervalued because of their injuries, and if they can return to their pre-injury norm they can end up being a steal in a draft. For the following starters working... Read More
Breakout Infielders Who’ll Continue To Improve in 2018
In this piece I highlight four infielders who will build off their 2017 breakouts. I want to clearly indicate how each player broke out and why they’ll continue to improve. Since most of these players broke out after their age-25 season, the fantasy community is rightfully proceeding with caution on some of these guys. Travis... Read More
2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - NL Starting Pitchers
If you've been following along with this series over the last week or so, you've heard my spiel about sleeper being a slippery term. "Values" feels more precise. It would come as a shock if you hadn't heard of any of the guys we're going to be discussing today. All we're trying to do here... Read More
Second Basemen Set to Breakout in 2018
Second base is one of the thinnest positions in fantasy baseball, but also one with a ton of promise. Whether it’s speed, power or both, the keystone is in a tremendously interesting state heading into 2018. Today I take a look at three second basemen who I expect to have strong seasons for fantasy baseball owners.... Read More
2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - AL Starting Pitchers
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I'm not big on the term "sleeper." When anybody with a computer and a working Internet connection can drill down deep into any player's performance with a few keystrokes and a couple of clicks, the odds of you catching any of your rivals truly sleeping... Read More
2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - NL Outfielders
There are many paths to success in fantasy baseball, but one of the simplest is to nail your draft. To do that, you need to find productive players with low price tags. Doing so carries the added benefit of bragging rights. Who doesn't love paying peanuts for the next big star and then getting to... Read More
ADP Sleepers and Busts - Closers
Where an owner drafts closers comes down to personal strategy and philosophy. Some owners are willing spend up for high-end closers like Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, while others are content to let closers fly off the board deep into the draft and scrounge for saves late. For those of us unwilling to invest in... Read More
2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - AL Outfielders
Everyone knows that in fantasy baseball, values are king. Any of the different terms you might see bandied about - bargain, sleeper, flier, lotto ticket - are all driving at that same basic idea. Obviously, finding the players who can provide a huge return on a modest investment goes a long way toward winning your league.... Read More
2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - Shortstop
At the risk of beating a dead horse, I dislike the term "sleeper." Maybe you share my qualms with terminology, maybe not; we can all agree that what we're after in our fantasy drafts is value. Obviously, finding the most valuable players leads to winning leagues, but there are few better feelings than snagging the... Read More
Deeper NL Outfield Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs
We are gathered here today to discuss everyone’s favorite fantasy buzzword, the “sleepers.” Not only that, but we’re tabbing these guys as deeper sleepers with a focus on the outfield position for National League teams. The outfield is always complicated by having so many options that you feel like there's always another guy waiting for you... Read More
Deeper Shortstop Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs
After catcher, shortstop is generally considered the weakest offensive position in fantasy baseball. While an influx of young talent has bolstered the top end of the position, it can still be hard to find appealing options after the studs are gone. In deeper leagues, especially AL or NL-only leagues, getting value out of late round... Read More