X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Custom Draft Rankings for Fantasy Baseball Leagues in 2023

Our fantasy baseball Custom Rankings Service has been expanded for 2023 and now accommodates Points Leagues, Head-To-Head Leagues, Roto Leagues and Category Leagues. Your leagues have their own custom rules and scoring settings. Let us know those details, and we'll generate custom rankings and projections for your specific settings, all powered by ATC Projections.

Playing fantasy baseball can seem overwhelming sometimes, as there are myriad ways to play and every format requires a different way to best evaluate player values and guide your strategies. Points or Roto? Overall or Head-to-Head? If it's points, what are the scoring rules? If it's roto, what are the categories? Each different answer can bring seismic swings to how you should be drafting. And the above is saying nothing about all of the different roster limits each league may use. Two leagues can have the exact same format but if one is on Yahoo (no swing positions, three outfielders, and two UT) and one is on Fantax (MI and CI, five outfielders, and one UT), not only will individual values be massively different on draft day but so will the quality of the waiver wire during the season.

Even though small and large differences in format can turn relative player values on their heads, fantasy managers are often left fumbling to figure out those value swings on their own, taking one-size-fits-all content and trying to shoehorn it into their specific league. Not only can this lead to being behind the eight-ball before the season begins but the disconnect between perceived and actual value can turn fantasy baseball into a very frustrating experience.

Those dark days are past - because fantasy baseball is supposed to be fun, not frustrating, and we have the answers for getting you there. The RotoBaller Custom Rankings Service is here for both Points Leagues (H2H or Overall) and Roto Leagues (Classic or H2H) to help you step out of the dark and into the warm light of setting your team up for success.

For a more in-depth review of our custom rankings, check out our Custom Rankings User Guide. An MLB premium subscription is required to use this service. 

 

The Process: The RotoBaller Team Goes to Work For You

The easy part is getting your league information to our experts, who will then review all the parameters in detail before getting started on the assembly process. You just have to fill out a simple questionnaire about your league settings and then the RotoBaller team gets to work on constructing the perfect set of rankings for your draft, regardless of format.

The process is simple for the user because our experts do all of the hard work to provide a tailored set of rankings designed exactly for your league specifications.

There are just three simple steps to fantasy baseball dominance:

  • Step 1: Fill out our questionnaire  in 1 minute with your league settings (for Points or Roto)
  • Step 2: 🤷‍♂️
  • Step 3: Profit

Once we have your information, our magical point elves go to work, using all of your provided league information to calculate total values and arrange them in a way that is easy for you to digest - and easier for you to dominate the competition.

That's all it takes because within 48 hours you'll have custom ranks for your specific league that are formatted for ease of use and delivered right to your inbox, including the projected value in dollars and points, the latest ATC projections, as well as a few bells and whistles for getting the most of the information.

Whether you're playing points:

Or Roto:

With our rankings in your hands, you'll never again go into a draft worrying about your preparedness.

 

Behind the Scenes: The Making of Your Custom Rankings

We know you may have (understandable!) trust issues, so as the man behind the curtain, allow me to pull it back some and go behind the scenes of the RotoBaller Custom Rankings Factory so you see some of what goes into the actual, thorough process of creating a set of rankings just for you.

Everything starts with the projections and the RotoBaller Rankings machine only runs on premium fuel. This is why our custom ranks in 2023 are again powered by the award-winning ATC projections from RotoBaller's own Ariel Cohen.

Since debuting, Ariel's "Average Total Cost" projections are one of the industry's best, year in and year out. And I personally believe that the way they are produced makes them particularly suited for the advantages we're trying to press with the custom ranks. ATC is an aggregated projection system that uses different weighted averages from other projection systems (Steamer, The BATx, etc), setting the weights according to historical performances from the systems used. In other words, it's a "smart" average of the systems, accounting for which system does best projecting each individual statistic, and weighting the average accordingly.

Other systems might beat ATC in a given year but I'm a firm believer that Ariel's method is so sound that it's (almost necessarily) always going to be one of the best available. Or, in fantasy terms, ATC's floor is incredibly high. Putting projection systems aside, just the act of turning projected stats into dollar-based values that account for your league's particular rosters and positional replacement levels is enough to give you a monster advantage in your valuations compared to someone doing otherwise. I don't care what projection system you use and it can't be overstated; using properly calculated dollar values is an overwhelming difference. Full stop.

With that big of an advantage already, we don't want any of it to get siphoned away because another projection system (say, BAT X, for example) has an off year, for whatever reason. Don't take that as a knock against Derek Carty; his projections are excellent and continue to improve yearly - which is exactly why ATC incorporates them! But the "smart-average" underpinnings of ATC will just generally make it really, really hard to have a no-good, rotten year of projections. And this high-floor profile makes it the perfect pairing for the hammer of our valuation system.

 

Custom Fantasy Baseball Draft Rankings - Points Leagues

The greatest trick rotisserie baseball ever played was convincing the world that point players don't exist. Sounds melodramatic but an overwhelming majority of the quality fantasy baseball content available is geared towards classic roto leagues even though the share of people that play H2H points on ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, and Fantrax is large and continues to grow. When (or if) you do find points content, the chances it will accurately reflect the myriad of scoring options that your league might have and give actionable advice for your specific league settings are slim to none.

No longer, friends. You're safe now. I know you're hesitant; you've been hurt so many times before – so have I. But the days of relying on basic cheat sheets and rankings that don't align with your league's settings are over. To get the biggest advantage in your H2H Points league, you need values precisely machined to your exact settings. Aaron Judge doesn't just buy his bat off the rack, does he? No, he gets specialty equipment made just for him, with the specifications that will best set him up for success – and so should you. Think of these custom point ranks in the same way, getting draft prep designed just for you, with values that most accurately reflect the reality of your system.

The more precise you are in points, the better set up for success you'll be. And precision is what RotoBaller is offering.

This service is free for RotoBaller Premium Season Pass subscribers (enter promo code NOTBURT at checkout for an additional discount).

 

Turning Points Into PAR, Spinning PAR Into Gold

Championship gold, that is. With ATC projections in hand, it's time to turn all of those stats into the dollar values that will give you the most comprehensive understanding of how each individual is projected to perform in 2023.

ATC projections are first converted into projected points using the specific score settings from your league - but how many points a player will score is only half the story. We also need to know how valuable those points are compared to the rest of the player pool. This is accomplished by finding the player's "points above replacement," or PAR, which is calculated by using your league's size and roster limits to determine which players at each position are projected to be starter-worthy (above-replacement) or waiver-wire fodder (below-replacement). And with PAR in hand, we can then calculate the dollar values that put a player's projected worth into a more familiar form.

To better picture how this concept works, let's imagine a 12-team league in which each team starts two outfielders and two infielders, with no bench. Let's say that under this league's scoring system, both Ronald Acuna Jr. and Trea Turner are projected to score 500 points, which is tied for first in the league.

So, who is more valuable?*

*Sidebar:  Just by asking this question, you're likely already way ahead of many of your opponents, most of whom will be using total points as their primary source of valuation. This edge cannot be understated.

To answer that question, we need more than the projected points of Acuna Jr. and Turner, we also need to know how the quality of the rest of the player pool at their respective positions. In our hypothetical league, there are 24 "starting" outfielders (12 teams x 2 OF) and 24 "starting" infielders (12 teams x 2 IF). This means that the 25th-highest scoring outfielder and infielder will function as each position's "replacement-level player" - that is, the best of those players who aren't good enough to be a starter. Continuing the example, let's say that Seth Brown and Jeremy Pena are our replacement players, with Brown being projected for 300 points and Pena for 100 points.

Now we can easily calculate PAR and compare. Acuna Jr. would have a 200 PAR (his 500 points - 300 points of Brown), while Turner would have a 400 PAR (his 500 points - 100 points of Pena). With this extremely large discrepancy in PAR, Trea Turner would be an easy first choice.

The above hypothetical is very limited but these same concepts are expanded and will be applied to your particular league settings, with PAR being calculated for each individual player according to their position (or in case of multiple eligibilities, using their most valuable fantasy position according to the hierarchy of C > 2B > OF > 3B > 1B > SS). And once you have everyone's PAR scores, players can best be evaluated for all your fantasy needs.

But while PAR tells you how valuable a player is compared to his peers, it doesn't do so in a very user-friendly manner. Because PAR are just points and it's kind of hard to instinctively grasp the relative worth of a group of players in specific scoring environments when using just point totals. So, we need one final step. We'll skip the mathematical nitty-gritty but we put things on a more approachable scale, converting PAR into a dollar value structure that will feel more intuitive - once again use your specific league settings to calculate accurate values.

With points, PARs, and dollars calculated, we now have everything needed to build out your custom ranks and help you dominate your poor, unsuspecting league in 2023, regardless of size or settings:

 

Custom Fantasy Baseball Draft Rankings - Roto Leagues

The process is similar to what was described above but obviously also totally different, as there are no points, and without points, there is not PAR to turn into the dollar values that will drive your rankings. But that's okay! Instead of PAR we'll be using an adjusted z-score methodology to turn all of a player's different categorical into one simple number - I suppose we can call this RAR (roto above replacement) but let's workshop it later.

This "RAR" is (again, skipping the mathematical grits and nits) the end result of taking a player's total roto line and breaking it down into number that represents how their HR or Runs (and every other category) compares to all of the other players in the pool. After the mathematical dust is settled, each player has their RAR score from each category combined into their total RAR. And RAR then works similarly to how PAR did with points, being converted into a dollar value that accounts for positional and roster settings adjustments.

The end result is the same, though. A custom set of easy-to-use rankings that breakdown exactly how good players are projected to perform in your specific league. For example, the values in the below example might seem off but that's what happens when rankings are league-specific; in this case, a Saves+Holds format. While the competition is making rough "ballpark" adjustments for non-closing RPs, you'll know exactly how valuable they can be:

 

Arrival Day

After your custom rankings are meticulously created and reviewed, they will arrive in your inbox within 48 hours. Let's take a quick look at some of what you will get.

Whether for points or roto formats, each custom rankings set comes included with individual tabs for each position, as well as overall tabs for all hitters and pitchers. Along with the ATC projections in a number of categories, each tab also includes the relative values in dollars and/or points.

Also included for point leagues are the scoring rates (pts per PA/IP). These are most useful when comparing hitter to hitter, starter to starter, and reliever to reliever. They are the best way of judging a player's system scoring profile; that is, how a player's projected skill set fits into your given scoring system. Scoring rates can help you find sleepers and values but also help you avoid landmines. Like knowing when there is a large gap between the public's perception of a popular player and how that player performs under your scoring system.

Avoiding big misses is obviously important in any format, and if it were easy, everyone would do it. But point-based systems allow you to see when there are more direct (and predictable) lines to these value bombs, and with the right tools, you can more easily step around them. Luckily, your new custom ranks will give you those tools.

Playing in a league that punishes hitters for strikeouts? Or punishes a pitcher for earned runs but not hits and walks? These differences will show up in the different value estimators (dollar values, points scored, point scoring rates) and allow you to gracefully step over any tripwires by eschewing names that might be more popular in favor of the players that perform best in your specific league.

With this sample league's settings, would it be helpful to know that Adolis Garcia and Luis Robert are both being drafted as top 40 hitters but are projected by ATC to be in the #75 to #85 range? I'd say so!

Remember, many of your opponents will have a hard time separating a player's actual point value from the general reputation that they currently carry in the roto content community. This is something to be leveraged. Over and over and over again.

The lines to finding bargains and busts may not seem as direct in roto leagues compared to points but they certainly exist, with each category divergence from a "classic" 5x5 setup resulting in big-time changes that can't just be spitballed on the back of a napkin.

For just one illustration of how using slightly different categories can bring a whirlwind to actual values, let's compare a 12-team league with a classic 5x5 Roto setup for starting pitchers (W-SV-SO-ERA-WHIP):

To one that simply swaps out total strikeouts for K per 9 IP:

Notice anything? As you can see, some pitchers change just a negligible amount but others reap giant swings, whether for good or bad. But while others are guestimating those swings, you'll be dialed in on exactness, ready to exploit every edge. And the above examples are just for the top level of players, all of whom are, generally, really good players. But as you go deeper and deeper into more questionable skill profiles, the gaps in value under different formats become bigger and bigger. Bigger differences mean bigger edges and with our custom rankings, you'll be able to find them all.

 

The Extras

We've also included a few extra ways to help with your preparation. Your  customized rankings now come included with:

Draft Results: Each set of rankings includes a "Draft Results" tab where you can enter draft picks as they happen. Information from the tab will then populate every other sheet in your rankings set.

Keeper Results: Custom rankings also include a "Keeper Results" tab where you can enter any league keepers. Like with the draft results, the keeper information when then populate across your rankings.

What If?: These columns allow you to input new plate-appearance projections and see how it affects overall point totals. This may seem contradictory after preaching above that points must be turned into PAR in order to get accurate values. This is still very true! But turning this product into one which had the ability to recalculate dollar values would require turning it into a whole other animal and one that would be large, complicated, and CPU-intensive.

However, changing projected points is relatively easy and can still be useful, IF used properly. So, along with your custom ranks, you'll also receive an expanded version of this article that goes over how to best use "What If?" as well as some other information of note.

Mystic Secrets: Finally, the User Guide included with your custom ranks will also go over the mystic secrets involved with properly valuing pitchers in a points-based system. Okay, so they're not that mystic but what they will do is give you insight into the most overlooked part of player evaluations for H2H points, as well as other tips and tricks for getting the most out of your custom ranks when preparing to draft.

 

Get Your Custom Fantasy Baseball Rankings

Get your personal custom rankings for 2023 with this exclusive one-of-a-kind service for both Points Leagues and Category Leagues (H2H or Roto). You can sign up for the RotoBaller Fantasy Baseball Season Pass here, using promo code NOTBURT at checkout for an additional discount.

We know you've been long neglected, my fantasy-playing brethren, left to fend for yourself. You're given few tools and the ones that are offered are often the wrong ones, calibrated to doing jobs that don't always fit what will actually work in your league. But no more, I say, my friends...No more.

Trust the process. Break your league. Try not to be smug.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More Fantasy Baseball Advice




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

Daniel Bard1 hour ago

Still Off Monday
Blake Sabol1 hour ago

Made "Fantastic Impression" This Spring
Anthony Rendon1 hour ago

On Fire This Spring
Tyler Anderson2 hours ago

Wraps Up Strong Spring Monday
Miguel Rojas2 hours ago

' Two-Strike Approach Leading To Success
Akil Baddoo2 hours ago

Optioned To Triple-A Toledo Monday
Zach McKinstry2 hours ago

Tigers Acquire Zach McKinstry Monday
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander3 hours ago

Questionable Versus Charlotte
Ja Morant3 hours ago

Doubtful Versus Orlando
Terry Rozier3 hours ago

Out Again On Tuesday Evening
Gordon Hayward3 hours ago

Unlikely To Play Against OKC
Daniel Gafford4 hours ago

Dealing With A Sore Foot
Kyle Palmieri4 hours ago

Records Three Points Monday
Monte Morris4 hours ago

Uncertain For Tuesday Night
Kyle Kuzma4 hours ago

Remains Out Versus Boston
Triston McKenzie4 hours ago

Could Be Out Up To Eight Weeks
Gustav Forsling4 hours ago

Scores Twice Despite Florida Loss
Bradley Beal4 hours ago

Sidelined Again On Tuesday
Nico Hoerner4 hours ago

Cubs, Nico Hoerner Agree On Three-Year Extension
Brady Tkachuk4 hours ago

Logs Two Points In Ottawa Win
New England Patriots4 hours ago

Jerod Mayo To Be Bill Belichick's Successor?
Buffalo Bills5 hours ago

Taylor Rapp Signs One-Year Deal With Bills
Jarrett Stidham5 hours ago

Broncos Think Jarrett Stidham Has Starting Potential
Gardner Minshew5 hours ago

To Compete For Starting Job
Mac Jones5 hours ago

Not Guaranteed To Start In 2023
Samaje Perine5 hours ago

Could Fill In As Starter
Justin Herbert5 hours ago

Chargers Confident They'll Keep Justin Herbert Long Term
Joe Musgrove6 hours ago

Throws In B Game Monday
Michael Brantley6 hours ago

Timeline Moved Back
Jose Altuve6 hours ago

Could Go On 60-Day Injured List
Christopher Morel6 hours ago

Optioned To Triple-A
Ezekiel Elliott6 hours ago

Cowboys Open To Re-Signing Ezekiel Elliott
Rashod Bateman7 hours ago

Will Be Running In Three Weeks
Odell Beckham Jr.7 hours ago

Giants Open To Reunion With Odell Beckham Jr.
Saquon Barkley7 hours ago

Giants Hopeful Of Long-Term Extension With Saquon Barkley
Lamar Jackson7 hours ago

Commanders Won't Pursue Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson7 hours ago

Colts Pursuing Lamar Jackson?
Aaron Rodgers7 hours ago

No Timeline On Aaron Rodgers Trade
Jalen Hurts7 hours ago

Eagles Want To Get Extension Done With Jalen Hurts Soon
Fernando Tatis Jr.7 hours ago

Could Serve As Leadoff Man
Maxi Kleber7 hours ago

Questionable On Monday
Jrue Holiday7 hours ago

Ruled Out Monday
Logan O'Hoppe8 hours ago

Makes Opening Day Roster
Max Stassi8 hours ago

Jared Walsh, Max Stassi Opening On The Injured List
Marcus Morris8 hours ago

Sr. Sitting Out On Monday
Trevor May8 hours ago

Jeurys Familia, Dany Jimenez Options For Saves
Karl-Anthony Towns8 hours ago

To Sit Out On Monday
Triston McKenzie8 hours ago

Undergoes MRI Exam
Tyrese Haliburton8 hours ago

Won't Play On Monday
Myles Turner8 hours ago

Unavailable On Monday
Kyle Wright8 hours ago

Officially Placed On Injured List
Brice Turang8 hours ago

Makes Opening Day Roster
Chad Pinder8 hours ago

Signs Minor-League Deal With Nationals
Reilly Smith8 hours ago

Ruled Out For At Least Three Games
Erik Gudbranson8 hours ago

Won't Return This Season
Todd Gilliland8 hours ago

Impressive At COTA
Ville Husso8 hours ago

Could Be Done For The Season
Ty Gibbs9 hours ago

Finds His Footing At COTA
Robby Fabbri9 hours ago

Likely Finished For The Season
Detroit Lions9 hours ago

Calais Campbell To Meet With Lions
Troy Terry9 hours ago

Sits Out Monday's Game
Chris Buescher9 hours ago

Continues To Shine On Road Courses
Bryan Edwards9 hours ago

Joins Saints
Frank Vatrano9 hours ago

Returns To Ducks Lineup
NASCAR9 hours ago

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Finishes Seventh
DeAndre Hopkins9 hours ago

Deandre Hopkins Granted Permission To Seek Trade
Tage Thompson9 hours ago

A Game-Time Call For Monday
Brandon Aiyuk9 hours ago

49ers Planning To Exercise Brandon Aiyuk's Option
Brock Purdy9 hours ago

Viewed As Starter
Austin Cindric9 hours ago

Has A Solid Day
Lamar Jackson9 hours ago

Requests Trade
Jonas Johansson10 hours ago

Tends Twine Monday In Anaheim
Sergei Bobrovsky10 hours ago

In Goal Monday Against Ottawa
Ilya Sorokin10 hours ago

Starting Monday
John Gibson10 hours ago

Minds The Crease For Ducks Monday
Marc-Andre Fleury10 hours ago

Protects The Crease Versus Seattle
Buddy Hield11 hours ago

Listed As Out For Monday
Jake Allen11 hours ago

Between The Pipes Against Buffalo
Luka Doncic11 hours ago

Available On Monday
Giannis Antetokounmpo11 hours ago

To Sit Out On Monday
De'Aaron Fox11 hours ago

Available On Monday
Joel Embiid11 hours ago

Won't Suit Up Versus Nuggets
James Harden11 hours ago

On Track To Play Monday
Marlon Vera14 hours ago

Has Four-Fight Winning Streak Snapped
Cory Sandhagen14 hours ago

Dominates Striking Department
Yana Santos14 hours ago

Dominated In Decision Loss
Holly Holm14 hours ago

Dominates In Co-Main Event
Austin Lingo14 hours ago

Suffers Submission Loss
Nate Landwehr14 hours ago

Shines With Second-Round Submission Win
Andrea Lee14 hours ago

Suffers Defeat In Close Matchup Saturday
Maycee Barber14 hours ago

Takes Close Matchup On Saturday
Chidi Njokuani14 hours ago

Takes Close Loss In Split-Decision Showing
Albert Duraev14 hours ago

Holds Off Opponent In Tight Split Decision
Mikal Bridges16 hours ago

Goes Off For 44 Points Sunday
Viktor Arvidsson17 hours ago

Continues Scoring Surge Versus Blues
Tyson Barrie17 hours ago

Stays Hot With Two Points
William Byron17 hours ago

Rounds Out Top Five At COTA
John Tavares17 hours ago

Has A Three-Point Night Versus Nashville
Ross Chastain17 hours ago

Caught Up To Fourth At COTA On Sunday
Clayton Keller18 hours ago

Stretches Point Streak To 12 Games
Alex Bowman18 hours ago

Brings Home Third Place Finish At COTA
Kyle Busch18 hours ago

Scrambles Up To Second At Austin
Mikko Rantanen18 hours ago

Adds Two Points To His Tally
Tyler Reddick18 hours ago

Dominates And Wins At COTA
Jordan Taylor2 days ago

Making NASCAR Debut At COTA, Will Start 4th
Austin Cindric2 days ago

Excited To Showcase Speed At COTA This Weekend
Austin Dillon2 days ago

Starts 28th At COTA For Sunday
Ricky Stenhouse Jr2 days ago

. In Middle Of Pack For COTA
Denny Hamlin2 days ago

Rough Patch In Qualifying On Saturday
Kyle Busch2 days ago

Starts Ninth For COTA Race On Sunday
Kyle Larson2 days ago

Could Be A Wildcard On Sunday
Noah Gragson2 days ago

Finds Way To Qualify 10th At COTA
Brad Keselowski2 days ago

A Few Seconds Off the COTA Pace
Ryan Blaney2 days ago

Begins 38th For Sunday's Race At COTA
Chase Briscoe2 days ago

Just A Little Off At COTA On Saturday
Cory Sandhagen4 days ago

Can Earn Back-To-Back Victories
Marlon Vera4 days ago

Finds Himself In Main-Event Spotlight Saturday
Yana Santos4 days ago

Looking For Biggest UFC Win Of Her Career
Holly Holm4 days ago

Seeking First Victory Since 2020
Austin Lingo4 days ago

On Verge Of Three-Fight Winning Streak
Nate Landwehr4 days ago

Hoping For Third Straight Strong Performance
Maycee Barber5 days ago

Can Continue Her Flyweight Ascent
Andrea Lee5 days ago

In Need Of Victory To Keep Momentum Going
MMA5 days ago

Manel Kape On The Hunt For Fourth Straight Victory Saturday
Alex Perez5 days ago

Seeking First Victory Since 2020
Albert Duraev5 days ago

Can Rebound With A Victory
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF