Trey Mancini Reports Early To Camp Thursday

Baltimore Orioles first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini "looked really good" during Thursday's training sessions, per manager Brandon Hyde. Mancini fielded ground balls and hit as well. The 28-year-old missed the entirety of the 2020 season receiving treatment for colon cancer, so it is great news to see him back on the field. Mancini posted career numbers […]

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Working Out at 1B, 3B, OF

The Blue Jays organization is looking to increase Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s versatility this spring by having him work out at first base, third base, and in the outfield. A shortstop when he signed, the Cuba native has played a number of positions already in his career but was kept mostly to the outfield in 2020. […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook - February 18th

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. I began this column a year ago, and made it about four or five articles in when Major League Baseball decided to shut things down, just like everything else around the globe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, things are at least a little more […]

Mitch Moreland Signs One-Year Deal With Oakland

The Oakland Athletics and first baseman Mitch Moreland agreed to a one-year Major League contract, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Moreland adds a left-handed bat to a largely right-handed A's lineup and figures to get most of his at-bats as a designated hitter while also filling in occasionally for Matt Olson at first base. […]

Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Part 1)

RotoBaller's Top 250 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects list is back and refreshed for the 2021 season. Baseball has undergone a lot of change over the past 12 months due to the pandemic and no area of the game has been more heavily impacted than the minor leagues. Since this time last year, Minor League Baseball has […]

2021 First Base Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues

The chaotic, wild, and confusing 2020 COVID season is now thankfully behind us, am I right fellow Red Sox fans? But now is the hardest part in terms of fantasy implications from the pandemic as we try to decipher how much of 2020's statistics are actually viable data for 2021 projections. Small playing time samples, […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Batter BABIP

The most accessible of the fantasy-relevant advanced stats is BABIP, or Batting Average on Balls In Play. It simply measures a player's batting average on balls in play, with outcomes such as strikeouts and home runs removed from consideration. In general, the league average hovers around .300, a nice round number to remember. Many know […]

Blue Jays To Play First Two Homestands In Florida

The Toronto Blue Jays will play the first two homestands of the regular season at their spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, because of Canadian government restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Blue Jays start off with a three-game series at the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers before a homestand with four games against […]

Brad Miller Agrees With Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with free-agent infielder Brad Miller on Wednesday. The 31-year-old left-handed bat will bring versatility around the infield at second base, shortstop and first base. He spent the shortened 2020 season with the Cardinals and hit .232/.357/.451 with seven home runs and 25 RBI in 142 […]

Marlins Acquire Reliever John Curtiss

The Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays completed a cross-state trade on Wednesday morning. The Marlins acquired relief pitcher John Curtiss in exchange for first base prospect Evan Edwards. Curtiss was outstanding in the shortened 2020 season, posting a 1.80 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 25 strikeouts in 25 innings with just three walks. It was […]

Travis Shaw Returning To Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers signed free-agent third baseman/first baseman Travis Shaw to a minor league deal on Tuesday. The 30-year-old had 30-plus home runs and a 3.5 fWAR in 2017 and 2018 with Milwaukee but slumped badly in 2019 and was sent to the minors for most of that season. The left-handed slugger posted a .717 […]

Prospects to Know in 2021 - AL Central

The Super Bowl is over and we are officially on to baseball season! So what better way to celebrate the new baseball year than by talking about prospects? Last week, I took a look at the prospects to know in the NL Central. This week we're switching leagues and taking a look at five prospects […]

Rockies Sign C.J. Cron To Minor League Deal

The Colorado Rockies announced on Monday that they have signed first baseman C.J. Cron to a minor league contract with an invitation to their 2021 MLB spring training camp. In a limited 42 at-bats for the Tigers in 2020, Cron hit four home runs, to go with eight RBI and a brutal .190 average. Despite […]

First Basemen Set to Bust in 2021

When it comes to fantasy baseball strategy, there's typically one thought motivating any owners' desire to draft a first baseman or select one off the waiver wire: to be a run producer. Even if they're not going to help much in the batting average or steals category, all can be forgiven if they're hitting home […]

Luke Voit Fully Healthy

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit (foot) is fully healthy and ready to participate in all baseball activities. There was never any reported doubt that Voit would be ready to go for Opening Day after suffering from plantar fasciitis during the 2020 season, but injuries can be tricky and it's good to see Voit […]

2021 All-Value Team: Pouncing on ADP Fallers

One of the most common ways to get ahead in fantasy baseball is to be on the right side of small sample-size overreactions. After the 2020 season that saw just 60 regular-season games for each team, there is sure to be a lot of this as we approach draft season for 2021. Most hitters will suffer […]

Marwin Gonzalez Agrees To Join Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with free-agent utility man Marwin Gonzalez on Thursday, according to a source. The Toronto Blue Jays were also interested in him. The 31-year-old has played every position except pitcher and catcher in his nine-year career. He also switch hits and should see plenty of […]

Rockies Reach Deal With Greg Bird

The Colorado Rockies signed free-agent first baseman Greg Bird to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training on Thursday. The former Yankee didn't appear in the major leagues with the Rangers last season. Bird will return home after playing his high-school ball for Grandview High School in Colorado. The 28-year-old left-handed hitter […]

Dodgers Interested In Garrett Cooper

Miami Marlins first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper has reportedly drawn trade interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cooper finds himself potentially with much less playing time than expected after the signing of Adam Duvall on Tuesday. Cooper is a solid bat, but has had trouble staying on the field. He's hit .281/.344/.449 with 21 home runs […]

MLB To Deaden Baseballs Amid Home Run Surge

Major League Baseball has slightly deadened its baseballs amid a years-long surge in home runs totals, according to a source. The league thinks that its changes will be subtle, however, and an independent lab found that the new balls will fly one to two feet shorter on balls hit over 375 feet. Five more clubs […]

Fantasy Baseball Preseason Injury Updates

Injuries remain commonplace in all sports. Baseball has seen the rate of injury continue to rise over the past few years. In fantasy, if someone is not in the medical field, it is hard to gauge how long a player will be out and whether they need to be replaced in a lineup. Sometimes this […]

Blue Jays Interested In Marwin Gonzalez

The Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox are among a half-dozen teams that are interested in free-agent utility man Marwin Gonzalez. The 31-year-old could prove to be a valuable utility man for a contending team. The New York Mets have also been rumored to be interested in him this offseason. The Blue […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021 (Part 2)

Spring Training 2021 is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about prospects again. A strong pop-up performance from a rookie or two can have a massive impact on a fantasy manager’s season. If we look back to the truncated 2020 season, we can easily locate a healthy dose of players that had […]

Top 750: Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Rankings

What's up RotoBallers. Today we are bringing you our top 750 fantasy baseball dynasty rankings for the 2021 MLB season. Dynasty leagues, or keeper formats, continue to become more and more popular in the fantasy sports landscape. For those of you who are playing in dynasty formats, or are interested in long-term valuations of fantasy players, […]

Brewers Looking At Shin-Soo Choo At First Base

Free-agent outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has been working out at first base with the goal of increasing his versatility, and the Milwaukee Brewers are among the teams interested in him at the position. Choo has hit .289 with an .883 OPS against right-handed pitchers in his career, and a few National League teams are keeping tabs […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021 (Part 1)

Spring Training 2021 is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about prospects again. A strong pop-up performance from a rookie or two can have a massive impact on a fantasy manager’s season. If we look back to the truncated 2020 season, we can easily locate a healthy dose of players that had […]

ATC Hitter Projections with Ariel Cohen: WPC+ Podcast

Pierre Camus is joined by Ariel Cohen, creator of ATC projections, to discuss hitters that could be great draft values or busts based on ADP. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller […]

Brewers To Move Keston Hiura To First Base

The Milwaukee Brewers plan to move second baseman Keston Hiura to first base this year after they signed Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong to a two-year, $18 million deal earlier this week. The 24-year-old Hiura hit just .212 with a National League-leading 85 strikeouts in 2020, but he hit .303 with a .938 OPS […]

Ji-Man Choi Wins Arbitration Case

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi won his salary arbitration case against the team and will earn $2.45 million in 2021, according to a source. The Rays had filed at $1.85 million. Choi hit .230 with three home runs, a .741 OPS and 16 RBI in 42 games in the shortened 2020 season. He […]

Edwin Rios (1B/3B, LAD) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

If there is one thing the league does not want to see, it's the Dodgers develop another breakout power hitter, but it sure is looking like that's a very real possibility with Edwin Rios. He did more than enough in his 83 plate appearances last year to draw our attention, so let's take a deep […]