Justin Smoak Finalizing Deal To Play In Japan

Veteran first baseman Justin Smoak is finalizing a deal with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan on Tuesday, according to sources. The deal will guarantee him between $6 million and $7 million. The 34-year-old joins a Giants team that won the Central League last year but lost the Japan Series as the country's oldest professional team. […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

Once again, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season is not guaranteed to be a normal one. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a world unencumbered by COVID-19 and talk about our silly little game as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

Biggest Brl/BBE% Fallers from 2020

Last week, I discussed the importance of the Brl/BBE% and examined some players who had improved the most in the shortened 2019 season. If you haven't yet taken a look at that, I would encourage you to because I also gave a detailed breakdown of why I like this particular stat. However, if you simply […]

Nationals Not Ruling Out Ryan Zimmerman

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said that he's not ruling out a reunion with first baseman Ryan Zimmerman despite the fact that the team just traded for first baseman Josh Bell on Christmas Eve. Washington is still trying to add a quality right-handed hitter, although it seems unlikely that Zimmerman would fit into the […]

Nationals Trade For Josh Bell

The Washington Nationals acquired first baseman Josh Bell from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday in exchange for young pitchers Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean. Bell set career highs in almost every category when he made his first All-Star team in 2019 by hitting .277 with 37 home runs and 116 RBI, but he regressed in […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Late ADP Options

Like a sitcom catchphrase from a bygone era, we all want more power. We'll take it early and we'll take it late but it always feels extra sweet when one of your final picks suddenly becomes one of the mayors of dong city. Looking at a player's exit velocities can tell us a lot about […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Earlier Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level early in their careers. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, pre-prime breakouts can be excellent draft values thanks to their unusually high upside.  […]

Sam Fuld Promoted To General Manager

Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced on Tuesday that the team promoted Sam Fuld to general manager. Former GM Matt Klentak was reassigned in October. The 39-year-old Fuld has been in the team's front office since 2017, joining them initially as the major league player information coordinator. He was the director of […]

Squaring It Up: 2020's Biggest Brl/BBE% Gainers

Often when it comes to fantasy baseball, we get overloaded with statistics and it becomes hard to sort out what's useful from what's misleading. Many experts can write pages about why they swear by certain stats as being the most predictive for future success or accurate in reflecting who had a good season. In the […]

Nate Lowe to Rangers - Fantasy Impact

Nate Lowe has been FREED!!!!! The Tampa Bay Rays have traded their talented slugging first baseman as well as first baseman Jake Guenther to the Texas Rangers for catcher Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe, and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. This is the moment many fantasy baseball players have been waiting for, the chance for Nate Lowe […]

Rhys Hoskins Should Be Ready In 2021

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman/outfielder Rhys Hoskins (elbow) is recovering nicely from elbow surgery and should be ready to play in the 2021 season, according to his agent, Scott Boras. Hoskins is scheduled to begin swinging a bat soon. Manager Joe Girardi is also optimistic about Hoskins' chances of being ready next year, so it's not […]

Dusty Baker Unsure If He'll Return Beyond 2021

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker is unsure if he wants to manage the team beyond the 2021 season. "Maybe," Baker said. "Depends how I feel. Depends on how the team feels about me. ... You never know what changes are going to come about in life." The 71-year-old is entering the final year of his […]

Early-Round Fades and Overvalued Studs

Entering 2021, there is a bit of recency bias in the early ADP as well as an overall sense of unknown entering 2021 as a whole in terms of what rules are in place, where players are going to hit in the lineup or even where many players will play and how that could affect […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Early ADP Air% Exit Velocity

Looking at average exit velocity to project future power is not very useful compared to looking only at balls hit in the air. Because who cares how hard ground balls are hit? However, it can be even more useful to parse out those velocities into more refined bins and cast a more critical eye to […]

Rangers Acquire Nate Lowe From Rays

The Texas Rangers acquired infielder Nate Lowe and minor league first baseman Jake Guenther from the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in exchange for minor league catcher and outfielder Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. Lowe, 25, hit .224 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 21 games last season and […]

Phillies Finalizing Deal With Dave Dombrowski

The Philadelphia Phillies are finalizing a deal with Dave Dombrowski to take over as their president of baseball operations on Thursday, according to sources. The Phillies signed outfielder Bryce Harper and traded for catcher J.T. Realmuto before the 2019 season, but the team has since finished fourth and third in the National League East. Philly's […]

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Wants To Move Back To 3B

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is determined to prove to the team that he's capable of moving back to third base in 2021. Guerrero made his season debut with Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League on Tuesday and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and an RBI. "I came to Escogido […]

A Year to Remember: Players with Career Years in 2020

The 2020 baseball season was a short one, but still a season where some players could jump onto the scene and give fantasy players something to look forward to in the coming years. Some will say 60 games are not enough for a "career season," but I beg to differ, and so do the four […]

Carlos Santana Reaches Deal With Royals

The Kansas City Royals agreed to a two-year, $17 million deal with first baseman Carlos Santana on Tuesday, according to sources. Santana, a veteran with power and on-base skills, became a free agent when the Indians declined his $17.5 million option for the 2021 season. The switch-hitter batted just .199 in the shortened 2020 season, […]

Top 250 Dynasty Prospects for 2021

The 2020 baseball season was unlike any year we’ve ever seen with its shortened season and schedule that can perhaps be best described as organized chaos. The absence of a minor league season played havoc with prospect prognosticators. The 2021 season — and perhaps beyond — will continue to present unique challenges as the pandemic […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021

The abbreviated, wild-ride known as the 2020 MLB season has come to an end and the playoffs are in full swing. Sadly, that means fantasy baseball seasons are finished. And prospects watchers have turned their attention towards the 2021 season. The 2020 season saw a significant number of key contributions from rookies and, had you […]

Rangers Hire Former Pitcher Chris Young As GM

The Texas Rangers hired Chris Young as executive vice president and general manager on Friday, and he'll work under president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, who has been the team's GM since 2005. The 6-foot-10 Young pitched 13 seasons in the majors and has been the senior vice president in charge of on-field operations and […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Elite Levels of Air% Exit Velocity

Everyone wants more power, even more so when it comes relatively cheap. But even when pricey, you're going to need to draft a bomber or two. One of the best ways to see how a player's power is trending is to sift through their exit-velocities to see what they're saying. Most know by now that […]

Mets Aiming To Be Aggressive This Offseason

The New York Mets aim to be aggressive for the best available players this offseason. One source said that it's true that the Mets are targeting more than just one of the big four -- outfielder George Springer, catcher J.T. Realmuto, starting pitcher Trevor Bauer and Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. There has been speculation that […]

Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft - ADP Surprises

Of course, there are many changes to be made throughout the offseason. It feels as if the dust is still settling on the 2020 World Series yet baseball fans are more ready for the upcoming season than ever. We have no idea whether a full schedule can be played, what games will look like, and […]

Matt Arnold Promoted To General Manager

The Milwaukee Brewers promoted Matt Arnold to senior vice president and general manager on Thursday. The 41-year-old joined the Brewers as a vice president and assistant general manager in October of 2015. He was promoted to senior vice president and assistant general manager in June of 2019. Milwaukee has made the playoffs each of the […]

Theo Epstein Stepping Down

The Chicago Cubs announced on Tuesday that Theo Epstein will step down as president of baseball operations on Nov. 20. Jed Hoyer will be named to the role as his replacement. Epstein will leave the organization after nine years with the team. The Cubs under Epstein recorded 505 regular season wins since 2015, which is […]

Year-In-Review: Pete Alonso

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso endured a 2020 season which fell short of expectations coming off his breakout 2019 rookie campaign. After posting a .260/.358/.583 line in 2019, Alonso put up just a .231/.326/.490 line over 239 plate appearances in 2020. Alonso also clubbed 16 home runs, with six doubles and 35 RBI […]

Kim Ng To Become Marlins GM

Kim Ng is in line to become the new Miami Marlins general manager. She will become the first female general manager of an MLB team. She is a long-time baseball executive who has been MLB's senior vice president for baseball operations since 2011. Ng is also the first woman hired to a general manager position […]

Jose Abreu Takes Home AL MVP Award

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu won the American League MVP award on Thursday after helping the team reach the playoffs for the first time in 12 years during the shortened 2020 season. The 33-year-old received 21 of the 30 first-place votes. Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez finished second with eight first-place votes, while […]