Week 1 Waiver Wire: Outfield

The 2017 season is finally upon us, which means it's time to start overreacting to insanely small samples. Well, no - don't actually do that. As a general rule, you shouldn't be making any drastic decisions at a time when Madison Bumgarner is tied for the league lead in home runs. But that doesn't mean you […]

Travis Jankowski (OF, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Mixed, NL-only Leagues OWNED IN: 8% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Travis Jankowski strikes out too much to hit for average despite his quickness and doesn't have much power, but he does the starting job in left field. He also swiped 30 bags as a part-timer in 2016. Jankowski does get on base […]

Steve Pearce (1B/2B/OF, TOR) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Mixed, AL-only Leagues OWNED IN: 13% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: The release of Melvin Upton Jr makes it clear that the Jays will give Steve Pearce every opportunity to run with the starting job in left field. He also carries eligibility at first and second base, and given that Devon Travis can't […]

Streaming Wars: Waiver Wire Targets for April 5th

Over the offseason, there was much ado about the home run surge of 2016. Would it continue into 2017 or was regression looming? One game into the MLB season, and we already have 30 home runs - a 5,400 home run pace. Yasmani Grandal, Rougned Odor, and Khris Davis have already popped two apiece, as has […]

Yahoo MLB DFS Advice (4/4/17): Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Picks

Baseball is back, and we couldn't be happier. It's definitely very difficult to predict a player's performance this early in the season (granted it's always difficult) so I have focused heavily on past success. In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for Yahoo on 4/4/17. The DFS lineup […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 13: Barrels For Pitchers

Last time, we looked at Barrels, a stat combining exit velocity and launch angle to measure how often a batter makes quality hard contact. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is some evidence that pitchers do not have the same […]

Yahoo MLB DFS Advice (4/3/17): Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Picks

Happy opening day! Hooray for baseball! This is going to be a very exciting season, especially with the huge increase in homers we saw in 2016. How will that play out this year? We'll watch and see.  Today, Yahoo has some great value options to choose from for DFS games. Let's get down to business. In […]

Chris Owings (SS/OF, ARI) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Mixed, NL-only Leagues OWNED IN: 11% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Chris Owings will open the year as the starting shortstop in Arizona, and he's hitting second in their first game. There's not much pop here, but Owings swiped 21 bags in 23 attempts last year. With the current dearth of speed in […]

Streaming Wars: Exploiting the Waiver Wire to Win Your League

Welcome to Streaming Wars, a new column offering waiver wire recommendations for the next day. Streaming goes by many names such as micromanaging, churn and burn, etc. Whatever you call it, the goal is the same - to fully leverage your weakest roster spots. Streaming is not for everybody, but it is for mostbody. Sometimes, you'll have […]

Week 1 Waiver Wire: 0-25% Owned Pickups

Baseball is finally back. In light of this, let's give that free agent pool one last look over before the stats start flying. Here are the best players who are owned in 0-25% of Yahoo leagues. You can see our column on 25-50% owned players as well. These are your deeper Week 1 waiver wire pickups and […]

Week 1 Waiver Wire: 25-50% Owned Pickups

Wow, we're really here. After all this time, baseball is truly back. Happy Opening Day RotoBallers! In light of this, let's give that free agent pool one last look over before the stats start flying. Today, we'll look at players who are owned in 25-50% of Yahoo leagues and see who stands out. You can […]

Baseball Award Predictions that (Probably) Won't Come True

My least favorite type of baseball articles to read are preseason predictions for awards. Nobody in their right mind is going to pick against Mike Trout for AL MVP and there's a very narrow population of players that are considered in the NL. It's not exactly informative to hear someone say, "Clayton Kershaw has a […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 12 - Barrels for Batters

If you've watched a baseball broadcast in the so-called Statcast Era, you have undoubtedly noticed the broadcasters commenting on a batted ball's exit velocity, or EV. Many have taken to using stats like Hard% and Soft% to forecast how a player should be performing, expecting larger Hard% rates to produce larger BABIP figures. There is […]

Brandon Moss (1B/OF, KC) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~280 CURRENT ADP: 319 ANALYSIS: Brandon Moss was already expected to receive a solid number of at-bats, but with Jorge Soler battling an oblique injury and Lorenzo Cain banged up, the 33-year-old slugger figures to play a large role in Kansas City’s offense. Even with both of those guys healthy, he could […]

Delino DeShields Jr (OF, TEX) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~400 CURRENT ADP: 460 ANALYSIS: Delino DeShields’ strong spring has put him firmly in the conversation for the Rangers’ starting left field job, with Jurickson Profar and Ryan Rua as his main competition. There’s even been talk of sliding him into the leadoff role. The 24-year-old speedster slashed just .209/.275/.313 across 203 […]

Lottery Tickets for 2017 Fantasy Baseball Drafts

You're 25 rounds deep into your fantasy baseball draft, your rotation is secure, you're backed up at every position on the field and you've got one pick left to fill out your roster. Sure, you could go with that 10-year veteran SP with a lifetime 4.50 ERA that might get you 10-12 wins. Is that […]

American League Outfielders: Overvalued and Undervalued

With the MLB season right around the corner, we are in high-season for fantasy baseball drafts. Before you enter your draft room this year, it would behoove you to check out our ADP analysis pieces here at RotoBaller. We will ensure you have a good working knowledge of how players are being viewed, when to grab […]

Aaron Judge (OF, NYY) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~275 CURRENT ADP: ~357 ANALYSIS: Yankees fans are certainly excited about today's news that Aaron Judge will start the season in right field. He promises to take the term "Bronx Bomber" to the next level with his massive power stroke. Fantasy owners may also want to take a chance on Judge, given his […]

Michael Brantley (OF, CLE) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers & Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~140 CURRENT ADP: ~183 ANALYSIS: Fantasy owners and Cleveland Indians' fans alike would tell you that 2016 was about as disappointing of a season as possible for Michael Brantley. Coming off of two stellar seasons in 2014 and 2015, Brantley managed to stay on the field for only 11 games and was unable […]

Mitch Haniger - The Seattle Mariners' New Secret Weapon

Of all the new players GM Jerry Dipoto has brought in, Mitch Haniger may just be the one with the most upside. Jean Segura, Jarrod Dyson, Drew Smyly; these are just a handful of the guys that Dipoto has added to the Mariners roster just this season alone. One that may have been overlooked at […]

2017 Prospects - Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Drafts

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. Opening Day is almost upon us. As I am writing this, we […]

Potential Outfield ADP Busts for 2017

We continue our positional avoid series with the outfield today. Outfield is a position that is historically thought of as one of the deepest in fantasy, but when the vast majority of leagues demand five outfielders, the pickings can get slim in the later rounds. As such, you’ll need to make sure you hit on […]

Maximizing Yahoo DL and NA Slots In Your Draft

Most fantasy baseball leagues have at least one DL spot. Many have two, three or even more. While certainly useful during the season when players inevitably get hurt, they can also be part of your draft strategy. Not as widely used and relatively new to Yahoo leagues, NA slots allow you to stockpile difference-makers for the […]

2017 Deeper Outfielder Sleepers - NL

The key to winning a championship in fantasy baseball is to find gems in the late rounds of your drafts. Anyone can draft a top-10 player, but only those who truly prepare can find the diamonds in the rough. Below are some 2017 deep outfielder sleepers for the National League. I will be analyzing five […]

ADP Champs or Chumps - Ender Inciarte & Kevin Kiermaier

If you play in a deeper league, you will quickly discover that your goal in the draft is different. Standard formats do not ask you to worry about playing time for anyone except your sleepers, as there are plenty of starting players in MLB to fill every slot in the fantasy league. Try an NL-only […]

Max Kepler (OF, MIN) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~210 CURRENT ADP: 234 ANALYSIS: Max Kepler burst onto the scene last season, smashing 17 home runs in only 113 games with the Twins. There are still some holes in his approach, but at 24 years of age, there is room for growth. Kepler had stretches of good and bad play; in […]

Jorge Soler (OF, KC) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~265 CURRENT ADP: 294 ANALYSIS: After an exciting start to his career back in 2014, Jorge Soler has not lived up to the expectations of Cubs fans. Between his injuries and blown opportunities, he was never able to pull everything together. Soler was traded to the Royals for closer Wade Davis this […]

Jarrod Dyson (OF, SEA) - 2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~200 CURRENT ADP: 220 ANALYSIS: Jarrod Dyson was dealt to the Mariners this offseason after seven seasons with Kansas City. Over that span, Dyson played in only 550 games (an average of about 79 per season), and stole 176 bases. Despite a part-time role, he still finished with 30 steals in four […]

Scene Change - Four Hitters On New Teams

For those fantasy baseball players who don't follow and analyze every offseason move that occurs between October and March, catching up on those changes is a vital part of draft preparation. Below I'll quickly outline the four hitters who will likely have the most fantasy relevance for different teams in 2017. There doesn't figure to […]

Draft Values: The 2017 All-Bargain Team

This article first appeared on the Metro news publication. Our long national nightmare is nearly over. No, not that one…here we’re referring to the lack of baseball. Opening Day is right around the corner, and not a moment too soon. After last week’s look at the busts, let’s end draft season on a happy note […]