George Springer, Trevor Bauer Receive Qualifying Offers

Free-agent starting pitchers Trevor Bauer (Cincinnati Reds), Marcus Stroman (New York Mets) and Kevin Gausman (San Francisco Giants) and position players DJ LeMahieu (New York Yankees), George Springer (Houston Astros) and J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia Phillies) all received qualifying offers on Sunday that will tie them to their current teams. If any of them accept, they […]

J.D. Martinez Opts In

Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez will keep his contract that will pay $19.375 million in each of the next two seasons rather than opting out and becoming a free agent. Martinez hit a career-low .213 during the shortened 2020 season with seven home runs and 27 RBI. The 33-year-old's deal also gives him […]

Giancarlo Stanton Won't Opt Out Of Contract

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton will keep the remaining $218 million and seven guaranteed years on his contract instead of opting out after two injury marred seasons. The soon-to-be 31-year-old hit .266 with 38 home runs and 100 RBI in his first season with the Yankees in 2018. He hit .288 with three home […]

Nick Castellanos Will Return In 2021

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos will not opt out of the remainder of his four-year, $64 million deal, meaning that he will return to the Reds in 2021. Castellanos slashed .340/.411/.840 with seven home runs over his first 14 games for Cincy in 2020, but he finished the shortened season by hitting just .225 with […]

Red Sox Talking With Alex Cora

The Boston Red Sox are expected to interview former manager Alex Cora in the coming days, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. Boston parted ways with Cora last January due to his part in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal during 2017, and Cora was suspended for all of 2020. According to The Boston Globe's Alex […]

Brad Hand, Carlos Santana, Domingo Santana Become Free Agents

The Cleveland Indians declined 2021 options on relief pitcher Brad Hand ($10 million), first baseman Carlos Santana ($17.5 million) and outfielder Domingo Santana ($5 million) on Friday, making them free agents. Hand will receive a $500,000 buyout and the Santanas will each receive $250,000. The 30-year-old Hand led baseball with 16 saves this year, but […]

Brewers Decline Options On Jedd Gyorko, Eric Sogard, Ben Gamel

The Milwaukee Brewers declined the 2021 options on infielders Jedd Gyorko and Eric Sogard and outfielder Ben Gamel on Friday. Gyorko and Sogard both had $4.5 million options, while Gamel remains under team control after the team declined his $2.55 million option. Gyorko hit .248 with nine home runs and 17 RBI in 43 games […]

Tigers Officially Hire A.J. Hinch

The Detroit Tigers officially hired former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch as their new manager on Friday. Hinch was a backup catcher for the 2003 Tigers. The hiring comes one year after he was fired by Houston for his part in the sign-stealing scandal, and he was suspended for all of the 2020 season. Hinch […]

Yankees Decline Options On Brett Gardner, J.A. Happ

The New York Yankees declined their 2021 options on outfielder Brett Gardner and left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ on Friday, making them both free agents. Gardner will receive a $2.5 million buyout instead of a $10 million salary, while Happ's deal didn't come with a buyout. The 37-year-old Gardner is the team's last player from the […]

Brewers Decline Ryan Braun's Option

The Milwaukee Brewers declined to pick up veteran outfielder Ryan Braun's $15 million mutual option for the 2021 season on Friday, making him a free agent. The team's career home run leader will now ponder his future and is due a $4 million buyout. the 37-year-old has spent his entire career in Milwaukee and pondered […]

Tigers Finalizing Deal To Make A.J. Hinch Their Manager

The Detroit Tigers have made progress in finalizing a deal to make former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch their next manager, according to sources. Hinch lost his job with Houston before the start of the 2020 season for his role in the team's sign-stealing scandal. Former Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire retired on Sept. 19 with […]

Fantasy Baseball Applications of zxwOBAcon Analysis

In part one of this series, I established that zxwOBAcon is the primary driver of season-to-season changes in xwOBAcon and that the biggest risers in zxwOBAcon each season tend to be rebound candidates. Furthermore, rebound candidates recover all of their zxwOBAcon losses more often than not and frequently outperform their season x zxwOBAcon in season […]

Randy Arozarena's 2021 Fantasy Value: WPC+ Videocast

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut look back at the amazing rookie season and postseason run by Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena in order to project his fantasy baseball value and ADP for 2021. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and […]

White Sox Name Tony La Russa Their New Manager

The Chicago White Sox named Tony La Russa, a three-time World Series champion, as their new manager on Thursday. The 76-year-old hasn't served as a big league manager since ending his 16-year run with the Cardinals in 2011, a season that ended in his third championship. La Russa has a 2,728-2,365 managerial record and began […]

White Sox Close To Hiring Tony La Russa?

The Chicago White Sox could officially name Tony La Russa as their new manager as early as Thursday. La Russa got his start in the big leagues in 1979 with the White Sox, and rumors have been swirling for more than a week that he'd land there. The 76-year-old won three straight American League pennants […]

Nats Decline Options On Adam Eaton, Anibal Sanchez, Others

The Washington Nationals declined club options for the 2021 season on outfielder Adam Eaton and right-hander Anibal Sanchez, making them free agents. The Nats also declined their portion of mutual options on infielders Howie Kendrick and Eric Thames. Eaton's option was worth $10.5 million, but they'll instead pay him a $1.5 million buyout. Sanchez's option […]

Marlins Exercise Starling Marte's Option

The Miami Marlins exercised the club option for outfielder Starling Marte on Wednesday, and he'll make $12.5 million next year. The Marlins would've been on the hook for $1 million if they had decided not to pick up Marte's option. Miami acquired the center fielder from Arizona on Aug. 31 for pitchers Caleb Smith and […]

George Springer Doesn't Want To Return To Astros

Houston Astros outfielder George Springer, who is set to become a free agent, doesn't want to return to the team. It would be a big loss for an Astros team that will already be without starting pitcher Justin Verlander (elbow) in 2021 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Fellow outfielders Michael Brantley and Josh […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (10/27/20): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

Whether or not Tuesday represents the swan song of the 2020 baseball season, the journey to crowning a new champion has been a wild ride, full of exhilarating, historic moments inside the bubble.  Blake Snell and Tony Gonsolin are running back their Game 2 matchup, in which the latter recorded just four outs, seemingly by […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values Based On Contact Quality

In part one of this series, I established that zxwOBAcon is the primary driver of season-to-season changes in xwOBAcon and that the biggest risers in zxwOBAcon each season tend to be rebound candidates. Furthermore, rebound candidates recover all of their zxwOBAcon losses more often than not and frequently outperform their season x zxwOBAcon in season […]

Warning Signals in Shift Increases: Part One

Shifts work. Not all the time and not against everyone but eventually there is a sufficient amount of data on a player to be able to draw some pretty strong conclusions about what advantages can be gained by shifting. There are good reasons that Joey Gallo was shifted against 98.5% of the time in 2020. Not everyone […]

DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS (10/25/20) (Premium Content)

Wow. Baseball doesn't get much more exciting than what went down in Game 4. After a bunch of lead changes, six home runs, and a final play that will live in baseball lore forever, the Rays went home the winner and the series is now tied 2-2. Clayton Kershaw returns to the mound for the […]

DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS (10/25/20)

Hopefully, everyone stayed up late enough to catch the ending of Game 4, it was magical. Congrats to both teams for making the series quite enjoyable to watch. The World Series's fifth game will take up to a beastly matchup of Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow. Pitching should be the key to this game as […]

DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS (10/24/20) (Premium Content)

Can Tampa Bay finally stem the offensive tidal wive that the Dodgers have begun to unleash? That will be the central question surrounding Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday, with L.A. looking to be in true mid-season form. After what is likely only a sign of things to come, heavy bullpen usage has […]

Dissecting Contact Quality In Search Of Fantasy Bargains

Of the 1,015 hitters sampled(1) between 2015 and 2019, there were only 14 instances of hitters making more productive contact against pitches outside of the strike zone than against pitches inside of the strike zone based on xwOBAcon. Based on the same sample, the average hitter was a whopping .116 points better against pitches inside […]

MLB DFS Cheat Sheet for 10/23/20 (Premium Content)

Game Three will give the series advantage to someone tonight. The pitching matchups feature a budding ace, Walker Buehler, and a craft veteran, Charlie Morton. The regular season has been a bit of a rollercoaster for both these hurlers-a slow start followed by a great deal of success as the innings piled up. The Dodgers […]

Nationals Re-Sign Josh Harrison

The Washington Nationals re-signed utilityman Josh Harrison to a one-year, $1 million deal on Thursday. Harrison was released by the Phillies in July and latched on with the Nats, hitting .278 with two doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI, six walks and 11 runs scored for Washington. The 33-year-old can make an extra $250,000 in […]

Lineup Order Risers and Fallers: AL West 2020 Review

It’s the offseason and there are about to be a bunch of moving parts. This allows for speculation in terms of players gaining or losing playing time, moving up or down a batting order and much more. The idea here is to highlight some lineup situations for each team and some potential winners or losers […]

Tigers Interview George Lombard, Marcus Thames

The Detroit Tigers have interviewed Dodgers first base coach George Lombard and Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames, who both previously played for the Tigers, for their managerial opening, according to sources. The two join long-time Tigers coach Lloyd McClendon as candidates who have interviewed for the job. McLendon served as the interim manager following Ron […]

White Sox Interview Tony La Russa

The Chicago White Sox have interviewed Tony La Russa for their managerial opening, and he remains a top candidate in their search, according to two sources. General manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Kenny Williams each spoke with the 76-year-old. La Russa managed the White Sox from 1979-86 before moving to the Athletics and […]