Alex Wilson Agrees With Indians

The Cleveland Indians agreed to a minor league deal with free-agent relief pitcher Alex Wilson on Friday, according to a league source. He will make $1.25 million if he makes the big league roster and can earn an extra $750,000 in performance bonuses. Wilson had a 3.36 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 6.3 K/9 in 61 […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - American League Central

Moving right along with our pre-season coverage of the bullpens around the league, let's give the American League Central a look. Most "baseball people" are predicting the AL Central to be one of the worst divisions in the league in 2019, but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of fantasy value coming out of […]

John Andreoli Designated For Assignment, Jake Barrett Acquired

The San Francisco Giants designated outfielder John Andreoli for assignment on Wednesday. The team also added relief pitcher Jake Barrett from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations, and he takes the spot on the 40-man roster of Andreoli. Barrett made his debut in 2016 with the Diamondbacks, going 1-2 with a 3.49 ERA across 59 […]

Veteran Reliever Jerry Blevins Returns To A's Organization

The Oakland Athletics signed relief pitcher Jerry Blevins to a minor-league contract, and if he wins a job in the majors he'll be paid $1.5 million. Blevins made his major league debut with the A's back in 2007, and he appeared in 281 games in relief, posting a 13-6 record with a 3.30 ERA across […]

Wei-Chung Wang Agrees To Deal With The Athletics

The Oakland Athletics signed relief pitcher Wei-Chung Wang to a minor-league contract on Wednesday. He has made 22 appearances in the majors, last working with the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2017 campaign. The southpaw spent last season pitching out of the bullpen for the NC Dinos in the KBO League in South Korea, posting a […]

Royals Agree With Brad Boxberger

The Kansas City Royals agreed to an undisclosed one-year deal with free-agent relief pitcher Brad Boxberger on Wednesday, according to a source. Boxberger was an All-Star with the Rays in 2015 when he notched a career-high 41 saves, and he had a 4.39 ERA with 32 saves for the Diamondbacks last season while striking out […]

After Hours With RotoBaller Radio: FSTA Draft Review

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2019 fantasy baseball season and gets you warmed up for the MLB preseason. Be sure to tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - Monday through Friday from 6-7 am ET. You can also find new weekly shows on BlogTalkRadio live or on demand, SoundCloud and on iTunes under RotoBaller […]

Relief Pitcher - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, and I’m here to continue RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the ever-volatile relief pitcher position. The "closer carousel" seems to spin faster and faster every year, and there are very few names in the 'set […]

Tyler Glasnow - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

The Rays acquired Tyler Glasnow at the end of July in the Chris Archer trade. Glasnow was only used out of the bullpen for Pittsburgh, racking up 56 innings before the trade. Despite his below average ERA of 4.34 pre-trade, he managed to strike out 11.6 batters per nine innings. Walks were the main issue, […]

Pirates To Use Francisco Liriano As Reliever

The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to use pitcher Francisco Liriano as a reliever heading into spring training after signing him to a minor league deal on Monday. It makes more sense to use the aging left-hander as a lefty specialist rather than a starter given his splits against lefty hitters (.219 average) in his career […]

Top 130 Prospect Rankings for 2019 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Leagues

Prospects. For fantasy baseball enthusiasts, we are always looking to know about the next wave of prospects, rookies and call-ups. More than most other sports, baseball gives us a fresh influx of rookie talent every single year. Impact prospects are called-up both before and during the MLB season. Knowing about the right prospect, and drafting/adding him […]

Blake Treinen Wins Arbitration Case

Oakland Athletics closer Blake Treinen won his salary arbitration case on Saturday and will make $6.4 million, which is a $4.25 million raise and is a record for a second-time arbitration-eligible relief pitcher. Treinen was the best reliever in baseball in 2018. He was 9-2 with a 0.78 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 100 strikeouts in […]

RotoBaller's Weekend Warrior Show: American League Central Preview

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2019 fantasy baseball season and gets you warmed up for the MLB preseason. Be sure to tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - Monday through Friday from 6-7 am ET. You can also find new weekly shows on BlogTalkRadio live or on demand, SoundCloud and on iTunes under RotoBaller […]

Is It Legit? Blake Treinen's Breakout Season

We're back with another edition of "Is It Legit?" to discuss another surprising breakout performer from the 2018 MLB season in order to assess his value heading into 2019. With so many players seemingly becoming fantasy baseball darlings overnight, it can be challenging to sift through the multiple hype trains and determine which players are […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - American League East

With the National League already taken care of, it's time to jump into the bullpens of the American League and take a look at what we can expect for the 2019 season. After a slow offseason, it seems like relief pitchers are finally coming off the free agent board and signing with the teams they'll […]

Greg Holland Agrees With Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with free-agent relief pitcher Greg Holland on Wednesday. The deal also includes performance-based incentives, probably for games finished. While Archie Bradley and Yoshihisa Hirano are capable of closing out games, Holland has more experience and might be the favorite now for ninth-inning duties in the […]

Torey Lovullo Receives Extension

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed manager Torey Lovullo to an undisclosed extension on Tuesday. Lovullo's current deal was set to expire after the 2019 season. He was named the 2017 National League manager of the year after he led the team to a 93-69 record and playoff berth, but the D-Backs fell to 82-80 in 2018 […]

Brad Peacock A Candidate For Rotation Spot

Houston Astros relief pitcher Brad Peacock is a candidate for one of the team's final two rotation spots this year behind Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Collin McHugh. Peacock wasn't useful to fantasy owners in a relief role in 2018 for Houston, but he went 13-2 with a solid 3.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 11.0 […]

Rangers Agree With Shawn Kelley

The Texas Rangers agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal with free-agent relief pitcher Shawn Kelley on Monday, according to sources familiar with the deal. Including the buyout and the club option, the deal could be worth $2.75 million. Kelley will turn 35 in April and has injury concerns at his age, but he was […]

No Way, Jose? What To Expect After Jose Leclerc's Breakout

There are two schools of thought regarding what to do with the reliever position in fantasy baseball. The first mentality is to grab an elite arm early, guaranteeing you elite ratios and a safe save source. The other method of thinking, that’s becoming increasingly popular, is to wait until the later rounds or to find […]

Tyler Thornburg Could Have Shot At Closer Role

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Tyler Thornburg (shoulder), who was shut down last September due to complications from thoracic outlet syndrome, could be a wild card in the team's bullpen this year. His injury in 2018 led to him allowing 15 earned runs in just 24 innings all year. The hard-throwing right hasn't been healthy […]

Kenley Jansen Throws Bullpen Session

Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen (heart) said he threw his first bullpen session on Thursday since he underwent heart surgery. He has also dropped 25 pounds by cutting out carbohydrates and sugar this offseason. Jansen had a heart scare during the season and missed a short amount of time, but he should be good […]

2019 Fantasy Baseball Weekend Warrior: American League East Preview Show

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2019 fantasy baseball season and gets you warmed up for the MLB preseason. Be sure to tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - Monday through Friday from 6-7 am ET. You can also find new weekly shows on BlogTalkRadio live or on demand, SoundCloud and on iTunes under RotoBaller […]

Jose Leclerc Will Be Rangers Closer

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward said on Friday that relief pitcher Jose Leclerc will open the 2019 season as the closer. Leclerc was one of the best relievers in baseball last year (1.56 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 12 saves, 13.3 K/9), so he certainly has earned it. He's ranked by RotoBaller as the No. 15 fantasy […]

Mets Agree With Justin Wilson

The New York Mets agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with free-agent relief pitcher Justin Wilson on Friday. Wilson put up a 3.46 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 11.4 K/9 in 54 2/3 innings for the Cubs in 2018. The left-hander will merely be a lefty specialist as a setup guy with his new team […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - National League West

The East and Central have already been covered, so let's head out west. It's time to see what's going on in the bullpens of the National League West division. There are still too many significant relief pitchers on the free agent market to believe that any bullpen is "set" for Opening Day, but there are […]

Anthony Swarzak Will Be Behind In Spring Training

Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak (shoulder) will be behind when he reports to spring training. Swarzak was listed as the favorite for save duties in Seattle, but that was before the team signed Hunter Strickland on Thursday. The right-hander was limited to only 26 1/3 innings with the Mets in 2018 because of injury, […]

Hunter Strickland Agrees With Mariners

The Seattle Mariners agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent relief pitcher Hunter Strickland on Thursday, according to sources. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Strickland missed time with a fractured hand last season and posted a 3.97 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 14 saves and 37 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings for the Giants. Now […]

Cubs Agree With Brad Brach

The Chicago Cubs agreed to an undisclosed deal with free-agent relief pitcher Brad Brach on Thursday, according to sources. Brach struggled with Baltimore in 2018, posting a 4.85 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 and 11 saves in 42 outings before being traded to Atlanta, where he was much better in 27 games (1.52 ERA, 1.31 […]

Jordan Hicks - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks was a fireballing rookie last season that dazzled with 70 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings; he also only had a 3.59 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. A starting pitcher in the minors, Hicks made 73 appearances out of the Cardinals pen last season, walking 45 batters as well. The 22-year-old […]