Marcelo Mayer Quickly Becoming One Of MLB's Best Prospects

Boston Red Sox shortstop Marcelo Mayer, who was taken with the fourth overall pick last year, was widely considered by scouts as both the best pure hitter and the best defender in the 2021 draft class. Mayer finished the 2021 season as MLB Pipeline's No. 9 overall prospect, and he's expected to be a top-five […]

Rob Manfred Says No Change To Spring Training

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said on Thursday that "the status of spring training is no change right now." Manfred also called the possibility of missing regular season games amid the league's lockout of players "a disastrous outcome." "I believe we will have an agreement in time to play our regular schedule," Manfred said. […]

Francisco Lindor: 2022 Fantasy Baseball Bust?

The New York Mets finished the 2021 campaign with a 77-85 record overall, which was a very disappointing outcome after an active offseason. The third-place finish and missing the postseason was a shock to many seeing as they entered with a strong pitching staff and had signed Francisco Lindor to a massive 10-year, $341 million […]

Dodgers Looking To Extend Dave Roberts

The Los Angeles Dodgers are planning extension talks with manager Dave Roberts. According to Andy McCullough of the Athletic, Roberts and Dodgers president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman indicated the two parties would negotiate an extension in the coming weeks. "It'll get done," Roberts said. "It'll get done." The 49-year-old has managed the Dodgers over […]

MLB Planning To Make New Proposal To Union

Major League Baseball is planning to make a new proposal following the owners' meetings this week, which will end on Thursday. Their proposal is expected to involve core economic issues, and hope remains that it could trigger something to get a deal done so that the regular season can begin as scheduled. MLB and the […]

Marco Luciano Has Eye-Opening Middle-Infield Power

San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Luciano, who finished as MLB Pipeline's No. 5 overall prospect in 2021, has elite bat speed that gives him more power potential than any other middle-infield prospect in baseball. He was able to produce 19 home runs in 106 games between Low-A and High-A in his first full season in […]

Noelvi Marte Could Be Seattle's Next Elite Prospect

Seattle Mariners shortstop Noelvi Marte is following in the footsteps of Seattle outfielders Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez as an elite hitting prospect. Marte almost had a 20-20 season as a 19-year-old in 2021 while making his full-season debut, and he's projected to be a top-10 prospect on MLB Pipeline heading into the 2023 season […]

Anthony Volpe Projected To Be A Top Prospect In 2023

New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who was No. 15 on MLB Pipeline's top-100 prospect list to end 2021, is projected to be a top-10 prospect entering the 2023 season. He won MLB Pipeline Hitting Prospect of the Year accolades after his first full season as a pro by hitting .294/.423/.604 with 27 home runs […]

Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (Chase Rates) - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball

As the MLB and MLBPA keep working towards ending the lockout and getting baseball back into our lives, we've been keeping the offseason content going by digging into some 2021 stats. While we all obviously want the lockout to end, this is a useful time to do your research and have a better understanding of […]

MLB Stops Drug Testing During Lockout

Major League Baseball has stopped drug testing players during the lockout that began on Dec. 2 of last year. Testing for steroids was stopped for the first time in almost 20 years due to the expiration of the league's drug agreement between management and the players' association. "It should be a major concern to all […]

Top MLB Prospects Rankings: #101-175 - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

RotoBaller’s fantasy baseball prospects coverage is back. The 2022 season is quickly approaching and while the MLB season still hangs in the balance due to the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, the minor league season will be unaffected (for players not on the 40-man roster). We’re continuing our 2022 prospect coverage with the comprehensive […]

Twins Sign Tim Beckham To Minor League Deal

The Minnesota Twins have decided to sign infielder Tim Beckham to a minor league deal. The former first overall draft pick from 2008 hasn't played in the MLB since 2019 with the Seattle Mariners. Beckham spent time in the minor league system with the Chicago White Sox last year. However, Beckham only managed to play […]

Batting Order: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

You may be wondering why there aren't any advanced stats aimed at predicting a player's counting stats like runs and RBI. The answer is simple: modern sabermetrics reject the idea of a "clutch RBI guy" and therefore do not bother inventing predictive metrics for it. Runs and RBI are team-dependent stats and are unhelpful in ascertaining […]

Players Association Rejects Idea For Federal Mediator

The Major League Baseball Players Association on Friday rejected the league's request for a federal mediator to negotiate between the two sides for a new collective bargaining agreement. "Two months after implementing their lockout, and just two days after committing to Players that a counterproposal would be made, the owners refused to make a counter, […]

Triple-A Schedules Expanded To 150 Games

The schedule for each Triple-A team will be expanded from 144 games to 150 games in the first full season the minor leagues are being run by Major League Baseball. Because the season didn't start until May due to the coronavirus pandemic last year, the Triple-A schedules were cut to 120 games in 2021. The […]

MLB Asks Mediator To Assist In CBA Talks

Major League Baseball has requested the assistance of a federal mediator to help resolve the labor issues between the league and Players Association so that a new collective bargaining agreement can be reached, according to a source. The league sees this as the most productive path toward reaching an agreement to avoid any potential delay […]

Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (Pull Rate) - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball

As the MLB and MLBPA keep working towards ending the lockout and getting baseball back into our lives, we've been keeping the offseason content going by digging into some 2021 stats. While we all obviously want the lockout to end, this is a useful time to do your research and have a better understanding of […]

Early 2022 Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings - 5x5 Roto Mixed Leagues

It's still early in the 2022 MLB preseason, but we are ready to rock! In this article you'll find our team's early 2022 fantasy baseball shortstop rankings and tiers for 5x5 mixed roto leagues. This time of year is always exciting for baseball fans and fantasy baseball players, and we are more excited than ever. […]

Pull%: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

We have previously determined that fantasy managers generally prefer batters to hit the ball into the air to have a chance at a home run. Yet, all fly balls are not equal for this purpose. A player can maximize his power production by pulling the ball in the air. One way to illustrate this is […]

Top MLB Prospects Rankings: #176-250 - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

RotoBaller’s fantasy baseball prospects coverage is back. The 2022 season is quickly approaching and while the MLB season hangs in the balance due to the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, the minor league season will be unaffected (for players not on the 40-man roster). We’re beginning our 2022 prospect coverage with the comprehensive Top […]

Late-Round Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Targets - NFBC Draft and Hold Leagues

Welcome back RotoBallers to my ongoing series about NFBC late-round targets - today we take a look at shortstops. We are entering February and that means Fantasy Baseball draft season is ramping up. Sure, we do not know if or when the MLB season will start, but that will not stop us die-hard fantasy players! […]

MLB, Players Union Disappointed After Tuesday's Meeting

Both sides of Major League Baseball's labor talks are disappointed after another meeting on Tuesday, with MLB now joining the players union in that regard. The Union offered a couple small changes -- lowering the bonus pool to $100 million from $105 million - but MLB remains at $10 million. The chances that spring training […]

Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (xSLG) - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball

There are stats for everything now. It's great, but it can also be overwhelming at times. Depending on where we look, we can tell ourselves all different types of narratives about a player. As a result, I've always been a proponent of identifying the stats that you find to be most useful/beneficial and focusing on […]

Spring Training Likely To Be Delayed

Major League Baseball and player representatives continue to hold much different views of the game's economics when it comes to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the scheduled start of spring training in mid-February is in jeopardy. In another few weeks, Opening Day on March 31 could be a long shot as well. Players remain […]

CJ Abrams Resumes Full Baseball Activity

San Diego Padres shortstop CJ Abrams (shoulder) has resumed full baseball activity, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Abrams, a top prospect, played in just 42 games at the Double-A level in 2021, slashing .296/.363/.420 with two homers and 13 steals in 183 plate appearances. The 20-year-old is expected to see plenty […]

HR/FB: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

Using BABIP to predict a player's batting average is great. Batting average is a category in many league formats, and every hit is an opportunity to steal a base or score a run. Most fantasy managers find the long ball sexier. Every HR comes with a guaranteed run scored and at least one RBI. Many […]

Shortstop Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

Although redraft season for fantasy baseball is not upon us yet, dynasty leagues are always active. Those crucial preseason cut/hold decisions are being weighed in order to assess the keeper value of each player on your roster. To help our readers make the most informed decisions, RotoBaller has updated dynasty baseball rankings, submitted by Brad […]

Batted Ball Data Analysis - How Consistent Are GB%, LD%, and FB% Year To Year

When we are evaluating hitters, we talk a lot about batted ball profile. When we're talking about this, things like launch angle and ground ball rate are cited quite often. I wanted to make a post to go over these things a bit more in-depth, giving our readers more complete knowledge of the subject at […]

Gordon Beckham Announces His Retirement

Infielder Gordon Beckham announced in a tweet on Wednesday that he is officially retiring. The eighth overall pick by the Chicago White Sox in the 2008 draft, Beckham made his Major League debut in 2009 and logged 3782 plate appearances in the Majors. In addition to playing for the White Sox, he also suited up […]

Early 2022 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 5x5 Roto Mixed Leagues

Welcome back RotoBallers! In this article you'll find our team's early 2022 fantasy baseball rankings and tiers for 5x5 mixed roto leagues. The new year is always an exciting time, as it marks a period where interest in the approaching MLB and fantasy baseball season starts to pick up. Our team has been hard at […]