Matt Chapman Slightly Behind Schedule

Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman (shoulder, thumb) is slightly behind schedule following two surgeries in the offseason. He is currently on a swing progression but is unlikely to see game action in spring training immediately. Chapman's goal is to be ready for Opening Day in Japan, and he should be fine unless he suffers […]

Three Up, Three Down for Prospects - Third Base

Third base prospects are when things get serious. It is the position where you find some of your big-power hitters. Of course, you’ll see your share of warts as no prospect is perfect. I know, I know; some will differ greatly on that topic. Essentially, power is excellent, but sometimes it has a cost to […]

Indians Sign Matt Joyce

The Cleveland Indians signed free-agent outfielder Matt Joyce to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training on Friday. The 11-year veteran announced the move on his Twitter page. Joyce had 25 home runs and 68 RBI in 2017 but played in just 83 games for the A's last year due to back […]

Three Up, Three Down for Prospects - Shortstop

Shortstops are generally the most athletic players on the field. It is also a very important position, defensively, but we don’t really concern ourselves with that in fantasy, aside from ensuring a player will be able to stay on the field. As usual, there is a vast collection of athletic players to choose from, and the […]

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 […]

Starting Pitcher - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

Fantasy experts are placing a bigger emphasis on drafting elite starters early this year. It is apparent this strategy is making its way across the fantasy community, as the high-end starters are being valued higher than before. In points leagues, this is a wise methodology, as an ace can serve as the backbone of a […]

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 […]

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 […]

Shortstop - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to carry on RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the stars of the infield, the shortstops. The position is star-studded, and in roto leagues, I think I'd be comfortable with any of the […]

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 […]

Outfield - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to continue RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the incredibly deep outfield position. There is a seemingly neverending stream of useful bats, but there are still clear chokepoints where the risk portfolio thickens. […]

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 […]

Sean Manaea Could Return Around All-Star Break

Oakland Athletics SP Sean Manaea (shoulder) is working hard in his rehab from arthroscopic shoulder surgery in September, and he is hopeful of returning sooner than originally projected. "I'm feeling great," Manaea said. "This time compared to last year is 100 times better than I felt. The surgery definitely fixed pretty much everything that was […]

Kyler Murray Hints That Decision Is Coming Soon

Oakland Athletics prospect outfielder Kyler Murray indicated Friday that his decision to play football or baseball could come well before Feb. 15, which is the date to report to spring training for the A's. "It's really coming down to these last couple of days. I'll make probably make a decision here soon after the Super […]

RotoBaller MLB Radio - Triple Play Pod with Caleb Frare

RotoBaller fantasy baseball experts Mike the Roto Cop, Anthony Aniano, and Danny Baseball take a look at the at latest fantasy baseball free agent news, and dig deep with MLB Pitcher Caleb Frare. In this podcast you will hear about: A.J. Pollock, Wilson Ramos Brad Brach, Marco Estrada Nick Castellanos Be sure to also tune into […]

Third Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

The hot corner is stacked like never before, especially with the anticipated arrival of mega-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Waiting on a third baseman won't hurt given the relative depth of the position. With the multi-position eligibility of several players on this list, one could easily grab several of these names within the first few rounds […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Eduardo Escobar and Paul DeJong

In the past two years, baseball has seen an explosion in the number of shortstops with legitimate home run power. Everyone from Francisco Lindor to Tim Anderson seems capable of belting 20 dingers on an annual basis. Most of those players are being drafted in the first 10 rounds or so, but both of our […]

Second Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to carry on RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the keystone position. Traditionally a scarce position in fantasy, second base has truly risen over the past few years, and truthfully I'd be happy […]

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 […]

First Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to kick off RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the hard-hitting first base position. Traditionally a power haven, first base has a fairly clear top three tiers and then the floor starts to […]

Franmil Reyes - Petco Power Hitter?

Franmil Reyes hit 16 home runs in 87 games in his rookie campaign, a 30-HR pace. Historically, hitting home runs at Petco Park has been quite difficult. Since moving to the stadium in 2004, the Padres only have had six 30-HR hitters, ranking 26th in baseball in that time, and four of those were Adrian […]

A's Agree With Marco Estrada

The Oakland Athletics agreed to an undisclosed one-year deal with free-agent starting pitcher Marco Estrada on Friday, according to a source. It's a nice place for Estrada to try and bounce back after posting an ugly 5.64 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and mediocre 6.5 K/9 in 28 starts for the Blue Jays in 2018. He'll also […]

Jesus Luzardo (SP, OAK) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 235 CURRENT ADP: ~255 overall ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo has yet to pitch a big league inning, yet the 21-year-old is being as hyped up as any rookie starter coming into 2019. While hype can easily lead to disappointment, the young Peruvian has allowed just 43 earned runs […]

2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper - Jesus Luzardo

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo has yet to pitch a big league inning, yet the 21-year-old is being as hyped up as any rookie starter coming into 2019. While hype can easily lead to disappointment, the young Peruvian has allowed just 43 earned runs in 152 2/3 minor league innings. He has also struck out […]

Nicholas Castellanos - Unfortunate Barreler of Baseballs

In 2017, Nicholas Castellanos made outs on 17 of his barrels, which led Major League Baseball. In 2018, Castellanos again made outs on 17 of his barrels, which led Major League Baseball. Even stranger, it was a continuation from the 2016 season, when Castellanos barreled up 13 outs, which ranked ninth and was also the most of […]

2019 Points League Draft Strategy - Fantasy Baseball

When discussing fantasy baseball. An often neglected-but-entertaining format is the points league. These exist in both cumulative season-long and weekly head-to-head formats. While existential debates about scoring categories and their true depiction of player worth are endless, points leagues arguably get closest to the objective of sabermetrics. Points leagues attempt to define a player’s contribution […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 4 - Batted Ball Distribution (Hitters)

Fly balls can turn into home runs. Ground balls never do. It would seem as though fantasy owners want their batters to hit nothing but flies, yet this is not the case. Why would this be? The answer, of course, comes down to batted ball distribution and the manner in which batters make contact. In […]

Top 420: Points Leagues Tiered Staff Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers. Today we are here to start looking at points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) formats. In this column, you will find our staff's preliminary 2019 fantasy baseball points league rankings for January and the top 420 players. Over the next few days, we will also be publishing individual tiered rankings analysis columns for each […]