An Open Letter to Kyler Murray

Oklahoma dual-sport athlete Kyler Murray declared for the NFL Draft on Monday, just seven months after being selected by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth overall pick in the MLB Draft. This doesn’t mean he will necessarily choose to play football, but it allows him to keep his options open. There were conflicting reports regarding […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 3 - Statcast for Hitters

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 and HR/FB figures. […]

2019 Outfielders - Early Fantasy Baseball Rankings

Outfield is a unique position in the fantasy world. The best of the best reside in the outfield, with our consensus top two picks and nine of the top 25 overall players making this list. On the other hand, it is by far the deepest and easiest to gain late-round value if you choose to […]

2019 Relief Pitchers - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

A tough position to evaluate is that of relief pitchers, as a lot of success for closers comes from success from teams. There are also a lot of bullpens by committee these days, further stifling the value of closers. That being said, only four of the pitchers that ranked in the top-10 in saves in […]

2019 Third Basemen - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the third base position. Even though it is only January, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings […]

2019 Starting Pitcher - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. The sun is still rising on 2019, but RotoBaller writers JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli and myself are here with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these […]

A's Avoid Arbitration With Four Players

The Oakland Athletics avoided salary arbitration on Friday with outfielder Mark Canha, starting pitcher Sean Manaea, infielder Jurickson Profar and shortstop Marcus Semien by signing them to undisclosed deals. Profar is the biggest name from a fantasy perspective. He was acquired from the Rangers in the offseason and figures to be the team's regular second […]

Khris Davis Receives $16.5 Million From A's

Oakland Athletics outfielder Khris Davis avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $16.5 million deal. Davis is a beast in the power department with three straight years of 40-plus home runs as well as a career-high 48 in 2018. He's also had three straight seasons of 100-plus RBI and has had a […]

2019 Catchers - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

Catcher is a tough position to evaluate, as many teams utilize multiple catchers and it is rare for one to play 140 or more games in a season. Wear and tear as a backstop limits offensive value for sure, but there are still a group of solid catchers that can contribute in multiple categories. Beyond […]

Jed Lowrie Agrees With Mets

The New York Mets agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal with free-agent second baseman Jed Lowrie on Thursday, according to league sources. The 34-year-old had a career year in Oakland in 2018, setting career highs in homers (23), RBI (99) and walks (78) for a surprising A's team that made the playoffs. It's a […]

2019 Second Base - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. Even though we are just coming off ringing in the new year, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, and Chris Zolli have wasted to time coming up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values […]

Ramon Laureano - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

A source of consistent consternation for anyone who runs a fantasy baseball league is the exodus of cellar-dwelling owners in the dog days of summer. No matter what structures or incentives are put in place, at least a couple of owners whose championship dreams have been dashed are typically lured away by the siren songs […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Yasiel Puig and Adalberto Mondesi

Champ or Chump began the year with two positive outlooks because it's always a good idea to begin your draft prep with a dose of optimism. However, you won't win your league on draft day no matter how many players you like end up on your roster. You can lose your league on draft day […]

2019 First Basemen - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the first base position. Even though it is only January, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 2 - HR/FB for Hitters

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

2019 Shortstops - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

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 with the ever-so-glamorous shortstop position. Shortstop is rich at the top and while it boasts intriguing depth, this is not a position to wait on, especially if you also have a middle-infield […]

Top 660: Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers, and Happy New Year! Below you will find our staff's early 2019 fantasy baseball tiered rankings (top 660) for mixed leagues. In case you missed it, you can also see our tiered positional rankings as well. Four of our lead fantasy baseball analysts - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, JB Branson and Chris Zolli - have analyzed the MLB offseason moves and […]

Teoscar Hernandez - Promising or Pretender?

Every new beginning signifies an end elsewhere. This was the case for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez last season. The hard-hitting righty broke through in more ways than one in his first full year in the big leagues, finishing with a .239/.302/.468 line, and most importantly 22 home runs. The path to the plate […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Shane Bieber and Matt Chapman

The new year is upon us, which means that it's officially time to start preparing for your 2019 fantasy baseball drafts (if you haven't yet). This column will take a deep dive into two player profiles to attempt to predict how players will perform for their fantasy owners before they take the plunge. We'll start by […]

Jonathan Lucroy Agrees With Angels

The Los Angeles Angels agreed with free-agent catcher Jonathan Lucroy on a one-year, $3.35 million deal on Friday, according to league sources. He can make $4 million total with performance bonuses. An All-Star backstop as recently as 2016 with the Brewers, Lucroy has fallen on hard times with the bat the last two years with […]

A's Hoping Sean Manaea Will Return At Midseason

Oakland Athletics president of baseball operations Billy Beane said the team is optimistic that starting pitcher Sean Manaea (shoulder) will be able to return next year around the All-Star break. The left-hander had left shoulder surgery in September, which was called a subacromial decompression of his labrum. Manaea had a career year in 2018, going […]

2018 Pitching Fallers - ERA

In my last piece, we took a look at some of the pitchers who made significant improvements to their ERA in 2018. Now it's time to take a look at the guys who went in the other direction, and see if it's time to panic on them. This list features two starters who were being […]

Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood Become Reds

Starting pitcher Alex Wood, catcher Kyle Farmer, and outfielders Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig are trading Dodger blue for the bright kit of the Cincinnati Reds. The trio was traded for Homer Bailey and prospects in what was essentially a salary dump for Los Angeles as they attempt to sign or trade for more superstars. […]

Cubs Sign Kendall Graveman

The Chicago Cubs signed free-agent starting pitcher Kendall Graveman (elbow) on Saturday. Graveman had Tommy John surgery earlier this year and will miss all of the 2019 season, but he'll have a $3 million option for the 2020 season. The right-hander was the Opening Day starter for Oakland last year but had a 7.60 ERA […]

A's Re-Sign Mike Fiers

The Oakland Athletics re-signed starting pitcher Mike Fiers to a two-year deal that could be worth up to $15 million on Saturday. The 33-year-old is coming off his best season in the big leagues, going 12-8 with a 3.56 ERA with the Tigers and A's. As long as Fiers can continue limiting his walks, there […]

Joakim Soria Agrees With A's

Free-agent relief pitcher Joakim Soria agreed to a two-year, $15 million deal with the Oakland Athletics on Friday, according to multiple reports. Soria was 3-1 with a 4.09 ERA in 26 games with the Brewers last year after he was acquired from the White Sox. He earned 16 saves with the White Sox in the […]

A's Acquire Jurickson Profar In Three-Team Trade

The Oakland Athletics acquired infielder Jurickson Profar from the Texas Rangers on Friday in a deal that also included the Tampa Bay Rays, according to league sources. The Rangers will receive pitcher Brock Burke, infielder Eli White, Kyle Bird, Yoel Espinal and international money from the Rays, while the Rays will receive reliever Emilio Pagan, […]

Angels Sign Trevor Cahill

The Los Angeles Angels signed free-agent starting pitcher Trevor Cahill to a one-year, $9 million deal on Thursday, according to a source. Incentives could push the total to $10.5 million. Cahill will stay in the west, where he went 7-4 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 100 strikeouts in 110 innings (20 starts) for […]

Please Let Brandon Belt Get Traded

A report recently came to light that the San Francisco Giants were making first baseman and owner of a genuine super-beard, Brandon Belt, available in trades. Apparently, there are teams interested in the oft-injured slugger, despite the whopping $48 million due to him over the next three years. It’s not terribly surprising that Belt is available, […]

Brewers Interested In Jed Lowrie

The Milwaukee Brewers are interested in free-agent second baseman Jed Lowrie. Milwaukee is looking for another second baseman after their trade last summer for Jonathan Schoop didn't work out. Lowrie will turn 35 next April but had the best season of his career in 2018, hitting .267/.353/.448 with 23 home runs, 99 RBI and 78 […]