Don't Sleep On Adrian Morejon

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Adrian Morejon may not even have a roster spot right away in 2021 given the team's starting rotation and bullpen depth, but the 21-year-old left-hander has overpowering stuff. Morejon has an average fastball velocity of 96.6 mph and posted a 57 percent whiff rate on his knuckle-change in 2020. He […]

Playing For Keeps: Making Keeper Decisions for 2021

Spring training is officially underway, and with that comes the start of fantasy baseball draft season. While the majority of people participate in redraft leagues, keeper formats are also popular, and fantasy managers in those leagues are already weighing their decisions on which players to retain and which to toss back into the pool for […]

The Operating Room Ep. 18: 2021 Fantasy Baseball Intro

Kev Mahserejian (@RotoSurgeon) is joined by CBS Fantasy's Frank Stampfl (@Roto_Frank) to discuss the 2021 fantasy baseball season. This episode is a primer that covers the questions looming large across the fantasy landscape. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, and […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook - February 18th

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. I began this column a year ago, and made it about four or five articles in when Major League Baseball decided to shut things down, just like everything else around the globe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, things are at least a little more […]

Trevor Bauer to the Dodgers - Fantasy Impact

The biggest domino in this year's free agent market has finally toppled, as Trevor Bauer is taking his talents to Los Angeles for the next three years with the Dodgers. It'll be a return to familiar territory for the reigning NL Cy Young winner, as he returns not only to where he grew up but […]

Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Part 1)

RotoBaller's Top 250 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects list is back and refreshed for the 2021 season. Baseball has undergone a lot of change over the past 12 months due to the pandemic and no area of the game has been more heavily impacted than the minor leagues. Since this time last year, Minor League Baseball has […]

2021 First Base Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues

The chaotic, wild, and confusing 2020 COVID season is now thankfully behind us, am I right fellow Red Sox fans? But now is the hardest part in terms of fantasy implications from the pandemic as we try to decipher how much of 2020's statistics are actually viable data for 2021 projections. Small playing time samples, […]

Luis Campusano Has Reported To Camp

San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano has reported to spring camp following his October arrest for marijuana possession. Manager Jayce Tingler said he doesn't expect legal issues to affect Campusano's status. The 22-year-old is the team's No. 3 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and will be in a tight battle for what will likely be […]

Padres Open-Minded About Bullpen

The San Diego Padres have relief pitchers Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, Mark Melancon and Keone Kela as options for the closer's role this season, but manager Jayce Tingler said on Wednesday that the club will be open-minded about the bullpen. "We're not committed to one way right now. We're going to stay extremely flexible," Tingler […]

Padres Feel Good About Dinelson Lamet

The San Diego Padres feel good about starting pitcher Dinelson Lamet (elbow), who missed the playoffs last year because of an elbow/biceps injury. The 28-year-old right-hander received a platelet-rich plasma injection in October, and there have been questions about whether he'll be ready for the start of the 2021 season after he broke out as […]

Blake Snell Forecasts 150-180 Innings In 2021

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell forecast 150 to 180 innings "and then the postseason" coming off the shortened 2020 season. The 28-year-old left-hander won the American League Cy Young Award in 2018 with a career-high 180 2/3 innings. The Padres may be more open-minded toward using Snell beyond some of his previous limits […]

Fernando Tatis Jr. Agrees To $340 Million Extension

The Athletic's Dennis Lin reports San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. has agreed to a 14-year, $340 million extension. The blockbuster announcement is effective starting 2021 with a full no-trade clause, per sources, locking up the 22-year-superstar through his age-35 campaign. In two seasons, Tatis has become the face of the Padres, slashing .301/.374/.582 […]

Are We In or Are We Out? With SP Streamer - Bases Loaded Podcast

Michael Simione (@SpStreamer) returns to his stomping ground and joins the show! We discuss names you asked to hear more about via twitter and this time it is all the starting pitchers you wanted to know more about. We even got a few of his hitters he likes to target in drafts as well. We […]

Prospects to Know in 2021 - AL Central

The Super Bowl is over and we are officially on to baseball season! So what better way to celebrate the new baseball year than by talking about prospects? Last week, I took a look at the prospects to know in the NL Central. This week we're switching leagues and taking a look at five prospects […]

Outfield Preview: Part 1 - Bases Loaded Podcast

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland), Zach Braff (@BraffZ) and Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) continue to dive into 2021 positional outlooks. We take a look at the outfield position and dive into the top 25 in the NFBC ADP Since January 1st. Hope you enjoy. Subscribe to the Bases Loaded podcast, part of RotoBaller Radio's Podcast Network. Like and […]

Padres Sign Keone Kela

The San Diego Padres have signed free-agent relief pitcher Keone Kela. The deal will be finalized once Kela passes a physical. Kela, who posted 24 saves for the Texas Rangers during the 2018 season, was penciled in to be the closer in Pittsburgh prior to the 2020 campaign. Those plans were derailed when Kela tested […]

Mark Melancon Signs With Padres

The San Diego Padres have agreed to a deal with free-agent reliever Mark Melancon. The deal with Melancon will become official once he's passed a physical. Melancon posted 11 saves in 13 attempts, a 2.78 ERA, and a 1.28 WHIP in 22 2/3 innings pitched for the Braves in 2020. While his strikeout rates declined, […]

Sneaky Starters - Deceptive Pitchers Who Could Be Draft Steals

Earlier this week, I was reading Michael Ajeto's article on PitcherList about Brady Singer. In the article, Michael touted Singer's deception and mentioned a sign of that being Singer's Zone Swing Rate (Z-Swing%) minus his Chase Rate (O-Swing%). The premise of the concept was simple but one that stood out to me immediately. Z-Swing% measures […]

Outfield Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

We've already gone around the infield with a look at first base, second base, third base, and shortstop. Let's head to the outfield now to break down the long list of outfielders that have fantasy relevance in 2021 and beyond. All of the players listed have outfield eligibility, although several will be used at shallower […]

2021 Catcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues

The chaotic, wild, and confusing 2020 COVID season is now thankfully behind us, am I right fellow Red Sox fans? But now is the hardest part in terms of fantasy implications from the pandemic as we try to decipher how much of 2020's statistics are actually viable data for 2021 projections. Small playing time samples, […]

Drew Smyly (SP, ATL) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Finding strong starting pitching that does not have a hefty price tag can be really tough. A lot of leagues are won by the team that had the most success with their later-round starting pitcher selections. Blake Snell, Shane Bieber, and Dinelson Lamet are three names of the last handful of years that went in […]

Adbert Alzolay (SP, CHC) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The Chicago Cubs suddenly have some openings in their rotation after jettisoning Yu Darvish in the offseason to, uh, not save money at all because that's totally not why they did it. Although we can agree that the additions of Zach Davies and Trevor Williams alongside Kyle Hendricks and Alec Mills make this staff a […]

Fantasy Baseball Preseason Injury Updates

Injuries remain commonplace in all sports. Baseball has seen the rate of injury continue to rise over the past few years. In fantasy, if someone is not in the medical field, it is hard to gauge how long a player will be out and whether they need to be replaced in a lineup. Sometimes this […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021 (Part 2)

Spring Training 2021 is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about prospects again. A strong pop-up performance from a rookie or two can have a massive impact on a fantasy manager’s season. If we look back to the truncated 2020 season, we can easily locate a healthy dose of players that had […]

Top 750: Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Rankings

What's up RotoBallers. Today we are bringing you our top 750 fantasy baseball dynasty rankings for the 2021 MLB season. Dynasty leagues, or keeper formats, continue to become more and more popular in the fantasy sports landscape. For those of you who are playing in dynasty formats, or are interested in long-term valuations of fantasy players, […]

Richard Rodriguez (RP, PIT) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Saves are a scarce commodity in today's game, as more and more teams are relying on multiple relievers to handle ninth-inning duties. In last year's abbreviated season, just 10 pitchers reached double digits in the category. Going a little further down the list, only 18 closed out seven or more games, and that includes guys […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021 (Part 1)

Spring Training 2021 is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about prospects again. A strong pop-up performance from a rookie or two can have a massive impact on a fantasy manager’s season. If we look back to the truncated 2020 season, we can easily locate a healthy dose of players that had […]

NL Starting Pitchers Set to Bust in 2021

We made it, you guys. It was touch-and-go there for a little bit, but February is actually here. Major League Baseball teams appear to be reporting to Spring Training within the next couple of weeks, and unless the world ends again right before Opening Day, the regular season is just two short months away.  As […]

Four Post-Hype Hitters Ready to Break Out

Any high-ranking prospect is saddled with an astronomical amount of hype, both throughout their minor league career and up to the moment they finally reach the Bigs. If the player fails to reach the expectations laid before him, we as fantasy players are quick to cast him aside and move to the next big thing. […]

Padres Extend, Promote General Manager A.J. Preller

San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller not only earned the title of President of Baseball Operations on Tuesday, he also got his contract extended through the 2026 season. Preller has been with the club since August 2014, but his most recent off-season has brought significant pomp and excitement to the Padres' roster. After having […]