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Ben Rolfe has written 192 articles so far, you can find them below.
First Basemen Set To Break Out in 2019
First base is no longer the premier position it once was for fantasy baseball. Aging sluggers have not been replaced by all-around talents for the large part and it has left a massive gulf in quality. Part of the decline in hitting has been due to the demand to get better fielders at first base,... Read More
Willie Calhoun Likely To Open Season in Triple-A
Texas Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun looks likely to open the season in Triple-A. The Rangers would ideally like to keep both Calhoun and fellow outfielder Hunter Pence around. However, to do that one will need to go to Triple-A, and Calhoun is the only one with options available. Calhoun has not helped himself by hitting... Read More
Question Marks Remain Over Ronald Guzman's Availability
Texas Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman (knee) remains a question mark for Texas with Opening Day a little over a week away. However, there is optimism that Guzman could be back in the lineup as soon as Wednesday, suggesting that without a set back he will be active come the start of the season. Guzman... Read More
Joey Gallo Confident of Making Opening Day
Texas Rangers first baseman/outfielder Joey Gallo (groin) is confident of being on the field on Opening Day. Gallo suffered a mild groin strain over the weekend, but has stated on numerous occasions since that if this was the regular season he would be out on the field for the Rangers. This spring Gallo has been... Read More
Isiah Kiner-Falefa Will Be One of Rangers Two Catchers
Texas Rangers catcher and utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa will remain with the Rangers once they head home following spring training. On Tuesday, fellow catchers Jet Bandy and Jose Trevino were optioned to minor league camp, leaving Kiner-Falefa as just one of two catchers remaining in big league camp. However, it looks as though initially Kiner-Falefa... Read More
More Hot September Hitters Ready to Break Out in 2019
We all want to find the next breakout player that can serve as that hidden gem in the later rounds of fantasy drafts. Sometimes a look at the second half of last season can provide us with valuable hints as to who is ready to take a big step forward. I already looked at three... Read More
Hot September Hitters Ready to Break Out in 2019
September can be a weird month for fantasy baseball. More often than not there are only a handful of owners really fully focused at that stage. Unfortunately by that stage of the season no matter what your league rules at least a couple of owners will be out of contention and their focus will have... Read More
Air Yards Analysis - Using the Statistic to Find Value at WR
Air yards: a simple term in itself but for fantasy football what is the significance? In essence, air yards is a cumulative total of a player's depth of target. It only includes yards traveled from the time the QB releases it up to the moment the ball is either dropped or caught by the receiver.... Read More
Delino DeShields Back In Action Tuesday
Texas Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields (knee) was back in action on Tuesday for the Rangers. DeShields had missed a few days after injuring himself making a catch at the center field wall. It is positive to see DeShields back in the lineup, but any prospective fantasy owners still need to be wary. The main fantasy... Read More
Drew Smyly Strong In Latest Spring Outing
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Drew Smyly put together a strong outing against the Oakland Athletics this week. Smyly pitched more than one innings for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2017, and allowed just one walk in two innings. It may not have been the Athletics strongest lineup but the signs... Read More
Joey Gallo Prepared To Bunt In Spring
Texas Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo has demonstrated a willingness to use bunting in order to try and defeat the shift this spring training. Gallo was roundly criticized last season for his lack of willingness to bunt when teams used the four outfielder shift on him. However, twice this spring already Gallo has shown an indication... Read More
ADP Debate - Why You Should Draft Peter Alonso Over Josh Bell
First base figures to be one of the more frustrating positions for fantasy owners this draft season. Part of the frustrating is that this position used to be one of the pinnacles when it came to production and depth. However, many of the steadfast options have now gone beyond their prime or had their careers derailed... Read More
ADP Champ or Chump - Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara
This week, I am making the trip down to Texas, which has started to be treated like somewhat of a fantasy wasteland by some fantasy owners. However, despite the low expectations for team performance, there are some interesting names to be found in Arlington. The Rangers are in a self-confessed rebuild mode but they have... Read More
Stolen Base Risers - 2018 Season Review
Previously, we took a look at which MLB players saw the biggest decrease in their stolen base totals during the 2018 season. While stolen bases were down overall in 2018, that doesn't mean it resulted in lower totals for everyone. In fact, there were several players who saw significant jumps in steals last season. As... Read More
ADP Champ or Chump - Trey Mancini and Ryan Zimmerman
This week we are taking a trip to the DMV. Don't panic, not the Department of Motor Vehicles! We are going to compare two first basemen in very different parts of their career from the Baltimore/Washington area. With the loss of Manny Machado and the expected loss of Bryce Harper, the star power in the region... Read More
Mike Moustakas to the Brewers - Fantasy Impact
The rumor mill has been suggesting it for a while but on Sunday it became official that Mike Moustakas is back in Milwaukee. Moustakas returns to the Brew Crew on the back of a 54-game audition at the end of last season. While the numbers in that span looked somewhat disappointing compared to his 2017 numbers,... Read More
Steven Souza Jr. (OF, ARI) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 300 CURRENT ADP: ~345 overall ANALYSIS: Steven Souza Jr. is 29 years old but it feels like he has been around for years. In fact, he first debuted in the Washington Nationals minor league system all the way back in 2007. After coming off his 30 home run season for the... Read More
ADP Champ or Chump - Justin Turner and Max Muncy
We're heading to the sunny destination of Los Angeles. The Dodgers are coming off back-to-back World Series defeats and are not short of big names in their ranks. However, the success of their hitters is often overshadowed by their pitching. Last year the Dodgers went all-in and had a massive excess of hitting talent across... Read More
Biggest Breakouts of 2018 - Tight End
Tight end has a legitimate claim as the most volatile position in fantasy. You may want to give that award to running backs but tight ends will run them pretty close. Playing tight end is a complex business and it shows up in fantasy. It can easily be a case that a tight end is... Read More
Biggest Risers and Fallers of 2018 - Quarterbacks
The end of the 2018 fantasy season comes with mixed feelings. For one person in each league there is glory, but for everyone else, their eyes are already turned to 2019. One of the key parts of starting your 2019 season prep is to think about who performed above and below their expectations in the... Read More
Joe Flacco Traded to Denver - Fantasy Impact
What a week it has been in the NFL! Between the Kyler Murray and Kareem Hunt news, there was already plenty more going on than you might expect for a random post-Super Bowl week in February. However, the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens grabbed some of the spotlight with a trade in principle to send... Read More
Luke Voit (1B, NYY) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 180 CURRENT ADP: ~200 overall ANALYSIS: A key part of Luke Voit's potential success in New York could likely come down to opportunity. There is not a huge amount of competition for the first base job in the organization and that should mean Voit is given every opportunity in 2019.... Read More
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football Picks: Super Bowl DFS
The Super Bowl is finally here! For many this is a bittersweet day as it marks the end of the NFL season, and a long six months until we see it back on our screens. Therefore, we need to make the most of it and get one last fix of fantasy football before the long... Read More
Way Too Early Mock Draft - Rounds 2-3 Analysis
The NFL season isn't quite over, as the playoffs are just getting interesting. That hasn't stopped our expert staff from looking ahead to 2019 already. As Justin Carter discussed earlier this week, 12 of us at RotoBaller have undertaken a slow fantasy football mock draft to help us all deal with the fantasy football withdrawals... Read More
ADP Champ or Chump - J.T. Realmuto and Wilson Ramos
This week I am turning my attention to the position that gives most fantasy owners the biggest concerns, the catcher position. Every year there is at least one catcher who rises to the top of the position and ends up being drafted clearly ahead of the others. This season that catcher is J.T. Realmuto, who is... Read More
A.J. Pollock to the Dodgers - Fantasy Impact
The merry-go-round that is the Dodgers' offseason continued on Thursday, as it was announced that A.J. Pollock is signing in Los Angeles on a four-year $55-million dollar contract. It always seemed likely the Dodgers could add another outfielder, but the thought was that it was more likely to be Bryce Harper who signed in Los... Read More
ADP Champ or Chump - Tommy Pham and Avisail Garcia
My main mantra when it comes to fantasy baseball is "value, value, value." I will often try and set myself up in the first two or three rounds in such a way that I have the flexibility to take advantage of value later in the draft. One of the best ways I have found to... Read More
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football Picks (Conference Championships)
If the Divisional round was a mouth watering set of matches the Championship games may even take that one step further. Now we just have to hope that these two games do not disappoint as much as the first three did last week. In this round we get the top four offenses in the NFL... Read More
Steven Souza Jr. - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper
Earlier this offseason, I wrote about the sleeper value of Luke Voit and how believing in him was a conscious decision to move on from a blind spot I had for Greg Bird for a couple of years. Well, in this article I am going to break down a player who I do not think... Read More
Yasmani Grandal to Brewers - Fantasy Impact
The news broke on Thursday that Yasmani Grandal is headed to the Milwaukee Brewers on a one-year, $18 million contract. This is evidence of yet another move from the Brewers to go all in on their current squad. This trade takes one of the Brewers' two weakest offensive positions and turns it into a legitimate strength... Read More
