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About Nick Mariano - RotoBaller
Senior MLB/NFL Fantasy Analyst & Editor here at RotoBaller, I've been lucky enough to work here since 2015. Spent two seasons writing for MLB.com as well.
FantasyPros ranked me as 2018's most accurate fantasy baseball draft dude, and I'm a three-time top-12 ranker in their fantasy football weekly accuracy competition as well. I rank the things good, or something.
NY born and raised, but now you can find me in Boston with my awesome Star Baker of a wife. Addicted to apples, peanut butter, learning about cognitive biases, and baseball cards. Lots of baseball cards...
Feel free to reach out on Twitter or ride with me on Peloton: @NMariano53
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Nick Mariano - RotoBaller has written 1887 articles so far, you can find them below.
Expert Mock Draft: Mariano in the Middle
I was fortunate enough to be invited to mock with some of the industry’s brightest on Thursday night, where I was able to test out how picking No. 6 in a 12-team roto league would go. Organized by fightingchancefantasy.com, I locked horns with folks such as Steve Gardner, Tim Heaney, John Halpin and Joel Henard... Read More
2017 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Relief Pitchers (February)
I don't care whether you've got snow on your lawn or not. All clubs have reported to Spring Training, which means it's springtime for all. We’ve been bringing you our February rankings updates over the past couple of weeks, and today we wrap up the series with our 2017 relief pitcher fantasy baseball rankings. This round of... Read More
Chicago White Sox: 2017 Team Preview and Fantasy Outlooks
Welcome back to our ongoing series of MLB team previews. As part of RotoBaller's ongoing effort to help you win your leagues, we're previewing all 30 MLB teams. For each team, we will take a look at their hitters, pitchers, prospects and offseason moves. Today we dive into the 2017 Chicago White Sox Team Outlook, and preview their... Read More
Nick Mariano's Dynasty Sleepers List (Premium Content)
The term "sleeper" remains a volatile one, but when you add the dynasty-league wrinkle to it then you really open yourself up to a can of worms. Some people are in 12-team dynasties with a rather healthy stable of prospects available for the picking, and others are fighting for scraps in 30-teamers where each Amateur... Read More
![By Arturo Pardavila III on Flickr [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://cdn.rotoballer.com/2015/07/michael-pineda-DFS-sleepers-fantasy-baseball-mlb-e1462034464314.jpg)
Using SIERA to Win Your Fantasy Baseball League
Welcome back to the fantasy baseball classroom where we’re learning about winning strategies and advanced statistics that help us dominate. Previous lessons have been focused on hitters, as we’ve explored BABIP as well as hard-hit rates. Now we turn our attention to pitchers and their SIERA.Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and... Read More
Jose Abreu Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
It's the fantasy baseball draft season. To us baseball nerds, few things are more exciting than arguing about player rankings. Today, we'll discuss and compare Jose Abreu's RotoBaller staff rankings. He was ranked No. 41 overall by Nick Mariano, and No. 78 by Jeff Kahntroff. Throughout this series, we'll be using our February Staff Rankings... Read More
2017 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Shortstop (February)
The Super Bowl has come and gone, which means it's officially baseball season for the initiated. The 2017 fantasy baseball draft board is beginning to come into focus. Now it's time to delve into player rankings. We'll continue with our 2017 shortstop fantasy baseball rankings for February. This round of rankings features picks from Kyle Bishop, Nick Mariano,... Read More
Auction Draft Strategy: The Value of Using Tiers
Estimating value and worth can be a pain. You know what’s worse than just figuring it out for yourself? Doing that for your whole league, on the fly, as the draft is happening. You’ll kill yourself if you’re actively trying to figure out everyone’s valuations moving forward, so don’t sweat that. What you can do... Read More
![By Mr.schultz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://cdn.rotoballer.com/2015/01/MLB-Fantasy-Baseball-Advice-Analysis-Chris-Davis.png)
Nick Mariano's Early-Round Overvalued List (Premium Content)
Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) are almost all about finding the next superstar and unearthing talent late, but we can't forget that surrendering value by over-drafting can be just as crucial. In order to evaluate overvalued players here, we're going to utilize Average Draft Position (ADP) data made available from the National Fantasy Baseball... Read More
How Your Brain Messes With Your Fantasy Baseball Draft
The human brain is one of the most powerful and fascinating things, and one of the greatest things it has given us is fantasy baseball. Utilized properly, it is your greatest weapon on draft day and beyond. Blindly followed, it can stab you in the back. Our brains did not evolve for the sake of... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Strategy: Don't Pay (Too Much) For Saves
This isn’t the hottest of takes here, as the SAGNOF (Saves Ain’t Got NO Face) school of thought has had a steady stream of followers for quite a few years now. It’s a little more complicated than that of course, as this isn’t simply about the straight up value of taking a closer early on.... Read More
Nick Mariano's Late-Round MLB Fliers (Premium Content)
Howdy, RotoBallers! I hope you're ready to take chances, make mistakes and get messy. We’re here to dig a little deeper into the draft room and look for players that would be wise to take a flier on in the late rounds. It can be a little difficult to differentiate "sleeper" from "flier", and there's... Read More
Industry Mock Draft Results: Picks the Experts Love And Hate
Late January means we’re treading ever closer to pitchers and catchers reporting, but more importantly, it means we’re wading ever deeper into the mock-draft waters for the fantasy baseball season. RotoBaller recently held its first mock draft of the season, and now we’ll give all participants a chance to share their notable picks. If you... Read More
Thinking Out Loud: Early Industry Mock Draft Results
Due to being professional fiends, we here at RotoBaller held our first mock draft of the 2017 fantasy baseball season this week. Mocks are great but constantly ruined by trolling fools who can't commit past two rounds. Luckily, my job grants me access to folks who want to be there. We still troll each other, but the... Read More
2016 RotoBaller Fantasy Football Awards
Welcome to the official 2016 Fantasy Football Awards Show, presented by RotoBaller. I’m your host, Nick Mariano, and today we’re honoring some of the fine football players, coaches and teams who have had outstanding (for better or worse) performances in the 2016 season. It’s always a bittersweet affair when the fantasy football season ends, as... Read More
Week 17 Rankings Analysis: Nick Mariano vs. Industry Consensus
To recap Week 16: Matt Ryan did well, but so did a lot of other quarterbacks – a group that Matt Barkley wasn’t part of. Robert Kelley got hurt, but so did Carlos Hyde. My Jordy Nelson fade looked good in the second half when the Vikings covered him according to plan, but their first half... Read More
Week 17 NFL Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds
Welcome to the post-Week 16 installment of the Waiver Wire weekly series for the 2016 fantasy football season. As always, the ownership numbers are taken from Fleaflicker leagues. For many, the 2016 fantasy football season is nearly over, with only Monday Night Football of Week 16 standing between your league and crowning a champion. However,... Read More
Waiver Wire Express - Week 17 Lightning Round
This column is published early every week, and then updated on a daily basis. Over the course of each week, we also publish more in-depth waiver wire analysis for all positions. But in efforts of bringing you timely information, as fast as possible, consider this the waiver wire lightning round heading into Week 17. Waiver... Read More
Jacquizz Rodgers (RB, TB) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12- and 14-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 18% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Jacquizz Rodgers was the starter with Doug Martin as a surprise inactive (coach’s decision) in Week 16 against the Saints. It’s unclear why exactly Martin was given the day off, whether it had to do with ineffectiveness or health (there had been... Read More
Joe Flacco (QB, BAL) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Stream in 12- and 14-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Joe Flacco just completed 30-of-44 throws for 262 yards, a touchdown and an interception on Sunday against the Steelers. While it wasn’t an amazing effort, he continues to sport some additional life in his arm compared to early in the season. Week 17 brings... Read More
2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Outfield
Holiday lights adorn the streets, the hot chocolate and eggnog is flowing, and all the while you've hopefully been keeping warm with this steady stream of fantasy baseball rankings courtesy of your favorite RotoBaller writers. Today we'll spread the outfield cheer. As a reminder, this first round of rankings features picks from Bill Dubiel, Brad... Read More
Week 16 Rankings Analysis: Nick Mariano vs. Industry Consensus
To recap Week 15: Philip Rivers wasn’t special at all, but Colin Kaepernick earned his bump and Dak Prescott didn’t have a QB1 game. Bill Belichick opted to use his agile running backs instead of LeGarrette Blount, but at least he got a cheap TD to salvage his day, unlike Thomas Rawls. Knocking both Denver... Read More
Tyler Lockett (WR, SEA) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 10- and 12-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 43% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Tyler Lockett has clearly embraced his role as the No. 2 receiver in Seattle over the last three weeks now, as he popped off on Thursday for a ridiculous 130 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Russell Wilson has really rounded... Read More
Dontrelle Inman (WR, SD) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12- and 14-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 36% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Dontrelle Inman’s touchdown streak was snapped at three, but his eight targets were actually a high-water mark since that streak began in Week 12. While he didn’t score, he still caught five balls for 68 yards to make it four weeks in... Read More
Week 16 NFL Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds
Welcome to the post-Week 15 installment of the Waiver Wire weekly series for the 2016 fantasy football season.Below are my Week 16 waiver wire pickups and sleepers (depending on league size) to consider adding for your fantasy teams. As always, ownership levels are from Fleaflicker leagues. If you’re reading this, then you’re likely fighting for the right... Read More
Waiver Wire Express - Week 16 Lightning Round
This column is published early every week, and then updated on a daily basis. Over the course of each week, we also publish more in-depth waiver wire analysis for all positions. But in efforts of bringing you timely information, as fast as possible, consider this the waiver wire lightning round heading into Week 16. Waiver... Read More
Derrick Henry (RB, TEN) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 60% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Well, reports had surfaced before Tennessee’s bye that they were interested in using Henry more in short-yardage situations. It came to fruition against Kansas City in Week 15, as he tallied 58 yards and two touchdowns on only nine touches in an extremely efficient effort. One touchdown... Read More
Charles Clay (TE, BUF) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Stream in 12- and 14-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 40% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Clay’s last two weeks cannot be ignored, but the stats don’t appear to be very bankable moving forward. His long TD in Week 14 came on a broken coverage where he was left unmarked, and this most recent 7-72-1 line came against Cleveland. The Browns entered... Read More
Kenneth Dixon (RB, BAL) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Add in 10-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 39% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Dixon’s workload took a step back in Week 15 against the Eagles, as the Ravens didn’t find themselves needing to catch up to a potent offense as they did in Week 14 against the Patriots. Still, Dixon took a nice halfback sweep off of a fake... Read More
Cameron Brate (TE, TB) - NFL Waiver Wire Pickups
BALLER MOVE: Stream in 10-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 61% Fleaflicker ANALYSIS: Cameron Brate turned in a strong TE1 effort against Dallas, catching five of his eight targets for 73 yards and a big-man touchdown in Week 15. Dallas had shown a weakness against the tight end entering this game, but it’s still encouraging to see him produce. While Jameis... Read More
