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Champ or Chump - Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish
Three Up, Three Down – 2018 First Base Prospects
Power. Nothing else defines the first base position more than pure, raw power. If you have it, you better display it in abundance or there will be concerns. If you are smaller in stature, there will be concerns. If your talent is just hit tool, there will be concerns. If your defense is lacking, there... Read More
NL West Preview - Anthony Aniano's RotoBaller Podcast
RotoBaller fantasy baseball expert Anthony Aniano gets a jump on the 2018 MLB Season with a preview of the NL West. This radio show is sponsored by our good friends over at RT Sports. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every Saturday and Sunday between... Read More
Is Ronald Acuna Being Overdrafted?
With the recent glut of top prospect reports emerging from Keith Law to Baseball America, opinions on the future stars of baseball are myriad and loud. We all look longingly at the next generation and dreams of pennants dance in our heads. Of course, each pundit brings their own flavor to the conversation, and each... Read More
The Most Profitable Pitchers of the Last Five Years
If you missed last week’s column on the most profitable hitters of the last five years, you can find it here. That post explains the methodology behind this work, and acknowledges the considerable help I received from colleagues throughout the process. Today I'm here to take a look at the pitchers - players who have... Read More
Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 7 - Lineup Slot
To this point, this series has focused exclusively on trying to predict and validate home runs and batting average. There is a reason for this--modern sabermetrics tend to reject the idea of a "clutch RBI guy" and therefore do not bother inventing predictive metrics for it. Runs and RBI are team-dependent stats, and are unhelpful... Read More
ADP Sleepers and Busts - Catcher
Catcher is generally considered the weakest position in fantasy baseball. That is exactly why getting reliable production from the position is so important. There won’t be many good options on the waiver wire to replace a bad pick. This article looks at some catchers that are undervalued and overvalued based on their NFBC ADP (as... Read More
Three Up, Three Down - 2018 Shortstop Prospects
Much like the wave of third basemen to sweep the league, we’ve had an equally impressive push of young shortstops. Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Corey Seager are all 24-years-old, or younger, and are in the Top 30 in fantasy baseball rankings. Who will be part of the next breath of fresh air... Read More
Nick Mariano's 2018 Late-Round MLB Fliers (Premium Content)
All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. 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... Read More
Champ or Chump - Ian Desmond and Jonathan Villar
Early draft data from RTSports drafts has been added to FantasyPros, making the latter's composite ADP data a little more reliable. Your host site's ADP data is worth looking into, especially if any absentee owners are auto-selecting based on the site's default rankings. However, FantasyPros' composite ADP is the best way to feel an unbiased... Read More
Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 6 - Pull%
Earlier in this series, we saw that fantasy owners generally prefer batters to hit the ball into the air in order to have a chance at a home run. Yet, all fly balls are not equal for this purpose. A player can maximize his power production by pulling the ball in the air. Today we'll... Read More
Manny Machado Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
We continue our long-running series of articles debating fantasy rankings with a player that is sure to be a first-round pick in all formats. Or is he? RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from rankers... Read More
Should We Be Wary Of All Mets Starters?
On July 26th, 2012, the New York Mets called up a hard-throwing right-handed starting pitcher by the name of Matt Harvey. Harvey dazzled the Diamondbacks in Arizona that night, striking out 11 over 5 1/3 innings pitched without allowing any runs. This was supposed to mark a turning point in the Mets’ rebuild, the first... Read More
Tommy Pham Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
This is the next piece in a long-running series of articles debating the overall ranking of some of the most fantasy-relevant players of the 2018 baseball season. RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from rankers... Read More
Three Up, Three Down – 2018 Second Base Prospects
The keystone should be a position for players developed to keep everything together, both offensively and defensively. However, that is not the case in most years. It is generally comprised of athletes that move off of shortstop for one reason or another. Therefore, the position is usually very thin in the minor leagues. It is... Read More
Toronto Blue Jays Top MLB Prospects for 2018 Dynasty Leagues
Today we are wrapping up the American League East with one of the most interesting farm systems in baseball in the Toronto Blue Jays. There might not be a farm system in baseball with a better top pairing than this one, especially for fantasy purposes. Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are two of the... Read More
Fantasy Implications - Yu Darvish to the Cubs
The first domino finally dropped in what has been an abnormally slow off-season for free-agent signings, as Yu Darvish agreed to a six-year, $126 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. The top free agent starting pitcher this offseason, Darvish will join Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood in a potent Cubs rotation. Pitching... Read More
Justin Upton Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
This is the latest in a long-running series of articles debating the overall ranking of some of the most fantasy-relevant players of the 2018 baseball season. RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from rankers with... Read More
Post-Hype Outfielders Set to Breakout in 2018
Fantasy owners are way too quick to cast aside players who initially underperform their talent level. It's safe to say we’re too obsessed with age-adjusted production. If a rookie shows up with a ton if hype and busts early, fantasy gamers have no problem tossing the player aside in search for a shinier untested asset.... Read More
Tampa Bay Rays - Top MLB Prospects for 2018 Dynasty Leagues
When people think top farm systems in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays do not often come up. Or at least, not as much as they should. For a team that has consistently developed players well and drafted well, the Rays have not received as much love as they deserve. That might be starting to change.... Read More
Giancarlo Stanton Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
We continue our series of articles debating the overall ranking of some of the most fantasy-relevant players of the 2018 baseball season with a player who set the world on fire in 2017. New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is an early pick sure to garner a lot of attention after his N.L. MVP season... Read More
Top 600: Dynasty League Fantasy Baseball Rankings
What's up RotoBallers. Today we are bringing you our top 600 fantasy baseball dynasty rankings for the 2018 MLB season. Dynasty leagues, or keeper formats, are becoming 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, this is... Read More
Champ or Chump - Willie Calhoun and Ronald Acuna
Our friends at FantasyPros have started offering composite Average Draft Position (ADP) data from the earliest 2018 drafts. Currently, data is only available from FanTrax and NFBC, but other popular platforms such as Yahoo!, RTSports, and CBS will be added as it becomes available. ADP is influenced by the host site's default rankings, so composite... Read More
The Most Profitable Hitters of the Last Five Years
As you may have heard me mention on Twitter or the fantasy baseball subreddit, I recently acquired the last five seasons’ worth of average draft positon (ADP) data for NFBC and all three of the major fantasy platforms (Yahoo, ESPN, and CBS). I am terrible at Excel, so it’s taken a lot of trial and... Read More
Nick Mariano's 2018 Draft Sleepers List (Premium Content)
All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. It's everyone's favorite pre-draft word to throw around and likely threatens to take the top spot on some Google Analytics the closer we get to that premier fantasy baseball draft season. Yup, we're talking about sleepers. But let's just get this out of the way:... Read More
Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 5 - Plate Discipline
No matter how high a particular player's BABIP may be, his average will be mediocre at best if he strikes out too much. This is why fantasy owners have known for years that players like Adam Dunn and Chris Davis are potential drains on a fantasy team's batting average. Furthermore, players that whiff a lot... Read More
Should Fantasy Managers Swipe Left and Chase Steals?
Steals are an important statistic in fantasy baseball. They represent 10% of scoring categories in 5x5 leagues and earn an equivalent value or more to singles, runs and RBI in points leagues. Comparing runs and stolen bases, the fantasy significance of a steal is certainly overvalued versus its real baseball relevance. The Run Expectancy table... Read More
J.D. Martinez Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from rankers with the biggest differences of opinion on a well-known player and have them defend their position against each other. We continue our series of rankings debates with... Read More
Rhys Hoskins Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
We continue our rankings debate with a look at one of the top rookie sluggers ago who wowed us all with his power display. No, not Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger... RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space,... Read More
New York Yankees Top MLB Prospects for 2018 Dynasty Leagues
This New York Yankees’ farm system has been one of the best in baseball since the team decided to start reloading. Trading Andrew Miller for Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield, sending Aroldis Chapman to Chicago for Gleyber Torres and Billy McKinney helped restock a farm system that already started to lose a few names. Many... Read More
