Rick Lucks's 10 Bold Predictions for 2018
Several of my colleagues have already announced their Bold Predictions for the 2018 fantasy baseball season, and now it's my turn. This is my third year participating in this exercise. The first one was great, as I correctly predicted Steven Wright would matter in 2016 fantasy leagues. The second one wasn't, as I had a... Read More
Tim Beckham (SS, BAL) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values
BALLER MOVE: Target ~230 CURRENT ADP: 261 ANALYSIS: Baltimore Orioles infielder Tim Beckham may have just needed a change of scenery, being traded from the Rays to the Orioles. He went from being seen as a bust of a high Draft pick to all but sealing J.J. Hardy's fate as an ex-Oriole in the span of months. Beckham... Read More
Nick Mariano's 10 Bold Predictions for 2018
As we steamroll toward Opening Day, our experienced writers will be offering their most bold predictions for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. These are always a fun exercise that allows us to really trumpet our more outlandish stances heading into 2017. I promise it comes from an educated place, but these are far from "probable"... Read More
Champ or Chump - Eugenio Suarez and Carlos Correa
This may shock you, but fantasy baseball writers are not infallible. Sometimes we're incredibly wrong on a guy, and there's a written record to prove it. We also make the same mistakes everyone else makes. For example, I recently had to fill a Util-slot at the end of a draft. I needed power, so I... Read More
Pierre Camus' 10 Bold Predictions for 2018
As we steamroll toward Opening Day, our experienced writers will be offering their most bold predictions for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Although I will never be able to replicate last year's successes in calling Giancarlo Stanton's mammoth season, I will do my best. Feel free to ignore the majority of those other predictions from 2017.... Read More
Top Shortstop Prospect Rankings - 2018 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Baseball
Welcome back, RotoBallers. I'll be breaking down impact prospects by position. Today I'm bringing you my top 10 shortstops - MLB prospect rankings for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. As expected, shortstop is far and away the deepest list of infield prospects. This tends to be the trend every season given that it is typically... Read More
2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - Shortstop
At the risk of beating a dead horse, I dislike the term "sleeper." Maybe you share my qualms with terminology, maybe not; we can all agree that what we're after in our fantasy drafts is value. Obviously, finding the most valuable players leads to winning leagues, but there are few better feelings than snagging the... Read More
Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 14 - Statcast For Pitchers
Previously, we looked at Barrels, a stat combining exit velocity and launch angle to measure how often a batter makes quality hard contact. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is some evidence that pitchers do not have the same influence... Read More
Deeper Shortstop Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs
After catcher, shortstop is generally considered the weakest offensive position in fantasy baseball. While an influx of young talent has bolstered the top end of the position, it can still be hard to find appealing options after the studs are gone. In deeper leagues, especially AL or NL-only leagues, getting value out of late round... Read More
Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2018
Every day from now until Opening Day, our writers will be offering their most audacious projections for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. This is my fourth go-round with this series. I've had some great successes and some equally terrible calls in both previous attempts, and this year should be no different. Hopefully the former outweigh... Read More
Top Fantasy Baseball Prospects - AL Central
If you are in a dynasty league, then the number one thing you likely focus on year-round are prospects. It's a never-ending hunt to find the best prospect and acquire them for the lowest cost possible. Not only are owners looking for the best prospect, they also have to discern whether or not they will... Read More
ADP Busts - 2017 Infield Breakouts to Avoid in 2018
Earlier this week, I took a look at four outfielders whose disappointing 2017 performances made them potential draft bargains for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Today, we’re taking the opposite tack. Overpaying for last year’s breakout is one of the easiest – and costliest – mistakes a fantasy owner can make, and we’ve all fallen... Read More
Updated Shortstop Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball
With the regular season only a few weeks away, the esteemed RotoBaller staff has updated their rankings one last time. We continue our review of the March update with a look at the glorious shortstop position. There's a bevy of talented bats ready to be penciled in at the "6" this season, but the sure things draw... Read More
Chris Taylor Rankings Debate - Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
We continue our long-running series of articles debating fantasy rankings with a super-utility player that suddenly became a fantasy force in 2017. The question remains: is it repeatable? 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... Read More
Champ or Chump - J.T. Realmuto and Andrew Benintendi
Some fantasy owners prioritize upside over everything else in their draft. Upside wins leagues! Upside makes your team more exciting to follow! Upside encourages you to draft Byron Buxton and hold onto him until his lack of production has doomed you to the second division of your league! Upside doesn't win leagues, profit potential does.... Read More
Trevor Story 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 captivated the world with the start of his career in 2016, but now finds himself in need of redemption after a disappointing 2017. Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story is... Read More
Best Ball Sleepers and Late Round Targets for Fantasy Baseball
Best ball leagues are one of the latest variations of fantasy baseball that are quickly growing in popularity. Draft day is the only day of the year where owners will have control over their roster. There is no waiver wire and there are no trades. Owners won't even set daily lineups, as they will instead... Read More
Points League Primer - Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy
When discussing fantasy baseball, an often neglected but entertaining format is the points league. These exist in both season-long cumulative and weekly head-to-head leagues. While existential debates about scoring categories and their true depiction of player worth are endless, points leagues arguably get closest to the objective of sabermetrics. Points leagues attempt to define a... Read More
ADP Myth Busters - Debunking Myths in the AL East
This series will attempt to help fantasy baseball owners make informed opinions on players whose ADP may not be in line with their value for the 2018 season. As fantasy owners, we can fall into a "group think" mentality and start to overlook certain teams and players. If we aren't careful, those ideas can turn... Read More
Xander Bogaerts Rankings Debate - Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
We continue our long-running series of articles debating fantasy rankings with a player who was widely selected in the second or third round last year, but endured a disappointing 2017 campaign. 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
Best-Ball Draft Strategy Overview for Fantasy Baseball
It's finally March, which can only mean two things: Spring Training and fantasy drafts. All the effort spent on rankings and draft prep finally come to fruition. Once your draft is completed, you then get to spend every day of the rest of the season analyzing player performances, scouring waiver wires and setting the best... Read More
Champ or Chump - Garrett Richards and Xander Bogaerts
Sometimes, you look at fantasy baseball ADP data and ask yourself, "why?" A deeper dive might reveal that your opinion on a given player has become outdated, or maybe you can see an argument that fails to convince you but might move the needle for somebody else. In either case, the price is justifiable. However,... Read More
Champ or Chump - Kevin Kiermaier and Alex Bregman
Our friends at FantasyPros have added ESPN and CBS to their composite ADP rankings, drawing from a total of six sources (those two plus Yahoo!, Fantrax, NFBC, and RT Sports). The vast majority of you probably use at least one of those services, making the compiled ADP data a fairly reliable predictor of what might... Read More
RotoBaller Industry Expert Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft
On Thursday, February 15th, we brought together an illustrious group of industry experts to take part in the RotoBaller Friends and Family mock draft. We'll be playing this out as a best ball league. Our participants represented sites like: Creative Sports (Lawr Michaels) Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain) GuruElite (Ray Flowers) Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender) CBS (Heath... Read More
Marcus Semien (SS, OAK) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values
BALLER MOVE: Target ~170 CURRENT ADP: 228 ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien after a semi breakout year in 2017. Semien has always been seen as a strong offensive shortstop with a glove that made you scratch your head. Luckily for fantasy, the glove does not really matter, unless it eats at your playing time. Back to his... Read More
Top 500: Mixed Leagues Tiered Staff Rankings (February)
Spring training is officially here! To celebrate, today we are here to look at our staff's updated 2018 fantasy baseball mixed league rankings for February and the top 500 players. Our rankings are updated weekly, but enough changes have taken place recently (see humidor, Arizona) to release a new overall list. Over the next few weeks we will also be publishing individual tiered... Read More
Ozzie Albies Rankings Debate - Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers
We continue our rankings debate with a look at a young player whose draft stock seems to be rising by the day and could be a make-or-break selection in many drafts. 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
2018 Shortstops - Dynasty Tiered Rankings
We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the first base position. RotoBaller writers Kyle Richardson, Chris Zolli, Pierre Camus, and I have come up with our preseason rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. In a dynasty league, it can be tough to decide between a proven veteran or... Read More
ADP Myth Busters - Debunking Myths in the NL Central
This series will attempt to help fantasy baseball owners make informed opinions on players whose ADP may not be in line with their value for the 2018 season. As fantasy owners, we can fall into a "group think" mentality and start to overlook certain teams and players. If we aren't careful, those ideas can turn... Read More
Nick Mariano's 2018 Dynasty Sleepers List (Premium Content)
All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. 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,... Read More