MLB Cancels First Two Regular Season Series

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday that the sport will cancel the first two series of the regular season that was originally set to begin on March 31. The move comes over a labor dispute between the league and players for the first time in 27 years. The league and union haven't […]

MLB, Players Still Far Apart With Tuesday Deadline Looming

The Major League Baseball players union's recent request on the bonus pool was for $85 million, while the league's offer came in at $25 million. So despite the fact that the two sides had a positive day during 16 hours of negotiating on Monday, they still remain far apart, and things are looking bad for […]

MLB Hopes To Finalize Deal Before Tuesday Deadline

Major League Baseball and the Players Association moved the deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement that would save regular season games from being canceled to 5 p.m. ET Tuesday after a 16-hour day of negotiations on Monday. While the two sides made progress, gaps remain on competitive-balance tax thresholds, minimum salary and bonus pool […]

MLB Willing To Miss A Month Of Regular Season Games

Major League Baseball indicated a willingness on Monday to miss a month of regular season games and took a more threatening tone than Sunday, according to sources briefed of Monday's first meeting between the league and Players Association. The league is pressing for a 14-team postseason, among other things, and it hasn't been well-received by […]

Derek Jeter Stepping Down As Marlins CEO

Derek Jeter announced in a statement on Monday that he is stepping down as the chief executive officer of the Miami Marlins, according to sources. In his statement, he wrote, "Today I am announcing that the Miami Marlins and I are officially ending our relationship and I will no longer serve as CEO nor as […]

Productive Day Of Talks For MLB, Players Association

Sunday was a productive day of talks between Major League Baseball and the Players Association, according to a league source. They will meet again on Monday to keep pushing for an agreement before the end of the day to avoid the cancellation of regular season games in 2022. Despite the fact that Sunday was more […]

MLB Cancels Three More Days Of Spring Training

Major League Baseball has canceled three more days of spring training games from March 5-7, according to a league spokesman. The earliest spring training games can start now is March 8. But that's also contingent on the league and players getting a new collective bargaining agreement done by then, so more spring training games could […]

Positions to Prioritize: Statistical Scarcity Breakdown

Position scarcity is a big topic of debate every fantasy baseball season. Not all positions on the baseball diamond are created equal, and they often give us quite different arrays of offensive production for fantasy purposes. In this post, I will take a close look at what's going on at each position by the projections […]

Mets Checked In On Freddie Freeman

ESPN's Buster Olney said on The Michael Kay Show on Thursday that the New York Mets checked in on free-agent first baseman Freddie Freeman before the lockout in early December. The New York Yankees have also been interested in the five-time All-Star and 2020 National League MVP. It was widely assumed that Freeman would return […]

First Basemen Set to Bust for Fantasy Baseball

First base is typically one of fantasy baseball’s deepest positions, particularly when it comes to finding power. This makes it a great position to find relative value throughout drafts. Of course, it also provides more opportunities to draft players who won’t provide the value fantasy managers were hoping for. I will highlight three first basemen […]

2022 Keeper Value Rankings - First Base

Many many years ago, I noticed the managers in my long-time keeper league were consistently making terrible keeper decisions year after year. Instead of taking their money every year, I thought I would help them out and find a good set of Keeper League Rankings to share with them. What I found was quite disturbing. […]

MLB Says Feb. 28 Is A Real Deadline

Major League Baseball said that the Feb. 28 deadline to get a new collective bargaining deal done is a real deadline. If there's no deal in place by that date, regular season games would be canceled and player pay would be lost. "When you're offering bear traps, it's hard to attract bears," player agent Scott […]

Jose Abreu Enjoys Quality 2021 Season

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu turned in a quality season in 2021. Just a year removed from winning American League MVP honors in 2020, the first baseman hit .261 with a .351 on-base percentage, 30 home runs, and a stolen base in 659 plate appearances for Chicago this past season. Abreu should once […]

MLB Unimpressed By Union's Latest Offer Tuesday

Major League Baseball was unimpressed by the players union's offer on Tuesday but intends to make a proposal on Wednesday when the two sides meet for the third straight day. The good news is that the plan is for the two sides to meet every day through the Feb. 28 deadline for getting a deal […]

Freddie Freeman Not Expected To Return To Braves?

There is a growing belief that first baseman Freddie Freeman will land somewhere other than the Atlanta Braves because of the standoff in his negotiations with the team. The presumption among many rival executives last year was that Freeman and the Braves would eventually work out a deal, but Freeman wasn't among the stars that […]

Top MLB Prospect Rankings #1-50: Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

RotoBaller’s fantasy baseball prospects coverage continues to chug along, and today we're releasing our top 50 dynasty prospects for fantasy baseball along with some player analysis. The 2022 season is on the horizon, and while the MLB season still hangs in the balance due to the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, the minor league […]

Top 50 MLB Prospects Rankings - 2022 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Leagues

Each season, many MLB prospects and rookies are called up -- some make immediate fantasy baseball impacts. These types of impact prospects can be league winners, and also provide jolts to their MLB teams in the quests to be champions. RotoBaller's resident fantasy baseball prospects team lead Marc Hulet has released his initial 2022 prospect […]

MiLB Stats: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

Once you've grown accustomed to having advanced tools to help make fantasy decisions, it can feel disorientating to be without them. Prospects are increasingly becoming a focal point in both real and fantasy baseball, but the minors simply do not have all of the data available for MLB players. For example, advanced plate discipline stats, […]

Points League Busts: First Basemen Set to Fall Short of ADP in 2022

This article will examine a few eligible first basemen for the 2022 MLB season that are being selected earlier than their Steamer projections suggest they should in points leagues and H2H points formats. RotoBaller's fantasy baseball points analyst Antonio Losada will be offering a few picks for both potential overperformers (sleepers) and shortcomers (busts) when […]

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Ascends To Top Of 1B Ranks

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. broke out in 2021 and finished second in American League MVP voting by tying for the league lead in home runs (48). He also ranked sixth in batting average (.311), sixth in RBI (111), third in hits (188), third in on-base percentage (.401) and second in OPS […]

MLB Officially Announces Spring Training Delay

Major League Baseball announced on Friday that spring training games won't begin until at least March 5. "We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of spring training games," a statement said. "All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field […]

First Base Draft Sleepers for Fantasy Baseball

First base is one of the interesting positions when it comes to fantasy baseball. Of course, there are the stars who always jump off the board early in drafts. Then, there are also the middle-tier guys who aren’t as consistent but are still productive. And next of course, the fantasy baseball sleepers. This is one […]

No Deal Between MLB, Players After Thursday's Meeting

No new deal was struck between Major League Baseball and the Players Association after their latest meeting on Thursday, and we are now 11 days from the deadline the league set in order to start the regular season on time. The Players Association backed off its request for arbitration for all players with two-plus years […]

DJ LeMahieu Fully Recovered After Surgery

New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu (abdomen) said that he is fully recovered from surgery last October to fix a core muscle injury. LeMahieu is already at the team's spring training complex and is waiting for the end of the league's lockout. The 33-year-old has been swinging a bat all winter. LeMahieu struggled to the […]

Statcast Exit Velocity: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

If you've watched a baseball broadcast in the Statcast Era, you have undoubtedly noticed the broadcasters commenting on a batted ball's exit velocity, or EV. Many have taken to using stats like Hard% and Soft% to forecast how a player should be performing, expecting larger Hard% rates to produce larger BABIP and HR/FB figures. There […]

Ryan Zimmerman Announces Retirement

Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman announced his retirement on Tuesday. Zimmerman spent 16 years in the big leagues, all with the Nationals. He was drafted in the first round in 2005 after the team moved from Montreal to Washington, and he ends his career as the franchise's leader in games played (1,799), runs scored […]

MLB Trying To Reduce Size Of Domestic Reserve List

Major League Baseball has asked for the ability to eliminate hundreds of minor league playing jobs in their latest labor offer to the Players Association, according to sources familiar with the proposal. The current Domestic Reserve List is at 180, and the league proposed reducing the maximum number of players to as few as 150 […]

Points League Values: First Basemen Set to Outperform ADP in 2022

This article will examine a few eligible first basemen for the 2022 MLB season that are being selected later than their Steamer projections suggest they should in points leagues and H2H points formats. RotoBaller's fantasy baseball points analyst Antonio Losada will be offering a few picks for both potential overperformers (sleepers) and shortcomers (busts) when […]

Jon Anderson's First Base Tiered Rankings and Projections

It is very important to have a feel for how each position is shaking out from a high level before you start a draft. Having positional rankings is great, but having tiered positional fantasy baseball rankings is even better. Throughout February, we will be going over each MLB position and showing you our rankings tiered […]

Top MLB Prospect Rankings: #51-100 - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

RotoBaller’s fantasy baseball prospects coverage is back. The 2022 season is quickly approaching and while the MLB season still hangs in the balance due to the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, the minor league season will be unaffected (for players not on the 40-man roster). We’re continuing our 2022 prospect coverage with the comprehensive […]