Braves Bring Back Pablo Sandoval

The Atlanta Braves agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training with corner infielder Pablo Sandoval on Sunday. Sandoval will receive $1 million if he's put on the team's big-league roster, according to a source. The 34-year-old switch-hitter hit just .214 with a .549 OPS in 94 plate appearances with the […]

Ryan Zimmerman Could Play Beyond 2021

Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman signed a one-year, $1 million deal for the 2021 season and said that he might stick around longer than just one season. The 36-year-old two-time All-Star is the team's longest-tenured player but opted out of the 2020 campaign due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. Zimmerman's playing time will likely diminish […]

Top 440: Early H2H Points League Rankings

Welcome back RotoBallers. Below you will find our early 2021 fantasy baseball H2H points league rankings (top 440). As you may know, head-to-head points formats are typically underserved by fantasy baseball outlets - but this is an area that we at RotoBaller take pride in and specialize in. Throughout the preseason and regular season, we will […]

Nationals Bring Back Ryan Zimmerman

The Washington Nationals are re-signing first baseman Ryan Zimmerman to a one-year, $1 million deal on Friday, according to a source. The 36-year-old veteran opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns about his family's safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he is returning to play his 16th major league season, which have all […]

Twins Interested In Bringing Marwin Gonzalez Back

The Minnesota Twins have shown interest in reuniting with utility man Marwin Gonzalez, according to sources. Gonzalez spent the last two years in Minnesota, and the Twins could still use some utility help, especially around the infield. The 31-year-old switch-hitter fell off with the bat during the shortened 2020 season, but he still provided mostly […]

Top 680: Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers, and Happy New Year! Below you will find our staff's early 2021 fantasy baseball tiered rankings (top 680) for 5x5 mixed leagues. In case you missed it, you can also see our tiered positional rankings as well. Three our lead fantasy baseball analysts - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus and JB Branson - have analyzed the MLB offseason moves and are ready to […]

Infield Busts Who'll Keep Junking it Up in 2021

One of the biggest questions out there as we head into 2021 is how much weight to put on what happened in 2020. Obviously, it was a very odd year for Major League Baseball. Players had a couple of weeks of normal Spring Training before being sent home for four months only to come back […]

Three Rookie Sleepers that Debuted in Late 2020

For a wide variety of reasons, 2020 was an unusual season for baseball. But out of these unusual situations came some opportunities for top-tier prospects to get a shot at the big leagues. Now prospects that made a splash in their debuts like Ke'Bryan Hayes or Tanner Houck will be garnering the interest of many […]

Stat-Based Tips To Build a Strong Fantasy Baseball Roster

As we lead up to the 2021 season, fantasy baseball enthusiasts are sure to read thousands of words about players themselves: who overperformed last year and who is primed for a breakout. All of that is good stuff, and it's very helpful in starting your journey towards winning your league, but it's only half the […]

Dynasty First Base Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

As we prepare to flip the calendar to 2021, fantasy baseball managers are poring over MLB free agency news and the latest rankings. That includes our constantly-updated dynasty rankings. We will take an early preseason look at each position with some thoughts on individual player values heading into next season. Today, we start with first […]

You Paid What?! Overvalued Players in Auctions

Assuming the 2021 MLB season starts on time, we are on the precipice of fantasy baseball draft season. Spring Training will get underway next month, at which point, drafts roll out in full force. We aren't there quite yet, which makes sense. Many of the biggest free agents remain unsigned; the league is unsure of […]

Mets Sign Jose Martinez To Split Contract

The New York Mets signed veteran Jose Martinez to a split contract on Thursday to give them more right-handed bench depth. Martinez will make $1 million, with another $500,00 in incentives if he makes the major league roster or $225,000 in incentives if he's in the minors, according to a source. He hit .298 with […]

Brewers Re-Sign Jace Peterson

The Milwaukee Brewers re-signed utility man Jace Peterson to a minor league contract on Wednesday that includes an invitation to spring training. The 30-year-old made starts at first base, third base, left field and right field in 26 games last year, also seeing action at the keystone. He hit just .200/.393/.356 in his 61 plate […]

Mark Shapiro Receives Five-Year Extension

Toronto Blue Jays president and chief executive officer Mark Shapiro was given a five-year contract extension on Wednesday. Shapiro worked for the Cleveland Indians before joining the Blue Jays as their president on Oct. 31, 2015. His leadership and commitment over the last five years have been critical to Toronto's growth and development. The Blue […]

Dominic Smith Not An Option In Left Field

New York Mets president Sandy Alderson made it clear that he's not comfortable with Dominic Smith as a left fielder. Smith can play there, if needed, and the Mets would like to keep his bat in the lineup, so they definitely are pushing for the National League to adopt a full-time designated hitter. If the […]

Josh Bell To Nationals - Fantasy Impact

The Washington Nationals were one of the bigger disappointments in baseball last season. Robbed of their World Series celebration with their fans, the Nats limped to a 26-34 record in the pandemic-shortened season, good for last in the NL East. The Nationals addressed one of their biggest weaknesses, however, by swinging a Christmas Eve trade […]

Early One-Man Mock (Round 1) - 2022 Fantasy Baseball

There is no such thing as too early when it comes to draft prep. The calendar won't flip to 2022 for another few weeks but we at RotoBaller aren't ones to sit around and wait. Mock drafts take time, so I took matters into my own hands to complete a one-man mock. For the most […]

Justin Smoak Finalizing Deal To Play In Japan

Veteran first baseman Justin Smoak is finalizing a deal with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan on Tuesday, according to sources. The deal will guarantee him between $6 million and $7 million. The 34-year-old joins a Giants team that won the Central League last year but lost the Japan Series as the country's oldest professional team. […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

Once again, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season is not guaranteed to be a normal one. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a world unencumbered by COVID-19 and talk about our silly little game as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

Biggest Brl/BBE% Fallers from 2020

Last week, I discussed the importance of the Brl/BBE% and examined some players who had improved the most in the shortened 2019 season. If you haven't yet taken a look at that, I would encourage you to because I also gave a detailed breakdown of why I like this particular stat. However, if you simply […]

Nationals Not Ruling Out Ryan Zimmerman

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said that he's not ruling out a reunion with first baseman Ryan Zimmerman despite the fact that the team just traded for first baseman Josh Bell on Christmas Eve. Washington is still trying to add a quality right-handed hitter, although it seems unlikely that Zimmerman would fit into the […]

Nationals Trade For Josh Bell

The Washington Nationals acquired first baseman Josh Bell from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday in exchange for young pitchers Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean. Bell set career highs in almost every category when he made his first All-Star team in 2019 by hitting .277 with 37 home runs and 116 RBI, but he regressed in […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Late ADP Options

Like a sitcom catchphrase from a bygone era, we all want more power. We'll take it early and we'll take it late but it always feels extra sweet when one of your final picks suddenly becomes one of the mayors of dong city. Looking at a player's exit velocities can tell us a lot about […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Earlier Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level early in their careers. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, pre-prime breakouts can be excellent draft values thanks to their unusually high upside.  […]

Sam Fuld Promoted To General Manager

Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced on Tuesday that the team promoted Sam Fuld to general manager. Former GM Matt Klentak was reassigned in October. The 39-year-old Fuld has been in the team's front office since 2017, joining them initially as the major league player information coordinator. He was the director of […]

Squaring It Up: 2020's Biggest Brl/BBE% Gainers

Often when it comes to fantasy baseball, we get overloaded with statistics and it becomes hard to sort out what's useful from what's misleading. Many experts can write pages about why they swear by certain stats as being the most predictive for future success or accurate in reflecting who had a good season. In the […]

Nate Lowe to Rangers - Fantasy Impact

Nate Lowe has been FREED!!!!! The Tampa Bay Rays have traded their talented slugging first baseman as well as first baseman Jake Guenther to the Texas Rangers for catcher Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe, and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. This is the moment many fantasy baseball players have been waiting for, the chance for Nate Lowe […]

Rhys Hoskins Should Be Ready In 2021

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman/outfielder Rhys Hoskins (elbow) is recovering nicely from elbow surgery and should be ready to play in the 2021 season, according to his agent, Scott Boras. Hoskins is scheduled to begin swinging a bat soon. Manager Joe Girardi is also optimistic about Hoskins' chances of being ready next year, so it's not […]

Dusty Baker Unsure If He'll Return Beyond 2021

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker is unsure if he wants to manage the team beyond the 2021 season. "Maybe," Baker said. "Depends how I feel. Depends on how the team feels about me. ... You never know what changes are going to come about in life." The 71-year-old is entering the final year of his […]

Early-Round Fades and Overvalued Studs

Entering 2021, there is a bit of recency bias in the early ADP as well as an overall sense of unknown entering 2021 as a whole in terms of what rules are in place, where players are going to hit in the lineup or even where many players will play and how that could affect […]