MLB, Players Expected To Meet Again Soon
The Major League Baseball players union is working on a response to the league's last proposal, according to sources. No further meetings are scheduled, but they are expected soon after small contingents from each side briefly met in New York on Thursday. Commissioner Rob Manfred already canceled the first two series of the regular season, […]
Dan Halem, Bruce Meyer To Meet Thursday
Major League Baseball lead negotiator Dan Halem and Bruce Meyer of the Players Association will meet on Thursday. Both sides want to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement, but there's still a large bridge to gap on several key economic issues. The meeting on Thursday will be an informal one-on-one meeting, so baseball fans […]
Orelvis Martinez Emerging In Blue Jays Pipeline
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop/third baseman Orelvis Martinez, the team's No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has been emerging as the "next big thing" in Toronto's organization for a few years now. Martinez led the Jays system in 2021 with 28 home runs and an .895 OPS in 98 games with Low-A Dunedin and High-A Vancouver […]
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 […]
Second Base Draft Sleepers for Fantasy Baseball
Second base is one of the interesting positions when it comes to fantasy baseball. There’s really only a handful of top-tier star-caliber guys, but after that, it’s one of the deeper positions when it comes to middle-tier contributors. While there’s a bit more inconsistency after the stars, there are definitely some interesting options with second […]
2022 Keeper Value Rankings - Third 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 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. There […]
Alex Bregman: 2022 Fantasy Baseball Bust?
The Houston Astros finished the 2021 season with a record 95-67, which was good enough to walk away with the AL West division crown. They also steamrolled through the American League playoffs and into the World Series where they eventually met their demise against the Atlanta Braves. The season was seen as a success by […]
Buying Back in on Alec Bohm
Let's start with a cliché because those are always fun. We've heard over and over again that "prospect growth is not linear." Well, there might not be a better example of that in the current MLB landscape than Bohm, who was drafted third overall in 2018 and quickly moved through the minor leagues, hitting .291 […]
Points League Busts: Third Basemen Set to Fall Short of ADP in 2022
This article will examine a few eligible third 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 […]
Best Fantasy Baseball Fits For Cincinnati’s Trade Chips
It’s probably safe to say that the Cincinnati Reds’ roster will look much different come Opening Day – at least much different than it looked at the end of last season. While it remains to be seen just what the Reds will do once the lockout is over, a number of veteran stalwarts are no […]
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 […]
Josh Jung Undergoes Surgery, Out Six Months
Texas Rangers third base prospect Josh Jung (shoulder) underwent surgery to fix a torn left labrum on Wednesday, and the rehab process suggests that he'll miss six months before he is ready to serve as a designated hitter. Jung finished the 2021 season as MLB Pipeline's No. 48 overall prospect and potentially could have debuted […]
Matt Carpenter Remade His Swing This Offseason
Free-agent third baseman Matt Carpenter reached out to his old rival from the National League Central, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto, on ways to fix his swing late in his career. The 36-year-old Carpenter's decline has been steep in recent years. He hit 36 home runs and finished ninth in the NL MVP voting […]
Twins Signs Elliot Soto To Minor League Deal
The Minnesota Twins have signed infielder Elliot Soto to a minor league deal, according to a tweet from Soto's agent, Marc J. Kligman, on Monday. Soto collected a couple of hits and a walk in seven plate appearances for the Los Angeles Angels during the 2020 season. He hit .230 with a .315 on-base percentage […]
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 […]
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 […]
Manny Machado Coming Off Fifth All-Star Season
San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado will make $30 million in 2022 in the fourth year of a 10-year, $300 million deal. Machado earned his fifth All-Star selection, and first as a Padre, last year after hitting. .278/.347/.489 with 28 home runs, 106 RBI, 92 runs scored, 12 steals, 63 walks and 102 strikeouts […]
Rafael Devers Enjoys Strong 2021 Season
Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers enjoyed yet another quality season at the plate in 2021, further cementing himself as one of fantasy baseball's best at his position, alongside the likes of Jose Ramirez and Manny Machado. The 25-year-old hit .279 with a .352 on-base percentage, 38 home runs and five stolen bases in […]
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, […]
Jose Ramirez Continues To Get Better
Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez continues to be one of the best all-around players in baseball after posting an .893 OPS with 36 home runs and 27 stolen bases in 152 games in 2021. Ramirez made his third All-Star team, and Cleveland made the no-brainer move to pick up his $12 million option for […]
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 […]
Isiah Kiner-Falefa Likely To Start Everyday At Third Base
Texas Rangers infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa is expected to open the season as the starting third baseman. Over the offseason, the Rangers overhauled their infield by adding Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. That being said, Kiner-Falefa was expected to compete for the starting third base job. However, top prospect Josh Jung (shoulder) is going to miss […]