Tigers Option Zack Short To Triple-A

The Detroit Tigers optioned shortstop Zack Short to Triple-A Toledo on Saturday. Detroit looks set around the infield with Jeimer Candelario at third base, Javier Baez at shortstop, Jonathan Schoop at second base, and Spencer Torkelson the favorite to get the lion's share of the plate appearances at first base, but Short had a shot […]

Andrelton Simmons Dealing With Shoulder Soreness

Chicago Cubs shortstop Andrelton Simmons (shoulder) is "dealing with right shoulder soreness," according to The Chicago Tribune's Meghan Montemurro. Also per Montemurro, the shortstop's "progress has been slowed since he reported to camp." Simmons joined the Cubs as a free agent after spending last season with the Minnesota Twins. The veteran hit .223 with a […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Shortstops Using Expected Draft Values

We're back for another installment of the FSWA-award-nominated Expected Draft Values series, where we look at historical data to identify both overvalued and undervalued players of all types. Whether you're targeting power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, we've got you covered. Today, we'll look at three shortstops and compare their projected statline via […]

Trevor Story Away From The Team

Boston Red Sox second baseman Trevor Story was set to make his spring training debut with the team on Saturday, but it will be pushed back a few days after he left camp to be with his wife for the birth of their child, according to MLB.com's Ian Browne. Story's six-year deal with the team […]

Michael Florio's Hitters to Target in Points Leagues

Points leagues are becoming more and more popular in fantasy baseball. They have long been my favorite format because they are great both for the newcomer and the seasoned vet. The thing about points leagues is that while the scoring can vary based on platform, they tend to reward more outcomes than traditional Roto leagues, […]

Prime-Age Infielders Set to Break Out for Fantasy Baseball

With baseball officially back, we can finally move on from worrying about whether the teams would actually be on the field and start worrying about the fake teams we're going to field this year in fantasy baseball. This article is going to break down three infielders in the age 26-29 range who are on the […]

RotoBaller Staff Mock Draft Analysis: 12-Team Roto League Draft

Fantasy prep is never complete without mock drafts. So in doing our best to prepare for the 2022 season, my fellow RotoBaller writers and I got together for a 12-team 5X5 Roto mock draft. The only difference is that we used Quality Starts instead of Wins. I’ll be breaking down our draft round-by-round and highlighting […]

Mid-Round Shortstops - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values and Targets

Welcome officially to the 2022 fantasy baseball season! Now that an MLB deal is in place, a lot more fantasy drafts will be taking place -- and we're here as always to guide you through it. Once you reach the middle rounds of drafts, everyone is looking to draft players with upside that can provide […]

Let's Overreact to Spring Training News and Tweets: Part Two

Baseball is back, spring training is here, and every tweet from every beat writer is getting scrutinized to an outrageous level. It's wacky season at its best, but instead of shying away from that, we're going to lean into it. I've found some bits of news that are interesting and also, at times, amusing, and […]

Carlos Correa (SS, MIN) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 85 CURRENT ADP: ~100 overall ANALYSIS: It seems like Correa has been around forever, so it may come as a bit of a surprise that he's only 27-years-old and entering the prime of his career. With six years of Major League Baseball experience heading into last season, it's clear that […]

Updated 2022 Fantasy Baseball Rankings for Points Leagues - Matt Olson, Carlos Correa, Josh Donaldson, Justin Verlander and More

Welcome back RotoBallers! Spring Training is in full swing, and fantasy baseball draft season is about to pick up in a big way. Below you'll find our MLB team's updated 2022 fantasy baseball points league rankings, specifically catered and adjusted for for points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) points league formats. In the last few days […]

NFBC Points League Primer for Fantasy Baseball Drafts

Points-league players are often overlooked in the fantasy baseball draft world. Rankings for roto leagues do not match up and one-size-fits-all points rankings aren't much better since every site has unique scoring settings. So here I am, taking the baton from Nicklaus Gaut and advancing toward new horizons. And those horizons, today, go by the […]

Carlos Correa Will Make Twins Debut Sunday

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa will reportedly make his team debut in Grapefruit League play on Sunday according to MLB.com's Do-Hyoung Park. Correa hit .279 with a .366 on-base percentage and 26 home runs in 640 plate appearances last season with the Houston Astros. Now with the Twins, Correa should continue to be an above-average […]

Bobby Witt Jr. Compared To MLB Star

Kansas City Royals shortstop prospect Bobby Witt Jr., the top overall prospect in all of baseball per MLB Pipeline, is being compared to Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout. Witt, who hit 33 home runs across two minor league levels last year, has an eerily similar swing and follow-through to that of Trout. The 21-year-old […]

Best Ball Targets for Fantasy Baseball (Premium Content)

Best Ball is a tricky game, especially for those just getting into it. The concept may seem easy enough – draft a team and let the computer do the work for you while your only responsibility is making the occasional adds or drops. This may be the case on the surface, however, to win a […]

Nick Mariano's Points Leagues Targets for Fantasy Baseball (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) are almost all about finding the next superstar and unearthing talent late, but points formats are typically lumped into rotisserie angles and/or ignored entirely. We can't have our pointy RotoBallers sad, so let us write with a different […]

Nick Mariano's Points Leagues Early-Round Overvalued (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) are almost all about finding the next superstar and unearthing talent late, but we can't forget that surrendering value by over-drafting can be just as crucial. There's insight out there for most anything, but coverage of points leagues […]

Updated 2022 Fantasy Baseball Rankings for 5x5 Roto Mixed Leagues - Fernando Tatis, Jack Flaherty, Chris Sale, Kenley Jansen and More

Fellow RotoBallers, Spring Training is underway we are inching closer to Opening Day! Below you will find our MLB team's updated 2022 fantasy baseball rankings and tiers for 5x5 mixed roto leagues. Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen an incredible amount of moves and changes including trades, free agent signings and of […]

Updated Prospects Rankings for Fantasy Baseball Drafts (2022)

Welcome back RotoBallers to our ongoing coverage of fantasy baseball prospects. Today we're here with our updated preseason rankings for the top 50 MLB prospects who have a chance to make fantasy baseball impacts in 2022. Marc Hulet has been leading RotoBaller's fantasy baseball prospects coverage for several years, after spending several years at Fangraphs. […]

Top 250 Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings for Dynasty Leagues

Welcome RotoBallers to our first rankings article of the year about fantasy baseball prospects. Below you will find our early list of the top 250 MLB prospect rankings for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues. For those of you focused on this year's impact prospects, you can also check out our top 50 fantasy baseball prospect rankings […]

Best Ball Fades for Fantasy Baseball (Premium Content)

Best Ball is a tricky game, especially for those just getting into it. The concept may seem easy enough – draft a team and let the computer do the work for you while your only responsibility is making the occasional adds or drops. This may be the case on the surface, however, to win a […]

Jazz Chisholm Jr. Returns To Action Thursday

Miami Marlins shortstop Jazz Chisholm Jr. (hand) started in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the New York Mets. He exited Tuesday's game early after being hit by a ground ball. The 24-year-old started at second base and led off Thursday's contest. He went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. The Marlins infielder slashed […]

2022 NFBC Draft and Hold Strategy - Late-Round Hitting Category Boosters (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. We are in the heart of fantasy baseball draft season, and that means we are doing a whole lot of draft prep to get ready for the big draft days. A lot of that draft prep used to be mock drafts, but those became […]

Christian Arroyo To Play Friday

Boston Red Sox second baseman Christian Arroyo (hand) will play shortstop on Friday in a spring game. Arroyo was scratched from the Grapefruit League game against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday with a sore right hand, but the injury is minor in nature. The 26-year-old should be fine for Opening Day unless he suffers a […]

2022 Keeper Value Rankings - Top 150 Overall for Fantasy Baseball

In case you missed it, all preseason long I've been breaking down the top Keeper Values at each position. To get insight on any individual position, simply choose here: First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, Catcher, Outfield, Starting Pitcher, and Relief Pitchers. Now, for your convenience, here are the Top-150 Overall Keeper Values for 2022. Keeper Value Rankings are […]

Statcast xStats: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

Statcast is a valuable tool for fantasy analysis, and it can be easy to look at a stat called "Expected Batting Average" and blindly use it as your projection moving forward. Of course, proper use of these metrics is a little bit more nuanced than that. First, a disclaimer: This article is about the "Expected […]

Nick Mariano's 2022 Early-Round Overvalued List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) are almost all about finding the next superstar and unearthing talent late, but we can't forget that surrendering value by over-drafting can be just as crucial. In order to evaluate overvalued players here, we're going to utilize Average […]

Jose Barrero Undergoes Surgery, Out Six Weeks

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Jose Barrero (hand) had successful surgery on the hamate bone in his left hand and is expected to be out for six weeks. Barrero was hoping to compete for the starting job at shortstop to open the season, but that will now be Kyle Farmer's job early in 2022. The 23-year-old has […]

Mariners Avoid Arbitration With J.P. Crawford

The Seattle Mariners avoided salary arbitration with shortstop J.P. Crawford on Tuesday by agreeing on a one-year, $4.85 million deal. Crawford is a defense-first player, but the 27-year-old had his best season offensively in 2021 when he hit .273/.338/.376 with a career-high nine home runs, 54 RBI and 89 runs scored in 687 plate appearances […]

Oneil Cruz To Play Some Outfield

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that shortstop prospect Oneil Cruz will soon play some outfield in camp, starting with left field. "The fact that PNC plays so big, you'll probably see him in left field first because of how athletic he is. But I think he's athletic enough that he can play any of […]