2022 Keeper Value Rankings - Shortstop

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. […]

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 […]

Yankees Reached Out To Carlos Correa

The New York Yankees reached out to free-agent shortstop Carlos Correa before the lockout in early December. The likelihood of the Yankees signing Correa is unknown since it seemed like Corey Seager was higher on their wish list. Correa is also seeking more money than Seager, who received $325 million from the Texas Rangers. Other […]

Jordan Lawlar Hitting Off Tee, Nearing Return

Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop prospect Jordan Lawlar (shoulder) underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in August last year. He has been rehabbing this offseason and is progressing toward a return to action, according to Diamondbacks beat writer Zach Buchanan. Lawlar is currently hitting off a tee and doing some soft tossing, but he has yet to take part […]

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 […]

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 […]

Xander Bogaerts As Consistent As They Come

Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts had another extremely productive year in 2021, finishing with a .295/.370/.493 slash line, 23 home runs, 79 RBI, five stolen bases and 90 runs scored in 144 games (603 plate appearances). A bout with COVID-19 and a wrist injury in the second half of the season slowed him down […]

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, […]

Bo Bichette Having Normal Offseason

Despite Major League Baseball's lockout since early December, Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette said his ramp-up before spring training has been largely unchanged. Bichette has been getting swings in a batting cage and at a local high school field with teammates Danny Jansen, Teoscar Hernandez and Santiago Espinal. He has also worked closely with […]

Trea Turner A Priority Extension Candidate For Dodgers?

The Los Angeles Dodgers will make it a priority to sign shortstop Trea Turner to a contract extension, in the opinion of The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya. Turner is under contract for the 2022 season, but after that he'll become a free agent. The 28-year-old led all position players in Wins Above Replacement (6.9) last year […]

Fernando Tatis Jr. The Consensus No. 1 Overall Fantasy Pick

San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the first round of fantasy drafts in 2022. Shoulder issues limited the superstar to 130 games in his first All-Star season in 2021, but Tatis still managed to hit .282/.364/.611 with a .975 OPS, a league-leading 42 home runs, 97 […]

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 […]

Points Leagues Busts: Shortstops Set to Fall Short of ADP in 2022

This article will examine a few eligible shortstops 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 it […]

Jon Anderson's Shortstop Tiered Rankings and Projections

We are moving on to shortstop today in the tiered fantasy baseball rankings and projections series! Check out the rest of what I've completed so far at the links below! First Base Second Base Third Base The shortstop position has become quite deep for fantasy purposes over the last several years. In the older times, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]