Ender Inciarte Expected To Be Leadoff Hitter

Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said that manager Brian Snitker is leaning toward using outfielder Ender Inciarte as the leadoff man, with Josh Donaldson, Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna and Nick Markakis following him. Inciarte hit .265/.325/.380 with 10 home runs, 61 RBI, 83 runs scored and career-high 28 stolen bases in 2018, but he […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Danny Jansen and Ozzie Albies

With fewer data points to go off of, younger players have always been more challenging to project than their more veteran counterparts. Unfortunately, the game is getting younger. Fantasy owners need to roster at least a few young studs if they hope to compete. Danny Jansen may not have impressed in his brief MLB debut […]

Cubs Agree With Brad Brach

The Chicago Cubs agreed to an undisclosed deal with free-agent relief pitcher Brad Brach on Thursday, according to sources. Brach struggled with Baltimore in 2018, posting a 4.85 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 and 11 saves in 42 outings before being traded to Atlanta, where he was much better in 27 games (1.52 ERA, 1.31 […]

Nick Markakis Re-Signs With Braves

The Atlanta Braves re-signed outfielder Nick Markakis to a one-year, $6 million deal on Tuesday, according to a source. The 35-year-old will return to Atlanta after earning his first All-Star nod in 2018. He finished with a slash line of .297/.366/.440 with 14 home runs, 93 RBI, 78 runs and one stolen base in 162 […]

2019 Points League Draft Strategy - Fantasy Baseball

When discussing fantasy baseball. An often neglected-but-entertaining format is the points league. These exist in both cumulative season-long and weekly head-to-head formats. While existential debates about scoring categories and their true depiction of player worth are endless, points leagues arguably get closest to the objective of sabermetrics. Points leagues attempt to define a player’s contribution […]

Dansby Swanson, Mike Soroka Expected To Be Ready

Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson (wrist) and starting pitcher Mike Soroka (shoulder) are both expected to report to spring training without physical limitations. However, both are expected to be eased into the Grapefruit League schedule. Swanson's left wrist bothered him pretty much all year until he was shut down in the final week, and he […]

Top 420: Points Leagues Tiered Staff Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers. Today we are here to start looking at points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) formats. In this column, you will find our staff's preliminary 2019 fantasy baseball points league rankings for January and the top 420 players. Over the next few days, we will also be publishing individual tiered rankings analysis columns for each […]

Brian Dozier - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier entered the 2018 season bolted in as a top-five 2B in fantasy baseball after posting four consecutive seasons with 100 or more runs scored, 20 or more homers, and at least 12 stolen bases. While there was a bit of a step back in the power department for Dozier […]

NL Rookies to Target in 2019 Mixed Redraft Leagues

As the New Year has finally come, and fantasy football is over, at last, fantasy baseball draft season is right around the corner. With that comes mock drafts, draft previews, ADP analysis, and of course, player recommendations. This article will help owners get ready by looking to the National League All-Star team of rookies to […]

Kevin Gausman - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

No pitcher benefited from a mid-season trade more than Kevin Gausman in 2018. During his time in Baltimore, Gausman had posted a 4.43 ERA, five wins, and a 1.52 HR/9. Following his move to Atlanta, those numbers changed to an ERA of 2.87, five wins, and 0.75 HR/9. Albeit, the Atlanta metrics came in half […]

2019 Outfielders - Early Fantasy Baseball Rankings

Outfield is a unique position in the fantasy world. The best of the best reside in the outfield, with our consensus top two picks and nine of the top 25 overall players making this list. On the other hand, it is by far the deepest and easiest to gain late-round value if you choose to […]

Willy Adames - The Breakout Is Coming

Major League Baseball is becoming dominated by young talent. Every year a new crop of players come into the league and show off their mouth-watering skill set. Just take a look at RotoBaller’s positional rankings, and you see players that are in their mid-20s or younger are among the top of every position. The youth […]

2019 Relief Pitchers - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

A tough position to evaluate is that of relief pitchers, as a lot of success for closers comes from success from teams. There are also a lot of bullpens by committee these days, further stifling the value of closers. That being said, only four of the pitchers that ranked in the top-10 in saves in […]

2019 Third Basemen - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the third base position. Even though it is only January, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings […]

2019 Starting Pitcher - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. The sun is still rising on 2019, but RotoBaller writers JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli and myself are here with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these […]

Braves Avoid Arbitration With Kevin Gausman

The Atlanta Braves avoided salary arbitration on Friday with starting pitcher Kevin Gausman by signing him to a one-year, $9.35 million deal. Gausman could never really get it going in Baltimore in a tough hitter's park and a tough division, but he thrived after being traded to the Braves at midseason in 2018. The right-hander […]

Dan Winkler Gets A Raise

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Dan Winkler avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $1.61 million deal, according to a source. Winkler was a huge high-leverage asset for Atlanta last year, posting a 3.43 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 69 K's in 60 1/3 innings with two saves. While he won't be drafted in […]

Adam Duvall Settles With Braves

Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $2.875 million deal, according to a source. Duvall hit an ugly .195/.274/.365 with 15 home runs and 61 RBI in 138 games with the Reds and Braves last season. However, he could see consistent playing time in left field in […]

Arodys Vizcaino Avoids Arbitration

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $4.8 million deal, according to sources. Injuries limited Vizcaino to just 38 1/3 innings last season, but he was solid when on the field, posting a 2.11 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, career-high 16 saves and a 9.4 K/9. The right-hander […]

Braves Settle With Mike Foltynewicz

The Atlanta Braves avoided salary arbitration with starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz on Friday by signing him to a one-year, $5.475 million deal, according to sources. The 27-year-old had a breakout in 2018 by going 13-10 with a 2.85 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 202 strikeouts in 183 innings over 31 starts for Atlanta. His fantasy owners […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - National League East

Last year's Bullpen Outlook got started with the American League, so let's take the National League on first this time around. Some signings and trades have made a splash in the bullpens of the NL East, and there may still be more to come. With some top free agent closers and setup men still looking […]

2019 Catchers - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

Catcher is a tough position to evaluate, as many teams utilize multiple catchers and it is rare for one to play 140 or more games in a season. Wear and tear as a backstop limits offensive value for sure, but there are still a group of solid catchers that can contribute in multiple categories. Beyond […]

2019 Second Base - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. Even though we are just coming off ringing in the new year, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, and Chris Zolli have wasted to time coming up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values […]

2019 First Basemen - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the first base position. Even though it is only January, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings […]

2019 Shortstops - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to kick off RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series with the ever-so-glamorous shortstop position. Shortstop is rich at the top and while it boasts intriguing depth, this is not a position to wait on, especially if you also have a middle-infield […]

Top 660: Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers, and Happy New Year! Below you will find our staff's early 2019 fantasy baseball tiered rankings (top 660) for mixed leagues. In case you missed it, you can also see our tiered positional rankings as well. Four of our lead fantasy baseball analysts - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, JB Branson and Chris Zolli - have analyzed the MLB offseason moves and […]

Statcast Review - Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (xSLG)

xSLG isn’t a stat you’ll find on the back of a baseball card or one you’d find on a baseball reference page. However, as far as advanced stats go, xSLG is pretty straightforward. It is the expected slugging percentage of a hitter based on hit probability his batted balls in play, regardless of outcome. So if […]

Trevor Story Rankings Debate - Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

For the RotoBaller baseball crew, it's our favorite time of the entire year. It's time to revive our signature series of articles debating the overall ranking of some of the most fantasy-relevant players of the 2019 baseball season. That's right, it's Ranker vs Ranker time! RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings […]

Nick Pivetta - Ace In The Making

In 2018 there was a breakout pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies who took the league by storm. After garnering league-wide attention, he’s pegged by many fantasy experts as a top-tier starting pitcher for the upcoming year. I'm talking about Aaron Nola, of course. But after this season it very well could be Nick Pivetta. He […]

Teoscar Hernandez - Promising or Pretender?

Every new beginning signifies an end elsewhere. This was the case for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez last season. The hard-hitting righty broke through in more ways than one in his first full year in the big leagues, finishing with a .239/.302/.468 line, and most importantly 22 home runs. The path to the plate […]