Steve Pearce Officially Retires From Baseball

First baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce announced his retirement from baseball on Monday night, while appearing as a guest on WEEI's broadcast of the 2018 Red Sox World Series run. The 37-year-old was named World Series MVP in 2018 after totaling three home runs, eight RBI, five runs scored and a .333 batting average through 16 plate […]

Mid-Round Second Base - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have […]

Closers Due for Regression in 2020

Finding reliable closers is always a challenge. There is a high turnover rate in the role every season, and in today's game, a lot of teams are going to a closer-by-committee approach, which adds a layer of confusion to the saves category. In each of the last three seasons, exactly 11 relievers have saved 30 […]

Sizing Up the Boston Red Sox Rotation

The Red Sox got an ugly 4.95 ERA out of their starting pitchers last season, good for the 11th-worst mark in the league. An optimist might look at the Red Sox’s above-average 4.40 FIP, attribute much of the team’s pitching struggles to bad luck, and expect a rebound in 2020. Combined with a potential rebound […]

Chris Sale Will Begin His Rehab Process on Thursday

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (elbow) has stated that he will be out of his arm cast and start rehabbing on Thursday, following his Tommy John surgery that took place at the end of March. The 31-year-old hopes to be able to use the Red Sox facility at JetBlue Park to begin his […]

NL Starting Pitching Sleepers for 2020

The shorter 2020 MLB regular season has led to a few shifts in fantasy strategy, but perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the starting pitching landscape. We're used to constructing fantasy rotations around strikeout pitchers and ratio arms or high-upside flyers and solid innings-eaters. However, with a shorter season, there will likely be no major […]

Nathan Eovaldi (SP, BOS) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~240 CURRENT ADP: ~260 overall ANALYSIS: Nathan Eovaldi threw 67.2 unsuccessful innings for the Red Sox last year while battling injury. However, he did show the same dynamic stuff which led his K% to jump between 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Eovaldi used his cutter to get ahead and then set […]

Lance McCullers (SP, HOU) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~135 CURRENT ADP: ~155 overall ANALYSIS: McCullers wasn't a sleeper when we entered February mainly because he had an injury that was capping his total innings and causing him to be drafted later than their talent would suggest. With a shortened season, much of that risk no longer applies. McCullers missed […]

Finding Value in Points Leagues: Corner Infield Edition

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Finding Value in Points League Series! Points leagues are my favorite format to play in fantasy baseball. I am not alone there as fantasy baseball points leagues become more and more popular every season. It is a natural transition from those who have played fantasy football and have been considering […]

Finding Value in Points Leagues: Middle Infield Edition

Welcome RotoBallers to my Finding Value in Points League Series! Points leagues are becoming more and more popular in the fantasy baseball world. They have long been my preferred way of playing, so the boom in popularity is great! One of the biggest differences between points and roto leagues is that more stats come into […]

Jose Peraza Could Be Favorite To Start At 2B

Boston Red Sox middle infielder Jose Peraza could be the favorite to start the 2020 season as the everyday second baseman, in the opinion of The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams. It would definitely be nice for those seeking stolen bases late in mixed league drafts. However, let us remind you that we don't even have […]

2020 Keeper Value Rankings - Top 150 Overall

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 2020. Keeper Value Rankings […]

AL Starting Pitching Sleepers for 2020

The shorter 2020 MLB regular season has led to a few shifts in fantasy strategy but perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the starting pitching landscape. We're used to constructing fantasy rotations around strikeout pitchers and ratio arms or high-upside flyers and solid innings-eaters. However, with a shorter season, there will likely be no […]

Late-Round Strikeout Sleepers for 2020

The strikeout is on the rise. Even more so than home runs, nothing has taken off in this age of baseball quite like the strikeout. It used to be that no one this century reached 300 Ks in a season. Now, five players have in the past five seasons alone, including two in 2019. Averaging […]

ADP Champ or Chump: Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Toronto Blue Jays are an intriguing team. Projections don't love them, but their lineup is filled with young guys who have the potential to exceed them. Their rotation also looks solid if healthy, something that may be more likely now that a full workload will be more like 120 IP than 200. Needless to […]

Second Base Draft Sleepers for 2020

There's a lot of talk heading into 2020 fantasy baseball drafts that there simply isn't any depth at second base. Shortstop is where the value lies, so everybody is planning to double-tap the position to also fill their MI spot too. As a result, most drafts see people pounce on the top second baseman early […]

Collin McHugh Hasn't Resumed Throwing

Boston Red Sox pitcher Collin McHugh (elbow) still has not resumed throwing but is progressing nicely. The Red Sox are playing it safe with McHugh with the start of the 2020 regular season likely delayed until June or July in a best-case scenario. The veteran right-hander was successful as both a starter and reliever in […]

Chris Sale Has Tommy John Surgery

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery last Thursday. It was already announced more than a week ago that Sale would need elbow reconstruction and miss the entire 2020 season, if there even is a season, but he didn't have the operation until late last week. The hard-throwing left-hander will […]

Alex Verdugo (OF, BOS) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~180 CURRENT ADP: ~230 overall ANALYSIS: Verdugo primarily spent the 2018 season in the minor leagues, so we’ll only look at his 2019 numbers. This is a terrific contact hitter who has the ability to contend for the BA title, as evidenced by his low 13.0 K% and high 91.2 Z-Contact%. […]

Mid-Round Starting Pitchers - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have […]

Break the League: CBS Points League Ranker

Much like their milquetoast television lineup, CBS points leagues are like a warm bath of mediocrity. Are they great? No-oooo, but are they awful? Also, no. I mean, you're never really going to want to watch a Chuck Lorre sitcom or the latest chapter in naval policing, but they can still serve a purpose. Because sometimes […]

Slow-Starting Pitchers to Avoid in Drafts

This baseball season is going to be like one we have never seen before. While we await word on when and how the season will play out, it is becoming clear that we will be dealing with a shortened season. I’ve written about how a delayed start will impact injured players and discussed how a shortened […]

Post-Hype Hitters Set to Breakout in 2020

Post-hype hitters are former top prospects who have struggled to find success in the major leagues. These are players who were once viewed as intriguing fantasy assets but now have discounted prices due to the slow starts in their respective careers.  The three outfielders in this list have gained value because of the delayed start […]

Three AL Outfielders Set To Bust In 2020

The American League has fallen significantly behind the National League in terms of quality fantasy outfielders. Of the top-10 outfielders by ADP, only three (Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez, and Austin Meadows) represent the American League. The relative lack of elite talent makes avoiding busts especially crucial in AL-only leagues, as a couple of early-round misses […]

Slow-Starting Hitters to Avoid in 2020

This fantasy baseball season is going to be strange, and there is nothing you can do to change that. What you can do is try to come up with a strategy that best sets your team up for success in this world of the unknown that currently exists. While we do not know when the […]

2020 Outfield Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

For the first time in a long time, Mike Trout isn't the top dog in dynasty baseball. While this is hard to believe for some, the numbers being put up by players like Ronald Acuna Jr., Christian Yelich, and Cody Bellinger, to name only a few, are impossible to ignore. You simply can't go wrong […]

2020 Keeper Value Rankings - Relief Pitchers

We now round up our 2020 Keeper Value Rankings with the most volatile position of all - relievers. If you haven't been following along, catch up here by reading up on the best keepers at First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, Catcher, Outfield, and Starting Pitcher. Keeper Value Rankings are intended for Keeper Leagues in which a fantasy owner must forfeit […]

Yahoo Undervalued and Overvalued for H2H Points Leagues

Over the past week at RotoBaller, we've introduced a brand new approach to preparing for Points Leagues. Typically, analysts give you general points league rankings. We have those as well at RotoBaller. However, this approach falls short. Analysis and ranks must be platform specific, because every platform (ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, NFBC, Fantrax) has wildly different scoring settings […]

Red Sox Sign Yairo Munoz

The Boston Red Sox signed infielder Yairo Munoz to a minor league deal on Wednesday. Munoz will provide middle infield depth for the Red Sox after he was released by the Cardinals. The 25-year-old Dominican has a .273/.331/.391 career slash in the big leagues in two seasons (196 games) while adding 10 home runs, 55 […]

ADP Champ or Chump: Niko Goodrum and Jose Altuve

Auctions are an unpredictable draft format by nature, and these uncertain times make them all the more so. The present author participated in an auction this past weekend and was able to purchase two noteworthy players at significant discounts. One of those players was a $1 flier on Niko Goodrum, a player who offers an […]