2016 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values: Five Runs Sleepers

Bringing runs across the plate is often seen as a one dimensional facet of the game. The guys who swat the RBI are saluted while many fantasy owners forget about the valuable run scored, an unglamorous statistic. I guess the R column just isn't as sexy as the HR or the SB. Overlooking the runs […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values: 5 RP Sleepers

Non-closing relievers, with some exceptions, have limited value in most fantasy formats. As a result, they are often overlooked by many owners. However, a quality set-up man can help your ratios, boost your strikeout totals, and even vulture a few wins or saves. If your league counts holds, all the better. That's without acknowledging the […]

2016 Breakout Candidates: NL Starting Pitchers

The wait is finally over – pitchers and catchers have reported to spring training this week. Of course, here at RotoBaller we’ve been cranking out tons of preseason content for some time now. We might be a little obsessed with baseball ‘round these parts. But that’s okay, because so are you! And what better way […]

2016 Outfield Prospects and Dynasty Rankings - NL Central Edition

Our division-by-division run down of outfield prospects continues. We've already hit the NL East, AL East, and AL Central (also catchers, first base, second base, shortstop, and third base). The NL Central is loaded with outfield prospects - 38 by my count. If you're looking to load up on future talent, this is a good place to start. To […]

Jorge Soler (OF, CHC) - 2016 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Target ~120 CURRENT ADP: 171 ANALYSIS: In 2014, then 22-year-old Jorge Soler gave the Wrigley faithful and fantasy owners alike plenty to get excited about, slashing .292/.330/.573 with five homers in just 97 plate appearances. Unfortunately, he stumbled out of the gate in 2015 and never really recovered, turning in an underwhelming .262/.324/.399 […]

Chicago Cubs Top MLB Prospects for 2016 Dynasty Leagues

Everyone knew that when the Chicago Cubs promoted their young prospects it would not take long for them to become a dominant force within the National League. But I don’t know if anyone envisioned them finishing with the third best overall record in baseball, winning 97 games, beating the Pirates in the Wild Card, and […]

2016 Breakout Candidates: Young NL Outfielders To Target

Here at RotoBaller we’ve been cranking out tons of preseason content for some time now. We might be a little obsessed with baseball ‘round these parts. But that’s okay, because so are you! And what better way to celebrate the advent of draft season than to profile potential breakouts and busts? Last week’s series focused […]

Early Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: The Fourth Round Pitching Run

The lineup (in draft order): Jacob Bogardus, Brad Johnson, Alex Brock, Harris Yudin, Max Petrie, Josh Leonard, Ross Williamson, Andrew Miller (from The Fantasy Fix), Nick Mariano (myself), Tom Bellucco, Brian Dunshee (also from The Fantasy Fix), and Edward Suletan. We put together a traditional 5x5 redraft 23 round mock with 2 catchers, a corner […]

Early Mock Draft 2016: Analyzing the Second Round

If you haven't read the first round analysis yet, you should definitely do that! Click that and then come right back here. I'll know. For those of you that want to view the draft board in all of it's glory, here it is: As a reminder, here's the lineup: Jacob Bogardus, Brad Johnson, Alex Brock, […]

2016 Top Five Third Basemen Keeper Values

These rankings are derived from my 15 step formula. The Keeper Valuation Formula uses the players’ age, draft round, number of teams in the league, current stats, projected stats, games played percentage, positional value, and some secret squirrel statistical math. The product is a true Keeper Value for each player. Consider the derived Values the same […]

2016 Top Five Second Basemen Keeper Values

These rankings are derived from my 15 step formula. The Keeper Valuation Formula uses the players’ age, draft round, number of teams in the league, current stats, projected stats, games played percentage, positional value, and some secret squirrel statistical math. The product is a TRUE Keeper Value for each player. Consider the derived Values the […]

2016 Top Five First Basemen Keeper Values

Now that we're past catcher, it is time to have some fun. In this article I rank the Top Five Keeper Values among First Basemen. These rankings are derived from my 15 step formula. The Keeper Valuation Formula uses the players’ age, draft round, number of teams in the league, current stats, projected stats, games […]

2016 Top Five Catcher Keeper Values

What Have We Here? It's good to have a methodology. Today, we'll discuss the top five catcher keepers using a keeper value tool I developed. Many keeper leagues have a cost to keeping players. I wanted to incorporate that opportunity cost into my formula. These rankings are derived from my 15 step formula. The Keeper Valuation […]

Breakout Starting Pitchers and What It Means for 2016: Arrieta, Martinez, and Thor

Welcome to our last segment of Breakout/Busts. We've covered the field, now we head to the pitching mound. Pitching is where most fantasy seasons are won and lost. The problem is players read that and assume "OK, let's draft some aces in the first six rounds". But it doesn't work like that. Unless you're grabbing Clayton […]

Outfield Busts and What It Means For 2016: Gomez, Puig, and Soler

Welcome to edition six of our Breakouts/Busts offseason segment. This time we'll be focusing on the outfielders who disappointed us in 2015 and likely cost a pretty penny too. Outfielders are always a tricky situation come draft day. You see the big names in the first few rounds and feel the need to procure at least one, […]

Johnny Cueto Wants $140-160 Million Deal

Free agent starting pitcher Johnny Cueto is looking for a contract in the $140-160 million range, according to ESPN.com. The Arizona Diamondbacks were believed to be at the top of the sweepstakes. They offered Cueto a six-year, $120 million offer that was turned down, according to MLB.com. The right-hander has been one of the better […]

Future Tense: Arizona Fall League Wrap-Up

Well, another Fall League season has come and gone, so let’s take a look at a few of the things that we have learned from this season.   AFL Updates Jeimer Candelario is Really, Really Good Candelario, a third baseman in the Cubs organization, might not have been on the forty-man roster before the Arizona […]

Who Ya Got: Soler or Ozuna?

With the staggering influx of young talent in the game today, it's a great time to be a baseball fan. But as much as it may seem like every kid was a star in 2015, there were some who struggled in a way that's more in line with how things used to be. Today and […]

Who Ya Got: Schwarber or d'Arnaud?

Last offseason, I stumped fairly hard for Travis d'Arnaud as a fantasy sleeper, expecting him to build on his performance down the stretch in 2014. Unfortunately, he continued to have trouble staying on the field, as a pair of injuries put him on the shelf for most of the season's first half. When he did […]

Breakout Players at 1B and 3B and What It Means For 2016

Welcome back to our weekly series running through November looking at players at each position who experienced breakout campaigns. I'll also run another segment detailing the busts at each position. Previously we looked at breakouts and busts up the middle (2B, SS, C). Here we will be focusing on the hot corners. No, Paul Goldschmidt returning to […]

2015 In Review: Three Rookie 3Bs

The 2015 season featured an abundance of terrific performances. Here, we'll focus on the trio of fantastic freshmen at third base: Kris Bryant, Miguel Sano, and Jung-ho Kang. Bryant was regarded as one of the best prospects in the game after posting absurd numbers across two levels in 2014. Somewhat controversially, the Cubs left him […]

Breakout Players at 2B, SS, and C and What It Means For 2016

Having some baseball withdrawal yet? Welcome to the club. That's why I'm starting a weekly series running through November looking at players at each position who experienced breakout campaigns. I'll also run another segment detailing the busts at each position. This edition will focus on middle infielders and backstops. My selections will be influenced by their […]

Cubs Extend Qualifying Offer To Dexter Fowler

The Chicago Cubs have extended the $15.8 million qualifying offer to outfielder Dexter Fowler, as announced by Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat. #Cubs will make qualifying offer to Dexter Fowler. $15.8 million — Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) November 6, 2015 Acquired from the Astros prior to the 2015 season, the Cubs hoped Fowler would have productive year […]

Future Tense: Arizona Fall League Surprises (November 7th Edition)

We’ve looked at some successes and some not-so-successful (we want to be positive here, so no negative thoughts coming from Future Tense today…) over the last two installments. This time around, we are going to look at some truly surprising performances, starting with a Brewer shortstop that has gone from mediocrity in the PCL to superstar […]

Dan Haren Retires

Dan Haren announced that he is retiring from baseball on Thursday. The starting pitcher revealed earlier in October that this was his last season. Haren did not appear in any of the nine games that the Cubs competed in this postseason. The 35-year-old announced through his Twitter account that his career is done after the […]

Cubs Want Fowler Back For 2016

The Chicago Cubs want Dexter Fowler back on the team for the 2016 season. The centerfielder made $9.5 million during the final year of arbitration. Fowler is now a free agent because the Cubbies were eliminated in the NLCS on Wednesday. There will be plenty of suitors that want his talents. Theo plans to talk […]

Lester Named Game 1 Starter For NLCS

Jon Lester has been named the Chicago Cubs’ starting pitcher for Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday. The Cubs await the winner of the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers for the right to advance to the World Series. Chicago clinched its first series at home for the first time in the history […]

Future Tense: Arizona Fall League, Part III: Mesa Solar Sox

In our second part, I commented on how the Astros were at least a year early by making the playoffs this year and that the future looks even better. That’s true too for the Chicago Cubs, one of the teams seeding the Mesa Solar Sox. The Oakland Athletics went into rebuilding mode this year, and […]

10 Bold MLB Predictions: End of Season Review

Now that we’ve reached the end of another fantasy season, it’s time to look back on my bold predictions from March and see how they panned out.   The Bold Predictions Joey Votto is a top five first baseman. Success! Votto bounced back in a big way from an injury-marred 2014, riding a huge second […]

Week 26 Start/Sit: MLB Starting Pitcher (SP) Matchups

What’s up RotoBallers. Welcome to the final week of this column, as we approach the home stretch of the fantasy baseball season. Thank you all for RotoBalling with us all season long, and I hope that this column (along with the rest of our MLB content) has helped you win some leagues. Now let's get […]