Later-Round WHIP Warriors
Every season, fantasy owners across head-to-head leagues are faced with a tough decision on draft day. Do they load up on crummy starting pitchers at the end of the draft to amass wins and strikeouts? Or do they opt to only roster good starters and spend late-round draft picks on relievers to help with ERA […]
Joey Votto (1B, CIN) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~220 CURRENT ADP: ~285 overall ANALYSIS: While Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto has long been a staple of fantasy baseball lineups, those days of him as a guy who will lead your team to championships are long gone. The six-time all-star has not aged gracefully, slashing career lows in 2020. His season […]
WPC+ Videocast: New Draft Strategies for a Shortened Season
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review the draft board for RotoBaller's recent expert mock fantasy baseball draft and explain how their strategies have changed with the likelihood of a shortened MLB season in 2020. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and […]
Cincinnati Reds: Top 10 Dynasty Prospects
The Cincinnati Reds will be our next stop on the farm to evaluate the best prospects on each MLB team. Once the 2020 MLB season begins, it may turn out that Minor League systems will be more important than usual. Franchises are losing money during the pandemic layoff, so many teams will be looking for […]
ADP Comparison: Biggest Risers From March To May
A delayed start to the MLB season has allowed several relatively high-profile MLB players to heal from offseason and spring training injuries, but improved health isn’t the only cause for a rising ADP. Some players have benefited from adjusted roster projections, and some for unclear reasons. With that in mind, here is a list of […]
Hidden Gems to Watch - 2020 Infield Prospects
As we continue through this window of uncertainty, the chances of having a “normal” season are getting far less likely. And while we still don’t have any concrete solutions for having a 2020 season, some ideas seem to be more likely than others. Whether implementing regular doubleheaders in a truncated season or a universal designated-hitter, […]
Fantasy Baseball Impact of the Universal DH
With each passing day, we are receiving more news that points to Major Leauge Baseball starting sooner rather than later. Most of the news hints at an 80-100 game season, with the locations of the games still up for debate. There are also some roster changes that are being proposed for this shortened season, one […]
Eliminating Park Factors: Which Pitchers Will Suffer the Most
After weeks of half-baked proposals cribbed from rejected "BioDome" scripts, there now seems to be a scrape of light at the end of the no-baseball tunnel. MLB seems to be increasingly confident that a 2020 season will be played, whether it's playing all games in one location (the Arizona plan), playing in multiple warm-weather hubs (Arizona, […]
Drafting First Overall In Rotisserie Formats
I really do believe there’s no such thing as too much draft strategy. There are a lot of factors that play into draft selections. I will be discussing topics ranging from positional scarcity to team construction and many things in between. The idea is to go into my strategy and targets through the first 10 […]
Eliminating Park Factors: Which Pitchers Will Benefit Most
After weeks of half-baked proposals cribbed from rejected "BioDome" scripts, there now seems to be a scrape of light at the end of the no-baseball tunnel. MLB seems to be increasingly confident that a 2020 season will be played, whether it's playing all games in one location (the Arizona plan), playing in multiple warm-weather hubs (Arizona, […]
Third Base ADP Reflections
Third base is arguably the deepest position in fantasy this year, with plenty of highly productive options outside of the first 20 third basemen being drafted. The position is so deep that if a player isn’t a lock for an OPS above .900, doesn’t have positional versatility, or doesn’t offer stolen bases, then they may […]
Mid-Round Third 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 […]
NL Players Who Could Benefit From Extended Rosters
Although we still don't have baseball, we're starting to get a lot of proposals on how we COULD have baseball this summer. The plans may wind up just being a fantasy, but, hey, this is a fantasy site, so it makes sense for us to take a look at it. One of the facets of […]
Introducing xPA to Project Plate Appearances
I like big rates and I cannot lie. You other readers can't deny. When a rate walks in with an itty PA and an integer in my face, I get sprung...Whoa! Wait just one second, Sir-Mix-A-Nick. Before I go full-Rhymenoceros on everyone, maybe we oughta back the track up a little bit. What I like […]
Dynasty League Buy/Sell
With the uncertainty of opening day, there is no better time to play in an MLB Fantasy Dynasty League. Due to the league format, it by far the most unaffected by the delay of Opening Day. Drafting and trading can proceed in full force as the value assigned to these players go long beyond this […]
Deeper Draft Sleepers - NL Outfielders
We’re confident there will be a 2020 baseball season, but the game might look a little different. For instance, we may not see a 162 game season and the first several weeks may be played in empty baseball stadiums. The game may also feature a universal designated hitter. In attempting to identify deep outfield NL […]
Players Who Gain Value With The Universal DH - Bases Loaded Podcast
What's up RotoBallers! Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland), Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) and Zach Braff (@braffz) are discussing all the players who could gain value if the universal DH is adopted by the league in 2020. Subscribe to the Bases Loaded podcast, part of RotoBaller Radio's Podcast Network. Like and Subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all […]
Second Basemen Likely to Return a Loss in 2020
As mentioned in my article covering 1B that we might be over-drafting, my goal in these articles is to point out players who might "bust" at their current ADP. The definition of a bust that I'm using is when you invest a large amount of draft capital in a player who doesn't hit the production […]
OPS Overachievers: Using xOPS to Judge Performance
We've already dug into xOPS by looking at the biggest underachievers from last year. Now, it's time to examine the other side of the coin - the less shiny side. Many might believe that wOBA is the stat you should be looking for and people much smarter than I have been duking out this debate […]
Starting Pitcher Deep Sleepers for AL-Only Leagues
Finding deep sleepers is one of the most fun and important things to do when it comes to draft prep. As you come towards the end of a draft you want to take players who have upside or potential to provide a lot of draft day value. That is what a draft is all about, […]
Starting Pitcher Busts Due to Bounce Back In 2020
Starting pitching busts are the worst types because they usually show severe decline in production. At least when your hitter busts, it’s a minor decline in career norms - but with pitchers, we sometimes see them completely fall-off in their bust seasons. These two pitchers are former aces for the Cleveland Indians. Both of them […]
OPS Underachievers: Using Differences in xOPS to Judge Performance
Add a player's on-base-percentage to his slugging-percentage and you wind up with OPS. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. But some things don't need to be complicated to be useful and descriptive. There are a hundred ways to judge a baseball player's performance but OPS remains one of the best proxies for quickly judging a player's overall offensive […]
Stock Your Dynasty Farm: AL East Sleeper Prospects
The AL East features the top farm system in baseball, two uber-prospects, the only Canadian team, as well as two of sports’ most prestigious franchises. Needless to say, there are some storylines to mine for content here. And yet, what may be the richest and most influential division in baseball is, in my humble opinion, […]
The King's Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: Exclusive Scouting Reports From an MLB Veteran
The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with the seasoned input of a current Major League Player. Every year during fantasy baseball draft season, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts, media members and […]
JB's Bullpen Method - Building Aces out of Relief Pitchers
If you read my Top 10 Draft Tips piece, you got a preview of the method I have been using for many years in fantasy baseball. It's really less of a method or strategy, and more a state of mind. The Bullpen Method is a lifestyle! I always speak about the importance of balance on […]
First Basemen Likely to Return A Loss in 2020
We all dream of drafting the sleeper pick who vastly outproduce his draft-day value and carries our team to victory. However, the truth is that those types of selections are few and far between. Often a player will give you more value than you would normally expect from his draft slot, but it's likely only […]
The Top Five N.L. Starting Pitching Staffs for 2020
Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2020 fantasy baseball season and keeps you updated with all the latest news and analysis. In this episode he breaks down the top five starting pitching staffs in the National League. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on […]
Finding Value in Points Leagues: Outfield Edition
Welcome back RotoBallers to my Finding Value in Points League Series! Points leagues have become more and more popular in recent years, but there is still an emphasis placed on roto leagues. That leads towards analysis and often player values skewed by something I have dubbed roto bias. Due to that, I decided to start […]
Spencer Turnbull (SP, DET) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~320 CURRENT ADP: ~378 overall ANALYSIS: While Spencer Turnbull seemed to struggle last year with a 3-17 record and a 4.61 ERA, he showed enough flashes of success to instill confidence that he can compete at this level. His xFIP for the season was 3.99, his WAR was 2.9 (43rd among […]
Break the League: Fantrax Points League Ranker
I never thought I'd ever say this but it looks like I'm going vegetarian for this article because there's no real beef here. Those that have been reading along with this series know that I've had some harsh words for ESPN, Yahoo, and CBS, as I think they often do a disservice to their points […]