Bobby Witt Jr., Daniel Lynch Invited To Spring Training

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and left-handers Asa Lacy and Daniel Lynch are among the team's 29 non-roster invites to spring training. According to MLB Pipeline, Witt is the No. 7 prospect in baseball, with Lynch and Lacy at Nos. 29 and 30, respectively. Lynch will have a chance to compete for the […]

Four Post-Hype Hitters Ready to Break Out

Any high-ranking prospect is saddled with an astronomical amount of hype, both throughout their minor league career and up to the moment they finally reach the Bigs. If the player fails to reach the expectations laid before him, we as fantasy players are quick to cast him aside and move to the next big thing. […]

Royals Not In On Yasiel Puig

The Kansas City Royals are not in on free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig. The three teams rumored to be interested in Puig -- the Miami Marlins, New York Yankees and Royals -- are not interested. It was reported earlier this offseason that Puig was generating interest, but his market must have cooled off. The 30-year-old power/speed […]

Dynasty Shortstop Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

The shortstop position is usually one of the most exciting to choose from on draft day but the options are even more enticing in dynasty. As we prepare to flip the calendar to 2021, fantasy baseball managers are poring over MLB free agency news and the latest rankings. That includes our constantly-updated dynasty rankings. We've […]

Hanser Alberto Joins Royals On Minor League Deal

Infielder Hanser Alberto signed a Minor League contract to become a member of the Kansas City Royals, giving the team added infield depth entering Spring Training. Alberto spent the past two seasons serving as Baltimore's primary second baseman, slashing .299/.322/.413 in that span. Known for his extreme aggressiveness at the dish -- he finished in […]

Are We In or Are We Out: Part 2 - Bases Loaded Podcast

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) and Zach Braff (@BraffZ) reunite for the first time this fantasy baseball season to continue talking about the hitters you wanted us to discuss. 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 our latest podcasts and […]

Dynasty Third Base Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

We will continue our early preseason look at each position with some thoughts on individual player values heading into 2021. We've already gone over first base and second base rankings. Today, we examine a fairly deep third base position. As we prepare to flip the calendar to 2021, fantasy baseball managers are poring over MLB free […]

Top 440: Early H2H Points League Rankings

Welcome back RotoBallers. Below you will find our early 2021 fantasy baseball H2H points league rankings (top 440). As you may know, head-to-head points formats are typically underserved by fantasy baseball outlets - but this is an area that we at RotoBaller take pride in and specialize in. Throughout the preseason and regular season, we will […]

No Universal DH - 2021 Playing Time Fallers

Major League Baseball introduced the DH to the National League in 2020, but the rule change may not stick in 2021. MLB recently advised teams to assume that the universal DH will not be implemented for the 2021 season, and although that doesn’t mean that the door is closed on the rule for the year […]

Wade Davis Lands Minors Deal With Royals

The Kansas City Royals signed right-handed reliever Wade Davis to a minor league deal on Wednesday. A three-time All-Star, the 35-year-old Davis pitched with the Rockies for the last three years and made just five appearances in the shortened 2020 season. He led the National League in saves (43) and games finished (63) in 2018, […]

Top 680: Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers, and Happy New Year! Below you will find our staff's early 2021 fantasy baseball tiered rankings (top 680) for 5x5 mixed leagues. In case you missed it, you can also see our tiered positional rankings as well. Three our lead fantasy baseball analysts - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus and JB Branson - have analyzed the MLB offseason moves and are ready to […]

Infield Busts Who'll Keep Junking it Up in 2021

One of the biggest questions out there as we head into 2021 is how much weight to put on what happened in 2020. Obviously, it was a very odd year for Major League Baseball. Players had a couple of weeks of normal Spring Training before being sent home for four months only to come back […]

2021 Overvalued Draft Picks - Starting Pitchers

I recently finished the grueling process of making my 2021 SP ranks one-by-one. What I did was go rotation-by-rotation and insert every pitcher into my list as I went along, taking a close look at each guy. This led to me having lots of knowledge on the player pool for the 2021 season, and having […]

Dynasty Second Base Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

We will continue our early preseason look at each position with some thoughts on individual player values heading into 2021. We've already gone over first base. Today, we continue with second base. As we prepare to flip the calendar to 2021, fantasy baseball managers are poring over MLB free agency news and the latest rankings. […]

Stat-Based Tips To Build a Strong Fantasy Baseball Roster

As we lead up to the 2021 season, fantasy baseball enthusiasts are sure to read thousands of words about players themselves: who overperformed last year and who is primed for a breakout. All of that is good stuff, and it's very helpful in starting your journey towards winning your league, but it's only half the […]

Dynasty First Base Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

As we prepare to flip the calendar to 2021, fantasy baseball managers are poring over MLB free agency news and the latest rankings. That includes our constantly-updated dynasty rankings. We will take an early preseason look at each position with some thoughts on individual player values heading into next season. Today, we start with first […]

You Paid What?! Overvalued Players in Auctions

Assuming the 2021 MLB season starts on time, we are on the precipice of fantasy baseball draft season. Spring Training will get underway next month, at which point, drafts roll out in full force. We aren't there quite yet, which makes sense. Many of the biggest free agents remain unsigned; the league is unsure of […]

Hitters To Target Outside The Top 300 In ADP - Bases Loaded Pod

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) and Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) take a look at hitters you should be targeting outside the top 300 in ADP. 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 our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as […]

Abandon the Win AND the Quality Start

The Win. One of the cornerstone categories of fantasy baseball since its creation. In recent years, baseball fans and fantasy managers alike have been debating the value of the win and whether or not it's overrated. With this debate, the quality start has become a category that more and more leagues are turning to as […]

Early Positional Breakdowns: Shortstop -Bases Loaded Pod

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) and Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) get an early start on the 2021 positional outlooks. 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 our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Later Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level and are older than when players typically have their best seasons. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, post-prime breakouts can be excellent draft […]

Early Positional Breakdowns: Second Base - Bases Loaded Pod

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) and Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) get an early start on the 2021 positional outlooks. 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 our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune […]

Royals Sign Ervin Santana

The Kansas City Royals signed right-hander Ervin Santana to a minor league deal on Tuesday. Santana didn't pitch at all in 2020, but the 15-year veteran should provide a young Royals pitching staff with experience. The 38-year-old has a career record of 149-127 and a 4.09 ERA (101 ERA+) in 387 games (384 starts). Santana […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

Once again, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season is not guaranteed to be a normal one. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a world unencumbered by COVID-19 and talk about our silly little game as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

Royals Showing Interest In Adam Wainwright

The Kansas City Royals have shown interest in free-agent starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, but they don't appear to be front-runners to sign him, according to sources. Wainwright played for Royals manager Mike Matheny in St. Louis from 2012-18. Kansas City has already signed Mike Minor, Carlos Santana, Greg Holland and Michael A. Taylor this offseason. […]

Royals In Play For Jurickson Profar

The San Diego Padres are trying to re-sign infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar, but the Kansas City Royals are also in play for him. Profar will be just 28 years old in February and had a solid slash line of .278/.343/.428 in the shortened 2020 season. On top of it, he's a switch-hitter and provides defensive versatility […]

Statcast Review - Noteworthy xBA/xSLG Hitting Leaders

Thanks to its abbreviated schedule, the 2020 MLB season resulted in some unusual outcomes. Michael Conforto posted the highest full-season BABIP since Ty Cobb in 1913, Luke Voit was on pace for 60 home runs, and Robbie Ray walked a ridiculous 18% of the batters he faced. xStats were not immune to that weirdness, xBA […]

Strike Zone Rate Analysis - Starting Pitchers

There are hundreds of metrics out there that describe pitchers. The richness of the available data is rivaled by no other sport. This can at times lead to information overload, leading us too far away from the core tenants of what success looks like. One group of statistics that are very simple and very helpful […]

Greg Holland Re-Signs With Royals

The Kansas City Royals re-signed reliever Greg Holland on Monday to a one-year deal worth at least $2.75 million. Holland can make as much as $4.5 million with performance bonuses, according to sources. The 35-year-old went 3-0 with six saves and a nice 1.91 ERA in 28 appearances for the Royals during the shortened 2020 […]

MLB's Best Pitches by the Numbers

One of the most-often used algorithms in the data science world is called clustering. Clustering is defined, by Wikipedia, as: grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters) In baseball […]