ADP Sleepers and Busts - Closers

Where an owner drafts closers comes down to personal strategy and philosophy. Some owners are willing spend up for high-end closers like Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, while others are content to let closers fly off the board deep into the draft and scrounge for saves late. For those of us unwilling to invest in […]

Pierre Camus' 10 Bold Predictions for 2018

As we steamroll toward Opening Day, our experienced writers will be offering their most bold predictions for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Although I will never be able to replicate last year's successes in calling Giancarlo Stanton's mammoth season, I will do my best. Feel free to ignore the majority of those other predictions from 2017. […]

Trevor Cahill Deal with Athletics Finalized

According to Jon Heyman of MLB.com, free-agent starting pitcher Trevor Cahill's deal with the Oakland Athletics worth $1.5 million was finalized on Monday. Cahill will likely work in long relief, in addition to serving as a starter when someone is needed to fill up innings. Cahill had a 4.93 ERA with 87 strikeouts over 84 […]

Overvalued - NL Outfielders Set to Bust in 2018

One of biggest mistakes fantasy owners can make is overpaying for career years. While some players experience legitimate breakouts, others are the product of a fortunate set of circumstances. Of course, some players are just plain overvalued. As we inch closer to the start of the regular season, it's more important than ever to identify […]

Mike Moustakas Homers In Second Game Of Spring

There was some concern amongst the Kansas City Royals staff that third baseman Mike Moustakas may not get his timing back with his shortened spring session, but homering in his second game helped allay some of those fears. Obviously, spring is spring and the results aren't a guarantee to carry over, but everyone would always […]

Royals Prospect Ryan O'Hearn Bashes Another Homer

Kansas City Royals first base prospect Ryan O'Hearn has gone on a tear in the Cactus League. O'Hearn has belted four homers in his last three games, and though the 24-year-old will be starting the season at Triple-A Omaha, he could see big-league at-bats soon enough. O'Hearn has shown that he packs a real punch […]

Jon Jay Expected To Lead Off For Royals

One of the bigger signings this winter for the Kansas City Royals was outfielder Jon Jay. Jay is no superstar, but he can hit for average and get on base at a pretty good clip. That's a rarity in an offense as bad as KC's, and so he's currently slotted to be the leadoff man […]

Alex Gordon Is Still Terrible At The Plate

Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon was atrocious offensively last season. A hot fall pulled him up to a final batting average of .208, but he wasn't as good as his average suggests. Over the offseason, multiple reports came out that Gordon was completely overhauling his approach at the plate so he could be better […]

Justin Grimm Signed By Kansas City

The Kansas City Royals have signed free-agent relief pitcher Justin Grimm to a one-year contract. Grimm was recently released by the Chicago Cubs, mostly due to the fact that he was out of minor league options. Grimm worked in 50 games last year for the Cubs, and he'll slot into a short-relief role for the Royals […]

Jorge Soler Homers Again

Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Soler continues to swing with all his might. Soler homered for the sixth time this spring, doubling the number of singles he's recorded so far. The power is always mesmerizing, and when his pair of doubles are tacked on as well, the extra-base ability is awesome when it's only happened […]

Trevor Cahill On Verge Of Signing With Athletics

The Oakland Athletics have a one-year deal in place for free-agent starting pitcher Trevor Cahill to return to Oakland, pending a physical, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com. Cahill is likely being brought on board because of the thin starting rotation. However, he has not been successful as a starter in quite a few years. […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 14 - Statcast For Pitchers

Previously, we looked at Barrels, a stat combining exit velocity and launch angle to measure how often a batter makes quality hard contact. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is some evidence that pitchers do not have the same influence […]

Deeper AL Outfield Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs

We are gathered here today to continue our discussion everyone’s favorite fantasy buzzword, the “sleepers.” Not only that, but we’re tabbing these guys as deeper sleepers with a focus on the outfield position for American League teams. The outfield is always complicated by having so many options that you feel like there's always another guy […]

Champ or Chump - Brett Gardner and Whit Merrifield

Many fantasy owners avoid players such as Billy Hamilton because his lopsided production puts you at a disadvantage in four out of five categories. The obvious solution is to roster balanced players who contribute in all of the categories, but players who can realistically do that are often expensive. Heck, Alex Bregman is commanding a […]

Updated Relief Pitcher Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

One final time before regular season baseball returns and our lives are, at last, complete, RotoBaller's staff writers are updating their 2018 fantasy baseball rankings. Today, we'll be taking a look at one of the shallower positions - relief pitcher. As usual, there are a few elite options at the top, and it gets much […]

Travis Shaw - The Mayor of Ding Dong City Deserves Your Vote

After beating out the esteemed Pablo Sandoval in Boston for starting third baseman in 2016, Travis Shaw had a decent season for the BoSox (.242/.306/.421, 16 HRs, 63 runs, 71 RBI) but was quickly forgotten by the fantasy community. As he quietly departed for Milwaukee before 2017, Shaw was barely a rumor on draft boards […]

Kyle Zimmer Sent To Minor League Camp

Oft-injured starting pitcher Kyle Zimmer was optioned to the minors by the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. Zimmer regularly gets tagged as a top prospect, but he's never been able to stay healthy long enough to actually follow through on that potential. This spring, Zimmer only had one appearance for the team, and that was […]

Hunter Dozier Optioned To Minors

The Kansas City Royals officially optioned third baseman Hunter Dozier to minor league camp on Tuesday. The re-signing of Mike Moustakas really put the nail in Dozier's coffin for breaking camp with the big league club, and manager Ned Yost has now said he'll mostly work at first base in Triple-A. With Lucas Duda and […]

Third Base H2H Points Rankings - March Update

We are getting closer and closer to the first pitch of the 2018 MLB season. Spring training is in full swing which means we are right in the thick of draft season. If you have a draft coming up soon, make sure to use our rankings for all league types. Regardless of the platform or […]

Updated Shortstop Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

With the regular season only a few weeks away, the esteemed RotoBaller staff has updated their rankings one last time. We continue our review of the March update with a look at the glorious shortstop position. There's a bevy of talented bats ready to be penciled in at the "6" this season, but the sure things draw […]

Greg Holland Unlikely To Go To Royals

Former All-Star closer Greg Holland is unlikely to sign with the Kansas City Royals, according to Bob Nightengale. The Royals are already looking at a payroll of about $120 million, so although they're in the market for a reliever, Holland's price tag is expected to be outside their range. Holland continues to be hotly pursued […]

Adalberto Mondesi Returns To Action, Still Not Throwing

Kansas City Royals prospect Adalberto Mondesi (formerly Raul Mondesi) is back in action Monday, but he'll be serving as the designated hitter due to still nursing his shoulder injury. He has not begun throwing yet, but the team still sees the injury as a minor one that shouldn't have any long-lasting concern. Mondesi was the […]

Updated Catcher Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

One final time before regular season baseball returns and our lives are, at last, complete, RotoBaller's staff writers are updating their 2018 fantasy baseball rankings. Today, we'll be taking a look at the shallowest position - catcher. As usual, after the few elite options are off the board, it's probably best to leave filling this […]

Alex Gordon Is A Mess

Remember a few years ago when Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon was a Gold Glover who was also performing at the plate? He helped them win a World Series, but those days are definitely in the past, and KC is getting to admire an ugly contract every day of the week in the meantime. […]

Jorge Soler Continues To Underperform

Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Soler was given another opportunity this week when starting right fielder Jorge Bonifacio was benched for 80 games due to performance-enhancing drugs. Unfortunately, Soler continues to hit pretty terribly. He's under the Mendoza line once again this spring, though he's at least hit four home runs. Soler looks the part […]

Lucas Duda Starts Getting Some Looks

New Kansas City Royals first baseman Lucas Duda is in camp and has started getting some chances at the plate this week. Coming off a 30-homer campaign in 2017, Duda will be expected to provide the pop in lieu of recently-departed Eric Hosmer. Duda's batting average will never be mistaken for Hosmer's, but he has […]

Kelvin Herrera Is Settling Down

Kansas City Royals closer Kelvin Herrera started 2018 spring training right where he left off in 2017 by walking too many batters and laboring through innings he made difficult for himself. This week, he started to seem to get his timing right, though. Over the last nine days, Herrera has made three appearances and only […]

Salvador Perez's Power Is Surging Again

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez continues to showcase his power in the spring league. After posting a seventh straight career high in homers in 2017, Perez has picked up right where he left off by shellacking two already this spring. The real challenge for Perez will be whether he can drag his batting average […]

Danny Duffy Impresses In Second Spring Start

Kansas City Royals ace Danny Duffy looked like his best self against the White Sox. Duffy only surrendered two hits and one walk over three innings as he struck out four en route to his first spring victory. He pounded the strike zone, logging strikes on 19 of his 25 pitches, and he helped provide […]

Whit Merrifield Continues Raking

Kansas City Royals second baseman and 2017 waiver wire hero Whit Merrifield has been putting on a clinic in the Cactus League. Merrifield blasted his second homer of the spring session this week, and he's now batting a cool .500 for the period. He also picked up his first stolen base this week. Merrifield is […]