Three Third-Year Starting Pitchers Poised to Break Out

The dreaded sophomore slump strikes yearly, leading to disappointment for those who excelled in their rookie seasons. There are other cases, however, in which the sophomore season serves as a bridge to a player’s prime. It can be a year to improve on the previous year's success, or work out the kinks and begin to […]

Reliever Values in Saves+Holds Leagues

Ah, the saves+holds league. Welcome to a progressive community that embraces relief pitchers of all types, not just those fortunate few who selfishly hoard the game’s final outs. Here, players like Darren O'Day and Andrew Miller can flourish. Here, you need not worry about role stifling Dellin Betances’ value or (to use an example from […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Relief Pitchers (March)

It's only fitting that we close out the March rankings with the closers. Because these "firemen" are often on the hot seat, the value of a closer can change more quickly than any other position. While it is beyond the scope of this article, it is important to monitor the closer handcuffs as the season […]

Kelvin Herrera (RP, KC) - 2016 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Target ~300 CURRENT ADP: 332 ANALYSIS: Kelvin Herrera’s average fastball velocity has stabilized between 96 and 98 mph for his entire career. This serious heat has led to a career average 23.9 K%, making him seemingly unhittable at times. The main storyline regarding the Royals’ bullpen has been the downfall of Greg Holland […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Starting Pitchers, Part 1 (March)

 Our starting pitching rankings will be split into two parts. Today's edition will examine only the top five tiers of starters, as determined by our staff's composite rankings (which differ a bit from my own evaluations where noted). Using the composite rankings to guide discussion helps to highlight personal preferences while also providing a more balanced view of […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Outfield, Part 2 (March)

Smoothly transitioning from yesterday's top four tiers to today's best of the rest, let's start my overvalued/undervalued list with a player who recently snuck up from tier 5 to tier 4 and thus snuck his way into this column. Editor's note: Be sure to also check out our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It's already loaded up […]

Tom Bellucco's 10 Bold Predictions for 2016

Fellow writer Kyle Bishop had a great idea for us "experts" to come up with a plethora of bold predictions. So far we've see the 10 bold predictions from Kyle and Max. Now it's my turn. I like to think I did fairly well on my more conservative predictions last year (believing in the Gerrit Cole, […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Outfield, Part 1 (March)

This is the fourth and final update to our outfield staff rankings. Once again, I was joined by colleagues Kyle Bishop, Bill Dubiel, Brad Johnson, Nick Mariano, Max Petrie, and Harris Yudin. In case you missed them, you can see our updated March tiered rankings and analysis breaking down our thoughts for catcher, first base, […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Third Base Rankings (March)

Oh yeah, you know you love yourself some hot corner action. Third base is one of those premier power spots where you know your team can’t be slouching. If you don't know us by now, the seven rankers are Brad Johnson, Kyle Bishop, Max Petrie, Harris Yudin, Jeff Kahntroff, Bill Dubiel, and myself. In case […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Shortstop Rankings (March)

Welcome to our final round of rankings. We've been guiding you throughout the offseason and it has all culminated to this. These rankings will be your guide in fantasy drafts, and while they shouldn't be seen as an end-all, be-all assessment, it's wise to have an understanding of where the market values the players you […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered First Base Rankings (March)

Many fantasy baseball drafts have already been held, and there are more on the way. I finally have a drafted team to look over every single day and check for injuries (so far, so good), so all is right in the world. But for those of you who have yet to draft, we've got the rankings and […]

2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Catcher Rankings (March)

Welcome to our final round of rankings. We've been guiding you throughout the offseason and it's all culminated to this. These rankings will be your guide in fantasy drafts, and while they shouldn't be seen as an end-all, be-all assessment, it's wise to have an understanding of where the market values the players you seek. […]

Industry Mock Draft Reactions: Reaches of the Draft

Now we find ourselves with the final question to be answered regarding the industry mock draft that we hosted last Thursday. Now we’re looking at those go-go-gadget picks, asking everyone who they thought the reach of the draft was. As is tradition, I’ll be following everyone’s thoughts with a brief commentary of my own because […]

2016 Outfield Prospects and Dynasty Rankings

This is an outfield prospects omnibus, a one stop clearinghouse for all of the profiles I created in the last month. With this post finished, I'll have just enough time to whip through starting pitching before we're too deep into dynasty draft season. You can also read about catchers, first base, second base, shortstop, and third base. Mostly, […]

Industry Mock Draft Reactions: Most Regrettable Pick?

Back again with more insight into the industry mock draft that took place last Thursday. This time we’re looking at the picks that each of us wished we could give the ol’ Men in Black memory wipe to everyone else. Again, I’ll be following everyone’s thoughts with a brief commentary of my own because it’s […]

Saves & Holds: AL Central Bullpen Depth Chart

With the 2016 fantasy baseball season approaching, bullpen depth charts can be tricky to decipher when entering your fantasy drafts. Projections of who will be vital to their respective team and to your fantasy team will be analyzed over the course of the next two months. Below I've identified the projected AL Central closers, setup men, and […]

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 […]

Eric Hosmer (1B, KC) - Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Target ~70 Current ADP: 77 ANALYSIS: Eric Hosmer set career-highs in runs (98), RBI (93), on-base percentage (.363), wRC+ (125) and wOBA (.355) for the 2015 World Series champion Royals. He finished the year as the No. 7 fantasy first baseman, ahead of Jose Abreu, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez, all of […]

2016 Outfield Prospects and Dynasty Rankings - AL Central Edition

Our division-by-division run down of outfield prospects continues. We've already hit the NL East  and AL East (also catchers, first base, second base, shortstop, and third base). Let's move inland to the AL Central. I've tabbed 29 players to roster or track. If you're looking to load up on future talent, this is a good place to start. Beyond […]

Kansas City Royals Top MLB Prospects for 2016 Dynasty Leagues

After losing the World Series in 2014 to the San Francisco Giants, the Kansas City Royals not only made it back, but they won the title in five against the New York Mets. The Royals did it with a formula of flawless defense, an offense driven by making consistent contact, a decent pitching rotation, and […]

Early Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Third Round Breakdown

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. Scroll to the bottom for an image of the draftboard. We put together a traditional 5x5 […]

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 […]

Frazier Could Be Traded To Indians, White Sox, Royals Or Dodgers

The Indians, White Sox, Royals, and Dodgers are all interested in a possible trade for Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier, according to USA Today. It seems very likely that Frazier will likely be gone before the 2016 season begins. The two-time All-Star third baseman is quietly becoming one of the biggest trade pieces this […]

Royals Sign Dillon Gee To Minor League Contract

The Kansas City Royals signed free agent pitcher Dillon Gee to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, according to CBS Sports. The right-hander was last seen in MLB last season as a starter with the New York Mets. Gee was giving the boot once the rookie sensations were called up to […]

2016 Catcher Keeper Values: The Other Guys

We talked about the top keeper catchers earlier in the week. Now here are some of the most recognizable non-keepers. To see an explanation for my Keeper Valuation Formula, and the 2016 Top Five Catcher Keeper Values, click HERE!   2016 Catcher Keeper Values and Analysis Outside the Top Five Buster Posey SF, 28 - (Second […]

Royals Pursuing Trade For Frazier

The Kansas City Royals have been in talks with the Cincinnati Reds for Todd Frazier, according to ESPN.com. The third baseman would likely move to left field as Alex Gordon’s replacement if the defending World Series champions could pull off the trade because Mike Moustakas will be holding down third in 2016. The Reds have […]

Breakout Outfielders And What It Means for 2016

Welcome back, readers. We've gone through the infield breakouts and busts, now we head to the outfield. The outfield had numerous surprises in the 2015 fantasy baseball landscape. Two of the top 10 outfielders were ranked outside the top 100 going into 2015 (A.J. Pollock, Lorenzo Cain) and of the top 20 outfielders, only five were […]

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 […]

Who Ya Got: Cain or Pollock?

In 2015, a pair of outfielders in their late 20s with limited track records of success broke out and became bonafide stars. Neither had posted more than 502 plate appearances in a season, yet each produced seasons that prorated to 6 or more fWAR in 2014 and attracted decent buzz in fantasy circles coming into […]

Mondesi Makes MLB History With Debut In WS

Raul Mondesi made MLB history on Friday when he became the first player to make his MLB debut during a World Series. The Kansas City Royals infielder pinched-hit in the fifth inning of the game for pitcher Matt Duffy. Mondesi struck out swinging against Noah Syndergaard on an almost 100 mph fastball. Even though the […]