Andrew Heaney Named Opening Day Starter

Los Angeles Angels starter Andrew Heaney was named the Opening Day starter on Sunday by manager Joe Maddon. The left-hander boasts strong strikeout totals over his career but battled injuries last season while going only 4-6 with a 4.91 ERA. The Angels are heading into their season without a true ace on their staff so […]

Late-Round Second Basemen - 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 […]

ESPN ADP Comparison - Overpriced / Underpriced Players

Average Draft Position (ADP) is a must-have piece of information when it comes to drafting. While every league is different and may have a particularly aggressive or conservative group of owners when it comes to certain players, it’s the best tool we have when analyzing players’ value. Now, instead of just talking about total ADP […]

Introducing the RotoBaller Points League Ranker Tool

Its time to shine some love down on point league players and help you crush your leagues with easy to understand and easy to leverage information that will put you streets ahead of the average competition. That's right, you over there who was thrilled last year to draft Ronald Acuna Jr. in the first round […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook - Injuries, Risers, and Fallers (3/9/20)

Welcome to the Spring Training Notebook for March 9, 2020, where we'll dive into a few of the bigger stories around Major League Baseball's Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. As we head through the thick of Spring Training 2020, players are starting to separate themselves in the eyes of their organizations with hopes of making the […]

Late-Round Shortstops - 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 […]

Nine NL Rookies Ready to Leap Into Starting Lineups

Every year, there are those rookies who we expect to make a splash right away; think Kris Bryant, Ronald Acuna, Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge -- those guys. Once we make it through all the service time manipulation shenanigans, there are always youngsters ready to snatch roster spots immediately, and 2020 is no exception. Earlier this week […]

ADP Reflections: American League Starting Pitchers

The draft season is in full swing. The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational (TGFBI) is wrapping up on the NFBC site, and more and more draft data is filtering through to the masses. We’re now at the point where draft data is shaping draft strategies as people look for value against ADP. There are lots of […]

2020 Shortstop Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

As the season draws near, we realize suddenly that it's draft season. There is a large portion of fantasy baseball busy with mock drafts, rankings, sleepers, and more mock drafts. The Dynasty community, on the other hand, is looking to continue their dominance, rebuild, or in a worst-case scenario, stick their hands up in frustration. […]

Griffin Canning Shut Down For A Month

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Griffin Canning (elbow) will be shut down for around a month as he recovers from soreness in his right elbow. Canning will receive an injection of biological substances in an effort to heal his elbow inflammation. As a result, he'll open the regular season on the injured list. Patrick Sandoval […]

Trent Grisham (OF, SD) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Target ~260s CURRENT ADP: ~290 overall ANALYSIS: There is a lot of upside for both power and speed here that may be getting overlooked a bit. Grisham is ticketed to be the starting center fielder in San Diego, and he has both Statcast metrics and a minor league track record to back him […]

Jason Castro (C, LAA) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~320-335 CURRENT ADP: ~376 overall ANALYSIS: Jason Castro's 2019 was lost in the shuffle because his teammate, Mitch Garver also broke out over more at-bats. However, Castro is worth mentioning, especially at a shallow position. He slashed .232/.332/.435 with 13 HR, 30 RBI, and 39 R in only 237 at-bats. Castro only […]

Late-Round Values and Fliers for Stolen Bases (Premium Content)

There is so much more of a fantasy baseball focus on stolen bases over the past few seasons. Specialists in the category such as Billy Hamilton and Mallex Smith have become highly sought after, only to burn owners because they didn’t do much in other categories. More to the point, there is much speculation whether […]

2020 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - RotoBaller Staff Picks

As the 2020 MLB season approaches, it's time for the RotoBaller staff to reveal their favorite preseason sleepers. We recently asked some of our fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are targeting the most in the later rounds of fantasy drafts. While you've likely heard some of these […]

ADP Reflections - Middle Infielders

With spring training underway and the start of the MLB season less than one month away, fantasy baseball draft preparation season is in full swing. As the MLB season draws near, player ADPs will shift as expectations change and more drafts are completed. Drafting early leaves more room for injuries to hurt fantasy teams, but […]

Ty Buttrey Throws Successful Bullpen

Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Ty Buttrey (intercostal) said his bullpen session on Wednesday went "phenomenally." Buttrey will have time to build back up and be ready for Opening Day as long as he doesn't suffer any setbacks. The 26-year-old (27 later this month) should open the season as the primary eighth-inning setup man in […]

Griffin Canning Getting Second Opinion Thursday

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Griffin Canning (elbow) is scheduled to get a second opinion on Thursday, and the Angels will provide an update on his status on Friday. Canning is dealing with some elbow issues this spring, and he seems likely to miss the start of the regular season. Depending on the tests, the […]

Felix Pena Doubtful To Be Ready By Opening Day

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Felix Pena (knee) is doubtful to be ready by Opening Day. Manager Joe Maddon intimated as much as Pena continues his rehab after tearing his ACL last season. It is unclear, when healthy, what role Pena will have this season but served as an opener on multiple occasions last season. Pena's […]

Tommy La Stella Scratched From Lineup

Los Angeles Angels second baseman Tommy La Stella (back) was scratched from the lineup on Wednesday. La Stella is dealing with back stiffness and the team is taking a cautious approach with Opening Day still weeks away. The Angels are counting on La Stella to be their leadoff man this season and jump-start a revamped […]

Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2020

This will be my sixth season with RotoBaller, and consequently, my sixth time participating in this bold predictions series. Over that time, I've amassed a fairly strong record with bold predictions, generally clocking in with a success rate of 30 percent. I correctly predicted Bryce Harper's MVP campaign in 2015 and Kirby Yates leading the […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Power Hitters Using Expected Draft Values

A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four "power" hitters, as identified by our site projections. Stay tuned over the […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2020 Redraft Leagues (March Update)

The sun is shining in Florida and Arizona, and spring training games are underway. That means it’s time to update our redraft prospect rankings for 2020. We last looked at the key prospects for the coming season back in January when there was a lot of uncertainty around players' roles and potential playing time. As […]

Anthony Rendon Off To Scorching Spring Start

Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon already is making an impact on his new team. Through his first four spring games, Rendon is 4-for-6 with one home run, four runs batted in and four runs scored. Rendon agreed to a seven-year, $245 million dollar contract in the offseason and is being brought in to […]

Brandon Marsh Progressing In Rehab

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Brandon Marsh (elbow) is making progress and intends to take dry swings this week. Marsh strained his left elbow attempting to make a diving catch last week and is slowly beginning to ramp up his baseball activities. Marsh was targeting to compete for an outfield spot on the Opening Day Roster […]

2020 Third Base Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

The pool of third basemen for the 2020 dynasty season is jam-packed with talent. From budding stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Rafael Devers, to productive veterans like Justin Turner and Mike Moustakas, no one should have trouble finding a useful bat to hold down the hot corner. That said, depth can breed confusion and […]

ADP Showdown: Keston Hiura vs. Ketel Marte

Heading into 2020 drafts, we see that second base is a relatively deep position. Of course, in terms of elite options, there are roughly seven choices at second base at the top of draft boards. As a result, you want to make sure you choose correctly to get the best value for one of your […]

Kings of Candy: Sweet-Spot Risers

Sweet spot percentage (SwSp%) is not the best-known Statcast measurement. It doesn't care how hard you hit the ball, just at what trajectory. Well, it doesn't care about that either, it's just a statistic, it has no capacity to care about anything. But what it measures is the number of times a hitter's contact is between […]

When and How Do You Target Sleepers on Draft Day?

A popular buzzword this time of year is "sleeper." Every fantasy baseball writer, podcaster, and radio analyst wants you to know why their sleeper is the one you should be targeting on draft day. Conversely, your league mates hope you've never even heard of their sleeper. As I prepared to write this article, I found […]

Justin Upton (OF, LAA) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 200 CURRENT ADP: ~221 overall ANALYSIS: Justin Upton only hit 12 home runs in an injury-plagued 2019, which turned out to be a brutal season for the veteran slugger as a result of turf toe and subsequent knee issues he dealt with. He managed only 256 plate appearances hitting just 12 […]

J.C. Ramirez Being Stretched Out As Starter

Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon said that the team is stretching pitcher J.C. Ramirez out as a starter this spring. It makes sense with Shohei Ohtani (elbow) not debuting on the mound until May and with Griffin Canning (elbow) possibly opening the season on the injured list. Ramirez only threw eight innings in the […]