Breaking Down the RotoBaller Writers League Auction Draft

We here at RotoBaller HQ held our big writers’ league auction draft last night with some of the finest in the biz. We ran a 12 team roto league with 2 catchers, a CI and MI, 5 OFs, 8 P slots, and 5 bench. The auction budget was $260. Here are the results. Here’s the […]

Veteran Hitter Draft Targets: Not Ready To Be Buried Yet

"Don't let them bury me... I'm not dead yet!" A classic line from the criminally underrated Serpent and the Rainbow but it's also the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Albert Pujols. Many fantasy managers focus on youth even in non-keeper leagues, and for good reason. The next generation of stars has […]

Hector Santiago (SP, LAA) - 2016 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

Baller Move: ~340 Current ADP: 362 Hector Santiago had a strong start to the 2015 season, earning his first-ever All-Star selection. Prior to the All-Star break, the left-handed thrower sported an impressive 2.23 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, but a second-half collapse saw him finish the season having given up 29 home runs, the highest total of […]

Nick Mariano's Heavily Owned Players in 2016

Alright folks, the big week before Opening Day is upon us and that means that draft lobbies are popping off like Who Let the Dogs Out just came on at a party. What? That’s not a thing? Don’t be ridiculous. I have plenty of teams already with a few more to be drafted and figured […]

Top 10 Dynasty Third Basemen For 2016

Make sure to also check out our awesome 2016 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard, where you will find more of my dynasty rankings. You'll also find RotoBaller staff rankings for all positions, tiered rankings starting to ramp up, MLB prospect rankings for 2016, and much more. Okay, let's get to it.   Ranking the Top 3B […]

Preseason Champ or Chump: Third Base

Third base is home to two of the trendiest "sleeper" picks this draft season, Kris Bryant and Miguel Sano. I put sleeper in quotes because they both need to hit their upsides to simply break even relative to their current draft day costs. This seems to happen every year with a few young players, but […]

Predicting the Top 10 Finishers for HR in 2016

Chicks dig the longball, right? There are so many freaking players who could hit 35 or more home runs, and I hated having to leave guys like Miguel Sano, J.D. Martinez and Josh Donaldson off this list. Also, Manny Machado, Paul Goldschmidt, Miguel Cabrera, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Byung-ho Park, David Ortiz, Albert […]

Smith's Shoe Problem, Puig Scratched, Pujols Returns, Upton Homers Twice

Fantasy Baseball Spring Training News and Notes for 3/27/16 Will Smith Tears Ligament in Right Knee Smith has learned that injuries also happen off the field, in the unlikeliest of ways. One half of the Milwaukee Brewers closer-committee will now miss an extended amount of time after tearing the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee, simply […]

Top 400: Dynasty League Staff Rankings

Fellow RotoBallers.We are getting closer. Fantasy baseball drafts have already been taking place, and will be heating up over the next few weeks. Spring training already roaring, and the MLB season is near. With that comes the excitement of fantasy baseball drafts, and we are here to help you dominate them. Today we are bringing you our top […]

Predicting The Top 10 Finishers in Saves

Before we get to the list, how about some honorable mentions? Despite his struggles down the stretch last season, Shawn Tolleson had a terrific 2015. With a career-high K/9 rate and a career-low BB/9 rate, he was able to rack up 35 saves as Texas won the AL West division. With the Rangers now looking to build […]

Top 500: Staff Rankings and Auction Values (March)

Fellow RotoBallers. We are getting closer. Spring training is is roaring, and the MLB season is near. With that comes the excitement of fantasy baseball drafts, and we are here to help you dominate them. Today we are bringing you our top 500 staff rankings, updated for March, along with our auction dollar recommendations (for those who […]

Christopher Olson's 10 Bold Predictions for 2016

I must say I quite enjoy being involved in lists like these. If you are wrong, no one can say anything because they’re supposed to be long shots! I did my best to keep in line with things that might actually happen. Let’s see how we do. Editor's note: Be sure to check out our fantasy […]

Five Deeper Starting Pitcher Targets For 2016: American League

Starting pitcher is without a doubt the deepest position in fantasy baseball, but at a certain point, it becomes a pool of mediocrity. Finding those lesser-known starters who can rise above the mediocrity is a major key to fantasy success. Each of these five pitchers can be had late in drafts, and have the potential […]

Preseason Champ or Chump: First Base

While I provide generic ADP data in these articles, it is at least as important to look at the data for the site and format you are drafting on as well. Wonky default ratings often lead to absurd values, such as Masahiro Tanaka lasting way too long in the recent Rotoballer industry draft. It is […]

Nick Mariano's 10 Bold Predictions for 2016

Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, what hell hath you wrought on our poor readers? Look at the Pandora’s Box that’s been opened. Now it’s time for my shenanigans to fly out. Editor's note: Be sure to check out our fantasy baseball rankings assistant. We recently launched this handy new rankings tool - you can easily filter, sort, and export all sorts […]

Preseason Champ or Chump: Catchers

Earlier this offseason, I did a series of articles detailing how to use advanced metrics to validate and predict baseball player performance for fantasy purposes. In season, advanced metrics are useful to separate random hot streaks from legitimate breakouts. In the offseason, they can spare you from wasting a high pick or a bunch of […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 Rankings: Second Base (March)

It seems like only yesterday that we kicked off our preseason coverage back in December with the first round of our RotoBaller staff rankings. Just kidding – it feels like an eternity whenever we’re waiting for baseball to return. But the weather is warming, the days are getting longer, and spring training is in full […]

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. […]

Three Potential Busts to Avoid on Draft Day: Teheran, Chapman, Hamels

This article first appeared on wetalkfantasysports.com by Jason Johnson. You can find him on twitter @y2trips. Now that I’ve covered three players that I’m really high on, let’s look at a few players that I think have zero chance to live up to their ADP. Please note that current ADP data has been pulled from FantasyPros.com's consensus, […]

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, […]

Tanaka and Stroman Look Healthy, Injuries Strike Freeman and Cabrera, Joc Pederson Named Starter

Fantasy Baseball Spring Training News and Notes for 3/12/16 Tanaka, Stroman Look Healthy After 2015 Injuries Initial questions regarding the health of starting pitchers Masahiro Tanaka and Marcus Stroman, two AL East pitchers who had their 2015 shortened by injury, have been answered with smiles after recent Spring Training outings. The Yankees' Tanaka, ranked 29th […]