ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Underachievers with SIERA (Part 2)

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Lie Detector mini-series (you can read part one here). Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin […]

Clayton Beeter Taken By The Dodgers In Second Round

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Texas Tech pitcher Clayton Beeter with the 66th overall pick in the second round in the 2020 MLB draft on Thursday. Beeter has already had two elbow surgeries, but he turned heads with his performance this spring. The right-hander had Tommy John surgery in the fall of 2017 and had […]

Dodgers Add Landon Knack To Their System

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected East Tennessee State pitcher Landon Knack with the 60th overall pick in the second round in the 2020 MLB draft on Thursday. Knack was a fifth-year senior, so he's old for the draft at 22 years of age, but he has intriguing talent and should come at a discount. The […]

Bobby Miller Goes To Dodgers Near End Of First Round

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Louisville pitcher Bobby Miller with the 29th overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft on Wednesday. Miller was a 38th-round pick by the Orioles out of high school in Illinois in 2017. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a super-regional tilt against East Carolina and impressed […]

Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: Shortened Season Alters Strategies

The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with in-depth takes on the shortened season from a former MLB executive and current broadcaster. Every year, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts, media members and […]

Reassessing ADP - Picks 1-100 - Bases Loaded Podcast

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) is joined by Jorge Montanez of RotoBaller (@Roto_Nino). They dive into recent ADP data. 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 […]

Diving Into Pitch Counts For a Shortened Season

Pitchers who produce a ton of innings are a rare commodity in today’s game, with those who consistently put up 200 or more innings becoming increasingly valuable. However, with a potential shortened 2020 season and no innings limits, will this playing field be leveled? At first thought, one might think that pitchers with assumed limits […]

How to Approach MLB Rookies in 2020 Re-draft Leagues

While the players and owners continue to trade demands for getting the 2020 season on its feet, we're going to turn our attention to fantasy. This article will specifically look at players who have yet to make their major league debut (or come up for more than the proverbial cup of coffee) and how fantasy […]

Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: More Insights From an MLB Scout

The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with more takes from a longtime Major League scout. Every year during fantasy baseball draft season, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts, media members and others […]

Fantasy Baseball ADP Risers - Head-Scratching Trends?

Welcome to Part Two of the ADP Risers and Fallers series, where I will examine key changes from March to the present day. If you missed Part One, where I evaluated injured players and prospects, you can read it right here. Those were the easy risers and fallers. In this article, we will delve into […]

Texas Rangers: Top 12 Dynasty Prospects

The Texas Rangers will be our next stop on the farm to evaluate the best prospects on each MLB team. Once the 2020 MLB season begins, it may turn out that Minor League systems will be more important than usual. Franchises are losing money during the pandemic layoff, so many teams will be looking for […]

Overvalued and Undervalued Starting Pitchers

Spring training is often the time when players start climbing up or freefalling down draft boards. This year, however, without a full spring training to draw from, there is less talk of a pitcher with a new and improved change-up, and fewer managers blowing smoke, influencing fantasy owners. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of value […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Overachievers With SIERA (Part 2)

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Lie Detector mini-series (you can read part one here). Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin […]

2020 Starting Pitcher Breakouts - National League

Fantasy baseball players spent much of this unique offseason speculating about the game they love. When is baseball coming back? What rule changes will be implemented and how will they affect the fantasy production of players selected in preseason drafts? Some of you may have drafted a bunch of teams this past winter and might […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 ERA Underachievers With SIERA

Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin a pitcher's ERA, albeit in a different manner. Although technically a backward-looking evaluator,  SIERA […]

How to Approach High Stakes Leagues in 2020, Part 2

While we await confirmation that there will be a season, and clarity on how it will play out, there's plenty of fantasy baseball prep work to do. Sure, it's impossible to nail down definite strategies or exact player values with so much uncertainty surrounding the season. But we can at least start to figure out […]

Starting Pitcher Draft Sleepers for Fantasy Baseball

Host Michael Florio of RotoBaller Radio discusses the 2020 fantasy baseball season. In this episode, he brings you his fantasy baseball draft sleepers at the catcher position. 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 into […]

Hidden Gems to Watch - 2020 Pitching Prospects

As we continue through this window of uncertainty, the chances of having a “normal” season are getting far less likely. And while we still don’t have any concrete solutions for having a 2020 season, some ideas seem to be more likely than others. Whether implementing regular doubleheaders in a truncated season or a universal designated-hitter, […]

Mock Draft Review: ADP Risers and Fallers

It's Memorial Day weekend, which means it's time to pick some flowers, fire up the BBQ, and do fantasy baseball mock drafts. Well, one of those things doesn't quite belong, but in these uncertain times, it's never a bad idea to do another draft and see how things stand. With MLB owners and the Player's […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Overachievers With SIERA (Part 1)

Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin a pitcher's ERA, albeit in a different manner. Although technically a backward-looking evaluator,  SIERA […]

ADP Risers: The Injured and the Young

Over the last few days, there have been rumors circulating of a baseball season starting in early July. This is music to all our fantasy baseball ears. With news of the game we love returning, that also means it will be time to start drafting again.  During draft season most people love looking at the […]

Rich Hill Believes He'll Be Ready If Baseball Returns

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Rich Hill (elbow) believes he'll be ready to go if baseball returns in July. The veteran starter's rehab has been compromised a bit due to the pandemic, though he was able to toss a 65-70 pitch bullpen session earlier on Friday. Injuries have been a concern with Hill- he's missed time […]

WPC+ Videocast: New Draft Strategies for a Shortened Season

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review the draft board for RotoBaller's recent expert mock fantasy baseball draft and explain how their strategies have changed with the likelihood of a shortened MLB season in 2020. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and […]

RotoBaller MLB Mock: Revising Draft Strategy for a Short Season

With rumors of a proposed plan to start the MLB season becoming more of a reality, it is time to start mock drafting again. I joined some writers from RotoBaller to take place in a 12-team mock draft (full draft results here) for a traditional 5x5 rotisserie league draft with a 24-player roster. It was […]

ADP Comparison: Biggest Risers From March To May

A delayed start to the MLB season has allowed several relatively high-profile MLB players to heal from offseason and spring training injuries, but improved health isn’t the only cause for a rising ADP. Some players have benefited from adjusted roster projections, and some for unclear reasons. With that in mind, here is a list of […]

Justin Turner Hasn't Talked Extension With Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said that he hasn't discussed a contract extension with the team with the season currently postponed due to COVID-19. Turner, 35, is heading into the final year of his deal in 2020, so there's a chance he could move on from LA without playing at all this year […]

ADP Comparison: Biggest Fallers from March to May

MLB first announced that its season would be postponed on March 12. Over the past month or so, a plan to resume games has taken several forms, but nothing is set in stone yet. For now, it appears as though teams will play in a maximum of 100 games in 2020, with the minor league […]

Eliminating Park Factors: Which Pitchers Will Suffer the Most

After weeks of half-baked proposals cribbed from rejected "BioDome" scripts, there now seems to be a scrape of light at the end of the no-baseball tunnel. MLB seems to be increasingly confident that a 2020 season will be played, whether it's playing all games in one location (the Arizona plan), playing in multiple warm-weather hubs (Arizona, […]

Drafting First Overall In Rotisserie Formats

I really do believe there’s no such thing as too much draft strategy. There are a lot of factors that play into draft selections. I will be discussing topics ranging from positional scarcity to team construction and many things in between. The idea is to go into my strategy and targets through the first 10 […]

Third Base ADP Reflections

Third base is arguably the deepest position in fantasy this year, with plenty of highly productive options outside of the first 20 third basemen being drafted. The position is so deep that if a player isn’t a lock for an OPS above .900, doesn’t have positional versatility, or doesn’t offer stolen bases, then they may […]