Updated First Base Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers. With the MLB season just a few short weeks a way, it's time to update our rankings and analysis to account for injuries, free agent signings, spring training risers/fallers and more. We kick off our updated March rankings today with the first base position. Harris breaks down each tier and provides analysis […]

Jharel Cotton Very Efficient In Start

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jharel Cotton performed in the fashion that most hoped he would in 2017 in spring action Wednesday. Cotton pitched four innings and allowed only one run while striking out five and walking none. Cotton had high expectations heading into 2017, but he was inconsistent and walked too many people and gave […]

Sean Manaea Brings New Approach To 2018

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea is looking to be more fierce on the mound in 2018, according to Marin Gallegos of The Mercury News. Manaea said he felt kindness to hitters, which led to an up-and-down season in 2017. “I feel like I’m a little too nice sometimes and it transitions onto the field,” […]

Turning Two - Beware the Trending Six-Man Rotation

A six-man starting rotation? "That's just not what MLB is to me," Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels said recently. As someone accustomed to being at the forefront of a pitching staff and who's logged 362 starts over 12 Major League seasons, it's only logical that Hamels would expect to keep trotting out there as much as […]

Top Catcher Prospect Rankings - 2018 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back, RotoBallers. Over the next few days, I'll be breaking down my top impact prospects for fantasy baseball by position. Today I'm bringing you my top 10 catcher prospect rankings - rookies that have the best chance to make fantasy baseball impacts for the 2018 season. Catcher is a vital spot for owners in redraft leagues. […]

RotoBaller Industry Expert Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

On Thursday, February 15th, we brought together an illustrious group of industry experts to take part in the RotoBaller Friends and Family mock draft. We'll be playing this out as a best ball league. Our participants represented sites like: Creative Sports (Lawr Michaels) Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain) GuruElite (Ray Flowers) Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender) CBS (Heath […]

2018 Bullpen Outlooks - American League West

The American League West is third in our series of 2018 Early Bullpen Outlooks and will wrap up the AL side of things. The AL West has some solid bullpens with some dependable closers at the helm, but none who really inspire confidence as early or even mid-round fantasy selections. At least not yet. The Angels have some […]

Matt Chapman (3B, OAK) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~245 CURRENT ADP: 302 ANALYSIS: Fantasy owners are showing a lot more love to Oakland’s other Matt- Olson, natch – in drafts this spring, but don’t forget about Chapman. In his FanGraphs player capsule, Alex Chamberlain referred to Chapman as “a less-extreme Joey Gallo,” which seems an apt comparison. Chapman does not have […]

Marcus Semien (SS, OAK) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~170 CURRENT ADP: 228 ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien after a semi breakout year in 2017. Semien has always been seen as a strong offensive shortstop with a glove that made you scratch your head. Luckily for fantasy, the glove does not really matter, unless it eats at your playing time. Back to his […]

2018 Relief Pitchers - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

As we move closer to the 2018 baseball season, at RotoBaller we have released our Dynasty Rankings. We have been dissecting the tiers of each position, showing fantasy owners where to find value in their draft. We have a total of 54 relief pitchers ranked in the first six tiers. When looking at dynasty leagues, one […]

2018 Starting Pitchers - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the first base position. RotoBaller writers Kyle Richardson, Chris Zolli, Pierre Camus, and I have come up with our preseason rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. In a dynasty league, it can be tough to decide between a proven veteran or […]

Top 500: Mixed Leagues Tiered Staff Rankings (February)

Spring training is officially here! To celebrate, today we are here to look at our staff's updated 2018 fantasy baseball mixed league rankings for February and the top 500 players. Our rankings are updated weekly, but enough changes have taken place recently (see humidor, Arizona) to release a new overall list. Over the next few weeks we will also be publishing individual tiered […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - AL Relief Pitchers

The early days of draft season typically result in volatile ADP data, as values adjust rapidly to a growing sample size. Eventually, players fall much closer to their intrinsic worth as fantasy owners become inundated with news, analysis and pundit commentary. So, I'm here today to serve as another voice to the copious reams of […]

2018 Shortstops - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the first base position. RotoBaller writers Kyle Richardson, Chris Zolli, Pierre Camus, and I have come up with our preseason rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. In a dynasty league, it can be tough to decide between a proven veteran or […]

A.J. Puk to Start in Place of Daniel Gossett on Sunday

Oakland A's left-hander A.J. Puk will start Sunday's spring training game in place of right-hander Daniel Gossett (back). Gossett is dealing with some back tightness and will be scratched. Gossett struggled mightily in his first taste of the majors, going 4-11 with a 6.11 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. He is not a strong fantasy option […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 9 - BABIP For Pitchers

While FIP is a useful tool to predict a pitcher's future ERA performance, fantasy owners should remember that ERA, not FIP, is what really matters in most formats. This means that we are interested in the "luck" that separates the two statistics. While some of this luck is unpredictable, we can and should predict some […]

2018 Second Basemen - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the second base position. Second base is a very intriguing position for dynasty leagues, as there is a changing of the guard that could come as soon as a year or two. Out will be the mainstay names of Robinson Cano, Brian Dozier, and Daniel Murphy, […]

Champ or Chump - Jarrod Dyson and J.D. Martinez

Major League GMs are making up for lost time, as the moves have been fast and furious over the past few days. The Arizona Diamondbacks completely remodeled their outfield by signing free agent Jarrod Dyson and trading for Steven Souza Jr. Dyson is discussed below, and Souza's fantasy prospects will be considered in a future […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - First Basemen

RotoBallers, it’s that time of year when we’re starting to really get into the grind of draft season. With that comes plenty of early ADP data that will either have you jumping for joy or scratching your head. With this article, we aim to bring you a few first basemen who we believe are either […]

Jose Abreu Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

We on the RotoBaller staff have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but there's plenty of debate over individual players' proper place in the pecking order. In this space, we'll hear from rankers with the biggest differences of opinion on a well-known player and have them defend their position against each other. […]

2018 Catchers - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

As we move closer to the 2018 baseball season, we at RotoBaller have released our Dynasty Rankings. We have been dissecting the tiers of each position, showing fantasy owners where to find value in their draft. At the catcher position, we have a total of 41 players ranked across eight tiers. When looking at dynasty leagues, […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - Third Basemen

Take a quick look at the NFBC ADPs of third basemen. What do you notice? Is Manny Machado going too high? Is Joey Gallo the boom-or-bust pick of the year? Is Josh Donaldson the best early-round value pick? Third base might just be the deepest infield position in fantasy this year, so it's important to […]

Khris Davis (OF, OAK) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~55 CURRENT ADP: 69 ANALYSIS: Oakland Athletics outfielder Khris Davis continued his success that made him one of the majors’ premier sluggers during his first season in Oakland in 2016. 2017 was almost a carbon copy of what 2016 with the exception of the fact Davis almost doubled his walk total which saw a […]

Three Up, Three Down - 2018 Shortstop Prospects

Much like the wave of third basemen to sweep the league, we’ve had an equally impressive push of young shortstops. Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Corey Seager are all 24-years-old, or younger, and are in the Top 30 in fantasy baseball rankings. Who will be part of the next breath of fresh air […]

Nick Mariano's 2018 Late-Round MLB Fliers (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Howdy, RotoBallers! I hope you're ready to take chances, make mistakes and get messy. We’re here to dig a little deeper into the draft room and look for players that would be wise to take a flier on in the late rounds. It can […]

Ex-A's Ace Jarrod Parker to Officially Retire

Former Oakland A's ace pitcher Jarrod Parker has officially decided to call it a career. The 29-year-old has battled two ugly elbow injuries that derailed his once-promising career. “I’m not entertaining any offers, let’s put it that way,” Parker said with a laugh. “I’m just working through the logistical stuff.” Parker has not played in […]

Bruce Maxwell's Legal Issues Continue

Oakland A's catcher Bruce Maxwell's legal issues will bleed into the regular season. He had a settlement conference on Monday, but it was left unresolved. He will have another meeting on April 13. This means Maxwell will report to spring training without resolution in his legal issues, which stem from an October arrest for disorderly […]

Top 600: Dynasty League Fantasy Baseball Rankings

What's up RotoBallers. Today we are bringing you our top 600 fantasy baseball dynasty rankings for the 2018 MLB season. Dynasty leagues, or keeper formats, are becoming more and more popular in the fantasy sports landscape. For those of you who are playing in dynasty formats, or are interested in long-term valuations of fantasy players, this is […]

The Most Profitable Hitters of the Last Five Years

As you may have heard me mention on Twitter or the fantasy baseball subreddit, I recently acquired the last five seasons’ worth of average draft positon (ADP) data for NFBC and all three of the major fantasy platforms (Yahoo, ESPN, and CBS). I am terrible at Excel, so it’s taken a lot of trial and […]

Nick Mariano's 2018 Draft Sleepers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. It's everyone's favorite pre-draft word to throw around and likely threatens to take the top spot on some Google Analytics the closer we get to that premier fantasy baseball draft season. Yup, we're talking about sleepers. But let's just get this out of the way: […]