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 […]
Max Petrie's 10 Bold Predictions for 2016
Welcome to round two of our Bold Predictions segment. If anyone asks, Kyle bullied me into doing this. But in all seriousness, the best hitter on a team bats second, so I'm honored to be included. In this edition I'll be highlighting the hitters and pitchers I believe have the best chance to make crazy […]
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, […]
Three ADP Sleepers to Target on Draft Day: Reddick, Duffy, Harrison
This article first appeared on wetalkfantasysports.com by Jason Johnson. You can find him on twitter @y2trips. I don’t like to use the term sleepers when thinking about players. To me a sleeper is simply someone that I expect to greatly outperform their projected ADP. These players are players that I’m very high on going into the […]
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 […]
Francisco Cervelli (CA, PIT) - 2016 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers
BALLER MOVE: Target~ 210 CURRENT ADP: 232 ANALYSIS: Francisco Cervelli has long been appealing to AL-only owners, as his high batting average and part-time role made him a consistently undervalued asset. Receiving a starting catcher gig for the first time in his MLB career last season, Cervelli rewarded the Pirates, and fantasy owners, with the same […]
Pittsburgh Pirates Top MLB Prospects for 2016 Dynasty Leagues
For the third consecutive season, the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted a Wild Card Game and for the second straight season they were eliminated at home. First it was the eventual World Series winning San Francisco Giants and then it was the upstart Chicago Cubs. But look on the bright side Pirates’ fans, with a lineup centered […]
2016 Outfield Prospects and Dynasty Rankings - NL Central Edition
Our division-by-division run down of outfield prospects continues. We've already hit the NL East, AL East, and AL Central (also catchers, first base, second base, shortstop, and third base). The NL Central is loaded with outfield prospects - 38 by my count. If you're looking to load up on future talent, this is a good place to start. To […]
Net Steals Leagues: Five Fantasy Baseball Busts and Avoids
I played in a net steals league a couple years back. It did not go well. In preparation for the auction draft, I foolishly assumed I could rely on standard steals projections. My plan for this particular auction was to sport a balanced attack, targeting guys with cross-category upside instead of chasing players with one major […]
Catchers: Five Draft Day Sleepers and ADP Values
Catcher is a position that can leave fantasy owners in a panic the longer they wait in a draft to pick one. If you find yourself holding out on the position late into your draft, here are five names to keep in mind that are likely to still be hanging around. They might not be […]
Tyler Glasnow To Debut In 2016?
Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neil Huntington recently said it’s “extremely doubtful” top pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow begins 2016 in the big leagues. Having dominated the minor league competition since being drafted in 2012, the right-handed starter has posted a 2.15 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 402.2 innings of work. His 11.8 K/9 is supported by a […]
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 […]
Josh Harrison (2B/3B/OF, PIT) - 2016 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers
TARGET: ~160 CURRENT ADP: 225 (22nd round in 10-team leagues) ANALYSIS: Let's start by saying there's no way Josh Harrison's current ADP sticks around the 22nd round. I'd assume most of these rankings were completed before Neil Walker was shipped to New York (N), opening the door for playing time for Harrison. As of this moment, Harrison is in […]
Mets Acquire Walker From Pirates For Niese
The New York Mets acquired Neil Walker from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Jon Niese, according to The New York Post. The deal is reported as a player-for-player swap with no picks or cash involved. This was the Mets quick response after losing out on free agent Ben Zobrist Tuesday to the Chicago Cubs. […]
Future Tense: Arizona Fall League Wrap-Up
Well, another Fall League season has come and gone, so let’s take a look at a few of the things that we have learned from this season. AFL Updates Jeimer Candelario is Really, Really Good Candelario, a third baseman in the Cubs organization, might not have been on the forty-man roster before the Arizona […]
Who Ya Got: Yasiel Puig or Gregory Polanco?
With the unprecedented dominance on display from young players, it's easy to view the ones who struggle with more disappointment than might be merited. We talked about Jorge Soler and Marcell Ozuna yesterday, but they weren't the only highly-touted young outfielders who stumbled in 2015. Today we'll take a closer look at another pair: Yasiel […]
Bust Players at 2B, SS, and C and What It Means for 2016
Welcome back friends. I hope you enjoyed the pilot article of this segment detailing the breakouts at 2B, SS, and C in 2015. This edition is more of a buzzkill - the busts at each of these positions. My selections will be influenced by their respective ADP (Average Draft Position) coming into 2015. That means while Jedd […]
2015 In Review: Three Rookie 3Bs
The 2015 season featured an abundance of terrific performances. Here, we'll focus on the trio of fantastic freshmen at third base: Kris Bryant, Miguel Sano, and Jung-ho Kang. Bryant was regarded as one of the best prospects in the game after posting absurd numbers across two levels in 2014. Somewhat controversially, the Cubs left him […]
Three Third-Year Starting Pitcher Breakouts
As much attention as has been heaped upon the stellar rookie class of 2015 (something I’m guilty of myself), there were plenty of breakout seasons from other young players. Today, we’ll take a look at a trio of third-year starting pitchers who made the leap: Chris Archer, Gerrit Cole, and Danny Salazar. The first overall […]
Future Tense: Arizona Fall League Updates (November 12th Edition)
This seems like a good time to check in on some of the names we spotlighted weeks ago, to see who’s been able to live up to their potential and if any have been busts. We’ll start things off with a Rays’ first baseman that we were really high on to open the Arizona Fall […]
Future Tense: Who's Struggling In The Arizona Fall League (November 3rd Edition)
Last time around, we looked at some of the hottest players in the Arizona Fall League. This time around, it’s time to look at who isn’t. Underperformers Of The AFL Mike Yastrzemski, Outfield, Baltimore Orioles A sad reality in baseball is that people seem to think that just because a relative can play baseball, so […]
Melancon Wins NL Reliever Of The Year Award
Pittsburgh Pirates closer Mark Melancon was awarded the 2015 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year during Wednesday’s Game 2 of the World Series. The 30-year-old right-hander led all of MLB in saves, converting 51-of-53 chances during the 2015 season. Melancon supported his save total with a 2.23 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 62/14 K/BB […]
Pirates Acquire Trevor Williams From Marlins
The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired RHP Trevor Williams from the Miami Marlins for RHP Richard Mitchell. This is a minor deal of teams simply swapping young pitchers. Williams, 23, is inching his way closer to the Major League level as a starter while Mitchell, 20, still needs to work his way through the minors before ever […]
Future Tense: Arizona Fall League, Part II - Glendale Desert Dogs
The Desert Dogs benefit nicely from being fed by organizations that are either rebuilding, are coming out of rebuilding, or, in the case of the Pirates, are always restocking thanks to being in a smaller market. As a result, this is a very good team with some interesting names to watch. Top Prospects Of […]
Week 26 Start/Sit: MLB Starting Pitcher (SP) Matchups
What’s up RotoBallers. Welcome to the final week of this column, as we approach the home stretch of the fantasy baseball season. Thank you all for RotoBalling with us all season long, and I hope that this column (along with the rest of our MLB content) has helped you win some leagues. Now let's get […]