Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

Once again, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season is not guaranteed to be a normal one. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a world unencumbered by COVID-19 and talk about our silly little game as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

Padres Acquire Blake Snell

The San Diego Padres have acquired starting pitcher Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitcher Luis Patino, catcher Francisco Mejia, infielder Blake Hunt and pitcher Cole Wilcox. Snell, the 2018 AL Cy Young award winner and all-star left hander, will join the projected Padres rotation consisting of right-handed starters Dinelson Lamet, […]

Biggest Brl/BBE% Fallers from 2020

Last week, I discussed the importance of the Brl/BBE% and examined some players who had improved the most in the shortened 2019 season. If you haven't yet taken a look at that, I would encourage you to because I also gave a detailed breakdown of why I like this particular stat. However, if you simply […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Late ADP Options

Like a sitcom catchphrase from a bygone era, we all want more power. We'll take it early and we'll take it late but it always feels extra sweet when one of your final picks suddenly becomes one of the mayors of dong city. Looking at a player's exit velocities can tell us a lot about […]

Squaring It Up: 2020's Biggest Brl/BBE% Gainers

Often when it comes to fantasy baseball, we get overloaded with statistics and it becomes hard to sort out what's useful from what's misleading. Many experts can write pages about why they swear by certain stats as being the most predictive for future success or accurate in reflecting who had a good season. In the […]

Brent Honeywell Jr. Has Another Surgery

Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Brent Honeywell Jr. (elbow) had another right elbow surgery on Wednesday, but the team said it was a minor surgery and that it shouldn't impact Honeywell's availability for the 2021 season. The 25-year-old has had four surgeries on his right elbow since he last pitched in September of 2017 at […]

Michael Wacha Agrees With Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays signed right-hander Michael Wacha to a one-year, $3 million deal on Friday. Wacha will help fill the void left by the departure of right-handed veteran starter Charlie Morton. Wacha went 1-4 with a 6.62 ERA in eight outings (seven starts) for the Mets in the shortened 2020 season. The 29-year-old won […]

Strike Zone Rate Analysis - Starting Pitchers

There are hundreds of metrics out there that describe pitchers. The richness of the available data is rivaled by no other sport. This can at times lead to information overload, leading us too far away from the core tenants of what success looks like. One group of statistics that are very simple and very helpful […]

Rays Re-Sign Catcher Mike Zunino

The Tampa Bay Rays agreed to re-sign catcher Mike Zunino to a one-year deal worth $2 million on Wednesday. If the Rays decline his $ 7 million option for the 2022 season, he'll receive a $1 million buyout. The 29-year-old hit just .147/.238/.360 with four home runs and 28 RBI in 28 games during the […]

Year-In-Review: Diego Castillo and Nick Anderson

As I created my early 2021 Relief Pitcher rankings, I realized how wide open so many bullpens are right now due to free agency. But there is at least one team that can sleep well knowing the back end of their bullpen is solid as bedrock and that's the Tampa Bay Rays. Diego Castillo and […]

Nate Lowe to Rangers - Fantasy Impact

Nate Lowe has been FREED!!!!! The Tampa Bay Rays have traded their talented slugging first baseman as well as first baseman Jake Guenther to the Texas Rangers for catcher Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe, and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. This is the moment many fantasy baseball players have been waiting for, the chance for Nate Lowe […]

Hunter Renfroe Signs With Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year, $3.1 million contract on Monday. Renfroe joined the Rays ahead of the shortened 2020 season but struggled to repeat the form he displayed throughout the 2019 season, when he launched a career-best 33 home runs to go along with 64 RBI, five stolen […]

Year-In-Review: Framber Valdez

Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez has been one of the team's many intriguing prospects over the past several seasons. He first got consistent playing time (mostly in relief) in 2019 and put forth poor results with a 4-7 record, 5.86 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, and 20.7% strikeout rate over 70 2/3 inning pitched. He also pitched […]

MLB's Best Pitches by the Numbers

One of the most-often used algorithms in the data science world is called clustering. Clustering is defined, by Wikipedia, as: grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters) In baseball […]

Statcast Review - Hard Hit/Exit Velocity Pitching Leaders

Pitcher contact quality can be a tricky attribute for fantasy managers to incorporate into their analysis. On one hand, pitchers are more at the whim of hitters when it comes to contact quality than the other way around. On the other hand, it certainly seems as though pitchers can exert meaningful control over their contact […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Early ADP Air% Exit Velocity

Looking at average exit velocity to project future power is not very useful compared to looking only at balls hit in the air. Because who cares how hard ground balls are hit? However, it can be even more useful to parse out those velocities into more refined bins and cast a more critical eye to […]

Rangers Acquire Nate Lowe From Rays

The Texas Rangers acquired infielder Nate Lowe and minor league first baseman Jake Guenther from the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in exchange for minor league catcher and outfielder Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. Lowe, 25, hit .224 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 21 games last season and […]

A Year to Remember: Players with Career Years in 2020

The 2020 baseball season was a short one, but still a season where some players could jump onto the scene and give fantasy players something to look forward to in the coming years. Some will say 60 games are not enough for a "career season," but I beg to differ, and so do the four […]

Top 250 Dynasty Prospects for 2021

The 2020 baseball season was unlike any year we’ve ever seen with its shortened season and schedule that can perhaps be best described as organized chaos. The absence of a minor league season played havoc with prospect prognosticators. The 2021 season — and perhaps beyond — will continue to present unique challenges as the pandemic […]

Biggest Risers of 2020 – Relief Pitchers

In 2020, we saw a large number of relief pitchers, previously not in the upper tier of fantasy rankings, breakout or bounce back from 2019 decrepitude. Below we will take a look at a few of the biggest relief pitcher risers of the 2020 season as we gear up for 2021 drafts in the spring. […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021

The abbreviated, wild-ride known as the 2020 MLB season has come to an end and the playoffs are in full swing. Sadly, that means fantasy baseball seasons are finished. And prospects watchers have turned their attention towards the 2021 season. The 2020 season saw a significant number of key contributions from rookies and, had you […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings

The 2021 MLB season isn't guaranteed to be normal but I have hope that next spring will be much healthier. As such, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking series for the 2021 fantasy baseball season. How much weight do we give 2020? How […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings

The upcoming 2021 season may not be normal -- going from 2020 to 2021 doesn't wave a magic wand -- but there's still comfort in baseball. As such, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking series for the 2021 fantasy baseball season. How much […]

No Structural Damage For Wander Franco

Tests revealed that Tampa Bay Rays shortstop prospect Wander Franco (biceps, shoulder), the top prospect in baseball heading into 2021, doesn't have structural damage in his shoulder and biceps area. Franco experienced biceps soreness and shoulder inflammation while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic and flew back to the U.S. earlier this week to […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Elite Levels of Air% Exit Velocity

Everyone wants more power, even more so when it comes relatively cheap. But even when pricey, you're going to need to draft a bomber or two. One of the best ways to see how a player's power is trending is to sift through their exit-velocities to see what they're saying. Most know by now that […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Rankings

I think most of us would agree that looking forward to 2021 is a good idea. For me, that means immersing myself in the upcoming baseball season. While there's no guarantee COVID-19 won't affect the '21 season, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking […]

Randy Arozarena Released From Charges In Mexico

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena was released in Mexico's Yucatan state on Thursday prior to a hearing following allegations of domestic violence, according to sources. Legal sources said that Arozarena was released from all charges when he reached an agreement with his former partner, who decided not to take legal action against the outfielder. […]

Wander Franco Dealing With Sore Biceps

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop and top MLB prospect Wander Franco (biceps) hasn't played for his Dominican Winter League team, the Leones del Escogido, since Friday due to a sore right biceps. Franco will travel back to the U.S. to be looked at by team doctors. The 19-year-old hit .350/.435/.500 with a home run and a […]

Randy Arozarena Detained Amid Domestic-Violence Allegations

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena has been detained in Mexico's Yucatan state after allegations of domestic violence. Arozarena hasn't been formally charged, as Mexico allows a two-day period for prosecutors to decide whether to bring charges. Major League Baseball is looking into the matter. The 25-year-old became a playoff legend, setting a major league […]

Rays Open To Trading Blake Snell

The Tampa Bay Rays have told other teams that they are open to the idea of trading starting pitcher Blake Snell, a former Cy Young winner, according to multiple sources. Tampa isn't actively shopping the left-hander, who has three years and $39 million left on his five-year, $50 million extension, but trading the 27-year-old represents […]