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 […]

Bartolo Colon Wants To Play One More Season

Free-agent starting pitcher Bartolo Colon, who hasn't thrown a pitch in the major leagues since September of 2018, is hoping to pitch one more season in the majors, and he would prefer it being with the New York Mets if he was given the choice. Colon has pitched 21 seasons in the big leagues 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 […]

Outfielder Busts Who’ll Keep Junking It Up In 2020

The term “bust” in fantasy baseball has a number of different incarnations. In some instances, a bust is someone who adds no value to a roster whatsoever. He does nothing more than take up a roster spot, adds little-to-no counting stats, and hurts ratios such as batting average and on-base percentage. He is a net-negative […]

Joey Gallo Worried That New Stadium Is Pitcher's Park

Texas Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo has been working out with some teammates at the new Globe Life Field. He loves the new turf but is concerned that the fences at the new park might be too deep. "It’s playing big. It is definitely going to be a pitcher's park, I think. We are trying to […]

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 […]

Mid-Round Third Base Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have […]

Willie Calhoun Says He's 100 Percent Healthy

Texas Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun (jaw) said that he is back to 100 percent health after fracturing his jaw in spring training before the 2020 MLB season was suspended due to the coronavirus. "The only thing that’s really limiting me is I have numbness from my right cheek down to the middle of my chin. […]

Emmanuel Clase Suspended 80 Games

Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase was suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball on Friday for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. Clase came over from the Rangers in the trade involving starting pitcher Corey Kluber over the winter. The 22-year-old tested positive for Boldenone, which is an anabolic steroid. Clase's suspension won't […]

Mid-Round Shortstops - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have […]

NL Players Who Could Benefit From Extended Rosters

Although we still don't have baseball, we're starting to get a lot of proposals on how we COULD have baseball this summer. The plans may wind up just being a fantasy, but, hey, this is a fantasy site, so it makes sense for us to take a look at it. One of the facets of […]

Introducing xPA to Project Plate Appearances

I like big rates and I cannot lie. You other readers can't deny. When a rate walks in with an itty PA and an integer in my face, I get sprung...Whoa! Wait just one second, Sir-Mix-A-Nick. Before I go full-Rhymenoceros on everyone, maybe we oughta back the track up a little bit. What I like […]

Three Shortstops Set To Bust In 2020

Shortstop is a fairly deep fantasy position, with fifteen shortstops going before the 150th pick on average and plenty of value to be found even later in drafts. The top-end of the shortstop group is particularly strong, with three shortstops owning top-10 ADPs. No other infield position group has had as many different players drafted […]

How a Revamped MLB Season will Impact Fantasy Baseball

No matter how this MLB season plays out it will look like something we have never seen before. Not only is the start of the season already delayed, but there is no definitive end in sight. If we do see baseball this season, the game is going to look very different. First, there will be […]

Players Who Gain Value With The Universal DH - Bases Loaded Podcast

What's up RotoBallers! Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland), Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) and Zach Braff (@braffz) are discussing all the players who could gain value if the universal DH is adopted by the league in 2020. 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 […]

OPS Overachievers: Using xOPS to Judge Performance

We've already dug into xOPS by looking at the biggest underachievers from last year. Now, it's time to examine the other side of the coin - the less shiny side. Many might believe that wOBA is the stat you should be looking for and people much smarter than I have been duking out this debate […]

2020 Starting Pitcher Sleepers - September Surgers

September can be an overlooked month for Fantasy Baseball players, particularly those who are out of contention. It’s a month where we might miss strong performances from players who have fallen off of our radar due to previous struggles. However, if you dig deeper into September performances, you might find some potential gems to target […]

Starting Pitcher Busts Due to Bounce Back In 2020

Starting pitching busts are the worst types because they usually show severe decline in production. At least when your hitter busts, it’s a minor decline in career norms - but with pitchers, we sometimes see them completely fall-off in their bust seasons. These two pitchers are former aces for the Cleveland Indians. Both of them […]

Fantasy Baseball ADP Reflections - Relief Pitchers

We’re still awaiting concrete news on how a 2020 baseball season will look like (if it does exist). Different possibilities have surfaced in recent days which includes an option of multiple doubleheaders being played every week. It’s still far too early to tell how serious or plausible this is but should it come to fruition, […]

OPS Underachievers: Using Differences in xOPS to Judge Performance

Add a player's on-base-percentage to his slugging-percentage and you wind up with OPS. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. But some things don't need to be complicated to be useful and descriptive. There are a hundred ways to judge a baseball player's performance but OPS remains one of the best proxies for quickly judging a player's overall offensive […]

AL Players Who Could Benefit From Expanded Rosters

Although we still don't have baseball, we're starting to get a lot of proposals on how we COULD have baseball this summer. The plans may wind up just being a fantasy, but, hey, this is a fantasy site, so it makes sense for us to take a look at it. One of the facets of […]

The King's Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: Exclusive Scouting Reports From an MLB Veteran

The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with the seasoned input of a current Major League Player. 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 […]

Deeper Draft Sleepers - Third Base

Entering the 2020 MLB season, third base is arguably the deepest fantasy position on the diamond. 16 of the top 100 players are 3B-eligible, according to NFBC ADP. Compare that to a normally deep hitting position like first base, where just 11 guys make the cut. What that early depth does, specifically for standard leagues, […]

Third Base Draft Values - Late-Round Fliers

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 third base 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 […]

Mid-Round Second Base - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have […]

WPC+ Videocast: Danny Santana Ranking Debate

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut debate Danny Santana's ranking for the 2020 fantasy baseball season. Is the Texas Rangers outfielder and utility man a breakout candidate or potential bust at his current ADP? Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as […]

Mid-Round First Base Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have […]

Finding Value in Points Leagues: Outfield Edition

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Finding Value in Points League Series! Points leagues have become more and more popular in recent years, but there is still an emphasis placed on roto leagues. That leads towards analysis and often player values skewed by something I have dubbed roto bias. Due to that, I decided to start […]