2020 First Base Rankings - H2H Points Leagues

Often regarded as an inferior fantasy baseball format, points leagues offer a different style of boasting over your friends or coworkers similar to that of fantasy football. These setups are typically head-to-head formats for a one-week stretch where the player with the most points gets a win. Easy right? While it's true that roster construction […]

Pitchers Most Impacted By Defense: OAA Fallers

Early in January, Statcast released a full fielding leaderboard of their Outs Above Average (OAA) metric, which had previously been limited to outfielders only. The metric takes into account fielder positioning, reaction time, throw difficulty, and batter speed in order to calculate how likely a play is to become an out. The more unlikely, the […]

Will the Real Shohei Ohtani Please Stand Up?

When he arrived in 2018, Shohei Ohtani was regarded as one of the most dynamic and difficult-to-value players in the league. After two excellent, but injury-marred seasons, that much hasn’t changed. We have a clearer sense of Ohtani’s talent, but drafting him is still a unique challenge. In fact, the fantasy owners I've talked to […]

2020 Catcher Rankings - H2H Points Leagues

Points leagues may seem like a slight variation from traditional 5x5 category scoring leagues, but you must approach draft day with a different strategy if you wish to truly compete. Rankings themselves are a different beast altogether, as category specialists like Mallex Smith and Dee Gordon (stolen bases), Kyle Schwarber and Franmil Reyes (home runs), […]

Introducing EDV - Expected Draft Values for Fantasy Baseball

Last March at RotoBaller, we kicked off a cool fantasy baseball research project, exploring what we're calling Expected Draft Values. This offseason, we’ve refined the approach and our research, and taken things a step forward. We're sharing this concept with the fantasy baseball world now, and hope it's as helpful to you as it's been […]

2020 RotoBaller Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Reactions

Over the last couple weeks, RotoBaller's roster has grown with several new faces to join our esteemed veteran corps. We figured it would be nice to roll out the welcome wagon with a February fantasy baseball mock draft, putting six "RotoNewbs" with six RotoVets. It was a snake draft hosted on Fantrax, a traditional 5x5 format with […]

Bases Loaded Podcast - Second Base Rankings Risers, Fallers and Sleepers

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) is joined by Jorge Montanez of RotoBaller (@Roto_Nino). They get into their second base rankings risers, fallers and sleepers. 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! […]

Hunter Pence In Agreement With Giants

The San Francisco Giants are in agreement on an undisclosed deal with outfielder Hunter Pence, according to a source. Pence is headed to San Francisco on Friday to take a physical after turning down offers from the Astros and Padres. The veteran outfielder was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year in 2019 […]

Jose Leclerc To Enter Camp As Closer

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Jose Leclerc will open spring training as the team's closer. “To the degree that we are putting the bullpen on paper today, I’d put him down at the back,” general manager Jon Daniels said recently. However, Daniels hedged his comments by saying that Leclerc and his swing-and-miss stuff might play better […]

Rangers Sign Greg Bird

The Texas Rangers signed first baseman Greg Bird to a minor league deal on Tuesday. The deal will include an invite to spring training. If Bird can manage to stay healthy -- he's played in only 92 games the last two seasons with the Yankees combined due to multiple injuries -- he should have a […]

Astros Make Offer To Hunter Pence

The Houston Astros have made an offer to outfielder Hunter Pence, according to MLB sources. Pence was drafted by Houston and played for them from 2007 to 2011. He's a four-time All-Star, including in 2019 with the Rangers when he hit .297 with 18 home runs and 59 RBI in a resurgent season. The 36-year-old […]

Early Mock Draft Analysis and Reaction: Fantasy Baseball

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review the draft board from an early 2020 mock draft for fantasy baseball mixed leagues. 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 RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, […]

Biggest Risers and Fallers of 2019 - Relief Pitchers

Welcome back, RotoBallers. I have to admit, I just wrote 3000 words on relief pitchers so forgive me if I get a little brief with the intro and just allow you to jump into the meat. In this article, I look at 10 relievers whose value skyrocketed or plummeted in the 2019 fantasy season, spend […]

Nick Castellanos to Reds - Fantasy Impact

The winter of the Cincinnati Reds keeps rolling on. They already added some pitching in Wade Miley, a journeyman to play shortstop in Freddy Galvis, a power-hitting monster in Mike Moustakas, and a Japanese leadoff man in Shogo Akiyama. Now, they have secured one of the top outfield targets on the market in Nick Castellanos. […]

Giants Showing Interest In Hunter Pence

The San Francisco Giants are among the teams showing interest in outfielder Hunter Pence, according to sources. Pence played with the Giants from 2012 to 2018 before becoming an unlikely All-Star with the Rangers in 2019 when he hit .297/.358/.552 with 18 home runs, 59 RBI and six stolen bases in 83 games. The 36-year-old […]

Rangers Sign Matt Duffy

The Texas Rangers signed infielder Matt Duffy to a minor league deal on Thursday. The contract will be worth $1 million with another $1.5 million in incentives if he's on the major league roster. Duffy will be invited to spring training and will try to win a utility infield job. Duffy missed all of the […]

2020 First Base Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

We're not far from the start of spring training and draft season is almost afoot! In re-draft leagues, a ton of preparation and research goes into building a new squad for 2020. Dynasty owners scoff at this because they already have their core players established. The question then becomes of relative value. Who is still […]

Miguel Sano - 2019 Year in Review

Heading into the 2019 season, Miguel Sano’s career was defined by injuries and disappointment mixed with glimpses of potential. What was once one of the top prospects in baseball (Fangraphs ranked him #15 in their 2015 Top-200 list), had become an after-thought in fantasy drafts. He finished the 2018 season slashing .199/.281/.398, with just 13 […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2020 Redraft Leagues

Freshmen players played a huge role in Major League Baseball in 2019 and rookies are poised to once again have a strong presence on your fantasy baseball teams in 2020. Rotoballer is here to help you decide which players are deserving of a roster spot as you open up the season with a list of […]

Early 2020 ADP Reflections - Third Base

When a baseball season ends, the following season can’t come here soon enough for some fans, myself included. We start thinking about what we want to see from some players, which includes letdowns, bounce-backs, and even young prospects. Instead of letting them bounce off the brain walls, let’s put these musings into digits. This includes […]

Bases Loaded Podcast - First Base Rankings Risers, Fallers and Sleepers

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) is joined by Jorge Montanez of RotoBaller (@Roto_Nino). They get into their first base rankings risers, fallers and sleepers. 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! […]

Early Mock Draft Analysis: MLB Mixed Leagues

Don't tell us it's not draft season yet! Truth be told, the RotoBaller crew was already planning a mock draft days after the World Series ended. As it turns out, we decided to wait until some free agent moves were made and settled for a slow draft that began shortly after the Winter Meetings. We […]

Top 250 Prospects for 2020 Dynasty Leagues

It’s hard to believe it’s that time again. Major League Baseball’s spring training is just weeks away now, which means it's also fantasy baseball season. This year at RotoBaller, we’re rolling out even more in-depth prospect coverage — starting with a ranking of the Top 250 prospects for dynasty leagues. That’s right. Not 100. Not […]

Rangers Unlikely To Trade For Nolan Arenado

Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said that if the team makes any more significant additions this offseason that it would likely be via a trade, but a deal for Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is unlikely. It also means that signing outfielder Nicholas Castellanos is probably off the table after the Rangers had […]

Mike Minor Interested In Extension

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Mike Minor said that he is interested in a contract extension. Minor is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2020 season. The southpaw has become a rotation leader for Texas the last two seasons, culminating in a 14-10 record, 3.59 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 32 starts over 208 […]

Nationals Agree With Welington Castillo

The Washington Nationals agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Welington Castillo on Friday. Castillo will receive a non-roster invite to spring training. The 32-year-old (33 in April) hit a disappointing .209/.267/.417 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI in just 72 games for the White Sox in 2019. There won't be much fantasy […]

2019 Season in Review: Sonny Gray

2019 was a pivotal season for starting pitcher Sonny Gray, both from a real-game and fantasy perspective. The 2018 season turned out to be a complete dud for Gray, who, in his first full season with the Yankees, posted a poor 4.90 ERA and 1.50 WHIP over 130 ⅓ innings pitched. With a move to […]

2020 Saves+Holds Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Mixed Leagues

To any reader who thinks they don't have a voice here at RotoBaller, let it be known that this article came from a simple Reddit comment about how those seeking Saves+Holds reliever ranks were often overlooked. Poof, and here we are. Allow me, Nick Mariano, 2018's most accurate draft expert and sharer of names with […]

2020 Early Bullpen Outlooks - A.L. West

Welcome to 2020, fantasy friends. There are two football teams left and basketball and hockey are doing their things, so it's past time now to start thinking about the 2020 baseball season. Free agency has been a little more front-loaded this season, leaving fewer questions about rosters heading into Spring Training. Still, there will be […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Barrels

Last time, we looked at how exit velocity (or EV) is only one piece of the fantasy analysis puzzle. Baseball broadcasts will commonly cite Launch Angle (LA) to complement their EV figures, but it is given in terms of degrees. Am I evaluating a baseball player or trying to find the hypotenuse of an isosceles […]