Nicholas Castellanos - Unfortunate Barreler of Baseballs

In 2017, Nicholas Castellanos made outs on 17 of his barrels, which led Major League Baseball. In 2018, Castellanos again made outs on 17 of his barrels, which led Major League Baseball. Even stranger, it was a continuation from the 2016 season, when Castellanos barreled up 13 outs, which ranked ninth and was also the most of […]

Twins To Use Martin Perez As Starter

The Minnesota Twins plan to use starting pitcher Martin Perez in their rotation in 2019. It makes the left-hander more attractive for fantasy purposes, but only as a dollar late-round flier in deep AL-only leagues. Perez was 2-7 last year for the Rangers with an ugly 6.22 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and 52 strikeouts in 85 […]

Top 420: Points Leagues Tiered Staff Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers. Today we are here to start looking at points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) formats. In this column, you will find our staff's preliminary 2019 fantasy baseball points league rankings for January and the top 420 players. Over the next few days, we will also be publishing individual tiered rankings analysis columns for each […]

Twins Agree With Martin Perez

The Minnesota Twins agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with free-agent starting pitcher Martin Perez. The deal also includes a team option for 2020. The 27-year-old left-hander has pitched the last seven seasons with the Rangers and went an ugly 2-7 with a 6.22 ERA in 2018, missing some time with an injury to […]

Jorge Soler - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

You’ve probably heard this one before, but for the umpteenth time, Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Soler is officially on sleeper watch. The 26-year-old has been flirting with a breakthrough ever since he made the move to the American League in 2016. Amid their World Series run, the Cubs were happy to part ways with […]

Ronald Guzman - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Texas Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman was regarded as another one of the powerful young lefty bats in Texas (see: Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara), even though he had never hit more than 16 home runs in the minors (2016 in Double-A/Triple-A). While the power was not there in the minors, Guzman did have a […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 3 - Statcast for Hitters

If you've watched a baseball broadcast in the so-called Statcast Era, you have undoubtedly noticed the broadcasters commenting on a batted ball's exit velocity, or EV. Many have taken to using stats like Hard% and Soft% to forecast how a player should be performing, expecting larger Hard% rates to produce larger BABIP and HR/FB figures. […]

2019 Outfielders - Early Fantasy Baseball Rankings

Outfield is a unique position in the fantasy world. The best of the best reside in the outfield, with our consensus top two picks and nine of the top 25 overall players making this list. On the other hand, it is by far the deepest and easiest to gain late-round value if you choose to […]

2019 Relief Pitchers - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

A tough position to evaluate is that of relief pitchers, as a lot of success for closers comes from success from teams. There are also a lot of bullpens by committee these days, further stifling the value of closers. That being said, only four of the pitchers that ranked in the top-10 in saves in […]

AL-Only Deeper League Draft Targets

Objectively, deep-league AL or NL-only fantasy baseball is the best format to play this summer. For one, NL-only leagues are the original formats of fantasy baseball. If readers are not into history, the strategy should also convince them to jump in. With both an expanded and limited player pool, the unique challenges of balancing depth […]

2019 Third Basemen - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the third base position. Even though it is only January, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings […]

2019 Starting Pitcher - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. The sun is still rising on 2019, but RotoBaller writers JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli and myself are here with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these […]

Nomar Mazara Avoids Arbitration

Texas Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $3.3 million deal, according to sources. The 23-year-old has been very consistent by hitting exactly 20 home runs in each of his first three seasons in the big leagues. He also added a .258/.317/.436 slash line and 77 RBI in […]

2019 Catchers - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

Catcher is a tough position to evaluate, as many teams utilize multiple catchers and it is rare for one to play 140 or more games in a season. Wear and tear as a backstop limits offensive value for sure, but there are still a group of solid catchers that can contribute in multiple categories. Beyond […]

2019 Second Base - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. Even though we are just coming off ringing in the new year, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, and Chris Zolli have wasted to time coming up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values […]

Shelby Miller Agrees With Rangers

The Texas Rangers agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent starting pitcher Shelby Miller on Wednesday. League sources confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan that the deal is worth $2 million with performance bonuses that could bring it up to $5 million. The 28-year-old right-hander dealt with injuries in his three seasons with the Diamondbacks and […]

2019 First Basemen - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the first base position. Even though it is only January, RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings […]

2019 Shortstops - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to kick off RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series with the ever-so-glamorous shortstop position. Shortstop is rich at the top and while it boasts intriguing depth, this is not a position to wait on, especially if you also have a middle-infield […]

Top 660: Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings (January)

Welcome back RotoBallers, and Happy New Year! Below you will find our staff's early 2019 fantasy baseball tiered rankings (top 660) for mixed leagues. In case you missed it, you can also see our tiered positional rankings as well. Four of our lead fantasy baseball analysts - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, JB Branson and Chris Zolli - have analyzed the MLB offseason moves and […]

Teoscar Hernandez - Promising or Pretender?

Every new beginning signifies an end elsewhere. This was the case for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez last season. The hard-hitting righty broke through in more ways than one in his first full year in the big leagues, finishing with a .239/.302/.468 line, and most importantly 22 home runs. The path to the plate […]

Everything You Need to Know About Brandon Nimmo

You must be a fan of cliffhangers if you’ve been following New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo. After an offseason of trade talk, fantasy owners breathed a sigh of relief when it was Wilson Ramos announced as the team's newest cash signing, rather than the potential Nimmo - J.T. Realmuto deal proposed between the Mets and […]

Top 10 Dynasty First Basemen - Fantasy Baseball Prospects

It might seem like I drew the short straw among the prospect analysts here at RotoBaller, but I actually picked this assignment! You won’t see many of these names on top 100 lists. Despite being one of the positions from which teams expect to get the most offensive production, first base gets the least amount […]

Joey Gallo Won't Play Third Base In 2019

Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said that outfielder/first baseman Joey Gallo will not play third base next year despite the team trading away infielder Jurickson Profar. Texas prefers Gallo either in the outfielder or at first base. So Gallo will not be adding third base eligibility back to his name next year, unfortunately. The […]

A's Acquire Jurickson Profar In Three-Team Trade

The Oakland Athletics acquired infielder Jurickson Profar from the Texas Rangers on Friday in a deal that also included the Tampa Bay Rays, according to league sources. The Rangers will receive pitcher Brock Burke, infielder Eli White, Kyle Bird, Yoel Espinal and international money from the Rays, while the Rays will receive reliever Emilio Pagan, […]

Please Let Brandon Belt Get Traded

A report recently came to light that the San Francisco Giants were making first baseman and owner of a genuine super-beard, Brandon Belt, available in trades. Apparently, there are teams interested in the oft-injured slugger, despite the whopping $48 million due to him over the next three years. It’s not terribly surprising that Belt is available, […]

Phillies Could Pursue Mike Minor

The Philadelphia Phillies could pursue a trade for Texas Rangers starting pitcher Mike Minor, according to sources. The 30-year-old swingman had a 4.18 ERA and 7.6 K/9 as a starter last year for Texas and was also solid for the Royals in 2017 as a reliever (2.55 ERA, 10.2 K/9). The left-hander is also signed […]

2018 Baseball Winter Meetings - Wednesday/Thursday Recap

MLB Winter Meetings are ending in Las Vegas, Nevada and the headline-grabbing moves have come from relatively unknown places. Players like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, J.T. Realmuto, and Noah Syndergaard were rumored to be traded or signed, yet none of those moves materialized. What did occur over the last two days, though, were some solid […]

Padres Discussing Trade For Jurickson Profar

The San Diego Padres are discussing a potential trade for Texas Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar, but no deal is imminent, according to sources. The Friars are in the market for an infielder who can cover at the 6 until their top prospect, Fernando Tatis Jr., is ready for the big leagues next year. Profar can […]

Rangers Agree With Lance Lynn

The Texas Rangers agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with free-agent starting pitcher Lance Lynn on Wednesday, according to a source. Texas is hoping Lynn can bounce back after he disappointed with a 4.77 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 161 K's in 156 2/3 innings over 31 outings (29 starts) between the Twins and Yankees. […]

A's Talking About Jurickson Profar

The Oakland Athletics are among the teams talking to the Texas Rangers about a trade for infielder Jurickson Profar, according to sources. Profar would be an option to play the keystone if free-agent second baseman Jed Lowrie signs elsewhere on the open market. Franklin Barreto is also an internal possibility. Profar was a post-hype breakout […]