2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - AL Outfielders

Everyone knows that in fantasy baseball, values are king. Any of the different terms you might see bandied about - bargain, sleeper, flier, lotto ticket - are all driving at that same basic idea. Obviously, finding the players who can provide a huge return on a modest investment goes a long way toward winning your league. […]

Robinson Chirinos Starting Opening Day

Evan P. Grant reports that catcher Robinson Chirinos will start opening day for the Texas Rangers. Chirinos has had a productive spring, slashing .280/.357/.480 with a home run over 25 at-bats. His spring performance included everything that we have come to expect from the 33-year-old, mainly solid power with a lot of strikeouts. Chirinos is […]

Tommy Joseph Claimed By Rangers

After the Phillies designated first baseman Tommy Joseph for assignment, the Texas Rangers have swooped in and claimed the slugger. The 26-year-old didn't really have a place in Philly with the signing of Carlos Santana and emergence of Rhys Hoskins, and Texas can deploy the unathletic hitter as a pure designated hitter. It is unlikely […]

Shin-Soo Choo (OF, TEX) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~205 CURRENT ADP: 254 ANALYSIS: Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was a pleasant surprise to owners who took a chance on him in 2017. Rebounding from an injury shortened 2016, the 35-year old collected 22 home runs, 12 steals, and 96 runs on a triple-slash of .261/.357/.423. Choo is a model of consistency and […]

Joey Gallo May Hit Second

T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports that the Texas Rangers want to try a few days of Delino DeShields leading off with Joey Gallo following. This is certainly a vote of confidence in the gains that the slugger has made in his hitting approach, but fantasy owners should not get too excited by this news. The […]

Cole Ragans To Have Tommy John Surgery

The Texas Rangers confirmed on Sunday that pitching prospect Cole Ragans (elbow) would be undergoing Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2018 season. The 20-year-old was a first-round pick in 2016 and is one of the Rangers top pitching prospects, mixing a solid fastball and one of the best changeups in the minors. Ragans […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 14 - Statcast For Pitchers

Previously, we looked at Barrels, a stat combining exit velocity and launch angle to measure how often a batter makes quality hard contact. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is some evidence that pitchers do not have the same influence […]

Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2018

Every day from now until Opening Day, our writers will be offering their most audacious projections for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. This is my fourth go-round with this series. I've had some great successes and some equally terrible calls in both previous attempts, and this year should be no different. Hopefully the former outweigh […]

Carlos Gomez (OF, TB) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~310 CURRENT ADP: 351 ANALYSIS: After back-to-back seasons of declining numbers, Gomez quietly had somewhat of a bounce-back season in 2017 with the Rangers — putting up numbers close to those from his 2014 All-Star season. In 105 games last season, 17 home runs, 13 stolen bases and an .802 on-base plus […]

2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - Third Base

Sleeper, draft value, bargain, flier, lotto ticket...whatever your preferred nomenclature, we can all agree that what we're after in our fantasy drafts is value. Obviously, finding the most valuable players leads to winning leagues, but it's also just incredibly satisfying to snag a guy anyone else could've had for a song before he blows up. As […]

Adrian Beltre (3B, TEX) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~85 CURRENT ADP: 124 ANALYSIS: Adrian Beltre should not be going this late in drafts; this is something that everyone should agree on. His 124 ADP is not outrageously low considering his old age, but this is a guy who hit .312 last year with a 138 wRC+ and .384 wOBA, both […]

Delino Deshields (OF, TEX) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~200 CURRENT ADP: 219 ANALYSIS: Texas Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields enters 2018 as an intriguing sleeper. Hype on the speedster reached a fever pitch in 2016, but offensive ineptitude forced the Rangers to demote him. However, he rebounded in 2017 and the diminutive DeShields was one of the best part-time players in the bigs, collecting 29 […]

Updated Relief Pitcher Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

One final time before regular season baseball returns and our lives are, at last, complete, RotoBaller's staff writers are updating their 2018 fantasy baseball rankings. Today, we'll be taking a look at one of the shallower positions - relief pitcher. As usual, there are a few elite options at the top, and it gets much […]

Deeper Third Base Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs

Hooray! Another sleeper article! The RotoBaller team recently updated our third base rankings and commented on the depth of third base this year. Today, we'll go deeper, and deeper into the well. Waaaayy, way down. No argument, there's plenty to like about the upper crop of third basemen. If you're in standard-sized leagues, you should […]

2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - Catcher

In recent years, many fantasy baseball analysts – including yours truly – have wondered about whether the term “sleeper” has much meaning anymore. In an age where there’s more easily accessible information than ever before, it’s unlikely that too many impending superstars are truly flying under everyone’s radar. That doesn’t mean you can’t still find […]

Travis Shaw - The Mayor of Ding Dong City Deserves Your Vote

After beating out the esteemed Pablo Sandoval in Boston for starting third baseman in 2016, Travis Shaw had a decent season for the BoSox (.242/.306/.421, 16 HRs, 63 runs, 71 RBI) but was quickly forgotten by the fantasy community. As he quietly departed for Milwaukee before 2017, Shaw was barely a rumor on draft boards […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 13 - Spin Rate

Spin rate has become one of the most recognizable Statcast metrics, with supporters of a given pitcher highlighting his spin rates to make their case. Unfortunately, the baseball world has done a lousy job conveying what spin rate really means. The result has been a ton of owners who know that spin rate exists, but […]

Cole Hamels Flings Four Strong Innings

Texas Rangers starter Cole Hamels gave up just one run on three hits and two walks over four innings while racking up three strikeouts. It was a veteran performance and provides a glimmer of hope that the 34-year-old still has something in the tank for 2018. Hamels and manager Jeff Banister were seen walking down […]

Willie Calhoun Optioned to Triple-A

In a surprise move, Texas Rangers top prospect Willie Calhoun has been sent down to Triple-A Round Rock. Calhoun was penciled in for the starting left field role and had been getting repetitions at second base as well, but the Rangers have opted to give him some time at Round Rock to start the season. […]

Ronald Guzman Optioned to Triple-A

The Texas Rangers sent first baseman Ronald Guzman down to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday. The 23-year old had a poor showing in spring training, hitting just .125/.258/.208 with a 2/3 BB/K rate. Guzman was a long shot to make the roster to start the year, but his poor performance definitely is cause for concern […]

Third Base H2H Points Rankings - March Update

We are getting closer and closer to the first pitch of the 2018 MLB season. Spring training is in full swing which means we are right in the thick of draft season. If you have a draft coming up soon, make sure to use our rankings for all league types. Regardless of the platform or […]

Updated Shortstop Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

With the regular season only a few weeks away, the esteemed RotoBaller staff has updated their rankings one last time. We continue our review of the March update with a look at the glorious shortstop position. There's a bevy of talented bats ready to be penciled in at the "6" this season, but the sure things draw […]

Post Hype First Basemen Set to Breakout in 2018

A true breakout isn’t hard to predict. Luckily for us, the breakout formula is rather simple: opportunity + talent + efficiency = breakout. The first basemen listed below are players who I think will have top-100 draft stock in 2019 drafts, or, at the very least, will be drafted higher next year because they check […]

Updated Catcher Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

One final time before regular season baseball returns and our lives are, at last, complete, RotoBaller's staff writers are updating their 2018 fantasy baseball rankings. Today, we'll be taking a look at the shallowest position - catcher. As usual, after the few elite options are off the board, it's probably best to leave filling this […]

Using Sabermetrics For Fantasy Baseball Part 12 - Pitch Info

One of the most fundamental questions in fantasy sports is if a player's current performance is sustainable. More than any other sport, baseball has a slew of statistical measures that can be dissected numerous ways to analyze player performance. Pitch Info is a publicly available pitch tracking system that provides a lot of different data […]

Delino DeShields to Start in Center Field

As expected entering spring training, outfielder Delino DeShields has won the Texas Rangers starting center field role to start the 2018 season. What is a little more interesting is that the 25-year-old speedster has also been plugged in as the lineup's leadoff hitter. DeShields was previously identified as a solid sleeper option late in drafts, and […]

Matt Bush Heading Back to Bullpen

T.R. Sullivan reports that the Texas Rangers have informed pitcher Matt Bush that he will be returning to the bullpen to start the season and will not be used as a starter. The former first overall pick had been stretching out all spring, even going so far as to work on a third pitch, but […]

Ottoneu Draft Strategy

Ottoneu is a format that only the fantasy baseball obsessed know about. For years I’ve been eyeing an Ottoneu league but was hesitant to take the plunge; the massive rosters, complex scoring system and year-round commitment were overwhelming, to say the least. But this year I’m ready to make the leap, having signed on with […]

First Base H2H Points Rankings - March Update

Welcome back RotoBallers. With the MLB season just a few short weeks a way, it's time to update our rankings and analysis to account for injuries, free agent signings, spring training risers/fallers and more. We kick off our updated March rankings today with the first base position. Bill Dubiel breaks down each tier and provides analysis […]

Greg Holland an Option for Rangers Closer?

In an article from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, it is reported that the Texas Rangers have considered signing free-agent reliever Greg Holland to bolster their bullpen ahead of the 2018 season. The move would make sense, as Texas has yet to name a closer. Currently, incumbent Alex Claudio is expected to start the season […]