Top 600: Dynasty League Fantasy Baseball Rankings

What's up RotoBallers. Today we are bringing you our top 600 fantasy baseball dynasty rankings for the 2018 MLB season. Dynasty leagues, or keeper formats, are becoming more and more popular in the fantasy sports landscape. For those of you who are playing in dynasty formats, or are interested in long-term valuations of fantasy players, this is […]

Champ or Chump - Willie Calhoun and Ronald Acuna

Our friends at FantasyPros have started offering composite Average Draft Position (ADP) data from the earliest 2018 drafts. Currently, data is only available from FanTrax and NFBC, but other popular platforms such as Yahoo!, RTSports, and CBS will be added as it becomes available. ADP is influenced by the host site's default rankings, so composite […]

Nick Mariano's 2018 Draft Sleepers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. It's everyone's favorite pre-draft word to throw around and likely threatens to take the top spot on some Google Analytics the closer we get to that premier fantasy baseball draft season. Yup, we're talking about sleepers. But let's just get this out of the way: […]

Should Fantasy Managers Swipe Left and Chase Steals?

Steals are an important statistic in fantasy baseball. They represent 10% of scoring categories in 5x5 leagues and earn an equivalent value or more to singles, runs and RBI in points leagues. Comparing runs and stolen bases, the fantasy significance of a steal is certainly overvalued versus its real baseball relevance. The Run Expectancy table […]

2018 First Basemen - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the first base position. RotoBaller writers Kyle Richardson, Chris Zolli, and I have come up with our pre-season rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. In a dynasty league, it can be tough to decide between a proven veteran or a high-upside […]

Domingo Santana Rankings Debate: Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

We continue our series of articles debating the overall ranking of some of the most fantasy-relevant players of the 2018 baseball season with a player that may be on the move soon. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Domingo Santana is an early pick sure to garner a lot of attention after his breakout season. RotoBaller's expert writers […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 3 - Statcast for Batters

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. […]

Three Up, Three Down - 2018 Catcher Prospects

It's time to do some catching up with catcher prospects. Every year it seems that catcher prospects have the most dramatic changes — both positive and negative — in their perceived value and potential out of any other position player prospects. This year is no different, as some former first-round picks now teeter on the […]

Rangers Have Discussed Deal With Elvis Andrus

Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, who can opt out of his eight-year contract either of the next two years, said there haven't been any formal conversations with the team about a contract extension. However, a source said general manager Jon Daniels has briefly talked with Andrus' agent, Scott Boras, about a new deal that would […]

Rangers Unlikely To Reunite With Yu Darvish

Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said it's unlikely that the team will sign free-agent starter pitcher Yu Darvish or any of the other big-name free-agent pitchers. "We've maintained contact with Darvish, but I think it's unlikely we'll bring in one of the upper-end pitchers," Daniels said. Darvish went 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.17 […]

2018 Dynasty Baseball Strategy - Discovering Closers

When looking to develop talent in a dynasty league, there are two paths to follow. The first is to select prospects. The depth of your league will determine how far you have to reach into the minors. In a 12-team league, you're probably looking to find the next Fernando Tatis Jr. In a 20-team league, […]

January Expert Mock Draft Analysis - Best of the Rest

Here at RotoBaller, 12 of our expert writers recently took part in an early mock draft for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. We've already shared those draft results, including our big board from RT Sports, accompanied by a series of articles analyzing each round. Here's the complete list of recaps, in case you missed it: Round 1 […]

Jon Niese Signs with Rangers

The Texas Rangers signed free-agent relief pitcher Jon Niese to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The former Yankee and Met will try to resurrect his career after missing all of 2017 due to complications from knee surgery. The 31-year-old Niese is now three full seasons from his last effective campaign in […]

Delino DeShields to Compete for Starting Job

Texas Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields has worked hard in the offseason to improve his defense in center field, and Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram believes that he is likely to win the starting job in spring training. With the Rangers missing out on outfielder Lorenzo Cain, who ultimately signed a five-year, $80 million deal with […]

January Expert Mock Analysis - Rounds 16-23

From the middle rounds, we segue into the tail-end of our early bird mock draft. The 12-team draft was done by RotoBaller’s MLB writers with order as follows: Chris Zolli, Harris Yudin, Troy Klauder, Kevin Luchansky, Pierre Camus, Max Petrie, Nick Mariano, Max Brill, Connor McEleney, Kyle Bishop, Mario Hernandez, and Andrew Le. As mentioned […]

January Expert Mock Analysis - Rounds 10-15

Spring training is getting closer and the RotoBaller MLB team opened up our first bags of peanuts and cracker jacks with a 12-team mock draft last week. For consideration, this 23-round mock draft was a traditional 5x5 league consisting of nine pitcher spots and the rest starting offensive slots (including two catchers). The lack of […]

2018 Relief Pitchers - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It's time to round out our early points league rankings with a look at the bullpen. Relief pitcher values will fluctuate greatly throughout the season, so choosing wisely on draft day can save you a lot of grief. Here are the first round of RotoBaller’s 2018 fantasy baseball points league rankings for relief pitcher in the month […]

2018 Catchers - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

If you play in a head-to-head points league, or season long format, you already know how difficult it can be to find fantasy analysis tailored to the format. Not only are the traditional rotisserie and head-to-head arrangements more popular, but the very nature of points leagues makes them difficult to cover in a general sense […]

Preston Claiborne Signs Minor League Deal With Indians

Right-handed pitcher Preston Claiborne has signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians, which includes an invitation to spring training. Claiborne appeared in just one game last season at the major league level, but he pitched well in Triple-A. In 38 Triple-A appearances, he put up a sparkling 1.89 ERA. The 30-year-old will be […]

2018 Outfield - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

I have the honor of tackling the ever-so-deep class of outfielders for you, the esteemed points-league owner. We realize that many sites tailor their analysis toward the standard rotisserie league, but we love everyone equally. That said, we have to recognize that standard 5x5 categories are also much easier to create white-label rankings that anyone […]

2018 Shortstop - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

If you play in a head-t0-head points league, or season long format, you already know how difficult it can be to find fantasy analysis tailored to the format. Not only are the traditional rotisserie and head-to-head arrangements more popular, but the very nature of points leagues makes them difficult to cover in a general sense […]

2018 Third Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

If you play in a head-t0-head points league, or season long format, you already know how difficult it can be to find fantasy analysis tailored to the format. Not only are the traditional rotisserie and head-to-head arrangements more popular, but the very nature of points leagues makes them difficult to cover in a general sense […]

Carlos Gomez Interested In Re-Signing

Free-agent outfielder Carlos Gomez is interested in re-signing with the Texas Rangers, and he rode a helicopter Tuesday across the island of the Dominican Republic to meet with general manager Jon Daniels. The 32-year-old Gomez hit only .255 with a .340 on-base percentage and .802 OPS in 105 games with the Rangers in 2017 and […]

2018 Dynasty Baseball Strategy - Basic Asset Valuation

Dynasty baseball is a beautiful thing. In a redraft league, everybody is trying to win now. You all have the same goal. Dynasty formats allow for long-term planning. If your team is competitive, you'll value players differently than a rebuilding owner. This discrepancy makes it much easier to find mutually beneficial trades. Unfortunately, this same […]

2018 Strikeout Risers and Fallers - What We Learned

For the second straight season, we witnessed the highest strikeout totals in MLB history. There was an average of 8.25 strikeouts per MLB game in 2017, up from 8.03 strikeouts per game in 2016. Strikeouts have increased in baseball every year since 2005, and there is no indication that this trend will reverse any time […]

Using xwOBA as a Predictive Tool for Hitters

With spring training on the horizon, fantasy baseball draft season is in sight, as well. That means it’s time to pore over rankings, go through countless mock drafts, and do plenty of research trying to find that diamond in the rough other owners are undervaluing. Luckily, more statistics are available than ever before to determine […]

2018 Second Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

Aside from catcher, second base is amongst the shallowest positions heading into the 2018 season. Assuming a standard 10-12 team league, depending on the bench size it makes sense to roster only one 2B upon conclusion of your draft. If you can’t scoop up Jose Altuve, Jose Ramirez or Anthony Rizzo, you may need to […]

2018 First Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

If you play in a head-to-head points league, or season long format, you already know how difficult it can be to find fantasy analysis tailored to the format. Not only are the traditional rotisserie and head-to-head arrangements more popular, but the very nature of points leagues makes them difficult to cover in a general sense […]

Willie Calhoun is Coming...

Last season, the Rangers surprised the baseball world by trading superstar Yu Darvish to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a return that, at the time, was deemed pretty sparse. The centerpiece was a little known, and maybe lesser-appreciated infielder named Willie Calhoun. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 MLB draft, Calhoun started his […]

Top 100: MLB Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

Prospects. For any fantasy baseball enthusiast, it's all about knowing about the prospects, rookies and call-ups. More than any other sport, baseball offers a fresh influx of rookie talent every year, both before and during the MLB season. And adding the right guy at the right time can be a league winner (see Aaron Judge and […]