Nationals Sign First-Rounder Cade Cavalli

The Washington Nationals signed Oklahoma pitcher Cade Cavalli, their first-round pick (22nd overall), to his rookie deal on Friday. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but the Nationals have room to go above the designated $3.027 million slot value for the 22nd overall pick. Cavalli was the fourth straight pitcher the team has taken in […]

Overvalued and Undervalued Shortstops in 2020

In the last few seasons, the shortstop position has improved tremendously with the emergence of All-Stars like Alex Bregman, Trea Turner, and Trevor Story. The position has four potential first-round picks, and a staggering ten picks in the top 40 according to NFBC. By comparison, second base and third base have five players each in […]

MLB Draft Review and More with Chris Welsh - Bases Loaded Podcast

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) is joined by Chris Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) and they dive into the MLB draft. 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! Be sure to also tune […]

Nats Agree With Three Undrafted Free Agents

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with three undrafted free agents following the conclusion of the 2020 MLB draft last week. Due to the shortened draft this year, all 30 teams may sign an unlimited number of high school and college players who went undrafted for a maximum of $20,000 each. The Nationals added Rhode […]

Does James Paxton's Spin-Rate Adjustment Matter?

Players frequently enter spring training in, "the best shape of their lives," but offseason programs rarely seem to pay significant dividends. The extended offseason may have provided some players with the opportunity to make unusually significant adjustments this year, though. One example of such an adjustment is Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton, who recently announced that […]

Nats Go With Reliever Holden Powell Among Final Picks

The Washington Nationals selected UCLA pitcher Holden Powell with the 94th overall pick in the third round in the 2020 MLB draft on Thursday. Following Powell, Washington selected Oklahoma catcher Brady Lindsly in the fourth round and San Jacinto College North lefty pitcher Mitchell Parker in the fifth round. Powell is an attractive late-inning reliever […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Underachievers with SIERA (Part 2)

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Lie Detector mini-series (you can read part one here). 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 […]

Nats Going With Prep Shortstop Samuel Infante

The Washington Nationals selected Monsignor Edward Pace High School shortstop Samuel Infante with the 71st overall pick in the second round in the 2020 MLB draft on Thursday. There isn't one specific tool that stands out with Infante, but he was making harder contact at the plate and driving the ball last summer after having […]

Cole Henry Now Donning A Nationals Cap

The Washington Nationals selected LSU pitcher Cole Henry with the 55th overall pick in the second round in the 2020 MLB draft on Thursday. Henry was taken in the 38th round by the Tigers in 2018 because he was asking for first-round money. There have been some arm issues with Henry, but he was one […]

Cade Cavalli Lands With Nationals In First Round

The Washington Nationals selected Oklahoma pitcher Cade Cavalli with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft on Wednesday. There's a lot to like about Cavalli, but he didn't start pitching until his sophomore season in high school and missed most of his senior year with back injuries. He was still taken in the […]

Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: Shortened Season Alters Strategies

The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with in-depth takes on the shortened season from a former MLB executive and current broadcaster. Every year, 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 […]

Point League Busts - Players to Fade

Points leagues can be a whole different ball game from your average roto leagues. When prepping for a points league, whether you're looking at ADP or online rankings, you're likely looking at data that is skewed by standard roto leagues. While it's good as a general starting point, some players simply perform better in one […]

Diving Into Pitch Counts For a Shortened Season

Pitchers who produce a ton of innings are a rare commodity in today’s game, with those who consistently put up 200 or more innings becoming increasingly valuable. However, with a potential shortened 2020 season and no innings limits, will this playing field be leveled? At first thought, one might think that pitchers with assumed limits […]

How to Approach MLB Rookies in 2020 Re-draft Leagues

While the players and owners continue to trade demands for getting the 2020 season on its feet, we're going to turn our attention to fantasy. This article will specifically look at players who have yet to make their major league debut (or come up for more than the proverbial cup of coffee) and how fantasy […]

Fantasy Baseball ADP Risers - Head-Scratching Trends?

Welcome to Part Two of the ADP Risers and Fallers series, where I will examine key changes from March to the present day. If you missed Part One, where I evaluated injured players and prospects, you can read it right here. Those were the easy risers and fallers. In this article, we will delve into […]

Overvalued and Undervalued Starting Pitchers

Spring training is often the time when players start climbing up or freefalling down draft boards. This year, however, without a full spring training to draw from, there is less talk of a pitcher with a new and improved change-up, and fewer managers blowing smoke, influencing fantasy owners. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of value […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Overachievers With SIERA (Part 2)

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Lie Detector mini-series (you can read part one here). 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 […]

Adam Eaton (OF, WAS) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~ 175 CURRENT ADP: ~200 overall ANALYSIS: After two injury-plagued seasons in 2017 and ‘18, Adam Eaton turned in 656 PAs over 151 games last season for a career-high 103 runs, 15 homers, and 15 steals. His average slipped to .279 after hitting .297 and .301 in the past two respective […]

How to Approach High Stakes Leagues in 2020, Part 2

While we await confirmation that there will be a season, and clarity on how it will play out, there's plenty of fantasy baseball prep work to do. Sure, it's impossible to nail down definite strategies or exact player values with so much uncertainty surrounding the season. But we can at least start to figure out […]

Starting Pitcher Draft Sleepers for Fantasy Baseball

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 catcher 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 into […]

Hidden Gems to Watch - 2020 Pitching Prospects

As we continue through this window of uncertainty, the chances of having a “normal” season are getting far less likely. And while we still don’t have any concrete solutions for having a 2020 season, some ideas seem to be more likely than others. Whether implementing regular doubleheaders in a truncated season or a universal designated-hitter, […]

ADP Champ or Chump Spotlight: Bo Bichette

It's easy to joke that the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays will have the last names of a 1990's All-Star team, but the kids have a realistic shot at surpassing their fathers. This author isn't as high on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as most, but Cavan Biggio looks like an advanced hitter with the potential to blend […]

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 […]

Hitters Ready To Break Out Late

Depending on the chosen method of understanding performance declines by age, MLB hitters generally start to decline sometime between the time they turn 28 and 30. Nevertheless, some players can have their best seasons after what is typically a hitter’s peak years. Since many of these hitters have had underwhelming careers before their breakout seasons, […]

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 […]

Milwaukee Brewers: Top 10 Dynasty Prospects

Today, we’re continuing our look at the Top 10 dynasty prospects in each organization with an eye to discovering which organizations are best positioned to succeed with their player development when games resume. Make sure to check out all of our prospect content, including Top 50 for 2020 and Top 250 for Dynasty Leagues. One important question […]

Fantasy Baseball Impact of the Universal DH

With each passing day, we are receiving more news that points to Major Leauge Baseball starting sooner rather than later. Most of the news hints at an 80-100 game season, with the locations of the games still up for debate. There are also some roster changes that are being proposed for this shortened season, one […]

Eliminating Park Factors: Which Pitchers Will Benefit Most

After weeks of half-baked proposals cribbed from rejected "BioDome" scripts, there now seems to be a scrape of light at the end of the no-baseball tunnel. MLB seems to be increasingly confident that a 2020 season will be played, whether it's playing all games in one location (the Arizona plan), playing in multiple warm-weather hubs (Arizona, […]

Using xPA to Evaluate Lineup Movers: Victor Robles

We don't need to talk about how much a player's lineup spot matters. The higher you are, the more times a game you'll bat. Plus, you'll almost necessarily be surrounded by better players. That simply means more opportunities to pile up fantasy stats. Consider Ronald Acuna Jr., who was on pace for 658 plate appearances […]

Infielder Busts Set to Bounce Back in 2020

Fantasy baseball owners tend to put too much emphasis on the previous season when it comes to valuing players. There is a reason projection systems use three years of data, because while last year's numbers are typically the most important thing to consider, what a player has done in the past matters as well. Each […]