Second Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to carry on RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the keystone position. Traditionally a scarce position in fantasy, second base has truly risen over the past few years, and truthfully I'd be happy […]

First Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

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 for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the hard-hitting first base position. Traditionally a power haven, first base has a fairly clear top three tiers and then the floor starts to […]

Is Punting Steals a Viable Draft Strategy in 2019?

For readers who tune in to watch MLB games regularly, the phrase “small ball is dead” is becoming more and more the cliche. Managers do not feel the need to run as much, there is a decreasing rate of sacrifice bunts, and above all, no more hit-and-run as a primary offensive tactic. While many factors […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Danny Jansen and Ozzie Albies

With fewer data points to go off of, younger players have always been more challenging to project than their more veteran counterparts. Unfortunately, the game is getting younger. Fantasy owners need to roster at least a few young studs if they hope to compete. Danny Jansen may not have impressed in his brief MLB debut […]

Trevor Williams - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

After being acquired by the Pirates from the Marlins in 2015, Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Trevor Williams made his MLB debut in 2016 and then pitched 150 1/3 innings in 2017. While it was good that the Pirates got a viable pitcher for a minor leaguer that has yet to pitch an inning for the […]

A.J. Pollock to the Dodgers - Fantasy Impact

The merry-go-round that is the Dodgers' offseason continued on Thursday, as it was announced that A.J. Pollock is signing in Los Angeles on a four-year $55-million dollar contract. It always seemed likely the Dodgers could add another outfielder, but the thought was that it was more likely to be Bryce Harper who signed in Los […]

NL-Only Deep 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 were the original formats of fantasy baseball. With both an expanded and limited player pool, the unique challenges of balancing depth with team need come to the fore. While this writer might be in the minority, I […]

Brian Dozier to Nationals - Fantasy Impact

In mid-January, the Nationals inked Brian Dozier to a one-year, $9M contract. Following a disappointing season in which he was hobbled by a knee injury, the veteran second baseman will try to re-establish himself in the pursuit of a long-term contract next off-season as he heads into his age-32 season. It is worth noting that […]

2019 Points League Draft Strategy - Fantasy Baseball

When discussing fantasy baseball. An often neglected-but-entertaining format is the points league. These exist in both cumulative season-long and weekly head-to-head formats. While existential debates about scoring categories and their true depiction of player worth are endless, points leagues arguably get closest to the objective of sabermetrics. Points leagues attempt to define a player’s contribution […]

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 […]

Jake Cave - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Bouncing around from the Yankees to the Reds before he found a home in Minnesota, Twins outfielder Jake Cave made his MLB debut in 2018. After a 2017 season where he had a .305/.351/.542 slash line in the minors with the Yankees, Cave was sent to Triple-A with the Twins after he was acquired, posting […]

Freddy Peralta - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freedy Peralta only had a 6-4 record and 4.25 ERA after being called up from the minor leagues in 2018. In his 14 starts, he allowed at least three earned runs in seven of them and walked multiple batters in 11 starts. All of that being said, Peralta is lauded as […]

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 […]

Brian Dozier - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier entered the 2018 season bolted in as a top-five 2B in fantasy baseball after posting four consecutive seasons with 100 or more runs scored, 20 or more homers, and at least 12 stolen bases. While there was a bit of a step back in the power department for Dozier […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - National League Central

Now that the National League East and all their moves have been covered, it's time to look at the NL Central and discuss the lack of movement in that division. Several teams in the NL Central could benefit from strengthening their relief corps, yet only one team has made any noise in free agency or […]

Mallex Smith - 2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a safe speed option on your fantasy roster that doesn’t completely drain all your other roto categories. With the sport changing to selling out for power instead of hitting for average and playing small ball, stolen bases have been a lost art. Not counting the strike-shortened 1981 and 1994 […]

AL Rookies to Target in 2019 Mixed Redraft Leagues

As the New Year has finally come, and fantasy football is over, at last, fantasy baseball draft season is right around the corner. With that comes mock drafts, draft previews, ADP analysis, and of course, player recommendations. This article will help owners get ready by looking to the American League All-Star team of rookies to […]

NL Rookies to Target in 2019 Mixed Redraft Leagues

As the New Year has finally come, and fantasy football is over, at last, fantasy baseball draft season is right around the corner. With that comes mock drafts, draft previews, ADP analysis, and of course, player recommendations. This article will help owners get ready by looking to the National League All-Star team of rookies to […]

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 […]

Willy Adames - The Breakout Is Coming

Major League Baseball is becoming dominated by young talent. Every year a new crop of players come into the league and show off their mouth-watering skill set. Just take a look at RotoBaller’s positional rankings, and you see players that are in their mid-20s or younger are among the top of every position. The youth […]

DJ LeMahieu to Yankees - Fantasy Impact

The Yankees needed to fill a void in their infield with Didi Gregorius likely to miss the first four months of the season and Troy Tulowitzki being unreliable to say the least. New York was (and still is?) heavily linked to superstar Manny Machado, but it was another former All-Star that the Yankees inked on Jan. […]

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 […]

Phillies Emerge As Favorites For Bryce Harper

The Philadelphia Phillies have emerged as the favorites to sign free-agent outfielder Bryce Harper after meeting face-to-face with him in Las Vegas on Saturday, according to three officials. Nationals executives are now calling a reunion with Harper a "long shot." The Phillies have yet to make a formal offer to Harper but are confident that […]

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 […]

Anthony Rendon Receives Hefty Raise

Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $18.8 million deal. Because Rendon doesn't have elite power for a corner infielder -- he's yet to top 30 home runs in six seasons -- he's in the back end of the conversation for the top 10 fantasy third […]

Trea Turner Avoids Arbitration

Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $3.725 million deal, according to sources. Turner is mainly useful for his speed (89 steals the last two years), but he also hit .271/.344/.416 with a career-high 19 homers and 73 RBI in 2019. His 20-homer, 40-steal upside firmly puts […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - National League East

Last year's Bullpen Outlook got started with the American League, so let's take the National League on first this time around. Some signings and trades have made a splash in the bullpens of the NL East, and there may still be more to come. With some top free agent closers and setup men still looking […]

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 […]