I began the year at RotoGraphs by producing a semi-regularly-updated Top 25 prospects list. For the second half of the year and into the offseason, I’ll be rotating expanded Top 10, 12 or 15 lists (on a far more regular basis) by position: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF/RF, CF, RHSP (tier 1), RHSP (tier 2), LHSP. Whether you play traditional formats of fantasy baseball or dynasty/keeper styles (or you’re just a prospect nut like me), you’ll surely find these lists indispensable. You can read the Impact Catchers, the Impact First Basemen, the Impact Second Basemen, the Impact Third Basemen, the Impact Shortstops, the Impact Corner Outfielders, the Impact Center-fielders and the Impact RH Starting Pitchers (Tier 1). Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Roto Riteup is being written while the new version of “Cosmos: A Space Odyssey” plays in the background. Thus far I’m two episodes in and not terribly impressed. Perhaps it picks up in the later episodes.

On today’s agenda:
1. A (Jorge) Soler eclipse of my heart
2. Thoughts on Yusmeiro Petit
3. The daily five

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– Uh oh. The C-word. No, not that C-word. Committee. That is what Bruce Bochy implied is his new closing situation in San Francisco after Thursday’s game. The Giants skipper apparently considered using his “closer” (Santiago Casilla) in the eighth inning, but thought the matchups favored deposed closer Sergio Romo more. Casilla hasn’t racked up the “BS”s since taking over the job, although he has allowed 5 runs over his last 11 appearances. While his ERA is up since the break, his xFIP remains nearly identical. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 160

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other items, along with an interesting tangent or two, Zach Walters; Kyle Ryan; Adam Wainwright; Yadier Molina; Shane Greene; Drew Smyly; the Chicago White Sox’s bullpen; Brandon Finnegan; Masahiro Tanaka; and, by request, possible changes in playing time in the final month for players like Hanley Ramirez.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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• Heads up, the DL list is basically going to become a moot point in a few days when the rosters expand. Teams have no incentive to put a player on the DL unless it is to the 60-day DL to make room on their 40-man roster. I am going to have an unofficial DL list in the MASH Reports until the season’s end so people can know which players will or won’t be available.

Also, read up on players coming off the DL in September. Many will return without being 100%. John Mayberry is one such example. The Phils pretty much say he is still hurt and they don’t know where he will fit into their outfield.

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This article is not really about Rusney Castillo. It’s about you. Well, if you play ottoneu, it is about you.

See, ottoneu does not allow you to bid on Cuban players, college players, etc., until they are signed by an MLB organization. And Rusney Castillo just hit that milestone, leading to a flurry of auctions. And more than 400 teams placed bids on the newest Boston Red Sox outfielder.
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I began the year at RotoGraphs by producing a semi-regularly-updated Top 25 prospects list. For the second half of the year and into the offseason, I’ll be rotating expanded Top 10, 12 or 15 lists (on a far more regular basis) by position: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF/RF, CF, RHSP (tier 1), RHSP (tier 2), LHSP. Whether you play traditional formats of fantasy baseball or dynasty/keeper styles (or you’re just a prospect nut like me), you’ll surely find these lists indispensable. You can read the Impact Catchers, the Impact First Basemen, the Impact Second Basemen, the Impact Third Basemen, the Impact Shortstops, the Impact Corner Outfielders and the Impact Center-fielders. Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago I released a way too early set of hitter projection values. Today, it is the pitchers’ turn. Truthfully, I wasn’t 100% sure I would release them. It requires a person using them to use their brain somewhat. I decided to go ahead and release and hope most people read a few lines of the article to understand how the spreadsheet is set up.

Notes on the data (PLEASE READ)

• I averaged the rest of season Steamer and/or ZIPS projections. Sometimes only one or the other was available so only one was used at times. The rest of season the projections are a good attempt at getting the player’s talent level right now. The values are close to the 2015 projection with the exception of the September numbers.

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In a comment on the post of a recent ep of “The Sleeper and the Bust,” quinceleather asked if there’s a way to play matchups for stolen bases for players like Rajai Davis and Ben Revere. Presumably, this would be for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of a roster spot by maximizing the rates of thievery of that brand of one-category contributor in games, series or weeks in which he has advantageous matchups and then using a different type of player (power hitter, an all-around player, a fringe regular) in place of them at other times.

I don’t think I’d take that approach for a full season. But for a particular period, especially at this point, when there are only about four and a half weeks remaining in the regular season, it could certainly, conceivably be helpful. You want to make up ground in steals, and you can afford to use this kind of method to do it. Someone else is more qualified than me to study whether it would prove to be advantageous for an entire campaign. Read the rest of this entry »

Agenda

1. Are Matchups Important
2. Daily DFS
3. Friday Picks
4. Table

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