If you’re just joining us, here are the previous ranks for first base, third base, catcher, and outfielders. We’ll get right back to our regularly scheduled programming of shortstop rankings and all the tiers you’re totally used to but first, a public service announcement.

There are many ways to improve your fantasy play, whether through strategy or player analysis but there are two (relatively) simple things that any player can do to dramatically up their game. They may not guarantee a championship but they will set you up for success by greatly raising your fantasy floor and helping shed any draft-day stress. And in your average home league with a normal distribution of fantasy expertise, this floor will often put you leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Read the rest of this entry »

“Must…hit…publish…before nine more transactions force more revisions.” We have no time for chit-chat.

Okay, a little chit-chat. I left the high-priced guys behind for analysis and mostly focused on pockets for particular categorical values, sticking to players taken in the latter parts of drafts. If you’re just joining us, here are the ranks for first base, third base, and catcher. Read the rest of this entry »

Feeling more and more down with every bit of news regarding MLB still locking out the players? Starting to wonder whether a full cancellation of the 2022 season could actually (seriously??) really be on the table? Waking up every night in a cold sweat after yet another nightmare in which you’ve quantum-leaped yourself back to 1994 and your middle school brain just can’t comprehend that there might not be baseball any time soon?

Well, lucky for you, there is only one topic red-hot enough to get your mind off of those no-baseball blues…Splits talk!

Being bad enough against a hand to be moved into a full platoon is obviously the worst-case scenario but there is also a lot of gray area before a full timeshare where fantasy value still gets sucked away by lower spots in the order and erratic playing time. Let’s talk about a few of them.

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More than any other position, how I approach drafting catchers will depend on my current roster construction as much as the actual player. Sometimes the “best” player available (according to my values) just won’t be a viable option given the state of my team stats prior.

With that in mind, here are my top-40 catchers for 2022. If you’re just joining us, you can find the first base ranks here and third base here. Read the rest of this entry »

Briefly taking the baton from Alex Sonty, the question of whether to draft Justin Verlander certainly isn’t a binary one, as his fantasy life in 2022 will be driven by both the quality and health of his arm. And those are some pretty big questions to answer considering he’s only pitched six innings over the past two seasons. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello, there, I’m Dante and I’ll be your guide through this third base of fantasy value. If you missed out on first base and want to read why I’m including my projections with these rankings, please turn to page 182. But to continue your adventure down this path, just keep straight ahead.

Without further ado, here are my top-29 3B for 2022. Why just 29? Because that’s how many third basemen qualify in my values, you silly goose. Read the rest of this entry »

Draft season is getting in full swing so let’s start going around the field. Below are the first run of my first base rankings, split into tiers and including my projections for the classic categories. But also, let’s be real; we barely know each other and I doubt you’ll be blindly trusting my numbers. However, they form the basis of the dollar values that I base my ranks on, so I might as well include them.

Given a (proper) level of projection hesitancy, I’ll also be comparing my numbers to some of the reputable projection systems that you know and love, in spots where our gaps of disagreement are larger.  Not as a critique of them, mind you, but just to add context. But really, I think this is just the most efficient way to give everyone plenty of ammunition to roast me with later. Read the rest of this entry »

There are a myriad of differences between valuing players and general drafting strategy for a 15-team (or deeper) league versus a 12-team (or shallower) league but I believe the starkest ones lie at reliever. Since this makes doing ‘one-size fits all” rankings particularly difficult, here are a few notes about how I approached them. Read the rest of this entry »

After moving from the happy-fun ball era to the great deadening of 2021, it’s hard to know how bouncy the ball will be in 2022. Particularly after MLB admitted to using two different kinds of balls in 2021 due to production delays. But I’d bet the old, fun times aren’t coming back and consequentially don’t want to depend on finding power just laying around in the back part of drafts.

With that in mind, and using a 200 ADP in recent NFBC drafts as our cutoff, let’s look at a few players who could be valuable wells of power in 2022. Here are a few common terms:

Barrel% (from BaseballSavant): “to be Barrelled, a batted ball requires an exit velocity of at least 98 mph. At that speed, balls struck with a launch angle between 26-30 degrees always garner Barreled classification. For every mph over 98, the range of launch angles expands.”

Air% (average EV): The average exit velocity balls hit in the air (fly balls + line drives)

Air% (100+ mph): Percentage of balls hit in the air with a minimum exit velocity of 100 mph.

Barrel% (100+ mph): Percentage of barrels with a minimum exit velocity of 100 mph. Not all barrels are created equal and while there are many great ways to chop them up, I’m not as bright as Alex so I also check in on this simple distinction.

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The age of the reliever is going to continue in 2022, if early ADP is any indication, with much of the position gaining steam as we move deeper into the offseason. And given how diluted the position continues to be as saves get less concentrated by each individual, is it that surprising?

Whether for saves now, or rare-earth metals in a dystopian future, it’ll usually behoove you to adjust your expectations about what people are willing to do when it comes to acquiring scarce resources.

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