Some of this is being repeated from the Primer piece that went up this morning. 

We’re bringing them to you earlier this year, but that also means that they’re far from set in stone so take that into consideration as you peruse them. There are still strong arms on the free agent market, let alone all the moving and shaking that happens once players start reporting to camp.

• Outfielder (Jan. 18)
• Starting Pitcher (Jan. 20)
• Shortstop (Jan. 22)
• First Base (Jan. 25)
• Catcher (Jan. 26-today)
• Second Base (Jan. 27)
• Third Base (Jan. 28)
• DH (Jan. 29)
• Reliever (Jan. 29 courtesy of the Bullpen Report crew)

We’re using Yahoo! eligibility requirements which is 5 starts or 10 appearances. These rankings assume the standard 5×5 categories and a re-draft league.  If we forgot someone, please let us know in the comments and we’ll make sure he’s added for the updates. If you have questions for a specific ranker on something he did, let us know in the comments.

We can also be reached via Twitter:

• Paul Sporer
• Jeff Zimmerman
• Zach Sanders
• Mike Podhorzer
• Dan Schwartz
• Brad Johnson
• Paul Kastava

There will be differences, sharp differences, within the rankings. The rankers have different philosophies when it comes to ranking, some of which you’re no doubt familiar with through previous iterations. Of course the idea that we’d all think the same would be silly because then what would be the point of including multiple rankers?!

Think someone should be higher or lower? Make a case. Let us know why you think that. Like I said, it’s early. Things are going to change.

The chart is sortable and by default it’s sorted by AVG. If a ranker didn’t rank someone that the others did, he was given that ranker’s last rank +1. That would be 38 for Zach, 36 for Mike, 38 for Brad, 53 for me, and 46 for Paul K. Everyone in the top 50 (let’s be honest, we probably only needed a top 30 here) were on the lists of Jeff and Dan so they don’t have any +1s. They are indicated in red on the chart.

I was the only one to rank to Tom Murphy from Colorado and I slotted him 38th. Just wanted to mention that.

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Episode 301

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

• Follow us on Twitter
  • @sporer
  • @JasonCollette
• Please Rate & Review on iTunes
• Notable Transactions/Rumors
  • Yoenis Cespedes to NYM (3:20)
• Strategy/Player Section
  • SP Ranks (8:28)
    • 2 guys Jason is higher on
      • Carlos Carrasco (11:00)
      • Carlos Rodon (15:44)
    • 2 guys Jason is lower on
      • Jake Arrieta (18:40)
      • Noah Syndergaard (23:30)
  • SS Ranks (26:05)
    • 1 guy Jason is higher on
      • Didi Gregorius (29:00)
    • 1 guy Jason is lower on
      • Francisco Lindor (31:24)
    • Carlos Correa (36:19)
    • Corey Seager (38:30)
    • Brandon Crawford (41:25)
    • Starlin Castro (43:20)
    • Ketel Marte (46:33)
• Twitter/Email Questions
  • Zac (email): Young arms (49:54)
  • Justin (email): Yu Darvish (52:44)
• Off-Topic
  • Movies (58:05)

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The Detroit Tigers were one of the big surprises last season finishing last in the AL Central. Coming into this week, left field was one of the competitions we were going to write about for the Tigers. Then the Tigers did what the Tigers do and signed a big named free agent to cover that hole in Justin Upton. As you could predict, Tiger’s management made some noise this off-season to fill some of their holes sufficiently, including the Upton signing and also the Jordan Zimmerman signing. They also acquired Cameron Maybin and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, which will impact the playing time for their respective positions.

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Some of this is being repeated from the Primer piece that went up this morning. 

We’re bringing them to you earlier this year, but that also means that they’re far from set in stone so take that into consideration as you peruse them. There are still superstars on the free agent market, let alone all the moving and shaking that happens once players start reporting to camp.

We’re using Yahoo! eligibility requirements which is 5 starts or 10 appearances. These rankings assume the standard 5×5 categories and a re-draft league.  If we forgot someone, please let us know in the comments and we’ll make sure he’s added for the updates. If you have questions for a specific ranker on something he did, let us know in the comments. We can also be reached via Twitter:

• Paul Sporer
• Jeff Zimmerman
• Zach Sanders
• Mike Podhorzer
• Dan Schwartz
• Brad Johnson
• Paul Kastava

There will be differences, sharp differences, within the rankings. The rankers have different philosophies when it comes to ranking, some of which you’re no doubt familiar with through previous iterations. Of course the idea that we’d all think the same would be silly because then what would be the point of including multiple rankers?!

Think someone should be higher or lower? Make a case. Let us know why you think that. Like I said, it’s early. Things are going to change.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the departure of Francisco Rodriguez, the Milwaukee closer role is Will Smith’s to lose. Smith took big steps last season improving his K%, BB%, ERA (or FIP, if that’s more your cup of tea), HR/9, and K:BB%. Smith is trending in the right direction with all of these metrics.

The main reason it would seem that Smith has improved so well is his pitch selection. Smith started using his fastball less, particularly his 2-seamer, and increased the usage of his slider, which is by far his most effective pitch. Outside of 2012, his wSL has been his most positive pitch, combining for 16.1 runs above average for the past three years. His fastball, on the other hand, has graded out at negative 21.4 over the past four years. Could he become the next Andrew Miller?

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It’s cliche, but January is as good a time as ever to consider changing some behaviors (probably in response to learning from our mistakes).  Let’s dive into how this annual opportunity to manufacture inspiration can help us improve our fantasy trade skills by reviewing why we trade in the first place.

The foundation of trade is mutual gain.  It really is that simple.  Whether we’re discussing economics or fantasy sports, trade is beneficial because it enables each party to get more of what they want at a (perceived) cost lower than what they could produce it for themselves.

If trade is mutually beneficial, it stands to reason you should consider doing it more often.  In the context of your Ottoneu league (where trading is active and sophisticated), if you’re going to make more trades, you’re going to have to make more trade offers.  Some owners are reluctant to make trade offers, so let me encourage you to live a little more dangerously this year because, in addition to improving your roster, making trade offers will provide you with a lot of additional benefits.

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So, what is Ottoneu?

Ottoneu is a smarter, better brand of fantasy baseball.  By design, it’s a fantasy platform engineered for the hardcore baseball fan that doesn’t enjoy the term “off season”.  Ottoneu is the perfect fit for FanGraphs readers looking to join a competitive fantasy baseball league with a lot of cool features, a sabermetric-economy, and a massive community of raving fans.

You can read first-year feedback from Ottoneu players here.  You can also learn a lot more about the game from the FAQ, but here are the top 10 reasons you should consider joining or moving your fantasy baseball league to Ottoneu this year:

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Episode 296

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

•  Notable Transactions
  • Drew Storen / Ben Revere trade
  • Denard Span to SF
  • Edwin Jackson to MIA

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Episode 295

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

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris are back for 2016! It’s the first episode of the year and the guys have a few signings to discuss including Kenta Maeda, Scott Kazmir, and Alex Gordon. They also talk about two recent pieces from Eno:

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The Nationals have been attached to rumors for a variety of the top free agent starters this offseason, most recently with both Mike Leake and Scott Kazmir. Perhaps those rumors come from a genuine interest, but I speculate that at least a part of them stems from the star power that already exists at the top of their rotation. Last offseason, the Nationals had four excellent starters with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and Doug Fister, and then they added Max Scherzer on top of them. That rotation and not Bryce Harper was the reason most analysts believed the Nationals would win the NL East. If the rich could get richer last year, perhaps they could again this year.

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