Adding a few new Fantasy Baseball rules and league ideas means adding excitement and change to something that is already awesome. Who doesn’t love that!?!
Adding a few new Fantasy Baseball rules and league ideas means adding excitement and change to something that is already awesome. Who doesn’t love that!?!
Couldn’t we all use a helping hand once in awhile? Especially if it’s free! We love great free Fantasy Baseball draft tools! Why am I always finding new tools?
Who doesn’t love free fantasy baseball tools to use during the season? We list off a bunch of great tools — all free — worth using once the season begins!
There are plenty of reasons why baseball is awesome, but we’ve hammered the list down to just about 50 awesome reasons… for awesomeness.
Fellow Fantasy Baseball writer Benny Ricciardi approached me a couple weeks ago about contributing to his new Fantasy Baseball book, “The Definitive Guide To Fantasy Baseball.” Of course, I was happy to join in! This is an e-book (and paperback book) filled with great content by great writers, like Nando Di Fino, Michael Rathburn, Jake …
Pitching matters. That’s the basic gist of this entire Daily Fantasy Baseball article, if you’d like to save yourself five minutes and move on. Starting pitching matters – specifically – Daily Fantasy Baseball pitchers. This isn’t to just say that starting pitchers matter the most and you should pay the highest salaries. It’s more that – …
Spring Training has officially begun and the Fantasy draft season is here! I thought I’d share with you a mock draft for Fantasy Baseball I did on the free Draft Wizard app powered by FantasyPros. This mock draft tool is just absolutely fantastic – and I think their draft simulator is probably the greatest tool …
The best thing about the new SquadQL Fantasy Baseball app -- besides being FREE! -- is that it helps classic Fantasy Baseball owners that set daily or weekly lineups in their season-long league. I’m so sick of seeing all the Daily Fantasy Baseball apps that help players in that format, but no one offers help for …
This 2018 Fantasy Baseball first base rankings page isn’t your Dad’s first basemen rankings page! This page is comprehensive, full of all sorts of helpful Fantasy Baseball information about the position that will affect your upcoming drafts – and your lineups as we get ready to enter another MLB season. What exactly are you going …
My 2018 Fantasy Baseball catcher rankings page isn’t just your normal “wham, bam, top-35 catcher rankings” page. This page is comprehensive, packed with a ton of information that’s going to help you in your drafts – and probably well into the upcoming MLB season. In this article, you’re going to read about which players changed …
Major League Baseball announced in late January that Chipper Jones and Jim Thome were both first-ballot selections to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the summer of 2018. They'll be joined by Vladimir Guerrero (second year of eligibility) and Trevor Hoffman (third year of eligibility). There are other recently eligible players, like …
Why post a list of Fantasy Baseball Twitter accounts? Well, for several reasons – first of which is that Twitter is an invaluable source of information for Fantasy Baseball owners. Secondly, because these guys do great work in trying to assist nearly every owner that asks them a question. (See my post on “How to …
A couple days ago, I wrote an article about the Best Five Fantasy Baseball Books that every owner should read – if they want to win. In doing so, I mentioned how I believe Ron Shandler of BaseballHQ.com would be one of the faces on a Fantasy Baseball Mount Rushmore monument. When I wrote that, …
Becoming a Fantasy Sports Writer is not easy though. For over a decade, I’ve been asked by dozens of people, “How can I become a Fantasy Sports writer?” I’ve been writing Fantasy sports columns since 2000, starting with an old website called FFInformer.com, which led to my own site, and then several years at CBSSports.com …
Catchers are awesome. You should know this by now. But most people just don’t know what a great catcher means to a baseball team. The question is – do catchers in Fantasy Baseball mean just as much to their Fantasy team? You are forced to draft two catchers in Rotisserie (we’re really refer to Head-to-Head …
While most baseball fans are still tingling from the Chicago Cubs World Series win in Game 7 against the Indians, there’s one group of people that have been waiting for Spring Training even longer: Fantasy owners. What 2017 Fantasy Baseball changes do you need to know about before Draft Day?
While the 2016 Fantasy Starting Pitcher rankings certainly weren’t the first set of rankings you looked at this season, they are ones you’ll end up paying more than the normal amount of attention as the season wears on. There are reasons for this! Since Fantasy Baseball writers regularly expound on the great virtues of waiting …
In Fantasy Baseball, the outfielders position is unlike any of the others, despite having the looks of the other hitting positions. Our 2016 Fantasy outfielders rankings exhibit the differences you should understand. With other Fantasy Baseball positions, you’re usually dealing with mostly power hitters (corner infielders) or run producers with speed (middle infielders) or players …
In recent years, the third base position has thinned out just a bit, but you’ll certainly find that’s no longer true with our 2016 Fantasy Third Basemen Rankings. While it’s true that Edwin Encarnacion and Miguel Cabrera have defected over to the not-so-defense-heavy first base side, along with Ryan Zimmerman, there’s still no reason to …
Anyone that has read my columns over the past 15 years knows that I’m a big fan of the catcher position, and as usual, I kick off my rankings with the 2016 Fantasy Catcher Rankings. The position often gets looked over because the 30-HR hitters at this position are few and far between.
How often do we dip into the slow, plodding first basemen in order to bulk up on our power numbers? Our 2016 Fantasy First Basemen rankings are full of guys that swing a bit bat, but are adept on the field enough to stay out of the designated hitter’s spot.
It’s understood that our 2016 Fantasy Relief Pitcher rankings are likely going to change faster than any other set of position rankings on this site. It’s not to say ours aren’t good rankings, but instead, that even good closer rankings are subject to the insanity that is the ninth inning in Major League Baseball. Why …
I’m a much bigger fan of looking at individual position rankings for my cheatsheet, helping me see which positions have depth available, allowing me to build my best lineup. But looking at the top 250 Overall Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings has its advantages as well, especially in the early part of the draft. For the …
Remember back in the day when Alfonso Soriano and Bret Boone were crushing 30 bombs a season? As you look through these 2016 Fantasy Second Basemen rankings, you won’t find any 30-HR 2Bs, and you’ll be happy if you can even pull a 20-HR second baseman.
We were spoiled on Fantasy Shortstops back in the day, when we had Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Tejada and Derek Jeter in his prime. Over the past few years, we’ve struggled to find much at the position outside of a healthy-once-in-a-while Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Reyes.
Who doesn’t love a bunch of awesome links Daily Fantasy Baseball players should bookmark? I write Daily Fantasy articles for a few different websites, including SoCalledFantasyExperts.com, where I post my picks on Wednesdays and Saturdays, DailyFantasyTalk.com and FanDuel Insider. For the most part, we’re talking about links to great DFS tools or stats or interesting …
This week has been super exciting, as I’ve signed a deal with FanDuel to write about Daily Fantasy Baseball and Daily Fantasy Football dealing. In that spirit, I thought I’d share a few quick tips for FanDuel games that I think my readers would find helpful! Obviously, these tips for FanDuel games are for Daily …
A recent discussion with my new peeps at FanDuel prompted a discussion about wOBA in Daily Fantasy Baseball. The question, essentially, is – should wOBA be considered one of the top DFS stats to consider while choosing hitters and pitchers for your FanDuel lineups? The argument comes from the fact that wOBA generally brings in …
As I mentioned Monday, I joined the FanDuel.com content staff and will be providing them with a couple Daily Fantasy columns each week. (My first column on interesting DFS stats goes up over there today after noon, so keep an eye out!) So in my research for my columns, I’ll be coming across some interesting …
In case you haven’t heard, we announced Monday that myself and Eric Mack, who I worked with at CBSSports.com and at SI.com, have joined the content staff at FanDuel.com. We’re not the only ones, of course, as my friend Joe Pisapia, of the FantasyBlackBook.com will also be joining the team. And this team is headed …
A couple weeks ago, I was introduced to the Fanamana Daily Fantasy app by a friend, and I found it very interesting. This friend, Jason Garcia, used to work with me at OPENSports.com back in the late ‘00s, and we hosted a game there called Fantasy Live. Basically, you played in a Fantasy Football tournament …
Fantasy Baseball owners love to align themselves with winning MLB teams, by acquiring their top players. It only makes sense, really, when you think about it. And it’s not just because Fantasy Baseball players are fair-weather fans, rooting for the best teams only. The reasoning behind this is sound – good baseball teams give good …
There is probably no other day on the schedule that has more people checking in on their Fantasy teams more than on MLB Opening Day. There are always some out-of-nowhere performances by Fantasy free agents, and there are always some early round pitchers that get inexplicably hammered. So while you might be ready to over-manage …
If you play in any CBSSports Fantasy Baseball leagues, you might not know about an awesome page at your disposal. It shows you the percentages of all the other Commissioner leagues on CBSSports.com, as far as the league types, player pools, positions, rules, scoring and all that other stuff. So I thought I’d share those …
Yeti Vedder helps. That's what he does. He helped you name your Fantasy Football team, and now he's offering up some ideas for Fantasy Baseball team names. As a matter of fact, we'd love to hear some of your submissions for great Fantasy Baseball team names! Either comment below or send a tweet to us …
The Tampa Bay Rays were once known for their stellar minor-league system, when players like Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton, David Price, James Shields and Desmond Jennings were leading this team into the playoffs more than any other American League team between 2008-13. This organization was shrewd enough to supplement those homegrown prospects with …
As MLB Spring Training gets under way this week, Fantasy Baseball players can begin preparing in earnest for the season to come, and that means tracking some of the players and storylines that have already begun flooding from down south. A few players in particular could see their draft stock rise (or fall) dramatically in …
Before we take a deep look at the 2015 Fantasy Baseball Second Basemen Rankings, I thought it would be smart to look back at what happened to the second base position in 2014. Entering the season, Michael Beller and I had a Fantasy Debate on Sports Illustrated about which second baseman should be drafted first: Robinson Cano or Jason Kipnis? But …
As we begin to take a closer look at the 2015 Fantasy Baseball First Basemen rankings, it’s important to take a look back at the position over the past few years to get an idea of what to expect going forward. We know the first base position is usually full of big, barrel-chested players whose …
Doing the 2015 Fantasy Baseball catcher rankings reminded me of something about this position. In Fantasy Baseball, catchers are like Adam Sandler movies: “Happy Gilmore,” “Billy Madison” and “The Wedding Singer” are some of the most quoted movies of our generation. Yet, it’s hard to believe “Little Nicky,” “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” and …
So here’s the thing – closers are shaky. And not all relievers are closers. And some relievers are actually starters. And each team really only has one pitcher that they’d like to hand the ball to in the ninth inning. So all of these factors make the Relief Pitcher rankings for 2015 a little crazy. …
Fantasy Baseball draft season is finally here, which means I have to get my rankings together. Normally, I’d start from catchers and go forward in the rankings posts through the infielders and outfielders, before getting to the pitchers. But this season, I’m starting with the top 70 Starting Pitcher rankings for 2015 Fantasy Baseball! Normal …
Over the past three or four years, on Fantasy Baseball magazine has stood out above the rest – and I really don’t think it’s close. I got my digital copy of “The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2015” this week, and once again, I’m supremely impressed by the people involved, the design and – most of all …
You may or may not have noticed that I’ve been slacking on my January blog posts on DavidGonos.com. You know I’ve been writing for several sites lately, from SportsIllustrated.com to FantasySports.About.com to SKYLLZONE. But now, I’ve launched an entirely new Fantasy Sports website called SoCalledFantasyExperts.com, where I’ll be joined by dozens of Fantasy Baseball and …
I wrote an article two days ago about research that I did on statistics that have the highest correlation to overall value for Fantasy Basketball. In that article I was able to conclude that minutes played and, to a lesser extent, turnovers have the highest correlation with overall value, and I came up with a …
My initial thought was to begin this article with the traditional sob story that every last place, self-absorbed fantasy owner sings; “Everyone on my team got hurt, all my stars underperformed, and I played every team in my league on their best week.” While all of this may be true for my 12 team head-to-head …
As I watch Oklahoma face off against Clemson in the Russel Athletic Bowl (it feels wrong to say the name of a sponsor), and face off is a misnomer in this case due to the lack of competitiveness so far, I see Cole Stoudt, the Clemson quarterback, complete wide receiver screens ad nauseam against the Oklahoma …
It has felt like ages since my last Interrogate the Industry post. For that I apologize. I think due to the peak of the Fantasy Football season, the Holidays, illnesses things often get put on the back burner for everyone. I wasn't ignoring the posts as much as not over concerning myself making sure folks …
CHAMPIONSHIP has arrived and if you are in the championship congratulations and best of luck! If you are not however, like myself you will likely be looking to do some Discount Diving in DFS this week. I would normally apologize for the disastrous lineup I submitted and discount plays from last week, but I won't …
Let's go Discount Diving for FanDuel once again. Sure, it is the PLAYOFFS in seasonal formats everywhere but not on FanDuel. Every Week is new and important in daily fantasy sports and this week is no exception. Plenty of fantastic match-ups, surprise injuries, and even worse game time decisions that will make setting lineups extra …
I can't contain my excitement on sharing a Fantasy Football League setup known commonly as All-Play with you all.Even crazier? I have a league setup, I tried personally in my home league and it was a resounding success and fun for everyone. So, now is as good of a time as any to do it. The …
The Week 13 Discount Diving post comes with plenty to look forward to. Thanksgiving feast, watching Football while devouring far too much food, monitoring your Fantasy Squads (of course) and their bids to make playoffs, or snag a Bye in the first round, and for some spending the quality time with your family. No matter …
Entering the 2014 baseball season, Michael Beller and I had a Fantasy Debate on Sports Illustrated about which second baseman should be drafted first: Robinson Cano or Jason Kipnis? But instead, it ended up being guys like Jose Altuve, Anthony Rendon and Brian Dozier atop the second base rankings. So what happened to those guys? …
Last week by in large was a successful week for Discount Diving. Although the lineup I posted only won in one contest, I did do well in all of my other contests, using many of the same discount players. The big hitters were Justin Forsett, Roddy White, and Jason Witten performing as I projected. Jeremy Hill …
I’ve already taken part in two mock drafts, including the first round of a 2015 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft on FantasySports.About.com (with the second round posted on this site) and one that MLB.com hosted here. In both instances, Miguel Cabrera, who lost his third-base eligibility for 2015, was the top first baseman selected (second and …
If I would have said at the beginning of the 2014 Fantasy Football season I would feel the need to write a post encouraging owners to try to trade for Calvin Johnson I would have been given a "Well, DUH!" look. Well, here we are approaching Week 10 and Calvin Johnson has missed time and …
It certainly felt great to get back in the win column on FanDuel in a big way last week after a successful sample lineup, and discount diving post. Hitting on Ryan Tannehill, Jeremy Hill, and getting a decent performance from Rueben Randle helped lead three entries with this lineup to payout and scoring 131 points. …
Free agent Pablo Sandoval declined a $15 million qualifying offer from the San Francisco Giants. He declined a three-year $40 million extension earlier in the season. Sandoval is a three-time World Series Champion, who owns a .426 BA in 47 ABs across 12 World Series games, but his career batting average of .294 is a …
In Fantasy Baseball, catchers are like Adam Sandler movies: “Happy Gilmore,” “Billy Madison” and “The Wedding Singer” are some of the most quoted movies of our generation. Yet, it’s hard to believe “Little Nicky,” “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” and “Jack and Jill” came from the same mind? And then there are a whole …
Playoffs are on the horizon for seasonal owners, but for those of us who play Daily Fantasy Football it is another week to go discount diving and try to make some moolah! As you have to do when you write posts like this you have to look at the calls in your previous week and …
This week's Discount Diving will be short and sweet. I apologize for the lack of some of the standard information, but there have been an over-abundant amount of interruptions, distractions and unique situations this week my free time to write and research was minimal. Thankful for Grandparents I am able to sneak away for a …
The Thursday night games are over, and what was a surprisingly exciting game leaves with plenty of games, and Daily Fantasy options in this weeks Discount Diving. This week I am spending most of my money on a Quarterback, I will of course list value players for each position like usual so if you want …
Just when you thought the Fantasy Baseball season was behind us – we publish the first two rounds of a 2015 Fantasy Baseball mock draft among 12 Fantasy writers from across the industry. I already posted the first round of this draft over at FantasySports.About.com, and there have already been some fireworks from some of …
Another few days of Football is upon us, and with it another chance to get some winning Daily Fantasy Football lineups. After missing a post last week (I do apologize, and hope I helped those who asked on Twitter) I am back and hoping to help you all find a few of those discounted value …
With a few illnesses, technical issues and an all time awful week in the Meyers' household, I still was able to squeeze a few questions out of Michael Rathburn (@FantasyRath). Michael himself is a busy fellow, and keeps occupied at the sites www.rotowire.com/daily, and www.dailyfantasysportsnetwork.com. Be sure to follow his work, ESPECIALLY if you partake in DFS. …
Week 3 was great for my Fantasy squads (I know, I know NO ONE CARES) and I was able to get an interrogation of Jennifer Millman from Rotoexperts.com making it even better. I have been a follower of Jen for a while now on Twitter, and of her work on Roto Experts which is top notch. …
As a whole Week 2 was nauseating to watch, but if you went discount diving with me you likely once again ended up in the green in your Daily Fantasy sites bankrolls. It is also a constant reminder that in yearly leagues a bad week 2 can be beginning of the end thanks to an …
We are back with another Interrogate the Industry! I have to apologize to my regular readers for the delay between posts. Perhaps it has been so long you forgot to read my Interrogation of Rumford Johnny. Either way between the kickoff of the NFL season, Fantasy Baseball playoffs and of course family obligations time dwindled …
When it comes to Daily Fantasy Football each and every week is dramatically different. Players will disappoint in the biggest way (I'm looking at you Jamaal Charles) or exceed all expectations like Allen Hurns (110 yards and 2 touchdowns). Although I owned Hurns in my deep dynasty league and had to play him, I wasn't …
Doug Martin, Vincent Jackson, and Mike Evans: these are the players on the Buccaneers that most Fantasy owners thought they could count on, but what did most owners not count on? Josh McCown. McCown was bad in his first regular season start with the Buccaneers. So bad that the two-year, $10 million dollar contract he …
Week 1 has arrived and along with it Daily Fantasy Football! I admittedly am not a seasoned veteran but delved into the latest Fantasy sports sensation last season and fared well. I will reiterate I am NOT a high stakes player (yet) and at this point dabble in "Affordable" tournaments but primarily "50/50" contests and …
Interrogate the Industry has returned and this week we are back with the one and only Rumford Johnny! Johnny runs the both the site and podcast of 2 Mugs Fantasy Football Podcast along with @RyFo18. Their podcast is awesome and entertaining so if you are in need of another podcast be sure to check it …
This is a new series I’ve decided to start writing because I’m a bitter, jealous man. I hate that these sites had owners that were much smarter than me. So I explain to readers why I’m so jealous of them! Makes sense! I plan to review websites, iPhone apps, draft tools and in-season tools. Essentially, …
Without further ado I present to you my 2014 Positional Tiers. I know it has been a while since my last Draft Strategy posts which you really should read especially if you are participating with so many others in the National Draft Day Weekend! As I stressed in my Prepping for the Prep post, positional …
Woooeee it has been a busy week, and as most of you likely know it will be a busy month, but never too busy for Interrogate the Industry. In fact, now is the best time to get some interviews out there. Between working on rankings over on FantasyPros, writing my Round by Round Draft Strategy …
The draft continues, and this will be part two of the Draft Strategy series. In case you missed the first two parts of the series check them out here: Prepping for the prep and Draft Strategy Part 1. This time we will be plowing through the fifth to twelfth rounds. These rounds are more of …
Well hopefully you are here after reading my last piece Prepping for the Prep, but even if not welcome and get ready to discuss some round by round Fantasy Football draft strategy. Now that you have a game-plan and some tools to use during your draft we can try and devise a strategy for each …
It seems as if the closer and closer football season is getting, the more and more I want to Interrogate the Industry! "Everyone, I want to interview everyone" *Lets out an evil laugh*. Seriously though, the Baseball season still has my full attention ,but it is getting more and more difficult to stay focused, especially …
Does Troy Tulowitzki suffer without Carlos Gonzalez in the lineup? Several weeks ago, in the same way my last article on rookie first and second half splits was inspired, my attention was alerted when a podcast personality contrived that Troy Tulowitzki, before his most recent bout with the injury bug, had preformed poorly because Carlos …
It is officially draft season folks, and that means it is time for some draft strategy. I always enjoy digging in to player rankings, compiling spreadsheets, and discussing players ADP and hype on Twitter this time of year. I obviously am not alone, but maybe some of you need a little nudge or kick in …
After a busy week, a few technical difficulties and a blunder on my part I have returned with another Interrogate the Industry. This week I am featuring none other than Zach Law. Someone who has been doing a similar concept to this series, for far longer than myself. Disclaimer: I actually did not know of …
Do rookies perform worse after the All-Star break? My claim over this statement is nonexistent, while the original thought of its occurrence was brought to my attention by Adam Aizer on the CBS Fantasy Baseball Podcast. My judgment dissuaded, I thought that it would be worth the effort to look into the validity of the …
All Star week is nearly over and with it another Interrogate the Industry. This week I was able to get Nick Raducanu (@projectroto) to answer some questions. It is hard to believe that this is the eighth one already, but with so many fantastic options in the industry to interview there could be countless more. …
I am not going to lie, this week besides Interrogate the Industry (of course), I didn't focus much on baseball. I guess I did slightly, as my oldest started her first season in T-Ball, but other than that my mind was on other things. Besides the entertainment of watching a mob of kids charge at …
It has been an insane week in personal life and of course my fantasy life, but never too busy for another Interrogate the Industry article. I had to take a week off last week, due to deadlines of Fantasy Football guides, T-Ball games, work and more, well....life stuff I suppose. Either way it is great …
As the Interrogate the Industry series has developed I have received many comments saying it is a fun read, cool concept, and to keep it going through the football season. Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback, yes I will continue on with the Football season, although I am not sure if I will intertwine …
Managing a Fantasy Baseball team is unlike that of any other sport. It's a daily grind that drags on for seven months and requires commitment, patience and discipline. Through all of your overtime work days, family vacations and sinus infections, the fantasy baseball season trudges on. Maximizing your point potential day in and day out …
The season is a third of the way complete, and as I like to do every season it is also a great time to look at my preseason rankings to find my Homers and Whiffs so far in 2014. Finding the players I hit out of the ballpark, and of course, those I swung and …
A large percentage of Fantasy Baseball players have become hooked on the excitement of playing Daily Fantasy Baseball games. This daily game is essentially the next generation of Fantasy, as the game continues to evolve from Rotisserie, to Head-to-Head -- to Daily. So, of course, that’s not good enough for me. It got me thinking …
Collin McHugh has given us many reasons to believe that he is a fundamentally different pitcher than he was in the first two years of his career, but there is one reason that explains why McHugh has performed so well this year and suggests, “Don't pick up Collin McHugh.” The curveball has been a source …
Another week down the drain, and we're back once again with another Interrogate the Industry. This week Jake Ciely joins us for some Fantasy Baseball questions and opinions on pop culture. I may disagree with him slightly on the Game of Thrones comment, but we will save that for another day. Week 8 had another …
As I write this weeks Interrogate the Industry there is news of even more pitching injuries. This season has been disastrous for many teams, and Fantasy owners. On the bright side, there is always a bright side with me, several pitchers are coming back too, or coming back in to form such as Cole Hamels, Alex …
A player turns a good game into a good week, then that week into a good month. Then, before you know it, the player becomes relevant, not only in your AL/NL only twelve team league, or any other deep league for that matter, but in every league you are in. The player has become one …
One of my goals with this site is to become an industry uncle for writers and websites. At some point, I want writers to come here looking for places to write, and we want websites coming here looking for writers to fill their staffs. In that vein, I have a ton of great connections that I'd …
We are back with another Interrogate the Industry. This week we're joined by Alex (@rotodealer) and Chris (@cmcbrien). We may have just missed the Jose Fernandez news, however we have great questions and answers this week irregardless. As always feel free to ask away on replacement ideas, or any questions to me on Twitter @fantsychillpony …
Let's just say there were plenty of distractions when writing this weeks 3 up, 3 down article. Work, family, garage sale, Wild Playoff Hockey, and a slight distraction with the 2014 NFL Draft. I love football as much as the next guy so needless to say it was very difficult to focus on baseball when …
This is the first of many "Interrogate the Industry" pieces. No one seems to ask the "Tough" questions so I am stepping up to the plate to keep the industry honest and....Ah, who am I kidding? I will be asking questions weekly, hopefully many fueled by you guys, the readers, to a few Industry writers …
Do more team wins mean more save opportunities? Before I decided to answer this question, I assumed that they didn’t. My Guess In my head I had a cognitive bias of closers in the 2,000s that racked up saves, but were on teams that were never in contention; In 2000 Antonio Alfonseca (i.e. …
Over the past four months, I’ve been scrambling around with my hands in a number of projects, which has really inhibited my ability to write and update for my own site. That stops today, just one month after celebrating my site's two-year anniversary! Well, it doesn’t “stop” so much as it just “changes,” as most …
Because it takes it takes 910 at bats for batting average to stabilize, it is not very helpful to look at the small sample of at bats a player has had in 2014 (as the video below will show). When you try to decide whether or not to by into a player's early season slump …
There were surprises and history galore in the fourth week of the baseball season which has left an ample supply of material for this week's 3 up, 3 down. Earlier this week I was in the basement organizing and re-arranging for an upcoming garage sale, as well as finding space for winter gear/supplies and I …
With this weeks 3 Up, 3 Down I am writing with a head that feels like a balloon. If you have never had a sinus infection be thankful, and if you have I feel your pain (Usually in your cheeks, eyes and even gums/jaw area). I am usually good for at least one a year, …
I was on my first run in approximately 3 years earlier this week, a very slow run, and of course thought about my 3 Up, 3 Down column. I also thought of plenty of other things like my muscle pain, sex, aging, eating better, sex, Fantasy Baseball, steak and sex again. I blame the endorphins …
Charlie Blackmon's big Friday for the Rockies got me thinking about some of the best Daily Fantasy hitting performances of 2013, so I wrote a post about it. Unsurprisingly, Miguel Cabrera is the only player to end up in the top 10 for two different games. Although, very surprising was the fact that a catcher …
Fantasy Baseball Week 1 has finally arrived, and with it, the first edition of "3 Up, 3 Down." In this weekly article, I will be focusing on six players, teams, or things that happened both positive and negative for the entire season. I hope it is both a useful read throughout the Fantasy Baseball season, …
The Stanford Prison experiment was a 1971 psychological study in which 24 male Stanford students were divided into two groups—12 guards and 12 inmates—in the Stanford psychology building and was funded by the US Office of Naval Research as an investigation into the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners. The experiment was supposed to …
Sadly my Fantasy Baseball Draft season is over, and after poring over my rosters, I found 5 hitters I couldn't avoid drafting in 2014. There were actually more than five in many instances, but for the sake of this, I will pick out the five players who made most of my Fantasy Baseball squads this …
Every season the Rankings can be challenging, and this year the 2014 Starting Pitcher Rankings are no different. It is a deep position by default knowing every team has 5 starters, or even more than five with Prospects waiting in the wings. This year is no different, but Major League Baseball and Fantasy Owners alike …
When taking a closer look at our 2014 Relief Pitcher Rankings we need to keep a few things in mind. If there is one thing I have learned, especially over the past three seasons is that Closers are valuable in Fantasy Baseball, however they are also the most implosive position in baseball. Closers lose their …
You must be drafting this weekend if you are looking at our 2014 Third Base Rankings just now. Although Draft season is nearly over, it happens to be what is oft-referred to as "Draft Weekend. This means many owners are cramming for their only, or final drafts of the season now. Third base is what …
When it comes to Fantasy Baseball Positional Tiers, I consider myself a champion of utilizing them. One thing is for certain when it comes to talking Fantasy Sports -- I am usually saying things like "He's a Tier-2 kinda player, with Tier-1 potential" or "That guy isn't even worth a flyer, I didn't even put …
When I graduated high school, I went to Regis University in Denver, CO, for one year, because I thought I wanted to play baseball. After two weeks I not only knew that I did not want to play baseball, but that the title of “University” was a misnomer for what Regis really is: 13th grade. …
After receiving some great responses from the 30-For-30 series at davidgonos.com from readers, and writers alike it was decided to form the Gonos 30-for-30 league. It would be be filled with 12 contributors to the series, including myself representing the site. It is a Rotisserie League which is 5x5 with standard scoring (Average, HR, RBI, Runs, …
You've made it nearly halfway through the draft, and you've enacted a flawless Fantasy Baseball draft strategy. Whether you are following mine to the tee or not, doesn't matter (I hope you are though), but now you are literally to the point of the drafts where you mold your championship squad. Knowing which positions to …
I'm back again, this time with part two of the 2014 Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy Series. If you followed my Draft Strategy Part 1 you should be well on your way to a solid draft. You shouldn't rest easy, however, even though your first three picks can be critical, the picks which follow can truly …
Out of all the positional rankings this season, the 2014 Fantasy First Base rankings may actually be the deepest. Sure, Starting Pitching is still deep, and has plenty of young, high potential arms to fill out your squads, but it has been a while since Fantasy Baseball has had this many strong options at first …
It is midway through March and that means you have likely drafted some teams, or you still have time to prepare for Fantasy Baseball Drafts, or as I like to put it "Prepping for the Prep." Whether you are an established owner in one or more leagues, brand spanking new to the game, or are …
Now that you have prepped, completed your cheat sheets, perused your draft guides, and burnt through highlighters it is time to focus on your 2014 Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy. I will be focusing on the first three rounds in this article. Also, make sure to utilize mine, and many others rankings over at Fantasy Pros. …
Our Fantasy Baseball friend, Kyle Soppe, takes a closer look at the 2014 St Louis Cardinals in Daily Fantasy play for the upcoming Fantasy season. You can follow him @unSOPpable23 on Twitter. The National League champions had another quality season in 2013 when it comes to providing Daily Fantasy Baseball owners with consistent players. Gone …
The ongoing series of 2014 Fantasy Profiles continues, this time with Twins prospect Byron Buxton. I will be looking closer at MLB’s top prospects all offseason, as well as throughout the season, focusing on players who will have a real Fantasy impact on the 2014 season. When the top prospects got released, or continue to …
Prior to 2012, the only baseball related thing that created buzz in Oakland was the blockbuster film, "Moneyball," starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. That all changed in 2012 and 2013 when the Athletics became the darling underdogs of Major League Baseball, with only Justin Verlander in the way of them advancing to the ALCS …
The best way to get a handle on everything that has happened in baseball over the past offseason is to check out MLB Team Previews, so we gathered 30 Fantasy Baseball writers from 30 different Fantasy sites to chip in one team apiece. As you might know, I consider the Fantasy Baseball industry to be …
While there is almost zero skill when it comes to the amount of RBI a player produces, through the creation of an expected RBI metric I have found a way to look at whether or not a player has gotten lucky or unfortunate when it comes to their actual RBI total. I hope I don’t …
Center fielder Mike Trout is the engine for this team and is the clear 1.01 in every draft format. However, as in real life, he can’t do it alone and the eternal question of "just how good can he be" echoes. However, look across the diamond. Albert Pujols was that good a decade ago and …
As lucky and wondrous as the San Francisco baseball seasons were in 2010 and 2012, were the years 2011 and 2013 askew. Injuries, sub-par performances, and the cosmic giggle caught up with the Giants -- a team built upon pitching the last few years -- contributing to real and virtual chaos for the McGowan family and …
It's always good to have a couple of 2014 Colorado Rockies on your squad (batters of course). Three of the top 25 Fantasy performers once again came from the team that calls Coors Field home in 2013, despite Michael Cuddyer, Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki missing a combined 110 games. Newcomers like Nolan Arenado and …
Prospects, Prospects, Prospects! Get your 2014 Top 50 Prospects here! Unlike many years ago, there are now plenty of options when trying to find prospect profiles and rankings. It is also growing more and more common for prospects to be drafted in all types of drafts. Knowing this trend, and the growing popularity of prospects, …
From a Fantasy Baseball perspective, the Mariners exceeded expectations last year. A 41-year-old Raul Ibanez led the team with 29 home runs and their starting rotation boasted two Cy Young candidates in perennial superstar Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma. Iwakuma finished the year with a 138 ERA+, besting King Felix’s 121. Seattle also has a …
After a slow start to the 2013 season the Dodgers took off. Yasiel Puig burst onto the scene, and Clayton Kershaw proved to be the best pitcher in the league. The Dodgers finished the season on a high note, but also with a resolve to improve the team. These resolutions resulted in bringing over bounce-back …
(WARNING: THERE ARE GIFS AT THE END) Real estate, knick-knacks at a garage sale, and players, in the sense of professional sports, can be undervalued. For instance, in Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World, Michael Lewis interviews Kyle Bass, a hedge fund manager who made a fortune shorting subprime mortgage assets, who recently bought …
It’s hard to find a more exciting team than the 2014 St Louis Cardinals, both in Fantasy and otherwise. They have one of the best young pitching staffs in the game, led by perennial all-star Adam Wainwright, and an offense that rivals any other in the National League. After making an impressive run to the …
Welcome to your 2014 Arizona Diamondbacks Fantasy Baseball preview! While 2013 was a down year, from a Fantasy perspective, for many D-backs not named Paul Goldschmidt at least, who finished second in NL MVP voting behind his huge year. But 2014 provides an opportunity for a turnaround for some of their disappointing outputs. It has been …
The Pittsburgh Pirates finally rose from the depths of obscurity in 2013 by making the playoffs for the first time since 1992. "Pirate Fever" ran wild through the Steel City as the organization shared a glimpse of what the future likely holds for a ballclub that has one of the deepest minor league systems in …
As a Twins fan, I know I am not alone in asking "Is it 2016 yet?" What can be said about the 2014 Minnesota Twins? A team that has lost nearly 300 games in three seasons? Rebuilding? Obviously. Terrible front office decision making? Absolutely. New Management? Well, not so much. The Twins decided to hang …
For the third straight year, the Detroit Tigers advanced to the ALCS -- this time losing to the Boston Red Sox. They did this with the strength of their rotation, (156 GS by the top five and an AL record 1,428 strikeouts) and some lineup thump from Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. The Tigers made …
If ever there was a lost season for a team, it was 2013 for the Milwaukee Brewers. Yovani Gallardo underperformed and Aramis Ramirez missed half a season. Then the bright star of Jean Segura came crashing down after the break and Rickie Weeks finally fell off the planet altogether. But there was something else that …
After suffering through baseball’s worst record from 2011–2013, the Astros and their fan base need something to look forward to. During the past three years, they are 118 games worse by record than baseball's best team, the Texas Rangers (280-206). To make matters worse, the Astros are 33 games worse over this time frame than …
The 2014 Cleveland Indians have potential in several areas, although most of their players will come off the draft boards a little later on Draft Day. There are, of course, a few above average players, like Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana, but for the most part, the remainder of the team will be lineup fillers …
The 2014 Cincinnati Reds had two of the top OBP men in the league in Joey Votto and Shin-Soo Choo, a rotation with no starter’s ERA over 3.80 and a lights-out closer in Aroldis Chapman. However, the Reds did very little in the offseason to change the roster. Their biggest "move" was losing leadoff man …
This 2014 Chicago White Sox club is a team in transition. After years of contending with veteran players -- especially on offense -- the White Sox will likely field their youngest team in years. The White Sox made several trades both at the deadline and in the offseason that have changed the major league roster …
We can’t get enough of the free Mock Draft Simulator, so we used it again for the 2014 Head-to-Head Mock Draft. Have you used it yet? Perhaps not, but now that Football season is done it’s time to focus on Fantasy Baseball! It is never too early to do mock drafts for the upcoming season. …
What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, the Royals were on a lot of sleeper lists as the team to watch out for. Armed with a young nucleus, whose lineup was potentially lethal, the team seemed to be just a few pitchers away from becoming serious contenders. When the Royals traded …
Before we delve into the 2014 Tampa Bay Rays, let's discuss last year's club. Another year with a Bottom-Five payroll and another year with a Top-10 finish in the standings. Yaaaaawn. This whole "small market" thing has to be getting boring for Rays GM Andrew Friedman. By focusing on building his organization through the draft …
Last week, I got a digital copy of my favorite Fantasy Baseball magazine, “The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2014" and once again, I come away incredibly impressed. As I've mentioned in the past, like an old character actor dropping names at a party, I worked on several Fantasy Baseball magazines in my 14 years writing about …
Let’s face it -- unless you’re talking about the Lovable Losers’ past, you’re talking #CubbiesIn2017. The talk in fake circles last season was Anthony Rizzo leading the Baby Bears with 23 home runs, to the tune of a underwhelming .233 batting average and .323 on-base percentage. Similarly, Jeff Samardzija fanned 214 batters, but only won …
The last two offseasons for the Toronto Blue Jays have been stark in contrast. Last year was all splash, with GM Alex Anthopolous active in both the trade and free-agent markets. This year, the team was content to stand pat while letting a few contracts walk out the door. True to their nature, the Canadian …
The 2013 Washington Nationals epitomized the plexiglass principle, giving back 12 of their 98 wins from the previous season. Fans and Fantasy owners alike suffered whiplash from the inevitable regression, ill-timed injuries, and the inability to catch a break. Meanwhile, the young stars who were supposed to make up for it had their own problems. …
The Phightin’ Philadelphia Phillies provided some hopeful flickers of optimism in 2013, but it will remain a season marked as a low point in the franchise’s effort to squeeze out one more moment of dominance from the World Series core. The negatives hit hard for fans and Fantasy owners alike as we witnessed a future …
Before we discuss the 2014 NY Yankees, let's note that the Yankees' 2013 campaign was a Fantasy blunder. For only the second time in 19 years, the Yankees didn’t make the postseason. Able to manage 85 wins in a down year, the Yankees' front office made some big money changes in response. Last year's Yankee …
We're back with some more rankings, this time looking at 2014 Fantasy Outfielder Rankings. The outfield position, by default, is already a much deeper position than most of the others, especially when you consider each team has about five outfielders, with three starters, and many 12-team leagues only draft five outfielders to start. But I …
This is the second in an ongoing series of 2014 Fantasy Profiles. I will be looking closer at MLB's top prospects who should have a real Fantasy impact on the 2014 season. This time, I'm looking at Cubs prospect Javier Baez. Enjoy, and feel free to comment below, or even request more prospects, as well. …
The Mets as a team did not offer much to Fantasy owners last season, but can we expect more of the same in our 2014 NY Mets Preview? Matt Harvey was the lone bright spot in the pitching rotation, but his season was cut short thanks to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. …
I struggle to find topics to write about. Because, for me, if I don’t think a topic is interesting to write about, I don’t know how it could possibly be of interest for anyone to read. The past two weeks I’ve started and deleted several excel and word documents; I get to the point where …
The new mock draft simulator is out! The new mock draft simulator is out! Finally, after several offseason months, the Draft Wizard Mock Draft simulator is here! And now we can all run our own Fantasy Baseball mock drafts to see where different positions get thin, and where the experts think we should draft someone. …
Will the 2014 Miami Marlins be much different from the 2013 version? It’s not surprising that, after trading away nearly all of the franchise’s Fantasy worthy talent before the start of the season, the Miami Marlins finished the year at the bottom of the NL East. However, losing 100 games didn’t stop the 2013 version …
Before we get into the 2014 Boston Red Sox, let's look back at last season. You don’t win the World Series without ample talent, and the 2013 Boston Red Sox were no exception. Their championship roster was anchored by the only offense to surpass 800 runs (853), and they scored 7.2% more runs than Detroit’s …
Last year, Fantasy Baseball owners were thoroughly disappointed by the production they got from the recently acquired B.J. Upton. With the letdown and the hole that B.J. Upton left in the lineup with his lackluster performance, other players emerged and broke on to the scene. Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson had career years and both …
The 2014 Fantasy shortstop rankings are quite different than they were about 10 or so years ago, when players like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Miguel Tejada were fighting for the top spot. Shortstop is a position which has long been considered scarce. Don't get me wrong -- it is still scarce, but some nice young …
In 2012, the Orioles had baseball's most unlikely playoff run. In 2013, they didn't have as much success, but they did have a handful of Fantasy Baseball studs at the plate. Also, last season, for first time since Mike Mussina sported an Orioles cap, they had a legitimate front-end-of-a-rotation-type pitcher in Chris Tillman. This past …
The 2014 Catcher Rankings might not be the sexiest place to start our season rankings for each position, but then again, I think chunky Christina Aguilera looks better than the skinny version. So what do I know about sexy!?! Many of you that know me know that I'm a huge fan of the catchers position. …
Welcome to the 2014 Texas Rangers Preview! Last year could only be described as a disappointment for Texas Rangers’ Fantasy Baseball fans, as they went from No. 1 in team batting in 2012 to No. 8 last year. However, not all was lost as Yu Darvish finished as the AL runner-up in the Cy Young …
Sure, I know what you are thinking when you read 2014 Fantasy Baseball: Second Basemen Rankings. "Seriously? This early?" Well, sure it may seem early, but in many cases it's not. I am personally drafting in three leagues right now! So, last week when I was scraping my car in record time because it was -32 …
This is the first in an ongoing series of 2014 Profiles. I will be looking closer at MLB's top propects who will have a real Fantasy impact on the 2014 season. We are starting with Tigers' top prospect Nick Castellanos. Enjoy, and feel free to comment below, or even request more Prospects as well. There …
The MLB Hall of Fame results came out last week, and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at Fantasy Baseball from a historical perspective. So I looked at the top Fantasy Baseball seasons of all time, and thought about how those seasons give us a glimpse into larger offensive trends and …
This post will wrap up our series on 2014 Fantasy Baseball busts. We’ve looked at outfielders, infielders, starting pitchers, and now we will examine closer busts. As a supplement to this discussion we will look at the velocity loss leaders from 2013 at the end of the post. More so than any other position in …
The holidays and the year 2013 are officially in the rearview mirror, but there is no slowing the 2014 MLB offseason. After a lengthy break from writing and most things Fantasy (except for Daily Fantasy Sports, I can't quit that) I am back to recap a few more winners of the Fantasy Baseball offseason. A …
We looked at outfield busts two weeks ago and infield busts lasts week, while our attention will turn to the biggest starting pitching busts of 2014 this week; we’ll look at closer busts next week. (If you read the previous two articles you can skip the next two paragraphs, which describe how we define a …
As a continuation of our 2014 series on Fantasy Baseball busts, we will look at infield busts this week. We looked at outfield busts last week, and, as a reminder, we will look at closers next week, and starting pitching the week after that. (If you read the previous article you can skip the next …
For the next four weeks we will look at potential bust candidates for the 2014 Fantasy Baseball season. Our attention will be focused on outfield busts this week and infield busts next week. To ascribe an analytic value to how we quantify a bust we will look at a player’s 2013 roto value and a …
This will be the first in a series of 2013 MLB Winter Meetings and evaluating Fantasy impact of the moves that are made. Come back throughout the Fantasy Baseball offseason, as we'll be tracking the trades, signings and roster cuts, and sharing how we think it affects the upcoming draft season. Feel free to drop …
Baseball season feels like a lifetime away, and as Fantasy Football season ends, and the cold winter months frost our hearts, the promise of another Fantasy Baseball season is left to warm our bodies with anticipation and hope. To help nurture that fire inside all of us, I thought it would be beneficial to look …
Is This The End? There comes a time in every Fantasy Owners season when they realize everything comes to an end, and it's time to say goodbye to their beloved fake teams. For some, this moment can't come soon enough. For example, the owner with the fifth pick in 2013 may have been giddy after …
Here's a quick look at what we can expect from a Fantasy perspective this week. Enjoy the Week 12 fantasy preview of every game! Carolina Panthers at Miami Dolphins 1:00 pm If you are forced to start a Panthers running back, I think Mike Tolbert is the one. The Dolphins have struggled against tight ends …
The Fantasy Football season is in full throttle right now and you may be managing your team(s) to championship greatness as you read this. However, the 2014 Fantasy Baseball season is closing in and fanatics like me, who monitor the sport year round by tuning into MLB network and reading the Fantasy blogs, want to …
This article will look at the implications of the new SportVU stats that the NBA has released to the public, and will apply the limited data we have from SportVU to look at the sustainability of assist totals for players this year (SportVU data in this post has been taken up to 11/19). First off, …
This post will look at the rest-of-season strength of schedule for all Fantasy Football positions. Last week we looked at the strength of schedule for the running back position, and it is time to finish off the work, pull out the spreadsheets, and come up with the calculations for the other five Fantasy Football positions. …
For the purpose of player evaluation, trade candidates, and rest of season rankings, I thought I would look at the team rest-of-season strength of schedule. For this article in particular, we will focus on running backs, but I will post more articles in the near future about other positions. How did I do it? Easy: …
In this post we will discuss Fantasy Basketball projections for the 2013-14 season. As I discussed in my last post about Fantasy Baseball ranking based off of the 2014 Steamer projections, I love rankings based off of quantitative analysis. Rankings that take a statistical approach to value ascription lack the histrionic overtones and biases that …
The best way that I have found to come up with Fantasy Baseball projections is to take an existing statistical projection, and translate those numbers into fantasy value. Projections that use statistical models free players from fantasy analysts who have biases against players; “I’ll never own player X again after last year”; “He won’t be …
Mike Podhorzer has looked into the relationship of a batters’ average fly ball distance as it relates to their HR/FB ratio, and has found results that will allow others to more accurately project a hitter’s home run totals from year to year. This got me thinking. Which can be a good or bad, but in …
Since the major league season is over on Sunday, that means the end of fantasy baseball, and the end of this source for the best streaming options. I will write a wrap-up column that will be posted next monday that will summarize my performance over the last two weeks. But, there will also be many …
If you read any of the other articles in the streaming series, you can skip the first section of this post and start to read where I go over the best streaming options. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming week; Monday’s post will have …
If you read any of the other articles in the streaming series, you can skip the first section of this post and start to read where I go over the best streaming options. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming week; Monday’s post will have …
If you read any of the other articles in the streaming series, you can skip the first section of this post and start to read where I go over the best streaming options. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming week; Monday’s post will have …
In Fantasy Football, points are important, but points relative to the position a player plays is more important. Colin Kaepernick scored 30 points last week and was the second highest second highest scorer in fantasy football, but was that performance impressive when the top twelve quarterbacks—the amount of quarterbacks played in a standard league—averaged 25 …
If you read any of the other articles in the streaming series, you can skip the first section of this post and start to read where I go over the best streaming options. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming week; Monday’s post …
If you read the first or second column from last week, you can skip the first section of this post and start to read where I go over the best streaming options. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming week; Monday’s post …
If you read the first column, you can skip the first section and start to read where I go over the best streaming options. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming week; Monday’s post will have the best options for Monday through …
For all of the Fantasy Baseball players that are in daily roto or head-to-head leagues, and need a few more strong outings to take home the championship in their leagues, this post is for you. From now till the end of the season, I will go over the best streaming options available for the upcoming …
I mentioned on my last post that I listen to a lot of podcasts. Two days ago, I listened to a recent edition of the BS Report, in which, Bill Simmons interviewed Brian Kenny of MLB TV. Although, I do not necessarily agree with the binary tone that Kenny takes towards certain issues, I understand …
I listen to a lot of podcasts. I listen to these podcasts to pass the time and fill my head with information while I go through the monotony of everyday tasks: cooking, cleaning, driving, and doing the dishes. For me listening to podcasts is a passive activity, which allows me to gain the mental stimulation one …
In an effort to come up with starting pitcher rankings that have a more predictive than descriptive value, I looked to implement a more meaningful metric in player rater evaluation than ERA—xFIP. For those of you that don’t know, xFIP is an offspring of FIP—fielding independent pitching—that was developed in the fashion of DIPs theory. …
Over Saturday, I aggregated last week’s ZiPS and Steamer rest of season projections (found on Fangraphs) into one list, and then translated those numbers into Fantasy value using Jeffrey Gross’ E.Y.E.S. formula to come up with what one may consider the most thoughtful rest of season rankings. When I say, "most thoughtful," I simply try …
How do you know who you can trust in fantasy baseball? It says here that you should hitch your wagon to this column - when I say you need to acquire a player (usually via free agency) you should! I play in deep leagues (lots of teams and lots of roster spots). That means that …
There is a special class of Fantasy Baseball player who we like to call "post-hype players." Basically, if a prospect has lots of buzz around them -– think Colby Rasmus -– and they have a dismal start to their major league career, there is a definite tendency to write them off. However, in many instances, …
Fantasy trades are the most divisive part of Fantasy Sports. It is one of two ways to improve your team, and doesn't involve any luck whatsoever, but rather your ability to know your hand and how to read theirs. The robbery of a good trade is euphoric, while to be taken for a fool can be …
In a standard 5x5 Rotisserie league, wins encapsulate twenty percent of a pitcher’s value. But because a pitcher has very little ability to dictate whether or not he gets a win, and we have a very limited, if any at all, ability to predict pitcher wins, we must conclude that wins are not sustainable. Sure …
It’s time to look at some underperforming players you might consider buying low or selling low in the first third of the Fantasy Baseball season. True, you should be extra cautious about trading for underperforming players or trading away ones you drafted in the early rounds. But this is also an opportune time to take …
There are a lot of folks out there right now who would like to give Josh Hamilton (and Stephen Strasburg, and Matt Kemp, and Justin Verlander, etc., etc.,), and other players off to bad starts, a piece of their mind. We drafted you so high! We expected elite numbers all the time, forever, without exception! …
Well, isn't baseball a wonderful game, I mean seriously, can you imagine the rush of watching Angel Pagan's inside the park, game winning home run last night? You can see it here if you missed it. That was awesome and what a call! In other news, I am getting destroyed this week, in one of …
This week I want to share a few waiver wire columns that I thought were particularly good as a part of my weekly fantasy baseball preview. I take care of the waiver wire article over at The Fake Baseball and it can be a tough racket! However, roster management is sometimes even more important than …
So Gonos zaps me an email, "Hey man, want to host a Fantasy Baseball Awards Show?" and I was all like "For sure, dude, love to." I didn't realize that I was going to be handing out quarterly Fantasy Baseball awards for a sport that doesn't even have quarters! Furthermore, there are no after parties, …
This article will look at the most added players over the last seven days according to ESPN’s calculations (the percentages are current up to Tuesday night). This exercise should be able to allow us to see if some recently successful performances have been authentic or fraudulent. While it may be justifiable to react and pick …
Earlier this week, I wrote about the luckiest pitchers of the year, but in this article our attention will be pointed toward the luckiest hitters of 2013. In the same way that our previous article used FIP to discover which pitchers have been the luckiest, we will use BABIP as our tool to discover what …
It’s May. We are a month into the season, and there have been many surprises. Starling Marte is second on the player rater, and Clay Buchholz is the number one rated pitcher ... Wait, that does not sound right. But it’s true. However, while we know better than to believe that Starling Marte and Clay …
Last week, we held the very first Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft for the 2015 season. Oh my, we are proactive! We gathered together 12 of the very best Fantasy Baseball writers across the worldwide web, and stuck them into a time machine. We sent these to the year 2015, to hold the first baseball mock …
I have been enjoying telling stories, sharing links and other fantasy baseball goodies, but this week I'm going to name my April Fantasy Baseball All Star Team. I have no clear criteria and no idea who is on this team yet, or why I am picking anyone in particular, so lets see how it goes! …
From the perspective of a person that watches their fair share of Rockies games, the Rockies 2013 season, up to this point, has a lot in common with the season of rejuvenated Twins pitcher Kevin Correia. The Rockies record has been greeted by much skepticism from Colorado natives, while Correia’s performance has been seen as …
Last Week, I threw down a top 10 list of all my favorite fantasy baseball goodies, but this week, I'm only going to share one goodie. It is a cool little article from Thomas McFeeley called Rock Acts Placed in Starting Rotation and it is great stuff. I recommend checking back to last week's goodies list if …
Did you know that 11 percent of CBSSports.com leagues use “holds” as a statistic? Adding relievers with SP eligibility is a sneaky good way to pick up additional holds. So often, the RP-eligible starting pitcher is praised and coveted, especially in points leagues, but don’t over look the opposite who can be a significant contributor …
Once again, picking up saves on the free-agent market appears to be a popular move among the week's Tout Wars transactions. The Mixed League has 15 teams, and there are only 30 closers to spread around, give or take an injured guy and a reliever losing his job. So since some teams have three or …
This week, I've decided to do a Top Ten Fantasy Baseball Goodies List of all the best sites, articles and people who I've encountered thus far in 2013 and share them with you. 1. The Fantasy Rundown: You know that song about getting your picture on the cover or the Rolling Stone? I kind of feel …
The season is a couple weeks old now, and we’re all starting to get into our grooves of daily research, add/drops, scouting and team massaging. But the Daily Fantasy Baseball sites want to let you know they think Friday, April 19, is a big frickin’ day! Several Daily Fantasy Sports sites have BIG promotions and …
Your time machine just took you to March 20, 2015, where we’re about to hold a 2015 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft with 12 writers from across the interwebbernet. (That’s what we call it in the future.) Unfortunately, you’re only able to stick around for the first four rounds (because you have to avoid meeting your …
The Tout Wars transactions results are in!!! WOO-HOO!!! OK, so it's not really all that exciting. But still, Tout Wars transactions make a big difference in my Monday morning. Who did I get? Who did I miss out on? Who spent a bunch of money on players I'm not crazy about!?! Rookie SP Tony Cingrani …
I love good old fashion roto fantasy baseball, but points based head-to-head leagues are my favorite. I'm in 2 local leagues and am undefeated so far, which is awesome, but now I face my brother in both leagues in week 3. What are the odds? Don't answer that smart ass, it was a rhetorical question. …
Like many of you, I have been playing Fantasy Baseball for many years. In my case, this is my 23rd season (when exactly did I get THAT old?), and I also happen to be the reigning champion of my NL-only auction league. It’s not a league of published "experts," but it is a highly competitive league …
Taking a look at the Tout Wars Mixed League bids before Week 2 of the Fantasy Baseball season! It looks like several owners have lost faith in Brewers closer John Axford, as they made reliever Jim Henderson the most expensive free-agent purchase of 2013 so far. Axford has looked bad, so it could be a …
Last week I was going all 1990 on you and that was fun and all, but 2013 is here and Bryce Harper is now the best Fantasy Baseball player ever. Sorry Mr. Ryne Sandberg. Twenty-one months ago I drafted Harper in a shallow 20 team Roto 6 player keeper league. Can a 20-team league even …
This past week, I’ve really started to get into playing Daily Fantasy Baseball. And this morning, I woke up at like 7am after a long night of drinking and then some late-night pizza, and decided to jump into a bunch of games for a Saturday extravaganza … Maybe the alcohol hasn’t worn off. Then I …
One year ago this week, I started to post regularly on DavidGonos.com, sharing my thoughts on the 2012 Fantasy Baseball season and the upcoming 2012 Fantasy Football season. Little did I realize how quickly it would grow, how much I would learn and how many friends I would make within the next 12 months. 10 …
This is an excerpt from my e-book, "101 Fantasy Baseball Tips," which is still available for the low, low price of just $0.99! It has 59 writers from 37 websites, with 12 categories -- and 101 Fantasy Baseball Tips! There is probably no other day on the schedule that has more people checking in on …
It's Tout Wars transactions time! Each week, I'll try to post the FAAB results from the Tout Wars Mixed League, so readers can get a sense of what the writers are trying to accomplish. Ideally, I'll get this up early in the morning, so you can see before you make your own add/drops. In my …
Last Fantasy Football season, the guys at DraftDay.com set up DavidGonos.com readers with a ton of great free rolls in their Fantasy games. And now they’re doing it again with their Daily Fantasy Baseball games! Opening Day is pretty awesome already, and now somebody just hit the turbo button. It’s incredibly easy to get going …
Is there a more troublesome page on a Fantasy Baseball website this year than the 2013 Fantasy Baseball Reliever Rankings. I didn’t think so. (Or maybe the page that says Send Us Money! Those are troublesome, too.) But here we are – checking out who we think are the best Fantasy Relievers, which usually indicate …
Why are these 2013 Fantasy Baseball SP Rankings so important to Fantasy owners? Well, starting pitchers affect four separate categories, and usually are responsible for your ranking in each of those categories. With 14 hitters in your lineup, one or two hitters aren’t going to pace the rest of your team in four categories. But …
I'm a degenerate fake baseball junkie and Cubs fan and I'm not sure which one comes first. I used to have centerfolds from the vine Line all over my bedroom, Jerome Walton, Damon Berryhill, Mike Bielecki, Rick Sutcliffe, all of them, I loved those Cubbies. As long as a fella wore the blue slo-pitch pants and …
When compiling my 2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings, I struggled with many small decisions, and battled with many overall themes. And it dawned on me that these rankings may indicate where a player sits on a ladder, with the very best at the top, and one player below them on every rung, and so on. …
There are few positions where more is expected in Fantasy Baseball play than first base. These 2013 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings are chock full of excellent power hitters, many of which are also able to hit for average and drive in runs. In 2012, the first base position saw nine 30-home run hitters (two …
You can consider the 2013 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Rankings as Miguel Cabrera and everyone else. Miggy is considered a top-three pick in all Fantasy formats, coming off the first Triple Crown season in over 40 years. The former third baseman-turned-first baseman moved back across the diamond to make room for Prince Fielder, and he …
These 2013 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings get me a little excited. The position itself is one of the most interesting in all of sports. A baseball catcher has to know offense, defense and pitching. They’re the only position player that faces the entire field. They’re one of the most important players on the team – …
When looking at 2013 Fantasy Baseball DH Rankings across theInternet, you might find several spots that literally rank the designated hitters in the America League. In other words, they give you each team’s DH, and rank them from a Fantasy perspective. That’s dumb. Here’s why – most designated hitters are eligible to play at one …
The 2013 Fantasy Baseball SS Rankings are important to your Fantasy team – but not the most important. You’ll want to bulk up on corner infielders with power and slugging corner outfielders and speedy center fielders. The middle infielders generally give you little in the power categories, and are so-so in the speed categories. You’d …
These 2013 Fantasy Baseball 2B Rankings might save your life someday. OK, well, maybe not really. But they could be important for the life of your Fantasy Baseball team as you enter the 2013 season. And normally, second base is considered one of the weakest positions in the game. It wasn’t too long ago (well, …
Every season, Fantasy Baseball owners get super excited about the incoming crop of rookies – and the returning group of Fantasy Baseball sophomores are quietly placed in the toy bin with everything else. Fantasy writers, however, are usually more excited about sophomores (check auction prices in LABR and Tout Wars in any given year). I …
The 2013 Tout Wars Mixed Auction was once again – fantastic. We had a great weekend, which I’ll get into more later on, but first, I just wanted to share some lessons learned about the draft and some of the people and players involved. (Here are the results in spreadsheet form for all of the …
The 2013 Fantasy Baseball OF Rankings offer a little bit of everything to everyone, including those looking for 2013 Fantasy Baseball Head to Head Rankings. This Fantasy position is pretty unique for several reasons, which we’ll get into. The outfield rankings and starting pitcher rankings are the two positions Fantasy Baseball players debate the most. …
The 2013 Tout Wars weekend is officially over. But the second guessing has just begun! My ninth season of drafting in this league ended with a night at Foley’s, and everyone got a chance to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly. Most of what everyone discussed over beers and Irish fare will be …
Much is written about the “next big thing” when discussing Fantasy Baseball value. We look for signs of a breakout season from a youngster entering into his prime or we try to stay ahead of the curve by scooping up a hyped rookie or even a prospect. But what about the seasoned veterans? Sure, they …
The 2013 Tout Wars Mixed League auction action happens this Saturday afternoon! … Did you just piddle with excitement? I have a ton of work to do before then, including my dollar values and my rankings for this 15-team Rotisserie league. So today, I’m posting my initial rankings and auction values that I’ll be tweaking …
It has been about 10 days since I published the e-book, “101 Fantasy Baseball Tips” as a downloadable PDF. I’ve been on a few radio shows and getting some pub on several websites, so I thought now was a good time to talk about what’s been going on with this Fantasy Baseball ebook! SiriusXM Radio …
Since the end of the 2012 season, Fantasy Baseball owners have been reeling over just how great a season Angels center fielder had. And since last summer, people have been talking about him as a possible No. 1 overall pick in 2013 Fantasy Baseball leagues. While some are taking him that high right now, most …
Looking for some late-round value in your Fantasy Baseball draft? Then make sure you have the Cleveland Indians players roster close by! The Indians roster is full of young talent who underachieved last season, but I’d like to highlight two guys I expect to have very good seasons. When considering starters for Fantasy Baseball, very few …
Looking for the best Fantasy Baseball apps for your iPad and iPhone can be troublesome and time consuming. There are a lot of great ones out there, with a handful of crappy ones sprinkled in as well. Then again, I noticed that there were fewer apps out there this year, compared to last year. Or …
So you may have noticed, I’ve been kinda AWOL from this site for a few weeks. Basically, I’ve been keeping my rankings updated and posting a mock draft here and there, but there’s no getting around it – I’ve been … elsewhere. I’ve actually been writing, editing, formatting and promoting an e-book called, “101 Fantasy …
With this year's baseball season quickly approaching, many Fantasy fans already have their eyes on the movers and shakers – and possible Fantasy dark horses -- that will make the 2013 season a memorable one. Knowing these players will give you an inside tip on whom to watch out for during the regular season, and …
On January 9, I got a group email from Cory Schwartz of MLB.com asking if we wanted to join a 15-team 2013 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft (mixed league, Rotisserie, 5x5). Of course, I said, “Uhh yeah!” as did the rest of the group, and the draft started within an hour. It’s a slow email draft, …
I recently got a digital copy of “The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2013” magazine, and I have to say I’m thoroughly impressed. During my time at CBSSports.com, we churned out several Fantasy Baseball magazines over the five years I was a writer there. So I have a soft spot for this medium, as a writer, and …
Sunday night, I was invited by FantasyTrade411.com invited me into a mock draft for their 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide (COMING SOON!). A few rounds into the draft, I decided to bite on Indians C/1B Carlos Santana. And as I was looking at my lineup, it suddenly dawned on me that this is one of …
Several players are making a lot of noise these days in Fantasy Baseball circles that were once afterthoughts not too long ago. They were brought over in baseball trade deadline deals that seemed to be one-sided (solid veteran for questionable youngster), but later on became one-sided the other way. Just like the recent deal with …
This past Saturday night, I went to see the Miami Marlins take on my Tampa Bay Rays (sorry about the sweep, Fish) and to eat some great Marlins Park food. This was the third time I’ve gone to a game at Marlins Park, and I’ve gone out of my way to eat something different each …
Matt Kemp was the April champ, with Josh Hamilton owning the month of May, but who's the man in June in our Fantasy Baseball rankings redraft? You have to love what Carlos Gonzalez has done over the past two weeks. He has six homers with 11 RBI and a .391 batting average. And he hasn't …
When I was a kid, I collected everything to do with sports -- it was something my Dad helped me with. I collected sports cards, magazines, hats, posters, tickets and anything else you could imagine. But once I became an adult (I swear it happened), and began moving from house to house, apartment to apartment, condo …
If you read my previous column, then you know that I have little to no advice to give on how to use the D.E.N.N.I.S. system (Shout out to all you Always Sunny fans out there). My only chance of demonstrating value is explaining what BABIP means, and why it is so important when deciphering hot …
This is a guest blog sent over from my friends at TradeDebate.com, where users are able to post possible trade scenarios and the community votes on the winning side. Hot starts in baseball are a lot like hot woman. Some are good from far, while others are far from good. Some may be super attractive …
This is a great, well-thought out blog post from Mat Harrison's "Fantasy Sports Diary," but I just don't agree with a lot of it, unfortunately. First, check out A Guide to Fantasy Trading, by Fantasy Sports Diary, then we'll talk. It's not to say that I think he's wrong -- but that Fantasy Baseball owners are …
My first column posted to SportsIllustrated.com has to do with the insane situation going on with relievers -- closers specifically. In the time that this article was written, and then posted, there have already been a couple more closers bounced out! Francisco Cordero and David Robertson are among the bullpen arms tossed aside, but they'll …
Matt Vinnola has been the Texas Rangers Director of Baseball Operations since 2009, assisting General Manager Jon Daniels with day-to-day operations and other functions within the department. Before that, he worked in the front office of the Colorado Rockies for 12 years – including their “Rocktober” in 2007, when they completed the fifth-greatest comeback in …
For seven consecutive seasons, Cardinals C Yadier Molina was good for about 125 games, 420 at-bats, 105 hits, six homers and 50 RBI. His seasonal batting average would range between .250 and .280, and Fantasy owners were happy if they got him in Round 23 and happy if they didn’t. He was a true No. …
I was just telling my wife the other day, “You are so perfect for me! … Well, close to perfect … Like, there are just a couple things I’d change … I mean, just like four things, really.” So while I was picking my teeth up off the ground, I had some time to think …
Thinking about going to Marlins Park to see a ballgame this year? You'll be glad you did, but I can make your baseball outing a little bit better with some tips. Think of this as your step-by-step plan for awesome-ness. Nineteen years ago, my step-father took me to the first game in Marlins history (Charlie …
Think back to last season, and how a few of your leaguemates had begun to forget to set their lineups in August, and how a few of your leaguemates spent weeks complaining about a certain rule. So now is as good a time as any, before your draft and with your owners attentive, to make …
Your teams are all drafted. Your rosters are tighter than Dick’s hat band (that’s one you don’t hear often enough). Your lineups are set and your rotations are locked. There’s only one thing left to do once Opening Day (truly) begins on Wednesday -- have fun. Did he just say, “Have fun,” like my Aunt …
If you are reading this, you are a special kind of person. I don’t mean short-bus special, but I mean, special in the “information addict” kinda way. If you aren’t reading this, then I’m not writing this. What? That’s right. I just blew your mind. My name is David Gonos and I’ve been a “so-called …