Flags Fly Forever Fantasy Baseball

We're back for a discussion of one single category: yes, the famously tricky...batting average (though Jon thinks you should switch to OBP like a modern person of taste and intellect). We talk about AVG vs. OBP, how to approach a team that is last in the category, and we go through a little exercise in thinking about the type of player you might add to strengthen your performance across the remain...

After sitting out April, your fearless Flags duo return to check in on the State of Things in early May. We largely cover two topics, each based on a recent piece by Mike at Baseball Prospectus. The saves landscape: is it different in 2026? or just variations on a theme that has been with us for the last decade? (Read the article: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/106614/why-saves...

Alas, the real baseball is here! We chat about the misfire of Netflix's opening night before going through some topics related to both the draft season that has just ended and the real season just underway.  Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy." You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flag...

If you looked at the Tout Wars Mixed Draft, which took place on Tuesday, March 3rd, you may have noticed that your friendly neighborhood co-host avoided starting pitchers like they were germ-ridden toddlers, in effect conceding two of the ten roto categories. Why did he do this? What were his goals? Did he accomplish the plan to satisfaction? The first half of the pod covers these questions. Then,...

You think life is long, with endless opportunities that can always be postponed to a later date. And then you feel the cold breath of mortality on your neck and you find yourself drafting Dom Canzone as your third outfielder. Carpe diem, friends! Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy." You can f...

Rather than go through the tiers of relief pitchers (yawn), we offer you a little intermezzo within our positional previews. We talk about the first 8 rounds of an NFBC Draft Champions league they are co-managing, highlighting the decisions they've made from the 15 spot (the notorious "wheel").  Then, we offer some more general, macro-level thoughts on drafting closers in an extremely volatile poo...

We talk about the top-heavy talent pool at the six this week. If you don't grab one of the top six shortstops, you're probably OK. But if you wait until after pick 200, there's not nearly the depth that there is at second base. So be careful out there! Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy." You...

Tricky draft pool at third base this year. Beyond your obvious superstars (Ramírez, Caminero) it gets dicey, but there are a surprising number of players that give you more than just power. But, if it's power you want, we are both big Eugenio Suarez fans, particularly since he is going back to Cincinnati. Hopefully all that Skyline chili can keep him powered up!  Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Pr...

Second base looks pretty barren at the top--only three players being drafted in the top 100!--but turns out to be a deep and diverse pool once you get beyond the first six or seven rounds. We look at players we are variously hot and cold on for 2026, and we talk strategy--particularly the pressure to draft a second baseman who can offer significant speed.  Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectu...

Catcher? Is interesting? For fantasy? Yes, it's true--it is a more interesting and varied position than in recent years, largely because the position has gotten much younger. Mike and Jon discuss whether (and which of) these young backstops are reason for excitement or caution. Also, a mild disagreement on Cal Raleigh, but we both think he's pretty awesome and should continue being awesome.  Flags...

We are off and running with our 2026 positional previews, starting at first base. We talk about most of the cold corner performers that you are likely to draft this season, and we mostly (but not always!) agree. First base looks different than it did a decade or two ago (a 30-steal guy? really?) but is still one of the deeper positions in the fantasy landscape. Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Pros...

We review outfielders from the 2025 season. You think this position is deep? Well, it's ~complicated~. We refer to Mike's positional retrospective article, which you can find here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/103300/fantasy-retrospective-2025-outfield/ Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and...

We review middle infielders from the 2025 season, looking at the landscape at each position. We refer to Mike's positional retrospective articles, which you can find here: Second Basemen: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/102736/fantasy-retrospective-2025-second-base/ Shortstops: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/103050/fantasy-retrospective-2025-shortstop/ Flags...

After a summer sabbatical, Flags is back for the offseason!  We review catchers, third basemen, and first basemen from the 2025 season, looking at the landscape at each position. We refer to Mike's positional retrospective articles, which you can find here: Catchers: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/102493/fantasy-retrospective-2025-catchers/ First Basemen: https://www.baseballpr...

Hello strangers! After a two-month hiatus, Flags is back. I'm sure the anticipation was not nearly at the level of the follow-up to My Bloody Valentine's epochal 1991 release, Loveless, but Jon tortures that analogy anyway. We do a general check-in of things at the thirdway point of the season, zeroing on the starting pitching leaderboard, as well as discussing the many call-ups and how one might...

Instead of a granular, detailed look at the starting pitching tiers, we take a 50,000-foot view of the landscape, identifying three large "chunks" of the draft: the early rounds (1-6), the middle rounds (7-18), and the late rounds (19-end). We tackle some strategic questions, based on the latest ADP data from NFBC Main Event drafts (though what we discuss applies broadly to most leagues).  We disc...

Mike and Jon talk about two recent drafts they were in: Mike in the LABR Mixed Draft, and Jon in the WERF draft (one of the leagues in the overal EARTH competition). We make some observations about starters, relievers, and drafting speed.  Then we get to the second half of our outfield preview, containing a lot of flawed but interesting bats.  Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. Fo...

We get through the top 2.5 tiers of Mike's outfield rankings, spending a bit of time on the Ronald Acuña Dilemma. Elsewhere, we weigh in on the robust group of promising young outfielders in the five- and four-star tiers (Chourio! Duran! Merrill! Langford! Wood! Butler!), are back in again on Corbin Carroll, hopeful for a J-Rod bounceback, and remain impressed with Yordan Alvarez. In the top half...

Finally, a position with some truly elite players! We discuss the relative merits of Gunnar and Elly in the first round, why Francisco Lindor and Trea Turner might be more similar than you think, if CJ Abrams has another level, and other topics du jour at the six. Plenty of flawed but intriguing options in the three-star tier, and then things fall of pretty quickly at the two-star tier and below....

Like a fresh-baked pizza left in the snow, the corner known as third base starts pretty hot but cools down quickly. Do you like cold pizza? Then stick around to hear why we're concerned about Rafael Devers and Royce Lewis, and we're not buying any Nolan Arenado bounceback hype. Mike convinces Jon that Mark Vientos is for real and Jon (maybe) persuades mike about the underrated virtues of Alec Bohm...

Mike and Jon would never police your keystone decisions (get it? Keystone Cops?) but we do take a deep dive into Mike's tiers at a position that is best described as "globular." Many of the top players are on downward-descending aging curves, and there's a pretty thick middle where you can find many flawed-but-interesting options.  Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fanta...

After some Very Important Weather Talk we dive into a position with both promise and disappointment (often embodied in the same player). We compare and contrast early-round young bucks Adley Rutschman and Yainer Díaz, debate what might be left in the tank for Sal Perez and J.T. Realmuto, identify an off-brand Cal Raleigh who might be better than the original, and comb through the lower tiers for p...

Welcome to preview season 2025! We begin our positional previews with a corner that is not just cold, but downright Arctic (at least before cliimate change melted all of the sea ice) past a certain point. We have mild disagreements about Matt Olson and Josh Naylor, and I beef with Fangraphs over their disrespect of the great metropolis of Sacramento, California. We share skepticism about Michael T...

At last, we have gone through our positional reviews for 2024 (yeah, we skipped relievers, sorry), finishing up with starting pitchers. If aces didn't always ace, they at least held serve (Spencer Strider being the exception, sob). Some nice innings consumers in the next tier down, and the lower tiers had far more misses than hits. We refer to Mike's review article at BP, which you can find here:...

We continue with our positional group reviews from 2024, this time focusing on catchers and corner infielders. Jon had some occasional mic trouble but Mike mostly says the smart stuff, anyway--so no big loss there! Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy." You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky...