We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. The sun is still rising on 2019, but RotoBaller writers JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli and myself are here with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings are sure to change quite a bit over the coming weeks. [...]

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman enters 2019 looking to shake off a disappointing and injury-riddled 2018 campaign. An exceptionally poor strand rate of 60.5% was the main culprit of his 5.54 ERA across 102.1 innings, though other skills such as his walk rate and strikeout rate were also subpar compared to his previous career norms. Theres hope for Stroman to return to past success, however, as his FIP, xFIP, and SIERA all suggest that his struggles last season were not all -- [...]

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $7.4 million deal. Stroman's 2018 season was ruined by injury, as he made just 19 starts for Toronto. He wasn't effective either, posting a 5.54 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 6.8 K/9 in his 102 1/3 innings. Stroman would benefit from a trade out of Toronto and the tough American League East. The ground-ball artist is likely to go undrafted in most mixed leagues in 2019.

[...]

The San Diego Padres are engaged in trade talks for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, according to sources. However, there wasn't tangible progress toward a deal as of Saturday night. The Padres have one of the best farm systems in baseball, and pitching prospects Michael Baez and/or Logan Allen could be involved. Baez is the team's No. 7 prospect in their system. Stroman struggled last year with a 5.54 ERA over 102 1/3 innings and missed time with shoulder fatigue and a blister[...]

MLB Winter Meetings are ending in Las Vegas, Nevada and the headline-grabbing moves have come from relatively unknown places. Players like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, J.T. Realmuto, and Noah Syndergaard were rumored to be traded or signed, yet none of those moves materialized.[...]

The Cincinnati Reds remain active in trade discussions for New York Yankees starting pitcher Sonny Gray and Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman, according to sources. The Reds think there's a better chance of acquiring them than Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber. Gray and Stroman both had down seasons in 2018 but have the ability to bounce back and would both probably benefit in a change of scenery, although Great American Ballpark isn't very friendly to pitchers.

It was an impressive year for ERA in 2018, as MLB's combined 4.14 ERA was the lowest since league pitching recorded a 3.95 ERA in 2015. Just to give you an idea of how much pitching improved this year, all four of the pitchers that will be mentioned in this list finished in the top-10 in ERA among qualified pitchers, and only one of them had finished in the top-30 in 2017.Now normally "rising" and "ERA" are not something you want to hear in the same sentence. For the purposes of this article tho[...]

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we'll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. We are beginning to see good production from somewhat unknown and unheralded pitchers due to September callups. The pitchers that were covered this week have all thrown fewer than 35 innings in the majors this season. Reds lefty Cody Reed struck out double digit Cubs in just five [...]

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (finger) will "probably not" pitch again this season, according to manager John Gibbons. Stroman will rejoin the team in New York. Stroman made his last start on Sept. 3 against the Rays and lasted just 1 2/3 innings while allowing four earned runs. His season has been up and down due to injuries, and he should no longer be owned by those in single-year formats.