Vlad Sedler's Articles

In baseball, an “opener” has a simple job – help the team get off to a good start by limiting the opponent’s production in the first inning or two. He essentially paves the way for the rest of the bullpen and the offense to do their thing. This fantasy baseball article is similar – since […]

Bettle is an exciting new peer-to-peer fantasy sports platform! Let’s say you have an MLB season-long fantasy team you love but want a way to get more action on it. Join the Bettle community and browse other people’s teams to challenge them in a 1-on-1 battle for real money. You can challenge for the day […]

Opening Day has come and gone, but Overreaction SZN is just beginning. Early in the season is a great time to invest in hitters and pitchers off to slow starts who we are bullish on long-term.    With Prediction Strike, we can buy and sell players stocks much like the actual stock market, and in doing […]

Opening Day is here, which means the most fun part of baseball season – fantasy baseball draft season – has finally concluded. There is truly nothing more exciting than the January through March stretch of researching, prepping, slow draft DCs and that big build up to the final draft weekend.    I started drafting with […]

Welcome to my weekly free agent bidding strategy column – Trust the Gut. This piece will focus on weekly FAAB strategies and targets to confidently prepare you in your quest to acquire players to help your fantasy teams contend for league titles. I focus primarily on NFBC leagues, but the strategies and players recommended will […]

We’re less than a week from MLB Opening Day, and the smell of baseball is strong! With Prediction Strike, we can buy and sell players stocks much like the actual stock market, and in doing so we are able to create portfolios. However, unlike DFS or sports betting, these can also be long-term investments.   Considering […]

FAAB stands for “Free Agent Acquisition Budget (or Bidding).” It is the process of adding new hitters and pitchers to our fantasy baseball rosters in exchange for hitters and pitchers we have chosen to drop. Most fantasy sites, including NFBC, run FAAB once a week, on Sundays, and use a blind bidding protocol. Over the last […]

Profit is the name of the game in fantasy baseball. Whether snake draft or auction, the way to set oneself up for success and win leagues is to correctly identify and draft market inefficiencies. Basically, assemble a collection of hitters and pitchers who out-earn their market prices (ADP or AAV). Sounds easy, right? Our goal […]

The NFBC Main Event overall title is the ultimate crowning achievement in high stakes fantasy baseball. In these 15-team leagues at $1,750 per entry, prizes are earned by the top-three per league as well as the top 30 overall. Last year, the NFBC held a record-high 47 Main Event drafts – some in person (in […]

This is the eighth and final piece in my special preseason series breaking down each position by tiers for the NFBC. This series is a deeper view into the underpinnings of VDP (Vlad’s Draft Positions). Each week’s deep dive allows me to adjust and fine-tune VDP to an optimal setting as we head into the […]

This is the sixth part of my special preseason series breaking down each position by tiers for the NFBC. This series is a deeper view into the underpinnings of VDP (Vlad’s Draft Positions). Each week’s deep dive allows me to adjust and fine-tune VDP to an optimal setting as we head into the two big […]

MARCH 7th UPDATE   First tier remains unchanged though I’m still chasing my first Aaron Judge share and would strongly consider him over Julio Rodríguez in 5×5 roto (Judge already an easy pick over JRod in Points) Still not a fan of those Tier 2 bats (45-60) outside of Luis Robert though I’ve moved Kyle […]

MARCH 7th UPDATE I’ve moved Adley Rutschman down below Will Smith and have generally not been drafting him unless he falls a round past ADP and I’m in the market for a catcher. Feels like he’ll be a better real-life player than fantasy one this season. I’ll happily draft Willson Contreras at or before his […]

KDS (Kentucky Derby Style) is a feature in NFBC 5×5 rotisserie leagues where managers can prioritize and rank their 15 (or 12) draft spots in order of preference. It adds another layer of strategy by having some say in determining what position we pick from throughout a draft. If we’re familiar with the player pool, […]

MARCH 7th UPDATE Though I still like the triumvirate of Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien and Jose Altuve, I’ve been less enticed to draft them in the early part of Round 3 (15-teamers), instead focusing on top SP and RP. I do still like Lindor most of this trio. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is steaming his way […]

March 7th UPDATE Though Bobby Witt Jr. has that big upside, I still haven’t been comfortable drafting him in the 1st round. Hard to take him over Freddie Freeman who has returned 1st or 2nd round value each of the last few seasons and usually always hits over .300. Though I love Matt Olson and […]

VDP Projections are here! VDP stands for Vlad’s Draft Position – it is an annual draft season rankings system based on my analysis of individual hitters and pitchers and the overall player pool. VDP helps me identify my individual draft or auction preferences in relation to the market (ADP).    VDP projections are the underpinnings […]

Pitchers and catchers report Feb. 14.  Spring Training begins Feb. 24. Opening Day is March 30.   We are about six weeks away from spring training and less than three months from the start of the regular season. Though it may feel like eons from now, Opening Day will sneak up on us quickly. All […]

Welcome to the Week 18 FanDuel Breakdown, the last one of the season.   The final week of the DFS season is almost a season in and of itself. It’s incredibly important that before familiarize yourself with these two articles from Kevin Adams and Sam Choudhury: Fantasy Impact of Playoff Scenarios Player Incentives: Milestones & […]

Welcome to the Week 17 FanDuel Breakdown. Our second-to-last regular season DFS slate should be a wild one. Thirteen games, but with a twist – the Steelers/Ravens matchup that was flexed to Sunday Night Football will remain a part of the slate, while the Rams/Chargers game flexed out of SNF will not be included.    […]

Welcome to the Week 15 FanDuel Breakdown. It’s a 10-game main DFS slate Sunday without a standout game stack like we had with Vikings-Lions last week. No “Coors Field of the NFL” in Week 15 with the Lions visiting New York to face the Jets and their stout defense. There are no games this Sunday […]

Landing profitable late-round hitters was a difficult task in 2022.  It was the Year of the Late-Round Pitcher as there were a plethora of arms with NFBC average draft positions beyond 250 who provided tremendous profit. Tony Gonsolin, Nestor Cortes, Kyle Wright, Spencer Strider, Tyler Anderson, Cristian Javier and Miles Mikolas were all either drafted […]

Welcome to the 2023 FTN Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide! You know the old saying: The early birds win their leagues. It’s never too early to start preparing for a new fantasy baseball season. We’re still three months away from Opening Day, and there’s so much that will transpire between now and then – free agents […]

NFBC is the National Fantasy Baseball Championship — the preferred season-long fantasy baseball site of thousands of the best and most dedicated players. NFBC was created back in 2004 by Greg Ambrosius as fantasy baseball’s first multi-city, high-stakes event.    The NFBC hosts online and live (in-person) redraft and auction style leagues and have set the […]

Welcome to the Week 14 FanDuel Breakdown.   With six teams resting on this final bye week, we have just 10 games on the Week 14 main DFS slate. There is one matchup that stands out from the rest and it’s the only one with a total over 50 – the Minnesota Vikings against the […]

Welcome to FAAB Whisperer. This weekly column will serve as a guide to assist with FAAB for mid and high stakes leagues and national contests such as NFFC, FFPC, FFWC and RT Sports.   The basis for our weekly bid review will be the $350-entry NFFC RotoWire Online Championship (OC). It’s the perfect framework for […]

Welcome to the Week 13 FanDuel Breakdown. We have a rare 12-game main DFS slate with most of the focus on two presumed competitive and high-scoring matchups: Chiefs vs. Bengals and Jaguars vs. Lions.    The KC-CIN game has the slate’s highest total – now at 53 after opening at 51. Chiefs are first in […]

UPDATE: Bumping Tyrion Davis-Price ahead of Jordan Mason as TDP is the RB most likely to back up McCaffrey. I’d consider TDP > Snell  for the stretch run/playoffs. ==== Welcome to FAAB Whisperer. This weekly column will serve as a guide to assist with FAAB for mid and high stakes leagues and national contests such […]

Welcome to the Week 12 FanDuel Breakdown. With no teams on bye in Week 12, the Thanksgiving hangover slate features 11 games where none have projected totals over 48 combined points. Here are the two games likely to be most popular from a game-stack perspective: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Arizona Cardinals (LAC -3, 48 total) […]

Welcome to FAAB Whisperer. This weekly column will serve as a guide to assist with FAAB for mid and high stakes leagues and national contests such as NFFC, FFPC, FFWC and RT Sports. The basis for our weekly bid review will be the $350-entry NFFC RotoWire Online Championship (OC). It’s the perfect framework for our […]

Welcome to the Week 11 FanDuel Breakdown. The biggest storyline of Week 11 is the Browns-Bills game moving to the dome in Detroit (Ford Field). Moving from an environment of several feet of snow in Buffalo to these friendly confines completely flip the script around this week’s builds. Undoubtedly, this will be the most targeted […]

WEDNESDAY UPDATE Running Backs Sad to think about how some of us spent $200+ on Deon Jackson just a couple weeks ago but that shouldn’t be a reason to hold onto him if there are better players worth bidding on. I’m personally in a pickle in one league where I need a starting roster spot […]