ROTISSERIE: Quantifying Risk—The cost to roster a player

​[Baseball HQ founder Ron Shandler returns for this 3-part series. Since his contract here with USA Today ended in 2015, he’s free-lanced for ESPN.com and The Athletic, and continues the fanalytic conversation at BABSbaseball.com.]

Part 1: The challenge we face

It costs you a certain dollar amount or draft pick to claim ownership of the statistics each player produces. For Byron Buxton, you might need to spend upwards of $20 to roster him, perhaps more if you are in a league with at least one fanboy. Buxton is averaging a 7th round pick in 15-team mixed leagues, but he is going as early as the 4th and as late as the 11th.

These acquisition costs are market driven, but based on history, they have little relationship to how each player...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Rotisserie

There are plenty of young and taltented catchers as we enter the 2026 season.
Dec 11 2025 3:05am
An attempt to identify the best and most MLB-ready of both marginal producers and legit prospects with upside at the SS position.
Dec 9 2025 3:02am
Matt Shaw headlines our crop of dynasty building blocks at the hot corner.
Dec 4 2025 3:04am
We'll take a look at NL outfielders who could see big value gains over the next few seasons, as well as those that could net sharp dynasty owners huge returns as soon as 2026.
Dec 2 2025 8:00am
We kick off our Dynasty Reload series with the AL outfield. There are several interesting prospects and a couple of first-year flops (like Jac Caglianone) poised for a rebound.
FREE
Nov 28 2025 8:02am

Tools