Written by: Ray Butler

Follow us on Twitter! @Prospects365

In January, I published a ‘survival guide’ that outlined the many facets of thriving throughout fantasy baseball season. A lot of the feedback I’ve received from that article has been centered around this excerpt:

Expanding your portfolio of the ‘baseball people’ you follow on Twitter often gives you the edge in discovering breaking news, injury updates and prospect call-ups before your opposition does. The more competitive your fantasy league is, the more crucial it becomes to take heed of this recommendation. It’s impossible to overstate how much it’s helped me as a fantasy baseball player the past few seasons.

Twitter can be volatile. It can be divisive. Especially in the political world, the social media site has become the perfect medium for thousands of users to vocalize their entrenched, ‘dug-in’ views, and there’s no end in site.

Baseball Twitter can certainly be divisive, but our topics of conversation are weightless compared to other issues in present-day society. Instead of border security and government shutdowns, we take to our devices to yell at each other about Hall of Fame ballots. We debate the winner and lose of trades and free agent signings. Generationally, there’s a back-and-forth about the warrant of analytics and its continued emergence throughout the game we love.

Recently, @sadvil tweeted perhaps the perfect description of the beautiful disaster that is Twitter.

Truth be told, I love Baseball Twitter. If you manage your account properly, it’s pretty easy to create a community of different, (mostly) respectful voices that provide helpful, unique insight on every facet of America’s pastime.

And because of this, Twitter is one of the best weapons at your disposal in the fantasy baseball world.

Whether you utilize the medium to attain news that’s relevant to your fantasy team, notable prospects or both, here’s an extensive list of the Twitter personalities that give me life and an underrated edge over my league mates on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. Note: Names are listed in alphabetical order by category 

The News Breakers

Jon Heyman, Fancred. Account: @JonHeyman

Jon Morosi, MLB Network. Account: @jonmorosi

Jeff Passan, ESPN. Account: @JeffPassan

Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic. Account: @Ken_Rosenthal

Fantasy Baseball

George Bissell, Rotoworld. Account: @GeorgeBissell

Ryan Bloomfield, Baseball HQ. Account: @RyanBHQ

Ryan Boyer, Rotoworld. Account: @RyanPBoyer

Alex Chamberlain, Rotographs. Account: @DolphHauldhagen

Tristan Cockcroft, ESPN. Account: @SultanofStat

Ariel Cohen, Fangraphs. Account: @ATCNY

Yancy Eaton, Scribe of Awesome Tweets. Account: @YancyEaton

Alex Fast, Pitcher List. Account: @AlexFast8

Ray Flowers, Fantasy Guru. Account: @BaseballGuys

Max Freeze, Freeze Stats. Account: @FreezeStats

Pitcher List, PitcherList.com. Account: @PitcherList

Walter McMichael, Real Fake Baseball Podcast. Account: @realfakewalter

Matt Modica, The Athletic. Account: @ctmbaseball

Cubby Nole, Fantasy Front Office, Account: @CubbyNole

Austin Perodeau, Six Man Rotation. Account: @roto_perodeau

Peter, FantasyGuru.com. Account: @draftcheat

Scott Pianowski, Yahoo. Account: @scott_pianowski

Fantasy Rundown, FantasyRundown.com. Account: @FantasyRundown

James Schiano, Prospects 365. Account: @FreePeteAlonso

Vlad Sedler, FantasyGuru.com. Account: @RotoGut

Andy Singleton, The Beisbol Show. Account: @PeoplezPen

Paul Sporer, Rotographs. Account: @sporer

Mac Squibb, Prospects 365. Account: @SquibberStats

Fake Teams, SB Nation. Account: @faketeams

Colin Weatherwax, Fantasy Benefits. Account: @CWeatherwax13

Scott White, CBS Sports. Account: @CBSScottWhite

Jeff Zimmerman, Rotographs. Account: @jeffwzimmerman

Advanced Analysts and Baseball Personalities

Jim Bowden, The Athletic. Account: @JimBowdenGM

Derek Carty, ESPN. Account: @DerekCarty

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, Cut4. Account: @CespedesBBQ

Buster Olney, ESPN. Account: @Buster_ESPN

Mike Petriello, MLB.com. Account: @mike_petriello

Eno Sarris, The Athletic. Account: @enosarris

Travis Sawchik, FiveThirtyEight. Account: @Travis_Sawchik

Jayson Stark, The Athletic. Account: @jaysonst

Dan Szymborski, Fangraphs. Account: @DSzymborski

Prospects

Eddy Almaguer, Prospects Live. Account: @EddyAlmaguer

James Anderson, Rotowire. Account: @RealJRAnderson

Baseball Farm, Baseball Farm. Account: @BaseballFarm

Ben Badler, Baseball America. Account: @BenBadler

Chris Blessing, Baseball HQ. Account: @C_Blessing

Lance Brozdowski, Prospects Live. Account: @LanceBroz

John Calvagno, Notes from the Sally. Account: @SALNotes

JJ Cooper, Baseball America. Account: @jjcoop36

Christopher Crawford, Rotoworld. Account: @Crawford_MILB

Eric Cross, Fantrax. Account: @EricCross04

Kyle Glaser, Baseball America. Account: @KyleAGlaser

Minor Graphs, Prospects Live. Account: @MinorGraphs

Scott Greene, Prospects 1500. Account: @Scotty_Ballgame

Hunt 4 Prospects, Hunt 4 Prospects. Account: @hunt4prospects

Imaginary Brick Wall, Imaginary Brick Wall. Account: @DynastyHalp

Connor Kurcon, Six Man Rotation. Account: @ckurcon

Alex “Juicy” Jansen, Baseball Farm. Account: @jensen_juicy

Keith Law, ESPN. Account: @keithlaw

Ralph Lifshitz, Prospects Live. Account: @ProspectJesus

Eric Longenhagen, Fangraphs. Account: @longenhagen

Dylan Matthews, Prospects 365. Account: @dmattprospects

Jonathan Mayo, MLB.com. Account: @JonathanMayo

Kiley McDaniel, Fangraphs. Account: @kileymcd

Adam McInturff, 2080 Baseball. Account: @2080adam

Jason Pennini, Prospects Live. Account: @JasonPennini

Kyler Peterson, Prospects Live. Account: @KPeterson813

Prospects1500, Prospects1500.com. Account: @Prospects1500

Jesse Roach, The Dynasty Guru. Account: @jaroche6

M-Rod, Prospects 365. Account: @MRodProspects

Smada, Prospects Live. Account: @smada_bb

Tyler Spicer, Prospects 365. Account: @tylerjspicer

Matt Thompson, Prospects Live. Account: @mdthompFWFB

Adam Tulley, Prospects 365. Account: @AdamT_Prospects

Shelly Verougstraete, Rotographs and others. Account: @ShellyV_643

Emily Waldon, The Athletic. Account: @EmilyCWaldon

Chris Welsh, In This League. Account: @IsItTheWelsh

Rich Wilson, Prospect361.com. Account: @RichWilsonP361

Jason Woodell, Prospects Live. Account: @JasonAtTheGame

Beat Writers

Angels: Jeff Fletcher, Southern California News Group. Account: @JeffFletcherOCR

Astros: Jake Kaplan, The Athletic. Account: @jakemkaplan

Athletics: Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle. Account: @susanslusser

Blue Jays: Gregor Chisholm, MLB.com. Account: @gregorMLB

Blue Jays: Andrew Stoeten, The Athletic. Account: @AndrewStoeten

Braves: David O’Brien, The Athletic. Account: @DOBrienATL

Braves: Mark Bowman, MLB.com. Account: @mlbbowman

Braves: Grant McAuley, Around the Big Leagues. Account: @grantmcauley

Brewers: Robert Murray, The Athletic. Account: @ByRobertMurray

Cardinals: Mark Saxon, The Athletic. Account: @markasaxon

Cardinals: Josey Curtis, SB Nation. Account: @vivaelbirdos

Cubs: Sahadev Sharma, The Athletic. Account: @sahadevsharma

Cubs: Jordan Bastian, MLB.com. Account: @MLBastian

Diamdondbacks: Zach Buchanan, The Athletic. Account: @ZHBuchanan

Diamondbacks: Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic. Account: @nickpiecoro

Dodgers: Andy McCullough, The Los Angeles Times. Account: @McCulloughTimes

Dodgers: Pedro Moura, The Athletic. Account: @pedromoura

Dodgers: Jorge Castillo, The Los Angeles Times. Account: @jorgecastillo

Giants: Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic. Account: @extrabaggs

Indians: Zack Meisel, The Athletic. Account: @ZackMeisel

Mariners: Corey Brock, The Athletic. Account: @CoreyBrockMLB

Mariners: Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times. Account: @RyanDivish

Marlins: Andre Fernandez, The Athletic. Account: @FernandezAndreC

Marlins: Craig Mish, Sirius XM. Account: @CraigMish

Mets: Anthony DiComo, MLB.com. Account: @AnthonyDiComo

Mets: Tim Britton, The Athletic. Account: @TimBritton

Nationals: Brittany Ghiroli, The Athletic. Account: @Britt_Ghiroli

Nationals: Patrick Reddington, SB Nation. Account: @federalbaseball

Orioles: Dan Connolly, The Athletic. Account: @danconnolly2016

Orioles: Roch Kubatko, MASN Sports. Account: @masnRoch

Padres: Dennis Lin, The Athletic. Account: @dennistlin

Phillies: Matt Gelb, The Athletic. Account: @MattGelb

Pirates: Rob Biertempfel, The Athletic. Account: @RobBiertempfel

Rangers: Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News. Account: @Evan_P_Grant

Rays: Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times. Account: @TBTimes_Rays

Red Sox: Matt Collins, SB Nation. Account: @OverTheMonster

Red Sox: Evan Drellich, NBC Sports Boston. Account: @EvanDrellich

Red Sox: Jason Mastrodonato, The Boston Herald. Account: @JMastrodonato

Reds: C. Trent Rosecrans, The Athletic. Account: @ctrent

Rockies: Patrick Saunders, Denver Post. Account: @psaundersdp

Rockies: Nick Groke, The Athletic. Account: @nickgroke

Royals: Rustin Dodd, The Athletic. Account: @rustindodd

Royals: Royals Review, SB Nation. Account: @royalsreview

Tigers: Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press. Account: @anthonyfenech

Twins: Dan Hayes, The Athletic. Account: @DanHayesMLB

White Sox: James Fegan, The Athletic. Account: @JRFegan

Yankees: Lindsey Adler, The Athletic. Account: @lindseyadler

Yankees: Erik Boland, Newsday Sports. Account: @eboland11

Weather and Daily Starting Lineups

Kevin Roth, Roto Grinders. Account: @KevinRothWx

Daily MLB Lineups, Daily MLB Lineups. Account: @DailyMLBLineup

There are over 100 accounts listed above. If you’re new to fantasy baseball or just now getting around to using Twitter to assist you in lineup or roster decisions, you’re in good hands. Baseball is oozing with journalistic talent from coast to coast. In my estimation, every big league team is blessed with at least one upper-echelon beat writer. Most have multiple dynamic journalists chronicling a team’s 162-game journey each season.

You’re also in the golden age of prospects. Not only is the talent in the minor leagues arguably better than it’s ever been, but there are multiple entities writing about prospects on an everyday basis. Of course you have the heavy hitters in Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs and MLB.com, but Prospects Live and Prospects1500 both do phenomenal work that will increase your prospect knowledge with a simple click of a button. I’d like to think we at Prospects 365 fall somewhere in that spectrum too.

Guys like Eno Sarris and Mike Petriello are constantly publishing predictive analytics and data, and there’s debatably no one better in the industry to follow if you’re looking to find hidden gems on the verge of breaking out who are already in the big leagues. Both do very complicated work, but they have the ability to explain their findings in a way that simpletons like myself can understand. You’ll be able understand too.

Following Jeff Passan and Ken Rosenthal are no brainers. Knowledge is power, and that pair provides more knowledge and news than any other duo in the industry. They should be the first people you follow if you haven’t done so already.

And really though, if you don’t follow Kevin Roth (or another sports-focused meteorologist) and a daily lineups account, you’re not getting the most out of your Twitter experience. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the opportunity to change my lineup or pitching rotation thanks to weather announcements or seeing starting lineups two-to-three hours before first pitch. Being forewarned about impending weather or your star receiving a day off is perhaps the most underrated facet of using Twitter to give you an edge in the fantasy baseball world.

Now, nothing you’ve read in this article is of any use if you’re not consistent with your Twitter usage. I’m unhealthily addicted to the site and spend way too much time on it, but you really should check your feed a few times a day at least. Of course, having the necessary tools to create an edge for yourself means nothing if you don’t take advantage of them. Yes, that means I’m giving you permission to be on your phone even more than you already are.

Twitter can be your secret weapon this fantasy baseball season. Take thirty minutes and make it happen.

Follow us on Twitter! @Prospects365

Featured image courtesy of NKC High School Baseball

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