The AL East is up for grabs this year, and the Tampa Bay Rays are poised to compete once again. This year, the team has sacrificed James Shields and Wade Davis in hopes of extending their window to compete, but have also revamped most of their infield. There’s some value in the 2013 Rays infield, so long as a fantasy owner keeps expectations low … or gets Evan Longoria.
While the Cleveland Indians had a disappointing 2012, at least they’re doing what a 94-loss team should be doing: making changes. While the solid up-the middle starters in the Cleveland infield will be sticking around, the team has shuffled their outfield and a good chunk of their infield in the hopes of improving on their dismal previous season. And while the team’s depth chart is still in flux (and may be throughout the season), there’s a lot of room here for an enterprising fantasy owner to squeeze some value out of this team.
Catcher
Carlos Santana is an upper-tier catcher capable of filling three stats consistently: homers, runs, and RBI. Despite hitting a rough patch in 2012, Santana still put up solidly above-average offensive numbers (including a 120 wRC+), and again offered plenty of plate appearances for a catcher. His batting average is a little bit of a downer (but he rocks in OBP leagues), and you can’t expect more than a handful of steals, but he’s still one of the best bets at catcher in fantasy. His backup, “Tofu” Lou Marson, is wholly un-rosterable despite getting a decent share of plate appearances backing up Santana … even though he did post a sharp walk rate and OBP in ’12.
Few teams have an outfield as “set in stone” as the St. Louis Cardinals. The team nearly missed making it to the World Series, losing a drawn-out seven-game series to the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, and they did it while getting a combined 12.8 WAR from the three guys expected to man the outfield in 2013. So while the team’s outfield features three “safe” fantasy bets for the 2013 season, there’s a wild card hidden away here that may pay fantasy dividends at the end of the season.
Left Field
Consistency, thy name is Matt Holliday. Aside from the loss of his stolen base totals from the mid-00s, Holliday has hardly dropped off one bit in terms of fantasy production. Playing in all but five games in 2012, Holliday delivered his usual combination of runs (95), RBI (102), homers (27), and batting average (.295). Do you play in an OBP league? Holliday does that too, posting a .379 on-base percentage last season. And though he may have struck out just a hair more than in previous seasons, all signs look good from a peripherals standpoint.