Author: Paul Sporer | Page 85 | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball

The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1124 – 2023 1B Rankings Preview #1

by Paul Sporer

January 9, 2023

1/9/23

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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1B RANKINGS

The 1st rounders: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. & Freddie Freeman
Should Paul Goldschmidt be right there w/those 2?
Is Pete Alonso the single best bet for 50 HR at 1B? Leaguewide?
Will Matt Olson’s AVG rebound?
Split on Vinnie Pasquantino & José Abreu is similar
Is Nathaniel Lowe’s upside entirely R/RBI-related or can he pop 30+?
Should C.J. Cron be a home-only player?
Did Josh Bell tank his market value w/the struggles in SD?
What are we missing on Andrew Vaughn?

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Paul Sporer’s 2023 Second Base Rankings

by Paul Sporer

January 9, 2023

Second base is short on top end talent, but incredibly deep in middling options as there isn’t a ton of difference in the 24 guys bookended by the Urias brothers, Luis and Ramon.

2023 Second Base Ranks

RK	NAME	TEAM	LG	ALLPOS
1	Marcus Semien	TEX	AL	2B/SS
2	Jose Altuve	HOU	AL	2B
3	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	MIA	NL	2B
4	Ozzie Albies	ATL	NL	2B
5	Andrés Giménez	CLE	AL	2B
6	Tommy Edman	STL	NL	2B/SS
7	Max Muncy	LAD	NL	2B/3B
8	Trevor Story	BOS	AL	2B
9	Gleyber Torres	NYY	AL	2B
10	Brandon Drury	LAA	NL	1B/2B/3B
11	Brandon Lowe	TB	AL	2B
12	Jorge Polanco	MIN	AL	2B
13	Ketel Marte	ARI	NL	2B
14	Jonathan India	CIN	NL	2B
15	Luis Urías	MIL	NL	2B/3B/SS
16	Jean Segura	MIA	NL	2B
17	Whit Merrifield	TOR	AL	2B/OF
18	Jake Cronenworth	SD	NL	1B/2B
19	Bryson Stott	PHI	NL	2B/SS
20	DJ LeMahieu	NYY	AL	1B/2B/3B
21	Gavin Lux	LAD	NL	2B/OF
22	Jeff McNeil	NYM	NL	2B/OF
23	Brendan Rodgers	COL	NL	2B
24	Luis Arraez	MIN	AL	1B/2B
25	Kolten Wong	SEA	AL	2B
26	Christopher Morel	CHC	NL	2B/OF
27	Vaughn Grissom	ATL	NL	2B
28	Thairo Estrada	SF	NL	2B/SS
29	Chris Taylor	LAD	NL	2B/OF
30	Nick Gordon	MIN	AL	2B/OF
31	Rodolfo Castro	PIT	NL	2B/3B
32	Nolan Gorman	STL	NL	2B
33	Luis García	WAS	NL	2B/SS
34	Luis Rengifo	LAA	AL	2B/3B
35	Josh Rojas	ARI	NL	2B/3B
36	Jonathan Schoop	DET	AL	2B
37	Wilmer Flores	SF	NL	1B/2B/3B
38	Ramón Urías	BAL	AL	2B/3B
39	Aledmys Díaz	OAK	AL	2B/OF
40	Tony Kemp	OAK	AL	2B/OF
41	Brendan Donovan	STL	NL	2B/3B/OF
42	Isaac Paredes	TB	AL	1B/2B/3B
43	Jonathan Aranda	TB	AL	2B
44	Michael Massey	KC	AL	2B
45	Christian Arroyo	BOS	AL	2B
46	Adam Frazier	BAL	AL	2B/OF
47	Jon Berti	MIA	NL	2B/3B
48	Santiago Espinal	TOR	AL	2B
49	Zach McKinstry	CHC	NL	2B/3B
50	Diego Castillo	ARI	NL	2B/SS/OF

20 gm qualification; 5×5 Roto; Blue indicates new tier

Notes on some select 2B:

Marcus Semien fronted the league 43 games before hitting his first homer and still wound up with 26 thanks to an excellent summer. He hit .268/.324/.492 with 20 SB, 72 RBI, 85 R and those 26 HR from May 28th on. While his extreme volume is a big part of his game (4 straight 700+ PA seasons; led MLB in 3 of them), he still had a 20/20 pace over 600 PA in 2022.

I’m not projecting another 18 SBs for Jose Altuve given that he had just 13 in his previous 1436 PA from 2019-21, but the 33-year-old doesn’t need a repeat there to remain a premium option at the position. The offense remains loaded, and his skills are aging brilliantly.

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – January 5th, 2023

by Paul Sporer

January 5, 2023

Transcript is now available!

1:07	Paul Sporer: Hello everyone! Thanks for coming out!

1:07	Brandon Wood: Greetings Mr. Spider,

1:08	Paul Sporer: Good day!

1:08	Justin Mason: NERD!!!

1:08	Paul Sporer: Rude!

1:08	Brandon Wood: Do you expect Jordan Walker to rise up boards like Julio Rodriguez did last season?

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Paul Sporer’s 2023 First Base Rankings

by Paul Sporer

January 3, 2023

2023 First Base Ranks

RANK	PLAYER	TM	LG	POS
1	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	TOR	AL	1B/DH
2	Freddie Freeman	LAD	NL	1B
3	Pete Alonso	NYM	NL	1B
4	Paul Goldschmidt	STL	NL	1B
5	Matt Olson	ATL	NL	1B
6	Vinnie Pasquantino	KC	AL	1B
7	Nathaniel Lowe	TEX	AL	1B
8	José Abreu	HOU	AL	1B
9	Christian Walker	ARI	NL	1B
10	C.J. Cron	COL	NL	1B
11	Rhys Hoskins	PHI	NL	1B
12	Josh Bell	CLE	NL	1B
13	Wil Myers	CIN	NL	1B/OF
14	Joey Meneses	WAS	NL	1B/OF
15	Ty France	SEA	AL	1B
16	Josh Naylor	CLE	AL	1B
17	Anthony Rizzo	NYY	AL	1B
18	Andrew Vaughn	CHW	AL	1B/OF
19	Ryan Mountcastle	BAL	AL	1B/OF/DH
20	Jose Miranda	MIN	AL	1B/3B
21	Brandon Drury	LAA	NL	1B/2B/3B
22	Matt Mervis	CHC	NL	1B
23	Rowdy Tellez	MIL	NL	1B
24	Seth Brown	OAK	AL	1B/OF
25	Joey Votto	CIN	NL	1B
26	Miguel Vargas	LAD	NL	1B
27	DJ LeMahieu	NYY	AL	1B/2B/3B
28	Triston Casas	BOS	AL	1B
29	Jake Cronenworth	SD	NL	1B/2B/SS
30	Luis Arraez	MIN	AL	1B/2B
31	Spencer Torkelson	DET	AL	1B
32	Trey Mancini	FA		1B/OF
33	Luke Voit	FA		1B
34	Keston Hiura	MIL	NL	1B
35	Jared Walsh	LAA	AL	1B
36	Yuli Gurriel	FA		1B
37	LaMonte Wade Jr.	SF	NL	1B/OF
38	Carlos Santana	PIT	NL	1B
39	Wilmer Flores	SF	NL	1B/2B/3B
40	Brandon Belt	FA		1B
41	Nick Pratto	KC	AL	1B
42	Ji-Man Choi	PIT	NL	1B
43	Eric Hosmer	FA		1B
44	Dominic Smith	FA		1B
45	Isaac Paredes	TB	AL	1B/2B/3B
46	Kyle Manzardo	TB	AL	1B
47	Bobby Dalbec	BOS	AL	1B
48	Jesús Aguilar	FA		1B
49	Mike Moustakas	FA		1B/3B
50	Hunter Dozier	KC	AL	1B/3B/OF

20 gm qualification; Blue indicates new tier

NOTES:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the king of the position, though I do feel like 2021 will remain his high watermark. He hit 44% of his 41 HRs in just 28% of his season plate appearances at the two temporary homes they used before returning to Rogers Centre. He is a good bet to get back to .300-30-100-100.

While Freddie Freeman doesn’t always deliver that cornerstone power at 1B, he more than makes up for it with his other four categories, often highlighted by a premium AVG (.325 last yr; .298 career). He even spiked a career-high 13 SBs last year to counterbalance his 21 HRs, his lowest over the last six full seasons.

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1123 – Correa Saga, Drury/Myers Sign, and “Gift or Coal”

by Paul Sporer

December 23, 2022

12/23/22

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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@sporer – Host
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INJURIES/TRANSACTION NEWS

Carlos Correa to NYM!!
Michael Conforto to SFG
Brandon Drury to LAA
Wil Myers to CIN
Mike Moustakas DFA’d

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – December 14th, 2022

by Paul Sporer

December 21, 2022

Transcript is below! Have a wonderful Holiday Season! (no chat next week)

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4 Sixth Starters Who Could Be Great in 2023

by Paul Sporer

December 20, 2022

As of right now, these four are penciled to be the sixth man (or at least in contention for that sixth spot) in their team’s respective rotations. Given that it’s mid-December, these situations are all subject to change so one or more of them could break camp with a rotation spot in hand. Even if they don’t, they could be the first man up when someone goes down. And I’m not trying to be pessimistic, it’s always “when”, not “if” as teams simply don’t use the same five starters for an entire season.

Hunter Brown | HOU

The 24-year-old had a brilliant breakthrough season with a 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 21% K-BB rate in 106 innings at Triple-A along with a nice cup of coffee in the major (0.89 ERA in 20 IP). He has premium heat (96.7 mph fastball) and two solid breaking balls that has helped him consistently miss bats throughout his minor league ascent, netting a 31% K rate in 230 innings. He does have a 12% BB rate, too, so there is some control sketchiness to iron out, though he was down to 10% in AAA/MLB this year. Brown also has fantastic groundball rates throughout his career, including a 54% at Triple-A and then a bananas 68% mark in his MLB sample.

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1122 – Carlos Signings, Dansby to Chicago, plus LA and Boston Making Moves

by Paul Sporer

December 19, 2022

12/19/22

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

Follow us on Twitter

@sporer – Host
@justinmasonfwfb – Co-Host/Producer

PATREON

Join our Patreon for live video feeds of each show
Watch the video feed replay on YouTube

TRANSACTION NEWS

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat

by Paul Sporer

December 14, 2022

Transcript is now live!

1:01	Paul Sporer: Hello everyone, thanks for coming out!!

1:02	Ryan: Is there a better top 5 in baseball then Tatis Jr., Soto, Machado, Bogaerts, Cronenworth?

1:04	Paul Sporer: Altuve, Bregman, Yordan, Abreu, Tucker is certainly up there, but not many stand up to SD’s quintet once Tatis is back.

1:05	Concerned Citizen: I’m at my wits end about our boy H. Bader! Still holding out hope for a bounce back in the Bronx?

1:08	Paul Sporer: I’m still a fan! He is still pretty affordable in the late-100s (183 winter ADP) and that draft price covers some of his volume risk (has never reached 430 PA). If we don’t the returns this year, I’ll definitely start moving away from him