Early season roster moves aren’t something I’m a fan of, but bottom-of-the-roster turnover is a constant reality for fantasy owners. Let’s take a look at the shortstops who have seen their ownership percentages rise and fall the most after one week (according to ESPN) in the constant waiver wire shuffle. Read the rest of this entry »
Shortstop is a perennially shallow position, but for quite some time Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez and, to some extent, Jose Reyes have made it a top heavy position. Unfortunately, each one of those guys has an age that now starts with a three instead of a two, and they ain’t as good as they once was (yeah, that’s a Toby Keith link). More unfortunately, no one has supplanted them at the top of the positional ranks. There are a couple of young names that could significantly outpace every other shortstop at some point, but for now there is no one that seems likely to reach those heights. Assuming you don’t go with one of the aging, top options, you’ll be choosing between young guys with value potential but low floors, or more projectable, lower ceiling veterans. Read the rest of this entry »
This post continues our Depth Chart Discussions. You can find the Depth Chart Discussion posts gathered here.
This might be the last time I rap at y’all wearing my depth chart hat. I put off discussing my home team, not because I feel that I’d be any more biased in my examination of them than I would be with other teams; rather, it’s because I wanted to avoid being depressed by what appears to be a closing window. But we’re talking fantasy value here, not playoff odds, so I’ll save my pouting for another post, or for another website altogether.
The 2014 Brewers infield produced a mixed bag for fantasy owners. Jonathan Lucroy continued to improve and was a top-three catcher; those that owned him likely had him at a bit of a value. Scooter Gennett proved to be a viable second base option, at least against right-handed pitchers. On the other hand, Jean Segura took a huge step back. Aramis Ramirez missed a lot of time and put up his worst season in years, even by rate stats. And then there was first base. To say that the Brewers failed to produce a first base option for fantasy players is putting it lightly. Without Mark Reynolds’s 22 homers on the books, it would look even worse, but Reynolds batted under .200 and finished with a .302 wOBA. To think that the team actually got significantly more production out of the first base position than they did in 2013 says more about how historically bad Brewers first basemen were in 2013 than anything about the 2014 squad. This past off-season they traded Marco Estrada to the Blue Jays for the rights to a year of Adam Lind. Lind should provide something of an upgrade, but we’ll get to that a bit later.
First, here’s an overview of what the Brewers infield is likely to be on opening day:
| Pos. | Starter | Platoon/Backup | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jonathan Lucroy | Martin Maldonado | |
| 1B | Adam Lind | Jonathan Lucroy | Luis Jimenez |
| 2B | Scooter Gennett | Luis Sardinas | |
| 3B | Aramis Ramirez | Luis Jimenez | |
| SS | Jean Segura | Luis Sardinas |
It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.
It has been a whirlwind offseason for the San Diego Padres, who made blockbuster trades for a brand new, brand name outfield of Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, and Wil Myers. Between the new outfield, the free agent acquisition of James Shields, and the incumbent rotation talent, the Padres will make a play for their first postseason berth since 2006.
If they do reach the postseason, it will likely not be because of the exceptional player of their infield, which was left largely intact after a disappointing 2014 season. In fantasy, that unit is similarly unenticing, although there are a few bounce back candidates who could become fantasy relevant.
Read the rest of this entry »
I think the fantasy community at large has successfully rebelled against the word “sleeper” at this point. The major issue being that there isn’t really such a thing given the vast amounts of information freely available to any and all fantasy baseball participants. And yet, when someone says the word, you still have an idea of what they mean. Sure, some have greatly diluted the meaning of the idea by tabbing guys like Nolan Arenado (ADP of 58th overall) or Christian Yelich (84th) as sleepers.
This post continues our Depth Chart Discussions. You can find the Depth Chart Discussion posts gathered here.
The Mariners seem to be doing a variation on a theme here. The theme? One could argue that it’s “Recent Vintage Tampa Bay Rays.” Or, one could argue that it’s “Recent Vintage Seattle Mariners.” They have a lot of moving parts and some potential platoons. One might find it interesting, or one might find it a cause for concern. The difference between the 2015 Mariners and a team like the ~2012-2014 Rays is that the former have some very expensive veteran players—signed as free agents—slated for full-time roles. Again, cause for concern, or optimism?
The Mariners’ big move this offseason was signing Nelson Cruz to a four-year, $58MM deal.* Cruz could play some OF, but he’s likely to be the full-time DH for his stay in Seattle. Rickie Weeks was a late addition and could end up seeing a lot of time against left-handed pitchers, though that might mostly come in the form of a left field platoon with Dustin Ackley. Other than Cruz and Weeks, the names below are familiar, if not exactly household ones.
| Pos. | Starter | Platoon/Backup | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Mike Zunino | Jesus Sucre | John Baker |
| 1B | Logan Morrison | Rickie Weeks | Jesus Montero |
| 2B | Robinson Cano | Rickie Weeks | Willie Bloomquist |
| 3B | Kyle Seager | Willie Bloomquist | Rickie Weeks |
| SS | Brad Miller | Willie Bloomquist | Chris Taylor |
| DH | Nelson Cruz | Rickie Weeks | Jesus Montero |
I already took a look at some of the risky upside picks in the outfield. Now I’ll tackle the middle infield.
The Javier Baez story if fairly familiar by now. The 22-year-old brings massive power along with huge strikeout totals. That power comes in the generally-weak middle infield and is coupled with solid speed for a potential smorgasbord of fantasy goodness.
This post continues our Depth Chart Discussions. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, rotation, and bullpen) and will continue to break them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find the Depth Chart Discussion posts gathered here.
The world champs might be without their longtime hot-cornerman, but they have enough impact players to keep them competitive in real life and relevant so far as fantasy owners are concerned. Up the middle the team flashes the game’s best catcher and an emerging double-play duo, while first base belongs to a solid sleeper candidate.
Read the rest of this entry »
This post continues our Depth Chart Discussions. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, rotation, and bullpen) and will continue to break them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find the Depth Chart Discussion posts gathered here.
There aren’t too many infields that can match the Indians’ selection of quality options at typically hard-to-fill positions, including a catcher coming off a breakout season, a corner infielder with solid power capability and a second baseman ready to return to his all-star form. As a bonus, there are several interesting depth pieces as well that owners in deep leagues might find useful.
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.
By now, we all expect the Phillies to be bad this season. The only question is where they fall on a scale of bad to abominable. Despite the ugly outlook, there are things to like about this team. They still own Cole Hamels. Ditto Cliff Lee. The bullpen, with or without Jonathan Papelbon, could be one of the strongest units in the league.
Run prevention may be a strength of this club. It won’t be enough. The Padres allowed the fourth fewest runs last season en route to a 77 win campaign. They also scored the fewest runs – hence the lousy record. San Diego has pivoted as a franchise, but the Phillies still look like a weaker version of last year’s Padres.