Every offseason there are always transactions in Major League Baseball that will make fantasy owners take notice. Those moves may be trades, free agent signing, injuries, or even service time manipulation. Free agency in the National Football League is a feeding frenzy during the first couple of days, but in MLB most teams and agents take the slow and methodical approach. The teams are trying to save every nickel and the agents are trying to squeeze every last dollar they can out of those teams. It can make for a long grueling winter.
Trades are becoming popular once again as a majority of teams don’t want to dole out $250 million contracts to free agents. New locations come with new risks. Changing leagues can be a problem as these players aren’t as familiar with the opponents they will be facing. We forget that players have families that have to be uprooted. Change isn’t always the easiest thing for anyone.
I don’t need to be lucky to win, but I can’t be unlucky either and the easiest way to lose a league is to be that team that suffers a multitude of injuries. I have always believed this. In a 12 team league, four teams will be eliminated because they don’t pay attention or because they make poor roster decisions. Four more teams will be toast because of injuries. I know I will pay attention, so I just need to avoid being one of those four teams that looks like a M.A.S.H. unit.
What do we do with players that haven’t signed with a team yet? History has told us that usually doesn’t bode well for the players or the team that signs them.
Last, we get to check out those top prospects who are being kept down in the minor leagues so that the team will have an extra year of control over them.
Free Agents on the Move
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies: I’ll admit, I’m worried about a slow start to the season for Harper. He signed about mid-way through spring training and as of Tuesday, still doesn’t have a hit in a major league spring training game (he did get one in a minor league spring training game Monday). He only has another nine days to get his swing and timing down, that just may not be enough time. Still, he moves from a pitcher’s park in Washington to a
Manny Machado, San Diego Padres: Granted he would’ve needed to hit a couple of attainable incentives, but Machado turned down more money from the White Sox to sign with the Padres. I would’ve also, who doesn’t want to play in San Diego? You get great weather year round and the Padres have one of the top three minor league systems in the game. This won’t be their year, but you give this team 2-3 years and they are likely to be one of the best teams in MLB and Machado will be a huge part of that. He’s a bottom of the first, top of the second-round pick for me this season.
A. J. Pollock, Los Angeles Dodgers: Even with the humidor in effect, moving from Arizona to Los Angeles should hurt the power production of Pollock, but healthy is still by far the most important factor in Pollock’s ability to produce top fantasy numbers. Pollock has only played more than 137 games once in his career. Over the past three seasons, he has missed 249 games. That’s a staggering number. The most important ability in fantasy sports is availability and Pollock doesn’t usually possess that. Proceed with extreme caution here.
Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals: While the change from
Daniel Murphy, Colorado Rockies: I don’t understand why the Rockies signed Murphy. They don’t want him to play second base and already had Ryan McMahon to play first base. Not to mention, what will they do with Ian Desmond should he not be able to handle center field on a regular basis? As for Murphy, we all know he can hit, and he does seem to be over the knee issues that plagued him last season. If he can play 140+ games this season, he may have his best fantasy year to date.
Nelson Cruz, Minnesota Twins: Some fantasy owners don’t like to draft a player that only qualifies at
Players Traded
James Paxton, New York Yankees: Paxton wasn’t acquired to be the ace of the staff, but after the injury to Luis Severino, that is exactly what he may be. Expecting him to win 20 games is probably asking
J. T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies: Most believe that Realmuto is the best all-around catcher in MLB. It’s hard to argue with that and his move from the Grand Canyon of ballparks in Miami to Philly where the ball flies out to all fields will only enhance his value. If Realmuto didn’t play
Edwin Diaz, New York Mets: There will be 30 closers to start the season. Half of them won’t have the job come July 1. That’s just the way it is with the most volatile position in sports. Diaz is in no danger of losing his job to anything but injury. He is one of the best in the game and a 35+ save season should be forthcoming. Diaz is a top 5 closer this season.
Robinson Cano, New York Mets: The suspension for steroids certainly took some of the
Injuries
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers: Kershaw used to be the top SP selected and a first-round pick in fantasy leagues. Not anymore. Over the past three seasons, Kershaw has made 74 starts, about 25 a season. He is already hurt and unlikely to take at least his first start through the rotation. Does anyone truly believe he won’t suffer another injury this season? Let him be a problem for someone else.
Luis Severino, New York Yankees: General manager Brian Cashman announced Friday that if everything goes well, Severino will return to the rotation in early May. I’ll pass here as well. Remember, Severino was awful in the second half last season. Maybe there was an injury. Maybe he was tipping his pitches. Maybe it was both. Once again. I’m not willing to take a chance on a pitcher who is already hurt.
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels: After undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, Ohtani won’t pitch this season. The Angels, however, do expect him to DH once again, but not until May at the earliest. This is unprecedented. We have never had a two-way player this good. Sure, we would like to add Ohtani to our fantasy team, but at what cost? He’s already out a month and it would seem unlikely that he will be an everyday player upon his return.
Players Still on the Market
Craig Kimbrel: Yes, Kimbrel picked the wrong off-season to demand a $100 million contract. I mean, he had to be replaced during the World Series last year because it didn’t look like he knew where the ball was going. Still, he’s going to sign with someone eventually. Maybe it will take an injury to a current closer to
Dallas Keuchel: What is Keuchel asking for that he can’t get a job? He’s not a great SP but should have a roster spot, especially if you look at some of these rotations throughout the game. Like Kimbrel, Keuchel also may need an injury or a poor performance to sign with a team. The problem is that it could take him weeks to a month to be ready to pitch in a game once he signs.
Service Time Manipulation
Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Toronto Blue Jays: That oblique injury came at the perfect time for Toronto. They were going to get called on the carpet for sending Guerrero to the minors. We all know he’s ready to play now, I mean, he was ready to play last season. Assuming the oblique injury doesn’t hold him back, we will see Guerrero in mid to late April. He’s going to hit for power, but I’m not a big fan of using one of my top 5-7 picks on a player that is already going to miss 20 games.
Eloy Jimenez, Chicago White Sox: Jimenez isn’t hurt but according to the White Sox, needs to work on his defense. Yeah, sure he does. He’s not the power hitter that Guerrero is, but a better
