| | | | Monday, February 27, 2023 | | Pitchers and catchers have reported across the MLB and spring training is also underway -- can you smell that? Baseball is back and in the air. Now we'll pass over the big topic I've seen littered across my Twitter timeline -- the new shot clock the MLB has introduced to shorten games. Why? Well, there's too much Fantasy Baseball goodness we need to get rolling on, and if you have missed out on anything from our Fantasy Baseball Today team -- Frank Stampfl, Scott White and Chris Towers -- both via podcast or on the website -- my job is going to be to catch you up. | | | | Let's start today by breaking down Scott's latest column where he breaks down the 30 spring training position battles you need to know that will have a major impact on the Fantasy Baseball season. We'll touch on a few of the battles that stand out most to me. | | Top 30 position battles to watch | | Cardinals OF/DH | Candidates: Alec Burleson, Dylan Carlson, Nolan Gorman , Lars Nootbar, Tyler O'Neill, Jordan Walker, Juan Yepez
Likely choices: Carlson, Nootbaar, O'Neill, Gorman/Yepez
Preferred choices: Carlson, Nootbaar, O'Neill, Walker | | From Scott: "This glorious mess all comes down to Jordan Walker, who the Cardinals have said will have an honest chance to make the big-league roster this spring. If you're looking for this year's Julio Rodriguez, he's a strong candidate, but as you can see, the path isn't exactly clear. Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar and Tyler O'Neill have the advantage of incumbency, and Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman and Juan Yepez all offer intriguing upside. Just not as much as Walker, who's probably in if he sets the Grapefruit League on fire." | | Braves SS | Candidates: Orlando Arcia, Vaughn Grissom
Likely choice: Grissom
Preferred choice: Grissom
From Scott: "It's hard to imagine that the Braves, a team with World Series aspirations, would allow Dansby Swanson to walk only to turn over shortstop duties to Orlando Arcia, who hasn't had a full-time role since 2019. But they need someone to push Vaughn Grissom, who may be stretched defensively at shortstop. The 22-year-old's work with guru Ron Washington this offseason earned rave reviews, however, and his impressive minor-league track record is generating plenty of Fantasy interest at his holdover position (second base)."
White Sox right fielder | Candidates: Oscar Colas, Gavin Sheets
Likely choice: Colas
Preferred choice: Colas | | From Scott: "Gavin Sheets presents thin competition for Oscar Colas, which tells me that the Cuban defector (by way of Japan) basically has the job already. The talent pool is aching for another bat like his in the outfield, but since we haven't seen him in the majors yet, we can't presume he'll rise to the moment. I just think, given how well-traveled he is and how easily he took to the minors last year after a long layoff, his resilience speaks for itself." | | You can find all of Scott's 30 position battle breakdowns here. | | | | News and Notes | | Padres 3B Manny Machado agreed to an eleven-year, $350 million contract extension with San Diego. Machado is coming off an excellent season where he batted .298 with 32 homers and 102 RBI despite not having Fernando Tatis in the Padres lineup. Cardinals OF Jordan Walker went 2-for-4 with a three-run shot off Johnny Cueto in Sunday's spring training game. The homer was projected at 430 feet. The 20-year-old has immense talent and if he stays hot all spring he'll have a chance to take that final spot in the Cardinals opening day lineup from Yepez, Gorman and Burleson.Dodgers 1B Miguel Vargas , one of Scott White's favorite sleepers, IF NOT his absolute favorite on the board, has regained grip strength and has progressed to doing more batting cage work, per Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts. If Vargas makes the opening day roster, he will start with first base eligibility only but is expected to soon gain second base eligibility and third base eligibility. The second base eligibility is part of the reason Scott is so excited about his potential to return value on his ADP (which is currently way too low at 225 overall).Cubs oF Seiya Suzuki was scratched from his Cactus League opener on Saturday with left oblique tightness. Oblique injuries are the most nagging and tricky -- he will undergo further testing.Astros DH Yordan Alvarez told reporters that he is still not swinging a bat. Alvarez is dealing with a hand injury. If this lingers, it could cause him to drop. | | | | Post-hype sleepers | | Everyone loves a good post-hype sleeper. You know the type: former hyped up buzz players who failed to meet ADP expectations and you can now buy back in at a reduced price. Here are some of Scott's favorite post-hype sleepers. You can find his complete list of every post-hype sleeper he's interested in here. | | Wander Franco, SS, Rays | | From Scott: "He's the most high-profile of these players and a surefire pick in every league still, but the two-time consensus top prospect in baseball went from being a Round 3-4 pick last year to a Round 7-8 pick this year. Normally, it goes the other way. The concern is this: does Wander Franco impact the ball hard enough, with an 18th percentile average exit velocity, to generate power in a post-juiced ball league? For as impressive as his contact skills are, he slugged only .417, and his xSLG was even lower. The ADP is reasonable if that's what he continues to do, but he'll only be 22 this year. And his max exit velocity, which is often a better reflection of a player's power, was 85th percentile. A big step forward remains on the table for a player whose pedigree is second to none." | | Josh Jung, 3B, Rangers | | From Scott: "Josh Jung was supposed to be the great hope at an increasingly thin third base position last year, but then he tore the labrum in his shoulder before the lockout even ended, and when he returned, he got only 31 games to prepare for his big-league debut. Big-league mistake, it turns out, because the 25-year-old got eaten alive, by sliders especially, striking out at an embarrassing 38.2 percent clip. Guess what? He's still the great hope at third base, which, as "increasingly thin" would imply, has gotten even thinner. The Rangers have already penciled him in for the job, and the hope is that rust contributed to his struggles last year. After all, strikeouts were never his issue in the minors, where Jung was a .322 hitter prior to last year." | | Alex Kirillof, 1B/OF, Twins | | From Scott: "I've been banging the drum for Alex Kirilloff since the spring of 2021, but even I have to admit my resolve has waned a bit. But with his cost this low, now isn't the time to back down, especially since, as I've always maintained, his success is contingent on the health of his wrist. He took his most drastic steps toward addressing the issue last August, having surgery to shorten the bone, and he's reported to camp with the wrist in "as good of a spot as [we've] seen," according to GM Derek Falvey. For those short spurts when the wrist has been right, Kirilloff's quality of contact has been off the charts, and in between IL stints last year, the career .323 minor-league hitter batted .359 with 10 homers and a 1.106 OPS in 35 games at Triple-A St. Paul." | | AL-only Mock Draft | | We're going to try to make sure that each of these newsletters features a mock draft recap and results. It's the season for it! Today, we'll take a look at a recent AL-only salary cap (auction) draft that Scott participated in. You can find the FULL results for the mock auction here and also more of Scott's key takeaways. | | Three nuggets from Scott: | It doesn't take long in a salary cap draft to get a read of the room, to see how aggressively everyone is bidding (or not), how recklessly everyone is spending (or not), and adjust your approach accordingly. Considering this one was AL-only, the spending at the high end was bonkers, with two players going for more than $50 and another five going for more than $40. Those bids well exceeded my projected values, which should have made for ample bargains later. But it seemed like they were mostly confined to catcher and relief pitcher, two of the positions I was looking to invest the least in.
For all the big spenders, I wasn't alone in my desire to distribute my dollars more evenly (no player being worth $30, etc.). In fact, Mike Gianella and Grey Albright took it even further, with Mike's most expensive player being $22 (Nate Lowe) and Grey's being $20 (tie between Alejandro Kirk and Giancarlo Stanton). Interestingly, both rosters seem skewed toward pitching.It's amazing how segmenting off one league can turn the scarcities upside-down. You may have heard third base is one of my top priorities in conventional drafts because of how swiftly and steeply it drops off, but in the context of an AL-only league, it's fairly robust. Meanwhile, shortstop, which is normally regarded as one of the deeper positions, has only like nine reliable options to go around. I never would have passed up Carlos Correa for $19 had a noticed beforehand and regretted it once I saw Corey Seager's price tag ($32). I ultimately wound up with rookie Oswald Peraza as my shortstop. I like his price and talent level fine, but I would like it even more in my middle infield spot. | | | | | | | | Morning Kombat | | 24/7 Sports News | Showtime Presents: Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell! Luke is a former Marine Sergeant and the Sr. MMA Analyst for CBS Sports. Brian Campbell is the CBS Sports Sr. Insider for all things Combat. Together they will cover everything happening in the world of Boxing and MMA, including talking to the fighters, promoters and especially you, THE FANS!
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