Trading season is upon us and it is time to capitalize on our fellow owner’s frustration. In Germany, they call this schadenfreude or for those of us playing American baseball that is taking pleasure in the misfortune of others! It is time to scour the league and find the ugly ducklings and try to convince our competitors that we are really helping them out by taking problems off their hands. If you can convince somebody Ronald Acuna is a problem, then stop reading now. If you are the other 99.99% of fantasy owners, our hitter profiles focus on a few prime trade candidates that can be just what you need to push into the summer.
We were really pleased with last week’s results. The only blunder was that Garrett Whitlock faced New York instead of Cleveland, but he had a quality outing nonetheless. Everybody else in the article played well, and it has me excited to keep rolling here. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume: All-Inclusive Cruz: Elly De La Cruz, Royce Lewis, Andrew Abbott, Bryan Woo
1. Guardians RHP Gavin Williams | 23 | AAA
Another week = another handful of wasted frames from baseball’s best minor league pitcher, but this time he actually got hit around a bit, allowing three runs in four innings against the Elly-free Triple-A Reds.
As you may have noticed in this week’s Ambulance Chasers, the injuries have proliferated again, gashing large cracks in the hulls of our fantasy baseball ships (or punching holes in your emergency inflatable dingy). And this time, those injuries have come for the upper echelons of the player pool. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Could the Big Red Machine be making a comeback in Cincinnati?
OK, maybe I am putting the cart in front of the horse, but when it comes to young players who are exciting to watch, the Reds are one of the top teams to keep an eye on. This week I am shining a spotlight on three young Cincy players. But spoiler alert, I am NOT going to talk about Elly De La Cruz.
If you play in dynasty leagues, then you should already know all about De La Cruz. The man is a stud and we all know it. If you are new to dynasty league baseball then all you need to know about De La Cruz is he is a player everyone wants on their team. If you can get him, do so. If you already have him, keep him.
Prospects Galore
Entering the 2023 season the Reds had six prospects listed on the MLB.com Top 100 list - De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Cam Collier, Matt McLain and Andrew Abbott. It appears the Reds love to collect middle infielders as De La Cruz, Marte, Arroyo and McLain can all play shortstop while Collier is a third baseman and Abbott is a left-handed pitcher.
But I am not here to talk about all six of those players. Out of that group, only McClain is featured this week. Joining him is former top 100 prospect Jonathan India and Spencer Steer, who finished the 2022 campaign as the Reds' No. 7 prospect, according to MLB.com.
Let's get to the breakdowns of each player.
Do you hear what I hear? Carrolling?! The Christmas Carroll decked the halls Friday night, with an O Holy Night indeed. Yes, Corbin Carroll gave us some summer Christmas vibes going 3-for-5 with his 12th and 13th home runs of the season including a 355-foot grand salami in the seventh that was the icing on the gingerbread persons putting the Diamondbacks ahead 9-2 over the Tigers and they never looked back. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Happy Saturday (or…whatever day it is wherever you are), Razzpeeps!
This week has been a brutal week in terms of injuries: Yordan Álvarez, Pete Alonso, Jacob deGrom (technically that was last week, but it was announced after publication), and Aaron Judge. Please, blog, may I have some more?
(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR
PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH)
I can search the site for old comments. It's my superpower. Well, that and being able to tell if a sushi restaurant is good just from their spicy tuna roll. Okay, I also have the superpower: Being able to add three syllables to any Spanish name. Fine! I can also avoid any fight with my wife by saying, "You're right." That's perhaps my strongest superpower. But, back to searching old comments, I will save people the embarrassment but here's one from the end of last April:
It’s been a big week of fantasy-league-affecting baseball news, what with high-profile promotions, injuries, demotions, and season-ending surgeries. If you rostered Elly de la Cruz, Aaron Judge, Alek Manoah, and Jacob deGrom, you’ve had a busy few days, and if you didn’t, congratulations on those last two dodged bullets. Please, blog, may I have some more?

With the promotion of Elly De La Cruz this week, the fantasy baseball world is understandably pumped for yet another top rookie making an immediate impact. For the one or two of you out there who haven’t been following Elly this week, he is indeed making an immediate impact, to the tune of .364/.462/.909 through Thursday games and completely filling out the sheet with a 2B, 3B, HR, SB, and a pair of steaks. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Phillies’ pitchers have held the Tigers to 6 2/3 IP in Game 1; shutout on three hits in Game two and no hit yesterday by Zack Wheeler in 7 1/3 IP. Seems the Tigers’ pregame sessions meeting around the batting cage while Javier Baez takes batting practice are paying off. Please, blog, may I have some more?