[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1237013″ player=”13959″ title=”2023%20Razzball%20Draft%20Kit%20LowPriced%20Alternatives” duration=”199″ description=”A look at some sleepers to avoid some overpriced players in 2023 Fantasy Baseball 00:00 Intro00:51 Third Base1:35 Second Base1:59 Zack Wheeler2:16 Outfield” uploaddate=”2023-02-07″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/snapshot/1237013_th_1675752812.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/1237013.mp4″ width=”480″ height=”270″]
Steve Cohen carrying a $2.4 billion in a briefcase. All the denominations are million dollar bills that he bought off Etsy for $999,999 apiece, because he gets a billionaire discount. The Wilpons enter the exchange with the glove Jesse Orosco threw into the air at the completion of the 1986 World Series. With this transaction, Cohen will become majority stakeholder in the New York Metropolitans. The exchange begins. Cohen hands the Wilpons the briefcase and the Wilpons hand Cohen Orosco’s glove, which is the deed to the Mets. As they go their separate ways, Cohen puts the glove on and realizes there was something in the webbing. He opens it to a monkey’s paw. This will go beautifully next to his formaldehyde shark, he thinks. Then he sees a little piece of paper in the monkey’s clutches. He unfurls the paper to read, “Enjoy the curse, sucker!”
Welp, if it wasn’t for bad luck, the Mets would have none. The Edwin Diaz injury is just the latest insanely unlucky thing to happen to the Mets. Whomever bargained the Mets’ soul for that ball going under Bill Buckner’s glove needs to make amends to the baseball gods, or wrap Scherzer and Verlander in bubble wrap! So, the top 100 for 2023 fantasy baseball has been updated with news Edwin Diaz will miss the season; the top 500 for fantasy baseball has been updated. Grab the Fantasy Baseball War Room for any weekend drafts too; I’ll be using it for my Sunday Tout Wars draft. Wish me luck, kidding! Don’t need it! David Robertson is clearly Edwin Diaz’s successor, and it seems unlikely Ottavino gets anymore than a handful of saves. Assuming that freakin’ monkey paw doesn’t have a say in this! Anyway, here’s what else I saw in Spring Training for 2023 fantasy baseball:
Jose Quintana – Will undergo rib surgery and won’t return until July. I’m like the guy with twenty lottery tickets watching the numbers come out on TV, only instead of numbers, I have written on them Megill and Peterson. They won’t all be winners, but one of them is winning. Cannot emphasize enough how much who wins this rotation job matters.
Harrison Bader – Will miss about a month of the season with an oblique strain. His injury last year and an oblique are not the same, but it still feels like the Susceptible-to-Injury buzzards are starting to nibble at his perfectly-good-for-fantasy-valueness. It could be only 40 ABs he misses, which is how many I took off his projections in my top 60 outfielders, but obliques go from two weeks to two months in a finger snap. Also, I didn’t adjust up Oswaldo Cabrera. I don’t love moving guys up and down over every little thing. If Bader’s back in two weeks, it doesn’t help Cabrera. If it’s two months, then game on! For what it’s Foxworthy, I grabbed Cabrera in my RazzSlam draft, because that’s Best Ball, and giddy up, A Horse Named Upside.
Ranger Suarez – Felt some forearm tightness. More like Ranger Sore-ez. Bam! High five me right now! No? Yeah, you’re likely right. So, this sounds ominous, but he says he’s fine. I haven’t moved Suarez yet in the rankings, as he’s throwing again, but I’m watching closely before drafting him.
Mitch Haniger – Dealing with an oblique strain. From a kick in the nuts to a kick in the gut: The Story of *itch Haniger. He says he should be fine near to Opening Day. Yeah, I’m sure Haniger will be 100% healthy all year.
Mark Melancon – Likely to start the year on the IL with a sore shoulder. Dbags’ pen is truly a closerfudge of shituational proportions. I have Ginkel in the lead, but witht he confidence of a 12-year-old asking someone out.
Jordan Walker – Says his shoulder injury is fine. This is proof there is a God and he listens to me. Have any requests?
Oscar Colas – As mentioned in the outfielders sleepers, I moved Colas up in my top 80 outfielders and top 500. There’s a chance here that he could be the biggest fantasy contributor from the White Sox outfield, and I’m not exaggerating. Okay, maybe a little, but I’m a big fan of Colas. Stay thirsty, friends!
Michael Fulmer – Was announced that he would compete with Brad Boxberger for the Cubs’ closer job. As with all closer jobs where more than one guy is competing, I take it with a grain of salt. Could Fulmer be the closer? Sure. Could Boxberger? Yes. Could Hughes still? Absolutely. A team that doesn’t have a set closer isn’t eliminating anyone from competition just because they have favorites. With the said (here goes Grey throwing out everything), I’ve updated my top 500 for the Cubs’ pen, and JKJ updated the Bullpen Chart.
Endy Rodriguez – Optioned to the minors. Funny to read that he was optioned to the minors because he needs more seasoning. Yeah, sure, as he’s about to hit .350 in Triple-A.
Cade Cavalli – Felt something behind his throwing elbow. Was he pressing his elbow against a wall, because then I could see why he felt something behind his elbow. Was he pressing it against a car? No? Hmm, that stinks. Removed Cavalli from my top 100 starters, as he’s headed for Tommy John sugery.
JJ Bleday – Optioned to Triple-A. Um, what? They traded Puk for him. What are the A’s doing? Did they option him to Vegas, thinking the team had already relocated there? This makes no sense. Guess that ups Conner Capel in the depth chart, but I can’t get him into my top 500. He’s a Quad-A guy who seems less-than-Capel.
David Villar – Diagnosed with a low-grade hip flexor strain. That is severely going to limit his pickleball game.
Trevor Bauer – Signed a deal with with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan. Sayonara.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand – Was reassigned to minor league camp. There was some hope he’d break camp, but the Reds are playing for 2037, and you can’t mess up the long-term plans.
Nick Senzel – Sounds like he’ll start the year on the IL. *makes insanely shocked face* Sorry, I’m being told my face is saying shocked, but I just got Botox.
Jared Shuster – Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder were optioned down. Braves are hilarious in the best of ways. They’re exactly what you want from every team. Just promoting the crap out of their players. Then they either get one great season from someone who as quickly disappears or they sign the player to a 14-year, $35 million contract. No in-between. On my radar is Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd. I’ve only added Jared Shuster to my top 100 starters, because the Braves always promote the best guy, service time be damned. I’m very interested. Besides D-Rob, Shuster is the next biggest news in this post.
