The Itch

Off-season Deals Shuffle the Deck in Dynasty Fantasy Baseball

December 4, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 13 Comments

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With the signings of Jose Abreu and Jacob deGrom, the off-season feels officially underway, and I feel like I’m falling behind on some general moves and shakes around the game.

We’ll get back to the lists and cover the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. 

The Abreu signing is unique for our purposes in that it creates value for the team he leaves behind and the team he’s joining. If the team lets Eloy Jimenez DH and installs Andrew Vaughn at first base, both youngsters get a glowing arrow up. No longer condemned to wander the outfield, they can finally settle into everyday roles. The club has been batting Tim Anderson at the top for a long time, but his high-contact, low-walk approach would be better employed in an RBI spot. Trouble is that’s true for several White Sox. A healthy Yoan Moncada could lead off, but he was awful last season, posting a .273 on base percentage in 104 games. But let’s just pretend he can bounce back to something like the .367 OBP he posted in 2019 or the .375 from 2021. 

I’d probably lay it out like this: 

1. 3B Yoan Moncada 

2. OF Luis Robert 

3. DH Eloy Jimenez 

4. SS Tim Anderson

5. 1B Andrew Vaughn

6. C Yasmani Grandal 

That’s a compelling top six. Could arrange the top five in any sequence. What happens with seven through nine is anyone’s guess.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Wed 8/6
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | DET | OAK
Jakkers

2023 Top Keepers – Shortstops

December 3, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Keepers | 5 Comments

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One week ago, I was lamenting the state of the second base position in Major League Baseball and thus fantasy baseball. Outside of a few top players, it is now overrun with utility players and doesn’t have much depth.

This week, however, we talk about one of the deeper positions in baseball. Today we unveil the 2023 Top Keepers – Shortstops edition.

Unlike second base, the shortstop position is populated with highly skilled athletes who can do it all – hit, hit for power, run and field.

The numbers shortstops are putting up support that statement, but so too does this simple fact: last season, 20 players (out of 30 MLB teams) played 100 or more games at short. Another two (Kyle Farmer and Bobby Witt Jr.) appeared in 98 games at the position while a third, Tim Anderson, missed half the season due to injuries. Then there is Fernando Tatis Jr., who we all know missed the entire year.

Unless a team is rebuilding or just doesn’t have a good player at short, it is a spot on the field where managers want to have the same player every day. And more often than not, those players are not glove-first players. Today’s shortstops are expected to hit.

What is Your Preference?

The goal, both in real life and in fantasy, is to get the great all-around shortstop. But if you want to use a utility slot or middle infield slot to boost a specific stat, this is a great position to pick a player from.

Want speed? Ten shortstops stole 20 or more bags this past season. Need power? There were 15 shortstops who walloped 15 or more homers. What about help with your average or on-base percentage? Eight shortstops in these rankings hit .290 or better and another 11 had an OBP over .330.

If your team has a specific need, a number of shortstops would be great keepers. Now, let’s dive in and take a look at the 2023 Top Keepers – Shortstops rankings.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Vaughn Grissom, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

December 2, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 72 Comments

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Last year, Vaughn Grissom went 19/32/.320-ish. That’s “ish” because I didn’t feel like doing the math for batting average. Plus, it’s goofy and those aren’t really his stats. Well, they are, kinda. That’s his stats if you combine High-A, Double-A and MLB numbers. Slightly misleading, but *thinking* Is it misleading? Okay, the major leagues aren’t High-A. I get that, but, and here’s when I say anything very controversial: For hitters, are they that different, when a guy is only 21 years old? If a guy is 28 years old in High-A, then his stats mean nothing. But if a guy is 21 years old, then what’s the difference where he’s playing if he can hit in the majors? Once a guy shows he can hit in the majors, then it validates everything that came before, when he’s young. I keep doing that caveat, because it is very important. A guy who is 30 years old hitting well in the minors may or may not transfer to the majors *cough* Joey Meneses *cough*. A guy, who is 21 tearing the ball up in the minors, is just good no matter where he’s going to play. You see it in all the future stars. It’s not the only path. A guy can struggle, then find something that clicks. But when it clicks that early anywhere in pro ball, he’s has got a high ceiling. That the Braves don’t seem to want to bring back Dansby Swanson implies they know it too. I’m only surprised they haven’t yet locked up Vaughn Grissom in a 12-year, 19-million dollar type deal. So, what can we expect from Vaughn Grissom for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Oswaldo Cabrera, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

December 1, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 19 Comments

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Usually not a “Yankees game watcher” but I became a “Yankees game watcher” over the last six weeks of the season, because of the Aaron Judge home run chase, and then the playoffs, so by being a “Yankees game watcher” I became an “Oswaldo Cabrera watcher,” and, as I became an “Oswaldo Cabrera watcher,” I became an “Oswaldo Cabrera believer,” then, slowly, without even trying, against my better judgment, side thought separated by commas, I became an “Oswaldo Cabrera enjoyer.” As an “Oswaldo Cabrera enjoyer,” I’ve been impressed with his outfield defense, his poise in the box against some of the toughest pitchers, and his power and speed. An “Oswaldo Cabrera enjoyer” isn’t something I expected myself to become, but an “Oswaldo Cabrera enjoyer” I am. Quiz me on him, and you’ll see. Any question you have about “Oswaldo Cabrera” I can prove my “Oswaldo Cabrera enjoyer”-ness with just a flick of the finger, as I scroll the Google. Funnily enough, as an “Oswaldo Cabrera enjoyer,” you don’t get that title by just enjoying Oswaldo Cabrera, you have to enjoy him even while he’s not hitting incredibly well. His stats from last year 6/3/.247; 25.7% strikeout rate aren’t bad, but they’re not exactly affixing a match to the bottom of the earth and setting the world ablaze. Then again, I toyed with the autobiography title “IQ of 70” so what do I know? So, what can we expect from Oswaldo Cabrera for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Psyche! Before we get into the Oswaldo Cabrera sleeper post, just wanted to announce that I’ve begun to roll out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. It’s an early Hanukkah miracle! Or late Hanukah miracle, depending on when Hanukkah is this year. The Jews should really decide on one day to start Hanukah each year, and stick with it. It’s better for branding. Anyway II, the Oswaldo Cabrera sleeper:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

San Diego Padres Top 10 Prospects for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

November 30, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 9 Comments

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Despite trading away everything from last year’s top prospect group, AJ Preller’s cupboards are not bare. He won’t have the talent to make moves for Juan Soto or Josh Hader this summer, but Preller himself is an elite scout who has little trouble adding new waves of gifted young players every year. It’s a skill that builds itself out across time. Preller probably had good vision for the game as a young person, but as a long-time executive who makes more trips to the field than anybody, his eye has been honed the hard way: 10,000 hours at a time. Malcolm Gladwell, eat your heart out. 

One way you know Preller is good is James Wood. Another is Jarlin Susana. How anyone else looked at these guys and said “meh, no thanks” is beyond me, but it’s a complicated game. You can’t just target giants and hope to thrive, but if you do see a giant who happens to move like a meta-human, trust your eyes and run, don’t walk, to add them to your squad. 

This trust-your-eyes talent likely provides him an edge in building a scouting department, too. Talent or skill in a craft doesn’t always equate to skill at teaching that ability, but it’s certainly better than being clueless about scouting and then interfacing with a scouting director. All this is to say I spend a lot of time watching young Padres squads and give the team all the minutes I can find before publication day. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Rowdy Tellez, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

November 29, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 20 Comments

by:

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Almost didn’t write this fantasy baseball sleeper post. Not because I don’t like Rowdy Tellez. I like him a lot. I almost didn’t write it because I had written a fantasy baseball sleeper for Rowdy Tellez two years ago and I didn’t really want to go back to the same well, like a shook Baby M. After a good think on the subject, and, after meeting with my spiritual advisors (my dog, Ted), I realized I wasn’t writing Rowdy Tellez sleeper because of him, but because of me, which shouldn’t be a reason to not write a sleeper post. If I need to write a Rowdy Tellez sleeper post every year, then so help me I will write a Rowdy Tellez sleeper every year. Nay, as Fonzie’s horse would say, I will write a Rowdy Tellez sleeper post every day. This will be the winter of Rowdy Tellez sleepers. I, Grey Albright, will make one promise to you in my role as your Fantasy Master Lothario (don’t abbrievate), and that’s to write a Rowdy Tellez sleeper post every day for the rest of my life, if you agree to read it. You don’t agree to read more than one Rowdy Tellez sleeper? Oh, great, then this will be the only one. Also, one other reasons why I felt like I just had to write the Rowdy Tellez sleeper was because of how low he was being drafted and every time I looked up stats for another sleeper, I kept seeing Rowdy Tellez doing as well or better. So, what can we expect from Rowdy Tellez for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Psyche! Before we get into the Rowdy Tellez sleeper post, just wanted to announce that I’ve begun to roll out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. Also, I set up an NFBC league that starts drafting next Monday, but it’s a slow draft, so you don’t need to be by computer all day or anything. It’s a 15-team Draft Champions league, so 50 rounds, 4-hour per pick and no waivers. Draft and hold, as the kids say. If you want to draft against me, click this linkie-ma-whosie. Anyway II, the Rowdy Tellez sleeper:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

November 27, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 27 Comments

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One thing you notice following the Dodgers’ prospects over the years is that they’re always on time. Some teams are slow to promote their players. Some teams are quick. Los Angeles is typically right on time.

 

1. 3B Miguel Vargas | 23 | MLB | 2022

Over the years, I’ve read a lot of reports that downplay the physicality Vargas brings to the game as a 6’3” 205 lb right handed hitter with baseball bloodlines. He’s not some contact-only, right-center slap-hitter and he’s not a mess on defense. He’s been underrated for a long time in prospect places, and he slashed just .170/.200/.255 in parts of 18 major league games. but his time is coming. The plate skills have always been elite. He’s struck out somewhere between 8.1 percent and 26 percent in all his extended stays: seven levels across four seasons. He’s settled in around 15 percent the past two seasons in Double-A and Triple-A. In 113 AAA games, he walked 71 times and struck out 75, slashing .304/.404/.511 with 17 home runs and 16 stolen bases. The team could bring Justin Turner back for another year or so, but that’s probably not the right play for where they’re at as an organization. They don’t need Turner to make the playoffs or probably even to win the division. Vargas turned 23 last week. There’s no reason for him to play any more minor league games.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jakkers

2023 Top Keepers – Second Basemen

November 26, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Keepers | 16 Comments

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Welcome back, everyone. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. 

This week we are going to dive into the 2023 Top Keepers – Second Basemen. When it comes to second baseman, it is a position that now seems to be home of platoon players.

Today’s managers and general managers believe that if you can play a position in the field, then you can play second base. In 2022, only 12 players started more than 100 games at second base, and only 15 appeared in more than 100 games at the position. In all, 160 different players started at least one game at second base in the majors this season.

WHAT HAPPENED TO SECOND BASEMEN?

There are 30 teams, and there were only 16 pure second baseman who reached enough plate appearances (3.1/team games played) to qualify for the batting title. Ouch. Injuries did factor into that as Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ozzie Albies missed a chunk of time. But it is still amazing at how few true second baseman reached enough plate appearances to qualify for a possible batting title.

And the quality of those 16 second basemen isn’t great. Of those players, only two of them (Jeff McNeil and Jose Altuve) hit .300 or better with one (Andres Gimenez) just missing at .297. Then it drops down to .266.

Overall, the position is just not deep. There are tons of players getting in time at second base who are now eligible to play there in fantasy leagues. So, in order to narrow down the candidates to consider for these rankings, I made the cutoff to rank a player at 25 starts at second.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Hunter Brown, 2023 Fantasy Outlook

November 25, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Rookies, Featured | 8 Comments

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Monday starts the sleepers on the site. Thank forkin gawd, amiright? On Patreon, I’m starting the rankings. Holy schnikes! The best Black Friday sale ever! You’re giving a discount? No, Random Italicized Voice, I’m just saying Black Friday sale because everyone else is. Ah, very cool.

So, the Houston Astros got a bad rap for, uh, rapping on a trash can. I get it. Think it’s pretty unfair, since everyone has tried to cheat. The “Yankees Letter” from Manfred couldn’t have been more ignored by The Sportswriters. People are fatigued by the cheating scandal. Fatigue is pronounced fay-tee-gay, it’s Italian. I get it, I don’t want to talk about it, after apparently talking about it. All I wanted to say is Astros seem to not get the respect they’re due in fantasy, and I think it’s because people are biased, whether consciously or not. The Astros’ pitching staff, for unstints, have they ever had a bad pitcher? Trying to remember. *pinching my temples* Who was their last bad pitcher? Odorizzi? Okay, they traded him away for pen help. Astros, also, don’t develop bad arms. It’s one lights-out guy after another. Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy, and Luis Garcia were all developed in-house. Forrest Whitley is like their last big bust, and I wouldn’t completely write him off yet. That brings us to Hunter Brown. Maybe I’m giving him unearned credit, due to other guys who have come up for the Astros, but he went 20 1/3 IP in the major leagues this year with a 0.89 ERA and 9.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 2.78 xFIP, which came after completely housing the minor leagues: 106 IP in Triple-A, 11.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 2.55 ERA. Feels like a virtual lock to be yet another huge Astros arm. So, what can we expect from Hunter Brown for 2023 fantasy baseball?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Eury Perez, 2023 Fantasy Outlook

November 24, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Rookies, Featured | 19 Comments

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First off, let’s see what Prospect Itch has said about Eury Perez previously, “Best mechanics I’ve seen from a pitcher in the 6’ 8” range. Might have the best mechanics I’ve seen from an 18-year-old (now 19), especially his ability to repeat his calm, controlled delivery. His fastball gets up above the mid-90’s already, and his changeup stops and drops like a splitter. It’s a nightmare pitch the Marlins have had success teaching a lot of their young arms (see Cabrera, Edward). His curveball is plus too, but it’s the fastball/cambio combo that gives him an inside lane on becoming the game’s top pitching prospect after Grayson Rodriguez graduates, and I want to punch Grey so bad.” All right, not cool. My one question to Itch would be about, “Best mechanics I’ve seen from a pitcher in the 6’ 8” range.” Ha, you see a lot of pitchers in that range? Randy Johnson, Chris Young, Jon Rauch and…uh…Marcus Stroman standing on a stepladder? We (I) talk a lot about Lab Babies, in regards to hitters, but a 19-year-old, six-foot, eight-inch pitcher? Is this real life or is this Vincent Adultman on the mound? It’s real life? Okay, I know you’re saying that, but I barely believe you. What if he has one more growth spurt? Can he pitch in Tampa or will his head hit the ceiling? Does MLB have a rule against putting a foul pole on the mound because I think that’s what we might have here. So, what can we expect from Eury Perez for 2023 fantasy baseball?

Please, blog, may I have some more?