Happy Day-After-New-CBA Day! I wrote everything below on Wednesday, and am writing this paragraph an hour or so after the CBA announcement, and I absolutely can’t wait for all of the free agent news and signings that are coming our way. In the meantime, it’s time to kick March Madness into full gear, and by that I don’t mean anything involving a basketball, I mean the wonderful madness that is Razzball’s RCL draft season! I’ve signed up for plenty RCL fun in 2022, and you should too if you haven’t yet joined the party! MattTruss has done an amazing job setting up the leagues, telling you why you should play, and even gone over strategy. He’s basically done it all (and it’s all easy to find at the top of the site – Razzball Commenter Leagues is the first heading under the ‘Leagues’ tab), so all you have to do is sign up and enjoy the drafts and then a full season of 2022 baseball. There are a bunch of free leagues, $20 leagues, and a few regular posters and I even convinced Truss to open up a $100 league! (drafting Wednesday, March 23rd, 8 PM Eastern, 5 Pacific, click the link and join!) Yes, the RCLs can be a significant time commitment, but there were many successful teams last year that mostly let their drafts speak for themselves and made relatively few moves once the season started. There are a ton of ways to approach RCLs both in terms of roster construction and in-season management, which is one of the great things about the format. Okay! Now on to some guys who you are not so likely see drafted in your next RCL ; )
Yes, this week we’re not just in the deep, we are in the ultra deep, where what once was crystal clear water has turned to rocky, muddy sludge. I wouldn’t categorize these players as lottery tickets, since when you win the lottery you usually receive something very valuable… they are more like coin flips, where if you win the toss, all you win is your own twenty-five cents back, and if you don’t, you lost a quarter. In the deepest of leagues though, sometimes you just need a few live bodies or glimmers of mid-season call-up hope to fill out the end of a draft or auction. As a reflection of how deep some of the leagues I play in are, everyone on this list is someone I’ve drafted at least once this season, and they all fall outside the top 650 players currently being drafted according to the last two weeks of NFBC ADP.
Edward Olivares (ADP #655). I still don’t understand why the Royals promoted and demoted Olivares multiple times last year without ever giving him a legit chance to play regularly. I really thought he might break out last season, but instead he seems buried even further down the depth chart and off the fantasy radar heading into 2022. Who knows if and when he’ll even be playing the major league level this year, but this late I don’t mind having him in my deep league outfield back pocket.
Brad Miller (ADP #658). Miller is a free agent who qualifies at 1B and OF in most leagues, and I now own more shares than I care to admit in the draft and hold format, and I can also see drafting him late in a best ball league. It wouldn’t shock me to see him back with the Phillies, but there could be several NL teams that could use him as a part time DH — Grey’s NL DH articles (East, Central, and West) are solid proof of just how weak that position will be almost across the board in the Senior Circuit. Miller had 20 HRs (in 331 at bats) last year, so why not take the basically risk-free, multi position power grab at this price.
Niko Goodrum (ADP #661). Anyone who has owned Goodrum on a fantasy team in the past has no doubt realized that being a capable major league hitter is probably just not in the cards for him regardless of playing time. He’s injury prone, strikes out constantly, and the fact that he was kicked off Detroit’s 40-man roster in November says volumes. The biggest pro here is solid defense (which may not be a fantasy category but may help him get another major league job). Second, speed (he had 14 steals in 90 games last year, and now that I’m looking at his stats must say I’m surprised to see that he also hit 9 homers), which he may have a chance to put on display should said major league job materialize. One other thing that may help his real-life value is his versatility, but in my leagues Goodrum heads into the season qualifying only at short, which obviously doesn’t not exactly help his pretend baseball value.
Oscar Mercado (ADP #685). I’ll be fairly shocked if Mercado makes a significant contribution for the Indians at the major league level this year, but I do remember I was pretty into him just a couple of years ago. So, I did put aside my Stephen Kwan daydreams for a moment and grabbed Mercado at the end of one draft, just in case he surprises all of us by figuring out how to hit right handed pitching, and showing us the decent hit tool + speed + a bit of pop that we saw from him in the minors.
Matt Duffy (ADP #686). Yeah, this one was a little hard to pull the trigger on even in my deepest league, but again, just looking for a player who’d be better than nothing fantasy-wise at this point. Duffy qualifies at second and third, so that’s good I suppose! Because he, like Miller, is a free agent, there is a chance that he could play at least semi-regularly if he ends up with the right team. He’s a career .283 hitter, which is actually fairly impressive, and if nothing else is assurance that he’s not going to hurt you if he winds up in a deep league lineup. In 97 games last year with the Cubs, Duffy scored 45 runs, had 5 homers/30 RBI, and stole 8 bases, which adds up to a lot more counting stats than a hole in your lineup would.
