Now that spring training is finally in full swing and managers are doing things like talking to the media, the information from training camps is coming in fast and furious, and with a full slate of games Friday (yay!), this is just the tip of the iceberg. While we always need to take anything a player or even a manager says at the opening of spring training with an enormous grain of salt, I do think it’s important to at least be aware of the chatter out there with draft preparation in full swing. While even a casual fantasy baseball type is aware of transactions like Alex Bregman to the Red Sox, I felt it was time for another check-in when it comes to news on the deep league front. Many of these notes won’t end up mattering in even the deepest leagues, but some of them might… so let’s make sure none of the less-splashy headlines slip through the cracks. After all, we deep-leaguers need as much ammunition as we can get as we figure out how to construct our 2025 teams.
(Before we continue, a quick reminder that you should sign up for an RCL or two if you’re so inclined and haven’t yet. You simply won’t find a more fun and challenging league in the land of fantasy baseball in my opinion. Also, one more congratulatory shout out to Gunk Squad, last year’s overall RCL champion! He came from my very own Laura Holt Challenge league — to take 2024’s virtual trophy from Yours Truly — after he turned in what was obviously a spectacular 2024 season. Amazing job, Gunk!)
Ty France. Has signed with the Twins, and the direct quote from manager Rocco Baldelli is that he’ll play “a lot.” That doesn’t guarantee he’ll play well, of course, but a public commitment to early season at bats is enough to get you mentioned in this nook of the Razzball world. This would also imply that the Twins have given up on Jose Miranda entirely (only about a year and a half after the rest of us did). (Hold the phone… now Baldelli is saying Miranda will play also. This situation could be a messy headache or could lead to a late-round deep league score one way or another, so follow along accordingly this spring, if you’d like).
Geraldo Perdomo. Signed a 4-year deal with the D-Backs, while Jordan Lawlar appears ticketed for the minors to start the season. Didn’t really see this deal coming, and Perdomo is one of those players who epitomizes being much more valuable in real life than fantasy, even with every day at bats. He’s also better than nothing in the deepest leagues, though, and should provide a plus average if nothing else. And I still might grab Lawlar at the end of a deep draft or two since he should be even further off the radar than he was before the news of the Perdomo contract, and he could still have some NL-only or keeper league value eventually.
Gage Workman. The Cubs’ rule 5 pick has made the earliest of waves with a homer in the season’s first spring game on Thursday… let the hype machine begin!
Brendan Rodgers. I drafted him super late in a couple deep leagues already in case he landed somewhere interesting. There could indeed be a bit of interest here, I think, after he signed with the Astros as the Altuve-to-the-OF talk continues. He certainly has more offensive upside than Mauricio Dubon, but major league teams don’t always pick upside, so this may be a deep-league situation to monitor.
Starling Marte / Jesse Winker. Word is that they’ll be in a DH platoon for the Mets, with Marte getting a start in right on occasion when that new kid on their team needs a rest from playing the field and just wants to bat. I think this is the first year in what seems like about two decades that I haven’t drafted Marte, so if he somehow rebounds to have some fantasy value this year while on the short side of a platoon, I guess I won’t be reaping the benefits. Winker, on the other hand, is already on one of my rosters and may land on one or two more, as I think he could have some sneaky deep-league value.
Christopher Morel. Will be getting reps in the outfield for the Rays. For me, Morel is one of those guys who you (okay, I) went out with back in the day and was super into for like a month, and while it was a spectacular month, even at the time I knew it wasn’t real and would end quickly and unpleasantly. It’s hard to completely give up on a guy who had 21 homers and 8 steals in 535 at bats last year, but that sub-Mendoza line batting average makes it a little easier to move on. I suppose it’s good to know that the Rays are trying to fit him into their plans at least, though, so if he’s cheap enough I guess I can understand rolling the dice here.
Paul DeJong. Signed a one-year, $1 million dollar deal with the Nationals. In case you missed it, they also gave Amed Rosario a contract. I just grabbed my first share of C.J. Abrams, so if the Nats are just trying to motivate him to stay out of the casino this year, I guess I won’t complain. (Actually, I guess I shouldn’t mock DeJong completely… do you know how many homers he hit last year? 24!! That’s more than William Contreras, Freddie Freeman, or Corbin Carroll hit, to name just a few).
Kutter Crawford. He’s got right knee tendinitis that he says has been an issue since the beginning of last season. Is there anything more annoying than a player you’ve already grabbed in multiple drafts casually mentioning in mid-Feburary that he’s been injured for ten months?
Max Meyer. New pitch alert! Meyer has supposedly added the seemingly ubiquitous sweeper to his arsenal. I’m not super optimistic, but on the other hand, I can also see him getting healthy and more comfortable in the big leagues, and then taking a significant step forward to the point where we all wonder why we didn’t see it coming, given how high many were on him very recently.
Endy Rodriguez. Says he’s 100% after his TJ recovery… to quote myself in a response to reader Leon’s comment after my catchers article last week: “Such an odd situation in PIT to have someone else’s prospect leftovers thrown into the mix and at least temporarily get to the top of the depth chart. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out, especially if Endy is finally healthy.”
Sal Frelick. This week’s best shape-of-his-life poster boy claims to have added 25 pounds of muscle. Even if that’s true, it’s hard to believe it will help him steal more bases, which is the one fantasy area Frelick might be able to help in. I guess he could be worth a deep-league check in, though, if he has a solid spring (particularly if it looks like he might get some PT at third base).
Chris Paddack. Says he’s healthy and wants to throw 200+ innings for the Twins this year. This sentence probably wasn’t worth the time it took me to type it, but I’m just reporting the news, kids. And sometimes news that has a wing and a prayer attached to it is all we get in the deepest leagues.
Spencer Horwitz. The Pirates biggest offseason acquisition showed up to camp in a cast; turns out he had wrist surgery recently. See my above note about Kutter Crawford, sigh.
Eddie Rosario and Michael Chavis. Both have signed minor league deals with the Dodgers. Are they just going to construct an entire second roster that they can send to Tokyo in March so that their real players don’t lose any sleep or overexert themselves before Opening Day?
Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock, and Justin Slaten. All five — count ’em, five! — were mentioned by Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow as potential closer candidates. Occasionally I understand why people draft established closers early.
Michael A. Taylor. Now a member of your Chicago White Sox. I guess he didn’t make the Dodgers’ Japan-only team.
Brett Baty. Received a new Chevy Tahoe from Juan Soto in exchange for his uniform number (22, if you keep track of these things). Wonder what Baty’s gonna buy the kid currently wearing #22 in Syracuse, should he end up spending part or all of the season there?
Yoan Moncada. Looks like he could be the Angels’ opening day third baseman as he was signed to replace the injured-for-life Anthony Rendon. Can’t think of much else to say about this one, other than please, please tell me this is the last time in my life I type the words Anthony Rendon.
Andrew Heaney. Just signed with the Pirates as I was finishing up this post. I wasn’t really planning on drafting him even in the deepest leagues, but am trying to decide on the fly if this news makes me more or less inclined to take a deep flier. I think I might actually be leaning towards ever so slightly more inclined.
Luis Urias. Has signed with the A’s. If we are talking about a possible position battle between Urias and Gio Urshela, we can only be at the end of a Rolling In The Deep post!
Happy First Full Day Of Actual Spring Training Games! As always, hope to hear from you with any thoughts, comments, or questions that are percolating in the fantasy-baseball corner of your mind!
