Howdy friends, hope winter is treating you as well as can be expected, and if it isn’t, at least we’re a week closer to spring. Last week we splashed around a bit in the shallow end of the fantasy baseball pool with my NFBC 12-team mixed league draft recap, but this week we’ll dive right back down into the deep end. I’ve noticed that a lot of folks start paying attention to baseball as soon as the Superbowl is over, so some may have missed the last few weeks of offseason news and notes. While anyone with a fantasy baseball team has likely been following the bigger free agent stories even during the dead of winter, I figured I’d address some of the more under-the-radar news. If nothing else, we deep leaguers can feel a little more caught up just in case any of these tidbits alters our draft prep in leagues where every last at bat or roster spot battle may end up mattering.
We’ll start with a few players relevant to the shallowest of leagues but quickly work our way down to the names that could only matter in the deepest of scenarios.
Jazz Chisholm/Jose Altuve. See, a couple legit names to ease us in! Sounds like Jazz is penciled in to start regularly at second base in the Bronx, while the chatter about Altuve possibly playing some outfield has continued even after most think the possibility of Bregman returning is a sailed ship. If you’re one to get giddy about some potential additional position eligibility, this first blurb is for you.
Jonathan India. Speaking of multi-position eligibility, India himself has claimed he may be playing some third as well as left field, in addition to second, this season for the Royals. I’m not exactly going to rely on India on my teams, but his price point is low enough that he’s somewhere on my radar. If he has a decent bounce back year (and, by the way, his numbers last year probably aren’t as bad as you think), I think he could be a nice value in 2025. Like I said, I wouldn’t count on it, but I’ve drafted him for my bench in one OBP league already, and I could see him making it into my active lineup sooner rather than later if he actually leads off in Kansas City and the change of scenery does him good.
Carlos Estevez. I’ve already complained about Estevez’s arrival in Kansas City nerfing Lucas Erceg’s value, and now the situation feels even murkier as manager Matt Quataro isn’t officially naming a closer. Estevez is making enough money that one would assume he’ll be the guy in the 9th, but with more teams actually doing something that is smart for real baseball and frustrating for fantasy (namely using their stopper at the time the opponent’s offense needs to be stopped rather than exclusively to finish games)… who knows. If Estevez falls far enough, I don’t mind him on the right roster, but I may largely avoid this bullpen for now.
Jake Cronenworth. Should be the Padres’ starting second baseman with Bogaerts moving back to short on a now Kim-less team. For my money, he hasn’t been good enough the last couple years to warrant a roster spot even in deeper leagues, but in a pinch, I can see grabbing him late since at least it looks like the ABs will be there, in the early going anyway.
Christian Moore. Word on the street is that the Angels prospect has a shot to make the big club and/or get MLB playing time this year, which wouldn’t be a complete shocker given their recent aggressive promotion of fellows like Nolan Schanuel. Moore could be a nice deep league flyer.
Austin Hays. Signed with the Reds. As late, late, deep league fliers go, I guess I don’t hate it.
Lance Lynn/Jon Gray. Lynn’s agent claims that multiple teams have asked him if he would consider closing, while Gray has thrown out the idea of closing on his own. It feels unlikely that either of these guys will have any significant fantasy value going forward regardless of role… but if either were to have a late career resurgence, it would make sense that coming out of the pen would be the way to do it.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara. I don’t know much about the guy, except that he signed a two-year deal with the Nationals out of Japan last month, he went in the 42nd round of my most recent NFBC draft and hold league, and I’ve seen him referred to as a “poor man’s Shota Imanaga.” I don’t have high hopes, but if that latter note proves to be even remotely true, I suppose Ogasawara could be deep-league relevant this season.
Chase Hampton. The Yankees pitching prospect is supposedly healthy again… might be worth a deep/keeper/AL-only type check in.
Jonathan Aranda. Should get regular or at least semi-regular ABs at the Rays DH. I drafted Aranda in an AL-only keeper league for my minors squad years ago and finally gave up on him last year. Since the Rays are giving him additional chances, I won’t blame you if you consider him in the deepest leagues.
Jorge Polanco. Back with the Mariners. Didn’t plan on drafting him regardless of team, but I suppose it’s not out of the question that he could have some deep-league value, and there should be at least semi-regular playing time available in Seattle if he can manage to stay healthy.
Vaughn Grissom. BSOHL alert from Fenway Fest: Red Sox manager Alex Cora says Grissom looks a lot “bigger” this year (I assume he meant it in a good way).
Robert Stephenson. The Angels reliever is still in surgery recovery mode and won’t be available to start the season. I still don’t hate him as a lottery ticket at the very end of the deepest drafts or in a deep keeper/AL only league. I think we’re all assuming that Ben Joyce will be the guy at the end of games this year — and he could be one of the few bright spots for the Angels in 2025 — but he’s not exactly the picture of perfect health himself.
Elias Diaz. Re-signed with San Diego. Could theoretically be playable while in a timeshare with Campusano, but basically this just makes me want to avoid both this year in anything but my deepest leagues. And probably there too.
Tommy Kahnle. The change-up king has signed with the Tigers. They have a bullpen that may well be excellent for real baseball, and useless for fantasy. But as we deepest of deep leaguers know, there is actually no such thing as a bullpen completely devoid of fantasy value. That being said, good luck figuring out now where that value will lie among Kahnle, Foley, Holton, Brieske, and Vest… not to mention Alex Lange, who may or may not be healthy this spring after lat surgery. Oh, and a bumped-from-the-rotation Kenta Maeda.
JD Martinez. Has announced he “plans to play” in 2025. Since there hasn’t been a great deal of trade rumbling surrounding him as I type this, I suppose the question is, “Play what? And where?” His downfall from 2023 (33 homers and 103 RBI!) to 2024 was brutal (fewer than half as many homers in more ABs), but as long as you’re comparing him to other players being drafted at the same price point late in a 50-rounder and not him when he was good, then sure, why not.
Will Benson. Has significantly reworked his swing over the offseason. Feels like an absolute Hail Mary to keep his MLB career going, especially after the Austin Hays signing, or perhaps the Reds are putting this news out there in an attempt to find another team to take him off their hands after a brutal 2024. Some of my leagues are so ridiculously deep, though, that sadly I’ll probably have him on at least one roster by March.
Jon Berti. Now with Chicago, north version. Not really sure what the Cubs are thinking here; are they figuring signing a guy who has always relied mainly on speed but who is now closer to 40 than 30, and coming off a myriad of leg problems, will scare/light a fire under Matt Shaw? I guess I’m the one drinking the Kool Aid, though, as Berti is currently in my queue in a 15-team draft champions league, albeit in round 48… damn my weakness for a man who doesn’t mind drawing a walk.
Adam Frazier/Jake Lamb/Tim Anderson. All three have signed deals with MLB teams to compete for a roster spot this spring, though I don’t think there is a fantasy league on the planet that would be deep enough to justify drafting any of them… so should they really have real-life jobs where they might be blocking up and coming talent?
Anthony Rendon. May function as a backup first baseman for the Angels this year. I’m sorry, I mean Rendon and I had some pretty good times back in the day when he was a staple on my rosters, but can the man just relocate to a place where they’ve never heard of baseball so we can all move on with our lives without having to stop and write a blurb about him once a year?
And, this just in… Chris Taylor, still a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has made a “mechanical tweak” to his swing. Do with that what you will.
Happy draft prep to all as we wait for pitchers and catchers to report, and the flurry of news that spring training brings!
