This is my last post that is being written before all MLB teams will have finally, gloriously started the 2019 baseball season, and I think we’re all more than ready for less talk and a little more action. Last week, we chatted about American League hitters that could probably be had for $1 or a free round auction pick (or at the very end of a snake draft) in even the deepest of fantasy baseball leagues. Now we’ll get right to it and do the same for some of their brethren in the senior circuit.
Derek Dietrich. I was already way too into this guy even before Scooter Gennett went down, but now I really can’t find a reason not to take a flier on him at the end of a deep-league draft. Qualifies at 1B and OF, has always shown decent power, and now plays in a hitter’s park on a solid offensive team. Even in limited duty he should be worth something.
Gerardo Parra. Dude’s as boring for fantasy as they come (fantasy baseball that is; if you have an interesting non-baseball fantasy involving Gerardo Parra, more power to you). But it looks like he’ll get playing time, and in an extra-deep league, I think he’s my favorite of the “$1, old or quad-A guys in disastrous outfields who might have a starting job” group. A nice batting average against right-handers is more than some of them have to brag about, anyway.
Nick Williams, Roman Quinn. Two disappointing former big-ish prospects, two guys who now have at best a 4thoutfielder gig on the Phillies (who as you may have heard made a few key additions to their team this season). Williams should get the shot to open the season on the MLB bench, while Quinn is recovering from an oblique injury in the minors for a while before he even has a chance to join the big club. Williams was being talked about as a potential 20-20 guy at one point, and Quinn tends to make good contact and is super speedy – in a lineup as stacked as the Phillies appears it will be, if either can get their act together, they might return value on an end-round pick, even without a starting job.
Matt Adams. Adams went for 4 or 5 bucks in an early NL-only auction I did, so I was a bit surprised when I got him for $1 after nominating him towards the end of my next NL-only auction. Was I thrilled to have him on my team? No, but I also wasn’t complaining – he’s the quintessential cheap source of a little power and seems to be as under the radar as ever this year.
Orlando Arcia, Nick Ahmed. You can probably them both for next to nothing in even an NL-only league this year because A) shortstop is crazy deep in the NL this year, and B) both have shown flaws in their offensive game, to say the least, and no one else in your league may want them. But if you’re desperate for some speed, which you could theoretically get from Arcia, and some power, which you could theoretically get from Ahmed, why not take a shot at the end of a draft or consider plucking one of them off the waiver wire? And while we’re talking about guys who qualify at short, if you’re looking for a post-hype prospect who still has a chance to get his career in gear, I wouldn’t blame you for grabbing Dansby Swanson or Scott Kingery while you’re at it.
