As the big market maxim goes, if you can’t draft ’em, sign ’em. The Cubs have struggled to produce major league-ready pitching, and rather than rely on a solid, if unspectacular pitching staff, they signed Yu Darvish for a shizzton of money, though likely his going rate. Speaking of which, have you heard all the whispers of collusion? This one doesn’t involve Russians, unless Scott Boras has Russian ancestry. Have to check 23 and Me for that. This offseason seems to be dropping breadcrumbs towards a work stoppage in 2021. Hopefully, I’m wrong. However, when teams are making hundreds of millions of dollars, then refusing to pay free agents things start to look suspicious. Not to mention, Derek Jeter seems to have shorted Marlins stock. When you sell off the whole team to make $60 million in revenue sharing, eyebrows are raised. Unfortunately, for Jeter, it wasn’t his eyebrows, because his forehead seems to be losing hair by the day, and he could use some raised eyebrows to cover that shiny dome. Any hoo! As I said in the top 20 starters for 2018 fantasy baseball, “Yu signed with the Cubs for $126 million. If you just had Siri read that off to you, stop celebrating, and get off the phone with the Lambo dealer. It’s not you you, it’s Yu Darvish. Not saying this is everything, but I just looked at the park factors for Wrigley vs. Dodger Stadium. I mean, I knew they were grossly in favor of Dodger Stadium for pitchers, but I just wanted to confirm. And, what do you know, I confirmed it. Darvish had a 3.44 ERA in Los Angeles in 49 2/3 IP, and, while Wrigley won’t be as gentle, it won’t be any worse than Arlington, where he played previously with success. He feels like a richer Archer. Call him, Robin Hood: Prince of Ks.” And that’s me quoting me! I also updated Darvish in the top 100 for 2018 fantasy baseball, the top 500 for 2018 fantasy baseball and the pitchers’ pairings. Finally, Rudy updated his fantasy baseball rankings and Darvish moved up about 30 spots. That reminds me of the DJ Khaled song produced for the Huffington Post called, Clickbait Drop. I upped Darvish’s projections, and moved him into a more favorable tier, realizing I had been too harsh on him previously. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason for 2018 fantasy baseball:
Ervin Santana – Will miss the month of April with a debridement procedure of his middle finger. See, and I’d like to debride my ring finger. I’ve updated his projections and moved him into the top 100 starters for 2018 fantasy baseball.
Dustin Fowler – There’s talk he’s in the mix for the starting center fielder job in Oakland. The last time he was in the major leagues was his major league debut when he ruptured his right patella in one of the uglier injuries from last year, which led Fowler to sue the White Sox. If Fowler wins the lawsuit, he will get James Shields, who he plans to put in the A’s clubhouse with a lampshade on his head, because hitters always light him up. Prospect Ralph said of Fowler, “I think he can be a legit 20 homer guy. I worry about the running with his knee and Oakland’s hesitance to run into outs. He’s contact over approach, which raises his batting average floor a little, but probably limits his ceiling. He’s ‘see ball, hit ball’ type. He’s always run well so the speed should come back. I’m just not one to buy a year one rebound after a bad knee injury.” I agree with PR, and haven’t ranked Fowler, thinking the A’s go with finger-lickin’ Boog Powell, but if we get deeper into the spring with Fowler in the lead for the job, I will add him.
Bud Norris – Signed with the Cards. That means Bud’s gonna be playing in Busch. Now the Rockies need to call up Colorado farmhand, Jimmy Zima, for his Coors debut. He’s very clear-headed.
Ryon Healy – Dealing with a hand injury. I haven’t moved him in my top 20 1st basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball yet, since it’s still early in the preseason, and Healy could have time to…uh…heal.
Chase Utley – Signed a two-year deal with the Dodgers. He’ll act as a utility infielder, clubhouse presence and lovable cad:
Found this picture of Chase Utley pic.twitter.com/FjGAQwnjtd
— Razzball (@Razzball) November 1, 2017
Derek Fisher – I’m not going to cover every unsubstantiated rumor, and I’m not even going to try to spell unsubstantiated without a spellcheck, however, the Astros say Fisher is in the running (literally) for the left field job. My guess is he doesn’t get the job, but this goes back to how much confidence are you really putting in Evan Gattis getting 500+ ABs? Even if it’s not every day, when Fisher plays left field, Marwin goes to DH and where does Gattis go? Maybe it cuts into Marwin’s playing time too, but he won’t be the only one affected.
Seung Hwan Oh – Signed with the Rangers. He will now compete with Alex Claudio for the Rangers’ closer job. Claudio murdered opposing teams last year with a 2.50 ERA, but a 6.1 K/9 and a 87 MPH fastball leaves one wondering if this serpent’s sting won’t lead to a tempestuous reign wearing thy closer crown. Or I’m simply reading excerpts from the Cliff’s Notes for Hamlet. I think Seung will now be the leading candidate to be the Rangers closer, and I changed my top 500 to reflect that, moving I, Claudio down.
