Astrology 2018 Recap: Positive Fixed

The final "division" in the Positive polarity "league" includes the two Fixed signs. If you've been following along, you should know that's represented by teams in the NL West. In fact, the top team in this division was actually one of the touchstones that helped me determine which MLB teams to use to represent the astrological signs, since the Giants are one of only two teams uniforms in primarily orange, which is the color associated with Leo. Here's how the incredibly top-heavy "Lions" roster stacked up in 2018.

Not only was Max Scherzer an NL Cy Young Award finalist in 2018, he was the only player to eclipse the 3,000 fantasy point threshold, the first time he's accomplished that feat after coming oh-so-close in his 2016 Cy Young season with 2,917 points. Luckily for his fantasy owners, J.D. Martinez amassed enough innings in both corner outfield spots that he won't be limited to DH duties next year. And JDM has a pretty good outfield mate in the best overall player in the league Mike Trout, although he doesn't have the typical Leo "king of the jungle" personality that's exemplified by someone like Scherzer. Anthony Rizzo has the type of big bat that can solidify the middle (or, depending on Joe Maddon's whims, the top) of the Cubs batting order. David Peralta's breakout this year might take the sting out of a potentially imminent trade of Paul Goldschmidt by the Diamondbacks.

Past candidates for Leo's number two starter include such aces as Madison Bumgarner (see below) or Yu Darvish, but since each suffered through injury-marred campaigns last year, Dodgers rookie phenom Walker Buehler takes the honors this year. Jose Martinez doesn't really have a defensive position, but since I've given each astrological sign a DH spot, getting his bat in the lineup won't be a problem. That arrangement doesn't bode well for Josh Bell and Adam Jones, who might not even earn bench jobs with this team. Lefty Wade LeBlanc pitched well enough for the Mariners to sign him to a long term extension, but he's not the type of rotation piece that inspires a lot of confidence in a 12-team fantasy league.

Due to this club's outfield depth, former top prospects Randal Grichuk and Jason Heyward will be left competing with Jones for a place on the bench. Paul DeJong is somewhat of a unicorn as a power hitting shortstop, and he goes a long way to stabilizing this team's infield, health permitting. Evan Gattis is a DH-only player at this point in his career - the double slash in his POS 2 column is a concession I make in my database for primary DH's who have spent at least one game in the field. Strangely enough, his overall production was on par with starting catcher Wilson Ramos, although the latter did have a far superior points-per-game average, as he did miss some time due to injury. Aledmys Diaz's transition to a utility infielder with the Blue Jays allows him to slide over to third base, a position that was once reserved for fallen Giants great Pablo Sandoval.

Jesse Chavez put up stellar post-acquisition numbers out of the Cubs bullpen, to go along with a solid pre-trade performance with the Rangers, but the fact that he's Leo's top scoring reliever shows a pretty significant weakness in this sign. Brad Keller actually had one fewer game started than relief appearance as a Rule 5 pick by the Royals, but there's no way he's beating out a pitcher with a 40 point PPG advantage for a rotation spot, despite Clay Buchholz's 60-Day DL placement. I juked the stats a little bit when listing Adalberto Mondesi as this team's starting second baseman, since he only technically qualified for the other middle infield spot, but he's certainly got the ability to play the keystone, if not the eligibility. Let's just say that this spot in the lineup has been hard to fill since the start of Dustin Pedroia's seemingly interminable injury woes.

Ian Happ is a great super utility threat, and Wilmer Flores played all over the infield for the Mets, but neither played enough games to qualify at second base. In fact, you have to go all the way down to Greg Garcia, number 63 on the list of Leo players, before you get to someone who will technically be eligible to plug into ESPN's fantasy baseball client next year... unless Zack Cozart gets credit for the time he spent there during his injury-plagued 2018 with the Angels. As I mentioned above, injuries kept Madison Bumgarner outside the top five eligible Leo starting pitchers, but his track record and PPG total earn him a spot, leaving Keller and John Gant for the two long relief spots on the roster. Brandon Morrow looked like a legit number one closer until injuries predictably ruined his first season with the Cubs, but if he comes back healthy, he could really help the back end of this bullpen.

There's really not much to say about any Leo player outside the top 25, beyond those I've already mentioned above, for one reason or another. Archie Bradley has fallen back to earth after looking like a legit bullpen force in 2017. Luke Weaver was supposed to be an ace-in-training for the Cardinals, but he too fell flat last year. Melky Cabrera and Mark Reynolds have had nice major league careers, but they're ancillary pieces on MLB rosters, let alone a much smaller fantasy pool. OK I take it back: Mike Soroka and Julio Urias are legit high-upside pitching prospects that could make an impact in the near future, and Taijuan Walker has tremendous upside when healthy.



When you think about it, it almost makes cosmic sense that Aquarius is a perennial fantasy astrology bottom feeder, considering that the sign takes place during the time of year when we're just about the farthest removed from baseball activity as you can get. The resources I looked at while building my initial astrology baseball database linked this sign with a lime green color scheme, but I've also seen it associated with blue. I guess that makes sense, given that their mascot is the Water Carriers, which helps explain why I linked them with the real life Dodgers, who have their own eponymous color blue on their uniforms.

Whit Merrifield is a very good late blooming hitter and he provides a lot of excess value with his versatility, but he's not the kind of guy around whom you want to build your fantasy lineup. Remember when Jose Abreu won a Silver Slugger award this year... with just under 1,600 fantasy points? I guess first basemen didn't get the memo about the record level of offensive output. While Aquarius doesn't have a high level of talent on their roster overall, at least with Merrifield and Max Kepler, they have center field covered. Julio Teheran hasn't quite delivered on the promise he showed as the Braves' ace of the future, which is all the more troubling that he's AQU's top scoring pitcher. Sean Manaea profiles more as an ace, at least according to points-per-game, but I'll have a quandary as far as whether to include him on this roster in a simulated season, given that he's due to miss the entire 2019 season due to shoulder surgery.

Marco Gonzales recently signed a curious extension with the Mariners in order to avoid a service time-related grievance, but if he can keep up his 2018 performance, he'll be worth every cent. The resurgent bat of Rougned Odor will push Merrifield to the outfield, which is an example of why you can never have too much versatility. Jose Quintana has a much stronger track record than his 2018 results would indicate, with several ace-level seasons with the White Sox under his belt. Hunter Renfroe has the stats to play opposite Kepler in the other outfield corner, but for reasons that will become clear in the next segment, he'll likely be ticketed for DH duties. Aquarius does have left-handed starting pitchers covered, with southpaws as four of their top five pitchers - although as we'll see later, Matthew Boyd might be relegated to a long relief slot.

aqu 2Brandon Crawford earned an All-Star nod this year, more for the solid production he's given the Giants over the life of his career than for his 2018 production. The defensive excellence of Alex Gordon is why I suggested tabbing Renfroe as the DH in the previous section. Although Aquarius could do some roster machinations to shield Gordon from tough lefties by platooning him with Dansby Swanson (shifting Renfroe back out to left) or Mark Canha, with each of those platoon partners likely to make the team in a bench capacity. Todd Frazier isn't the power hitting threat he once was, but he's still a solid player and a good clubhouse presence to boot.

While Boyd and Nick Pivetta technically have the edge in overall fantasy points, going two spots down, we see postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi, whose big fastball and successful return from multiple surgeries have earned him a rotation spot. It might be a coincidence that Aquarians were involved in two of the highest profile suspensions in 2018, but wouldn't an astrology aficionado say that there's no such thing as coincidences? Addison Russell won't be a factor, since he's third on the depth chart at third base, but Roberto Osuna would profile as this sign's top reliever, if I decide to ignore moral quandaries in roster construction. Considering that journeyman Tyler Clippard would be next in line, I foresee some intense philosophical discussions next spring.

aqu 3Of the first three players in this section, Yairo Munoz is the only one who's basically guaranteed a bench spot, given his status as a true UT player. Omar Narvaez is a fun success story, and he's got handedness on his side, but Russell Martin and Tyler Flowers bring much better overall careers to the table. One interesting wild card could be Luke Voit, who absolutely demolished the competition in his brief time with after being traded to the Yankees, and if he can take advantage of that opportunity to put up similar stats over a full season, he could push himself into the DH picture.

There are actually some quite interesting names outside the Aquarius top 30, led by two injury-riddled Giants pitchers Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. If you want a lefty reliever to go with all the lefty starters, Ryan Buchter, Alex Claudio, and Jake Diekman all fit the bill. Don't think you have ENOUGH lefty starters? Why not bank on a bounce back season from Jason Vargas? As for hard throwing righties with closer capabilities, look no further than Chicago AL's Nate Jones. And if you think Brandon Woodruff's postseason dominance will carry over into a full season as a starter, you've got another ready made rotation candidate. To end on an uplifting note, well-liked reliever Danny Farquhar has recently been cleared to resume baseball activities after his season ended early due to a scary brain injury caused by a comeback line drive.

Astrology 2018 Recap: Positive Cardinal

I'm returning to my recaps of the 2018 Fantasy Astrology Baseball season, after a brief politically motivated break from covering baseball content. Unfortunately, the election in question went in favor of MLB's preferred candidate, but the challenger would have needed an unprecedented swing to emerge victorious. In any event, today I'm switching polarity from the "division" I covered last time and moving to the Positive Cardinal signs, which for our purposes will be represented by teams in the National League East. The first of these - alphabetically as well as in the 2018 standings - is Aries, which is associated with the color red, and thus matched up with the Philadelphia Phillies. Here's how the "Rams" stacked up in the just-completed fantasy astrology season.

The highest scoring relief pitcher in all of baseball, Edwin Jackson anchors not just the Aries bullpen, but their entire pitching staff as well. Close on his heels points-wise is the actual most valuable pitcher on the team, two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, who could almost unthinkably be on the trading block for the Indians this offseason. Only an injury to Carlos Correa in 2018 kept the top two Aries batters from falling victim to positional redundancy, as Alex Bregman's time filling in at shortstop for the Astros allows him to leave third base for Nolan Arenado. If not for a couple of unfortunate injuries, it's possible that Red Sox ace Chris Sale could have outscored Kluber, given his slightly higher points-per-game average, but it's impossible to predict how those missed starts would have gone.

Kluber's teammate Carlos Carrasco had the production to be a fantasy ace in 2018, but given the level of talent on both his real life and astrology teams, he's relegated to SP3 in both circumstances. Jed Lowrie had a strong platform season heading into free agency, but I personally hope that he returns to the Athletics on a long-term deal. According to fantasy points, the next two batters will occupy the first base and DH slots in that order, although when you compare Matt Olson's 0.8 d(efensive)WAR to Carlos Santana's rating of -0.9, it's clear the lefty swinging A's first baseman should get the majority of reps in the field. Despite the fact that Brewers slugger Travis Shaw gained eligibility at second base, he still isn't guaranteed a place in the lineup, although his versatility should put him in line for a bench spot.

Shaw's Brewers teammate Lorenzo Cain, on the other hand, is not only this team's best center field option, but he's also the highest scoring Aries outfielder overall. In a fantasy format, where each roster has only two RP slots, Brad Hand and Josh Hader would be engaged in a season-long battle for which lights-out lefty would play second fiddle to Edwin Diaz. However, in a simulated season, both relievers will make the roster in very different roles: Hand as the more traditional lefty setup option and Hader as the high-leverage, multi-inning threat. Brandon Nimmo broke out with the Mets last year and already has the top OPS all time among MLB players born in Wyoming with at least 2 career plate appearances (pitcher Jeremy Horst is 1-for-1 in his career). While Starlin Castro is third in line in the 2B pecking order, his ability to hit right-handed might put him in contention for a spot on the bench.

As the fourth lefty-capable first baseman on the depth chart, and with no positional versatility, Yonder Alonso is ticketed for the Aries "Triple-A" lineup. His Indians teammate Jason Kipnis, however, could make the active roster due to his ability to line up in the outfield, at least on a part-time basis. Obviously his small advantage in total fantasy points is not going to displace Jackie Bradley Jr. and his stellar defense. Bradley's Red Sox teammate Eduardo Rodriguez will line up as this sign's SP4 (when healthy), meaning that the top four Aries pitchers play for the same two MLB teams. Keone Kela's 2018 fantasy point total was inflated by the saves he racked up with Texas before his trade to Pittsburgh, but he's got good enough stuff that he would make the team in any relief capacity.

Kirby Yates had a similar fantasy point situation to Kela in 2018, except his save opportunities came in the second half of the year, after incumbent Padres closer Brad Hand was traded to Cleveland, although I might choose to leave him as the Triple-A closer in favor of someone with a more proven track record, such as David Robertson. The next two point scorers in the Aries player pool each announced their retirement after the season ended, and while neither Adrian Beltre nor Joe Mauer would have competed for a roster spot, they are both class acts who played the game the right way and whose energy will be sorely missed from the MLB landscape. While Kenta Maeda technically has the point total to act as this sign's fifth starter, the fact that he ended the 2018 season in the Dodgers bullpen makes me inclined to put him in a long relief slot on this roster.

While Jake Odorizzi also technically has the fantasy point total to fill the SP5 position, a look at the points-per-game average of the pitcher behind him leaves no doubt as to who was the more capable pitcher in 2018, even though it's extremely unlikely that Hyun-Jin Ryu will perform at a 70+ PPG clip over a full season with the Dodgers (to whom he'll return in 2019, after accepting their qualifying offer). In fact, going down a couple of spots, I don't even know if Odorizzi will make the team as the second long reliever, as Zach Eflin had a stronger season with the Phillies, but it's a bit of a toss-up. As you can see, I added an extra spot at the bottom of this list to include starting catcher Buster Posey, who will for sure make this hypothetical simulated roster, despite the fact that he ended 2018 on the 60-Day Disabled List. If the former NL MVP is unable to go, this team wouldn't be completely left in the lurch, as both Mike Zunino and Chris Iannetta are waiting in the wings.

Continuing down outside the top 31 point scorers, we have a couple of free agent bounceback candidates who happen to both be former Mets: second baseman Daniel Murphy and starting pitcher Matt Harvey. While first base is quite crowded already, it's interesting to note that World Series MVP Steve Pearce is technically an option for this team. David Dahl might force himself into the outfield picture sooner rather than later if he can stay healthy for a full season. And then of course there are former legends Miguel Cabrera and Felix Hernandez, who can never be fully counted out.


If you don't know that Libra is the winningest fantasy astrology baseball team since I've been doing this feature, then you haven't been paying attention to this feature. Things did not break right for the "Scales" in 2018, however, as they finished with a sub-.500 record in the regular season - the same record as the eventual league champions, by the way, but ESPN's points for/points against tiebreaker system came down in favor of Gemini. That's not to say that Libra doesn't have a very talented team, led by an all-world outfield, and a good-enough everything else:

You can't complain when your top two players are the AL MVP and a guy who's all but guaranteed to sign one of the two richest free agent contracts in MLB history. Ironically, Mookie Betts is probably better suited to play center field, despite Bryce Harper's eligibility there in 2018, but luckily neither player will have to stray from the corner spots to which they are accustomed. Longtime Libra ace Zack Greinke was joined at the top of the pitching heap by a new face this year, as Mike Foltynewicz emerged as a clear number one starter for the Braves this year. Xander Bogaerts is relatively new to the starting shortstop position for this sign, as longtime Rockies stalwart Troy Tulowitzki had held down that spot for years.

J.A. Happ won't approach the size or length of Harper's deal in free agency, but his late career resurgence has made him one of the most coveted pitchers on this winter's market. On paper, Starling Marte and Aaron Hicks will serve as CF and DH, but more than likely, all the outfielders on the roster will rotate in and out of the DH slot, including Eddie Rosario, who's all but assured of a spot on the bench. Despite Kenley Jansen's down season, due in part to a scary heart condition that required offseason surgery, he still qualifies as Libra's top reliever, which is well-deserved based on his great stuff and sterling track record.

Before marveling at this sign's outfield depth, let's check out some more players who will actually make the active roster. Ketel Marte wasn't projected to be the LIB starting second baseman, but he filled in admirably given the suspension of Robinson Cano. The lone rookie in the starting rotation, Jack Flaherty represents yet another solid rotation piece that came out of the vaunted Cardinals system. Sean Doolittle was as shutdown a reliever as you could hope for when healthy, but like Kenley Jansen, he suffered through some injury troubles last year. While Derek Holland had more fantasy points than Lance McCullers Jr. last year, I'm putting the latter in the rotation and the former in the bullpen as a long reliever due to the discrepancy in their points-per-game averages. But even given that McCullers will miss the entire 2019 season because of Tommy John surgery, there are still better options than Holland to round out this rotation, who we'll see in the next segment.

Wow, just look at all this outfield depth! Andrew McCutchen had a decent season once he was traded from the Giants and away from the spacious confines of AT&T Park. Matt Kemp had a surprising All-Star season in 2018 and was a notable snub for NL Comeback Player of the Year award. Carlos Gonzalez turned in a nice season as well, but didn't come close to approximating the long run of excellence he had with the Rockies. And Teoscar Hernandez is a burgeoning young power threat for the Blue Jays. The fact that some of these viable MLB starters will be consigned to bench roles in the astrology minor leagues is a testament to what the strength of this Libra sign is.

This segment starts with - you guessed it - even more outfield depth! But it's a lot more interesting to skip around and look at those rotation options I mentioned above. Neither Robbie Ray nor Chris Archer pitched up to their usual standards in 2018, but I could see them both steamrolling their way onto the 2019 starting staff. Ray missed some time due to injuries (as evidenced by his low points/high PPG combination) and Archer very well might benefit from a full year pitching in Pittsburgh (although his splits before and after his acquisition weren't that encouraging). For some reason, I don't have the same level of confidence in Tanner Roark to bounce back; was I imagining things, or was there talk of him potentially moving into the Nationals bullpen full time?

To finish up the infield, Evan Longoria didn't have a great season in 2018 by any stretch, but he did outscore an injured Jake Lamb, who would actually serve as a great platoon partner over a full season simulation. There are two Libra starters not in the top 30 point scorers: catcher Kurt Suzuki, who chekced in at 34 with 1,015 points and 9.7 points per game, and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (948 / 11.2), who will actually be teammates in Washington next season. Other notable players outside the top 30 (who I haven't mentioned above) are former star slugger Jose Bautista, former ace pitcher Alex Cobb, former Cuban Serie Nacional star Yoenis Cespedes, former unretired Major League closer Brad Ziegler, and current speedster on the bases Rajai Davis.

Ultimate Masters New Art Reprints

I am in the middle of recaps for the 2018 Fantasy Astrology Baseball signs, but due to the questionable political actions of the corporate side of MLB, I'm taking some time off baseball content. Instead, I'm switching gears to preview the upcoming Magic: The Gathering expansion, and looking at the new pieces of art in Ultimate Masters. The newest addition to the Masters Series has 49 new art reprints, an overwhelming 38 of which are getting a second piece of unique art for the first time. Another ten cards got their third unique illustration, while just one went into rarefied air with new art number four - and you won't have to search your library to find out what it is...

Demonic Tutor was so iconic that any effect that allows you to search your library in Magic is colloquially known as "tutoring." This sorcery appears in the very first set in Magic's history (Limited Edition, Alpha printing) with a depiction of a demonic bookworm by Douglas Schuler (sic), and a set of rules text that was lightly errata'd in subsequent printings. (Notably, the inclusion of "You may" in the original version means that, rules as written, this card has the potential to do absolutely nothing when cast.) The first of these was among the promo cards given as gifts to Magic judges in 2008, with an updated piece of art by Daarken, which again shows a literary demon, but also adds its tutor in the background... or is it the other way around? The first Tutor showed up again the very next year as part of the third Duel Deck: Divine vs. Demonic, this time with art by Scott Chou showing the original black planeswalker Liliana Vess in the moment of having her demonic contract drawn onto her skin. The full frame format of Zack Stella's art for Ultimate Masters is an example of one of the 40 promo box toppers that come with Ultimate Masters booster boxes.

The ten three-timers in UMA include at least one of each color, plus an artifact and a land, so we might as well go around the color wheel. Faith's Fetters originally appeared in Ravnica: City of Guilds, the home plane of Magic's current story. Although the effect on the card would fit perfectly in Azorius, the blue/white guild wasn't introduced until the third set in the block (Dissension), which means that Chippy's art could either go with Boros or Selesnya. This card also has a similarity to Demonic Tutor in that they were both reprinted in the Divine vs. Demonic Duel Deck, although on opposite sides. The new art by Kev Walker follows the theme of Brian Despain's art from DD #3 in that they both show a generic angry horned demon being restrained by bonds of light.

Unstable Mutation has the honor of being the oldest card to have its third unique art reprint occur in UMA, as we first saw this aura in Arabian Nights. I'm not sure exactly what the figure on the ground has to do with the mutation in its original piece of art, but it's interesting to note that artist Douglas Shuler is credited with the correct spelling of his name. Charles Gillespie's art for the Fifth Edition printing takes away some of the ambiguity - I find it funny to imagine the -1/-1 counters coming as an effect of the enchanted creature being strangled by their freakishly long tongue. The art by Slawomir Maniak on the Ultimate Masters version is the first piece of unique art to appear on a card frame with the new and improved "Enchantment - Aura" subtype - Shuler's art appeared on the Time Spiral - Timeshifted version of the card back in 2006.

I haven't run all the numbers, but Lorwyn is likely the non-Dominaria plane most represented among UMA new art reprints, with nine cards originally from the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor mega-block - although none from the eponymous Lorwyn set. Rebecca Guay lent her trademark watercolor-style artwork to the first printing of this card, from 2008's Morningtide expansion, which also included a Faerie Rogue token with art by Jim Nelson. (While Guay's same art was used in the Modern Masters 2015 reprint, that version did get its own unique token, this one illustratd by Dave Allsop. I can only imagine that we'll get a new one when Ultimate Masters hits shelves on December 7, 2018.) Like Demonic Tutor before it, Bitterblossom was also included in the Judge Gift promo program, this time in 2011, and with art by Nils Hamm. And also like Demonic Tutor, and as you can see from the full frame surrounding Jesper Ejsing's art, this one is also available as a promo box topper.

Red leads this group with three cards, so it makes sense to go chronologically. Seismic Assault first showed up in Exodus, where Dermot Power's art shows our heroes desperately trying to escape the artificial plane of Rath in the skyship Weatherlight, in what would quite likely be tabbed as a "Story Spotlight" card in the current format. It's interesting to note that the Ultimate Masters art by Adam Paquette appears to be an updated version of what's happening in the card's first piece of art, although this could be the newly-constructed Weatherlight from the recent Dominaria expansion. In between these two printings, Greg Staples created a more generic volcanic piece of art for the Seventh Edition printing.

Gamble was originally printed in Urza's Saga, one of four cards from that expansion set to get new art reprints in UMA - along with one more from Urza's Legacy and an additional two from Urza's Destiny. There's nothing story-specific happening in Andrew Goldhawk's art in the card's original version - likewise, Winona Nelson's artwork for the Eternal Masters reprint leans heavily into the Indiana Jones-style treasure hunting aspect rather than depicting a recognizable event from the Magic multiverse. The newest printing, with art by Even Amundsen, sets the card on the plane of Ixalan, as The Belligerent is the ship captained by the Golgari gorgon Vraska, as chronicled in the DailyMTG stories published during that block.

Through the Breach was first seen in the Japanese-inspired Champions of Kamigawa, with art by Hugh Jamieson depicting an otherworldly kami (i.e. vengeful spirit) emerging into the material plane. The ornate frame in the card's second unique art printing (accompanying art by Darek Zabrocki) is unique to the Amonkhet Invocations, the somewhat ill-defined entry of the Masterpiece Series that goes with the ancient Egyptian-themed Amonkhet block. In our third example of an Ultimate Masters box topper, Randy Vargas's art shows a scene from the Shadows over Innistrad block, wherein the Kor planeswalker Nahiri summons the plane-destroying Eldrazi titan Emrakul onto the gothic horror-themed plane of Innistrad as revenge against the vampire Sorin Markov.

Eternal Witness has perhaps the most utility of any card getting its third new art reprint in this set, especially considering that UMA has a strong graveyard recursion theme, at least in Black. Four years after she illustrated the card's first printing in Fifth Dawn, Terese Nielsen created another piece of art for one of the Friday Night Magic promo cards in 2008, which essentially depicts the same character in the same pose, just with slightly different lighting and shading. Chris Rahn goes in a decidedly different direction in his art for the Ultimate Masters box topper, showing the shaman actually using magic to reconstitute a creature, apparently using autumn leaves to stand in for any material that was lost upon its initial death.

Tarmogoyf represents the exact point at which tournament competitiveness takes a backseat to real world monetary value. You can buy a copy of the original "futureshifted" version of the card from the Future Sight expansion (with art by Justin Murray) for just under $100 online. However, the stamped foil version of the card from Modern Masters 2015 that Pascal Maynard selected during a high-profile draft tournament sold for nearly $15,000 on eBay. Given that financial windfall, it's understandable that Maynard would have picked that card (which uses the same art by Ryan Barger from the initial Modern Masters set) instead of taking a card that would have helped his deck. In his art for the Ultimate Masters version, Filip Burburan pushes the limit of how many teeth he can fit into the special box topper card frame.

I always found it strange that Gnomes refer to certain Artifact Creatures in Magic, while they are a flesh and blood race in Dungeons and Dragons. The distinction becomes less clear when you look at the art for the first two printings of Patchwork Gnomes: Mike Raabe's metal contraptions on the Tempest version are decidedly artifactual, while Jerry Tiritilli's illustration from the Odyssey expansion shows more anthropomorphic figures... despite the windup cranks and replaceable limbs. Filip Burburan's art from Ultimate Masters gravitates back to the machinery-focused look, while moving in a more scarecrow-ish direction overall.

And to round things out, Ancient Tomb is another card that made its first appearance in the Tempest expansion, this time with a quite spooky illustration by Colin MacNeil. The next time this double-painland got a new piece of art was from Howard Lyon as part of the Zendikar Expeditions, the first ever Masterpiece Series, which stayed on-theme by including only lands. In yet another UMA box-topper entry, Yeong-Hao Han eschewed the ghostly undertones of his predecessors, instead emphasizing the foreboding elements of the eponymous tomb.


I'm sure I will get back to baseball content soon enough, because I feel no need to punish the players and other employees of an organization just because of stupid decisions by the people at the top. It's also notable that MLB tried to reverse course, but only after intense public backlash. And who knows, maybe the top brass at Wizards of the Coast will make (or have already made) some insensitive political donations of their own, and I'll have to focus exclusively on Batman-related content. Which shouldn't be a problem in a few weeks, given what I have in the pipeline...

Astrology 2018 Recap: Negative Cardinal

For my next Fantasy Astrology Baseball division, I'm launching into the Negative/Cardinal signs, simply because that's where my "home" sign of Cancer resides. As I explained in the setup to this feature (which has now become a hub for all the divisional recaps), Cancer is represented by the Chicago White Sox, due to the silver color that is associated with the sign. I know it's a bit ironic that none of the four Cardinal signs will be represented by the St. Louis Cardinals, but the cosmic influences go much deeper than a team nickname. Let's check out how my top signmates did last season:

It's never ideal when your top scoring pitcher is only going to be used for one or two innings per game, but it stings less when you're looking at a season that was as truly special as Blake Treinen's with the A's - with an All-Star nod, both Cy Young Award and MVP votes, and an ERA less than 1. With Cancer's Manny Machado and Trea Turner right next to each other, we see a similarity to the designated hitter situation in both teams in the last division I covered: like Pisces, they have a SS/DH rotation between two players, but like Virgo, it's between two of their top batters. Let's just say, if Machado signs with a team that wants to put him back at third base, it'll do wonders for this team's flexibility next season. Defensive metrics say that Charlie Blackmon is probably best utilized in a corner outfield spot, but his eligibility in only center field has other ideas. With Pisces Clayton Kershaw remaining in LA, Patrick Corbin is the top pitcher on the free agent market, and a top end left-handed ace.

If I choose to move Blackmon to a less defensively challenging spot for the purposes of this simulation, Andrew Benintendi is more than capable of filling in at CF. The breakout season of Eugenio Suarez makes it a lot easier to stomach Machado's lost 3B eligibility in 2018. No overall fantasy point total is more misleading than Shohei Ohtani's 1,940 - it's really a combination of 564 points as a pitcher (in an even 10 games) and 1,376 as a DH (with an impressive average of 13.2 points per game). I'll have a big dilemma about whether to slot Showtime in the starting rotation in the simulation, given that he's got the talent to serve as this sign's SP2, but he's guaranteed not to pitch next year in real life due to Tommy John surgery. Cody Bellinger's positional versatility keeps us from facing down a case of redundancy, as he can occupy an outfield slot, leaving first base for emergent slugger Jesus Aguilar.

Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez (formerly Rivero) is better than some signs' number one reliever, which will make for a lot of 7-inning games against the Decapods (or should I just go back to Crabs? It is more catchy...). After that, though, we have three redundancies in a row; although it might be worth it to put Machado back at third base to open the possibility of a Nelson Cruz/Ohtani DH platoon. Although DH was Shin-Soo Choo's primary "position" last year, he profiles as a solid fourth outfielder. With shortstop already two All-Stars deep, Tim Anderson likely doesn't have a spot on the active roster, as we'd probably want someone with more versatility as a utility infielder - someone like Yolmer Sanchez (formerly Carlos - what is it with Cancers and name changes?).

Between those two White Sox teammates is the clear choice for second base, as DJ LeMahieu has both a higher fantasy point total and a better defensive reputation than veteran Ian Kinsler (who for years I thought was a Gemini). Nine-time All-Star Yadier Molina is not only one of the most productive catchers in the game, but also one of the most respected; he's capable of being the glue that sticks this lineup together. Injuries kept Stephen Strasburg from racking up as many points as he should have, but he did perform close to his full potential when healthy. CC Sabathia just re-upped with the Yankees, so we should expect more of the same from the big lefty.

Derek Dietrich did show some versatility in 2018, but he's Triple-A material as far as astrology teams are concerned. Rookie Jaime Barria made his MLB debut last year and ironically enough stepped into the same rotation slot on the Angels as he did for Cancer, essentially filling in for the injured Ohtani. I struggled whether to list Jared Hughes as a part time closer in 2018, as he appeared in NEARLY 20% of his team's save opportunities (11 of 57, or 19.298%), but either way, he's a shutdown middle reliever for this squad. Everything I wrote about Derek Dietrich above can be applied to Yangervis Solarte. While Yadi is extremely important to this team, it's also important to have a strong second-string catcher, like Yan Gomes, who starts for the Indians, to keep their number one fresh.

Robert Gsellman and Will Smith both spent significant time as closers last season - they had 33.33% and 27.27% of their respective team's save opportunities), and both are  all but guaranteed an active roster spot, what with Smith being a lefty and Gsellman capable of multi-inning stints. On paper, the starting rotation should be filled out by Tyler Skaggs, and the last setup-relief spot would likely go to Seunghwan Oh. However, just outside the top 30 point scorers, we have an interesting injury case in Michael Wacha, whose 868 points are nearly 100 fewer than Skaggs's, but his 57.9 points per game average blows the Angels lefty's out of the water. Also it's worth noting that Mike Montgomery would likely occupy the final long relief spot, and that Aaron Sanchez would probably bump Barria from the rotation if he can finally overcome his blister issues.


The other sign in the Negative/Mutable is Capricorn, which has been an astrology bottom feeder in recent seasons. While I know the Detroit Tigers' colors are technically blue and orange, the franchise has a stodgy enough feel that I think the traditional brown that's associated with Capricorn fits here generally well. Here's how the last sign (at least according to the calendar) fared in 2018:

It's fun to see all 10 of a sign's top scorers make their way into starting spots, but it's less fun when you see that they don't add together to create a very compelling team. Trevor Bauer put together an incredible season, but the way he ended the year - injured and forced to pitch out of Cleveland's bullpen in an unfamiliar role in the playoffs - was disconcerting. Mitch Haniger has developed into a very good regular in Seattle, but his numbers aren't what I'd describe as "eye-popping" and it doesn't really help on this sign that he can play center field. Critics will tell you that Ozzie Albies fell off majorly in the second half, while those of us who didn't pay that much attention will say, "My, what impressive full-season numbers!" Jhoulys Chacin pitched for the Brewers as if starting pitchers were going out of style, which indeed they were in Milwaukee. And Rick Porcello was just part of a World Championship team, so he "knows how to win."

Stephen Piscotty was one of MLB's most compelling human interest stories last year, and had the stats to back it up. Edwin Encarnacion will likely be part of a 1B/DH timeshare on this team, just like he is with the Indians in real life. On the other hand, Eduardo Escobar will be entrenched at his secondary position of shortstop, even as he continues his career with the Diamondbacks as a utility threat. Jon Lester is the first of three veteran lefties with storied careers that we'll encounter in this sign, with the next two coming one segment later. Raisel Iglesias is a dominant enough closer that the fact that the Reds have somehow avoided trading him might point to their intention to claw back towards contention next season.

C.J. Cron is the other half of that 1B/DH timeshare I mentioned above, although not even the real life Rays are that interested in keeping him around for 2019. Dallas Keuchel and Cole Hamels round out the storied veteran lefties I mentioned above, with one of them gaining a spot in the rotation and one of them ticketed to a long relief spot (unless Porcello moves to fill the role he occupied for much of the postseason). Odubel Herrera and Kevin Pillar are so close together in points, and happen to be opposite-handed hitters, that it's almost too perfect not to platoon them - I don't even know what their righty/lefty splits are! After these two, we have a plethora of starting pitching depth, although Ryan Yarbrough technically spent most of his time as a ... what's the technical term for a long-reliever-who-follows-an-opener? LRFO? LUR-foh? Either way, he throws multiple innings in a game, which is the same task as Minor, Gausman, Lopez, and Wood are asked to accomplish, just in a different order.

Even if Ryon Healy had not lost his third base eligibility with the Mariners, he would still be below the next two players on the 3B depth chart: Matt Duffy because of defensive reasons, and Kris Bryant because he's a legitimate star caliber player at the hot corner (and elsewhere) despite an injury-plagued 2018. Speaking of star caliber players, that's what Albert Pujols was for most of his career, before father time finally caught up with the hitting machine. With all these surplus starting pitchers, I might consider bending the rules as far as how many I'll allow in long relief spots on the active roster, although Anderson and Nova would be confined to AAA regardless, while Alex Colome will step into the primary setup role.

Jose Iglesias is a great guy to have on the bench, considering your starting shortstop is primarily a third baseman, and your starting third baseman has a spotty injury history (and can play in the outfield to boot). Tucker Barnhart is a fine number one catcher, but just imagine how powerful this lineup was back when Victor Martinez was at his peak. Names to keep in mind outside the top 30 are once and future closers Zach Britton and Kelvin Herrera, recently DFA'd slugger Hanley Ramirez, the new record holder for number of teams played for in a single season Oliver Drake, and starter Danny Duffy, if only to note that both current MLB players named Duffy were born under the same astrological sign.

Astrology 2018 Recap: Negative Mutable

In my last post recapping the 2018 fantasy astrology rosters, I covered the Positive Mutable division, which I've linked to the NL Central, mostly on the fact that the yellow uniforms worn by the Pirates share a color with the defending champion Gemini "Twins." This time we'll jump over to the other league and look at the Negative Mutable division, which for our purposes will be represented by the AL East. If it's confusing that the three astrological qualities (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable) aren't consistent with MLB's three geographical divisions (East, Central, West) across the two leagues... you'll just have to deal with it. It was an aesthetic choice and I'm sticking to it. Ironically enough, the runner up to Gemini in this year's finals was the Negative/Mutable sign Virgo, whose main color is blue. I chose to represent this sign with the Red Sox because, while they do have a different color than blue in their name, it's important to remember that they do wear blue caps...

Perhaps the only mark against Jose Ramirez's tremendous 2018 campaign (at least from a fantasy perspective) is that he didn't quite get enough games at second base to qualify for the position, which would have helped alleviate a significant positional logjam. Jumping around a bit to the yellow-shaded players, it's interesting to note that the top three Virgo pitchers changed teams in the 2017-18 offseason. Gerrit Cole went from the Pirates to the Astros in a steal of a trade, Miles Mikolas was signed out of Japan by the Cardinals, and the Rockies gave Wade Davis a hefty contract in free agency. These three pitchers exceeded, wildly exceeded, and basically met expectations in 2018 (respectively). Third-starter David Price exorcised his postseason demons on the way to a World Series Championship, cementing his reputation as an ace pitcher who can in fact perform in the clutch.

Going back to the offensive side, we see that the first base and DH spots are filled immediately by Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldschmidt. While it's nice to have two of the top three scoring first basemen in the league, it does somewhat cut down on the team's overall versatility - as you can see, their next three eligible batters fall victim to positional redundancy. I'm almost glad that Ian Desmond barely didn't qualify for outfield eligibility, since now I don't have to justify passing over the higher point-scorer in favor of stronger options. Fantasy Mike Moustakas suffers the most from real world Cleveland's insistence on waiting until the last possible minute to move Ramirez to second base in 2018. And Max Muncy almost qualified for second base himself, which would have uncomplicated a lot of things as far as officially getting as much of the top 10 scorers in the lineup as possible.

Speaking of better outfield options than Desmond, the team's next three top scorers actually go around the horn in the grass. If we were going by 2018 end-of-season availability, Gregory Polanco would be ineligible due to various injuries he suffered that will keep him out into 2019. George Springer fell off quite a bit from his 2017 World Series MVP-winning year, but he's still a solid all around performer with great energy and leadership. Ditto Justin Upton, who mashed in a 2017 split between the Tigers and the Angels, but fell back to Earth spending the full year in Anaheim. Going by the numbers at shortstop, Marcus Semien has the edge on Andrelton Simmons in terms of full season points (although not in points per game average). But taking into consideration that "Simba" missed time with injuries, not to mention the fact that he's one of the most talented defenders on the planet, Simmons likely will have the edge in this simulation-based lineup. Although another injured shortstop in the next segment might make this a moot positional battle.

Sandwiched between those two shortstop options (or shortstoptions for short), is Noah Syndergaard, who has some of the most intimidating raw stuff in the game, but has had his own troubles with health. Joey Votto is not a name you'd expect to see FOURTH on any team's first base depth chart, but that's this strange and beautiful game we love. Jeremy Jeffress was part of that three-headed bullpen monster in Milwaukee that I mentioned last time (thanks to Sagittarius co-co-closer Corey Knebel). The Virgo infield can't catch a break, as not even Dodgers super utility player Chris Taylor qualified for second base - although he does fit the profile as possibly the perfect bench bat. Speaking of bench bats, veteran Brett Gardner has the speed and defense profile that could make for a solid fourth or even fifth outfielder.

You have to get all the way down to the SECOND Dodgers super utility threat Enrique "Kíke" Hernandez before we get someone who ESPN's fantasy baseball client will let us plug in at second base heading into the 2019 season. You could do worse than a 20 home run season from a middle infielder... but you could also have had Mike Moustakas or Max Muncy had the cards played out a little differently. Thankfully for the future of this project, I'm not going to follow such archaic limitations when I make these rosters on a video game. Before Virgo even fills out their pitching staff, we have a pretty solidified Triple-A infield, with Votto at first, Kíke at second, Semien at short, and Franco at third. That alignment considers that Moose will be the starting third baseman, Muncy will be on the 25-player roster as a bench bat, and Ian Desmond can start at AAA LF, since if he makes this team, it's not going to be as a first baseman. Then with Mitch Moreland to DH and Billy Hamilton in center field, all we're missing is one outfielder.

The pitcher that technically slots in at SP5 is Jose Urena, who will get a chance to spit water on a whole new redesigned Marlins jersey next season. However, the pitcher with the most upside is undeniably Carlos Martinez, who finished last year as St. Louis's closer, and could easily fill a long relief, if not a starting role with next year's Virgo squad. And just below him, we have the player who could have been a fantasy difference maker if healthy: Astros wunderkind Carlos Correa. Yeah, this pushes all my bench an minor league shortstoptions down one peg on the depth chart. Oh, also this team needs a catcher: it's between Nick Hundley and John Hicks, and since Hundley is the only primary catcher and Hicks ended the season on the DL60, it's pretty clear. Also, keep in mind that this pitching staff might have access to former Cardinals top prospect Alex Reyes next season when he returns from injury.


The other team in the Negative Mutable category is Pisces, which also has a blue color scheme. Since the Yankees are the older and far more storied franchise than the other blue team (the Jays of the same color), and since New York AL is the biggest rival of the Red Sox, they're the clear choice as the Pisces representative team. It's not ideal that two astrology signs are represented by teams that do not regularly put the names of their players on the backs of their jerseys, but that's what you get sometimes when you go for old and storied.

Like Gemini, Pisces has its greatest strength in its pitching staff. Cy Young Award finalist Justin Verlander turned it up to near superhuman levels last season (like seemingly every Astros pitcher not named Ken Giles, who is coincidentally a Virgo). Luis Severino has been at the unquestionable top of the real life Yankees rotation for two years now. And if you don't think two pitchers is all that intimidating, skip to the last name in the above chart for this segment. Rhys Hoskins is one instance where lack of eligibility at a LESS defensively challenging position will really hurt his sign later on, although his bat plays anywhere on the diamond. Nicholas Castellanos will play opposite Hoskins in the outfield grass, but he's the kind of guy you would love to move to DH in a simulation (as opposed to fantasy where the defense doesn't matter). Speaking of which, Rookie of the Year runner up Miguel Andujar also did all his damage with the bat... unless you're counting damage to his fielding percentage...

With Didi Gregorius, yet another real life Yankee, at shortstop, it's looking like my choice of team is making sense totally randomly. It's almost a shame that I'm implementing the DH for all astrology teams, because otherwise German Marquez would have had the ability to showcase his Silver Slugger winning talent. Tommy Pham jumped from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Tampa Bay Rays, but luckily he can't be traded away from the Pisces Fish. Because of the Rhys Hoskins-in-the-outfield experiment, the versatile Jurickson Profar actually best serves this roster by playing first base. And what else can be said about Clayton Kershaw except that he once again choked it up big time in the playoffs, but once again signed a well-deserved extension with the Dodgers.

It's not often that you see a SS/DH rotation between two players, but Jean Segura makes it possible. If you imagine the VERY SENSIBLE world in which Hoskins plays first and Profar mans second, Michael Conforto would make a very strong third outfielder. Aroldis Chapman is a force out of the bullpen regardless of his injuries last season. J.T. Realmuto is just the best catcher in the game, no big deal. And Kyle Schwarber might be the most powerful left handed late inning defensive replacement a club could hope for. The fact that two veterans, Rich Hill and Anibal Sanchez, would be competing for the fifth starter spot is astounding considering that one was ranked a full 600 points higher than the other heading into 2018. Regardless, the loser (or maybe even German Marquez) will still be on the active roster as a long reliever. The rest of this segment just has Triple-A candidates.

Bud Norris is documentedly not great for clubhouse chemistry (mostly due to his conflict with Virgo relief pitcher Jordan Hicks), but he's probably too good a pitcher not to have on the active roster. Similar to Virgo, the best option to officially qualify at second base is a super versatile utility piece, although Marwin Gonzalez is all but guaranteed to make the Pisces simulated bench. Fernando Rodney and Sergio Romo both spent time as their team's closer last year, but only Romo filled the "Opener" role. (NOTE: was he the first ever Opener, as defined by the 2018 Tampa Bay Rays?) Don't worry, there won't be any Openers in these astrology teams - you don't need one when someone with the talent and upside of Jake Arrieta is your potential SP7. Skipping to the end of this segment, I will say Francisco Cervelli is one heckuva backup catcher, a position that also has legacy option Brian McCann. If this team wants a lefty for its bullpen, it has to go all the way down to Blaine Hardy, the 41st highest scorer in the talent pool.

Astrology 2018 Recap: Positive Mutable

As promised, here's a look back at the 2018 Fantasy Astrology Baseball lineups, in preparation for a potential simulated season using MLB The Show 19. Yes, I know the game isn't scheduled to be released for several months yet, but I have a lot of projects I want to get through during this offseason. In a departure from previous versions of this type of roster analysis, I'm presenting the teams in order of fantasy point totals, rather than making lineup/batting order choices beforehand, to give a better idea of the overall talent pool in each sign. (Although bold/underlined text in the "SIGN" column denotes a "fantasy starter" for the team.) I'm starting with the surprise champion Gemini Twins, which, as we've explored in the preamble, will be represented by the Pittsburgh Pirates, due to their unique yellow color palette. This, if you're following along at home, connects the National League Central with the Positive/Mutable astrology division.

Looking at the top three scoring players on this roster, it's easy to see why they were so successful last year: pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Jacob deGrom and Aaron Nola were both Cy Young Award finalists (with deGrom taking home the trophy), and Craig Kimbrel, fresh off his run closing games for the real life World Series Champion Red Sox, has a chance to break the record for the richest free agent contract ever given to a relief pitcher. The top batter on this team, third baseman Anthony Rendon, has quietly put up superstar-level numbers in four of the last five years, and does a nice job of anchoring this underwhelming offense. Jumping right back to the starting staff, Zack Wheeler has finally begun to deliver on the promise that he showed as a top prospect in the early part of this decade (first with the Giants, and later (and now) with the Mets), while Jose Berrios has taken a quicker and more straightforward path to MLB All-Stardom in Minnesota.

Cesar Hernandez fills two important roles on this team: starting second baseman, and possible leadoff hitter. The latter of those of course only matters in a simulation (rather than fantasy) setting, but it's an important aspect to keep in mind for our purposes. Yuli Gurriel brings some infield diversity to the table, but with Rendon on hand to play third, and in a generally weak year for first basemen, Gurriel is firmly entrenched at the less demanding side of the diamond. Rounding out the starting five, Mike Fiers padded his stats with a tremendous performance after being acquired by the Athletics in a Trade Deadline 2.0 deal, even though he was left off the roster for the Wild Card game (don't even get me started... *cough cough* Adam Dunn 2014 *cough cough*). It's rare to see an astrology team fill out its entire starting rotation in its top ten overall point scorers, but I wasn't kidding when I said pitching was a strength for Gemini. Conversely, it's not ideal to see a sign's top scoring outfielder clock in at #10 overall, but Corey Dickerson put up a decent season in his first year after being traded to Pittsburgh.

Yoan Moncada, GEM's #11 overall point scorer, is our first example of positional redundancy. But since I've given each team a DH slot - because it's unfair to penalize half the signs just because their associated color is similar to a National League team's uniform - the former #2 overall prospect still gets a place in the starting lineup. After Moncada, we see our first example of pitching depth in lefty Andrew Heaney, who was finally able to stay healthy over a full season. Next we have yet another second baseman, although Ben Zobrist's versatility means that he's actually the sign's #2 highest scoring outfield eligible player. When I build out these active rosters, I will likely set a limit of two bullpen slots that can be filled by starters, since I want to showcase pitchers of all roles, but going by the numbers, Gemini's two non-starting-starters would be lefties Heaney and Sean Newcomb.

This is less of an issue in simulated 25-player rosters (where teams need six or seven non-closer-relief-pitchers to fill out a bullpen) than in fantasy lineups (which typically include only two dedicated RP slots), but Brad Boxberger is technically this sign's #2 ranked reliever, thanks to his saves-inflated stats from the first half, before he lost his job as Diamondbacks closer. Conversely, Cubs reliever Pedro Strop had an opposite yearly trajectory as Boxberger, as he began the year as a middle reliever, but took over for an injured closer towards the end of the year... before subsequently getting injured while running the bases. Kendrys Morales's lack of a true position puts him at a disadvantage in terms of earning a roster spot, but if the team needs a pinch-hitting only option, his ability to switch-hit means he could compete with Justin Bour (who quite possibly could have outscored Gurriel at 1B had he not been traded to the Phillies and relegated to a bench role... and subsequently waived in the offseason). Unheralded rookie Dereck Rodriguez (son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan) burst onto the scene when pressed into duty for an injury-ravaged Giants rotation, and unexpectedly became a building block for years to come. And despite his World Series heroics, Eduardo Nunez would be limited to a potential bench role on this astrology team.

While there's nothing too special about Harrison Bader's stats, the fact that he emerged as a viable center field option is huge for Gemini, who went without a single active qualifier there for much of 2017. Skipping over Steven Matz and Joey Lucchesi - yet more pieces of starting pitching depth - we have Gemini's starting catcher, Robinson Chirinos, who was curiously just cut loose by the Rangers after putting up a solid offensive performance. Collin McHugh successfully transitioned to the Astros bullpen last year, but might have to move back to the rotation in 2019 thanks to Lance McCullers Jr.'s Tommy John surgery (which will surely hurt the Libra team's chances next year). Blake Parker is fourth on Gemini's "spent-time-as-a-closer" depth chart, as he was the Angels' primary ninth inning specialist, while Chad Green had his second straight tremendous season out of the Yankees bullpen, despite not picking up any saves at all.

If you've been following along, you might have noticed that there is still a starting position player who doesn't fall into Gemini's top 30 point scorers. That honor goes to Brock Holt, whose 936 points (and 8.6 points per game) checks in at #33 overall. While he spent the majority of his 2018 games at second base, he picked up the requisite 20 games at shortstop (23, in fact) to qualify for the position. This gives the "Twins" a better option up the middle than the fading Jose Reyes or midseason release victim Eric Sogard. Other names to keep in mind: former lefty relief ace Justin Miller figures to land a large contract in free agency despite a weak 2018 season. Garrett Richards has great stuff and big upside, but he'll miss all of 2019 due to TJS. A pair of Brewers pitchers have promising outlooks for next year: Freddy Peralta as a still-developing youngster, and Jimmy Nelson who will hope to return from injury. And Bartolo Colon just completed his 21st year in the majors at the tender age of 45.



The Sagittarius Archers - here represented by the Chicago Cubs - have a ton of very talented players on their roster, but just can't seem to find a way to put things together in the fantasy realm. Perhaps things will be different in a season-long simulation environment.

We start things off with the near-unanimous NL MVP choice Christian Yelich, who would be fantasy first-overall-pickable, even if he didn't have center field eligibility. (SPOILER ALERT: He won't have to use it for our purposes here.) Following him closely in points is just-crowned AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, who at times seemed like the only traditional starting pitcher in a highly unorthodox Rays pitching staff. NL MVP runner-up Javier Baez not only unlocked his full potential with the bat this past season, but he also helps the Cubs and his fantasy owners alike by playing solid defense at all the infield positions that matter. On the opposite end of the defensive spectrum, Khris Davis is limited to DH (the "/" in his POS 2 column indicates that he had more than 10, but fewer than the requisite 20 games to qualify in left field), but his bat more than justifies a spot in this lineup. Let's hope A's GM Billy Beane swallows his pride and tenders him a contract in arbitration... (*cough cough* sometimes you have to pay for dingers *cough*) Matt Carpenter had another typically strong offensive season while qualifying at both infield corners, but for reasons that will become clear in the next segment, he's better suited at his primary position of first base on this roster.

Mike Clevinger broke out this year with the stats to serve as most anyone's fantasy ace, but he's relegated to SP3 or 4 on a stacked Indians rotation. Kyle Hendricks has slipped a bit from his peak in 2016, but he's more than qualified to serve as the mid-rotation workhorse that this SAG team will need him to be. NL Rookie of the Year winner Ronald Acuna Jr. adds a strong personality to tremendous skills with the bat and the ability (if not the qualifications) to play center field. If you notice that I haven't listed either of the next two batters as starters (bold/underline text in the SIGN column), you might have a couple of questions. Such as: "Why don't you shift Matt Carpenter to third base to make room for Justin Smoak? Or if you insist on keeping Carpenter at first, why wouldn't Yohan Camargo serve as the starting third baseman?" The answer has to do with total points vs. average points per game, and it'll come in the next segment.

But first, the team's #11 overall scorer might raise another question: "Why isn't Yasiel Puig starting in right field with Christian Yelich making use of his vaunted center field eligibility?" This one is easier to answer when you look at the very next player on the list, as quite frankly, a healthy A.J. Pollock has a higher upside (not to mention less chance for on-field drama) than Puig, and better center field defense than Yelich. But the beauty part of a season-long simulation is that you can keep all three on the roster and use them as situations/matchups dictate. The defensive profile of 3rd place AL ROY finisher Gleyber Torres means that it doesn't technically matter how the two middle infield positions are divided between him and Javier Baez; but I would put Torres at second and Baez at short, just because that's where they played in the postseason. And NOW, at #14 in overall points, do we get the reason why I was so deadset on keeping Matt Carpenter at first base: not only is a healthy Justin Turner one of the most clutch postseason performers of all time, he's also a great team leader who excels in nearly every aspect of the game. He's so good, and given Camargo's versatility, that I'm not even going to consider putting Jeimer Candelario on the active roster.

The de facto ace of the Reds pitching staff, Luis Castillo (that's Luis M. Castillo, not to be confused with the former Marlins infielder Luis A. Castillo) is really more suited to the fourth starter role which he would fill here. And rounding out the rotation, Chase Anderson had a fine year with the Brewers, but was subsequently left off their playoff roster. The same is true for Ross Stripling with the other NLCS participant, although he pitched well enough as a starter and out of the bullpen for the Dodgers, that he could fill one of those two long relief spots I mentioned before. With this particular group of SAG relief pitchers, we might catch a glimpse into why this sign is a perennial fantasy bottom feeder. Adam Ottavino has some of the nastiest stuff in the league, but he hasn't been able to pad his stats with saves, instead serving as a setup reliever for Wade Davis (a Virgo). Ditto for Jose Leclerc's stuff, but he didn't take over closing duties for the Rangers until August, which he will presumably hold onto next year. Depending on where Ottavino signs, and in what role, this could be a sneaky good bullpen in 2019.

In somewhat of a resurgent season, James Shields pitched himself into consideration for an active roster bullpen slot. But moving right along, we see two more relievers that had bad luck/timing in terms of getting those ever important saves. Corey Knebel got hurt in April, then came back to basically an even three-way split of save opportunities for the Brewers; but it worked well enough for Milwaukee, so he should fit in well as the third-ranked relief pitcher on this roster. Seranthony Dominguez, despite the knightly-sounding name, didn't start consistently closing games for the Phillies until Hector Neris's ouster. Filling out the last spot in the bullpen is good old fashioned multi-inning weapon Yusmeiro Petit, adding a little diversity into this bullpen filled with part-time closers. Adam Eaton and Wil Myers are outfielders (well, one is currently masquerading as a third baseman) who are yet more examples of Sagittarians who have had troubles with injuries lately. But perhaps the roughest example of this theme in 2018 is Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who was out for nearly 60 games last season and never really got into a groove. If he bounces back from offseason shoulder surgery - and health permitting elsewhere - this could be a lineup without any holes whatsoever.

Looking into names beyond the top 30, middle reliever Ryan Pressly has significant fantasy point splits before and after his trade to the Astros, and I would likely consider him instead of Dominguez. Also Joe Musgrove outpaced James Shields in PPG (46.1), and would likely beat him in the battle for a roster spot, despite his consistency. Big Game James will remain stretched out in AAA, along with Carlos Rodon and Dan Straily. But the biggest SAG X-factor is former AL MVP Josh Donaldson, whose injury-marred 2018 likely won't prevent him from signing a huge contract (perhaps even a "megadeal"?) in free agency in the coming weeks/months. Luminary second baseman Chase Utley just retired, officially closing the books on what is presumably one of the top middle infield Sagittarius pairs in Phillies history (if not all time) with Jimmy Rollins. Even further down, extreme bounceback candidates include 2018 World Series champion Drew Pomeranz and former #1 overall prospect Byron Buxton.