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.
No comments:
Post a Comment