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.
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