There used to be a time when spring battles were an on-going and ever-noteworthy part of the February and March conversation. But, on the surface, so many of those prospective disputes seem to have dissipated in recent seasons. Blame it on better roster organization. Blame it on service time concerns. Blame it on the massive, guaranteed salaries for free agents. Or, even place the blame on a 30-team player pool that's a tad too thin and struggles to create thorough competition. Heck, perhaps the blame rides with us ... were there ever as many spring position battles as our memories of youth might suggest?
With pitchers and catchers (and, all others soon to follow) already in place in both Arizona and Florida, it's time for to preview 10 of the most fantasy-relevant head-to-head's you should follow over the next month-and-a-half.
American League
Kansas City - 2B - Omar Infante vs. Christian Colon
Infante has fallen flat since inking a fairly large four-year free agent contract with the Royals. His first two seasons have resulted in less than 260 games played and his numbers have been short of all expectations. The vet has posted a sub-.240 average alongside a sub-.600 OPS. Frankly, he's a truly awful option for a defending champ to roll out in their infield, but as many of us know, manager Ned Yost likes to keep us guessing. My bet is that he still favors having a steady hand that he knows, rather than taking a chance on a more active, alluring, and helpful option like Colon. The 27-year old has a fine glove, has gotten on-base throughout his professional career (a .350 mark in nearly 700 pro games), and he offers something the Royals usually love - speed. Still, he's an unproven hitter at the big league level and will to spend March tearing the cover off the horsehide in order to have a shot at the Opening Day starting lineup. KC is very likely to keep turning to their $8-million option until he fails, yet again. Infante is of no use in most leagues.
Expected Winner: Infante
Kansas City - RF - Jarrod Dyson vs. Paulo Orlando
If the Royals were a team bereft of speed, perhaps Colon would stand a shot of seeing more playing time. But, as it is, they are probably one of the fastest overall teams in baseball. Dyson is a critical part of that. Without Billy Hamilton's playing time, Dyson has turned into an offensive dynamo. Mostly coming off the bench, the now-31-year old has stolen an average of 32 bases over the past four years ... while receiving barely 240 at-bats a year! Overexposure is a concern, but now, KC is staring down a forced platoon between Dyson and another uneven vet, Orlando. Orlando cuts from the right-side, so that puts Dyson on the plus-side of any platoon that may emerge. Neither man is what we would term a very good option in the fantasy world, but Dyson offers a lot more upside thanks to his wheels. Forty thefts are possible and that means he can suffice as a 5th fantasy outfielder.
Expected Winner: Neither ... expect a platoon ... but, Dyson is still a top late-round pick
Minnesota - C - Kurt Suzuki vs. John Ryan Murphy
Suzuki has become a full-blown embarrassment at the dish. He offers no power, hit under-.250 a season ago, and can't even point to his defensive work as a plus (his framing, blocking, and throwing marks all come in as some of the worst in baseball). Enter Murphy who the Twinkies added in an offseason flip of Aaron Hicks to the Yankees. At just 24 years of age, he has Minnesota hoping that he is the future and my guess is that they're willing to find out, right now. Suzuki may be termed 'the starter' for April, but that is probably nothing more than a case of the team providing a veteran favor. Expect Murphy to outplay and, certainly, out-produce Suzuki. But, that 'out-production' may only earn Murphy a ranking near the top 20 at the catcher spot. He's in line for a decent average with decent power to boot ... something around .255 and 12.
Expected Winner: Murphy
Seattle - Closer - Steve Cishek vs. Joaquin Benoit
From the day that the Mariners acquired Cishek, they've called him their closer for 2016. I believe them. Last season, the submariner seemed to be stuck with mistimed mechanics from the start of the year. After fixing his arm slot, he landed in St. Louis at mid-season and continued to straighten things out in low-leverage situations, sporting a big turnaround in ERA and WHIP. He still suffers from control issues, but when he is on, he can be quite effective, as evidenced by back-to-back 30+ save seasons in '13 and '14. As for Benoit, he is the owner of 50 career saves over a run of 960 innings, covering 14 years in the bigs. We all know how teams are hesitant to turn to the 'set-up guy,' until their hand is forced. Cishek should be the closer from Day One and I think he'll turn out to be a top 20 closer this season, making him a very good draft day bargain.
Expected Winner: Cishek
Toronto - LF - Michael Saunders vs. Dalton Pompey
Zombies. Arguments for returning to the gold reserve. Saunders. Some things refuse to die. Saunders has done nothing, but tease throughout his career. I have little doubt that he's a talented dude, but I have even less doubt that he's made of porcelain. The man is always hurt, including last season when he suffered a knee bruise that made him useless. Toronto would love for him to win the job, but I don't even think he'll make it to April in one piece. Remember, a water sprinkler took him out last spring! Pompey figures to be the beneficiary. Despite spending a good portion of his 2015 in the minors, Pompey's prospect tag still sports a spiffy look. His speed is elite, he can handle things with the bat, and since he's not going to be winning the CF job (Hello, Kevin Pillar!), his best chance at helping the Jays is in LF. He's going to be more of a deep league play to begin, but by October, I think we'll be seeing Pompey and Pillar in the same circle of fantasy outfielders heading into 2017.
Expected Winner: Pompey ... Saunders likely to come up lame
Toronto - Closer - Roberto Osuna vs. Drew Storen
Osuna did nearly every single thing that Toronto asked of him last year. As a 20-year old, whose future is in the rotation, he rescued an incredibly needy playoff team with 20 saves, a WHIP under-1, and a sparkling 2.58 ERA. Still, the Blue Jays' brass is leaning towards eventually getting him into the rotation, but may wait until a true need arises ... either this year or next. That thought process is why the team went out and added Storen, a guy who knows the 9th, has had success in the 9th, and can still be dominant in the 9th. It's a strong 1-2 combo, for now. The '1' will be Storen (who looks good for 30 or more saves) and the '2' will be a regal Osuna who can help you on the K, WHIP, ERA, and Holds-fronts.
Expected Winner: Storen
National League
LA Dodgers - LF - Andre Ethier vs. Carl Crawford
Which multi-millionaire is actually going to be forced to earn their check?? Take a load of these numbers. Crawford is set to make almost $22-million. He's hit .276 with a .730 OPS in the past five years. Oh, he's also averaging 90 games per year in that time. Ethier is a bit better. His contract calls for a payout of just $18-million this summer. He's turned in a .280 average and a .790 OPS over the previous five campaigns, while averaging 140 games played. He's also handled nearly 2,000 innings as a left-fielder. So, this is not a stretch for him to man left in LA. Still, the Dodgers continue to come back to Crawford. I'm really at a lost as to why, anymore. He's an oft-lame and limping, slap-hitter. At least Ethier can drive the ball and stay upright. Maybe this is the year that the franchise faces up to reality. As long as Ethier shows some life in his lumber, I think he's the man and may have to worry more about Scott Van Slyke (who crushes LHPs) than Crawford, when it comes to opportunities.
Expected Winner: I'll go with an upset ... Ethier
Miami - Closer - A.J. Ramos vs. Carter Capps
Yet, another battle for the 9th inning. Ramos really shouldn't have to be in such a battle. He was close-to-dominant in his first real chance at closing last year. He finished off 32 games and punched out 87 hitters in under 71 innings. Further, his ERA was 2.30. His WHIP was 1.01. Even after a pair of back-to-back, homer-happy outings, Ramos then turned in 16 straight homer-less efforts to close the season. But, word out of Miami, says Capps is going to 'compete' with Ramos. Unlike my belief in what Seattle is saying about their 9th inning, I do not believe a word of what Miami is saying. And, if they stick to this word, they're foolish. Capps is was a very, very good hurler last year (check out that 16.8 K/9!), but there's no need to flip these two. Here's a free piece of advice for the maligned Marlins ... when you have something good, don't screw with it! I think the real reason we're hearing about a face-off between these two is that Ramos is getting more expensive and might be a trade-off candidate in July. Perhaps the real goal is to get Capps in the frame of mind now for what he become later in the year.
Expected Winner: Ramos
San Francisco - 4th and 5th Starter - Matt Cain vs. Chris Heston vs. Jake Peavy
If you were the fantasy owner than snagged Heston off your league's waiver wire in mid-May of last season, you probably remember him as a solid, and sometimes spectacular, back-of-the-rotation pitcher. At the same time, both Cain and Peavy were useless in '15. Both were under 20 starts, but both still have massive contracts and have a lot of track record that they can point to. Right now, it appears that Heston is the unfortunate, number-6, but I think he still has a shot here. For one thing, Peavy maxes out at six innings per outing. Cain has also missed most of the past two seasons with injury and might find it difficult to regain his form. As we go through the month of March, don't be surprised to hear that either of the vets needs a few days off here, has a 'minor' ailment there, or even heads to the sideline with some sort of set-back. I'm playing the odds, saying the younger man stays fit, while one of the other two slide back. If Heston breaks camp in the rotation, I think he's a serviceable bench round grab. Neither Cain nor Peavy would interest me even if they earn their pre-ordained slots.
Expected Winners: Heston and Peavy
St. Louis - 1B - Brandon Moss vs. Matt Adams
The Cardinals always find a way, right? Every season, we arrive at this point and wonder how they'll do it, who will hit, who will start on the back-end, etc? And, when October rolls around, they have inevitably found a way to make it work. For this year, one of their biggest issues involves resurrecting Moss and Adams. Moss showed very little of his famous power after pre-2015 hip surgery. Adams missed most of last year with a quad tear and features the look of a power hitter with the stats of a line drive hitter. St. Louis is on the lookout for pop this spring and I believe that gives Moss a slight edge. But, Adams has a more repeatable approach and if he's hitting in Florida, while Moss is flailing, we may see more of Adams in the early-going. For fantasy purposes, only one guy really has the capability to excite and that's Moss because of the proven homer potential. I think we'll see a lot of both players, with advanced scouting of opposing pitchers and their approaches, dictating who starts from night-to-night. There is an attraction with a late-grab of both, but I also believe you'll be reaching for Advil all year while trying to deal with the back-and-forth nature of who is in and out of the lineup each night.
Expected Winner: Neither ... unpredictable, hot hand, platoon
You can hear Kyle each weeknight on 'The SiriusXM Fantasy Drive' from 7-10 ET, Sirius 210, XM 87.
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Bob Oberlin
Feb 19, 16 at 11:41 AM
I trust Lyle will be back again this year.