Fantasy baseball draft targets and players to avoid

Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz are joined by fantasy analyst Scott Pianowski to discuss some sleeper fantasy baseball names as well some players to avoid. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.

Video Transcript

Who are some guys that may be available at the top of some fantasy baseball drafts that are no-nos for you, that have some big time red flags?

Yeah, there’s one guy in the top 10 I’m not drafting at all, and, and it’s Chris Sale.

And as somebody who grew up in New England as a Red Sox fan, it hurts to say that, but he’s 37 years old.

He’s only qualified for the ERA title, meaning hitting a certain innings pitched threshold, once in the past six years.

I think the Braves are gonna be closer to a 500 team than a playoff team this year, so a position I’d like to trend younger with, all right, you just less mileage, less, less tear, wear and tear on the shoulder, less wear and tear on the elbow.

So where Chris Sale is going right now, I’m, I’m not even seeing him on my sheet.

He’s some- I’m gonna want to be a lot younger at that starting pitcher position.

Who are some players that you’d say maybe on the hitting side are red flagged?

So I’m getting killed for this.

I’m not taking Jose Ramirez in the first round, and he is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

He’s one of the best players who’s never won an MVP, and he fills all five categories.

Why don’t we love that?

Third base is even a thin position this year.

But when you’re making those early picks, you’re really investing in overall offenses and then sometimes even the ballpark.

I don’t love the setup behind Ramirez, so even though I see why he goes in the first round and I expect him to have a solid year, he’s somebody I’m avoiding just because of the supporting cast.

Now a player I’m avoiding because of him is Pete Crow-Armstrong.

It’s hard to reconcile what he did last year.

He was a Hall of not Hall of Fame, MVP candidate for the first half of the season, and then he hit close to the Mendoza Line in the second half.

Some holes in his swing were exposed.

He is a great defender, so he’s not gonna lose his job.

He does have a power/speed profile that we like, but I’m afraid he might hit 215.

I’m also afraid he might get downshifted to the bottom third of a deep Chicago Cubs lineup.

So Ramirez is more of a soft fade.

I would strongly tell people not to draft PCA where he’s going right now.

I think that’s a good note and a good reminder for everyone as they’re going through their MLB drafts.

It’s not just about the player that you’re drafting in fantasy.

It’s all things considered, of their usage, the kind of offense that they’re going to be in.

Fantasy drafting and drafting as a general manager are two very d- very different things.

But now that we have the negative stuff out of the way, I want to talk about the positive things.

Who are some names that maybe we’re not hearing a lot about, maybe some sleeper picks that people should keep an eye on maybe in, maybe in some later rounds?

Yeah, I love the way you frame that too.

We’re, we’re drafting into an environment.

Again, you think about fantasy football, you’re drafting how good is your quarterback?

How good is your offensive coordinator?

How good is the team set up?

And a lot of that applies in fantasy baseball, and that’s why I’m targeting Mackenzie Gore.

He goes around ADP pick 148 in Yahoo drafts.

Moves from Washington to the Rangers.

Better ballpark, better team around him.

Follow the strikeouts.

He has a first-round pedigree.

I think things should really come together for him this year at a really nice price.

Outside the top 200, Andrew Vaughn.

Again, we’re betting on the organization.

Milwaukee is what Tampa Bay used to be.

They’re smart.

They spend their money better than everybody else.

They traded for Vaughn, a former first-round pick last year from the White Sox.

He was great the final third of the season.

Again, the ADP outside the top 200 at first base.

I think he’ll hit 280 and probably hit 20 plus home runs.

Alec Bohm last year, around pick 196 in Yahoo leagues, was hurt, didn’t have a great season.

He’s healthy now.

He’s gonna bat cleanup in a Philadelphia lineup we really like.

Turner, Harper, Schwarber all in front of him.

I think he drives in 100 runs, can hit 20 home runs, and the mediocre stats he had last year are all injury excuse.

He is a dynamite value around pick 196 in Yahoo.

Fantasy baseball draft targets and players to avoid

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