Been a downbeat week around the fantasy game. Nobody likes to see a star like Ronald Acuña Jr. lose another season to injury. Baseball is just a tick less interesting today. For our game, there’s not much one can do to replace an Acuña. In a 15-teamer where I’ve gotten off to a fast start and am in first place, I traded Kodai Senga, Landon Knack and Abimelec Ortiz for Brandon Nimmo. He’s not going to approximate Acuña, but he should fill an outfield spot and help me hold down the Runs category. He’s batting third this season and is on pace for his best RBI season by a long ways, even as his batting average has tumbled. He’s painting the statcast bars red, and his career outcomes suggest he’s got upside in the batting average category. Now I just need to replace a few dozen stolen bases. No big deal, right?
I do have Rockies OF Sean Bouchard in that league, and he stole a base in his first night back with the big club (and in my lineup). He also scored two runs and drove in a couple more. If he can just do that every night, I won’t miss Acuña at all.
Narrator: “He can’t do that every night.”
But he could be pretty good if Colorado stopped burying him beneath the mountains out there. They had decided they’d rather see OF Jordan Beck, but he broke his hand. They also seem to prefer OF Hunter Goodman, which makes some sense considering the guy has 16 home runs in 35 career Triple-A games. Bouchard is the best hitter of this trio at the moment, and I don’t think it’s real close. He’s got MILB eligibility in that league until he reaches 350 at bats, so here’s helping he can extend the bench and chip in when he fits in.
I also have Rays OF Jonny Deluca in the minors on that team. He too has a bunch of MILB eligibility left in the bank and could help a bit across the board if Tampa plays him, a caveat so huge it sometimes threatens to swallow fantasy baseball whole.
I traded for Cubs OF Mike Tauchman and Athletics OF Miguel Andujar, but I had to cut Andujar before he homered on Tuesday, and I’ll have to cut Tauchman today so I move Yankees RHP Luis Gil from my minors for his start tonight. Gil and Angels RHP Jose Soriano are both nearing 100 innings pitched and will become permanent members of the MLB squad at that point, so the MLB-side roster crunch that’s already pinching me is about to get much tighter. The time is right for a 3-for-1 type swap, but that’s easier said than done, and even then, I’d likely be including a minor leaguer (rather than three big leaguers) and opening just one MLB-side spot. It’s easy to lose a ton of value in these crunch-forced consolidation deals, but that’s the name of the game at some point. Have to accept the lost “value” and use the new roster spots to generate more.
I offered Acuna straight up for Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez. Got swiftly rejected. I have made something like five offers for Julio in that league this year, so I think I’m into the auto-reject zone on that one. Bit of a boy who cried wolf scenario. Dude has batted away some extremely aggressive offers. Makes sense that he wouldn’t jump at an injured Acuña. He is lower in the standings though, and I am still thinking about what I might include that could make sense for both of us.
Razzball’s own B_Don is in this league and offered me Astros OF Kyle Tucker last time Acuña lost a season. I haven’t checked in yet, but I have been wondering if that offer would be on the table again. It would make sense for me, but I love Acuña and don’t feel that way about Tucker, so I’m dragging my feet to even take the thought seriously.
My major league outfield now includes Brandon Nimmo, Nick Castellanos, Ryan O’Hearn, Trevor Larnach, and Jake Meyers. Nolan Jones is on my injured list.
My minor league options are Bouchard, Deluca, Mariners OF Dominic Canzone, and Royals OF Dairon Blanco.
Is this a league-winning outfield crew? I’m at 122 standings points. Second place is at 108.
I dunno, but it doesn’t look great. I have monsters elsewhere: Ohtani, Harper, Elly, Altuve, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Oneil Cruz. But I’ll probably have to do something about that outfield, and it might have to come at the expense of pitching because I can’t really weaken that infield. I’d like to add another MLB-side outfielder from free agency, but I can’t currently fit one on the roster. Maybe I could flip Twins 3B Jose Miranda, Cubs RHP Javier Assad and Marlins LHP Ryan Weathers for a medium good player, but these are the kinds of found-money guys who are hard to trade and even harder to cut.
Whether or not I can clear some room soon, I’ll be hitting the wire all season. Outfield has been a problem for me in that league all along, so I’m accustomed to the hustle and the piecemeal approach of stocking up minor league eligible types like Dairon Blanco who can provide a boost when/if they get a chance to play. I tend to hate having a glaring weakness like this because the focus on it keeps me from reacting as fast to the fresh value that bubbles up all around the diamond. On my claims list right now, Athletics OF Daz Cameron and White Sox OF Corey Julks are much higher than they should be, but they’re the right shape right now. Then I look again and realize they might cost me Brewers SS Filippo Di Turi, who has a .536 OBP through 18 games on the complex. He’s a player I like way, way more than those 4A OF types, but the only way he can help me this year is via trade, and it’s gonna be a while before the echo chamber makes him valuable enough to flip, so I toggle again, up then down, hoping to catch a little lightning in a bottle to patchwork together a replacement for the most electric player in baseball.
Thanks for reading!
