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| Thursday, March 21, 2024 |
| You wake up in a cold sweat, as a horrifying realization comes to mind: It's Draft Day, and you haven't done any research. |
| It might just be a nightmare, but it might just be your reality, too. You've got a lot going on, and maybe you just didn't have time to prepare for your draft. That's what the Fantasy Baseball Today team is here to help you out with. We've spent the past three months getting our rankings ready for Draft Day, and we've done plenty of research on the way there. And we're here to share it with you. |
| Of course, even with the season technically starting this week with the Dodgers and Padres playing in the Seoul Series yesterday and today, there's still plenty we don't know about right now. As of Wednesday night, we have no idea how serious Eury Perez's elbow injury is, for example, and that's a pretty big deal -- he was a top-100 pick in pretty much every draft before his injury, and now he might not even get drafted in some leagues. |
| The same might be true of Matt McLain, who suffered a shoulder injury in recent days, the extent of which is still unknown. The Reds are pretty sure McLain won't be ready for Opening Day , and he might need surgery on the shoulder, but as of Wednesday, we just don't know. I wrote about McLain's value and some possible trade targets if you already drafted here , but all I can say at this point is this: Only you know how risk-averse you want to be in your draft. If McLain's injury ends up relatively minor, a mid-round pick on a player with 25-25 potential could end up being the steal of the draft; if he needs surgery to repair the shoulder, there's a chance you've completely wasted a pick on him. I've got him ranked around 150th, but you're the only one who can decide if you actually want to pay that price. |
| And then there's the Shohei Ohtani situation, which we have to address here, even if there just isn't much to address. CBS Sports' Matt Snyder has a great explainer on everything that came out yesterday about Ohtani's interpreter being fired after he was accused of "massive theft" as part of a potential gambling scandal. No accusations have been made of any wrongdoing against Ohtani, and I don't have any reason to expect this will impact Ohtani's availability. But I could see how his proximity to the story might be enough to scare some off investing a first-round pick in Ohtani. |
| And all I can say is this: I'm not moving Ohtani down in my rankings at all. I don't know any more than you do, but I don't have any reason to believe Ohtani's availability is likely to be impacted in any way. Whether that's enough for you to make the investment is, of course, entirely up to you. But, for what it's worth, in talking to other folks around the Fantasy industry last night, nobody else seems to be moving him down, either. |
| Like I said, there's still quite a lot that's still up in the air as we head into the final weekend of draft season. I'll have one last in-depth breakdown of everything you need to know about from this week's spring action in tomorrow's newsletter, but before then, I wanted to make sure you have everything you need to prepare for your remaining drafts, and that's what the rest of today's newsletter is all about. No more words from yours truly today: Just links to absolutely everything you need from the Fantasy Baseball Today team to make sure you're ready for your drafts. |
| Here's your Draft Day Cheat Sheet. |
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| Get to know the player pool |
| Position Previews: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RPHow to draft each position: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RPTiers 3.0: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP Late-round category specialists: Hitters | Pitchers |
| Rankings and salary cap values |
| Head-to-Head pointsRotisserie (and H2H categories) Top 100 ProspectsDynasty Top 150Top 50 keepers based on last year's ADP ATC Projections at SportsLinePreseason Trade Values |
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| Sleepers, Breakouts and Busts |
White: Sleepers 2.0 | Breakouts 2.0 | Busts 2.0 | 40 Deep Sleepers | Post-Hype SleepersTowers: Sleepers 2.0 | Breakouts 2.0 | Busts 2.0 | All-FOMO team | AL Deep Sleepers | NL Deep Sleepers | 10 More Deep Sleepers | 'My Guys'
Stampfl: Sleepers 2.0 | Breakouts 2.0 | Busts 2.0 |
| Draft Day essentials |
Fantasy Baseball Today Podcast (new episodes five days a week)27 biggest questions for 2024 What you missed once Fantasy Football started56 revealing stats from 2023 Globology: How rule changes wrecked starting pitching
Survey: Must-haves, breakouts, specialists, moreTop SPARPs for Head-to-Head points |
| Latest from Spring Training |
Spring Roundup: 2/15 | 2/19 | 2/26 | 3/5 | 3/11 | 3/18 On Blake Snell signing with the Giants
Spring Training Storylines: New pitches | Velocity readings | Injuries | Lineup changes | Prospect hype Top 30 position battles of spring training |
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| Mock drafts |
12-Team: H2H points | H2H categories | Rotisserie
15-team: Rotisserie
Dynasty: Prospects-only Roto | Prospects-only H2H | Roto startup | H2H startupSalary Cap (auction): Mixed Roto | H2H points | AL-only Roto | NL-only Roto |
| ADP review |
Towers: Biggest ADP risers
Towers: Biggest ADP fallers
White: 16 underrated players
White: 12 overrated players
Towers: Best values on each site
Towers: Worst values on each site |
| Prospect hunting |
Top 100 ProspectsFirst-year player rankings (top 30)Prospects-only drafts: Roto | H2H pointsTop 12 prospects to stash
The All-Rookie TeamTop Dynasty targets by position (according to survey) |
| The best of the rest |
Offseason TrackerTowers: Potential first-rounders ... in 2025
Reviewing Scott White's Tout Wars team
Reviewing Chris Towers' Tout Wars team
Valentine's Day Special: Players we love White: Players with the biggest gap in H2H (points) and Roto valueTowers: Target goals in each Roto category
White: Pros/cons for drafting every first-rounder
Towers: Worst-case scenarios for every first-rounder
Towers: Who is this year's (fill in the blank)? White: Every team's most pivotal playerWhite: Are stolen bases as important still?Towers: Does reaching for a trendy prospect pay off?Towers: A draft walkthrough for 14-team Roto |
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| | | | | CBS Sports HQ X March Madness | | Tracker | Bringing you the BEST coverage of the Big Dance. Tune in for 24/7 tournament highlights, analysis & much more.
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| | Watch a new episode of Tracker, starring Justin Hartley, Sunday at 9/8c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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