RotoGrinders MLB League Preview: East Division
Welcome everyone to my first ever article here on RotoGrinders. I’m really excited to be expanding from GrindersLive shows to also do written content.
This article is a recap of the 16-Team RotoGrinders season-long baseball league. This league uses FanDuel scoring which gives it a tie-in into DFS. I’m going to review all 16 teams going over their strengths and weaknesses while identifying some players you should keep your eye (or even roster) in early season DFS MLB action.
This is the first part of the two-part series which will cover the East Division. The West Division Preview can be found here.
EAST DIVISION
Grinders Cam
Cam’s team is absolutely loaded at hitting with Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Abreu, George Springer, Kyle Schwarber and Jason Kipnis. In a 16 team league there won’t be many offenses better than Cam’s. The problem of course is with the pitching staff. While the FanDuel Scoring helps this team by eliminating WHIP as a factor (FanDuel scoring only worries about IP, W, Ks), having a team with James Shields as your ace won’t be a winning formula. I expect Cam to be quite aggressive on the FA market for young pitchers as they come up to MLB and in fact am surprised Cam didn’t draft one of the top prospects for the back end of his bench. A guy like a Tyler Glasnow who has high upside as soon as he gets a shot in the Pirates rotation would be worth a roster spot over a Homer Bailey.
Addison Russell ($2500) is going to be a player I roster a ton this year, just because he is projected to be towards the bottom of the order people will shy away but this is a top end talent at a position in SS which can be lacking. Don’t be afraid to roster Russell in all formats, he is the real deal.
Braun on Shabbat
This team is a bit more balanced than Cam’s team. This team has Kershaw, Price and Grienke to anchor the rotation and Braun, Adam Jones and Prince anchoring the lineup. The weakness for this team is in the infield as he is starting Odor, Castro and Trevor Plouffe. Those guys are pretty weak starting options even in a 16 team league, but when Jung Ho Kang gets back from his broken leg he will have tons of versatility so he should be able to mix and match an acceptable infield.
With the injury to A.J. Pollock, Ender Inciarte ($3000) is the likely candidate to take over his spot in CF and in the leadoff spot. His price of 3k doesn’t correlate to that good of a batting order spot, he will be 3500+ in no time so roster him now while he is cheap.
PB Bombers
This team will honestly struggle to compete this year without some trades. The rotation is great with Bumgarner/DeGrom as anchors but he really doesn’t have much in terms of hitting with Justin Upton and Robinson Cano his top 2 hitters. They could both have solid years but they also have potential regression and PB Bombers can’t afford anything less than 100% from those 2. To make matters worse, PB Bombers didn’t take any sleeper hitters instead taking old veterans in Victor Martinez and Cameron Maybin which are fine depth but don’t present any upside. On the pitching side he did well to pick up Lucas Giolito and Juan Nicasio late, two pitchers I love in this Fanduel scoring format because most of their downside comes from massively inflated WHIP but the problem is this team doesn’t need pitching upside. Hopefully PB Bombers is able to trade some of his pitching for better hitting as the season progresses.
Mark Teixeira ($2800) is extremely underpriced here on Fanduel in the early season. This is a player while he has a poor average hit over 30 home runs in only 90 games last year. That warrants a much higher price tag than $2800. He has a tough opening day matchup against Dallas Kuechel but he is the type of guy I love to roster in GPP’s because the price doesn’t match the talent.
Bowens1984 Senor Frogs
Ahh Senor Frogs, one of the “best” drinking establishments in Las Vegas, and there will need to be a lot of drinking done to sell me on this being a winning pitching staff. The pitching staff is “led” by Patrick Corbin and Mike Leake. Not exactly guys you want as your anchors. It’s clear that the Senor Frogs like Cam plan to be quite aggressive on the waiver wire during the year to acquire some higher upside pitching. What this team lacks in pitching however it has in hitting, as it has a lineup I would be fine rolling out in a 10 team league with Altuve, Arenado, Bogaerts, Heyward and Frazier as anchors. I love the Wil Myers play this year as I think he has a massive rebound season, this is a guy who has been injury prone but when he’s been healthy has produced, I think we see a Manny Machado like rebound if he able to stay healthy and play 140+ games. Socrates Brito also will provide some value now that AJ Pollock is out he will likely get up to 400 AB’s which will more than provide value for the Frogs.
Xander Bogaerts $3800) would appear to be overpriced when you see guys like Tulowitzki, Seager and Lindor priced below him but we have to remember Bogaerts just turned 23 in October so he is still filling into his body. I expect a power surge this year which should turn him into a Correa-lite type player this year so feel free to roster him at low ownership early on because the upside is there.
Team Traeko
As we move along this draft you can see that either teams went for hitting dominance or pitching dominance and this is a team that clearly went for pitching dominance with a rotation led by Cole/Wainwright/Stroman he is in great shape in a 16 team league. He also drafted some nice upside guys in Julio Urias and Raisel Iglesias and rebound candidates in Jared Cosart and Jimmy Nelson. His lineup while has lots of holes has a superstar in Mike Trout which in a 16 team league gives you a lot of security. He also drafted high ceiling players in Domingo Santana, Byron Buxton, Randal Grichuk which can make his lineup one of the best in the league. Getting Brock Holt in a 16 team league is great as he provides a lot of roster flexibility. My only complaint about this roster is that he doesn’t have a backup 1B, that could be a problem if Votto struggles or gets hurt again.
Domingo Santana ($2600) is a young kid with a ton of power upside. He is the right handed version potentially of Chris Davis but his floor is a Mark Reynolds type. That being said he has a ton of upside for this $2600 price tag. He does face Madison Bumgarner on opening day but that’s still a RvL matchup for Santana. Makes for a great GPP play opening day and in the first couple weeks til his price adjusts.
RotoKevin’s Wine Bottle
Hope there are multiple wine bottles available because Kevin will need it after the AJ Pollock broken elbow fractures the offense. Now only with Sano and Bruce this offense will struggle to produce and in a 16 team league you just can’t go find a replacement for a talented player like Pollock. The rotation should be able to help Kevin in his pursuit of the playoffs. Harvey, Cueto and Severino are solid options with McCullers and Wheeler as mid-season reinforcements. Like Team Traeko, Kevin also doesn’t have a backup 1B and in a 16 team league that might be a bigger problem than he realizes.
Luis Severino ($6900) is a pitcher I am expecting big things from this year, he has all the skills needed to be a top of the rotation guy for the Yankees, the question is can he put it together. This is a guy I wouldn’t have any problem rostering in GPP’s given his huge upside. The floor is there too but in tournaments I don’t worry about floors.
Team KKrogs01
Power will not be a problem for team KKrogs with Josh Donaldson and Chris Davis the power department is locked up which is good in a Fanduel scoring league as steals don’t have the same value. As with every team with good hitting the pitching is a bit weak with Jon Lester and Garrett Richards anchoring the rotation. There is some upside in Rodon and Fiers that could work out and also some safety in Porcello and Dickey. Overall the team is solid but the lack of middle infield depth could be a problem if Dozier or Crawford gets hurt. Also the pick of Hyun Soo Kim is silly because the Orioles seem ready to release him any day now but he can just drop him and pick someone else up.
Adam Eaton ($2900) is one of my favorite players to roster in MLB DFS as he is always underpriced but can produce value for you in a lot of different ways. He is a player who I project for a 20-20 season this year so his price should rise from the current $2900 as the season goes along. Also the White Sox offense on the whole is better this year so that should provide more run and RBI opportunities
Smutty Hambino
This team is going to have a long way to go to compete this year in the East Division as his rotation is led by Colin McHugh and Trevor Bauer. While I like both guys, they can’t be your rotation anchor in a 16 team league and to make things worse outside of Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa there isn’t a lot of hitting on this team to get excited about. Honestly it will take a career year from his entire team to compete but with guys like Adrian Gonzalez, Russell Martin and Hunter Pence it’s possible they return to prime form.
Mitch Moreland ($2700) always is under owned and I’m never sure why, he has great history against RHP and hits in one of the most friendly hitting environments in the league. With outs no longer hurting you, it should help gap to gap power hitters like Moreland. He will be over 3k by the end of April so this price gives you some value.
Projected East Division Order of Finish
1. Team Traeko
2. Team Kkrogs01
3. Bowens1984 Senor Frogs
4. Grinders Cam
5. PB Bombers
6. Braun on Shabbat
7. RotoKevin’s Wine Bottle
8. Smutty Hambino