By now, you’ve had a chance to peruse the 2017 MLB Draft Guide’s offerings and have likely stumbled across the Free Agent Tracker. We have been using it as a way to keep a running tab on all of the offseason player movement and it will continue to be updated as we move through the months leading up to spring training. However, for the most part, the analysis of the moves has been more of a cursory glance as opposed to intense study. That’s where this article comes into play.

Not every player needs a full analysis of their change in team affiliation, but we’d like to dive a little deeper into some of the more impactful players in terms of fantasy baseball. Was the move a positive one or negative? What are the ballpark factors of the new home? Where do they fit into the team’s lineup? We hope to answer all of those and more here and just like the Free Agent Tracker, it will be continuously updated with every new signing or trade.

Catchers

Welington Castillo, BAL – After a six-homer April last year, it looked as if Castillo was a perfect match for the Diamondbacks and Chase Field, but he came crashing back down to Earth as soon as the calendar flipped to May. He hit just eight home runs the rest of the way, saw his strikeout rate climb and started losing at-bats to journeyman Chris Herrmann. He did bat .264 on the year which, for a catcher, seems to be a bit of a blessing these days, but the overall numbers are middle-of-the-road at best. A move to the American League will likely require some early-season adjustments, but as a right-handed pull-hitter (for the most part), the dimensions of Camden Yards should allow him to maintain that 15-home run power he possesses. Just don’t expect big RBI numbers as he’ll likely bat sixth, behind Chris Davis and Jonathan Schoop, neither of whom is known for their big on-base percentages.

Jason Castro, MIN – If you thought his bat sucked in Houston, wait until he’s playing regularly at Target Field. His power is average at best, his strikeouts and batting average are atrocious and even as the starter for the Twins, he’s actually expected to provide a worse return value this year than he did last.

Wilson Ramos, TB – The poster child for Lasik eye surgery cashed in on his power numbers from last year, but due to a torn ACL and two meniscus tears, he isn’t expected to be ready until early May. A catcher recovering from this severe of a knee injury isn’t exactly a strong option, but if he can garner more at-bats as the designated hitter, there’s a chance he provides you with some decent production. Don’t count on much for the first half, but if he shows you a little something in mid-June, he could be an interesting second-half option.

First Basemen

Edwin Encarnacion, CLE – Anytime a slugger goes from a bandbox like the Rogers Centre to, well, any other ballpark, you have to look at his home/road splits from at least the previous three seasons. The good news is that his raw power translates well and only one homer he smacked in Toronto last year would have fallen short at Progressive Field. The bad news is that virtually every other number is worse when he’s on the road. From his hit total to his strikeout rate to his OPS, they’re all down when he’s playing in the continental United States. It’s obviously not enough for us to write him off, but that plus an injury history might have you re-thinking your draft strategy if you’re looking for a first basement in the first few rounds.

Kendrys Morales, TOR – Stuck in pitcher-friendly home parks for his entire career, Morales could become a sleeper darling of many now that he’s calling Toronto his home. He averaged 26 home runs over his last two seasons in Kansas City and just might be able to challenge his career-best of 34 (2009) if he can continue to see at least 600 plate appearances. The switch-hitting is obviously a nice bonus and he’ll likely serve as the primary DH with a slim chance of logging some time at first base during interleague play if he’s hot. Hope for a good but not eye-opening spring as his utility-only eligibility should help keep him off the radar.

Mitch Moreland, BOS – The Red Sox land themselves a gold glove at first base, but the lefty-swinging Moreland will likely be working in a platoon throughout the season as he struggles mightily against southpaws. Yes, he batted .277 against lefties last year, but he’s still a career .240 hitter with very limited power against them. Unless there’s some miraculous breakthrough between now and Opening Day, consider him an AL-only option at best.

Second Basemen

No one yet, but there’s still plenty of time even before pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Third Basemen

Again, no one yet, but stay tuned.

 

Shortstops

Ditto.

Outfielders

Carlos Beltran, HOU – When we reach Opening Day, it will be almost 13 years since Beltran last called Houston his home. Yeah, 13 years. Feel old? I do. Now the question is, can he keep the power momentum he had in Yankee Stadium alive? Tough call. Minute Maid Park is considered a hitter’s park and the lines should help him as a dead-pull switch-hitter. However, once you starting drifting from the right field line to right-center, there’s a significant change, and not one that favors Beltran. Even left-center is troublesome. At 40 years old, he could still be a candidate for 20 home runs if he remains healthy, but the real hope is that he just keeps rallies alive and increases his RBI total with guys like Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa hitting in front of him. Just don’t draft him like the Astros paid for him. You’ll come up short on the year if you do.

Matt Holliday, NYY – Injuries have gotten the better of him over the last two seasons, but as the regular DH for the Yankees, we could be looking at a nice resurgence. Unless, of course, last year was the edge of the cliff, but we’ll try to keep a positive attitude. Even with his quad issue and fractured thumb last year, Holliday managed to reach the 20-homer level for the 10th time in his last 11 seasons and now gets the benefit of hitting in a much more hitter-friendly environment. Just don’t get too crazy, though, as he’s a right-handed bat and Yankee Stadium favors lefty hitters much more. He still has plenty of power to put it over the wall in left and eight of his 20 home runs went to the opposite field last year, but we’re still looking at 20-25 homers, not 30.

Matt Joyce, OAK – The lefty-swinging Joyce returns to the American League and will serve as the stronger side of a right field platoon for the A’s this season. He is who he is and for fantasy owners in leagues of 12 teams or fewer, it means that you have to pair him with a right-handed bat in order to get the most out of his production. There’s nothing wrong with that if you have a relatively deep bench and can make moves daily, but obviously it’s not ideal. No reason to be concerned about the dimensions of that hell hole they call a ballpark in Oakland as neither Pittsburgh nor Tampa Bay were any better for hitters.

Josh Reddick, HOU – Between his health issues and inability to hit lefties, Reddick is likely destined to sit in a platoon role in Houston. Obviously, the hope is that he garners more at-bats, but he’s only appeared in 140 games in a season twice in his career and the Astros have plenty of role players to slot into the outfield when they’re facing a southpaw. The ISO numbers definitely provide some hope now that he’s out of Oakland, but he’s still nothing more than a late-round bench option.

Ben Revere, LAA – What the hell happened to this guy? After two-straight seasons in which he hit better than .300 and swiped at least 30 bags, Revere went into the tank in a major way last year. He was still a high-contact hitter, but with a .234 BABIP and another feeble walk rate, he posted a .217/.260/.300 slash line over 375 plate appearances, stole just 14 bases and was tossed out with the bathwater when it came time for the Nationals playoffs and offseason work. He now heads to the Angels where he is expected to serve as a bench player, though it’s more likely a platoon situation with the oft-injured Cameron Maybin. Either way, his fantasy value becomes only slightly better than dog crap. Stolen bases are likely to be at a premium this season, so if he gets his head out of his ass and actually gets on base, he could be a decent guy to have on your bench and move in and out of your starting lineup. However, there are too many things working against him at the moment, so he shouldn’t even be considered until the late rounds of your draft when you’re simply adding depth to your roster.

Sean Rodriguez, ATL – The King of Platoons takes his act to Atlanta where he is expected to share second base with Jace Peterson while also serving as an alternative option at third base and shortstop, currently occupied by Adonis Garcia and rookie Dansby Swanson respectively. The 31-year old righty bat is coming off his best season in which he batted .270, smacked 18 home runs and posted 56 RBI for the Pirates, and could prove to be an equally solid asset this season should Peterson or Swanson struggle. Garcia as well, but more eyes are on the middle infield at the moment. He’s probably just NL-only material at the moment but there is some potential value to be had depending on how the rest of the club performs.

Starting Pitchers

Andrew Cashner, TEX – He was bad in San Diego last year and worse when he went to Miami. Now he’s headed to the American League and a hitter-friendly park in Arlington, to boot. You tell me…does this sound like a trustworthy candidate for your fantasy rotation? If you need me to get a little more analytical, then hit me up on Twitter and use #LostVelocity.

Bartolo Colon, ATL – Probably one of the biggest mind-scramblers in all of baseball right now. In each of his last four seasons, the soon-to-be 44-year old has never thrown fewer than 190 innings, has at least a 4.00 K/BB and has recorded an overall ERA of 3.59 in that span. Seriously. And what’s even crazier is that he’s done all of that while throwing that scrumptious 88 mph fastball more than 85-percent of the time each year. Now, he doesn’t strike out a ton of guys which sucks for fantasy purposes, but you simply cannot ignore the numbers, regardless of your prejudices against his every being. He’s usually waiver fodder, but in the final round of your draft, you may as well give him some consideration. It’s a pitcher’s park in Atlanta and he stays in the division he’s dominated over the last few years.

R.A. Dickey, ATL – Wouldn’t it be something if the Braves rotation not only housed two of the oldest hurlers in the game today, but also found success with them as well? No, I’m not jumping on the Dickey bandwagon, simply because there is no such thing. The escape for the Rogers Centre is huge and the return to the NL is nice. However, Dickey needs to prove to the world that he can be more than just a guy who eats innings. At least be an innings-eater with some strikeouts, or if not the strikeouts, then offer up stronger ratios. One or the other isn’t too much to ask for, is it? He had some success with the Mets during his three-year NL stint a few years ago, but asking him to repeat that after four years in Toronto is a tall order. Gun to my head, I’ll take Colon over him, but if Dickey is there in the last round for my final pick, I may give him a look.

Derek Holland, CHW – The 30-year old southpaw has a massive injury history and a problem giving up the long ball. The move to the Cell (or whatever it is we’re calling that ballpark on the South Side) isn’t going to help at all, and actually, he’ll see more hitter’s parks pitching in the AL Central than he did in the West. He is nowhere near being on my radar.

Relief Pitchers

Joaquin Benoit, PHI – The Phillies got by nicely with Jeanmar Gomez as their closer, but bolstering that bullpen with a former closer/top set-up man is a great move for the team. One would think they would give Gomez the first crack at the gig again, but apparently they will hold closer try-outs this spring. That puts Benoit in the hunt alongside Gomez and Hector Neris who was an absolute beast last season. Even if he doesn’t earn the job out of spring training, he’s a great asset for ratio-stabilization and can toss in a few strikeouts per week.

Mark Melancon, SF – He’s got 98 saves with a 7.72 K/9, a 4.88 K/BB and a 1.95 ERA over his last two seasons. He’s got solid heat, a heck of a cutter and a nice, looping curve as his out-pitch. The move to San Francisco can only benefit him and, in comparison to how volatile the closer’s position is these days, he’s about as reliable as you can get. What’s even better is that you’ll still get him at a reasonable cost as more marquee names like Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen always come off the board well before he does.

Drew Storen, CIN – This was an interesting move and one I actually really like for Storen who got a raw deal from the Nationals and an even rawer one from the Blue Jays. The new home ballpark isn’t great, but Storen is more of a groundball pitcher anyway. The trick is, can he earn the closer’s role out of spring training. The team has discussed grooming Raisel Iglesias for the role and they got some modest production out of Tony Cingrani very late in the season last year, but Storen should, in theory, be able to out-pitch them both for the gig. Keep a watchful eye on the situation this spring. If Storen does earn the job, he could be a nice late-round addition.

Wade Davis, CHC – Simply put, it all comes down to health. If Davis remains healthy and his recovery from his elbow issues is solid, then he’s a fantastic asset who should rack up strong save numbers pitching for the Cubbies. The team added some insurance in Koji Uehara and they still have Hector Rondon, but again, this is Davis’ job to lose. Be wary of the reduced strikeout rate over the last two seasons, though. That coupled with elbow issues, obviously doesn’t bode well. Maybe talk that aspect up heading into Draft Day and see if you can scare off some potential competitors for his services.