Yasmani Grandal has lost 20 lbs since February of 2016. Apparently he removed meat from his diet this offseason and lost a lot of weight. He’s currently 10 lbs under his normal playing weight by the way. A big deal or not? Grandal himself said he was “a little worried” that he lost too much weight so he’s adding meat back into his diet this spring. Getting in better shape is great, but a couple of things. (1) Catchers don’t need to lose weight in most cases. It’s not like you gotta be ripped up to squat behind the dish. (2) Grandal is coming off the best season of his career that included 27 homers, 72 RBI and a rather impressive .816 OPS. Why he would chose to change his body composition at this point seems like a questionable decision to me.
Steven Matz says he is pain free and will have no restrictions heading into the 2017 season. B.S. No way that is true. None. The guy has had shoulder and elbow issues seemingly his whole life. He might feel fine after lifting weights and opening holiday presents, but there is no way once he starts throwing at full intensity that there won’t be issues. None. One way he will attempt to stay healthy is to throw the ball ‘softer.’ Seriously. Here is what he said. “There were times where if I stepped on the gas pedal at all, my elbow would kind of bark at me. But I found out I could pitch effectively, and I felt at times I was even more effective, toning it down and staying within myself... Plus I realized you don’t have to muscle up so much to throw hard. Sometimes less is more.” As I’ve said all offseason, I’m not remotely interested in having Matz on my squad this season.
This Shark dropped an epic photobomb.
Devin Mesoraco should be ready for opening day according to GM Dick Williams. We will see. Hip, shoulder, eyelash... he’s had a lot of issues to deal with the past few years. The last time he was fantasy relevant was 2014 when he pounded 25 homers with 80 RBI in just 384 at-bats. After 38 games played the last two seasons how can you be bullish on Mesoraco?
MLB.com released their prospect rankings last week. A few notes. (1) Here are the top-3 prospects: Andrew Benintendi, Yoan Moncada and Gleyber Torres. (2) Amed Rosario went from #79 overall last season to #5 this season. Willy Adames jumped 60 spots from 81 to 21. Victor Robles (+55) and Hunter Renfroe (+50) also made massive jumps. (3) Those that have taken a down turn include Sean Newcomb (-59), Robert Stephenson (-52), Carson Fulmer and Jesse Winker went down 33 spots each.
The Player Profile Series, in the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide, is up and running. We will have videos and articles on players like: Rick Porcello, Jake Arrieta, Danny Duffy, Felix Hernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Randal Grichuk, Adam Duvall, Gary Sanchez and so many more. To gain access to the profiles, and the rest of the Guide, click on the link that will take you to the on-going greatness.
Justin Morneau has been waiting for a call to continue his career. The 35 year old 1B/DH hit six homers with 25 RBI last season in just over 200 plate appearances with the White Sox proving he can still be somewhat effective. Sounds like his old squad, the Twins, might be interested in bringing back the wily veteran for one contract.
Brandon Moss agreed to a 2-year, $12 million deal with the Royals to replace the departed Kendrys Morales (see Offseason Ramblings). Moss hit 28 homers last season, his third 25 homer season in four years and his fourth 20 homer season in five years. He’s not a very good hitter though as he’s hit .234 or less the last three years, and he really needs to be platooned. Still, there’s little reason to think that he won’t get 400+ at-bats meaning another 20-homer season is totally possible. Note, he had nine hits and batted .099 last September, so maybe there is a bit of concern with his outlook this season. I think it was a slump, but keep an eye on him early on so see if he’s squarely hitting the baseball.
The Rays dealt Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers last week. That leaves an opening at second base in Tampa, and it sounds like Brad Miller might be the fella to fill the role (the Rays are now being tied to Mike Napoli, Chris Carter and Mark Reynolds to play first base if Miller slides over to second) . Miller appeared at 39 games at first base and 105 games at shortstop, so he will qualify at both spots this season. Add in second and he becomes even more intriguing. Note that Miller won’t hit 30 homers again. His first three seasons he posted a HR/FB ratio of 10 percent. Last year the mark was 20.4 percent.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).