Ladies and gentlemen, we are waiting. The offseason is (almost) coming to an end, and all of our favourite players are back in their respective teams and ready for another season.
As with every season, spring training serves as an opportunity for fantasy baseball managers to look into both MLB-level players and their prospects. A strong spring training performance can confidently satisfy the manager’s younger talents to pan out, but a slump can create fear of grabbing the bust.
The same goes for 2025. Stories coming out of every camp can come up and affect how the seasons will look. The former fringe starter can add devastating new products. Leads can launch themselves from ambiguity to “see players.” It may be impossible to guess which nugget information will control the headline, but hey, we can try it.
Here are five storylines I attended in spring training this month.
Dynasty storyline for fantasy managers to follow
Where does Sasaki Castle fit in the LA rotation?
The Dodgers were the number one discussion topic for baseball fans this offseason. Disagreements about whether what they’re doing is good for the game have not dominated the news cycle for weeks. What can’t be fought is that the Dodgers have built a super team.
How does the Cubs treat a potential troop?
The Chicago Cubs list seven players in MLB’s top 100 prospects.
Six of them ended last season with the club’s AAA affiliate marketing.
Cubs decision maker Jed Heuer did an excellent job replenishing the farm system ranked 26th in 2020 and #22 in 2021. Now we have to find a way to integrate all of these talented players into the major league roster. There are plenty of openings for consistent play time.
The obvious hole in the lineup was in 3 base, and until Wednesday night this paragraph was very different. The Cubs were one of Alex Bregman’s final teams, but in the end the Red Sox coughed at the funds to take him to Boston. This makes Matt Shaw (MLB #19, CHC #1) a de facto “lock” to start the year at the hot corner. He could be a true difference maker in the middle of the Chicago lineup, and there are plenty of opportunities to assert himself in the competition of few organisations.
If the show can approach or exceed that level of production, he will become another weapon added to the lineup along with the new outfielder.
Speaking of which, the outfield is a place where it really becomes ambiguous. Kyle Tucker is here now and could be long-term here if the Cubs can complete the extension. For obvious reasons, he is not planning to leave the lineup for prospects. Ian Happ (122 WRC+) and Pete Crow Armstrong (124 WRC+ in the last 40 games) are probably not the case either. This leaves Owen Casey and Kevin Alcantara with no place on the roster. The latter of the two belongs to 40, so if an injury occurs, he is more likely to receive a call of the two. That said, if the Cubs perform in the same way that they are expected this season, they wouldn’t be surprised to see one (or both) of these names discussed in the trade talk.
The forefront of pitching: Kade Horton remains the top arm. The only question for him is his health, whether it allows him to bloom on the ace he was considered (and still by some). The lower half of the Cubs spinning is vague, with Colin Leah and Matthew Boyd filling in the #4 and #5 spots for now. Javier Assad, Ben Brown, Caleb Kilian and Jordan Wicks also saw the time for this year’s rotation. Horton’s ceiling is still higher than they all, but will the Cubs give him the chance to show it?
The last two are Moises Ballesteros and James Triantos. Both were offensively good in 2024, but could spend most of 2025 on minors. Trianthos only has too much traffic in front of him, and at 22, the Cubs can afford to be patient. The depth of the big league catcher is not great, but Ballesteros still has to answer questions about his defense. Both will affect the Cubs roster in the future, but may not be in 2025.
Where does Alex Bregman fit in the Boston lineup? …What is their outlook?
The final free agency seed mino fell on Wednesday night when Alex Bregman joined the Boston Red Sox. On paper, transactions make sense. The Red Sox needed another shock bat in the lineup, and Bregman was able to play for the candidate. The amount may raise an eyebrow, but that is the current state of the free agency market.
The bigger concern is how this will affect the promotion timeline of Boston’s two well-known infield outlooks. Marcelo Mayer and Christian Campbell both knock on the door of the Major League roster, but now there are superstars blocking their paths. Plus, for Campbell, who played second base/short stops for most of the 2024 season. The report (as of now) shows that Bregman has intentions to slot into that defensive spot in 2025.
Does that improve Boston defensively? Probably not, but you can have Bregman in your lineup without removing Triston Casas. Again, I may not agree with this move, but it appears to be a decided decision. Looking at the names of Fenway’s infield (Story, Devers, Bregman), there is no path to playing time this year.
It’s a real shame as both of them deserve a shot. Campbell was one of the most dominant attacking forces in all minor leagues (180 WRC+) last year, and Meyer was not leaning forward either (142 WRC+).
Campbell and Mayer are both valuable dynasty assets, and both could break into the major league lineup later this year. That said, Bregman’s signature will likely deflate once some of the helium enters camp, both of which will be midseason call-ups.
All of that discourse does not explain Anthony of Rome! MLB’s second-highest rated prospect (behind Sasaki) will appear in the spring in 2025 with the intention of forcing his path to the roster.
Will Jackson Jobe be back as a minor when he signs Jack Flaherty?
First, let me preface everything that follows this: Jackson Job should be in the major league rotation to start 2025. But Jack Flaherty’s signature now pushes the job into the fifth spot in the rotation, pushing it up into a battle with several other names who have already started at the major league level.
“It’s already started at the major league level,” that’s the key phrase that I keep coming back. There’s no doubt that Jobe has the potential to be an ace level and has a ceiling that is definitely higher than anyone who competes with this spring. But he has not yet started at the major league level and his competition has. If you’re a Detroit decision maker and your team is out of the surprising playoff berth, won’t steady production sound good in the second half of the rotation?
It’s the old “devil you know and the devil you don’t” question. You know what you’re trying to get from Casey Mize or Alex Cobb. Do you know what you’re trying to get from Jobe’s first starter? The simple answer is no. I’m sitting here and think Job will struggle with his first taste of major league action as a starter? It’s definitely not. Do I want to exclude that scenario entirely? Also, no. That lingering fear of bad spells occurring and the Tigers’ game costing early in the season could lead to a return to Toledo.
Jobe is doing everything he can to force the problem and land spots in the rotation. Si reported last week that Jobe added two seamers and curveballs to his four-pitch mix, making it even more interesting.
The entire discussion depends on Jobe’s spring performance. If he comes out and rules in Florida, I don’t think the Tigers will make him wait for him to start the game for them anymore. Conversely, if he has some unstable outings or needs improvements in one or two regions, the Tigers could take a “risk aversion” route and ease him into a spin later in the season. can.
Will the 2024 drafter accelerate the promotion timeline?
Over the past two years, there appears to be a growing trend in college baseball and professional baseball. He was especially at the top of the draft, making his major league debut within the first year of being drafted. For the teams drafting these players, the risk seems to be rewarding.
Seven first rounders in the 2023 draft made their big league debuts. So far, only five have achieved that feat since the 2022 draft. Whether this is due to the talent level of college baseball or the fact that these are merely special players is a moot point. In fact, they’re here and they’re playing.
2024 #1 pick, Travis Bazzana, is undoubtedly the second baseman of the Guardians’ future, with Andres Gimenez in Canada. A great spring performance allows Cleveland executives to seriously consider putting him on MLB Field less than a year after signing him.
Angels are known for quickly tracking draft tees into major leagues, and Christian Moore has many possibilities. His monster’s offensive performance in college was followed by an electric run with his first taste pro ball (184 WRC+ in 25 games). You wouldn’t be surprised if a good performance in Arizona was enough to break camp with the big leaguers.
One layer of the “proximity” debate is the lands of Charlie Condon, Nick Kurtz and JJ Wetherholt. All three were dominant college batsmen and managed the transition to minor league baseball. It’s almost impossible for these players to start their year in the majors, but a good spring show can raise eyebrows. For now, they all have excellent MLB players before them on the organizational depth chart, but they know who will happen in a few months.
