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Fantasy Baseball Chat Transcript With Brad Johnson

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Brad Johnson is a veteran of the fantasy baseball industry with a decade of experience in Roto, H2H, dynasty, DFS, and experimental formats. As an expert in the field, Brad participates in the Tout Wars Draft and Hold format and was crowned the league’s winner in 2020. Brad’s writing experience includes RotoGraphs, NBC SportsEDGE, and right here at MLB Trade Rumors. He’s also presented at the First Pitch Arizona fantasy baseball conference.

Now that baseball is around the corner and fantasy owners are getting ready for their drafts, we’ll be hosting fantasy baseball-focused chats with Brad regularly. Feel free to drop him some questions on Twitter @BaseballATeam as well.

Click here to read the transcript of today’s fantasy baseball chat with Brad!

Brad will also be holding fantasy baseball chats exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, where he’ll be able to answer a much larger percentage of questions asked. Click here to learn more about Front Office.

Mets To Select Tim Locastro, Designate Darin Ruf For Assignment

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9:15am: The Mets announced they have selected right-hander Tommy Hunter to the roster, a move that had been previously reported as upcoming. Ruf was designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The corresponding move for Locastro was the placement of Edwin Diaz on the 60-day injured list.

7:38am: The Mets are finalizing their bench ahead of Opening Day, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the club has designated first baseman and outfielder Darin Ruf for assignment. That paves the way for non-roster invitee Tim Locastro to make the Opening Day roster.

Ruf, 37 in July, was acquired by the Mets in a deadline trade with the Giants last summer that sent JD Davis and three prospects to San Francisco. Following a stint in South Korea’s KBO, Ruf had spent the past three seasons hitting well for the Giants while bouncing between first base, the outfield corners, and the DH slot. Over that time, Ruf slashed .248/.358/.455 with 32 home runs and 28 doubles in 726 plate appearances, good for a wRC+ of 125. Upon acquiring Ruf, the Mets envisioned his career .891 OPS against left-handed pitching as the perfect complement to the lefty-swinging Daniel Vogelbach in a DH platoon.

Unfortunately for both Ruf and the Mets, however, that did not pan out down the stretch in 2022, as Ruf struggled mightily in 28 games as a Met, slashing a disastrous .152/.216/.197 (24 wRC+). With a guaranteed $3MM salary in 2023 and a $3.5MM club option for 2024 that came with a $500K buyout, the Mets kept Ruf on the 40-man roster throughout the 2022-2023 offseason in hopes he would be able to rebound this season. However, Sherman notes that Ruf received a cortisone injection in his wrist last month before struggling badly during camp, posting a .498 OPS in 35 spring plate appearances.

That was enough for the Mets to cut bait on Ruf, it seems, and they now have seven days to try and arrange a trade to reduce the amount of Ruf’s $3.5MM guaranteed money they’re on the hook for. Should no trade take place and Ruf pass through waivers successfully, Ruf can sign with any club for the prorated big league minimum, with Mets paying the remainder of the $3.5MM figure.

In Ruf’s place, outfielder Tim Locastro is set to make the Opening Day roster. The 30 year-old Locastro has a career wRC+ of just 82, 18% below that of the league average hitter, but is a capable defender at all three outfield spots, sports a solid career on-base percentage of .325, and most importantly, is one of the premiere baserunners in the sport. With 39 career steals in 43 attempts as a part-time player, Locastro’s 88% success rate on the basepaths is excellent, and his sprint speed has consistently topped the Statcast leaderboards through his career, ranging from 30.8 ft/s in 2019 to last year’s 30.1 ft/s figure.

Given Locastro’s already premiere baserunning abilities, he figures to benefit considerably from this season’s rule changes. In addition to larger bases in 2023, pickoff attempts have been limited. After two pickoff attempts, a third attempt must end in an out being recorded or else the runner will automatically advance one base. With Locastro likely to serve as a pinch runner and late-inning defensive replacement for the most part, the DH at-bats that would have gone to Ruf seem likely to instead go to Tommy Pham, who struggled to an 89 wRC+ in 144 games last season but sports a career .843 OPS against left-handed pitching.

Reds To Select Derek Law

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Right-hander Derek Law has been told that he’s made the Reds’ Opening Day roster, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Law was in camp on a minor league deal and will need to be added to the club’s 40-man roster.

Law, 32, has pitched in each of the past six full MLB seasons, suiting up for the Giants, Blue Jays, Twins, Tigers and Reds in that time. He’s made 193 appearances in that time, posting a 4.21 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 46.3% ground ball rate.

Last year, Law signed a minors deal with Detroit and got selected to the big league roster in June, but he was designated for assignment after just two appearances. The Reds scooped him up by signing him to another minor league deal and added him to the roster shortly thereafter. He made 15 appearances for them down the stretch and finished the year with a 4.12 ERA. The Reds could have retained Law via arbitration but non-tendered him instead, though they re-signed him on another minors deal in January.

The righty has earned his way back onto the roster for this season’s opener with an excellent spring. Through 7 1/3 innings, he has a 1.23 ERA, striking out 10 opponents while walking just one. Manager David Bell says that Law is in line for high leverage work, alongside Buck Farmer, Ian Gibaut and Fernando Cruz, with Alexis Díaz in the closing role.

Since Law is not yet on the 40-man roster, the club will need to open a spot for him between now and Opening Day. They could do so by placing a player on the 60-day injured list, with right-hander Justin Dunn perhaps the most likely since he’s been shut down for a few months due to a shoulder injury.

The Opener: Phillies, Orioles, Rule 5

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With just three days remaining until Opening Day, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Phillies to announce Opening Day roster

As clubs all around baseball are making their final roster decisions ahead of Opening Day, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters, including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that the club plans to announce the Opening Day roster at some point today. With Matt Strahm starting the fifth game of the season in place of Ranger Suarez, much of the intrigue today seems likely to come down to which players will make the Phillies Opening Day bench. With Darick Hall assured a spot on the roster following Rhys Hoskins’s injury, there are two roster spots available for four players: Kody Clemens, Dalton Guthrie, Scott Kingery, and Jake Cave. The Phillies are also known to be interested in adding a right-handed hitting outfielder, which could boost the chances of Kingery or Guthrie should they not find an external solution.

2. Orioles making final rotation decisions

At the beginning of Spring Training, Orioles brass made clear that top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez could play his way into the Opening Day rotation this season. Now, with Opening Day on the horizon, Rodriguez appears to be one of three finalists for two rotation sots alongside Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells, as noted by The Athletic’s Dan Connolly, who notes that the decision will likely come by the end of the day today. All three have struggled this spring, with ERAs well over 5.00, though Rodriguez’s 7.04 figure is the worst of the bunch. Rodriguez has struck out 26.7% of batters faced this spring while walking 9.9%. While that strikeout rate stands slightly ahead of either of his competitors, Bradish (6.0%) and especially Wells (3.0%) both outshine Rodriguez’s walk rate.

3. Will more Rule 5 picks be returned in the coming days?

Yesterday, two picks in December’s Rule 5 draft were returned to their original clubs: the Mariners returned right-hander Chris Clarke to the Cubs, while the Padres returned left-hander Jose Lopez to the Rays. The Mets returned right-hander Zach Greene to the Yankees earlier this spring, but there are still 12 players who were selected in the major league phase of the draft who could be returned to their original clubs. One of those players, Nick Avila, is not expected to break camp with the White Sox, though the club could still look to make a trade with the Giants in order to keep Avila in the organization.

NL Notes: Strahm, Mendick, Hamels, Panik

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With Ranger Suarez unlikely to be ready for the first turn through the rotation this season, Phillies manager Rob Thomson announced to reporters, including Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, that left-hander Matt Strahm would start the fifth game of the season for Philadelphia, joining Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Taijuan Walker and Bailey Falter in the rotation while Suarez is on the shelf.

Strahm signed with the Phillies as a reliever this offseason but has 25 career starts in the big leagues under his belt as well. That being said, his 5.08 career ERA in 108 innings of work as a starter pales in comparison to his 3.11 ERA in 196 2/3 relief innings. That said, Strahm nonetheless represents a serviceable option to fill in for Suarez in the short-term, particularly seeing as Thomson notes he will likely be limited to between 65 and 70 pitches in his first start, as he is not fully stretched out yet. That low pitch count could help him avoid facing batters for a third time, a challenge he has only faced in 75 plate appearances in his career to this point.

More from around the NL…

  • The Mets optioned infielder Danny Mendick to Triple-A today, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Mendick, who has experience at every position except for catcher and first base, suffered a torn ACL early last season, leading to his non-tender by the White Sox in November of last year. Mendick, who slashed a solid .289/.343/.443 in 106 plate appearances prior to his injury in 2022, eventually landed with the Mets on a one-year, $1MM contract. While he was in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot, he ultimately will serve as depth in Syracuse while the final spot on the bench goes to either Darin Ruf or Tim Locastro.
  • The Padres believe that veteran left-hander Cole Hamels will be able to contribute to the big league club sometime this summer, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Hamels, 39, signed with the Padres on a minor league deal after years of battling injuries, with just 3 1/3 innings of work under his belt since the end of the 2019 season. Still, with a career 3.43 ERA in 2,698 innings of work during his fifteen year major league career, it’s easy to see why the Padres decided to take a chance on the possibility he could return healthy and effective.
  • The Giants have hired longtime second baseman Joe Panik as a special assistant, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports. Panik, who won the World Series with the Giants in 2014, was an All Star in 2015, and won a Gold Glove award in 2016, last played in the majors in 2021 for the Blue Jays and the Marlins. He ended his career with a .700 OPS in 818 games, slashing .264/.328/.372. According to Pavlovic, Panik recently spent time working with some of San Francisco’s young infielders in minor league camp. Panik is happy in his new role, telling Pavlovic that “You kind of want to give back because there are a lot of coaches, a lot of people that helped me get to where I was. For me to be on the other side, it’s a little weird, a little different, but I’m enjoying that part of it.”

Padres Return Rule 5 Pick Jose Lopez To Rays; Option Brandon Dixon; Reassign Julio Teheran, and Tim Lopes

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As the Padres begin to make some of their final roster cuts ahead of Opening Day, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports that San Diego has returned Rule 5 draft pick Jose Lopez to the Rays, optioned utilityman Brandon Dixon, and reassigned right-hander Julio Teheran and utilityman Tim Lopes to minor league camp.

Lopez became the 12th player picked in this year’s Rule 5 draft when the Padres selected him with the 21st pick. A left-handed pitcher Lopez was dominant at Double-A with the Rays last year, striking out a whopping 38.7% of batters faced at the level en route to a 2.60 ERA in 55 1/3 innings. That dominance was enough for the Padres to take a chance on the 24 year-old Lopez, but after a difficult spring where he walked five batters in six innings of work, Lopez is being returned to the Rays, who will pay San Diego back half of the $100k fee the Padres paid to select Lopez in order to reclaim him.

Teheran, meanwhile, was a potential option to act as the sixth starter in San Diego while Joe Musgrove is on the shelf with a fractured toe. An 11-year MLB veteran, the 32 year old Teheran has a career 3.80 ERA in 1396 1/3 innings of work that came primarily as a member of the Braves rotation from 2013 to 2019. Over that period of time, Teheran showed himself to be a reliable, innings-eating back-end starter with an ERA+ of 111. Teheran struggled mightily in the shortened 2020 season with the Angels, however, and has only pitched five big league innings since then. Cassavell notes that due to the assignment clause in Teheran’s contract, he can depart the Padres organization if he receives a big league offer elsewhere. For now, though, Teheran seems poised to remain with San Diego, serving as depth in Triple-A.

Both Dixon and Lopes were in the mix to be part of the Padres bench. Dixon, 31, has a career 74 wRC+ in 201 games at the big league level but provides versatility, with experience at first, second, and third base and all three outfield spots during his major league career. However, with versatile players such as Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim already on the roster, the Padres will instead opt to send Dixon to Triple-A as depth. Lopes, meanwhile, has primarily been a corner outfielder in the big leagues but also has experience in center field, at second base, third base, and shortstop. The 29 year-old Lopes has just 94 games of big league experience to this point in his career, and hit well this spring with an .890 OPS in 55 plate appearances. Despite that solid showing, Lopes will join Dixon as depth in Triple-A.

After this round of cuts, it would appear that outfielder David Dahl and infielder Rougned Odor are in line to make the Opening Day roster in San Diego, while the sixth starter spot could go to left-hander Jay Groome or right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. Dahl had some early success with the Rockies in his career, but has battled injuries throughout his career and has struggled to just a .538 OPS in 87 games since the start of the 2021 season. Odor, meanwhile, spent seven seasons as the regular second baseman for the Rangers, posting an 86 wRC+ during that time, before spending 2021 with the Yankees and 2022 with the Royals. Despite the meager offense numbers for both players in recent years, each can provide the Padres with a left-handed swing off the bench while providing depth in the outfield and infield, respectively.

As for the sixth starter battle, Groome, whom the Padres acquired in the Eric Hosmer deal with the Red Sox last summer, has dazzled in 14 innings of work this spring with a 1.29 ERA, though he has struggled with his control, walking 10 batters while striking out 13. Honeywell, meanwhile, signed a major league deal with the Padres this offseason after the former top prospect was non-tendered by the Rays after years of injury woes. Honeywell got hit hard this spring, posting a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings, but with 22 strikeouts and just six walks in those innings, there’s reason to believe the quality arm he seemed destined to become as a prospect could still surface.

Romy Gonzalez, Gregory Santos To Break Camp With White Sox

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The White Sox Opening Day roster continues to come into focus as Daryl Van Schouwen of the Sun Times reports that both utilityman Romy Gonzalez and right-hander Gregory Santos are expected to make the team out of camp this spring. The pair join outfielder Oscar Colas and infielder Hanser Alberto, who were previously reported to be making the Opening Day roster as well.

Gonzalez has mostly played second base during his 42 games in the big leagues so far, but has also appeared at shortstop, third base, and in both outfielder corners, making him a versatile bench piece for manager Pedro Grifol to utilize as needed. A career .241/.261/.350 hitter in the majors, Gonzalez doesn’t bring much to the table with his bat, but a .795 OPS in 286 minor league games and an .808 OPS this spring both indicate the 26 year-old Gonzalez could take a step forward with more exposure to big league pitching, though he will surely have to cut down on his concerning 35.2% career strikeout rate in order to do so. Gonzalez’s spot on the Opening Day roster likely comes at the expense of third baseman Jake Burger, who has posted an above average 114 wRC+ in 66 career big league games but is largely limited to the infield corners in terms of versatility. Gonzalez will join a bench that appears poised to include Alberto, Gavin Sheets, and Seby Zavala.

Santos seemed to be a potential favorite for a roster spot after Bryan Shaw and Nick Avila were told they would not make the roster earlier today. Chicago acquired Santos in December from the Giants, who Santos had pitched just 5 2/3 innings for at the big league level, allowing seven earned runs in the process. Santos has a 19.3% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate for his career across the major and minor leagues, and tends to keep the ball on the ground, with groundball rates between 50 and 60% in the minor leagues. Santos seems likely to join Jose Ruiz and Jake Diekman in middle relief for the White Sox this year, with Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer, Joe Kelly, and Reynaldo Lopez figuring to get more late-inning work to begin the season.

AL Central Notes: Guardians, McKenzie, Twins, Shaw

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The Guardians appear to have mostly finalized their Opening Day roster, though president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti noted to reporters (including Mandy Bell of MLB.com) that “there is some chance that we make an external acquisition, and if we do, that will affect the composition of our roster.”

Barring such an acquisition, however, it seems likely that Cleveland will open the season with three catchers on their roster, as both Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria appear set to make the team and back up starting catcher Mike Zunino. With multiple back-up options, the Guardians are hoping that Zunino will have a lighter workload in 2023 after missing the second half of the 2022 season due to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. That comes at the expense of depth in the infield and outfield, however, as Gabriel Arias figures to be the sole infielder on the bench, with Will Brennan the sole outfielder. On the other hand, that should help both youngsters get additional playing time to aid their development. That’s particularly valuable for Arias, who played just 82 games last year between Triple-A and the majors after missing two months on the injured list last season.

More from around the AL Central…

  • Sticking with the Guardians, manager Terry Francona told reporters, including Bell, that right-hander Triston McKenzie was dealing with right arm tightness that led to him being pulled from his start today after just one inning. McKenzie figures to be a key cog at the front of Cleveland’s rotation this year after he posted a 2.96 ERA in 191 1/3 innings of work last season, so long as his current ailment doesn’t prove to be more serious than initially believed. In the event that McKenzie misses time, the club could look to a depth option like Konnor Pilkington or Jason Bilous to fill McKenzie’s spot in the rotation.
  • The Opening Day pitching staff in Minnesota came into further focus today, as the Twins optioned Bailey Ober to Triple-A, per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, following their decision to reassign Jeff Hoffman, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Ober figured to be pushed out of the rotation picture in Minnesota following the club’s acquisition of Pablo Lopez from the Marlins earlier this offseason, and will act as depth in Triple-A following an 11-start showing in 2022 where he posted a solid 3.21 ERA (120 ERA+) in 56 innings of work. Hoffman, meanwhile, signed a minor league deal with the Twins last month in order to compete for a long relief role i the Twins bullpen. Instead, right-hander Cole Sands seems poised to fill that role, leaving Hoffman to decide whether or not to make use of his opt-out clause this coming Tuesday.
  • Shortly after alerting him that he would not make their Opening Day roster, the White Sox announced that they had released right-hander Bryan Shaw from his minor league deal with the club. The veteran Shaw sports a 3.92 ERA in 714 2/3 innings of work during his career and is now poised to look for another club interested in his services for his age-35 season. Shaw made a strong case for himself this spring, pitching to a 1.08 ERA in 8 1/3 innings during camp.

AL East Notes: Rays, Franco, Hall

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Rotation plans for the Rays came into focus today as the club optioned Luis Patino and Yonny Chirinos to Triple-A, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter Links). That leaves left-hander Josh Fleming in line for the fifth starter’s spot behind Shane McClanahan, Jeffery Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Zach Eflin while Tyler Glasnow is on the shelf with a strained oblique.

Fleming, 27 in May, has largely struggled in his limited time with the Rays since his debut in the 2020 season, posting a 4.93 ERA (81 ERA+) with a 4.33 FIP in 171 2/3 innings of work. Of his 43 appearances with the Rays, 19 of those have come as a starter. While he has yet to establish himself as a quality option in the major leagues, it’s somewhat easy to see why the Rays chose him for the fifth starter job, as both Patino and Chirinos were torched this spring: Patino allowed 12 runs in just 9 2/3 innings while walking seven batters, while Chirinos gave up nine runs in 12 1/3 innings of work with six walks of his own. Both righties will begin the season in Triple-A and attempt to right the ship before likely returning to the majors sometime this year.

More from around the AL East…

  • Sticking with the Rays, manager Kevin Cash today told reporters, including Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times, that the club is optimistic that star shortstop Wander Franco will be available to play on Opening Day, saying the results of an MRI today on Franco’s quad were “favorable.” The club may not make a final decision on Franco’s availability to begin the season until rosters are due on Thursday, given the presence of Taylor Walls on the roster, who is poised to take over the shortstop role should Franco miss any time. Franco, of course, was long the top prospect in all of baseball and has already accumulated 4.7 fWAR just 153 games into his big league career. Should he manage to stay healthy in 2023 after suffering quad and wrist injuries last year, he’s sure to be an instrumental piece of the Rays this season as they attempt to return to the playoffs for a fifth straight season.
  • The Orioles have optioned left-hander DL Hall to Triple-A, per a team announcement. Hall, 24, is one of Baltimore’s top pitching prospects but struggled in his 11 game debut last season, surrendering nine runs in 13 2/3 innings of work. That being said, between the small sample size, the inflated .436 BABIP, and a strong 29.7% strikeout rate, Hall’s performance made his immense talent clear, even though the results didn’t match. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters, including Roch Kubatko of MASN, that the club plans to build Hall up as a starter. Hyde went on to express certainty that Hall would contribute to the big league club this year. As things stand, the Orioles appear poised to open the season with a starting rotation of Kyle Gibson, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, and Grayson Rodriguez.

White Sox To Select Contracts Of Oscar Colas, Hanser Alberto; Leury Garcia Won’t Make Opening Day Roster

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3:27 PM: According to James Fegan of The Athletic, Hanser Alberto is expected to make the Opening Day roster with Garcia not making the team.

2:57 PM: The White Sox continue to shape their roster in advance of Opening Day, and according to reporter Francys Romero (Twitter link), outfielder Oscar Colas has been told by the team that he will break camp.  In a more surprising development, Leury Garcia will not be part of the 26-man roster, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (via Twitter).

Garcia was initially acquired from the Rangers in an August 2013 trade, and has since become a longstanding roster staple.  Used mostly as a bench player over his 10 seasons with the White Sox, Garcia’s ability to play all over the diamond has made him a solid backup and fill-in option, as he has logged many games at all three outfield positions, shortstop, third base, and second base.  This versatility has helped offset Garcia’s lack of offense, as he has only a .253/.293/.350 career slash line over 2402 plate appearances.

When Garcia entered the free agent market last winter, the Sox re-signed him to a three-year, $16.5MM deal that stood out as relatively steep for a 30-year-old career backup.  The decision to retain Garcia became even more questionable when his offense declined even further in 2022, as he hit a meager .210/.233/.267 over 315 PA.  Garcia’s 39 wRC+ was the lowest of any player in baseball last season with at least 300 plate appearances, and he was a sub-replacement -1.1 fWAR player overall.

In terms of other utility options, minor league signing Hanser Alberto has had a strong camp, and Romy Gonzalez is something of a utilityman-of-the-future down at Triple-A (plus, Gonzalez has already had a taste of the big leagues).  Since veteran shortstop Elvis Andrus is returning to the White Sox as their new second baseman, manager Pedro Grifol hinted yesterday to reporters (including The Athletic’s James Fegan) that Andrus’ presence made Garcia somewhat redundant.

“Our backup shortstop plays second base for us every day,” Grifol said.  “So, it’s not really a pressing need to have a utility player on our bench that is a shortstop.  We are not pressed to do that.  Would it be of value?  Yeah, maybe.  Not of great value, but of some value.“

It remains to be seen if Garcia would accept an assignment to the minor leagues, or if his omission from the roster is the beginning of the end of his time in the organization altogether.  The Sox would be eating the remaining $11MM on Garcia’s contract in the event of a release, and a trade or a waiver claim seems pretty unlikely since teams won’t want to absorb that salary.

As for Colas, there was little doubt that he would be heading north to the Windy City, and the 24-year-old now seems set to make his MLB debut on Opening Day.  Colas signed with Chicago for a $2.7MM bonus when the 2022 international signing period opened, and he hit a combined .314/.371/.524 with 23 homers over 526 combined PA at the high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels in 2022.

While Colas has only had okay numbers throughout Spring Training, his minor league dominance and his past track record in the Cuban National Series has indicated that he is ready for MLB competition.  Colas is expected to get the majority of work in right field, with Eloy Jimenez (when he isn’t at DH) and Gavin Sheets also in the mix.  Between the debuting Colas and the newly-signed Andrew Benintendi, Chicago’s outfield will have a new look, with Luis Robert returning as the incumbent in center field.

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