The big question that many fantasy baseball owners were waiting to have answered this week finally got resolved with the Texas rangers announcing that Neftali Feliz would return to his role as closer instead of moving into the starting rotation. No change to his value as he remains a top five closer, but from a real life perspective, it makes the Rangers rotation very average with Tommy Hunter, Derek Holland and Matt Harrison falling in line behind C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis with Brandon Webb working his way back from injury still.
Brandon Morrow who had been climbing fantasy baseball tiers these past weeks will begin the season on the disabled list with forearm inflammation for the Toronto Blue Jays. While there is the expectation that he will only miss a start or two, keep in mind that he has had injury issues in the past. He had shoulder issues back in 2008 and elbow problems in spring training in 2009 though he only spent time on the disabled list with bicep tendinitis. So while I would not push the panic button yet, just keep in mind that he may not be back as soon as estimates are projecting. The injury opens the door for Jo Jo Reyes to claim the 5th starter spot for the Jays temporarily. Reyes has a 3.32 ERA in 19 innings with five walks and 12 strikeouts.
San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson is still a toss up to start the season on the disabled list after suffering a strained oblique last weekend. The team has a couple of options to fill in if Wilson is out with Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla.
Brandon Beachy has officially claimed the 5th starter job for the Atlanta Braves with Mike Minor getting sent down to the minor leagues. Beachy has a 1.80 ERA through 10 innings with three walks and 10 strikeouts. Through 208 career minor league innings, Beachy had a 2.55 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP and 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Definitely a play in NL only leagues and possibly a reserve play in deeper mixed formats until you see how he does after a few starts once the real season starts.
If you are looking to add a starter in your AL only league, Brandon McCarthy may be one guy that is still out there on the waiver wire and is scheduled to be the 5th starter for the Oakland Athletics. I would disregard his spring stats with no walks and 14 strikeouts in 20 innings and focus more on his career numbers of a 4.56 ERA and 1.36 WHIP when projecting performance.
What would you suggest doing about Aroldis Chapman? I want to draft him in a long term keeper league, but I don’t know if it’s worth the short-term investment. Ideas?
He will still get a decent amount of strikeouts and could get 3 to 5 saves this year so if you are light on strikeouts in your rotation, he can help there, plus if Cordero goes down with an injury, he is next in line.