There Will Be Copying

The National Football League as well as Major League Baseball have always been copycat leagues. The moment an innovator does something new you can count on a host of teams trying to replicate the move in the next season. This year the Los Angeles Angels and the New York Yankees made some very bold waiver transactions just prior to the expansion of the rosters from 26 players to 28. Of particular note, both the Angels and the Yankees started out the year with payrolls in excess of $200 million per season. The Los Angeles Angels placed five players on waivers and four of the five were claimed by other teams. These teams did not have to give the Angels any compensation. They merely had to pay the contract value due for the balance of the 2023 season. . Both the Yankees and the Angels were virtually eliminated from making the playoffs this year. So the savings from these moves will go directly to their bottom lines. What both organizations did was telegraph in advance their off season plans to not sign these players. Although certainly a measure of common sense told you that the Yankees were not gonna’ bring back Josh Donaldson.

File Photo

The concern here amongst Major League teams is that if this move is copied in the 2024 season and there are 10 to 15 teams that are looking to drop players on the waivers. There could be 30 to 45 baseball players suddenly made available. There would be no restrictions on this player movement; no trade compensation would have to be offered up. From a competitive balance standpoint some teams may load up at the expense of teams with lesser finances. So how does this affect me, the fantasy baseball player? If you play in a National League only, or an American League only format, players will switch leagues. Harrison Bader goes from playing with the Yankees in the American League to the Cincinnati Reds in the National League. And this is not necessarily a great move for Harrison Bader as Cincinnati's outfield is quite crowded. The Cleveland Guardians made a successful claim for Lucas Giolito. Giolito has been an inconsistent starting pitcher for the last several years. However, when Giolito has his complicated mechanics figured out, he is a 110 to 125 pitch effective starting pitcher. In the heat of a playoff hunt this is both valuable and possibly chase altering. A change to the system may not take place that quickly as it would have to be both agreed to by the owners and possibly reviewed by the players union. I wouldn't expect baseball to move that expediently. This will affect mixed leagues as well because as in the Harrison Bader situation, playing times may be altered and availability could be impacted. For owners in both season long and dynasty formats we'll need to monitor the players who are in the last year of their contract and have not been extended beyond the current season. It might be advisable to maintain a cheat sheet of players in the final year of their contract. As if there was not enough things to monitor in fantasy baseball.

On the flip side of these transactions for the Yankees is the fact that they have promoted 4 very interesting prospects at the top of their prospect list. Jasson Dominguez, Everson Pereira, Oswald Peraza and Austin Wells are all prospects of varying notoriety. Dominguez has been on fire in the 2nd half, and certainly demonstrates 40 stolen base potential, good power and adequate control of the strike zone. He is also a very capable fielder and can be used in center field or left field. Pereira is a very graceful fielder with tremendous exit velocities when he makes contact. There is some concern about the bat to ball skills, which have shown hit and miss tendencies, but there is no mistaking that this is a talented athlete. There are some concerns about the defensive shortcomings of Austin Wells being a Major League defensive catcher. Of 90 attempted base stealers in the minor leagues this year he threw out only 12. This could cause him to be used more as a designated hitter or a first baseman. Peraza has a Major League quality glove useful anywhere in the infield. The Yankees planned to give each of these four players a long audition in September.

Baseball finances have not always intersected so much into the concerns of fantasy baseball. However the times they are a changing. Player movement is impacted by today's finances. Where players play and their playing time is directly impacted by these moves. And the New York Yankees are making conversation about scaling back their use of an analytical department. I think it's a huge mistake, but we'll see how it changes things.