Fantasy Baseball Players to Watch From Every Team With Spring Training Games Underway
American League West
Texas Rangers
Right-hander Yu Darvish is a health risk, but enters the final season of his current contract coming off a strong finish to 2016 and is currently the eighth starting pitcher off the board in NFBC drafts.
The only thing more impressive about second baseman Rougned Odor's season (.271, 33 homers, 88 RBI, 14 steals) is that he did it at the age of 22. His strikeout-to-walk ratio (135/19) was his only weakness.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners made 12 trades in the offseason, most notably acquiring left-hander Drew Smyly, outfielder Jarrod Dyson and shortstop Jean Segura.
Smyly gets out of the AL East, which should help his overall performance moving forward, but Segura gets a negative park shift since he'll be playing his home games at Safeco Field this year instead of hitter-friendly Chase Field. Dyson is a speed demon and will finally get regular playing time after never playing more than 120 games in any of his 7 seasons in Kansas City. He's averaged 31 steals in his past 5 seasons.
Houston Astros
The additions of Josh Reddick, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran should provide a significant power boost. Third baseman Alex Bregman got off to a slow start as a rookie last year, but came alive by hitting 8 homers in his final 175 plate appearances.
Right-hander Lance McCullers spent two stints on the disabled list last season, but had an 11.8 strikeouts-per-nine rate and could be a viable fantasy asset if he can stay healthy.
Los Angeles Angels
Garrett Richards has avoided Tommy John surgery for now by opting for stem cell treatment to heal the UCL tear in his elbow. He'll be starting the season in the rotation, but is an obvious health risk.
Albert Pujols had a resurgent 2016 (.268, 31 homers, 119 RBI), but had offseason foot surgery and isn't expected to be active on Opening Day.
Oakland Athletics
Two different muscle strains could've been a big reason behind Sonny Gray putting up the worst numbers of his career last season (5-11, 5.69 ERA, 1.50 WHIP). He should be able to bounce back if he can stay healthy, but it's concerning that he might not get much support behind him.
The only A's player that cracks the top 100 in NFBC drafts is outfielder Khris Davis, who had a breakout season last year in the power department with 42 homers and 102 RBI.
