10 Spring Training Position Battles With Major Fantasy Baseball Implications
Los Angeles' Dodgers' Catcher
Two of the top 14 catchers in NFBC ADP currently play for the same team. That's Austin Barnes and Yasmani Grandal. Something's gotta give.
Catcher's a bottomless pit of despair this and every year, so we can have some leeway with volume (which is why Gattis is acceptable at his price). But at a certain point, you have to be on the field. Barnes and Grandal are threatening to cannibalize themselves to the point where neither carries much value.
Barnes helps add to his value by being able to play second base, but his playing time there took a shot last week.
dodgers are bringing back utley. terms aren't known, but it is likely to be a 1-year MLB deal. https://t.co/0hyGRppsWD
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 13, 2018
Barnes provides an edge over Chase Utley against righties, but so does Logan Forsythe. It's entirely possible Barnes winds up platooning with Grandal, who spanks righties but struggles against lefties. That's not an ideal scenario for fantasy.
Thankfully, we did get a bit of clarity on this with the opening of spring training. It just wasn't positive news for Barnes' fantasy stock.
Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes will split time at catcher, with Grandal likely to see most of the ABs against RHP, Dave Roberts said. So, basically, close to the status quo from the 2017 regular season.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) February 15, 2018
In that arrangement, Barnes had 262 plate appearances while Grandal had 482. There could always be injuries to move Barnes' total in the right direction, but as a guy going 181st overall, he needs more than a nudge.
As of right now, Barnes appears overvalued in drafts, and we should avoid him if his price stays the same. Grandal, on the other hand, should put up good power numbers when he plays, making him viable -- yet imperfect -- as the 235th pick. Until we get a trade or additional news, that's likely how we should be handling this situation for the time being.
