- Draft Prep Tiers 3.0: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP
- Heath's Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts |
- Scott's Top 100 prospects | Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts
You know the deal, so there's no need for much throat clearing. We've got takes. You want them. Here they are:
Scott White's Bold Predictions
- The Diamondbacks have three of the top five Cy Young finishers
- David Dahl is a 20-20 player
- Domingo Santana doesn't get even 400 at-bats
If you haven't heard, they've got a humidor in Arizona now, and he thinks it's going to have a big impact. How big? Well, big enough to turn Zack Godley and Robbie Ray into Cy Young contenders, along with Zack Greinke. Greinke isn't a stretch, but neither Ray nor Godley has managed to put together a full season at that level. However, if the humidor has as big an impact on the ball in Arizona as Scott thinks it will, you'll want to make Diamondbacks' pitchers a priority – while obviously avoiding their hitters.
Heath Cummings' Bold Predictions
- Jose Quintana is a 20-game winner
- No one on the Diamondbacks hits more than 25 home runs
- Ian Happ finishes as a top-three 2B in Fantasy
Heath loves Ian Happ. Loves him. You can read all about that here. So, I'll focus on a different bit: Quintana winning 20 games. Despite establishing himself as one of the more reliable pitchers in baseball, Quintana has never won more than 13 games in a season. However, if he can get his ERA back down to the low-to-mid-3.00s range in 2018, he should sail past 13 wins. If gets to 20, well… Everyone probably has him too low in their rankings, including Heath.
Chris Towers' Bold Predictions
- Tyler Glasnow is a top-20 SP from the moment he joins the rotation
- Joey Gallo hits more homers than Aaron Judge
- The Marlins won't have a single pitcher with 100-plus strikeouts
I wrote all about Gallo's upside last week, so I won't go into that one again. Let's focus on Glasnow, who wasn't even one of the 20 best Pirates pitchers last season. Things don't look much better based on the spring, where he posted a 7.31 ERA in five appearances. However, more than half of his runs came in one outing, and there are promising signs beyond that; Glasnow struck out 25 and walked just five of the 74 batters he faced. Control is what it's going to come down to, because if Glasnow can avoid handing out too many free passes, he's going to be a star. In 93 1/3 innings at Triple-A last season, he walked just 8.8 percent of opposing hitters. That's the target. I think he can get there.
Adam Aizer's Bold Predictions
- Adam Eaton is a top 15 OF in points leagues and top 20 OF in Roto
- Cody Allen saves 40 games
- Masahiro Tanaka is the best NYY SP
Adam, I said "bold." I guess Tanaka being the Yankees' best starter is pretty bold, since Luis Severino is going off the board 50 spots higher than Tanaka these days. Severino had a huge breakout in 2017, but it was closer than their ERAs would make you think: Tanaka sported a 3.52 SIERA to Severino's 3.25 mark. If Tanaka can keep the ball in the yard while sustaining his swinging strike gains from 2017, he has ace upside.
Awards
Scott's Picks
- NL MVP - Nolan Arenado
- AL MVP - Mike Trout
- NL Cy Young - Max Scherzer
- AL Cy Young - Justin Verlander
- NL Rookie of the Year - Ronald Acuna
- AL Rookie of the Year - Gleyber Torres
Heath's Picks
- NL MVP - Trea Turner
- AL MVP - Mookie Betts
- NL Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
- AL Cy Young - Chris Sale
- NL Rookie of the Year - Ronald Acuna
- AL Rookie of the Year - Willie Calhoun
Chris' Picks
- NL MVP - Bryce Harper
- AL MVP - Mike Trout
- NL Cy Young - Stephen Strasburg
- AL Cy Young - Gerrit Cole
- NL Rookie of the Year - Lewis Brinson
- AL Rookie of the Year - Shohei Ohtani
Adam's Picks
- NL MVP - Bryce Harper
- AL MVP - Carlos Correa
- NL Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
- AL Cy Young - Dallas Keuchel
- NL Rookie of the Year - Ronald Acuna
- AL Rookie of the Year - Shohei Ohtani
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