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Fantasy Baseball 2021: Luke Voit injury reaction, bullpen updates, ADP battles, news and notes and more

Mar. 29, 2021
Fantasy Baseball 2021: Luke Voit injury reaction, bullpen updates, ADP battles, news and notes and more

I hope you had a fantastic weekend and didn't draft Luke Voit before his injury news came out. This is why it makes sense to draft as close to the start of the season as you possibly can. Of course, you'll lose out on values like Andrew Vaughn who keep rising but for every prospect like Vaughn, we have a major injury like Voit or Zac Gallen. Outside of Voit, it was a massive weekend for news as team's are finalizing Opening Day rosters and teasing us with closer information.

Many still have their drafts, though, and that's why we wanted to focus on some of the tougher decisions based on average draft position. Would you rather have Ozzie Albies or Whit Merrifield in Roto/H2H categories leagues? How about Anthony Rizzo vs. Max Muncy in H2H points? We answer this questions and many more below and on today's podcast.

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Also, the Fantasy Baseball Today Draft Guide is LIVE! It's a one-stop-shop to help anyone dominate their drafts that includes sleepers, breakouts, busts, rankings, analysis, tiers and more. The best part about it? It's free!

It's a tough break for the Yankees and fantasy managers who have already completed their drafts -- Scott White being one of them! Scott just nabbed Voit 134th overall in our H2H Categories league For The People. Scott and I moved Voit, who will be shut down for three weeks before being re-evaluated, down to No. 11, while Chris sent him to No. 13 in his 1B rankings.

What's next? Jay Bruce will make the Yankees roster now and likely start in place of Voit. Mike Ford was already optioned to an alternate site a few weeks back. There's a chance they call back up Ford and this could turn into a platoon you'll want to avoid.

Instead of rushing to your waiver wire to scoop up Bruce, you should look to sign the following players to replace Voit in your lineups if you already drafted the Yankee to be your starting 1B or CI:

And for deeper leagues (the following players are all rostered in 40% of leagues or fewer):

Jose Abreu (No. 41 overall) vs. Vlad Guerrero Jr. (No. 42 overall)

Scott is taking Abreu as he continued to be less than enthusiastic about paying the name brand price for Guerrero. Chris agrees and although Vlad is growing on me -- and I just got my first share of him in a recent draft -- it's a clean sweep; I'm also rolling with Abreu.

Max Muncy (No. 99) vs. Anthony Rizzo (No. 104)

For Chris, it's not even close, it's Rizzo. In H2H points leagues, the gap grows. As Chris pointed out, Rizzo was the No. 1 1B overall in the H2H points format in 2019. Scott leans Muncy specifically pointing to his position eligibility and flexibility, along with signs that Rizzo's power is on the decline. I like both of them, but to break the tie I am going with Rizzo and giving him the slight edge.

Ozzie Albies (No. 37) vs. Whit Merrifield (No. 39)

In Roto scoring, Scott likes Merrifield considerably more because he's likely to steal double the bases that Albies will. That's the category where they are the furthest apart, and it's the main reason you're drafting these players so high. Scott isn't paying the price for the difference in age and projections, but I think there's something to be said in investing in a 24-year-old in a better Braves lineup than a 32-year-old in the Royals lineup. Chris also sees a cap on Albies' ceiling because he has struggled so much more against right-handed pitchers than left-handed pitchers -- and two-thirds of the MLB pitchers are righties. So I don't even need to weigh on this one: Merrifield gets the win.

Jose Altuve (No. 91) vs. Jeff McNeil (No. 93)

Chris and Scott believe McNeil might be as close to a zero in the power department as anyone else with a top 100 ADP overall. Scott still retains some hope that he has found power now, but it's a gamble. As Scott points out, if the power regresses, you're paying a massive premium for McNeil when you can get a David Fletcher hundreds of picks later. All three of us believe you're getting an Astros discount on Altuve. It's a clean sweep -- we're all rolling with Altuve!

Gleyber Torres (No. 61) vs. Javier Baez (No. 69)

In Roto scoring, Scott is more invested in Baez but has Torres ranked ahead. Baez has more upside despite being terrible this spring, but Scott doesn't think we should be putting too much stock in that. Baez is entering the contract year, while Torres is years younger. Chris doesn't feel like the plate discipline is catching up to Baez and he sees this one as a toss up. Having said that, despite having Torres ranked one spot higher, he sees the upside with Baez because of the stolen bases.

So which Fantasy baseball sleepers should you snatch in your draft? And which undervalued first baseman can help you win a championship? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all from the model that called Will Smith's huge breakout last season, and find out.


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