Fantasy Baseball 2019 Division Breakdown: AL East
By Bill Pivetz
With two powerhouse teams, there should be a lot of fantasy baseball value to be had in the always competitive American League East.
The American League East has produced a World Series contender in 11 of the last 21 seasons. That includes six appearances from the New York Yankees, four from the Boston Red Sox and one from the Tampa Bay Rays. As well as titles, this division has produced a lot of fantasy baseball value. Whether it’s the pitching or offense, your fantasy team will have a few players from these teams.
Heading into 2019, two of the five division teams will have little fantasy relevance. There may be one or two players worthy of a bench spot in deeper leagues. Everyone has their value and it’s up to you to determine what that is.
The reigning champs have been quiet this offseason. On the contrary, their arch-rivals have added multiple infielders and brought back most of their bullpen. The Rays made a couple of trades and signed a big-name pitcher.
The Baltimore Orioles continue to sell and show no signs of fielding a competitive team. The Toronto Blue Jays added a couple of starting pitchers but the offense will still struggle this season.
The AL East has some hitter-friendly ballparks in Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards and Rogers Centre. Fenway Park is just outside the top half and Tropicana Field is ranked 23rd in home runs according to ESPN Park Factors.
The lack of dominant pitchers also helps the hitters put up big numbers. Chris Sale and Blake Snell rank in the top 10. Luis Severino is 11th, James Paxton is 18th. David Price and Masahiro Tanaka fall inside the top 30. That’s not that many pitchers compared to some of the other divisions. The Washington Nationals have three inside the top 18 alone.
However, because of the lack of power hitters on some of these teams, there may be more top-50 pitchers coming from the AL East at the end of the season. Pitchers like J.A. Happ, Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Glasnow will have success throughout the season.
In this six-part series, I will go over each team’s key departures, arrivals and their remaining needs heading into Spring Training. I will also talk about some players to watch for in 2019.
Here is the penultimate division breakdown, the American League Central
Fantasy Baseball 2019 Division Breakdown: Orioles
Key Departures:
Adam Jones, Tim Beckham, Colby Rasmus, Caleb Joseph
Key Additions:
None
The 2018 Orioles were ranked the worst team in all of sports last season. They finished with a 47-115 record, 61.0 games back of first place.
The team traded Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado before season’s end. The front office let veteran outfielder Adam Jones go. The remaining pieces will have a hard time reaching 50 wins this season.
Jonathan Villar had a decent second half with the team. Trey Mancini hit 24 home runs in his second straight season but saw his batting average drop 51 points. Mark Trumbo will hit 20 home runs but will be hurting for RBIs. Chris Davis will likely strike out another 200 times this year.
Not much to get excited for in this lineup.
The pitching staff is in the same situation. Dylan Bundy is their SP1 with Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, David Hess and Josh Rogers rounding out the rotation. I do not want any of them as my starters. I’ll take a flier on Bundy and start him in the right matchup.
Mychal Givens is the listed closer. Richard Bleier, Paul Fry and Miguel Castro will all play a role in the bullpen, too. Givens is a good fourth closer in standard leagues. Bleier didn’t record a lot of strikeouts but will have low ratio stats.
Besides new ownership, the Orioles need at least one more starting pitcher, an outfielder, a true closer and a middle infielder.
It’s hard to pick a sleeper or breakout player but I’ll go with Givens. He may not reach 40 saves, but his ratios and strikeouts will help any fantasy team.
Fantasy Baseball 2019 Division Breakdown: Toronto
Key Departures:
Yangervis Solarte, Marco Estrada, Tyler Clippard, Russell Martin
Key Additions:
Matt Shoemaker, Clayton Richard
The Blue Jays added two players from the Yankees last season and both have made an impact. Billy McKinney was blocked from consistent playing time, so the move to Toronto will help. Brandon Drury will also start at third base.
Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales will hit 20-plus home runs but hit under .250 as a result. Losing the 17 home runs from both Yangervis Solarte and Aledmys Diaz will hurt the lineup’s production.
Randal Grichuk and Kevin Pillar will hit a combined 38 home runs and .250 average. There isn’t a true contact hitter in this lineup but if you’re looking for cheap power, the Blue Jays are a team to target.
For pitching, there are some decent pieces. While none of their starters finished with an ERA under 4.00 ERA, there were some quality starts throughout the season. The additions of Matt Shoemaker and Clayton Richard may help them clear their mind on a new team but facing the likes of J.D. Martinez, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton may not help their performance.
Ken Giles is the team’s closer with Ryan Tepera and David Paulino setting him up. Giles looked good in his short time with the Blue Jays. This is another team likely not going to record a lot of saves but could make a difference in head-to-head leagues.
The Blue Jays could use another starting pitcher, one more reliever and an infielder of any kind.
My breakout player is Lourdes Gurriel. In 65 games, he had 11 home runs, 35 RBIs and a .281 average. Over a full season as the starting shortstop, Gurriel will hit 15 home runs, 45 RBIs and .270. With a weak shortstop pool, Gurriel is a solid option in deep leagues.
Fantasy Baseball 2019 Division Breakdown: Rays
Key Departures:
Jake Bauers, Carlos Gomez, Sergio Romo
Key Additions:
Mike Zunino, Yandy Diaz, Guillermo Heredia, Charlie Morton
The Rays had one of the lowest payrolls in the league last season. Despite being 13.0 games back of first place on July 1, the team made a couple of big trades. They traded ace pitcher Chris Archer for Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and a couple of prospects.
The second trade saw them acquire outfielder Tommy Pham. At the end of the season, the Rays finished with 90 wins. They were 18.0 games back but that’s because the Red Sox and Yankees went on a run of their own.
The front office made a couple more trades this offseason. They found their catcher in Mike Zunino and DH in Yandy Diaz. The loss of Jake Bauers will hurt that offense a bit.
A full season of Pham in Tampa Bay may help his career. He could also be traded again at the deadline if the Rays aren’t competing. Willy Adames and Joey Wendle posted good batting averages with some power.
The Rays have a good rotation with Cy-Young potential Blake Snell, recently signed Charlie Morton and Glasnow. Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough round out the rotation. Those last two spots may change come Opening Day because the Rays went with the “opener” strategy throughout the season.
That does limit the value from their pitchers because they won’t pitch long enough to earn a quality start or a win. The team relied heavily on their bullpen despite not having a known name or dominant reliever. It did help the team get to 90 wins and that’s all the front office cares about.
The Rays, if they want to get away from the opener, could use one more pitcher as well as a true closer. With the market emphasizing on relievers over the last week, their options are limited.
My breakout player is Wendle. I don’t think he hits .300 again but if he can reach double-digit home runs with a .290 average and 20 steals makes him a valuable asset in fantasy baseball.
Fantasy Baseball 2019 Division Breakdown: Yankees
Key Departures:
David Robertson, Lance Lynn, Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker
Key Additions:
DJ LeMahieu, Troy Tulowitzki, James Paxton, J.A. Happ, Zach Britton
The Yankees haven’t been the big spenders like they were in the early 2000s. They’ve added pieces throughout the years but nothing that turned heads. That would have changed if they signed Manny Machado.
That doesn’t seem to be happening with the recent move the Yankees make. They could turn their attention to Bryce Harper, though. An outfield trio of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Harper would be ridiculous.
The Yankees solidified their bullpen by bringing back Britton to help Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Tommy Kahnle.
The rotation is set with Luis Severino, Paxton, Tanaka, Happ and CC Sabathia. Sonny Gray could see some starts if Sabathia isn’t ready by Opening Day.
The Yankees offense hit the most home runs for a team in a single season. Twelve different players hit at least 10 home runs for the Yankees. The team did see some setbacks from their Baby Bombers. Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird hit under .200. The latter allowed Luke Voit to breakout in the second half.
DJ LeMahieu is slotted as the second baseman with Gleyber Torres moving to shortstop and Troy Tulowitzki moving to the bench. However, reports say Torres and Tulo will start and LeMahieu will move around the infield. Regardless, LeMahieu will have success in New York.
We’ll see if Jacoby Ellsbury and Clint Frazier are healthy enough to play this season. If they can get back on track, this is the team to beat in 2019.
If there is a need for the Yankees, they need one more starting pitcher. Sabathia can’t stay healthy and Gray wasn’t consistent enough to stay in the rotation. They do have Jordan Montgomery in their back pocket when he’s 100 percent.
The Yankees don’t have a sleeper pick. Everyone is known and will get drafted in one league or another. My breakout player will be Tulowitzki. He will get enough playing time with Didi Gregorius on the DL. I think he’ll get back to Colorado Tulo and will be worth a start.
Fantasy Baseball 2019 Division Breakdown: Red Sox
Key Departures:
Craig Kimbrel, Joe Kelly, Ian Kinsler
Key Additions:
None
Despite winning the World Series, the Red Sox have not done anything to improve their roster. They lost two key bullpen pieces in Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly. However, the team is still in good shape to compete again in 2019.
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With Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi and Martinez, the offense will be just fine. I don’t have to explain why you should draft these hitters for your fantasy baseball team. If Rafael Devers can improve his average and Dustin Pedroia can stay healthy, that will be a dangerous one thru nine.
Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez on the bench will provide a spark when they’re in the lineup. They could use a catcher but if the .207-hitting Christian Vazquez is their biggest weakness, the Red Sox will be in good shape.
The starting pitching is one of the best in the league. Chris Sale leads the way with a revived David Price, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi behind him. Porcello is the worst of the quintet but he still struck out 190 batters in 191.1 innings last season.
Without Kimbrel and Kelly, Ryan Brasier is the de facto closer. Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Tyler Thornburg will also be featured. If the Red Sox don’t want to spend on Kimbrel, Adam Ottavino is the best available and should succeed in Boston.
My sleeper pick is Devers. I expect a little drop in power, like high teens, but a huge jump in batting average. A 19 HR/.258 line isn’t out of the realm of possibility for Devers. He’s a backup third baseman in standard leagues and a starter in AL-only or deep mixed leagues.
Next. AL Central Division Breakdown. dark
Well, there it is. All six divisions broken down for your fantasy baseball preparation. The additions, departures and everything in between. Keep a lookout for my position rankings. Pitchers and catchers report in a month, so get ready.