10 famous fantasy faces in new places: Starting pitchers and closers
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The offseason always brings with it trades and free-agent signings, some of which impact the fantasy landscape more than others. Here's a look at the prospects of 10 of the biggest starting pitcher names to don a new uniform for the 2017 season.
SP Chris Sale, Red Sox
Boston's MLB-leading offense should certainly help Sale in the win department, though he did manage a joint-career-high 17 victories last season with the 78-84 White Sox. The 6-foot-5 lefty remains an elite source of strikeouts and WHIP who's nevertheless prone to the occasional blowup. In his new address, Sale will again be one of the first pitchers off the draft board.
RP Mark Melancon, Giants
San Francisco blew a MLB-high 30 saves last season, so the signing of Melancon appears to be a perfect marriage of player and team. The right-hander has recorded 98 saves over the past two seasons, and his pitch-to-contact style looks well-suited to spacious AT&T Park. Melancon has maintained a sub-1.00 WHIP since 2013, so even though he doesn't pile up the strikeouts, he can help a fantasy team beyond the save category.
RP Aroldis Chapman, Yankees
Back in pinstripes after a mid-season trade to the eventual World Series Champion Cubs, Chapman is neck-and-neck with the Dodgers' Kenley Jansen for top spot on the pre-season closer draft board. It's not so much the saves making the 29-year-old valuable; his elite strikeout rate (15.18 per nine innings) and career 0.99 WHIP complement the Cuban lefty's ability to close out games.
RP Wade Davis, Cubs
After an injury-marred year in Kansas City, Davis will take over the ninth-inning role in Chicago. Though the Cubs led baseball with 103 wins, they recorded the 22nd-most saves (38). A repeat of their league-best run differential could mean Davis won't be needed to shut the door all too often, but a throwback to his 2014 and 2015 campaigns, in which his ERA and WHIP were 1.00 or lower, would be a welcome trade-off for fantasy owners.
SP Jason Hammel, Royals
Hammel has had a sub-4.00 ERA in four of his last five seasons, so he should be a somewhat useful fantasy option in Kansas City, though he's likely to record fewer than the career-high 15 wins he had last season with the Cubs by virtue of the weaker lineup around him. The 34-year-old right-hander also averaged under six innings per start, and recorded quality starts in 16 of 30 appearances, so he's not always a steady performer.
SPs Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia, Braves
Atlanta doubled down on forty-something hurlers, signing both Colon and Dickey to one-year contracts, and then traded for the 30-year-old Garcia from St. Louis. None of the trio will be anything other than late-round fantasy selections (if that), but all possess varying degrees of upside as part of an improved Braves squad.
Health has often been an issue for Garcia; the left-hander has started 30 or more games just twice since 2010, though one of those times was last season. His ERA was a career-best 2.43 in 2015, but it then slumped to a career-worst 4.67 in 2016.
Colon remains in the NL East after spending the last three seasons in New York; in each of those campaigns, he won at least 14 games while recording a WHIP no higher than 1.24. The rotund right-hander won't strike out many batters, but he should continue to provide adequate rate stats and win totals.
When Dickey was last in the NL, he won the 2012 Cy Young award as a Met. The innings-eating knuckleballer should fare better away from Toronto's Rogers Centre, and he has managed to record at least 10 wins for five straight seasons.
SP Taijuan Walker, Diamondbacks
Following a trade to Arizona, the 24-year-old Walker will be looking to rebound from a dismal 2016 in Seattle. The right-hander went 8-11 in 25 starts with a 4.22 ERA and allowed 1.81 home runs per nine innings. A move to hitter-friendly Chase Field could result in more growing pains, but progression will be hoped for as Walker enters his third full season in the majors. He'll offer some upside as a late-round fantasy selection.
SP Drew Smyly, Mariners
Smyly fell apart with the Rays last season, recording a 4.88 ERA over 30 starts and allowing 1.64 home runs per nine innings. His homer-prone tendencies could be somewhat alleviated by playing his home games at Seattle's Safeco Field, and there's enough to like about his walk and strikeout rates to suggest the 27-year-old lefty could rebound with his new club.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)