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- The Brewers have made some moves! First, Milwaukee sent a quartet of prospects to Miami in exchange for Christian Yelich. Yelich was the #23 OF in roto leagues last season. He hit .282 with 18 HR 16 SB 100 R and 81 RBI. This move increases his 2018 value quite a bit. He moves to a much friendlier home ballpark and will be a significant part of the Brewers offense. The move also helps in that Yelich will not be a part of a depleted Marlins team. He was already a top 20 OF heading into 2018 but this move makes him top 15 and potentially higher.
- The return for Miami was Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, and Jordan Yamamoto. This is quite the haul for the Marlins. Brinson was the top prospect in the Brewers system and was recently ranked the #18 overall prospect in baseball by Baseball America. Despite a poor MLB stint in 2017, Brinson was great at AAA. He hit .331 with 13 HR 48 RBI and 11 SB over 76 games. He is now the Marlins’ top prospect and should have an easy track to regular playing time for Miami. Harrison is now the Marlins #2 prospect behind Brinson. He is a 22 year old former 2nd round selection. Over 122 games between A and A+, Harrison hit .272 with 21 HR and 27 SB. We might not see him in 2018 though. Diaz had 13 HR and 9 SB in 2017 A+ ball, but struggled hitting just .222. Still, he is a top 10 prospect on his new team. Yamamoto is a 21 year old RHP. He had a solid season in 2017, 9-4 record with a 2.51 ERA and 9.2 K/9 over 111 IP in A+, but is not currently viewed as a prospect of any real significance.
- Following the acquisition of Yelich, the Brewers made a huge free agent signing. They agreed to terms with Lorenzo Cain on a 5 year $80 million deal. The former Royals outfielder was #16 at his position in roto leagues last season. He hit an even .300 with 15 HR 26 SB and 86 R. Cain, who will be 32 on April 13th, has been a solid source of speed with a respectable amount of power over the past 3 seasons. His 3 year averages are 13 HR 23 SB and a .299 clip. The hitter-friendly confines of Miller Park should only add to the power numbers. After looking like Cain would land in San Francisco, this signing is about as good for Cain’s value as possible. He is a top 25 OF heading into 2018.
- In other news, the New York Mets re-signed Jose Reyes to a 1 year contract. Reyes hit just .246 last year but had surprisingly good counting stats. 15 HR 24 SB 58 RBI and 75 R over 145 games made Reyes the #88 overall hitter in fantasy. He was #21 at 3B, #20 at 2B, and #17 at SS. He will carry all 3 of those positions with him in 2018 which makes him one of the more flexible options in fantasy. Still, expect a smaller role for him in the Mets offense and ignore him in all but deep leagues and NL only formats.
- Finally, in old but still news... news, Randal Grichuk was traded to the Blue Jays, Danny Duffy is throwing “without any pain or discomfort”, and Carlos Rodon has yet to begin a throwing progam. Grichuk is a solid AL only option with an outside shot at mattering in mixed leagues. Duffy is coming off of a bad year and has much more defense behind him and offense to provide run support. Still, he could be a bargain depending on how far he drops in drafts. The Rodon sleeper train hits yet another roadblock. He looks to be a no go for opening day and could miss more time than initially expected.