The Cheap Seats: How much should fantasy baseball managers worry about struggling stars?

The Cheap Seats will come your way most Tuesdays through the heart of the MLB season. Baseball and fantasy baseball questions go to the front of the line, but we can talk about all sports, life, music, food, travel, pets, movies, just about anything. Catch me at @scott_pianowski on X, and away we go.

I'd certainly be patient with Pablo López. His profile offers all sorts of measurement. His strikeout rate is only down modestly, his walk rate has actually gone down too, his velocity is stable (it's funny how we worry when guys throw too hard or too soft, but when they hit the middle, it's easier to deal with). His strand rate is low, which usually is about bad luck with sequencing. His xERA is a tidy 3.14, well under his front-door number.

Hold Lopez is you have him. If you don't, seek his manager out and see if they want to move pitching, hopefully they bring up Lopez first. Make your move. (As you'd expect, teammate Fred Zinkie listed Lopez as a "strong buy" in his most recent trade column.)

I'll give my colleague and amigo Dalton Del Don a text and see what he thinks. You're not unreasonable to ask. I listed Corbin Carroll as a $40 outfielder in the preseason, but he was downgraded to a $15 player in this week's Outfield Shuffle Up. The hard-hit profile is scary, could be tied to an injury.

It was a 24-hour whirlwind for the Xanders: first Xander Schauffele wins his first major on Sunday, and then Xander Bogaerts is injured the next afternoon. Even when healthy Bogaerts has been a problem this year, sitting as the SS27 in current 5x5 value after being drafted as a Top 100 player in March.

I'm not sure what your league size is, so I'll offer a few solutions for different league shapes, with all players qualifying at either second base or shortstop (I'm not sure which hole you're filling).

If it's a particularly thin league, Abraham Toro looks fun in Oakland. He's settled into the leadoff spot with a tidy .294/.344/.459 slash. He'll probably hit 15-18 homers by the end of the season, and maybe steal 7-10 bags. Probably because of the pedestrian Oakland backdrop, Toro only recently passed the 50% roster tag in Yahoo.

Zach Neto

SS - LAA - #9

2024 - false season

.250

AVG

9

HR

28

RBI

26

R

8

SB

For medium leagues, I'm going to keep banging on the Zach Neto drum. He couldn't buy a hit for the first 2-3 weeks and that counts, I get it. Over his last 30 starts, Neto has a .288/.331/.523 slash, with six homers and three steals. He's still in the bottom third of the Anaheim lineup, but that figures to get corrected soon enough. It's shocking to see Neto still unrostered in about 80% of Yahoo leagues. He did leave Wednesday's game with an apparent elbow injury, so monitor the situation in case he ends up missing time.

For the deeper pools, Detroit's Colt Keith has a similar version of the Neto story; nothing good early, but he's been interesting of late. Keith is on a 11-for-18 binge in the last five games and he's starting to get some chances to play against left-handed pitching. Keith's seasonal slash is still ugly and he's yet to hit a homer, but this is a guy who had 25 homers and a .932 OPS in the minors last year, prompting the Tigers to give Keith a proactive long-term contract before he made his MLB debut. Good things are still likely to happen here.

I'm a believer. Tyler O'Neill just needed good health and a full-time spot. Nobody is untradable in my world, but if the O'Neill offer isn't an obvious yes, I'll just say no. His batted-ball profile is a sea of fun, and Fenway Park is a perfect park for him.

Cedric Mullins is another player who came up on the Zinkie Sheet, this time as a sell. I agree with Fred; there's plenty to be worried about. Mullins has an ugly plate-discipline profile, his batted-ball results are below code and the depth of Baltimore's organization puts the clock in motion. You have my sign-off to drop Mullins for Colton Cowser, but I'm sure several other available outfielders would also fit your needs. Fix this problem right now.

Spanning The Globe

I love this question. I've often pondered it myself. Many times I've wondered how much there is to know.

If you were going to do the talking, if you needed a sympathetic ear, Isaac is probably your man (and when you made a good point, you know the finger guns are coming out). If you wanted a bartender with amazing stories, Sam moves into the lead. If you came in craving a speciality drink, Isaac can make them all. Sam strikes me more of a beer jockey. Did he ever mix anything? (Certainly he didn't mix his pitches, which is probably why Mayday eventually became a reliever.)

I also wonder who the hardest working bartender was, Isaac Washington or Ernie Pantusso? Did poor Isaac ever get a day off? Coach accepted he was going to be at Cheers every day, "I just go a little slower on Thursdays." RIP, you lovely man of accidental wisdom.

Be careful what you invite me to, sometimes I show up.

My buddy PJ had me visit Southern California in January and we got in three tremendous rounds: Skylinks (nice muni track; I played like dirt but the company was great); Rustic Canyon (a fun and unique layout, and I got back to 90); and then Oak Quarry to close (outstanding course; happy to card a 91 on my first visit). Let me know what else goes on the bingo card for subsequent visits.

At most ballparks, give me a hotdog with a little mustard and a cold beer and I'm happy. If you're looking for more high-end food, the choices at San Francisco are tremendous. I really can't be rational about Fenway Park (since I grew up in New England) and Wrigley Field (so much old soul in that place), but of the newer stadiums, Oracle Park is my favorite (though this could change when I finally make it to PNC Park; my favorite stadium I've yet to visit).