Photo Credit - (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Contrary to my most recent article on the site which can be found here, I am going to talk about a few players in the top 150 that I feel are being slept on/people aren’t paying full attention to in fantasy drafts for 2024. Again the ADP list that I am going to be referencing in this blog is coming from FantasyPros Expert Consensus Ranking (which again…I think is an awesome tool), just putting my thoughts to paper. One of the most satisfying things you can do as a fantasy manager is to identify a player that is about to break out or outperform their ADP which no one else is paying attention to. The issue here is lots of sleeper lists go out during this time of year and people have different opinions on every player for various reasons.
Let us dive in and take a look under the hood.Â
Note: This list is curated to my dynasty league, a 5x5 roto format for scoring.Â
#29 Overall ADP - Francisco Lindor
Plain and simple, Lindor is a stud. Outside of 2020 (I don’t weigh heavily) & 2021 (1st year in NY), Francisco Lindor has been outstanding since his debut back in 2015. Lindor is only 30 years old and is coming off a season where he went 30-30, finished 9th in MVP voting, and won a Silver Slugger. Defense does not matter for fantasy purposes but he is a multi-time Gold Glove winner meaning you will not ever lose him in your lineup to random platoon/defense days.Â
If Lindor continues to light up the base paths (31 SB in 2023) paired with his bat, he can be an elite fantasy player this year. I know I know…how can a top-30 player be a sleeper? My thoughts behind this are that people will sleep on him due to the current draft price and situation in Queens. In 2023 only 3x Shortstops hit 30 or more home runs, they were Corey Seager (33 HR), Bobby Witt (30 HR), and Francisco Lindor (31)....not the worst company to be a part of. After that, only 5x other shortstops hit 20 or more home runs. My thinking is that the power falls off at this position seeing that not even a third of the shortstops in the bigs are hitting 20 or more, let alone getting to 30 bombs at shortstop. Taking a chance on Lindor could be risky in the top 30 picks but I am all about it and am hoping he goes unnoticed in the first few rounds.Â
2023:
6.0 WAR | 602 AB | 153 H | 31 HR | .254 BA | 108 R | 98 RBI | 31 SB | .336 OBP | .470 SLG | .806 OPS
CAREER:Â
42.7 WAR | 1323 AB | 1323 H | 215 HR | .274 BA | 787 R | 679 RBI | 156 SB | .341 OBP | .473 SLG | .815 OPS
#67 Overall ADP - Alex Bregman
I love taking chances on players while they are playing with a contract on the line and that is exactly the case we have here with Alex Bregman. Bregman is still technically in his twenties and is looking to get paid. The 3B position is loaded this year so I am kind of hoping that Bregman will hide in plain sight.Â
The issue with Bregman is he does not run, but fingers crossed with money on the line and new rules he can maybe get those counting numbers a bit but I doubt it. Outside of that, Bregman has been a DAWG since joining the big leagues. He mashes the ball, gets on base, and has never eclipsed 100 SO in a season. Again not a sleeper but a player I will be all over and hope people are not paying attention as they look for the shinier toy.Â
2023:
4.9 WAR | 622 AB | 163 H | 25 HR | .262 BA | 103 R | 98 RBI | 3 SB | .363 OBP | .441 SLG | .804 OPS
CAREER:
35.4 WAR | 3576 AB | 981 H | 165 HR | .274 BA | 615 R | 588 RBI | 39 SB | .373 OBP | .487 SLG | .861 OPS
#140 Overall ADP - Chris Sale
Age is only a number. Sale looks healthy right now and that is all that matters to me. You are telling me he is now in Atlanta? Yes, I will be picking him up wherever I can at this price point. He has 7 top-6 Cy Young voting finishes from 2012-2018 which is absurd. People are going to sleep on him due to health concerns, but I am optimistic.Â
The Braves are just different than the White Sox and Red Sox organizationally right now and I think they will be able to get Sale right on track to be a highly effective pitcher once again this year.Â
2023:Â
1.7 WAR | 6 W | 5 L | 4.30 ERA | 20 G | 20 GS | 102.2 IP | 125 SO | 1.130 WHIP
CAREER:
47.2 WAR | 120 W | 80 L | 3.10 ERA | 343 G | 263 GS | 1780.2 IP | 2189 SO | 1.047 WHIP