It's The Bigs!

 Let's waste no time here.  Starting pitcher is my favorite position to break down year over year and this year is no exception.   I'm not holding myself to a specific number of pitchers either overall or per tier so some are much larger than others.  Let's go. Tier 1 - Bonafide Aces Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole, Corbin Burnes, Luis Castillo, Zac Gallen, Framber Valdez When constructing this top tier, I had to ask myself what criteria was the bar going to be set for each of these guys?  If I'm building my pitching rotation around this player, I need to guarantee myself 200 innings, 200 strikeouts and an ERA around or lower than 3.50.  Each of these guys have done this for multiple seasons except one.  Strider.  His arm is either going to fall completely off in a year or two or this guy could become the pitcher to own for years to come.  Last year in our 16 team league, the second round was rife with ace pitchers who gave off plenty of mi...

 To try and split hairs between outfielders this early in the game would be a nightmare and take me far too long.  So instead, I'm keeping these guys in tiers all clumped together by where I think they're going to be drafted.  So, let's take a look at these tiers and see what we're looking at for outfield in 2024. Tier 1 - First Round Anchors               Ronald Acuna, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto. I'm sure there will be more than just four outfielders taken in the first round of many drafts in 2024 but for now, these are the four guys I can pencil in without question being the cream of the crop.  Acuna comes off one of the best statistical seasons we've ever seen with a .300+ BA, 40+HR and 70+ stolen bases.  He should come off the board in the top 2 picks of every draft unless there's some sort of weird scoring anomaly.  Betts, Judge and Soto are my next three in this tier.  Judge, when healthy, is the ...

 For the 2024 season, shortstop may be the deepest position of them all.  There are more than 15 guys I'd consider starters and upwards of 25 I consider very rosterable players.  The honorable mentions will be longer in this than any other list as I just can't leave this many good names outside the top 15.  Without any ado, here we go. Honorable Mentions:  Oneil Cruz,   Jeremy Pena, Carlos Correa, Ezequiel Tovar, Anthony Volpe, Tim Anderson, Matt McLain, Willy Adames 15.  JP Crawford - Seattle Mariners .266/.380/.818 534AB, 94R, 35 2B, 19HR, 65RBI, 94BB, 125K I'm starting this off with a name not many will be too familiar with outside of The Bigs since Crawford was the championship shortstop for Ben's 2021 team.  But this past season shows Crawford is definitely worth a starting job on teams come 2024.  The .380 OBP was third best at this position beaten only by two MVP worth candidates at 1 and 2.  With Teoscar Hernandez a free agent co...

 As we time travel backward for the end of daylight saving time, it's time to talk about the hot corner and the upcoming 2024 MLB season.  Last year on our podcast, I equated this position to an erupting volcano with only a few safe havens to land on.  But as the season concludes, there were more than 15 quality third baseman to plug into your lineup everyday.  Without any further ado, let's dive in. Honorable Mentions:  Jeimer Candelario, Wilmer Flores, Eugenio Suarez, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Anthony Rendon. 15.  Matt Chapman - FREE AGENT .240/.330/.754 509AB, 66R, 39 2B, 17HR, 54RBI, 62BB, 165K Chapman was extremely hot out of the gate this season, hitting .384 with 5HR and 21RBI in April.  The final two months of the season, August and September, saw him hit under the Mendoza Line and only muscle 3 HR in the entire 8 weeks.  To say that he was a sell high candidate early in the season is an understatement as his second half numbers paled in comparison....

Welcome back everyone for the second base edition of The Bigs Blog.  Let's not waste any time here and get right into the rankings. Just Missed:  Jorge Polanco, Matt McLain, Brandon Lowe, Zach Gelof, 15.  Jeff McNeil - New York Mets .270/.333/.711 585AB, 75R, 25 2B, 10HR, 55RBI, 10SB, 39BB, 65K I wonder if Jeff McNeil is on the Mets opening day lineup in 2024.  I wonder where in that lineup he'd hit given the incredible swath of young talent coming up and  I also question where he'll be playing in 2024 positionally as a loud rookie named Ronny Mauricio is going to push him for playing time at the keystone.  That could push him off into the outfield which would garner him multi-position eligibility again but the real question is what the Mets do to improve the lineup and whether Jeff McNeil fits into that future.  One year removed from winning a batting crown, this season was a bit of a disappointment but he is far from a bum.  10% strikeout rate i...

 Has it been a year already?  I'm writing this during the 5th game of the World Series between the Diamondbacks and the Rangers.  Eovaldi is facing Gallen, whom are very interesting names to think about for 2024.  That said, I'll have a write-up on the season at some point this off-season, but for now the one thing I keep getting requests for is the 2024 rankings.  Let's start off with my way-too-early 1B rankings tonight to satiate some appetites and see how many more I can get done over the weeks to come.    Just Missed:  Spencer Torkelson, Vinny Pasquantino, Josh Naylor, Nathaniel Lowe, Spencer Steer, Jose Abreu. 15.  Triston Casas - Boston Red Sox - 429AB, 66R, 21 2B, 24HR, 65RBI, 70BB, 126K                  .263/.367/.857 There's a lot to like with the Boston Red Sox first baseman of the future.  Entering his age-24 season in 2024, this kid put up some very nice numbers in his first ...