Get jump on rookie call-ups
THE EFFUSIVE love of rookies in fantasy baseball is unparalleled. Shiny, new toys are all the rage.
Mookie Betts’ outstanding start to the season is appreciated, but who is everyone clamoring about right now? It’s Jackson Holliday. We knew the hype was strong, and we were all disappointed to hear how the Orioles were starting him in Triple-A. But now just two weeks into the regular season, he has been called up to the majors, much to the delight of both season-long fantasy and DFS players.
Are we being blinded by our rookie love? Maybe a little. But Holliday’s talent is still off-the-charts, and despite a slow start we expect him to turn things around and start to shine, just as we’ve witnessed with his fellow rookie teammate Colton Cowser — who had six hits over three games, including three doubles and the first multi-homer game of his abbreviated career, heading into Friday.
With the performance of Cowser and the arrival of Holliday, fantasy managers are getting even more antsy regarding the expected next wave of rookie players.
Most of the fantasy world is expecting Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, but he is likely to be stashed away on someone’s bench already. The hype is that strong. Instead, turn your attention to Nationals outfielder James Wood.
The hit tool on this kid is off the charts, and after a spring training when he hit .364 with four home runs and three stolen bases, he opened the season at Triple-A Rochester batting .441 with two home runs, two stolen bases and more walks than strikeouts. The team isn’t competing this year, so service time is in-play, but an early-May arrival seems likely.
The rookie love from the fantasy community is immense, and you need to be proactive if you want these kids on your roster. Mark your calendar for service time clearance and make those moves a week or two earlier if you can afford the bench space.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy baseball news and advice.
Former NFL offensive lineman and current NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger huddles with Post columnist Steve Serby for some draft Q&A.
Q: Why is University of Washington’s Rome Odunze your favorite receiver?
A: My comp was a bigger, stronger, faster Garrett Wilson. It’s his size, he catches everything with his hands — he dropped a total of three balls last year. He was a punt returner at Washington, I saw him take one back to the house. He’s fast, and his contested ball catch was 75 percent, which was by far the best in the whole country. It didn’t matter who he was going against, ball’s in the air, his ability to go up and get it, use his size, his leaping ability, his speed . ... He’s got the whole combination that you’re looking for. He looks like he’s a faster Davante Adams.
Q: Marvin Harrison Jr. is your second receiver?
A: Why wouldn’t you work out, why wouldn’t you talk to teams, why wouldn’t you do those kind of things? I understand that the tape is the tape, he’s played for three years at a high level, you could go watch him play, and maybe that’s enough, but you just want to get to know what the guy’s like, how he works, and you like to see it for yourself.
Q: So you like Odunze over Harrison why?
A: He catches everything with his hands. I think he’s as fast as you need to be on this business to be elite, and he’s about as smooth as it gets going up and to get it.
Q: OK, you’re Giants GM Joe Schoen. The first three picks are Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Would you trade from No. 6 to 4 to get J.J. McCarthy, or would you just sit there and wait for Odunze or Marvin Harrison Jr. or Malik Nabers to fall to you?
A: I would not go after J.J. McCarthy. He might become a great pro. He’s just a very difficult guy to evaluate because of where he comes from. He’s the only quarterback I can remember in recent history where nobody says anything negative about him. They just say, “He’s 27-1, Jim Harbaugh says he’s the best quarterback in the draft.” Nobody says anything about the offense he played in, not throw the ball in the second half against Penn State, they don’t bring any of that up. They’re just like, “Yep, he was a five-star recruit in high school, he took Michigan to a national championship, back-to-back playoff seasons.“Like he’s the Golden Child. Nobody ever says anything bad about him. And I can’t figure out what there is to evaluate with him. They asked very little of him to go win a national championship.
Q: Does Michael Penix Jr.’s injury history scare you?
A: No, because I think for the last 27 games in Washington, he didn’t miss any time at all, and I think he got past all of those, and I think his body’s matured, he got stronger . ... If you said to me, “Let’s put J.J. McCarthy in Michael Penix’s offense, would they go 14-0 and come within 30 minutes of winning the national championship?” I’d say there’s no chance [McCarthy] could do it.
Q: The Vikings appear to have interest in trading up for McCarthy.
A: I think [Vikings coach] Kevin O’Connell knows what he wants. I feel more certain about Kevin, he comes out of Sean McVay’s system. Right now, honestly, every head coach or offensive coordinator, seems like he’s coached with Sean McVay. It’s unreal. I feel like he’s got a plan, and I think the team around J.J. McCarthy at Minnesota is pretty good . ... I feel like there’s a better plan in place for J.J. in Minnesota than it is in New York.
Q: If you’re Joe Schoen, you want to find a quarterback in this draft, right?
A: I think so. I think you gotta get somebody on the roster right now, because you don’t know what the status of Daniel Jones is gonna be come August when you really have to fine-tune your team to start the season. And I don’t know that you could just rely on Drew Lock at this point. You’d love to see Bo Nix or Penix in that situation. Both these guys might start dropping, and if you’re Joe, you get Rome Odunze, and if you can get a quarterback, whether it’s Nix or Penix and give up some assets to get back into the first round, get him on a five-year deal, that could be a win-win in this draft.
Q: If you’re the Jets, would you be tempted to draft a tackle at No. 10 opposed to tight end Brock Bowers?
A: Yes. I like Bowers. I think they’ve got a deep tight end room. I just feel like if you draft Bowers, you’ve gotta have a real plan for him, the way the Chiefs do with [Travis] Kelce and Baltimore does with Mark Andrews. And I don’t know that that’s the way Aaron Rodgers’ offense has ever been, not to say that he can’t adjust. He is a good blocker, really good blocker, and he is really explosive. I would be more inclined to take a tackle, because I think you got starting tackles at No. 10 in this draft, that or something happens to either Morgan or to Tyron, the season’s not gonna collapse like it has.
Q: Why should Jets fans be optimistic about Rodgers, coming off an Achilles at age 40?
A: I don’t know, because you have to be. You have to be optimistic, it’s the only way. You can’t sit there and say, “Gosh, we just lost an entire year last year on the fourth play of the season.” It’s the only thing, because everything around him is really good. He just has to be really good, and this thing should all click.
Q: You see the Jets as the team to beat in the division?
A: I do. I think what Joe [Douglas, GM] did in free agency is kind of amazing. They might have the deepest and best defensive line in football, this whole team is built around their defensive front. They tried to do it last year but the offense wasn’t scoring any points, so it just kind of collapsed at the end. Breece [Hall] is a year removed from the injury, the offensive line is better than at any point it was last year. They threw 11 touchdown passes last year — 11. If Aaron throws 28 touchdown passes, look how much better they already are. And I think Miami and Buffalo has come backwards a little bit.
Q: Why can’t the NFL evaluate quarterbacks?
A: I think the easy answer is that every position, from college to pros, is so different. The game is so different in college, and so it’s all a projection. And I don’t care who you’re projecting — outside of Joe Burrow and Andrew Luck and a couple of guys — we don’t know if they can elevate the team around them the way C.J. [Stroud] did last year, if they’re highly accurate, if they have this toughness. You’re in New York, you just saw Zach Wilson and Daniel Jones, drafted 2 and 6, and they clearly can’t do it, and they didn’t make anybody around them better, and so they’re just asking so much of these quarterbacks. And they just throw ’em right in there. They don’t incubate ’em at all, give ’em a chance to learn the game the way [Patrick] Mahomes did for a year, or Jordan Love did. They’re just not ready for the jump. And most of these guys taken in the top of the draft are joining bad teams, and bad surroundings, and so then you get caught up like say Sam Darnold did, or Zach Wilson did, where there’s changes at offensive coordinator, head coach, general manager, and they get up in these cycles, and you never have any stability around you.
Q: How wild do you think the first round will be?
A: I think it’s gonna be pretty wild, because I think this is a year where teams are gonna go after quarterbacks. Does New England take one at 3 or do they trade back and gain some assets with? I don’t know. Minnesota? You name it. I think Minnesota has their eyes set on a quarterback, one or two. I think the Giants could certainly be in play for a quarterback ... the Raiders, the Broncos. All these teams are in play, and it’s musical chairs. I make it a little easier with the musical chairs if Michael Penix is truly in play with a top-14 pick, and I think he is. I think Atlanta might be interested in a quarterback. Outside of Kirk Cousins for the next two years, maybe it’s time to start grooming a quarterback. Arthur Blank had magic happen when he put Mike Smith and Matt Ryan together, and they turned their fortunes around in Atlanta right away, and he remembers that.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: I’m taking [Bill] Parcells — I need to be entertained. I want John F. Kennedy, ’cause I think he was just one of the great leaders I think that we’ve seen. Give me Joe Namath, Joe was my first superstar that I followed.