With Spring Training in full swing, the countdown to Opening Day 2020 is on. That means the time has come for fantasy baseball leagues to gather and commence their drafts, and we here at Rotoworld have everything you need to dominate yours with our all-new 2020 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide.
The guide sports a plethora of content no matter your league’s format, from projections and rankings to tiers, mock drafts and exclusive expert columns.
Speaking of columns, today we’ll be showing you exactly the kind of value our guide offers with a glimpse of D.J. Short’s Top 25 Transactions column.
Take a look:
1) Gerrit Cole lands record $324 million contract with Yankees
Finally, the Yankees got their man. After failing to sign Cole when they drafted him out of high school way back in 2008, they were able to get it done with the richest deal of all-time for a starting pitcher. The Angels were the primary competition for Cole and many thought they had the geographic advantage, but the Yankees blew everyone away to bring him into the fold at December’s Winter Meetings. At $36 million per season, Cole now claims the highest AAV of any player (including position players) in MLB history. Only Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout top him in overall value.
It’s a massive payday for Cole, but it’s well-deserved too. The 29-year-old found a new gear during his time with the Astros, posting a 2.68 ERA over 65 starts between 2018-2019. He led the AL with a 2.50 ERA last season and had the highest strikeout total (326) in the majors since Randy Johnson in 2002. The Yankees are already coming off a 103-win season, so they are sitting pretty in the AL East. Anything short of reaching the World Series will be viewed as a disappointment.
9) Madison Bumgarner heads to the desert on five-year, $85 million contract with Diamondbacks
Only a few months separate Bumgarner and Zack Wheeler, but the latter got the more lucrative contract. That might come as a surprise given Bumgarner’s accomplishments, but teams have gotten smarter about paying based on such criteria. We’ve likely seen Bumgarner’s best days, but he should still be a respectable starter for the life of the contract. To be clear, this deal wasn’t solely about money for Bumgarner. He actually received more lucrative offers elsewhere. However, Arizona is like a second home for the veteran left-hander - he has horses there - and he wanted to stay in the National League.
17) White Sox sign José Abreu to three-year, $50 million extension
The White Sox made a host of interesting additions this offseason, including Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnación, Dallas Keuchel, Nomar Mazara, Gio González and Steve Cishek, but they were also able to keep their first baseman in the fold. Abreu first accepted Chicago’s qualifying offer before agreeing to an extension. The 32-year-old led the AL with 123 RBI last season and should continue to produce this year with an improved supporting cast.
For the full list of top transactions and more from the MLB Draft Guide, you can purchase here! Take advantage of our package deals and gain access to our MLB Season Pass product, and be sure to grab our MLB DFS Toolkit as well!
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