NL Only League Strategy & Targets
I do my best to give some thoughts on how I'd approach AL Only leagues.
I have never played in one of these leagues. Therefore, I’m not the best person to be giving advice. But I know the players I like, and my brain is pretty well programmed to be able to adjust and give fantasy baseball advice in a number of ways. So let’s see what we can do.
The biggest thing to avoid in such a league is the player who gets traded to the other league in the middle of the season. Here’s a list of fantasy-relevant NL players who will be unrestricted free agents after this season.
The ones I’d be most devaluing in NL only:
Kyle Tucker, Cubs
Ryan Pressly, Cubs
Josh Naylor, D’Backs
Zac Gallen, D’Backs
Michael King, Padres
Dylan Cease, Padres
Luis Arraez, Padres
We know the Padres are looking to save some money. It will be tough to move Cease and King if they’re in the playoff hunt, but I wouldn’t put it past them. And they’re not exactly a lock to win 95 games this year.
And some other guys I wouldn’t worry too much about:
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
J.T. Realmuto, Phillies
Justin Verlander, Giants
Eugenio Suarez, D’Backs
Nick Martinez, Reds
Nestor Cortes, Brewers
Raisel Iglesias, Braves
Things would have to go really not according to plan in Philadelphia for them to be looking to move Schwarber or Realmuto. I would expect Schwarber to say and just sign an extension this offseason. As for Realmuto, who knows, but I really doubt the Phillies are out of the playoff picture in late July. They’re looking to take the whole thing down this year.
The rest of those guys just aren’t all that great for fantasy in the first place, so you won’t miss them too badly if they do get traded. And even if they do, there’s only a 53% chance that it’ll be to the other league (you can’t get traded to your own team).
Targets by Position
I hold in my head the average fantasy baseball draft being about 350 picks long. If you cut the player pool in half, I suppose we double that to 700. Keeping that in mind, here are some thoughts and targets at each position.
Starting Pitcher
It gets thin pretty quick when you cut out half of the league. I don’t think that’s more true with NL SPs, but we did just over the added risk of Michael King and Dylan Cease. I’m really looking at Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler as NL studs I’d take to the bank. Your larger tier one would probably be
Skenes
Wheeler
Burnes
Sale
Snell
Yamamoto
I’d try to grab one of those guys, but I’d still be looking to go elite hitters early. I imagine I’d end up with one of those Dodgers as my ace.
That’s actually a decent strategy idea. Just load up on Dodgers. You’ll at least get a bunch of wins along the way.
I think there’s a better case to be made for some of these boring-but-safe options in NL only:
Aaron Nola
Logan Webb
Justin Steele
Mitch Keller
Ranger Suarez
Merrill Kelly
Tobias Myers
Nick Martinezz
Some of the names I’d be looking to jump at in the middle rounds for SP help:
Brandon Pfaadt
Cristopher Sanchez
Nick Pivetta
Nick Lodolo
Jesus Luzardo
Grant Holmes
And here are some late-round targets, looking the whole way to ADP 700:
Quinn Mathews (I probably would make sure I got him in an NL only)
Max Meyer
Rhett Lowder
Tylor Megill
Michael McGreevy
Andrew Heaney
Mitchell Parker
Tony Gonsolin
Brandon Sproat
Chase Dollander
Logan Henderson
German Marquez
Keaton Winn