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Joey Pollizze shares five 2024 fantasy baseball draft sleepers in the AL East that are currently going in the middle to late rounds of your drafts as values.
The stars you draft in the top half of your fantasy baseball league will almost always dictate how good your team will be. But it's those sleepers in the middle to late rounds that might matter more. Those unexpected players that you draft in the 11th or 12th round that turn out to be strong players for your fantasy roster will be huge throughout the season.
I'm going to get you ready for your fantasy baseball draft by going division by division to list the best sleepers to target on each MLB team. The AL East will be first on this series, and the AL Central will follow next week. Each week, I will go through one division, which should lead us into the beginning of March.
Let's dive into the AL East and see which players on the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays make the list.
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New York Yankees: Marcus Stroman
Starting pitcher Marcus Stroman went back home this offseason and signed a two-year, $37 million deal with the New York Yankees. Stroman spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Cubs and was a solid late-round fantasy option. That should continue with the Yankees in 2024.
Stroman's current ADP is around #236 on different platforms, meaning you won't be taking the right hander until way later in your drafts. If you're also in a roto league and looking for a pitcher with a low ERA, the 32-year-old veteran is the perfect fit. He has a career 3.65 ERA and has pitched under that mark in three of the past four seasons. Even in points leagues, he could be a great late-round selection because he doesn't allow many runs and only gave up 120 hits in 2023.
Now, Stroman won't give you much in the strikeout department. If you're looking for that, you should pass on his career 7.5 K/9. But he's a player who will give consistent production on the mound with a low ERA.
Boston Red Sox: Masataka Yoshida
After a successful rookie season, outfielder Masataka Yoshida will look to build off that in 2024. The lefty did a little bit of everything in his first season, hitting 33 doubles, 15 HR, 72 RBI, and eight stolen bases. He also finished with a solid slash line of .289/.338/.445 as a rookie.
Yoshida should be in store for another great season in year two in Boston. It was kind of shocking to see where the 29-year-old was going in drafts with his ADP sitting at #145 on Yahoo and #109 on ESPN. He was consistent for most of the year and was hitting .306 on August 1. That's the type of production that fantasy managers should target in the middle to later rounds of their drafts.
Yoshida contributed in almost every category last year, and that shouldn't change in his second MLB season. He was a solid late-round pick in 2023, and if he can repeat that performance at the very least, the lefty would be a great option in all formats.
Baltimore Orioles: Jackson Holliday, Craig Kimbrel
It was hard to pick just one Orioles player on this list, so I'm going to give you two names that you should draft this year. The first one is shortstop Jackson Holliday. The number one overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft and the current number one prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, should be drafted in all formats this year.
It remains to be seen if Holliday will make the team right out of spring training or even get called up at all in 2024. But it's a shot that you should be willing to take. The lefty quickly rose up the Orioles' minor league system in 2023 and went from Single-A to Triple-A by the end of the year. He hit a combined .323 with 12 HR, 30 doubles, 75 RBI, and 24 stolen bases among all four levels. We saw it last year with Elly De La Cruz, rookies can come up and immediately make an impact. The Orioles shortstop should follow suit, assuming he gets called up in 2024.
Relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel is another Baltimore player you should target later in your drafts. If you need a closer and saves later in the 12th or 13th round, he's a player who is going 147th overall in most leagues. Kimbrel joined the Orioles this offseason and will be the closing pitcher on a team that just won 101 games last season. With Felix Bautista (elbow) likely out for the year and coming off Tommy John surgery, this was the perfect landing spot for the veteran. Bautista secured 33 saves in 2023.
Tampa Bay Rays: Brandon Lowe
Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe is the type of player you select in the last round of your fantasy draft because of the potential he stays healthy. Injuries have really hurt his fantasy production over the years, as he has played just 174 games over the past two seasons. In 2023, he played 109 games and only hit .231 at the plate. He did launch 21 HRs with 68 RBI, 15 doubles, and one triple.
However, it was just two years ago that Lowe put together his best fantasy year. He hit 39 HRs with 99 RBI and 31 doubles, all career-highs. That season, the left-handed slugger also played 149 games, which helped his fantasy production in 2021. Now, it would be extremely surprising to see him get back to that type of production at the plate.
However, he has shown throughout his career that he does have the power. His 162-game average over his career has him sitting at 34 HRs and 98 RBI. If he can stay healthy, Lowe is definitely worth a shot later in your drafts because of his power potential with the Rays. His ADP is also #238 on Yahoo heading into the season, so this pick won't be a major risk either.
Toronto Blue Jays: Chris Bassitt
The final sleeper for the AL East is Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. Like Stroman, Bassitt has been known for his low ERA over the years. The right hander has finished with lower than a 3.65 ERA in five of the past six seasons and has a career 3.49 ERA in his nine years. Last season, he had a 3.60 ERA with 16 wins across 33 starts.
Bassitt's numbers won't wow you by any means with just 186 strikeouts in 200 innings pitched last season. He had a 1.175 WHIP and was a very strong starter for the Blue Jays. His consistency on the mound and low ERA could be great in the later rounds, especially in roto leagues. His ADP is around #127 on different platforms, so you should be able to get him in the double-digit rounds.
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