BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 60
CURRENT ADP: ~79 overall
ANALYSIS: Alvarez only appeared in two games in all of 2020 before having his season cut short due to knee surgery. A lot went wrong for the Houston Astros in 2020, but Alvarez missing basically the entire season was at the top of the list. But this was a player who you had to draft in the first three rounds of 2020 drafts after he posted 27 homers and 78 RBI in 87 games as a rookie in 2019. That was after he came with a ton of hype for putting up video game-like numbers in the minors.
He will never give you speed, but he has the chance to be a four-category contributor, especially with the power. In 2019 he had a max exit velocity of 117.9, with a 13.4-degree launch angle and a barrel rate of 16.3 percent. He is going to crush plenty of baseballs if he is healthy. I understand the health risk that he and his knee bring, but I am expecting him to only play DH, which eases those concerns a bit. I am willing to take the upside shot on a player that could once again be an early-round pick next season. I like him in the fifth round.
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