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Salary cap leagues are a load of fun. The freedom to have any player you want is the main reason for choosing the format for your fantasy baseball league. Of course, with free will comes consequences. You may blow $50 on an Aaron Judge and realize you can’t draft players like Adley Rutschman and Josh Bell, who are needed to create the daunting roster you desire.
Left strapped for cash, you’ll have to look at guys under $10. Lucky for you, there are many of those (maybe even too many). There are 400 guys with values under $10, and several of them are capable of overperforming their current auction values.
And it’s not like we’re talking about scrubs here. Many players under $10 are former MVPs, top prospects, and veterans with a history of providing genuine value to fantasy managers. At under $10, you can find the breakout, and you can find the cog. Aaron Judge is a great guy to have in fantasy, but the quality of your cogs determines how far your fantasy team goes. And if you’re really strapped for cash, read through some of my favorite $1 targets.
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William Contreras, C- Milwaukee Brewers
Auction Value: $9
After a great sophomore year as a catcher with the Braves, William Contreras was shipped to Milwaukee as a part of the Sean Murphy trade. The 25-year-old may end up being the best piece involved in the deal.
As a catcher, he has enough positional fantasy value to justify buying in at $9. But he really will be so much better than that this year.
In 2022, William Contreras (not to be confused with his older brother, Willson Contreras) slashed .278/.354/.506 with a wRC+ of 138 and 20 HRs in 97 games with the Atlanta Braves. That was enough for him to become an All-Star fill-in (an All-Star appointment is an All-Star appointment). A player with that 2022 season is valued at $9. NINE DOLLARS?! I hope your mind is as blown as mine is every time I see that number. NINE DOLLARS!
But yes, William Contreras should be in for an even better 2023. Firstly, 20 HRs in just 97 games is a pace that would’ve resulted in 30 HRs over a 150-game span.
His advanced statistics support the idea that he should have a better season in 2023. Contreras had a barrel rate of 13.4% (91st percentile), a wOBA of .370 (94th percentile), an average exit velocity of 90.4 mph, and an xISO in the 94th percentile.
There are problems with plate discipline (K rate of 27.7%). But as someone who scouts profiled as an especially raw talent, a high K rate should be expected at this stage.
The Milwaukee backstop is one of the most undervalued players in fantasy baseball. Save some money and make Contreras your primary catcher.
Alec Bohm, 3B- Philadelphia Phillies
Auction Value: $6
Alec Bohm has been the subject of many fantasy baseball investigations. The third baseman hasn’t fully lived up to his prospect pedigree yet. And it seems we say that every year, but this is the year Bohm becomes the complete hitter he was expected to be.
In 2022, Bohm batted .280/.315/.398 with 14 HRs in 152 games for the NL champion Phillies. He made a series of improvements in 2022. The most dramatic of those improvements was his K rate decreasing from 26.6% to 17.5%. However, his power results were less than desirable.
Coming up in the minors, Bohm was lauded for his raw power. While his career average exit velocity exceeds 90 mph, his home run totals don’t reflect the raw power that scouts loved as he came up.
The culprit may have been his poor launch angle in his first few seasons. His launch angle was jacked up from around five degrees to 10.2 degrees, leading to increased home run totals. That launch angle increase seems to have continued into 2023 as Bohm is visibly swinging with a higher launch plane.
His floor for 2023 is around 15 HRs, with similar contact numbers to his 2022 season. With one of the best lineups in recent memory surrounding him, Bohm is worth the six bucks. But he becomes a bonafide steal if he can unlock enough power to reach 20+ homers.
Masataka Yoshida, OF- Boston Red Sox
Auction Value: $9
Masataka Yoshida was signed to a five-year, $90 million contract by the Boston Red Sox this past winter. Macho Man -- as he’s so admirably called by Japanese baseball fans -- is set to lead off in his first MLB season.
While classified as a rookie, Yoshida is an NPB vet with seven seasons and 781 games of pro ball under his belt. In those seven seasons, the 28-year-old slashed an eye-popping line of .326/.419/.538.
Despite that, there’s not much to go off of. There haven’t been as many successful NPB-MLB transfers as you’d like to see. We should expect regression in power-related statistics, as even the more well-regarded Seiya Suzuki saw a dip in HRs and SLG%.
However, Yoshida is his own man and possesses just as much offensive skill as some of the best to come out of Japan. You’ll have to waterboard Yoshida if you want to strike him out. Every projection system gives him a projected K rate under 12%, putting him in the upper echelon of contact hitters (batting champion Jeff McNeil had a 10.3% K rate in 2022).
While offensive skills don’t always translate from the NPB to the MLB, Yoshida possesses a plate discipline that you just can’t teach. It’s fair to expect as much fantasy value from him as you would from Steven Kwan. The difference: Kwan is going for $4 more than Yoshida.
With an extended -- and mind you, successful (slashed .409/.531/.727) -- stint with the Japanese national team at the WBC, there may be a slow start.
MASATAKA YOSHIDA TIES THE GAME IN THE 7TH! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/a7COW1167M
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 21, 2023
But have confidence in his talent and history of production. Yoshida's ceiling is well worth the $9.
Ty France, 1B- Seattle Mariners
Auction value: $6
Ty France has been battling his entire career.
The Downey, California native was drafted late in the 34th round of the 2015 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres. He would scrap and scratch his way for four years in the minors until he was called up to the majors.
Despite being an unranked prospect, France still stuck with the Padres in 2019, holding a wRC+ of 84. While he started slow, he would shift into a higher gear in the following years, having a wRC+ higher than 130 in the next two years.
He finally started to reap the benefits of his hard work in 2022, with his first All-Star selection in his first season with 20 HRs. In the first half of 2022, France's .308 batting average was among the league's best. And while a .229 second-half batting average brought his full-season BA down a bit (he sustained a shoulder injury), France still turned in a productive 126 wRC+ season.
France is still fighting for genuine stability this year. The league is trending towards teams locking up their star players in early arbitration years. Since Julio Rodriguez recently agreed to a 12-year extension with the Mariners, France likely has a contract extension on his mind, too. With a good 2023, France can secure his future through his late-30s. Even if he isn't playing for an extension in 2023, his floor is worth the six bucks.
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