2020 Aries Rams

Aries are the fire-breathers of the Zodiac. Known for their quick tempers and passionate personalities, Rams live up to their designation as the Cardinal Fire sign. Dorothea Lasky of the Astro Poets (herself an Aries) writes, “Aries do tend to get very angry from time to time (read: every hour, on the hour).” I don’t know enough about individual player personalities to confirm if this description holds true of every player born between March 21st and April 19th. But I do know that in the last decade, something in the Aries makeup happened to click as far as the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League: Aries was the top-scoring fantasy sign for five of the six seasons between 2013 and 2018. (The lone outlier was when they finished a close second to Libra, the other Positive Cardinal sign, from the Air division.)

Aries reached these heights thanks to a strong core of players, none of whom show up in the 2020 lineup. Their pitching staff boasted three bona fide aces in Felix Hernandez, Chris Sale, and Corey Kluber, the latter of whom was the only one to pitch in the majors at all last season (a one-inning outing for his new real-life team, the Rangers). First base and catcher were occupied by Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey, but the former is no longer fit to play in the field, and the latter opted out of 2020 due to COVID-19. And in recent years, the offense got a boost from a pair of third basemen, Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman, the latter of whom consistently gained shortstop eligibility due to the injury troubles of his Virgo teammate Carlos Correa.

This changing of the guard, so to speak, has left Aries as a middle of the pack team as far as 2020 stats are concerned. Check out the new-look Rams and judge for yourself whether you think 2019-20 represent the start of a decline phase, or just a blip before this team will return to prominence, similar to what happens during the vernal equinox, which heralds the beginning of Aries in the zodiacal wheel.

If there’s hope for Aries in the near future, it rests with second-generation big leaguer Cavan Biggio (777 points / 13.2 points-per-game), the sign’s 2020 offensive leader. He’s got eligibility all over field, but running the numbers shows that he’s most efficiently utilized at his primary position of second base. When I said that no one from Aries’s former core shows up in the 2020 lineup, that’s only true if you are willing to ignore certain positional eligibility rules in order to put Orioles slugging first baseman Renato Nunez (622 / 12.0) at his original position of third base, despite his only getting four games at the position in ’20. If you insist on having someone who actually qualified at the hot corner, Nolan Arenado (529 / 11.0) would actually get the nod. Looking at the shortstop mix, Alex Bregman (480 / 11.4) would not beat out former backup catcher Isiah Kiner-Falefa (493 / 8.5), even if I were willing to bend the rules to put A-Breg at a position he didn’t qualify for (spoiler alert: I would be).

For all his recent injury troubles, Miguel Cabrera (618 / 10.8) actually wasn’t too far behind the two players who make up the first base / designated hitter rotation in Christian Walker (698 / 12.2) and Matt Olson (661 / 11.0). Just mere points behind Miggy is another former luminary at that spot, switch-hitter Carlos Santana (613 / 10.2). Outfield defense is the name of the game for Aries, with the versatile Jeff McNeil (525 / 10.1) flanked by two very talented center fielders: Jackie Bradley Jr. (624 / 11.3) and Brandon Nimmo (627 / 11.4), with Lorenzo Cain waiting in the wings under normal circumstances. Posey’s heir apparent behind the plate is Dodgers star prospect Will (D.) Smith (527 / 14.2), not to be confused with the veteran Cancer reliever of the same name, against whom the younger Smith homered in the 2020 NLCS against the Braves.

Even without the above-mentioned trio of aces, the 2020 Rams still managed to field a very impressive pitching staff, one with an notably high amount of international flavor. Japanese righty Kenta Maeda (955 / 86.8) had his best season yet after going from the Dodgers to the Twins in an offshoot of the famed Mookie Betts trade. Another former Dodger, Korean lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (756 / 63.0) also impressed in his first season with the AL after signing a free agent deal with the Blue Jays. Venezuelan righty Carlos Carrasco (666 / 55.5) had an emotional return to the Indians after a scary case of leukemia last year, and doesn’t appear to have lost a step on the mound. And Dominican rookie Cristian Javier (617 / 51.4) impressed out the Astros rotation during the regular season and as a long reliever in the playoffs.

I gave my custom Aries uniforms the only good name font, because they’re one of the most consistent teams in the league.

The bullpen is also a bright spot for Aries, with two-time Reliever of the Year winner Josh Hader (598 / 28.5) leading the charge, even though he ceded the 2020 version of that award to his rookie teammate Devin Williams (a Virgo). Edwin Diaz (550 / 21.2) hasn’t approached his peak 2018 season with the Mariners since, but he has been a serviceable closer for the Mets. Many balked at Atlanta’s decision to use Mark Melancon (542 / 23.6) as the closer last year over stronger options (such as the above-mentioned Will (M.) Smith), but the veteran showed he can still get the last three outs of a game. Add in Kirby Yates and Dellin Betances – two injury casualties with great recent track records – and you have a relief corps worth bragging about.

Next time we’ll look at the second-most successful FABL team of the last decade, the Libra Scales.