2021 Earth Signs Preview
My preview of the 2021 Fantasy Astrology Baseball League season concludes today with the three Earth signs. For positional commentary (at least in the infield) I’ll be taking into account my new roster structure for the league, where shortstops are now officially allowed to play second base, and any infielder can slot in at first. Also, fantasy rankings (per MLB.com) will be up to date as of Opening Day, which occurred last Thursday.
Virgo had two players ranked in the top 10, and they both appear in photos in the Lindy’s 2021 Baseball Preview magazine. Top overall pitcher Gerrit Cole (#6) will headline the staff, in his second year of a record-setting deal he signed with the Yankees. This collage also features Ladybugs SP2 starter Tyler Glasnow (#47), fresh off a World Series appearance with the Rays. And although third starter Sandy Alcantara (#140) also appears in a photo in the magazine, he’s not included up here. In the bullpen, defending NL Rookie of the Year Devin Williams (#174) gets the collage love over projected Cleveland closer James Karinchak (#97) based on the quality of his photo rather than his fantasy ranking.
The other top 10 Virgo talent is Karinchak’s teammate in Cleveland, third baseman Jose Ramirez (#9). While Ramirez would technically be eligible to play first base under my new positional rules, this is not necessary for Virgo, which boasts the top-ranked (primary) first baseman in the game in Freddie Freeman (#14). (Technically, Cody Bellinger is ranked one spot before Freeman, but the Cancer Crabs will use him at his primary position of center field.) Next on the Virgo 1B depth chart is Paul Goldschmidt (#74) who has the inside track on the DH role. Another Virgo starter who had his picture in the magazine was outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (#131), who is currently filling in for George Springer (#43) as he recovers from an oblique strain.
Capricorn has one fewer player in the top 10 than Virgo, but it happens to be #2 overall player Fernando Tatis Jr. – and he also happens to show up in two different photos in the magazine. (In the one I’m not using, he’s performing a jumping forearm bash with real-life teammate Manny Machado, the other side of which you can see in the Cancer Crabs preview.) His middle infield mate on the Sea-Goats is Ozzie Albies (#36), who is a real-life teammate of another Jr., Ronald Acuna, the only player ranked higher than Tatis by MLB.com. Ranked just two spots below Albies is corner outfielder Kyle Tucker (#38), who is finally starting to deliver on his top-prospect pedigree for the Astros.
Also included in the collage is the most decorated member of the Capricorn infield, third baseman Kris Bryant (#114), who has a Rookie of the Year and an MVP award to his credit. KB has also played his share of outfield, but the next best third base eligible Goats player (Eduardo Escobar) is ranked behind their third outfielder Mitch Haniger by a margin of 63 spots (#277 to #214). Rounding out the collage are the number two and number four pitchers in the rotation: Max Fried (#69) sits behind new Dodger Trevor Bauer (#18), while Kevin Gausman (#145) trails Chris Paddack (#120).
I don’t know if this will be relevant for predicting the outcome of the 2021 season, but Taurus players had the most photos in the Lindy’s 2021 Baseball Preview magazine out of any sign. Among their 14 players pictured (just ahead of Aquarius with 13, and Virgo with 12) is almost the entire starting infield: 2020 World Series MVP Corey Seager (#28), 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve (#66) and Matt Chapman (#93), who is coming off an injury-shortened 2020 season. Interestingly enough, Altuve’s real-life team (the Astros) visited Chapman’s team (the A’s) on opening day, where Houston was showered with a torrent of shame from both the Oakland Coliseum staff and the first regular season crowd they saw since news of the sign stealing scandal broke.
I’ve made enough jokes over the years about how Taurus has both the shortest and the tallest MLB regulars (Altuve and Aaron Judge (#41), respectively), so I won’t attempt another one here. Two Bulls pitchers are included in this collage: Braves graduating rookie Ian Anderson (#109) and fifth starter John Means (#223), although top prospect Casey Mize (#374) also had photos in the magazine. While I changed the positional eligibility rules for the infield, I still require each team to have a center field eligible player, so even though Alex Verdugo (#119) has played plenty of center in his career, he’ll be relegated to DH duties to start the season (behind Austin Meadows (#81) and Victor Robles (#161), neither pictured - Verdugo has a photo in the magazine, but I decided not to include it at the last minute because of spacing issues).
Next time, Flashback Friday continues, with a look at the homer-filled 2007 season!