2021 Water Signs Preview
When I first did the initial tally of points for the 2020 season, I calculated that Cancer had finished in second place behind Aquarius. Upon closer inspection, I found that Virgo actually inched ahead of my home sign due to a technicality. However, I’m saving the preview of the Earth signs until later, because it’s my blog and I get to decide how things are done.
I’m focusing my 2021 FABL preview on one of my favorite aspects of the baseball offseason: the Lindy’s Baseball Preview. While the magazine was printed way back during Capricorn season, it contains a wealth of full-color pictures, which I have arranged in collage format. This week, I’m showcasing the three Water signs, including my “home” sign Cancer.
Cancer has been known for a deep offense and a shallow pitching staff over the years, but this trend could be changing, with the emergence of Lucas Giolito (ranked #17 by MLB.com as of Aries Season 2021, the highest-ranking Crab player in this collage). As of the start of Spring Training 2021, Dinelson Lamet slot in as the SP2 with a rank of #66, beating out 2017 World Series hero Stephen Strasburg (#78) after his lost 2020 season. However, since then, injury troubles for the former have bumped Lamet all the way down to #109, with Strasburg jumping up to #64 - possibly due to his two scoreless Spring outings.
But for all these promising pitchers, the Cancer offense is still their strength. Manny Machado (#20) - pictured here doing a jumping forearm bash with his cropped-out Capricorn teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. - is the highest-ranking batter in the collage, but he falls behind shortstop Trea Turner (#7) and first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger (#13). DJ LeMahieu (#29) provides good infield versatility, while center fielder Kyle Lewis (#131) heads into 2021 as the defending AL Rookie of the Year. DH Yordan Alvarez (#63) got the full-page picture on Houston’s scouting report, but he missed nearly all of 2020 with a double leg injury, and doesn’t project to make the CAN starting lineup as per the the most recent rankings.
In a polar opposite situation to Cancer, Pisces has had one of the strongest pitching staffs in recent memory, led by Clayton Kershaw (#34, pictured) and Justin Verlander (not ranked - he’ll miss all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery). But you can tell by the pictures here that the Fish have an emerging offensive core. Shortstop Bo Bichette (#23) leads the way as far as rankings are concerned, and it’s also worth mentioning his Blue Jays teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (#57), who moved across the diamond to first base last season. But the most valuable fantasy commodity might be J.T. Realmuto (#46), the top-ranked catcher in the game, pictured here before he re-signed with his former team… same with DJ LeMahieu above.
The rest of the pictured players are outfielders: Randy Arozarena (#62) gets the top rank of the three, which is curious, considering his resume consists of basically one good postseason (although it was VERY good). Michael Conforto (#68) and Nick Castellanos (#75) are both limited to corner spots in terms of eligibility, requiring Sam Hilliard (#367) to step in and drag their average ranking way down. While Conforto has played a fair amount of center in his time, Castellanos is better suited for DH, where he is projected to start the year for PIC.
Scorpio is another offense-first sign, which became even more the case when Framber Valdez (ranked #90, as of the START of Spring Training games) fractured his finger (causing his ranking to plummet to #181 as of the Pisces/Aries cusp). But with two top-ten ranked players anchoring their lineup, this team should still have a strong core. Juan Soto (#5) should hopefully be recovered from a COVID-shortened 2020 season, while Trevor Story (#10) is now the lone superstar in Colorado’s infield, following the offseason trade of Aries Nolan Arenado. Not pictured is Francisco Lindor (#15), who will serve as the starting DH because of antiquated eligibility rules.
The strong infield continues with Rafael Devers (#35) at third base and Yasmani Grandal (#101) behind the plate. Grandal is ranked behind Taurus Salvador Perez (#83) and Aries Will (D.) Smith (#93), mostly because fantasy doesn’t take defense into account. The last pictured player doesn’t project to start for the Scorpions: Joey Gallo (#125) would be a DH candidate, were Lindor allowed to occupy second base, but the Rangers slugger would still likely lose out to Giancarlo Stanton (#70).
Next time, we’ll enter a new decade (reverse-chronologically, and counting decades from 0-9, instead of 1-10) as we go back to the 2009 season.