2024 Active Rosters: Cancer
By any objective measure, Scorpio and Virgo were the top two signs in 2024. They would flip-flop in those two spots, depending on how strictly you want to stick to positional eligibility rules, but either way, the Cancer Crabs would finish in third place. This is the high finish you would expect from the sign of the National League MVP and highest fantasy scoring player in MLB last year, Shohei Ohtani.
But Cancer’s offensive excellence doesn’t stop there. Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson and Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez each put up 2,000-point seasons. Phillies shortstop Trea Turner likely would have joined them, had he not missed time due to injury. Speaking of positional eligibility, he would not technically have a spot in the starting lineup – although my league settings allows anyone with shortstop eligibility to slide over to second base. At the corners, the Crabs have Josh Naylor of the Guardians, and Manny Machado of the Padres, which leaves no room for D-backs third baseman Eugenio Suarez.
An absolutely wild defensive alignment would push Suarez to second base (a position he’s never played, but he did have 34 game at shortstop as recently as 2021) with Turner manning center field (he had 45 games there during his rookie season, way back in 2016). But making all those changes would STILL leave Cancer just short of Scorpio’s fantasy points total for the overall lead. If saner heads prevail, Cody Bellinger would handle center, with a right field platoon of A’s breakout lefty Lawrence Butler and Boston’s oft-injured Tyler O’Neill. Yankees catcher Austin Wells finished third in Rookie of the Year voting, even though he was narrowly outscored by Keibert Ruiz of the Nationals.
Starting pitching has historically been a weak spot for Cancer, and ’24 was no different. Very tall Twins hurler Bailey Ober was the best of the bunch, and he didn’t even break 1,800 fantasy points. Tanner Houk (tuah) and Michael Wacha had solid seasons for the Red Sox and Royals, respectively, the latter’s earning him a pre-free agency extension early in the offseason. Cubs lefty Justin Steele would have likely competed for keeping the Ace position warm for Ohtani until he recovers from elbow surgery, but he missed most of the first half after a leg injury suffered in the first game of the season.
The Cancer bullpen was actually quite strong, with Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals putting up an elite season as the Cardinals closer. Tanner Scott was off to a great start pitching the ninth inning for the hapless Marlins, but ended up losing a great deal of fantasy equity when he was traded to the Padres to serve in a setup capacity down the stretch. As a reminder, saves are the main source of fantasy points for relievers: Scott averaged 27.3 points per game while he was racking them up with regularity pre-trade, but dropped to just 15.3 after going to San Diego.
Camilo Doval lost his hold on the ninth inning for the Giants this year, and Cole Sands was a breakout setup reliever for the Twins. But it’s two members of the World Series winning Dodgers who could have big implications for Cancer’s future. Blake Treinen missed a lot of time due to injury, but was Dave Roberts’s most trusted leverage reliever in the playoffs. And rookie Landon Knack put up some decent numbers while filling in for an injury-depleted Dodgers rotation duringn the year, and could get some consideration for a bigger role moving forward.