2024 Active Rosters: Capricorn
Capricorn’s 2024 season was marked by a frustrating combination of injuries to some of their key batters, and a lack of depth to compensate for those injuries. For example, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kyle Tucker only got into 180 games between them (out of a possible 324), but were still the sign’s two highest-scoring corner outfielders. Second baseman Ozzie Albies and first baseman Triston Casas also missed significant time. And don’t even get me started on Kris Bryant.
As far as regulars who remained both healthy and productive, shortstop Elly De La Cruz leads the pack, bringing a power/speed combination that we don’t usually see outside the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna Jr. (when healthy). William Contreras was arguably the best hitting backstop in the league. Center fielder Julio Rodriguez only missed minimal time due to injury, but fell off drastically from his Rookie of the Year (2022) and Silver Slugger (2023) form.
The Goats did have some solid role players from out of nowhere signings in 2024. Jose Iglesias stepped up and played multiple positions for the Mets after signing a minor league deal, although for Capricorn, he provided much-needed innings at third base. Actually, based on his 2023 defensive profile, Elly De La Cruz qualified at third base last season, which opened the door for promising shortstop options J.P. Crawford of the Mariners and rookie Brayan Rocchio of the Guardians. Kevin Pillar had a decent season for the Angels, although he has decided that 2024 was to be the last of his career.
The top end of Capricorn’s pitching staff was top notch in 2024, including a 2,000 point season from Dylan Cease, in his first season with the Padres, after coming over from the White Sox in an offseason blockbuster trade. Max Fried pitched like an ace for the Braves, earning himself a $200 million contract with the Yankees in free agency. His teammate Reynaldo Lopez successfully transitioned from the bullpen back to a starting role, and should have a chance to continue that run. Kevin Gausman rounds out what would be the top four for a potential playoff rotation.
The fate of Gausman’s Toronto teammate Alek Manoah is a strange and sad one. After plummeting from a 6.0 WAR All-Star season in 2022 to negative -1.1 wins in 2023, he managed only five starts last season. He did post a positive 3.70 ERA in those starts, so if that heralds a return to form, this rotation could be quite stronger yet. And that’s not even counting replacement-level guys (at least in terms of the fantasy landscape) Tyler Anderson, Michael Lorenzen, and Dean Kremer.
The Capricorn bullpen has a plethora of great options. Raisel Iglesias remained healthy all year, breaking 2,000 points as the Braves closer. Carlos Estevez split his season finishing games between the Angels and the Phillies (where he joined fellow Capricorn Jeff Hoffman). Seattle’s Andres Munoz and Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran have some of the most electrifying stuff in the game, but it somehow has not translated into consistent gaudy fantasy point totals.