I’ve already written this post a couple of times, but we’re a lot closer to the season now, and I’m really bored today. Let’s go position-by-position, giving my draft targets after ADP 350 at each.
I’m not planning to go deep into each guy. I’ve done that during the team previews. But I’ll give you my quick thought process on each name.
Catcher
There’s not much of a point in taking a veteran player as your late-round catcher. You should be shooting for upside and then just playing the waiver wire streaming game if you find yourself in trouble at this position. So I’m targeting a few young guys who are hoping to break into the lineup this year.
Adrian Del Castillo, Arizona Diamondbacks
ADP: 430
He has shown huge power along with a pretty nice contact rate. He has all the makings of a 30-homer backstop. I don’t think he starts the year with a regular MLB role and could even go back to AAA for a bit. You can’t rely on him to be your starter out of the gate, but I just think he’ll hit his way into the lineup a good bit at some point this year. Any injury to catcher Gabriel Moreno (the catcher), Josh Naylor, or a corner outfielder could get him there. I’m not saying he can play first or outfielder at this point, but that would move Smith off of the DH role against righties and ADC could slide in there.
Endy Rodriguez, Pittsburgh Pirates
ADP: 450
I doubt he’s a great hitter, but I do think he’ll get a good amount of playing time. He could take the catching job from Joey Bart, and there are likely going to be reps available at first base and DH as well. We don’t know much about Endy since he missed the whole 2024 season, but there’s upside with the bat.
Honorable Mentions
Drake Baldwin (ADP 530): It looks like he’ll have a tougher time cracking the lineup as the Braves are ready to roll with Sean Murphy. I imagine that puts him back in AAA to begin the year as they’ll want him to keep getting reps. But an injury to Murphy, or even some offensive struggles on his part, could get Baldwin into a split behind the plate.
Dillon Dingler (ADP 600): He’s behind Jake Rogers for the Tigers catching duties, but Dingler does appear to have upside with the bat. He hit .308/.379/.559 in AAA last year with 17 homers on a 20% K% and 10% BB%. That got him an opportunity in the Majors, where he hit just .167/.195/.310 in 87 PAs. He didn’t exactly put a bunch of pressure on Rogers with that performance, but the minor league track record suggests he could have above-average abilities with the bat if he can make the necessary adjustments this year.