Now that 2024 MLB Spring Training has started and with 2024 MLB Opening Day now just a month away on March 28, it's time to begin your 2024 Fantasy baseball draft prep. It's been an incredibly busy MLB offseason and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been at the epicenter of it. The Dodgers paid $700 million to sign Shohei Ohtani, handed out another record $325 million deal to bring in Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and also traded for/extended Tyler Glasnow for another $136.6 million.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees also made a blockbuster move by trading for Juan Soto, and managers everywhere are trying to figure out how all those high-profile acquisitions have altered the Fantasy landscape. With a reliable set of 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings, you can figure out exactly where to target all those players on the move and also identify potential 2024 Fantasy baseball sleepers to help round out your roster. Before finalizing your 2024 Fantasy baseball draft prep, be sure to see the 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last season, SportsLine's Projection Model identified several top Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts, including Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes.
Paredes belted 20 home runs in just 381 plate appearances in 2022 but he was a bit of a one-trick pony and his disastrous batting average (.205) was costly to anybody who rosterd him in Fantasy baseball. However, the model saw through a terribly unlucky .195 BABIP and predicted he'd outperform players going at least six rounds earlier in 2023 like Anthony Rendon and DJ LeMahieu. The result: Paredes slashed .250/.352/.488 with 31 home runs and 98 RBI and even finished top 20 in AL MVP voting. Anybody who followed the model's advice and picked up Paredes late in their Fantasy baseball drafts received a huge power boost in their Fantasy baseball lineups.
The SportsLine model is engineered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. And that same group is sharing its 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets over at SportsLine, helping you find Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts long before your competition. Their cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day.
Any time more MLB news comes out about the updated 2024 MLB schedule, free agency signings or Fantasy baseball injuries, the team at SportsLine updates its projections. Go to SportsLine now to see these proven Fantasy baseball cheat sheets.
Top 2024 Fantasy baseball sleepers
One of the Fantasy baseball sleepers 2024 the model is high on: Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts. After a decade in Boston, Bogaerts joined San Diego's star-studded lineup and got off to a slow start as he adjusted from going from one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in Fenway Park to one of the most pitcher-friendly venues in Petco Park. He hit just .253 before the All-Star break after entering the season as a career .292 hitter. For the season, Bogaerts finished with 19 home runs, 58 RBI, and 19 stolen bases, but his batting average (.285) and OPS (120) were his lowest since 2017.
However, Boagerts displayed why he earned a $280 million contract after the Midsummer Classic as his OPS jumped 126 points compared to before. He also projects to have more run-producing opportunities in 2024 as the departure of Juan Soto should allow Bogaerts to move up in the lineup after seeing most of his at-bats in the No. 5 spot a year ago. Bogaerts is a top-five shortstop in the 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings as he's slotted above the likes of Bo Bichette and Elly De La Cruz, despite those two being drafted multiple rounds earlier on average.
Another of the 2024 Fantasy baseball sleepers the model advises targeting: Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins. The 29-year-old was an All-Star and won an OF Silver Slugger award in 2021 by slashing .291/.360/.518 with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. And while he hasn't been quite as productive over the last two seasons, his power/speed profile makes him worth a shot in the middle rounds of your upcoming drafts.
Mullins drove in a career-high 74 runs last year despite missing 46 games and he also had 15 home runs and 19 stolen bases. His .271 BABIP in 2023 was also 31 points lower than his career average entering the season, so expect his .233 average to shoot up with some better fortunes on batted balls. Those are big reasons why the model ranks Mullins ahead of Jazz Chisholm and Mike Trout, who are being drafted at least five rounds earlier on average.See more sleepers at SportsLine.
How to find proven 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings
SportsLine's model is also high on a surprising starting pitcher who bounces back in the top 10 of its positional rankings. This player is going outside the top 100 picks but is projected to outperform starters going in the top 35 like Corbin Burnes, Logan Webb and Aaron Nola. This pick could be the difference in winning your league or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
So which 2024 Fantasy sleepers should you target in your upcoming drafts? Visit SportsLine now to get 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all from the model that called Isaac Paredes' big season, and find out.
