Mid-Season Rotisserie All Stars

This is my final ESPN contribution for the 2017 season.

Paul Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper, Jose Altuve and Max Scherzer are players most fantasy leaguers drafted in the first round. Through mid-season, they are earning back their owners’ investments – congratulations! But as much as it’s nice to have players like these on your roster, they alone are not going to win you a title.

High-priced players performing as expected are just building blocks. You need them to provide a foundation. However, your league’s winner will be the owner who has a far more valuable commodity – profit.

When we look to crown the mid-season All Stars from a fantasy perspective, we are looking for the most profitable players based on their draft cost. Odds are most first place teams have one or more of these players on their roster:

Catchers: In the American League, Salvador Perez will be the starter in next week’s on-field All Star game, and his pre-season average draft position (ADP) of No. 137 does indicate some good profit. But Alex Avila’s 11 home runs and .310 average at such a scarce position is providing far more profit on his No. 661 ADP.

In the National League, Tyler Flowers came into the season at No. 341, but his .318 average – nearly 50 points higher than anything he’s ever done – is driving the profit for his owners. Sustainable? His monthly averages — .391, .333, .273 – say, probably not.

First Basemen: There are many high-profit candidates at this position, including Travis Shaw (No. 304), Mark Reynolds (505) and Logan Morrison (512). But the biggest profit source has been next week’s AL starter, Justin Smoak (541), who is putting up the type of numbers – 22 HR, .303 – we expected him to be producing for the past seven years.

Top NL vote-getter, Ryan Zimmerman, is tough to ignore from a profit standpoint. His injury history had depressed his ADP to No. 389, but 19 HRs, .335 have pushed him into the Top 10 of all hitters.

Second Basemen: There is not a lot of profit to be found here, as most second-sackers are performing pretty close to expectation. Still, in the AL, Starlin Castro is putting up numbers – 12 HR, .313 – that far surpass his pre-season ADP of No. 245.

The NL is tougher. I suppose we should give the honor to Scooter Gennett and his No. 469 ADP. But it’s tough to justify honoring a player who’s been a full-timer for just one month – albeit one great month (9 HR, .302 in June).

Third Basemen: Coming off an injury-marred 2016, Mike Moustakas’ ADP was down to No. 212, but his 22 HR, .270 performance merits note in the AL. In the NL, Travis Shaw came into the year at No. 304, but his 17 HR, .291 stats have provided great profit.

But where does this leave Marwin Gonzalez? He’s hit 14 HRs and batted .313 in under 200 at-bats, splitting his time among six positions, including third base. With an ADP of No. 433, he would have been undraftable even in an 18-team mixed league. But he’s earning a cool $17 right now.

Shortstops: In the AL, Andrelton Simmons has nine home runs, 13 steals and is batting .278. He’s hit more than nine HRs just once in his career and those 13 bags are already a personal best. He came into the year at No. 374 but his numbers currently rank him as the seventh best shortstop in baseball.

The NL honor comes down to a neck-and-neck race between Chris Owings (298) and All Star starter Zack Cozart (378). Owings is currently ranked fourth among all shortstops, earning $24. Cozart is ranked tenth, earning $13. I’d give the nod to Owings.

Outfielders: There are four AL outfielders who were drafted around ADP 300 or later and are currently among the top 25 outfielders in the game. Avisail Garcia (408) was completely forgotten on draft day. Aaron Judge (343) is currently the top ranked player in the game behind 27 HR and a .327 average. Cameron Maybin (308) and his 24 steals have boosted his value. Corey Dickerson (290) was undervalued on draft day thanks to his one down season in Tampa but has bounced back to his Colorado-level stats – 17 HR, .321.

The overall outfield profit is not as great in the NL, but the top player has been the most profitable overall. Cody Bellinger came into the season at No. 437 but his 24 HR, .260 line is currently ranked eleventh among all outfielders. Following him are Jay Bruce (206) and Ender Inciarte (201).

Starting Pitchers: In the AL, Jason Vargas has a subpar skills set and an uninspiring history, leading to his ADP No. 586, but is somehow posting a $29 season, fifth best in baseball. All leading indicators say it won’t last, but I’ve been saying that for three months now. Behind him is Ervin Santana (321) and his 3.07 ERA, though a 6.03 June mark hints that the bloom may already be off this rose. Luis Severino (350) may be the only one of the trio who actually deserves his profit, though a 5.92 ERA in his last four starts probably urges some caution here too.

In the NL, Alex Wood’s (353) skills have never been questioned, only his health, so it’s nice to see him ranked seventh among all pitchers behind nine wins and a 1.83 ERA. Ivan Nova (255) and Robbie Ray (212) also deserve mention here. But earning far and away the most pure profit has to be Chase Anderson (613), whose six wins and 2.89 ERA have him ranked 20th overall among starting pitchers.

Relief Pitchers: Bullpen success is fickle, driven more by managerial decision and supporting cast than any pitcher’s inherent skill. The Profit All-Stars then would be Bud Norris (666) and Brad Brach (440) in the AL, and Corey Knebel (402) and Greg Holland (262) in the NL, for no other reason than they were in the right place at the right time. If you guessed right and they’re on your fantasy team right now, congratulations.

On to the second half…