
Judge is in right field and batting second in his spring debut. The 32-year-old fantasy superstar has reached the 58-homer mark in two of the last three seasons and remains a first-round selection in all fantasy formats. His RBI totals may take a hit this season following generational talent Juan Soto's departure to the Mets, but it's not enough to consider dropping him behind other elite outfielders like Soto, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts and Corbin Carroll.
Alvarez did have a couple of well hit balls, including a liner back up the middle that Clay Holmes made a fine play on. It's hard to say if there was any significance to him batting second today, especially since the Astros weren't using a lineup of regulars. He hit third more often last season, but with Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman gone, Alvarez could move up behind Jose Altuve, with Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes and Yainer Diaz following in some order.
Canario represents an intriguing low-risk pickup for New York as extra outfield depth in the wake of Nick Madrigal's shoulder injury. The 24-year-old former top prospect became expendable for Chicago following the offseason addition of superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker after posting an .857 OPS with two homers in 21 contests at the big-league level over the past two years. There isn't much of a path to major-league at-bats with the Mets at the moment, but he's a worthwhile reclamation project and could turn into an impactful reserve outfielder down the road.
Interesting. The two sides had agreed to a deal in mid-December, but Arenado was unsure on the direction that the Astros were headed after trading Kyle Tucker and letting Alex Bregman walk, so he blocked the trade since his preference was to play for a contender. The Cardinals have been aggressively shopping Arenado and were willing to pay down $15-$20M in December when the two sides matched to help pay down his salary -- and the expectation is that they would be willing to do the same this time around as they desperately want to cut salary. If the Astros are successful in landing Arenado, it would shift Isaac Paredes to second base and Jose Altuve to the outfield. Stay tuned.
Judge isn't usually much for the extra curriculars -- he's never played in the WBC, and he's hasn't participated in a Home Run Derby since winning it as a rookie in 2017 -- and the Yankees definitely like it that way. So, we'll have to wait and see if this works out. The 2023 Team USA roster included Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber and Cedric Mullins as outfield options. Getting Judge on the team and maybe adding Jackson Merrill to the mix would make for some fun setups.