Kansas City Royals catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez is expected to primarily play the outfield in 2024 after he mostly served as a catcher in his second MLB season in 2023. The 25-year-old produced impressive numbers at the position in 148 games over 602 plate appearances, slashing .235/.316/.398 with 16 home runs, 56 RBI, 29 doubles, three triples, six stolen bases and 65 runs scored after hitting 18 home runs in just 129 games in his rookie season in 2022. Melendez's numbers slipped a bit in his sophomore campaign with KC, but he still hit the ball hard and had an exit velocity in the 96th percentile, and he could become even more productive at the plate this year if he's not catching at all. The main problem for his fantasy value moving forward is that he's going to lose catcher eligibility.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' tentative plan in 2024 is to platoon outfielders Jason Heyward and Manuel Margot in right field, with new acquisition Teoscar Hernandez in left field. Meanwhile, the Dodgers plan to get at-bats for Chris Taylor all over the field, including in left. The 33-year-old can also play center field, second base, third base and shortstop when needed. He could still play pretty regularly when others need a day off and against left-handers, but it won't be much different than what he did in 2023, when he started only 82 of 117 games played. Taylor was slightly better than he was in 2022 in terms of production, but he also struck out 32.6 percent of the tie, which was 17th-worst in baseball. Without an everyday role and with so much swing and miss in his game, Taylor will mostly be an asset in cavernous mixed leagues and NL-only formats for his positional versatility.

The consensus in the industry is that left-handed closer Josh Hader wants to exceed the five-year, $102 million deal the New York Mets gave Edwin Diaz in November of 2022, even though Hader is entering his age-30 season and is a year older than Diaz was. But Hader has better numbers with a 2.50 career ERA and a 42.2 percent career strikeout rate. Hader also had a lower ERA in his platform season (1.28), even with a career-high 13 percent walk rate. Diaz was coming off a season in which he recorded the second-highest rate of strikeouts per nine innings in major-league history when he signed his deal. His contract also includes $26.5 million in deferrals. It means that Hader and his agent, Jeff Barry, don't need to exceed the $102 million to say they beat Diaz for the richest contract for a reliever.

The Tampa Bay Rays have been shopping designated hitter Harold Ramirez, whose OPS+ the last two seasons is 21 percent above league average, according to sources. Ramirez is projected to earn $4.4 million in arbitration next season, according to MLB Trade Rumors, and trading him would create even more at-bats for Jonathan Aranda and 25-year-old Curtis Mead. Aranda should fill the first base/DH role for the Rays against right-handers now that Luke Raley is in Seattle. The 29-year-old Ramirez hit a strong .313/.353/.460 with 12 home runs and five stolen bases in 122 games in 2023 and hits both righties and lefties well. He could be a candidate for an everyday role if he leaves Tampa, but he also doesn't hit the ball in the air enough to be much of a power asset for fantasy managers.

Of the teams that could use free-agent third baseman Matt Chapman, the San Francisco Giants know him as well as anyone. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was with the Oakland Athletics for Chapman's first two seasons, and new manager Bob Melvin was for all five of Chapman's seasons in Oakland. Third base coach Matt Williams, who was with the A's in 2019 and '19, is an admirer of Chapman's. The 30-year-old would help the Giants' shortage of power while also providing an everyday anchor and stability on the left side of the infield. However, he's also just a year younger than Evan Longoria when he arrived in a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays in December of 2017. Longo had an OPS+ just three percent above league average in his five seasons in San Fran. Chapman is a four-time Gold Glover but hit just .205 with a .659 OPS after April 30, although his hard-hit and exit-velocity numbers for 2023 were among the best in MLB, suggesting a bounce-back season could be coming.