Who Should I Draft?
Austin Meadows or Nelson Cruz (2020)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Austin Meadows LF,RF,DH - TB  | Nelson Cruz DH - MIN  | |
Expert |
83% Recommended by 38 of 46 experts |
17% Recommended by 8 of 46 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 29 | # 34 |
| Best Rank | # 15 | # 19 |
| Worst Rank | # 47 | # 57 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 45 | # 81 |
| Best Rank | # 32 | # 61 |
| Worst Rank | # 54 | # 90 |
| Projections | ||
| Runs | 31 | 31 |
| Home Runs | 10 | 14 |
| RBI | 30 | 40 |
| Stolen Bases | 5 | 0 |
| Batting Average | .285 | .281 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | - | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 31 | # 36 |
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 24 | # 36 |
| Staff Rankings FullTime Fantasy | # 45 | # 57 |
| Alan Harrison The Fantasy Fix | # 24 | # 37 |
| Steve Gardner USA Today | # 32 | # 45 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 31 | # 49 |
| Greg Smith The Fake Baseball | # 31 | # 42 |
| Tim Young Brewer Rat | # 29 | # 35 |
| Jeff Boggis Fantasy Football Empire | # 27 | # 37 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 30 | # 33 |
| KJ Fantasy Team Advice | # 29 | # 32 |
| Dave McKay The Fantasy Sports Brain | # 31 | # 37 |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | # 27 | # 30 |
| Chet Gresham The Fake Baseball | # 29 | # 34 |
| Joe Bond Fantasy Six Pack | # 27 | # 33 |
| Chris Meaney FTN | # 30 | # 37 |
| Andy Singleton Expand The Boxscore | # 26 | # 36 |
| Heath Capps Fake Teams | # 21 | # 52 |
| Mark Ross Athlon Sports | # 28 | # 34 |
| Nick Pollack Pitcher List | # 29 | # 35 |
| Bill Dubiel RotoBaller | # 25 | # 32 |
| Nick Mariano RotoBaller | # 20 | # 23 |
| Bobby Sylvester FantasyPros | # 34 | # 47 |
| Tyler Thompson Fantasy Six Pack | # 31 | # 40 |
| Jason Johnson Understanding Fantasy Baseball | # 26 | # 43 |
| Donkey Teeth Razzball | # 31 | # 41 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 22 | # 26 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 15 | # 34 |
| Andrew Seifter FantasyPros | # 29 | # 31 |
| Max Freeze Freeze Stats | # 25 | # 40 |
| Dennis Sosic Fantasy Six Pack | # 29 | # 38 |
| Michael Petropoulos BRoto Fantasy | # 27 | # 40 |
| Ariel Cohen FanGraphs | # 29 | # 41 |
| Ryan Amore Pitcher List | # 27 | # 38 |
| Todd D Clark The Fantasy Fix | # 27 | # 40 |
| Brendan Tuma BettingPros | # 27 | # 39 |
| Nate Miller FantasyPros | # 24 | # 33 |
| Staff Rankings Roto Ranks | # 21 | # 34 |
| Jacob W. Dunne New Life Fantasy | # 31 | # 28 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 31 | # 19 |
| Andrea LaMont Lenny Melnick Fantasy Sports | # 35 | # 26 |
| Sean Zerillo The Action Network | # 36 | # 32 |
| Matt Brandon Matt Brandon | # 37 | # 34 |
| George Kurtz FantasyData | # 40 | # 32 |
| Chris Mitchell FantasyData | # 47 | # 38 |
| Mario Mergola Sporfolio | # 47 | # 44 |
| Austin Meadows LF,RF,DH - TB | Nelson Cruz DH - MIN | |
| 2019 Stats | ||
| At Bats | 530 | 454 |
| Runs | 83 | 81 |
| Hits | 154 | 141 |
| Singles | 85 | 74 |
| Doubles | 29 | 26 |
| Triples | 7 | 0 |
| Home Runs | 33 | 41 |
| RBI | 89 | 108 |
| Stolen Bases | 12 | 0 |
| Caught Stealing | 7 | 1 |
| Walks | 54 | 56 |
| Strikeouts | 131 | 131 |
| Batting Average | .291 | .311 |
| On Base Pct | .364 | .392 |
| Slugging Pct | .559 | .639 |
| On-base Plus Slugging | .922 | 1.031 |
| Austin Meadows LF,RF,DH - TB | Nelson Cruz DH - MIN | |
| 2020 Projections | ||
| At Bats | 198 | 190 |
| Runs | 31 | 31 |
| Hits | 56 | 53 |
| Singles | 33 | 30 |
| Doubles | 11 | 9 |
| Triples | 2 | 0 |
| Home Runs | 10 | 14 |
| RBI | 30 | 40 |
| Stolen Bases | 5 | 0 |
| Caught Stealing | 2 | 0 |
| Walks | 19 | 22 |
| Strikeouts | 46 | 51 |
| Batting Average | .285 | .281 |
| On Base Pct | .346 | .356 |
| Slugging Pct | .517 | .553 |
| On-base Plus Slugging | .863 | .910 |
| Austin Meadows LF,RF,DH - TB | Nelson Cruz DH - MIN | |
| News | ||
| Austin Meadows was not present for both Saturday and Sunday's summer camp workouts. Brad Camara Tue, Jul 7th | Nelson Cruz told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he does not plan to retire after the 2020 season. Brendan Tuma - Too Much Tuma Wed, Jul 1st | |
| Austin Meadows went 0-for-3 with a walk an a run scored in the Rays' 9-5 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday. Brendan Tuma - Too Much Tuma Wed, Mar 4th | Nelson Cruz receives 2020 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award on the ESPYs. Brad Camara Mon, Jun 22nd | |
| Austin Meadows went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts in the Rays' 3-3 tie versus the Orioles on Monday. Brendan Tuma - Too Much Tuma Mon, Mar 2nd | Nelson Cruz went 1-for-3 with a double in Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves. Michael Felner Thu, Mar 12th | |
| Minnesota Twins DH Nelson Cruz went 3-for-3 with a solo homer in a 3-3 tie with the Orioles on Thursday. Matthew Terelle Thu, Mar 5th | ||
| Nelson Cruz went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's game against the Phillies. Michael Felner Thu, Feb 27th | ||
| Notes | ||
| If you draft a Tampa Bay position player - especially this year - you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Well, except for Austin Meadows. The Rays have so many platoon options on their team, but Meadows is one of the few players who are locked into an everyday role. Meadows finally lived up to his prospect pedigree last season, and there's room for more growth if he can channel the speed that he flashed in the minors. The big thing to watch with Meadows is how he performs against lefties, but don't overthink it - especially in that division." Michael Waterloo - FantasyPros | Nelson Cruz falls in every draft, in every year, for the past four to five years. It's because he's ancient in baseball years, and only David Ortiz remains undefeated against Father Time. It also hurts that Cruz is DH only, but production is production. If you're looking at Yordan Alvarez in the first few rounds of the draft, you'd be better suited to wait a few rounds and take Cruz for as good - if not better - production. That is, assuming this isn't year where it all falls apart. Michael Waterloo - FantasyPros | |
| Although we haven't seen it for an extended stretch, what Meadows did last year, hitting 33 homers with a .291 average and 12 steals makes him well worth considering if he lasts into the fifth round of your drafts. There may be room for more upside as well. Bobby Sylvester - FantasyPros | If you removed Cruz's age from the equation, he'd be a top pick in fantasy. Despite missing nearly a quarter of the season to injury last year, he again put up elite numbers, topping 40 home runs and 100 RBI while batting .311. Cruz will be 40 this year, never plays the field and is starting to miss more time to injuries. But he's essentially forgotten in most drafts and has shown very little skills decline. Don't shy away from him on draft day even though he clogs your utility spot. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| Some big time potential here if you are willing to take on the injury risk. Michael Petropoulos - BRoto Fantasy | Hit .311 with 41 homers last year. Entering age-39 season Brendan Tuma - BettingPros | |
| Love the player but ADP is just a tad too rich for my blood Brendan Tuma - BettingPros | ||
