Gabriel Arias

Mister Upside is coming out of his cage and he has been doing just fine, and now fantasy managers want it all from Arias. His upside at the plate is high because he has elite bat speed, but the infrequency of his contact with the baseball limits him realizing his offensive potential. Arias has struck out in 33% of his 1034 major league plate appearances over the past four seasons, and that rate has worsened every season. His defense has kept him in the lineup as much as possible because his range and throwing ability from the left side of the diamond is fantastic. If this sounds like another version of Christopher Morel, it gets better. Arias, like Morel, is out of minor league options so the Guardians must keep him around or they can trade him to another club and see whether Arias can put it all together. The only players with worse AB/SO rates in recent years than Arias with similar plate appearance totals include Bobby Dalbec, Michael Toglia, Will Benson, and Trayce Thompson. None of them have yet to make it to 50 career homers while they all have batting averages below .225. The risk outweighs the reward here. Read Past Outlooks