Jake Smolinski

A shoulder injury limited Smolinski to just 16 games in 2017. When healthy, Smolinski was uninspiring, as he managed just one extra-base hit -- a double -- over 27 at-bats. In fact, Smolinksi has been a dud ever since a promising rookie stint with the Rangers in 2014. Since 2015, Smolinski has hit just .224/.293/.350 with 13 home runs over 191 games. That said, he does have the ability to play center field. Given the shallowness of the Athletics' outfield even after their acquisition of Stephen Piscotty, Smolinski may very well be able to earn his way into playing time if he shows he is healthy come spring training. At no point in his professional career, minors included, though, has he shown the power or speed necessary to be a relevant fantasy outfielder in all but the deepest leagues.

The long-time minor leaguer has had spurts of useful power when he's snuck into lineups for Texas and Oakland. Smolinski, however, doesn't necessarily have the profile befitting a slugger: He doesn't overload on flyballs, and unfortunately when he has hit the ball in the air it's been popped up in the infield at an alarming rate (16.1 percent last year). He never showed overwhelming pop in the minors, but what he has displayed in the bigs is a strong contact rate. That may make him something better than a .242 hitter moving forward. However, while Oakland doesn't have many impact youngsters in the outfield, they'll probably look to upgrade. Entering his age-28 season, it's going to take drastic, unexpected changes to his skills for Smolinski to become anything outside of fantasy filler.

Smolinski was plucked off waivers by the A's in June, but did not provide much value to the squad, hitting .226 with an ugly .288 OBP. It is hard to see too much upside in Smolinski as he has a career .269 average in the minors and has never topped 13 homers or 10 steals in any season. Smolinski could provide some value for the A's as a platoon bat as he has a .934 OPS versus lefties in his limited major league experience and posted an impressive 1.040 OPS in 2015 against lefties between the majors and Triple-A. If Smolinski can continue to rake left-handed pitchers, he could end up with a role in the outfield for the A's, a team that loves to exploit platoon splits.

A foot injury cost Smolinski nearly two months during the second half, after he was a surprise callup when the Rangers were scrambling for healthy bodies last season. A second-round pick of the Nationals in 2007, Smolinksi had reached the big leagues for the first time at age 25. The surface numbers from his limited sample were impressive, but he struck out at a 26.1% clip while posting a meager 3.3% walk rate. It's worth noting, however, that Smolinski had posted a double-digit walk rate at every minor league stop since 2011, while maintaining a career strikeout rate well below 20.0% as a minor leaguer. Prior to the call to Texas, Smolinski was showing more power in the minor leagues than he had previously, tapping into a tool that had been lacking. Defensively, he's been moved around the diamond over the course of his career as a professional, but Smolinski may be versatile enough to stick as a bench player with the Rangers.