Regan's Rumblings: 12 Intriguing Late-Round Fliers

Call them sleepers, undervalued players or unknown commodities, but in this week's piece we'll touch on a couple intriguing players in each division heading into 2016. Many of these players are targets for deeper leagues -- 10-12 team NL/AL only or 16-plus team mixed leagues with large rosters.

Anyone else you have your eye on?

NL West

Socrates Brito (OF-ARI)

When I saw Brito play in Arizona earlier this month, I have to admit I knew little about him other than he must have interesting parents. No word on whether he has siblings named Plato and Copernicus, but you'd do well to familiarize yourself with his play. Brito faces an outfield situation in which A.J. Pollock and David Peralta own two of the three spots, but $68 million LF Yasmany Tomas could become vulnerable at some point. Tomas though is hitting .389 this spring, so he's likely going to open as the starting left-fielder, but Brito could certainly be the fourth outfielder on the strength of a .378/.410/.568 spring. In 2015, Brito jumped from Double-A to the big leagues after hitting .300/.339/.451 with nine homers and 20 steals in 129 games for Double-A Mobile. He doesn't flash superstar upside, but if he can focus on his plate discipline, he could be a solid big league regular with 30-steals upside. Tomas was a massive disappointment last year after batting .273/.305/.401, so his leash could be short.

Travis Jankowski (OF-SD)

Jankowski was carted off with an ankle injury on Tuesday, leaving his Opening Day availability up in the air as this is typed. Jankowski is expected to be the team's Opening Day center fielder, so keep an eye on this one. Ankle injuries for payers whose games are heavily reliant on speed are a concern, but don't panic just yet. We have a very conservative .226/.267/.281 (11 steals) projection on him for 2016, but Jankowski hit .335/.413/.425 with 21 steals in just 97 minor league games last year, so there is potential for him to greatly exceed our projection. He's also swiped as many as 71 bases in the minors, the fantasy appeal is obvious. If, however, I were to set a HR total over/under of anything higher than 1.5, I'd be overestimating his immediate power potential. Still, if the ankle isn't serious and he gets regular at-bats, Jankowski's speed is attractive in NL-only formats.

Others: Austin Barnes (C-LAD), Dustin Garneau (C-COL)

NL Central

Kyle Hendricks (SP-CHC)

In theory, Hendricks has been competing for the No. 5 starter job, but the job is unofficially his. Coming off a solid 2015 in which he posted a 3.95 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 8.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 180 innings, Hendricks could lay claim to the title of "Best No. 5 starter" in the game, with only the St. Louis No. 5 (Mike Leake or Carlos Martinez) perhaps having a better case. This spring, Hendricks has allowed just two runs in 14 innings with an excellent 14:1 K:BB, all the while rarely touching 95 mph on the radar gun. He does generate a fair share of groundballs with a 2.1 GB/FB ratio, so it's certainly possible he improves his 0.85 HR/9 and takes his ERA more into the 3.60-3.70 range. I like him quite a bit this year.

Keon Broxton (OF-MIL)

Broxton was taking on the look of a Quad-A player coming up through the Arizona system, but now with the rebuilding Brewers willing to give a look to anyone with a pulse, he's looking like a potential sleeper in his age-26 season. Last year in the Pirates' organization between Double-A and Triple-A, Broxton batted .273/.357/.438 with 10 home runs and an impressive 39 stolen bases, and his usual 156 strikeouts in 133 games. He did walk in 12.8 percent of his Triple-A plate appareances a year ago, and if he can somehow cut the strikeouts, perhaps Broxton can get into the .270/.350/.450 range, though that may be a stretch. He's hitting .345/.500/.414 with six steals this spring, and seeing him take over the starting center-field and leadoff jobs isn't out of the question.

Others: Jon Moscot (SP-CIN-inj.), Adam Duvall (OF-CIN_

NL East

Arodys Vizcaino (RP-ATL)

One would think the Braves would give Jason Grilli first shot at closing, if only to build up his trade value and sell him near the deadline for prospects. However, manager Fredi Gonzalez last week said Grilli, Vizcaino and perhaps Jim Johnson would form some sort of three-headed closer monster. Johnson has had an ugly spring and Grilli is dealing with an Achilles' tendon injury while Vizcaino has been outstanding, tossing six innings of three-hit ball with an 11:2 K:BB. Ultimately this job is going to be 100 percent Vizcaino's, but projecting more than 20 saves for him in 2016 might be a stretch.

Adam Conley (SP-MIA)

Beyond Jose Fernandez and Wei-Yin Chen, the Miami rotation looks more than shaky, but Conley has probably already unofficially secured a spot. Officially, he's credited with just 4.2 innings of one-run ball, but in an outing called due rain, he fanned all six Detroit hitters he faced. Conley is a 6-foot-3 lefty who averages nearly 92 mph with his fastball, but can bring it up in the 95-96 range when needed. His 67 innings last year for Miami were average, as he posted a 3.76 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 7.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. Be careful putting too much stock in a small spring sample, but reports are good on his stuff. And if he truly did take a step forward this spring, he could ultimately be a solid No. 3 starter, if not more.

Others: Jerad Eickhoff (SP-PHI),Tanner Roark (SP-WAS)

AL West

Tyler White (1B-HOU)

As a former 33rd-round pick, White doesn't possess near the pedigree of first baseman of the future A.J. Reed or even of Jonathan Singleton, but there's little double White will be the Opening Day first baseman. Last year split between Double-A and Triple-A, White batted an impressive .325/.442/.496 with 14 homers and a super-impressive 73:84 K:BB in 116 games. At a stocky 5-11, White doesn't possess the power typically desired in a corner infielder, but if he can somehow hit enough for the Astros to utilize his OBP skills out of the two-spot between Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, White's value could skyrocket, particularly in OBP leagues. White is batting .371/.452/.514 to Singleton's .146/.205/.341 this spring. This battle looks all but over.

Carlos Perez (C-LAA)

Perez faces competition this spring from the likes of Geovany Soto and Jett Bandy (raise your hand if you've heard of him) for 2016 catcher at-bats, so it seems likely barring a spring collapse, Perez will be in line for at least a 60 percent share of said at-bats. Perez is hitting a modest .250/.324/.429 in March, while Bandy is at a surprising .391/.517/.435, so don't declare this one over just yet. Still, despite hitting just .250/.299/.346 with four homers in 260 at-bats for the Angels last year, I expect Perez will get first crack at the job. Whether he keeps it is another story, so keep the obscure Bandy's name in mind in deeper formats in case Perez starts slowly.

Others: Sam Dyson (RP-TEX), Kendall Graveman (SP-OAK), Nate Karns (SP-SEA)

AL Central

Yan Gomes (C-CLE)

Gomes appears to be trending in the wrong direction given his past three years:

2013: .294/.345/.481, 5.6 BB%, 20.8 K%
2014: .278/.313/.472, 4.6 BB%, 23.2 K%
2015: .231/.267/.391, 3.3 BB%, 26.7 K%

More strikeouts, fewer walks and overall consistently trending down in all respects at the plate. But there's nowhere to go but up. Gomes was hit with a sprained MCL a mere week into the 2015 season and didn't return until late May. Can we fully explain June-September by pointing to the knee? No, but it could be a contributing factor. Most likely he's not going to return to 2013's level of performance, but perhaps something in the .260/.310/.420 range with 17 or so home runs is doable. Gomes is healthy this spring and batting .250/.314/.594 with three home runs and two doubles in 32 at-bats. He's a solid speculative pick later in your draft.

Kyle Gibson (SP-MIN)

A 2009 first-round pick by the Twins, Gibson has yet to fully live up to that level of potential, but he's settled in nicely as an innings eater while leaving us wondering whether he has a next step in him. Gibson increased his K/9 rate last year from 5.4 to 6.7, but even the latter number is well below average, and even his 3.0 BB/9 rate isn't what we like to see from a guy who doesn't miss a lot of bats. Gibson offsets the lack of punchouts with a solid 53.4 GB%, and at age 28, he's just hitting his prime years, so perhaps a step forward to 200 innings of 3.50 ERA ball and a 7.5 K/9 is possible. This spring, Gibson has a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings, though his 11:6 K:BB indicates results have been mixed.

Others: Tyler Saladino (3B/SS-CHW), Christian Colon (2B-KC)

AL East

Caleb Joseph (C-BAL)

This is just a guess, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Joseph accumulate more at-bats this year than Matt Wieters given the questionable state of Wieters' elbow. Perhaps Wieters even sees time at DH with Joseph behind the plate. So what would be a fair estimate for Joseph if he's given 350 at-bats? Perhaps something between the .299/.346/.494 (22 HR) he hit in 518 Double-A at-bats in 2013 and the .234/.299/.394 he hit in 320 MLB at-bats last year? The latter is obviously not a great line, but he did improve his K% (from 25.1 to 20.3) and BB% (from 6.2 to 7.6) year over year and he has a bit of pop. Give him regular playing time, and I could see .260/.320/.430 with 15 HR in 350 at-bats as his ceiling. Whether he reaches that level of playing time is obviously in question, but he's worth a look in deeper two-catcher leagues.

Erasmo Ramirez (SP-TB)

I've written about my man crush on Matt Moore, but let's look at another Tampa Bay starter. Ramirez projects to be the team's No. 5 starter, and so far this spring, the results are somewhat mixed. In 14 innings, Ramirez has allowed seven runs on 16 hits for a 4.50 ERA, but his K:BB indicates his ERA should be quite a bit lower -- 15:1. Ramirez finished 2015 with a solid 3.75 ERA, but that number is a bit deceiving. In Ramirez's first two appearances, he allowed a whopping 15 runs in 5.1 innings. The rest of the way, Ramirez posted a 3.01 ERA in 158 innings, mostly in a starting role. Even better, in his final six starts, Ramirez recorded a 31:3 K:BB In 36 innings. With a fastball averaging 90.9 mph, he's likely not going to be a big strikeout guy (6.9 K/9 in 2015), but his minor league numbers suggest he could get that up to the 7.5 range. Ramirez looks to be a lock to stick in the rotation for the first couple months of the season until Alex Cobb (elbow) returns, and perhaps beyond if performance dictates.

Others: Joe Kelly (SP-BOS), Xavier Cedeno (RP-TB)