Mike Ford

You could look at the season Ford put up at the majors last year and make some assumptions, most of which would be incorrect. The lefty hit more homers off lefties than righties last year. He hit 10 of his 12 homers away from Yankee Stadium. He looks like a softball player, but his Kevin Maas-like performance moved the needle on some fantasy rosters down the stretch when he hit 11 homers and drove in 23 runs while scoring 23 runs over the final two months of the season in part-time duty. His average exit velocity was equal to Matt Olson's last season, and he hit 35 homers between Triple-A and the majors with strong walk and contact rates. He appears to be a bit of a late bloomer, much like his platoon partner, Luke Voit. Perhaps Ford can take over the full-time job if 2019 was the real McCoy. It was a significant step forward from a rather mediocre minor-league career.

Ford was one of the few hitters selected in this winter's Rule 5 draft with a chance to be fantasy-relevant this season. The Yankees, who might have the most minor-league depth in the game, especially in the upper levels, left Ford unprotected and the Mariners selected him with the 11th pick. The 25-year-old first baseman went undrafted out of Princeton but has raked at every stop in the minors, most notably walking significantly more than he struck out (72:94 K:BB) while hitting 20 home runs in 429 at-bats between Double-A and Triple-A last year. The Mariners traded for Ryon Healy to handle the first-base duties and they hope to carry 13 pitchers for much of the season, so Ford will have to really impress this spring to make the roster. However, he hits left-handed while Healy hits right-handed, so it seems he will either make the team and start against righties, or be offered back to the Yankees after spring training.