Ji-Man Choi

Choi appeared in 83 games during 2021 and hit .229/.348/.411 with 11 homers, 14 doubles, 45 RBI and 36 runs in 305 plate appearances. He should see plenty of time at first base, especially with Yandy Diaz likely to see more time at third base following the departure of Joey Wendle.

Choi has seemingly found a home in Tampa Bay after bouncing around the league in waiver-wire purgatory. A player with splits issues and a good personality is a great fit for the way Tampa Bay constructs a roster, especially when they play decent defense. Choi has been an above-average bat against righty pitching each of the past three seasons, although this most recent one was his worst of the bunch. He does not hit lefties, and even tried switch hitting for a bit in 2020 to solve that. He works a quality at-bat with a discerning eye, and will accept walks which helps in OBP leagues, but the cap on his playing time due to his issues against lefties makes him very tough to roster in shallower mixed leagues. Expect more of the same in 2021, as the Rays are unlikely to make any adjustments to their roster which would push Choi off the bag at first.

Choi's last two seasons have been similar, with the difference being the move from homer-embellishing Miller Park to power-suppressing Tropicana Field. Choi improved his K% and BB% last season. His average exit velocity is consistently around the 85th percentile, fueling a reasonable batting average floor and moderate power, capped by a slightly-below-average flyball rate. Some platoon hitters can't hit same-side pitching, others aren't given enough reps to find out if they can. Choi's career 127 wRC+ facing right-handers is nearly double his 64 wRC+ mark against southpaws, but he only has 125 career plate appearances against left-handers, just over 10% of what's necessary to say the player owns his splits. However, the Strat-O-Matic Rays aren't the right organization to give Choi more same-side at-bats, restricting his fantasy value to deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats.

Would you believe Choi's average exit velocity bested the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Edwin Encarnacion, Cody Bellinger and Nolan Arenado? Choi began the season in Milwaukee, and was designated for assignment at the same time Tampa Bay had decided to move on from 2017 surprise Brad Miller and his terrible defense. The two clubs swapped players and Choi became the 2018 version of Miller as he was a big part of the club's summer surge that kept them in contention a lot longer than anyone imagined. Choi hit .269/.370/.506 with Tampa Bay in 189 plate appearances, and C.J. Cron's departure this offseason gives Choi the leg up on the primary DH role for 2019. Choi should sit against all lefties whenever possible, so plan on a 475-plate-appearance ceiling for him, which makes him more of a single-league target.

The Angels selected Choi in the Rule 5 draft last offseason due to his strong ability to get on base, and the early returns on their investment were mixed. Despite a middling performance during spring training, the first baseman did manage to break with the major league club, but he was sent off the 40-man roster after going just 1-for-18 over the first month and a half of the season. He continued to hammer minor league pitching, which earned him a ticket back to the majors in July, but he was only able to muster a .170/.271/.339 slash line by season's end. The 25-year-old did walk 12.4 percent of the time in the big leagues but he also struck out over 20 percent of the time. If Choi can begin hitting major league pitchers like he hits minor leaguers, he could garner a second look now that he's a member of the Yankees organization. However, with Greg Bird and Tyler Austin expected to amass the most time at first base and Matt Holliday slated to DH, Choi seems like the odd man out and could spend 2017 in an organizational depth role once more.

Choi was suspended 50 games last April for failing a PED test. He doesn't have much in the way of raw power, but the 23-year-old has outstanding plate discipline. In 70 games at Triple-A Tacoma last season, Choi walked 36 times against 42 strikeouts. He's posted strong walk rates and low strikeout rates most of his minor-league career, and he makes excellent contact as well. Still, he would need a big spring to land a roster spot to begin 2015.