Fantasy Baseball Today - 03/28: Bold Predictions, Opening Day Storylines (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 28, 2019

Our final show before we can actually start talking about the games! We start with a discussion about Francisco Lindor and when we would take him if we were drafting today (3:05) before discussing the players we have the most shares of (4:30) and giving a bold prediction (10:50). Brad Peacock better than Zack Greinke!?!?!? ... Rankings disputes for some popular players (14:45), news and notes including MLB lineup notes (23:00) and a quick round of your emails (32:00) ... One player to watch in each of today's games (38:38), more bold predictions (52:10) and our MLB picks to end the show! ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email fantasy baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. Here it is. Opening day. I hope you all are as excited as we are.

Welcome to fantasy baseball today. Every team is in action. We are going to break down every game. tell you one player or one storyline to watch for in each game. We also have bold predictions, MLB predictions, and we're going to start with an over-under. Scott White, this is for you, a fresh over-under. Over-under three and a half steals for Francisco Lindor this season. Yeah, I'm still going to take the over on that, but how did he hurt himself in the minors? What was he doing again? Oh, he was running the bases. So, yeah, when he is ready to go, I have a feeling

they might want to limit how much he does that. Well, welcome to Scott White. Welcome to all of you out there. Hello, Kreef. How are you guys doing? I'm great. Apparently, Mr. Professional here for watching the video, doesn't want to participate in the theme of opening day,

which is being a baseball fan. Firmly establishing myself as the only unbiased analyst on the podcast, the only non-homer, as I have always said, I am the voice of reason. Wait, can we all... Ridiculous. Can we all establish right now? I think I know what the answer is going to be, and I think I'm not going to like it.

But on the count of three, I'm going to go one, two, three, and then we're all going to say it. Who on this podcast is the biggest homer? Ready? Here we go. One, two, three, Heath. Adam. Adam. What?

Come on. It's unquestionably. It's definitely Adam. Like if Heath had spent the entire offseason singing the virtues of Ryan O'Hern. Who has been better than Greg Byrd? We could make that case if I had, you know, just done nothing. No, no, no, but those guys are actually good, unlike Greg Bird. If I had spent the entire off season just like, guys, you've got to draft Garrett Cooper.

I could get that title. Scott, the Braves really don't have any bad players. Well, like, uh, Julio Toron. I mean, I had three Braves on my, uh, I had three Braves on my initial bus list. There you go. Come on. There you go. Scott have been telling us that Julio Toronto was an above average starting pitcher.

Oh, gosh, Heath, with your, with your judgmental hot takes today. Oh, man. Um, Francisco Lindor. Let's start with that. He sprained his ankle, running the bases. Leonis Martin is likely going to lead off for Cleveland in the interim. Eric Stammitz is going to play shortstop. Hanley Ramirez made the roster.

So I guess just to put it into context of how valuable you think Francisco Lindor is, if you were drafting today, Chris Heath, then Scott, when would you draft Francisco Lindor? I think you still got third round. 22nd overall. I had been letting him slide to late in the second. So yeah, I think probably early third makes sense. We don't really have a timetable for this injury.

It's not as bad in my mind as a calf strain, but it's going to cost them. I would imagine all of April. Scott, the calf bone is connected to the ankle bone. There's no calf bone. Yeah, there is. Is it a calf muscle that he pulled? No, it's the calf bones connected to the ankle bone. It's the shin bone.

No. Right. So, okay, what are your expectations or how reasonable is it that Francisco Indoor comes back and is MVP caliber when he plays. Slightly worse than MVP caliber is my expectation. I think you should expect him to struggle a little more than he would otherwise. I don't think he's just expecting to step back on the field after missing all of spring training in the first maybe month of the season and then just be himself.

Especially since he will literally not run ever. Okay. Yeah, I think he'd be nothing but something. It had to be a little concerned about the steals, I guess, as Scott already was, and that was well documented. Okay, fast-paced show today, a lot to talk about players we have the most shares of. We have finished our drafts. Who do you have the most shares of? Scott White.

Well, I didn't actually count it all up, but I would guess the player I have the most shares of is Chris Archer, off the top of my head. I did write a column players I keep drafting where I named 16. of them and he was among them. I would guess he's the one I have the most. Heath? I actually have a color-coded spreadsheet to tell me the answer this question. Nerd.

It's a three-way tie, Matt Carpenter, Paul DeYoung, four-way, Michael Brantley, and Luke Weaver. As I've always said, Heath loves St. Louis. That just proves that I'm not a homer. No, you just love St. Louis. It's right.

It's close by. And there's sliced bagels. Yeah. I will defend the sliced bagel. What is a sliced bagel? You didn't see the controversy yesterday? They sliced their bagels the wrong direction. They sliced their bagels like bread. And I think I wouldn't, like if I had them at home, I wouldn't want that. But for an office setting where you have a big spread of a variety of bagels, I think it's the perfect way to do it.

Like little bagel crackers. I mean, it's not like a hard. It's not hard. So they take a single bagel and they slice it more than once, you're saying? Top to bottom. Yeah, top to bottom. Like, like, because, okay, think it. I'm even looking at it.

I don't get it. We had a breakfast spread yesterday. Brought by the company. And it's a bunch of bagels and some cookies and muffins. It's great. But it's not the healthiest thing. And a bagel's not the healthiest thing in the world. I'm trying to watch my weight.

I've lost some weight. Hold your applause. Look at you. Look at Chris. He looks great in that orange. And I don't want a whole bagel. It's too much. But I'm not going to rip a bagel in half and then just throw the other one back on the pile.

Throw it away. That's what I have to do. I have to throw half a bagel away. Have you ever seen how many bagels are left at like 2 p.m? That's all. They throw bagels away. I know, but I don't want to be responsible for a bagel being thrown away. I would rather just be able to select my portion of bagel.

individually cream cheese it and then go about my time. What players do you have the most exposure to? I sometimes get a second bagel. I'm sorry. There's too many bagels. It's so dense. Okay, so Scott. It's just sits in your belly like a neutron star.

Scott said Chris Archer. Heets said four players. Matt Carpenter, Paul, the young Michael Brantley and Luke Weaver. Luke Weaver. We haven't done that in a long time. Scott, Chris, Chris, who do you have the most shares of? Corey Seeger, which is, given the way I've talked about Corey Seeger, the previous two years, is shocking. But I just feel like he's been a great value this year.

I'm not too worried about him living up to his potential. I think he's, you know, there's some risk coming off hip and elbow surgery. But when he's falling to like 70th, 80th overall, I feel like he's just too good of value there. And it reached the point where Scott would just start saying in the draft room, Chris is about to take a shortstop. or second or third. You took a lot of source of us. Now, I do have a question, though. Do you know that you actually,

have you kept track or is this another guess? I, so I've kept track of the leagues that I'm playing out, and there's nobody that really, like I think I have three shares of Justin Turner and the six leagues that I'm playing out. That's probably the answer for the ones I'm playing out.

Right. But including the mocks, it's definitely, because that's the reason I ask, and that's the reason I do this. We do so many mock drafts. I drafted a ton of Jack Flaherty this year. I have him on Z.

zero teams that we're playing out. Yeah. Which kind of stuff. I have Severeaux on a couple teams that were playing. I have a lot of Luis Severino, and I mean, I'm nervous because, you know, it's not just you sit there and you say, well, he's going to miss a month, and then he's going to come back and be fine. This could be an injury that lingers, and it could derail him. You know, Marcus Stroman, for example, last year.

I don't think he was ever right. And he's definitely someone we're going to be keeping an eye on today as he makes his opening day start. But if Severino has a good year, I might have. I get off to a slow start, but I should be in pretty good shape. You know, able to get him. I think I got him last night 100th overall in a draft, which isn't great value or anything, but it could end up obviously being great value.

So I'm not a homer, but I love Luis Severino. You are clearly a homer. The guy you own the most of is a pitcher for your favorite team that is not going to pitch for at least the first month of the season. Adam, pop your shirt. Let's see it. Oh, yeah, right, there we go. I had to stand up or sit out a phone booth, or phone book, rather.

Is that a child medium or child's large? It's a girl's small shirt that I have on today. So a couple of things to promote, a few things to promote. Sportsline, all right, opening day, a lot of games to pick. You want to play some wagers. Go to Sportsline.com. Use the promo code Vegas and get your first month for just $1. And you will see how great it is.

And you will make, it's $9.99 a month. Okay, first month for a dollar with the code Vegas. But with the advice you're getting there, you're going to make that money back. Fantasy Baseball today on CBS Sports HQ this afternoon at noon Eastern. Hopefully you're hearing this before that. Please check it out noon Eastern on CBS Sports HQ. Just download the CBS Sports app and watch HQ. It is free.

I watch it on my Roku all the time. If you have Apple TV, Amazon Fire, anything that is connected, you can watch HQ. And we've got the special edition of our show that you're going to love. And the madness continues tonight. We're one step closer to one shining moment. the best place to stay on top of all the NCAA tournament coverage is CBS Sports HQ. And that is our free 24-hour sports streaming network. And it's built for fans like you with me.

This is smart sports analysis. You're not going to get the fake debates, the yelling, the politics that you find on the other sports networks. You're going to see, like I said, fantasy baseball content on HQ. It's always on. It's always free. Download the CBS Sports app. We got bold predictions today. So I want to tease a little bit with one bold prediction now.

later. And then we're going to give some MLB standings. I got the Angels making the playoffs. Yeah. That could be a bold prediction. Scott, give me one bold prediction that you'd like to talk about right now. Okay. I believe, I don't, I mean, these are bold predictions, so I don't know how much I believe it. But I think it's plausible that two Rockies starting pitchers could be in the top five Tsayun finishers in the NL. My best guess for who those would be would be Hermann Marquez and John Gray, but you know, maybe Kyle Freeland is able to repeat the feat. He was fourth in the NL last year. Okay, I like that. Armand Marquez.

Boy, I hope you drafted in some Yahoo League, Scott, because Armand Marquez was very low. I did a Yahoo draft last night. I don't play with those Yahoo! Come on. If you play in a Yahoo League, you do not ever have to worry about position scarcity. I was shocked that Carlos Santana was not catcher eligible. He was third base and first base eligible. All right, Chris, how about a bold prediction from you?

Daniel Murphy will hit 350. That is my bold prediction. I thought it was 360. Is it 360? I think it was 360. You're getting a little cowardly on the podcast. Daniel Murphy will hit 360. That's what I meant to say.

He had 347 in 2016, 322 in 2017. that was not playing half of his games at Coorsfield. And then his skill set just completely evaporated because of his knee injury last year, and he hit 299 with a 308 Babbitt. He's, if not Jose Al-Tuve, I think he's probably the best batting average skill guy in baseball. And now he gets to play at the park that boosts Babbup more than any.

I think that over the last decade or something, pitchers at Coorsfield have given up like a 320 Babbip. and Daniel Murphy has long been a high-babbitt guy with his swing, so he's easy money to win the batting average title. That's a thing that you can wager on. I don't know if easy money, but smart. Easy money. It's still a long odd.

Easy money. Go to sports line. It's like we like the Rockies. Apparently, I don't have them making the playoffs. Heath, what's your Rockies or non-Rockeys-related prediction? I have no Rockies-related predictions. I'll say Elo Jimenez is going to be a top 20 hitter in both formats. He's going to hit 300.

He's going to hit 30 home runs. He's going to drive in 100 runs. He won't steal any bases. He might not score a lot of runs. But Elohiminez is going to be awesome. It's going to be what? Awesome. No, what was your prediction?

Both formats. Top 20 hitter. Okay, both formats. All right, my prediction, Brad Peacock will be better than Zach Granky. I've talked a lot about Brad Peacock and what he did as a starter two years ago. Zach Rankie has given up 23, 25, and 28 home. runs in his last three seasons, obviously under a strikeout per inning last year, which is not necessarily new for him. He's thrown 2,663 in a third regular season innings across 15 seasons,

and in his last two months of 2018, Granky was 3 and 6 with a 368 ERA, 19 walks, 56 strikeouts, 10 home runs allowed in seven innings. Pretty not so great. And I just think the wins are going to keep going down. I think he might win 12 games because I think the Diamondbacks are absolutely terrible. So Brad Peacock won't have as many innings, but we'll be better than Zach Granky. That is bold, people. In points? On a per game basis or per inning basis, yes.

Season long. That you're saying nothing. Say yes, Adam. Have the courage of your convictions. Yes. Don't he bully you? Brad Peacock better than Granky. There we go.

I did just bully him. You're saying? Yes. You did. But neither will be as good as Luis Severino. Okay, so a few rankings disputes. I want to do more of these throughout the season. One of them, not exactly a dispute, but we should talk about Fernando Tatis. But let's start with Peter Alonzo.

They are not ranked all that differently. But, Scott, you have Alonzo 14th in points, 13th in Roto at first base. And Heath, you have Alonzo 19th in points, and 18th in Roto at first base. So we're going to talk about Alonzo, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Joey Lucchase, major rankings disagreement there on Joey Luckees. Let's kick it off with a guy who's going to be in the opening day lineup for the New York Mets. First baseman Peter Alonzo, Scott White, the floor is yours. And let's see, I'm going to give you guys 30 seconds each.

Go ahead. Yeah, I'm very excited about Pete Alonzo. There wasn't too many hitters who had a more eye-opening spring. Obviously, the Mets wanted him on the roster, and he seized that job with gusto. But made a lot more contact than I think I even anticipated. and while I'm not necessarily counting on that continuing into the regular season, it was a good sign that he's not overmatched by Major League pitching and tons of power. I'm thinking there's like a Reese Hoskins outcome for him in his first Major League season.

Time is up. Okay, Heath Cummings, Peter Alonzo. I don't dislike Pete Alonzo and he's one of the last first baseman that I could get excited about having some upside. I do still have concerns because the Mets, things worked out pretty well for Alonzo in that Todd Frazier was hurt. Jed Lowry was hurt. They've got some openings. They start their season, though, with nine games basically against Acese. They got the Nationals for three, the Marlins for three, and then the Nationals for three.

I'm afraid Alonzo gets off to a slow start against all those good pitchers. I do think there's quite a bit upside there, though. Wait, the Marlins for three? Chris didn't even acknowledge me. Well, I just, we don't know which of the Marlins' Aces are going to be there. Aces. Five. Four.

Aces, right. Okay. We're calling them stallions. Okay. So, I don't know that there was much of a debate there, but relevant player, worth talking about. I'm going to give a, I'm going to say that one's a draw. And Fernando Tatis Jr., you both have him 15th. Scott has him 14th in Roto.

But Heath talked about, you know, he's into Paul DeYoung, Glaborator. range. And Scott, you haven't had a chance to talk about Fernando Tatis. So I'll let you go first again. 30 seconds on the clock. Talk about Fernando Tatis, who I took in two leagues yesterday.

Very excited. I think I got him like 130th overall in one league and 115th, maybe in another. Go ahead, Scott. So my ranking is meant to be on the cautious side. There's a chance Fernando Tatis

comes up and is so good. We're drafting him in the first round next year. I think he has a honestly, it's a Mani Machado-like skill set for him, but he's 20 and, you know, obviously hasn't spent much time in the upper miners. But there's power, there's speed. I, you know, the downside is he strikes out too much potentially and ends up hitting only 240. And shortstop being, you know, I just have him a couple spots behind Gene Segura. So shortstop has a lot of depth, like we said. but in terms of

rostering him I would have a hard time giving him up knowing the upside right now if I was lucky enough to roster him I figured you were wrapping up anyway but I would just play the buzzer sound Heath any thoughts on day two of Fernando Tatis mania

Yeah I said a lot of things about Tatis yesterday and Scott said everything that I pretty much agree with just 30 seconds ago so I want to attack Scott, use my time to attack Scott scoffing at the Glaber Torres Paul DeYoung range of my range. Oh, you saw that. Because their ADP may not be the same, but their profile is almost identical. I think it's brilliant to say he's in that range, because you really can't be wrong. That was 140 pick range.

It's really the smartest game three move you can make. Did you get that from me that his bat-a-ball profile was basically identical to Paul de Young? I wasn't talking about as bad at ball profile. I was talking about his actual production in the major leagues and his projections for 2019. Okay. I do want to say, oh, sorry, go ahead. I do think Torres has considerably more upside than DeYoung. So there's a gap between the two of my rankings and there is, I think, for most people.

So that's why I scoffed that, that range. That sounds like a wide range. I do want to say one thing about Fernando Tetis. There was this big argument on Twitter, the fantasy baseball community, was torn asunder on the question of how good will Fernando Tatis be? And, you know, the projections don't think he'll be great. But one thing to keep in mind is, like, Scott, you compared him to Mani Machado, and I think that's a great comparison for this reason. Nobody would think comparing Fernando Tatis to Mani Machado would be an insult. But Mani Machado only had a 755 OPS as a rookie,

only 14 homers, only six steals. He wasn't a great fantasy player. Now, We know what Manny Machado became, so it's obviously not an insult. But that's the thing to keep in mind is it's really hard to be good in the majors at the age of 20. There's a chance that he's just like a low-end middle infielder. But he still needs to be rostered in all leads because of the upset. All right, last guy we're debating here. Joey Lucchese. Chris wanted me to put Chris Paddock in the notes, but the rankings are too similar.

So I need an actual debate. Lucasey is 57th for Scott, 96. for Heath. Heath, why so low on Low Casey for you? Yeah, and I this is something I've kind of realized over the last week or so that I just didn't

realize that I think more people agree with Scott on Joey La Casey than I do and there is some potential there, but we are talking to a guy who averaged about five innings for start last year and had a 4.08 ERA and had a FIP that was even worse than that.

So I don't really understand why everybody thinks he's a top 50 or 60 starting pitcher, I don't really think that the Padres are going to be good this year. I've got him in fourth place, so I don't expect him to get a bunch of wins. I don't think he's going to get a lot of innings. And I just don't get it. Well, the reason is 10 strikeouts per nine innings last year. And I'll point out that I originally had Luc Casey rank closer to Heath's range. I considered it kind of a modern look at the way we value eight starting pitchers and how he hardly lasted a third time through the batting order last year. He pointed out his average inning's per start.

It's tough to get wins that way. But the addition of a cutter to his arsenal this spring, I think, is with the idea of hopefully allowing him to pitch deeper into games, broadening his arsenal a bit. And it's really upside. You know, I came to the conclusion that on draft day, I want upside, and I'll figure it out from there if it doesn't work out. I had to move him ahead of boring guys like Julio Tehran and Michael Waka. I think I still have my head of Tehran as well. Heath, I do have one question for you.

Where do you have Rich Hill? I have Rich Hill around 70, 60 or 70. How many innings per start did Rich Hill average? I would assume around 6.5.3. Wow. That's surprised. It's a little better than Joey Lucasey. But they're actually, I think, if you look at the pro,

Rich Hill has a sub three ERA, right? 360. No, yeah. He actually had a high ERA-ish. And Joey Lucchese had a 364 Sierra. I think if you actually look at them, they kind of look like the same guy. They really only have two pitches each. Lucases is, I don't think we've decided if it's a change-up or a curve.

I think people were referring to it as a cherve last year, but it's like an 80-mile-per-hour thing that nobody can hit. I think he does have a lot in common with Rich Hill, a lot of strike. I think better control than Rich Hill, at least what he showed last year. Hides the ball really well. I'm more with Scott on this one. Oh, okay. Well, then I will play. Great Scott.

There you go. If you had gone with Heath, it would have been... But not today, Heath. The Heath is not on. News and notes, Alex Cora will not name a closer. Does Ryan Brazier need to be owned? Not in a standard-sized league. I think it's going to be Barnes still.

I mean, there was reports early this spring that Barnes had the advantage, and after some initial struggles, they figured out he was tipping his pitches this spring, and he was very strong to close the exhibition season when Brazier hardly pitched at all. I think the skills are better for Barnes. And, yeah, I think it'll be Barnes, but it may not be. We'll see. Not a bad idea if you own Matt Barnes to see if you can drop someone useless and get Ryan Brazier. I don't think it's a bad idea to own Ryan Brazier.

I think there's a possibility. I mean, I sort of months ago planted my flag on Brazier Island. I've stayed there. His last name sort of rhymes with mine. But I think he might be better than Barnes. Barnes has some major walk issues. Great strikeouts, though. Oakland.

Not for a closer. Come on. Most closers walk three and a half guys per nine. Is that all it is? I thought it was in the fours. No, his was like 4.5, I think. Yeah, I think he's got some. Yeah.

I think anyway. Oakland acquired Kendris Morales from Toronto. Do we care? I care about Rowdy Telez possibly getting an opportunity with the Blue Jays, just because he's a big, beefy baseball boy named Rowdy and might hit some don't. But who do you like more in AL only, Kendris Morales or Rowdy Telez? I don't think Telez is currently on the Blue Jays. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Morales probably.

It looked like he was kind of done last year, and then he got hot at the end of the season. The underlying skills still look okay. It's a really bad park shift for him, though. That's the thing I'm concerned with. I think he could be fine now only, though. I've never heard anything you said because I was researching Rich Hill's innings per start

because I thought that was a crazy number. It's true. It's not true. You owe it. It's not true. He averaged 5.7 innings per start, just for a point of clarification. Okay.

Extra out. Half an inning is a pretty big difference. It is. I mean, that's what I got. I don't know. He had a relief appearance. Okay. I had, I care about the morale of signing to the extent that I was beginning to add

Chad Pender and particularly in some five outfielder leagues thinking this was the excuse the A's were looking for the Matt Olson injury to get Pender in the line up more regularly. Sounds like they're not so motivated to do that after all. I would guess it would be kind of a platoon between Morales and Pender with pro far jumping between first and second base until Olson is healthy. All right. You didn't even throw a pitch in that appearance. Why is that listed on his? I have no idea.

Rich Hill has one relief appearance where he did not throw a pitch and then he didn't pitch for a month. You got a blister before the game started, probably. I have no idea what this is. But it's listed as a game started. Yeah. Okay. All right, guys. Line-up stuff here. Juan Ligaris is going to start in center field for the Mets. What does that mean? Is Jeff McNeil not going to be in the lineup?

He's playing third. Yeah. It's the Lowry-Frasier thing still. I got you. Okay. Peter Alonzo will be in the lineup. Malik Smith is going to start in center field. Do we know if he's leading off or batting ninth? I can check on that.

I can check on that. A lot of lineups are already out, so I'll check on that. That's a big one to me. Heath, you were saying? I know his first game back. He let off. But I do not. I don't see an opening day lineup announced.

All right. It's not their opening day. Yeah, I don't see one either. Dee Gordon led off in Japan. Malick Smith will play tonight and we'll see. You know, can't wait to start him against Chris Sale. But to me, that's very significant. which one bats ninth, which one bats first, between Malik Smith and D. Gordon.

Yasser O'Shea So Pugueig is going to bat third for the Reds and Raphael Devers. This is something I was really interested in. I knew he'd be in the lineup, but he's facing a lefty. They're batting him third tonight. So it's Ben Intendi bets Devers J.D. Martinez. That is a great opportunity for Rafael Devers to get his season off on the right foot. I think we talked about that earlier in the season. That's what Cora wants.

He wants for Devers to be there every day number three hitter. I think the Pueg thing, though, is really interesting. We knew he was going to bat in a better spot than he did with the Dodgers, but I was thinking more on, you know, like fifth maybe. The Scooter Jeanette injury may have made this possible, though, where he's going to be batting behind Jesse Winker and Joey Votto, who might both be 400 OBP guys. A lot of RBI opportunities there.

And, of course, potential for more bats than we've seen from him in a few years. Do we know if Nolan Aronado is bad? second. I hope it is not. I don't think that's been... There are a few lineups out there. There are a couple of really interesting notes that you didn't get to.

Can I throw them out there? Yeah. Yeah. Greg Bird is starting on opening day. I know. Batting 7. Labor Torres is batting 8. Where's Voight batting? Four. Clean up.

Oh, gosh. That's not good for Greg Bird. Labor Torres is batting. eight. That makes it difficult for DFS because I think a lot of people are going to want to play four Yankees. Uh-huh. I am. I have Greg Bird. I assume Gardner's leading off. Yeah, it's Gardner, Judge Stanton, Voight. And then Gary Sanchez? No, and Duhar, Sanchez, 6th. That'll make Sanchez an interesting play because he won't be as popular hitting 6th. Go to the wrap around. Torres, Toulow, and then Judge and Stanton. I don't want Toulou. Glabritory's batting eighth is, you know, not insignificant.

And go ahead. Gene Seguer is batting second. Andrew McCutcheon batting leadoff for the Phillies also. Yeah. And Seza Hernandez, 7th, Michael Franco, 8th, Aaron Nola, batting ninth. All right, cool. We'll see what happens.

Don't read too much into the lineups. They change a lot. But I think you can't expect Andrew McCutcheon to be a leadoff hitter. And Yasio Puig to bat third if he hits well. And like I said, really, oh, Jesse Winker leading off. by the way. Yep. I don't know if you said that.

I'm sorry. But Winkervato. Oh, Scott said that. Indirectly. Yes. Yeah. Winkervato, Pueg, Eohenio Suarez, Shebler, Parraza, Tucker Barnhart, Jose Iglesias, Luis Castillo. And I think Pete Alonzo, at least if they follow what they were doing toward the end of spring training,

I think he'll be batting second, which is another reason. Like, to me, that's a vote of confidence. The second spot is kind of what the third spot used to be, where hitters typically put their best, where teams typically put their best hitters there. Okay, so here's what's left on the second half of today's show. I have a quick round of your emails. I've got one player or storyline to watch for in each game. And the rest of our bold predictions and MLB predictions.

Let's take a quick break. Come right back here on Fantasy Baseball today. Your emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Keep them coming all throughout the season. Grade the trade. Fantasy regulators. We'll do all that stuff. All right. This is from Edward.

Good morning, Fantasy Baseball gurus. I would appreciate your collection. wisdom about the impact players most likely to be traded across leagues during the season. This is obviously relevant for AL-only and NL-only owners. Guys, who will get traded, most likely to get moved to another league? I think Jonathan can't spring on us. Jonathan, V.R. Starlin Castro.

Starlin Castro, Jonathan, Zer. Anybody who is in a long-term foundation piece on a bad team is a candidate to get traded to the other league. So Jonathan V.R. Nicholas Castellano, since he's not signed to a long-term deal. You know, what's interesting, if you look at our bold prediction columns, with one exception, I think, all four of us chose the same last place team in every division. So it's pretty clear who the bad teams are. And I would be worried if it wasn't a young player who was just breaking into the big leagues, I would be worried about anyone from those teams.

Madison Bumgarner. Yeah. Yep. There's been trade rumors. I mean, Cory Klover and Trevor Bauer. There were trade rumors about those guys two days ago. Right. With the Padres.

So even not on bad teams, there's a chance that there are some teams that are trying to win, but aren't trying that hard. And I think the Indians are won. But we could see those guys get moved. And then obviously relievers, right? I mean, these bad teams are going to try to turn their relievers into something. So, I mean, I think we all Drew Steckenrider if he emerges this year.

Yeah, but we all feel like the Padres could be solid. We have them third, third, I have him third, Scott has him third, Heath has him fourth. Chris has the Padres second, but if they don't do well... Playing in the playoffs. You have them in the playoffs? Oh, yeah, baby. No. Homer pick.

That's great. You're not even a dad. How can that be a homer pick? Padres, you know. So, yeah, so they could, closeers on bad teams. Let's just say that. Those are the most likely guys deal. Next email is from Mark.

It's been a great week to have you back, Adam. Frog and Dog definitely rhyme. And I think you need to continue incorporating background music. Chris was on to something. How come there's not much talk about C.J. Crone? He is not in either Heath or Scott's top 300. He had 30 home runs last year. He was going to play in a better lineup in ballpark.

Is there something I'm missing here about C.J. own. He's pretty one dimensional. I do have some shares in him in deeper leagues because I think there's a good chance he approaches 30 homers again without doing much else. But beyond the top 300 range, that's a useful player. I don't see the need to put him in the 300 range. And the fact is, he probably would be in my roto top 300 if I didn't have to fit 24 catchers in there. Right. There's a lot of bad catchers that have to be incorporated just because of, you know, they're designed for two catcher leagues, those rankings.

I think I'm pretty consistent in being lower on the guys that break out in their late 20s, closer to 30, and especially when the breakout is barely fantasy relevant. Okay. So next email is from, what did I do in Lowell, Michigan? I've never had any malicious conversations with Chris Towers, and my last at, last tweet was dated March 24th, and was not ill-mannered in any way. And then poof, I'm black, on block.

I truly do enjoy his insight on the podcast, and he was a great follow on Twitter. Please ask Chris to find the kindness in his heart and unblock at Brett P. Nasek. Why'd you block him, Chris? I've unblocked him. I don't know what it was for. You get a little in your feelings sometimes. I'm sure it was something, maybe. But I've unblocked him.

You know, I'm willing to grant reprieves. I'll just say, Brett maybe sending us another email in a week. Well, I guess I'd been blocked for a while. I didn't know how much Chris tweeted. Can you ask him to block me again? It's just so weird because Chris never says anything mean to other people on Twitter, you know? So like... Are you kidding?

There is nobody in this podcast. That was sarcasm. Like the most obvious sarcasm of all time. I didn't get it at all. Come on. Come on. Come on. Keep up, man.

Okay, this is from Lou. Slow down in your old age. Luke says Tateas Jr. was dropped in my 12-team Roto League yesterday. Okay. We have waiver-wire priority based on standings. Last place gets the first player, and it runs weekly. The first week is only four days.

So should I tank the first four days so I can claim Fernando Tatez Jr. On, it's a... Oh, no, he only has to be in last place by Saturday morning. So I guess he only has to tank for a few days. To get Tatis. I would do it. It's a long season. I would do it.

I'm not going to say you should do this. I'm going to say you can do this, and it would probably be prudent to do so. Well, you don't have to completely tank, like, sit everybody and get no stats. I don't do that. But, you know, maybe kind of suck a little bit. That's all. You know, got to be a little bit bad. Well, that's the only way to ensure it works.

Otherwise, you might go halfway there and win. unexpectedly and then and then or you may go halfway there and not be the worst team in the league but you could have won more I guess is the danger to that I just I can't I can't get behind I can't get behind losing on purpose you know that's no okay Scott not a sixers fan ain't no such thing as halfway crooks you're either doing it or you're not doing it all right right I live by that motto by the way Chris I have a tattooed on my arm And I'm going to skip this last email, but I'm going to give a shout out to Ed S in Jacksonville. He's a diehard Cubs fan.

He grew up four blocks from Ridley. And after school in the late 50s, he'd walk over to the park and the ushers would let him in for free with his friends. He's a young 70, but still plays at least two fantasy baseball leagues every year. And yeah, thank you for listening, Ed, and happy opening day to you. Speaking of opening day, we have 15 games. So I'm going to give you guys a game. You're going to tell me one player or storyline to watch in each game. Scott, you are up first.

By the way, it just so happened. I did it every three games I gave to a new analyst. And Scott got the Braves. Heath got the Royals and Chris got the – I guess I should have given him the Padres, but he did get the Marlins. All right. Baltimore's at New York. Who are you looking out for, Scott?

All right. So we're going to kick things off right here with Greg Byrd being the player. I'm watching closest tier because as much as fun as we like to make of Adam, I do think there is a lot of untapped upside here. This maybe has last chance in the majors as a regular player. This is his time. He's healthy, supposedly, relatively speaking. And we should know pretty early on if he's going to sink or swim because the Yankees' first two

matchups are against the Orioles, obviously, and the Tigers. maybe the two worst pitching staffs in baseball. If he doesn't get off to a hot start, he's probably done when Erid Hicks comes back and Luke Voitz's just the starting first baseman. But if he does, could be bad news for Voight, but there's a way the Yankees can have them both in their lineup if they're willing to bump Brett Gardner instead.

Scott, who's their Yankees' third matchup after the Orioles and the Tigers? I haven't looked that far ahead. It's the Orioles. It's the Orioles. They have the absolute greatest week. one. If you're playing the 10 day, the 11 day week, it's the Orioles, the Tigers, and the Orioles. I'm going to go ahead and make a prediction. I don't cross Bird to do anything against the Orioles.

I'm going to go ahead and just assume that Greg Bird over the first 10 games of the season is going to be hitting like 400. He's probably going to lead baseball with five home runs. Adam is going to dance on all of us. And he is going to be DFAed by midday. No, he's not going to be DFAed. Like if he's proving he's healthy like that, I don't know. Maybe he gets hurt and then can't play through it like he's not been unable to do in the past. But I don't think he's just going to slump his way out of a job.

I mean, it's not just injuries, guys. Yeah, it is. So we have reached our Gregberg quota. Pete Alonzo is the guy that Heath is going to be looking out for in the Mets Nationals game, which is a DeGrom-Schurzer matchup. Yeah, and I don't want anyone to think that. because I was on the low end of Alonzo during our rankings dispute. I don't think there's a ton of upside or things to be excited about here.

There certainly is. And I think it's going to be really, I mean, I joked about the Marlins pitching. I think it'll be really interesting to watch him. We're going to find out if he can handle Bigger pitching real quick. He's got the opposite of the Greg Bird schedule with six games against the nationals in his first nine. Let's go to St. Louis and Milwaukee. Good one here. Chris, who are we looking out for?

I'm going to be watching for Ryan Braun. I know this podcast in particular is not particularly excited about Ryan Brun, but he did rework his swing. He's actually still been a pretty good fantasy player, even in his decline years, because he still runs. He still hits for decent power. He reworked his swing to try to tap into some more power. So I want to see what that looks like in the first couple of games of the season.

Scott, Atlanta and Philadelphia, who's the player to watch? Yeah, I didn't actually love my choices here. So I'm going with David Robertson. if the Phillies are ahead and it's a safe situation heading into the ninth inning, if Robertson comes in earlier than ninth inning, or if he's not the one who comes in the ninth inning, the level of panic that will sweep through the fantasy baseball world is going to be... It'll be fun, I guess.

I think he's the obvious choice to lead the team in saves, but it probably won't be in every save situation scenario. Heath gets the game of the day. Blue Jays Tigers, who are we keeping an eye on it? Unlike Scott's game between the Phillies and the Braves, there are numerous options in this game to get excited about the Tigers and Blue Jays, two up-and-coming teams. I'm very excited, though, to watch Marcus Stroman

against a pretty weak lineup. I don't think he is as bad as he was last year. He was dealing with that shoulder problem all year long, says he feels healthy. I expect him to get off to a good start, and he's my favorite DFS pitcher of the day. All right, let's go to Chicago and Texas. Cole Hamill's Revenge.

And, oh, you know what? I'm sorry. Scott, wait one moment on Chicago, Texas. We have Houston, Tampa Bay first. Chris, you have the Astros and the Rays. So there are a lot of guys in this series who I'd be excited to watch in a couple of days. But for right now, the opening day pitchers are two of the best pitchers in baseball.

So I'll go with Tommy Fam. I want to, we know how up and down he's been. in, we know about his vision issues. He's a guy that I always want to see where he's at at any given moment. So, you know, we'll keep an eye on that if he swings and misses seven times today, which he's totally liable to do. You know, then you have to start looking at him and say, well, maybe we've got to be a little worried. Okay.

And now, Scott, Cole Hamill's revenge, Chicago and Texas. Oh, Cole Hamels would have been a good pick because he was so bad at Texas. Yeah, but I'm going with, I'm going with Nomar Mazarra. who supposedly reworked his swing with the hopes of getting more fly balls. And that would be the key probably to unlocking his potential. I'm watching to see if there are any results for that in the first game because there certainly weren't this spring and did basically nothing. I was wrong, by the way, it's John Lester.

We talked about Cole Hamels. He is facing the Rangers this weekend. But it's Lester tonight against Mike Minor. So apologies there. Next game, Angels and Oakland. Heath, I like this one, Heath. We haven't talked a lot about this guy, but you got your eyes on? We talked a lot about this guy last year,

because Cole Calhoun was one of my favorite sleepers, and he was just dreadful. He was also banged up for a lot of the year. He finally started to hit a little bit in the second half, but he, I expect, to be a Lioff hitter all year for the Angels, and he had a pretty good spring. He's going to hit in front of Trout. I think Calhoun could be one of the,

best sleeper outfielders. I'd like to see him get off to a good start this year, though, not struggle like he did in 2018. All right. We got a few more games left. Colorado is at Miami. Chris, I hope you're going to the game. But if you're not, or even if you are, who are you keeping an eye on in Rockies Marlins? I think I'm going to go on Saturday. Can't really get out of work today. But I'm going to be keeping an eye on Jorge Al Farra, unless they're Louis Brinson in there. I just want to see them make contact with the baseball. That's really all I'm asking for today. I want to see, I mean, I assume Hampson will not be in the lineup today. I don't know if that's been determined yet.

They haven't released their lineup yet. Yeah, I'm interested to see what happens there. Ryan McMahon, there's a righty on the mound, so that's good for him. But yeah, we're obviously, we've been keeping an eye on that all spring. Pittsburgh's at Cincinnati. Scott, we got to see something from Luis Castillo today. Yes, we do, because obviously he's a popular breakout again for good. reason the stuff is great, the potential for to be a really good control pitch.

There's a lot of upside, clearly. And this is one of the weaker lineups in his division, Pittsburgh. So I want to see him light him up today. If he doesn't, it doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it's not how you want to see his season start after what was a pretty disappointing year last year. And Heath, I will be rooting very hard against Zach Granky. You heard my bold prediction earlier. you've got your eyes on him as he faces the Dodgers in Dodger Stadium.

It's a revenge game for Zach Grinky, like his 17th because they played them 20 times a year, but still. No, I think it's interesting because I get your point on Zat Grinky. I also get Scott's point on Zat Grinky, and I'm kind of in the middle of you, too, and see both as possibilities. I'd like to see what his velocity is in his first start. I'd like to see if it matters, because a lot of times for Zach Grinky, it just doesn't. And I think that if he has low velocity today, that we, you know, if any pitcher, has low velocity in their first start. Give them a little bit of time.

You know, that does climb as the season goes on. Not to say it's completely irrelevant. There wasn't questions raised about his velocity this spring, unlike the past two springs, right? No, he hit 88. There was. I haven't heard anything. Chris, like there was concerns about Granky's velocity, right?

No, not this spring, no. After his first start, he actually said, I finally don't have any concerns, and it was because he hit 88. wasn't a joke. Okay, he hit 80. That's what he said. No, that's fair. Cleveland's at Minnesota, Chris. Who are you looking at in this game?

You want to watch both starting pitchers, but really it's Byron Buxton. Reworked his swing in the off-season, quieted it down, got rid of the big leg kick. Had a good spring. Was one of Scott's big winners from spring training. So it's a tough matchup against Cory Klover, but I want to see him like Jorge Alfara and Louis Brinson put the bat on the ball in the ball. I don't want to see Byron Bucks and get off to a slow start because we've seen things snowball for him.

And the two starting pitchers are Cory Kluber and Jose Berrios. Okay, three games left. Scott, you've got San Francisco at San Diego. I do want to see if Friend Mill Reyes is in the lineup. He better be since it's a lefty on the mound. But that lefty, Madison Bumgarner, is the one I'm really watching here, going against what looks like pretty strong lineup for the Padres, A pitcher who a lot of people, myself, kind of leading the parade, are really down on. The skills seem to be fading fast for Madison Bumgarter here.

He got rocked a couple times in spring training against not such great lineups. So if he gets rocked today, again, like I said for Castillo, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. But it's going to amplify those concerns. White Sox at Kansas City, Heath. get excited. Who you're looking for? Manatee. Yeah, it's Mondesie.

And I want to see, and I wasn't as high on him as Scott was most of this season, but he had a lot better plate discipline in spring training. He made better contact in spring training. He's going up against a pitcher that is out of the zone a lot of the time in Carlos Rodon. I would just like to see if Mondesie can carry any of that over. Because if he was actually an 8% or 9% walk guy and an 80% contact guy,

He's an absolute star, and we made him to the first round next year. And finally, Boston at Seattle. Chris Sale, Marco Gonzalez. Chris, who are you looking at in Boston, Seattle? I want to make sure that Malick Smith is healthy and starting at the top of that lineup. That's the biggest thing for me. You know, hopefully there are no lingering effects from his spring injury, but he didn't get a lot of playing time.

He missed the series in Japan. Worried he could get off to a slow start. obviously Chris Sale's not going to help that, so we won't learn too much. But I just want to see him look good in the outfield running the bases if he gets on, stuff like that. There you go. Something to watch for in every single game today. And I think people are going to want to know starts and sits. So let me look at some of the more questionable starters today.

And you tell me, I'll just, I'll give you a, I'll call out an analyst and you tell me, are you starting? Scott, Yelisha Seen against the Cardinals? No. I can't ask Heath this, so I'll ask Chris. Julio Taran at Philadelphia. No. Why would anyone ever start Julio Taran?

I don't believe in batter versus pitcher stats being a thing. Bryce Harper, Bryce Harper, Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper, I guess Julio Taron. He has like a 4,000 OPS against him. 1,700 OPS in like 68 at bats or something, maybe 48, but a ton. Heath, Jordan Zimmerman at the Blue Jays. Oh.

Scott, John Lester or Mike. He had an interesting spring. Scott, John Lester or Mike Minor. I would prefer not to, but I'm not a big Lester guy. Heath, Trevor Cahill or Mike Fires I want to watch both these guys I don't want to watch them do what they might do to my ERA and Whip

so no Chris Kyle Freeland or Jose Erainia Kyle Freeland for sure Probably not Jose Erainian Scott Madison Bumgarner or Eric Lauer Or both I mean if I drafted Madison Bumgarner I'm obviously starting him I didn't

So hopefully I don't mind if he gets rocked. And Lauer was actually among my 10 sleeper pitchers for this week. Good matchup, obviously, and had a really good spring. I think that's one of the first guys I'd be picking up Eric Lauer if he does well tonight. Not in every league, but I'd, yeah. Let's see.

Rodon and Keller, Heath, Rodon and Keller. I'd be more likely to start Keller, especially as a spark. I think Rodon's a fine desperation play, I guess. but I don't want to make desperation plays on opening day, really. And I will have a tough call tonight. Should I start Marco Gonzalez against the Boston Red Sox? This is Gonzalez's second start of the season? What do you think, Chris Towers?

I'd prefer to avoid the Boston Red Sox whenever possible, but you may not have that option. If he's not your worst pitcher, probably go with him. I'm going to finish the show with bold predictions and MLB predictions. I'm going to get mine out of the way real quick here. Cody Bellinger will be a top three MVP, finally. I think all he has to do is be good, respectable against lefties, and I'm a guy who believes that players can have a sophomore slump

and come back and be great in their third season. And I think Bellinger will do just that. I'm very excited about him, and I love that he's dual eligible. A.J. Pollock is a top five outfielder in points leagues and top 10 in Roto. I'm not sure that he's going to give much of a batting average. He might be a 260 hitter or something like that. But before his injury, his thumb injury last year, he was on pace for, like, somewhere in the 29 to 39 steel range, which we've been four straight years with a 29 to 39

steel pace in 155 games. And I know Chris loves that prediction because he loves A.J. Pollack. So I'm high on Bellinger. I'm high on Pollock. Scott, knock out your next two bold predictions. I have Brandon Low finishing as a top 10 second baseman. I think that's the least bold maybe of all of them. I don't know why he's not getting more attention in fantasy. He's still only 25% owned in CBS Sports leagues. I think between three positions he'll play a ton with good power and on base skills.

My last bowl prediction is about Luke Voigt, player we've talked about a lot, me especially. Looking at the AL crop of first baseman, provided what keeps his job over Greg Bird, I think he's going to be the AL starter at first base,

which obviously says something about what I think of his production too. Yeah, all right, that's cool. Al All-Star, yeah. Yeah, A.O. First base not so great. Heath, by the way, I do own Brandon Lowe in one league. I am sitting him today in this daily lineup. Jose Ibrahimus still exists, right?

It's a bold prediction. He's the only challenger, right? Yankees fans can stuff the ballot really well. No, I wasn't saying, I wasn't saying, maybe. I was just saying, we're talking about how bad first base is in the American League. It's not like there's a new option. Jose Abraeu is really good. It's one guy.

But that's basically the only one. I mean, there's Miguel Cabrera, Juerks and Profar, I don't think would be on that ballot at first base. Yeah, I'm good. Carlos Santana. Okay, Heath, bold predictions.

Yeah, I've got Shane Bieber will be the second best pitcher on the Indians. I'm not going to tell you who's going to be first

or who's going to be behind him, but he's going to be better than Mike Clevenger no matter what happens. Trevor Bauer is going to have a month or two where he tinkers his way

into being a bad pitcher, and then one of Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco misses a month. Bieber posts a low 3s ERA with 190 innings, 190 strikeouts, and a very good whip.

And your last bowl prediction? Oh, you want another one? Yes. Joey Gallo is going to lead baseball with more than 50 home runs. That one doesn't need any explanation. All right, Chris, you're up. Two bold predictions. I've got two bold predictions on Justin Turner. He'll be

a top 10 hitter and fantasy, and he is my pick for National League MVP. I think he just has to stay healthy. He's a top five hitter in baseball or top 10 hitter in baseball, plays a good third base. I think there's a ton of upside. And it's just a matter of not having one of those random injuries that he's gone through. It's not like it's been recurring.

It's just something has seemed to happen. I don't believe that's a negative skill for him. He's so old. It's kind of a negative skill. There's lots of old guys, man. Do you have another bowl prediction, or are they just all about Justin Turner? And the Marlins will have three top 50 starting pitchers. There you go.

Pablo Lopez, Caleb Smith, and Trevor Richard being my pick. We've talked enough about them over the last week. Bold prediction. Yeah, Homer. I believe last year your bold prediction was the Marlins would not have one 100 strikeout pitcher. I think they only had one. Hey, that's pretty good then. That's pretty good.

Okay, let's talk about MLB predictions here. Who's going to win the American League East? We will go Chris Heath Scott for all of these. And then Adam. Chris, who's going to win the AAL East? Yankees, you're welcome, Adam. Who? Adam?

Adam. Thank you. Heath? Easiest pick of all the divisions, Boston Red Sox. Scott? Yankees. I took the Red Sox. Severina out for a month.

I took the Red Sox. A.L. Central. Chris Heath, Scott. Easiest thing is the entire league Indians. I took the Twins. I took the Twins. Their lineups terrible. Yeah, I agree with Chris.

This was the easiest pick, Indians. The Indians lineup's terrible, you're saying, Heath. Yes. Yeah, I still think the Indians win it. The Indians win it! And yes. Okay, so that was Major League. AOS.

I got it. Thank you. Thank you. Chris? This was the easiest pick. Come on. Astros. I know, AOS.

Astros by 25 games. You may be right. This may have been the easiest pick. I don't see another playoff team. that division. Oh, I do. Yeah, the Astros. And I took the Yankees and the Angels as my wildcard teams. Chris, who are your

wildcard teams? I am going with the Red Sox and the Rays. I don't have to call on you every time, guys. Just go. Yankees Indians. Red Sox Rays for me also. Not loving the A.L. field.

Yeah, no, it's not as good as the NL. All right, let's go to the National League. Who's winning the National League East? Chris, Heath, Adam, go. The Phillies will win by two games over the fourth place team. It's going to be a mess. Phillies buy a lot.

This was the toughest. It could be any of four teams, but I went with the Nationals because I like their pitching the most. I went with the Phillies. National League Central Chris Heathscott. Milwaukee.

Brew Kru. Brewers. I took the Cubs. Slightly over the Cubs. It was funny. Somebody pointed out that I have the Cubs in first. Who has them in second? Scott.

Scott in second. Heath in third, Chris and fourth? Yeah. That was pretty funny. And so it looks like a Connect 4. Yes. It was great. Okay.

NL. West. Everybody got the Dodgers? Okay. This was the easiest one. No, this is not the easiest one. No, it wasn't easy. I picked the Dodgers, but I really wanted to pick the Rockies because I think there's so much upside from so many Rockies.

It's just hard to overcome the Dodgers depth. Things go wrong for the Dodgers. They just have somebody else to plug in. Yeah. Okay, wild card teams in the National League. Chris Heath Scott. I'm going with my second place. I'm sorry, I'm not Chris.

Go ahead. Well, he took too long. I'm going to go with the Cardinals and Padres. I think the NLE East is such a bloodbath that they kind of just beat each other up and nobody gets to 90 wins. Cardinals and Rockies. My second place in L.E's team is actually the Mets,

though again it could be any of the four, and then the Rockies, obviously, who I wanted to win the division. Okay, I also have the Rockies. Do you have the Cardinals missing the playoffs? I do. I actually have the Cardinals finishing in fourth. Yeah, oh, fourth. I'm in third. I have Milwaukee in Colorado as the Wildcard teams.

So, NL Central, NL. No, NL's great. It was great, much more difficult than the AAL, which is interesting because I wonder how that's going to affect pitchers. You kind of like to get some NL pitchers. They face the pitcher in the order. But are the lineups just as a whole better in the National League than they are in the American League? Even when you consider the DH, that would be interesting. I think they probably are.

I mean, half the American League is just not trying to win. If you look at when I was dividing the L. better. When I was dividing the player pool for AL and NL only leagues beyond like the first two rounds the NL dominated for like the rest of the top 300. Right. Okay and then

AL MVP I got Mike Trout Chris go. Mike Trout. Moogie Betts. Jose Ramirez who might be the only hitter on that first place Indian team. AL Sai Young I got Garrett Cole Chris.

Trevor Bauer. Garrett Cole. Trevor Bauer. Hey, all right. A.L. Rookie of the Year, Eloy across the board, right? He's a death. I really wanted to pick Brandon Lau, but I took the safe pick. Yeah, Eloy's going to hit 240 now.

NL MVP, I am super excited about Freddie Freeman. I am hoping that as he is now further along and away from that injury, that wrist injury, that the power will come back. And if it does, Freddie Freeman is your MVP. Chris? Justin Turner. Bryce Harper. I'm going Ronald Acuna for the hopefully not fourth place braves. It's going to be really hard for him to win the MVP from fourth place.

Not the way voters vote these days. I think it is. I think he'll lead the NL in war. NL. Syong, Max Scherzer. Yep. No, Cindergarde. Scherzer. NL rookie of the year, Victor Robles. Yep, Fernando Tatis.

I went with Robles also. Got to give him the defensive edge over Pete Alonzo. Who wins the World Series guys? Chris, Chris Heath Scott. We're all cowards. We all picked the Dodgers to make the World Series again because we are victims of recency bias, and the Yankees lose to the Dodgers in the World Series.

The Dodgers finally get over the hump playing in Kirshall World Series MVP. Clicking Gershaw can't pitch in the postseason. Astros over Dodgers. Dan? Yankees over Dodgers. Okay, so I got the Astros over the Dodgers as well. So two Yankees Dodgers World Series, two Astros Dodgers World Series, ratings bonanza.

Thank you for listening to everybody. Enjoy opening day. We are going to have a lot to talk about tomorrow. We'll see you then.