Fantasy Baseball Today - 04/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Dropometer and MLB Leaders

Episode Date: April 12, 2017

We've got the best and the worst of the young Fantasy Baseball season on today's show as we discuss dropping Dansby Swanson, Byron Buxton and several others while marveling at the Nationals hitters and other MLB batting leaders ... Antonio Senzatela, Matt Boyd, Wily Peralta, James McCann and Scooter Gennett are widely available. Are we interested in any of them in mixed leagues? ... We're grading your trades! We've got some Nomar Mazara trades to analyze ... 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 Wednesday show. That means we're great in your trades. We'll do that later on in the show. We got all four of us today. I'm Adam Azer with Heath Cummings, with Scott White, with Chris Towers. We're talking Sam Dyson and some other struggling closers. Drew Pomerantz was awesome yesterday. We have a lot of players who are available, even in some of the deeper leagues that you might want to pick up.

And we'll do some true or false, which is absolutely nothing like Byersel. Completely different segment. Welcome back, Heath. And I'm actually glad to have all three of you. here. Yeah, I think first time since the season started, right? Yeah, absolutely. Let's sprinkle these in.

It's great to have the band back together again. I'm really happy to be here with Chris. We've been really getting along well this morning. Ooh, here's a good one. Obviously, they aren't, but Team Creth could never be splintered. Here's a good one for the listeners. If we did make a four-person band, what would be our band name? You email us and let us know, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com.

com. Let's start in the bullpen. Sam Dyson. Three earn runs on four hits in one inning. He gave up a home run. I don't know. Like, what the heck is going on with Sam Dyson? He is a 33 ERA.

He is a better pitcher than this. What do you think is the next step in the Rangers bullpen? Chris Towers. I mean, I would guess they give him one more try. See if he can iron out whatever his issues are. And I can't imagine he's got too much more rope. left, though. I mean, I was thinking he'd get one more try before this one, but obviously there hasn't been any suggestion of a change yet. Oh, yeah. He said, Jeff Banderger said he's going to have

to think about it. Yeah. Think about making it change. So, I mean, Matt Bush, I think, any league where you were picking up Hector Narras two days ago, you need to be picking up Matt Bush now, but with Jeremy Jeffers there, there's a chance you could have the rug pulled out from under you just like happened with Nairus. What we need to have happen is the Rangers to have a lead heading into the ninth inning tonight. I think there's a little doubt that tonight it would be Matt Bush. We need him to get a perfect clean save.

And then I think it may just be Bush's job. And you say it would be Bush tonight because he did not pitch yesterday, Dyson and Jeffers pitched yesterday and didn't do well. And Bush, by the way, If Bush gets the job, like he's off to a bad start this year, but it's, you know, it's early. But he had 248 ERA and a 0.94 whip and a strikeout printing last year. So there's a lot of potential here and a team that should get six. I would bet against Matt Bush, I think.

You think it's going to be Jeffress? No, I think he, I think Bush, especially after what Jeffers did last night, Bush is the most likely guy to get the first shot, especially if it happens tonight. I just, like, he was good last year. but I don't have a lot of faith in what he did as a 30-year-old rookie holding over for another year. Who do you think is their best reliever? He wasn't like a typical 30-year-old reliever. It's not like he's been toiling away in the miners.

No, no. Working on his craft for the last 13 years. I don't know if his circumstances make it more likely for him to be sustainably good or less. I mean, this stuff looks good. You're just talking eye test and the fact that he throws strikes with it. that's validation enough for me. But at the same time, I don't know that people, unless it says shallow league, should drop Sam Dyson if he loses the job. Maybe they'll want to give it back to him eventually.

Because Scott said, who's the best pitcher in the bullpen? It might still be Dyson. He just might need to work through whatever he's dealing with right now. So, all right, we'll see what happens. Obviously, fantasy owners know it's on your radar. Matt Bush, Jeremy Jeffers, these are guys to speculate on. Fernando Rodney, Heath, when Rodney's struggle. on opening day, you said he's made a living doing this, struggling, but just being good enough

to get saves. And he did it again. He now, Fernando Roddy has three saves. Is there any, and he gave up two runs, by the way. Is there anything you want to say about the Diamondbacks bullpen? I think this was Fernando Rodney being Fernando Rodney. I don't, my opinion of his role, stability, or fantasy value has not changed much since we had that conversation after his first blown save.

I don't think there's a lot of great options in Arizona. I don't feel like he's particularly close to losing his job. So, yeah, he's a low-end closer that will probably continue being so. He just kept coming up with more words to say. The same thing. I feel like I should answer. He is a worse version of K-Rod. Right?

Well, now that K-Rod's throwing. three miles per hour lower. Yeah, Krod was like maxing out at 88 miles an hour yesterday. So I'm not sure Krod's not a worst version of KRA at this point. So should we look, if we're desperate, should we look at Justin Wilson? Yeah, I think in a desperate situation, yeah, yeah, it's not going to go well for Rodriguez if he's throwing 88 all year. And Ken Giles struggled again in a non-save situation. so he hadn't pitched in a while in like five days,

but he gave up two runs and walked two. He was all over the place. Same old, same old. Yeah. Yeah, you said he hadn't pitched it's April 6th, so some rest there. And the way A.J. Hinch put it was all as well. That ends well.

I think that was the exact quote, because they ended up winning the game. It wasn't a safe situation. Plus, Luke Gregerson had an awful outing, six-run outing, a couple appearances. ago. So I think that buys Giles a little extra leash as well. All right, guys. Let's get out of the bullpen. Let's go to the rotation. Did we sleep on Drew Pomerans? He is 73% own, and he starts his season with six innings of one run ball with six

strikeouts against the Orioles. With San Diego last year, Pomerant had a 247 ERA, a 1.06 whip, and 115 strikeouts in 102 innings. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball. With Boston, he had a 459 ERA. He had elbow issues. He had a stem cell procedure in his elbow during the offseason. The velocity was down, but it was back last night. It was all good last night for Drew Pomerantz. Should he be 100% owned at this point?

He should be pretty close, probably. I just wrote about him for the Waverwire piece today. It's going to be on cbsports.com. Very good. And I think when you have a pitcher that's shown the type of upside that he has, that we know at the very least is a strikeout pitcher that is

going to be pitching for one of the best teams in baseball. Yeah, that kind of guy needs to be pretty close to 100% out. I still have a lot of doubts about Pomerans, but I was making sure he was owned in all my leagues this morning because I, yeah, you know, I like to keep an open mind on pitchers who've shown a smidgen of potential, and he's shown probably even a little more than that. This was a, this was an awkward week because he is a two-start pitcher in week two, but I wouldn't have, the league or I have him, I just left him on IR. So it would have been nice to see him do this on like a Thursday And then have two starts the following week

That I would be able to rely on Well, both Drew Pomeranz and Manuel Margot Completely different position, FYI, are 73% owned Which player is more underowned? Pomeran's or Margot who homered at Cors Field last night? They're both underowned Pomeran's probably more so But Margot

I need to make sure he's not available in any of my leagues either, and he's probably not because I already put in a lot of claims for him Sunday night. I had a poll on Twitter a couple of days ago, and I think Chris disagreed with the results but expected the results, and it was would you rather own Buxton or Manuel Margot? We're all on board with Margot over Buxton now, right? Oh, yeah. Sure. Yeah, I haven't, and I don't know how many leagues I have Buxton,

and I haven't made a move to drop them yet anywhere. I think probably in a three outfielder points league, I'm about there, and I wouldn't be dropping Margo, obviously, I'd be looking to add Margo. So I think that probably makes sense at this point Margo over Buxton, which isn't to say I'm giving up on Buxton forever. It's just I feel like he can afford to sit on waivers for a while.

Well, what kind of upside does Manuel Margot have. By the way, Buxton is 73% owned just like Margot. He's two for 29 with one walk and 17 strikeouts. It's pretty awful. But what kind of ups? Because obviously we know Buxton has a lead upside. What about Margo? My upside for Margo coming into the season, I think the way I put it in one of the prospect columns I wrote this offseason was a good scenario for Margo would be something like Jose Ramirez did last year. But I'm beginning to rethink that he's so young. and obviously has a great prospect pedigree, a very athletic player.

Like, he could surprise with in power the way Francisco Lindor did, the kind of start he's off to. I'm not ruling that out. His best assets, I think, are still speed and contact ability. And the irony is he's not doing speed or contact ability yet. He has struck out.

He struck out 24% of the time. But it was, like, just the last two games he struck out. five times or something like that. It's obviously skewed. I think his upside is a 300 hitter that steals your 30 bases. And you hope that he maybe has 10 home runs and scores 80 or 90 runs too? Wow. He's already got three home runs. So you don't think Margot gets to 15 this year? I'd still been against it too, but I might put him more around 12. He could be a 10 to 12 home run guy who gets to 15 now. It wouldn't necessarily change whether

he's a 10 to 12 home run guy, though. You know. Oh, what a staty answer that was. Sorry. No, I got you. Makes sense. All right. Finishing up this discussion, let's go back to Drew Pomeranz.

You tell me which pitcher you would drop for Drew Pomeran's. Brandon Finnegan, yes or no? No. No. Really? Really? Why? It's close.

It's close. The only... The biggest issue I have with Pomeran's. The biggest issue I have with Pomeran's... Pomerans, and everybody should have, is his health. I mean, this guy, again, like I said, stem cell procedure in his elbow. They could have given Pomerans back to the Padres after the trade

because the Padres lied about his medical information. All right, so you'll keep Finnegan over him. How about Kendall Graveman or Drew Pomeran's? Pomerance. I think I'd go Graveman. Yeah, I'm not dropping Graveman at this point. Alex Cobb or Pomerance? Pomerance.

I lean Pomerans there just because. I feel like, you know, Cobb still hasn't had that great start that makes everybody want him off the waiver wire. And he wasn't highly drafted. He wasn't widely drafted to begin with. No, he is now about 878% owned, a little bit more than Pomerantz. All right. Any other big standouts from yesterday that I missed? Well, I think Matt Boyd is probably the first guy that gets dropped after his first start and then re-added after his second.

which is kind of what he is. But look at the next segment I have in the notes here. Includes Matt Boyd. It's just about deep leagues and guys that are owned in less than 30% of leagues. And there were four or five pitchers who had starts that were good enough yesterday to at least make the podcast notes. So good job to them. Antonio Sensatella, who's had two good starts for the Rockies, 29% own. James Shields, who's, I don't know, two runs in...

10 and 2 thirds so far. Just move on. Yeah. Matt Boyd had a no-hitter going into the sixth and gave up one hit, no runs in six innings against the twins with six strikeouts. He was terrible in his season debut. Willie Peralta struck out seven Blue Jays, gave up three runs in six innings with four walks. And Hector Santiago, 18 percent owned, had a good start with only one strikeout at Detroit. And he also gave up only one run against Kansas.

city in his season opener. Santiago, by the way, he did have one great half a season two years ago before the All-Star break. Santiago had a 233 RA and pretty good control, actually. So we've seen it from, you know, from Santiago for a half a season. Anyway, we got Sensatella, we got Shields, we got Boyd, we got Peralta, Santiago. These guys are pretty available. 70% or more of leagues, they're available on CBSports.com.

Who are your favorite, too, from that list? Boyd and Peralta. Boyd and Sentitella Boyd and Peralta Boyd it is Boyd it is Boyd it is Until his next start

Yeah I'm look he's He's got good stuff I'm sure we That was a day game We probably caught a lot of that Yesterday He's interesting

And Good control Seems to have a pretty Full secondary arsenal One of those pitchers Who like the minor league numbers just blew away Everybody's expectations

so he's already a bit of an overachiever just by having this role. I would like to see better consistency from him, and that's why he's going to remain outside my top 100 starting pitchers, but he's somebody who could climb, sure. All right, keep an eye on Matt Boyd. Let's do some true or false. Like I said, this is nothing like Byersel. Byer Cell is on Thursday.

Today is true or false. Very different. I don't even know why you would bring Byersel into this. And it's all from two games from yesterday. The Nationals beating the Cardinals and the Mets clobbering the Phillies. True or false, Bryce Harper, who had, I think he reached base in nine straight appearances, and has nine walks so far. Bryce Harper will be a top three hitter this year.

I'm going to go true. I was inclined to believe in him anyway. Just wanted to see some kind of validation that his struggles for most of last year were health-related. this spring and this first week and a half, I feel like that has been validated. We all had him as the ninth or tenth pit batter, probably. Something like that, yeah. Well, eighth. Yeah, I'll still say false.

I don't feel super confident about it, but I'm got to stick with my philosophical guns here. I'll just go with the math of the situation and say sell. If you're going to give me the field, and I have three hitters finish ahead of Harper, I think they probably will, but I'm very encouraged by a start. This is true false, not by sell. I'll sell it. Everything that he's shown in the spring and then so far is very encouraging. Daniel Murphy, true or false, Daniel Murphy will be a top three hitter this year.

And before you say false, he was on a per game basis, I would think, a top three hitter last year. I'm pretty sure. False on the same logic, but... sell. He's really great. All right, fine. Let me, let me top. Daniel Murphy, top eight hitter.

Probably still sell. I didn't rank him that way coming into the season, but he's great. Like, I don't think there's any more room to doubt him. If he plays 160 games, then he will be, I will buy it in a points league. Top eight. If he plays 160 games, you'll buy it. I'm buying a roto league. if he plays 160 games, he's going to hit

320. I'm just saying. We all like Daniel Murphy, right? Adams is gaming way too high. He's right there. Well, I mean, he's right there. Like, he's Jose Altuve without the steals, basically, right? The point is with Murphy is I don't want fantasy owners

to doubt him. I think that, I wanted you guys to make, like, he is this good. There is no reason to doubt him anymore. We're going on 200 plus games of him with a conscious change. and a physical change in his approach. This is not just some random hot streak.

This is a long, sustained level of elite production based on a physical change that he made to his swing. Yeah, and after 200 games, I don't even know that you need the narrative. Right, there's so many compounding factors that show that this is who Daniel Murphy is right now. Yeah. But the other thing that shows this is who Daniel Murphy is and you have to keep this in mind.

The last three games, he's played 143, 130, and 142 games. So that is probably the biggest drawback with him. He's a little injury prone. No spring chicken at Daniel Murphy. Yeah, true or false? Sen Juan O will be a bust. False.

So too early. I hate you, Heath. False. All right, here's a problem with him, though. Like, their bullpen stinks. They've got to get him the ball and save opportunity. He's also got a 12-2070 R-A, but we'll say false on Sen 1-0. True or false?

Joe Gonzalez. I will point out, Trevor Rosenthal looks very good right now. He has only one appearance, right? Through hit 101, I believe. Small samples, us. Struck out the side. No walks. Just throwing that out there.

That's fine. I think we can call him a sleeper. You could see the scenario where Rosenthal gets saves, but we're a lot way is away from that. Yeah. True or false, Gio Gonzalez will be better than Aaron Nola this year. Gio is 82% own. He's off to a great start.

Gio will be better than Aaron Nola this year. Fault. I'll still default to my preseason rankings, but we probably slept on Gio Gonzalez coming into this season because he's old. I think I had Gio Gonzalez as a sleeper or at least thought about it. I'd like him. I think he's overlooked, but I think he should be closer to 100% owned. He tore my heart out and crushed it. last year, and I will never

fall for him again. Wow. Yeah, I'm not sure I'm in on Gio Gonzalez. He had a 186 ERA his first date starts of last year, too, and then 558 after that. It's been two years of bad Gio. He also had some maybe bad luck.

He certainly underperformed his peripherals. Yep. He did two years ago, too. He always, yeah, he does that. He doesn't always. He had a pretty good run of overperforming. Always two times a row. The two of you, Adam, and say that. Scott, unbelievable.

You were buying into Michael Paneda not 24 hours ago, and now you're going to say, Oh, we were not. We were not. Twisting narrative again. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. This is, this is. The biggest Michael Panetta fans in America.

2017, Chris. What a millennial. Byers, or no, I said by herself, damn you, heath. True or false. Matt Harvey is a top 20 starting pitcher. rest of season. And let's do it on the assumption that it was just the hamstring cramp and he'll be fine and make his next start. I'm going to put that as a two on the Ligitometer. You know, I said he'd be the Mets best pitcher from May 1st forward, so I think I have to buy this.

You don't have, like, you started bearing your feet. You don't have to keep throwing dirt on your face. I'm only encouraged by what I've seen. I would guess most people are. Yeah, I think he's He looked decent yesterday I think the command is still pretty bad He's leaving a lot of pitches up Um That's the new way to combat the

Lift swing right Is to throw more pitches up in the zone Because everybody's learning to hit pitches low in the zone Yeah, leaving belt high sliders Is certainly one way to combat more home runs Yeah, I watched a lot of it I thought he looked good but not great yet He still needs to improve

And he's throwing 95, and I honestly think like he could, Harvey can survive at 95. He used to throw 98. On the broadcast, he hit 96 and 97 in the first inning. Oh, yeah, I noticed. And he struggled a little bit in the fourth and fifth inning. So that's going to be a test for Harvey. You know, we'll see how he does deeper into games. But, yeah, things are good.

Now, Scott, as great, this is actually interesting. You say your bold prediction was he'll be the best starter. When was it May 1st on? Yeah, best met. starter from May 1st on. I don't know that Harvey was so good, but he was never Cindergarde good, right? Cinderguard is amazing. He was barely de Grom good.

Oh, I don't know. I think that's kind of a selective memory. He was, but if he hadn't been shut down early that first full season, he was definitely in line to win the NL. Sa Young. Yeah, but Cinderguard is like, Cindergarde. And, like, this isn't. He doesn't even have long hair, Scott. This is more like, you know, considering it was framed in the context of a bold prediction, it wasn't meant to be commentary on CinderGard.

It was just, I would consider it a successful prediction if CinderGard technically finishes ahead of him, but by just a little, I think it's still a pretty good call. When are you, when are you going to... He's pretty clearly their third best starter. When are you going to move Michael Paneda ahead of Noah Cindergard? Based on the last two days, I feel like you sort of. feel that way. Oh, wait. What was who against ahead of food?

Fake news. You're going to move Paneda ahead of Cindergard. Me? Yeah. That's just kind of what I'm gathering. All right. Next dog.

Bad joke. You're piling on. Bad joke. This is not how I feel about Michael Paneda. Stop putting words in my name. Azer was the one who was more excited. No, I was interested in the change of. I called him the biggest cell high yesterday.

Why are we not talking about that? You did call him that. All right. True or false. Two or false. You would rather have Joena's Cespitus than AJ Pollock, John Carlos Stanton, Nelson Cruz, and Ryan Braun. False, because I wouldn't rather have him than all four.

But true that I would rather have him than at least one of them? I don't think I'd rather have him than any of them. I don't think I'm there yet either. Maybe Cruz, maybe Braun, definitely not Pollock. Definitely not Pollock. Pollock's the one for sure. The other ones I can make an argument. because CESPIT is another guy like Daniel Murphy.

We're going on like 200 games of him hitting like a truly elite player. Oh, yeah, I don't doubt that so much. It's just he's also pretty consistently a 135 game player, right? Yeah, that's the issue. But Cespittus in 2015 was the number five outfielder in points, number four in Roto. 2016, I know I've given this stat before. For whatever reason in the preseason, I just said, let's give him 152 games. It's not going to play 160, but 152, he would have been the number eight outfielder in points leagues.

So I think he's as productive as those guys. Right, and if we're talking about games missed, we probably shouldn't hold that against him of comparing him to Stanton and Braun. I do think Braun percentage-wise is still a better player than Cesspit is, though. He does get to hit at Miller Park. It's pretty close. It is pretty close. It is pretty close. It is pretty close.

It is hit, like, 90 home at Miller Park. Yes. Plus, there's the chance Braun steals 15 to 20 base. which Cessbit is won't do. And finally, true or false, Lucas Duda, 31% on, and will have a bounce-back season and hit around 30 home runs again. Lucas Duda, bounce-back season. After this start, I'll buy it.

No, I'm going to sell it. He hit 30 homers once? Yeah, he hit 30 and 29, I think, in back-to-back years. Yeah, I'm going to sell it. All right. Well, I will buy that. Baseball is back. We know that.

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And every ticket, by the way, is fully guaranteed. That's a great feature on Seek. So download the app. Use the promo code fantasy for $20 off your first Seekkeek purchase. Awesome stuff. Take advantage. Here's your quote of the day. And guys, look, I don't want to get too personal on this podcast.

People don't like to hear who I like and dislike. But I'm going to say that I hate Marcelo Zuna now because of what he said yesterday. It was extremely offensive. And I hope he issues an apology. He said, and there was a cat that ran out of the field, scurried up against the wall. and went up to the home run sculpture in center field. Marcelo Zuna said, quote, I detest cats, end quote. You know, that's not actually, that's not surprising.

That might be a cultural thing. My wife's family are all from Venezuela, and people from Latin America don't seem to like cats very much. There aren't many people who have cats as pets. Well, I don't like it, Chris. I was offended. It's completely understandable. There's nothing redeeming. about cats.

That's completely untrue. Don't push it. I am currently moving Marcel Ozuna up in my rankings because that's a very reasonable take. Well, they're just like, look, there's nothing redeeming about cats.

Look at that. Look at that cat being redeeming. Yeah, I don't fall asleep dog because it'll probably claw your eyes out. It's a picture of my cat licking my dog. It's adorable. That is great. That's great. That's great. Please post that picture on Twitter. Now,

Ozuna, by the way, hit two home runs yesterday. He's off to a great start. He's batting 423 with three walks and five strikeouts, three home runs, and 12 RBIs. Wow. He had six yesterday. So Ozuna, before the All-Star break last year, batted at 307, slug 533. What do you guys think about him? It was terrible after the All-Star break, by the way.

What do you think about Cat-Hater Marcelo Zuna? I felt like he was overlooked a little bit during draft season as if what he did in the first half was wholly unsustainable, and he was closer to the player he was in the second half or something. And I don't think that's fair. It's better to just look at his full-season statistics. He's a nice third outfielder. Okay.

I think of him as more of like a fourth or fifth outfielder. But, like, I don't know. To me, he's just kind of boring. He's 260-ish hitter with 20 to 25 homer potential and not great plate discipline. So he's not going to be the reason. your team succeeds if he's on it. He might be okay to start for you.

He is one of those guys that I, he doesn't hit enough fly balls to sustain the kind of power that he needs to. He's like a 30 to 35% fly ball rate guy and it's just, it's hard to be much more than a consistent 20 homer guy like that. Interesting you say that because Don Mattingly talked about Marcel Ozuna and said he doesn't want Ozuna to hit home runs. He wants him to be a doubles hitter. I think he said something crazy like 50 doubles.

so that won't happen. Yeah, I went to a game last season, and I asked Barry Bonds about, because Marcello Zuna early last season was hitting more fly balls, and I asked Barry Bonds about Marcelo Zuna's increased fly ball percentage, whether that was something that the team was consciously working with him on, and Barry Bonds looked at me as I was the dumbest person in America

and said he'd never heard a fly ball percentage. Also moving Barry Bonds up in my rankings now. I don't know if the organizational, I don't know if Daniel Murphy's infected the Marlins' organization yet. Wow. Well, Barry Bonds, if Barry Bonds doesn't like you, Chris, I would not be too offended. I wasn't. I didn't take it personally.

It's Barry Bonds, you know. All right, let's do the news and notes. News item number one. Scott White absolutely hates the 10-day DL. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that as the season goes on. And he predicts today Josh Donaldson will be placed on the DL. That hasn't happened yet. Well, that was before I saw he pinched.

Him and Matt Carpenter pinch hitting, I think, makes it a little easier to assume they won't go on the DL. Well, Matt Kemp is on the DL with a hamstring strain. Buster Posey's on the seven-day DL with the concussion. Gene Seguera's on the DL with a hamstring strain. None of these appear to be long term. Adrian Beltray, though, suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf injury. So we don't have a timetable for Beltray. How eager are you to add Joey Gallo?

No. I actually just dropped Joey Gallo. He was the last person on my bench, and I just, I have a hard time seeing him staying around once Beltray comes back. I'm so over Joey Gallo as, like, a prospect that I'm actively rooting against him so that Delano DeShield still has a chance of playing left field when Adrian Belterre comes back. I take that personally. You take that first? Are you Joey Gallo? I would just, like, in the larger scheme of things, it would be way better if Joey Gallo got every day playing time than to do.

Delino DeLisield. No, it wouldn't. Well, I don't know that it will. Give me the steal. I mean, obviously, Joey Gallo's best case scenario is better than Delano to Shield. This is just Chris's flyball bias showing through. No, this is like I want to see a dude who can hit 50 dongs. But he won it is my contention.

Ah, Delano DeLi-Dishield's long track record of success at the Major League. Delano to Shields is more likely to steal 50 bases than... No, he's not. Then what's his name? Joey Gallo is... Joey Gallo actually has like 50 Homer potential. Joe, Delano de Shields is 14 for 14. Both of them would have to get on base.

Either of them or make contact. I think both are never going to happen. Yeah, no, I agree. In a deep roto league, I have some interest in Gallo because Beltray is older than the dirt on the Rangers' infield, and there's a chance. This is a long-term thing. They've replaced it every year. Anthony Rendon's leg might not be 100%.

He was sitting yesterday, but he did come in to replace. Stephen Drew, but he's playing at less than 100% Rendon. Cincinnati starting pitcher Rookie Davis left after being hit by a pitch on the arm. He might have to miss a start. Clay Bucoltz left with a forearm strain is going to have an MRI today. Are there any prospects in the Reds or Phillies organization that could become fantasy relevant? Robert Stevenson was such a high-end prospect, and obviously he's had his issues the last couple years with walks. but pretty good spring, and that would be the one I'm most excited about between the two teams.

Or if Cody Reed got a shot in the rotation again, that'd be interesting. The Phillies, I feel like their next in line are all too hitable to really matter in fantasy. Okay, Russell Martin's 0-4-18, his worst start ever to his season. He had three more strikeouts yesterday. Martin had a terrible start last year, and he was 0-for-17 in 2013, so maybe he's just a slow starter, or maybe he's washed up. We'll find out. Reyes batted seventh last night, and Evan Gattis guys has started just five of nine games.

How concerned are you about Evan Gattis? This is exactly how I thought it would go. Then why did you rank him so high? Because he's good. And he'll be good enough to still matter at a position where a lot of players sit anyway. This is a prime example of Scott and I seeing the exact same statistic and having two completely different takes on it. Because I tweeted at him earlier this week, and I heard him saying, You guys sit right next to each other.

No, I was, I was, you're kidding with Twitter? We worked different schedules. All right. Gattis was the number 11 catcher two years in a row playing basically 105 to 110 games. That's what I think he's going to play. If he's going to, well, that's optimistic now. Well, that's, I guess, what I know. Why is it optimistic?

If he had started one extra game, he would be like the, he's on pace to do that, basically. A little below that pace, but if he starts today's game, he will then be on that pace. It's a little silly to talk about pace now. We're just talking about starts versus there are going to be games where he enters midway through the game, too. That's true. That he didn't start. That will go to his game total. We all had him ranked as a top six catcher, right?

Yes. I don't see any reason to believe he can play 100 games and be a top six catcher. I think that's true. He'll be close enough to whoever is the sixth catcher that I'd rather take. the upside and the possibility that either McCann or Beltron gets hurt for a stretch and that he ends up exceeding the 105 game expectation. I mean, he was a 20-homer catcher those first two years in Atlanta where he played 105 to 100-10 games. In this new environment, 20 home runs is not that big a deal.

For a catcher? Not many catchers are hitting 20 home runs. He's probably going to out-homer Gary Sanchez. I don't know when it goes. I bet he does. I wouldn't say that. I think you don't think you'll out-R-R-Sancher? It's Eltron or McCann gets hurt, maybe.

Okay. All right, well, as you're having Gaddis discussion, Martin Prado started a rehab assignment. Devin Mazzaraco should be back next week. Lonnie Chisinaul could come off the deal very soon, and Marlins fans rejoice that Jeffrey Loria might sell the team as early as this year. I believe David Sampson said they're in the fourth inning, so they're one inning away from bringing in the bullpen.

But it's almost an official game, so that's good. All right, let's do the dropometer. Yes. And then let's talk about players who are doing well. So 0 to 10, 0 is no way am I dropping him. 10 is, I dropped him yesterday, you idiot. Why are you asking me now? Dansby Swanson, 91% owned.

He is batting 156 with two walks and nine strikeouts. Danesby Swanson on the dropometer. Heath on three? I'm not going to say 10. I haven't dropped him yet because I wasn't able to draft him because Scott was in my leagues. I will say, I guess I'll go with five, because there are players that could be on the waiver wire that I'd drop him for, but I'm not actively trying to drop him.

I'll go three. He deserves more time, and especially given the lack of alternatives at the position. Would you drop Dansby Swanson in a shallow league for Chris Owings, who's now 74% owned? No. No. He's got a shallow league. I shouldn't have Danesby Swanson as my starter anyway,

so he's just sitting on the bench. I'd rather stash Swanson. It's just such an issue. Like, who are you dropping Swanson for a shortstop? Freddie Galvis. Angleton Simmons, Jorge Polanco, Tyler Saladino, Zach Cozart. You know, it's this crappy position. Would you do Saladino, Chris?

No, probably not. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Saladino is better, but... All right, well, let's go to our next guy. Devin Travis, three for 27, with no extra base hits, two walks, five strikeouts. Devin Travis is 76% owned, zero to ten on the dropometer. I might go seven on this, and this was something we discovered on Monday. after the first week of play when we were updating our rankings, there are six new second basemen now

that weren't second base eligible at the start of the season. And they are all probably better than Devin Travis? Yes, yes. And who are they? Like, Yon Harvest Salarte. Who else? Jonathan V.R. Yon Harvest Salarte.

I wrote about this. Jose Parraza. Yeah. Jose Ramirez. Yeah, I'm not sure all of them are better than Devin Travis. Like, I'm not sure Jose Paraz is better than Devin Travis. I'm not sure Yon Harvest Salarte. I would rather own Paraza than Travis.

I would rather own Parraza for sure in a Roto League. I'm not sure about points. They might be similar. Just for the fact that Paraza is shortstop eligible. I mean, I'd drop Swanson before I dropped Paraza. All right, but we're asking if you own Travis and you're trying to replace him, you need a second baseman. He's off to a bad start, but this is a guy who could hit 300 and score a ton of runs leading off for the Blue Jays. He's like my 25th second baseman.

He had played in 161 games coming into this season in his career, and his numbers were, exceptional. Like they were like top seven or eight second base numbers. Okay. So did we give a, so Scott said a seven, Heath, Chris, Devin Travis? I'll say five. I will go six. Are you more ready to drop him or scope? Scope. Okay. Byron Buxton. Ten. Five. Eight. Carlos Gomez. Six. Eight. Eight.

Nine. Yeah, I was encouraged by him, and then now he's super cold over 13 with 6Ks in his last three games, Carlos Gomez. But again, like, he showed something last year. I know. And that's like 40% of his season, the three games. Yeah, but he's batting 111. It's not just those three games. Tim Anderson, 57% owned, 192, no extra base hits, no walks, eight strikeouts.

Eight, seven. I mean, are we putting it in the context of these 57% owned? Because, like, that's beyond the standard mixed league spectrum. So, I'll go, I'll go six. Would you drop him, would you drop Tim Anderson for Freddie Galvis? No. No. Okay.

Orlando Arcia. Here's the thing about Rcia. Like, yes, he's drobable because he stinks. but if you own him, you're probably in a deep league where there aren't that many options. Right, he's 33%. That's... I can't imagine...

Like, if you happen to own him in a mixed league, you can do better. But otherwise, you're probably stuck with him. I would probably drop Arthia for Gelfus. And Delano to Shields, 21% owned. He has six at bats so far. Yeah. But... One start at DH?

But nobody's hitting well. If I have enough bench spots, I don't understand what they're doing. What does this guy have to do to get a look? It's probably coming unless Joraxson ProFar just happens to get hot, which I'm not confident he will. So if I drafted DeShield's late in draft season when he was getting the most attention, because I expected him to be one of my biggest,

like I'm really counting on him for steals. I don't think there's probably a, clear enough Steele's replacement on waivers to drop him. Okay, I guess remind me again why we were so excited about the line of the Shields in the first place. He tied for second in walks and he was far and away the leader at the spring in steals. And he was perfect at 14.

Yeah, and that had he been done in a decade. And not only that, we thought he was going to lead off for the Rangers. They said that. You know, well, they hinted at it at least. And now he doesn't even play for the Rangers. I mean, he's on the team, but, you know, it's annoying. Also, his dad played in the mayor. Well, it's just like, he was pretty good two years ago.

He wasn't great. He was good enough. He had 260 with 25 steals. He was fine. But a good walk rate for a base stealer. And definitely looked like something he could improve upon. And then he just kind of took a weird turn last year that he seemed to correct this spring. If he could have just been his 2015 self and let off for the Rangers on a regular basis.

Sure, he would be a... But I wouldn't have ruled out improvement even on those 2015 numbers. Right, right. No, not at 24. It's possible. It's not guaranteed, but... Like, we got really excited about Delano DeShields the last few days of the spring. I think it... Well, partly... We got a little Delano the Shield jump.

And I talked... Remember, there was... You know, I talked Adam off the Delano de Shield... Shields Ledge because I think I said, you know, maybe we overhyped him to Adam because suddenly Adam wanted to draft them everywhere. I did. I drafted a lot of them. Regardless of just leagues that heavily reward steals. But, you know, part of it's because there's so many knowns heading into a spring training

and DeShields was a legitimate riser, like one of the biggest riser. So it becomes an obvious talking point at that point. Yeah. It turns out what we knew Turned out to be what we knew No, we didn't know We thought that he was going to get a lot more playing time It's ridiculous

We listened to beat writer speculation And that's often right And in this case it was wrong Yeah, it's six at bats It's crazy Okay, so let's look at the bad here Let's look at the good MLB leaders through the first

Eight or Nine games And just a few categories First batting average And we won't talk about everybody here But Russell Martin, I clicked the wrong button. Russell Martin is not leading a batting average, but he's last in batting average. Daniel Murphy, J.T. Rayamuto. Unel Escobar, guys, leads off for the Angels batting 455 right now, probably

will come down. But, you know, Matt Wheaters is off to a great start, and Obisail Garcia is off to a good start too. Anything really jumping out at you with Unel, Weeders, and Garcia? I feel like this is going to be the third straight year where Unel Escobar is pretty useful. for fantasy and we just don't believe it. But, like, he's always pretty reliable in batting average. He's A.L. Martine Proto. It's a hollow batting average, though. Right?

It would have to be a pretty deep roto league for you to justify the batting average at the expense of everything else. He's hitting lead off now, so I think that helps things out a little bit. If he can be a 85-runs guy who probably is a true talent 300 hitter, they'll still be pretty low at third base. He was 33rd. Escobar was 33 at third base last year, and he hit 304, but he only hit five home runs and scored 68 runs. I thought he led off most of last year, too.

I don't know. But if you need batting average, if you need batting average. What about Wheaters, guys? Have you noticed like every nationalist hitter has walked more than he struck out so far this year? I did not notice that. We're talking about Eaton yesterday, and certainly Harper has. I'm pretty confident Daniel Murphy has. I don't know if they've just had really bad pitching so far.

It's hard to get too excited about Wheaters yet, but I was thrilled to get him as a Buster Posey replaced me off the waiver wire last night. I've had him as a top 12 catcher since he signed. Yeah, he's off to a very good start. All right, league leaders in home runs. Is George Springer going to have his true. breakout season. He is mashing. He has five home runs, and three of them have come against Ritey's who he's had a 770 OPS against Ritey's over the last two years right around there, and right now it's about 1100. So great start for him. I think he said four, or maybe all five

is home run, I think four, have been lead-off homers. He's already broken the Astros' record for lead-off home runs in a season. And he did it in the first nine games of the season. Yeah, I think Chris and I both wanted to put Springer in our breakouts at one point and got shamed out of it because he was too high end of a player. So I don't have any trouble believing that he's going to have a breakout this year. He's going, if he stays healthy, he gets 700 played appearances with as good a protection as just about anyone. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that 100%. Also, Lindor has four home runs.

He's second, tied for second. and Vendor had, what do you have last year, 15 home runs. I'm done trying to understand this guy. I'm just going to enjoy it. Okay. Live ball percentage is way up. He's just a, he's a pleasure to watch, and I'm just going to enjoy him proving everybody wrong every single year. Was anybody like doubting Lendor coming?

I don't think anybody. I don't, I certainly didn't think he was like a, I still don't understand how he's a power guy. Yeah. He's going to have his first 20s. Homer season this year. Okay. How many... He's not getting, like, cheap ones.

George Springer has a couple of cheap ones so far. How many people can hear me right now? How many of you are staring at the notes, looking at the notes? Don't do it. If you're not, don't do it. I'm not. I am. I'll stop. All right.

Who leads baseball in doubles? Travis Shaw. False. Okay. I already looked at the notes. It's Mitch Morland. Yeah. Okay.

Confirmed. No homers. And somehow one RBI with a 321 batting average and six doubles for Boston. I think for left-handed hitters, and maybe I'm wrong. But Finway is a better doubles park. Yeah, I believe Fenway was not a good home run park for left-handed hitters. Have they been home? The RBI thing is also just nobody's hit in Boston so far this year.

They've all had the flu. But they were at Detroit last weekend. Where did they open this season? Oh, no, they were home against Pittsburgh. Yeah, they were home. At home, yeah. And now they're home. They had to fumigate their locker room when they left Detroit.

Well, Morland's 22% owned. Do you think he's underowned? Yeah, a little. Sure. Right. Yeah, I mean, Platoon First Baseman isn't going to be 70% owned, but more than 22. He'll peak at 50 and ab and flow from there, I think. Would you rather have Mitch Morland or Lucas Duda?

Duda. I think I'm going to move Duda ahead of Morland. I think I have Morland ahead. I might rather have Moreland in a points league. I was thinking about that, too, but I don't know. I think I'd just rather gamble on the upside of Duda. And would you rather have Morland or Ryan Zimmerman? Zimmerman.

Yes, definitely Zimmers. Which rather have Dutter. It's actually not. Duda or Zimmerman. Zimmerman. Zimmerman. I just told you Zimmerman over Travis Shaw yesterday, Adam. What?

Now I do it with Heathair. He's going to power bomb you through the table if you stay it in front of him. Your league leader in steals is Brett Gardner. I think he's tied now. Eduardo Nunez still was fifth base yesterday. But I just want to update the Brett Gardner thing because, you know, he has been issued the 100-run challenge by Joe Girardi. Gerardi wants him to score 100 runs. It doesn't matter how he gets there.

This has been your New York Yankees update, courtesy of Matt Amazer. I saw that from Gerardi two days ago, and I made fun of it on Twitter. saying he also challenged the grounds crew to have zero rainouts. You know, they have probably about as much control over that as Gardner does over his 100 runs. He should just challenge everybody on the roster. It's because it's inspired, like Gardner said, that's inspired him to run more because he needs to be on second and third to score runs as opposed to being on first. So if that's the effect it has, then hooray for Joe Girardi and these wacky challenges. I'm issuing a Yankees challenge.

to Adam Azer to see if we can get through. Why don't they make the whole plane out of inspiration? Tomorrow's podcast without Adam bringing up a Yankee. That's going to be pretty hard to do, considering they're playing today. So is Montgomery starting today? Montgomery's starting today. Pick him up in deep leagues before it's too late. I'm excited about Montgomery.

What would Montgomery have to do that would not be relevant? Because there were a lot of players that played yesterday that we didn't talk about. If he goes five innings and gives up three runs, Yankees fans are all in on this Montgomery. No, we're not. Like he is like the next Noah's Sindic. No, what are you talking about? What are you talking about?

I just want to know, what is the stat line that does not get Jordan Montgomery his own segment tomorrow? The only way Montgomery gets on the show tomorrow is if he has a good start. If he's a bad start, then no, not happening. Okay. But that said, there are a lot of guys we haven't talked about, like Cole Hamels, who walked four, J. Hap, who had another terrible start. but J-Hap is zero-walk, 17 strikeouts. Stop striking people out, J-Hap.

Robbie Ray. All right, fine, let's go to those guys. So, forget Hamels. We'll talk about it some other time. But he only threw 51 strikes out of 100 pitches. Happ, tell me how many of these guys you could see dropping sometime in the next month. So we're not actually predicting it. We're just saying it's conceivable.

Let's say sometime in the next two weeks. Give them a shorter leash. Two weeks? How long your leash is. What are the names? Two or three more starts. J.Hap, Robbie Ray, Jeff Samarja, Lance Lin. I could see myself dropping any of those guys.

In that short of time period, probably just Samarja and Lynn are on the shortest leash for me. But, you know, they've been encouraging signs for both, despite the bad ERA. Do you think Joe Musgrove is over-owned, under-owned, or is his porridge just right at 57%? Just right. Yeah. Do you think James and Tyone is awesome? Yes. Awesome's a little strong. He's good.

Yeah. I'd be happy to have him. And do you want to grade some trades? No. Yeah. I do a lot. And do you want to build a snowman? No.

All right. Grade the trade from Mike in New York City, 10-to-head points league. Give up Stephen Piscotti, get Nomar Mazzara. Ten team league. Give up Piscotti, get Mazzara. D plus. Yeah, C minus. D plus.

From Bernard, Gray, the trade. Wait, isn't a D plus what you just gave that terrible, awful trade on Monday? Which trade? The one that I gave an F and you yelled at me for? I don't know. I don't remember the trade. Everybody gets a D plus. Well.

It's like if a C's dead even, I have to give it less than a C because I'd rather have Piscotti the Mazarra, right? Okay, C minus. Does that make you feel better? Jeez, you're like an angry parent. From Bernard, grade the trade, dear Inky, Blinky, and Nod. We get that a lot. I don't know what that is, but it's something. What is that? I don't know. Move on.

I've heard that a lot in life. Give Nomar Mazzara and Byron Buxton get a lot. Jose Ibrahim. B. A minus. Yeah, no, that's, I'm with Adam. I'll be the grain inflator here. A minus. Yeah, good job.

Just a straight A. You know, I'm not going to go A plus, but just a straight up A. All right, all right. This is from Nick and Shanghai. Ten team head-to-head categories league. All right, here we go. Pay attention. He's got some closer surplus, by the way, some saves surplus.

So Categories League, give up. Starling Marte, Todd Frazier, and Alex Colomay. Give up Marte, Frazier, and Colomé. Get Trey Turner, Kyle Seeger, and Troy Touloulyski. I'll call that a B. It goes to B plus with contextual extra credit. I'm going to call it a dead heat C. Yeah, I think it to B. Man, Heath.

Are Marte and Turner that close for you, Heath? Yeah, I'm not so sure if you're asking me rest of season who's going to score more that I wouldn't take Marjorie. Yeah, but Frasier to Seeger is a nice little upgrade there, no? That is a nice upgrade, yes. Mostly a safety upgrade. Tom in Milwaukee. Hello, Ryan, Kian, Domingo, and Kirk. Brewers.

Yeah. Outfielders. Oh, New and Highson. Yeah. Yes. 15-team Roto League, OBP. Give up Granky, Benintendi, and Triggs. Give up Granky, Benintendi, and Triggs in a 15-team league.

Get Carasco and a Ledmus Diaz. That's interesting. He says Ryan Healy or Diaz, but we're all going, Diaz. Yeah, I didn't even entertain that too. Yeah, if he gets Diaz, I'm going to go B-minus. I think it's a C. I will go I'll go B-minus as well

Who would you guys rather have Granky or Carrasco? Carrasco And then who would you rather have The combination of Benintendi and Triggs Or A Ledmus Diaz? D-S D-S

D-D-S Yeah, I guess Yeah, you got to do this trade Good job, sir James in Lancaster, Minnesota is in a 5-by-5 Roto League He was offered Carlos Santana

Ian Kinsler and Keon Broxton, nice little hall, get Carlos Santana, Kinsler, and Broxton. Man. Giving up Altuvei. Ooh. I say no. No, I say C-minus.

Especially because he already has Miggie and Freddie Freeman as well. Borderline Aether offer. No, it's not. It's better than an Azer offer. Yeah, you like to give up three. Well, it's trying to buy low as well. Yeah. Yeah.

Now, look, you're probably off to a. bad start with Miggie and Freeman and Altuve, but you'll be all right, James. Keep it up. All right. Well, we can read some more conventional emails at fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. This is from Josh. Dear Buster, Jonathan, and Gary. Top three catchers.

Not right now, but yeah. Oh, he said, what are your thoughts on Matt Wheaters? Sorry, we already answered this. But we're happy with Matt Weeders. Yeah, borderline startable catcher. He's a career 262 hitter or something like that or somewhere around there. just be aware, but yeah, good start so far. From Ed, dear, Barry, Wally, and Jay.

No idea. Barry, Wally, and Jay. I want to say Wally's Wally Joyner. I did, too, but I don't know who the other two are. No. So it may not be Wally Joyner at all. It might be comic books. You're way off.

It might be kind of stuff. These are various people who have been The Flash. There you go. There you go. I knew it after I Googled it. Should I pick up Kiermeyer or Sousa in a 6x categories league with OBP? Oh, Keith and I may not see eye to eye on this one, but I'm with Chris and saying Kiermeier. I've got them very, very similarly ranked.

So I don't care. I'm not going to fight you on this one. Okay, fine. Tim in the Lou says, Dear Frank, Buddy, George, and Steve, I already Googled that before the show and could not. This has got a hurt for Tim and the Lou. Why? Those are Kansas City Royals. Oh, they are?

That beat his St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Frank White, Buddy Biancala. Frank who? Frank White. Frank White. How do you spell the H-W-H-I-T-E? Okay. All right, good job.

So you got it. The next time we'll have a tournament tournament. decide. Oh, by the way, I got a word that Chris says funny. What was it again? It was from yesterday's show. I noticed it. I just had breakfast and now I'm fool?

Oh, he says, he says P-U-L. He says like P-O-O-L. Pool. Yeah, everybody in Arizona is a pool hitter because they hit the ball in the water. Yeah, I say words the way they're supposed to be said. No, it was caught. Someone called me out from yesterday. this podcast for saying, caught the ball like caught the bed, I didn't realize those were pronounced

differently. Yeah, caught. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Question. In a saves plus holds league, I have Carter Caps in my DL spot. When he comes off the DL, who should I drop?

Caps, Trinan, Cota Glover, or Justin Wilson? Glover. I think he's third in the pegging order in Washington. All right. And last one. This is from Carl from White Rock, British Columbia. Dear Feeney, Belding, and Skinner. That's an easy one.

Fictional. Famous fictional principles. Yeah. Feeney's Boy Meets World? Was Fini a principal? I thought he was just a teacher. I believe he became a principal, didn't he? I don't know.

Principal is your pal. Ten team head-to-head league. Who should I pick up for a two-star week next week? Robbie Ray or Gio Gonzalez? I would feel better about Gio. I would feel much safer starting Gio. I think Ray has a little bit more upside. I'd take Ray either way.

Feeney did become a principal and then a college professor. He kind of followed the kids around. It was very strange. I'm not sure that Gio is a two-star pitcher next week. Robbie Ray, by the way, gets the Dodgers twice, which could be really good because they can't hit lefties. And that is it for the show. Four-man show.

Hooray. All right. We're back tomorrow to do some. and buy or sell, which is completely different than Drew her vals. See you then.