Fantasy Baseball Today - 07/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Next year's top-24 and Week 16's underwhelming pitching options

Episode Date: July 14, 2017

The guys look ahead to next season, mock drafting the first two rounds of the 2018 season. They also look through the mostly underwhelming two-start options, make some bold predictions for the trade deadline, and take your emails heading into the weekend. 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

It's July 14th, and so of course, we're going to start talking about the 2018 fantasy baseball season on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. But first, sports trades are scary. One person can be replaced by another, exchange for money, or given away for a hypothetical future person. And then once they leave your team, you can't like them anymore, even if you own their jersey, which you also can't wear anymore. except to B-dubs, they won't judge, even if your friends might. Buffalo Wild Wings, Wings, Beer, Sports. Heath. Yes. Do you own any old jerseys for the players that aren't on your team?

I almost bought you a Jamal Charles Kansas City Chiefs jersey, but I wasn't sure if the wounds were too raw. No, I would proud, like I don't actually wear jerseys. It's a nice jersey. But I have multiple jerseys, I believe, in my possession. I have a Jock Vaughn, Kansas jersey. Okay. I have a Ryan Jansen Royal's jersey.

Sure. A Billy Butler. Who is Ryan Janssen? Billy Butler Royals jersey. You might be a hipster. What? You might be a hipster. Why?

You own a bunch of ironic jerseys. And you don't even wear them. A Kobe jersey. That's definitely an ironic jersey. You know, I have a very embarrassing one. I have never owned a sports jersey with a player's name on the back. Really? Never.

Because those are more expensive. I own a shirt. I own a Jose Fernandez jersey and a Chris Quinn Miami Heat jersey because I am a hipster. And a Chris Quinn jersey is just about the most ironic one. Oh, we're counting shirzies? No, no, no, no, just jerseys. I did throw a shirzy away once. Shurzy's the way to go.

Because a player left. Shersies, I love shirzies because they don't cost nearly as much. They get the basic point across. The investment isn't there if the player moves on. Yeah, my embarrassing example, I have an Antoine Walsh. Walker Hawks jersey. Wow. He was the worst.

He was there like a year. He was there like a year. Yeah, like a year. I mean, look, the most highly sought after hipster NBA jersey is, of course, the Rashid Wallace, Atlanta, Hawks jersey. He played for them for two games. Be like a Piazza,

Marlins jersey, right? Yes. I threw my Zet Grinky Royals jersey in the trash wind up. Wow. Wow. But he was like your LeBron, basically. Deep in your feelings. We talk about people that get mad over players leaving

and not doing it the right way. Grinky literally talked about trying to force his way out of Kansas City while he was still on the team and then did it. That's the right way. Yes, he made the team look like the good guys. Yeah. Like, that was the right way. That's the right way to do it.

He also gave me the feels for a little well. Yeah, you were in your feelings. I don't imagine you would have done that today. I mean... I don't think you'll throw your Eric Hosmer jersey away when the... I don't have any Hosmer jerseys or jerseys. Salvador, for sure. Okay.

But he's going to be there forever. This has been a good podcast. We're going to talk. We're going to draft the first rounds for the first two rounds for next year. We're going to talk trade deadline, bold predictions. I hope you guys bring the heat. We are going to preview week 16. We've got some of your emails, fantasy baseball, at CBSI.com.

But first, let's talk about some big news. There's not a ton of big news. This little-known Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder will be. returning from the DL today. Mike Trout. Oh, yeah, that guy. Yeah. Chris Davis will also come off to DL on Friday.

Chris Davis with a C, obviously. Jose Cantana will make his Chicago Cubs debut on Sunday versus Baltimore. You're obviously starting him, right? Good to know. Yes. Kyle Hendricks, there was some talk of Kyle Hendricks returning from the DL from his finger injury as soon as the start of the All-Star break. But he will make one more rehab start in the minors at least.

before coming back, but we do expect him to have a place in the rotation. John Lackey should have a place in the rotation still, right? Yeah, when he's coming back from the DL. He should be back for the first full week, the first opening the Cubs have there. I'm not sure he should have a spot in your fantasy rotation. I mean, he's only like, I think he's only like 80% owned at this point. I would not start John Lackey until I saw a good start from him. Fair.

Eduardo Rodriguez will start for the Red Sox on Monday. Are we starting him? he had mixed results in his rehab assignment right really up and down I never know what to make of that right for a guy like Madison Bumgarner you just kind of ignore it

because he's had such a good track record his last one was great too by the way yeah and he's coming back to first turn through the rotation right yeah he'll be back Saturday so you can if you use the short week the short three day week bum Garner somebody you'll want to get in your lineup

and if if you do divide those two the 10 day stretch after the All-Star game to two weeks, the three day, and the seven day. Then Eduardo Rodriguez is actually going to be a two-star pitcher in week 16. In week 16, which is the default setting on CBS Sports. So that would be enough for me to go ahead and activate Rodriguez. Doug Fister is probably scheduled to be a two-star pitcher. I would bet he's not going to be.

He is scheduled to start for the Red Sox on Tuesday. Smart money's probably on that being his last appearance with the Boston Red Sox. Right, because they'll be... That would... Once Eduardo Rodriguez is back in the rotation, that's a six-man rotation. I kind of surprised Fister is getting one last turn, but yeah, it'll be his last one. He might stick around in long relief, but I think probably not. Lonnie Chisunhal was placed on the DL on Friday.

Tyler Naquin made his return. He was recalled. He'll split time in right field while Lonnie Chisunhal's out with a calf injury. And Eduardo Nunez is returning from his hamstring injury for the Giants on Friday. Guys, let's draft next year's first round. Like I said, we're going to do some week 16 preview stuff a little later on in the show. We'll take your emails, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com, but we are going to go through and draft the first two rounds for next season. We're going to go in order.

Is this a head-to-head draft or a roto draft? That was not something you'd even consider. Don't say it. Both. No. That doesn't work. For the first two rounds. We're just kind of getting a feel for next year's player.

We don't want to alienate half of our audience. Head-to-head categories. A head-to-head categories league. Okay. Now we're alienating 80% of our users. I'm not committing to anything. So we're going to go in order, and we determined the order completely randomly before the show. Who had pizza the most recently is how we will do that.

Look, I happened to have pizza last night. I didn't make the rule. I did make the rule. You did make the rules that we established for this. All of us agreed that this was the way we were going to do it. So I have the first pick. Scott, you had pizza on Monday. You got the second pick.

Heath. I'm sorry. I don't know. And this is kind of unusual. I can't remember the last time I had pizza. I'm sure it was within the last week, though. I almost had pizza yesterday afternoon, which still would have been. I may have pizza.

soon as we're done of this podcast. Oh. So, number one pick goes to me, and it's obvious. It's Mike Trout still. That's why you gave it to yourself, because you didn't want to have to make a decision. Oh, yeah. No, I'm very lazy. So Mike Trout, number one, I think that's the easy call.

Look, someone might try to get cute, but it's Mike Trout. Nothing we've seen. The thumb injury. Barring something crazy, like him just coming back and not, is there any way Mike Trout's not the number one pick next year? If he tears his ACL on September. I could see, provided he stays healthy the rest of season, the state of pitching in baseball this year, particularly in a head-to-head league, I think either categories or points,

I could see somebody making a case for Clayton Kershaw, number one. I'm not ready to make that case, but that's the only, like if you're going to go hitter, I think it has to be Trout. Are you willing to make the case for Clayton Kershaw at number two? I'm tempted. I'm very tempted. But I am interested in seeing what you guys decide to do with Clayton Kershaw. So instead, I will go the more traditional route.

I will take Paul Goldschmidt, I think, is the second best hitter in fantasy right now. Somebody who in those categories leagues will give you some steals in addition to everything else. He's on a 35-30 pace, I believe. I know it's interesting, though. I want to go ahead and bring his name up. I think it'll be later in the first round when we end up taking him. Freddie Freeman has actually been the best head-to-head point per game hitter this year, even better than Trout.

So Freeman, it'll be interesting to see where he goes. We'll get to him in about six picks, Scott. Don't get too excited. He's been even better than Goldsmith. That's why I brought it up. Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and go with third base. I believe that Nolan Aeronado will still be playing at Coorsfield going into next year. You know, he's just 26 years old.

He will not be 27. He's only been in a league for five years, I guess. At the start of next year. Three consecutive years, basically, have a 900 OPS. And he's just metronomic consistency. He's going to lead the league in RBI for the third straight year, probably. He had 130 last two years ago, 133 last year, on pace for right about 133 this year. The home runs are down a little bit.

this year, but I bet by the end of the year they're not. And the doubles are up. Yeah. He has... I would guess we're going to see a home run barrage for Naranato in the second half. Oh, he's due. What? He's due.

He's due. He's going to make up for a last time, as they say. He's been a monster anyway, I mean. But he probably will, yes. Just not someone we ever talk about. Not someone we ever really need to talk about, because he's so good. Yep. And I thought that was really clever by Scott, knowing that he didn't have to take

Kershot, too, because he'd still be there at five when he picks again. Yeah, it's... I do... I'm pretty good at playing. playing games, Heath. I don't know if you realize this. This is where we're at an interesting part because I think, I don't know if you guys agree, but is this the point where Aaron Judge comes into the conversation? No.

Not for me, no. I don't think it's going to be first round. Now, I could get, if everybody else in the industry is calling Aaron Judge a first rounder next year, I could probably get pressured into moving him into my first round, but. I'll throw in some context there, Roto World, recently. released their top 300 for 2018, and Aaron Judge is number four. Nope. I think even in the second half, we're going to see some measure of regression. Now, he'll still be great.

He'll still be top 10 outfielder, I think, pretty easily. I talked about this earlier in the week, and I just want to make it clear that I'm not poo-pooing Aaron Judge. But over the past five years, there have been 30 hitters that has struck out as often as he has or more. the best batting average for those 30 hitters was 275. The very best. Yeah.

His batting average is going to crash. Nobody makes the kind of contact Judge does. And I will point out a few things in Judge's favor. Not a fly ball hitter, at least to the extent that most extreme strikeout guys are. Right. And he has very strange batted ball tendencies. he's an extreme opposite field fly ball hitter might make him a little harder to shift against. Yeah, what it doesn't do is make him a 426 bad-bip guy.

Yes. But, yeah, that's... The bat bids going to go. The batting average is going... And if, that's fine. If he's a 45-homer guy with a 270 average, he's still a second-round pick, but he's not a top-five guy, in my opinion. I think the number four pick, looking ahead to next.

season is really difficult, especially because I did not expect you to go with Nolan Aarononado and number three. And that leaves me with multiple people that I can go with. Now, Bryce Harper obviously got off to that incredible start in April, has been a little more pedestrian since, relatively speaking. He's been a mid-800s OPS guy over the last two months. I think I'm going to go with Moogie Betts number four. That's who I would go with. I think that's a good pick. He's not, uh, the, the numbers are down from last season, not unpredictably, but he's got a lot of habit progression coming. He's only hitting 272 despite striking out well below 10% of the time.

Uh, so mooky bats, number four pick, Scott. I think he's the only player in baseball with at least 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Uh, Goldschmidt only has 13. Trey Turner probably didn't have that many home runs. That sounds correct. What was it you said? 15 homers, 15 steals, Mookie, bat, 16 and 15.

The only one. The only person with 14 and 14 would, you have to add Keon Broxton to that list. Well, I am looking at a guy who's not far off from 15, 15, who you guys haven't mentioned yet. I was considering him with the second pick. Now, Harper's a good choice, like Chris was saying. could go back to Kirshaw now

or Jose Altuve is the one I'm looking at and you know second base is deep everywhere's deep but second base is lacking in true standouts Altuve is unquestionably as safely as anybody can be there's another standout second base he's not alone yes but

two more there are few Anthony Rizzo I'm looking right now to see Anthony Rizzo is not going to get 20 Oh, that's right. He needs 20. Yeah, to carry it over into next season. It's not going to happen. I will take Al Tuvei. I will.

He is, I think he's right there with Paul Gulchmidt as just both safe and obviously the huge upside. You just, you know what you're going to get from Jose Al Tuvei. And the power's real. You know, he has developed into a legitimate power hitter. And, you know, maybe the juice. ball gods are giving him some help there, but he's going to win the batting title as often as he isn't, I think, at this point. No, I think that's a very good way to say it.

Listen, I'm sitting here picking it six. Bryce Harper's on the board. It's a pretty easy choice for me. I'll take Bryce Harper that once again, one of the best hitters in baseball, one of the best players in baseball. I don't think he probably hits 325 this year, but if he hits over 300 with over 40 homers and 120 runs in RBI. It's pretty good.

Helped a lot in points leagues, too, because the walk to strike out is so impressive. So to recap, first six picks, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Aronado, Moogie Betts, Jose Al Tuve, and Bryce Harper. But really, the only one of those six I feel confident about the order in right now is Mike Trout. The others, I think you can make a case for any of those next five seconds. Here's, here's where it gets a little difficult. That's been difficult. Um, yeah, because this year, I think there were, there were pretty clear tiers within the first round,

and I'm not sure that exists where we stand right now. Well, we haven't put nearly as much thought into it as we will by the time March rolls around. I think just, but just to tell you guys where I'm at. Continually fortifying, yeah, go ahead. In my headspace, I think Kershaw is on the board right now. I think Max Scherzer's on the board as soon as Kershaw goes off the board, but probably not a... Probably not before. Yeah, probably not a second before.

I think Carlos Correa is on the board right now. Carlos Correa having the big breakout that we were hoping for now. I guess the issue. Let me ask you this. Who do you rank first at shortstop rest of season? Because obviously we all maintain rest of season rankings. Do you still have Machado ahead of Correa rest of season? And if so, how can you justify taking Correa ahead of Chavez?

I do have Machado ahead of Correa rest of season. Mani Machado is actually, Carlos Correa is basically having the season Mani Machado did, what, two years ago, when he stopped running but hit for all the power? Oh, you know what? There's an easy justification for that. I'm an idiot. Machado is not even close to retaining shortstop eligibility going into next season. So, yes. Obviously. It seems like Correa would be the clear number one shortstop heading into 2018.

So that makes your decision. But I will go with Clayton Kirschaw. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough, sir. So Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Aronado, Moogie Betts, Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper, Clayton, Kershaw are off the board, Scott. Your third pick. Yeah, I really want a Kirchall. I know you did.

You were beating your chest. You were throwing a parade. You had your baton in the air, and I snatched it from you. And I'm not completely sure that I wouldn't take him second to Trout when push comes to shove. But I am interested in finding out where everyone stands on him. I'm tempted to take Scherzer right away here. I don't know why he doesn't give me the same level of confidence Kershaw does. Older.

That's part of it. Four years older, I think. But remember we were all worried about his knuckle coming into this year? Like, oh, Max Scherzer, we can't take him in the second round. And now he's having an even better year than Kershaw. He's been better than Kershaw. We talked about that earlier in the week. So who you're going with?

I am going with. I'm going with Carlos Correa. There you go. I think shortstop is the urgency of filling that position is too high. He had the breakout we were hoping for last year. Yep. Now, there's a couple other first round caliber shortstops, I think. Corey Seeger, even though.

And the one thing that Carlos Correa might have had on Corey Seeger coming into the season was those stolen bases. He had 27 in his first two seasons combined. Zero. Yeah, Corey Seeger hasn't been nearly as good as, Correa this year, but still, I think, plenty of upside to grow and very safe. I think he's in the conversation later. And Trey Turner, who's actually performed about like Correa this year in terms of fantasy

point production. So, you know, maybe if we were doing like a legit draft, like just a three-team league sincerely, you know, I would be happy settling for one of those short stops instead and probably taking Scherzer, but we're kind of thinking from a 12-team perspective here. But if you were thinking from a 12-team perspective, don't you think one of those guys might make it back to you? No. We're at pick eight or nine.

That was pick eight, so you'd have to get through. I'm not counting on that, no. Eight picks to get back to. Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm just going to take Joey Votto. Okay. Okay. He's still out there, right?

He's still up there. It's a phenomenal year. I mean, phenomenal career. Look, cards on the table. Joy Votto is one of the best hitters in major league history. Like, it's just people don't think of him that way, but that's what he's what he's he is. There's no argument to me made that he isn't. He is becoming more flyball prone, taking advantage of the fact that teams are shifting him and also the fact that the ball's

juiced and it's flying a little further, but he's managed to do that without having to sell out for power. I mean, if you're a 300 hitter, which he is, that walks almost twice as often as you strike out and hit 40 homers in a season, what more, he may be the best hitter of baseball. Over the last 162 game, or the last 365 days, we were looking this up, he's 41 homers, 120 runs, 130 RBI with a 340 batting average. He might be the guy that outside of Jose Altuve, you say, is most likely to have a high batting average. And he's made an actual adjustment that I think validates this being his career season at age 33.

You know, he's actually been pretty aggressive at the plate and still walked a ton. So he's not falling behind in the count. He doesn't have the RBI issues. He has the best plate discipline we've seen in baseball since Barry Bonds. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, the only downside is he'll be 34 next year, making him far and away the oldest player drafted so far.

But if you're 34 and coming off the best season of your career, by at this point what would be a pretty clear margin, that that matters a lot less. this is a difficult spot for me number 10. And I guess what I'm going to go with is the statistical scarcity as well as the positional scarcity, because outside of two guys in Cincinnati and everyone in Los Angeles, the Angels, nobody's running. So I'm going to take Trey Turner and the, you know, if he doesn't get hurt, guaranteed 70 steals that come with him. Okay, so to recap through 10 picks, we have Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt,

Lenaronado, Moogie Betts, Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Correa, Joey Votto, and Trey Turner. Now, the question I'm interested in having Heath answer. Scott, I think you're pretty much on board with Trey Turner as a first round pick. Yeah, I mean, he hasn't hit nearly as well as we hoped,

and he's been 3.9 Prince, Port. He's basically been Carlos Correa. He's been first round production. You were the Trey Turner Pupour coming into the season. I was, and let's be clear, Relative to the world. Right.

Relative to his draft position. Sure. Because he was basically being drafted here or a couple picks later. But despite not being as good as he was last season, he was worth that draft position before his injury. Even with a 280 batting average. Yeah, it's so weird because, like, he was a bust until the last month of his season. And in the last month of his season, he just ran. wild.

I just, for me, I never felt. He was bad. I never felt like he was a bust. But statistically, he was. He was really bad. Sure. And so... He wasn't bad.

Let's... He was not overstating, like, 250 with an OPS around 700. He finished with an OPS of 746. Play your names, guys. Like, Adam always says. Trey Turner. Trey Turner. He was definitively bad until about the last month, and then he was awesome again.

Okay. So I am not sold on taking Trey Turner in the first round, but it's going to happen. I think he's like last year, what I was saying was I would not take him before the third round. There are probably two. I'll probably take him in the second now. There are at least two players and maybe as many as four that I would probably take over Turner. Because I think he's a better hitter than he's shown this year. I think he's going to develop into a better hitter.

I think he's a 300 hitter. But right now, so much of his profiles depended on him being this very prolific base dealer. And that's difficult to predict from year to year, especially if he does grow into more of a power hitter. Well, and the hitter profile also depends. Is he a 35% hard contact guy like he was as a rookie? Or is he a 25% hard guy like he was a luxury? Let's ignore that.

Let's just... Well, then he's not a 300 hitter. Sure he is. Because let's just, he's played 168 games. He's played one full season, basically. he's hit 306 with an 829 OPS, 21 home runs, and he was right around a 20 homer pace this season. 70 stolen bases in 168 games. Like, you look at his 162 game pace.

That's a first round player. That's an easy first round player based on his entire career. And I just, I don't think it makes sense to, like, you've got a relatively small sample size, and then you start chopping up, like, well, he would. was bad in April. He had that good series in Colorado, but then he was in great in May. He was really good in June. Like, he's played 168 games.

That's the sample size. Let's go with that. Because that's including 27 awful games in 2015. So you think the 352 Babbip is just what he is? I think so. Yeah, he was a 390 badbip guy in the minors. He had a very high line drive rate last year, which is part of the reason

I was confident coming into this year. That hasn't been nearly as high this year, but I don't know why he couldn't be that again. Yeah, I just, I think he's probably a really, really high. Maybe it's 335. Maybe it's 3.40. Maybe he hits 290 instead of 306. But yes, I think he's a decent source of power, a great source of steals, hits in a fantastic lineup that's going to get him a lot of opportunities, a lot of runs, a lot of RBI.

I feel comfortable with him as a first rounder. I definitely agree with a stolen basis. I do think he'll be a high average hitter. I don't know that it'll be a 300 hitter. the power It's two years in a row He just never really showed it It's two years in a row

He was on pace for like 18, 20 home runs this year 18 home runs is not a decent source of power Sure it is Okay So there are a low barbett There are four hitters I'm debating Three hitters I'm debating between here Remember I said it was about four

As many as four players I could potentially take ahead of Turner I am going to let those hitters slide To my next pick Let you guys figure it out I'm going to take Scherzer here. So Scherzer is the 11th pick, second

pitcher in a first round. So this means Freddie Freeman will definitely not be a first rounder because Heath is going to take him. Yep. I'm going to take Freddy Freeman. Oh! Shock and awe. Freddie Freeman likely to be a third base eligible player next year. Yeah, I'm assuming he is.

I mean, he needs, what, 14 games? You know, I wasn't even factoring that into my assessment of them. And that's, I don't, like, my whole thing with the Freddie Freeman playing third base, and I'll get to my next pick shortly. But my whole thing with him playing first base, and I'm not sure we're going to get through the first two rounds completely. Yeah.

We could just choose to. What? We could just choose to. What do you mean? Like, we could just go through the next round quickly. Sure, we could. My thing with Freddie Freeman playing third base is it's interesting. It doesn't affect his value that much for fantasy.

Oh, I think it definitely does. I think third base is less deep than first base, but it's very deep. everything's deep but shortstopping catcher, right? But I think degrees of depth, the third and fourth weakest positions, which are, you know, a distant third and fourth behind catcher and shortstop are our third base and second base. See, I think third base is the second deepest position. Third base is outfield, but you have more spots to fill. But my thing is, you said you hadn't considered third base.

Yeah. Would you have taken him instead of Max Scher if you knew, if you had remembered he was third base eligible? Probably not. Would you have taken him instead of Carlos Correa? I would probably take him instead of Joey Votto. Now, Votto wasn't my pick, but... And to be clear, over the last 365 days, as we talked about a little earlier with Votto. Or, yeah, with Votto, Votto's been the third best player on a per-at-bat basis over the last calendar year.

It's not calendar year. Freddie Freeman has been the best player on a per-plate appearance basis over the last 365 days. Let's go through the second round a little quicker. I'm going to take Aaron Judge. Garbage pick. Okay. Now you're forcing me to debate between the two other hitters that Heath didn't pick. Like, Aaron Judge is the best power hitter in baseball.

This has been a, like, it's taken 30 days for you to go from, I'm going to be the low guy on Aaron Judge to I want to grab him high. I do not think I'm going to be the high guy on Aaron Judge taking him 13th. Well, on this podcast, you are. At CBS, sure. Sure, but for the world. And you were the low guy at CBS. For the world. I will not be the high guy in Aaron Judge.

Aaron Judge will go as early as second in some leagues next year. I'm going to guess that if he hits 270 the rest of the way and the home run pace falls to what we expect it to. He's nuts. Hold on. If he hits 270 with 20 home runs the rest of the season. I don't expect him to hit 20 home runs. If he finishes the season, I do. I do, too.

Yeah, I think he's breaking 50. 75 games, 20 home runs. That's a really. big drop in his pace, and I think it's, if he hits 270, he's going to finish the season as a 315 hitter overall? Like, hitters just, for the most part, do not hit 20 home runs in the first half and the second half. Okay. I don't think judges the average hitters.

Hitters. I'm not saying great hitters don't. I think Judge may be the best power hitter we've ever seen. We've been saying that about Stanton, and it seems like he's past Stanton, right? Okay. If you believe that, then I think that's a very consistent position. position. If you think Aaron Judge is better than John Carlos Stanton, then you should take him there. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think he's better than John Carlos Stanton. I think we all have him ranked above John Carlos Stanton, right?

He is the better, he is the best power hitter in baseball even better than John Carlos Stanton. Now, Stanton is polished in other ways that Judge isn't yet. I'm not even sure if that's true. He strikes out less now, but other than that. Yeah, that's basically what I meant. Scott. Okay. So the two remaining hitters are the Cubs awesome duo. I'm going to prioritize Rizzo over Bryant because, I mean, the walk-to-strikeout ratio is so consistently impressive for Rizzo. It's been better than ever this year.

And I think that's that is going to, that lends itself to more predictable results from year to year. And there's really nothing to complain about with what Rizzo is doing. off to a slow start with the batting average, but there's already been a lot of correction with that and even more to come. I will point out, and we'll move through this very quickly, but you both have Jose Altuvae ranked below Anthony Rizzo's third at second base right now. In a points league, not in a Roto. So what kind of drive?

I do have Rizzo ahead in points. I do too. Just throwing it out there. Yes. But I have Altuvay ahead and Roto. I feel fine about having Rizzov. I feel fine. Heath, who's your next pick?

I'll go with, I think I'm going to Charlie Blackman. I consider Bryant. I think I have Bryant. Maybe still ranked ahead of Blackman, but I'm going to go with Charlie Blackman. The last two years for him. Just an unbelievable player. Go ahead. Sorry.

That's okay. You're up. You weren't ready for this. You're not taking Bryant. Is that what you're saying? You were the one to argue. Chris Bryant. Thank you.

You were the one saying he was going to hit 50 home runs this year before the season. Yeah. Not so much. 17th pick, Scott. Mani Machado? Corey Seeger? I... Hmm.

If we're basing it on what I expect to happen for Machado in the second half, then I do think Machado is the pick here. Yep, that's who I would have taken. I will take Carlos, Corey Seeger. Carlos Corey Seeger. So we are down to the last three picks. That right? Last six picks.

Six picks left. Now this is, I think, where... I'll run through the names while you think it over. Well, I'm going to throw out Chris Sale. Okay. Yeah, no, we do need to think about more pitchers. That's true. I would have taken Chris Sale if Corey Seeger had...

Yeah, I think this is the... This is where the drop appears to be. There's what more pitch are left? Yeah, Corey Klooper. And Daniel Murphy probably needs to be in. included in the tier as well with Seeger. Sure. I said Joey Votto's the best

batting average guy in the National League. It's probably Daniel Murphy, who has hit. 3.42 straight years. And George Springer needs to be one of these six players. Take it. So let's get these guys off the board. We got five players left. I will take Kluber here. Corey Kluber

number 20. So I will take Daniel Murphy. Okay. I got my last pick. Springer's still out there. Springer's still out there. I'll give you the guys I'm thinking about. Springer, I'm thinking about John Carlos Stanton.

I am... Who would be the next pitcher? Kichael? Grinky? Yeah, I think there's a drop-off after those four. I'd probably say to Grum. Yeah, I don't think a pitcher gets into this discussion. So I'm going to go with...

I'll go to John Carlos Stan. Okay. That makes it easy for you. for me again? No, George Springer. Ah. That's a better pick. I forgot. Yeah, yeah. Well, now I don't have a pick lined up here. So I am going to poke around a little. I said a very good one.

Stanton, I don't know. Well, while you're looking, let's talk about George Springer. He leads the majors and runs with 76 and 83 games. Not running anymore. Only two stolen bases this season. 310 average, though. He's having the big power breakout that we hoped for. benefiting quite a bit from the Crawford boxes. He's not someone I would pick to hit 20 plus home runs in the second half. Heath, like you said, about Judge. But just the all-around game has become very impressive with George Springer.

This is a terrible place to be at the end of the second round. It will be much easier by next year. But there is... Yeah, I think Stanton's the clear standout here. I'm going to take Stanton with the second to last pick of our little draft here. Until he gets bit by a mosquito carrying a rare disease. He's got to have some kind of unlucky injury in the second half, right? I mean, that's just the Juncarlo's Stanton's story is that he just, some freak thing happens to him.

Keep him from getting 40 home runs. Again, he's only 14 away. He's never hit 40 home runs before. While he looks it over, looks over the bad selections here, I'm not sure it isn't DeGron, to be honest. But I'll recap what we've picked here. First round, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Aeronado, Mookie Betz, Jose Al Tuvei, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Corrella, Joey Votto, Trey Turner, Max Scherzer, and Freddie Freeman to round it out. Second round.

Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Charlie Blackman, Chris Bryant, Mani Machado, Corey Seeger, Chris Sale, Corey Klobber, Daniel Murphy, George Springer, John Carlos Stanton, and... So who's jumped into the top two rounds? Springer? Yep. He was kind of borderline. Freeman? Yep. Also kind of borderline coming in.

Judge, obviously. And that's it. Those are the only new players who were not in our first two rounds last year. And Stan. Well, I mean, Stan was kind of fringy. Corey Kluber was kind of fringy. Daniel Murphy was kind of fringy. But they were all in the conversation for round two.

Judge was the only one. I think Judge is the only one really coming out of nowhere. Yeah. That's kind of surprising. But we'll see what Heath picks. Maybe he has another. Well, you know how I always like to get a first baseman. Mm-hmm.

And, um... Hosmer would be a reach. Hosmer would be a reach. Are you thinking about Bellinger? Well, you know, Jose Abraeu has been great so far this year. No way. I think he's pretty clearly a top 10 first baseman. He, there is so much crowding around the Jose Abraeu class.

He came into the office with the, the only, the only one. The only reason he showed up to work today was to call out Scott White for not having Jose Abrae as a top 12 first baseman. That's the only, that's his raise on to Etra right now. So give us your real pick. We got to move on. Josh Donaldson. If you won't let me take Jose. Donaldson, yeah.

Abraeu's been a lot better than Donaldson this year. He has, but is he a better player than Donaldson? I don't know. Donaldson may have taken a step back. I'm going to go to Jacob de Grum. Who did you take? Jacob de Grum. Yeah.

He's my next best pitcher available. I think, you know, if particularly if we were declaring this for sure a head-to-head draft, I'm not sure that more pitchers shouldn't have been taken. But no, I'm pretty happy with this. It seems to be at least a clear top 23 in some order. And then DeGrom, I think, makes sense just prioritizing pitcher over everything else. DeGrom, Donaldson, or Abraeu, one of those three. Can I make, we're going to move on to the rest of the show.

but how long, if he keeps what he's done up this season, how long until Gary Sanchez comes off your draft board? I thought about him. Does he a third round pick? Yeah, I just don't. I've taken Posey as early as round two at times. I just think because I have to prioritize pitching more, I can't afford to make that leap at catcher.

Yeah. And Posey's a third round pick. Yeah, I mean, just I might have to move Gary Sanchez. his above Buster Posi by the end of the season. Just, if he keeps this up and he finishes with 20 plus 25 homers, it's going to be really hard to ignore. Among catchers with at least, with a reasonable number of it bats, Gary Sanchez is number one and head-to-head points per game.

Do you want to know who is number two? Mani Pena. No. Alex Avila. It is Evan Gaddis. Believe it or not. That actually makes a number of sense. had a great home run season.

So, wow. Yeah, I'm probably still going to have Posey ahead of Sanchez, but they'll both be third rounders. And that's our draft of next year's first two rounds. We will have trade deadline bold predictions. We will have a little bit of news for the rest of the show, week 17 preview stuff, your emails at fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. But first, whoever invented Summer was obviously a sports fan. They didn't even try to hide it. They gave us playoff hockey.

playoff basketball, the opening of soccer and baseball, it's a clear display of favoritism. The other seasons didn't stand a chance with three months of clutch playoff drama and the awakening of new seasons. It's clearly the work of a sports fan. They might as well have called it sports season. In fact, at Buffalo Wild Wings, they do call it sports seasons. So don't ever call it summer because that's not what it is. It's sports season.

Just waiting on the legal change. Buffalo Wild Wings, Beer, Wings, Sports. Let's hear your trade deadline bold predictions This is going to be a fun, quick little segment I've got three. Scott, you just made a face, so why don't I go with my three? Did you see my three? I didn't know.

Okay, my three are in the show notes, and I'm going to throw them out there. Number one, and this one's actually been rumbling about over the last couple of days, Zach Britton gets traded to the Dodgers. So wait, if there's people talking about this possible trade happening and there's like, they are talking about the deal, is it a bold prediction?

Yes. Any prediction is a bold prediction, right? It would be the best. Any prediction is a bold prediction. It would be one of the best bullpen combinations in history. You always assume a trade rumor isn't, the exact rumor isn't going to come to fast, right? Maybe I'm trying to be a little too bold. Here's my number two. Yes.

Garrett Cole gets traded to the Braves. You're welcome. Whoa. The Braves get a. That is bold. A starting pitcher who's under team control for a couple more seasons. And he's probably not going to cost that much. Why would the Pirates?

I don't know. Because I think the pirates are going to start selling pieces off. The pirates are so close, though, to being back in it. I mean, they still have a lot of very young, high-upside pieces. Well, all of those reasons. Trading McCutcheon makes sense. All of those reasons are things that would make it so that it's not a bold prediction. That's why it's a bold prediction.

Garrett Cole gets traded to the Braves. He's on the market. That's wild. Because they're looking to move Julio Tehran because they don't trust him to be a true number one. I saw reports that Julio Toronto is not available. He's available. They were hoping to put Cole and Tehran together And then they'll have a number one

I don't think it works that way And my third bold prediction I think the angels Go for it They don't have much to trade anyway They're going to go get J.D. Martinez That's my bold prediction Huh

They put a big bat Behind Mike Trout To make up for the fact that Albert Poo holes All right I have at least one ready to go Keith can go with his well I think of two more Okay I am going to send I think the Blue Jail

decide to tear it down. Okay. They've got to rebuild. They only have Josh Donaldson for two more years. Do they trade in division? They send Josh Donaldson to the Boston Red Sox. Okay. I thought about...

Boatload of prospects. I thought about doing Stanton to the Red Sox, but I said that on yesterday's podcast. Yeah, I'm glad you didn't. And then I'm going to have one in the Chris category of bold. We'll send David Robertson to the Nationals. Why not Zach Britton to the Nationals? What's that? Why not Zach Britton to the Nation?

Because he's going to the Dodgers already. Oh, that's right? already committed. Good news for Brad Brock, by the way, if that happens. Yes. And then finally, as kind of just a little nugget to throw out there to Scott, one of his favorite players in all of baseball, Trevor Cahill, traded to the Kansas City Royals. Wow. I do like Trevor Cahill, and it would be great if he pitched for any team other than the Padres. I would take the Royals. Good park. Not that it matters because he gets so many ground balls. Okay, bold prediction number one,

Reese Hoskins plays every day for the Phillies after the trade deadline and is the hottest fantasy pickup over the last two months. So where does Tommy Joseph get traded to the Yankees? Okay. Not a bad landing spot for Tommy Joseph. Yeah. Would probably not be a top 24 first baseman though. Yeah, well.

Heath barely, you'd barely have him in the top 40 right now from what we were talking about earlier. 40th exactly right now. I have him barely just outside the top 30, but that's not a strong endorsement. Chris Archer gets traded to the Braves. Why are the Braves trading for a starting pitcher right now? Because they believe they're contending next year. This was always the plan, right? They cleared the books. This was why they made that ridiculous Chris Johnson trade to clear the books for 2018. I mean, they only are interested in pitchers that aren't rentals because, Yeah.

They want a true ace to lead the young pitchers who, some of which will hopefully develop into ace. So they have to give up, what, three or four top prospects for Archer? I don't want them to give up what the Cubs gave up for Jose Cantana. Well, you give up much more. That's a bold predictions. Yeah, it does. Yeah, you're giving up. And I don't.

And I don't see that happens. But I think they'll wear down the raise with some, with volume as opposed to. All right. Let's get one last one. One last one. I actually think Josh Donaldson is getting traded, but to the Cardinals. Okay. Rather than to...

Where did you have them go into Red Sox? Yes. Okay, that was fun. Yeah. None of these are going to come true, but it was fun. The Brewers get somebody, right? We didn't do the Brewers. The Brewers get a pitcher, don't that.

Two of those will come true. The brewers will get... Brandon McCarthy. Nova. Verlander? Sure. All three of those would help. Let's look at some of the rest of the news.

We've got some trade rumors in here. The Marlins are shopping, AJ Ramos, and David Phelps. That would be bad news for AJ Ramos. Would be very good news for Kyle Barraclaw, I would assume. They have told teams that Justin Bore, Marcelo, J.T. Raimuto, Christian Yalach, and for some reason, Dan Straeli, are untouchable. So that's the decision that they're going with. Keonkela, shoulder injury is nearing a return, traveled with the team on their road trip to Kansas City,

could be back this weekend. Is he a closer candidate for the Texas Rangers? Yeah, he was. I was thinking he was about to take the job before he got hurt, and it's not like Matt Bush has really, I think, resolidified anything since Kayla's been out. So, yeah, I would say so. Rafael Devers is expected to be promoted to AAA any day now per ESPN's Red Sox reporter, which... I think today, because Pablo Sandoval was just DFA'd.

Oh, my goodness. And he was playing third base for the AAA squad on a rehab assignment. Pablo's, how much money is left on that deal? Like, 50 million plus, right? A lot. Good to be Pablo. I mean, round amount of pound. I take it.

So, Rafael Devers, we could. could see him in the majors in September. If they can't trade for Josh Donaldson. Or Prado. Prado would be, I think, a high probability prediction, but not a very bold one. Fair. Neil Huntington, quote, pretty much eliminate the thought of Jung Hogan returning this season. He's still having visa issues.

Colby Rasmus was placed on the restricted list. He's stepping away from baseball. He's been having issues with his surgically repaired hip. Juris Familia began a throwing program on Thursday, so there's a chance he could be back this season. And Andrew Heaney, remember that name? I do. Traded for D. Gordon.

Angels, not a prospect. I guess he's still a prospect. He probably still has rookie eligibility, right? I don't think he does. But he used to be. He made his rehab debut on Thursday, allowed two earned runs and won two-thirds. Innings for the Rookie League, Arizona League.

Angels, that means we should. should see him in about a month, assuming there are no setbacks. That's, uh, he was, he is on the major league DL. He might still have options. Yeah, no, there's, there's a good chance we'll see him. I don't know how exciting that is. It's probably exciting on the level of- Probably a sleeper for next year.

Well, it depends how he performs down the stretch. I was more excited about Tyson Ross coming back than Andrew Heaney, and I don't think I own Tyson Ross in any standard league. Scott. Yes. Let's hear some week 16 preview stuff. What will be the news? We have more news?

Tim Tebow hit a game-winning home run last night. He's raking it at Port St. Lucie. Let's go up. 37, 421. You guys want to go up? It's only like 45 minutes away from the office. We can go see him. Only nine strikeouts and 57 plate appearances.

Everybody was like, oh, the Mets. Yes, still all the Mets. Yes. Let's hear some two-star pitchers. I'm not going to indulge any. Tim Tebow discussion. Scott, these numbers are respectful.

Give me the two start pitchers for week 16. Well, look, you have the list in front of you, too. Beginning on July 17th? 17th. Yes. 17th. So we've got some big names. But after that, things get really rocky.

There are 44 by my count, two star pitchers. And there's a lot of, there's a lot more guesswork that goes into this list in most weeks because teams still haven't announced their full one through fives coming back from the break. So you can expect some, this is subject to change. It's always subject to change, but especially this time. Kershaw, Lester, Strasbourg, Granky. McCuller, Stroman.

Hap, Vargas, are the must-starts? Yeah. Paneda, because he's got good matchups against the twins and Mariners. sure. But then there's like Nova, who you normally think of a two-star week is must-start versus Milwaukee at Colorado. Nope. Bundy Bundy versus Texas in Houston.

He's been awful. Nope. He'll be a Toronto against the Cubs and Dodgers. Nope. Edward Rodriguez against the rap, the Blue Jays and Angels. I mean, not bad, but fresh off the D.L. Yeah, that's a risk. I think those four, Nova Bundy, Tehran, Erod.

I'd have to start them in a points league. I wouldn't feel great about it. Categories leagues, maybe better to play it safe. My favorite of them is probably Rodriguez, actually. Beyond that, it's a rough list. I figured out why you said it's getting rocky. Because like seven of these guys are pitching at Colorado.

Yeah, the Rockies have seven games of course this week? Yes, no, six games, but the full week. Start all your Rockies. Start Heronopara. And, yeah, because you've got to Nelson Lament, who I specifically like, but he's at Colorado, at San Francisco. That's really risky because he could be really good against San Francisco and just absolutely disastrous against Colorado. I'd be fine with it in a points league. Matt Moore is interesting.

Two home starts, one of them against the Padres. Yeah, he could be interesting. Yeah, he's going to be among the higher rated of the Fringies, I think, even though it's not exciting. Sean Newcomb, I mean, a week ago, we would have been thrilled for any two-start week, but Cubs, Dodgers after a two-start week against two, I think it was the Nationals and the Astros, got crushed in both of those starts. So I am unlikely to start. All right, I'll give you the one guy I'm going to go out and add for the two-start week.

He doesn't have the best matchups, but he looked good in his return from AAA. Jared Ikoff. I thought you were going there. Keith, your favorite. He's got Miami. He's got Milwaukee. Now, Ikoff is one of the most. questionable of all because

Philly's only played six games. We don't know who's going to start fourth, who's going to start fifth for them back from the break. I just picked Ike off because he's the better pitcher. It's possible it'll be lighter. And I will consider I will consider

Zach Wheeler versus the Cardinals and A's. I'm going to consider Junior Gera. I know he's had some major problems but both of his starts are away from Miller Park. You get the I almost called Pittsburgh the Steelers. He's got the two Pennsylvania teams. I almost called the Blue Chase the Raptors.

He gets to spend the whole week in Pennsylvania. It's beautiful up there this time of year. It rains a lot. It's questionable for him, too. He's on the DL right now. There's a good chance he'll come off in time to make the two starts, but it's not guaranteed. So the point is, if you're looking for pitchers for week 16,

probably just going to go with your guys. Just ride your horses. I am straining to... I'm straining to find five that I like. C.C. Sabathia at Minnesota, at Seattle. Eh. Could do worse. Two-star Tom against the Phillies and Reds?

Tom Kohler against the Phillies and Reds. No, not really. Josh Tomlin at San Francisco versus Toronto. His last start was good, but when he's bad, he is horrid. Yeah, I wish that was Mike Clevenger. Yeah. So it's... It's not great.

Yeah, this is not. not a week to stretch. Oh, how about Brent Suter, who I think is very safe two-start option and that he will make both of his starts? Those same matchups, those same matchups that Gera had. At Pittsburgh, at Philly. I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing at you were saying he was very safe because he's going to start both of those games. Right.

That's usually when we say safe, we need something else. So the point is ride your horses, go with your wards. one-star guys who you feel confident in, don't stretch for a two-start. Unless you want to gamble on Denelson-Lemette, gamble on Jared Icoff, gamble on Zach Wheeler. We don't like any of these guys, really, though. Anybody that's widely available. Yeah. Maybe Eduardo Rodriguez, who's about 70% owned, I think.

Really? He's that low? Yeah, even like Ariel Miranda, that's a guy who looked too a lot when he's making two starts. But it's at Houston versus the Yankees. All right, let's move on to some of your emails. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Philip has the first one. If five is more of the same, one is major regression, and 10 is an MVP candidate.

On a scale of 1 to 10, what can we expect from Domingo Santana rest of season? Five, five. You guys are lazy. Five. John and Peoria? Yeah. Dear Adam, Jamie Anando, I've never heard of those guys. Have you heard anything about Trey Turner's wrist? Is he worth buying low in a Categories league with playoffs starting in late August?

We have one of our biggest disparities in our rankings. And I was looking at this this morning. I thought, I went searching frantically for Trey Turner News because both of you guys still have them, I think in your top 10. I moved him down to about 15. I had dropped him down to about 20. There's been no news. None. So I am assuming a late August return, mid to late August return? It might be worth buying if you're feeling confident that you're in the playoffs in that kind of format.

As long as you can buy really low, because he may not help you. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it depends. It depends. Like, I still have this question. It's why Turner's so high in my rank. banking still, which hitters really hold value? Because there are so many first basemen that are... I just dropped Hanley in a league. Yeah, and I recently dropped Justin Boar. He got hot again,

but I dropped him for Eric Hosmer. Eric Hosmer was available, which says a lot too. I mean, if you're trading, if you're trading like one of those first basemen in the 10 to 15 range for them or an outfielder in the, you know, 30 to 45 range, I think it's worth it. Okay, Jonathan. Trout is on the DL. His activation means he needs to drop someone. He's got conflicting cases to keep or drop a bunch of players, but who would you drop one pitcher and one hitter from this list? Lance Lynn, Carlos Rodon, Luis Castillo, Trevor Cahill,

David Peralta, Clint Frazier, Matt Adams, and DJ LaMayhew. Who is this email from? Jonathan. Jonathan, because there's no way I'm keeping up with all those names. So which one of these pitchers would you drop? Lance Lynn, Carlos Rodon, Luis Castillo, and Trevor Cahill. I would have trouble with it, but I still don't buy Lance Lynn. His peripherals are mostly pretty bad, so I think he has the least upside of this group.

I would probably drop Cahill. I agree Lynn has the least upside of this group, but I'd have to drop Castillo just because I feel like, I mean, he hasn't had a good start yet. There are good signs. Oh, I don't think that's true at all. Where comes the semantic debate over what's a good start? It's always fabulous when we do this. Yeah, this is...

I'm going to go with Cahill. I think Rodon is the clear guy you keep. So we found the guy who's low on Cahill. Is he the one guy? Because Al loves him, I think. I love him. I love him. I think the bigger problem is that I like Lance Lynn.

I'm more on Castillo than I am Cahill. Yeah. Like, Cahill would have been, if you weren't dropping Lance Lans it would be K.L. Probably. Okay. And of the hitters, David Peralta, Clint Frazier, Matt Adams, and DJ LaMahue. This is an interesting upside-downside group.

I'd probably drop... I'd probably drop Peralta. Outfielders are so easy to find. He doesn't necessarily play every day. He doesn't have the upside of Clint-Fra. That's an easy call. We have to pick a pitcher in a hitter. We're not just dropping one player regardless.

Because Peralta would be the easy number one to drop. He wanted to. Yeah. Porch in Iowa. He's in need of a second baseman in a head-to-head categories league, and it's a keeper league. Would you give up Cody Bellinger in a Keeper League to get D. Gordon? Do I need stolen bases?

You need a second baseman. You probably need stolen bases. In a keeper league, a long-term keep. Well, again, that depends on who your other keepers. Would you keep? Belinger, for sure? Yeah. Probably not.

If it's like 10-plus players are being kept, there's that little roster. turn over from you to hear. There's no way I'm giving up Bellinger. But if it's like a three-keeper deal, then I probably am. Yeah. Okay. And Josh, he picked up Schwaber and Starling Marte recently. Starling Marte. Let's remember, I think is four days away. Yep. From returning, I believe it's July 18th.

He has Blackman, Shebler, Maibon, Susa, and Alonzo. Who are you dropping and who has the most upside from this group? Marte and Blackman, obviously, I think, are the two you're hanging on to. Marte was someone that was a second or third round pick coming into the season. He's the second best player in this group. Maybe we should just rank them? Yeah. So I'd go Blackmun, Marte, Sousa, Swarver, Shebler, Maven.

So you're dropping Maven. I guess so. Maybe Shebler, depending on its head-to-head. I think I'd drop Schwabber. I can't really disagree with that too much Yeah, I can't disagree with it, but I love chasing the upside with Schwerber. I think he could have an absolutely monstrous second half. I could make an argument for Mabin, Shebler, or Swarber to be drunk.

In head-to-head, I'd probably drop Sheppler. In Roto, I'd probably drop. Shebler. Yeah, I guess. Sheppler Schwerber. That's it. A lot of schwa's. A lot of, yeah, some alliteration there.

Great podcast today. There's a term for that sound. I don't know what it is. The schwa sound. The schwa? I don't know what it is. Very helpful. Thanks for listening, guys.

Adam's going to be back on Monday, I assume. Thank goodness. Wow. That is true. I missed it. Have a nice weekend. We'll see you guys on Monday.