Fantasy Baseball Today - 07/20: CLE/SD closer situations, Mejia, and Fantasy Jeopardy (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 20, 2018

We break down the Brad Hand trade from every angle as we return from the All-Star break. Who will close in San Diego and Cleveland? What kind of value does Francisco Mejia have? Plus, Jose Martinez vs. Jake Bauers, Jesse Winker vs. Jake Bauers, and a whole lot more Jake Bauers talk. Fantasy Jeopardy, Week 18 two-star pitchers, and more. Emails at [e-mail] ... this episode is sponsored by www.ZipRecruiter.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. It's Friday, July 20th. And we're back from the Allster break. I mean, we were already back, but baseball is back. Scott White, Heath Cummings, Chris Towers. Adam Azers not here. Still has a child to take care of. So he's going to be out for a few more days.

And we're going to start the podcast with our email of the day number one, inspired, I think, by Adam. I don't think you have to say. I think. Like, I mean, we'll see. We'll see. Who knows where Andrew from Greensboro, North Carolina, was inspired. Hey, guys, just wondering how you would rate Adam Azer on the datometer.

Datometer? Datometer. Datometer. I'm guessing he was at a zero before. So how is he, so is he now a one? How do we calibrate the datometer? Maybe you're not applicable until you become an actual father, and then you start at one. So is he now an automatic five or something?

thing. So my thoughts, there is a distinction between dad and father. And there should be a dad o meter. A thithometer is a thing already. So a father o meter? Yeah, the phythometer wouldn't be spelled the way father. Yeah. I think like the father o meter is a father like you have to like I'm not on the father o meter. And I would call it a binary. Like Scott is a one, I am a one, Adam is a one, you are a zero. Yeah. On that. The dad-o-meter is a totally different thing.

Because dad is not, doesn't really, like, having kids definitely helps your rating on the dad-o-meter. But it's not a prerequisite. Adam has a very low dad-o-meter rating. He does. I see, like, you think about, like, dad's stuff. Right. He hates Sabermetrics. That's, that's dad.

He loves die-hard. That's dead. Those are two really dad things. He does not have anywhere close to a dad body. He still has a child's pod. That's true. But you know there were dads before the last 30 years, right? We evolved.

Yes. All right. Of anyone on the podcast, Azer's probably most likely to wear his cell phone on a belt holster, right? I think Scott is. Am I? I mean, I've never given it any thought. Who's most likely to wear a knapsack? A knapsack.

No, not a knapsack. See, I think the thing you read. Fanny pack. Badman fluctuates throughout dadhood. Like, right now, newborn baby, he's probably in the thick of it. I mean, he's forsaking work, I said in jest, to care for his child. So he's right in the thick of it. His hands are in there.

He's probably pretty close to a 10 at this very moment. So you're putting him at like a 9 on the datometer? I mean, I'm not there. I'm not seeing what he's doing. Maybe he's just, you know. I'll give him like a three. I think Heath is the most dad guy on the podcast. I mean, I probably, especially because you think you're a cool dad, that is such a dad thing.

Well, I am a very cool dad. Well, you are a cool dad until they're teenagers, right? Oh, my eight-year-old thinks I'm one of the coolest people in the universe. I mean, I don't be young. Am I the most dad? Is he the most dad? I don't mind being the most dad. You might be the most dad.

I think Scott's lack of beer consumption really hurts him on the doubt. You don't drink beer. That knocks, like your peak is like seven or eight. Which one of you most recently used a paper map? While driving. While driving? While driving. Oh, it's been at least a decade.

Okay. Yeah, a decade. Do either of you read the newspaper? I have read, I have received paid, and read the newspaper in the last calendar. That's really dad. I did sit at the table and drink coffee while reading the newspaper. That is so dead.

Do either of you own New Balance shoes? I do. Now it's getting tough. Oh, it's definitely bad. Those were all the rage when I was in college. Definitely, that's new balance. Those were all the rage when I was in college. Okay, I'm going to redact my earlier statement.

Scott is definitely the most dead. All right, we're going to talk about actual fantasy baseball stuff now, but that was a fun discussion. Heath, you wrote the WaiverWire column going into the second half. I mean, we had a game last night, but we're not going to talk about it. I mean, we can. But who was on the WaiverWire? Who should people be adding going into the second half of the baseball season?

Well, there's not a complete crossover between podcast listeners and WaiverWire readers. So it's a lot of guys we talked about yesterday. There was a mention, of course, of Kirby Yates, who Chris wrote about in that trade yesterday. There was a mention of both Jesse Winker and Jake Bowers. And I even made a deal with the readers that if they would get Jake Bauer's ownership over 70% I'd stop putting him in there. There was a mention of Joe Musgrove, who I think will be pretty much a must-start guy in a points league. And there are some signs that make me think he could be valuable in a category's league as a starting pitcher as well in the second half.

And then I threw in a guy I mentioned at the end of yesterday's podcast at Al Bartow Mondesie. because I think right now, if you were in a season-long categories league, a rotisserie league, go check your standings and see where you need to make up points. And if it steals, if he is even an okay hitter, just slightly below average hitter, he's been a terrible hitter in the major league. So far, he's stole 19 bases in 93 games. Yep. All right, let's talk about that trade that you mentioned obliquely.

Hand was traded. You mentioned it obliquely. I was just checking my oblique to make sure it was okay. Brad Hand and Adam, is it Simber? Yes. Simber traded to the Cleveland Indians to bulk up that Cleveland bullpen that's been such a disaster. Francisco Mejia sent back to San Diego. Who's going to close for Cleveland?

Should be Brad Hand. We talked about the hypothetical of Brad Hand getting traded to Cleveland yesterday. actually. It wouldn't surprise me if it's Cody Allen, at least right now, but he's like a 450 ERA. Yeah, he's allowing a ton of home runs. I mean, obviously Andrew Miller isn't available to Terry Francona right now, and when Andrew Miller was, Francona always stuck with Allen. So I feel like

Hans probably going to fill the Miller role for the next couple weeks. Yeah. Miller may see. I'm not like I'm not rushing to drop Brad Hand at all. He was basically in Top 5 Closer with San Diego. He's still useful in Roto. Like Andrew Miller, he's not as good as Andrew Miller, but he's still very good.

He's still useful in a Roto League, even if he's not getting sued. I think there will be a lot, even if he thinks Brad Hand is their best reliever, for now, and there's reason for him to think that. I think there could be a lot of times where we're in a 7th or 8th inning, the heart of the order is up, and the manager looks at the

situation. He says, you know, Brad in the hand is better than one in the ninth. So I am going to use him now. It's a shame he didn't get traded to the Cardinals. Or the Orioles or the Blue Jays. Well, yeah, but the Cardinals playing Bush Stadium. Oh. Yeah.

Andrew Miller did make his first rehab appearance on Tuesday as he recovers from that knee issue. He should be activated in the next few weeks, according to Cleveland's GM. So that could be. I'm not even sure the hand part is the most interesting here, though, because now, like, the Indians showed no interest in having Francisco Mejia come up and catch for them. Yeah.

And he showed no interest really in playing a position other than catcher. So it was kind of a breakup that needed to happen. And I feel like his bat's major league ready. And I feel like he's, based on the scouting reports I've read, he's a good enough catcher that he's not going to be a liability back there. so he could theoretically get called up today and just be the Padres catcher from here on out Yeah, he has been assigned to AAA

Got off to a really slow start this season Had an OPS below 600 in both April and May And then had an almost 1,200 OPS In the month of June With four homers, 14 strikeouts and 104 plate appearances The Indians had him playing all over the place Corner Outfield, third base, catcher the Padres do have Austin Hedges, but I don't think that's an impediment.

Especially, like, I get why Yon Gomes might have been an impediment because he's really good defensively. And Austin Hedges rates out as a pretty good defender. But the Padres, the Padres don't need a low-ceiling, high-floor, defensive-minded catcher like Austin Hedges. They need a guy like Francisco Maha'iahia who could turn into a middle-of-the-order back. It's not, like, this fits perfectly with what the Padres have done. they've got like 17 outfielders that all have big upside bats and are terrible outfielders. A lot of the scouting report statement, he is going to be a pretty terrible catcher, but they don't seem to care if he's got a big upside as a bat.

I don't know that he's going to be a terrible catcher. He has an 80 arm, like, and he's supposed to have gotten to be a much better receiver over the last couple years. There's some, I think there's some questions, at least Indians fans on Twitter were telling me yesterday, that there's some questions as to game calling, but that's something that comes. with experience, obviously. And, you know, like that defensive profile sounds like Jorge Alfaro, who, you know, not the best defensive catcher in the world, but the arm is, you know,

Jorge Alfaro probably has the best catcher arm in baseball, but maybe Francis Goumahia is right behind him. And, you know, for a team like the Padres for the next few years where they're not competing for anything, they'll live with him developing. And he should be up pretty soon. He has the potential to be, you know, Maybe not quite. I'm completely blanking on the name that I'm trying to think of.

I think Wilson Contreras is probably the comparison I would draw. I was thinking a little Jonathan LeCroix, like sub-peak Jonathan LeCroy. Really good contact skills, enough power. Yeah. Yep, it works too. And the other big news out of this trade, Kirby Yates is the likely closer in San Diego for the next 11 days or so. maybe longer, but at the very least for the next 11 days until they can find, you know,

they're looking to trade pretty much anyone who's not under 25, I would guess, and Kirby Yates is someone who could absolutely be out of the door, but he's another Bradhand-esque reclamation project for them that has worked out really well. He had a high 3ZRA last year after getting to the Padres, 143 this season with a 206 FIP. He's been outstanding.

He's a must-old. dad player right now right yeah i would say so brad hand was basically top five even pitching for the podros actually tied for the third most saves in the n l so that hadn't been an issue yates numbers look great i i think there's probably got top 10 potential it's just a question of how long how long before he's traded if he is yeah and if you're if you want to speculate on who the next next person getting saves i think craig stamens having a good year maybe he could be it but we'll cross that brood, that bridge, cross that bridge when we get there.

Let's go to email of the day number two for the rest of the show. We're going to be talking about some injury news. Shohay Otani, cleared to begin throwing again. We're going to play some fantasy jeopardy, which is definitely not fantasy feud. We're going to talk about week 18's two-star pitchers. We're going to go over some emails, fantasy baseball, at cbsi.com.

But first, email of the day number two, dear Ted Marshall, Barney, and Robin. I'm currently... How I met your mother. Yes, it is. Sorry. Maybe it could have gone without saying. I mean, I felt it was pretty obvious, but it's okay.

I appreciate it. I'm currently in need of saves and looking for guys on the waiver wire who might be closers after the deadline. I lost out on Kirby Yates. Are there other guys you'd consider adding... That's Peter asking that question. So I guess we'll start with which teams could lose their closer. I mean, AJ Mentor seems like an obvious one, not because of true.

trade, but just because he's probably Atlanta's closer right now. Yeah. I feel like maybe Blake Tronin could be trade bait at some point. Well, obviously it has to happen here soon. Lou Trevino's had a really great season setting up for the athletics, so I'm interested in him. Although, we already know... All reports indicate that the A's are not planning on trading him for what it's worth.

They're in the hunt. Yeah. We already know Joe Jimenez. is the heir apparent for Detroit. I mean, Shane Green could just lose his job to him outright. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a trade. So he's somebody to stash. I think there's a chance story he gets dealt.

Okay. Yeah. But Nate Jones is on the DL right now. And Bruce Rondone is no longer with the White Sox. So that makes that a little bit less interesting. I don't know what Jones' long-term prognosis is. I mean, Jace Frye looked like a potential closer, but he's falling apart recently. And then another one, John Hicks got the save in the game right before the All-Star Break, right?

Yeah. And Jordan Hicks. Jordan Hicks. And there's some questions about his health. There's some questions about Bud Norris's health. Yes. And that's a team that there have been a lot of Rumbles lately that they could just blow it up. I think John Haman mentioned that recently.

So St. Louis Cardinals are a team that two games over 500s, five and a half back in the division it looks like. So, you know, they've got a lot of work to do. And the Marlins, you know, they could trade Kyle Barrettlaw. They could trade Drew Steck and Ryder. But if Barraclaw gets traded and Steck and Ryder doesn't, that's probably the closure in Miami. Probably. I would agree with that. All right, let's talk about some post-all-Star break injury news.

Gary Sanchez is back from the DL. Yoannes Sestbitt is expected back Friday. He'll DH in that series at Yankee Stadium. Brandon Morrow was placed on the DL with biceps inflammation. He's had some issues lately. Who is the guy to add in Chicago's bullpen if there's anyone? Oh, he saw somebody get a save last night in the one game that was played, and it was Pedro Strope.

So a one-out save. It looked like Carl Edwards was going to get a multi-inning save, but then he ran into some trouble. I would probably rank them Edwards than Strope right now. Again, it doesn't sound like a long-term absence for Morrow, but maybe more than the minimum of 10 days. Jason Vargas will return to the rotation Tuesday versus San Diego. Any interest in Jason Vargas, who has an 860 ERA.

OPS would be good. ERA, not so much in nine games. No, I had no interest. Thank you. And Jake Junis returning to the rotation Saturday for the Royals. Any interest in him? He leads baseball in home runs, I need to see Jake Junis do something good before I have any interest in starting him, but he should be owned. All right. And some other...

He's only like 50% owned, maybe. He's not very owned anymore. That's not right. And I think it's understandable. He was a disaster. He's not a big strikeout pitcher even when he is good. And he pitches for the worst team of baseball. Excuse me, sir.

He used to pitch. I think that's a factual statement, right? No, the Royals are worse. They are the worst team in baseball. I just think the Orioles may be the worst team in baseball now. They may be. You're probably right. Some other news, Shohay Otani was cleared to begin throwing. Do we think we see Shohay Otani on a mound this season?

Yes, I think so. Might not be until September, though. Yeah. Any reason to stash him still as a pitcher if you're in one of those leagues? He hasn't been playing every day as a hitter. If you have the D.L. spot, why not? Well, he's not on the DL. That's why not. Right?

Shoot. No. Yeah. There's not any reason. It would have to be, I think, a deeper than standard league to justify it. All right. Keone Keller, one of the best closers in baseball this season could be traded as the Texas Rangers look towards the future. That would be interesting.

Is there anyone to speculate on in Texas's bullpen? Why didn't we name him? We are not very good at this. Okay. So that's always a tough question. you know like oh just come up off the top of your head with some stuff so i don't blame you scott okay well i appreciate you giving me really bad job and the the rangers did trade i believe jesse shavez to the cubs i think that's right he's not there anymore either way he's at a 351 er a but as a

as more of a long reliever thank you yeah uh jake deekman except he's a candidate to get traded to Jose LeClerc, maybe. He was someone mentioned as a potential closing option when this was open, I think either last year or this year. Yeah, he's having a pretty good year. So I guess he'd be the frontrunner, but it's not a clear case.

Is Matt Bush expected back this season? Well, he's on the 60-day DL. I don't remember what his injury was. He was not looking like closure material before going on the DL. He could be back in August, so he's a potential one, but probably not someone you need to stash.

I don't think anyone. one in Texas willpen. You need the stash. Nope. That's why we didn't mention it earlier. There you go. Good point. Cover our track.

Good save. Way to go. All right. Now we'll move on to, are you guys ready for Fantasy Jeopardy? Do you guys watch Jeopardy? There's one more thing in the notes that you're skipping over

that I think that we should probably talk about. Oh, yes. Jose Martinez sat his third straight game. He has not started for the Mike Schlett, St. Louis Cardinals. I think those starts he did make were at DH in an AL park. So that...

He's really bad defensively. Yeah. And, you know, he's a guy without a defensive home. He doesn't play well at first base. He doesn't play well in the outfield. That was part of why he wasn't an everyday hitter last year, even though he hit the ball so well. It's concerning.

We're not close to seeing him dropped, I think, in several mixed leagues. Let's just use the barometer we've used for the last week of talking about any first baseman. Would you rather own Jose Martinez or Jake Bowers? I think for fantasy purposes, Jose Martinez has a much higher ceiling. He definitely does have a higher ceiling in a categories league, for sure. I think in a points league, his plate discipline is amazing. It's better than Jake Bowers. At least, it's at least as good.

I think Bowers is showing a lot of upside himself. in terms of having I mean obviously it's a very small sample but he has an elite line drive rate so far he has a high hard contact rate so far he looks like somebody who's you know if we're talking about

players to add after the all-star break he'd be even near the top of the list for me number one on the list would probably be Jesse Winker actually who himself is less than 50% owned and his batted ball profile looks very much like Joey Votto's but not to get

off on a tangent there. I think I think I'd give it a little more time. Not much more. I'll just say it before I made the Martinez for Bowerswap. I would rather have Bowersw. I mean, for me, it comes entirely down to playing time.

If Jose Martinez is not an everyday player, then it doesn't really matter that his upside is this high. And this was the concern. Like when he was running a 950, 980 OPS, you can live with the defense. he's more of a high 800s, 850 OPS guy, then it starts to get a lot trickier as far as him being an everyday player. And this was my concern at the start of the season.

But the thing is, like, this came without warning. And the reverse could come without warning too. He could, you know, get a big pinch hit one day. In the lineup the next day, he goes three for five with a homer. Yeah. And then he's back to starting. Yeah. Like, you could totally have.

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Pretend that I had a mustache and then shaved it. It was iconic. Let's play Fantasy Jeopardy. We've got two categories. One through $500 available. And I flipped a coin. And Scott, you control the board. The two categories are.

Hitters? And pitchers. Oh. 100 through 500. I'm sure you guys know the fantasy jeopardy. Do you still lose points for missing? No. Oh.

No, we're not playing. Just get all willy-nilly with your guesses. Yeah, you get one. How do we know who buzzes in? You just say it. You just automatically get first yet. No, you just say it. It's just like fantasy feud, guys.

No, we need to say. Nothing isn't as critical in fantasy. Do your own buzz, Scott. Just buzz. All right. Make some sort of noise. All right, I'm going hitters 500. Okay, $500.

Despite moving into one of the best hitting parks in baseball last offseason, my OPS is 227 points higher on the road. I shouldn't have gone with $500. I thought I was a baseball expert, so it would be okay. Last off season, he changed teams. It's going to be really obvious. It's going to be really obvious. Really high-profile teams.

change into one of the best team? Oh, I got it. I got it. I think Heath was first. Who is J.D. Martinez? That's not really a jeopardy noise, but yeah. Scott, would you like to... Who is John Carlos Stanton? John Carlos Stanton, Scott, with the correct answer, John Carlos Stanton has been much better on the road than at Yankee Stadium. That makes sense. Why does that make sense? Because he played his whole career in Miami, and he's not able to handle the pressure of flying in New York. So I think that's kind of interesting. I don't know if it means anything, but it might just be a sign that John Carlos Stanton, who has been really good since about June 1st.

I think it's like a 930 OPS since June 2nd, actually, because he went 0 for 4 on June 1st, so I just didn't count that one. I'm just trying not to get shut out now. I think that's a good policy. So that could be a sign that John Carlos Stanton is in for a big second half because we know Yankee Stadium is a great place to hit. It's the exact opposite case.

for Aaron Judge, who is kind of the closest analogy that we have for John Carlos Stanton. So, Scott, you've got 500 points, you've got control of the board. Where do you want to go? Let's go. Hitters for 100. Makes things a little easier here. I lead baseball and stolen bases. Okay, I'm ringing in.

Go for it. I'm ringing in, and I'm saying, gosh, who is? Yep. Who is Inder Enciarte? That's incorrect. Heath, would you like to steal? Well, I'm going to try. There's no reason not to make a run.

What is this? Well, I'm stealing control of the board. I... Well, no, it's not what they're not. Would you like to answer the question? I would like to try to answer the question. Who is Trey Turner? Incorrect.

Okay. Starling Marte leads baseball in stolen bases. with 25, followed by Michael Taylor, Ender in Ciarte, and then Dee Gordon, Billy Hamilton, and Trey Turner in a tie for fourth place. Did you guys realize Starling Marte leads baseball and stolen bases?

You know, that's pretty amazing, because I have Starling Marte on a roto team, and that's the only category that I'm not in first place. Nice humble brag. Thank you. We're all very proud of you. Well, there hasn't been a runaway base dealer, it sounds like. I mean, there hasn't been Hamilton

and Dee Gordon doing what we expected them to do, and yeah, you couldn't rely on just one player to carry you in that category as I think many of us hoped coming into the year. So that's been interesting how that's played out. All right, so Scott, you still have control of the board. Nobody got the $100 question. Yeah, we're not. Like, this is something.

I thought these were pretty... Who doesn't get a $100 question? I thought these were pretty easy. I mean, fair enough. It should have been. I don't read the leaderboards as all. Okay, anyway, hitters for 200. I was the number one hitter in rotisserie leagues through the end of April.

I'm 104th since. Okay, end of April. Four cents. Had a 1,200 OPS in that month. Was amazing. Has been really bad since then. Although, you know, borderline top 100 hitter. he's still startable.

I'm going to give you five seconds. I'll buzz in. Okay. Who is? That wasn't a buzz in. Who is Aaron Judge? No. Okay.

Right team. Oh, thanks. Why don't you just get, when you know, John Scott what position he plays? No, that is ridiculous. We're not going to let Scott get this one.

He doesn't get any points. We're not going to let Scott get this one. The answer is D.D. Gregorius, who had an 1156 OPS through the end of April, 18, walk, 16 strikeouts. Look like he was taking a big step forward with that plate discipline. And actually he hasn't been that bad since the start of June. And this is why I wanted to talk about him.

He was dreadful in the month of May. 149 average 396 OPS. That's pitcher bad. But since then, he's gotten OPS over 800. Where has D.D. Gorgorius fallen in your ranks at this point? He's flirting with falling outside of the top 10 short stops. Obviously, Trevor Story, story has established himself more

on that high end Glabre Torres has entered the picture there yeah I mean he's he's uh he's Gregorius isn't clearly there anymore you got Jean Sigur up there's Andrew Bogart

so I think I take them all over him right now I am the rankings under Reactor okay and so I never I don't think I ever moved D.D. Gregorius higher than 8th and he is currently 9th at sure stuff all right let's move on nobody gets the two and i maybe i made these too difficult

maybe i overestimated maybe we need to not play fantasy fantasy jeffered engineering it is always a challenge no keep going you could tell me talk about d gregorius and i'll be like oh he had an amazing ops in april and has been terrible since but scott you still have control the board he has not got in the question right Let's try a look with pitchers for 100. I had the fourth highest K-per-9 for a starting pitcher of all time last season. I have the third highest this season. Okay, I'm going to buzz in and say Max Scherzer.

Incorrect. Heath, would you like to answer? Yes. He's been better? Who leads baseball in K-per-9? It's a really easy question. This is the easiest one. Who is Chris Sale?

Thank you. Thank you so much for getting that. Yes, he had the third, the fourth highest K per 9 of all time at 12.9 last season. He's up to 13.1. And since his velocity jump, he's at like 14.4K per 9 or something absolutely ridiculous. He's been amazing this season. He's in the conversation, I think, for best pitcher in baseball. So I have 100 points now.

You have 100 points, Heath. Way to go. Thank you. And what is... I still have 500. What is available? Uh, hitters for 200 or 300 and 400 and pitchers 200 through 500. Let's go with hitters for 400, please.

This is a tough one. I tried to put some details in here. I'm hitting 292 this season. Oh, great. I haven't hit... Real quick, wait a second. I haven't hit better than 270 in a month since July of 2016 when I was a rookie. But you're hitting...

How did you get to 292 this year? I guess we're not counting this year's months. so I did so basically he never hit 270 in 2017 yes but he's now hitting 290 okay that is a ridiculous question all right I'm gonna buzz in

Scott Trevor Trevor's story Trevor's story is the correct answer see that was an easy one he 900 smackers oh that was a $400 question wow not a Scott's running away with this

Scott you have the board Okay, I'm going to take the last hitters one. There's one more hitters? 300, closing out the hitters category. I hit 341 with 18 walks and 20 strikeouts in the month of April. I'm hitting 204 with 70 strikeouts since. How many walks versus strikeouts in April? 18 to 20.

Oh, I'm buzzing in. Oh, wow. It's Tommy Fam. It is Tommy Fam. He has been, I don't know if he's been unusable. he hasn't been a starting caliber player for most of this season. How far are you dropping Tommy Fam at this point? The Cardinals I noticed yesterday dropped him an eighth in the lineup,

which is pretty revealing in its own right now. He got three hits and I believe a home run. And I think he could have a hot streak that has this totally flipping the script again. But I've dropped him outside of my top 30 outfielders when obviously through April, was in the top 12. Yeah.

It's really tough to, I think it's hard to trust Tommy Fam. I think it's really hard to drop him as well. And I think that's the place that he's in that really, really tough place. I think a good way to gauge this is, Scott, how would you rank Jesse Winker, Tommy Fam, and Jake Bowers? In a points league. I would drop Tommy Fam from Jesse Winker in a points league right now. Wow.

I don't think I would, but for Bowers yet. I really, like, I was writing about Winker last night for breakout hitters for the second half, and it's kind of stunning to look at his bat-of-ball profile. And the legitimacy of, you know, since he's hit his first time, run, you were talking about this yesterday. Yeah. Forty-one games, it's been, and he has, you know, he's batting over 340 with an OPS over 1,000. And that's with a Babbitt that's kind of high. but understandably high given his line drive rate. Like he may be close to that good.

I said today in the waiver wire column, I think I would not really be that surprised if he goes 300, 400, 500 in the second half. Yeah. Sure. He's done that for at this point most of the season. Yeah. I mean, he's up to 292 now for the season.

And so he's, you know, just season stats. The first two are basically there. It's just he has to sustain the more recent home run pace. He has to be like $2. the 25 former guy, I think. And I think he can be. All right, do we want to continue with the pitchers? Yes.

The pitchers are pretty tough, guys. I don't keep, you know, I'm feeling a comeback. Let's do double jeopardy for pitchers. Well, there's fuel the comeback. Double jeopardy. The points are worth double. I assume there is a double jeopardy at some point. There's a final jeopardy.

Final jeopardy. Okay, great. So, the pitchers are double. What's the score? Uh, 1200 to 100. You've got some. And there's 1,200 left? No, no, there's 2,400 left.

No, there's 28 hundred left. It's double jeopardy. Okay. Seems unfair, but I'll let slide. For the good of the show. You have the board, Scott, and you can run away with this. Okay, let's go pitchers five hundred. Despite a 324 ERA and making my second career All-Star game,

I have the third highest hard hit rate allowed in baseball. I'm going to buzz in. Oh, wow. I'm going to say, John. John Lester. It is not John Lester, but that's a good guess. He's made more than two All-Star games. Yeah.

Yeah, that's true. Miss that detail. All right. Oh, man. A 324-year-A, a bunch of just piles and piles of strikeouts. And made his what? Second All-Star game. Fourth highest-swing strike rate in baseball.

You don't have to give me all that noise. I'm going to get this legitimately. I don't think you are. You don't? I'm skeptical. I mean, I don't know why you would feel that way. Oh, I think I know who it is now. Second All-Star game, I think, is the best clue you gave.

I think so. And I still don't know that I know it, but I'm going to... Can I guess that it? No, you can't guess until I've guessed. Well, I've not guessed yet. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, I just have no flipping idea. Who is Garrett Cole?

Not Garrett Cole. Scott, would you like to just tell us? At Corbyn. It is Patrick Corbyn. he's had a really interesting season. He's kind of been Robbie Ray, weirdly enough. Like the crazy high-swinging strike rate

has better control than Robbie Ray. But just he's getting hit really hard, and it makes me wonder if he's just a risky pitcher. If it's not that he's bad, it's just that there's a chance that he just falls apart in the second half. Are you guys concerned about Patrick Corbyn at all? Not really.

Hard hit rate doesn't concern me that much. I want to say Justin Verlander is, or Berlander, I should say, who's high in the hard hit rate too. So I want to confirm that, because I'm obviously just talking top of mind. But I feel like there's some pretty high-profile pitchers beyond Corp who are high on that leaderboard. And I'm just not sure the correlation between that and effectiveness is that strong.

Okay, well, I think we're going to pull the plug. Wow. Just ending it. There's three questions left. I mean, here's what we'll do. We'll do Final Jeopardy, and I'll gift you a thousand points. No. It's just house money.

It's just house money. Give me the questions. I'm going to get it right now quickly. No analysis. I'm going to nail it. We need to move on, is what I'm saying. You were a terrible host. Final Jeopardy.

I will say I didn't lose because we didn't finish the game. There's still time on the course. clock. Burlander's nowhere near at the top. Zach Granky is fourth. Yeah, Zach Rankine.

Yeah, we're going to take some points away for that misstatement. Shamaniah, Carlos Martinez, Kyle Gibson. We don't have time for the game. We've got time for Scott to

read a leaderboard. He's not mad. It's actually funny. But it's not super strong. All right. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to go into Final Jeopardy.

And I think it's an easier question than any of the ones we've had so far. So here's your chance. I'm giving you a thousand I don't want your handouts. Scott, you have 1,200, Heath, you have 1100. Whatever.

This is fine. Heath has 100. Okay. Scott, you have 1,200. What are your wagers? 50. 999. Scott wagering 999.

Yeah, he wins. Well, that's because you quit the game early. He doesn't win. In the Jeopardy, I am currently the lowest ranked player among the top 10 in ADP. Who is Tray Turner. Scott, would you like to give the correct answer? I'm going to go with...

He's by far the lowest. He is not currently... No. That was a terrible. He is not currently... John Carlos Stanton, I do not believe, was in the top 10 in ADP. And he's ranked ahead of several top 10 picks.

This guy is not in the top 200 right now. And it's Clayton Curshal. Oh yeah, that's great. That's a terrible question. So you both lose Fantasy Charity. But I think, you know. It was a pretty close match, really. I think maybe we all lose.

2.01 to 50? I think we might have all lost that segment. Very close. Maybe I lost. I would like to take the thousand points you were going to give me now. It was $1,000 and you may not have it. And now let me tell you about Seat Geek before we move on. I have the Seatgeek app on my phone,

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All right, you guys want to talk about, let's talk about some two-start pitchers for week 18 before we move on to emails to close out the show. Scott, have rotations been completely set? Have you started your research on this yet? Well, obviously I did research for the short week We started last night Yeah, this is for, to be clear, this is for the week that starts on Monday Let me give you some two-start

On this upcoming week yet, but I imagine they're mostly Mostly in place at this point Rank the following four Who are owned in 70 to 50% of CBS Sports.com Leagues Zach Wheeler versus San Diego and at Pittsburgh Carlos Rodan at the Angels and versus Toronto Andrew Suarez at Seattle versus Milwaukee and Joe Musgrove at Cleveland

versus the Mets. Rodon is first. Rodon is first. Wheeler is second. Interesting. Swares and who else? Musgrove. Musgrove had the Indians and...

The Mets. I'll go Musgrove and Swet's. I'm going to go Wheeler over Rodon. Yeah, I think the matchups are better. The Angels are awful against lefties. that's fair I don't know I'm kind of tempted

to go Musgrove over Rodon too but it's a close call all right what about some lower own guys Mike Minor is versus Oakland and at Houston any interest in him in a Roto league

no no points like it's I think he's probably still must start with those matchups yeah must start's a little strong he's a spark I think he's must start as a reliever the problem like if that athletics game

was in Oakland I'd feel a lot better about it but they're pretty good on the road and they'll be in a good hitting environment The Astros are obviously awesome. I'm still starting minor as a sport. This is not a great week for two-start pitchers. I'm guessing it's because most of the good pitchers are starting Friday through Sunday, and that doesn't give them enough opportunity to make two-starts.

So Week 19 will probably have some really good two-star options. But some of the lower-end guys, Jaime Berea does have decent matchups versus Chicago. White Sox is a great matchup, and then versus Seattle. Do you have any interest in him? really. Okay. It'd have to be dire straits.

And what about Jose Urania versus Atlanta versus Washington? That's probably the lowest I would go here. He's 28%. No, thank you. Scott? Yeah, it's another situation where I'd have to really be, feel like I need to stretch my pitchers in a points league. And I'm just rarely in that desperate of a situation.

Scott has really good pitchers, all the best pitchers. I would take Berea over Urania. just because I think the win potential against the White Sox is pretty decent. And that one win might be enough to make him good. All right, let's talk about some quick news and notes before we go to your emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Shelby Miller's elbow has no additional damage. He is on the DL. And I think at this point with how he pitched since coming back from the DL, nobody's interested in that.

Evan Longoria will begin a rehab assignment at AAA Friday as he comes back from a hand injury. Melki Cabrera is back with the Indians, and Tyler O'Neill came back from the DL yesterday and was sent to AAA. So it doesn't seem like Tyler O'Neill is going to happen this season. Let's get to your emails to close out the show, Fantasy Baseball, at cbsi.com. MK is in a 12-team,

7-by-7 roto quality start and OPS. It's a keeper league. Grade the trade. He gets Max Scher and Juan Soto. He gives up Aaron Judge and Masa, here a Tanaka. B. Yeah.

Yeah. It's... I think it's an A even without a keeper. Just for the rest of this year, I think Shurzer and Soto are much better than Judge and Tanaka. The rest of this year.

I don't think Soto, I'm not going to say he's as good as an judge. He has been so far, but I'm not going to go that far. But Shurs are so much better than Tanaka. Right. Yeah. Shurs...

I mean, Shurs is the best player of the four. You know, It's pretty close between him and judgment, but whatever. And Soto is the third best player. I would take Soto over to knock a straight up. So it's a definite win. We all called it a win. It's just degrees.

I would go B plus, I think. Stephen from Indiana wants to know. Dear Blake, Nate, and Ryan. Don't... That sounds like left-handers, or not even left-handers, but just Ray's pitchers, right? Oh, yeah. Good call.

keeps hearing us talk about Jake Bowers. He's desperate for saves and someone is offering him Edwin Diaz and Jake Bowers for Joey Votto. Should he accept this trade? There are a few formats where I think it's worth giving up the best player. By far, I think, Evado. It would have to be like an NL only league, and I guess it's not.

It's obviously not because there's players from both sides. So saves are not scarce enough, I think, to just. to buy that. And Edwin Diaz just, he's not going to keep this safe pace up. He's not going to save 65 games. I wouldn't think so. Yeah. He's very good. Uh, yeah. I mean, I get the feeling you like this trade more than Scott does. I, if he was saying grade the trade, I'm kind of feeling like Scott might give it an F. And I would not give it an F. I wouldn't give it an F. Okay. I would probably... I'd give it like a D. I think I'd be in the D plus range. but it's only because I don't know if Joey Votto is going to decide to have home runs again or not.

All right, Jeff in Detroit, Dear Alex, Robinson, Eric, and Mike. He told us what this one is, and there's no way I would have gotten it otherwise. Sounds like Yankees. No. Enfielder, no? No.

Okay. Last four All-Star Game MVP's. I guess Robinson Cano was the All-Star MVP. That is, I have a lot of information that I keep stored in my brand that's totally useless, and All-Star Game MVP is just... I don't know who the All-Star Game MVP this year was. Alex Breggman. It should not have been Alex Breggman.

It should have been Gene Seguera. But nonetheless, it was Alex Breggman. All right. 10-team category league, head-to-head categories. Cody Bellinger, Andrew McCutcheon, and Tommy Fam are all available. Wow. Would you drop Justin Upton or Marcelo Zuna for them.

Cody Bounder, yes. You drop OZuna for Bellinger, right? This league sounds like the Wild West, and I'm not sure I would turn down. Like, you could play the hot hand between those three, I feel like. Marcelo Zuna is definitely not the hot hand. And then the pitchers are a little more, a little more logical. Jameson, Tion, Cole Hamils, and Kyle Gibson are available. Sean Newcomb is on his roster.

Should he drop Sean Newcomb for Jameson, Tion, Cole Hamels, or Gippson Heath, I'm going to say no. We've had Sean Newcomb debate this week. We have had the Sean Newcomb debate. I do not want to drop him. I do have Jamison Taya on one spot ahead of him in my rankings. Pull the trigger, Jeff. Scott, what about you?

Yeah, I was tempted to do it for Kyle Gibson, actually. I think those three are close enough that you could almost play the hot hand with them, too. I don't think Hamils is in this discussion. He's not. No. All right. Curtis writes in, Hey, gentlemen. I don't know if we're gentlemen.

He thought Adam was hosting. Scott's a gentleman. Just curious who you would want for the rest of the season at first base. It's a 12-team points league with no negative for strikeouts. Matt Olson, Jake Bowers, Yuleiguriel, Justin Boar, or C.J. Crohn, Bowers. If there's no penalty for strikeouts, I think Matt Olson. I think Matt Olson's the obvious answer with no penalty for strikeouts. The power upside.

is just too great there. He still leads baseball and hard hit rate. Jake Bowers. Just move Jake Bowers into your top ten. I don't quite have him in my top ten. I think he's 15th, 14th. He's been top ten since he's arrived in the major leagues. And one last...

22 years old. And one last email from David. Hey, Arnold, Gerald, and Helga. Heath, I'm going to guess you don't know that one. Scott May. Arnold, Gerald, and... Helga. I'm going to guess Hey Arnold. What? Wow. I did not expect you to guess that. I thought you had aged out of Hey Arnold.

Yeah, I've never seen it. But it says Arnold, so... Yeah, it could have been shorts and I've heard you guys talk about Hey Arnold, so I thought it says Arnold, I might as well guess that. Okay. It's good. I'm pleased with your deduction skills. Thank you. It better than my Jeopardy skills. There aren't many things that aren't. Besides your Jeopardy game hosting skills. I thought it was pretty good. David plays in a ten- team head-to-head points league Wilson Ramos has hit the DL and he's been very productive this season as a late round pickup with him out he needs a catcher just a steady points producer available catchers include Jan Gomes Ramos and Chorinos Tucker Barnhart and Elias Diaz for points

leagues it's not Yon Gomes I would I'm I struggle between Chorinos and Barnhart I think I'd leave Chorinos I think I was the upside one but Barnhart's very steady for points leagues plays a lot get a good plate discipline. I think I would go Diaz. Really? He's been really good this season. His plate discipline's been really solid. And with Francisco Cerville

struggling with concussions, I mean, he played 15 straight games earlier when Francisco Cervale was out and he's probably going to play a lot moving forward. He has a 795 OPS. He's hitting 283. I think Elias is pretty good. So there you go.

Three different answers. I'm not sure. I'm not sure you can go particularly right or wrong with any of them, because that's the way a catcher is. Probably Yonge Gomes would probably be the wrong answer in a points league. Yeah, probably. He was an All-Star, though. I was watching the game.

He was on the All-Star team? He was playing. Yeah. Surprised to me. He's a good pitchframer. Speaking of Catchers in the All-Star game, I saw this interesting nugget to end the podcast with, so you can all get a chuckle.

Good. The American League All-Star team is undefeated in Salvador Perez's six starts. Is he six starts or five? I believe it's six. That's amazing. He's made two more all-star games than Adrian Beltray in his career. That's amazing. Because Adrian and Beltra is going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Yep. Wow. Thank you for that nugget, Heath. Glad to help. I hope it's true. Always. We'll be back on Monday. Good luck this meeting, guys.