Fantasy Baseball Today - 07/28 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Fantasy Feud! Plus Week 18 Help

Episode Date: July 28, 2017

We've got a fun Kokomo Friday show for you with double dongs, prospect chatter and Fantasy Feud (20:30), plus a recap of yesterday's action ... Is Kyle Schwarber back (3:00)? Is Jose Abreu better than Miguel Cabrera (4:30)? What do we make of the Lucas Duda trade (6:45)? And which minor leaguers should you be looking to add (30:30)? ... Two-start pitchers for Week 18 (52:00) after we preview the MLB trade deadline (36:30) and talk about Brett Gardner's surprisingly good year (43:00) and Francisco Lindor's surplus of power and lack of steals (46:48) ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey on fantasy baseball today. Welcome to the show, everybody. Adam Azor, Scott Whiteheed Cummings. We're going to have some fun today. We're going to get your lineup set for the next, the upcoming fantasy scoring period. I say that because I don't remember if it's week 17 or 18, and it doesn't really matter. So, yeah, right? It doesn't matter. Who cares? It's almost playoff time. It's crunch time right now. Ah, yeah. Fired up. Oh, yeah, I am super excited about that because all of my head-to-head teams are terrible.

They're not all terrible. It's so strange how you can be Just two different formats Such a different success story this season But it's okay Is that fluky or is that You know, is there a reason for it? It's possible that my

I don't, I think there's a reason for it What do you think it is? I wasn't as excited About getting good pitchers early As you guys were And Well, you had to be more excited than Chris I was more excited than Chris, but in Roto and Categories leagues both, I went pretty heavy on relievers.

And it's okay to take a bunch of good hitters and then not take as many top pitchers in Roto because you can stack those relievers. And that's worked for me this year. It's hard to overcome in a points league. And I drafted a lot of David Price and Carlos Rode on in points leagues. and it's been tough to dig out of those holes. Well, you know, maybe you should make a sports trade, but sports trades are scary. One person can be replaced by another,

exchange for money or given away for a hypothetical future person. Once they leave your team, you can't like them anymore, even if you have their jersey, which you can't wear anymore. Except at B-dubs, they won't judge, but others might. Buffalo Wild Wings, Wings, beer, sports. What's up, Scott? Hey, Adam. How are you doing?

I'm feeling good right now, but, you know, we're going to, talk about Lucas Duda. We're going to talk about double dongs. Some interesting stuff. It's Kyle Schwabre back. He's Ryan Zimmerman back. I'll tell you where he's ranked since his hot start at first base. The Nationals back to back to back to back. And then an out and then another back, right?

Five home runs in an inning? Well, they have four in a row. Yeah, five in an inning. I think it was the eighth time in Major League history. There had been four home run, four consecutive home runs like that. Yeah, but I think they set an MLB record. I know they hit five in the inning. I'm pretty sure that was a baseball record, yeah.

Tell me something important that happened yesterday, Scott White. The Nationals hit back to back to back to back. You know, Kyle Schwabers' two-homer game, I was surprised because I feel like Kyle Schwerver's done nothing since he came back. He hit two home runs, and he tripled yesterday. And actually heading into that game, so not even counting that performance, in 14 games, he had. hit 239 with three home runs and at 840 OPS, which isn't so bad. I mean, we want him to be better than that, of course, but it wasn't as bad as I imagined to being. It was actually pretty close to his career numbers prior to this season.

So I'm hoping this performance Thursday is the start of a hot streak, and because there's still a lot to like about Kyle Schwerber. Okay, he's 82% own. I dropped him. Understandable. Three outfielder league. Three outfielder league, if he's not eligible, a catcher. Right. It's hard to justify keeping him around.

But, you know, it may change. I mean, if he has a big weekend, even if he has a big game today, I think it's worth rushing back to pick him up. Well, I had more or less given up hope on Schwerber, gaining catcher eligibility. He's two appearances away. It could happen, but, you know, I decided, let's cut bait. Got to win now. Heath, tell me something important that happened yesterday. I don't know how important this is, but it's a way for me to weave a tail.

So Jose I Abrae, you double-donged yesterday. And I struggled, I wrote the roto trade chart yesterday. It's on CBSports.com, the penultimate rotissory trade chart of the season. Ooh, I like that word, penultimate. It's a good one. Thank you. And I had dropped Miguel Cabrera, not at first base, but I just dropped him in the overall rankings to lower his value, because I'm a little slightly more concerned than I was.

I still have him as a top 10 first baseman. But I dropped him to directly above Jose Abraeu. And I don't know that I wouldn't rather have Abraeu rest of season than Cabrera. Abraeu is now the number seven first baseman in points league this year and has outscored Miggi by 101 fantasy points this season. Yeah, I thought he was number six, but is he number seven? That might be. He's actually like 13th or something in Roto.

It's weird. Brayu is so much better in points than Roto this year. He's on pace for almost 45 doubles. He's got the second most doubles at the position, and he is just barely on pace. If he plays 155 games, which is pretty fair for Abraeu. It's kind of what he's been around. He's right around 100 RBIs,

which would be 100 RBIs in four straight years. Yeah. So Abraeu just having his typical Jose Abraeo year, except with more doubles. Scott, Abraeu or Miggi? I have Miggi one spot ahead of Abrae like Heath, but this is something I've wrestled with for a while too. I think the difference for me is just upside.

Like, this is as good as a Brady is going to get, right? And it's great. You like starting it. Yeah, awesome. I mean, Miguel Cabrera could turn around and perform like a first rounder the rest of the way. So I'd hate to give up on that. I think there are a lot of, I think there's still like a line there between the two when you're talking about upside.

And then below a break, there's a lot of players with similar. upside to him. All right. So more on the double dongers in a little bit. I'm just going to tell you right now, spoiler alert, we're playing fantasy feud later. All right. Yeah, I do you guys like that. A Friday treat.

You know what else is a Friday treat when there are only eight games on Thursday? It allows us to play fantasy feud later. News and notes, the Reyes acquired Lucas Duda for minor league pitcher Drew Smith. Duda is 28%. Oh, and having a respectable year, 879 OPS, a little bit cold. Only one extra base hit. It's a double in his last six games. But his home road splits consistently better at home than on the road.

Value, you know, over the last few years, value up down are the same for Lucas Duda. Probably down a little. Yep. Because I think there might be increased concerns over his playing time. Because what this means now is obviously Logan Morrison is already there. Dude is going to have to be a full-time DH, so Corey Dickerson has to be a full-time left-fielder. And I don't know that's going to happen.

I think Dickerson will shift over to DH sometimes still. I would assume dude is not going to play against lefties. There's a good reason to believe that, too. And do you think Dominic Smith will get the call for the Mets, get called up? I was just reading an article about that before the show, and Terry Collins seems like he knows about as much as we do on when Dominic Smith might get called up. Basically he said that he has no say in that,

but he'll start him when he gets called up. Like, the Mets haven't called up Al-Mad Rosario yet. I don't know why we would think they're going to call up Dominic Smith. Well, there's a lot of writers suggesting Ahmed Rosario is going to get up, get called up right after the All-Star break, which would go along with the narrative, what we heard about, as Drew Bull Cabrera and then trying to trade him. Trade deadline.

Trade deadline. Yeah, right? Yes, that's what I mean. sorry um and i saw i saw somebody say it sounds like amad risario will happen before dominic smith i think dominic smith is going to happen this year it may be a september call-up situation and as deep as first bases i don't know that mixed league owners standard mix league owners really need to be um you you know i want to apologize to the listeners right now scott is trying to slow play dominic smith he's been trying to trade for him for two years from me in our dynasty league.

And we're getting close to a deal, and he just doesn't want me getting too excited about Dominic Smith and backing out of the deal. Well, here's the scouting report on Dominic Smith. I think it's very similar to what we were saying about Josh Bell coming into the year. A guy who was drafted pretty high. And there was no doubt from the beginning he was going to hit. He is hit for average. He's at 337 at AAA this year. He's hit 303 over his minor league career.

It's just, is there enough power, particularly in this landscape, for him to measure up at first base? Now, Josh Bell's come up and hit for pretty good power, better than I think a lot of people expected. But it seems to have come at the expense of batting average. So he's kind of just been fringy in mixed leagues. Could Dominic Smith's probably going to be like an Eric Cosma, right? Oh, I think probably he's a little strong. He could be like an Eric Cosman. That's the upside.

Okay, guys, so let's move on. Dominic Smith, somebody to put on your radar if you need a first baseman. And Ahmed Rosario, of course, should be up hopefully pretty soon. Let's say August 1st. Not a lot of news and notes today, which is good. But Avi Garcia is on the DL and the White Sox promoted a relief pitcher. His name is Aaron Bummer. What?

And he gave up a home run yesterday. Bummer. Aaron Judge chipped his seat. tooth celebrating Brett Gardner's walk-off home run, but he should be fine. He'll play tonight. He's slumping. Aaron Hicks likely going to start a rehab assignment on Monday, and Cleveland is soon going to transition from a six-man rotation to a five-man rotation. Trevor Bauer certainly did a nice job if he was auditioning last night. So you'd think Mike Tomlin would probably be out? Josh Tomlin? Josh Tomlin, yeah. I think Mike Tomlin still has some security.

But Josh Tomlin, I don't know. He's been better recently, too. I just fist-pumped. It's another successful waiver wire in our AL-only league, and I could not be more excited. Did you bid on Eduardo Nunez, Scott? No, I did not. I probably wouldn't have bid a ton on him.

I didn't. I got him for $9. Okay. It's respectable. Really putting together. I was hoping to get another surprise, Scott White, waiver-wired. moment. Sorry. That was let down.

You know, it's interesting. So you got Ryan Zimmerman for six bucks months ago. Yeah. In a mixed league. In a mixed league. Yeah, in a mixed league. His last 62 games, he's not even a top 30 first basement. Yeah, he's been a disappointment. Yeah, that includes the two-moments. Is that counting yesterday? Yeah. Okay. 737 OPS for Ryan Zimmerman in his last 62 games after a 1382 OPS in his first 29 games. 13 home runs in 29 games, nine home runs in his last 62 games,

and he did hit two home runs yesterday, but what were we just saying? Oh, it was part of a trade. It was like Zimmerman, and, I don't know, yesterday we did a grade that trade that involves Zimmerman. Oh, getting Joey Vado for Zimmerman and somebody. That's not that good. We loved it.

But yeah, he hits two home runs yesterday. I mean, look, they did hit five in an inning, so obviously they were facing like a reliever that was making a start. It didn't go well. I don't know. You make anything of the first? this Ryan Zimmerman 2-Homer game? I mean, I was encouraged to see it after that awful stretch.

I don't think, like, I don't think Ryan Zimmerman's just gone down the toilet here. I think there was some correction due to him, and it was lengthy, as you'd expect, and hopefully he's back on track now. There's still a lot of reasons to believe he's a different player this year than we saw the last two, three years. That all may be true. I'm just going to make a controversial statement. I don't know if it's controversial.

You tell me. Controversy meter. Two homer games mean absolutely nothing to me. I think double dongs are fantastic. I mean, they're wonderful. But remember when Jonathan V.R. had one? Like, they just mean nothing to me. They do not predict the future.

They, there you go. Homer games mean something to you? No, that was your last sentence salvaged the whole thing. They don't predict the future. Obviously, two homer games do not predict the future. That, I mean, dare I say duh. Okay, that's fine. But like Dexter Fowler, I believe, had a stretch where he homered in four straight games.

And then he was garbage after that. Home runs just in general, I just don't. I mean, obviously, I care about them. They're important. But a guy goes on a little home run streak. It doesn't really change his value all that much for me. Well, look, if the guy's going to get hot, there has to be that first home run, right? Yes.

And if there's a second home run, it's an even clearer indication that he's hot. Now, he may not get hot, but he may. There has to be a home run at the start of it, though. Yeah. I mean, Lewis Brinson is home run in two straight games. That means something to me. It might not mean anything, but it meant enough for me to go pick him up. Okay.

I'm a little less... I'm not sure. I'm a little less influenced by Kyle Schwabber. You know? Well, I mean, like I said, I want to see another big game today before I re-ad. I re-ad him in leagues where I may have dropped him. I didn't own him anywhere, so that hasn't actually happened. But hypothetically speaking.

Yeah, no, I wasn't criticizing what you said about Kyle Schwerp. I don't know. I look at a box score. I see a two-homer game. It doesn't really motivate me like it used to. It doesn't influence me as much. Yeah, that's basically what I'm saying. Okay.

Ooh. Yeah. Screw home runs. Chicks dig the triple. Let's make triples trend here. All right. Fipples are a lot of fun. They are fun.

Also, Kendris Morales had a two-homer game yesterday. He is 70% owned, and he's, you know, he's the number 25 first baseman in points leagues, number 22 in Roto. He's a useful player. Yeah. See, this is a two-homer game that didn't really have an effect on me because I don't have much hope for Morales being better than what he is. Right. And what he is is a useful player. No, whatever.

Take him or leave him. Morales was about 20th at first base last year as well. He's a little bit worse this year. Average two points. He actually is averaging more fantasy points per game just barely this year, but more or less is having very similar seasons. And he's a flex in a standard scoring league or a utility or a DH or something like that. Okay.

That's Kenjus Marales and a bad football joke. Make sure you listen to the Fantasy Football Today podcast. Please go to podcastawards.com and nominate. fantasy football today or fantasy baseball today. To be honest with you, I prefer fantasy football today so we don't, you know, so we don't steal votes. Because fantasy baseball today is not as good. No, it sure is. I'm so happy with the podcast this year.

I cannot thank you guys and Chris enough for delivering every day. And the listeners have been great. We've had such great feedback and great content from the listeners. I love the fact that we get our listeners very involved in the show with tweets and emails and team names and all that. I think we've had a great year. Congratulations. I will not trade any of you before the deadline. Let's go to the bullpen. Brad Hand got his fifth save.

Blake Trine, and they were trying to give him the job last night. But he gave up a home run and blew the save for Oakland. Blake Trine and is on Oakland now. Santiago Gasea had to have been available. He only threw 11 pitches the night before, and he gave him three runs. Alex Kalame blew a save, his fifth blown save. It wasn't really his fault. Did you guys see the run scoring?

single by Gary Sanchez? Did not. It was strange. So it gives up a lead-off triple Alex Kalame. It gets Clint Fraser to ground out. He gets Aaron Judge to fly out, shallow right field, no sack fly. And then a pretty weak ground ball right up the middle. And they were in a shift on Gary Sanchez.

And Beckham and Etchavaria just kind of looked at each other. Nobody took the ball. And it just goes right into center field for the luckiest base hit of Gary Sanchez's career. This has been your Yankees gamer recap. And then they would. New York Tourism Board. It's more about Alex Colomay. It wasn't really his fault.

He should have gotten the save yesterday. And a Rollis Chapman struck out four in two scoreless innings. That was a good sign. Well, come on, that's relevant. How's Aaron Judge's tooth? It's chipped. Do you have anything to say about Bradhand or Blake Trinan or Alex Colomay or Rollis Chapman?

I think Trinan will get another chance here. even before the game there was a report that the athletics were thinking about making a change at closer he got four outs the home run I think was the only hit he allowed so Trinan should definitely be

among the ads in leagues where saves are scarce and I hope Han doesn't get traded you know I hope he doesn't that'd be nice question from Nick should I drop Shane Green for Blake Trinin yes Yeah. Yeah.

You're that confident that Green's going to get traded? Wait, Shane Green? You mean? Oh, wait. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I read, he did say Shane Green. I just was thinking Justin Wilson.

Sorry. Okay. Yeah. But Shane Green is still a player that you could pick up in anticipation of a Justin Wilson trade. Definitely a player that you could pick up. And you should pick up. She's available. You should pick up an Indochino suit.

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First of all, Luke Weaver and Louis Brinson performed yesterday. Rinaldo Lopez could be up very soon for the White Sox. Jordan Loplow is being called up tonight, a Pirates outfielder, and the Mets called up Chris Flexen. And the Padres were flexing their muscles against him yesterday. Ha, ha, ha. We also have another Devers team name. But first, fellas, get up the standings or anything that lists all the teams in baseball.

So we can play the feud. Get up the standings. Yeah, it was. Pull them up on your mission. Very eloquence. Are you ready for the feud? Yes. The top five answers are on the board.

Tell me the five big. best hitters in Roto leagues this year? De Heath, you have to hit the table. You can't just raise your hand. I hit the table. Oh, go ahead. He was thinking. He was pulling back.

The top five hitters in Roto leagues this year. Yeah. I will go with Jose Al Tuve. That's the number three answer. Scott, you can steal, or you can get number two or one here. Okay. No sighing. Let's go.

I will go with Charlie Blackman. Charlie Blackman's number two. Pass or play, Scott. Top five. hitters, only three left? I will play. You better play. This is easy.

We got Blackwood number two and Altovae number three. Give me the top five hitters in Roto, Scott. Why do I feel so nervous if it's easy? Paul Goldschmidt. Paul Goldschmidt's number three. Two more. Wait, wait. Four.

Number four. Okay. Sorry. Let's go with Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge is number five. All we need is the number one player in fantasy. You have three strikes left. I was expecting there to be one surprise in there.

Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper is number one. Bryce Harper has like an 1100 OPS. He's having such a sixth season. 338, 27 homers. Only two steals, but my goodness. Well, he's been on a sick 19 game hitting streak. Yeah.

So there was like, you know, a month ago we were like, What's wrong with Bryce Harper? You remember that? There was a little bit of that. Really? I don't think I... I really hope I didn't say that. I'll tell you that.

All right, Scott, congratulations. Thank you. Who's the least likely to end up in the top five out of those five? Harper. Judge, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, Judge, I looked again today. Top 30 hitters and strikeouts, I think.

Three of them have a 300 batting average. Judge is top 30 strikeout leaders. Judge is one of them. Marcelo Zuna is one of them. Corey Dickerson is the other. Well, I looked over the last five years, and the highest average for somebody that struck out 30% of the time was 275. Wow.

He's hitting 308. Now, nobody makes contact, at least as far as we know, nobody ever, makes the kind of contact Aaron Judge does. So Aaron Judge did. No. Has chance now. Hope Run Derby killed him. This is what 19 days from now.

Let's see what Aaron Judge is doing. But look, I don't think he's going to be a top five hitter the rest of the year, but I do think he's a very good one. I predict I'll be taking him late in the second round next year. All right. The top five answers are on the board. Heath, you've got to get on the board here. Pressure's on.

I mean, I did pretty well last time. It got just overwhelmed me. Yeah, I guess so. If you want to frame it that way. Top five steals leaders. Go, Heath. Billy Hamilton. Billy Hamilton is number one.

Pass or play. Oh, I'll play. All right. Hit me with the... Let's do it. Five leaders and steals. I don't think I can, but Trey Turner. Correct.

Number three. D. Gordon. Number two. You got the layups. You got the layups. Now you got to hit the free throws. Yes. That was...

I'm pretty happy. happy that I just got the first three. That makes it a little more difficult on Scott. Let's go with Jose Parraza? No. Gene Sagura. Two strikes. The White family has a chance to steal. We're over here whispering. Yeah, I think he probably knows who it is, too. So there's a lot of pressure.

You have five seconds. At this moment. I will say Jonathan V.R. It's not a bad guess. He is like eighth, but... Okay. All right, Scott. How are you doing today? Scott, what do you do for a living?

I write about fantasy baseball, Adam. Oh, well, this is right up your alley. We're looking for the top five leaders and steals. We have Billy Hamilton, D. Gordon, and T. Turner off the board. Tell me who's four or five. I have a lot of guesses, but only two of them are right. I am going to go with Cameron Mabon. Oh, he got it.

Number four, Cameron, David. 25 steals, number four. It's a pretty elite group of Hamilton with 43, Gordon with 37. Trey Turner probably would be leading baseball in steals. He has 35. And then Cameron Mabin is 25, and former Royal Gerard Dyson. That was my second guess. That was 22.

Jose Al-Tuvius 21, by the way. Steels are scarce, that's for sure. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So how many players have 20 or more? One, two, three, four. Five. Three players with 30 or more and like eight with 20 or more? Eight, yep. And, you know, a lot of them... That's why I'm saying, don't drop, Camer may have been in a Roto League. Right. 40% owned. 40% own.

And I think you look at like the top three in steals. Billy Hamilton does nothing but steel bases. Trey Turner is on the D.L. kind of makes you feel like maybe D. Gordon is pretty darn valuable because he at least heats 293. 63 runs, that's a pretty good number, and 37 steals. He is pretty darn valuable. He's more valuable than I expected him to be coming into the year, partly because a lot of second baseman, Brian Dozier, Rudnett-Odor, Matt Carpenter, have all let us down.

All right, the third round is worth triple the points, so Heath, you still have a chance to win here. Perfect. I don't like that. pretty tough one. So I don't expect the board to be filled here. But over the last 28 days, last 28 days, the top eight answers are on the board. Wow. Most home runs in baseball, last 28 days.

Most home runs in baseball. Who's that, Scott or Heath? That's Heath. Heath. I like letting him buzz in. John Carlos Stanton. Is the number one answer, pass or play? I'll pass.

Nobody passes in family food or fantasy food I think passing was the right call in this case The harder it is the you should pass I don't know Because you have a long time to think about just one answer That's true All right Scott Last 28 days top eight home run leaders

Stanton's off the board Bryce Harper Is correct he's number four He's only number four And now it gets hard Let's go with Jose Abraeu. Bryce Harper's actually tied for a second. I apologize, with two others.

Oh, okay. Three-way tie. All right. For my next trick, I will guess, I will guess... Five seconds. Aaron Judge? You know that.

Unless you count the home run derby, that is an eh. Yeah, but I had to come up with a guess. All right, two a-hs. My next one. I'll give you three minutes here. Three minutes. Three minutes.

Just kidding. Just kidding. How about Jonathan's scope? A very nice guess, a very incorrect guess. All right. Heath, for the win. You have done absolutely nothing to deserve a win in fantasy view today. But all you have to do is name one of six here.

I've done one thing right, this entire damn fantasy baseball. ball season, and it's going to carry me to victory in this contest as well. Travis Shaw. Yeah. What? Yeah. Travis Shaw has seven home runs. He just missed the cut.

Eight players have eight or more. I am going to check your math. I'm looking at it right now, but here we go. John Carlos Stanton has 12. Mike Mustakas, Paul DeYoung, and Bryce Harper have nine. Rugnett-Odor, No-Anon Aronado, Charlie Blackman, and Mike Napoli have eight. Wow, Rugi. Yeah.

After I threw him some shade. Yeah, I'm not... Napoli, back from the dead. Mm-hmm. Napoli batting 268 with eight home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 28 days. And he lived Napoli ever after. Oh, ooh. Has anybody ever done that?

I do it in my head all the time. I like that Napoli ever after. Oh, my goodness. Breaking News from Dan Shepley ever after. honesty on Twitter via Chris Towers on instant message. Hearing now that David Price's elbow barking again, would Sox D.L him before tonight's start, plot thickens. Heath, sorry, man, about your head-to-head leagues.

Yeah, well, you know, the nice thing is that I'm already out of all those anyway. So, who cares? Who cares? You know what I care about? What's that? How many home runs Travis Shaw has hit in the last 28 days? That's the only thing I'm looking at. It's seven.

You're still looking at that. It's seven. You know the Boston media is at war with David Price. It's true. That's true. Darn Eckersley. All right, so congratulations, Scott, on the clean sweep. I'm still playing on a protest.

That's fine. It's fine. And I was going to give Heath the sportsmanship award, but you just threw that away. So let's get back to what fantasy owners need to know. Let's talk about some call-ups here. Luke Weaver. Somebody suggested, I believe you can get me through the ninth.

That's much better than whatever we came up with yesterday. It's pretty good. Yeah. So Luke Weaver, you know, he was doing fine until he gave up a grand slam in the fourth inning. Yep. I would say maybe the start was more encouraging than the final line. Five innings, five hits, four runs, two walks, five strikeouts, 29% owned.

What do you think, Luke Weaver? Yeah, I think if you hadn't already picked up Luke Weaver, you don't have to pick them up still. But if you did pick him up, you shouldn't necessarily drop them. Okay. Louis Brinson, 34% own, homered for the second straight game. Getting a lot of should I drop Ian Desmond for Lewis Brinson? Hmm. I said yes.

I can see a situation where you would do that. I think it had to be a shallower league. Yes. And those situations that I'm specifically remembering, it seemed like everybody had enough outfielders that they did. need Ian Desmond. Yeah. So I was kind of like, yeah, go for it.

I mean, in points leagues, standard points leagues, I feel like Desmond was close to drop a bowl, even when he was healthy. But he still has that speed element that's, as we just demonstrated, so hard to find in categories leagues that. Yeah, that's true. I don't know. I'd like to own Brinson. Absolutely.

I just don't know that Desmond's the one I can drop for him. I really hope Brinson does well because I tend to lose faith in players when they do so badly in a major league cameo and not permanent faith but like same season faith so everybody did with aaron judge right yes absolutely so i i hope he can i hope he can be an example of of being awful and then being really good just then same with montana who was terrible last year all right give me your excitement on the addometer zero to ten ten being a must add zero no way rinaldo lopez for the white socks could be coming up very soon seven he's in my top five prospects to stash. I don't think he's must add across the board, though. I think seven,

like he said, sounds pretty good. I'd rather own Weaver. Rather on Weaver. Yeah. Jordan Loplo for the Pirates coming up tonight, outfielder. Three. I'll give it a three. Yeah. It seems like he's going to play, right? Yep. And the numbers were, just to give you the numbers, between AA and AAA this year, 296 with 21 homers, 920 OPS. a pretty good plate discipline not a highly highly regarded prospects at all even with the midseason updates he hasn't

gotten much love I think MLB.com has him 20th on the Pirates list of prospects so but at the same time we could have said the same about Mitch Hanager at this time a year ago when he was tearing up AAA so sometimes sometimes it's hard to break into those

prospect lists when you're so far out of them to begin with Jordan Luplow could be Leplow, but we're going Leplow. And the Mets called up Chris Flexen. We don't want him, right? He was really good in the minors, too. 176 ERA. 0.82 whip 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings, and with a lot of added velocity this year,

a better breaking ball. He actually did enter Baseball America's top 10 for the Mets mid-season update. And, you know, I'd rather own Weaver. I'd rather own Lopez, but Flexen, I think we could see better from him than we saw Thursday. He's not just an organizational depth type.

But he skipped AAA, right? Went right from AA? Yes, he did. Yes. Okay. So, sorry, I sold him short a little bit then maybe. Chris Flexen? You know, deep leagues.

Flexing his muscles. Oh, God. I wish he were a football player because he'd just be so perfect for fantasy. Flex. Unconfirmed email of the day is from Jim. I used to be the public address announcer for the Salem Red So sucks and single A. You guys have the name correct.

It is Devers. All right. I can't confirm that Jim actually had that job, but sounds good to me. And a team name from Brad, future endeavors. Very good. Let's talk about trades. Who's going to get traded, who we need to pick up? But first, let's talk about Buffalo Wildlings.

Because whoever invented Summer was obviously a sports fan. They didn't even try to hide it. They gave it playoff hockey, playoff basketball, in the opening of both 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 may as well have called it sports season. And in fact, the Buffalo Wild Wings, they do call it sports season.

Don't ever call it summer. That's not what it is. It's sports season. They're just waiting on the legal change. Buffalo Wild Wings, Wings, Beer, Sports. I just went to Buffalo Wild Wings two nights ago. Dry Buffalo Rub. As always.

And had some followers inform me that you can also get them to put that same dry rub on the fries. And it's delicious. Whoa. So it was outstanding. We watched the Royals game. Anytime the Royals game was on commercial, though, there's 73 other sports on TV. Oh, always with the Royals with this guy, right? Back in the race, Heath.

I never talk about the Yankees. I mean, Adam, whoever I'm talking to. Well, we're definitely getting a Royals Yankees wildcard game. It's going to be best. It's going to be bad for us. That is just going to be bad for us. Oh, man. I'm not looking forward to that.

I don't know, man. The race keep making moves. Last night was a really bad loss for the race, really bad. And if price goes on the DL, I'm not going to eliminate the Yankees from winning the East. It could be a very good race. They're a game out. Maybe a half game. Yeah, I think the Royals are a game and a half out of the Central.

Of the Central. Maybe we'll just meet in the ALCS instead of the Wildcourt. Oh, that would be even worse. For our friendship. Okay. What are we talking about? Oh, trades. So, listen, this show's gone kind of long.

We haven't talked really about anything yesterday, except for the double-dongers. It's been a fun show, though. So let's do this quickly here. Tell me, like, who's going to get traded and have a major value change? Okay, so I actually wrote a column about this yesterday. The 15 players whose value could change the most at the trade deadline. And let's start with the closer subset. There's five of them.

Zach Britton, Bradhand, A.J. Ramos, Addison, Reed, Justin Wilson. If they're traded anywhere but Washington, they're probably setting up. Well, I don't know. Maybe Britain could overtake like a Fernando Rodney or whatever. Not that the Diamond Vex are rumored to be in pursuit of him. But most likely, these five will lose value if they're traded. which obviously creates an opportunity for the relievers they're leaving behind. But, you know, the most promising of those is probably Shane Green, who he mentioned earlier. I would say Kyle Bearclaw, but he's been put on the D.L.

with a shoulder impingement. Oh, Brad Rock. Brad Brock, obviously. How do you trade for Zach Britton and not make him the closer? Well, if you're the Dodgers. Well, if you're the Dodgers, yeah. One of the rumors has been the Astros. That would be interesting.

That would be interesting. But they don't have a big lefty, right? They have a deep bullpen, but they don't really have a lefty, right? I don't think... I don't know. I think they'd probably use them like the Indians did. Andrew Miller. First of all, I don't even think Zach Britton's healthy.

Right. Once they get the medicals, they're going to be like not going to happen. But in any case, that would mean you still want Brad Brock. So do you want some non-closers? Yeah, well, I mean, I'll just tell you the recent rumors, obviously you know them, but recent rumors, Sunny Gray, U. Darvish, Justin Verlander, one of those three could end up on the Dodgers, maybe the Yankees. Those three could easily be traded, Verlander, Gray, and Darvish.

We already talked about, probably not going to change their value all that much unless they go to Colorado or something. Yeah, I don't... I'm rooting for Verlander to get traded. I did put him on this list. You think his value would go up? I think skill-wise he's fine. I mean, he's still throwing 98 miles per hour. I think there's something wrong mechanically,

and it wouldn't hurt to get a new set of eyes on it. Oh, he already made the mechanical adjustment recently. Well, hopefully. I mean, what, his last couple starts have been pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, I think he gave up three runs and seven innings last time out. The one before that was even better. Yeah, I mean, it's not long enough for me to be.

fully on board. It's not like we saw in the second half last year, but sure. All right. Sorry. He's already trending upward. So who else is in your column? Two catchers, Alex Avila and Jonathan Luchroy. But it would probably be a case of both of them losing value. Unless Lou Croy went to a team like the Rockies, a team that would guarantee him every day at bat. But the Cubs are supposed to have interest. obviously he'd be a backup there that would be bad Alex Avila same thing the cubs have been

mostly linked to him Wilson contraris is not losing his job I think sunny gray's value improves no matter where he goes just because by virtue of going non-contender to contender even if he wound up with the braves I think they give him a better chance to win than the athletics do and he won't be pitching in front of the worst defense in baseball are the athletics the worst team defense of baseball again um um Oh, this is an interesting one. Lance McCullors, I think I kind of got into this a little yesterday.

The Astros have a huge lead. They're obviously going to the playoffs. Lance McCullors is one of their best pitchers. He threw 90 innings last year. They're going to have to pull back at some point. And they're rumored to be in on Sunny Gray, even though with Dallas Keikle coming back, they're already going to have to make the tough decision

of bumping somebody to the bullpen, maybe Peacock, maybe McCullors himself. If they acquire a starter on top of it, that's somebody else moving. It'd be hard to justify keeping McCullors in the rotation. Okay. All right. That's something to keep in mind. And we'll see what happens. Anything else? Anything else? Dan Strayley just entered the trade discussions because he's going to be affordable for the next few years. Marlins Park is perfectly suited for his skill set.

He did break out at Cincinnati, which is an obvious hitter's park last year. so maybe it won't end up being that big of a deal, but a pitcher whose game is generating a low Babbat because he allows so many fly balls, I would not like the idea of him leaving a notable pitcher's park for a hitter's park or a neutral park. Yeah, yeah, he's been a lot better at home, right? So that's Dan Straeli.

All right, if you want more, check out the column on cbsports.com. And there you go. Also, you can check out the prospects to stash on CBSports.com. Rinaldo Lopez is one of them. Ahmed Rosario, I'm sure, is one of them. Who are the other three, Scott? Can you give us the names? So I'm going to keep Reese Hoskins on there, at least this last week, to see if Tommy Joseph gets traded at the deadline.

We've held on to him all this time. Let's go ahead and see it through. I like Brent Honeywell, even though it sounds like maybe he could get called up as a reliever down the line. He's not taking this first turn with Jake Oteresey out, but there's enough buzz there and enough upside that I'd be interested in stashing him. And then the final name is Ozzy Albies of the Braves, especially now that Swanson's been sit down. Brandon Phillips could still get traded.

Ozzy Albies has been pretty good of late. He must not have come from the Diamondbacks organization. Why? Because that trade was just terrible. The Swanson, Blair. Oh my gosh. Disaster. Oh, let's not give up on Swanson. I won't.

I won't. He's 22. Can I give up on Blair, though? Yes. Yeah. So, it's July 28th and dot, dot, dot, that's our next segment. Some things that really stand out. It's July 28th and Brett Gardner.

It's the number 11 outfielder in points leagues, number 18 in Roto. He'll be 34 years old next month, and he just set a career high in home runs. Very surprised that he has been able to keep this. up Brett Gardner, 11th and points, 18th in Roto at outfield. How about that? Do any of us have him in our top 36 outfielders? No. I don't know if any of us have him, do we have our top 50 outfielders?

Oh, you better. Really close. Maybe. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of shifting within that group. I have him 43rd. Oh, you're way too low on Brett Gardner, Heath. Okay.

I believe it I had someone point out to me that I was way too low on Ender and Ciarte I don't know that I've chosen to move Brett Gardner in my rankings this year I think he's moved up and down depending on who moved up and down I don't buy this really

a lot I don't I don't know well he is more fly balls this year like a lot more fly balls and home run to fly ball ratios up so one of those guys right but I Brett Gardner, when you talk about the flyball revolution? I'm sorry.

I think I'm wrong about that. I think I'm wrong. I think I'm looking ahead to Francisco Lindor. Okay. That's the guy who has a lot more fly balls. I'm looking at Brett Gardner, and he has a fly ball increase, significant one over last year. Oh, okay. And over his career average.

But when I look at the fly ball revolution, I don't think Brett Gardner is the guy that needs to start hitting a lot more home run or fly balls. Well, I guess I shouldn't even brought that up. The bottom line is Gardner has the 18th most played appearances in baseball. He plays for a good offense, and he's on pace to score 112 and a half runs. He wanted to score 100 runs. He has 13 steals. It's not nothing.

But he's been the kind of guy that wears down. Right. So you think Greg Gardner's a cell high? I don't think when I say that I haven't moved him up, and Scott's got him 43rd and he ranks top 20. I don't get the impression. I mean, how many emails have we gotten about Brett Gardner this year? Yeah, none.

I can't remember a single tweet that I've received about Brett Gardner. Right. I don't think most people know that Brett Gardner ranks there in fantasy. I don't think anyone values him that high. I can't imagine how you could sell high. Then maybe he's a buy low or a buy high because, you know, just leading off for the Yankees will make it, even when he was slumping. He wasn't that bad in fantasy.

I remember looking that up. It's like a little bit of a built-in floor when you lead off for a good lineup. I dropped him during the cold stretch. I dropped him in a three outfielder points league. I think for somebody like Domingo Santana, so somebody I'd like, and I still value Santana more. Yep. Well, actually, I rank Gardner.

Spots ahead of... No one has any idea of where they rank Brett Gardner. You could tell me that I have him 75th, and you could tell me that I have him 38th, and I would believe you. Gardner or Batista, rest of season. Gardner, who? Bautista. I did recently drop Bautista behind Gardner. So, Gardner.

Heath? Say Gardner. Feels good. Batista. All right, it's July 28th and Francisco Lendora's five steals. About that? There we go. I guess he's not much out there.

But, I mean, you can't steal when you were already back home again. It's true. He's hit his many home runs and one fewer double than he hit last year in 60 fewer games. You know, it's kind of interesting. Number three in points, probably because of all the doubles for Lindor. And good watcher strike out ratio. Number eight, shortstop in Roto. A little disappointing, I'd say, for Categories leagues.

The batting average is kind of low, 267 and five steals. interesting year for Lindor Yeah Yeah I think I think he has shown us That he's still very valuable When he's not as good as we expect him to be

Yeah He's a high floor player And I don't really buy the 267 average I know he's hit a lot more fly balls But he's also hit a lot less Groundball His line drives have remained pretty steady. His babbips fall into 280.

I think he's probably more, even with the fly balls and the extra home run, should be more of a 285-290 hitter when he's only striking out 13% of the time. Okay, that's Francisco Lanzore. You know, it's July 28th, and Travis Shaw is the number four third basement of points, number two in Roto. Is Travis Shaw a star? He is the star, the son, really. more than a star.

He wasn't an all-star. What do you mean by a star? Like, everything revolves around him. Not many people know who Travis Shaw is, so no, he's not a star. He's batting 299 with 24 home run, so he's having a star year, plus eight steals in eight attempts. Yeah. Is he this good? I don't think he's going to finish number four and number two at third base in those respective formats.

He might finish number one. He's going to be top ten for sure. Um, yeah, I don't think he's quite this good, but he's really good. All right, you know, it's July 28th, and J.T. Rayamuto and Yadir Molina are top six catchers in both formats. How gross is that? Rayamuto and Malita. Rai Amuto is the new generation of Molina. Right. Yeah. Always there. You never, you don't think he's very good, but he's always great.

I think I have Real Moto ranked 6th, and I know I have Molina in my top ten in points. I think I said that backwards. You don't think he's great, but he's always good. It's really important to play. That's being on the field. It is such a bad position. Oh, my gosh. Overpay for a catcher.

Overpay for Sanchez. Overpay for Posey. Overpay. You have such a leg up on your competition. Don't overpay, like, huge. But be willing. I think you could have overpaid for Lucroy and how did that go. Okay, well, I'm done with that.

But just those two and maybe even Wilson Contreras, I don't know. Yeah, I think he's getting there. You're going to have a leg up on your competition. Let's see after they get Lucroy how much it cuts into Contreras's playing time. Posey and Sanchez are kind of like Grancowski to me right now, standing out so much over the rest of their position. But doesn't Grancowski with his injury history, Like a lot of times it ends up being a bad pick.

Yeah, I'll forget. It's a better pick in theory. But they stay healthy. I just, I wasn't really concerned. It's hard for catchers to stay healthy. That's kind of why we're in the place we are. There's a lot of attrition there. We're down.

I just meant that they are so much better than the rest of their field. Well, I was extending the analogy. Well, how about that? Good for you. I didn't pick up on that. kind of did. All right, well, you know what? Let's see. What else from yesterday? Yes or no answers. Do you want to pick up Manuel Margo? No. No. Do you want to drop Wilson Ramos?

No. I wouldn't mind it. Sorry. Sorry. Yes. He's struggling. I have to say yes or no. Are you worried about Marcus Stroman? No. No. Okay. And do you think it's smooth sailing for John Lester rest of season? Yes. Yes.

Is Brian Goodwin extremely underowned at 6%? Yes. Yeah. Does Chris O'Grady ever eat at Beefo Brady's? No. Probably not, right? And does Chris O'Brady need to be owned in more than 2% of leagues? Chris O'Grady?

Yeah, Marlins pitcher. Yeah. I mean, you're forcing us to say just yes or no. Goodwin's extremely under owned because it's only 6%. O'Grady needs to be more owned because it's only 2%. Neither of them need to be 50%. Yes. There we go.

Well said. Thank you, Scott. Let's look at two start pitchers for next week. And I didn't really see a lot of good ones yesterday when we were looking. Are you going to start Felix Hernandez at Texas and at Kansas City? Yes. Are you going to start Aaron Nola? at the Angels and at the Rockies.

Aaron Nola, Angels and Rockies on the road. Yeah. Yeah, I am. Just hope the Rockies start doesn't erase the Angels start. Are you going to start Alex Cobb at Houston and home against Milwaukee? Nope. Really? Um, I mean, obviously the matchups aren't in his favor there, and I don't really buy what he's doing.

I would in points leagues though. I think I'd have to. All right, that's Alex Cobb. A lot of times it's quantity. Alex Cobb is now going to become the barometer for the rest of this edition. It will be over or under Alex Cobb. Jose, no, forget Jose Burroughs. Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay and Toronto at home.

Over Elk Cup. Yes. Jeff Samarja at Oakland, home against Arizona. Over Alex Cobb. Sure. If you want 10 innings of two or three or three, run ball, would you start Kenta Maeda at Atlanta and at the Mets? Over Ellis Cubs.

I would start him. If you start Stephen Mats at Colorado and home against the Dodgers, you should be kicked out of your fantasy league. True ball. Under Alex Cub. Yeah, don't start Stephen Mats. C.C. Sabathia is 73% owned, Detroit and at Cleveland. Under Alex Cubs. Maybe in a points league, but yeah, not excited.

Patrick Corbin at the Cubs and at the Giants. Yes. Over Elks Cup Mike Fultenevich at Philadelphia and home against Miami Overal's Cup Corbin is 67% Own of all the names I've read

He's the most available Until this guy This is one I talked about yesterday Maybe the most Appealing Ian Kennedy at Baltimore And home against Seattle Over Alex Cup

Not over Alex Cobb But I probably would start him In a points league All right Ian Kennedy is someone you could look at I don't say I'd say the same for Fulton too to go back. I wasn't on board with Heath's over Alex

Cobb there. Fulte's got the Phillies. Yeah, he's also Mike Fultenevich who I don't have a lot of trust. You don't have a lot of trust in Alex Cobb. Mike Fultonovich. I have a little more in him than Fulte. I understand why you've pushed back on Fultenevich this year, and people have tried to push you the other direction

and I get it. But both of them are having unsustainable success. And Fulte's peripherals are better than Cops. But Cobb's been even better than Fulte has. Right. But Fultes is more believable.

I don't think either's is especially believable. Fellas, just a few more. Actually, just want to know if there's anybody else you want to pick up. Trevor Bauer, Marco Estrada, Jose Urena, Antonio Sensitella, Annabal Sanchez, Blackburn, Paul Blackburn, Giants, you know. Blackburn, blah. Yeah, are we going to, are we going to? to fly him.

Giants and Angels. All right. Nalasco, Povetta. Pvette is at the Rockies, one of his starts. Shields. Andrew Moore, Homer Bailey, Ubaldo, Pelfrey, Aaron Blair. Bad week.

Bad week. It's a bad week, yeah. And it's going to be even worse than it looks because today, Sonny Gray hasn't been traded. Udarvish hasn't been traded. Rotations are malleable.

Exactly as they appear to be. But some of these pitchers we name won't get two starts because of moves that happen, I predict. Okay. So, we have time for today's matchups and some emails to finish up on Kokomo Friday. I'm not going to go through every game. I'll just go through some questionable starts. Would you start Tanner Roark at home against the Rockies?

He's been good lately, better lately. Yeah, I would. Yep. Roark, start him. Tanaka against the Reyes. Yep. Yes. Parker Bridwell and Jay Hap.

I'll take Hap. Nope. Dallas Kikel? Yeah. Don't start Jordan's ever been against the Astros. No. Jason Vargas at the Red Sox. Nope.

I would be fine doing that. Wow, really? Mm-hmm. All right. We'll see if Devers plays today against the lefty. Let's see. What else? No, no.

Andrew Cashner against the Orioles? No. Nope. Going to start Salazar. Big starts. Let's see what Salazar. Azar can do tonight. Brent Suter against the Cubs.

Nope. No, probably not. This is a huge, huge series for the Brewers, trying to get back on track hosting the Cubs for three. Michael Waka against the Diamondbacks. Yeah. Yeah. Heme Garcia.

Take him to nothing. Jaime Garcia for the twins at Oakland. Yes. Yeah, the matchups. Good enough. I'll give it a run. Rafael Montero or Ariel Miranda, Mets at Mariners. Nope. No, no.

It's read emails of Fantasy Baseball at Cbsi.com. This is from Nick. Hey guys, big fan, but dried fruit is the worst. No. Wrong. I don't know. Good work, Nick. I love dry.

The sugar becomes more concentrated when the fruit is dry. Like, it's almost like candy. It's so good. Yeah, it's candy. My question is, what do I do with Noah Cindergarde? Is he going to pitch for the Mets this season? He was not included in the most recent trade chart. Really?

No. I think he's going to pitch again. He will pitch again. I think he will pitch again in his life. And I think he may even throw pitches again this year. I don't believe he's going to pitch again in the major league's baseball. Huh. Okay.

Two months to go. There are still two months. to go. But nothing to play for. Nothing to bring it back for. Like, just the comfort level going into the off season of knowing, okay, Cinderguard's okay, we can count

on him next year. I think that means a lot. We did establish about a month ago that it's generally, we're expecting about 60 days from the time he starts throwing to the time he would reach the majors, and that could be off by a week or two, one direction or the other. He started throwing again, I believe, on July 17th.

So that would mean September 17th would be I just have a hard time seeing you bring him back the last week or two of the season to make a start. And I don't know if you're going to trust them in your fantasy lineup and I don't even know if you're going to get there. Like if you need a roster spot, I suppose I mean it does it changes

if you don't have a DL spots in your league. It's hard to invest a bench spot in him but he's still among DL players he's still one of the 10 I'd be most likely to stay. Sam wants to know how Travis Shaw should be viewed in Dynasty leagues. No, no, no, not Shaw. Scope.

Jonathan Scope. I was going to say, Travis Shaw, you just view like George Brett, basically. Right. I feel like Jonathan Scopes where we thought Rubnet O'Dore was last year. Yep. Which is a lesson in both directions. Yeah. It means he's a pretty exciting stash in a Keeper League,

but it also means with that profile you should expect some variability. Well, he's like six years older than NoDore, right? Oh, not six years. He's not that old. Let's just some guessing at him. How old do you think Jonathan's Scope is? 27. I think he's 28.

He is 25. Wow. Much younger night. Goop that out. All right, from no name. Hey, Rick, Dallas, and Corey. I don't know. Would you drop Ian Desmond?

to pick up Paul DeYoung in a 10-team headhead categories league. I have Trout, J.D. Martinez, Marte, and Conforto, so would you drop Ian Desmond to pick up Paul DeYoung? If I needed an emergency shortstop, I might. I don't buy into what DeYoung is doing. Things are, it's not going to end like this at all. Yeah, that's what I was saying yesterday. I mean, he's going to hit for power, but not this much power, and that's all he has. So that's what I was saying about DeYoung yesterday.

Where were you yesterday, Heath? Yeah, where were you? I was getting my haircut. Oh, looks great, Heath. Thank you. I worked hard on it. We had a fantasy football show, sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings. Oh, cool.

Oh, yeah, right. That was very good, very good, our friends. Yeah. Have a great weekend, everybody. When we come back, we'll talk about all the trades that went down over the weekend. Speeat you on Monday. See you. See you.