Fantasy Baseball Today - 07/30: Mon. Recap and MLB Trades (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 30, 2019

It was kind of a boring day in baseball, but we still have a fun show for you! Do we care about the Jason Vargas and Jordan Lyles trades? How do we value Eric Hosmer (6:20) and Merrill Kelly (8:35) after they had very different performances yesterday? Plus news and notes (10:00) which includes more trade rumors ... Dallas Keuchel's disappointing start (15:33), why Scott's roto team is struggling and lessons to be learned (18:30) and some "Hey, Real Quick" (24:15) ... A fun round of Team Name Tuesday (27:10) plus your emails about Matt Carpenter (28:40), Barry Bonds (32:30), Jon Lester, Yu Darvish and more. And we discuss yesterday's noteworthy SPs (36:50) ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. All right, welcome to your Tuesday, July 30th edition of Fantasy Baseball today. It's going to be a really fun show because Scott and I agreed before the show started that basically nothing happened last night.

I think that was a quote. Basically nothing happened last night. Agreed? Nothing. Yeah. Boring. It's a wonder they even played games because nothing was happening. Don't I have a boring drop somewhere?

Yeah, I do. Boring. That was last night. Yeah. Boring. Not feeling it, Scott? A little Homer, Homer Simpson? Oh, yeah.

Heard of them? Homer Simpson. Sure. Okay. That's fun. Not boring. He's not boring. Well, there were a couple of trades.

They're boring. apparently the Indians are increasingly unlikely to trade Trevor Bauer, according to John Heyman. But here were the trades that happened yesterday. Philadelphia acquired Jason Vargas and Milwaukee acquired Jordan Liles. Dazzle me, Scott. Oh, I can't dazzle you. That's, I mean, how exciting was Jason Vargas with New York?

And now he's going to Philadelphia, which I don't think is a very important. vastly superior situation. Obviously a tougher part to pitch in. Yeah, there's nothing exciting about that. Jordan Liles, I'm even sure he's staying in the rotation for the Brewers. They had him down the stretch last year, and he was pretty good in relief for them, which is how he got his job with Pittsburgh. So I'm not even sure.

I mean, maybe it'll be kind of a swing man role. I don't know. But yeah, these are two mostly valueless players who I don't think gain any. real value with these moves? And I would say that... Yeah, yeah, no, I would say I don't care. Okay, so Trevor Bauer, like I said, not going to get traded unlikely,

according to John Heyman, increasingly unlikely. But Zach Wheeler, S&Y, Andy's Martino of SNY. comi.com, here's from a rival executive, this is on Rodo World, that they fully expect the Astros to acquire Zach Wheeler from the Mets, unlock the inner Garrett Cole in Zach Wheeler. Oh, my goodness.

I would love him on the Astros. Oh, yeah. Any pitcher who goes to the Astros, Matthew Boyd, I mean, any of the ones who've been rumored, stock goes up considerably, I think, because not only is he landing with a great supporting cast, but, yeah, their history of getting the most out of starting pitchers from, you know, obviously Garrett Cole's the most obvious example.

but Justin Verlander Charlie Morton who was pretty much a nobody before going there Wade Miley this year they know what they're doing with pitchers and I would be very excited about particularly somebody like Wheeler who there's the sense that he hasn't quite

lived up to expectations so far that would be an exciting development but you know I don't know that I necessarily fully expect that to happen and I don't think I'm any more plugged in than rival executives, although rival executives you assume would have an agenda by saying that.

Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of talk that Noah's Cinderguard and doesn't get along with the front office, which is why you've heard his name bandied about and maybe the possibility Wheeler signs an extension with the Mets. I think there's a good chance nothing happens at all.

Yeah, Scott's not really expecting a very fun trade deadline. Well, here's the thing. here's the thing like it's first of all let me just say I'm not a baseball insider right I haven't talked to any front office people so this is all just speculation but what I'm thinking is okay this is the first year August trades aren't allowed right this is a true deadline July 31st so early that a lot of teams namely like the Giants don't really know whether they're in or out. So there's kind of this paralysis effect in terms of what we're going to do. Beyond that,

you have front office types pretty much all think alike, right? This is the, this is one of the offshoots of analytics becoming so widespread is that everybody kind of values players the same way. You have fewer differences of opinion, which makes for a more difficult trading environment. I see this in fantasy baseball, too, frankly. And then there's the fact that most of these players who are widely rumored to be on the move aren't free agents at seasons end. Yes, Wheeler is. Yes, the two Giants assets, Bumgarner and Will Smith are. Nicholas Castellanos is.

But beyond that, I'm not sure any of them are, very few of them are, at least. And, you know, you combine that with the paralysis effect of are we in or are we not. It just seems like you're going to get much cleaner negotiations in the offseason for these players. So why would you hurry to trade them now? That's kind of what I'm thinking. All right. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing that the Giants, they've really changed the landscape of the trade deadline with this little run that they're on here. But Scott and I know it for sure.

We just know it for sure. They're not good. And they should sell. They have been given a gift. They have been given a gift of great trade value for their. assets and they should just they should take that gift. I mean I'm sorry but Mike Yistrimski is not leading them to the promised land.

No. Not going to happen. So those are some of the trade rumors. I got some more including a couple of three guys in the bullpen that could get traded. That we'll talk about a little bit later. Monday standout, stuff that actually happened on the baseball field. Got anything for us? I mean, I've got some stuff in the notes. You know, Eric Osmer Homer. twice. He did. First home runs of July.

He tells you a little about how we value him these days. Where do you think Eric Hosmer ranks among first baseman? In points of roto. I imagine it would be higher in points. It's one spot higher points. I would get, I mean, he doesn't miss time, which helps. I would guess he's about I'll say 22nd. 19th and points, 20th and Roto. Okay. Now, this is not first baseman.

This is first base eligible players. Keep that in mind. If you remove every player who's ahead of Eric Hosmer in first base rankings, that's also eligible at another position, well, then Eric Hosmer becomes a top 12 first baseman. If you only remove the players who are second base eligible, because, you know, you figure, let's say,

we'll keep Uligory L at first, We'll keep Trey Mancini at first. We'll keep Reese Hoskins at first. If you only remove the second base eligible guys, you've got the number 15, number 16 first base. 15th to point 16th in Roto in fantasy. That's Eric Hosmer, who really, like, he's got a 775 OPS. That does not cut it these days.

All 15 of his home runs have come against Ritey's. He certainly has been better since a really bad April, but July's also been pretty bad. Hosmer's just kind of whatever. You know, you leave me in your lineup. He's a quarter infielder. Yeah, you're probably looking to upgrade. I don't think there are many players who,

it's easy to feel content at whatever position when you're negotiating trades, not really seeing the need to upgrade. Because even if you can do better, how much better would it be? What would you have to get up to make that upgrade? Give up to make that upgrade. but Hosmer is one where if I was starting him, look, it's perfectly justifiable, but I'd be looking to upgrade.

Yeah, I said leave him in your lineup I met in a deeper league. You mentioned Merrill Kelly, second bad start in a row for Kelly this time at the Marlins. Bad weekend for the Diamondbacks, including a four-game series with the Marlins, who, you know, they're starting to play better, but still the Marlins. Yeah, Merrill Kelly, drop them, cut them loose.

I may be. or not. It's kind of just what we're dealing with at pitcher right now, why I've been willing all season to pay a premium for a true standout at that position because, I mean, Merrill Kelly, once you get beyond the obvious must-start pitchers,

he's still probably one of the best available because he goes deep deep into games. It's efficient, doesn't walk him in, guys, which allows him to pick up a lot of innings when he does pitch well, but at the same time, he's just not that good of a pitcher. So you're going to wind up with starts like this, even when the matchup seems

favorable. The last two matchups for Merrill Kelly. After he goes seven innings, it gives up one run on six strikeouts against the Brewers. Merrill Kelly has given up 14 earned runs in 8 and a third over two starts against the Orioles and the Marlins.

So, so much for matchups. All right. We'll talk more about Monday's performers later on in the show. Our sponsor today is Lightstream. Credit card consolidation loans. If you've got good credit, you need a little help. You go to lightstream.com slash strike. They have great rates.

Lightstream.com slash strike. News and notes for you. Max Scher is on the aisle with a rhomboid strain. Sounds like a shape. Yeah. You like the rhombus? Yeah. And the trapezoid.

What's the difference between a romeboid? a rhombus and a diamond. This is something my son, my four-year-old son, started referring to it as a rhombus, which is strange, because that's not a term I heard until I was much older. It made me wonder, what's the difference between rhombus and a diamond? Because usually when you're doing

like shape exercises with kids, it gets referred to as a diamond. I'm looking at rombuses. I'm looking at rombuses right now. They're just diamonds. Like, is a diamond basically a tilted square? Like, does it have to have 90 degrees angles? Is that what makes it a diamond? No, probably not, right? I'm not sure.

I don't know. Shine bright, like a rhombus. How different would pop culture be if we just replaced diamond, rhombus in the rough? Well, I don't think the gemstone is interchangeable the way the shape is. Scott, you're killing by fun.

Detroit's calling up catcher Jake Rogers. Does Jake Rogers matter? Probably not. Though he was one of the pieces in the Justin Verlander, trade, I think. And I haven't seen what he's been doing this year, to be honest. Nothing that interesting.

It's got some power, but yeah, I mean, it's going to take him performing, I think, to really put him on my radar. Charlie Blackman dealing with a back issue, we are hoping that Charlie Blackman does not end up on the IL with this back issue. Jack Peterson, Jack Peterson was pulled for not running a ball out. I think this was a little unnecessary. Did you see the play? I actually didn't, no.

He hit a ground ball to first base. He was out by so many feet. Like, it just thought it was over. It was right behind the first base bag, and then Daniel Murphy just stepped on first, and that was it. You save your energy, Jack Peterson. I don't blame you.

Dave Roberts yanked him. Jack Peterson took the blame. I don't think you should have. I think he should have yelled at Dave Robertson. Yeah. Although, I mean, it's. Dave Roberts. Dave Roberts, pardon me.

We're not privy to anything but what we see actually play out during the game, right? So there may have been more playing into this than just the play itself. But I get what you're saying. I mean, Robinson Canoe, that's kind of always been his stance, right? Like, why risk injury when, you know, you'd rather have me around, right? Absolutely. David Robertson, though, the closer, not the manager whose name is not David Robertson. is not making progress.

So that's disappointing. Dansby Swanson expected to come off the IL on Saturday. Ken Giles is still dealing with a sore elbow. Another guy who is supposed to get traded might not get traded because of this elbow injury. Kristen Stewart's going on the seven-day concussion aisle. By the way, remember, Daniel Hudson is the backup closer for the Blue Jays. Kristen Stewart's going on the IL for a concussion. Adelberto Monasey says he's feeling much better.

Josh Van Meader started and he doubled. Nick Senzel was on the bench. and Jorge Alfaro should be back today. It's got some trade rumors. The Red Sox are in on Edwin Diaz. The Phillies are interested in Alex Colome. The Dodgers are interested in Felipe Vasquez. And Fram Mel Reyes' name has been floated about.

Fram El Ray, I'd love to see him get traded and get some regular PT. Yeah, I read last night that the Padres are higher than ever on Hunter Renfro, which is made from Milraeus expendable because it kind of feels like they're the same guy. So yeah, that would be a positive development. Edwin Diaz to the Red Sox, I think would be a positive development. It's, you know, they haven't had anybody who really fit the mold of a closer, which I think partially explains why Alex Corr has approached the way that he has. But, you know, maybe Edwin Diaz would just get mixed up in that.

and it would be bad. Still, it seems like a better outcome than the Dodgers, who are rumored to be in on every reliever. Yeah, if Vasquez gets traded, he's not going to be the Dodgers closer, that's for sure, but he could end up as a closer. Yeah. You know, from a long-term perspective, I'm not sure what's going to happen this year, but I mostly have faith in Edwin Diaz.

I think if the Mets or if Dynasty fantasy owners are selling low, are selling Edwin Diaz, you might regret it, because I still believe he's going to be one of the best relievers in the game. I believe that. Do you? Edwin Diaz? I do. I do.

It's, you know, kind of a frustrating four-year stretch where twice it's like, okay, he's there. He's one of the elites now. And then he falls back a bit. But, you know, he's recovered from it. before. I think he will again. And most of the supporting numbers suggest he's still that, despite some issues giving up home runs this season. Here is our quote of the day. Quote of the day, quote, very disappointing. That's about it. I thought I punched out about 10 guys.

I got rewarded with extra bets. That's where that lies. That would be brave starting pitcher, Dallas Keikle, disappointed with the strike zone in his start yesterday, which, uh, It was five innings two runs until he went out there for the sixth. Put a couple runners on, came out of the game. Anthony Rendon hits a grand slam and the final line for Keikle. Five and a third, six hits, four runs, four walks, four strikeouts at Washington. Yeah, four walks are unusual for him. The walk rate has been high this year, though I imagine.

I'm not sure what it was before this start with the four walks. But in eight starts, he's twice walked four now. This is coming off a 12 strikeout. effort against the Royals last time out. So it's not like there's reason to worry. You know, if you're out there debating whether or not you can start Merrill Kelly, I don't think Dallas Keikle's a stressor for you. No, but I was happy.

You like that validation. Anytime he's bad. Yeah, I kind of, yeah, I mean, I honestly, I do. And it's such a shame because he was, he was really my, I think, one of my favorite players. Because I was so pro-Dalice Kikel. And now things have changed. Yeah, things have changed. Things changed, Scott.

Life changed. Confirmation bias. That's what you're guilty of here, Adam. Maybe. He's trying to think of the term. It's one Chris uses all the time. Lucy in the sky with rhombus. More than one, right?

Rombuses. Rombus? Yeah, yeah. Would it be Rombi? I don't know. It's us. I don't know. Yeah.

We're going to take a break here. When we come back, I have a segment called, Scott, what happened to your Roto team? And we're going to talk more about, let's see, Luis Arias and Kavana Bidio homering, Jaime Berea and Brad Keller. That's coming up next on Fantasy Baseball today. Also, your emails right after this. Back here on Fantasy Baseball today with a new segment. It's called Scott, what happened to your roto team?

Scott, what happened to your roto team? Well, it was hanging around there, first, second, third place for most of the year, and now it's dropped to the middle of the pack. and considering I'm first in hitting pitching. Pitching seems to be the problem. I did lose Brandon Woodruff, which didn't help. And I've had to fill in gaps with relievers,

which may be causing me to fall back in strikeouts and wins. I mean, what it really comes down to is I have so much hitting. I think I'm a distant first in home runs. I think I'm a distant first in RBI. Yeah. And it would make sense to trade some of that for pitching, right? I haven't even tried.

That's part of the problem. Like, I haven't. I am definitely committed to playing the waiver wire. You know, like clockwork, I'm there putting in my claims every week. But trades, I got to tell you, I'm a little burnt out on making trades. I have a dynasty league. It's one I talk about a lot on the show, 24 Team Dynasty League, where there's great incentive to trade, right? And it takes so much energy to be coming up with offers and see them rejected.

Like my success rate on trades in that league this year, I'm probably batting like 010 because it's just rejected constantly. And it's like, do I really want to invest that time in being rejected over and over? again in another league. You know, I guess it sounds lazy, but... No, it's not. I haven't... I haven't really been able to muster the desire to fail like that. Nobody trades in this league.

I don't really expect to work out anything fair. Yeah, I mean, this league is a lot of people that we don't know, personally. So really, nobody trades in this league. I actually, I thought I was done, and I am done. I have no chance to win the league. But I've climbed up a bit. I'm only four and a half points behind Scott. Scott's in fifth.

I'm in sixth. Scott was in second at the All-Star break, I think, or, you know, around then. And he was like a half a point out of first place. Now he's 16 and a half points out. Things can change quickly in a Roto League. I'm in a terrible spot, though, because I'm in sixth place, and I have pretty much nowhere to go up in home runs. I'm second there, I think, way behind you.

Same with RBI's. I'm second way behind you. So same with run. No, runs I can move up. But the reason why I find it tough to trade in this league is because when I make a trade, I pretty much only want to make a trade. I only want to give away a position,

which I have a good backup on my bench. Like I only want to trade away position of depth. This is a deep league. There's not much depth. So I find it really hard to make trades that I'm not going to feel like I lost. And, yeah, I mean, it's easier to trade a shallow, leagues and deep leagues. I think it's a lot easier to trade in head-to-head than in Roto 2 because, you know,

it's harder to anticipate the impact of those moves because, you know, you're kind of having 10 different competitions at once. And so falling back in one area, you know, especially the way numbers work. Like if you could expect an even distribution of stats from a player over the course of the season, you could calculate pretty well what you could expect to have. happen, but you have no idea who's on the verge of a hot streak and who isn't. And so I tend to be kind of paralyzed because of that. But, you know, I feel like my excuse here is just an excuse, and I should probably put some offers out there, trading power for pitching. So I'm going to try that.

I'm going to try that after the podcast is over. They'll probably all be rejected, but at least I'll know that I made a sincere effort to try and get back in the running here. And you should know, I think this is important. Scott has by far the best hitting. But his two catchers are Robinson, Chorinos, and James McCann. So it's a two-catcher league, five outfielder, a corner infield, middle-infield, plus a DH. You just don't have to invest heavily in catcher in this format.

Chorinos and James McCann. I know most of you are smart enough to play in a two-catcher league, so good for you. He's got Freddie Freeman, Ryan McMahon, Nolan Aronado, Mani Machado Corey Seeger Pete Alonzo Jordan Alvarez

Jordan Alvarez Cody Bellinger Cole Calhoun Shin Tsu yeah you got some serious studs there and you also are a prospect guy

I mean you stashed Alvarez you stashed Bobauchette who's up now and yeah okay and you have Louis Robert as well it's easier to stash

prospects in a Roto League like this where you know probably don't your worst players aren't the kind that you really feel guilty about dropping because rosters are so large. Yeah.

And you don't really need to devote so much of your bench to pitching to stream two-start pitchers. So just stash the prospects you expect to get called up. And like in the case of Jordan Alvarez, you'll get a big boost mid-season. More from yesterday. Well, I wanted to do some emails. All right, I'm going to, let's move things around a little bit in the rundown. Scott, hey, real quick. Jorge Soler or Eloy Jimenez?

Jorge Soler, who I think has been, I know by me, undervalued for much of the season. Like, he is, even in a year where home runs are, you know, a plentiful, and when guys who mostly provide that are a dime a dozen, he stands out among that group. And I think it deserves to be treated. He did like a borderline top 30 outfielder. Yeah, he's been a top 20 outfielder, I believe.

He's number 19 and points, number 22 in Roto. Jorge Soler. He and Jimenez, a very similar batting average. But Solerre has a better OBP, and he's not exactly an OBP guy, and a better slugging percentage. It's just been better. He's got 28 home rides having a nice year. All right, so Scott's going with Jorge Soler over Elohimenez.

Hey, real quick, the slumping Josh Bell or the surging Paul Goldschmidt. Bell. Goldschmidt, he had a stretch there with homering in six consecutive games. But it's going to take more than home runs to get him back on track. I mean, he's basically on a,

like a 37 homer pace now, and look what it's done for him. OPS is right around 800. I don't know that it's age-related. He has been much more aggressive, at the plate in terms of like just number of pitches he swings at. So, you know, maybe he's pressing a little to get his numbers back to where he's used to seeing them. I don't know.

I don't know exactly what it is. But it's more of the batting average that needs correction than any kind of home run binge. Well, that's great, but at least he's getting a hit. Josh Bell, last 26 games batting 192. Yikes. But all right. It's a slump for him. Still 14 walks in those 26 games and 23 strikeouts.

And finally, hey real quick, Ketel Marte or Max Muncie. Marte, who I think is only Homer twice since the All-Star break, but he has raised his batting average during that time. And you look at the supporting stats. I mean, it still backs up his season-long numbers. I don't have, other than the fact he's Catel Marte, and I never expected him to be this kind of power hitter, I don't have any reason to doubt his production.

Okay, and Muncie's pretty good himself. He's pretty good, yeah. Emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. I did want to do a little bit of a mailbag today. I also want to do some team name Tuesday, because it's really good. Are you ready? Sure.

Sure. Sure. Sure. Turtle Power. Say it again? Heera in a half shell. Ah. Yeah, that's good.

Okay. A little of column A, a little of column B that we know. Oh, this is a twist. on that. A little of Colomé, a little of Cologne, comma, B. Bartolo Cologne. Yeah. Okay. Bo Bichette, Intergalactic Bounty Hunter. Who is the actual intergalactic?

I feel like it's got to be Boba Fett. Oh, okay. Bo Bichet. Okay. It's good, right? That looks. Yeah. This one, let me just look this up so I know what it is.

I think it's a Beatles reference. but I don't want to sound like an idiot if it isn't, although I already put myself out there. Yeah, it's Beatles. Lovely Rita Van Meter made. Okay. Yeah, so that's lovely Rita, meter made. And finally, Kyle Schwins above replacement, Burr.

Kyle Schwins. Say that last name again? Okay. Kyle Schwins above replacement, Burr. Okay. Okay. So this is Kyle Schwins above replacement, Burr. Schwarber.

Okay. But with war... I love it. I get it. I love it. Kyle Schwaber. Kyle Schwibes above replacement war. I love it.

That's excellent. Good job to all of our team name Tuesday. People. Good for you for keeping it going throughout the year. All right, here's some emails from our friends. David says, I wanted to get your thoughts on what to do with Matt Carpenter for the the stretch run of the season. He's been atrocious.

Where does the pod team stand on Matt? He's been atrocious, you're right. He had a bunt double yesterday. Did you see that? No. Bunting against the shift? No, I did not. He got all the way to second. The pitcher was like chasing it into left field. It was hilarious. Sounds pretty funny. Yeah. Yeah, that shift. Maybe they'll just keep playing the shift and he'll do that every game. But probably not. No, I mean, I don't know. I'm pretty much over Matt Carpenter. Like I could make this.

same argument we've made for him for the last several years and he hits the ball hard and he elevates well high line drive rate and like it just keeps not paying off so if there's just too many hitters out there to stick with him i feel like he's got um mad carpenter is on the cardinals yes There's no way he had a double yesterday. Was I watching an old highlight? I think so. He's not back yet, and I don't even think the Cardinals played yesterday. Oh, my goodness.

That's embarrassing. That's so funny. Why were you watching a back carpenter highlight? I don't know. I saw it on Twitter or something. You're right. He hasn't played since July. And I knew he was on a rehab assignment, so I saw the highlight.

and thought, oh, he must have come back. Yeah, okay. He's not, like, he is hitting the ball hard, but he's not hitting the ball hard hard like he did last year. His hard contact is back to where it was in 2016 and 17, and you want it to be higher because league-wide hard contacts up. I have a feeling better times or ahead for Matt Carpenter. I just don't think it's going to be an epic run like we saw last year.

No, and that was, we waited years for that epic run. Yeah. You know? and then he was kind of bad after it too I'm embarrassed now should I edit it out Scott or you want to leave it I kind of want you to

but I uh all right well I'd have to edit all of this out I think he's got to stay I think it's going to stay you know how hard Scott works everybody he doesn't have to justify it all right daven from Dorchester uh if a regular Joe such as myself

pitched to MLB players would I not have a babb north of 500 as I continually serve up meatballs. So if any pitcher has a super high BABIP, is it possible? They just suck rather than they are unlucky? Oh yeah, it's possible. I kind of feel like we're in a kind of a post-Bab-Bip state as it is. Because the theory behind BABIP was that, okay, league average BABIP is around 300.

So any player who is well above that or well below that, it's a reflection of how lucky. they've been. Well, we know more that all batted balls aren't created equal, right? Yeah. Like, you know, fly balls yield a different expected outcome than line drives and then ground balls.

And so how often a hitter does those things, how hardy hits the ball, all factors into that. And it's become a really rough projection of what a hitter should hit. Now, BAPIP. I'm not saying it's totally

valueless, but it has been surpassed by other metrics, and I think it won't be too long before. Maybe we leave it behind completely. I don't know. Certainly you'll see it cited less and less. Andy in Colorado, hey, real quick, how many home runs would 2001 Barry Bonds hit with today's baseball if he played for the Rockies without the humidor that's currently being used? 2001 Barry Bonds Today is baseball

He plays for the Rockies They're not using the humidor Honestly So he hit what 73 that year Do you think he would hit 100 home runs Probably not I mean I guess the fun answer is yeah He did 120

Probably not They walked him so often back then Right That's true It's pretty amazing he hit what he did But you know It's also amazing When you consider

the giant's history of hitting home runs since moving to that park where he set the record in 2001. They've been there since 2000. I did some research on this the other day. I'm not sure I'll come up with the exact numbers, but I think apart from Barry Bonds, they haven't had a guy hit 30 home runs playing in that park. The highest was Hunter Pence hitting 27 one year.

Wow. Now I'm second guessing myself here. But I know it's been a long time. Let me see if Jeff Kent, because Jeff Kent had two, no, Jeff Kent had two 30 homer seasons. Okay, so I don't have that quite right. But basically it was other than bonds, I think only Jeff Kent twice, Rich Aurelia, and somebody else several years ago have hit 30 home runs. And, you know, since then the highest is Hunter Pence. having 27 one year, something like that.

Okay. A few more questions here. This is from Tim in New York. At the trade deadline, unfortunately, out of the playoff mix, I have some offers out there for my stud ace who cannot be kept, and I'd be getting a younger guy. If you guys had to rank the following players in a 14-team Keeper League, head-to-head categories with Roto-style lineups. How would you rank them, Keeper League?

Kestin-Hira, Victor Robust, Josh Bell, Carter-Equibum. I would rank them Josh Bell and then Robles, then Hira, then Kibuom. Okay. Here is an email from Mickey. In today's baseball podcast, or yesterday's baseball podcast, Adam referenced Tyler Boyd as a trade prospect. I'm not saying it's not a possibility,

but highly unlikely unless the guy is some secret multi-sport Dion Sanders, BoJackson, Superpowers. I'm guessing you met Matt Boyd, whom I own and wouldn't mind a trade if it'll get him more wins. Keep doing what you're doing. Just keep your boy straight. Noted. Thank you.

That wasn't as bad as my carpenter. No, it was, but it was bad. It was bad. From Joel, hey, Craig, Jeff, Secretariat, and Michael. I have no idea. There can't all be horses. I'm looking at acquiring starting pitchers. Who do you like in this group?

Darvish, Lester, Wheeler, Thor, and Clevenger. Which are the ones you're most bullish on? knowing that you're going to have to give up more for like Clevenger than Darvish or whatever. I think Lester's clearly in the lowest tier here. Clevenger, Thor, Wheeler, and a higher tier, and Darvish is there. Kind of in the middle, not completely sure what to expect from him the rest of the way. He would probably be most affordable for that reason. But if you're looking to get a real difference maker, you could feel confident in,

I would aim for one of the highest three Clevenger, Thor, or Wheeler. I think maybe you could buy lowest on... I mean, Wheeler would probably be the cheapest, but getting the most bang for your buck, it would probably be Cinderguard. That's probably who I target of this group. This was Craig Ferguson and the Late Late Show. Craig, Jeff, Secretariat, and Michael.

Four-man rotation from yesterday's games. Chris Paddock, Five and a third, three runs, three hits, sorry, one run, two walks, five strikeouts. Chris Paddock is the number 36 starting pitcher in points leagues, number 18 in Roto, and that's an innings thing. But you look at all those top 36 and probably all qualified pitchers if he's qualified. He has the second lowest whip in baseball, among starters. And Justin Verlander is the only guy with a lower whip than Chris Paddock.

It's pretty cool. Sonny Gray got roughed up. He wasn't so good. He had a bad start against Pittsburgh. Four runs, two homers in five and a third. Caleb Smith got very interesting because I wasn't super bullish on Smith coming off the IL because the five starts before going on the IL, less than six innings in all of them.

He goes seven yesterday. Now five starts since coming off the IL. He's gone six or more in four of them. So Smith is just pitching better. He's been really, really good. And I wasn't sure what to expect from John Gray. I probably would have sat him last night if it were a one-start situation, like a daily league. Eight innings, one run, six-Ks against the Dodgers at home.

And, yeah, Home Road doesn't really matter for Gray, but the Dodgers at home, that scared me. So he had a good start. So there's Sunny Gray, there's John Gray, there's Paddock, there's Caleb Smith. Who you want to talk about here? Well, I do think with Caleb Smith, I should point out, you've been really, really good lately, and you're saying that even though he gave up four runs yesterday, right? Which is a very un-Adam Azern tape. That's true.

That's true. No, I'm just looking at since coming off the IL, 340A, 370-RA, 37 strikeouts, and 31 innings, and going fairly deep in the games. Yeah, back-to-back seven innings starts with 9Ks, I think, is very encouraging. And he's been mentioned as a trade possibility, too. I know the Cardinals have interest, or at least maybe they did a month ago. I don't know. But you didn't get that one?

I thought you'd like that one. What'd you say? Say it again. Say it again. I said the Cardinals have interest. At least maybe they did a month ago. Oh, like Matt Carpenter a month ago? Yeah, never mind.

Anyway. Yeah, so Caleb Smith, I don't think he actually gets traded, but it's interesting that he could. Otherwise, I would say with John Gray, yeah, you mentioned he, home away doesn't seem to matter for him,

and that's a multi-year trend. I think whenever he has two starts, you're probably starting him. So hopefully, hopefully people didn't follow your lead there. He's had a 3.30 ERA over his past 14 appearances. I would have started John Gray in a two-start week. I was just saying if it were a daily league and I was just one start at home against the Dodgers, I would not have. He was started in 78% of leagues, owned in 93%.

So how would you rank Paddock, Sunny Gray, Caleb Smith, John Gray. I would go Sunny Gray, Caleb Smith, Chris Paddock, John Gray. Obviously,

the fact Paddock is, I'm expecting him to get shut down within the next month. Factors into that. Here's the Hopometer. Who do you have hope for? Luis Arias,

zero to ten on the hopometer. Now, since being recalled, he's batting 074, but he does have seven walks to four strikeouts. Luis Arias. Yeah, I just, I just don't think he's ever going to get, be allowed to pitch long enough to make an impact in fantasy.

No. Not ever. No, Scott, did I say the wrong guy? Luis Arias. Oh, you meant Luis Arias. Sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a downward spiral here.

It's like that, that Black Mirror episode, Nosedive, taking a nose dive, just like Dallas. I never saw. What's her name? I'm making things worse. Anyway, yeah, Luis Rias had gone one for 25 since getting called up before yesterday's home run. So it's more of the same from him. Why in the world can he hit Major League pitching? I don't know.

But second base is too deep for me to just ride it out with him. I'll wait until he gets hot and then maybe reassess. Second base is too deep. Yeah, second base is not that shallow anymore. No position is super shallow except for catcher. The Hopometer for another guy who homered yesterday. Cabin Bigio. What's your...

I don't know you can give me a number on Luis Rias, by the way. Hopometer, I'll give it a three. And how about Cabin Bigeo? Kevin Bigeo, I'll give it like a five. Yeah, I pretty much dropped him in my standard mixed leagues, but still making hard contact, still a fly ball rate that invites power. Still high walk rate. Yeah, still some steals potential.

He's striking out too much. and not really hitting enough line drives to have even a league average babb. So I don't expect much in the way of batting average. For Bigio, okay, we will get some OVP for sure. Does have two home runs in his last three games. And, you know, he's got a better batting average against lefties, but almost no power against lefties. So keep that in mind.

Jesse Winker, 42% owned. Any hope left for him? Where's he on the hopometer? I would put him like a... I think Josh Van Meter. You have more hope for him, huh? Probably. I'd probably be taking a flyer on him over Winker at this point. Okay. And finally, Dylan Cease.

Dylan Cease, so far so bad for him. 686 ERA, 12 walks, 21 strikeouts, no quality starts, and four starts. And next two opponents are the Mets and then at Detroit, for what it's worth. Dylan C's on the Hopometer. I'll give him a five-leg Biggio. Probably not continuing to roster him anymore in a standard-sized league, but not ruling him out picking him up again if he puts together. I mean, if he goes out and has a dominant start, that would probably be enough.

Okay, then. That's it for the Hopo meter. That's more or less all I've got. Jaime Berea and Brad Keller pitched yesterday, Scott. Jaime Berea actually has gone five innings and allowed one or two earn runs in five of his last six starts with 32 strikeouts in 28 and two-thirds. It's not that good. Does it justify a 35% ownership? He's a two-star pitcher, so can you just drop him now?

Because next week he's at Boston. You're not going to want to start Jaime Berea. Yeah, I'm not invested in him. really in any way. He has navigated his time in the majors okay, though the one start you skipped over there was a disaster. But yeah, it's not in a way that leads to me to believe there's particularly high ceiling here,

and there could be more disasters in his future. It's just, you're kind of playing with fire with Berea. Okay, and then Brad Keller. Yeah, Brad Keller yesterday, he's 78, percent own two-star pitcher seven innings four runs five strikeouts gave up three home runs against toronto his previous three starts really good 21 and a third only three earn runs against detroit keller is at minnesota that's bad this weekend but if you want to hang on to him he's at detroit next week and keller has a 279 er a against detroit but is he just not a good enough pitcher

to trust him even in a matchup against the tigers brad keller you know i'm not sure because he has the wrinkle of being one of the best groundball pitchers in the majors, which preventing home runs is always a good thing, but particularly in this environment to the extent they can be prevented, that helps overcome a lack of strikeouts. And what's interesting about Keller, he was so bad in terms of control at the start of the year. And that's really gone away. His walk rate has normalized. It's been pretty good. So the ex-fip, the FIP. The FIP, are still higher than the ERA, but in a way that, you know,

you can understand because the overall walk rate still inflated from those struggles early on. I think he's pretty good. I think if you just want a low-risk pitcher and not really, you're not really looking for upside, just hopefully a guy who could give you some innings without it being disastrous. I think Keller fits the bill.

Scott, that was a quick show. That's it for us, man. Yeah, not quick enough. It's a boring day. quick enough. Not quick enough. We had a good team name Tuesday. We had some good emails.

We appreciate those. Let's get out of here before I. Yeah, all right. No problem. I suspect that Tuesday's games are going to be a lot more eventful than Monday's games. So we should have a big, fun, fancy, informative show on Wednesday. We will talk to you then for Scott White. I'm Adam Azer.

It will be me and Chris on the show tomorrow. Until then, see you later. I'm Tennessee baseball today.