Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/01: Trade Deadline Special! (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 1, 2019

It's an evening edition of FBT as we go over the trade deadline winners and losers. First, a big prospect is getting called up (2:15) as LAD SP Dustin May will debut on FRI. Later in the show (17:25) we talk about another prospect you should consider adding .... Winners (4:35) like Jose LeClerc and maybe Brandon Workman. And a look at all of the relevant trades (12:00) beginning with the Zack Greinke deal and also all of the RPs who were on the move, Zac Gallen to ARI and more. We of course talk about the players traded, but also the players who weren't traded like Will Smith. Can Sam Dyson overtake Taylor Rodgers? Is Justus Sheffield going to get a chance in the SEA rotation (32:30)? ... Let's focus on Wednesday's games (34:10). We talk Masahiro Tanaka's splitter, German Marquez's awesome start, Austin Nola's value, Roberto Perez, Jeff Samardzjia and more ... Email us 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. Oh, one pitch, basketball, pulled, and basketball? Got a fantasy question? Email fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. Get ready to win your league. With fantasy! Now here's Adam, Scott Heath, and Chris. Oh, yeah.

It's a late-night edition. A fantasy... A fantasy baseball today after. after dark, it is 11.18 p.m. 11. 19 p.m. It's the clock just changed. Eastern time here. And we're giving you a deadline edition. And we have a sleepy Adamazer and a very, very awake, very alive. Scott White. What's up? Awake alive, Scott White. Well, I don't know if I'm awake and alive, maybe a little caffeinated at this point. But I'm actually, this is kind of good. Like, people can't see it, obviously, because it's over Skype. but you got kind of an after-hours effect going on there over the camera.

It looks like, you know, when the power goes out and like an industrial building and like the generator kicks in and the backup lights come on. That's what it looks like I'm looking at. Fred by place? You're telling me a ghost story at the campfire. I have shining on your face. Watch this. Watch this.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I just turned on this big light. Now you look like a superstar. I just turned out this big light that they gave me for video purposes because the lighting in this room is just absolutely terrible. But it does create a nice little mood. All right, so this is mostly a trade deadline show, but we are going to talk about Wednesday's action.

Luis Castillo with a great bounce back start. Mike Minor, another bad start. That's five pretty bad ones in a row for him. Armand Marquez, I forgot to look up his start percentage. We definitely need to do that. So I'm going to do that in a second. Armand Marquez left with full body cramping. If you go six scoreless innings and strikeout 10, your entire body at Corse Field is going to play out.

Yeah, exactly. He had to be like carried off. He paid the price for having a great start at Corse Field. We'll talk about that. But let's start before the trades, before all of it, Scott, a prospect is called up. Armand Marquez started in 68% of leagues, by the way. A prospect is called up. Dodgers starting pitching prospect, Dustin May is going to debut on Friday at home against the Padres.

What's up with that? Yeah, he's pretty exciting. He's had a good year at AAA, which you can't say about many pitcher. I mean, he spent most of the year at double A, five starts at AAA, 230 ERA, less than a strikeout per. So, 21 years old, I mean, they're kind of pushing him here, I feel like, and the fact that he wasn't a big bat misser at his latest stop in the minors

makes me less than totally enthusiastic. but it's also, we're also kind of at a point where you pursue upside anywhere. It reveals itself at starting pitcher, and a prospect call-up would fit the bill. Not rushing to Adam, but yeah, he's definitely a prospect, and he's getting a chance in a place where he'll get ample run support. Dustin May, Dustin May for the Dodgers. And, you know, I'm not sure what this is all about. Ross Stripling's on the IL, but he should be back pretty soon. Julio Arias didn't last very long,

but he had to make a start at Colorado on Tuesday. There's no obvious rotation opening, but also Walker Bueller was supposed to start on Friday, so this could just be a way of getting him an extra day. Yeah, that's another thing. It might be one and done. Yeah. So, again, definitely worth monitoring.

If you're desperate for pitching help, doesn't hurt to take a flyer, but I'm not, I'm not dropping. I greatly value for Dustin May. Okay. This is one of the problems with the After Dark, because I just see the headline. We don't get to read the stories or anything like that.

So we know the big headlines, Zach Granky going to the Astros, Aaron Sanchez going to the Astros, Nick Castiano's to the Cubs, a lot of relievers changing places. Luke Jackson, if he was auditioning for his job tonight, he probably wasn't. But it's over.

It's over. It's over for Luke Jackson. Get out of here. See, caffeinated Scott White is really fun. Shane Green is a big winner. He has to be a big winner. Shane Green is having a very nice year. He has a 118 ERA.

He has four saves in June and July. We're into August now. It's August 1st or it will be in 40 minutes. When you hear this, it'll be August 1st. He has four saves. He had 18 saves in the first two months of the season. So this could only be an upgrade for him. But who are some winners for you?

By the way, Shane Green going to the Braves. Who are some winners for you, Scott? So Shane Green is a winner, of course. He's not 118 ERA good. You know, I would expect him to have an ERA over three over the final two months, but he is much better than Luke Jackson. Frankly, I think Luke Jackson would have lost his job to the other Reliever the Braves acquired. Chris Martin.

Chris Martin, yeah, from the Rangers. If they hadn't gone out acquired Green, but of course Green's going to be the closer because he was doing. doing a good job of that for the Tigers. The biggest winners, I think, are actually two players who weren't traded. I'm actually doing in the middle of writing column right now, the biggest in winners and losers at the trade deadline from fantasy perspective. And my number one winner is Josh Van Meader of the Reds, who already looked like a big

winner with the Trevor Bauer, Yasu Pueig Blockbuster Outfield Spot opening up there for him. And then the Reds traded Scooter Jeanette. So now they don't have the second baseman either. Van Meter's an infielder, a natural infielder. So he might just take over there. Either way, I mean, he's been, you know, he had two more walks today, three home runs in his past seven games. Stole base today, too.

Yeah, 1100. He could steal a back. Yes, AAA. Yeah. Definitely intrigued. Quadruple eligible. Yeah, yeah, he's eligible. everywhere for a second third short and outfield and uh this is van meter who i actually picked up

yesterday after the puig trade in two leagues two deeper rhodo leagues so you know there's that but he's you know he could he could be maybe be like a 15 pace a pace of 15 steel something like that he's got two so far so all right josh van meeter's a winner for you was it did you say another one or were you teasing that's number one but the number two on that list is also going to be someone who wasn't traded jose leclerc oh yeah you know know what, man. I'm thinking Brandon Workman would be a better nominee. I don't think so. I don't think so, Tim. What is that? What is that? Is that from the prestige or something like that? It's from home improvement. Come on, we've had this conversation before. Okay, I'm not really a

home improvement guy. But yeah. This was part of it. You want to relive the whole conversation? You looked at the Emmys at one. Best Lighting. Did it really? Yeah, yeah. You dropped the last time we had this conversation. You dropped the funniest line I think you've ever dropped on the podcast. Wow. And I don't remember it?

What was it? One Emmy for Best Lighting. And you said, best lighting, you couldn't even see Wilson's face. Yes. And boy, I could use the lighting guy here at my house, by the way, as we've already established. I wish I could ever be. be that quick-witted. It was amazing. Thank you, Scott. Thank you. That really

means a lot to me. Okay, so you say the clerk, I say workman, but what about isn't, isn't, is Sean Kelly just going to get that job back soon? Maybe. I mean, he doesn't have a timetable for returning from a strained biceps, which can be

you know, it's often not a quick thing. And LeClerc, it seems like every time they flirt with moving them in the closer roll again something bad happens. And so you may be surprised to learn that since the start of May, he has a 316 ERA, a one whip, and like 14K per nine.

Yeah. He certainly looked like a closer again. With Martin there, it was a toss-up who'd get the saves, but now Martin is with Braves, and LeClerc's really the only candidate, and I think he could take it and run with it. Is there any reason to continue to hold on at Chris Martin, or do you feel like it's for sure that Shane Green is the Braves closer? For sure, you know, only like in a deeper league scenario where you're rostering backup closers in case of injury.

Oh, yeah. I did a lot of that in this one league. Look at the relievers I own in this league because I was like, oh, there's going to be some trades going down. I'm going to at least some of these guys are going to be closers. I have Edwin Diaz. He's still a closer. I have Luke Jackson, Anthony Swarzak, and Chris Martin. And I had Martin before the trade.

they're all not going to be closers. I had Seth Lugo because I thought the Mets would trade Edwin Diaz. He's not going to be a closer. I am going to keep Seth Lugo, though, because he's been damn good. And I have Sam Dyson because I thought maybe Will Smith would get traded. In fact, Sam Dyson got traded and he will not be a closer. So I played a lot of stashed that reliever, and I lost every round of that one. So I will be looking for some reinforcements.

And I don't really think, I'll check right now if Joe Jimenez is available in this league. I don't know that I want Joe Jimenez. He's been just so bad. He's available. You know what? I guess I should pick him up. There's no point in. Yeah, it's incoming closers.

So basically three teams traded their closers. Or, yeah, it was three teams. It was the Mariners who got rid of both their closer and backup closer Rohnis, Elias and. Hunter Strickland. Hunter Strickland both went to the nationals. The Tigers traded their closer. And, yeah, the Marlins. Nick Anderson never even got a chance to close,

and they already traded him to raise. And one of the more surprising deals, the Rays gave up a named prospect and Jesus Sanchez for Trevor Richards and Nick Anderson. It was kind of surprising. But yeah, all three of those vacancies are going to be filled by, In some cases, we have no idea.

You know, maybe Joe Jimenez makes sense for the Tigers, but none of them look like they're any good. Yeah, Buck Farmer's been better than Joe Jimenez, at least recently. Jimenez does have, you know, his last six appearances have been good, but that's really nothing. Buck Farmer, July, with a 154 ERA. And then for Seattle, we could be looking, sorry, I haven't lost in my page of notes.

Do you have a name for Seattle? I have a couple of candidates. I don't. I know, like they have some players, some pictures on the IEL who might make sense, but obviously they're hurt. Roster resource shows Anthony Bass. That's, that was the one. Yeah. In the role, yeah. But I, you know, I'm sure it'll be a lot of the mixing and matching. Whatever they do have safe chances, which might be pretty sparse anyway.

Keep an eye on Austin Adams. He is on the IL. Yep. But he's got 41 strikeouts and 23 and a third. And, you know, Anthony Bass is probably the right guy to go. You know what? I'm going to pick up Anthony Bass too. What's the point of rostering Swarzak and Chris Martin? I'm going to.

Yeah, no. I mean, Swarzak has actually kind of fallen off here. All right. So, you know, instead of going by my list here, maybe we should address some of the like blockbuster trades that happened. Yeah, yeah. I mean, Zach Granky... There were a lot of them.

Zach Granky's got to be a winner, right? Yeah. I mean, any pitcher going to the Astros by default as a winner, just because they have such a good track record of getting the most out of anybody. I'm not sure 35... Well, you know, Justin Verlander, I guess, was old when he went over there, and he's found a new gear, too. Zach Granky's bounced a lot in his career and shown he's good anywhere.

So I don't expect his value to change that much, but it can't go down. Right. What was one of the other biggest trades? The most surprising trade was Zach Gallen, who just seemed like he was getting settled in the Marlins' rotation, back-to-back seven-innings starts, and making me feel like a dope for saying right before that

that it wasn't worth rostering anymore because he's only going five innings for the Marlins, how are you going to win that way? Well, now not only is he going more than five innings, but he's not doing it for the Marlins. He's doing it for the Diamondbacks, who are a respectable team. It's interesting.

They traded their ace, but they got Zach Gallen and Mike Leak. So their rotation still looks solid. And I mean, Galen, you know, Gallin is a winner because of that. And by extension, Eliezer Hernandez is a winner

because his rotation spot appears assured, even when Pablo Lopez is ready to return. If you were in an NOL only league, would you spend more money, on Nick Castiano's or Mike Leak Castianos to the Cubs Leak to the DiGianos.

I mean, Leak, we know who Leak is, right? Yeah. Control artists. But here's... So when he has a good start, it tends to look really good because he pitches deep, but the bad starts are awful

because it gives up a lot of contact. He's Mike Leek, but Castianos is a bad fielder that they can't put a DH, not that the Tigers were doing that too often, but they've got so many moving parts. Does Castiano's, is he still an everyday player? I assume so, but I mean, it's fair to wonder. They could just move Jason Hayward to center. I mean, they are sacrificing

something defensively that way, but that would seem like the easiest solution. I would guess Hayward is more likely to lose playing time than Castianus himself, but I could be wrong. The thing about Castianus is rarely does the change of scenery argument really come to fruition, and maybe it won't in his case either. But it seemed like the ways he's fallen off this year are supporting cast-related. He was all alone in the Tigers lineup. Strikeout, walk rate, line drive rate, fly ball rate. They were all the same, basically.

RBI and runs were way down. Home runs were down too, but not in a way that's like, okay, this guy is losing power and he's not going to get it back. Like you could see him, you could see an improved lineup around him, rejuvenating him completely. So his stock is up, not in a huge way, but definitely up. And an NL only league, I would think he's going to be a must start. So Castiano's, you know, he had complained about, not complained,

but he had commented about how tough it is to play in Detroit in that ballpark. So he will get a certainly a better park. And the funny thing is like he's been much, much better on the road this year. But actually the two previous years, he was better at home. But I don't know, he's kind of a doubles hitter. Maybe he'll have more home run power leaving Detroit. I just didn't really see that. I just looked at the OPS.

I didn't look into the specific numbers with home runs or whatever. But the last two years he had a higher OPS at home. All right, so I'll give you some other trades and you tell me what you think about them. Houston getting Aaron Sanchez and Joe Be Ageny tonight. Now is on Houston. I mean, I'm sure Be Ageny's going to be a lockdown setup, man, now. Because that's what the asteros do. Actually, I think Aaron Sanchez might be the lockdown setup, man.

Well, he has been before, remember, before he ever entered the rotation. And maybe that's what they're thinking for him. It's not clear. Like, now that they have Granky, it's obvious who won through four are, right? Rlander, Lanky. Wade Miley. But that fifth spot, Orchiti had put together,

Jose Orkidi, a couple good starts until today when he gave up two, three-run homers. They also have Roheilo Armenteros, who deserves another look. Actually, Forrest Whitley

finally had a great start in the minors last time out. So I don't think he's entirely out of play. I think it's more likely than not Aaron Sanchez goes to the bullpen, but I don't really know. If Brad Peacock is on the aisle,

maybe can get back in the rotation. Oh, yeah, but Orkidi did not help his cause tonight. Okay, how about, well, the Nationals acquired a bunch of relievers, but they're all going to set up for John R. Yeah, Tampa Bay acquired Jesus Aguilar for Jake Faris. Yeah, because they needed another first base option, right? Yeah, exactly. Now, what's interesting, what I think is most interesting about this,

obviously Aguilar's value shot, Nate Lowe's, probably, maybe Travis Darno catches more. I don't think they take him out of the lineup. But it seems like the chain reaction here is Ryan Braun is going to look at first base again, which is kind of unexpected because Eric Thames had been playing the most first base for the Brewers. But you mentioned the prospect call-up at the top of the show.

Dustin May. Dustin May. I'm having a hard time with first names today. Yeah, Dustin May. You could have easily gone with Trent Grisham instead because Trent Grisham, former first round pick, was rated at the top prospect right away, did not get off to a good start in his minor league career,

but he has turned things around completely at AAA this year. And, you know, 26 home runs, 12 steals, an OBP over 400, guy with really good plate discipline. They're calling them up. I presume to play regularly with brawn, or at least semi-regularly, with Braun bouncing between outfield and first base. So Grisham, somebody to get on your radar, especially in five outfielder leagues.

But I think there's the upside from factor in three outfielder leagues as well. Do you think I should drop Louis Robert for him? I mean, bird in the hand, right? Yes. What's his name? Trent Grisham. Gresham with an E or Grisham? G-R-I-S-H-A-M.

Okay. And he had a different name when he was drafted. It wasn't Grysham. It changed his last name. Interesting. Can't remember what it was, though. I'm having a lot of... Here's an interesting setup, but I can't remember the payoff.

I'm having a lot of those moments, too. Okay. I was hoping that after the trade deadline was over, they were going to be like, hey, guess what? We're calling Lewis Robert up. But it's not happening, apparently. Good. I don't think it will. But it could.

Okay, Trent Grisham. Let's do it, Trent Grisham. What else we got here? Philadelphia getting Corey Dickerson from Pittsburgh. He'll be an upgrade over their outfield other than Bryce Harper. Yeah, I suspect he's still sitting against left-handers. It's a better park, obviously, but if he's just a platoon bat with only modest power, I don't see him being particularly useful.

Oakland got Tanner Roark for James and Hannah. So if you were in an AL-only league, would you want Tanner Roark? Is he good enough? I mean, it's a big park, but he's not, home runs aren't really his problem. I could see him being better in Oakland than he was in Cincinnati, but I don't think it's going to be a huge upgrade. I don't think he's going to be must-own or anything like that. Tanner Roarck, okay.

Does that keep Anthony DiSclophani in the rotation? I think it probably does. Yeah. Okay, because they got Bauer, so somebody had to bounce. Oh, Bauer, somebody had to go. Yeah. No, Desclavani's pitched well. I know Tyler Malley.

I.L. Yeah, he's on the I.L. So I don't know who took his place. But, yeah, I don't think Desclavani's jobs in jeopardy whatsoever. Okay. Who took Malley's place? Well, I guess it was Bauer, But now I think I'm forgetting someone.

Roark. Yeah, whatever, who cares? Lost of resource is not loading. Rosser resource takes a little while. Come on, Jason Martinez, get dragged together. Takes a little while. Oh, Alex Wood. Yes, yes.

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well, Desclavani safe. Okay. Okay. Scott, what else? San Francisco getting Scooter Jeanette.

Okay. Here's the biggest loop of the trade deadline. You could not ask for a worse venue change than there. Cincinnati to San Francisco, where only three players since that park opened have had 30 homer seasons. I checked the stat from the other day. Bonds did it five times. Jeff Kent twice, Rich Aurelia once. That's it.

Nobody since like 2006 or whatever it was. I think even earlier than that. So, you know, not that Scooter Jeanette was a 30 homer guy to begin with, but just 20 in that environment. I wouldn't expect him to do that. And by the way, he also has to overcome the fact that he has looked horrendous since coming back from this groin injury that sidelined him half the year. You were holding out hope because of the past couple years,

but it was already getting hard to do with so many solid second base options emerging. And now I think it's just a lost cause. Like, he's not, I don't, I can't see this going well for him in that, in that park. Hey, by the way, today's sponsor is ZipRecruiter. Go to ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. Get that hiring process started. Try it for free. ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. Excellent way to find great candidates. Let ZipRecruiter sort through all those resumes for you. Daniel Hudson was traded to Washington along with Rowena Silius and Hunter Strickland. So it's, you know, it is Ken Giles' job, but he's currently dealing with this elbow issue.

So they have Tim Mesa and Justin Schaefer that you could look at, but no, it's Ken Giles. And also, I'm going to, I might struggle with pronunciations because, you know, I just haven't had time to look them up today since we're doing the show at night, mostly the prospects. I'm probably just not going to say the prospect's names. And that's, so Arizona acquired Zach Allen, as we mentioned, for Jazz Chisholm. Yeah, big shortstop prospect, but. toolsy more than skillsy which Chris

Towers is not excited about and frankly I wouldn't be either like Zach Gallin looked like a you know a finished product and a very good one and jazz Chisholm looks like a

a project that you know maybe maybe 50-50 he becomes a quality major I don't the Giants today were very strange. You know, their strength is really their bullpen.

And they gave up Melanson, they gave up Sam Dyson. I had Will Smith as a loser. Not a big one, but, I mean, it's great that he stays as a closer, but getting the ball to him in the ninth inning with a lead might be a little bit tougher now. Maybe it's the same for Madison Bumgarner. It's a bit of a stretch to call Will Smith a loser. But the Giants...

I kind of feel like he's a winner, actually. Well, I mean, he's definitely a winner. because he could have gotten traded and not been closing. I was hesitant to rank him like his stats suggest he should be ranked because I wasn't counting on him being a closer all season. Right. Now obviously I am. That's

that's obviously something that we should bring up to is you know, the trade deadline usually when it comes you know, you're not you're not feeling this total sense of relief that okay things are the way

they are now. Nothing's changing because we've seen some pretty big deals happen in August in the past. Justin Verlander himself, that deal happened at August. But those are not allowed anymore. This was a true deadline. Players are where they are. And that's it. And so in addition to Will Smith, others who we can feel confident are at least going to retain the same role they had, Josh Hater.

I didn't think that was clear. Taylor Rogers for the twins. Well, actually, let's talk about that because that's where Sam Dyson went. Is Sam Dyson good enough and conventional enough to be that ninth-inning guy? Actually, I didn't even think about that until right now, but he is...

Well, neither did I. Look at you thinking on the... Again, quick on your feet out of the Azer. Yeah, that's interesting. You know what? I'll tell you what, I would not drop... If you were stashing Sam Dyson, I wouldn't drop him just yet.

because I think they would not mind using Taylor Rogers for more than one in it. No, that seemed to be how they wanted to use him. And considering they also recently acquired Sergio Romo for a set-up role, you'd think they'd prefer to keep the left-hander flexible. I don't foresee a situation where Sam Dyson is just the closer, but could Rogers start splitting saves with him and or Romo? I think it's possible. I think it's possible. I'm glad you brought it out.

Yeah, well, me too, because I just thought of it. All right, let's take a quick break, and we'll wrap up the trade deadline, some smaller trades being made Jed Jerko going to the Dodgers. Does that mean anything against lefties, whatever, juggling the lineups, I don't know. Drew Pomerant's going to Milwaukee, by the way, Jordan Lyle starting for them tonight. And we'll also, yeah, we'll talk about Wednesday's games. Lucas Gialito faced a weaker lineup, and he did really well against them.

Armand Marquez, his entire body cramped up, as we mentioned. Oh, Adam Duval homered again, and Jesse Winkers having a nice little stretch here. And do you know the other A. Nola, Austin Nola? We're going to talk about him. He started 11 straight games for Seattle. That's coming up next on fantasy baseball today. Well, good day for the twins, good day for the nationals, good day for the Braves, great day for the Astros.

Yankees did nothing. Red Sox did nothing. I'll give the Yankees credit for this, though. At least they got Engwin Encarnasiona a month ago. I don't know why everybody has to wait until July 31st to make their trades. But yeah, definitely the Astros are 100% the favorites. I thought they were the favorites before, but they are 100% the favorites. Yeah, Astros.

In the A.L. Oh, yeah. I mean, before you even get to that, their lineup, just Verlander, Cole, Grinke, you know, they might be able to, they might be able to win a best of,

they might be able to sweep a best of seven series scoring like 10 runs. Yeah, and they'll score 10 runs a game because it's like, they're awesome. So yeah, some other trades, Houston did acquire Martine Maldonado. He's going to be a setup man for that. No, he's a catcher.

and they shipped out Tony Kemp, and who was the other kind of meh outfielder they gave up in the Blue Jays? To the Blue Jays. Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So we saw Derek Fisher,

Chris Martin. Are you just naming people who also share a name with other famous people? Yeah, that's all I'm doing. Tony Kemp, does he still have, like, do Derek Fisher or Tony? or Tony Kemp have any hope, fantasy relevance? I think Fisher could, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, the Blue Jays have, you know, they got a lot of infielders they're calling up, less fewer outfielders. And Derek Fisher's a guy who's put up good numbers in the minors, deserving of a longer look, I would probably not be picking him up outside of AL-only leagues, but, you know, keep an eye on them. Yeah, Houston gave up Derek Fisher.

They got Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini, and a minor league outfielder, Cal Stevenson. I guess that was the Fisher Price. Oh, man. Milwaukee acquired Drew Pomerantz. That's the second funniest thing you ever seen. And relief pitcher Ray Black from San Francisco for infielder, Mauricio Dubon.

Pomerance will primarily be a reliever for Milwaukee. The Padres acquired Carl Edwards Jr., excuse me, Carl Edwards Jr. from Chicago for... Ah. What? Another famous... You know, guy who's more famous than him with the same name. Is that a race car driver? Yeah.

It's also a, you know, if you just go Carl's Jr. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fast food establishment. Arizona acquired John Ryan Murphy, Catcher. Oh, no, wait. Where did he go? He was on Arizona. Where did he go?

He went to the Braves. He went to the Braves. That's what I thought. What's up with that? They got Brian McCann. Brian McCann's been doing it. So this was interesting and a good point. And I wonder if other teams are going to be kicking themselves.

One of the side effects of no August trades is somebody who plays a position like catcher gets hurt. You can't just scramble and find a replacement on the cheap anymore. You know, you have to rely on who's in your system. I thought it was a pretty smart move for the break. Obviously not fantasy relevant, but take care of that need before it becomes a need. And the Dodgers acquired Jed Jerko from St. Louis and relief pitcher Adam Kalerick. And those are the smaller trades. Do you think, what happens in the Seattle rotation with Mike Leak?

Does Justice Sheffield have a chance? I would guess so. Yeah, I'm glad we had this conversation before I finished my column. you go. He's, he, uh, was a disaster at AAA and then got sent down to double A and has dominated AA without the walk issues that have been present throughout his minor league careers. So obviously AAA has proven to be a difficult environment to pitch in with the introduction of juice baseballs, especially, especially the Pacific Coast League.

And, uh, maybe he just makes the leap straight from double A at 169 ERA and a 169 ERA and eight starts there. Yeah, but the thing is, like, he's going to the same environments as AAA. No, it's not the same environment as AAA. What do you mean? It's got the same baseball. It may have the same baseball, but that doesn't mean it's the same environment. Well, the parks are smaller, right, in AAA?

Yeah, at the PCL. No, PCL was always one of the most hitter-friendly leagues in the minors, even before the baseballs were introduced. So it's, you know, you think back to like Noah Cinderguard, what his numbers looked like in the PCL before the Mets called him up. They didn't look good. And, you know, there have been countless examples of that. And then you throw in the juice baseball.

And there's, you know, obviously even more reason to not take the numbers too seriously. I think, I think AA is what he's done at AA Sheffield is much more indicative of his major league readiness. Well, yeah, okay, so Justice Sheffield, if you want to add him, it's J-U-S-T-U-S, Justice. Like, just us, Sheffield. So, you know, let's talk about that baseball. Because last time we spoke about Masahiro Tanaka, let's go to the rotation for today's game, for Wednesday's games. I, you know, he's coming off this start where he gave up 12 runs and 3-1-3 at Boston. And I said, I expect him to be like a 380-ish E-R-A guy and be, you know, pretty solid,

your team going forward. And then after I said that I read something pretty interesting, his splitter just hasn't been very good this year. And one of the reasons for it, they think, is the seams on the baseball are lower than they had been in the past. And he went into this start against Arizona and changed the grip on his split-finger fastball and apparently got a lot of swings and misses on the splitter, but still didn't pitch very well.

Four-eightings, five hits, two runs. three walks, four strikeouts against Arizona. So I did think that was interesting. Change the grip on his splitter, but obviously the baseball is giving Tanaka issues that he's trying to adjust to. He's at Baltimore and at Toronto next week. If he can't do well on those starts,

then we have a serious problem on our hands. But I don't know, Scott. I mean, that was kind of an interesting explanation, not something. Even if he did change the grip to get the splitter more effective, I do wonder if that cost him... Well, but then he wouldn't use the same grip, obviously, for another pitch. That doesn't make any sense.

It's been the same ball all year. So this has been, with the splitter grip, it's been an issue. No, I'm sorry. He changed the grip, you know, for this start. So, yeah, the splitter has been an issue because the seams haven't been as high. He hasn't been able to get the same type of bite. So all year. That's why his strikeouts have been down?

Yeah, I think so. And just why his effectiveness has been down. And it's been well documented with him, at least, you know, amongst Yankees fans. The splitter just has not been as good, not even close. Yeah, so, I mean, I'm not sure. What was weird about it is, you know, he had a 321 ERA six starts ago. Yeah. Even though the strikeout rate was down.

When in years past, the rates were good and his ERA was on the high side. So, you know, he went from being one of the biggest underachievers. to was one of the biggest overachievers and it's really come back to bite him lately. You know, effectiveness of the splitter, I guess explains why the strikeout rates down, but the evaluation is probably the same

in that, you know, he was due for a downturn. I think it's been a little, a little too much all at once. And he probably has some better days ahead. but he is not, without that splitter, he's not like fringe ace. And probably doesn't even, you know, deserve to be considered like a must start option anymore. Right, yeah, big week for Tanaka, at Baltimore at Toronto.

You got to crush this week. Luis Castillo crushed it. Jose Burrio, seven scoreless with 11 strikeouts at Miami. He crushed it. Castillo was seven innings, one run, seven Ks against Pittsburgh. Junjin Ryu and Armand Marquez combined to give up zero runs, but Ryu at Colorado, Ryu had just one strikeout. Ryu's been amazing.

He's got a 166 ERA. It's ridiculous. But the last time he was at Colorado, we gave up seven runs in four innings. So those guys, Castillo, Burrios, Ryu, and Marquez, they were all very good, Scott. They were? This was Marquez's best home start.

one of three good home starts he's had all year. Yeah, I'm not... I feel like he's a good pitcher in a bad situation. And while I think it's easy to say, just sit him in his home starts. You wind up kicking yourself when he does something like this. So I don't know. Sit him in his home starts.

Sit him in his home starts. Like you said there have been three good ones. Sit him in his home starts. I understand. His whole body cramped up, Scott. This took everything out of him. Everything. There have been three good ones, but how many, like, so bad that he scored negative point ones have been.

Well, negative point, but that's such a low bar, because you're going to replace him with somebody who's probably not going to score negative points. Can you? Yeah, I think so. I'd like to think I could find even a one-star streamer is going to do that. I don't know. Just simple, like, what was Armand Marquez's home ERA going into this? start. So if a third of his starts at home are ace-like, let's say a third of them are okay,

and a third of them are terrible. He had a 707-E-R-A at home. That's all I need to know. He has 707 going into the start. You sit or Ma Marquez at home? That's what I'm going to keep doing. All right. You keep doing it.

I will just say, and I don't own him in that many leagues. I'm not even sure. Do I own him in any leagues? I can't remember. I own him in one league, at least, and I have yet to set him this season. And maybe... And you're in last place.

That's how I've approached it. Okay. And then how about Miles Michaelis? Are you starting to get pretty confident in him? He's got four straight quality stars. He's been pretty good for, I don't know, probably like a month and a half for Michaelis. Yeah, but these are like quality stars

that are just barely quality starts, right? And from a guy who doesn't give you strikeouts? I would say a little bit better than that. Definitely not the strikeouts, as, you know, for sure. But this wasn't a quality start today. It wasn't? What was it? He was a third of an inning shy. Oh, just give him the quality starts, Scott.

Oh, yeah, five and two-thirds. Six-innings, three-runs, six innings three-runs. He did have a complete game shutout. Another six-in-thin-three-in-runs. Sure, you're right. It feels a little like Chris Archer to me, honestly. Without the K's. Yes, Chris Archer's getting more K's, but it's giving up more base runners.

But in terms of runs over innings, it feels a little like Chris Archer to me. Okay. And Mike Miner, you getting concerned yet? Five bad ones in a row. A healthy amount of concern. He's gone from having a 240 ERA. to a a 321

ERA during this rough stretch and his ex-fips over four you know I mean we probably should have been talking them down a little more than we were in retrospect I was excited by the swinging strike rate which was what it was

during that awesome year of relief with the Royals two years ago instead of what it was as a starter last year and so I didn't even look that close at the ex-fit, but it's not very good. It's not, like, bad. Oh, my gosh, he's headed toward being dropped, like Zach Eflin, but it's not good.

Okay. Well, Mike Miner, you're going to start at Cleveland next week? That's a pretty tough matchup these days. It is, it is. But I would. I am not thinking there are too many people who can really consider sitting Mike Minor, They're alternatives at starting pitcher.

All right, we're going to talk about some hitters like Adam Duval and Bo Bichette and even Mike Talkman after a quick break on fantasy baseball today. Well, during the break, we were just talking. Scott has been very consumed by his dynasty league. He's the commissioner of this dynasty league. Yesterday or today, or, you know, same trade deadline as baseball. I don't know. Yesterday today, I keep getting confused.

And the clock. Not to the hour, but to the day. So the clock just struck midnight. The deadline is here. Yeah, it is midnight. It is officially Thursday for us. I love it. I love how invested Scott is.

I mean, that's what you want from your fantasy analyst, man. Scott is living in it. This league is serious, right? 24 team dynasty league, minor league rosters, you know, salary. And the thing is, like, this trade deadline, a lot of action happens in it because trading doesn't, there's no off-season trading. Trading doesn't open again until after the free. agent auction and minor league draft the following year so everybody you know keeper considerations have

like all your keeper considerations have to be factored in right now and uh it's it gets to be pretty intense i made a couple big trades today wanted to make more give me your i was afraid actually talking about our uh the players who moved i might make reference to somebody who got traded in the dynasty league as if he was traded in real life what was was your biggest move today? I acquired Clayton Kershaw. It's pretty big. Going for it, huh? Pretty big.

Yeah, yeah. I gave up. I gave up a much cheaper to keep Carlos Carrasco, but not necessarily cheap to keep, just cheaper than Kershaw. Carlos Karrasco and

second player who's name was for... I can't remember. who it was. But yeah, it was, it made sense for a non-contender to do it. And it made sense for me as a contender to get cursed. I also got Lance Lynn, so really fortified my rotation in a 24 team league. I was trying to make a play for Matt Boyd. Really tried hard for Matt Boyd, who is cheap to keep and obviously looking like an ace, but the guy wanted Ian Anderson, who as a minor leaguer, is free to keep. And I think is the future ace of the the Braves. He is dominating at double A

right now. I think he's going to be in the end the best pitcher they developed during this rebuild. And I couldn't pull the trigger on that. So, you know, I think Kershaw and Lynn getting them both a pretty good day even though I didn't pull it off with Boyd. That's fun, man. And I still have Ian Anderson to show

for it. So that's not bad. That's really fun. Okay, so Scott, I am legitimately falling asleep. Let's get going here. You give me your thoughts on all these players. Adam Duval, Homer again. He's 20% owned. Yeah, so four home runs in five days since being recalled, at 29 homers of AAA, we've seen him be a 30 homer guy twice in the majors. I think this is pretty interesting.

They clearly value him in the lineup more than Austin Riley right now. Would you rather have Adam Duvall or that Grisham guy you just told me about? I would rather have Grisham. Grisham. By the way, the other player I traded with Carasca was a. cheap to keep Tommy fan. Gotcha. Three players on the wrong side of 30 getting traded. Boba Chet. It's hard not to like Boba Chet, Boba Fett.

Three for five of the home run, and so far he is batting 462 with 769 slugging percentage in three games with one walk, but only one strikeout. Very good. Boba Chet, 66% owned. Yeah, I think the upside was high enough that you take a flyer on him, regardless of whether you have a shortstop need or not. Last I checked he was only like 65% owned. So he's still out for a lot of... Yeah, it might be 60% right.

Yeah, like twice. Two guys who were barely owned. Yankees outfielder Mike Talkman, who homered today. His previous 15 games, he had an 11-59 OPS. And Austin Nola, 3% owned. Homered at Texas today. 11 straight starts. I don't know if he's just going to mash lefties.

They face a lot of lefties lately, but that's who he's been mashing. He's been playing every day. he's right he's right yeah he's got great numbers right now this is aaron nola's brother and he did in the minors too batting average is too good to be true i mean it's not going to he's not going to sustain that but he's he's kind of interesting in a deeper league sort of way he is the brother of aranola yeah i believe yeah yeah it's not just a coincidence that did you say that too yeah oh my gosh uh this 347 bad average for Austin know.

So, like, I don't really take Talkman too seriously. I don't think there's going to be much playing time on Brett Gardner's back, which could be Friday or something. Well, how's this for a trade deadline loser? The guy I said was the most likely of any player to be traded was not. Oh, yeah. Clint Frazier. Oh, yeah.

What a waste. And Tachman has kind of rendered him obsolete. Yeah, and Cameron Mabin, too. Okay, other hitters. Jesse Winker and Willie Calhoun, both available in 60% of leagues or more. Who would you rather have Winker or Calhoun? Calhoun, because he hasn't burned me as badly,

and he's off to a nice start. Yes, he is. 899 OPS for Willie Calhoun. Winker is picking it up, and obviously now that the Reds can slot Van Meter at second base, and Pueg is gone, I mean, his job appears pretty safe. So, uh,

Winker should be on your radar, but I would pick up Calhoun ahead of him. I'm surprised that Calhoun's only 30% owned. You know, all the, like, post-type sleeper and playing a lot. I'm surprised. Okay, here's a segment called Catchers or Hitters, too. Will Smith has been awesome. He's 71% on. He started four or five games.

So that's, that question's been answered, it seems. Will Smith. Roberto Perez, Homer, Homer, twice. He had been 5 for 41 in his previous 11 games, Roberto Perez. And Jake Rogers is off to a good start, two good games in a row. Catcher for the Tigers, Jake Rogers. So, yeah, Will Smith, you got to get him if he's available. And what about Roberto Perez with his double dongs?

And what about Jake Rogers? I mean, Roberto Perez's season numbers are pretty good. He got a terrible start in the second half. So he kind of dropped out of the discussion a little bit, especially with Darno. heating up and Will Smith. I'm more interested in Perez than Rogers. I don't have a lot of interest in Rogers. Kind of a...

Not a particularly exciting minor league tracker record, although there is some power. I just think... I think there are enough interesting options at catcher that you don't need to make a strong play for him. Okay. And then Fringy starting... pitchers. Anabal Sanchez.

Finally had that bad start. Ten hits four runs against the Braves. He'll be at San Francisco next week. Jake Junis was okay against Toronto. Jose Orquite was terrible. Ryan Yarbrough was not great at Boston. It's a tough assignment. A couple home runs.

He was due to regress some in the home runs. Zach Plyzak, we said it. Not buying it. Not against tough competition. That's what he's the next three starts after this one. or tough, and he did not pitch well against Houston. And Jeff Samarja, has been a pretty good story. Six scoreless with five strikeouts at Philadelphia.

His previous five starts at 248 ERA and just under a strikeout printing. So, yeah, what do you think about this group of Anabal, Junis, Erkiti, Yarbrough, Plizac, and Samarja? I find Erkidi to be the most interesting still, but he now has his job security, he's been compromised here. That's not good. Samarja, ERA's down to 375. Pitches deep into games.

I don't know. I'm not really buying it, but I could see myself being desperate enough at pitcher that that I'm taking a flyer on him, reluctantly. Okay, all right. And in the bullpen, really nothing. Justin Schaefer, actually.

I don't know if I mentioned him, but he got the save for Toronto. You mentioned him. Did I mention him? Okay, good. I did hear that. All right. Did you mention that Austin and Aaron Nola are brothers?

I did. In fact, I did, yeah. Did you mention that Zach Plesack is the nephew of Dan Plesack? And that has pronounced Plesack, not Plesaq. I did, but I think it's please. Is it Pleezeak or Pleesac? I know it's an S there, but. Which did I say?

You said sack, pretty sure. I am a sad sack when it comes to pronunciations. You might be right. You're probably right. It's probably a plea sack. And I've been saying please, Zach. Well, I think this means the show's over. Thanks for hanging out late night here, caffeinated Scott White.

Appreciate it. Good stuff. Read his column, cbsports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. And we'll be back with another episode. on Friday. See you later, everybody.