Fantasy Baseball Today - 2023 Top Catcher Prospects, Dynasty Trades & AFL Updates (10/20 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: October 20, 2022

Before we get into catchers, what's the latest in the playoffs (2:55)? ... Let's take a look at The Welsh's top-five catcher prospects, highlighting Diego Cartaya of the Dodgers (6:00). ... Let's expand to the top-10 catcher prospects, starting with Endy Rodriguez (15:22). ... Which catcher prospects can we target as sleepers in 2023 (26:36)? ... News (42:53): we have a bunch of Mariners updates. ... Which catchers should you try and buy or sell in dynasty leagues (45:35)? ... Let's wrap up with the latest Arizona Fall League updates (50:00)! Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." 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 lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. You've heard it once, you've heard it many a time. We have a catcher renaissance coming, and it starts with the prospects. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, October 20th.

Frank Sample joined by Scott. Scott White and Chris Welsh. Chris Welsh. I don't know why I just said your name like that. Christopher. Hello, everybody. I'm Christopher. That is him.

He is the Welsh. We've got a fun show planned for you today. Top five. Actually, no, top 10 catcher prospects in Dynasty. I asked the Welsh for his top five prospects. He did me one better. Actually, I guess he did me five better. He's like, no, you know what?

I'm going to give you a 10. I'm going to give you my top 10 catcher prospects. So we're going to go through those. He probably could have given you a top 25 catcher prospects. We could have. Don't you? Don't you like maintain a top 500? I have a top 500 and I can tell you, I'm looking at it right now.

My top 500 actually goes 28 catchers deep in the top 500. And I've got a bunch of other names. I literally would just give you a couple extras just in case you wanted to pick and choose. But hey, top 10, I'm down to do it. Like you said, Catcher Renaissance is here. And the special thing, a very unique thing for everybody to think about when we talk about them is not just the Catcher Renaissance. but it is a position of players that are moving and spreading out to other positions. So sometimes the value to these guys is also attached to their bat

where it can move and play other spots in the field so they can play more than 125, 130 games. These young catchers also are not primed, even if their bat is live. They're not necessarily primed to be like full-time DHS. So the great catchers are still nowadays with the D.H. It's going to get 140, 150 games theoretically, like the JT. Romuto's. But everybody else has a little bit time to work towards it. unless, you know, they can play another position, which many are.

And you guys could talk to this better than I can, but it feels like this might be the best, or maybe, maybe not best, but the most athletic group of catchers, maybe we've ever seen catcher eligible players. So you guys can discuss that a little bit later on. Obviously, you've been playing fantasy a little bit longer than I have, but we will get to those prospects.

We've got names to know for redraft leagues next year, you know, maybe into catcher leagues, so some redraft prospects to know. for 2023. We'll have a dynasty, buy low and sell high at the position from each of these gents. And of course, we will get some Arizona Fall League updates. Got some great clips once again from the Welsh that we will deliver to you later on in the show. Before we get into it, just some playoff updates. We're doing this Wednesday night. You'll hear it Thursday morning if you are listening on demand. And the Yankees just lost, so they are down one zip. We were talking before

the show, it's like, I don't know what to do with myself in October because I'm a huge Knicks fan. obviously huge Yankees fan and like those two things are usually just terrible this time of year like the Yankees don't win in October and the Knicks are the Knicks so that's that's where I'm at right now and on the other side the NLCS it's off to a nice start I mean the Phillies won game one Padres had a nice bounce back in game two Scott I feel like you should talk we're three minutes in you haven't really said anything I will point out before the show enjoying the show Frank you you said that there is a scenario where you might be rooting for the Yankees if they make it to the world series.

Oh, you made this public? Oh, Frank is dirty. You want to go live with this, huh? Yeah, yeah. No, what I was saying is I've never before rooted for the Yankees in my entire life. But considering the NLCS is between the fifth and sixth best teams

from the NL, like the baseball purest in me will have a really hard time rooting for whoever advances, whether it's to face the Yankees or the Astros, another team that people might find hard to root for. And so I'm not going to commit to that,

but gosh, the idea of the Padres who, I mean, were kind of written off for dead in like mid-September, right? Like, it looked like they were barely hanging on to a playoff spot to begin with. And the Phillies, the third place team in a division with 200 game winners. I mean, just like, it just wouldn't fit the story of the season for either of those teams to win. Because, like, nobody envisioned them being the championship, being the champion at any point. So, I don't know.

I have a hard time with it. Nothing against Phillies fans or Padres fans. If you win. but it'll it'll just eat at me. Something about it, it'll just eat away at me. Oh, Scott, I can see the comments now, the YouTube comments, the Phillies fans, the Padres fans, they are coming for you.

You just made your bed. Now you got to sleep in it, buddy. I'm sorry about that. You put me in that position, Frank. I'm sorry. You did. You made it public. I told Scott, too, before we started up,

I was like, it's very roto take, too, of kind of being like, ah, these teams, I don't know, this doesn't feel right. I'm like, it's very roto of you to feel like you need the very, very best at the top, but I get it. It is a 100% of baseball purist take, and I think you understand that, but you're rooting for the Yankees, Scott. Yeah. Hey, you know what? I probably just won't watch,

to be honest. I don't want to be the only hated person on this podcast. So if I'm going down, I'm taking Scott with me. Let's jump into the top 10 catcher prospects for the Welsh. And of course, these are for Dynasty Leagues. And in just a little bit, we'll focus a little bit more on the proximity prospects, which might be able to help. help you out next season as well. Before we actually get into it, Welsh, I know you maintain like a huge list of prospects. Let everyone know where they can find that. Oh, yeah, over at in this league.com, it's just a Patreon that I curate, do lots of prospect stuff. I'm obviously in a big prospect mode right now. The update has been a little bit overdue and the update is hopefully coming

this week. Just the big 500 update. Many prospect rank people have kind of given their end of season update. I haven't. But also, it's like when you do prospect ranks, you're never happy. and I'm never content with it. And also I've really intertwined myself with the Arizona Fall League, and that is kind of taking a precedent in my brain. So I'm going to just release it. And it's probably going to get released on Friday, the brand new update. And then we'll come back in November because I'm seeing lots of guys out here on the fall league.

As a matter of fact, one of the guys on this list on both the redraft and the dynasty is here. And that kind of just makes it all. So in this league.com, people can check it out. I do a dynasty list. I do top 500. I also do early redraft ranks. So all of that will be out there. All right.

So let's start with the top five. give one through five and then I'll give you six to six to ten after that and up top is no surprise francisco alvarez of the Mets Diego cartaya of the Dodgers Tyler Soderstrom of the aes Henry Davis of the pirates and harry ford of the mariners let's focus on the names that are a little bit further away first here Welsh talk to me about Diego Cartaya with the Dodgers Tyler Soderstrom of the A's one of those names who I think might either move off catcher or be some kind of hybrid catcher, first base, D.H. kind of player. And Harry Ford, who also kind of fits that mold.

I was looking into his fielding splits this past year, 54 games, a catcher, 49 at D.H. So talk to me about those three. Cartaya, Sodorstrom, Harry Ford. Yeah, and I think, I do want to point out, like, Alvarez is kind of a little bit into tier in his own. You know, and it's goofy how I have this as well, even more that I look at it, like seeing Henry Davis in person, he's the guy that is out here in the Arizona Fall League, and he is a major league built player. There's a couple players that you come out here and you start to see. And Henry Davis, as you can see, Frank, if you're watching this live, has this video up.

And this is just a video I really liked. He had throw some dirt on the ground, got up, absolutely crushed this, some wind, kind of came in and took it just a little bit, but they lost it in the sun. He was able to get a double. And this is a live bat guy with a great arm. He can run. He's run since he's at Louisville. This is a pure, pure major league player, and you don't usually see.

see that all the time. He is closer than the guys I have in between, but the guys I have close in between are more about the big offensive potential. Diego Cartaya, the Dodgers absolutely love. He just turned 21 years old this year. He got up to Haye, hit 22 homers. Batting average struggled a little bit. This is a guy that can also play in the outfield. He's played in the outfield at the very lower levels of complex. And the bat, I think, is absolutely for real. And they covet him. They covet him. Tyler Sotom is the one you were referring to. Most likely doesn't end up as a catcher. He wants to be a catcher. I've actually, I was in an autograph signing with him, a friend of mine owns a company, and I got to sit in and listen to Tyler

talk, and he's very competitive guy, and he wants to be a catcher, but he's played first base, he's played the outfield, and he might be some of the biggest power. He had 29 homers with 105 RBI this year. Got all the way up to AAA. He's 20 years old. He has not hit 21. He's not going to do it until November. And that bat is huge. Batting average struggled a little bit. He's got to fix. And then coming into the last one, Harry Ford.

Well, wait, wait, before we move on to Ford, not to interrupt your flow here. I just wanted to comment on Tyler Sauterstrom. He, I'm going to put together my own catcher prospect rankings later in the offseason. It's just, you know, my offseason workflow, that's just something I tend to do more in November. But he will not be in it because he has. actually played, this Tyler Sauterstrom I'm talking about, he actually appeared at first base more than catcher his past year.

So his position designation on CBS is going to change to first base. I'll treat him like a first base prospect. It doesn't mean he'll never qualify a catcher in fantasy. But I don't, like if you're rooting for him to develop into the catcher, and it's questionable whether you should. I mean, it might, you know, he might be better off. there's reason to believe as a dynasty asset if you can hit you're actually better off

doing it at position other than catcher but I don't think it's a good sign for his future at catcher if he's already playing more games at another position because like if you're bad at catcher you need to play it a lot to learn it right so I don't know that the A's are really going to give him that chance either

yeah the one thing I would throw in there is I've heard some stuff that Sean Murphy's going to go. John Murphy's going to go off of the A's this year and he's going to be traded. And Shay Langleyers gives him some of that availability. I view Tyler Sodestrum similar to how I view Dalton Varshow and that Varshoe is more of a primary outfielder, but he gets enough catcher eligibility that he's going to keep rocking with that for a little bit.

Tyler Sotestrum, I believe, will do similar. This team obviously is moving young. They push Tyler Sotestrum through. Is he ready to be a catcher? No, probably not. he has a lot to work through, but can they use him in that role 20 to 25 games during the year instead of carrying a, I love Stephen Vote, but a Stephen Vote Light type of player where they don't actually have any offensive output? No, I think that's something it can do. So I know some place,

I know Tout did that with some positions where it's like if a guy, I actually had this whole issue with Jose Miranda in Tout where Tout had a position eligibility. I claimed him and then I got dinged because it's like, well, don't believe what Tout has him position. dad. I'm like, well, no, I should care. Honorado should have it correct. They didn't. And I got dinged because he had played primary at one position. I put my hands up and like, whatever guys. You guys, your site has him at one thing. Now you're telling me he's another after I picked him up, okedoke. So I understand that that can happen and that will happen in CBS that will affect his value. But you're going to have a disagreement across the board that I think

like a Yahoo is going to have him at catcher. They're going to be lazy about it, not look into it. fan tracks will probably give him multi-position eligibility, and he will in many places hold it until he's proven that he can't. And that'll be an advantage, but it won't happen here at CBS. So I do agree that he is the least likely of all these players to end up at catcher, and he will not be a primary catcher moving forward, but he's got the ability to stick there. And he's got some of the biggest, craziest offensive power tools. And you can see that by hitting 29 homers in 134 games. And he moved three levels.

You know, you move, you're a 20-year-old and you move all the way from high A to AAA. That says a lot and it says a lot about how the team feels about him. So Soderstrom is interesting. Another thing about him is, you know, you pointed out the batting average. There were some issues there. From May 1st on, Sauterstrom hit 283. And we saw this, you know, we talked about this at the major league level a ton, just how bad every hitter was in April because it was kind of cold and, you know,

the effect of the humidor and whatnot. I don't even know the Humidor they haven't installed Humidor's at all the minor league parks, I'm sure. No, but that wasn't even an issue. But I noticed this among minor league hitters too. It's like a lot of really high-end prospects had terrible April's and Soderstrom was one of them.

Yeah, and they actually did have a ball change, I believe, from AAA, AAA they were using the major league ball, I think, and the lower they weren't. But one thing about Sotom to add to that is he improved, like Matt Mervis we've talked about before, he improved at every level. 260 at high A. He hit 278 at AA and hit 297 at AAA.

That type of progression coming off of like a bad winter, progressing at every single level you go. He's not 21 years old. They're going to find a way to get him in the lineup. And he's going to be one of the catalysts why a guy like Sean Murphy could get traded in the off season because they'll get him up there. Maybe sooner or rather than later. Will he primarily play another position probably?

And then just on the young guys, just to wrap the young guys up, Harry Ford is utterly fascinating because he is probably the most athletic of all these guys. Stoll 23 bases, hit 11 homers and around 400 at bats. Can he stay? They have worked him primary there since he's been here. I was at his Major League debut out here in Peoria and Surprise. He has been a catcher. He's worked a catcher during spring training.

He worked with all of the catchers. That's not going to go away, but this is another one of those guys. When I go and look at how bad Adam Frazier has been and what they wanted, from him, a guy like Harry Ford could transition into the infield, and you could take that bat that has some serious stolen bases. But the bottom line is, is like, you have all pretty good hitters and you've either got elite power coming from Cartaya and Sotom, and then Harry Ford, who I kind of clump all of those guys together in the same general range, Harry Ford is the bet more on the stolen bases and maybe hitting higher in an order for more runs. Maybe you're missing RBI. So

those are all uniquely talented young catchers that might be a little. little bit further away, though Sotomaystrom might be closer than we think. All right. So again, one through five in the Welsh's catcher prospect rankings, Francisco Alvarez, Diego Cartaya, Tyler Sotterstrom, Henry Davis, and Harry Ford. Six through 10, we have Kevin Perada of the New York Mets, who was just drafted this past year, 11th overall in the 2022 draft. Austin Wells with the Yankees, Logan O'Hoppy with the Angels, Gabriel Moreno with the Blue Jays, and Andy Rodriguez with the Pirates.

I want to start there, actually, number 10 on this list. And Scott, I'll throw this one your way. I feel like we did a fantasy baseball today in five podcasts, and he was one of your, just like five on the periphery, right? Just like keep this guy in the back of your mind because he's like showing out right now. Very unique player this past season. 323 batting average, 25 homers, a 997 OPS

across three different levels. He only got in six games at AA. But he played 75 games at catcher, 16 at DH, 18 at second base, three at first, and 13 in the outfield. So this is just another one of those names got where he's super athletic, he could play all over the field, and if you're worried about his long-term value because of a Henry Davis maybe getting in the way,

I don't think that's going to be a problem for Andy, Roger, you guess. Yeah, it's interesting that we're seeing more players like this at catcher. It's always been treated as a position that has such a high threshold to meet defensively that it requires this intense focus almost as much as pitching to develop there. And yet we're seeing, you know, Dalton Varsho split his time in the outfield,

actually primarily play outfield, but also get some time at catcher. M.J. Melendez splitting his time in the outfield. And I think Indy Rodriguez is going to be another one of those. Varshaelaghan, and he is athletic enough to play everywhere. You mentioned infield. I don't think it'd be a stretch for him to play the outfield at all.

Really interesting prospect. And one who, you know, I'd seen his name before. I'd seen him among prospects, but I never really looked at him that closely. He kind of just came on my radar late during the season with ridiculous production at AA especially. But as a hitter,

you know, it kind of checks every box. He controls the strike zone well. He elevates well to get to the power that he has. He's a switch hitter. So you don't have to worry about him falling into some kind of platoon the way Varsho Sorda is for the Diamondbacks. Really interesting player. I could understand ranking him higher than 10th even,

not that I criticize ranking of 10th. It's kind of a hard group to rank that speaks to the amount of talent. there is the catcher in the minors right now. Well, talk to me about Kevin Parada, who was drafted 11th overall in this year's draft. He's 21 years old. He was a college bat played at Georgia Tech. He's someone I know you like quite a bit, but people probably don't know much about him yet, considering he was just drafted. So what are your thoughts on Kevin Parada? And where would you maybe target him in a first year player draft?

So Kevin Prada was one of just the best college hitters last year. He ended up hitting 361 in 2022, had 26 homers. He almost walked more than he struck out. In 300 played appearances, he struck out only 32 times at Georgia Tech, walking 30. He also can steal some bases. He's been a highly touted prospect since he got there and just been one of the best hitters in college baseball through. I think in 2000, when he was 19 years old, he had 318 where the power didn't quite show

up. And he was able to move from, you know, his freshman year into the sophomore year by lowering the strikeouts, which he lowered from 41 to 32, and his power went through the roof. He's just a phenomenal, phenomenal contact hitter. So I really like him. He played a little bit of rookie ball, a little bit of A ball. He hit around 270 at both points. I don't really care. I don't think much about A ball and what these guys do. There's going to be a completely different full season front. But he is a franchise-based catcher who also has some stolen base ability, which I'm always looking for. Any time, really, really.

at this point, anytime you can get any of these guys that are going to chip in five, six, seven, ten, we should be paying attention. If you can find the elite guys, anytime you can find out of position stolen bases, you kind of jump out. That was one of the biggest, it didn't really necessarily work out, but like, Key Brian Hayes was such a exciting prospect because he showed raw power and also could get you stolen bases at third base. Now that's changed a little bit with like Ramirez and Bobby Witt. But Kevin Prada definitely near the top of that list as far as catchers go. And as far as first year, And also I would throw out because I know you'd be like,

oh my God, there's two Mets on here. Francisco Alvarez is going to be a DH. That's a guy that has a potential to lose catcher eligibility, except I think a lot of teams are moving in this direction where you carry two catchers that get the job done. And if you can find a guy like a Francisco Alvarez, which can be a primary DH for, let's call it, 110 games, and then you can throw them in at catcher 25, 30, something like that,

then that's great. while it allows a guy like Kevin Prada in the future to be the guy. He can be the primary catcher and then you can just work in and you get these bats in here. So that's why that's happening. As far as Kevin Prada goes, I've got Kevin Prada. I believe I'm looking here. I've got him at eight on my first year player. It actually just made a move before we did all of this.

Zach Nettos, a player I really liked that I had jumped over him. But Kevin Prada is a first rounder. He's a top 10 pick. Pick and choose, you know, maybe you got a whole bunch of catchers. You don't want to jump into it. I get it. but I really do believe that this bat is live, and this is like a 25 plus homer high batting average catcher that you can get.

I just do think he might lack the offensive upside that if Alvarez wasn't there, because I really think Alvarez is going to be monopolizing the DH position. So that maybe limits him a tiny bit to just stick a little bit more catcher. But, yeah, you know, if they want, take Prada out on days where Alvarez catches and maybe Prada can DH. But it's a really great bat. Well, so I think you hit it on the head, too. this seems like the progression of roster flexibility in Major League Baseball is instead of having to just catcher, to roster a second catcher who's just like a defensive name, whatever, you just have another player who's either your DH or can play in the outfield or first base like a Soder Strom or Harry Ford or Francisco Alvarez. And then that's also your backup catcher. But it allows you to do more things flexibility-wise. I don't know if either of you can answer this.

The Otani rule. Remember an exception was made for Shohei Otani so that he could move from pitcher to DH mid-game to keep his bat in the lineup. Because it used to be if your DH was replaced, you'd just lose the DH spot for the rest of the game, right? So I think in the... I don't know.

Does that apply to? of catchers too. Because I know historically speaking, teams were reluctant to play their backup catcher at DH because they didn't want to have, you know, catchers get hurt so often. They didn't want that DH to have to move to catcher midgame and they

forfeit the DH spot for the rest of the game. Like, is that a non-issue anymore because that Otani rule? Do you guys know? I don't know. That's a great question. No, I don't know either. Okay. I mean, it's useful. Sorry, but no, but you're bringing up a really great point.

One thing I wanted to add to this conversation as well is just something they're doing out here in the Arizona Fall League. I don't know if I mentioned it here, but it's what is also going to change the value of catching and how organizations are going to hone in because you could look at guys, you'd be like, man, this dude can hit, but he has no defensive ability. Well, in the Arizona Fall League,

they've been testing the instant replay system. And again, I don't remember if I said this before, I apologize, but they have a full-on instant replay system where anybody, the catcher or the hitter at any moment, and there's probably a cap on it, they just haven't announced it, can call for a replay. And instantly, they step back, the announcer goes, the following pitch is being challenged. And it goes up on the screen. And then you see the trackman stuff and you see the ball.

And bam, what I'm getting at is framing is so much less important for catchers now because it's becoming automated full on. So it's like, it doesn't matter. You go and you have a catcher who's going to frame a pitch. The hitter can call for an instant replay. They can check it and the call can be reversed. So that's one thing that's being taken away from what is needed in a catcher nowadays. So what is needed?

You want an arm and you want the ability to stop pass balls. I mean, that's really it. Like, calling a game is calling a game. Maybe there's catchers that are going to know their pitchers better and just smarter about it. But you've got to avoid pass balls. And you've got to be able to throw out some runners. So that's a big focus. I think pop times are a little bit more of a focus on catchers.

But the bat's got to live because it's, one thing you can kind of take away. It's actually something I heard from scouts about Gabriel Moreno. They picked on was his framing. They're like, oh, not a great framer. You know, the guy has a great contact bat. He hasn't had power, but they're like, he really can't frame. I don't know if it matters as much anymore. It really doesn't because you've got this automated system that is coming and is literally being tested here. The amount of times I've seen it in the fall league is astonishing. And that will take away some of that human element of a catcher being able to pull a ball into a strike and fool the hump. So you think they are close to

adopting automated strike zone in the majors. I do. I mean, everything, I've been going to the Arizona Fall League like hardcore since 2016. And everything that has been tested out there, maybe it's taken a year or maybe it's taken three or four years, has ended up coming into implementation. You know, they've tested out different baseballs. They've tested out the clock, you know, the timer. The timer is being used today. What do they have in the Arizona Fall League right now? The big old fat bases. They're not allowing shifts. They're doing the replay clock. Yeah, I mean, that is what it is here for. It is a testing ground of close to major league talent with major league coaches and focus that it's

a place that it doesn't count like the major leagues. Spring training is a mess. It's the perfect destination. So yeah, I really do believe the implementation is coming very soon. And I have seen it firsthand on the screen how it works. And I didn't know what was going on the first time it happened, but it's pretty successful. And we've seen both sides work out for it. And they've got a pretty good system down. By the way, I looked up this Otani rule. I think it only applies to pitchers. So basically just Otani, a pitcher who's hitting for himself can move to DH midgame. So I presume if a team had to start to catch her DH and moved me to catch her midgame, they'd still lose the DH spot. Though I don't remember anything like that. Like, did any pitcher get in it bat this year?

Like, can you even, doesn't even make sense to lose the DH when pitchers never bat anymore? I'll bet you guys like Grankham-Garner tried to get in, but they didn't. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's something we do have to research more, but I think it's something that they need to think about because especially with this new generation of catchers coming, I think it makes sense. I think teams are going to want to kind of use that roster flexibility to their advantage. Quickly, let's run through some of the catcher prospects to know for next season redraft leagues. And let's keep it to like less than a minute per player here. And we'll start off with Francisco Alvarez, who did get to the majors this year. We played five games at the end of the season. Now, James McCann still signed for two more years with the New York Mets. Well, also we'll start with you. Do you think Alvarez starts the season next year with the Mets?

Ooh, I'm going to say yes, I do. And I think they're going to, as long as the surgery goes correctly and they get enough work with them, I do believe that they're going to look at this, at Francisco Alvarez as the DH. And they're going to be a primary DH and I'll give them an opportunity to, you know, again, maybe once a week, twice, or maybe once a week, to start twice a week in the midseason to get some catching going on. But I do believe he'll be a primary DH, obviously pending what the team decides to do

throughout the offseason. But I would remind one of the reasons why would they want to do that? If he wins rookie of the year and he starts the very beginning, you got a first round pick coming back what some Mets could use. And there are draft pick incentives even beyond that. Like if you place, I don't even know the specifics exactly, but top three and MVP voting, like different awards voting over the first few years. of that player's career, but he has to have been up from the start of his rookie season.

And it's top three. If you're a top, it's weird, like it's with like baseball America or pipeline or whatever. If you're a top 100 prospect and you started from day one and you finish in the top three of rookie voting, there's different tiers of pick compensation that you get. So you still can be one of three teams in the NL can get a pick. Why would you not think, hey, we're going to put Alvarez's bat at DH every day and a little bit of catcher. And if the Mets win, bam, there you go.

It makes all the sense in the world. So yeah, I believe it could, it's obviously it could not happen, but I think it makes a ton of sense with giving him a little bit of taste and the surgery in the off season that he'll be the DH. Yeah, you mentioned the surgery there, and bad job by me, because I should have brought it up sooner, that Francisco Alvarez recently underwent surgery on his right ankle to address cartilage damage he suffered in late August.

At the time, we thought his season was over, and then boom, he was up with the Mets, and it was kind of surprising. But hopefully you're right. I thought he was going to be here. I was almost assured he was going to be here on the Arizona Fall. and just getting some at bats, maybe D-Hing out here, maybe playing a game or two at catcher, but they put them up to the majors and then, bam, surgery.

Take the knife. Let's move over to the Yankees from the Mets to the Yankees. Austin Wells, who hit 277 with 20 homers, 16 steals, and an 897 OPS this past season. He's kind of Dalton Varshoye, but he has not reached AAA yet. Kyle Higashioca, arbitration eligible on the Yankees roster through 2024. for Jose Trevino arbitration eligible through 2025.

Even with that, Scott, I don't think either catcher will block Wells once the Yankees think that he is ready for the majors. Well, is he a guy who they're going to trust behind the plate on a regular basis? Not necessarily, but I think he kind of fits into the same kind of mold. I think he could, well, they do have a lot of DH eligible players, I guess,

but like he could DH a little bit. You know the only thing I want to add to this, because this is Scott's turn, But I did talk to Austin Wells last year, if anyone remembers, so you can check it on Prospect One. It's a weirdest interview I've ever done with any player. He was just weird and it was odd. I've done a couple weird ones. Alec Bome was one.

He was very odd. He like flies on his face and wouldn't move them. And he had just very dry sense of humor. But that, beside the point, the one thing I asked him was, how, and this, I know this was a year ago, but was he here and how the Yankees talked about any other positional stuff? Was he going to play anything else out here? maybe first, maybe outfield. And he said, he told me the Yankees have never asked him

to play any other position but catcher. And this was going into the Arizona Fall League last year, and that pretty much played into this year. All right, Scott. So do you think, I think he could be up whenever he's ready, whether that's mid-season,

late season, whatever it might be. Yeah, I mean, there's a good chance of that. He's old enough. He's, you know, already got an extensive time at AA. Anybody who, checks those boxes, I think, is in the mix for a call up the following year.

He's definitely a bat first prospect, but it's, you know, it's a good bat. Power gets on base a lot. I think it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him contributing by mid-season. Logan O'Hoppy with the Angels came over in a trade from the Phillies around the trade deadline, and he had a great season as well. We spoke about him on Tuesday's podcast. He hit 283, a 416 on base percentage, 26 homers, 960 OPS. He also played five games at the end of the season. Max Stasi also signed through 2024 for the Angels. Well, same question.

Do you think we see O'Hopi up to start the season with the Angels? Yeah, and I got to tell you, it is outside of Francisco Alvarez, my other like five that I gave you, they're all kind of clumped because I think there's a very, very, very easy argument to say Logan, Ohopi is number two on this list because he got a little bit more primary time. and I think he makes the roster. And I would relent that if I were just thinking about my production now, I would probably rather go with O'Hopi right off the shoot than I would Austin Wells. But I think Austin Wells' fantasy production will be bigger so that you want to monitor them.

So at this moment, I'm going with Wells over him. But O'Hopi, we get into spring training. I probably pick him because, yeah, I absolutely believe. So I love this guy. This is another one of those guys I was around in the fall league last year with the Phillies. 26 homers. He can steal a little bit. I really don't think that's going to be majorly in play when he gets

of the majors, but that bat and that contact and that beautiful swing that he has, he's going to hit homers. The problem is, as like you said with Stasi, he's going to be blocked a little bit. So I just don't know how Hoppe is going to get like full, full time catching gig here. And I don't know how much the angels are going to kind of wait around for any problems to happen. But I do believe that like looking at this list, like if I, if I were comparing Logan O'Hoppy to Austin Wells breaking the roster, I would nine out of nine times, 10 out of 10, 11 out

11, go with Logan O'Hoppy to break camp with the team than I would Austin Wells. Precisely because of the draft pick incentives that we broke down a minute ago, I feel like any team, well, I mean, we saw a lot more prospects introduced in September where they couldn't lose that rookie eligibility, but still get their feet wet for the next year, I mean, kind of audition for next year. So I suspect any prospect we saw in September, even if it was just that last week in the case of Alvarez and O'Hopi, I expect them to make the roster. And one major advantage O'Hoppy has, no defensive concerns for him. Like, he is a defensive standout. So, you know, in addition to putting up those huge numbers in the miners being a total on-base freak, probably an upgrade behind the plate, too. Yeah, I was just looking at Stassie's stat-cast defensive metrics,

42nd percentile in framing. 13th, I couldn't even see it, it was so low. 13th percentile pop time for Stassie. So he's a complete drain. in terms of offense. Yeah, why not go with Logan O'Hoppy if he's better in both aspects. Henry Davis, we spoke about him a little bit earlier. The first overall pick last season in 2021. This past year, he hit 264 with 10 homers, nine steals in just 59 games. He did get 31 of those in at AA. I know he's out in the Arizona Fall League. We showed a highlight of that. He's five for 20

with four doubles and two steals. Scott, do you think that we will see Henry Davis at some point next season. Well, he had a really difficult transition to double A, and I was actually curious what the Welsh thought of that. From what side? Do you want to talk offense or defensive transition? Well, I mean, Henry Davis is another one of those catcher prospects who there's some doubt about his ability to remain a catcher. So defense is, I'm sure, is still in question for him. But just, he got off to a ridiculous start at high class A, and it's like, wow, this guy's living up to the number one overall pedigree and then it just kind of collapsed at double a. I feel like it took a lot of the I feel like he lost some luster and in the prospect. You saw him slide behind other catching prospects

in the rankings because of that. You're seeing it here too. I will admit the contact is not where I wanted to be him and I was, man, there was a game a couple nights ago. I saw surprised two straight days and it was the night game. They had 10 straight strikeout or not 10 straight, but 10 strikeouts to Connor Thomas, who was a starting pitcher at the time, and him and Gonzalez were just getting eaten up. And I saw Henry Davis doing this again. He had two straight strikeouts the next day where they were being no hit. They were no hit through six, I think six or seven innings. And it ended up getting broken up and then they put a whole bunch of runs on. That's where that double came into play. But Davis is super aggressive. And I don't know what that is. Nick Gonzalez has been super aggressive and I don't like it.

When they have a good swing, the connection is great. They are so, especially Nick. Gonzalez is hyper aggressive than I've ever seen. But Davis is swinging at outside sliders, like nobody's business. He is not reading those whatsoever, which I always hate to see from a catcher. But he's got pure raw power. He can run a bit. I think he's a team leader. I think he calls a good game. He's been calling all the, no shock, the Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers out here, Quinn Priest or Tanaj Thomas. And he's got probably one of the best arms out here. So the problem is the bat's not live right now. And I do think that puts him in question. I think he's a really slow start. I think he's one of the smarter baseball players out there,

but I think he's an incredibly slow start that's going to take time. So this does put in question how quick, Pirates are not an aggressive team with their prospects. So how quick will it take him to adjust in? He will start at least at AA. I think with the AAA time, I'm sorry, with the Arizona Fall League time, he could start at AAA.

And if they really want to be aggressive with the pick competition like we talked about, they might throw him in. But I'm going to still lean in because this is, like bull raw power. I do love the swing when he makes contact and I think he makes an impact on all sides of the field. It's just when it's bad, it's really bad.

And he's a slow start. I wish he wasn't. Henry Davis has lost some of his luster. I think the same thing could be said for Gabriel Moreno of the Blue Jays who hit 315 this past season and the minors with just three home runs in 806 OPS. Did play 25 games with the Blue Jays as well where he hit 319, but only one homer.

Really good play. discipline, 11% strikeout rate. You like to see that. Hits the ball on the ground a lot. Plus, the team has Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. So, uh, well, talk to me. Like how much luster has Gabriel Moreno lost? What do we do here? Because they have other catchers and like I have question marks about the power to. It's there's a lot going on here. Yeah, I'll acknowledge you some guys I left off of this top five list that could make impact this year. Bo Nailer, probably the number one having a 2020 season. You also could look at Yonior Diaz, who got a little bit of time with the Astros.

I think there's a conversation about Block throughout that. You know, I agree with everything you said. And what it's going to take for Gabriel Moreno is one of those guys to be traded or for him to be traded because the Blue Jays did have a lot of question about that framing. I still think he's got an incredible bat. And his patience is something I likened last year when he was in the fall league. He reminded me of Vlad where he did in that he would only swing at his pitch. And you don't see that a lot from a lot of these guys.

All these guys are free swinging. Hey, we're out here in Arizona. Give me my fastball and go. He was bat on his shoulder and you were only seeing him swing at strikes. He was not swinging outside the strike zone. And that turned into a disaster this year because the power completely disappeared. He was coming off of injury last year. I'm hopeful that we are going to get a resurgence of Gabriel Marino because I think his

offense is way better than we saw. In 2019, he hit 12 homers in 82 games. Power dipped a little bit last year, but only played 37 games and he still hit 8. I think what we saw offensively was more of an anomaly, but this is a mixture. I would relent to say, like, maybe Bo Nailer is a better pick, but in my overall, the overall grand scheme of it, I think selling off of Gabro-Marino right now is not a play that I want to do. And I'm not sold that, like, all the guys below him are exponentially better, especially the ones that are closer to the majors. Yonair Diaz is cool. Bo Nailer has a great offensive upside.

If he plays catcher much, I would put in question since day one in complex, he's played other positions. but if he gets eligibility, he gets eligibility. So I think it's a big old mushy group of not bad. There's a bunch of fun guys in here, but they're all kind of sit in the same general range. Moreno has the best pedigree of them, though. I have a hard time knowing what to make of Gabriel Moreno exactly because, yes, Frank, he appears to have lost his luster for fantasy rankers specifically.

Baseball America in its latest top 100 update, which was probably no later, no earlier, it probably came out at some point in August. They still have Moreno third overall. They still have him as the top catcher and the third overall prospect. And yes, he does seem to have really good contact skills, but to hit four home runs total this past year.

And like, could he be a victim of the new ball? because this year was the first year that was incorporated throughout the minor leagues, right? And we saw a lot of these fringy power guys, their home run production just drop off. And maybe Moreno is a minor league example of that, in which case he may be more like Caber Ruiz than the stud catcher prospect.

That's a really, really good comp, by the way, I want to throw out because Kiebert was one of those guys who was an immaculate batting average player early on in the minors. Then he played his, I'm going to adjust it. hit for power game and that took a lot off of his out of his batting average and it took him time to adjust.

It made sense though. It made sense for Ruiz to do that in the specific like the whole fly ball revolution because of the juiced ball. It made sense for those fringe power guys to just put it in the air and you'll end up with 20 homers just by the way the ball carries. And I think, you know, we're adjusting to the post-juice ball world. and a guy like Moreno who I would have just said, okay, like really good,

just kind of natural hitting ability, he'll figure out the power. Like, I'm not so optimistic about that now with players like him, with prospects like him. I think it's a genuine concern. A few other prospects I did want to mention quickly for next season who could make an impact. Shea Langaleers, we saw towards the end of the season.

He played 24 games with the A's. Probably expect a low batting average, lots of strikeouts, but the power is legit for him. Janier Diaz, who the Welsh mentioned a few times, he's with the Astros. Monster season 306 batting average, 25 homers and OPS approaching 900. Both Martine Maldonado and Christian Vasquez

are free agents for the Astros, so I'm pretty interested in Diaz as well. Bo Naler is the younger brother of Josh Nailer, also in the Guardians organization. He went 2020 last year and did play like five or six games towards the end of the season for the Guardians. And I'm hoping that we can get Luis

Campusano an opportunity with the Padres, but I feel like we've been saying this for years, and Austinola and Jorge Alfaro are both still arbitration eligible through next season. So maybe they trade one of those guys in the off season to create some space for Campusano. I think there's a real bat there, but they've never really given him an opportunity. So I don't know. Maybe they feel differently about Luis CampuSano. Before we hit the break, just want to remind those watching us live or on demand, please hit the like button, subscribe to the channel.

Drop a comment if you haven't already. For those listening, please help us out with a five-star rating and review on Apple or Spotify, wherever you listen. And we do have first base next week. We'll look at Scott's early 2023 ranks, and then we'll transition into prospects as well. If you have a mailbag question, send it in Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Let's take a break, and we'll hit the news and notes here on Fantasy Baseball today. As you'd expect on October 20th, there's not really much going on, But I like these little end of season press conferences we get from GMs and they just reveal like,

oh, our whole team was playing hurt and here's what's going to happen in the off season. So I have a bunch of those updates. For the Mariners, Julio Rodriguez, finished the season playing through a fractured fingertip and he should be ready for spring training. Didn't really affect his production all that much. So he's good.

He's really good. Mariners reliever, Andres Munoz, will undergo foot surgery in the off season. We know that the Mariners typically kind of go bullpen by committee, but he looks like he could be the next man up for the closer gig with the Mariners. Not that Paul Seawald is going anywhere. I just think Munoz might be better.

Jesse Winker underwent knee surgery last week and is also scheduled for neck surgery at some point this off season. If you guys ever seen the movie Bubble Boy, I mean, that's Jesse Winker, right? Put this guy in a bubble. Like, he's dealt with injuries every step of the way, every year in the majors, and now he's having two surgeries this off season. apparently not viving well in the clubhouse either. That's what I was about to say. Unfortunately,

I think they want to put them in a bubble and then kick it off the cliff, which I think having a bubble boy as well, because apparently all the stuff out there is Jesse Winker has no work ethic. It's essentially what they beat around the bush saying, Ryan Divish, Divish is a great Padres reporter. And there had been a couple different radio hits and podcast hits where he had openly said,

like, I does don't think the team likes him. He would acknowledge that like Mitch Hanigur is the epitome of working out and over preparing. And he said, Winker is the opposite. And the team is sick of the antics. He wouldn't train. He was kind of a guy that he felt like would just come.

Now, this is like third second, third hand knowledge and stuff like that. But I don't know. I'm not sure Winker is going to be doing anything much more with the Mariners moving forward. All right. Non-Mariners news, Jose Ramirez is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right hand in the coming weeks.

Scout, remember in like August at some point? We said, wow, you know, Jose Ramirez has really slowed down the past month or Well, it turns out that injury he suffered back in June to his hand was a very legitimate injury that he needs surgery on in the offseason. So explains why he slowed down. Should be ready for spring training and a likely... Look, I had him as my number two overall player going into next year

even before finding this out. But now it's like, gimme-gimmy. Yes, let's do it. Tristan Kossis has been hobbled by knee-sorness while playing in the Dominican League. So if we get any updates on that, we will let you know. obviously, cost us someone that Scottie likes quite a bit, still heading into next season. We are, hmm, we've got quite a little bit left to go here. I want to get to some Arizona Fall League stuff.

So, Dynasty buy low and sell high at Catcher. You know, catcher's kind of a weird position in Dynasty. I don't know how many people are trying to acquire catchers, but for the sake of this exercise, Scott will start with you. Give me a package deal here. Someone you could see maybe buying low on in this format, in that format, in this position, and maybe someone you try to sell high. Okay, I wrote down three names for each, so I will pick one.

Take mine. Don't you take mine? Go first. Go first. I'll just be really quick with mine because I agree. I don't know how much discussion this needs. There's probably a multitude of names. Actually, I almost wanted to say, like, I have another one that I didn't want to take from you.

It might be MJ Melinda's if you could buy because of the shift being taken. taken away. But the buy I would jump on right now is Tyler Stevenson, who suffered a bunch of injuries last year. You know, the homers were going to come through. I think it was 50 games. He hit six. A strikeout rate wasn't anything too crazy. Hit 319. Babab was a little bit overinflated. But Tyler Stevenson is absolutely a high batting average. Regardless of the Babbitt being a high, this is a dude that can hit 280 in the majors, will step into 20 homers. He's going to hit a good spot in the lineup because the Reds in general. And the injury has taken his just prospect status or just catcher status way off.

I think he's a great buy by low. And a sell high would be Cal Raleigh because the batting average, I just don't like. I don't love 211 regardless of 27 homers. I got that with Mike Zanino four years ago. I don't need it again. So I would sell Cal Rale to anyone that's buying because of, hey, close to 30 homers from a catcher. I don't like those albatrosses at batting average.

So that would be, if I get so. Cal Raleigh for Tyler Stevenson in a dynasty or anything like that, I would absolutely do that. I know you mentioned quickly. Go ahead, Scott. I did have Stevenson as one of those three buys and Raleigh is one of those cells. There we go. We're on the same track, baby. Well, so I know you quickly mentioned MJ Melendez because of the shift. And I saw this great tweet from Chris Clegg, who we've actually had here on the podcast, I think last offseason. And he pointed out that MJ Melendez had the biggest difference in his BABIP,

while being shifted versus non-shift. It was like a 209 point difference. So, yes, we could see a potential rise in batting average. Not that I think he's going to be a great batting average contributor, but maybe it's 240, 250, and that definitely makes a difference. Scott, a by-low, sell high in Dynasty at catcher. Melendez was another one of my two by-lows. Let's go.

Let's go. Come with those. So the last one I will feature is going to cost more than Stevenson and Melendez well, but I still think Alejandro Kirk is a buy low as far as I'm concerned. And a lot of it has to do, you know, that wouldn't have been the case in June when he was going off,

but he was so rough, he had such a rough second half at about 240, I think just two home runs in the entire second half. And I think that's not actually him. I think you look at his combination of how hard he impacts the ball and how frequently he impacts the ball. It's just rare to find a player at any position who hits the ball that hard and hits it with that kind of contact rate.

And he's only 23. So come on. The Blue Jays clearly value his bat. He was their primary DH. Still going to play enough catcher to sustain the eligibility there. And I think there's a good chance that, you know, at some point down the line, we're going to think of him as the top overall catcher in fantasy. So now might be your last chance to get him for any sort of discount.

All right. Those are some names to buy low and sell high at the catch. Oh, do I get a sell high too? Yeah, go ahead. Throw it in there. JT. Real Muto. Yeah. Now is your last chance to get a big return for him in Dynasty, just looking at his age and how poorly catchers age in general. His strong second half, I think, gives you one last chance to capitalize.

I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes as like the top three catcher again next year. But, you know, as we move further into the 30s, like, it could fall off like that. Right. I mean, he's my number one catcher going into next year, but we're talking

dynasty context. For sure. Yeah. You got a cat, like, unless you're, you're really all in for the title this year,

capitalize now. All right. Let's move into the Arizona Fall League. Obviously, our guy, the Welsh is out there scouting some players.

He's watching the games live. An in-depth scouting report on the rule changes that could be coming in the next couple of seasons at the MLB level as well. I realize, Scott,

you gave me an awesome addition to this little sound bite that I made for the Welsh, which if we're being honest, is not great. So I will update this eventually with the, I think it was like a Simpsons reference that you sent over. But anyway, let's jump into some AFL updates with Welsh.

That's terrible, terrible. All right, the Grand Canyon is being kicked off here with Matt Mervis and Heston Kirstad. Those are the two names I wanted to highlight here. Music to Scott's ears. I know he's a big fan of Matt Mervis for next season. The Cubs' first base prospect. But both of these gens lead the Arizona Fall League. They're tied for the lead

with four home runs each. Welsh, what have you seen from either or both of those names? Yeah, you know, something cool about Matt Mervis, who had just a crazy big power output. One of the things I was a little bit concerned about, and I have, I have a thing going on on my Patreon as well. Anyone cares about it. It's such an innocuous little thing. But I have it, it's called the Arizona Fall League notebook. And I just have this live Google sheet that I'll be at games and I'll just live update. And I'll just make goofy notes. Sometimes they're coherent with stuff you really want to know.

And sometimes I'll just put something weird. I'll just be like, why is Adam Macco throwing his curveball so much? I just do all these things. So I can come back and reference. And then at the end, I could just sort and get all the notes. I wrote about a certain player

and look at them through the Arizona Fall League. And I was talking about, so I mentioned all of that, to say that my deep dives into all these players. I missed some of Matt Mervis last week. But in that week's span, where he started to have this big power output, zero strikeouts because something I've been worrying about

was that teams were attacking him lower in the zone like Spencer Torkelson and Spencer Torkelson some of these big power hitters teams want to attack them below their knees because they want to be so hyper-aggressive and they want to get the bat up front and they want to uppercut it and if they don't have great extension, it's something that Torkelson was his book in college and I saw happen from the Arizona Fall League to every single step of the way

and it's just never adjusted and got worse. It's kind of worried about that with Matt Mervis Matt Mervis settled in pretty nice and he started launching bombs and what's interesting about it is Heston Kirstead is on like another level right now. Frank I don't know if you were even prepared for this. Are you going to

play? Yeah, there it is baby. Frank is such a dang pro. It makes me sick. Heston Kirsted, to start off my week, did this right here if you're watching. Bam, you hear that? That's the sound of what is going to be an inside the park home run. It bounced off the top of the wall. He's rounding

second. You can hear his teammates. They realize he's going. Right there. And boom, under. He didn't show off great speed necessarily, but show great power that none of these guys could pick up, hit right off the top of the wall. You see this beautiful left-handed swing where he just jolts his front foot right into the plate, turns because he knows he can attack with his bat speed. And he does. And he's got insane raw power. it's actually relatively impressive speed if anyone is watching on the video side which I highly suggest you do

checking out the Fantasy Baseball Today YouTube channel. You guys can watch these live and you can see these videos when we're doing it. It's just beautiful just textbook swing that's out there. But what's so different about these two players is as aggressive as Mervis was, he's come off of it.

Hesda Kursa is one of the most aggressive players I've ever seen. He also, I think, I think he's second in strikeouts in the league. And he also has a whole bunch of walks. He's become this all or nothing player It is big hits. That game, by the way, that inside the park was how he started the day.

He ended up going four for five. He was four for four into his final at bat, and he hit these great singles that probably all had 100 EV, and he hit them. This is something I noted in my notebook, in spots that if teams were able to shift, I think would really affect him. They will not be. And right where he hits, he's a pull side hitter. I think he's going to have an extra advantage from the shift not being in there with a beautiful swing and power that I boosted Hesht and Kirstead up quite a bit. But it's just him and Mervis are just very different players.

And Kirsteat is going to be one of those dudes that is going to like strike out, probably 150 plus times. He might have a 260 batting average. I really do think Mervis is going to go through some bad swings and spells, but I think he'll have a better batting average. And it's pretty nice. It's pretty nice. Also saw your boy Edward Julian tonight, by the way, who hit a rocking double.

And he looked amazing. But I just wanted to throw that in because, Scott, you're getting excited about Mervis. Yeah, Scott has this grin on his face. I can't tell if it's just because we're generally talking about Matt Mervis, or you have something that you'd like to contribute. I feel good for you, Frank, because in the Scott White Dynasty League, two years ago, right? Before this past one, you drafted Heston Kirstadt with your first ever minor league pick

in that league. I sure did. You've been wishing you hadn't ever said. So I feel good that at least in the Welsh's eyes, Heston Kirstad is getting his stock back up. Yeah, I appreciate that because there would be times where, you know, Scott and I would finish up a podcast and we would just be talking about the Dynasty League and I'm just like, man, I've got Heston Kirstad, what am I going to do with this guy?

Like, what a waste of a pick and does not feel that way right now. So I'm feeling pretty good and I think anyone else who has him in Dynasty, you should feel pretty good about him as well. You know, fun fact, I just want to throw out, I'm sorry, you're into transition. In that game, Cal Conley with the Atlanta Braves, hit a inside the park homer two innings later. And I believe it is 100% the first time it's ever happened in the Arizona Fall League. And I still haven't seen.

Don't know if it's ever happened in the minor leagues or even in the majors. If you've had two players in one game on the same team hidden inside the park home run. And those two did an interview after the game and they were quite on cloud nine with two inside the park homers. His was not the same as Kirsteads, but it was a very, very weird game. And I just thought that was a cool little note. No, that's awesome for sure. I was going to ask you, are we excited about a Nick Gonzalez and what he's done so far? In fact, I'm going to pair these. They play for different teams, but middle infield prospects together, Nick Gonzalez and Jackson Merrill of the Padres. Gonzalez is 9 for 33. He's hit two home runs, two doubles and a triple. But I know the offensive production wasn't great this past season in the minors. Jackson Merrill, 15 for 45. He's betting 356, one homer, one double, two triples and a steel. Welsh talked to me about those two Gonzalez. and Merrill. Yeah. And so Nick is the one that it hurts me a lot because he doesn't look, he doesn't look great here. It's just, I don't know any other way to put it. Striking out a bunch.

He's super frustrated. He did hit a homer. I believe in that same game that really, I think, hopefully broke it back up. He needed it. It's a beautiful swing. His old college right here, boom, New Mexico State jumped on my tweet because I think everyone was happy for him. He killed this one and rocked. And you can hear his teammates. You hear that. Those guys were happy because he had been on the struggle bus. Here's my problem. He is chasing everything. He is all over the place.

Pitch recognition is rough. It's rough. I watched him at New Mexico State in person, actually against Torkelson. He has got some of the best bad speed I'd ever seen in the minors. That bad speed is kind of gone. I mean, you can see it on display on that home run right there. It's like a flick of the wrist and he puts that over the wall. That's what he can do.

The swing looks so short. I was like, how did this ball get out? It was such a short swing. It was a no doubter too. When you saw it, it was an absolute no doubter. You could see my camera just immediately turning because we felt it. But the problem is, is he looks really lost as far as where the bat's going. He's swinging at pitches all over.

Fastballs are getting him. Off speed stuff is killing him. And Jackson Merrill's on the completely different path right now. Jackson Merrill is so locked in, hit his first homer in this same game, I think, as well. Or maybe I'm comparing. I was at Peoria two straight days. But I got Jackson Merrill's first home run, which I think I moved pretty quickly. quick on it. You can see I was already going. Pretty beautiful swing. He's been one of the hottest

hitters here. He would, walking into this or Monday, he was leading the AFL in hits overall. And the power has always been a little bit of a question of my mind. But this is the first time I'm starting to see him use a power approach swing because he can kind of hit across his body a whole lot. He was a singles machine. He can hit some doubles. He flies around the bases. But it looks like he's really started to take this Arizona Fall League as an approach to hit for more power. And I think that's awesome. And I think he's on a whole other trajectory right now. And you can maybe see why the Padres decided to not move off of him when they had, you know, probably was being involved in some of the trades. James Wood and him were like best friends, by the way. I remember they were both rehabbing and James Wood was playing and Jackson

Merrill had a broken wrist or whatever. And he was like in the stands watching James. They were great friends. And he's the one left behind. But he's the kind of complete total package. Also a big guy. that's going to develop into more power, hit six homers last year. I think these guys are in the different trajectory. I've got Nick Gonzalez higher right now. I'm going to tell you, though, by the end of this Arizona Fall League,

I got a few things I want to really pay attention to both of them. Not that you need to care about the stats, because you really shouldn't. I get to ask this question like a gazillion times. Should you care about the stats? No, but you want to watch for stuff. And I want to watch, what is Nick Gonzalez doing?

Is Nick Gonzalez swinging at every off-speed pitch and doesn't know what's coming? Is Jackson and Merrill taking a power approach but that might affect his power or his batting average, and I need to pay attention to those things. I think by the end of the Arizona Fall League, Jackson Merrill's going to jump Nick Gonzalez for me, even though I am a huge, huge Nick Gonzalez stand.

I really love the guy. It just doesn't look good. And a little bite-sized clip, it looks fun. But as a whole, seeing him many, many days, he's been rough. He's been really, really rough. Scott, after hearing that analysis of Nick Gonzalez and what he did this past season in the minors,

would you use this as an opportunity to buy low? or maybe just stay away? It depends how low. You know, it just depends. I know that's not a very enticing answer. Like, his stock has fallen and it's fallen, I think, in a way that's reasonable. And I'm not 100% sure he's going to be in my top 100 prospects for 2023.

So it hurts. Yeah. I mean, and last year he was borderline top 30. So that's how much his stock has fallen. If he's a guy who's going to strike out a lot, though, that kind of undermines the main thing he's supposed to be good at. All right. Well, whenever I bring up pitchers,

I usually ask you about Kumar Rocker. I am not going to ask you about Kumar Rocker today. Instead, two performances that really stood out to me. Connor Thomas, he already mentioned. He had a start where he went four innings, one run, 10 strikeouts to one walk. And Joey Wentz, who we did see up in the second half with the Tigers, and he actually did put together some intriguing starts.

He went four shut out, one hit, two walks, eight strikeouts in that one. And I know it's pretty hard to pitch effectively in the AFL. Is there anything to see with these two? Conor Thomas and Joey Wentz. I wish I was at that the Joey went. I think he said two starts. I unfortunately did not see them. One fun note was in one of his starts, Alan Trammell, where the Tigers came and spent some time talking with him. And Spencer Torkelson came and was in the crowd hanging out, probably rooting on some of those guys. So you got like big league, you know, coaching out there to, um, to work. work with Wins. Wins is the most advanced pitcher that's out here. I mean, there's a guy with

major league time. I think he's on another step and another level above. Plus, none of the teams had really seen him for the first week or two. So I wish I had more analysis. I'm definitely trying to get a start. I will tell you, someone talked to him that I know and asked him about, you know, being out here. And he essentially was like the minute he gets his innings, whatever those are, he's gone. So I'm not sure Joey Wince is out here for long. Same thing happened to Jordan Wix. I'm completely drawn in a blank. Am I saying it right?

Our Cardinals pitcher, Jordan Leaver. Jordan Hicks. Do I'm saying 104 miles an hour? Jordan Hicks. Jordan Hicks. Yeah, Jordan Hicks. Thank you. I was so close, guys.

No one could pick me up here. My brain completely shut down. Jordan Hicks was out here last year. Pitch three games was gone and never came back. And I think that'll happen to wins. Connor Thomas, I think more of an anomaly. The team was just striking out left and right. He's an under six foot pitcher.

I was at this start, and he was just burying, burying breaking pitches that a lot of these guys are just chasing a lot of breaking pitches. There's a hyperaggression that's out here sometimes. Or sometime. But Connor Thomas, I think he's a 24-year-old of the high ERA. He's under six foot. It's going to be impossible for him to be a starter. He's fun and all, but I don't think there's too much there. outside of showing how aggressive this league is.

They did say it was the first time a pitcher had struck out 10 in the Arizona Fall League since 2014. So it kind of was a feat. Yeah, I don't want to overreact too much to the Joey Wentz thing, but he's actually been serviceable in the minors. And again, he put together some starts. So if you play in a deeper Dynasty League, a deeper hedgehead points, dynasty league, you know, maybe try and acquire Joey Wentz on the cheap. What do you laugh at Scott?

If you're playing a 2014 point dynasty league, like, Frank does. Playing an AL only, 30 points league. Yeah, you know, like, you know, Joey Wentz is the guy for you. I may or may not have searched his name up immediately once I saw this start. And unfortunately, he's already rostered in the Skywhite Dynasty League. So can't really do much about that. Before we wrap up last week, Welsh gave out his favorite horror movies here,

month of October. Halloween is coming very fast. I did watch 28 days later, Wells. So I thought I'd report back to you. And? It was cool. I liked it. The concept was very good.

I think it's hard for me to really. appreciate when the movie came out because there's been so many zombie things that have come out since then. Like, I don't watch The Walking Dead religiously. I watch like the first two seasons and I'm like, eh, this isn't really for me. So I stopped watching. But I think if I had seen 28 days later before this other kind of like, all the zombie stuff came in, I think I would appreciate it even more. But it was good and had a really good concept. So I enjoyed it. It doesn't sound like it was that good. It sounds like you're placating to make. us feel good. Doesn't sound like somebody enjoyed it as much.

No, but does that make sense though? Like a straight, didn't it take a very strange turn at the end? Like the conclusion of the movie. Yeah. You were like completely into zombies the whole time, which by the way, I think from a realism factor, it played so well into everything and Sillian Murphy's amazing. But to your point, it went from like, zombies, survival, survival, survival, and then it was like, bad military. Like, military has taken them and that was a weird thing that did have. Yeah. I remember really like in the first. 75% but then the end is just like. Yeah.

But like all zombie things, the people end up becoming the villains, like all zombie things. And that's what they encapsulized in a movie. Yeah. I actually did legitimately enjoy it. But I think the main point was that maybe I couldn't appreciate it as much as you did like if you watched it back in the day when it first came out.

Well, you can go watch 28 weeks later now. I do follow up with Tim Roth. Yeah. I kind of really hated the ending. I was like, this is kind of cliffhangerish. Like I guess I need to watch 28 weeks later.

so I'll have to do that at some point. And I also watch Halloween ends. Have you watched it yet? Either of you? No. Isn't that the, I think I've heard, is that the new one that came out?

Yeah. All I've heard is it's the worst movie that's ever been made. So I haven't watched this. You know what? I don't know that it's worse than... That's Frank's Wheelhouse, though. What do you mean by that, Scott?

Are you taking a little Adam Azeron with you? Are you going to say that you liked it? No, no, no. I was going to say, you know, I don't think it's as bad as the previous Michael Myers' movie that came out like last year, they're just pumping these things out left and right. I think they're both pretty bad. And I don't really condone watching any of them. But yeah, that's me trying to get into the Halloween spirit watching all these

horror movies, I guess you could call them. And whatever, it was pretty bad. But I thought I would report back. And that's my analysis of both movies. So hope you enjoyed it. For Scott and The Welsh, I am Frank DeKall for listening and watching. Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again on Tuesday. Bye-bye.