Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨Corbin Burnes Signs With The Diamondbacks! - Emergency Podcast (12/28 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 28, 2024

To display your continued support of the show, please vote Fantasy Baseball Today in the Sports Podcast Awards in the "Best Baseball Podcast" Category https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_cat...egory/best-baseball-podcast/ The Diamondbacks swooped in to sign Corbin Burnes on a six-year, $210 million deal (3:15)! ... What's the early ADP on Burnes (10:30)? ... The Dbacks have a good amount of pitching depth (15:25). ... What are the Orioles doing (19:28)? ... Teoscar Hernandez is headed back to the Dodgers on a three-year deal (26:05)! Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 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/ 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

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Out of nowhere, the D-BAC swoop in to sign one of the best pitchers in baseball, Corbyn Burns. Welcome in to an emergency edition of Fantasy Baseball today on Saturday, December 28th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Chris Towers. Here to break down two major moves, Corbyn, signing with the D-backs. Tey Oscar Hernandez is headed back to the Dodgers. And Burns to the D-backs again, from the top rope out of nowhere. Just the D-backs swoop in and get their guy here.
Starting point is 00:00:31 One of the best pitchers in baseball. Six years, $210 million is the deal. It doesn't get the $250 million that Corbyn Burns was looking for, but he did get a higher A-AV in this deal. $35 million per year. That is currently fifth highest among starting pitchers behind Zach Wheeler, Jacob Grom, Blake Snell, and Garrickole. Love this move for the D-backs.
Starting point is 00:00:53 We mostly heard the Giants and Blue Jays were interested, but they go in and just build a huge strength of a rotation here out in Arizona. Chris, for fantasy, Burns will have tremendous run support. The D-Backs just led all of baseball in runs scored by a lot. It's a solid park to pitch in. What do you think about the fit in Arizona? There weren't many situations that Corbyn Burns could have gone to that would have been better than Baltimore, at least as good as Baltimore.
Starting point is 00:01:23 And I think he found one. You look at the parks, and one thing that'll stand out if you look at the stack has park factors is Chase Field is the fifth best park in baseball for offense and Camden Yards is only 18th. And so you might think, oh, that's a pretty big park downgrade. Not really. It's a 99 park factor for Camden Yards 101 for Arizona. So like there neither is on the extreme end of things. They both have a tendency to suppress power. And they both have a tendency to boost other types of extra base hits.
Starting point is 00:01:58 Arizona does that slightly more. But all in all, I think it's a negligible park downgrade, especially with the changes the Baltimore was making to their left field fences that were probably going to make it play a little more neutral. So it might even be that he's getting a park upgrade based on those changes. But I think the supporting cast is actually maybe a somewhat significant. upgrade for Corbyn Burns. When you look at last year, Arizona, depending on what defensive metric you look at, you can get a result from the seventh best offense in baseball to the second,
Starting point is 00:02:35 or second seventh best defense in baseball, excuse me, to the second best defense in baseball in Arizona last year, Baltimore, more middle of the pack. So I think it's an upgrade there. And then, like, Baltimore was fourth and run scored last year. It was a great part, a great lineup. The Orioles score, the, excuse me, it's early for me. For Bull, for Bull, The Diamondback scored a hundred more runs than the Orioles last season. Now, you know, Adley Rutchman had a down year, but they are losing Anthony Santander, replacing him with Tyler O'Neill. Who knows if that's, you know, it could be a net neutral move, but Tyler O'Neill misses a lot of time.
Starting point is 00:03:12 Arizona really hasn't lost anyone. I guess Christian Walker, but they replaced them with Josh Naylor. So I think that's pretty close to a neutral move for them. So I think you look at this and I didn't move Corbyn Burns up in my rankings because frankly, there's just nowhere for him to move up. But I think this is about as good of a landing spot as you could have hoped for. And I think Corbyn Burns might have figured some things out at the end of last season that could make him even better than he was last year. Yeah, I think that last point is probably a bigger talking point for Corbyn Burns than anything else related to.
Starting point is 00:03:51 his environment, right? Burns is one of the most reliable workhorses in the game. He's thrown 190 plus innings three years in a row. But his strikeout rate has dwindled. His K percentage last four seasons, 35.6%, 30.5, 25.5, and then down to 23% this past season. So I could see Corbyn Burns being a bit of a polarizing pitcher heading into 2025.
Starting point is 00:04:15 You mentioned an adjustment that he made, and in August he kind of made a mechanical adjustment to get his cutter back on track. And then he had a great September. So it's a small sample size, but how much do you put into that, Chris? Do you trust drafting Corbyn Burns as a top five starting pitcher and fantasy heading into next season? Yeah. So let's get into the specifics of what happened because there's a great piece from the Baltimore banner last September where he talked about. He was blunt really about it in a way that you don't seal it. It's one of my favorite quotes from last year. He's talking about the cutter.
Starting point is 00:04:49 and the reason he threw the cutter was because he could never throw a good four-seem fastball. And he made that change in 2020, 2019, I think, and that really helped his career takeoff. And he said, like, my August probably cost me another style of a young award. Like, that's how good of a season Corby Burns was having last year. And he said, quote, I was getting too efficient with how I was spinning it, which was making it a bleepy four-seem fastball. And it was getting hit like a bleepy four-seem fastball. You can fill in the bleep on your own there. But basically what happened was he was getting more rise on his cutter and less horizontal movement.
Starting point is 00:05:30 And so it kind of ended up in between the cutter and a four seamer, which is not a good place to be. He was doing good job looking in it, getting soft contact earlier in the season, but it just got crushed in August. And he realized something had to change. So he changed the. the grip or the spin or whatever on the cutter and all of a sudden the horizontal break he was getting about four inches of horizontal break in September it was more like two inches prior to that
Starting point is 00:06:01 he was getting less rise more drop on the pitch and all of a sudden the whiff rate was up from 19% for the season to 26% while the expected wobo allowed was just 256 those were both the best marks for any month. So I understanding that it is a small sample size and that whatever went wrong with the cutter could go wrong again. The fact that Corbyn Burns was able to identify what went wrong, fix it midseason, and then ride that to a really good finish of the season. I think bodes really well, yes, I would take him as a top 10 top five starting pitcher. I would take him as a top four starting pitcher. He is my number four starting pitcher. I have Terrick Scuble
Starting point is 00:06:44 like he doesn't have, I think even he's probably not going to get the cutter back to 20, 2021 levels, certainly. And so I don't think he has the strike out upside Terrick Scobble and Paul Skeens have. He's I think Zach Wheeler has shown
Starting point is 00:06:59 fewer limitations over the past couple of seasons. So I will also rank Zach Wheeler ahead of him. I'll take Corbyn Burns over everyone else. I've got him out of just ahead of Logan Gilbert. I've got him just ahead of Chris Sale, Cole Reagan's, Garrett Crochet. I am all in. I think he is one of the safest bets for 200 strikeouts.
Starting point is 00:07:19 I think he's one of the safest bets for 15 wins. There's not a lot to dislike about Corbyn Burns based on this landing spot and the improvement he showed at the end of last season. And despite the strikeouts being down, the numbers have still been there the past couple of years for Corbyn Burns. This past season, a 292 ERA, a 110 whip. in 2023, it was a 339 ERA and a 107 whip. With that being said, some of the underlying ERA estimators don't
Starting point is 00:07:46 necessarily agree. I mean, this past season it was a 355 FIP, 375 Sierra. The year before, he was up in the high threes, the low fours in some of those marks. So I can see people starting to have concerns about some of those things and maybe
Starting point is 00:08:02 they fade him as a top five starting pitcher as a result. I'm closer to you. I don't really want use a top three-round pick on a pitcher heading into 2025, but I did an NFBC draft a 12-team league where I got him in the fourth round. And I think if you could do that, his ADP right now is 36, so it's not crazy to say you can get Corbyn Burns at the three-four turn. Even if you have concerns, I think getting him at that point is totally fine value. So I might have also drafted him in the one league that I'm playing out. Yeah, he was he was my first pitcher,
Starting point is 00:08:38 taken. So yeah, I'm, I think I'm going to end up with him on quite a few of my, my teams. I did take him in the third round, but it was that's a 15 team. It was a 15 team league. So it ended up being about the 40th pick. So I'm with you. Like I don't love a top 36 pick. I'd rather get, you know, my, my two really good hitters on locked in before that. But yeah, if he's going to fall outside of the top 35, um, I'm perfectly happy to take. Burns as my ace. I think he's very much that anchor for your rotation who can, you know, not just give you really good ratios, which I expect, but the volume is going to be there in a way that you can't really. I think Zach Wheeler is the only pitcher in the top, I don't know, maybe in the entire player pool that I really expect more volume from than Corbyn Burns.
Starting point is 00:09:36 That's a big deal. I looked at his injury history. And since he got to the majors, I think he had a shoulder injury like in 2018, way back before he was established. He had a left oblique injury in 2020 that cost him a couple of starts. He had COVID in 2021, missed a couple of starts. He hasn't missed a start with an injury since 2020, though.
Starting point is 00:09:58 Like that's a track record. No pitcher can match at this point. Even Zach Wheeler had that, was it, a shoulder injury at the beginning of the 2023 season. So, yeah, I think he's about as rock solid as a starting pitcher can get. The NFBC ADP in December mentioned it's 36.2 for Burns. He's the SP6 off the board, currently going behind Garrett Crochet. Yeah, I mean, we talked about this on the most recent podcast. I can't justify that price for Crochet.
Starting point is 00:10:31 I get it. I think he's awesome, but I'd rather. I think you're going to have a much easier time building a rotation out around Corbyn Burns and Garretcher. Yep. What about Corbyn Burns versus Chris Sale? Look, Chris Sale was so good last year that I do think there's a certain, to a certain extent, he's being a little over or under, underrated.
Starting point is 00:10:53 Ended the season with back injury. The vibes are not great given how many injuries he's had in the past. But like, we've talked a lot about how fluky those injuries were. One of them was a bicycle accident. So I do think there's a decent argument to be made that I am undervaluing Chris Sale as my number six SP. So I can see that. I'd still rather have Burns. It's just a little bit safer.
Starting point is 00:11:21 Yeah, I agree there. I would, I currently rank Corbyn Burns ahead of Chris Sale. I have burns at SP5. I would take Logan Gilbert over him. That's reasonable. There's a little bit more youth there. Yeah, I just. It's a one spot difference in my overall rankings.
Starting point is 00:11:35 I don't have a strong opinion on that one. Yep, agreed. Let's take a quick break when we return. We'll talk about this a little bit more from just a baseball perspective. Updated D-BACs rotation, what are the Orioles doing? We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back in the D-Backs sign. Corrin-Burns on a six-year $210 million deal.
Starting point is 00:11:54 Their updated rotation burns up at the top, followed by Zach Gallin, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Fott, with depth behind those guys. They still have Jordan Montgomery under contract. They have Ryan Nelson who flashed last season. Yulbert Diaz, who's put up some big numbers in the minors as well. I do wonder if maybe they flip some of this depth. You can never have enough pitching, Chris.
Starting point is 00:12:15 So I don't think they have to do that. But if they want to, you know, I've seen on the Twitter streets people talking about Ryan Nelson for Spencer Torkelson, just kind of a flip of youngish players there. What do you think about the D-Backs updated? rotation. Do they go out and maybe make another move trade from their pitching dip now? Well, I think the more likely one given their owner's comments at the end of last season would be to try a salary dump Jordan Montgomery. How reasonable or realistic that is is a different question.
Starting point is 00:12:46 But it's actually pretty funny that the Diamondbacks are the team that ends up signing Corbyn Burns, given their owner's comments about Jordan Montgomery, who is also a Scott Boris client as Corbyn Burns is. I thought that was an interesting wrinkle. But yeah, I would expect another move. You know, I don't know. I guess DH is still a little bit of a hole for them, although they are a team that does like to mix and match in their lineup.
Starting point is 00:13:14 So I don't know if it's the biggest need. Shortstop if they aren't convinced Jordan Lawler's ready. But I think they're willing to wait for him and just let Heraldor Pardombo go. So it's not a team with a lot of a, obvious needs, even though it's not necessarily a team that has like star power all up and down the lineup. It's just a deep lineup. It's now a pretty deep rotation.
Starting point is 00:13:41 I mean, if they don't trade Montgomery, is he your number six starter? Like, it's not a bad spot to be in. So I think they've done a really good job. I think, you know, a lot of similarities to when they signed Zach Ranky back, you know, what was that eight years ago, nine years? ago now, where kind of came out of nowhere, but it starts to make sense when it's like, yeah, we want to take that next step. They've been close the last couple of years. I love the signing for them. I love the signing for Burns. And yeah, I think there's probably
Starting point is 00:14:17 another move or two coming, but I don't know exactly what it is. And we can get to the Orioles. I just don't understand what the Orioles are doing. Yeah, we'll get to. the Orioles in just a second. You mentioned DH could be a possible upgrade for the debacks. They currently have Pavin Smith pencil in there. They have Blaze Alexander on their bench. They still have Alex Thomas on the bench too, so they, you know,
Starting point is 00:14:42 they have some decent, decent depth there. And Adrian D'Castio in the miners who more than held his own. Obviously, we mentioned Jordan Lawler, top, you know, I think he was Scott's top shortstop prospect. Yeah. Yeah. So they're they're in a good spot. I think overall,
Starting point is 00:15:00 Yeah, I liked what the Diamondbacks are doing right now. They're in a really good spot. I think maybe the last piece that makes sense is a closer. And actually, you know, they come out and kind of talked about, all right, maybe we could bring in a veteran guy. They have Justin Martinez. They have AJ Puck. I think both guys are actually really interesting.
Starting point is 00:15:17 I took AJ Puck as like a real, you know, deep draft pick and in one of these draft and hold leagues just because he was amazing once he got traded to the D-backs. But I still think, you know, if they're really trying to compete, maybe they could trade from that depth to bring in a closer or sign one of these. They were linked to Corby Yates before this signing as well. I wonder if that takes him off the board.
Starting point is 00:15:39 But the other thing that I think works out for Corbyn Burns, he's got an opt out after the second year. So like if the next two years go well, you know, there's an opportunity to lock in a little more money long term for him. So I think kudos all around to everyone except for Baltimore here. Well, let's talk about Baltimore. Chris, I know you have many thoughts on their current situation. They traded for Corbyn Burns last offseason, which at the time kind of felt like a light
Starting point is 00:16:07 return for the Milwaukee Brewers. I mean, I think Joey Ortiz could turn out to be a fine player. D.L. Hall, we haven't really seen much from him. But what are the Orioles doing, Chris? I don't know, because when they traded for Corbin Burns last year, it felt like this big turning point for them as an organization. Remember, it came right after they, the new ownership group bought the, team.
Starting point is 00:16:29 It was a sign that, hey, we're going for it. They had 1001 games the year before, I believe, but they clearly needed it. And the thing after they traded for Corbyn Burns was you looked at the rotation.
Starting point is 00:16:40 It was like, well, Corbin Burns, Grayson Rodriguez, and then John Means, we don't know what we're going to get from him. Turns out they didn't get much from him. And it just felt like the return for Burns was so light that like, oh,
Starting point is 00:16:55 they're primed to make another big trade for a starting pitcher. And they just did. didn't. At the deadline they went and got Zach Eflin, who is now potentially their opening day starter, it's not a good enough rotation. And they've got this cheap young core that I think they were 24th in baseball and payroll last year. They've got this cheap young core that is the envy of the whole game, right? Like they've got all these great players everywhere who are all cheap, except Adley Rutchman's not a minimum of salary player anymore. He's going to make real money for the first time this year. they won zero playoff games in Adley Rutchman's three minimum salary seasons. Like you had one of the biggest edges a team could possibly hope for right there. And you didn't take advantage of it. And now they let Corbyn Burns walk for they'll get a compensation pick, I guess. Good for you.
Starting point is 00:17:48 Maybe that'll help in seven years. Like I don't, I just don't understand. Like, where is the urgency here? I don't like, you've got the squad now. your window is open and you're going to go into the season with Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kramer as your potential playoff rotation. Like compare them to the Yankees. Compare them to the Red Sox now. Like the Orioles are falling behind their competition at a time when this should be their 2016 Cubs. Right.
Starting point is 00:18:17 Like this should be there. They're going to go out and get John Lester. And we're going to build a rotation that can compete in the playoffs. And they're just not doing it. I don't understand what the play. is they're seemingly going to lose Corbyn-Burnes Santander for nothing this offseason except for compensation picks. It's,
Starting point is 00:18:36 I don't understand what the goal is, but it doesn't appear to be win as many games and win a World Series. And that is frustrating for a team that is clearly close enough to go out and make some big moves. Like, Kobe Mayo is just going to be at AAA to start the season. Like we're just going to do that again. We're going to have like major league caliber players sitting at AAA waiting for their chance when you have holes on the major league roster.
Starting point is 00:19:05 I'm I'm completely flummoxed by what the Orioles plan is. I don't know what the vision is here. And it's incredibly frustrating because this is a team that should be going all in right now for the next like the next five years should be the Orioles time to winner world series. And there just seems to be no sense of urgency. It's frustrating. I think they have Gunner Henderson under team control for another four seasons. So that is the window, right? Because Gunner and Adley, you've got,
Starting point is 00:19:38 Adley has three more years of club control left because they called him up on opening day that year or close enough to opening day. Gunner, I think it's four years after this or this year 2025 plus three more years. So it's like nothing exists outside of 2025, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2020. Like you can't count on like what like you can't keep counting on developing players. Maybe Jackson Holiday and Kobe Mayo extend the window a little further. But like this is your chance. This is the time to go for. And it's so like it's so frustrating to watch people complaining about the Dodgers signing people and like, oh, they're deferring money to to get an edge.
Starting point is 00:20:18 And it's like, why aren't the Orioles doing that? You know? Like if like I just, it's it's beyond frustrating. to watch a team that is so obviously well positioned, just spin their wheels and not take a chance when it's right in front of them. It's like, you can look at the Orioles rotation and see like, oh, what if Zach Eflin gets back to 2023, right?
Starting point is 00:20:42 What if Grayson Rodriguez, like we always talk about, Grayson Rodriguez feels like he should be better. You know, the underlying, the pitches are all, all look really good and they're just not leading to ACE results yet. But what if he takes just that little step forward? I can see that. What if Trevor Rogers goes to drive line this offseason like he's talked about and gets that velocity back to 2021 levels and starts blowing guys away?
Starting point is 00:21:06 What if Tomioki Sagano has like a Shoda Imanaga type rookie season as another soft tossing command lefty, or he's not a lefty, but NPB import. Like you can talk yourself into, yeah, a lot of things can go right for this team. They've still got, you know, they've still won 91. on games last year. There's still a lot to like, but what if everything goes right with our pitchers is not a plan. Because with pitchers,
Starting point is 00:21:35 things go wrong a lot more often than they go right. Like, it's more likely that two of those guys get hurt than that all four of them just have the best case scenario. And it seems like they're building a team for the best case scenarios. And that's not a strategy. I don't know, man. Mike Elias did a great job putting this core together,
Starting point is 00:21:54 but there just seems to be no sense of urgency to take the next step, and that's frustrating to watch. Yeah, lots of what ifs for the Orioles. Now, I will say the offseason is not over, and they have been linked to Dylan Sees and Luis Cascio, and those would be great pickups. Luis Cascio kind of in the decline. He's not a Corbyn Burns.
Starting point is 00:22:15 Dylan Sees would absolutely be a great get if they could pull that off. You know, it would be even better, though. Corbyn Burns and Dylan Sees. Yeah, yeah. Which there's no reason they couldn't. do that. Again, I think they were 24th in payroll last year. They haven't spent any money since like 2019 or
Starting point is 00:22:30 2018. All right. We'll move on. I hear you. Let's talk about the Dodgers. They are bringing back to Oscar Hernandez on a three-year, $66 million deal. The rich get richer. You've heard that before. They also signed Blake Snell this offseason. To Oscar Hernandez, 32 years old, just had a career year with the Dodgers. 272 batting average, 33 home runs, 99 RBI, 12 seals,
Starting point is 00:22:52 840 OPS, the best he's looked since that awesome 2021 with the Blue Jays, updated Dodgers lineup, Otani Betts Freeman, Teosker Hernandez, Max Muncie, Will Smith, Tommy Edmund,
Starting point is 00:23:06 Michael Kinforto, Gavin Lux, I guess. This is the clear best landing spot for Teosker Hernandez. And Chris, I think he's currently undervalued.
Starting point is 00:23:15 His ADP is 73.5 as the 19th outfielder off the board. Yeah, and I, again, we talk about a lot how in these very early drafts. A lot of them are draft and holds and stuff like that. So people tend to be
Starting point is 00:23:28 cautious when it comes to injuries and playing time and landing spots because there's so much uncertainty. I kind of always felt like Tosker was going back. Like all indications were that that's what he wanted more than anything. This ended up being a very reasonable contract for him to come back. You know, second best corner outfielder on the market signs for three years, 66 million. That's a pretty good landing. That's a pretty good get for the Dodgers. So I, I've been confused as to why his price has been so low all throughout the process this offseason. And yeah, I agree. He is, what's his ADP like 75?
Starting point is 00:24:07 73.5, 19th outfielder. Yeah, he's my number 63 player, number 17 outfielder. So I expect he'll move up closer to where I have him now that he's signed. And he should. You know, he was a top 10 outfielder last season. the RBI. It's kind of like pretty solid production across all five categories, but only really a standout in home runs and RBI.
Starting point is 00:24:35 But like he won't hurt you anywhere and he'll help you in home runs and RBI. He's 32. So there is a chance that like, yeah, maybe there's a drop off coming. But we haven't really seen it. The one exception being that year in Seattle where he talked about not being able to see the ball. we have the proof of concept that, okay, no, that was an issue and he's much better away from Seattle, which he has been throughout his career. So I think there's a ton to love about this landing spot.
Starting point is 00:25:04 And if the price ends up around 70, I will be buying to Oscar Hernandez. Yeah, I do agree. I don't think he's bulletproof by any means. There are some warning signs in the plate discipline there always have been. He chases a lot. Zone contact is below average for Teasca Hernandez. And I think the most likely scenario is that he does take a little bit of a step back. If you look at his steamer projection, 257, 30 home runs, eight steals, 780 OPS.
Starting point is 00:25:31 I think maybe the OPS could be a little bit higher. Yeah, I think the batting average is a little low. Yeah, 800 OPS bat, 260, 30 homers, 8 to 10 steals. That seems like a pretty fair projection for Teoska Hernandez. How much do you think the ADP moves up? You mentioned you have him
Starting point is 00:25:45 63rd overall in your rankings. Can you see him climbing all the way up to Wyatt Langford and James Wood, those are currently going between picks 50 and 55. Do you think Teasca Hernandez can get that high? So I guess I'm just a little lower on James Wood and Wyatt Langford. He's in between them in my rankings, but I have Wood 62 and Langford 66 with Teasca Hernandez 63 in the Rotar rankings. So I guess I'm just a little lower on those two guys.
Starting point is 00:26:13 But yeah, I think that's the range. You know, that's the right range of outfielders for him to be going around. The fallout for the rest of the Dodgers, obviously not good news for Andy Paez. Early drafters like myself who were kind of interested in Andy Paez has the prospect pedigree. The barrel rate looked pretty good this past season. But it looks like at best he'll be a short side platoon bat to start the season. Obviously, injuries can always happen and maybe Andy Paez works his way into more playing time.
Starting point is 00:26:44 And Dalton rushing, Chris. I mean, I know there's a lot of people who are interested in him for fantasy because the bat is absolutely ready. Premium exit velocities in the minors. It looks like if he was on any other team, he can be like a top 12, top 15 catcher right away for fantasy. But the Dodgers have Will Smith.
Starting point is 00:27:04 They tried them out in the outfield last season. Maybe that happens. But now the outfield is all filled up for the Dodgers too. So I just don't really know how it's going to happen for either Pahez or rushing without an injury. Yeah, and the problem is those guys are just corner guys, just like Teosker is.
Starting point is 00:27:21 And like you could see, oh, they could move Mooky to second base and Tommy Edmund to shortstop. And, you know, there could be a role as center. Dalton rushing's not going to play center field. I mean,
Starting point is 00:27:32 I don't know, maybe, but it seems pretty unlikely. He's been, he's been just a corner guy. Pahas has played a little bit of center field. Yeah. But like,
Starting point is 00:27:42 that really limits it. And, you know, Conforto has missed some time in his career. Teosker Hernandez is, on the older side. So it's not that hard to see, you know, some movement that creates an opportunity, but as of opening day, it doesn't look like there's an everyday role for rushing or Pedra Pahas. And that's, uh, that's tough. Andy. Andy Pahas. Sorry, sorry. Anything else
Starting point is 00:28:08 on Pedro Paz actually will play pretty regularly. I think so for the St. Louis Cardinals. Anything else on either deal on all fronts, Corbyn's, T. Auguster, Hernandez, is back to the Dodgers? The Orioles can't be done. You know, whatever, whatever it is, I don't know what the, what the next move is, but they need to be much more aggressive than they have been so far. Dodgers seem pretty set, right? Like, maybe they bring in another reliever, but otherwise, you know, we'll see on Roki Sasaki.
Starting point is 00:28:41 I guess that's the one big looming thing, but they've got six violins. starting options for opening day right now. Clayton Kirshall will eventually sign with them. So they will have seven whenever he's healthy. We're looking at a dynasty here, folks. Yes, we are. We're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again next week. Bye-bye.

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