Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨Corey Kluber signs with the Yankees! DJ LeMahieu Returns - Emergency Podcast (1/15 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: January 16, 2021

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! The New York Yankees are making moves. First they re-signed DJ LeMahieu on a six year, $90 million deal in the morning and then signed two-time Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber to a one-year, $11 million deal. What's Kluber's Fantasy value with the Yankees (1:04)? Is he worth a late-round flier? ... With LeMahieu back in New York, do you prefer him or Ozzie Albies in Roto leagues (6:33)? Where does LeMahieu rank among other top-tier hitters? Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive, center field, this is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Sound the alarms, we have an emergency edition of Fantasy Baseball today. On Friday. Friday, January 15. Not really a bomb. That was more like a bomb falling than the actual alarm. He is Chris Towers. I am Frank Stamphill, and I'm going on record to say this might be my favorite emergency podcast of the off season.

Take it away, Susan. Oh, my goodness gracious. That's right. The Bronx. Of all the dramatic things. Of all the dramatic things, do I have that? Of all the dramatic things I've ever seen. Cory Kluber is in the boss's office.

Corey Kluber is. to the Yankees. That's right. Cory Klobber on a one-year $11 million deal pending a physical. So I guess that can still change. And we will, so we'll talk about Kluber. And then we'll also talk about DJ LaMahue, who earlier today re-signed with the Yankees on a six-year,

$90 million deal. Corey Klobher, of course, former two-time Sy Young Award winner, has showcased the other day sitting 88 to 90 miles per hour with a fastball. He also threw his off-speed, pitches. The last time we really saw Kluber on the mound was back in 2019. He only made seven starts then. He had a 5.80 ERA.

Since the start of 2019, he's only thrown 36 and 2 thirds innings pitched. The ADP for Kluber is at 232. Chris, what do you think about the signing for the Yankees and Corey Kluber in general? He could be had for much cheaper than we've ever seen before. Yeah, and then there's a reason for that. Of course.

The last time we saw Corey Klooper pitch in any kind of sample where you would actually want to make any kind of definitive statement about how he looked. That's actually Cory Klob are getting driven to the end. That's the Yankee. That's the Yankee siren. You can hear it all the way in Williamsburg from the Bronx. Yeah, the last time he pitched in any kind of sample size where you would want to make any definitive judgment about how good he still was, he was. he was really good. 2018,

he was, I believe a top five pitcher in fantasy. I think he finished second and Sy Young voting. And that was why I was pretty high on him going into the 2020 season

because, you know, he had one bad month in 2019 and then he got hit by a line drive on the forearm and had a broken forearm. Then he suffered,

I think, an oblique strain as he was coming back from that. And that was the only time we saw him. Struggle with control. Struggled,

you know, velocity was maybe half a mile per hour down. but for the most part, it didn't seem that concerning to me. Then he goes out in 2020 and pitches one inning, suffers a shoulder strain and can't come back. I think he would have been able to come back, had the season been a regular length,

but I'm not 100% sure about that. So it wasn't necessarily, you know, a five alarm kind of concerned there. But now you've got a guy who's 35 years old, I believe. he's now multiple years. He's two years removed from, three years removed from, you know,

the last time we saw him pitch really well, last time we saw him pitch at all, really. And so I'm not going to rush out and move him up my rankings too much. I have him 208th in my Roto rankings that I've just finished. And that feels about right. You know,

I don't think him signing with the Yankees necessarily is a reason to move him up or down. Yeah, so Kluber is 34 years old. He'll turn 35 on April 10th. So age 35 season coming up. We know he should have a good, should have good run support with the New York Yankees,

and of course has a pretty good bullpen behind him as well. It's just a matter of how much will he actually stay on the field, which is the biggest concern for Corey Kluber. And Steamer and the bat projections that are now up on fan graphs have him both projected for 148 innings this upcoming season. I mentioned the ADP for Kluber is at 232. He's going just ahead of names like Brady Singer,

Marcus Stroman, James Paxton, and we spoke about this during our Roto Mockdraft review, Chris. I really want four of my top 30 starting pitchers, and then once we get past pick 200, I think I just want to load up on a bunch of upside arms. And if that includes some young, some old, Then I'm okay with that. What do you think about this ADP

and going just ahead of names like Singer, Stroman, Paxton? Would you prefer Klober ahead of those guys? I think I would prefer Paxton. I think there's a better chance of Paxton delivering a good season. Who is also a free agent right now, so we're waiting for any signs. We'll see. I think I would rather have Stroman, but in my first runner rankings, I do have Stroman lower,

so I'm going to have to reevaluate that. And I think the same with Singer. So yeah, that's something that I'll have to, if singers just below him, so I'll have to reevaluate that and I'll probably, I don't know if I'll be moving those guys up or if I'll be moving Cluber down, but that range feels okay.

And like you said, it's not just young guys who have upside. You know, James Paxton is someone who has a lot of upside. Corey Cluber has a lot of upside. Chris Sale, if he gets back with a reasonable amount of time, has a ton of upside. And that's something to remember when you're drafting is it's not just,

you know, the 22-year-old prospect. It's not just those guys who have upside. You know, Masa Hira Tanaka has some upside. Michael Paneda has some upside. Nathan Ovaldi has upside. All those guys are going to be going in that same range. And I think they're, Cory Klobber is among that group

who is a perfectly fine option to round out your rotation. Yeah, Chris, our sleepers breakouts and busts will be slowly coming out over the next couple of months, but you will find for me in that 200 to 300 ADP, there are so many pitchers. They don't have to be young. They could be older, like you mentioned.

Some of those names that you just talked about, I am really, really excited about grabbing late in my drafts as well. All right, we'll just quickly mention DJ LaMayhew. I think we were kind of operating under the assumption that he would head back to the Yankees all off season, at least I did in terms of my rankings. Back to the Yankees on a six-year, $90 million deal, 32 years old for DJ LaMayhew.

It was reported that Toronto, the Blue Jays, offered four years 78 million, which is obviously a much higher A.AV, but it seemed like LeMayhew wanted to remain with the Yankees and just wanted the highest dollar amount that he could possibly get. So goes back to New York. In terms of LeMayhew, I think you know what you're going to get.

What he's done in the past two years, he's been a top three first baseman in Roto, each of the past two seasons, second baseman, rather. And he averaged 4.0 fantasy points per game in 2020. That was tied for 10th among all hitters. That's an elite mark. Yeah, he is ridiculous. He had a 9.7% strikeout rate this past season.

That was the best of his career. 8% walk rate. That was the highest since 2017. I think we know what we're going to get. You get triple eligibility from LaMayhew, which is also awesome. First base, second base, third base eligibility. I think the question, Chris, is

do you take LaMayhew ahead of Ozzy Albies in a roto or a head-to-head categories league? Because in a points league, I don't really think it's close. So DJ versus Ozzy Albies, what do you think? I do believe I have Ozzy Albiz one dollar more in my Rota value. So it's seven spots in the rankings overall, but it's very, very close. And I could be talked into one way or the other, and it does sort of depend on your team roster construction

because Albies will steal more bases. And so that could be enough to give him an edge. And in my eyes, it is. but yeah, I think they're right there for one and two at second base. Yeah, I have LaMayhew ranked as my number one second baseman in both Roto and in head to head points, but a lot like you. I think it comes down to just how you want to build your team. If you prefer some steals, I think Ozzy Albies will probably give you 15 to 20 steals.

LeMayhew, maybe he'll give you a handful, but what you want LaMayhew for is, of course, his high batting average and run scored, which are very, very tricky categories to fill. So, you know, he is a unique player in that regard. I'll just compare them quickly to some other hitters going in this range, Chris. According to ADP, Adelberto Monasey is one spot within DJ LaMayhew. I have Monosy 10 spots higher, but... Okay, for Roto, but... I chug... I'm chuging Maylock or whatever, whatever antacid of your choice.

Pepto-bizmo. I think Maylocks won, right? I don't... I might be before your time. Yeah. I would say so. Maylocks. No.

I might have just... made this up. So you'll take Monacea ahead of Lemayhew. What about like Aronado? What about that third base group?

Aronado, Bregman, Rendon, who we all kind of like as some early round values. I have all those guys just a little bit ahead of DJ Lamahue.

But, you know, as we're talking this through, you know, maybe it's a reason to move DJ Lemayhew up. Because any concerns that you had about, you know,

whether this power, uh, breakout that he had, you know, in his late, you know, I guess early 30s was when in 2019 he was 30. Any concerns you have about that and the fact that, you know, he had never hit for power in course field like this, it seems to be a non-issue now that he's still going to be playing his home games at Yankee Stadium. He, I believe he's hit. I want to say it's 27 of his 36 home runs since joining the Yankees at home. But he's still going to be there for half his

games. So I think you, you don't worry about that so much. And his, his swing is, particularly well suited for Yankee Stadium because he does go the opposite way quite a bit. So, um, I think he just kind of holds steady as a result of this. He is 32 years old. Um, yeah, he'll turn 33 in the middle of the season on July 7th, 13th. So I guess there's a little bit of concern that, you know, he, he drops off, but I'm not that concern now. I think, you pretty much hold steady, and he's right in that third round range. Yeah, I think you hit it on the head there, Chris. The fact that he goes back to Yankee Stadium, his swing is just tailored so perfectly for

there this past season in 2020. 43% of the time, DJ LoMayhew went to the opposite field. We know the short porch in Yankee Stadium that obviously plays well for him. He had 26 home runs in 2019, which was a career high, and then followed that up with 10 home runs in 2020 over the course of 50 games. So if you project that over 150, that is 30 home runs. I think the power is somewhat legit for Lamehue. Am I projecting him for 30?

No, I think he's probably going to hit like 22 to 25, but he's also going to do that with a 300 plus batting average and a lot of runs scored. So a lot to like with DJ LaMayhew holding steady in the third round of both Roto and head-to-head points leagues. Corey Kluber, a name going outside the top 280p right now. Also a name that might rise. If he performs well in spring training and gets the VLO back up to 91, 92 miles per hour

on that fastball, then we might even see Cory Klooper's name starts to rise up draft boards, but definitely someone to pay attention to post 200 as a late round flyer sleeper for your fantasy drafts. All right, that's it on a Friday night. He is Chris. I am Frank.

Thank you all for listening and watching. We'll be back again on Monday. Bye-bye.