Fantasy Baseball Today - Daulton Varsho Trade, Other Moves & H2H Points Mock Draft Recap! (12/28 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 28, 2022

Chris Towers is working back into baseball mode! Daulton Varsho was traded to the Blue Jays (3:00)! ... Does Varsho's redraft value go up (5:00)? Does his dynasty value go down? ... Will Gabriel Moreno start for the Dbacks (16:52)? ... How much will Taylor Rogers affect Camilo Doval (23:22)? ... Michael Conforto signed with the Giants (25:55). ... Will Craig Kimbrel close games for the Phillies (30:30)? ... Nathan Eovaldi signed with the Rangers (32:15). ... Trevor Bauer was reinstated by an independent arbitrator (36:05). ... Wil Myers signed with the Reds while Drew Smyly resigned with the Cubs (39:05). ... Is there any hope for Jeter Downs with the Nationals (41:55)? ... We wrap up with a quick recap of a H2H points mock draft we did (46:00). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: 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 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/ 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. Two Chris's, one Frank. What could go wrong? Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, December 27.

Frank Stamphill joined by Chris the Welsh and Chris the Towers. he is back. He's working his way back into baseball mode. We're happy to have Chris Towers back. I'm going to have to refer to you guys by your last names today on the podcast. So it's going to be a little weird just going like Towers, Welsh, but whatever, we'll make it work. I'm used to it. That's the thing about like working in or adjacent to sports is you tend to get referred to by your last name generally anyway.

So I'm used to being towers. You know, very, very few people call me Chris. And I'd also, I'll relinquish Chris to if you'd like, because I'm used to Welsh. No, we can, we towers in Welsh, we don't have to fight over Chris. It'll get awkward. Okay. Well, towers, they album.

Sounds like, would you say it sounds like an album? Welsh towers, yeah. It sounds like a really good album from just some like, you know, a good like 90s like a shugase. Yeah, yeah, yeah, something like that. Like, yeah, some like European, you know, I don't know if they have garage. They have garages in Europe, right? What would they call?

Like, we have the carts to lose. The garage rock. Yeah, there you go. The next big recording label, the Welsh Towers. Anyway, Towers. How are the holidays, buddy? How are you doing? Good.

It's freaking cold. I think this is like the coldest I've ever been in my life the last three days. And like, I just moved into a new apartment a couple months ago. And like, I'm really jazzed about like how little I spent in electricity my first month here. my first month was $88 for my electric bill. And like, for reference, my old place, we were doing like $200 a month on average for electricity. So like I got that first bill and I'm like, I'm never turning the heater on. And I finally broke the last couple of days.

I couldn't like getting out of the shower two days ago when it was like 17 degrees outside and my feet hurt on the cold stone floor. So I'm okay. Other than that, you know, I, I, you said you, I'm getting back into baseball. mode, assuming that's a reference to my Twitter handle, which is Chris Towers is in football season. I don't know if I can change my Twitter handle anymore with the new rules, right? I'm going to lose my blue checkmark if I say that I'm going into baseball mode. So I'm just in football mode forever on Twitter now. Gosh, it's going to be so misleading for the podcast.

We'll make it work. Welshie, I'm not sure if you consider this a present or Cole, but your Diamondbacks now have Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes-Guriel. It was a present. Yeah, it was approved. Like, listen, you get rid of, statistically from a fantasy perspective, like, hey, the best fantasy catcher from a home run side, just a good offensive player. I've been around him. It's great.

He's a, he's the best player involved in the trade. But if you're like a realist from the fan perspective, Super 2 contractual stuff was coming up, the dimebacks didn't want to, nor maybe could they pay for him with a glut of other stuff. And I thought they got a really great haul. I know, uh, it's actually, there was really divisive trait, you know, like, there's one side that's like, the Diamondbacks got screwed. And then it's like, what are the Blue Jays doing? You know, everyone is like that. I thought it was a pretty fair trade on both sides.

Obviously, it's a little bit more lean towards the Blue Jays, but I'll take those Christmas presents, especially with a little bit of Gabriel Marino on the side. Yeah, I agree with you. I think it was a fair deal for both sides as well and surprise. But we're going to be breaking down that entire trade from a fantasy perspective. Dalton Varsho traded over to the Blue Jays, along with a bunch of other moves that have been going on. We've got reliever signing with the Phillies, with the Giants.

We'll get into all that. Nathan Avaldi to the Rangers just happened today as well, so we'll get into all that. The point of today's podcast was to do a head-to-head points mock draft recap, but I don't know how much time we're going to have for that. So hopefully we can get to that a little bit later on, but I think the main focus here will be breaking down all of these moves, and let's jump right in. Dalton Varsho traded to the Blue Jays in exchange for catcher prospect, Gabriel Moreno,

and outfielder Loris Griel. Dalton Varsho last year finished 69th overall in Roto. 2.6 fantasy points per game, which is not great, but if you think about his skill set, he strikes out quite a bit, and his steals matter much more for Roto than they do for head-to-to-head-to-head points. 27 home runs for Varsho that was tied for the lead at the catcher position. His 592 plate appearances ranked second behind only Sean Murphy. Welsh, I'm coming right back to you.

I want to ask you just your thoughts on Dalton Varsho from a fantasy perspective, Does this improve his value? And what do you think about the dynasty value now too? Because I don't think he's going to be playing much catcher in Toronto. Yeah. So I mean, I think the overall, I think it's actually tough, even though this is like a theoretical, like better offensive spot or if it improves his value. The Blue Jays run a decent amount compared to where the Diamondbacks were,

of course, both are in line relatively the same. I don't know, maybe the stolen bases come back just a tiny bit because there are better opportunities for players, you know, for RBI opportunities for runs to be batted in in Toronto. You could speculate on that, of course. I think there's obviously better opportunity for just guys being on which could up the RBIs. Maybe he's going to have bit batted in a few more times, depending where he is in the lineup. I think it's relatively lateral-ish overall, but from a dynasty perspective, I don't think it's a huge positive. Obviously, the clear-cut thing that everybody realizes at this point is catchers all but gone.

Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansson are just two study tight ends, in football mode as well, to study catchers that they've got in line, both with some pretty impressive projections as far as like steamer goes, that you just don't see Dalton Varsho acquiring 20 spots at the catcher position here. So that's going to go away. But it doesn't take away that he's also a pretty valuable outfielder. But, you know, we got to see the batting average improve.

he's not a great bat versus lefties, which is also not a big shock to anybody. He hit 221 this past year, also hitting only 240 against righty. So overall, that was a relative struggle. But if he can improve, if there's more line of protection out there,

maybe the batting average is going to come up. He's a potential 3010 guy. So even in the outfield, that's a really big positive. So I think from redraft, it's solid, maybe with the slightest, slightest tick up this year.

Dynasty, it's kind of a tick down, but I think it's so hard to evaluate. what do you even do with him in Dynasty right now? Because everybody in the world knows he's going to lose catcher eligibility. So everyone's not going to want to pay the price of what current Varshow has for you.

So I'd almost want to hold him into the season to see if we can get on a hot spell and make people kind of forget about the whole catcher thing instead of trading him right now where I actually think there's like a down in people's minds on Varshow. Yeah, I actually think this might create a buying opportunity in Dynasty. If you play in a league with more than three outfielders, he's still going to have outfield eligibility.

and he's still going to give you power and speed, which is very valuable in a Roto or Categories League. So if anyone in your league is just freaking out about Dalton Varsho, you might actually be able to get him on the cheap, which sounds weird now that he's playing in Toronto. Towers, it feels weird calling you Towers. Dalton Varsho, early ADP, is 42.8 over at the NFBC, so puts him in the middle of the fourth round of a 12-team league,

the end of the third round in a 15-team league. I think on paper, I think it's a neutral move, as well because the Diamondbacks were 14th and run scored last year. The Blue Jays were fourth. Okay, that's an upgrade. I don't know that he's going to run more in Toronto. I think my first thought would be he would run less, but now they're changing the rules,

so everyone should theoretically be running more. It's kind of hard to break it all down. But your thoughts on this move for Varsho, do you think does he even creep up a little bit from this ADP right now, 42.8? I wouldn't be surprised if he crept up just because it is a better offense. And I think generally when players are in the news, they probably tend to move up in ADP, assuming the news isn't negative, assuming it's not injury news.

So I would think that there will probably be a little bit of a move up. And maybe he gets more solidly into the third round in those 15 team leagues in NFC. And maybe he's more like an early fourth rounder in 12 team leagues. But I don't know if he should move up. He's a tough player because he doesn't really impact the ball all that hard. He's a very, very pull-heavy player, which is how he overcomes, not in the ball. I lie hard. You know, 66th percentile max exit velo, 25th percentile hard hit rate, 25th percentile average

exevalo. You look at the expected woba and all the expected stats. They're pretty bad. But again, when you're a very pull-heavy player like he is, that tends to, you know, you can overcome, you know, kind of middling quality of contact metrics. And he's the kind of player who's done that. So, you know, I think when you're hitting six, that can be an okay spot when, in terms of whether he's going to run because it's kind of a,

you know, I think people can view it as kind of a secondary table setter after your big bat. So, you know, maybe, I think like you said, it's probably a lateral move, maybe a slight upgrade, but I wouldn't be moving him up too much. As far as, you know, the can't hit lefties thing, he's been bad against lefties in the majors. He was very bad against lefties last season. What was it, a 550 something OPS against lefties? that that's not going to play. If you look at the minor league numbers,

there are some more positive indicators, you know, 2021, especially. He had a 921 OPS against lefties, very good strikeout to walk ratio for, you know, relative to his overall skill set. So I'm not going to write him off entirely against lefties. You know, he could still make some progress. We're still talking about relatively small sample sizes all around.

So I think there's room for some internal improvement. And, you know, talking about the outfield versus catcher thing and what it does to his dynasty value, if we're talking about a 27 homer 16 stolen base guy, he's going to be a starter no matter where he plays. As long as he's not completely killing you in batting average and frankly, what, 235 last year, it doesn't really kill you anymore.

So I don't think you should be trying to move him. Like Welsh said, it's not a secret that he's expected to lose catcher eligibility in the long term. And you never know what can happen. You know, life finds a way, as we're fond of saying. You know, it takes, what, one Danny Jansen, three-month injury for him to potentially get an opportunity for more playing time a catcher. So I think, you know, it's not out of the realm of the conceivable that Varsho could maintain some catcher eligible. The only thing I want to add just throw in with you, Frank, is two things.

As far as the ADP goes, I think people realize this, but also NFBC is going to prop up catchers just because, because it's a two-catcher format. So if you look at the ADP, you're going to, so like if I'm just talking to the people that are playing like, you know, maybe more consumer type of leagues and is going to have a one-catcher league. He doesn't really belong in that range, but I still don't know if it's that far off. But I really wanted to ask you guys this because I'm curious about this one. If you're looking at, you know, some of the concerns, we talk about some of the concerns

with him. Obviously the catcher eligibility makes him valuable. But even long-term, who would you rather have? Dalton Varshow or a player that ironically put up similar numbers with just a little bit worse of a batting average and is like two and a half years older in Kyle Schwerber. He had 46 homers but also had 10 stolen bases this past year, hit 218 but was coming off of a 266 season.

Strikeout numbers are obviously work, but it's double-digit walk rates, always high ISO. Seems to have found a great place is going to have a table setter. Well, theoretical table setter and Trey Turner, though he might still lead off and Trey Turner hits three. so he's going to be batted in. I'm just curious because his NFBC value is in the late 50s.

So it's redrafted in Dynasty. Dalton Varsho almost kind of becomes Kyle Schwer when he loses catcher eligibility. So I'm just curious, Kyle Schwerber versus Varsho, maybe it's a dynasty question. So assuming Varshow loses the eligibility, Frank, who would you rather have? Even though Varsho has a couple years younger age-wise on him? Yeah, I think I would still go Kyle Schwerber regardless. this. No, for redraft this year, if you're factoring in catcher eligibility, I would go with Varsho.

From a dynasty perspective, I would go with Schwerber because if you look at his batto-ball metrics, he actually does crush the ball. And I would expect with the shift being banned, batting average will creep back up a little bit for Schwerber. Maybe he's a 240, 250 hitter. I don't know that he's going to ever hit above that. But yeah, I would take Schwerber from a dynasty perspective. I don't know if you feel differently.

Towers. Yeah, I mean, 27 versus 29 doesn't really. bother me all that much. I think anytime you're talking about a dynasty, I think we tend to, we tend to probably overrate year four and five and six when we're talking about dynasty value. And if you ever like, it's always fun to look at like dynasty rankings or dynasty draft results from like three years ago because it's just like what the hell were we doing was everybody drunk? Like we have no idea. Well, like just stuff changes so much. Think about how much. Everyone's like this 27 year old judge, he's walking.

Yeah, like, yeah. You put him down in the 60s and 70s. Yeah, like that's all. Like, you don't know what's going to happen in 2007, right? Like, the world could be over. Your league could be done. You know, one of those would be worse than the other one, I guess. But, yeah, I tend to not worry too much about, like, oh, he'll be 34.

Well, okay, yeah, that's, that's a long time from now. We have no idea what's going to happen in two years. And there's a pretty good chance that one of Kyle Schwerber and Dalton Varshot has no value. in three years in fantasy. So it's just how this game works. So I wouldn't be too concerned about the age gap. So I would prefer Schwerp.

I think a really interesting one, a player with a very similar skill set to Varsho is Adoli-Skarsia, who coming off a 27-homer, 25 steel season, 31 homers, and 16 steals the year before. Like, he's been better than Varsho. And he's going, you know, two rounds later, but obviously catcher eligibility. But I think when you're talking about dynasty value,

Varsho is going to have a lot more value. Nobody believes in Adoles Garcia. I saw Frank laugh when I brought up the name. No, no, no. It's a good name to bring up, though. It really is. But like that's another player who like, if I could,

if I'm in a Dynasty League and I could move Varsho for Adoles Garcia plus a really nice piece, you know, who doesn't have a guaranteed value, but could turn into something. That's one I'd consider. I just think the reason why I made that face is because I have no idea how to value

Adoles Garcia from a dynasty. perspective. Absolutely no idea. He's 29 years old and he was one of four hitters to go 25, 25 last year. And nobody thinks he's good. Even though his underlying metrics besides strikeout rate are all very good. He's like he's got one big flaw as a hitter, but like Varsha has the same flaw. Yeah. And he doesn't have the elite exit velocities. Well, and Garcia is like two straight. I mean, he's averaging like a 246 I think is on our is is the batting average with a lowered strikeout percentage from the year before. Oh, a higher walk percentage and bigger counting stats. He's a total anomaly. That's actually a pretty sneaky one. If you're really wanting to get sneaky with it,

Varsho, I think easily could get Adelaus Garcia simply by age. I think it's very feasible to get Adola Garcia plus. But this is also like the mindset because I would have said six months ago in Dynasty, you did not think of Varsho in the same conversation as Kyle Schwerber and Adola Garcia, 29-year-olds. You were looking at a 26-year-old catcher eligible player who is getting you double-digit, stolen bases, and 25 plus homers. That's a completely different mindset of a player, but you're now looking into the new spot that he's in, the potential loss of this position. And it is speculative. We would all throw this out. It is speculative, but it's smart speculative because there are two locked-down catchers in front of him that we assume he's not going to, but we're speculating across

the board that this is now the spot and the people that he's around in conversation. And that's not what it was a little while back. So that's why those type of trades really might be accessible to the Varsho owners. All right. Let's quickly talk about the return on the other side here. Welles, your Diamondbacks received Gabriel Moreno, who is one of the top catcher prospects. Does he still have prospect eligibility? He does not. No, he lost that eligibility. I believe it's not on at Bats. If everybody knows, it's 130 at Bats. It was service time. A hundred and thirty bats or 50 innings pitch, but days on the active roster can also lose you the eligibility. I think you got it by like one day. I think it's like 60 days or something. Yeah, something like that. And Gabriel Moreno was regarded as

one of the top catcher prospects this time last year. He, I believe, has fallen in a bit, quite a bit in some people's eyes. 62 games at AAA. He hit 315 with three homers, 25 games with the Blue Jays. Gabriel Moreno hit 319 with one homer. He makes a ton of contact. Just an 11% strikeout rate. Way too many ground balls. 57% ground ball rate. Again, really small sample size. But that, has been the issue in terms of the power. That's why we aren't seen this big home run total from Gabriel Moreno, just hitting too many balls on the ground right now.

Welsh, your thoughts on him with the Diamondbacks this year? Will he be the starter from the jump? Will that be Carson Kelly? And also, if you have any quick thoughts on Lordis Gareel, also coming over in that deal. Yeah, I don't believe he'll be the starter off the jump. I think they're going to ease him in.

They love the two-catcher system. They've always wanted to implement it at whatever cost they can. Varsho was kind of playing that. that even bring a third catcher. And that team with Varshow would carry three catchers. Steven Vote was doing it a couple of years ago. So, no, I think this will be Carson Kelly,

at least on the onset is going to be the main guy with Moreno being the sub. And then later in the year, depending what changes really occur with Moreno is where, you know, they'll determine if he's going to be a starter. And I'm a big fan. I mean, this is a guy that hit over 300 and everyone's calling him a bust. You know, he hit over 300 in the minor leagues last year. And he's a bust in everyone's mind. except he is meeting these two big battlegrounds of like,

he's a bus because he didn't put up stats and 69 at bats. And then you have, you know, baseball America that's like he's the number one prospect. And everyone's like, what is going on here? I got to see a lot of him in the AFL two years ago. He is a very patient, phenomenal hitter to watch.

He's got a very interesting bat stance where he kind of almost layers the bat right on his shoulder and he doesn't make mistakes. He only made mistakes early, early on. Or I'm sorry, late late on in the NFL. championship game where Sliders started to get him. But he reminded me of Vlad in that, like, he would not swing until the pitch was in a spot that he wanted it, which was in the zone, which I always thought his plate presence was really great.

But he's got to get the ball off the ground. He was really a doubles hitter out in the AFL. He only hit three homers this past year. He can run a little bit. He's a little bit stockier, even though like the stat line or the, you know, height and weight line don't really show that. But he can run a little bit, seven stolen bases and under 250 at bats this past year. So I think the diamond backs might be able to utilize him similar in.

a Varsho role, except he's not going to be in the outfield. So I don't think he's a big fantasy redraft option this year until maybe later in the year. But I think he's a great buy right now because the Diamondbacks are doing great things to alter a lot of these prospects, doing a lot of different swing changes. Corbyn Carroll is working with a lot of these guys. I would bet on Gabriel Moreno, and I think he's a fantastic buy right now because no one really cares about the Diamondbacks. They're fun. They're fun to talk about, but they're not a team where a player goes to and everyone's like, oh, we've got a buy, bye, bye. now he's going to be able to be a cornerstone for this team with a lot of the young pitching. It's just not going to be this year.

A couple of thoughts in opposite directions. One, I generally don't believe in like right-handed hitters being just lefty-mashers. There aren't that many guys who like can't hit righties but crush lefties. Carson Kelly might be one. Like we're what, five, six years into his career. And he's never been able to hit righties at a decent level. I think his career OPS against Ritey's is like 600 or something, where seven years, seven partial seasons into his career.

So, you know, that could be a path where if they want to go with a platoon, you know, Gabriel Moreno could be on the bigger side of a platoon. And the other part is Chasefield's just a really bad place to hit at this point. Ever since they installed the Humidor, it's been one of the worst places. I think for right-handed power, it might have been last, at least in ESPN's Park Factors I saw. I don't know about, you know, baseball savants or any of the other ones. But those are the two thoughts I have as, you know, positives and negatives.

But, you know, an opportunity to buy an elite prospect or an elite young talent at a discount. Yeah, it's all about the changes they can make. And that's the big question. I mean, Varsho, you know, 5'8, Varsho hit 27 homers there. But it's all about the proper adjustments and the proper training that the team. I don't know the Blue Jays really gave to him. But, you know, back to your point just for a second is this is a guy that hits both sides of both sides of pitchers.

I mean, righties and lefties, he hit in Buffalo. He had about 90 games last year. He hit almost 290 against righties and he hit 300 against lefties. I mean, that is showing a, that those are the type of things that are going to get you on the field. And, you know, he's a, he can pop up. He can throw. He's an okay framer. I mean, he does all the stuff.

The team just has to be comfortable with him. So to, to Towers's point, it could happen sooner where they could go into a full platoon. I just don't think out the gates. And that's what I think the problem is with. him is everyone's going to be looking at him, but I don't think he's going to be an early option. I think the team is going to kind of stay committed to, um, to Carson Kelly, but I just don't think that's going to stick long. And we are just going to have to pay really close attention to what adjustments the team makes. I will tell you, Frank and Mr. Chris Towers, as soon as spring

training opens up, I will be over at the dimebacks facility, assuming it's open finally again. And I am going to be asking everybody I can about what's going on with Gabrielle Marino. Even Corby and Carroll himself, uh, I'm going to try to get to because I would love to know if there's any positive news out of him because that is, that's going to be a big buy at this moment, but you might have to take the dive like Tower said. You might need to kind of do it now. The opportunity might be now before any positive changes are made. The steamer projections for what it's worth for Gabriel Moreno, 2-76 batting average, seven homers, three steals in 73 games. So if you think he could play a little bit more than that, you know, maybe eight to 10 homers with a good batting

average, a second catcher, someone you could look at. It wouldn't surprise me if he plays more as the season goes along. Keep those things in mind. You're not drafting him in a one-catcher league, but Gabriel Moreno, potentially someone, you could draft at the back end there as your second catcher if you choose to wait. A whole bunch of other moves. Let's try and run through these right now. The Giants made some moves last week. They signed Taylor Rogers.

They signed Michael Conforto. Let's start with Taylor Rogers. Sign a three-year $33 million deal. Joins his brother, Tyler Rogers, which definitely will not cause a bunch of confusion and fantasy. No, that would never happen. How does this affect Camilo Doval? Here is a quote from Team President Farhan Zaidi that I saw on MLB.com. Quote, one of the concerns we've had with Camilla Duval is just making sure we're taking the long view on his workload.

Having two guys that are comfortable closing, it gets important when you have a safe situation, and then you've got an extra inning game where you use your closer the third day in a row. It's just nice to be able to have the discipline to say you're definitely not pitching safe situation or not. I think it mitigates some of the risk of overworking your closer if you have a couple of options. Towers, this does not sound good one bit for Camila Doval, who I will pull up his ADP, but he is being drafted relatively early.

Most people thought he would just be the closer. As ADP is 72.9. I have to imagine that that is going down, and wherever Taylor Rogers was being drafted is likely going up. Although I don't know if that necessarily makes sense, because I don't think at this point, point, we should be drafting a closer like Camilla DeValle, assuming 35 saves. You know, you draft that guy hoping you get really good ratios, really good strikeout numbers,

and 25 saves. Because most teams and the Giants have been, like most teams, they don't just have one guy. And I think the likely outcome here is you're probably looking at, okay, there's a team, you know, this will happen maybe eight times a year where our team has two lefties coming up in the ninth inning in a save situation. to go to Rogers instead of DeValle. But I don't think it like dramatically changes. It gives him a little more competition. It introduces uncertainty and uncertainty is bad for fantasy.

But it doesn't necessarily kill his value. I would still expect, you know, 25 saves from Camilla DeVall. And I'm not sure that's much different than what I would have expected before this. And if you are also in the same camp as Chris Towers, then this might create a buying opportunity for you to draft Camila DeVall at a discount. Taylor Rogers was being drafted outside the top 300. That's just because people didn't know where he was going to pitch. So I imagine that moves 50 spots, at least inside the top 300, something like that. Probably a lot more, probably 100 spots or something.

But I would expect maybe 5 to 10 saves and pretty good ratios from Taylor Rogers as well. Their other signing was Michael Conforto, who they signed to a two-year $36 million deal. I believe there is an opt-out between year 1 and 2 for Michael Conforto. He missed the entire 2022 season. after having shoulder surgery in April of this year. That was actually the second shoulder injury that he's suffered, a pretty major shoulder injury that he suffered.

He will turn 30 in March. We haven't seen him play since 2021, obviously. His last two full seasons Welsh, Michael Conforto finished 58th overall in 2019, 289th in 2021. I think that's just a good microcosm of Michael Conforto's career where he has been up and down and up and down,

and now he's going to San Francisco, Your thoughts on Michael Conforto. Yeah, it's odd, too, because it feels like they just signed him and Mitch Hanuker. You know, this just seemed like very similar-ish signings and making good on some of the power. I think it's just a huge question. Obviously, Mitch Hanuker is a bigger power bat, but, I mean, Conforto besides that, you know, 20-20 season where he hit over 300, he sat in the, like, relatively 240 range for three other seasons. Power numbers have been up there, but I also, like, eluding to, I mean, there's an injure.

that didn't get him signed for an entire season. We haven't seen him play for an entire year. That doesn't make me feel great. Did you say his ADP? His ADP right now is 236. He's the 53rd outfielder off the board. I don't know. That seems right.

That seems like I'm seeing in the relative ranges, he's like Andrew Benintendi is in there with the White Sox. Like, I don't know. I can go with, I could buy into Conforto over Andrew Benintendi. I look at Jock Peterson, his teammate, and I don't love, Randall Gritchick, I don't love the class in there.

So I guess for all the negatives I'm throwing on it where what is a recipe for a player you would avoid? You'd say like, oh, I don't know, like a down year and a guy that didn't play and then let's throw injuries on top of it. All those things happened and are in his, you know, in his rear view. So that's not, doesn't get me excited. But post 200, he's going to hit a predominant spot in this lineup.

They're going to have to manufacture as much as they can. It's a pretty tough division. If you're talking about pitchers in general, even the lowly diamond backs throwing out guys like Zach Gallin and Merrill Kelly. So, I don't know. I think 230 is a relative range. I'm not crazy optimistic.

I'm probably looking and projecting in like the 240s with 20, low 20 home runs and probably in the 70 run in RBI. That would be what I would presume you're getting out of Michael Conforto, which they'd rather have Mitch Hanager. I'd rather bet on big power potential than, I don't know, mediocre counting stats on Comforto. Can Forte a place to hit too. That's the other thing is one of the worst parks for left-handed power still.

even though they've made some changes. Yeah, Oracle Park still rates out as one of the worst parks for both sides, but for lefties in particular. I think of someone like Brandon Bell, who's kind of a similar hitter to Michael Conforto, has very good quality of contact metrics, not the greatest strikeout rate, but he's been much, much better on the road throughout his career

than he was at home in San Francisco. Yeah, if you look at Oracle Park the past three years for left-handed power in particular, they ranked 26th, according to statcast, and the N-City field ranked 16th. So that's a pretty big drop for Conforto, where he previously played with the Mets and now going over to the San Francisco Giants,

should still get some pop, counting stat should be all right if he could stay on the field. Batting average, probably not going to be great. You know, fourth or fifth outfielder in a five outfieler league, but outside of that. What would you rather? Hanager has an ADP around the 170 and Conforto's is around 230. What would you rather pay if you had to pay? I'd go with the cheaper guy.

You would go with Comforto then. Yeah, I'm not a huge Hanager fan, so I'd just go with the guy who's cheaper. Yeah, I would go with Hanigur. I think some of the injuries he's dealt with are pretty fluky. Like last year he had a sprained ankle that forced him to miss three months. It's just completely random. And then everything else he's dealt with in the past, like one year removed from that monster, what was like 38 Homer season?

or 35 homer season. So I guess I would go with Hattaker, but I don't love either, I guess. Yeah. And just for the reference, Brandon Bell, 72 career home runs at home, 103 on the road. He's actually been a more productive hitter overall at home because he hits more doubles and triples and a better batting average, but just killed his power at home. All right. Well, we got a bunch more to get to.

We've got Craig Kimbrough. We've got Nathan Ovaldi, but let's take a quick break and we'll get to that right after this. All right. let's jump right back into it and Craig Kimball signed a one year $10 million deal with the Phillies and he also had an up and down season this year with the Dodgers 3.75 ERA 1.3 to whip. The swinging strike rate went way down from 2021. The walks also went up just over four walks per nine for Craig Kimbril. He is reunited with Dave Dombrowski from their days back in Boston when Kimbril was the closer.

So maybe you can kind of peek into that a little bit. but I think this is going to continue to be a matchups-based approach. If you look at Rob Thompson once he took over last year for the Phillies, they really went by committee, they played matchups, they used a bunch of different guys, Sir Anthony Dominguez. They traded for David Robertson. We all thought Robertson was just going to be the closer. That was not the case.

But, you know, he still did pick up some saves, Jose Alvarado down the stretch. Chris Towers. I think it's going to continue to be this way. I think maybe we get three different relievers with between five and 15, saved for the Phillies this season. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, look, I could absolutely see Craig Hembril looking like himself early on and kind of running away with the role because he's got the, you know, the, the pedigree and the

history. And, you know, he's one of the, one of the best closures, really of all time outside of the past couple of seasons. And, you know, there was, he just didn't throw his curveball as often last season. He had a big reduction in that. And I don't know if that was, he didn't have a feel for it. He wasn't throwing it for strikes as often. He wasn't getting whiffs with it as much. I'm not going to rule out the potential for a bounce back, but you know, you'd have to get him pretty cheap and certainly not someone that you can draft

and, you know, expect a lot of saves from at this point. All right. Let's move on to Nathan Avaldi, who signed a two-year $34 million deal with the Texas Rangers, which includes a vesting option for the third year. Shout out to the Rangers because the past two off-season they are spending money, which you love to see. The rotation now includes Jacob de Grom, Martin Perez, John Gray, the aforementioned Avaldi, and Andrew Heaney.

Last year, a 387 ERA, one, two, three whip. Over 20 starts for Nathan Avaldi. The control remains impeccable. He also allows a lot of hard contact and a lot of hits overall. Swinging strike rate still looks really good. Ranked 31st out of 140 starting pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched from last season. Welsh, your thoughts on Nathan Avaldi signing with the Texas Rangelo. I like it. I think this is a sneaky rotation that the Rangers are putting up.

You know, Eovaldi is just one of those cheaper option pitchers that you just hope the best for. You cross your fingers when everybody else is taking some big stabs at younger pitchers in that spot. And it's just like, well, I can just get my strikeouts. I can just pick up my wins. I mean, the Rangers are trying to build themselves as a, you know, an offensive support with solid defense still. I mean, up the middle, you got Marcus Simeon and Corey Seeger still in there. Josh Young can play a pretty solid defense as well. Nate Lowe. I mean, that's a pretty great infield,

if you're being honest. Defensively, I don't know if it's crazy above average, but it's pretty good for pitchers to trust. And you have all these as a five usage pitcher of 10% more as far as pitches go. And two of his top three pitches he uses have a over 30% whiff rate, which you've got to love, especially at his age with great command.

I believe he was in like one of the, what was it the one of the lower percentiles as far as, a walk rate top 5% in walk rate overall. He's giving up more hard contact. Maybe it'll be suppressed a little bit in Texas. I think there'll be some run support. And you've just got, you know, great support as far as that staff goes. There's always that little thing in the back of your mind that's just like, man,

you got all these great pitchers that are working together, just rub off a little bit. As long as he can stay healthy and be good to go, I think Nathan Yivaldi is a pretty solid bet. And I'm, I haven't looked. And I'm going to look right now with a 25080p. That seems that seems kind of dealish a little bit. Maybe it's a little bit of proximity to the deal just happening, but I don't know. That seems like a little bit of a deal.

Yeah, no, I agree with you. I think typically players who remain unsigned at the NFBC, they go a little bit later. And then once they sign, you know, we'll see like 20, 30 spots of value. They'll move up a little bit. So I think that'll happen for Nathan Avaldi. But even without that, it seemed like a pretty good deal.

The whiffs are still solid there for Nathan Avaldi. Just a matter of, can you stay healthy? that's always been a big issue for him as well. Welsh, I know you'd like Hunter Brown quite a bit. They're going similar spot right now. Who would you rather have, Nathan Ovaldi, or take the shot on the youngster?

Oh, you. You know, that's tough because I do, I tend to shy away from like going big bets on young players. But this is, that's one of the few guys I might take my stab at Hunter Brown. If I'm being honest for the pure upside. I do think that's a, that's a team and a team,

context where I think you can be mediocre and you can walk into 12 wins. And I think he's going to, though I think there's a little bit more question as far as his rotation spot goes. So I mean, man, it's kind of pinning me in a corner. I think push comes to shove. If I maybe have already a little bit upside, maybe I took Nicolaolo. Nicolaolo is one of my guys this year and maybe I got one or two upside plays. I feel like I Eivaldi might round up my system. So I don't want to cop out. I guess in a vacuum, I would say, Hunter Brown. But I think there are scenarios where I might talk myself into Eovaldi coming up more. And the rotation that I build, it might just make more sense for me to pull the trigger on Iovaldi than going on a young guy like Hunter Brown.

All right. We had another big piece of news last week. Just kind of drop on Thursday out of nowhere. Trevor Bowers' 324 game suspension was reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator, making him eligible for immediate reinstatement. The Dodgers have until January 6th to decide if they will reinstate Bauer to their 40-man roster, but it's currently unclear if the organization intends to keep him in its plan. It's not unclear. I mean, it hasn't been. It hasn't been.

But like, we had, we had reports last, last spring that Dodgers players didn't want him back, or going back to the, the, when the allegations came out. So I would be stunned if they didn't release him, especially the decision, I think, takes like a third of his salary off the books this year. So, yeah, I think they, there, he's gone. Yeah. If you're not watching the video, you couldn't see. I was doing the Gladiator and the thumb down.

There's no doubt that he will not be on this team. The bigger question, probably what you're going to is, does anybody have the wherewithal to pick him up this year? Because he will be very cheap. And I know that's an insane question that we're asking right now. And there's going to be the situation where probably there's offset language in his contract. So whatever he signs for gets taken off what he's owed by the Dodgers. but I would assume Trevor Bauer is not going to be the guy who takes more money out of the Dodgers,

or lets money out of the Dodgers pockets. So I'd be shocked if he signed, but. Okay, that's what I was going to say. Would either of you be shocked if he is not or, or I should say it, if he's on a team in 2003 in Towers, you would be shocked if he's on a team. I'd be shocked if he's on a team at this point. I mean, it's just the blowback would be just. I think I got the team.

I hate to say this. I have thought about this since the news came down. think there's only one team that makes sense. And I think it's a Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati Reds don't want to spend money. He won a Tsay Young there. For all intents of purposes, whether you like them or not. Are his people still there?

The drive line folks are still in the organization? No, they, um, they moved on from them. Kyle Brody, I believe, was working with him is not anymore. Um, so to your point there is that. But my point is, is the, the city did embrace him at that time. He won a Sy Young there. I know it's gross to think about.

out and everything like that. But I think it's the only one that makes sense because you've already heard them talk about being creative with their money and how they're going to spend it. The whole thing came out with the Will Myers signing where they got cheap. And I think that's a situation where he could maybe feel comfort. The team might pull the trigger. Maybe there's less blowback. That's the only one I can really think of unless the team just does not care about public

perception to Towers's point. That's the only one. So I just want to put that out there. That is what I've sat on. I think him going back to a spot where he was before to kind of regain would be the only thing that made sense. We have no idea. It's a complete unknown right now. So, you know, once we learn more, we'll save it until then.

And frankly, I hope we don't have to deal with it with it, just putting it out there. Like I... We probably will. Yeah. Yeah. Will Myers, speaking of which, signed a one year, seven and a half million dollar deal with the Reds. And last year, you know, he wasn't so terrible on a per game basis. 261 batting average seven homers over 77 games. Great American Ballpark is the number one team for right-handed power, according to

stack cast park factors. Just look at what Brandon Jewry did last year. A complete afterthought, undrafted in basically every league. And he was a league winner. He finished as a top 100 player. So I'm not saying Will Myers is going to do that, but I'm saying that there's a chance. So just keep that in mind when it comes to Will Myers.

A few veteran lefties signed, Drew Smiley, a two-year $19 million deal with the Cubs. Sneaky good last year, 347, you know, like good in the Drew Smiley sense. 347 ERA-119 whip, 12.4% swinging strike rate. All the ERA indicators slightly over four. So probably going to regress a little bit.

Welsh, more so, what does this mean for Hayden Wazniewski? Someone that flashed down the stretch, I thought would turn out to be a good sleeper or breakout this year. And maybe he'll get his chance. Again, life finds a way, someone gets hurt, boom, he's in the rotation. But as of now, it looks like Stroman, Tyone, Justin Steele, Kyle Hendrix, Drew Smiley in that Cubs rotation. Yeah, I mean, I think you nailed it right at the end there.

I think there will be a spot and a time where he's going to get it. It's just not going to be at the beginning of the season. This controls innings. They don't have to go nuts with it by giving him the whole year. I don't know if the team, I mean, they can if they want, but like, do you look at that rotation? Do you think they have ultimate confidence in the health of that rotation for the rest of this year? Tying his head stuff.

Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smiley. No, I think Wisniewski is the next guy up. And this allows him to maintain innings. Also, this team isn't competing this year. I mean, maybe they want to pretend they all. are, but there's still another free agency class away from really getting back into the mix. So I think you sign a guy like Drew Smiley to lock up a rotation spot to suppress some of, whether it's control or innings or whatever it is for young pitchers that they don't feel he's

necessarily ready for. So it's a solid signing, but I think it kind of takes him off the list. And he's more of a waiver wire week-to-week look than he is someone that anybody should be stashing. All right. The other lefty that signed was Rich Hill, a one-year, $8 million, deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates probably will be a streamer at some point in the season. Not great news early on in the season for Luis Ortiz, who I think isn't a similar conversation as Hayden was Nesky. There's some upside there. He throws hard as a nasty slider. I know that Enos

Saris is a big fan of Luis Ortiz, but we're probably going to have to wait a little bit to see him in 2023. A few other signings here. Tucker Barnhart signed a one-year deal with the Cubs. He's likely going to split catcher duties with Jan Gomez. James McCann was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later, and he will back up Adley Ruchman. Eric Hosmer was officially released by the Boston Red Sox. Former Red Sox prospect, Jeter Downs, was claimed by the Washington Nationals who, uh, the past two years, he has hit under 200 at AAA and he played 14 games with the Red Sox this year where he had a 51% strikeout rate.

Welsh, is there anything? Is there any hope for Jeter Towns? I used to love me some cheater downs. I was a big Jeter Downs guy back in the Cincinnati. era, but he just completely fell apart as far as what contact rates he can make. You know, it's a funny thing about this trade, too, was he gets to rejoin guys that he was involved in in a trade with Josiah Gray. He gets to rejoin Josiah Gray and Kibbert Ruiz.

They're all back together and they were all involved in one of those trades. But yeah, no, I don't hold big hopes. He came back out in the Fall League. I believe it was two years ago, looked as worse as can be. Doesn't look like anything has changed. he's a great defender. He can run a bit, but he completely lacks any feel for hitting. And that hasn't changed.

And that's actually regressed. He was a much better minor leaguer back in low A and high A. But then it completely fell apart. So no, unless there's a big, unless he goes and works out with Matt Holliday, like everybody else does, I don't really feel confident about him being anything positive. Yeah, I do wonder if there's just like something the Red Sox were trying to have him do that didn't work. because the gap between what he was doing with the Dodgers and even back with Cincinnati and what he did with Boston

was just massive. I mean, he was a 20% strikeout rate rate or lower guy. And then with Boston and AAA, and maybe he just got exposed to AAA. Like maybe that's the answer, but his strikeout rate jumped to 30%. So it's the kind of thing where like if he's in, you know,

spring training and he shows some signs, maybe we'll be interested just because, like, this guy might steal 30 bases in a full season with the new rules. It just depends on whether he can strike out less than 30% of the time. The problem is also the organization. They've got two young developing middle infielder. And Luis Garcia and C.J. Abrams.

Like, there's no, like, he would really, honestly, he'd have to, like, come over and like start playing some third or something like that. Because I think this team, I mean, if they don't make the commitment to Louise Garcia and C.J. Abrams this year, it's crazy in what you're trying to do and develop prospects. That's also why I'm a very big believer in C.J. Abrams this year on buying cheap, cheap, cheat because I think he's in a steel 20 plus bases and he's going to get an opportunity to hit. But Jeter Downs, weirdly enough, even on a garbage team, this isn't the best spot for him to have a great opportunity.

But like Tower said, with all these guys, anyone that's had the tools that maybe is just missing a piece, if they can find it, watch out. This is how late blooms are created. It's just this is Brandon Dory. This is Brandon Dory all over. Finding that cure to whatever it is. Maybe he needs to stop trying to lift the ball up in the air. and he needs to change his approach and counts,

and maybe that'll fix him, and then he becomes a fantasy asset. All right. Well, Twins prospects, Royce Lewis, is unlikely to play for the twins until late June or early July as he recovers from his second ACL tear. Well, someone I know you like quite a bit in Royce Lewis,

but we're going to have to wait to see him in 2023, unfortunately. The Carlos Correa saga continues. It is crazy. We hopped on here before we started. First thing we're talking about is, dude, it is December 27th, and Carlos Correa

has signed with two different teams, but also hasn't signed with two different teams. So what is going on? I just, I don't know. Something going out with the physical, something with his leg, apparently, but once we learn more, we will let you know about Carlos Correa.

And this just came in, too, Sean Murphy, after being traded to the Atlanta Braves, signed a six-year, $73 million contract extension. So good on Sean Murphy, good for the Braves. I mean, they continue to lock up their young core.

How do they do it? I don't know. I don't know. How do the, the Mets. Carlos Craya can't get a contract anywhere. He should go to the Braves. The Braves could figure it out somehow.

This is crazy. 10 years, $112 million for Carlos Correa signed with the Bres. Yeah, with an opt-out, team opt-out every single year. Yeah, team options all the way through. Yeah, exactly.

All right, well, we have about 10 minutes left, so let's talk about this mock draft that we did. Well, you know, we'll get to as much as we can. The results are live on the site right now. You can see both Chris and Chris Howers and myself were in it. Scott was in it as well.

a few other industry folks were in it. I believe Chris Clegg and a few other people. So it was fun, you could check it out. It was a 12-team head-to-head points mock draft, a 21-round draft where you start nine hitters, which includes one of each infield position, including catcher, only one catcher, three outfielders, no corner, no middle,

one utility spot, five starting pitchers, two relief pitchers, and five bench spots. So again, 21-round draft and towers. I wanted to ask you just going in, your first mock draft of the all season. Your initial thoughts, anything that stood out when it comes to the player pool, the depth at certain positions, starting pitches, just

your initial thought on your first mock draft. I can't, I think this is my first mock draft. Maybe this is my second. I'm still in baseball and football mode. But yeah, I mean, I was a little surprised at how few starting pitchers went early. It was what, two in the first, two rounds, something like that? Two in the first round, four in the second.

So six total. In a points league? Well, same thing happened in a points league. I did it. It's crazy. That doesn't, that seems very atypical to points drafts. Yeah. And like, you know, what was it? Sandy Alcantara, Alcantara was the, gosh, trying to get back into baseball mode and trying to get the pronunciations back. Garicol and Sandy Alcantra were the two starting pitchers draft in the first round. Alcantra went 10th overall. You know, it's when you look at the, the starting pitcher points from last season,

you know, you don't see the kind of gaudy 650 point total. that we've gotten used to, you know, in the 2019 and 2018 eras. So, you know, I get why the starting pitcher prices have gone a little lower. And obviously, you know, the reemergence of that middle class at starting pitcher, I think, has really helped as well. But, you know, the one thing that in a points league especially, I think remains true is just that, yeah, there's the middle class of starting pitchers. they can still help.

But innings matter a lot in this format, especially in the CBS format, where you get what, three points per inning pitched? Yep. Like that's just, that's so massive when you're talking about guys not pitching,

you know, through the fifth inning in some cases, but putting up good ratios. So I was surprised to see so few starting pitchers early on. And I think that, you know, might be a situation where maybe I go a little more starting pitcher heavy,

especially if I'm drafting, the second half of the first round. I picked third here, so I didn't have that opportunity. But, you know, that might be something where if I'm picking 10th, maybe I double tap starting pitchers to start my points leagues and then, you know, go after my lineups. Frank, can I ask a question? Yes. Looking at both of your, you both did something interesting that I think is a great topic in points

in general to talk about. And it's the relief pitcher. And specifically you, Frank, because you spent a little bit more capital. I'm not seeing exactly where, but you have a bit. bigger name in Felix Pettisa. I know you're big into Felix Pettisa and you got Daniel Bard. Towers, you ended up putting together a cheaper cost in David Bednar, and then you got Scott Barlow. You just said, you said something interesting where you said the innings matter. Relievers tend to matter less in points, but obviously you can get more of them. You can get two or three in a single

week, but their overall stats are just going to mean less. Frank, I'm just curious, because you, I think, spent the highest capital, I'm presuming, with Padista. on a catcher, what is your point strategy seeing that the pitchers are going later and seeing that we might need to put a little bit more of a cost on it and why you invested early on a on a closer in points? Yeah, so I've been more so anti-Spark in years past. I have a home league where we are not allowed to use sparps in relief starting pitchers as relief pitchers in our league, which for those who didn't know in most points leagues on CBS,

there are relievers that you can start pitchers that are relievers that are relievers. that you can use in your archers. Strider last year. Strider is one of the big prime cheat codes. Michael Kopeck, though he wasn't great, would have been the prime example of drafting last year. And Strider still is SPARP eligible. So he is like far and away the best SPARP.

And then there's nothing. There is next to nothing. Like Hunter Brown has a chance to be a starting pitcher who has relief pitcher eligibility. And then after that you get Brad Keller and Adrian Samson. We did a podcast last week, uh, recapping relief pitcher and taking a look at early ranking. rankings with Greg Jewett, who frankly is like the relief pitcher officiantado,

and there's really not many. So it's Strider and then it's really bad. I took Felix Bautista in round 11. So I think he just, he lasted a really long time. And that typically will be the case in a head to head points league. So I like to get two quote unquote closers who have their team's respective job, at least going into the season. But I really will not invest a top 10 round pick and a reliever in this format. Okay, that makes a lot more sense because the round context really helps here. Because I saw Felix Bates. and if people aren't like up on it in a normal like head to head Felix Batista is going on the 60s and like an NFBC like categories format. That's a top 60 overall player. So in a 15 man, that's like a fourth or fifth round pick in closers. That doesn't happen the same in points. But I felt like towers you did a little bit probably where I would lean. Though you guys already answered the question, I'm looking for sparse. I'm looking for those guys. The starting pitchers that qualify is the cheat code. But you I felt did more of what I would have probably done. And let me just get the two cheaper closers. that don't cost me the higher thing

because the value is just not the same of what people would expect. Well, and it's so, I mean, closer value is always save-driven, but in points leagues, it's so save-driven because you, like, you can't get, I mean, you can get a win,

but it's very rare. You can't get a quality start. So like, you're hoping for an inning to strikeouts, so that's, what, seven points, nine points in a point-scoring format? And then the save is where you get. you know, an additional seven points. So like with, if you start to do the math, you got 12 teams,

two relief pitchers spots. Most people aren't going to have three or four relievers on their team. So like there should be someone getting saves on the waiver. You know, it's not going to be someone great. But generally speaking, in your 12 team head to head points like this is a very shallow format. That's why I'm not necessarily super aggressive on getting a closer in this format because the replacement level tends to be higher when you're talking about the waiver wire. Yep. Yeah. I think that's really well said when it comes to relief pitcher again.

If there are, if there's a year where there are a lot of good sparse, then yeah, we could jump in. I know Severino was a spark last year. There was a few good ones, like legit five or maybe even 10 guys that were serviceable pitchers as sparse. But this year, it's just not the case. Maybe they'll emerge later on. First, some additional context.

Emmanuel Class A was the number one reliever in points league last year. he basically tied Logan Webb and Miles Michaelis in scoring last season. And I'm not going to count it, but it looks like it's around 25th in starting pitcher is where the best. And that was 30 points clear of the number two relief pitcher. Strider only had about 405 points, but obviously that was, you know, only 150 or 130 innings or whatever it was. So, you know, on a burning basis, he was much better. And Frank, not to hijack this, but I didn't do this draft. So, you know, maybe it's warranted that I'm asking you guys this question.

There's one of the thing I thought was really apparent from both of your drafts. And I'm really curious if you noticed it or you feel it at all was, I think, a false sense of security with outfield. Because both your outfields, this is a 12 man, just saying, I think leaves a little to be desired. Obviously, Frank, you got Julio Rodriguez, which is awesome. But then it went down to Marte. And then your third was Andrew Vaughan. And Towers, you ended up having a Rosarena, Yelich, and Nimmo. And I felt like that was very representative of how I've seen.

All drafts, doesn't have to be points, but all drafts that the outfield position is something that I felt in all of my early drafts are getting away from me. And I don't know if you guys felt that based off of who you took. Yeah. I mean, you know, we were talking about Adoles Garcia earlier. He's outfielder 15 or 16 in ADP right now. So I think that kind of sums up like the state of the position. You know, I think Adoles Garcia is probably a pretty good value there and a pretty good player. But like nobody's all that confident in him.

And he's a number high end number. two outfielder. So it's just, it's a really tough position. And, and, you know, this draft, I did go relatively starting pitcher heavy. So I ended up having to, you know, make some sacrifices and outfield was typically I end up either like two outfielders in my first four picks or end up having the sacrifice. And this was the latter here. So, you know, as I get more comfortable with the, the player pool and all that, you know, we'll see how it looks. But yeah, it's, outfield can definitely, the word you used is right. Outfield can get away from you if you're not,

if you're not cognizant of it, especially in a points league where like, steals don't matter. It's just production. So you can't even get like some of those specialists. It's, it's tough. Yeah. Yeah. And this is something we've said already this off season. And maybe we need to be even more cognizant where

we said if you play in a three outfield or league, you should be fine. You'll be able to come away with a good outfield. Even if you wait, it's just there are other positions that are shallow as well, third base, you know, we could talk about it right now. Chris, you wound up with Andy Rendon as your starting third baseman, which you probably don't want, but there's this huge cliff that once you get past Bregman and Gunner Henderson, it just falls way off. And last week we were talking, Welsh and I like Jose Miranda as a fallback option. But, you know,

even that, it's, you know, how comfortable with you, are you with him as your starting third basement in a points league? It's, it's probably not that great. Second base, you know, there's a few elite options up top, but then, you know, there's not much after that. It's, it's deep with okay talent, but not elite talent. So if you want to shore up second and third base, you're probably going to wind up week somewhere else. And, you know, maybe it's outfield. Maybe it's catcher, something like that. So that's just, I do feel a little better about second base, you know, when you look at the, the guys like Tateh and, and Jeff McNeil and Brandon Lowe, guys with legitimate upside, whereas I, you know, outside of that, what is it, top nine?

I guess if you include Muncie who went 93rd overall in this draft, like then you got this massive 80 spots in the draft before another third base eligible player was taken. Rendon, Matt Chapman, Cabrian Hayes, DJ LeMayhew, Josh Young. Like, it's pretty gross once you get outside of the top eight or nine. So, yeah, third base, that might be something that I haven't really, I don't worry too much about positional scarcity. It's not something that I think too much about.

But it might need to be a focal point of my research for sure, how to handle third base because it's, yeah, the fall off there is pretty dramatic. All right. So let's just quickly run through our rosters and, you know, we'll talk about what we did and what we like, what we don't like. Chris had the third pick in this draft. His starting infield, Salvador Perez, Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Cronenworth, Anthony Rendon, Trey Turner. So obviously three positions there. I mean, you are stacked at. Paul Goldschmidt, Tray Turner, Jake Cronoworth, I think he's fine, Anthony Rendon, you know, we'll talk about it later. Starting outfield and your utility hitter, Randy Rosa Raina, Brandon Nimmo, Christian Yellich, and Zander Bogarts, which is interesting because you already had Trey Turner. He was your first round pick. I think Bogart's probably just lasted too long and he is a really good points league player.

That's probably why you took him. But probably where things, you know, go a little sideways for me. And this is something that, you know, you have to keep tracking. of and is you know when you see that player falling can I still you know do I have a spot for them technically you do it's a utility spot but maybe not the best way to build a roster mm-hmm and I was looking at other positions here to see so instead of taking Bogartes you could have taken stalling Marte I took him the next round or Adolice Garcia or Eloy Jimenez and you probably feel better about your

outfield but yeah I mean that that is something you have to weigh like do I double tap this position just use them at utility, but then maybe I'm sacrificing an outfielder or something like that. Your pitchers, you went pretty hard here after pitchers. I think you took three pitchers in your first five picks, which is something... Yeah, for my first nine. Yeah, something I typically, you know, don't remember you doing much in years past, but, I mean, this pitching staff is pretty awesome.

So you've got Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler, Framber Valdez. Then you took Nessor Cortez in round nine, Jose Berrios. Later on, I think it was like round 13 or 14 that you got him. Your relievers, David Bednar, Scott. Barlow, your bench, you had Alex Cobb, Patrick Sandoval, Martine Perez, Justin Turner, and Brandon Drury. The pitching staff is absolutely great. I kind of wonder if you were trolling us by taking Nestor Cortez and Martin Perez, Chris, because,

uh, no, just they went late enough that it was worth. And these are, you know, and specifically like Cortez and, and, you know, especially I think for Ambervaldez, Aaron Nolan, Zach Wheeler can be really, really good in a point. And so I think it was three, four, and five were where I took them. So, you know, that just felt like really good value for them. Felt like, you know, there aren't a lot of players who can pitch 200 innings in a season. I think I got three of the ones who could.

You know, I'm not saying it's the most likely outcome for any of them. But that could give me a big leg up here. So and then, you know, even throw Barillas in there. You know, he's a guy who's gone to, I don't know if he's gone to 200 innings, but he's definitely gotten to 190 before. All right. Well, quickly run through my team. Well, she could be the judge.

Let me know what you like, what you don't like here. Starting infield, Wilson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, Ozzy Albies, Rafael Devers, and Tim Anderson. Fun fact, Towers actually started a run when he took Bogarts, which he didn't need, by the way. And a bunch of shorts'offs away, and then I got Tim Anderson, which is fine, but, you know, I would have much rather had Zander Bogartz in this format.

My starting outfield and utility hitter, I had Julio Rodriguez, Starling Marte, Andrew Vaughn, and Mitch Hanager. Welsh, what do you think of my offense? I like it. I obviously like the infield on towers more, but when you put together, I like your outfield a bit better, Julio and Starling Marte. Marte, a little bit less. I mean, the stolen bases than the extra value doesn't mean a ton for me here. But, you know, we already kind of talked about Hanager in there. So yeah, I would award, think you guys are kind of split even right now. I like

his infield. I like your outfield. All right. And then my pitching staff, you know, I kept playing chicken with a third outfield spot. There was always somebody I wanted and they would always go right before I, like, say a Suzuki was someone I was eyeing and then I didn't get him. I will admit, I didn't get our guy. My hitters, much better in a roto format than a head's head points league.

So there's a great roto team. This is a killer roto team. Great roto team. Something I've got to. Anderson, Marte. Julio Rodriguez as a first rounder is very interesting in a points league. And I'm not sure. You know, he definitely a first rounder, you know, number one pick potentially and in a lot

roto leagues, but in points, you know, you need some improvement there in the in the plate discipline, especially. And like, he had that in the minors. He was more typically in the 20 to 22% range or lower. So there's definitely room for it. But, you know, is he going to make the the leap to being like a Fernando Tatis type where he's just so overwhelming that the play discipline doesn't matter? You know, that's the question for a points league. My pitching staff, I took my first starting pitcher in the third round. That was Brandon Woodruff. I actually took two starting pitchers in round five and six in Max Fried and Joe Musgrove. I got Jesus Lazzardo, I think in round 12, Joe Ryan a few rounds later there.

My relievers, Felix Batista, and Daniel Bard, my bench, Matt Mervis, Miguel Vargas, Drew Rasmussen, Kentimaida, and Dre Jameson. So two big upside prospects there with the hitters and then shooting for a little bit of upside as well, I guess, with the pitchers there. I feel okay about this pitching staff. I'm not really a big Joe Ryan guy. I don't even know why it took him to be honest. But I feel all right.

Like if I walk away from my head said points league draft with this to my pitching staff, I think I'm okay. Well, Drew Jameson, or I didn't Drew Jameson. I was looking at Dre Jameson and Drew Rasmussen at the same time. Drew Rasmussen might be a better play over Joe Ryan as far as the starters go in general. I actually don't mind the Joe Ryan pick.

I really like this rotate. He's just Lazzardo was like a fourth pitcher. Maybe you want him more five, but you know, you push it back a little bit. Did you take Lazzardo? after Felix Batista or before? I took Batista in round 11.

I took Lazardo in round 12th. Okay. Okay. So they're about the same. I just would have been curious. My mind goes to like, what pitcher could you have got instead of Batista? And then you could have pushed Lizarro as your fifth starting pitcher.

That would have probably been very, very sexy. But I don't know. I think you have a lot of upside. I love the Rasbustin pick, even though I can't say his name. You got a lot of young talent in Mervis Fargus and Jameson. I think actually your two drafts are really funny because

your benches are like the floor and the ceiling play. Towers is very flourish. It's got a boring feel to it. Like Justin Turner and Alex Bob, but I love that. That was making up for the Rendon pick. It's just like, God, I got to get three opportunities at third base and just hope one of them sticks. Yeah. And then you've got all that upside, Frank, on Mervis and Miguel Vargas. If those two work out, you're going to be through the roof as far as your fantasy value. And Rasmussen is a sneaky potential startable player. I just, would have liked for you to get our guy Jeffrey Springs. That's the only thing I'm disappointed in you about that you didn't get Springs in this draft. He's so close to having SPARP eligibility in points leagues too. He had eight relief appearances last year. You need 10 in CBS. So yeah, I'm pretty disappointed. Scott actually wound up with Jeffrey Springs. So I do like Springs quite a bit myself.

And someone who went after I took Lozardo, well, so I could have doubled down like you said, your boy, Nicola Dolo. So that would have been saying. Oh, okay. So now. So now, Now I'm through the roof here. I'm sorry, Frank. I don't like it as much. If you could have took Ladolo and then Lazzardo, I'd have been through the roof for you on that one. But that is all we're going to get to here on this draft.

Again, if you want to check out the results, you could do so, CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. And in case you're freaking out, we're going to do a bunch of mock drafts this all season. So we're going to do them live. We're going to recap a bunch of stuff. So don't worry about it. This is kind of like our intro to mock drafts here.

Let you know a little bit about the player pool and what we're thinking early on. but we're going to have a lot more drafts here in the off season. For Chris and Chris, I am Frank, thank you all for listening and watching. Fantasy baseball today. We'll be back again on Thursday. Bye-bye.