Fantasy Baseball Today - Dynasty Strategy and Rankings with Ian Kahn! (12/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 10, 2020

It's time to hit a little dynasty conversation and to do so we brought on actor and Fantasy Baseball extraordinaire Ian Kahn (2:08)! ... Before we hit on dynasty we did have some lower level signings with Carlos Santana to the Royals and Adam Eaton to the White Sox (8:00). Apparently Andrew Vaughn could be the White Sox designated hitter as soon as 2021 and there's a chance Jake Diekman closes for the A's. ... Let's start at the top. Who are Ian and Scott taking first overall in a startup dynasty league (15:24)? Why is Mike Trout dropping so much? ... Ian really likes him some Adalberto Mondesi (20:32). Why is that? ... Let's hit on some strategy in dynasty. How does one retool or rebuild in this format (24:25)? ... The waiver wire is underrated in dynasty formats and Fantasy managers should pay closer attention to it (31:42). ... Let's hit five interesting players for dynasty in five minutes (38:42). ... We wrap things up with a little Eric Hosmer debate (44:40)! ... Email us at [e-mail]. 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/ 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

Domingo Santana, Lucas for Cockta, a jag like Michael Waka, Polanco, and from... A little Kokomo Friday here on a Thursday. Welcome to Fantasy Baseball today. December 10th. Frank Sandville joined as always by Scott White,

a little Dynasty talk here today on the podcast. Speaking of which, Scott, where did you wind up finishing in the Dynasty League that is named after you? Scott White. I finished first. Third, third consecutive championship

in the Scott White Dynasty League. I believe that makes it a dynasty. And considering it's a 24-team league, feeling pretty good about that. All right, I see how this one's gonna go. I don't have like a badump-ch sound effect here on my little soundboard here,

but if I did, I would definitely play it for you. I heard a little rumor out there. Scott is the true that you might be trying to get me, try and get me into your dynasty league? Is that possible? Yes. There's at least one opening among the 24 teams.

And I would say Frank Stamphill is high in the queue to fill that opening. I mean, how are we supposed to talk about it on the podcast as often as we do if the host isn't even in it? I could never get Adam Azer in it. So hopefully I can at least get Frank in there. Adam was unwilling, by the way. It wasn't, I couldn't find a spot for him. He could have gotten in on the ground room floor,

and he chose not to. Boo, boo, Adam, boo that man. All right, so forget about him. Hopefully I can get a spot in there. I would appreciate it. Scott, we talk about it quite a bit, but I find it a little fishyy that you keep winning a Dynasty League that's named after yourself.

We'll save that for another time, though. Look, if we're going to talk Dynasty, I thought of who I consider one of the best fantasy baseball minds out there and one of the best dynasty minds just in general. General. Joining the show today is Ian Khan, also actor two weeks in a row. We had Ellen Adair on last week. You might have seen Ian on turn, Washington Spies, which is currently on Netflix. Go out and watch it. Shameless, Dawson's Creek back in the day, many other shows. Go check out his IMDB page, but mentioned great fantasy baseball player. We're in a few leagues together. Guy just dominates in

auction leagues. I know that you won Tout Wars head-to-head points league back in 2019 as well. dynasty contributor over at Roto Wire, and you can listen to his podcast. He is actually on a podcast with Nando Defino, who used to be on this podcast under the radar. Ian Kahn, welcome to the show. What's up, man? Hey, Frankie.

Hey, Scott, nice to be on with both of you. Frankie, nice to be back with you again. It's back in the saddle, as they say. Back in the saddle, indeed. And a Yankee fan. It's nice to have a fellow one of those here. Make sure you follow Ian on Twitter at Ian Kahn. that's K-A-H-N-4, Ian Khan 4 on Twitter.

I got to claim one thing, Frankie. What do you got? My father grew up in Washington Heights, New York. When I was born in 1972, a Yankee hat went on my head. If you know about the Yankees in 1972, it was not necessarily the most glorious of ages. Then I lived through the dirty years of the 80s. If you had Dallas Green as a manager in 1988, you're with me. If you had Steve Kemp attempting to play first base, you are with me.

If you had kid Griffey trying to play first base, you are with me. Yes, indeed, from 96 through 2009, it was a golden age, and it's been great to raise my two sons as Yankee fans. But I come by this by birth, not by choice. What we have here is a long-suffering Yankees fan. It's like being a Patriots fan before Belichick got there, right? Like, there's a little... I will tell you, from 72 to, you know, I remember being five, one of my earliest memories of my life was my father having my older brother and I stay up late to watch Reggie Jackson,

watch Game 6 of the World Series in 1977. So I'm five years old. And I remember Reggie raising his third finger, right, and rounding the basin going, this is the best in 78. And then it sort of set my terms for life. Because when you were in an experience where Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner are your manager and owner as you're growing up as a child, you actually think you're going to get back together with every girlfriend as you move forward in life. Why? Because they kept getting back together. So it's like, I will break up, but we'll get back together. We'll work it out. It doesn't work like that in life. And I've now learned that five times managing the same team is a unique experience and not something that one should expect. Yeah, admittedly, I am one of those

fortunate Yankee fans who, I mean, I've just been spoiled my entire life. So I can't really, I have no defense. At least you, I appreciate, you know, the suffering that you went through. You were like four years old when they won the first championship. Is that correct? I can't really appreciate it much. But 2009, you know, I was old enough. I went to the parade. I enjoyed that. So, yeah.

Good times. Good times. I got jeans older than you, pal. And if you haven't noticed by now, we are going to rip apart Ian Kahn's dynasty ranks. Not really, though. We're going to talk about a few things that he has in his ranks and just ask him some general philosophy questions for dynasty.

Because, Ian, I know, like, I've heard you talk about this stuff. And, like, I do think that your brain just operates on a different level when it comes to dynasty. So I do appreciate that. But before we get to that form. I mentioned you won head to head points dynasty uh dynasty tout wars in 2019 and we did it up aren't you we just did our head to head points mock draft recap on Tuesday so is there any tips and tricks for that format before we actually get into dynasty I'm definitely I'm definitely not just

like picking your brain because we play in a league together or anything like that what I thought you were going to say Frankie was I thought you were going to talk about the fact that I was about to be back-to-back winners of Tao Wars head-to-head and then on the very very very last day, I got caught from behind and ended up tied with Ariel Con who beat me by, out of, I think, 4,800 points, beat me by about 72 points. And it would have been a back-to-back championship in my first two years in Tout Wars, which would have been pretty spectacular. I would have been very happy about that.

It was a tough loss. I thought that's what you were going to say because you were in the room. And you had a good year. You had a good year in your first year. I appreciate that. Head-to-head. Head-to-head's fun. I enjoy head-to-head.

It's a fun league. I also enjoy the league that we do GDD with Steve Koss. That's a really fun league. Head-to-head tips. Yeah, I have a tip. Trade well, but that's my tip on all of it. That's the game. Trade well.

Figure out what your opponent, your trading partner needs. We've talked about this before and work from that perspective. Try to see how your team can get better and their team can get better. And then when I find it, I'm not going to tell you this, Frank, because you can use this against me next year. I would never. But you do it. do it every year. You do GDD. Of course you're going to do that. But that's one of my big tips.

Of course, pitching in most head-to-head leagues is very key. Really depends on the settings of your league. And in our particular settings this year, it's hard to keep, hard to remember. It was really, it was a hitting-dominated league this year, whereas last year was very much a pitching-dominated league. I did take a look at your head-to-head draft, the mock that you guys did. I look through Scott's team. I was interesting. And I had a couple questions about that if we have time. But at the same time, but at the same time, I think with head-to-head, it depends. If it's head-to-head points, it's one thing. If it's head-to-head categories, it's a different game.

So, you know, I think pick well. Very different game. Yeah. Pick well and be mindful. Be mindful and pick guys that you like. Yeah, that's the key. And I know a player that Scott likes for head-to-head points leagues is Carlos Santana, which brings us to our news and notes.

And we talked about him on Tuesday, and you wound up with him as your first base in. Scott, Santana signed a two-year, $17.5 million deal with the Royals. His hard contact dipped this past season, but he underperformed his stack cast quite a bit. What do you think about the fit, Kansas City? Oh, I was very pleased to see this. Not so much because, you know, Kansas City is a special place for him or anything, but by giving him a two-year deal as opposed to a one-year deal,

that shows a commitment that I think tells us what their plans are for Carlos Santana, which is still an everyday player. It was no guarantee after he hit $199, and then the Indians chose not to exercise the final year on his contract. But it would have been a shame if he got moved out as a full-timer, considering the stat-cast data still looked great. I mean, his exit velocity was lower than the previous year, but if you look at his career as a whole,

his expected stats on statcast were very much in line, with the rest of his career. And he led the majors and walks, so he still has the on-base skills, which is what makes him so great in the typical points league. So it sounds like he's still going to be someone who's very much in the mix in that format, at least, and somebody who I think you'll do fine with as your starter in that format.

Sticking in the American League Central, the white side. I say one thing about that, Frankie? Yes, you can. I just want to say something about the Royals. I think it's a good fit. I do. I think it's a good fit for the Royals. I think it's a good price.

Two years, 17 million is a good, he'll bring some leadership to the clubhouse, which is great. But from a fantasy perspective, there's some frustration on my part. And the frustration is I'm a big Hunter Dozier fan. I like Hunter Dozier. And I really thought that we were going to see a big drop in his value in his output last year. But one thing he was doing is he was running. He was running more than I expected.

He had four stolen bases. And if you think about the fact that he came into the season a little bit late, with the power that he has and with the speed that he has, I thought with O'Hern there, who also turned it on quite a bit in just the late part in late August and in September, I thought that they were going to go with a little bit more of a flexible offense.

And it's just taking up a spot. You know, I was kind of interested to see what Franchi would do. So now it's like it's, it's that situation where you've got a couple too many guys for too many spots. Now, I do think he's going to, I think Santana's going to play every day.

And I think Santon is going to be a centerpiece of that team. I just think that they're going to, be a few less spots for other guys. Sticking in the American League Central, the White Sox signed Adam Eaton to a one-year $7 million deal. Ross, the resource has him batting second in the White Sox lineup, which would be quite bad for one, Yuan Moncada. Ian, any interest in Adam Eaton? I mean, I don't think there would be one.

You know, it's funny about that. The thing I think about with Adam Eaton now is Todd Frazier. I just can't get Frazier out of my head. I mean, a big part of the game, Frankie knows this. Scott is a big part of the way I play the game as the way as an actor. I look at it from a psychological viewpoint, right? like what's going on in the minds of the players and the owners and things like that. And it surprised me because the vibe I got is that Frazier's a real good clubhouse guy

and he was taking those shots at Eaton like Eaton was not a good clubhouse guy. So for Chicago to bring him back, it has a little vibe of like Chapman being traded to the Cubs and then coming back and getting Gialito and, you know, that great, that great trade, really for both teams, I guess, since the nationals did win a championship. I think Eaton's fine, you know. I mean, if you're going to grab him as a fifth outfielder, in a league or you know a bench player there could be

some upside I mean he was a nice fantasy player I didn't really look closely at his speed last year what is what does the what does the speed look like last year was he running he didn't he I think he was three for three on steals I mean he didn't get on base much last year he was he was three for three out of meeting but I think in terms of like stat cast

they had him still in like the 75th percent percentile for speed like it's still it's still something that can be part of his game You know, he's never going to be a guy who leads the league in steals, but. But you think he'd get it. Yeah. I mean, if he can give you 15 to 20, then he pops up to an outfield four for me, especially in that lineup.

I like that lineup. You know, and I like Tim, I like me. I love that lineup before he showed up. I wouldn't be surprised if he was even at the bottom of that lineup. It's kind of taking the No Mara Mazar spot, which, of course, would then drop some of his value. But, yeah, it's fine.

You know, it's fine. It's another good. I think we're going to say this a lot in this all season. There's a lot of good contracts for major league teams right now. Yeah, based on the way that the offseason is going right now, some guys might have to settle for less than they expected and less than we're seeing players usually signed for. Just sticking with the White Sox, I keep seeing reports

that Andrew Vaughn, who is their top prospect, is an internal option for their DH role this season. Everyone's all smiles. Everyone's excited right now. Scott, what do we need to know about Andrew Vaughn? Oh, he's one of the best hitting prospects there is. I mean, it's rare you see a tree. true first baseman go as high as he did.

In 2019, he was drafted third overall and could have gone first overall. I mean, it's that kind of skill set. It's like a no doubt middle of the order bat as much as you could say that about a prospect. And I would, from the day he arrives, I would be excited about him making a contribution in fantasy. Yeah. For a long time.

Yes. And with Vaughn, he has not played a game above high A ball in the minors, but apparently he was with their alternate training camp site this year, and apparently he was just lighting things up, and he was really impressing coaches. And he was competing against other high-end minor leaguers, other potential major leaguers that they just had ready there. So, you know, there are some eyes.

A little bit out of the box. I mean, to be honest, I mean, in his first year of 2019, he did not like the league on fire, but the pedigree is there. And I'm a big believer in pedigree, and the guy is there. He's the stuff. For sure.

A few other small signings here. Matt Whistler signed with the Giants on a one year, one and a half million dollar deal. He could be in the mix for saves with the Giants, but Gabe Kapler, your guess is as good as mine. With the, sticking with potential closers, according to Aege GM, David Forst, Jake Deekman is the top candidate to fill their closer role internally.

He was very good this past season. Of course, he's a lefty, and there's still enough time in the off season where they could bring somebody else in, but that is the name that they're looking at now if you're doing some kind of... He's hard. He's... He's also mature, which I like. He's 34 years old, Deekman. And he was fantastic last year.

WIP under one. I think ERA, like one point something. He was really, he was really special. I think he's going to, I think he'll thrive in that role. I think he will. And in that, again, small market team, small market team being able to pay the low prices. It makes a difference. Oh, we shall see what happens. I do want to remind everyone, we have a new podcast at CBS. If you're looking for a leg up on your bookmaker, we've got you covered on the early edge podcast, powered by Sportsline. every day. You can join Jonathan Coachman and an expert crew of sports line handicappers to break down the biggest games of the day. Every episode is 10 minutes or shorter and is in your feed by 11 a.m. Eastern Time. If there's a sharp side to the action, you'll be armed with it. Go check out the

Early Edge podcast. Dynasty. That was a pretty long introduction, but we're finally there. We're finally going to get there. Let's start at the very top. Ian, you have number one pick in a startup dynasty draft, you can go a million different directions in a roto startup dynasty, who would you take first of all? Roto average. Roto average.

Because I was thinking about if it was a head-to-head how it might change things and if it was head-to-head how I might go Juan Soto because I really like Juan Soto. Right now at the top of my list is Fernetta Tussis Jr.

And there is an argument in my heart and in my mind over those top three players which is Fernando Tatis Jr., Ronald Acuna and Juan Soto. And really, I think it's taste as much as anything else. I'm a little worried about,

it's funny, I'm a little worried about Tatis long term every once in a while just in terms of the risks that he takes while he plays the game. So in a way, the safest piece there is Juan Soto for me. But if I'm going by my list,

I'm going with Fernando Tautis. Scott, what are you doing? I'm going to Cunia. I'm going to Cunia, just because there's a longer stretch of him doing something very similar to Tatis. And I don't really like the way Tatis closed out 2020, as brief as it was. I mean, he had like a month and a half where he was just blistering, like, the best player anybody had ever seen.

And then kind of collapsed in September, which, you know, the final number still end up great. But Acuna has done that sort of thing for much longer. So I go Acuna. but Tatis would probably be second if we're talking, if we're talking Dynasty, given how young he is, given that I expect him to be a contributor and stolen bases for a long time. I think you have the right three at the top.

Thanks. I would just go Akunia over Tatis. Yeah. My problem with the Kunya, it goes back to this, there's a moment I have. This is something I worry about with players, especially in Dynasty.

If they are a hot dog in too much, and Tatis could be called to be doing this. too. I worry, I worry about getting hit by pitches in places that you don't want to get hit by pitches, you know? It's something about Acuna. I'm always a little bit worried about him that I feel like somebody's going to go after him. It goes back to Jose Arena and the, and the Marlins. He's not with the Marlins anymore. No, I know. He's not with the Marlins. But the point is that that's just that one ding for me. And you can say the same thing about Tatis, I ding those guys. I mean, Paul Spoor gets mad at me every time I do it. But like when Trent Grisham hit the home run

and then did the turn with Clayton Kershaw, I lost me. I lost me. my mind, I was so annoyed about that. So I have a little, I have a little old man yelling it, get off my lawn to my game a little bit, a little bit. But those are those are my top three. And mooky bets, I moved mooky bets up to four ahead of Trout. I mean, the idea that Mike Trout is number five on this list is remarkable to me. And, but, but I think a real changing of the guard in the game. And I think it's not running.

I think it's fair, especially in Roto. Yeah. I mean, you see in the NFBC, and it's a little bit different because National Fantasy Baseball Championship, people are more aggressive on steals, and there is an overall component. So people are trying to get speed in their lineups. But, I mean, I'm seeing drafts there where Trout's going fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, because people want speed. And I'm in one right now because I'm doing it because at the XFL auction that was Saturday night, great room, the best, Sean, Ron Chandler, Todd Zola, Brian Walton, like the old, like the godfathers of the game. And only one of the owners

could do the auction. So I'm watching Steve. do the auction and I was like I'm just doing a 150 I just got to get this out of my system trouts went nine he went nine I couldn't believe it nine I mean and I can measure my way towards that but I was I wanted to get the fifth pick because I felt great that if trout fell to me at five I was going to be delighted so so just that that's a dynasty startup you're talking no no no this is a this is just a redraft yeah no It's just redraft. Yeah.

That doesn't make you need. That doesn't compute for me at all. No, it went. I think, well, let me, let me think it went, Acuna, Tatis, Soto, Betts, Turner for the speed. Speed. Colde Grom, Bieber, Trout. And I was at 15. I got the wheel, which I tend to do just so that I only have to be, you know, have to really focus on it 25 times instead of 50 times.

Go ahead. Go ahead. To me, it's a toss-up between. Trout and Soto, who steals the most bases this year. So I don't know why Soto is getting that presumption there that Trout isn't. Trout had a stretch earlier in his career, a couple years where it looked like the steals, it looked like the steels were trending down. And then they came roaring back right after.

So I don't think you can count on a more than like 10 to 12 steals from Trout anymore. Yeah, that's right. it's not a foregone conclusion that that's all he is now. No, that's true. But to show you how valued I put, one of the guys that people ask me about on this list is Aliburdo Mondi who I have at 29, I think 29. And I like that you list him as Raul Mondesi Jr.,

which is a throwback name. That's what he used to go by. Yeah. So people are asking me about that. Well, I'll tell you something. every single league that I was in last year, the player who had, maybe not in the Scott White Dynasty League,

but in every other league that I was a part of, whoever had that player won the championship. And to me, also just based on what he did, yes, he had June, he had July, he had early August.

But then he became by far the best player in, in fantasy for those last five weeks, stole 24 base. Did he still 24 bases in 60 games? I think that's what it was. I think it was 24 bases. We got caught a couple times, but he runs constantly,

changes the game. So James Anderson was like, James was like too high. I'm like not. He's like, steals get old. I said, not yet.

You get five years of him running. Yeah. I'm sure there's the shoulder and there's always the danger of injury. But my point was, I got the wheel. I took Gialito at 15 for the fun of it because I love him.

And then I took Mondesi at 16, which is by far the highest that he's been taken. and I think in an overall, because if you're trying to win the overall of it, there's upside there because you just got your speed. And now if it gets hurt, it's over. Right.

That's baseball. But if he doesn't, he's going to get you 60 steals. Yeah, Mondesie is still just 25 years old, and he did steal 24 bases in 32 attempts, 32 attempts in 59 games. Over on Fangraph, Steamer hasn't projected for 54 steals in 149 games.

Again, with a caveat that if he stays healthy, You know, something I want to do on this podcast is get to know Ian Kahn for everyone who's listening. You might not know much about Ian Kahn outside of, you know, what I told you so far. You might have looked up his IMDB page while you're listening here. But we're going to get to know you. So every time I want to ask you a question, Ian, I will play one of your favorite sound bites. The rear, sir. Sir, sir.

I said, to the rear. To the rear. That is Ian playing General George Washington. First question, Ian. favorite movie of all time Hmm I thought we had lost you there for a second No no no no no I'm just I'm giving it

I'm giving it some I'm giving it some thought I get some quick answers right You know I got the quick ones You know Godfather 2 right Godfather 2 is right there I may not run Conventional answer Yeah that's what I said

That's not I don't want to go right down the middle With Godfather 2 Yeah I'm gonna guess Euro trip is not on this list It's not on the list It could be It's not yet on the list the list. Good

fellas, I think these are the movies that when they're on I'll watch. So it's a lot of mob movies. I don't know what the hell that's about. But the depotted, I like the depotid. It's a great one. It's a great movie, man. It's a great film. And yeah, let's just go with that.

Good fellas, too. I like all those. All righty. Scott, do you have a favorite movie? I don't know. I don't think I've ever asked you. What is it? I do. My favorite movie is the prestige. I'm a big fan of Christopher Nolan's entire catalog, but that to me is the number one.

I don't think that I've seen it, but I've heard good things. I just remember what my actual favorite movie is. What would that be? It's not the prestige, because that'd be fun, but it's not. It's Tootsie. Tootsie is my favorite movie of all time. If you said you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, I would go with Tootsie. Another one I would go with is all the presidents meant.

I like that movie a lot. I want to try to watch that every year. It fits a theme. All right. All right. So I wanted to ask you, both of you really, because I've asked Scott about this before.

I'm like, you know, how do you rebuild in a dynasty? And he goes, no, no, no, no. You don't rebuild. You re-tool.

So, Scott, just remind us, refresh our minds in your dynasty league. How do you stay competitive year in and year out? Because it seems like some people might play for a certain window of time

and then think, all right, well, my team's getting older. You know, I got to ship these guys out and I got to rebuild my team from the ground up. You like to retool.

What does that mean? Well, to put it more accurately, I don't want to ever be in a position to rebuild. Now, that's easier to accomplish in certain setups for Dynasty than others, ones that have a salary cap system where you can get prospects, rookies in for a very, very, very low price, like Ian was referring to getting Adley Rushman and who is the other guy Ian that you got. Von. Andrew Vaughn. Yeah, Andrew Vaughn.

it's easier to do in that than other formats because you can set yourself up for a long time when you get a really good talent for that much lower than the elite talent normally goes for. But the idea is to trade away players that you know you're not going to be able to afford to keep whilst so actually making yourself your team a little worse in the now so that you can feed it for tomorrow and just consistently do that, consistently turn over the roster. And if you're always playing for tomorrow that way, if you're constantly playing for tomorrow,

your team will stay competitive today. And if you're constantly doing that, it'll just be so bloated with talent that you don't even know where to put it all because you were consistent in that approach. Ian, what do you think? There's a lot of different ways to do this. Yeah, no.

Different ways to build dynasties. Tell me. I was fortunate enough. I took over, and in fact, I think Scott took over this team of mine that I shared with Tim McLeod and TDGX. So we drafted that team and we won the first two years, his 20 team league. We won the first year with 191 points. We won the second year with 188 points out of 200.

And the third year we came in second place. The fourth year, I got into a fight with one of the league mates while I was on set. I said, I can't do this. There's no payment. I've already won the league twice. I don't need to keep doing this. I did not realize that was your team I took over. Yeah, that was my team.

Clayton Kershaw, I'm trying to remember who else was on that team. It was a pretty good team. I thought we left it in decent shape, quite good shape, I felt. Oh, it was in good shape. I didn't. It wasn't my favorite dynasty league. Yeah, they could be a tough league. There's some players in that league who won't leave you alone.

It was a 24-team league. It was a 24-team Roto League. So it was, you're either the best team or it's not worth trying to compete. It seemed like most teams weren't trying to compete. That's correct. And what happened was we were the class of it for the first two years. So that team was built from the original draft and then from trades,

trades that I made. And what I do, I'll tell you my little trick. Well, there's a lot of ways to go to this. And there was another league that I built. And frankly, we've talked about this league where I drafted in the original draft, I drafted all prospects. all prospects. And then in late April and early May of that year, the first year,

as soon as I saw teams start to fall down, because everyone's drafting for that year. I don't draft for the first year ever. I draft for the second year. I draft for the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, that's how I draft it. So then I can move one top bat for about four of their great players. We did that in RDI.

James Anderson and I did. We drafted all prospects. In our first year, 20 team league, full industry, finished in second place because I flipped people. We kept Bobeschette. We kept Royce Lewis. We didn't trade those guys. But we moved AJ Puck. We moved, I mean, we moved every prospect that you ever heard of to get elite players. Because the thing about Dynasty League is you need to have, you need to feel like you're doing something. You need to have a direction. My thing is I get on the phone with people and I figure out what is it, what is it that you want? What is it that I need?

How can we find a way to work together to find it? Now, once let's say there's a league that I do with Alex Cushing, who's, I don't know if you guys know Alex. Frank, you know Alex. Yeah. Frank, you know Alex. Yep. Yep. So Alex and I have, Alex is one of the best Dynasty League players. Alex is frankly one of the best fantasy baseball players. You would agree with that, wouldn't you, Frank? Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Alex and I have been going back and forth for the last eight years in one Dynasty League, and one of us is winning. Sometimes I've gone two in a row. Sometimes he's gone two in a row. I'll tell you a trade that I made two years ago. I just won the championship. I traded, it was just before last season.

I traded Charlie Blackman and Charlie Morton for the first pick in the first year player draft. I am not thrilled with who I picked. I also had the fourth pick. This is a different league where I have Adley Ruchman, which I got with the fourth pick. The first pick I took Jason Dominguez partially because of this, partially because of the hype. Homer. Yeah, it was a bit of a Homer pick.

I could have gone Vaughn. I could have gone Abrams, frankly. Abrams is a guy who I freaking love. But the point is that once you have that level of talent, I won this past year, my partner Robert Merchak, where I brought on this year because I got too many leagues. We won with 147 points out of 150. This is an industry league. This is a good league.

It's a good league with good players. It was our year. And it was 60 games. So there was no coming back. Like nobody could fight their way through. But the point is to always be building for the future. Always build for the future. I do believe that there are times to fully rebuild.

When I took over that team in 2012, I took. tore it down. And I actually reached out to Nando Defino because I used to listen to the CBS show when you were doing it, Scott, with Al and Adam and Nando. That's how I first started. That's how I was like, I love this. That was how I began to learn the game in 2011, 2012. And I fully tore it down. I got myself Will Myers. I got myself Dylan Bundy. I got myself Jerks and Profar. I got myself the great prospects of that time. And I said to, I reached out to Nando de Fino, the famous Nando de Fino on Twitter. I said, I'm rebuilding for 2014. He said, 2014, what you do you? What you do? for 2013. That's how he talks. Truth was, I did a full rebuild in 2013 and in 2014 was my first championship in that league. There is a way to do that. Yes.

I'm not saying there's never a time to rebuild because there is. But I'm saying once you do the rebuild, particularly if you're taking over somebody else's team. Right. They just didn't, they just didn't nurture this team. There's no future for it. it, you got to rebuild. But once you do that rebuild, if you're nurturing it consistently, you say constantly

build toward the future, I say constantly play for next year. I think we're basically saying the same thing there. You know, some people, the way they approach dynasty, they go all in for the current year. It's the biggest mistake you can ever make. And then they rebuild for the next three years and go all in for one year again. And you better be right. Right, right. You know what's the key?

You know what people don't understand? to Dynasty Leagues is the wire. Because I remember in April of last year, no, 2019, yeah, 2019, April of 2019, so it's two years ago now almost God. I saw a report about Zach Gallin, this guy, Zach Allen in the Miami system, who pitched nine in a complete game and struck out 15. And I went, what? That doesn't make any sense.

How is a guy going to pitch, how do they let him pitch nine innings in the first week of April, the last week of March? dig into the numbers pick up Zach Gallon for a buck flip Zach Gallen for a better player or hold Zach Gallen and grow them or hold him and you have them at that very low salary to start but see I'm talking about the leagues that I've been doing

for many years that I've had most success with and dynasty is pure dynasty you buy you own you keep there's no salaries to these leagues the XFL I just joined right and I've played keeper league here and there but it's the the pure dynasty picking up Dylan Moore

I play an AL Labor and I found Dylan Moore in, I think it was the first week of August this year. I needed an outfielder. I needed a bat. You know, when you play AL only, you play an only league, you really have to focus on every player that's out there. And I was like, who's Dylan? Dylan Moore. I know Dylan Moore. What do you mean?

He stole three bases this weekend and hit two home runs? How did that happen? All right, I'm picking them up. Well, you know what? I'm picking them up there. I'm picking them up everywhere. Then I have Dylan Moore and every one of my teams. That's how you build then.

up Dylan Moore there, traded, flipped Garrett Hampson at the end of August in Devil's Rejects, which is another league, flipped Garrett Hansen for a broken Steven Strassberg because the guy wanted a young bat and I'm looking to compete next year. And I've got Dylan Moore to go into the Garrett Hanson spot. And now I've got Strasberg to go along with Nola and Maeda in a 20-team league. That's how you build. That's such a great point though about picking up players in season because you know, prospects, my point of view in most of the dynasty leagues I've played in is that prospects, the big name prospects that are ranked in the top

100 at the start of the year, they tend to be overvalued. But new prospects emerge over the course of the season that weren't getting that hype at the start of the season. A guy like you mentioned Zach Allen, it's a perfect example of that. But I've gotten guys in my dynasty league, Jack Flaherty, was an of that, a mid-season pickup, who nobody was on at the start of the year.

Mitch Hanager, that year he broke out in the Diamondback system. I got him that way. I could probably come up with a few more examples, but I'm blanking that. Like, that's a really good way to keep feeding the team without going out and acquiring the big prospect, who you may have to give up. But then you could give three of those guys, Scott. You can give three of those guys. You pick up those guys. Also, one of the key things is in September when everyone else is focusing on football, I'm not focusing on football. I'm focusing on who's coming up now and getting some at bats. And I'm stashing all of those guys in my minor league system.

Because those are the guys who are going to get the starting jobs. There's going to be hype about them in the off season. I'm going to package three of those guys to a rebuilding squad for that one pitcher who's really going to help me this coming year. It's really that wire. People don't talk about it enough. If you're doing your work and you're understanding what's happening out there in the baseball world, you're constantly filling your team. Your team should be getting better every week.

Every week, there's somebody out there who can make your team better. If you're if you're being wise about it, if you're really staying focused on it. If you care, I'm obviously a little bit obsessed with it. So, you know, the success comes from preparation. Preparation is everything in life, gentlemen. Preparation is everything in life. If you're willing to prepare and you're willing to do the work, you will reap the reward, period. I mean, just in fan, just speaking for fantasy in general, I, the best habit you

can have in fantasies to consistently play the waiver wire throughout the year. Because, I mean, I feel like as long as the baseball season is, it's a little different in a, I guess, in a true Roto league where you have to, you might fall so behind in a particular category and rosters are so deep. But assuming you play in a league where there's an ample waiver wire, if you're constantly working that thing, like, you could start the year with a crap team and it could end up, you know, you could end up surging into the playoffs at the end and winning it all just by just by paying attention and being active consistently like it's I I feel like sometimes

people make it harder than it is with all the you know advanced stuff which certainly helps helps you to understand what's going on with a particular player and can help you it can help refine those rough edges of your game yeah but I mean the the key to success in fantasy is just paying attention and being active. There's no reason to ever be in sixth place or later. You don't have to be in the second second division. There are too many teams that are given up. What Scott's saying is exactly right.

You focus in, you pay attention, you find the guys, you can climb. Doesn't mean you're always going to make the money. Doesn't mean you're always going to win. But there should really, you should always, if you're fighting to win, it's a long season. People get tired. People get bored. There's no reason not to be in the top half of your league because there are too many people who aren't.

Ian, that reminds me. That's a great point that you bring up. Sir, sir. I said to the rear. Ian, what's your favorite band and or artist of all time? Beatles, man. I'm old. And it's the Beatles for me. You're not that old. Come on. There are some old favorite movie picks there, too. Yeah, that's true. I'm a very happily married man, which makes me quite fortunate.

So I get to spend a lot of time with my wife. We're going to hit a quick break. When we return, we're going to do some rapid fire, some of these players that Ian is intrigued by in Dynasty, where he has them ranked, and what are his thoughts on them? We'll do that here, fantasy baseball today. The other day we did five topics in five minutes with Scott White, and we're going to do five players in five minutes right now

with Ian Khan, and talking about their dynasty value, starting right now. All right, Ian, you already spoke about Monesty, so I'm not going to ask you about him. I know that you are a Byron Buxton fanboy. I have no idea what to make of his 2020. The power was up. He didn't steal any bases. He had two walks and 135 plate appearances.

what are we doing with Byron Buxon? Byron Bucson is exactly what you just said. I think it had everything to do with the shoulder. And if you look at the last two games of the season, that's when he ran. He didn't run it all all season. He had 13 home runs, I think. Ridiculous power, did not walk. He plays stellar elite center field.

Look, I look back at the pedigree, man. He was the number one prospect for a number of years. When he came out of high school, he was the third pick in the draft. I'm a believer. I pay for him every year. I consider him, I buy him where I can. OBP leagues obviously I don't pay nearly as much because of the walking, but I'm waiting for him to let loose.

And if the twins let him run, then he has upside of 35 home runs and 35 stolen bases with an average roto league. There is that upside. I mean, that's the ceiling upon ceiling. But that's what I, excuse me, that's what I believe about. I'm a believer. You are a believer. Scott, anyone you'd like to ask you about? Oh, yes.

I should have just jumped in there. No, but Scotty, what do you think? you agree with me on Buxton? Or do you think it's a fallacy? I think he's getting better. I just don't think he's getting enough, better, fast enough. If the shoulder's okay and he runs, he's going to be valuable. He's going to be valuable, yeah, but how valuable? He could be a top, he could be a second round pick, third round pick next year.

We are at 1.30. I know, we're wasting time. We could. We could. We could. Good. All right. Joe Adele was awful. And you still have him. Where do you have them? Did you mark it down here, Frank? You have him really high. 75th.

How high? How high? I think that high. I think in the 60s, 70s? Seventy-fif. Yeah, I guess just more broadly, when you have a prospect who comes up and is as bad as he was, I mean, he loses value, right? Like, versus not coming up at all.

He's less valuable now having appeared and been terrible than he was. Without question. Yeah. Without question. No, it's the best time in the world to go by Joe Adele. It's the best time in the world to go by Yordon Alvarez. It's the best time to go by Gavar's. It's the best time to go by Gavis.

It's the best time to go by Gavis. Evan Lux. Go buy all those guys because they have the stuff. I think of it like this. I think of it like high school. Your freshman year in high school, when you first come up, I think of a player is like a freshman in high school. It takes time to start to feel comfortable. It's going to take till your sophomore year. So I break it down to three, four year, three or four year things. There are guys like Brett Sayre who I trust and respect. Brett thinks that Joe Adele is the number one prospect, still the number one prospect in baseball. I attribute to that.

I believe that Adele has the upside. Of course, we saw everything that he did this past year. He was terrible. Go buy him. Go buy him in Dynasty. I'm going to jump ahead of you, Frank. Yeah. Go ahead.

Kind of the opposite side of that coin. Jordan Alvarez. So you have Jordan Alvarez 58th. And you have Gavin Lux, another prospect who debuted and was terrible. 53rd, Marco Luciano, you know, way down. down in the system, Christian Robinson, way down in the diamond back system. You actually have those three ahead of Jordan Alvarez, who a little bit we've seen of him was, he was a monster.

Yeah, I was worried about the knee, just to the knee. I'm worried about the knees. I did see him running on a treadmill last week or two weeks ago, which was very hopeful. I had Jordan Alvarez at my top 30 at the beginning of the last season. Marco Luciano has to do with what you can get for him. I mean, Christian Robinson has to do with what you can get for him. if someone's looking at my dynasty list, I want them to understand what that value is, not in a roto full dynasty keeper league where you don't need no salaries.

What is Marco Luciano worth? A freaking mint is what is worth. Okay, because it's your philosophy that if you draft the desirable prospect, you can then go out and get several assets for him. So you're drafting him to trade him basically. Yes, yes, correct. Okay. That is correct.

It is, it is as much a trade board as anything. and what you can get for the player right now today, what the player is worth today. That's kind of how I think about it. It's not my favorite players where the guys that I think are going to be the best this year at all. It's about what are they worth on the market and I'm setting a market.

I'm setting a market. It's my market. It doesn't mean it's the right market, but it's mine. You mentioned players that you could trade for, Ian. How about Victor Robles, who you have 85th overall? You're trying to buy a loan on him right now. I mean, what happened in 2020?

I saw some beat reporters say that he, he came in overweight, that he put on some like quarantine weight before he came back. And maybe that's why he didn't steal. But what are we doing with Victor Robles? I just, I just think that he's a player that I still have belief in. He's a guy who's going to get more serious about his game. And is, he's a kid, man. He's a baby.

He's younger than you, Frank. I mean, he's 23 years old. He's 23. So I do think that I think he's going to get playing time. He's going to get his playing time. he's going to get his opportunity and I think that there's still real upside there. Who's next?

We've got two minutes left or 30 seconds. Oh, we're like way over five minutes. I guess the last one I'll ask you about was Steven Schrosberg who I asked you for five players, a couple of players that you liked and you threw him on the list. He had carpal tunnel surgery and you have him 99th in your dynasty rankings. You mentioned you just traded for him. Whenever you get him coming off the injured years,

that's when you get him at a discount. And that's when he's awesome, usually. Usually. Look, when he's right, when he's healthy, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball. It's just that he's not going to be right or healthy that often. But for Garrett Hampson, for me, in August of last year, when Hampson had a good week and the guy wanted to trade for him

because he had a good week, that was a good trade. And I'm happy with that trade. I'm happy with a 45% chance that he, 50% chance that he comes back fully healthy. I think it's higher than that. I think he's going to be okay. I think he's an upside play. in Dynasty right now. More than in redraft,

I think in redraft he's going to be a little bit more expensive. I think that there's a discount in dynasty on a pitcher like that. And so he's a guy, he's a guy that I like. Last question that I'll ask you. Wait, wait, Scott looks like he just smelled something bad.

So you got something, you got a thought on Strasbourg? That's just, uh, that's just my regular face. Oh, okay, sorry. I got RBF or something. No, no, no, no, you just,

I was, I thought, I thought you had a pretty strong, uh, opposing comment on Strzberg. Scott. I like a quite like I feel like the high end starting pitcher is the most irreplaceable asset in fantasy right now, regardless of format. So anytime you can get him discounted because he's dealing with injury.

I actually went out and acquired Justin Verlander in a dynasty league this offseason, which who knows? I mean, he's going to be basically 40 when he gets back. But I gave up like Hosmer for him. And, like, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You big Hosmer guy?

Oh, yeah. I'm going to say this right here right now. Eric Hoss, somebody, somebody was listening to my podcast who made that trade with you. Eric Hosmer is going to have the best five years of his career coming up. Wow. Write it down. Bold predictions. I believe that.

Here's why. When a guy has the, he, again, using the freshman, sophomore, junior, senior year, right? He's right smack in the middle of his junior year. And he's going to be, he's going to be great on that team. He's, they are going to have, they're going to have a really good baseball team. you're going to have a really strong lineup. And I do believe that the launch angle shift from him. I believe in it.

I think he has an upside of 30 home runs this year. I think he can hit 270. OBP, maybe a little bit letter, a little bit less. He didn't sustain it, though, Ian. He didn't sustain the launch angle shift. He kept it up for like three weeks. And then it was back to the Hosmer of all. The numbers were he had a really strong year, but then he got injured.

But before the injury, he was strong. Look, it's a difference of opinion. I'm a Hosmer. I'm a Hosmer guy this year. Okay. to me, Hosmer is a top 10 first baseman this year. Okay? Top 10 first baseman.

So, but look, we bought Justin Verlander in our auction on Saturday night that we're going to hold and maybe keep for 2021. So there's upside to that. Would it make you feel any better if I got, knowing that I got Verlander and a pick? What's the pick? What's the pick? What was the pick? It's probably in the 400.

range overall. 400. Well, it depends on the format. Counting keepers. Counting keepers. Oh, okay. Counting keepers. Yeah, I mean, look, Verlander has value.

I just, it depends. Is this the Scott White Championship League? No. Now, this is a Scoresheet League. Oh, Scoresheet League. I don't know score sheet. I don't know score sheet so well. Nando talks about score sheet.

But, oh, yeah, I think you're in, I think Nando's in that league. Was it with Nando that you made the dream? I am in a score sheet league with Nando, but this is one he's not in. I'm pretty sure Nando is in every score sheet league that was ever made. Because they're only like 90 score sheet leagues.

He's in all of them. Because when I work with Nando, Alex Anthopoulos used to be in a score sheet league, okay? That's their claim to fame. Hey. I used to work with Nando every day he'd come and he was like, oh, Frankie, I'm making a trade in Scorsheet. I'm making a draft pick in Scorsheet.

I'm like, dude, how many score sheet leagues are you in? He's in so many score sheet leagues. I've been trying to work with Nando on his, Nando's genius. Nando finds guys. Nando has belief. But Nando is like the boomer bust king of the world. He doesn't believe in the boring. And so I've been working with him in his

redraft leagues. It's like, I get it. There's great upside. But in the fifth round, we don't need the upside. Just get me some, let's get some numbers. Let's just get, Michael Brantley's going to work great in the ninth. Oh, Brantley's no good. Come on. Brantley's boring. Yep. And that's what you need, Nando. Because you're going to find the guy and you're going to find Thai France. I love Nando, but he sounds like the worst possible person to share a team with. No, no, I don't, I don't share a team with Nando. But I, but I work with Nando every week. I love Nando Nado Nafino. He's the godfather. He's, I call him the godfather. He's the godfather. He's the godfather of fantasy

placement. Oh man, let's wrap up with this. The real, sir. I said. Damn. To the rear. All right. Final few questions. Get to know Ian Kahn. Ian, your favorite role that you've acted. On stage or on screen? Let's go with screen. I mean,

there's Washington, of course, but there was a role I played on a TV show, it was my first kind of, well, it was kind of my first big starring role on a television show. It was the year was 2000. And it was called Bull, which is, you know, there's a show Bull now on CBS that my friend Chris Jackson who played George Washington and Hamilton is one of the stars of that I actually guest starred on. But there was a show called Bull back in 2000 that I was one of the stars of the show. And I played a guy named Marty Decker. And it was about the stock market and it was an awesome part. And if anybody wanted to watch that, I believe the first 13 episodes are on YouTube. And it's fun. I really like that. I really like that show. I actually

showed my younger son that about a week ago. I was like, hey, you know, I think there's something on YouTube. And he's like, that's you. God, look at you. I was like, yeah, that's me. So I'm going to say, but at the end of the day, as much as I love Marty Decker, George Washington had more of a, more of an effect on my life, for sure, changed my life. True story. Yeah. I think. texted a buddy of mine earlier and I said, oh, I'm going to have Ian Con on the show. Have you watched anything that he's been in? He's like, oh man, I see he was in bowl. That's interesting. So it's random. I think he's probably talking about the new bowl, not the old bowl. Maybe, maybe. Well, can I plug my podcast real quick? Yeah, for sure. So the fantasy, the athletic fantasy baseball

podcast, I am lucky enough on a weekly basis to do a show with the great Nando de Fino, who has been mentioned. And the voice himself, Derek Van Riper. And we do it really, really, really, do a fun show. We have a great time together. It's a it's an enjoyable listen people seem to say and they've kept us going. We're almost two years in now and it's a it's my home and I enjoy it. And Dynasty rankings are at Rotowire where I was brought in by James Anderson and Clay Link. A couple of years ago they asked me to come join in and I enjoy being a part of their organization as well. And it's a thrill to be here on the CBS fantasy baseball podcast guys. It really is. And I thank you for for welcoming me as a guest. I really do.

And we appreciate you coming on. Make sure you follow Ian on Twitter at Ian Khan, K-A-H-N-4. Ian Khan, 4 on Twitter. For Ian and Scott, I'm Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball. Today we'll be back again next week. Bye-bye. Bye.