Fantasy Baseball Today - Early 2026 ADP Gifts! Undervalued Players to Target! (12/24 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

Let's hand out some ADP gifts, starting with Ben Rice (3:07). ... Michael Busch and Alec Burleson offer some first base options (7:40). ... Jackson Merrill's price is much lower than last year (12:12). ... Geraldo Perdomo will be a polarizing player (17:52). ... Jorge Polanco, Gleyber Torres and Marcus Semien are all undervalued middle infielders (21:40). ... Kyle Bradish is ready for lift off (25:52). ... Konnor Griffin and JJ Wetherholt could make an immediate impact (29:54). ... News (36:05): Ryan O'Hearn is headed to the Pirates. ... Kyle Stowers offers big power and Luke Keaschall big speed (44:23). ... Maikel Garcia could take another step forward (49:16). ... Bubba Chandler and Trey Yesavage are surprisingly undervalued (53:40). ... We wrap up with the rest of our ADP gifts (1:00:43). Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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. And first pitch, Rishing Dick. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Ho, ho, ho.

Happy holidays. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today. I am Frank Sample joined. Hi, Chris Towers. Today on the show, we are handing out 80P gifts. You get a gift. You get a gift. Everyone gets a gift. Players, we believe, are undervalued based on early NFBC ADP. 24 names on the list. We checked them twice.

Will we get to them all? Let's try. What do you think, Chris? How are we doing? I think we're going to get to them all. I feel confident. We are very good at not wasting time. We are very good at making our points succinctly. So I have a lot of confidence in us. All right. Let's jump right in. And we will. start with Ben Rice. One of your names here, Chris. The ADP is 64, which some people might hear that and say, really, top 70 pick on Ben Rice? He's still undervalued? What do you think? So this is one where I think Ben Rice is undervalued right now and is unlikely to be undervalued come February and March when the majority of drafts happened because we are already seeing his price rise. I think he started in like

the 80 range for the first couple of weeks of drafts. He's been pushed up to what's the overall right now, 64. I think that's going to keep rising. And this is a good argument. There are a handful of guys who I think are a good argument for drafting early because I think Ben Rice is going to be a top 50 pick come spring. Everybody loves him. Everybody agrees on the same information.

As soon as it gets confirmed that he's going to be the everyday first baseman, And it effectively has been already. But like, I don't know, maybe people are looking around and saying, yeah, what if the Yankees bring someone in? I think as soon as we get confirmation, that price is going to skyrocket, even more than it already has. So right now, a good time to buy Ben Rice. The reasons we like him, the quality of contact data suggests that he was like a top 15 hitter in the entire league last year. He was not just a good hitter for a catcher based on the underlying. data, 93.2 mile per hour average, eggs of velocity.

299 expected batting average, 581 expected slugging percentage. He's a left-handed hitter who puts the ball in the air at Yankee Stadium. There is every reason to believe that Ben Rice could be a standout hitter as a first baseman, let alone as a catcher. So I think a 285 average and 30 plus home runs with really good counting stats is well within the realm of possibility. The one thing I will note, though, is he has underperformance as expected stats both of his seasons and the majors. Last season, he was still very good, but it was like a 30 plus point gap between his Wobah and his ex Wobah.

His rookie season, it was way bigger. Ex Wobah suggested he should have been pretty good. Wobah was unplayable and he got some back down to the minor. So I do wonder if there's something to Ben Rice's swing or like, you know, we talk. about pulled air rate right well not every pulled air ball is made the same hitting it down the line every time the way isaq paredes does more on him later uh is very different than you know that pull quadrant represents uh what's the 30 degrees of of angle i think is right because it's a 90 degree angle so one third would be 30 so like if you hit it almost all the way you know to that like

27 degree mark. Technically that is a pulled fly ball. But the wall at Yankee Stadium there is probably 385 feet or whatever it is. Whereas it's 312 down the line or whatever. So I do have a little bit of concern when that price gets pushed up into the 50 range that I think it might. That Ben Rice will no longer be a good value. But I think right now he is a good value. And if he stays in this range will remain so.

I agree completely, and I know if Scott were here, he would agree completely as well. There's going to be a lot of competition for Ben Rice in drafts in 2026. I hopped into two Gladiator drafts over at the NFBC already with the sole intention of getting Ben Rice in at least one of them. And I accomplished that goal. So I can die happy. What did you pay for it, though? In the one draft, I got him at pick 63, so basically on par with the ADP here. and the other one I think he went at the four or five turn

and so I didn't get the opportunity to take him in the fifth round which I probably would have done if he was there but he was not so so yeah I'm in one right now he went 66th overall but over the past 10 days in 31 drafts his ADP is 55.7 he is the number two catcher now ahead of William Contreras ahead of Shea Languilier's over that span so I that's why I'm couching it with you know, we started with Ben Rice. I don't want to say Ben Rice is my favorite or most undervalued player because I don't think that's true. I might have said the name of the guy I think is the most undervalued hitter already.

Next up here for me, I've got a double dip here at first base, and it is Michael Bush and Alec Berluson. So Michael Bush, his ADP is 110. He's coming off a season where he just finished 77th overall in Roto. He was the ninth best first baseman in Head-to-Points leagues. He hit 261, 34 homers, 866 OPS, full-on breakout season for Michael Bush. He dropped the strikeout rate, expected stats, completely backed it up. The quality of contact, amazing stuff here for Michael Bush. 92.2 average exit velocity, 17% barrel rate.

Both of those were in the 90th percentile or better. I think he repeats these numbers, and next year we're talking about Michael Bush as a top 75 draft pick. So right now I do see this as an opportunity to buy on Michael Bush. There's no more Justin Turner either, so I just think he's going to be an everyday player. Maybe the batting average comes down a little bit playing more against lefties, but it should help the counting stats there with Michael Bush. And Alec Berluson, the ADP here is 202.

He has first base and outfield eligibility. He continues to improve each season. He just hit 290 with 18 home runs. In 801 OPS, he avoids strikeouts, improved his quality. of contact, 91 mile per hour average EV. He raised a launch angle a little bit as well, which I think is going to help him get to a little bit more power. He improved against lefties.

He got that OPS up over 700 against left-handed pitching, and the Cardinals are in a full-on rebuild. They're selling off a bunch of players. They already basically announced Alec Berlinson's going to be their everyday first baseman heading into next season. I've made this comp before, Chris. I see a lot of Josh Naler in Alec Berlinson's profile. file.

Minus the steals, of course. I don't think we're going to get some crazy, like, 30 steel season out of Burlinson. But 280 hitter, 20 homers, good RBI numbers, handful of stolen bases. I think all of that is completely doable for Alec Berluson. So do you disagree with either of these ADP gifts? Michael Bush and Alec Berluson. Burleson's so cheap that I think it's fine, even though I don't love the player. I don't like Michael Bush's value, actually.

I think he's overrated. I think he's a platoon bat. And I just think it's really hard to get around that. I know he put up what, like a 700 OPS or no, 640 last year. He was bad against lefties. And the underlying numbers totally back it up. He had a 276 expected Wobah against lefties. So for as much as he improved overall, it did not show up against lefties.

So even with, you know, if it's not Justin Turner, maybe they do try him as an everyday player. I don't think that's going to last. I just, I think he's destined to be a part-time, you know, the big side of a platoon who occasionally plays against lefties. But I think it was only like 11 out of 42 lefties. He started against last season was the number. And it's just the one-year breakout. I'm going to be skeptical of when it costs, you know, a top 10 round pick. He's only done it for the one year.

There are other players I like, so I guess who have the one-year breakout. So I can't say that I'm totally consistent. in there, but with Bush, the fact that I think he's a clear platoon bat, I think it's just going to hold the counting stats back. And I'm not sure I buy him as a 34 homer guy. So I get it. I understand why you like him. I'm just not a fan. Yeah, I guess my retort would be that he was just a platoon bat, as you pointed out, and he still had an amazing season and 90 RBI. And I think the Cubs lineup, I mean, I guess without Kyle Tucker, won't be as good, but I think it's still a pretty good lineup up on paper there.

And yeah, I just completely buy all the stat cast stuff and the hard hit metrics that we saw. And this is kind of closer to the player he was in the minors. So I just pretty much trust this as Michael Bush. And I think he repeats that again next season. He was the 13th first baseman last year. In points?

In the player raider. So I... Unless am I looking at the wrong thing? I think I'm looking at the right thing. I looked at just overall and he was 77th overall. So he finishes the top 80 player His ADP now is 110 and So there's a little

Yeah I just I think there's some profit there I think last year was pretty close To the best case scenario for him I think It might be But I just I think he's just gonna come close To doing that once again Or maybe even build on it

Let's go over to another 80p Give from you Chris and that is Jackson Merrill who right now is being drafted Right around pick 70 Last year that ADP was 28 So we're getting a pretty big discount, assuming he can stay healthy, bounce back? What do you think?

Yeah, I think there are a couple of concerns that people have with Jackson Merrill that I don't necessarily share. I think the one that I do share is, I don't know how much of a base stealer he's going to be. He was still plenty athletic. He still should be able to steal a bunch of bases, but he only still won last year. So I don't know if you can look at him and say, yes, Jackson Merrill is going to be a big base stealer. I think that's a fair question.

I have very little concern about the bat. I think you look at the shape of his season. He was hitting, I think, 304 when he suffered that concussion in June. He was terrible for the next like two months. He was awesome in September to kind of rebound and get back to it. And I just think the likeliest explanation here is that the concussion just kind of derailed his season. And that happens occasionally. this is a 22-year-old former top prospect who has already had a very good fantasy season that we were all extremely excited for.

I don't think that Padre's lineup's going to be great, but I don't think it's going to be terrible. The skills that we liked are still there. I think the big question is if he steals 15 bases, I think he's going to be a huge value at his current cost. I think he's a top 30 player if he does that. If he's not a base stealer, it puts a lot more weight on the hitting to bounce back, but I still expect him to be a very strong source of batting average. I still expect 20 plus home runs. I think the counting stats should be fine in that lineup.

So for me, it's just an opportunity to buy low on a guy with a very good explanation for why he struggled last season. And I think another reason why he only had the one steal this past season was the injuries he dealt with were leg injuries. right? He also had the concussion, but it was a hamstring in April, so he kind of dealt with that all season. Then he had the ankle sprain slash bone bruise in August too. So just multiple leg injuries for Jackson Merrill, I think kind of held back him running, even though the sprint speed was still really good for Jackson Merrill. Did you mention the numbers in September? Yeah, 945 OPS, 946 OPS, seven of his, I think, 16 overall homers came in that month as well. The quality of contact stuff was awesome. in September too. It did come at the expense of a higher strikeout rate, so he kind of was selling out for power. But just nice to see that he still had that in a down season. He was able to kind of turn that on and flip that switch there for Jackson Merrill. As someone who has him in the dynasty league, Chris, I hope you're right. Let's get a bounce back season from Jackson Merrill. Before we hit

our first break, just a reminder, like this video and subscribe if you haven't already. We mentioned it yesterday, but we have a lot of big things coming in January. We're going to going to have Scott White's tears that we're going to talk about. We're going to have strategy week towards the end of January as well. Looks like we're going to have team previews as well. Those will be kind of shorter podcast, but lots of fun things coming in January. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already. Let's take that break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball Day. We're here giving out early ADP gifts, some undervalued targets. If you are doing early drafts right now, we'll see how much this ADP changes. By the time

we get to February and March, which is peak draft season. Chris will go back to you. Another one, Geraldo Perdomo, whose current ADP is 80. He just finished as the 15th overall player in Rodo. He was the seventh best hitter in Head to Head To Head Points Leagues. I know we just recapped a Head to Head To Head Points mock draft we did where Perdomo went at pick 48. So his ADP feels like it could kind of vary from draft to draft, but at least based on the NFBC, it's 80 early on. Why are you in on Pardomo next season? And this is one that is not rising. As time goes on, those last 10 days that I mentioned earlier for Ben Rice,

83.1 for her older Pardomas. He's actually going down. And I recognize you might be screaming at your podcast providing app. Well, if you're skeptical of Michael Bush's one-year breakout, how can you buy her older Pomer? Perdomas. And that's fair, except I would point out, that Michael Bush was the 77th player last.

season and he's being drafted 110th-ish and that's a decent little discount herald perdomo like you mentioned the number 15 player last year is the 83rd pick so that is just a gigantic difference in the potential profit if he repeats what he did last season there are reasons to think he won't predict repeat what he did last season he outperformed as expected woba by i think about 10 points last season so it's not like it was perfectly dead on although it's not like it was so offline that you think it's going to be a collapse. He does not hit the ball hard, but he hits the ball well. If that makes sense, he hits it to the right parts of the field.

He's got great back control, a great approach at the plate. He's athletic. He steals bases. He's going to play every day because they love his defense. I just, I think the reasons to be skeptical about Perdoma are there, and I'm aware of them. But even if he's more of a 15, 10 to 15 homer guy instead of the 20 homer guy he was last even if you can't count on, what was it, like 220 combined runs in RBI or something crazy like he had last year. And I don't think you can project that.

There's still so much room for profit at his current price, even if he does regress. So I just think this is one where the price is just too skeptical for what he did last year. There's 198 combined runs in RBI, by the way. I totally hear all that. and the expected stats do mostly back it up, but I just don't see why. I don't see how they back it up, right? Like the quality of contact,

although he makes a ton of contact. The strikeout rate was tiny for Perdomo. He makes so much contact. But he just doesn't, he doesn't hit the ball hard at all. I mean, his average EV 16th percentile, his barrel rate, 25th percentile. Even with that, he somehow got to 20 home runs. He's not particularly fast,

somehow still got to 20, 60. heels. He might just be someone who outperforms these underlying metrics and, you know, maybe he makes somebody like me look dumb heading into the season. But because I can't explain how he did what he just did, I don't want to use a top seven round pick on Geraldo Perdomo. I think he takes a pretty sizable step backwards. I think he could still be a decently productive player. Maybe it's 270, 280, 12 to 15 homers, 15-ish steals, something like that. Maybe it's like 150 combined runs plus RBI, which again, I think that's okay. That's probably like a middle infielder for fantasy,

but I just don't really want to pay a top seven round pick to find out if he can come anywhere close to repeating those numbers. So I think I'm probably going to be out, but I get it. I mean, based on what he just did, I mean, he's a huge discount. So I think he's going to be a pretty polarizing player around just the fantasy industry is Geraldo Pardomo. Next one for me, Chris, I have a triple dip of middle infielders here. all three of them going between picks 240 and 260.

Jorge Polanco, Glaver Torres, and Marcus Semyon. And I see why it's an odd fit because typically you want your middle infielder to provide some kind of speed. These guys are not really going to provide much of that at all. I mean, maybe Semyon gives you like 10 to 15 steals, but outside of that, you're not really getting speed from these three. So I get it's kind of a weird fit in Roto and category leagues. But Polanco is coming off this huge season. you need him to stay healthy. That is obviously a big if, but at pick 2.40, I mean, why not take the shot to see if he can?

He makes a lot of contact. He hits the ball hard. He might be batting behind Juan Soto this upcoming season. So it just feels like a pretty easy profit there. If he can stay healthy, stay on the field. That's Jorge Polanco. Glaver Torres, he played the second half with a sports hernia. He had surgery after the season ended.

If you look at just the first half numbers, he hit 281, nine homers, four steals, 812 OPS. I don't know that he's just that player over a full season, but can he hit 260, 270 with 20 homers, handful of steals, pretty good counting stats? Yeah, I think that's possible for Glaver Torres.

And Marcus Semyon, he might be done. He's 35 years old. I get it, like he's getting up there and trade. He's getting up there in age. I think we could see like one more dead cat bounce season from Marcus Semyon reinvigorated by getting traded over to the New York Mets.

It's obviously a much stronger top half of the lineup there. He might be hitting somewhere in the top half if they don't make too many other moves. I don't really, you know, the Mets offseason is not over yet, so we'll see what they do. But I think there's a chance we can get like a 250, 20 homer, 10 steel season with solid counting sets from Marcus Semyon. So all three of these, Chris, I don't know that they're very sexy. very exciting picks, but as middle infielders, I like all three. Polanco, Glaber Torres, Marcus Semyon. Yeah, I think they're all fine.

I would say Glaber is definitely third for me. I just, he's been so underwhelming the past couple of seasons that I just, I don't see what kind of upside there is for him, whereas Simeon, you know, you can see just park upgrade, lineup upgrade. I can see, you know, the underlying numbers haven't fallen off. as much as the actual production has. So like you said, that little bit of a bounce back, I think is possible. Glaber, it's like, what's the best case scenario?

You know, 20 homers and a 260 average and not many steel. I think he's probably fine. I just, I struggle to see Glaber Torres being much more than fine. So that's where I am on him. But I, he's cheap enough that I don't dislike the value. It's just, I definitely like Polanco and Semmelancho. mean more. Yeah, I do admit Glaber is more of a kind of

deep league play where I mean, even if he does what he just did, he finished 150th or something like that and his ADP is 250. So there's 100 spots of profit. I mean, it doesn't feel like it, but to get a middle infielder that plays every day and

provide solid counting stats and just doesn't really kill you anywhere, it's just really useful in a deeper league. So I admit there's not... In a 15 team league for sure. Yeah, I admit there's not huge upside for for those who play in shallower formats. I do think he's an okay fallback option in a points league

if you just miss on all the other second baseman. He'll take a walk. He's cut the strikeout rate. Yeah, 13.5% walk rate this past season, a 358 on base percentage, likely going to bat near the top of the Tigers lineup. So I think there's a little bit of value there on a Gleber Torres. Chris, let's go back over to you,

and people might be surprised by this one, similar to a Ben Rice. they're being priced for the breakout but if they stay healthy and do it for a full season there might be even more right there might be another level that these guys can get to so the name I'm referring to is Kyle Bradish his ADP is 89

he's the SP 22 off the board again it's a big price tag but I am completely with you man like the underlying skill stuff albeit a small sample was amazing for Kyle Bradish this past season And it was in 2024, too. So that's what I love is that we've got this floor that we saw in 2023, where he was about a strikeout per inning, good control, limited hard contact, had a 283 ERA and 168 and two-thirds innings. That's a nice floor.

And then you look at what he's done over the past two seasons. 71 in the third innings over 14 starts with Tommy John surgery in the middle, which we always expect some kind of rust coming back from that. There wasn't really any for him. 12.6K per 9, 2.65 ERA across those 14 starts. Strike at rate is like 34% walk rates right around 8.5% so right around league average. What we've seen over the past couple of seasons from Kyle Bradish is the emergence of a legitimate high-end bat misser who can kind of miss bats with all four of his pitches. Like even the sinker had a 25% whiffrey, which is really high.

for a sinker. 24% for the four seamer. Both of his breaking balls were above 40% last season. I don't know how sustainable. All of that is, I would expect some regression, but he can miss bats across the board. He's got what I think should be a pretty good team backing him up. I think Kyle Bradish has top 10 SP upside.

He is my SP 21, so I think just on the whole, I might be a little higher on starting pitchers in my rankings, which I guess makes sense in these early draft. because the relief pitchers get pushed way up. So I guess everybody's got a little deflation on their ADP except those relievers. But I've got Calabranos as a top 75 pick. I have no problem with him as a number 2 SP in the sixth round of a 12-team league.

I think there is big upside. And I think we're going to get probably 150 to 160 innings. I think he's going to be the ace for the Orioles. I don't think there's 190 inning upside coming off a, You know, I guess if you include the minors, he probably got to 30, like 50-something innings probably last year. Looks like, yeah, right around 50, 54. So, yeah, I think 150 to 160 really, really good innings is well within the realm of

possibility for Cobranish. And while you'd like more innings from your number two, I think it's worth pointing out that Yoshinobi Yamamoto is probably only going to throw about 170, 175, and he's the number four SP off the board. So we're in a different paradigm when it comes to pitcher workloads at this point. Yeah, I agree completely here on Kyle Bradish as well. I haven't ranked as my

SP 19, which again is very aggressive. It reminds me a little bit of when Terrick Scuba first came back from his Tommy John surgery, he only threw 80 in a third innings that 2023 season back. You didn't exactly... It was a different... It wasn't Tommy John, but yeah. Oh, yeah, it was either...

Flexer. flexor tendon surgery. You didn't know exactly how to handle him going into 2024. We had the small sample where he looked amazing. It's, you know, did we trust it? Did we not? I'm not saying Kyle Bradish is going to be Terrick Scuba, but he flashed

skills akin to Terrick Scuba in that 2023 return. So there is risk with the workload. I agree. It's probably more like 160 innings. He threw 168 and two-thirds back in 2023. So he does have the capability of getting

up there and I think the Orioles need him too. They have made some additions here. I think maybe they add one more pitcher, but they kind of need Kyle Bradish to be the anchor of that rotation. And yeah, I think there's massive upside. So I am right there with you on Kyle Bradish. I have two more names for you here, Chris.

Connor Griffin and JJ Weatherholt. So this is a little bit of a prospect plunge, a double dip here as well. Simply put, I think the opportunity cost is totally worth the squeeze here. Connor Griffin's ADP is 281 J.J. Weatherholt is 335. Even if you look at just December, Griffin is

definitely on the rise. It's up to 2.17. I still think it's totally worth the shot there around that 215 mark on Connor Griffin. It would be extremely aggressive by the pirates to have him up on opening day. Borderline reckless, I think, for them. For a 19-year-old, he does turn 20 in April, but this is the best prospect in baseball

and he looks like that next transcendent type talent, right? Just based on everything that he just did. He hit over 3.30, 20 homers, 60 plus deals. He got better at every single level, which included AA for, I think, 21 games. And the pirates, they kind of need him. I think they're going for it. You know, they sign Ryan O'Hern, you know,

going for it, I guess, from a pirate's perspective. But it looks like they are trying a little bit more. And I think Connor Griffin will be part of that. So hoping that he's up on opening day. And if he does, then I think there's massive upside for Connor Griffin. The Cardinals, as I mentioned this earlier, it looks like they are in a full rebuild. Everything must go. I expect them to trade Brendan Donovan, Nolan Aronado, maybe Lars Neupar as well this offseason.

And as a result, someone like JJ Weatherholt will get a real opportunity on opening day. I think he deserves it too. He's 23 years old, just had a huge season in the minors. He got better at every level as well. He played 47 games at AAA, and I think he's ready. I think as soon as this season, he can hit 260, go 15, 15, something like that. It's maybe not huge upside right away in year one, but I think it could be a serviceable player, a profitable player in deeper leagues

going outside the top 300 right now. So I don't know that I have to sell you on either of these too, Chris, but Connor Griffin and JJ Weatherholt, I like the price tags a lot. on both these guys early on. If you know anything about like baseball card marketplaces, you know that the absolute best time to sell 90% of prospects cards is the day they get called up.

The likeliest outcome for both of these guys is they're just not great players right away. You know, Jackson Holiday was an incredibly hyped player. He was pretty useless as a rookie. Vladimir Guerrero, maybe the most hype prospect since Bryce Harper? pretty bad rookie season. Not bad, but not super useful for fantasy.

He was fine. The likeliest outcome for both of these guys is they're fine. And so when, I'm going to say when we get to the point where Connor Griffin and J.J. Weatherholt and Kevin McGonigal are top 200 picks and they start to push top 150 if they have good springs, that's when we have to start talking about, hey, guys, let's remember what the downside is. Let's remember the likelihood that their must-start players is not particularly. high, but we're not there yet.

The prices for all these guys remain super, super reasonable with Weatherholt. Last 10 days, 319th overall. Griffin, 21. So, yeah, I think there is kind of McGonogical, 312. I think all those guys are more likely than not to be on their opening day roster. I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but put it at 51% for 50.1% for Connor Griffin and 60% for McGonagall. And let's be honest, like 90% for JJ Weatherhound. I would actually be very, very surprised if he wasn't in their opening day lineup.

So we are not anywhere close to having to have the pump the brakes conversation about any of those three guys. Let's take our final break. When we return, we'll hit some quick news and notes and then back into some undervalued targets. We'll do that right after. this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball. Today let's quickly run through the news and notes. We have two items here to talk about before we get back into early ADP gifts. And I mentioned this one already, but the pirates are making moves. They signed Ryan O'Hern to a two-year $29 million deal. Move over Ivanovnava, the first multi-year free agent signing by the pirates since Yvonne Nova back in 2016.

That's wild. My gosh. O'Hern, pretty nice get here. He's 32 years old, but he has reinvented himself the past few years. Has been a serviceable hitter. He just hit 281 with 17 homers and 803 OPS. He was actually better last year against lefties than he was against righties. So I believe the pirates are just going to let him play every day. I think that's going to be good for his fantasy value as well. The early ADP, Chris, is 318 on Ryan O'Hern. He does have first base in outfield eligibility. I think he's fine as a kind of deep league target that you can move around. I don't know that there's huge upside for those who play in shallower formats. There's very little counting stat upside because he's probably not going to play every day.

This is a deal that... I think he will. He was good against lefties this past season and it's... Maybe. It's not like the pirates can just platoon everybody, right? He just hasn't been, I guess, throughout his career. Maybe the pirates just don't have better options and they do. But I think either way, you're probably looking at a max of 80 RBI and 80 runs in a best case scenario for him.

Probably a max of around 20 homers. But he's a good hitter. You know, that this deal makes a ton of sense for the pirates. I feel like anybody who is paying attention to the market and to what the pirates needed kind of circled on Ryan O'Hern as a reasonable addition for them. I will point out, you know, there was this whole, I might have mentioned this the other way, There was this whole discussion of like, someone said, I think Freddie Peralta has more trade value than Terek Skuble. Because Freddie Peralta makes, you know, projected to make $14 million less than Tarek's scubal next year. And it's like, well, yeah, what does 14 million actually get you?

Would you actually trade Freddie Peralta and Ryan O'Hern? Would you actually trade Tarek Scouble to get Freddie Peralta and Ryan O'Hern? Of course you wouldn't. That would be a dumb trade. It's just to keep in mind that 14 million is not actually very much money. It gets you like low-end starters. Let's keep that in mind when we have these discussions around player valuations. That being said, Ryan O'Hern, fine signing for the Pirates.

They definitely need more. But I'll quote Craig Goldstein from baseball prospectus, who made a joke. Congrats to the Pirates for finally getting Jack Swinsky off their projected opening day lineup. And he still could find his way into it. He might still. If they're playing a righty, who knows? Yeah. I want the pirates to keep going, man.

I know obviously their fans would like them to keep going as well. But man, it's with that kind of pitching staff, let's not waste it, man. Let's try and go for it a little bit here. I think they should go after, you know, we've heard them rumored to be in on Kazuma Okamoto, maybe shoot bigger for like E. E. E. E. E. Horez, there have been some.

That'd be a tough fit in their, Park. Yeah. There have been some Marcelo Zuna of rumors as well. But, you know, their opening day lineup could be something like

Connor Griffin, Brandon Lowe, Brian Reynolds, Ryan O'Hern, Suarez, or Okamoto, O'Neil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz,

Joey Bart, Jake Mangum. It's not great, but it's, it's serviceable, it's improvement, right? If you can score,

I don't know, four runs a game with that pitching staff, like, you know, maybe you make a little bit of noise, so? If they're just the 23rd best lineup in baseball as opposed to dead last like they were last year,

they scored fewer than 600 runs last season, if they're just like a normal bad lineup, this is probably a team that can compete for the playoffs, especially like, I don't know, the Brewers always outperform expectations. The Cubs are going to be good, but like it's not a killer division. So I, yeah, I think they're not that far.

It's just can they get over the hump? That's a big question. One other signing here, the White Sox signed Sean Newcomb to a one year, four and a half million dollar deal, and the plan is to use him as a starter. He's 32 years old, had a good season as a reliever. 273 ERA, 135 whip is obviously on the higher end. Nearly a strikeout per inning, he gets ground balls. Changed up his pitch mix as well here, Chris.

Do you see any deep league interest in a Sean Newcomb? on the White Tucks. He'll be a spark. So add him to the final round of your head-to-head points list. And it's one of those ones where you just see if it works for a couple of starts. And if he's got a good matchup early on, especially. Right now, I can't say he needs to be drafted. But, you know, if the schedule works out and he looks like he's going to have a good

matchup to open the season or a couple of good matchups, then in a head-to-head points league or a 15-te-team Roto League, you know, throw them out there and say, see what happens. I think the likeliest outcome is he's a total failure as a starting pitcher,

but that's why he's the last pick and you just drop him if it doesn't work out. The updated White Sox rotation Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Anthony Kaye and Sean Newcomb.

So not great. The White Sox are kind of fun and interesting on offense right now. I actually think there's like, they're not going to to be good but i think this is actually like a pretty interesting collection of players that they're putting together and they've got some pitching coming down the pike yes as the kids say but um

the pitching staff's still going to be terrible i i but like you look at this lineup and like okay louise roberts probably traded but like i don't know there might be like seven or eight league average hitters here and there's some upside i think colston montgomery and munitaka murakami obviously high variance players for sure but if you get the the higher end of their outcomes both of those guys could be 30 homer guys it's mildly interesting ish they're doing it in different ways uh the pirates don't have as much power here but the uh obviously both teams the bar is so low on offense right for the pirates in White Sox where it's just, wow, if you have anything interesting, then, you know, maybe you could just not be the worst offense in baseball. Yeah, so the White Sox

do have a little bit of that going for them. Cosa Montgomery, Murakami, you mentioned. Kyle Teal, we're kind of excited about for fantasy as well. I think both him and Edgar Carra are going to be pretty good players at least, not superstars, but above average hitters as catchers, that's valuable. Yeah. And, you know, I think Chase Midroth's like a mildly interesting-ish, leadoff hitter. He probably doesn't do anything but get on base, but he'll get on base. I think if Luis Robert gets traded,

he probably goes to, the teams we've heard most lately are the Mets or Reds. And those teams... Man, the Reds would make so much sense. Those teams both have, like, Major League Ready talent-ish. So, maybe Vientos comes back to the White Sox in a deal like that, or

Luis Honel Acunae, or maybe Christian Encarnasio and Strand, and he just gets a chance to play, like... There could be some... interesting names being added to this White Sox lineup as Luis Robert is traded away. That's what they did with Miguel Vargas, right? I can't remember who did they? Hmm.

A pitcher. Michael Kopeck, I think. Yep, yep. And like, Miguel, Vargas wasn't great, but he was an average major league hitter last season with some pop. Turns out that's a big upgrade for the White Sox at this point. All right, let's get back into ADP gifts, some undervalued targets based on early ADP and Chris I will let you I will let you explain away two names here you got Kyle Stowers with an ADP of 129 and Luke Kishel going just after him in ADP of 141 so two I was going to say

youngerish players but Stowers is actually older than you would think he's 27 but finally got his first real opportunity and he was amazing so talk to me about Stowers and Kishel yeah we'll we'll start with Kishel because I think it's a little more obvious he's younger has prospect pedigree was very good as a major leaguer. And I think the biggest thing is just how willing the twins have been to let him run, both in the high minors and then especially at the major league level, 14 stolen bases and 49 games. The underlying numbers don't back the 302 batting average that he put up last season.

Lukiechel does not hit the ball particularly hard, but he stole 25 bases and 77 games between the majors and AAA last season. If that's real and that's all, good pick at 140. If he's a 45 steel guy and he's hitting towards the top of that lineup, I think he's going to get on base. I think there's probably low double-digit homer potential, but not much more. He does do a decent job of pulling the ball. I think Luciechial is number six at second base, I think, for me? Let me make sure.

Yeah, number six second baseman. I would rather have him than Jackson Holiday. I think he has more evident major league skills right now. I have Keishel right at 6 as well. Yeah, I think he might be a 275 hitter with 12 homers, 40 steals, and a bunch of runs. And, you know, 90 or so runs. I think the OBP is going to be very good. So there is real potential for Lu Keishel to be a very good four category contributor for fantasy.

Stowers, this is definitely one where I wish the price was a little cheaper over the past 10 days. It's 128.6. I think that's fine. I think that's a good balance of the upside and downside here because the downside is last year was a total fluke. He's not a major league hitter. I think that's within the realm of possibility. But it's giving real Brent Rucker vibes where there wasn't really the minor league track record. And he comes up kind of out of nowhere in his late 20s

and puts up this really good season with underlying numbers that mostly backed it up. Kyle Stowers, 375 X-Woba, 386 Woba. He had a higher X-Woba last season. Kyle Stowers did than, among others, Kyle Tucker, Nick Kurtz, and Cowell Rally. That's pretty good. Oh, yeah.

You know, he overperformed a little bit, but not too much. The plate discipline, not great. There's a lot of swing and miss there. He does actually control the strike zone pretty well. It's just there's some inherent swing and miss that's going to be a problem for him. That I think strikeouts are going to be an issue. But he hit the ball really hard. I think the Marlins are going to have to let him play every day just to see if he can repeat what he did last season.

And he was like right on that edge against lefties. The 682 OPS, I think like 700 we mentioned the other day. is probably like the break even point where if you can do that as a left-handed hitter, you're probably going to be pretty good. And the underlying numbers against lefties, they're okay. 306 X-Woba, 304 Woba. That's right on the edge where you can make it work if you mash righties, which he really did, 396X Woba against right-handed hitchers last season.

So this is one where what he did last season should probably make him a top 50 pick if we take it at face value, and we're skeptical of that, and I think that's fair. But that still means you're getting, you know, that 70 to 80 pick discount on the face value.

A few other numbers here just to back up the power for Kyle Stowers. Among hitters with 450 plate appearances, his 256 ISO ranked 13th best. That was better than Pete Alonzo, Raphael Devers, and Cotel Marte.

His 19% barrel rate ranked fifth among all hitters again with 450 plate appearances. So really, really impressive power metrics from Stowers this past season. 16th and Exwova. Last point on Luke Keishel, I agree with your analysis. I think the bigger downside is just can he stay healthy? I mean, health has been a huge problem for Luke Keishel in the minors.

And in this past season, you know, kind of fluky, got hit by a pitch, I think, and broke his wrist or forearm, whatever it was. So not entirely his fault or something we could have seen coming. But we need him to stay healthy. So that is a big thing for Lucchiechial heading into next season. Next one for me is another one that might surprise people a little bit. I don't usually like to buy a player coming off his breakout season unless I really believe in what that player just did.

And that's Michael Garcia. His ADP is 90, so again, it's a bigger price tag than I would like. But he just finished as the 61st overall player in Roto. He was the fifth best third basement in head-to-head points leagues as well. And at 26 years old, I think he's going to get better. I think the Royals might believe that too. They just gave him that extension this offseason as well. Michael Garcia makes a lot of contact.

He hits the ball hard. He has improved the launch angle, and he's an amazing defender, so you know he's going to be on the field of a bunch. I think the power could come down a little bit. Maybe he's more like 12 to 15 homers, but I think there's a chance that the speed can actually bounce back a little bit more. So he had 37 steals back in 2024, came down to 23. I think that correlated with him hitting for more power.

So something like 280 batting average, 12 to 15 homers, 30 plus steals. If he leads off like 90 plus run scored, I fully believe in what Michael Garcia just did. And I think he can build off of that even more next season. Yeah, it's another one kind of like Geraldo-Prodome where you don't have to pay full price for the breakout. And I think that's a good place to be. The one thing I will say is just the batting order. He spent most of the second half of the season hitting cleanup. Yep.

And so that's the question for me is like, I have no problem with him hitting cleanup. That's fine. Like, he's going to drive in a bunch of runs because he went from kind of having a swing that was untenable for hitting for power. Like he did not hit the ball to the right parts of the field at all. It was all everything on the green. ground, nothing to the pole side in the air. Like he just, he hit the ball hard, but just was not optimized. And now he's kind of passable in, in those ways.

Like he's not going to be Cowrally, uh, or he's, you know, swinging dead for the left field pole or whatever, but he's good enough at it with the underlying skills that I think that can work. It's just do I expect the bat, the stolen basis to bounce back? Well, he had 17 in that first half, five in the second half. after he started hitting right lead our clean up more often so the stolen bases I think are a little iffy but

this stuff comes out in the wash right like if he's hitting cleanup you're getting potentially a hundred RBI guy you know with how strong the top of that lineup can be so I don't worry about that too much yeah it would change the complexion of his output his kind of rhodo scoring output from Michael Garcia depending on where he bat's in the lineup. But yeah, the shape is a little different. Looking at their lineup now, do they really have an obvious lead-off hitter?

I don't, unless they want to just put Bobby with Jr. up there, even him, he doesn't walk all that much either. Michael Garcia doesn't walk too much, but the walk rate has improved for him. I was thinking maybe Isaac Collins, like he is a big OBP guy that could make some sense as well. So we'll see what they do. And maybe, you know, spring training lineups will give us a little bit of an indication there. but if Garcia leads off, I could see again the run scored going up, the seal's going up, maybe the power takes a little bit of a step back there.

And, you know, people might be wondering, hey, you don't buy Perdomo and he just had a better season, but you're buying Michael Garcia. I just see more in the underlying numbers and the quality of contacts. It's the ball much harder. Yeah, it's easier for me to buy in on someone who hits the ball as hard as Michael Garcia does. So I do like him a lot. one kind of dilemma I've come into so far is in round six of a 15 team league

do you take Kyle Bradish or do you take Michael Garcia and I just had that dilemma I took Garcia of course Kyle Bradish went and I didn't get an opportunity to take him in the next round so I don't know if I did 10 drafts and I was in that same spot I might honestly split the difference every time and say all right five drafts with Garcia and five drafts with Kyle Bradish but I do like both of those guys quite a bit. Chris, let's go over to two.

Another player you like quite a bit. That is Bubba Chandler. We spoke a lot about him last week on our pitching prospects episode. The ADP is 161. Now, considering we spoke about him, you spoke very highly about him already, I did have some devil's advocate things

I wanted to bring up on Bubba Chandler. So first the walks. Last year, really small sample size when he came up, it was 1.2 walks for nine. He barely walked anybody. in the miners, it was 4.8 walks per nine. He's not going to be in a league walk guy. He's not George Kirby.

So I think the walks are going to take a, they're going to tick up. And obviously the whip could take a little bit of a hit there for Bubba Chandler. Do you worry at all about the third pitch? I don't think his slider is good. Obviously, it can get better. I mean, he's far from a finished product, but it might not matter.

Like the fastball and changeup might be so good that it really might not matter how good. that third pitch is, but what do you think about the third pitch for Bubba Chandler? The stuff models love the slider for what it's worth. And we talked about that last week. I think the overall stuff metric was like would have been ninth in the majors or something among all starting pitchers. So whether it's the slider, you know, he's got the curveball as well. The changeup doesn't rate out as well by the stuff metrics, but changeups never do.

They're not about stuff. It's about deception and timing, which is. hard to quantify as anyone will tell you in that field. So I think the fastball is a great starting point. I think the change is a good second pitch. Usually finding a good breaking ball is not as big of an issue for pitchers, especially ones with the kind of raw velocity Bubba Chandler has. So I have faith that the slider will play well enough at least to get the job done.

And as for the control, it was so bad mid-season. I'm fully on board with the he just wasn't trying. I don't want to, I hate putting it that way because we make moral judgments about professional athletes when they're not trying, and I think that's unfair. In his specific example,

it makes perfect sense why he would not have been motivated in the middle of the season, why he would have been frustrated. These are human beings. We've brought it up, I think every time we talk about Bubba Chandler, but there is a report that players on the Pirates roster were texting him, apologizing for them not calling him up. It was a situation I've never heard of, something like that.

So I think it makes perfect sense why his development appeared to stall. And then the fact that he came up in the majors and outside of one bad start was dominant, I think kind of confirms the suspicions that he just, just was not properly motivated. And as soon as he was, he pitched like the guy we thought he was. I think there's basically, there should be nothing separating. Bubba Chandler, Nolan McLean, Jacob Mizorowski, Cam Schlittler, Traylor Savage. Like, that's literally, I have a range in my starting pitcher rankings that runs from 36 to 40.

And it's McLean, Mizorowski, Schlitler, Chandler, and you savage. What that means is I'm a little lower than the consensus on McLean, and I'm a lot higher than the consensus on Chandler specifically. Chandler will be the one I draft the most out of that group. They're all awesome. They're all super talented. I'm tearing them together and just whichever is cheapest I'll take. And that looks like it's going to be Chandler.

Yeah, I totally get that too. And totally understand wanting to get a piece of the upside with these, you know, rookie or second year pitchers and Chase Burns is another one. He goes higher than a lot of these other names that we're talking about right now. So you do have to pay a bigger price for him, but obviously the upside, very high for him as well. I have Trey I Savage on this list. And frankly, Chris, I am shocked that his ADP is in the 150 range, given everything that we just saw, right? Like, started his season in low A, made it all the way to the majors. dominated in the playoffs.

A five-and-a-third no-hit, you know, double-digit strikeout outing against the Yankees. And then in the World Series, 12 strikeouts over seven innings pitched against the eventual World Series champion, Los Angeles, Dodgers. And I believe in the three-pitch mix there with Yassavage.

There are no workload concerns for next season. You do worry about the control, and, you know, maybe it's a higher whip, and I think we'll probably still get some inconsistencies, but I still think we're going to get really high highs from Trey Savage again in 2026. So I am frankly just shocked that the ADP is where it is, and I like both of these guys.

I like Yassavage. I have him closer to the top of that list. I actually kind of have him like pushing Nolan McLean. I think they're like a 1A, 1B for me. And if I can get Yassavage 40 picks later than Nolan McLean, I'm going to do that every time. The only thing I would say about your savage is just he's not like a stuff monster in the way Bubba Chandler is. I think that stuff kind of struggles with like splitter guys.

Splitters. Yeah. Yeah. Specifically. But what I would say is it's a 94 mile an hour fastball rather than 98. Yeah. It's a weird backwards slider. So he doesn't have anything that moves glove side consistently.

The slider actually moves opposite-handed. I think in the past we called that a screwball. I guess we don't do that anymore because he throws it like a slider, but it moves that way. The one concern I have is how much of it was, holy crap, we've never seen something like this. I haven't seen a pitcher who throws like this in a long time. And as the scouting reports get out there,

as they input his movement profile into the trajectory machines across the majors, although I guess not every team has one, which is very funny. I just do worry that like, not that it was a fluke, but that familiarity benefited him in a way that I don't know how sustainable the success he had was, but he doesn't have to strike out 12 per 9 to be a good. pitcher. If there's a 20% reduction in his strikeout rate, that's still well over a strikeout per inning. He was almost 13 strikeouts per nine in the postseason. Yes, again, that was Trayas Savage that we were just talking about there. Chris, I have like a handful more, so I'm just going to run

through these, and then I'll let you run through yours as well. I have two late round power options in the outfield that I like quite a bit, Jack Caglione and Anthony Santander. So Caglione, big name prospect. Didn't work out this past season, but he did do some nice things under the hood, kept the strikeouts and checked. He flashed at max exit velocity. The barrel rate looked good. I remember when we were out at first pitch Arizona, Enos Aris comped Caglione to Junior Camerero as an aggressive swinging, still makes enough contact, hits the ball really hard, young player who can take a big step in 2026. So I do like that one quite a bit. And Anthony Santander, his season was wrecked by a left shoulder issue and then lower back tightness as well.

His manager, John Schneider, recently said that Santander is finally feeling normal and that quote, Tony is going to be huge for us in 2026. He averaged 35 home runs per season from 2022 to 2024. Not sure I expect him to get all the way back there, but, you know, lower batting average, 30 homers and a good lineup. I think that's doable for Santander, assuming he's healthy. next season. And then I had a trio of starting pitchers I wanted to mention. Nick Ladolo with an ADP of 133, Ranger Suarez at 182, and Chris Bubich at 213. Ladolo, among starting pitchers with 150 innings, he was top 20 in K-minus walk rate, X-FIP, Sierra, expected ERA, and swinging strike rate. He got even better in the second half, over 10K per 9, 30% strikeout rate, 25% K-minus walk rate.

So assuming health, health has been an issue for Nick Ladolo, I think he's really, really good and undervalued early on. Ranger Suarez, Chris, what happened, man? Like, we used to get demolished by Phillies fans for not ranking Rangers Fores high enough. And now we are the Phillies fans, rooting for Rangers Juarez or wherever he winds up this offseason. He has made 53 starts over the past two years. in those starts, a 333 ERA, 121 whip, a little bit on the higher end, but 8.7K per 9, he gets ground balls, all the underlying ERA estimators are in the low to mid three range for Ranger Suarez. So I kind of just expect him to be a really good ERA, 120-ish whip over 150 to 160 innings for next season.

And then Chris Boobich is an injury wildcard. I will admit that. He's coming off a rotator cuff strain. but that is baked into his ADP. If he ended the season healthy with a sub 3 ERA and a sub 120 whip, he would be drafted as a top 30, maybe top 20 starting pitcher.

He's currently the SP 62 off the board in ADP. So yes, you can be concerned about that shoulder, but it's already baked in, and there's a ton of upside for Chris Bubich heading into a contract year next year. So just throw a bunch of names your way, but Chris Bubich, Ranger Suarez, Nick Ladolo, Jack Caglione, and Anthony Santander, a bunch of players I like as undervalued right now.

And then three more for you here, Chris. You have Esok Paredes, Tatsuya Imi, and Yvonne Herrera. Yeah, what I think is so funny about Paredes is we had this theory last offseason. He's going to Houston. This should be a perfect fit for his swing. We got it. He was on a 30-homer, I think 30-homer 90 RBI pace last season. He does it.

He gets hurt. Okay, fine. Hamstring injuries are tricky. I think his ADP is now lower than it was last season. I understand why. It's because we don't know that he's going to be playing in. Yeah, 185.5 last season over the last 10 days, 194.7. We don't know where he's going to be playing.

There's been a lot of talk about Houston potentially trading him. That would be bad. They have Carlos Correa. They have questions about making this fit. There's a too many Mouth defeat situation in Houston. I think people look at the struggles that he had in Chicago and think that this is a total gimmick that will only work in Houston. And I don't think that's actually the case because he had a 30 homer season in Tampa.

Tropicanna field is not a great place to hit. It is short down the lines, but I think what happened in Chicago was Wrigley Field is like the absolute worst place for him to hit. And if Isak Paredes, look, he might get traded to another place where he's just a terrible fit. But I think the people running major league teams are smart enough to get what's up here. Like if I can figure out Isok Paredes' whole deal,

I have to imagine the people running. major league teams. They're smarter than me. So I have to imagine that if Vizak Pratis does get traded, it's going to be a team that knows how his fit works. And Boston's been mentioned. That'd be great. We'd love that. But I'm just, I think people are maybe a little too scared off of the Chicago Cubs situation. And look, Houston, Boston, perfect fits for him. He's probably not a 30 plus homer guy everywhere, but he's probably not a zero everywhere either. And I feel like there's some concern that he's a zero if he gets traded. So I'll take the discount on Isok Paredes every time at this value. And then Tetsu Yemi seems like the most obvious. This guy's going to be

50 picks more expensive in three weeks guy on the board right now. And so this is a good example of, hey, draft draft right now. Go get Tetsu Yemi right now. Because you're not going to be able to get him with a 15th round pick or whatever it is. The time to draft him was a month ago, actually. Sure, but he's 187 over the past 10 days. He is 152. Okay, so it's already started. Ah, dang.

It is already started. I think like last month... I haven't ranked 144th. It was like 250 a month ago, which is crazy. Yeah. I think the problem is going to be when in my signs. there's going to be so much hype that I think he might become a bad value

because I do not think Tutsu Imi is an ace. I think he's going to get probably a similar contract to the one Framber Valdez signs. And Framber's older, but more of a sure thing, so I think you balance those things out. And I think he probably goes a little later than Framber Valdez just because there is some uncertainty. But I think 10 to 12th round is probably where I'm,

I'd feel comfortable with I in a 12 team league. He's getting close to that already, but he's not quite there yet. So I'll continue to rank him there or consider him a good value. I fully agree with you on Chris Bubich, by the way. I think he's a screaming value. He's being drafted at a point where I just don't care that there's injury risk. Like outside the top 200, oh, he might not stay healthy. Who cares?

You're probably going to drop the 210th pick anyway. You might as well get someone who's got legit upside, unless there's some screaming value otherwise. So I love Chris Bubich. I think you're making good points on the Dolo, and I'm going to have to reconsider my lukewarmness on him. And my other guy is Yvonne Herrera, who everything we say about Ben Rice might just be true about Yvonne Herrera.

He doesn't have catcher eligibility right now. That's the biggest hurdle. That's the biggest thing to pressing his price. But Yvonne Herrera was a legit great hitter. each of the past two seasons, the underlying data backs it up. I think he was top 25 and expected Wobah last season. He is DH only. They have talked very openly about him playing catcher,

but after trading Wilson Contreras, who knows, maybe he's just full-time DH. But everything that they've said publicly is that they think Yvonne Herrera might be their starting catcher next year. Not just like a sometimes catcher. He might be the primary catcher for the Cardinals. My preference would be he starts the first five games a catcher and DH is the rest of the way.

But as long as he gets that catcher eligibility, I think Ivan Herrera is viable as a DH. I think he's actually a good enough hitter that, like, he might hit 285 with 25 homers next season. And I would not be surprised about that. If he does get catcher eligibility early in the season, if he had catcher eligibility right now, he's a top 10 guy for me.

And he might be top five. Yeah, like I legitimately, think he'd be in that range. So as far as the quality of the hitter you're getting, I think he's comparable to anyone at the catcher position besides Cowrally. And he might get catcher eligibility very early on in the season, in which case,

all you have to do is roster some second catcher. And there are actually a lot of interesting second catchers out there. Like, man, I don't know, Carter Jensen's super cheap. Get him as your second catcher. You got three opportunities. to find an impactful catcher if one of them fails, you should have two good ones if you take Yvonne Herrera with your DH spot.

And I just think he could be a huge, huge difference maker as a catcher. Yeah, I think the point about when will he gain catcher eligibility is a fair one. And it's easier to pull off in CBS leagues where you only need five games in season to gain that eligibility. For the NFBC, it's 10.

So it could take a little bit longer. he's only catching, you know, once or twice a week, you might not get it until, you know, the end of May or June, something like that. So keep that in mind. But man, if you play in a head to head points, one catcher league on CBS, there is nothing but upside here. If you take Yvonne Herrera after 150, plug him in your utility spot for the first month, and then boom, you have a top five or top eight catcher the rest of the way.

And again, he might just work out as a DH. Nobody has ever had too many good catchers. first of all, that's just not really a thing. Like, you'll figure it out. You'll make it work. But he legitimately might just be good enough to be a top 150 player as a DH-only player. The full season pays for Herrera last year, 28 homers and 12 steals. He's so good, man. Yeah, he's really, really good.

Yeah. So again, those are our early ADP gives some undervalued targets. Next week we'll have some overvalued guys, maybe some lumps of coal for fantasy as well. but want to wish a Merry Christmas. Happy holidays to all this week. Obviously, a very busy week here. We do appreciate all of you supporting us all season long, but obviously throughout the holiday season as well. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again next week.

Bye-bye.