Fantasy Baseball Today - Final Mailbag! OBP Rankings, Garrett Crochet's Innings & More! (3/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 21, 2026

Frank Stampfl and Scott White are answering YOUR questions on their final mailbag of draft prep season! They go through Apple podcast reviews and then your email questions during the biggest draft weekend of the year! 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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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, watching. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Saturday.

March 21st. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White, And it is our last mailbag of the draft season. We'll hit your Apple podcast review questions as well as your emails, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Lots of questions to get to, Scott. Let's just jump right in here. And we will start with those Apple Podcasts review questions.

Again, if you drop us a five-star rating, you can leave a question in the review. We will answer it on a future podcast. This first one is from Edmund in Buffalo. And he says, huge decision, Keeper League. Vlad Jr., Bobby Witt, Francisco Lindor, and Shohei Otani. That's pretty awesome. We can keep players up to three years.

I have to choose Jose Ramirez, Terrick Scuba, or Kyle Tucker. I have the second pick this year. It's head-to-head cats, and Otani counts as both pitcher and a hitter in daily lineups. Is Scubal a no-brainer here? Almost all other aces are being kept. And he's got Vlad, Witt, Lindor, Otani. So you'd be taking Scuba over. Ram. But yeah, given you have stud hitters already, I think it makes sense to take scubel there.

I don't know. I mean, partly I don't have full, I don't have complete information here because he says all the aces are being kept already or most of the aces. I don't know where he's drawing the line there in terms of aces. Is he talking about the top 10? Is he talking about the top 20? You know, I often go. without an ace. And I think having a chance to secure the best third baseman by far in Jose Ramirez, very difficult position to fill in addition to all those stud hitters you already have, I'd have a hard time passing that up. You know, you do already have such a hitter category advantage. I don't mind overdoing in a head-to-head category since it's just one week at a time you really want to to not be subject to the variability that comes over a small sample like that. I don't know. I guess I could see doing scuba.

That's probably the higher overall upside for your team outcome. I guess you talk to me and do it. But it's tough to say no to Jose Ramirez. I get it. I mean, I think we have Jose Ramirez higher than scuba in all of our rankings. But I think for this specific situation, when again you have Otani, Witt, Vlad,

Linderre. It's just like, I don't really care, I mean, yes, I care who my third basement is at that point, but man, that is such an amazing base of offensive talent that, uh, it is. Give me, give me Terek Skubel there. This next one is from Cheese 4038. In an OBP categories league,

does Schwabber move above Camerero? Camerero. Does Schwabre move ahead of Camerro in the rankings and does Marte move ahead of Chisholm? What about Anthony versus Langford? All right, so three questions here. OBP, first one, Scott, Schwerber over Camerro. Yeah, or nay.

Yes, I agree. Yes. What about Catelle-Marte above jazz? I say yes. And the last one, Anthony versus Langford. Yes. OBP, the thing about OBP that I don't think gets discussed enough is it's harder to find high OBP guys than batting average guys.

batting average guys run the full spectrum. Guys who walk a lot, guys who don't walk a lot, they can be good at batting average. You kind of have to walk a lot to be good at OPP unless you're a true 300 hitter, but not many of those exist anymore. So I find that in OBP leagues, I really emphasize OBP above anything else,

not to the point that I'm going to move. I mean, who's a low-end-dict OPP guy? I struggle to even think of one. Peacrow Armstrong? That kind of makes the point. Yeah, not be. Opposite in the spectrum, obviously. But when in doubt go with the high OBP guy in an OBP league.

Because that, we talk about how difficult it is to make up in batting average if you fall behind there. It goes twofold in OPP. I think we're in agreement in all of these, except Langford versus Anthony. I expect them both to walk a lot. Last year, Anthony, a 13% walk rate. Langford 12.9%. So basically in line, Anthony will have a higher batting average, I think. So obviously his OEP will be higher as a result. But I think Langford will have more combined home runs and steals. So in an OBP categories, I think I would still take Langford over Anthony.

Okay. I disagree. I think Anthony could walk even more than he did as a rookie last year. It's possible. Yep. This next one is from Lang 3211. I'm in a 10-player keeper league and curious who the top N.A. guys to stash are. We have two spots. Connor Griffin and Kevin McGonagall are taken already so they aren't an option. So we will actually have a podcast coming out this upcoming week before opening day, looking at prospects to stash because we'll have more information about who's made opening day rosters by then. But Scott, who are some of the projected top prospects to stash open the season? Well, I mean, if Connor Griffin doesn't make the roster, he'd be at the top of the list.

but it sounds like he's not available in this specific league. Bryce Eldridge is going to be high on there. I think Robbie Snelling will be pretty high for me. Not for me. So N.A refers to both they can be minor leaguers or they can be injured, right? Is that how N.A. spots work? I think it's just minor leaguers. You think it's just minor leaguers?

Because I think those leagues also have IL spots. I could be wrong. But I'm pretty sure it's just minor leaguers. ahead of of Robbie Snelling I would certainly have Connolly early Yes

I would at this point I'd have Didier Fuentes I think If he doesn't make the Braves There's a chance he might make the Braves As dominant as he's looked This spring Yeah I didn't

I mean I didn't come prepared With a list already So I'm just having to do this top of mind I'm sure there are some players I'm overlooking Peyton Toley I think is one Colt Emerson if he doesn't make the opening day roster I think Travis Bazaana could rank highly

Yeah Travis Bazaana I can see that yeah Yeah Harry Ford if it's a two-catcher league Probably not probably not a two-catcher league Yep But if it is I like Robbie Snelling more than you So I would probably put him behind

Only Connolly early on the pitching side That we've mentioned so far Uh Jonah Tongue Jet Williams Do you like those guys guys of stashes? I doubt they'll be in the top 10. Okay. I'm sure there are some people we're forgetting though. I mean, maybe Joshua Baez. You know, I like Ryan Walschmane. He's had some big eggs of velocities of spring men.

Yep. Yep. I like the Josh Baez call too. I drafted him in N.L. Labor, so. Joshua is what I call him. And you know what? I'll throw another name out there who had a really good spring too. And I think we could see him pretty soon is Emmanuel Rodriguez with the twins. Okay. Yeah. Maybe. A race between him and Walker Jenkins, I think.

Yep. All right. I mean, that was a bunch of names. This one is from Elsonian. Love the show, dudes. Would you keep Byron Buxton or Jaron Duran? He just says Duran. It could be Yon, but I assume it's Jaron.

So Jaron Duran or Byron Bion Bxton. Buxton? It's close. Yeah. I would rather. I have to consult the rankings on this. I mean, Buxton was so good.

I mean, top five outfielder last year on a per game basis. And I mean, Jaron Duran, I just don't think his ceiling quite matches that. So I'll go Buxden. I do have Jaron ranked higher.

I think if it's in a, if it's a points league, I know this might not make sense because Buckson strikes out quite a bit. But I'm, more willing to sell out for upside in a points league where the waiver wire is so robust. So in a points league, I would go with Buxton in a Categories league. I would go with Jaron Duran. This one is from T-House 32. All right, this is a longer one. I have an opportunity to trade my

ninth round pick that would allow me to keep Pardomo in the 14th round with a three-round penalty every year thereafter for three years. The other manager does have to to give me another pick back to even out the draft, and it will probably be between the 17th and 20th round. I also have Caminero in the 12th and the second overall pick, most likely judge because Otani is one player in this league. So I'm looking great in power in RBI already. Does getting an extra late pick justify giving up a top 100 pick

with those keeper selections? So you trade your ninth round pick, which allows you to keep Perdomo in the 14th. Yeah. So you're just trading your... ninth round pick for a 17th round? That seems weird. Yeah, I don't...

I don't have the trouble following this one to be perfectly honest. It's a pretty convoluted question. Yeah. To be fair, I mean, not fair. It's not fair to me or the listeners. I didn't really vet these questions very well before. And Scott, it's kind of... Come on, Frank.

I took screenshots and I was just like, I threw them in the rundown. So whatever they are. Whatever they are they are. I don't know. I don't know how to answer this question because I don't quite understand it. So opportunity to trade the night. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe we should just move on.

Yeah. I don't think I'm going to grasp it in enough time to make it worth everybody's while. Right, right, right. Yeah, I'm just trying to see if there's something that I'm missing here. But yeah, Pardomo for a 14th. Why can't you just keep Pardomo? Maybe you only keep one player in this league. He said I also have Caminero in the 12th.

Yeah, maybe it's only keep two players. I don't know. It's a little confusing. I don't know that I would trade my ninth round pick to get a 17th, just to keep her domo, though, if that makes sense. Let's take our first break. Before we do that, 40K by opening day, or 36K, whatever we're going to get to. Like this video, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.

Let's take a break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in. Fantasy Baseball today. final mailbag of draft prep season. And we will continue on with some more Apple podcast review questions. This one is from MW Holdcraft. Okay.

I am in a deep 14 team head-to-head Roto League. So head-to-categories with daily lineups. I decided to go reliever heavy and punt wins and strikeouts. However, there is a 30 innings pitched minimum per week. So I need a handful of starters to get there. Can you recommend starters I could draft on the cheap who can pile up some innings and protect the ratios? Oh, 30 inning minimum seems like a high minimum. I would not recommend punting wins and strikeouts.

I mean, I understand in a Head-Ted Categories League, going with relievers, doing that kind of like throwback Marmull strategy. But it's hard to pull off with a 30-inings pitch minimum. Yeah. Which is why he's looking for late-round starters. understand like the question, but I just don't know that it makes sense to punt starters in this context. I mean, punting, I'm not a fan of punting categories in general, especially not too, especially not in Roto League. So, and, you know, it becomes even harder when there's a minimum that's that high. 30 minutes.

I've heard of weekly innings minimums before, but it's usually 20, maybe 25. 30. Ooh, you're going to have to start more pitchers than you think. think because you don't want to underdo the limit, right? You just, that week is ruined if you don't hit the minimum. Yep. As I understand it. So you have to really be careful there.

Just to answer the question just for academically, I don't think you should do this, but Merrill Kelly comes to mind, Ryan Nelson. Matthew Boyd. Matthew Boyd, he goes a little earlier than the, those two, but yeah, he's a good choice. Two names going outside of the top 180, which I guess is still kind of the middle part of the draft, but like Ron Hare-Swarres, Ranger Suarez,

or Chris Bubich, guys we like a lot. Well, I think we'll have good ratios. Yeah, I don't know that Boobich is going to be an innings eater. Yep, that's fair. But there aren't that many available late who also aren't going to hurt your ratios. That Diamondbacks duo has been, kind of my go to at that stage in roto drafts because for exactly that or not exactly this

reason but for the sake of preserving ratios on the cheap yep i think some kind of breakout hopefuls too like mike burrows i can see just having good ratios and being a good starting pitcher of this season maybe noah cameron he had good ratios last year a lot of risk there but yep yep Yep. I think those are the ones that make the most sense. Let's move on to... Maybe Jacob Lopez. I don't know that he's going to be an inning theater, but if he's good, the ratios will be a big reason why. This next one is from Matthew Casale,

and he has a keeper strategy question. In a head-to-head categories Keeper League, we can keep up to five players at their Yahoo ADP round cost. If multiple keepers share the same round value, they push to the next available pick. I traded a lot of early picks to win last year, so I don't have picks in rounds one, three, four, or five. Which means, depending on my keepers,

I might not draft until round 10. So his keeper options are Kyle Tucker in round one, Julio in round one, Vlad in round two, Nick Kurtz in round two, Trey Turner in round two, Roman Anthony in round four, Skeen's in round one, Gilbert in round three,

Edwin Diaz in round four, Dylan Sees in round five, strider in round 10. Given the missing early picks, which three to five keepers would you prioritize? Okay, so if I'm understanding this correctly, Logan Gilbert, he lists as a three here, but that would be pushed to round six

because he's already traded three, four, and five away. I understanding that right? Yes, like, can you even, can you even keep these guys if you don't have picks in those rounds? Well, he's saying, if multiple keepers share the same round value, they push to the next available pick.

I presume that would also apply to if the pick's already been used in whatever way, whether it was keeping or trading away. So I'm going to presume Logan Gilbert in round six, Edwin Diaz in round six, Dylan C's round. The thing is you don't have like an interesting round 17 keeper that I think would make me think.

maybe I want to preserve that second round pick. Like with that second round pick, you're not going to get anybody as good as Kyle Tucker. Well, he said that the keeper round is dependent on Yahoo ADP. So it's just wherever someone's being drafted is the round you can keep them for. If I'm reading that correctly. It's hard to get those discount keepers then if you're not carrying over the cost from last year. Right.

I think you'd just take Kyle Tucker and like you're not going to do better with that second round pick than that. So what is the point of preserving it? So you can keep Logan Gilbert around six. I mean, he doesn't go, I would feel worse about missing out on Kyle Tucker in round two than missing out on Logan Gilbert in round six personally. This next one is from token sports guy. Head to head points league. Keepers lose half their round value every year that they are kept. Pick four out of these.

Cowellie in the fifth, Roman Anthony in the 15th, Pete Crowe Armstrong in the 12th, James Wood in the 14th, Zach Netto in the 28th. right now I'm leaning towards the first four but getting in my head about it I also have the first overall picking the snake draft head to head points so Netto isn't nearly as valuable there but man round 28 that is so yeah I mean round 28

versus PCA and round 12 that's that's a no brainer I'd rather have Netto in that scenario so Raleigh in the 5th Roman Anthony in the 15th those are no brainers he can keep four Yeah, James Wood in the 14th, Zach Netto in the 28th. I think PCA in the 12th for Points League is obviously the one to leave out. Yep, yep, I think we're in agreement there.

This one is from B. Mulk. Question about SPARP eligibility. Hey guys, love the show. Y'all are great. Blah, blah, blah. I play in a daily, sorry, I play in a daily points league with seven max starts allowed from our starting pitchers for our matchup throughout the week. However, some players in our league are super valuable,

because they are SP slash RP eligible. Sparps. If there's any guys you think would be helpful for this type of format, that would be much appreciated. I'm presuming you're playing on CBS because I imagine some of these would vary based on platform.

It does change in Yahoo. It does change in Yahoo! I think Chase Burns and Sean Minia as Sparps. And I imagine some people wouldn't, some platforms wouldn't have defaulted to Cody Ponce being RP eligible just because they'd look at what role they were filling overseas and give them that eligibility versus what they were filling when they were last year, which is how we did it.

But if it's presuming it's CBS, Ryan Nelson is the top one. Cody Ponce is right behind for me. Some others that would potentially be even more affordable include, Braxton Ashcraft. I mean, he's on the rise too, but I like him. Yep. Uh, reedembers. We're getting into shakier territory here, but Joey Cantillo.

Joey, Joey Cantillo. Anthony Kay. Yep. Uh, Stephen Mats. Nick Martinez. Okay. Yeah, Nick Martinez, but, ooh, it's getting. I still, Foster Griffin, right?

Yeah. I still like Ian C. a lot. I like the talent. I don't think he's going to be in the rotation to start the season, but man, he's looks so good this spring. He's a name to watch. Ian Seymour is a name to watch, but I don't think he has a starting role to begin the season. And Peyton Tolly, there's another one to watch, because whenever he gets called up, he should be in the rotation, and he's RP eligible as well. This one is from 719, Adam. All right, let's see what we've got. question.

I have been playing in a Yahoo Points League for a few years, and the point system there is quite different than they are in CBS and others. No points lost for strikeouts. What's the selling point to move over to CBS, and what should I think about in how I personally rank players

in CBS Points Leagues versus Yahoo? So, full transparency, I do not know the Yahoo point scoring system. Things do change quite a bit if you do not lose points for strikeouts. That is for certain. But Scott, you seem like a pretty good salesman. Why should someone play in a CBS head-dead points league?

I think it is the fairest scoring system. You're not going to see values swing as wildly from format to format as, I mean, we've experienced it on the ESPN one. I haven't tried Yahoo's yet, but it sounds like if they're not reducing points for strike, It's both the FARA scoring system, and I think it's the one that rewards and penalizes those extras. In a way, that's not too extreme. In a way that's going to keep the player pool still fairly robust and not just take a bunch of players that we think of as good for fantasy, just off the table completely, which you see in leagues that penalize a full point for strikeout or only reward one point for stolen base.

I think we got the fairest one. But, yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think of who. Look, obviously, high strikeout guys would benefit. So who do we normally downgrade in points league because of their strikeout rate? O'Neill Cruz. O'Neill Cruz. Sure, James Wood becomes a lot less scary.

I mean, Nick Kurtz. Nick Kurtz, if you don't worry about his strikeouts, I mean, my gosh. I mean, how much better does Swarver even get, right? Yeah. If you don't lose points for Franks. Yeah. On the lower ends,

guys like Teosker Hernandez would gain value. Mike Trout. Yeah. I don't know. I do have the points scoring system pulled up for Yahoo. It's interesting. It's two points.

six points per single. It's double that for a double. So 5.2. Triple that for a triple. 7.8. Four times that for a home run, 10.4. You get 1.9 for each of a run or RBI. 2.6 for a walk. 4.2 for a steel. 2.6 for a hit by pitch. There's no way. I could synthesize that on the fly. I mean, it's so different. Yeah. So I'd have to study that. Yeah. Man. In points. This has been a helpful mailback. so far, hasn't it? Points leagues on CBS are a lot more straightforward. It's one point for a single,

two for a double, three for a triple, four for a homer, one for each of a run, RBI, and walk. You lose half a point for a strikeout. You also gain a point for like a hit by pitch. Two points for a steal, minus one point for a caught stealing. So it's very straightforward points scoring system.

And then for pitching, it's a point per out. It's, you get three for quality start, Scott, And five for a win, or is it reversed? Yes, seven per win. Seven for a quality start, seven for a win. Yep, and you get seven for a save as well. You lose points, one point for every hit allowed, walk, earned run. So it's pretty straightforward.

I think high-end pitching, this used to be the case, where high-end pitching used to outscore high-in hitting, but it's kind of flipped because the high-end hitters are so good right now with, like, Judge and Otani. And the high-end pitchers throw fewer innings. Yeah, yeah. So, and that's something that's worth noting, too. Like the inning eater types gain value in CBS Head Dead Points League.

So guys like Logan Webb and Framber Valdez, those are typically the guys that gain value. I do think maybe there's a way we could tweak our scoring so that it's less volume dependent for pitching and you can get greater differentiator there, than greater differentiation there than we see and maybe make those stud pitchers worth pursuing a little harder again.

But I think for hitting, it's about perfect, the CBS scoring. All right, this next one is from Josh Coggins, 59. Let's see. A quick question for something

I've always struggled with. I play in an 11-team AL-only roto league with OBP instead of batting average. One catcher, one batter DH, and one DH that can be a batter or a pitcher.

Interesting, like a swing manor. Dynasty League, we can keep 13 guys each year. I have listened to the auction strategy and know enough to realize that in deep leagues like AL only, auction values will be inflated, especially for high-end guys. What is the best way to adjust auction values

for an AL-only league of this caliber? So, look, I always point people to this specific tool, which I use myself very often. If you go to Fangraphs.com, you hover over the projections tab on the top. You go to the auction calculator. You can plug in your league settings. You could do AL only.

You can change it to OBP instead of batting average. Choose which projection system you want to use. I typically go with ATC from our buddy R.L. Cohen, it's a aggregate of pretty much all the best projection systems out there. And it will spit out values based on your league scoring system. What changes here is, you mentioned that it's a Keeper League. I think you mentioned that. It's a Dynasty League.

13 guys being kept like the inflation is impossible to account for Scott I mean I would say look back at previous years to see but it's it's kind of like I don't know if there's any planning for that when there's 13 players being kept in an AL only league

you know what I'm saying yeah because presumably they're being kept because they're discounted so you have a lot of extra money available to divide a lot more dollars to divide between the remaining players than would normally be divided between those remaining players. And I think the only way you can prepare yourself for that is just to look at past

precedent, like you said. That's how I do it in leagues I'm in like that. All right. This next one is from Ronnie Wilhoit. Question for the mailbag. How would you rate position value from weakest to deepest in a 12-team head-to-head standard Categories League with four outfielders,

two utility bats, one of each infielder, and then a corner and a middle. So from weakest to deepest with four outfielders, I think it's probably

still third base at the top, right? As the weakest? I would think so. Is this question in the rundown? Yeah, it's a little bit lower down. From Ronnie,

doing a control F for both weakest and deepest, and I'm not... No, it's a screenshot, Scott. Look up Ronnie. Control F, Ronnie in the rundown. There you go. I don't know why Control F wouldn't it? Okay, fair enough. I would say...

Yeah, I mean, it doesn't... I don't think the specifics of your league really changed things too much. So I guess just rank it how you normally would, from weakest to deepest. Third base... No, weakest and deepest, they're not exactly opposites to me. Like deepest, thinnest, thinnest to deepest would be third base.

I say that because, you know, second base is kind of deep, but also weak at the top. Yes. So that's, I don't really know where to put third base. I mean, second base. Gosh, I'm sorry. All right, third base. And then I will say corner infield because the thinness of third base trickles into corner infield. And then I will say since it's a 12 team where I'll put second base next,

followed by first base and then shortstop, middle infield catcher. Does that sound good? Outfield last. Four outfielders. I forgot about outfield. All right, let's try this again. Third base, corner infield, second base,

first base, outfield, shortstop, middle infield catcher. I presume it's a one catcher league. That checks out. This one is from World GM. Question, in a 12 team daily

seven by seven, head-to-head category Keeper League. that adds, let's see, hits and OPS on the hitting side, and on the pitching side it adds quality starts, K-per-9, and it saves plus holds instead of saves. Have the fourth pick of my draft. My three keepers are Acuna, Freed, and Green. Doesn't say Riley or Hunter, so I hope it's Riley.

And I want to know who would you pick between the following. Corbyn Carroll, Jackson, Churio, Jazz Chisholm, Pete Alonzo, Francisco Lendor, and Yordon Alvarez. so hits and op s added who do you take between it's probably between carol lindor jazz

and you're on those are probably the top options hits and ops kind of work against each other a little bit Carol and lindore I think stand out most of me but that I may be over emphasizing

hits and under-emphasizing OPS there. I think Churio's definitely out. And he already has Acuna and green. Let's assume it's a Coonia and Riley Green. If you take Carroll, you already have three outfielders. Yeah, but Carol's definitely better than Lindor. I think I'd want Carol over Lindor. And then your Don third, jazz.

It's only, he only needs one because he has the fourth picket. I think I'd lean Carroll. I think so, too. Even though you have two outfielders. Yeah, I think so too. This next one is from CJD, 2091. When you're doing stars and scrubs and an auction, how many stars are you typically trying to get?

And what range of the rankings are you typically looking to get them from? So look, the stars are, you know, you're going up to the top, man. You're trying to get, you know, the first and second round players. And typically in a mixed league, you're probably spending for the first round hitters 40 plus.

I mean, for O-Tani or Judge, I mean, it's 50-plus. Yeah, it's a little difficult to answer because it's, Stars and Scrubs is kind of a broad term. You could go about it differently. Yeah. I've seen Stars and Scrubs where somebody buys, like, Judge and Otani. And that's probably the only two stars you're getting. Yeah, yeah.

If that's the case. How would you do it if you were doing Stars and Scrubs? Well, what I like to do, like to, do in more recent years because the first rounders tend to get elevated and the second rounders not in terms of how much they cost. And look, this varies a lot just from auction to auction. Yeah. So you got to know the tendencies that people you're playing against. But in ours, first rounders tend to get pushed up in price. Second rounders don't. So the stars I like to get are the second rounders and third rounders, maybe. And I can get like six of those, five or six of those

and still feel like I could put together a strong roto lineup. Otherwise, I presume this is a roto league. If it's not, then that changes the equation quite a bit too. Yeah, this is a good time to remind people that we appreciate the questions, but when you send them in, try to give us as much context as possible. It's just easier to answer the question. Yeah, but yeah, that's, I guess maybe a good rule of thumb is to, I don't know.

I don't know what a good rule of thumb is in terms of getting stars especially. You just kind of have to feel it out. So there is a point where I stop bidding, and I know I can't go past $4 on anybody anymore, and that's when I have twice as many, when my remaining dollars is twice as bid as by max bit, basically. but that's even further in the draft than you're talking about. I think you have to have in mind certain dollar ranges that you can live with at positions

because you know you like the cheaper options there and keep enough in reserve that you know you're going to be happy with the spots that you don't invest heavily in. I think that's the way to do it. If you want to do stars and scrubs, I would almost work backwards, Scott. I would find, like you just said, the positions that I could spend down at the most and be okay with the players that I get. Like the guys I could get for, you know, if you're really doing stars and scrubs like one to $3,

or, you know, if it's not full on stars and scrubs, like the three to $5 players that you like in that range, find out what positions those are. And then the positions that they aren't, those are the ones that you want to spend up on. So I would probably work backwards there if you wanted to do stars and scrubs. Let's take our final break. When we return, we'll get back into your question. right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today.

Continuing on with your questions, this one is from R. Whitlock 3. I am in a standard 5-by-5 categories league, but you swap batting average for OPS. We are allowed three keepers every year. I am leaning towards crochet and jazz chisholm for his positional flexibility. But my third could be Manny Machado,

Matt Olson, or PCA. It is a league with extra corner, middle, and four out-fieler spots as with a utility as well. So in OPS, Scott, I, hmm, I think Matt Olson will probably have the highest OPS of that group.

Yes. But Machado gives you the third. Well, you have jazz, so you can play in a third. But you could also move jazz over to second and then you don't have to worry about second. You could. So would you take Machado

and his third base eligibility over Matt Olson? You're taking PCA off the table. So PCA suffers more when it's OPS. Yeah. Like the batting average isn't good, but the OPS is worse because that walks are included in OPS and that obviously grow Armstrong. Does he get a lot of those. So yeah, I think I'd just take Olson.

I have Olson ranked ahead of Machado. I think the OBP gap between them is pretty wide at this point. So I'd take Olson. I would take Machado just to lock in that third baseman. You don't have to worry about second base with jazz. I think I just ranked Machado ahead of Matt Olson as well. I like Olson, but again, to gain that third baseman and you have jazz at second, I would go that route.

This one is from CM Frank 3. I play in an AL-only normal 5-5-Roto League and recently drafted Garrett Cole. Who is the best pitcher I can pick up for Cole in the meantime? Mick Abel, Jacob Lopez, Ryan Weathers, Bailey Ober, Joey Cantillo. Pretty interesting options here. I presume it's a slow draft He just says pick up So maybe they weren't drafted

Well he's saying I I recently drafted Garrett Cole in an AL I'm presuming it's a slow draft Because why would these pitchers be available In nail only league otherwise That's fair And I would take Jacob Lopez over Mick Abel I think

Correct Yep that's the way I'm going to Well you know Ryan Weathers is still there He's had a horrible spring A lot of his process stuff is good though. I was looking into his start earlier on. Well, his very first start got everybody excited because it was like three shutout

innings with five strikeouts. But his, the next three were disastrous. And so he has like a 12 VRA and two something whip. It's bad. And so, I mean, I wasn't the highest on Wethers to begin with.

I do technically rank him the highest of these three. But maybe I shun it? I don't know. And in A. L. only, I would take Jacob Lopez. I think his.

Okay. rotation spot is the safest. The A's don't have great pitching. Ryan Weathers, he has upside, but, well, actually, you could kind of handcuff it with Garik Cole and Ryan Weathers, but I think once Cole and Rodan are back,

there is a chance that Ryan Weathers is just out of the rotation. My initial instinct said Lopez. If Lopez is as good as I think he could be, and he's one of my most drafted players this year, yeah, he's going to be better than Weathers. Even if Weathers gives you a good scenario. I like it, too.

I would go Jacob Lopez. This one is from Kev Motivation. I am in a salary cap points league. I have guys like Kevin McGonigle, Connor Griffin, and J.J. Weatherholt for cheap, like $5 to $10 each. The guy who has Bobby Witt has him for $40. He is thinking about trading for some youth.

For context, I have Terrick Scouble and Garry Crochet for a total of $15. So I want to capitalize on them being healthy and cheap. Should I trade? So he doesn't say what the Trump. trade should be. But let's presume, I don't know, do you give up one or multiple of those five to $10 prospects for a $40

Bobby Witt? Pitchers, you mean? No, no, you're talking about it. Yeah, because he has McGonigal, Griffin, and Weatherhold. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, okay, so he wants to trade Witt for youth. I got this. Okay. Um, I just don't understand why he's bringing up the pitchers. I guess he's trying to give us more context, but I'm not really sure how they're factoring into the context here. So he has the rookie shortstop, Scott,

and he wants to trade for Witt to pair with his pitcher so that he can compete right now. He's saying he's in a good position to win now. Okay. Yeah, yep, yep. Fair enough. I would be fine doing that. I don't know how many of them you have to trade.

Of course, would I do at trading all three? Man, this is so hard to answer without being in the league and understanding the economics of it. But, I mean, I don't think I'd hesitate. If the guy wants wit for 40, I don't know how much prospect churn happens in this league, how likely you are to get prospects that high end again. But you're keeping them for $5 to $10. So it's not like you're keeping them for free, basically, the prospects.

So, yeah, I think I'd give them, you know, ideally you only have to give up two of those guys, McGonnell, Gold Griffin, and Weatherholt. but yeah, I'd do it to get with, sure. All right, let's get into your email questions. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. This one is from Wesley. Who do you like between Andrew Painter or Mick Abel? Mick Abel.

Okay. Are you just assuming he's in the rotation? Mind you, we're recording this a couple days in advance, so this information might already be out there on Saturday, but are you just assuming Abel will be in the Twins rotation? I would be very surprised if he wasn't. he's been their best pitcher this spring. Yeah.

So I recently dropped Andrew Painter one spot behind McAbel. All right. This one is from Nick in Pittsburgh. Quick question. I drafted Jack Caglione to go along with Aaron Judge, Brian Reynolds, and Dalton Varsho as my outfielders. Any chance Caglione sits against lefties to start the year? I was discussing this with friends at lunch today.

Well, I guess there's a chance. He's a young left-handed hitter. let me look at their roster. They did get Starling Marte. Remember, they have Lane Thomas on the bench, too. Yeah. How much did he sit against lefties last year? We may have just discovered a reason to pump the brakes a little.

Pump the brakes. Pump the brakes, maybe. The cost is rising. He started against a lot of lefties last year. A lot. Not all. Yeah. but a lot.

So I don't know. Like if he's, if it's clear, he's having a breakout season, just a monster, I don't think Lane Thomas is going to stop them for playing him every day.

They should probably just play Lane Thomas every day in center field over Kyle Isbell anyway. And it may come to that. Right. The Starling Marte signing was interesting because it's hard to imagine he's just going to sit on the bench,

but he could steal a bats from Carter Jensen against lefties. Rasta resource has Nick Lofton getting in there against lefties. I don't know that that needs to happen. But I think what could happen here is that one of Caglione and Carter Jensen could kind alternate sitting against lefties. And we could see one of like Starling Marte, probably Marte getting in there as like the

DH against left-handed pitching, something like that. Yeah, sounds right. So it's possible Caglion sits some against them. lefties, but if he breaks out, I think he'll break free of any platoon concerns. This next one is from Grant. Why no Garrett Crochet concerns? Here are his innings pitched at all levels since 2018, 63 and two thirds, 65, 9 and a third, 54 and a third.

Didn't pitch in 2022, then 25, 146, 205, and a third. Am I the only person concerned about that workload jump? Seems like we hear concerns about similar increases for other players, but I have not heard a peep about crochet. I think it's worth mentioning. I'm not drafting him unless it's at least a few picks into the second round, and he's clearly behind Skeen's and Scoobel. And I do realize some of that is just a crapshoot with pitchers.

Yeah, I think that's the main thing for me. Personally, what I look at is less the increase than can you take on the workload? can you take on the workload to be a true high-end pitcher, or are you just always going to fall apart at 140 innings? And Crochet clearly proved he could take on the workload last year with 205. So you did hear a lot of this with Crochet last year. I was myself wondering if he could be a true ace, given his injury history, in only 146 the year before.

but, you know, maybe he'll get hurt. I don't know that he's necessarily any more likely to get hurt than Terek Scoopoul or even Paul Skeens. It's a possibility for any pitcher. All right. This next one is from Max. Speculating on saves in a 12-team Yahoo League, would you rather have Matt Svanson with the Cardinals or Lucas Erseg with the Royals? Or even Matt Strom. So any of the Royals guys or Sphonson?

Svonson. partly because there's two guys there for the royals I understand it's messy in St. Louis too, but I think it's clearer who could emerge from that cluster than it is for the royals. And you know what? It's still possible. Carlos Estavis just holds on to the job all year.

I don't know that it'll be pretty, but it's possible. Every time I say the name Matt Sphanson, I feel like I'm ordering an expensive wine or something, Scott. Can I get a glass of the Sponson? Every time I bite into a York peppermint patty, I feel like, I don't know. That used to be an advertisement campaign. This is what it reminded me of.

Do you like York peppermint patties? I do, actually. I always have. I don't like the peppermint with the chocolate, man. Chocolate's good the way it is. You don't need peppermint with it. You know, I kind of rediscovered them because I am somebody who has to watch his cholesterol,

and they are among chocolate candies, they have some of the least saturated fat. So that's a big reason why I enjoy the York peppermapaddy. I don't feel much guilt for eating it. This next one is from Tommy. I play in a deep points league, 14 teams with 25 roster spots on ESPN. I'm finding the ESPN points rankings for our draft to be very far from the industry standard.

That they are. We learned during the mock draft megastream. Seeing players like Bryce Harper and Raphael Devers in the 110s is jarring. Was wondering if you guys knew why that is and what strategy you would have in a deep points league that differs from the shallow format played on CBS.

So I would recommend checking out the ESPN points league mock draft we did. It's here on YouTube. It's also on the audio side. It was part of our mock draft Megastream. We did a draft on ESP on a points league. The biggest difference with their scoring is that it's minus a full point for hitter strikeouts and it's only one point for a stolen base compared to two on CBS. So it changes things quite a bit, Scott.

I get Devers sliding that much when it's a full point per strikeout. Strikeouts are kind of the big concern for him right now. They really escalated, especially. after, well, really the last few years, but especially last year, Australia's aren't really an issue for Harper, and he walks a lot too. And stolen bases aren't a big part of his game,

so it's not like he's sliding because of that. I don't get that one. I feel like Harper is a player who should excel in the ESPN head-to-head points format. So capitalize on that value for sure. I mentioned this earlier again, the Fangraphs auction calculator. They also have points leagues on there,

and you can customize it, set it up. However your point scoring system is, you put it in the auction calculator, you generate the projections, and it will spit out rankings based on your league specific scoring system. So that is a good way to figure out which players are most valuable in your specific format. Because again, the ESPN format is kind of, it's kind of the Wild West. So you do need a little bit of help there figuring out how to value players. This next one is from Joel, Frank and team what to make of Michael King and Edward Cabrera

two keeper options that I'm trying not to freak out about due to spring results help well you shouldn't freak out about spring results as a general rule I think it's a little murkier in the case of these two pitchers because A Michael

King missed most of last year due to injury and B Edward Cabrera does not have a long track record of success, and it's more about the process for him that has me fearful this spring than the results, the process being that he's actively trying to reintroduce the foreseamer to his arsenal,

and getting away from that last year would allow him to have his best season. That's well understood by everyone who does a deep dive on Edward Cabrera. So I just don't like the decisions he's making. Disappointed in you, young man, the decisions you're making. King, the stuff seems good. So I'm mostly ignoring the spring, but coming off the year he just had, I feel a lot better if he was having a good spring, sure.

This next one is from Josh, trade evaluation, 12 team head-to-head points redraft on ESPN. Jose Ramirez for Roman Anthony. and Bobeshett. I would rather just have Jose Ramirez. Yeah. He doesn't really tell us which side he's on, but yeah, I'd rather have, especially in that format,

Jose Ramirez is even more of a standout and the ESPN head to head points. This one is from James in D.C. Scott, start thinking about some power sources that could be on the waiver wire. That's part of this question. Okay. Ended up with too much speed in both my

Shallow League, 12-team head-ted categories, and my one deep league, 15-team Roto. Do you have any recommendations for home runs slash RBI sources for the waiver wire to begin the season? Well, for the deep league, let's address that first. Owen Casey, if he went undrafted. Dominic Canzon. Dominic Canzone, yeah.

Question whether he's going to be a full-timer, but he definitely has power. Matt Walner. Oh, Tyler O'Neill. I like Tyler O'Neill a lot. Start them on opening day. I like Tyler O'Neill a lot for this context, deep Roto leagues. And look, 15 team Roto, it's so deep, all of these guys may have been drafted.

And maybe this isn't very helpful. Right. But if they're drafted, then I, you know, what you're going to find on the waiver wire is not going to be promising. Maybe Nolan could be out there. I like that call. Marcelo Zuna maybe. Yeah, possibly. But again, unlikely in a 15-team roto.

This one's kind of gross. Jorge Saler. Yeah. Reese Hoskins maybe is out there. That's a good one. He's got to win a job, but. Yeah. Powers what he does.

I think those are good names for the 15. What do you think about the 12-teamer? The 12-teamer. Let's turn our attention to that. So obviously there are more choices here. It's possible. Is it possible? If it's a three outfielder league,

it's possible Dalton Farsha is available. Right, isn't it? Jake Berger? Jake Berger. Yeah, not excited about him, but he hits for power. How about Colson Montgomery?

Yeah, I was going to say Stanton, but I think Montgomery is a little bit more interesting at this point. Yeah. Brett Beatty, I mean, obviously there's a playing time issue but he has power. Yep.

Max Muncie of the Dodgers. Kyle Manzardo. Yeah. I like Muncie even more, for what it's worth. Mickey Moniac. Now we're just naming names. Listing off names here. All right. Let's wrap up here with some fantasy justice.

Dear Kenesaw, Joseph, and Judy. Ouch. I guess those are judges. Yes, that seems to be correct. The trade scenario you are about to hear is true. However, the names have been changed to protect the innocent and or guilty. Last season, two very close friends who were both in playoff contention in a league that I am the commissioner in traded Cedric Mullins for Charlie Morton.

My philosophy as commissioner is to approve all trades unless there is straightforward evidence of collusion or wrongdoing. There is no voting process. I approved the deal thinking this was a nothing-for-nothing trade. However, I was alerted by another member that the team that received Morton dropped him one day after making the deal. Furthermore, this rival GM said he asked about Mullins' availability days before the deal and was rebuffed at offers,

he claimed, were much better than Morton. As it turns out, Mullins was a non-factor down the stretch, so no big deal. But what if Mullins went on to be a difference maker? I can see how the optics would be bad. My question centers on whether teams should be required to keep players they receive in a trade for a certain amount of time.

I investigated the possibility of creating some sort of rule on the league's platform, but no such option exists. Is this reason to indict or circumstantial evidence that should be thrown out of court? I mean, it's obviously circumstantial. I mean, if it's a nothing for nothing trade, does it really matter?

It's bad optics, I agree. It's bad optics. I think it's fair to want an explanation from the guy who acquired Morton. Maybe he just, you know, we all get trade offers sometimes that's like, okay, whatever. I mean, like, it's, I guess I could use a pitcher more. I was about to drop Mullins anyway. click and then the next day he was like looking at his options he saw someone else out there on waivers and it's like yeah i'm not that attached to morton really just because i traded for him you know

it could be perfectly innocent it probably is perfectly innocent especially since you say they were both in contention he probably saw it as a nothing trade the guy trading mullins away like you did as the commissioner and so like i said he may have been on the verge of dropping Mullins anyway and was just kind of like, yeah, why not? And I think that's perfectly fine. I guess it is a little bit weird if they were buffed trades that were better. I mean, obviously, that is. You're right.

You're right. That is a detail. That's subjective. That is subjective. But I mean, stuff like that happens all the time, Scott, where you see a trade go down in your league and you're like, man, I could have beat that trade. Yeah, that does happen all the time. Yeah.

Like, I could have beat that trade. or I made an offer for the same guy and my offer was clearly better than that one even. That happens too. So it's only suspicious because he dropped the guy the next day. You're also just taking this one guy's word for it that said, I was rebuffed. I was, you know, who knows why?

Who knows if he's interpreting the events of that conversation correctly? So, you know, I think it's fair to want an explanation. I mean, so much time has passed at this point that I'm not sure it's worth pursuing. But I guess you could set up a rule in this season so that it doesn't happen again. I don't think you should. I don't think it's a big deal.

I don't think you should either. I think there's definitely a risk of over-legislating always, always in fantasy leagues. And it's clearly a rule you would have to enforce manually because, yeah, I can't imagine that being something you could set up automatically to enforce. And so do you really want that on your plate? you know, see if something like it happens again between those two specifically.

And see if there's an explanation. I mean, that's that's really all I can say about it at this point. I don't think it is, I don't think it is alarming enough to really create dissension within the league unless it becomes a pattern between these two. final verdict don't make that rule change, correct? No, definitely don't make the rule change. I think that's an overreaction

and I don't think you want to enforce it and I think it's going to cause it's going to lead to more trouble than it prevents. All right. I think just keep an eye on those two see if something as shady happens again and don't immediately jump to conclusions then

but you know question things a little more. Yeah. Well, you heard it from Judge White yourself. Justice has been served. We are going to wrap there. For Scott, I am Frank, thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

And we will be back again next week. Bye-bye. Paramount Podcasts.