Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨George Springer and Kirby Yates sign with the Blue Jays - Emergency Podcast (1/20 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

Frank Stampfl and Scott White are reacting to the Blue Jays signing both George Springer and Kirby Yates. What's Springer's outlook with the Blue Jays (1:17)? Any chance Springer runs more with the change of scenery? ... What does this do to the rest of the Blue Jays' lineup (6:30)? If Bo Bichette is batting third, does he run less? ... Lastly, the Blue Jays also signed Kirby Yates (10:05). Is he definitely their closer? Jordan Romano is still a name to watch.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

I'm not sure it matters where the Blue Jays are playing in 2021 because their lineup is absolutely stacked. Welcome to an emergency edition of fantasy baseball today, recording late night on Tuesday, January 19th, Frank Stanfield and Scott White here to talk about George Springer signing a six-year, $150 million deal to join a Blue Jays lineup that already included Kevin Bizio, Boba Chet, Vladigarero Jr., Tiaska Hernandez, Lordez, Gureo, Roddy Tellez, Randall, Randall, and of course, their awesome catcher duo of Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. one of the most consistent bats in the league, Scott, George Springer, since 2016, 138 home runs. That is ninth among all hitters. 463 runs scored during that span. That is fourth among hitters. Your instant reaction to Springer joining the Blue Jays.

Well, I think, I agree that it becomes a, it's already a good lineup, and it becomes potentially a great one with this. The thing about the Blue Jays lineup, though, is that, for all the potential that's there. It's not especially proven either, and that's especially true among the outfield crop. So George Springer, he adds playoff experience, and he adds that consistency you're talking about.

He had some assurance to a group that, you know, includes Randall Gritchick, who's been very hot and cold throughout his career. It includes Teasca Hernandez, who was maybe the most surprising hitter in baseball last year. He wouldn't be, he kind of elevated himself out of media, mediocrity in the shortest season on record, so nobody really knows what to make of it.

That's not to say that those guys don't have a lineup spot now. There's room for all of them. Teosker Hernandez, Randall Gritchick, George Springer, of course, and Lordis Gariel, the four of them, probably a bit of a carousel between the outfield and DH. but if Hernandez or Gritchick slips up, they're not going to have as much leash as they did before. And so, you know, that that kind of makes it harder to invest in them, but, you know, obviously not moving them down my rankings, really.

Yeah, so for Springer mentioned the consistency, top 15 outfielder in head-to-head points each of the past two seasons, a top 20 outfielder in Roto during that time as well. if you just look at 2020 alone. He got off to a bit of a slow start. He had this wrist injury he was dealing with. But September 1st on his final 25 games, a 316 batting average in OPS over a thousand first springer during that span.

And of course, just coming off that massive 2019 season, Scott, which really looked like it was going to be a career year. And it still might be. Stackast numbers really, really supported a lot of what he did in 2019 and carried that over into 2020. He only hit 265, with a 540 slug, but the XBA, the expected batting average, 294 for Springer, expected slug, 570.

So I still think that there is a lot to like here with George Springer. Of course, the ADP 55.7, he is the 15th outfielder off the board right now. You have him as your number 10 outfielder in head-to-head points and number 11 outfielder in Roto. So it seems like you might get a good amount of George Springer if he remains in this ADP range. Well, that hasn't been happening so far, but maybe, maybe I'm higher on Springer than the consensus. I mean, I see what you see with the stat cast numbers last year.

Like the big jump came in 2019 and it sustained in 2020, even though he got off to that slow start. I mean, basically all season, he was right up to what the final numbers ended up being Springer, underachieved his expected production. and dealing with a wrist injury for part of the season may have had something to do with it. But he looks like one of the surest studs you'll find at the outfield doesn't run much at all anymore. He never ran that much.

But obviously that holds back, that takes some of the sizzle away in five-by-five leagues. But still really solid pick in the early rounds. you know, that goes for points leagues as well. Yeah, I think you can make the argument that he can be the eighth outfielder off the board in a points league, right behind Bryce Harper and Cody Bellinger, but I think he's in that similar range as Marcel Ozuna and Whitmerfield. So, yeah, whether it's the fourth round, I think he probably moves up a little bit now that people know where he's going to be playing in 2021. You mentioned the speed and the steals. They haven't necessarily been there.

It kind of stinks because, you know, we saw him what he did in the minors and, And same thing kind of happened with Jack Peterson, where they ran. They ran so much in the minors, and it just never happened. He's joining a team now. The Blue Jays were ninth in steals this past season. The Houston Astros were 20th. Rostal resource, as of now, expects George Springer to lead off. I guess there's a possibility that can change.

But he is one of the best leadoff hitters in the game. So is there a chance you see the steals come up now that he joins the Blue Jays? There's a chance, but I mean, I'm not, I'm not factored. bring that into my assessment of him at all. He hasn't shown that. He hasn't shown that in any real quantity. And I understand that's kind of the Astros organizational philosophy, but like this far into his career, I feel like I need to have seen more than I've seen in that area for me to project that onto him. I think that's fair. You can't project it if we haven't necessarily seen it. But a change of scenery, maybe that can help George Springer run a little bit more on the base

path according to Stackast, 82nd percentile in sprint speed for George Springer, 31 years old, but still one of the premier athletes in the game. I just kind of want to ask, Scott, what do you think this does to the rest of the lineup? The rest of the hitters around here, Bo Bichette, Kevin Bissuezio, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., are you going to be moving any of these guys up? I do wonder if Bichette moves down in the lineup and he's batting third, can we see the steals drop for him now that he's in the middle of the order? It's possible, but it's also possible everybody just moves down a spot, right, to fit Springer in there at the top, which is where he batted most of the time with Houston.

So we're kind of assuming that much, but it makes sense. He's proven in that spot. So if everybody moves down a spot, I mean, just the fact that Vigio is, if he is batting third versus second, like it's still the, the same guys behind him. So I don't know that practically speaking, it changes much of anything. Yeah, I don't see much incentive to really shift anyone,

to really approach anyone else in this lineup differently in fantasy. You know, it might actually hurt Alejandro Kirk's value a little bit because now you might have, there was more potential for him to get some of the bats at DH than there is now. Right. Yep.

and he's probably just a split roll behind the plate with Danny Jansen, unless one of them emerges as deserving more regular bats. But, you know, as things stand with that split role, neither being especially proven. You know, they're both outside my top 15 at the position and it's not worth drafting in one catcher league. All right, Scott, I'm going to just ask you Springer versus a few names that are going ahead of him.

Springer versus Aaron Judge, who would you rather have? I would rather have Springer. Springer versus Starling Marte. I'd rather have I think I'd rather have Marte if we're just talking a 5 by 5 league in the steals. The need for steals there. Yeah, I would agree with that.

I'll take Marte in Roto. I'll take Springer and head-to-head points. Marcel Ozuna, who still has not found a home, might be waiting to see if there is a DH in the National League, which also might have influenced Springer's decision not to go to the New York Mets or for the Mets not to offer as much money.

But Springer versus Ozuna, knowing what we know now. I'm going to go with Ozuna there, but it's a close call. I think once we get into, well, I'll just, what do you think? Springer versus Eloy Jimenez.

A Springer. Oh, okay. Yeah, I think I'll take Eloy in, I'll take Eloy in Roto. Even though he doesn't steal, I think the batting average upside is higher. The power potential is better as well. But not going to steal many bases.

I'll take Eloy over Springer in a roto league, but I'll take Springer in a head to head points league. All right, so it seems like based on that little discussion, Springer is a little bit undervalued. Again, the ADP, according to Fantasy Pros, is 55.7. I have a feeling this is going to move up. Maybe, you know, a half a round,

12-full round, six to 12 picks, something like that. I think when it's all set and done, come March, we'll see Springer inside the first four rounds. I think that makes a lot of sense. Is it worth getting into the Blue Jays? The Blue Jays made another, you know, not as big of a splash as this, obviously, but a decent size move earlier in the day. What am I missing?

Oh, Kirby Yates. Let's do that, yeah. An entire Blue Jays edition of the Emergency Pocket. You sure you don't want to do Jose Cantana to the Angels too while we're at it? Just kidding. Kirby Yates signs with the Toronto Blue Jays, yes. Let's just hit on that real quick. He is coming off, I believe, elbow surgery.

He's coming off a surgery. Having bone spurs removed from his elbow, he hardly pitched last year. And the little bit he did pitch was awful. The results were awful. But the velocity was where it was supposed to be. The swinging strikes were where they were supposed to be. I think you can attribute it just to him pitching through this discomfort and his delivery being a little off.

And Blue Jays are in a good position to gamble on that. There was some talk that, you know, even though it seems obvious, given the personnel there in Toronto. It seems obvious that Yates would just step right into the bullpen role. Let's see, who did this come from? This came from Scott Mitchell of Blue Jays analyst for TSN. He said that Blue Jays might be eyeing more of a Raye-style bullpen

where it just depends on how high leverage the situation is, who gets the call. But he also opened the door to the possibility, that Yates would probably get the majority of the saves if he proves healthy and effective. So I'm going to approach him until I hear stronger indication otherwise, I'm going to approach Yates as if he's the Blue Jays closer.

I believe he is sixth in my relief pitcher rankings. Seventh. Seventh of my relief pitcher rankings. Jordan Romano would be probably the main guy to watch there. Otherwise, also Rafael DeLis was getting saves down the stretch last year. you know, that's only for deeper leagues. I think Kirby Yates is definitely the guy to draft in that bullpen until we have strong indication to believe otherwise. So if anyone's doing early drafts,

Kirby Yates could be had at a tremendous value. His ADP is 215.3 currently as the 28th relief pitcher off the board. That's according to fantasy pros. So Scott hasn't ranked inside his top seven, which means he is expecting him to be the closer for the Blue Jays, but pay attention to that situation, something to monitor throughout spring training. Jordan Romano was really, really good last year. He pitched to a 1.23 ERA 0.89 whip right around 13 Ks per 9, 12.8Ks per 9. The walk rate was solid as well. So Jordan Romano is the name to watch. Hopefully they don't go to the race style because that would just be very annoying for fantasy purposes. I don't. I don't, we don't like the raise when it comes to saves. All right. So that's Kirby Yates and George Springer heading over to the

Toronto Blue Jays, and we're going to wrap there. For Scott, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching. In the morning, you will have Danny Vieti and Will in your feed on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. They have Brandon Crawford and his wife, Jalen Crawford, on the podcast. So you will hear that on Wednesday morning. We will be back on Thursday.

Bye-bye.