Fantasy Baseball Today - Jose Altuve Out 8-10 Weeks & Players We Haven't Talked Enough About (3/20 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 20, 2023

Jose Altuve has a fractured thumb (2:35)? How much time will he miss? Who will take his place in Houston? ... How did Frank do in his H2H points Tout Wars draft (10:55)? ... News (20:30): Yordan Alvarez could play in games this week. Jurickson Profar signed with the Rockies. ... Let's talk about under-discussed players, starting with Shane Bieber (37:22). ... Is Luis Garcia overvalued (40:20)? ... What's to like about Drew Rasmussen (43:10)? ... Is Bryan Reynolds risky (47:38)? ... What can we expect from Whit Merrifield (49:18)? ... Josh Hader's velo is down this spring (53:11). ... Eduardo Rodriguez's velo is up this spring (55:20). ... Can Gleyber Torres improve the counting stats (56:55)? ... Let's run through the rest of the names (59:25). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Fantasy Baseball Today is a finalist in the Baseball Category for the Sports Podcast Awards! Quickly create an account and vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-baseball-podcast/ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. First, Edwin Diaz, now Jose Al-Tuve. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, March 20th. Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, we'll talk about. about Jose Al Tuve's thumb injury. Take a look at my Tout Wars team, what the gents think about it. The Fernando Tati's trio has been completed. Players, we haven't talked about enough. Some interesting names that we just, yeah, I don't know that we've dedicated enough attention

to some of those guys. So talk about those names later on in the podcast before we get into it. Make sure to like this video, comment, and subscribe if you haven't already. If you're listening on the audio side, please download, follow, and leave a five star review. Thank you very much.

We appreciate it. Remember that you can always go back and listen to our previous shows on demand. Last week we talked a bunch about strategy and gave you position previews updates. Well, guess what? We need to update the second base preview again. Last week, one of you guys, I don't remember which one, said, hmm, we've been really fortunate with the WBC. We haven't really had any major injuries. Yeah, I went on like a whole spiel about about it.

Well, I mean, this one, you know, I thought I was the one who brought it up. But hit by pitch as well, you brought it up. I think I went on a whole extended ramp. But I don't know, man. I'm so sick of people being like, oh, thanks to the world baseball classic. It's getting players here. And it's like he got hit by a pitch. Like this is like when Byron Buxton got hit by a pitch a couple years ago.

And like people were like, oh, I can't stay healthy. It's like this is literally the definition of just like RNG events. Like there is nothing you can do to a like we're really going to say Jose Altuva's chances of getting hit by a pitch where lesser if he had been facing some triple A pitcher from the Astros organization. Come on. This is dumb. That's exactly. That's exactly right, Chris. And actually, Gabriel.

Bad luck. Gabriel Moreno was hit by a pitch on his hand this weekend too. It can happen to any player, spring training or WBC. So I don't think it has anything to do with the world baseball classic. But let's actually talk about the injury that we are referring to. Jose Altuva hit by a pitch on his. right hand by Daniel Bard, of all players, you know, USA going up against Venezuela on Saturday. Turns out that Jose Al Tuvei has a fractured right thumb and will undergo surgery.

I've seen anything from six to ten weeks. I mean, Bob Nightingale reported eight to ten weeks. I don't know how much we trust Bob Nightingale's report, though the Astros have not provided an official timetable. Scott, talk to me how much you dropped him in your overall rankings and within your second base rankings. So within second base, actually in both 5 by 5 scoring and point scoring, I moved him down from 1st to 6th. Obviously, he slots among different players, depending on which format you're looking at. But for the 5 by 5 scoring, I have Jose Altuve now between Andres Jimenez and Max Muncie. So that still has him in my top 100 overall.

I'm obviously as we've talked a lot about, Jose Al Tuvei was a big part of my plan for this year. If I could get him in round three, that was something I was pretty much always going to do. No longer, of course. But I think he is still a big part of my draft plan. If I can get him close to pick 100, then that's something I'm still excited to do. So the timelines you've referenced, Frank, I think for like a normal kind of straightforward fracture, particularly a small bone like that, you know, I'd probably think in terms of four to six weeks because he's having surgery, makes sense that that would be longer. We don't really know the extent of the surgery. The Astros aren't willing to offer a timetable until after he gets out of surgery.

So that is kind of an unknown element there. But I think the eight to 10 week timeline that Bob Nightingale offered is a pretty, it's kind of anticipating the worst. I don't imagine it being much worse than that. So I'm just going to go with that for Altuvae and think. And I saw one of the Astros beatwriters for the athletic. I can't remember his name, but he kind of also said the Astros are hoping sometime in May,

Altuvae returns, which would be closer to the eight weeks of the eight to ten. week time. Yeah. Like I'm just looking at last year, Tyler Stevenson missed 29 days with a broken thumb. Bryce Harper missed 61 days with a broken thumb. And Harold Ramirez missed 29 days with a broken thumb. So that's four to eight weeks.

Four to eight weeks. Yeah. That's the timetable. It's probably, I would guess, more like the two-month timetable, especially since he's undergoing surgery. And then that'll take longer to heal.

But I would expect mid-May. Mid-May is a quarter of the season, basically. So a quarter of the season, worst-case scenario, we're talking a third of the season for Jose Al-Tufe, I would say. So that's June 1st, worst-case scenario. June 1st is going to be here quicker than you, no, quicker than you think. If you have an IL spot to play with, if you, particularly the shallower your league is,

I think it's very wise to invest in Altuvei, provided the discount is as much as I think it is. And it could be even more than I think it is. People tend to overreact to injuries right after they happen. I know a lot of the commentary on Twitter now. Because so many fantasy baseball analysts kind of view everything through the NFBC contest, which doesn't offer IL spots, I feel like sometimes...

And has 15 team leagues. And our 15 team, so they're deeper, yes. I feel like a lot of times the reaction to these injuries can be a little overblown, and that might suppress Jose Al-Tuvae's draft stock further, which would be great for people who want to draft them. I think it's possible this injury could lead to me having even more shares of Jose Al-Tupe than I was already getting, which to this point is two. Speaking of the NFBC, there were nine drafts conducted on Sunday,

so one day after the injury, this is still very very, fresh in people's minds, obviously, with Jose Altuve. The ADP was 133.46 with a min pick of 39, so that person clearly did not see the injury or know anything about it, and a max pick as low as 2.14. So, that was the first one that happened. Yeah. The first draft after his injury, I saw the NFC tweeted out. He went in the 15th round of a 15 team league, which just congratulations to that guy.

Because that's going to work out because, look, it's possible he comes back from his injury. in eight weeks and just isn't the right. It isn't right. Bryce Harper, if you remember last year, came back from his broken thumb in like late August and was miserable for the rest of the season. I think he had like a 650 OPS. He did also hit six home runs in the playoffs in the World Series.

He was pretty awesome in that stretch. But, you know, the regular season games he came back from. He wasn't quite the same guy. And he had other injuries. He had the elbow injury as well. But yeah, it's, it's possibly. he just comes back and isn't the same for the first month that he's back and it takes him a little while. And, you know, it could end up being a tough situation. But even there, the, I think the upside is still so high that it's worth a top 100 pick. And if it ends up being more like a 10th round pick in a 12th team league, that's, that's even better.

All right. So who will be filling in for Jose Altuve in the meantime? Rasta resource has David Hensley playing second base for the Astros. though they do have Maricio Dubon as well, more of a utility type player, but can play the infield if they need him to do that. Hensley last year and the miners hit 298 with a 420 on base percentage, 10 home runs, 20 steals, and an 898 OPS, a 26-year-old playing at AAA in the PCL. So it's a pretty favorable offensive environment.

Chris, any interest in David Hensley in obviously the deepest of leagues? I think it would only be AL only. I mean, the fact that he's got a little bit of speed and a little bit of pop, It makes them interesting, but the surface level numbers look pretty interesting. You know, the near 900 OPS, 420 OBP, 26 years old in the PCL. That suggests to me that it probably wasn't real. They have another guy who spent a decent amount. I think he spent most of the last year at AAA Pedro Leone, who is three or four years younger.

I think he's 24. He had, I want to say, grind surgery at the start of spring training. So he's only just now getting into games. I do wonder if he had been healthy, he might have had a chance. But he's probably a little more interesting. I think he had like 228 in AAA Pedro Leon, but had a, I want to say, 2020 numbers. 17 home runs, 38 seals. Yeah, there you go.

So, like, if he gets off to a hot start and Hensley and Maricio de Bonn are not doing anything, Leon would be more interesting if he got the opportunity. But right now, your replacement's, not going to come from Houston, I would say. I'm a little more interested in Hensley than Chris is. I know he had one exit velocity reading of 114 miles per hour last year. It's hard to fake that, no matter what age you are at what level. And just on base skills that good?

I mean, Dusty Baker's kind of an old school manager. I don't know how much he's going to value that. But if Hensley gets run, I think he could be interesting and kind of like a prime Jed Lowry sort of way. So I would say if your league is deep enough that you're drafting Bryce Terrang, then you should also think about drafting David Hensley too, which would cover those 15-team Roto leagues. David Hensley, available in the Scott White Dynasty League.

Ooh, let the bidding begin. He's not going to be available once waivers opens up, I'm sure. All right, so once again, Jose Al-Tuvae, the big breaking news this weekend, has a fractured right thumb, and we're expecting maybe sometime in mid-May on the optimistic end, and if not that, probably sometime in June. The early ADP is 133.46. Both Chris and Scott would be buying at that cost.

Let's get into my Tout Wars team, and we're not going to spend too much time on this, because again, I do want to talk about a lot of these players that maybe we haven't focused on enough throughout the draft prep season. And I mentioned earlier, the Fernando Tate's trio is complete. I didn't really go in expecting to win Fernando Tatees. I had budgeted for like a $25 outfielder,

and what's cool is he has shortstop and outfield already. So I don't have to worry about him playing whatever it is. five or 10 games in the outfield to earn that eligibility first. He'll just have it right from the get-go. So having that dual eligibility, I got Fernando Tatis at $29. This is a 12-te-to-head points salary cap draft slash auction, but it uses roto lineups. So it's deeper than the normal standard head-to-head points league type setting

that we often refer to on this podcast. So I got him at $29, followed by Rafael Devers at 27, and Corey Seeger at 19. No surprise. I mean, I was willing to go $25 on Corey Seeger, so don't tell anybody else that. I noticed that the second tier of pitching throughout this draft was going for more than I thought it should. So names like U. Darvish, $25, Alex Free, $26. So winning Corbynoburns at 32 felt like a relative deal just comparatively to those other starting pitchers.

But it's what I did next that I thought was really interested, and I want to get your guys' thoughts on the strategy. So since I had already won Tatease, I decided to kind of lean into the injury discounts, got Joe Musgrove at $12, Carlos Rodan at 9. It's very risky. There's no doubt about that. I'm kind of punting the first few matchups. Like, I'm going to set my lineup, but probably not going to do very well without some of those names. But come May, I mean, the team could be pretty dangerous if everyone's back healthy between

Tatis and Rodon and Musgrove. So I didn't like the prices. and so I just kind of lean into this volatility and this injury risk and discount here, Scott. What do you think about something like this? A strategy of getting all the injured guys. I don't know that I'd recommend that. However, I think you've got Musgrove and Carlos Rodan

at such good values in a league where, you know, it's only 12 teams. Most of the Tau Wars leagues are 15 teams, right? The one Chris and I play in are 15 teams, so they're deeper. No, I think Chris is 12. Mine is 12 as well. Oh, yours is 12 too? Okay.

But you were saying it's head-to-head points but with roto lineups. So compared to what we're used to dealing with in head-to-head points, you go much deeper into their hitter pool, but there are still only nine pitcher spots to fill starters and relievers combined. So you don't go that much deeper into the pitcher pool. I think the waiver wire is going to be pretty robust for pitchers. And I think starting pitchers is the deepest position by far, given the current environment.

So like getting cheap, high upside guys like that and just kind of streaming while you're waiting for them to come back, which in the case of Musgrove and Rodan, might not be very long. Musgrove might not miss a turn, right? And then Rodon, they're talking maybe two turns he misses. So I think that was great. For not spending much on pitching,

you have a lot of upside in that pitching staff. And I think your hitting lineup. I mean, I was looking even your like your middle infield corner ins field spots. Like you have legit players there. You don't have what we think of as scrubby guys. So I'm pretty happy with your team. And if you're going to be forced into a situation where you have to stream starting pitcher, you'd rather that be in a head-to-head points league than a Roto League where,

yes, you can get negative points in a head-to-head points league. But two-star pitchers are more impairs. tactful in head-to-head points leagues. You don't have to worry about them wrecking your ratios for the whole season or anything like that. So, you know, in that format and you also have the fact that you just have to make the playoffs in a head-to-head points league, right? Like you need to get there.

It's important. You can't just take losses for the first month of the season. But if your team doesn't have a great record, but you sneak into the playoffs, but you're strong in weeks 19 and 20 when the playoffs start. you're going to be in a really good spot regardless of, you know, your record. It all resets once you hit that point. So I think, you know, in this format, it's a strategy that's well worth chasing. And speaking of, you know, just having a full lineup for the playoffs,

Ariel Cohen won Jose Altuve at $8. And again, this is still pretty fresh in everyone's mind. Like, talking through it with you guys now, I'm like, yeah, you probably should have gone for at least double that. So, and his logic was, hey, I just need to make the play. playoffs and then I'll have a potentially, you know, $25 player that I only got at eight in the, within the draft. So good for what it's worth. I have Altuve is a $15 for me. Yeah, 14 for me. Yeah. So basically, you know, close to double what Arroyo Cohen pay at $8.

And considering what you guys said about, you know, the injury risk and waiting for some of these guys to come back, Musgrove and Rodon, I loaded up my bench with some upside guys, Bailey Ober, Matthew Boyd, we talked about. He's looked good in the spring. Domingo Hermann got blown up the other day, but obviously pitches for what we think will be a good team with the Yankees. Dylan Dodd, we'll see what happens with the Braves and Cole Irvin, who, you know, he's a little bit more boring, but whatever. In the right matchups, I'll stream him. And I got Will Myers to fill in for Fernando Tatis the first couple of weeks of the season.

So good with that. Speaking of Dylan Dodd, I happen to catch some of Jared Schuster's most recent start Friday, where he struck out seven. He was really good. over how many innings was it? I think four. Four innings, yeah, seven over four shutout innings. And it just looked great every time out.

But what really stood out to me is how well he hides the ball. Like he keeps it right behind his side hip until he's ready to unfurl it. And I think that's, you know, I've kind of described him as kind of a funky lefty since like by pure metrics, the stuff isn't that amazing. but that might help it play up the way it has this spring and the way it did in the minors. And I got to feel like Schuster is more my leaning now. I mean, Dylan Dodd followed up with another great start Saturday. So it's not decided yet, but I'm kind of leading Schuster now in that battle.

Come on, Scott, you told me Dodd on Friday, so that's why I went on Drenner. No. But I saw what you saw, and I watched the highlights. I watched all the strikeouts from Schuster's performance on Friday. I was impressed by the breaking pitch. I don't know if it's slider or a curveball or whatever it might be, but it's pretty new. Like the changeup has always stood out, but yeah, the slider is something he's made strides with more recently. Yeah, it looked really good for Schuster.

So we'll see, I mean, Dylan Dodd on Saturday, four and two thirds, one run, four strikeouts. So he looked really good as well. But Schuster does have more prospect pedigree, former first round pick. So we'll see what the Braves wind up doing there. Dylan Dodd, like I love hearing it because it sounds like some kind of maneuver, you know, like a wrestling move. He's Dylan and Dodden. If you've never... If you've never watched a Knicks game before, Scott,

the broadcaster, Clyde Frazier, he has all these kind of crazy sayings, hooping and swooping and all this kind of stuff. So it just reminded me of that. Yeah, he certainly would. Other fun buys that I got on my Tout Wars team, finally drafted Riley Green,

got him at $7. Miguel Vargas at 5. Let's go, Scotty. Hit his first spring home run over the weekend. and then wound up with Zach Eflin at $3, which wasn't really the plan, but I realized about halfway through, and bad job by me.

Someone else brought it up within the draft too. Towers, you only need five relief appearances for relief pitcher eligibility. So, Zach Eflin is a spark at $3. And that also means like Christian Javier's a sparp, which I think he went for 25. I don't know if I would have been in on him anyway at that price, but like Jeffrey Springs also a spark.

So, uh, probably should have realized that sooner. But, uh, yeah, Zach Eflin. Well, wait a second. It doesn't, it's just pitcher spots, right? So it's seven just pitcher spots and then two relief pitcher spots. Oh, I didn't get that from me. So that's how you kind of, you got to divvy it up. And Kelly Jansen, my other reliever, Matthew Boyd has RPA eligibility, so could, uh,

mess around with that as well. Uh, with that being said, let's take our first break here on the podcast. And when we get back, we'll talk about some other. News and notes here on Fantasy Baseball Today. Ever dream about buying a Fantasy Baseball today podcast shirt and then jumping over to get a Yellowstone Whiskey Glass or Top Gun Maverick Hat? Well, now you can with the brand new Paramount Shop,

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purchase until next Wednesday. Paramount shop where products are paramount. Let's get into some news and notes from the weekend. Astros manager Dusty Baker said, Jordan Alvarez could play in a spring training game this upcoming week. Alvarez took on-field batting practice Friday as he works through hand sorenserness. Aaron Boone told reporters on Saturday that Carl Sordaun is feeling good after throwing on Friday. He'll start the season on the aisle, but there's a chance he only misses two to three starts. That's the glass half full take. We'll see how Carl Swardan continues to progress.

Jorge Polanco, I brought up the name on Friday. I said it's a little weird that he hasn't played in a spring. training game, huh? He could begin the season on the aisle after feeling, quote, normal soreness a couple of times after taking batting practice. Polanco missed time last year with ankle, back, and knee injuries. Chris, we were talking beforehand, and you mentioned that you were going to drop Jorge Polanco in the rankings a little bit. Yeah, I only dropped him a couple spots at second base, but yeah, it's very concerning that after a full off season off, Jorge Polanco is still dealing with knee soreness. Now, he had tendinitis in his knee, so that's the

kind of thing that tends to linger. No pun intended. But that is, it's definitely concerning that at the start of spring training for a guy who hasn't even been playing in games yet, he's already dealing with issues with that. So definitely

concerning. The Twins GM did make a point to say, though, that he hasn't suffered a setback. It's just they're running out of time. Yeah. I don't think it's going to be long, that they're going to go without Jorge Polanco.

But that he's already dealing with it for me. It's just like, is this going to be the kind of thing that lingers? Is he going to be able to run? Is he going to be able to play every day? I think those are all fair questions. I tend to take a more skeptical view of them when they happen. You know, I tend to think like past injuries tend to be overrated when we're talking about injury concerns.

Present injuries less so. And he is currently hurt at. a time when you would hope he would be healthy from a from something that seems like a stress or workload type of injury rather than you know we get a lot of spring training ligament or or muscle strains and that's not what we're dealing with here we're dealing with an injury that he had an entire offseason to heal from and is already a problem so which names did you drop him behind chris uh let's see he is behind i had him fairly high i've drafted him a ton I dropped him behind

Glaver Torres, Max Muncie, and Catal Marte. So he went from right around 100-ish to more like 140. That is Jorge Polanco that we're talking about. Let's move over to Jerks and ProFar who signed a one-year $7.75 million deal with the Rockies. And there are already rumors

that he could lead off for the team. I mean, this is a huge change from not having a job to potentially leading off for the Rockies. That's a huge deal. Profar last year hit, 243 with 15 home runs, 82 runs scored, and five steals. Scott, I'm kind of interested here because just a 15.7% strikeout rate,

ProFar makes a lot of contact, and now you put him in that bad-up-inflated Corres Field, and he might lead off. I'm kind of interested. Yeah, I mean, he also walked 73 times last year, so there's good, there's like a good foundational on-base situation there for Jerks and Pro-Far. If he does see the Babbitt boosts that so many hitters do see at Coursfield, it could make him a pretty interesting Fannish the option. He's not eligible anywhere but outfield, I don't believe. But outfield is a position where there is a lot of need,

and this would be the sort of player who could impact both scoring formats, since he does have those good on base skills. So last year, Jerks and Pro Fars, BAPIP was 272, the year before 266, career bab at 264. I mean, he just gets that closer to 300, that it has as is pretty easy to do at Coors Field, then he could be a surprisingly productive player this year. Yeah, I think something like 270, 15 to 20 home runs,

10-ish steals as well within the realm of possibility for him, which in a five outfielder league especially, that's going to play. You know, he's one of those players who's probably his skill, set's probably best suited for ahead-to-head point scoring format. And I think it's unlikely he's a top 36 outfielder. So I'm not sure he's going to matter much there. But like he's the kind of player who, you know, if you need an outfielder on waivers could end up being pretty helpful. He'll be showing up on the top 10 sleeper hitters. Anytime they're at home. Yeah. Yeah. I'm actually in a slow draft right now over at the NFBC and he went to pick 285. He didn't get drafted as soon as they. the news came out. So a couple people either didn't see or maybe we're skeptical on it. So pick 285 for jerks and pro far. He goes just after Austin Hayes and Charlie Blackman at the outfield position. He also went. I'd rather have him than either of those guys. Yeah. And he went for $2 in our Tout Wars salary cap draft. So that seems fine. Yeah.

DeBack's pitching prospect. My heart. Brendan Fott was reassigned to minor league camp. A little bit surprising to me. He had a really, I guess not really good spring, but his most recent start or appearance, rather. was really good. Who do you guys think wins that fifth starter job as of now? Is it Ryan Nelson or Dre Jameson? Well, Ryan Nelson turned in the best start most recently on Friday, four and a third inning's one and runs, six strikeouts. Drey Jameson has been faltering recently.

I don't know if they're going to base it all on spring performance. I would hope they wouldn't. But, you know, there are observations they make that often underlie those performances. and I guess the leaning would be Ryan Nelson now, but the leaning before they sent down fought was fought. So maybe it'll just be Tommy Henry, and we can all be disappointed.

Oh, gosh, Scott, come on. Don't even put that out into the universe. No Tommy Henry. Sorry if you're listening. He's had the most consistent spring. It's not anybody I want either. Freddie Freeman returned to playing first base on Sunday. One day after playing DH,

he sat out a few days with hamstring tightness. So it looks like he's a good. good to go. Kyle Wright will make his spring debut on Monday. He's been delayed after receiving a cortisone injection in his shoulder back in January. Daniel Hudson and Bruce Starr-Graderl are the most likely candidates to serve as the Dodgers closer if the team eventually decides to move away from a committee approach. That comes according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Chris, here we were thinking that Evan Phillips, you know, he still might have some upside. He was ridiculous last year, the ratios and the

strikeouts, but then we get a report like this. So perhaps the Dodgers are leaning with one of Hudson or graderol long-term. Yeah, I mean, the way that's phrased, though, doesn't really mean all that much to me. If they move away from a committee approach, it might be one of those

two guys. Well, one of those two's guys may not be ready for the start of the series here. Probably won't be ready for the start of the season. A lot of things can happen between now and when they're ready to move away from a committee approach. I would guess they will at some point move away from a committee approach, but it won't be, it likely won't be because they're choosing to. It will be because one guy

either fails or one guy becomes such an obvious option. But predicting who that is right now, I think it's pretty tough to do. Let's stick with the bullpins. Jimmy Hergut could begin the season as the Angels closer with Carlos Estevez struggling this spring. That comes according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Carlos Estevez has a 15.43 ERA in six appearances during the spring. And I've mentioned the name before. I'll throw it out there again. Matt Moore signed with the Angels this offseason and he was really, really good as a reliever

with the Rangers last year. And they have multiple lefties. So they don't have to worry about just saving him to face other lefties. I think there's a chance. So in deeper leagues, that's a name I'm looking at. Matt Moore and obviously now Jimmy Hergit, if they're mentioning him specifically by name. Yoan Duran sustained a leg contusion after being struck by a line drive during a backfield game on Sunday. Manager Rocco Baldelli said Duran was, quote, moving pretty well.

Who struck them with that line drive, Frank? Well, the way that you're asking me... We're doing victory laps on pitchers hitting... I'm just saying. Someone was out there hitting line drives during intra-squad scrimmages now. Someone was out there taking a back hit line drives. It is a good sign that Alex Kiroloff was able to play in a game.

There you go. He has not done it yet in the spring as far as I know. But he has been part to him and Buxon, that's the other part of the Jorge Polanco thing is Buxden and Kierloff have both been not playing in spring games, but they've been in intra-squad games pretty regularly, playing on the backfield. So they seem surprisingly, Byron Bucston and Alex Kierloff,

seem healthier than Jorge Polanco right now, which. isn't saying much, but let's move on. Emphasis on right now. You know, we're going to stay Zen. We're going to stay in the moment. Well, I think what I, the point I was trying to make earlier with Polanco is I think in all three of those cases, Palanco Buxton and Kirillof, it's more about the twins taking things very, very slowly than anything else.

I mean, they just, they're not as concerned with getting these guys ready for opening day as making sure they last through the season, which is probably better. And if it serves to drive down their draft value, all the better. I should have mentioned this when we were talking about Polanco, but if they do need someone to fill in a second, that probably means more playing time for Nick Gordon. And he had some interesting numbers last year, too. So definitely someone that should be in your radar in leagues that have a middle infielder

or five outfielders. He had some interesting comments, too, about... Sorry, is that Royce? In my notes here. but basically Nick Gordon Nick Gordon Yeah

adjusting his swing for more power and saying he has a goal to hit a ball 440 feet and yeah apparently I didn't label it right in my notes

because I'm not control effing to it right now So it was interesting stuff I do want to point out sorry I was like blanked out there for a minute Royce Lewis was playing

in that same Inter Squad game I don't know if he was like playing playing, but he was definitely, I saw video of him in a live at bat against Juan Duran, which is a little surprising. I thought, you know, I thought we were kind of looking at a couple months away from Royce Lewis being able to play, but that's just that the timetable might be a little more advanced than we thought. And in leagues where you have multiple or unlimited IL spots, man,

Royce Lewis take a shot last round pick and just kind of stash him for now because when he played last year. He looked really, really good. This is a former top prospect in all of baseball coming back from his second torn ACL with the Minnesota Twins. Brendan Nimmo was diagnosed with sprains in his right knee and ankle while trying to break up a double play.

He told reporters Sunday that he believes he'll be ready for opening day. Gabriel Moreno was also hit on the hand with a pitch this weekend, but said it grays his knuckles and does not believe the injury is serious. Red Sox manager Alex Coro once again told reporters that he expects Masataka Yoshita,

to hit cleanup to open the 2023 season. To open. That's the key word there. We'll see if the Red Sox stick with that. Andrew Vaughn is dealing with lower backsornness, but said he expects to return to swinging a bat within the next couple of days. David Peterson had another strong outing on Sunday

going four scoreless with four strikeouts, but also four walks. He's allowed just one hit over 12 innings this spring. And I think I said he was RP eligible on Friday. And then I looked that up, and I don't think it's true. So I might have just seen it in one league, Maybe the eligibility were a little bit different. So my apologies, but I still do like David Peterson if he wins that job.

Von Grissom has made four straight starts at DH in spring training. He's hitting well, 10 for 31. But Scott, any worry here that maybe the Braves are having questions about his ability to play shortstop? Well, from what I gather, it's not anything Vaughn Grissom is done wrong. It's just that Braden Shoemake, one of their first round picks from a couple years ago, 2019, who is considered a really good defender at shortstop, has hit the ball. It's not just that he has decent numbers. He's looked a lot better as a hitter this year, and they always thought he had upside as a hitter.

So apparently, they're giving him a longer look now. And Brian Snicker did say it's between Shoemaker and Grissom for the job. And fantasy, we're definitely rooting for Grissom, not only because so many people have drafted him already, but also because the last two years in the miners, Braden Shoemaker has hit 243 with a 693 OPS in the miners. Maybe he has taken this dramatic step forward, and that'll prove to be moot in time. But I am not optimistic about Shoemake's fantasy chances specifically. This does scare me, though. I mean, between the Altuvei injury, the Polanco News, and now the Chance Grissom might begin the year in the minors after all.

Second base is yuck. Making it on the chin this weekend. Fortunately, it is a position with a lot of intriguing depth late. This is one point we didn't bring up when we were talking about Altovae earlier. Part of the reason that makes it easy to go ahead and draft them if you can stash him in an IL spot is the replacement. There probably isn't a hitter position with better replacement level talent than second base. I mean, one of my favorite sleepers there is barely getting drafted at all. And that's Michael Massey.

And he's not being drafted in the majority of leagues. I mean, so it's a place with interesting talents that you could take a flyer on while you're waiting for Altuvae or whomever to return. We talked about it a lot in the, I think the most recent pod, but like, tell Marte going outside of the top 200 on average. Gene Seguera is like 250. He's, you could do worse for fill-ins. uh, C.J. Abrams still has some upside. So also Ryan McMahon's going to add a second base eligibility and like, we're done with like Ryan McMahon having upside, but he's useful, especially if they're at home. So yeah, though there's, there's a decent number of options at second base deep. Like I think

second base definitely shallow on impact bats, but I think it's actually legitimately a pretty deep position in terms of like, There's a very steady, like shortstop has that drop off at 14 or 15 where it's just like a cliff. Second base, once you get outside of like the top eight, it's just a very steady grade down. Yeah, it is the most bottom heavy position, which is great for sleepers. According to MLB.com, Max Dassey appears set to win the starting catcher job for the Angels with Logan O'Hopi and Matt Tice. I think that's how you say that name. Battling for the backup roll.

Boo. Paul Blackburn, yeah, it's like, what are we doing? It's like all these players we assumed had jobs and now Logan O'Hoppy

maybe not such a great second catcher choice after all. Paul Blackburn. You know what they say about when you assume? Yeah. Like Frank thought we were, Frank assumed we were going to get to a lot of players we don't talk about today.

Yeah, I mean, it's probably going to make it through newsies and notes. That's right. That's, you know, a lot of stuff going on this weekend, Scott.

Paul Blackbird will start the season on the I. With a fingernail a vulsion on his pitching hand. Yeah, just even the word, avulsion, not great. Brewer's pitching, not pitching, Brewers prospect. I have aversion to evulsion. Joey Weimer has a chance to make the Brewer's opening day roster. Craig Counsel said, quote,

we have uncertainty in the outfield right now, and that's created some opportunity for guys. Joey Weimer this spring seven for 29. That's 241 with two homers, two steals, seven strikeouts to three walks. What about South Freelick, man, chopped liver? Come on, what's going on? He just hasn't been there.

That's true. Yeah, he was playing for Team Italy, but he did pretty well in the World Baseball Classic. So we'll see with the Brewers Outfield. Players we haven't talked about enough and probably won't be able to talk about them enough. Once again, let's talk about Shane Bieber. That's what we'll start. One of eight pitchers with 200 plus innings from last season. And this was a different Shane Bieber that we've seen from the past, Chris, where the velocity was down.

And I remember early in the season, we were freaking out. Turn out to have a really good season. 288 ERA 104 whip, nearly a strong. strikeout for inning, doesn't get as many strikeouts as a use suit, but he's still pretty reliable. What are your thoughts on Shane Bieber this season? Yeah, it's, it's interesting because he's definitely, I feel like the reason we don't talk about him very much is he's just kind of viewed as a boring safe guy, but there is, I think, still some, a little bit of volatility in the profile. And that's both good and bad. Like, I think there's a chance he could rediscover some of the

loss velocity and get back to being, you know, probably not, certainly not a, 41% strikeout rate guy like he was in 2020, but, you know, a 30% strikeout rate guy, I think is within the realm of possibility. But I think there's also a chance that, like, he could take another step back and his, you know, contact issues could become a real problem for him. Like, if you were asking me for a player who could have a, like, Lucas G. Alito type fall apart season, I think Bieber would be on that list among the players being drafted. in that range. Yeah, I mean, he does give up a lot of hard contact and if he's not getting as many whists as he used to It is a possibility that the one thing with Bieber his control is so good that I just can't really see it falling apart That bad but I hear what you're saying the ADP for Shane Bieber is 49. He's going just ahead of Julio Reyes and Zach Wheeler Does that make sense to you guys? Are you on board with that price tag wheeler? I have Wheeler ahead of Bieber and I imagine Chris does too. Yeah, I do too. So yeah, I'm not sure where

the hesitance with Wheeler, why that's showing up, because he seems about as steady of an a, of an aases you'll find. I like Wheeler. I was just going to say, Scott, I like Wheeler a lot, but last year, shoulder, and he landed on the aisle with, I think, forearm tendonitis for a while. So those are two pretty scary injuries. Yeah, but he obviously came back and pitched like Zach Wheeler.

And Bieber had the shoulder inch to the year before. I know it was a year before, but that risk doesn't just go away. entirely. Yeah. I'm fine drafting Bieber where I was going. Like I think if there is a chance

he can regain some velocity and become more dominant, it's not really baked into his cost. I feel like he's being drafted for who he was last year. He tends to go earlier than I take my first pitcher. I usually end up with

what I think is a pretty good comp to Shane Bieber just in terms of pure numbers, Alec Manoa. I think they have some similarities there. But I'd be fine taking Beaver if Alec Manoa went first.

Let's move over to Luis Garcia, starting pitcher with the Houston Astros, quietly solid with the team last year, 372 ERA, 113 whip, right around a strikeout per inning. Really good, 13% swinging strike rate. I think the one thing I worry about with Luis Garcia is this pitch clock coming in. I saw, I think it was a headline somewhere this weekend, that he's kind of changed up his delivery and his motion. So hopefully.

He can't do that rock in the baby. Yeah, he wasn't doing that in the world baseball classic. It's actually illegal. It's not just that it slows him down. It's legally, it'd be called a balk for him. But he wasn't. Those rules are not in place in the world baseball classic, and he wasn't doing it there either.

He wasn't doing it there. Well, that's good. I should hope not. And, you know, the little bit we saw of him in the cactus, are they in the grapefruit league? Astra's like one of the few West teams in the grapefruit league. Whatever league he's in, he looked fine.

and those two stars, a very boring looking delivery now. But I don't think, just based on the results we've seen between spring training and the World Baseball Classic, I don't think that's going to be an entry. I think we can get that worry out of our minds. My issue with Luis Garcia, and I haven't ranked lower than I think the consensus, not a lot, but a little,

is just that he is more like a five to six innings pitcher than a six to seven innings pitcher. at least he has been. And I don't know with Verlander out of the picture now, if the Astros are going to give Luis Garcia more the veteran treatment and lean on him a little harder, have him work deeper into games. And look at his game log now. Only twice did he throw 100 pitches last year.

So there's room there for him to go deeper into games. But it's the kind of thing I'm not willing to assume. So if he's, you know, he managed to win 15 games in spite of it last year, pitching for the Astros, you know, if you're going to mid-throw only 100, less than 160 innings in 30 starts or about that in 30 starts. I don't know. I don't know that I can count on you

for 15 wins again. And the ERA is going to be middling. The whip's going to be middling. The strikeout rate's going to be middling. He's just very middling to me, unless he takes that big step forward workload-wise. The ADP for Luis Garcia is right around 160. I think a problem for me, too,

is where he goes. There's a lot of fun pitchers that I am interested in. Someone like Dustin May or even like Pablo Lopez has looked good so far. Jeffrey Springs. Drew Rashison. He's even higher than I thought he was. Maybe I do have him a lot lower than the consensus. Yeah.

So going a little bit higher. He pitches for a good team and he gives you a strike up rating. So I kind of get it from that perspective. But I don't know that there's as much upside with Luis Garcia comparatively to the names that are going around him. I just mentioned one of those names, Drew Rasmussen with the Tampa Bay Rays. And it's kind of like an industry darling. I've seen a lot of very smart people on Jerusalem.

And he broke out in 2021, picked up right where he left off last year, 2.84 ERA, 104 whip. The strikeout rate was a little bit low at 7.7K per 9. But 12% swinging strike rate, I think the strikeouts could be better. I think we could get closer to a strikeout per inning this season for Drew Rasmussen. And he changed up his pitch mix last year. He threw more, he added a cutter through 33% of the time. So there's legit three pitches there. Pitches for a good organization.

Tampa Bay Ray is do a good job with their pitchers. Chris, any thoughts on Drew Raspicent? Because I found myself gravitating more towards him as I've kind of dug into him a little bit more. He's not a player that I ever really think about drafting just because I'm usually, I don't know if there's upside there, I guess is the way I would put it. Like, he has a deep arsenal of pitches that all seem fine in terms of swinging strike rate. Like cutter, sweeper, and curveball are all right around 30%. swinging strike rate, fastball's 19%. So I just, I could see a

path to a breakout. I just, it's a little, it's a little cloudy, I guess. And there are pitchers I prefer who, I guess I just get a little more excited about. He's sort of like Luis Garcia in that. I also just, I don't know, like, I don't know that you're ever going to get a ton of

of innings from him or a ton of wins. so I think there's probably a ceiling there. Two years in a row, the ERA is exactly 2.84, though. So my one rebuttal to that is Luis Garcia was nearly a run higher than that. So, I mean, if we're getting a good whip and a sub-3 ERA, and I think he could push closer to a strike-up inning,

then, like, I kind of get it. I kind of get why people are interested in Drew Raspson. Like, he's interesting. I don't really understand why the enthusiasm is going toward him, because normally it's big strikeout guys. And strikeouts, or the lack thereof, is the biggest concern for Drew Rasmussen. So I look, okay, well, what else does he do well? Really good walk rate, that's important.

Puts the ball on the ground. I mean, not a ridiculous amount, but mostly he puts, he's more of a ground ball pitcher, which could be a challenge in, you know, with the shifts going away. His ERA, as you pointed out, Frank, was 284 last year. XERA was 346, XFIPP was 356. If you're not a strikeout pitcher, then I think you need to be really good at a couple things. And I'll count in this new environment a high fly ball rate. If it's shown you can suppress home runs with it, I'll count that as one thing you do well.

So that's why I'm giving Nestor Cortez and like Alec Manoa more credit. Yeah, plus they're better strikeout pitchers than Rasmussen was on top. of it. But Rasmussen, other than throwing a lot of strikes, I don't really see what he does well. I think the thought would be just that he could get more strikeouts because he does throw pretty hard. The stuff seems like it should get more strikeouts. He does a very good job of limiting quality contact. That's the one place that he really did excel last season. And so, you know, I could see like, I mean, if you think. 39th percentile, average eggs of velocity, 37th percentile. Yeah, 344 expected Wobon contact. That's very good.

relative to the league average of 368. So I think, like, I can see it, like, if he can do that and get the strikeout rate back to, like, 24 to 25%, like it wasn't 2021. But the thing there is 2021, he was pitching half his starts in relief and often wasn't going deep, so, or more than half his starts. So it's like, is he likely to, you know, be able to sustain? Like, we saw a mile and a half per hour drop in his fastball. velocity. He's already 28. I think he probably is what he is more or less. The final six starts for

Rasmussen last year. He went six plus innings five times. And I think one of those he was going for no hitter too. He went super deep into that start. I'm kind of interested. But again, that's a range where there's a lot of really exciting pitchers. Raspison kind of goes right around Luis Garcia as well. Let's take our final break here and then we'll kind of run through some more of these players that we have not talked enough about. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. Let's move over to Brian Reynolds, who last year hit 262 with 27 home runs and seven steals. He got off to a really slow start, but from May 1st on, he hit 22, 25 of those 27 home runs and an 838 OPS. So, Chris, I think if we just kind of give Brian Reynolds the benefit of the doubt, he's probably still closer to like that 275 or maybe even 280 hitter that we saw from May 1st on last season.

But man, the quality of contact metrics for Brian Reynolds last year were not near. nearly as good as they were the year before. The average exit velocity was actually a little bit up, but he was a little less consistent about hitting the ball hard at optimum angle. So his barrel rate was actually the lowest it's been since he was a rookie, his expected batting average 249, expected Wobah 329 compared to a 349 mark. For his career, he's actually been right around his expected mark. So I just, I do wonder if he's getting.

a benefit of the doubt that may not be a hundred percent deserved. That's not saying that I'm avoiding him, although I don't think I've drafted him this year. It's more just that like we're, I think we're all just kind of like, yeah, he's Brian Reynolds still. You know, he's the guy he was in 2019, the guy he was in 2020, the guy he was for most of 2022. Maybe he isn't, though. And, you know, I do wonder like, it's a bad park. It's a bad lineup. We expect him to be traded, but we don't know that that's going to have.

happen. I just, I think it, it could go worse than we think it will. Let's move over to Whit Merrifield, who last year, kind of a nose dive, a face plan, whatever you want to call it, 250 batting average, 11 home runs, 16 steals and 139 games was actually being benched down the stretch for the Toronto Blue Jays and then an injury struck so they really had to throw him back into the lineup. He was good in September, but I read an article recently that Santiago Espinal, is likely to start at second base against lefties this year. So I imagine that's going to come at the expense of Whitmerfield. Scott, what are your thoughts on Maryfield this season?

You know, I have wondered if Dalton Varsho being so bad against lefties last year, if he would sit against lefties. And of course, Maryfield's perfectly capable of playing the outfield. So maybe it ends up being, I mean, not that we want that in fantasy, but maybe it ends up being this thing. I can't imagine that, like, as much as they gave up to get Dalton Varsrow. They're going to give him a chance. Yeah.

Okay. Either way, it seems unlikely with Maryfield's going to get anywhere near the playing time he did in Kansas City because he played about as much as anybody can play. I think there's a pretty good chance he bounces back statistically. Prior to last year, his line drive rates had been among the best in the game year after year. And so I think, just I think there's a good chance his track record would suggest that he gets back to doing that more

and the batting average comes up steals he had only 16 of those he said he plans to run more this year but he also said he felt like he didn't need to run so much in such a deep lineup after he got traded from Kansas City to Toronto so that's kind of a conflicting statement I think I don't know what to expect he's done this before with stolen bases where he said yeah I just decided to stop running. But he's fast enough. He certainly can steal a lot of bases if he decides to start running again. So I could go either way with Merrifield.

I feel like among middle infield options, I like an upside guy like Bryce Terang more. And so somebody else is probably going to draft with Maryfield. I think the only league I've gotten him in is an AL only where I tend toward more boring players. But I could see him getting back to being more of a 280 hitter with closer to 30 steal. I don't know that he's going to be impactful for shallow leagues either way, though,

because of the potential loss of playing time. For what it's worth, he has attempted five steals in the spring. He's two for five, or two for two and three, two for five, whatever the way you would say that is. It's been caught stealing three times. I care less about the cot stealing. That's a very noisy stat, but the five steals, in as much as stealing is about the design.

to steal. That seems like a positive sign. And the sprint speed was still really good for from Merrifield last year. 84th percentile. The ADP is 167.4. What do you guys think of the cost? Yeah, it's probably, like I said, a little high for me.

And it's not even so much. Let me see who's being drafted in that same range. Oh, gosh, Roddy Thales, right? Yeah. Are you not looking at fantasy pros? Are you looking at... Yeah, no, that's what I have, yeah. Roddy Telez at 170.4.

So he's being drafted in between Rowdy-Tiles and Jeffrey Springs. So yeah, that's way too high for me. If he's near 60 spots later, I might think about it. All right. But even like I said, like I know I can fall back on a Bryce Terrang. I'm probably looking in that 220 range more at like Ezekiel Tovar. So I don't know. I just, I don't see myself getting a lot of Merrifield.

But I could see it. Like I'm not necessarily ready to say he's just done, I guess. Let's move over to Josh Hater, who had a 13 game stretch from mid-July to late August, where he allowed 22 earned runs over nine innings pitch. That is a 22-ERA, 3.44-W-Wib actually lost the Padre's closer job at one point. Had some stuff going on off the field, a newborn child that was born with some complications. Obviously, this guy's a human, like, easily could have affected him on the field. Chris, are you buying the bounce-back chances for Josh Hater this season?

Yeah, I mean, this is, you know, when you ask like players we haven't talked about, I suggested Hater. It's not necessarily that I have a ton to say about him necessarily as much as just like we haven't talked about him. I think is a really interesting player because of what happened last year. And I will note, I think the bounce back chances because he already did bounce back. You know, once he got out of that bad stretch, he was very dominant. I will point out his velocities down this spring. you know, he's unconcerned, but he's only pitched one game in front of the stack cast cameras.

That was down three miles an hour, actually, which is, it's a big deal. And I'm reading a report from his second outing where his velocity was still down. I haven't seen anything since then. But, you know, given the, he's, is he the number one closer in ADP now? No, with a class A.

Class A. He's number two then. with Edwin Diaz out and like, there's a lot of stake there, given how shallow the top tier at closer is and how impactful those guys are going to be. I'm a little worried. You know, I've gone into the elite tier of closer a few times,

but not for Hader. Yeah, same. I mean, I typically wait a little bit and wind up with a Ryan Presley or a Ricell Iglesias or Felix Bautista, Kenley Jansen, one of those guys. So, uh, I, I think he'll be. be fine, but I usually just don't shop in that range for closers. That is Josh Hater.

We got about five-ish minutes left, so let's try and get through as many of these as possible, a little bit of rapid fire. Scott, Eduardo Rodriguez is someone you wanted to talk about, has not given up a run over 13 spring inning so far, 15 to 2 strikeout to walk ratio. And I saw his start on March 3rd. His velocity on all of his pitches was up almost a mile and a half per hour. So what are your thoughts on Eduardo Rodriguez? Yeah, I don't have a lot of thoughts on Eduardo Rodriguez. Again, I was just suggesting a player we haven't talked about a lot,

but he has had a really good spring. And, of course, he's been a productive player in the past. And so it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up having a bounce back season. Most leagues, the draft's going to end before I have any interest in taking Eduardo Rodriguez. But if you do play in a deeper league where you kind of just need to make sure you get some volume, Eduardo Rodriguez should be able to provide that. And then some. His velocity was up even more in his World Baseball Classic start against Nicaragua on March 14th.

His velocity was up to 93.6 miles per hour, 1.9 mile per hour on his fastball, plus 3.4 on the changeup similar for everything else. So, I mean, he's had a really tough couple of years. Yeah. Remember, we weren't sure he was ever going to pitch in the majors again when he had myocarditis after having COVID in 2020. Then he had the issue where he stepped away from the team last year. So he's someone that I still think is pretty talented and is probably being overlooked in fantasy. Let's move over to Glaber Torres, who has an ADP of 113.2. Bounce back last year was the 77th overall player in Roto.

He had 257 with 24 home runs and 10 steals. Got back to being aggressive for Glaber Torres. His swing percentage and his chase rate were both his highest since 2019, and he actually hit the ball harder than he ever has. Chris, entering a contract year to have interest in Glaber at his price tag of 113. Yeah, I mean, I like the fact that he kept on running last season, despite the bat coming back around because I was worried that it might be a situation where he was trying to make things happen when he wasn't hitting.

There are still just counting stat problems for him. though. You know, he just, he plays pretty much every day, 140 games last season, but only 572 played appearances. That feels really low even for 140 games, because it tends to hit lower in the lineup. So 73 runs, 76 RBI for 24 home runs. That's fine. But it's probably, there's probably not a path for Glaver Torres to get back to or to get

to being like a high level contributor and runs an RBI anymore. So it's, I do like. that the bat took a step forward last season. I feel more confident in him than I did a year ago. He's a player I wouldn't mind seeing get traded, though. I know he's been thrown around a lot of Yankees trade rumors. And obviously leaving that lineup in that park for most people would be a problem. And he does tend to get a decent share of opposite field home runs last season.

It looks like last year it was actually about split evenly. But he's just someone who I think in a worse lineup might actually, have a better fantasy context because he'd have more more opportunities to drive in and score runs than he does hitting you know in the bottom third of the Yankees lineup i think it would cost more than this but something that kind of made sense in my mind was glaber torres and whatever prospects or a prospect for brian reynolds but seeing as how he's entering a contract here i mean the pirates don't pay anyone so they they probably don't want labor torres yeah glaber for paula lopez would have also made some sense but right you know that that kind of deal you know he

With Volpe, with Parraza, it just, it definitely feels like we're near the end of the Glaber Torres era in the Bronx. And I love Glaber when he first got called up, too. It's kind of sad if he winds up leaving the Yankees. But man, they do have so many interesting middle infield prospects. Scott, I'm going to throw a bunch of names your way. And these were names that you brought up to me. And that includes Brady Singer, Thai France, Luis Severino, Tim Everson, Tim Anderson, Seth Brown.

So five names there. If you want to kind of quickly hit on, I don't know, a couple of points for each of those again. Singer, Ty, France, Severino, Tim Anderson, and Seth Brown. So my interest in Thai France is completely dependent on how deep the league is. I think he, I think he's a pretty low-ceiling player at a position

where in shallow leagues you need a pretty high ceiling. So I don't have like in a standard head-to-head points lineup, I don't have a lot of interest in France at all. I'd rather go for Tristan Kossis or any kind of sleeper. But if you're talking about a deeper roto league, I'm trying to make an effort in like NFBC style contests to be a little more boring in the middle rounds because Thai France is, you know, I think he was banged up

and so he ended up only hitting 274. But I think he's a pretty good bet to hit 290 or better. So good batting average stabilizer in that range without killing you in the power categories, probably in a bat second more often than not in that Mariners lineup. So I do like him for that purpose. Luis Severino's had a really rocky spring,

and he's kind of laughed it off, saying, yeah, that's not going to work during the regular season. But given his health history, especially recently, like I kind of need to see him performing. It doesn't seem to bother him. maybe he'll be fine. But I need to know however many innings he's going to give me.

They're going to be productive. So I'm finding myself fading Luis Severino. I want to make sure I do mention Brady Singer because Brady Singer, like I was saying for Drew Rasmussen and Luis Garcia earlier, and I think singers may be the most outrageous example of this. I just don't get why there seems to be so much. enthusiasm for him. Yes, he did have a productive season last year, had a good ERA,

323 ERA 114 whip, less than a strikeout per inning. So it's another one. Okay, he's not a big bat misser. Not only that, but he has basically just two pitches, fastball slider. Not only that, but he pitches for one of the worst teams in baseball. So even in a best case scenario, how many wins is he going to give you? I just see nothing but regression here. and yet Brady Singer is being drafted ahead of much more interesting pitchers, Reed Deppermers for one of them, Jack Flaherty, all of the Mount Rushmore, whatever we're calling them.

I don't know what Brady Singer has on the Mount Rushmore. Like, he's boring in his own right. I don't really get it. He is working on a change up this spring, so maybe that opens things up more if he can develop that. And he did throw the change up more. as the season went on. I think he's one of those guys who definitely benefits from like an arbitrary end points look at the season because basically through the first three months,

he had a 433 ERA after that, 263. So I think he's one of the guys who, you know, tends to get the like, if you look at it from the second half on, he looks like he took a huge jump. Full season statistics tend to be more predictive than half season. And, you know, he did have more than a strikeout per inning in that second half in that from July 3rd, first on. But it was 101 and 99 inning. So it's not negligible difference first half, second half, Kaper 9. Yeah, it looks better by strikeout percentage, but still.

That's true. That's true. Yeah. We're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for watching and listening fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We'll be back again tomorrow.

Bye-bye. Bye.