Fantasy Baseball Today - Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers & Scott's Top-100 Prospects! (1/16 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

Kyle Tucker signed a four-year deal with the Dodgers and there goes baseball (2:30). ... How high should we draft Tucker in Fantasy leagues (12:38)? ... We had a three-team deal between the Rays, Reds and Angels (19:40). ... Other news (23:50): Willi Castro signed a two-year deal with the Rockies. ... Let's get into Scott's Top-100 prospects with an eye on names who could help in redraft leagues (27:47). ... Here are Scott's Top-12 FYPD rankings for those in dynasty leagues (44:54). ... Let's count down Scott's Top-10 prospects from 10 to 6 (48:49). ... And who are the TOP FIVE prospects entering the 2026 season (58:30)? Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

to all the Dodgers fans out there. And welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on January 16th. I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White. This was supposed to be a nice calm episode where we break down Scott's top 100 prospects, jump around, have some fun, count down the top 10, and then baseball got flipped on its head. We'll get to the prospects later on, but first, we got a passing bomb.

Kyle Tucker is headed to the Dodgers on a four-year, $240 million deal, which includes opt-outs after the first, excuse me, after the second and third years of the deal, and $30 million deferred. It is $57 million per year in net present value, which is a new record. He can't keep getting away with it. He can't keep getting away with it. And yet, the Dodgers keep getting away with it. We'll get to the fantasy implications. in a second. I have a rant of my own. I'm sure many people have similar feelings, I guess, on this Friday now that Kyle Tucker is a Dodger. But Scott, I will first turn it over to you. How are you doing? How do you feel about Kyle Tucker? Well, I'm going to do something I don't normally do,

which I'm just going to read to you what I wrote about this because I think it perfectly encapsulates everything without spending a lot of time on my usual ranting. So here we go. Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers. We're beyond parity now. It's no longer hyperbole to say it. There's no point in trying to justify the fit or rationalize the dollar amount. Quite simply, the Dodgers will get whomever they want.

The best player on the market? Just assume he's theirs. Because if he's really the best player, want him. The market for Kyle Tucker had begun to percolate in recent days with the decision seemingly coming down to whether he'd take a shorter deal with a higher average annual value from the Mets or a longer deal with a lower average annual value from the Blue Jays. But in swoop the Dodgers with a four-year, $240 million deal that was probably the best of both worlds, like it was ever going any other way. If anyone is going to make $60 million a year, with a

large amounts deferred, most likely. It probably shouldn't be Kyle Tucker, great as he is. But as Dodgers President Andrew Friedman once said and is now fully embodied, if you're always rational about every free agent, you'll finish third on every free agent. Tucker was the best hitter available this offseason and they paid what it took to get him. Now imagine the prospect package they could offer for Tarek Scoopal. If you're sensing that I'm frustrated, good. It means I'm writing well.

Confaying feelings through tone and style is what it's all about. But what does it say that I have those feelings as a mostly impartial observer who mostly observes baseball through a fantasy baseball lens? Shouldn't I be thrilled? Hey, everybody, a first round pick for Tucker just got easier to justify, line-up placement, runs in RBI, fat stacks of cash. But no, I'm just deflated. It's the kind of news that makes you no longer want to get out of business.

bed in the morning in the metaphorical baseball sense. Like, what's even the point of playing out this season? Better for the other teams to play sarcastically so that they can deny the Dodgers the satisfaction of winning this way. I'm not normally like this, preemptively crowning a champion in a sport that revels in the randomness of small sample outcomes. I'm the one annoyingly reminding all the knee-jerk doomsayers that the playoffs are a crapshoot and that no acquisition can protect a team from that reality. But the two-time defending World Series champions, who have already developed a reputation for cornering the market on every big-ticket talent, just signed the top free agent for a price

no other team could even approach. There comes a point where anything else that happens in the world of baseball seems futile. And with that, I've said my piece. Now, deep breath, analyst hat on. and go. You couldn't ask for a better spot for Kyle Tucker's fantasy value. Gee golly, he's likely to hit cleanup for the league's most star-studded lineup

with three future Hall of Famers consistently on base ahead of him. Dodger Stadium has turned into a great hitter's park too with its low fences in the corners and gradual curve to a shallow center field. It's not the venue where Stackcast says Tucker would have hit the most home runs last year, but he would have hit 29 there versus the 20. he actually hit if the math is to be believed. It's certainly a better fit for his swing than Wrigley Field, where he hit just seven of his 22 home runs last year.

Why he may even be worth drafting in the first round again, which some of us were saying from the beginning, even if the consensus disputed it. He'll need to avoid the fractured shin and fractured hand that have limited his availability and effectiveness over the past two years, but keeping one's bones intact generally isn't a big ask, regardless of his propensity for injury.

So yes, the outlook for Tucker and fantasy is rosier today than it was yesterday. But rather than dreaming about what a career season might look like and whether you can justify taking him ahead of Corby and Carol even, ask yourself this. What does it say about Alex Bregman that the Dodgers didn't sign him? And that is the end of story time with Scott White. I think you very well encapsulated a lot of the feelings that many baseball fans have, Scott and I actually appreciate that the second half of that where you kind of gave your fantasy analysis,

you kind of did so in a sarcastic tone. It just kind of made everything that much better. I don't know how much credibility I have as a Yankee fan and whether or not I can even complain about this because this is, I guess, what they used to do in the 90s and 2000s. I was kind of young back then, but I think it's beyond. Yeah. I think it's beyond. That's how I feel as well. I didn't want to be the one to say it, so I'm happy you did. I don't want to sound dramatic, man, but when I read the tweet that he was headed to the Dodgers,

I just kind of sat there for five, ten minutes, just like, in shock. For the next hour that I was, you know, just kind of working on the rundown, it was just lifeless, emotionless. I didn't know how to feel. It was just, I was in shock. The whole, like, leading up to this podcast,

and I always knew this was a possibility, like very clearly. The Dodgers have all the money in the world and they could sign any free agent they want. I think deep down I just didn't actually believe that it would happen. I didn't really, I didn't want to believe that it would happen. I wanted to believe that, you know, the Mets and Steve Cohen would step up or Kyle Tucker would take those years from the Blue Jays instead.

And instead, that is not what happened. So I'm not mad at Kyle Tucker, man, like get your money. I'm always going to root for the players to get as much money as they can. And I'm more so upset that other teams in baseball allowed this to happen. Did they really? I mean, I think Steve Cohen and the Mets could have afforded this. Like, they could have just went $5 million more than the Dodgers did, just like they did with Wans Soto last year if they really wanted Kyle Tucker.

Like, they definitely could have made it happen. So I'm just, I'm more upset that the rest of baseball allowed this to happen than really anything else. But you understand them blowing out the bank for Juan Soto. more than Kyle Tucker. I mean, Kyle Tucker's great. He's a first round caliber player. Maybe he'll be a Hall of Famer someday. But like Juan Soto is like generational talent.

His on base skills are just rarely in the history of baseball have those been seen. So like I don't know, like I put it in the article, if anyone's going to make $60 million a year or 57 or whatever, whatever it averages out to and you got the math gets complicated because of the deferrals that the Dodgers like to use. According to Jeff Passon, it is $57 million in present day value per year. If anyone's going to make that, it probably shouldn't be Kyle Tucker. I think Otani, leaving out the deferral aspect of it,

Otani's making more per year, averaging more per year. But then Tucker, the Dodgers can price everybody out, every other team out on anybody right now. I mean, it's easy to say, yeah, other teams spend more. But this isn't like the Freddie Freeman signing, you know, where he, the amount was something you'd expect Freddie Freeman to get, maybe even a little less. This was like people were shocked to see that the Mets were offering

Kyle Tucker $40 million per year. Like that seemed like an astronomical figure. And the Mets got close, man. I saw the final offer from John Heyman. And he said four years, 220 million. Like they were there. They were close. to what Tucker actually got here.

So, I mean, look, credit to them for, you know, going that far into the negotiation and being that aggressive. But ultimately, the Mets didn't get it done. It was the Dodgers who did. And again, it's just a reminder. People might have forgotten by now. The Dodgers also signed Edwin Diaz earlier this offseason.

Like, they are back-to-back champions with Shohei Otani and Muki Betts and Freddie Freeman and Yamamoto and Blake Snell and Tyler Glassnow and a whole bunch of other players. and they just added arguably the best closer in baseball and a top 10 hitter in baseball, which again just kind of makes the season feel futile, as you pointed out, Scott.

So that is the, I guess, baseball ranty part of it. I don't know that we need to get into much else from a fantasy perspective, but I guess this is a fantasy podcast. Should I have said futile? I never know. I always wonder if it's like, should I say volatile or volatile?

futile, futile. I don't know. Tomato tomato. Yeah, it felt weird. I have the beholder. I go both ways on that word. Feudal, futile. Yeah.

And whichever way I go, I was like, that didn't sound right coming out of my mouth, you know? I totally get that. Resistance is futile. From a fantasy perspective, Scott,

you spoke to most of the things already here. It's a better park to hit in. Last year, Kyle Tucker was much better on the road than he was in Wrigley Field. so obviously getting out of Chicago is it's great for his fantasy value and then just hitting cleanup in the best lineup in baseball like the biggest question here is can he stay healthy

and last year he missed 28 games with a fracture in his right hand and then a calf strain two years ago it was a fracture in his shin that he suffered on a foul ball so those seem kind of fluky I don't really look at Kyle Tucker as an injury prone player

although he has missed a lot of time the past two years. His NFBC ADP in January is 19, which always felt ridiculous. I had Tucker right at the 1-2 turn in a 12-team league before this signing. I just moved him up to 8th overall. I think it's totally defensible if you wanted to take him fourth or fifth in drafts. I would agree with that. So Jose Ramirez is generally fourth, right?

And I think I have Ronald de Konya, fifth. Personally, not the... Yeah, I think before this, there was kind of a consensus of, okay, the top three, Judge Otani, Witt, and then there's Jose Ramirez and Soto, but I think you have a... Oh, I forgot Soto. I forgot Soto.

Okay, so, yeah, to me, to me the top five is still clear. In some order, Judge Otani, Witt, Soto, and Ramirez probably move Witt out of that group if it's a points league. Yeah. But that five is still set in stone for me, but right after that is where I think it's largely open to interpretation. And as I said, I was thinking Tile Cucker. I was thinking Kyle Tucker deserved to be more on the high end of that group,

but his ADP was actually in round two, which seemed ridiculous. I think there's an argument for him as high as six. I mean, power speed, good chance he's going to help him batting average. and the RBI production is going to be, who's batting directly in front of him. It's going to be Betts, Freeman, and Otani in some order. And like that's, the counting stats are going to be beyond anything we've seen from Tucker before. I think I may want to move him as high as six.

I may want to move him not just past Corby and Carroll, like I mentioned in the article, but also Ronald Acuna, even knowing how high Acuna's upside is, you know, there's a question of how likely he is to meet it. And I think it's a bigger question than how likely Tucker is to meet his upside. Yeah, I think that's entirely defensible. Again, I mentioned I have him at eight. So it's just behind. I have scubal at six and Carol at seven.

I think it's kind of a toss up between Carol and Tucker. You know, what kind of skill set do you want? Do you want more speed from someone like Carol? Do you want maybe a little bit more power and counting stats from someone like Tucker? So it feels like a coin flip. But again, if you want to move Tucker up to like five or six, I have absolutely no issue with that. The Dodgers updated line. up Otani, Betts, Freeman, Tucker, Will Smith, Max Muncie,

to Oscar Hernandez, Tommy Edmund, Andy Paez. Scott, does this affect anybody else on the team? I mean, it, I guess, makes it even less likely that their catcher prospect, who I'm currently blanking on his name, will ever get a real opportunity. I guess that wasn't going to happen anyway. But does this affect anybody else on the Dodgers? I don't think anybody we really care about. Dolphin rushing is the name I was looking for.

Yeah, but do we have much hope for him playing outfield? He didn't at all last year? No, it's probably not going to happen. I don't think so. I mean, I wondered, okay, Andy Pa has he was sitting some of the playoffs, but as long as he does what he's supposed to with the bat, I think he's their center fielder. And yeah, I don't think it changes much other than Tucker's value himself,

and it only helps his by a lot. All right, before we hit our first break, our first round of sleepers, breakouts, and busts are live on the website. CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. Chris wrote up the sleeper article. Scott has his breakouts and my busts are coming out later today on Friday. And we'll keep rotating over the next couple of weeks. So next week I have sleepers.

I believe Chris has breakouts and Scott has busts. And then we'll have another round the final week after that. And that will be our complete collection of sleepers, breakouts, and busts 1.0. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. 40K by opening day. Let's get that done. And I do apologize for sounding so kind of like deflated and negative to start the podcast here. But I think this is how most people outside of Dodgers fans kind of feel right now about baseball.

And I think we're all kind of going through it together. So let's take that break. And when we return, we'll hit some other news items and get into Scott's prospects right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's hit a couple of their news items here before we get to those prospects. and hey, we also had a three-team trade involving the Rays, Reds, and Angels. The Angels received outfielder Josh Lowe,

the Rays received Gavin Lux and pitching prospect Chris Clark, and the Reds received left-handed reliever Brock Burke. Low slots into left field for the Angels, Angel Stadium, the eighth best home run park factor for left-handed hitters. I don't know that this changes much for Josh Lowe. I think he just needs to stay healthy. Like, if he stays on the field, I think he could be a decently productive player. I still have confidence that he could be like a 20-20 bat if he just stays on the field.

That's the biggest question right now for Josh Lowe. For the raise, Gavin Lux could play second base with either Taylor Wals or prospect Carson Williams at shortstop. Their outfield has Mullins and Chandler Simpson in it for sure. And then roster resource has Jake Fraley, but maybe Jacob Melton gets a shot here. Let's see how he does in spring training. And then for the Reds, I think this is good news for my boy, our boy, Scott. I feel like you like him a lot too. South Stewart, who we get one more name out of the mix here.

And it feels like South Stewart should split some time between DH and first base. And just be an everyday player, hopefully, as long as the bad is good there. So your reaction. What changes here, if anything, for fantasy purposes? Yeah, I think you summed it up well in that the biggest, impact of these changes as it kind of frees up log jams elsewhere. I think probably

the Josh Lowe move has the potential to create more value for him. It's going to a good hitter's park, probably going to be platoon to less. But I do see it as a bad sign. Like by the time a former asset trickles down to the angels, there's usually not a lot,

a lot of juice left in that, you know? Like it doesn't seem like a good sign for Josh Lowe's future for the raise evaluation of him that the angels are the taker. And that they're getting back like Gavin Lux for him, who's a versatile player, but I don't think anyone is really holding out hope for Gavin Lucks being an impactful offensive player anymore. I mean, if it didn't work out for him in Cincinnati, where is it going to work out?

Right. So I'm not particularly motivated to move Josh Lowe up based on this news, even though in theory, just by removing some of the platoon concerns, it does raise his value. I'll at least say he has a higher ceiling now, but practically speaking, I'm not optimistic. But, yeah, as you said, I mean, part of the hesitation in drafting Sal Stewart this year, as good of a hitter as I think he is, is that I didn't know how motivated Terry Francona would be to play him. I mean, he came up from the minors in September,

was crushing it with the Reds fighting for a playoff spot and had a hard time staying in the lineup. Francona just kept playing other guys instead. So getting more bats out of the way, I think is great news for Stewart's fantasy value. And the race do seem to have high hopes for Jacob Melton, who they acquired from the Astros, earlier this year, early this offseason.

I don't think Jake Fraley's worth getting excited about, and yes, he is the one who slots in on roster resource, but I think Melton is more likely and becomes a deep sleeper with this outfield spot opened up for him. Yeah, Sal Stewart, I was operating under the assumption that he would always kind of work his way into everyday playing time just because I have that much confidence in him as a hitter. So I have him ranked as my 18th first.

basement right now that's just ahead of Munataka Morikami, Christian Walker, Wilson Gutreras, so I am pretty excited about Sal Stewart. Spoiler alert, he'll be either of my sleepers or breakouts yet. I haven't made that determination yet, but I'm very excited about South Stewart. The Rockies are signing Willie Castro

to a two-year, $12.8 million deal. He's 28 years old, has a little power and speed. Could move around the infield. I think he'll have an everyday role somewhere on the Rockies. Obviously that's not a very high bar to clear. Scott, any deep league interest here in Willie Castro, now in Corse Field?

I mean, depends how deep. Again, I'm not particularly motivated to move him up in light of this news. Oh, it's Corse Field. Oh, he has a clear path to playing time. How many hitters of this caliber have we made that argument for in recent years? And it just never seems to work out anymore. I just did it last year with Tyro Estrada. Yeah, it feels very similar, right? And I think there was, I think kind of the core components of Tyro Estrada as a hitter are more interesting than Willie Castro.

I think he's too questionable to begin with as far as hitting goes, and he's going to have no support in this lineup. And I just think the odds are long that Willie Castro is going to matter outside of, outside of leagues where like 400 or more players are rostered. Yeah. So, NL only 15 team mix for Roto leagues. Maybe he's kind of a back-end bench player or something like that. He did have 33 Steeles back in 2023, Willie Castro did, but has just 24 total in two seasons since. In-Cores field, you know, should help the batting average a little bit. I'm thinking maybe like a 250 hitter, 15-15, something like that.

So, you know, wherever you think that's valuable, that's where Willie Castro should be drafted. Cubs President Jett Hoyer said Matt Shaw could be used in the outfield this season. And I noticed, Scott, I buried him in the rankings. I just assume we all did after the Alex Breggman trade. But you and Chris still have him decently high. I have Matt Shaw as my 30 first ranked third baseman. I just don't see how he's going to play unless the trade happens. Like maybe he'll play a couple times a week,

but I don't know that that will matter for fantasy. Yeah, I hear you. I'll have to move him down eventually. I'm kind of just standing pat right now because I expect something's going to happen, it's a Nico Horner trade to free up second base for Shaw or maybe Shaw himself getting moved. Yeah, it's possible. But as we get closer and it seems like that's not going to happen, then I'll have to move him down probably closer to where you have him.

So it's the sort of thing where if it's a sort of thing where I'm granting myself permission to delay the move because it's mid-January, you know. But that won't last forever. This next news item is pretty fun, although he is a former Dodger. No, I'm not going to get mad at Clayton Kirshall. He is set to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, which is very fun because he retired at the end of last season. And this is seemingly the last time we will see him pitch in a competitive environment.

He heard that one before. If he even pitches, maybe he's just kind of like a player coach that's hanging out. I think he'll probably get maybe some relief innings here and there. But very fun for Clayton Cursehaw. Hershey to be on Team USA here in the World Baseball Classic. And the international signing period opened on Thursday. The largest deal went to 17-year-old Venezuelan shortstop Luis Hernandez, who signed with the San Francisco Giants.

Not going to lie to you, Scott. I don't know anything about this international class yet. Obviously, I will learn over time. But that is the one name that I have heard of so far, just within prospect circles. So Luis Hernandez sounds like maybe the top international guy that's coming over in this class. All right, let's get into Scott's top 100 prospects.

And what we'll do here is we'll jump around, do a few different things, and we will end the show with a countdown of his top 10 prospects. But let's start with some names in the back half of your top 100, Scott. Names that could contribute this season. So we're thinking redraft,

although I'm sure these rankings are for long term and you're thinking dynasty and things like that. But let's be quick hitting here, you know, a minute per player, how you think these players might be able to contribute this year because I think that they can. And we will start at the back end

and we'll kind of work our way up. But number 96, you have Zach Cole of the Houston Astros, who as of right now, you know, former team of Kyle Tucker's looks like he has at least a chance to play on opening day with the Astros.

Yeah, he kind of nailed down that spot at the end of last season. That outfield spot, remember they started with Jose Altovae there and we're just kind of struggling to fill it all year. And Zach Cole had a monster year at AAA, where his strikeout rates always ran high. It was sort of Spencer Jones-like, but he got it under 30%.

It was 28% at AAA, higher at AA. But, you know, the production was there, power speed. And most crucially, for the little bit of time he was in the majors, 24 games, he showed it with four home runs, three steals, and was playing every day. doing that. So there's a lot of volatility here for Zach Cole. I don't think he's going to show up in many top 100s. I like to populate the back of my top 100 with prospects who are a little more obscure but are sure to contribute in the short term. And sometimes it sticks. So low probability for a dynasty play, I'd say Zach Cole, but somebody who matters in redraft and the power speed

combination is interesting enough. Your number 94 prospect is Brandon Sprote, who is a starting pitcher with the New York Mets. We've heard his name for a few years now, throws this very hard sinker, gets a lot of ground balls, has some spinny, secondary breaking pitches as well.

Rastor Resource doesn't have Sprote in the Mets rotation as of now, but if he has a good spring, I think he has a very clear opportunity to be in that opening day rotation. Yeah, I think he does too, but But it's, there's obviously a lot of competition for those spots.

And more, it's the reason Brandon Sprott, I think he was like a top 30 guy for me last year. And now he's barely rounding out the top 100. He got worse last year. His fastball became less effective. He was better in his final 11 AAA starts 244, ERA, 0.93 whip 10.7K per 9. but he doesn't really have the sort of arsenal that's going to lead to a lot of strikeouts in the majors. He's more about inducing ground balls.

And I'm just not sure there's an overwhelming enough pitch there for him to be more than more than like a number four, number five type in the Mets rotation rather than, oh, maybe this guy could be an ace. That's kind of what we were thinking for Brandon Sprote last year. Your number 91 prospect is Tommy Troy with the D-BACs. He's a second basement and put up interesting numbers in the miners last year. Good batting average, a little bit of power, has some speed.

It was much more enticing when Cotel Marte was on the trade block, but now that Marte is there and Aeronato is there, and they're talking about Ryan Walschman getting an opportunity. I include him on this list, but I may be thinking about it now. I'm not sure how likely it is to happen without an injury in 2026. Yeah, and Tommy Troy, is not somebody, he's not a prospect I like. I'll just put it that way.

I don't like him as a prospect. He was so productive last year between double and AAA slashing 289, 382, 451, good number of steals. So productive that I feel like on a fantasy-minded list especially, he's worth featuring. but I'm fearful that Tommy Troy is going to be a textbook case of a Diamondbacks minor league overachiever because their double and AAA affiliates are so hitter friendly. And that's where he spent all of last year between those two affiliates, Tommy Troy. You look at some of the underlying data for him. Not great.

Not great. We don't have the exit velocity readings for AA, but for his 38 games at AAA, average exit velocity was 86.8 miles per hour. They just wasn't hitting the ball all that hard. And when he's outside of that hitter-friendly PCL environment, I'm not sure the power is going to come along with him. So Tommy Troy, I think he's kind of a cell high in Dynasty right now, but I'll still put him in my top 100.

Your number 85 prospect is Logan Henderson starting pitcher with the Milwaukee Brewers who has this really interesting fastball change up combination that just keeps hitters way off balance, gets a lot of strikeouts because of it. The Brewer's rotation as of now does not include Logan Henderson. It has

Chad Patrick as the SP5 and actually a lot of, I've heard a lot of smart people bring up Chad Patrick and actually like him as a deep sleeper this year. But there is still a very good chance that the Brewers wind up trading away Freddie Peralta. That would open up a chance for Logan Henderson

in here in this rotation. Yeah, and he was great, obviously, for the, I think it was four starts he made in the majors last year. But it was kind of telling the way the brewers handle him because they'd bring him up, he'd throw a gem, they'd send him back down, they'd bring him up, throw a gym, send him back down. Like, they went through a lot of starting pitchers last year,

cycled through them, many of them pretty mediocre. And Logan Henderson was always up to the challenge, and they just kept sending him down. They kept sending him back down. On paper, he doesn't seem like a top prospect because 90% of the pitches he threw in the majors, 90% were either fastball change up. So he doesn't have this broad arsenal,

and it's not like the fastball has great velocity or anything, but it has good secondary characteristics. It's an effective fastball. It's a really good change up, and he controls the zone well. So it's a narrow path to success for Logan Henderson, but we do have that first taste of it last year between those four starts.

That's enough for me to say, okay, he deserves to be a top 100 prospect, even though maybe by conventional standards he would miss the mark. Next up we have Parker Messick, who is your number 84 prospect. He's a starting pitcher with the Guardians. We saw him late last season as well,

made seven starts. Very impressive in those seven starts. Like Logan Henderson, it's fastball change. up heavy, but from the left-hand side here with Messick, and he kind of has this, like, funky, deceptive delivery, and he's kind of, I don't know, he's a pit bull. He's kind of like one of these, you know, animated guys on the mound. So it looks like, as of now, he actually is kind of locked into the Guardian's rotation, assuming he doesn't have a terrible spring.

Yeah, I think it's similar to Logan Henderson, like the comparison you made there in that the raw stuff isn't that impressive, but it's more effective. It's more effective, the fastball especially. The fastball had a whiff rate just below 30 in his seven major league starts, Parker Messick last year. So he does appear to be functional enough that he could hold down a spot. And if you're functional enough to hold down a spot, you're striking out batters that close to one per inning.

You have a chance of mattering in fantasy. So I think with the inside track on the rotation spot, I'm willing to say, I'm willing to say Messick is the top 100 prospect. I do think control could be, it wasn't a problem in his short stay in the majors last year, but looking at the minor league tracker, but it could be more of a problem for Messick than for Logan Henderson.

Your number 82 prospect, Scott, is Connolly Early, who is a starting pitcher with the Red Sox. We saw him late last season as well. Actually reminds me a lot of Max Freed. it's kind of this lefty who doesn't overpower you. It's like mid-90s with the fastball, but it just has this huge arsenal that he goes to. And the bad news is that the Red Sox assigned Ranger Suarez

and that they have a bunch of options that they can use for that SP5. So, you know, thinking about it from a redraft perspective, you know, it might take a couple months before we see Connolly Early injuries or underperformance from other guys. But long-term, I think there's a lot to be excited about with Connolly Early.

Yeah, he's another one, just like the last two I talked about, where he's not going to show up especially high on traditional prospect rankings. He falls short in those areas where evaluators really want pitching prospects to stand out. But there is proof of concept for Connolly early, too, with them running a K-per-9 rate of nearly 12 in the minors and actually a little higher than that in his four major league starts. and I am a little, I would say I'm more willing to stick my neck out for early than for Logan Henderson or Parker Messick because he has such a broad arsenal, six pitches, and he has such a good command and feel for them that I think the whole is greater than the sum of the parts here. So none of the pitches on its own flashes huge upside, but he mixes and matches them well and is able to. to locate them and I think really has a is a good fit for the modern game in that way. So I like what we saw from Connolly early down the stretch. And of the three pitchers we just talked about who maybe are a little under the radar as far

as prospect goes, early is my favorite. All right. Next up we have number 77 on your prospect list is Charlie Condon, who is a first baseman with the Rockies. He was the third overall pick back in the 2024 draft and it's kind of been up and down. It was a lot of strikeouts early on.

He was better last season and cut down on the strikeouts in the AFL but I think the power suffer because of it. So we're still trying to figure out who he is, I guess, as a player but they've already come out and said that Condon is going to get an opportunity to win a spot during spring training.

So that's why I have him down here as someone who can maybe contribute this season. Yeah, he could. And I'm not ready to give up on him. I know the first couple of years as a professional have been pretty disappointing for a historic home run hitter in college. We haven't seen that from Charlie Condon yet in the minors, but we know that power's in there. He still reached base at a nice 376 clip in the minors last year, even if the stats overall were underwhelming. And, you know, at one point it looked like he'd be able to play third base and outfield and now it's confined to first base as a right-handed hitter.

That gives a narrow path to the majors, but the Rockies have a lot of paths to the majors right now. And I know there's some hope. I've seen people express hope with them making a major change, really overhauling the whole organizational ladder there with Paul D. Podesta being hired back from the NFL. The hope is that they modernize a bit in terms of how they develop players. how they evaluate players, and that Charlie Condon, given the base talent that he has that we saw in college that made him the third overall pick a couple years ago, that they'll be able to tap into

it better than the previous regime did. It's theoretical, obviously. And, you know, Paul DiPadesto was certainly ahead of the curve in 2002 when he was featured in Moneyball, but is he still in 2026? Well, we'll have to see to know. But he has to be. But he has to, but he has to, a smart guy and maybe he'll be able to do something with Charlie Condon. For those watching on YouTube, you might be trying to wonder, what am I watching right now? This is actually footage of a game I saw last season at AA where Charlie Condon smoked a two-run homer off of Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz.

And I thought it was really impressive. So that's what I was showing up there on the screen, a pretty impressive home run there from Charlie Condon. Your number 66 prospect Scott is Harry Ford, who is a catcher now with the Nationals. He was, acquired from the Mariners this off season. And it's a good thing he was because wasn't going to get playing time on the Mariners with, you know, Cal Raleigh, the big dumper.

He's amazing. But, you know, could find himself with some playing time here now that, you know, he's splitting time with Cabo Ruiz, who hasn't been very good. Yeah, it's a trade that had to happen if Harry Ford was ever going to live up to his prospect potential. He actually did reach the majors at the end of last year. but obviously didn't play much because Cal Raleigh is one of the historic seasons for a catcher ever and it obviously wasn't going to be losing playing time.

So what I liked about Ford last year, what I like about him going to Washington is he reversed a trend of declining power that we'd been seeing as he moved up the ladder, got some of that power back with the move up to AAA. But he stopped stealing bases. Almost entirely. One of the appealing things about Ford was that he was a catcher who could run. He stole 35 bases in 2024, just seven last year. So I don't know how much that's going to be a part of his game. He still reached base a ton. Those are the two ways Ford really stood out as a prospect. Stealing bases as a catcher, getting on base at a great rate. 4.05 on base percentage for his minor league career. But that doesn't always translate so neatly to the majors, particularly if, those pitchers, better strike throwers overall, have no reason to fear your power. So again, Ford tapped into that power more last year, but it is on the borderline.

I think he should be able to earn the lion's share of the abats there, even with Caber Ruiz, and maybe amount to something in fantasy. With catcher being as deep as it is, probably not worth pursuing outside of two catcher leagues, though, is Harry Ford. All right, and the last two names here I wanted to mention, number 62, you have Dylan Beavers, who is an outfielder with the Orioles. And number 60, you have Chase DeLauder, who is an outfielder with the Guardians. I think these two names, pretty similar, Scott, good plate discipline, a little bit of power,

a little bit of speed for both of these guys. Obviously, DeLotter has dealt with a bunch of injuries, so I think the Guardians just need to get him out there and see how long he could stay healthy. But any quick thoughts here on Beaver's and DeLotter for this season? I am kind of down on both right now. Beavers was okay when he reached the majors last year. The walk rate was nice. He hit four home runs at 110 at bats.

But just that he didn't really secure full-time duty. And I'm a little bit shell-shocked from that happening over and over again with Orioles hitting prospects in recent years. like Gunner Henderson, Jordan Westberg, whichever one of those came last, was kind of the last one to stick. And we've seen Kirstead and Mayo. And, you know, they've just had problems

really settling into the role. So I liked the strides B, Dylan Beaver's made last year. He shifted his weight better, turned on pitches better, improved the eggs of velocities, and had a great batting eye, which has always been the case for him.

I'm just not confident that the Orioles are really going to give him a long leash. And then DeLotter, it's still the question of, can he stay healthy throughout his professional career? It's been no. We'll see now that he's reached the majors, that'll remain so at the highest level. I think given all the development time, he's lost in the minors, the sky high projections for him is like this hitting savant. I think we should moderate those. In theory, maybe he's like a Brian Reynolds type for fantasy with a little more batting average upside maybe.

But, you know, Brian Reynolds has been a model of health. And DeLauder has a lot to proof still in that regard. All right. Something else I wanted to do here today was talk about the first-year player draft rankings within Scott's top 100. But instead of talking about all of them, I'll just quickly list off the top 12 in the order that Scott has them within his rankings. So again, these are for those who play in Dynasty leagues.

you know, if you're doing your first-year player draft soon, this is obviously important to you. Number one on this list is Kate Anderson, who is a starting pitcher with the Mariners. Scott has him 27th overall in his top 100. Number two is Tatsuya I, Pitcher with the Astros. He's 32nd. Seth Hernandez is a pitcher with the Pirates, 38th overall. Liam Doyle, a pitcher with the Cardinals, 42nd overall. Jamie Arnold, a pitcher with the athletics.

He's 43rd. Muna Takamorakami. First baseman with the White Sox, he's 45th. Jojo Parker, a shortstop with the Blue Jays, is 49th. Dax Kilby, shortstop with the Yankees, is 50th. Iva Arquette, shortstop with the Marlins, is 51st. Ethan Holliday, shortstop with the Rockies, who, I mean, has just been as polarizing a prospect so far

as you could possibly get for a first-year player. He is 52nd overall. Cosima Okamoto, third baseman with the Blue Jays, he's 58th. And then Ethan Conrad is an outfielder with the Cubs, 78th overall in Scott's rankings. Again, that's the top 12 for those playing in Dynasty Leagues, and you've got your first-year player drafts coming up soon. Or maybe you had them already.

Whatever. Let's take our final break. When we return, we will count down Scott's top 10 prospects entering 2026, and we'll do that right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy at baseball today, and we are counting down Scott's top 10 prospects here in 2026. and you know Scott I'll just read the number and then I'll give you a little drumroll and I'll let you reveal who is which player is ranked where and so we will start with number 10. I need to pull up my list.

Colt Emerson number 10 for the Mariners shortstop prospect. I've always liked Colt Emerson. He's always stood out for his hit tool, great on base skills. He just hadn't optimized for power. his swing was two-line drive oriented, two opposite field oriented. But he always earned high marsh from evaluators, like he was going to figure it out eventually.

And you know what? Last year, kind of figured it out. Did Colt Emerson? Over his final 76 games, Colt Emerson slash 311, 404, 510, sharp reduction in ground ball rate, there's talk of him may be making the Mariners opening day roster now.

I think it's a long shot because, you know, J.P. Crawford has been plenty useful for them. I think they're going to want to finish things out with him. There's also second base maybe where they could try out Cold Emerson, but they have options there. I think the odds are long, Cold Emerson, as young as he is, to make the opening day roster. But he should be up soon. And with the kind of profile he's presenting now, the power to go along with those bat skills, those on-base skills, those on base skills. You know, Corey Seeger is a comp that's thrown around maybe a little too often,

and I don't know that Emerson quite has that power upside, but there are some shades here of an early Corey Seger, I would say. Yeah, taking a look at their current roster, Mariners could still, you know, bring back Eugenio Suarez or, you know, make some other signing, but they have Ben Williamson penciled in as their starting third baseman. So, yeah, Colt Emerson might have. have a chance in spring training. We'll

watch for that one. All right, your number nine prospect, Scott, is Carson Binge. Love Carson Binge. The Mets love Carson Binge. Seems like everyone's kind of expecting Carson Binge to make the opening day roster.

That seems even more likely with Kyle Tucker off the board now. You know, it's part of the reason why they were willing to trade away Brandon M.O. He was terrific last year, his first full professional season. He played at high A, AA, AAA, AAA, power speed, got on base a ton. Sort of like Colt Emerson in that the raw power is there. Like, he hits the ball plenty

hard enough, but a lot of it's to the opposite field, and so maybe he sells his power short because of that. But that's not uncommon for hitting prospects, including some of the most high-end hitting prospects, and I would rather, I would rather deal with that than a lack of hard contact or a lack of contact altogether, you know, suboptimal contact. And 15 home runs and 441 at bats. It's still plenty productive for as many balls as he was hitting the other way. His numbers are great last year. After he reached AAA, he hit 178, so that kind of dragged down the numbers a bit. So keep that in mind. Keep that in mind. He was looking much. stronger even before then, but had a great season regardless, Carson Bench.

And you mentioned the raw power with Bench. His average exit velocity at AAA was 92.1 miles per hour. That ranked in the 90th percentile. So pretty impressive bat up all data there from Carson Bench who has power and speed and likely an opportunity here with the New York Mets. All right, Scott, over to number eight is Bubba Chandler. Number eight among prospects, number one among pitcher prospects got back there because he had such a strong showing in the majors, one that completely did away with the concerns that had been raised to AAA, where he seemed to lose all command. Strike rate was way down.

He was walking way too many hitters. He ended up in his major league stay walking just four batters in 31 and a third innings, which is the kind of walk rate basically no pitcher is capable. of and I don't expect Chandler to sustain it either, but just the fact that he did it over any kind of sample, I think is a strong indicator that his AAA struggles were largely just a matter of frustration for not being promoted when he felt like he should have been, which he has spoken to even. So it's not it's not just armchair psychology there on my part. His stuff is amazing, triple digit fastball.

two great secondary offerings. If he throws strikes, he's going to dominate. And I expect him to dominate as soon as this year. Yeah, Bubba Chandler allowed nine earned runs in his first career start on September 7th. And then over his final three starts, 16 and two-thirds innings, two runs allowed, 19 strikeouts to zero walks. So pretty amazing stuff there from Bubba Chandler, who his ADP in January is 162. so people are expecting a decent amount out of Bubba Chandler here in his rookie season. All right, let's go over to your number seven prospects, Scott, and that is

Samuel Basayo. He's great. He's a great hitter. I've compared him to Kyle Schwerber before with the kind of power he could deliver while reaching base at a very nice clip. We saw him at the end of last year. Fortunately, he played enough catcher to retain up. eligibility there. I don't think that's going to be his long-term home, but particularly if the

Orioles remain committed to Adley Rushman. But for now, it gives Basayo, but, you know, Basaya retains that eligibility a catcher. I do have some concerns, some of the same concerns for Dylan, Dylan Beavers, as Dylan Beavers were just the way the Orioles have handled some of their hitting prospects in recent years, being quick to pull the plug on them and replace them. with unappealing veterans. The Orioles have a lot of those, Tyler O'Neill, Ryan Mountcastle still there.

And because Bessaya didn't put his best foot forward last September, you know, how likely is that to happen to him? It's a fair question. But I do think he's the most talented hitting prospect. They've debuted since Gunner Henderson, and I expect him to be a massive power for years to come. I mentioned some of the bad at ball metrics for Carson Benj.

Looking at Bessio's data in the at AAA last season, 94.2 average exit velocity, 95th percentile, 115.9th. 99th percentile, 21 percent barrel rate, 97th percentile. So, yeah, Basayo, I think, is one of the best all-around hitting prospects in the miners and has massive power too. It's just how much of an opportunity will he get here in his age 21 season? That's a question for redraft leagues, but long term,

I think he's going to be an amazing hitter. All right, Scott, let's go over to your number six prospect, and that is... Sebastian Walcott of the Rangers. Now, I've been a little underwhelmed by his actual production in the miners, and I do think there is this phenomenon where players are evaluated by how young they are at their level.

I'm not saying that's not a factor. Of course it is. How well you can acclimate or even keep your head above water at a level, like at double A as an 18-year-old, like in Walcott's case, certainly says something about, what your upside might look like, what your developmental trajectory might look like,

but it is a secondary indicator of how good you are. A primary indicator of how good you are is how well you perform. So a lot of projection goes into that assessment of, oh, he's an 18-year-old who's surviving at AA. What's it going to look like when he's 21? And that, I think, has led to some fakeouts like with Ethan Salas, most famously, with the Padres. But I don't think Walcott is ultimately going to be a fake out. He has the impact potential to be a massive power hitter. His strikeout rate, even as he climbed the ladder at a young age,

it became a much more palatable number this year. I believe it was below 20% at AA. Yeah, it was. Yes, it was. So it's getting harder to say that Walcott's hit tool is a problem. And if he lives up to his power potential, which I fully expect him to, then you're talking about a big time slugger here. I don't think he's going to be a batting average standout.

I don't think he's going to be a huge base dealer in the long run. I know he's still 32 this year, but I think he's going to kind of outgrow that. But the power should be enough, particularly if he remains on the left side of the infield, that he's going to be an exciting fantasy asset and maybe sooner than people think. Hey, I have him in the Scott White Dynasty League.

So let's go, Sebastian Walcott. Let's get it done. move over to your number five prospect. We are into the top five. Leo DeVries of the athletics, who some people put behind Sebastian Walcott. I'm fine with that.

I think it's a little bit safer here, the profile for DeVries. He is even less likely to be a base dealer, so maybe the ultimate upside is a little lower, but I think there's a better hit tool here. and I think there's less potential for failure, frankly, for Leo DeVries. So, you know, I was beginning to worry. He was a victim of the Ethan Salas syndrome too,

especially since he was in the Padres organization, and they just kept promoting him aggressively maybe to make it look like he was an even better prospect than he was. But after he was traded to the athletics, they bumped him up to AA as an 18-year-old. and he slashed 281, 359, 551, and 21 games there. It looked more than just like he was keeping his head above water. I think the upside is special here. And I think he's an easy choice this high in the prospect rankings. That's Leo DeVries.

Yeah, and he came over from the Padres in the Mason-Miller trade, and he finished incredibly strong. Played 21 games at AA as a 19-year-old. Hit 281, 5 homers, 2-Seals, 9-10 OPS, which is a 19-percent strikeout rate. pretty impressive stuff there from Leo DeVries. Number four, who do we have? J.J. Weatherholtz. Usually I think you see him ranked behind DeVries and Walcott,

but I think the upside is basically right there with him, and he's certainly a more polished product, and very likely, I would say, following the Nolan Aeronado trade, and presumably a Brendan Donovan trade is coming to, very likely to make the opening day roster is J.J. Weatherholt. His numbers last year, his first full professional season, were great. I'll read them off to you now.

306 batting average 17 homers, 233 steals on 931 OPS. Basically a one-to-one strikeout to walk ratio between double and AAA. I think the profile for Weatherholt is like 90. of what Kevin McGonigle is, and McGonigle's in the conversation is the top overall prospect. So I don't know that there's first or even second round upside here for JJ Weatherholt, but I think there's a good chance he's a top five player at whatever infield spot he ends up at. It's looking more likely to be second or third than shortstop right now. Do you think J.J. Weatherholt is up on opening day?

Because my assumption when Aronado was traded, I still think, Brendan Donovan will get traded as well, is that he should be up on opening day. But I've also now read and heard more things about maybe the Cardinals keeping him down past the Super 2 deadline. I mean, I guess it's always a possibility, but what do you think? I thought he should be up in September. I agree. I was surprised it didn't happen just because the way he was crushing it to AAA.

And the way the promotion timeline normally goes over the course of the season now, where we see big name prospects promoted in September again. But it didn't happen. I do think Gorman, because the Cardinals have always shown an affinity for Nolan Gorman, I do think he gets priority over Weatherholt. But if a Brendan Donovan trade happens, then it seems like a foregone conclusion at that point, that Weatherholt will be on the opening day roster. All right, Scott.

We are into the top three prospects. Jesus Madeh of the Brewers. Another really young guy here, he'll all. only B-18 on opening day, but he made it to double A and he held his own, and particularly in terms of exit velocities. He's already delivering them up to a major league caliber at that young age.

He's a prolific base dealer in the miners. We're just waiting for him to grow into the power, to actualize those exit velocities, to perhaps grow into even more, given his youth. And every evaluation, believes it's going to happen. These same evaluators were early on Jackson Chorio. Obviously, that's worked out.

And I think Made is kind of following in his footsteps here in the Brewer's organization. It seems like third base is ultimately where he's going to wind up. And if that's the case for Jesus, Made, I think Jose Ramirez is a potential outcome for him. Obviously, it depends on him. actualizing his power. But, you know, he's certainly a prolific enough base dealer, and you don't see many of those power speed guys at that third base position. So really excited about Jesus, Made. Yeah, it is just a perfect skill set for fantasy baseball. It's exactly what we look for. I've looked at some prospect grades on the 2080 scale, and I've seen like 60 hit, 60 power, 60 speed for

Ma day. So pretty much looks like the entire package here. He just, he needs more time. He needs more development time. And I think we'll probably see him within the next couple of years. All right, Scott, let's get into your number two prospect. Kevin McGonagall, I mentioned him earlier, Tiger's shortstop prospect, another one who has been discussed maybe for an opening day spot and potentially even a shortstop. So, though a lot of people think he's, He's going to wind up at second base long term. The hit tool is amazing here. I've seen some publications give him the full 80 for hit tool, which is rare.

He walked more than he struck out last year between three levels. And he began to live up to his power projection too, because he's really good at elevating to his pole side. And hits the ball hard enough that there's, there isn't too much risk of that becoming a detriment the way it does for some hitters who, I don't know, I guess like Anthony Volpe, he just doesn't hit the ball hard enough even though he hits it to the right spots. Not an issue for McGonigal hits the ball pretty hard and hits it with a ton of regularity,

great strike zone judgment. I think if you're looking for a comp for what he could be in fantasy, Heraldo Perdomo, the 2025 version, like the version of Perdomo we just saw, I think that's who McGonicle could be for fantasy. Maybe not as a rookie, but as he grows into his full potential. Yeah, and Chris and I got to see Kevin McDonagall out

in the Arizona Fall League where he won the MVP. We saw an RBI treble from him. We saw a tour on Homer, which, again, I was just playing on YouTube for those watching. And yeah, he obviously looked amazing. good enough to win the MVP. And I do wonder if how aggressive the Tigers will be. He hasn't played above AA yet,

but he kind of looks like he's ready. So I think he'll get a shot in opening day and a shot in spring training for opening day and we'll see if McGonigal can take advantage of that. All right, based on deduction, I'm sure everyone knows who the top prospect in baseball is at this point. But anyway, let's reveal it. Number one prospect in 2026 is...

Connor Griffin. Yeah. Connor Griffin, who just took off like a rocket ship last year. I mean, he was a pretty high draft pick in, in 2024, the year before, coming out of high school. But I think most people saw him as more of a project than a prospect. Like, it was, okay, you see, you look at him, he looks like he should be wearing a face mask and shoulder pads. Like he's just a specimen physically, but would he have the skill? You know, that's always, that's always an issue for particularly teenage prospects who just happen to be athletic.

Well, he made it look so easy in his first full professional season, Connor Griffin. He made it look so easy that, well, now he's the top prospect of baseball. He went from low A to high A to double A. and the numbers didn't really let up any step along the way there. It ended up hitting 33 and 941 OPS, 21 homers, 65 stolen bases. It's not an apples to apples comparison. Don't at me for saying this. It kind of reminds me of Mike Trout.

From the perspective of this guy just looks like a natural. I mean, he looks like you want, he looks like a professional athlete, and the game just comes so easily to him. And that was apparent for Trout from such a young age. It seems just as apparent for Griffin at such a young age. I don't think Griffin is going to be Mike Trout because I don't think he has the on-base skills to become what Trout was in his prime. But I think he's going to be very, very, very good, potentially a first-rounder in fantasy someday. and the pirates have already floated the idea of that, of the beginning on opening day.

He's only 19. He hasn't played a AAA yet. Seems like a long shot, especially with the possibility of a lockout, starting his service clock, service time, his service clock before that happens, would,

wouldn't be the most prudent move for a pirate's team that feels like it has to play the service time game. So I don't really think it's going to happen, but spring training will tell us a lot. Connor Griffin will be one of the players to watch most closely because

the upside is something to salivate over. Connor Griffin is just an absolute freak. He won baseball America's prospect of the year. He did that as a 19 year old, played at three different levels, got better every time, got 21 games in at AA as well. So we'll see what he could do.

in spring training. I really hope the pirates give him a fair shot to win that opening day job. It seems like they are more seriously trying to compete, you know, bringing in Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hern.

They cannot waste these Paul Skeen's years, although, I mean, I just trade him to the Dodgers. I guess why would you even try, right? Exactly. Like, they're trying to compete now. I don't think any team

is trying to compete anymore. It's just, all right, You won this round Dodgers. Yeah. And you know, you just mentioned the word we probably should have brought it up earlier. Maybe we did. But lockout, right?

A lockout looming next off season when the collective bargaining agreement is over, maybe it just got even more likely with the Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker. I mean, the talk has been a salary cap, a salary floor. These are things that they will fight over, I'm sure, for months next offseason.

and might have just made it more likely with this signing. So, all right, Lou. I don't want to end on a sour note. Your number one prospect is Connor Griffin, and hopefully he gets a real shot here in spring training. We are going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks, as always, for tuning in to fantasy baseball today.

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