Fantasy Baseball Today - Lineups That Could Breakout! Position Updates & Favorite League Types (1/17 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Every year there are lineups that break out in baseball (3:10). ... First up, the Cincinnati Reds (4:30)! Are they too young? ... Frank is all over the Red Sox lineup (9:22). ... If the St. Louis Cardinals stay healthy, their lineup could be very dangerous (13:40). ... Does the Phillies lineup have top three upside (17:45)? ... On to our dark horse breakout lineups, the Yankees (21:22)? ... Do the Detroit Tigers really have upside (26:36)? ... News (29:27): it sounds like the Dodgers will use a six-man rotation. ... Which players are UTIL only in 2024 (45:15)? ... We wrap up with a discussion on our favorite league formats (56:27). To display your continued support of the show, please vote Fantasy Baseball Today in the Sports Podcast Awards in the "Best Baseball Podcast" Category https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-baseball-podcast/ 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.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 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/ 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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Last year, the Texas Rangers scored the third most runs in baseball, which lineups could break out in 2024. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today. Frank and Scott here on Wednesday, January 17th.

Today on the show, we've got ourselves a bit of a fantasy smorgas board, lineups that could explode in 2024, position updates on CBS, and what I mean by that is talking about the new positions for this upcoming season, players that are utility only, SPARPs, which are good to know in Head to Head Points League, so we'll run through all of that. Plus, some people have asked this in the past, what are our favorite fantasy baseball formats to play in?

We play in all different kinds of leagues, shapes, and sizes. So we'll run through some of those and break down which ones are our favorite. Scott, today or I guess yesterday when you're listening to this, was a big day on the website. All of our 2024 rankings were made public. We all posted our first run of sleepers, breakouts, and bus articles. It's a fun time, man. We are approaching. We are approaching.

Let's go. I would call this the official start of draft prep season. Once we get the full rankings up, first round of sleepers breakouts and busts. It's time to begin your preparations if you haven't already. And I don't know about you. I think my sleepers article is pretty good. I haven't read you. You had busts the first time around, right?

I haven't read what you wrote. And I... That's good too, though. Admittedly, I haven't read your article yet either, Scott. But I was thinking about it while I was writing up the intro. Yeah, I really need to read their articles. because I want to know who they have in there. So I have to check it out.

Scott did sleepers, Chris did breakouts, and I wrote up busts. To me, busts are the hardest to write up every year because, let's be honest,

you want to kind of take a glass, half, full approach on as many players as possible. You want to be optimistic, but for the 10 players I wrote up,

unfortunately, they are names that I will be avoiding at their current draft cost. Maybe that'll change once we get more ADP data. But again, all of our rankings and auction values,

live on the site, positional rankings, top 300s for both Roto and head-to-head points leagues, and our auction values are based on 12-team leagues with the standard $260 budget. I know everyone plays with different rules, but that's the standard, and those are the values that we put out based on, you know, $260 budget. And you can check everything out at cbsports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. We have a QR code. If you're watching us live on YouTube, you scan that, and it'll It'll take you right to the website. Scott, let's jump in here with lineups that could break out in 2024.

Every year we have lineups that provide excess value, right? In terms of counting stats and played appearances, we know the Braves and the Dodgers are going to be up there likely for the foreseeable future. They were last year. They were the year before that. My guess is they will be there in 2024 as well. But the Rangers, as I mentioned at the top, they were that breakout team last year.

You look at what they did. Third most run scored in baseball. The year prior in 2022, the 12th most run scored. So they took a huge leap up. We saw big numbers from Marcus Semyon, Corey Seeger, Adoli-Skarsia, even Jonah Heim.

He led all catchers with 95 RBI. And this seems to be a yearly trend. Every year there's breakout lineup, Scott. If you look at 2022, the Mets were fifth in run scored, both Pete Alonzo and Lindor. finished as top 12 players that year. Back in 2021, the Blue Jays lineup went off, right?

Vlad Jr. Bichette, they finished as the number one and two players respectively in the 2021 season. So our goal for today is to try and find those breakout lineups. And I will throw it to you first. You gave me three different ones, one being a dark horse, but your first breakout lineup shouldn't really surprise anybody, the Cincinnati Reds. Yeah, it's a really. a buzzy lineup. And a lot has to go right.

I'll admit, it's chock full of young bats, really more bats than they can find spots for. But that's kind of the gist of this exercise, right? Like what could this lineup look like if everything does go right? And it could be awesome. It could be awesome because, you know, Ellie de la Cruz, Noel V. Marte, who if you've seen my top 100 prospects,

he clocks in at number nine, in that top 100, great X-Vlocities, power speed. Of course, Spencer Steer, we saw him break out as a rookie, Matt McLean as well. And that's not even mentioning, you know,

Jonathan India and Jamer Candelaria, who they signed this offseason to kind of fill the veteran presence. Oh, I didn't mention Christian Incarnacion, maybe the best pure slugger of them all. And, yeah, there's just a lot of power upside.

There's a lot of speed to get things going on the base paths. And I could see it emerging as an elite lineup. If it doesn't happen this year, it should happen sometime within the next couple years, just given the amount of hitting talent that they have there. The Reds were ninth in run scored last year, mostly due to all those young players coming up and kind of hitting the ground running.

The projected lineup, according to Rasta Resource, this is just their guess. And Rasta Resource, if anyone doesn't know, it's a tool on Fangraphs.com where they project starting lineups, they project playing time. And as of now, they have it, the Reds lineup as T.J. Friedel,

Matt McLean, Spencer Steer, Jamer Candelario, Jonathan India, Ellie de la Cruz, Noel V. Marte, Will Benson as the Strongside platoon with Stuart Fairchild, and Tyler Stevenson

down at the number nine spot. Where is Encarnacio? Strand. He's on the bench for now, according to them. Obviously, things can shuffle around. Really wish that Jonathan India would get traded. It's nothing against him. It's just would love that DH spot to just be open and not as much of a log jam. My only other concern, Scott, here is, are they too young? You know, is there an adjustment period for all of these hitters, second year in the big leagues? I think there's a chance of that, but you mentioned it doesn't happen this year. It obviously could happen in years to come.

Yeah, it could happen. I mean, I'm encouraged by them being as high as ninth last year, even with some of the growing pains these young hitters were enduring. The ballpark helps for sure. I mean, it's the best, right. It's the best home run park in baseball and has been pretty much since the day it opened. So that is working in its favor. Even some of the weaker points, some of the weaker names in the lineup there,

like T.J. Friedel and Will Benson and even Jonathan India, he's become one of the weaker names in this lineup now. What they bring to the table is on base skills, which are maybe the biggest predictor of scoring runs that there is. So they've got a lot of everything going on here. I will say, you know, you're bringing up Christian Carnaccio Strand, where does he fit? I think he'll get his abats for sure.

But if Jonathan India sticks around, he'll also get his at-bats. And will it create a scenario kind of like the Rays, where the Rays have a great offense. They were a top five team and runs scored last year, but we don't really feel the impact in fantasy as much as we do for, say, the Rangers, because the Rays are constantly moving players

in and out of that lineup. It's a lot of mixing and matching to get all those runs. And so hopefully the Reds don't go that way with the surplus that they've created because we prefer, certainly for Fantasy the Rangers side of things, where I remember last year, was playing out, going through where players rank over the course of the season and being like,

gosh, why is that guy so high? And it was really just about the run in RBI totals. They did so much to elevate Rangers hitters last year. And so, I mean, I think that's kind of the gist of the exercise is where could we potentially find sleeper or breakout picks just by virtue of their supporting cast. And I think if everything clicks for the Reds, if they get the Reds, if they get the, that first round type outcome from Ellie De La Cruz, if they get

that 30 to 35 Homer season from Christian and Carnacion Strand, that 25-25 season from Noel V. Marte. Spencer Stier really just repeats what he did. Matt McLean, same thing. Then you're looking at a lot of runs for this lineup. Yep.

And from Scott's number one breakout team, the Reds to my number one breakout lineup, the Red Sox, who were 11th in runs scored last year, and their projected lineup again comes from Rasta Resource. Jaron Duran up at the top, Rafael Devers, Tristan Kossis, Trevor Story, Masataka Yoshita, Tyler O'Neill, Wiliere Abreu, Vaughan Grissom, and Connor Wong. Just a big fan of a lot of the pieces in this lineup, Scott. You look from top to bottom, right?

Devers, top 20 hitter in all of baseball, arguably higher than that. They have a floor razor in Masataka Yoshita who hits for contact, he hits for good batting average. modest power, he's going to be right in the middle of that lineup. I like breakout seasons coming here from Jaron Duran, Tristan Kosses, who arguably already broke out, but I think there's another level for him to break out in 2024. And Williara Abraeyu, it was a really small sample size last year, but he did some really interesting things, big exit velocities,

even if he's only a strong side platoon player, he put up some big numbers in the minors as well. So some breakout candidates already there, and then you have bounceback candidates from, Trevor Story, who gets a normal offseason after having elbow surgery last February, he tried to rush back. And if you look at the numbers from when he returned, they were not good. If we're being honest, lots of strikeouts, low batting average.

He did run. He did run a lot, which I like that from a fantasy perspective. I think we could get a bounce back from Trevor Story. I like the additions that they made too. Tyler O'Neill getting him from St. Louis on the cheap with the green monster in left field. obviously plays up for right-handed bats and Vaughn Grissom in the Chris Sale trade, right? I mean, Von Grissom, you know, was just a couple of years ago.

It's like arguably a league winner down the stretch, right, for fantasy. So I think there's a little power and speed from him, some contact ability, some strong batting average from Von Grissom. And then there's prospects still like waiting in the wings, right? That could get called up later on in the season. I think if everything clicks here, Scott, like 11th and runs last year, I think the Red Sox are a team that could push into the top five and run scored in 2024. Yeah, I could see it.

No, it does take a lot of things going right. As we said with the Reds. I mean, we're asking Trevor's story to recapture his form, at least from the end of his Rocky's career. We're asking Tyler O'Neill to recapture the magic of that 2021 season. Now that he's out of St. Louis, we're asking Williour Abrae to be legit. We're asking Vaughn Grissom to be legit. And I think there are reasonable questions to be asked about both of them,

whether they're going to be more than just decent, pretty good type players for fantasy. But you don't have to squint too hard to see them becoming more than that. And, you know, some of their non-power hitters, like I'm looking at Yoshida and Abra, you actually could have pretty good power. But they're on base skills to be had there. Like I was saying for the Reds lineup, There are enough guys to get on base in between the power hitters. And the one guy I haven't mentioned yet, obviously they have a star there in Raphael Devers,

but they may have another in Tristan Kossis, who hit 15 of his 24 home runs in the second half. And while he was hitting those 15 home runs, he was slashing 317, 417, 617. That was Tristan Kosses' second half. And, you know, we got to get him playing against left-handers more regularly to fully live up to his potential. But seems like a lot of potential. And certainly the prospect pedigree backs it up as well. And like the Reds, the Red Sox have a great ballpark to hit in Fenway Park over the past three years, according to Stackcast, the second best park factor in terms of just offense around the league.

So really good park. Again, like you said, a lot has to happen right here. and maybe I just got my rose-colored glasses on. You know, people might call me out for being a Yankee homer. Not a homer today, Scott, because I'm looking forward to the Boston Red Sox lineup. I think there's a lot of breakout ability there. Let's move on to your number two breakout lineup here, Scott,

and one that you sent over, one that I actually was going to choose as my dark horse, so I do like it quite a bit, the St. Louis Cardinals. Yeah, same sort of deal as with the Reds and the Red Sox. There are a lot of young hitters who we could see breaking out in this lineup, Jordan Walker, being the main one. But

Mason win. I think the jury's still out. What kind of player he's going to be in the majors but he's had productive years in the minor leagues and appears to have the inside track on the starting shortstop job

even though his first stint in the majors didn't go so well. They like him defensively, great throwing arm, all of that. And of course they have Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Aronado who are showing signs of fading perhaps. but they're still going to be drafted in the top five rounds in fantasy.

I feel comfortable saying. Brendan Donovan, it's a good on-based guy at the top of the lineup. We don't think of him as having a big fantasy impact, but a better real-life player than fantasy player, Lars Neupar, great on-base skills. Nolan Gorman's another young player who could grow into, I mean, he had a pretty big power breakout last year, but I think he could improve on that even.

And, you know, if some of those guys don't work out, I think a player like Alec Berluson is pretty interesting too. They don't even really have a spot for him right now. So I just see a lot of potential for upside in this lineup. It doesn't mean every player is going to make good on it. Obviously, some of these things may not go like we hope they go, and then maybe the Cardinals are just a middle-of-the-road offensive team again. but I see the potential for them to put up some serious runs this year.

Yeah, I agree with that. The Cardinals 19th and run scored last year. I think there's a chance they can climb into the top 10. If everything works out, they could be top five in run scored. I don't think that's impossible for the Cardinals. They're projected lineup according to Rostor Resource. Brendan Donovan up at the top, Paul Gulchmidt, who is entering a contract year. I've seen some reports about the Cardinals and Gulchmidt talking about an extension.

We'll see if that happens. But if not, he'll be playing out the final year of his contract. Lars Neupar Badding 3rd, Nolan Aronado, Wilson Contreras, Nolan, Jordan Walker, Tommy Edmund, Mason, Wynn. I think another big part of this lineup, Scott, is health. How healthy are their players going to be? Because Aronado dealt with some back spasms last year. A report recently that Nolan Gorman has battled back pain dating back to 2020

because of a weightlifting injury that he suffered. Lars Neupar limited to just 117 games last year. Brendan Donovan limited to 95 games. Tommy Edmund had arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist back in October. So I think health is a big concern here as well. But if they manage to stay healthy, there is a lot of talent. We haven't even really talked about Wilson Contreras, who woke up in the second half and his stack has data remains awesome.

Jordan Walker, you mentioned the breakout potential with him. I still think there's a really good player there with Lars Neupar. If that guy stays healthy for 140, 150 plus games, I think we could get a really big OBP, 25 plus homers, 10 plus stolen bases. And he's going, I think, somewhere between 150 and 280P. So I like it. Yeah, I am in on the Cardinals as well. Any concern over the health with this team?

Yeah, sure. I mean, health and the fact that their two best hitters are, you know, getting up there into their mid-30s at this point, Goldschmidt and Aeronado. So I could certainly foresee a scenario where the Cardinals lineup turns out to be an absolute bust. But that is kind of the other side of the coin when you're talking sleepers is what allows the people to sleep on them is some of the downside risk. and yeah, there's some of this lineup for sure. All right, let's move over to my number two breakout lineup, and maybe I cheated a little bit, Scott. I chose the Philadelphia Phillies.

They were eighth in run scored last year. So they were already a really good lineup. But again, I think this is a team that really could have that crazy counting stat potential, right? Could climb into the top three in run scored. We're getting a full offseason now of Bryce Harper. Remember last year, he had the elbow surgery, He missed the first two months of the season. Trey Turner got the first year,

mega contract jitters out of the way. It looks like he finished really strong. He had a great postseason as well. And it's a deep lineup too. J.T. Rilumuto currently projected to bat seventh in this lineup. So it's a deep lineup. I'll read it off here. Kyle Schwerber, Trey Turner,

Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Alec Boe, Bryson, coming off a breakout season. JT. RealMuto. Final two, not as much oomph here. Brandon Marsh and Johann Rojas, but I see big, big potential here with this lineup, Scott. Yes, and I think, so yeah, I mean,

I don't think anybody listening is like, oh, the Phillies lineup, they're wondering whether the Phillies lineup is good. Everybody knows the Phillies have a good lineup. But I think what makes it a sleeper for fantasy purposes is that they may be underestimating how good it is in terms of accumulating stats, like you were saying, because of how much went wrong with it during the regular season last year. I mean, Bryce Harper wasn't right until the final two months.

Trey Turner wasn't right until the final two months. Those are probably their best two hitters. Alec Bome showed real signs of improvement. J.T. Real Muto had a down year. And he's getting older, so maybe he's not going to bounce back from it. But the point is there's upside beyond what they even showed last year. And what gives the Phillies lineup that potential to be the 2020. for Rangers, what the Rangers were in 20203,

what gives the Phillies the potential for that, is that none of these guys are really platoon options. There aren't alternatives to platoon with them. The Phillies don't have a lot of depth going on. So they're going to rely on these nine starters. And I'm not saying Brandon Marsh is always going to start against the righties. But for the most, I mean, start against lefties. But for the most part, everybody in the Phillies lineup is going to play every day.

And that's going to lead to some big run and RBI totals. especially given, you know, the quality of the hitters around each of those players. So I just pulled up, Scott. From August 1st on, where did the Phillies as a team rank in run scored? Third. Third most run scored from August 1st on when Bryce Harper got right, when Trey Turner broke out. So, yeah, I mean, I think the proof is in the pudding, as they say there. And I think your point about people will look back at last year's numbers,

and they'll be slightly underwhelmed by, you know, some counting stats totals from Trey Turner and Bryce Harper because he only played, you know, four months and J.C. Real Muto had that down year. And I think it could create some buying opportunities. So I am all in on the Phillies lineup here in 2024. Let's take our first break. When we return, we'll get to each of our final two breakouts. These are the dark horse candidates. We'll do that here on Fantasy Baseball Today. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. We are wrapping up our discussion on breakout lineups for 2024. Scott gave out the Reds and the Cardinals.

I gave out the Red Sox and the Phillies. Now we move on to your dark horse candidate, Scott. The New York Yankees! Yes, I'm not going to give you a chance to be a homer because I'm going to take it away from you. And what does it mean? how is it possible that the world could sleep on the Yankees lineup? Well, they were a bottom five offense last year in terms of run scored. They were dreadful.

And so, you know, they haven't added much, but what they have added is maybe the most valuable hitter that could be added, short of Ronald de Cunia, I guess, to a lineup. And that is Juan Soto, who, as good as he is as a fantasy option, even more so in real life, because of what he does to get on base, how often he gets on base, how often he's in scoring position, he is somebody who could have a transformative effect on this lineup. And so between him and Aaron Judge,

if Juan Soto and Aaron Judge stay healthy, you have potentially two 400 OBP, 1,000 plus OPS guys in a lineup. And if they're in the lineup on an everyday basis, it's hard to imagine that lineup's not going to score a lot of runs, no matter what else is happening around it. I do think there's upside beyond that. Alex Verdugo can be a solid hitter.

Glaver Torres, we know, is a solid hitter. Anthony Rizzo, remember, he got off to a great start last year and then had the, suffered the concussion and played through it for months and was never right. They eventually had to shut him down. And so I think we have to look at his numbers last year and we have to adjust our expectations based on what was happening there. Like his reaction times were slowed by the concussion symptoms.

So he wasn't right and we should give him a pass for that. And I still think there's a chance Anthony Rizzo can perform like a middle of the order bat. Also, Anthony Volpe could take a huge step forward in year two. I'm not confident it's going to happen, but a player with that pedigree who was at least serviceable. as a rookie, it would be far from the most surprising thing. So I consider the Yankees a sleeper lineup to not only be decent, but potentially very good. Yeah, and I see a comment on YouTube saying, how could the Yankees be a sleeper? Well, based on what they did last year, they were 25th and run scored. So if anyone just looks at that and again, looks at the counting stats from some of the

Yankees players from last year, I think most people realized, yes, they are going to be much better, obviously adding a potential MVP candidate in Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, two things that they needed desperately in this lineup. They needed lefties and they needed contact oriented bats. And that's exactly what they got with both Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo. You mentioned Anthony. I didn't mention Stanton. You don't need to mention him. No, he could still be a 30-OMer guy. He's lambing. His ex of a lotties are as good as they've always been. That guy is just being held together by the strongest duct tape in the world. I mean, watching him run the bases last year was painful.

I hope and pray that whenever he did this offseason to get himself either in shape, more flexible, whatever it might be, I mean, the guy was just so stiff. So I hope that we can see. Like hitting tires like he was last off season. Oh, gosh. He's been doing that every off season since he was like 10 years. old, it looks like, but... I know people were flipping out on Twitter because of he was shirtless and swinging about at tires or

something like that. No, I mean... Do you remember that? Oh, yes. I know he's done that. I hope he's not doing that anymore. I mean, he needs to take a page out of Aaron Judd's book, maybe do some of that yoga and whatever, enhanced flexibility. We need you to stay on the field stand. That's what needs to

happen. The projected lineup, according to Rostle Resource, DJ LaMayhew up at the top, I think there's a chance that Verdugo could lead off against righties, maybe LeMayhew against lefties, but probably one of those two. Aaron Judge Batting second, Juan Soto, third, Anthony Rizzo, Glaver Torres,

Alex Verdugo, John Carlos Stanton, Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells. Glabert Torres, by the way, entering a contact year, contract year. And Rizzo, I did want to mention the numbers beforehand, Scott,

because you brought up how they were good. They were really good. 304 batting average, 11 homers, 880 OPS, before that concussion he suffered with a collision with Fernando Tatez. And then what were they after that? I didn't write those down because they were just really bad, but the numbers before were awesome. I think he hit somewhere around 200 after the injury. What was the day?

It was May 28th. Okay. Yeah, I see he missed some time after that. So yeah, after the concussion, he hit 172 with one home run. in 46 games. Yeah. Clearly it was not right. But if he's himself, again, watch out.

We could get a big year all around for the New York Yankees. My number three breakout lineup here, we're going way down the list here, Scott. I mean, I really took the term Dark Horse literally here because we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. The Giants? Not the Giants, but... The athletics?

Never the Oakland Aids. That is never the answer. Oh. The Detroit Tigers, who were, 28th in run scored last year. And I'll fully admit, Scott, I think this could be more of a second half breakout than anything. I think maybe could take some time for Riley Green to get going.

He's coming back from Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing arm, so should be ready to go by spring training and opening day. I've got a news item coming up in the news and notes. Sounds like everything's good for Riley Green, but maybe you give him some time to get going. And I think that we could see some of their main. prospects up at some point and that could really help them flourish in the second half guys like Colt Keith Justin Henry Malloy and I think Jace Young I think there's a chance we could see

Jace Young in the second half of the season as well we got breakout seasons from Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter in 2023 I think Parker Meadows has some upside as well I'm going out on a bit of a limb here Scott but maybe more so in the second half I could see some big things coming for the Detroit Tigers yeah I mean how how How good do you think they could really be? I'm happy you asked that because I wrote down, if everything works out, I think they can get into the top half of the league in scoring.

Okay, I mean, if that's all you're aiming for. I thought we were talking like top five overall potential. That would be a huge breakout, though, for the Detroit Tigers to go from 28th to like 15th. That's pretty big. Yeah, I mean, that would be a step forward, and it would mean a lot went right for Riley Green. You chose all my answers, Scott.

I wanted the Cardinals. I wanted the Yankees. There's only so many lineups that could break out as top five. No, that's fair enough. I mean, part of the issue for the Tigers is they have arguably the most home run suppressing ballpark. And so even their talented hitters, it really holds back their production. But I think there are four hitters on the Tigers that I could get excited about for fantasy. Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter, Riley Green, and he who has yet to be called up, Colt Keith.

So, yeah, if those four make good on their upside, then maybe they can sneak it to the top half and run scored. Yep. And again, it's probably more of a 2025 breakout where some of their prospects, they get their legs underneath them a little bit. You know, they dabble with some playing time this year, and then 2025 is the real breakout. But again, second half, I could see some big things coming here for the Detroit Tigers. Let's hit some news and notes, Scott. And this one kind of flew under the radar over the weekend, but apparently the Dodgers will likely employ a six-man starting rotation in 2024.

And that comes according to Andy McCullough of the athletic. And it does make some sense, Yoshinobu Yamamoto coming over from Japan, where they only pitch once per week. Tyler Glass now has an extensive injury history. Bobby Miller is a young starting pitcher. Walker Bueller is coming back from his second Tommy John surgery. And get ready for next year when Shohei Otani is going to require a six-man rotation anyway. Yeah. Does this worry you at all when drafting Dodgers starting pitchers? Obviously, the investment is pretty high on all four of those names that I just mentioned. I think they're all going in the top 30 starting pitchers.

But obviously it could limit some volume and two-star weeks. What do you make of the Dodgers rotation? Well, a little bit. I don't think it really changes how I'm going to approach Yoshinobu Yamamoto because I just think he's going to be so good that we'll be happy to get one-star weeks out of him. Not that he'll never have a two-start week as a two-star pitcher, but, you know, they're not going to be as frequent, obviously. Same thing with Tyler Glass now.

It might dampen enthusiasm for Bobby Miller a little bit. at least in terms of, okay, do I prefer Bobby Miller or Yuri Perez or Grayson Rodriguez, where does he fit in that group of sophomore standouts? And it might drop them to the back of the list for me. I have Emmett Sheehan as a sleeper for this year. And it dampens enthusiasm a bit a little for him too. But it's a rotation full of big bat messers. And I think in this environment, they're going to be so useful.

that I'm not sure we're going to sweat their lack of two-start status. Of course, you will more in a points league, or strikeouts aren't as important anyway, but less so in a roto league. And I'll also add that while it works in theory, it may be hard to maintain over the full season. You know, the Angels line in the past few years, they were kind of forced to maintain it

because they weren't going to jeopardize show hay, Tonny by having him start a day earlier than usual. But I don't know that without him, obviously, being in the pitching mix this year, I don't know that it's going to force the Dodgers hand in the same way it did for the Angels, where they were having to mix in some really scrubby starters at times to keep a six-man rotation going. I will point out the Dodgers do have a lot of interesting pitching depth. You know, Kyle Hurt, I like a lot. up in the bullpen, but if he doesn't, I don't know, I'm getting some Spencer Strider vibes there,

as good as he is at missing bats. But the reliever risk is what drops Kyle Hurt off a lot of prospect rankings. He does in my top 100. I like him a lot. Of course, Gavin Stone is still kicking around. No pun intended. And they got Michael Grove. They got Nick Frasso, who's going to be up at some point.

They have a lot of options to work with, but attrition will kick in at some point. and maybe those options are depleted to the point that it's difficult to go six-man. And so they may not stick with it all year. Yeah, I think there's a chance. One name you didn't mention in there because he's not the highest upside pitcher is Ryan Yarbrough. I think there's a chance he could work in as well. And I agree. I think maybe at times that's not just a straightforward six-man rotation,

but, you know, in five game weeks, obviously that allows them the ability to space guys out a little bit or they can skip starts here or there. So I don't know that it will be a for sure six-man rotation, but I do think at the end of the season, you probably will see the Dodgers starters with less game starts total compared to other teams just because of the reasons we just mentioned. Felix Bautista would not rule out the possibility of returning

before the end of the 2024 season. He underwent Tommy John surgery in October, so it seems highly unlikely, but I do love his optimism. Craig Kimbrel, likely to be the closer on opening day for the Orioles. Riley Green, as I mentioned earlier, has been hitting, playing catch, and going through some defensive drills at the Tigers Spring Training Complex in Florida. He's less than four months removed from Tommy John surgery,

but it was on his non-throwing elbow, which makes it a much shorter rehab time. So I think, obviously I want to see Riley Green play in spring training and make sure everything is all right, but everything's kind of trending in the right direction for now. Jaron Duran will not face any limitations during spring training after having surgery on the flexor tendon in his left big toe. Good news for him and my number one breakout lineup. Jonathan Aranda, Scott, get ready, get hyped. Could be in line to be the strong side platoon at D.H for the Tampa Bay Rates. Let's go!

Between Aranda and Michael Bush got over the past week, I mean... Oh yeah. It's all coming up, Scott White. It's all coming up. 26-year-old stuck in minor league purgatory. Finally, their day is coming. And exit velocity darlings, slash line darlings, my darlings. Michael Bush and Jonathan Aranda.

Let's go. Jonathan Aranda, in the minors last year, hit 339 with 25 homers and OPS over 1,000. 92.2 average exit velocity. has struggled in the majors. Hopefully he can start to translate some of that minor league production in 2024. Speaking of the raise, Jose Caballero is likely to be

their opening day shortstop. Last season with the Mariners, he hit 221 with four homers and 26 steals over 104 games. Just a name to know, I think, in much deeper leagues. 15 team roto leagues, AL only. Someone for cheap speed, he is a good

defender, and I know that the Tampa Bay Reyes value that in their middle infielder. So Caballero could be their starting shortstop. Where did you get that note about Jonathan Aranda? I got it on our very own website, Scottie. Okay. Okay. I just wonder how authoritative it is. You know, is it just beat writer speculation?

I think it could do that. I mean, I could have told you guys, there's a chance Jonathan Aranda is part of a strong side platoon at D.H. I just don't want to put too much authority on it and move them way up my rankings and then it turns out to be just a bunch of hearsay and at the same time I don't want to ignore it because I got to start thinking about sleepers 2.0 in which case. Yeah. I do think it's it's probably a bit of a spring training battle here Scott. I mean I think whoever performs there's a few names there, Aranda Kamenaro could work his way into the mix. I think they traded for Richie Palacios

if he has a big spring. So it's just, it's status, this is what we've been saying all along. That's right. And actually, the report came from, it came from Adam Berry, who is the beat reporter for the raise on MLB.com.

So. All right. I'm not sure if he has more information than you, Scott. But yes. No, yeah, yeah, it's fine. Okay.

It's good to know that he's not excluding the possibility, if nothing else. Cubs manager, Craig Counsel, indicated that Christopher Morel will likely to be, likely continue to be used in a super utility role rather than focusing on one position.

There is an impact player here, Scott. If we can get everyday playing time at bats some way, somehow, last year, Morel, in 107 games, hit 26 homers with six steals. There is a lot of strikeouts in the profile, but big stat cast numbers. We're talking 92 mile per hour, exit velocity, 15.5% barrel rate, 81st percentile sprint speed. There is an outcome where we're talking about 35 home runs and 15 steals. It's not crazy if Morel could play every day. Yeah, it is a big if, especially if they go bring in another corner infielder, whether it's Reese Hoskins or Matt Chapman or somebody like that to start opposite of Michael Bush. I will also point out

that production from Christopher Morel was pretty front-loaded. He came up, remember, and hit nine home runs in his first 12 games with the Cubs. And thereafter Christopher Morell, let's see what the numbers actually were,

thereafter Christopher Morell hit 227 with 17 homers in a 735 OPS and 95 games. So, you know, just putting it in perspective. I do like how already hits the ball, but those strikeouts could be, what's the word? They could be up in 10. Prohibitive? Prohibitive.

That was exactly the word I was trying to think of. Thank you. Yeah, I think that's possible. I think the strikeouts, again, could lead to some streakiness. But look, maybe not the best head-to-head player on a weekly basis, but he might. Morel just might be one of those guys in a Roto League where you plug them in at the end of the season, you look up, boom, 30 home runs, 15 steals. I don't think it's crazy. One of the Cubs stop prospects, Matt Shaw, is apparently focusing on third base this winter, which does make sense.

He was drafted last year as a middle infielder, and there's lots of hype around Matt Shaw. But the Cubs already have Danesby Swanson at shortstop. They have Nico Horner at second base. So I think third base makes sense for Matt Shaw. last year in the minors, much like Wyatt Langford, not to the same extent, but Matt Shaw, small sample.

He crushed it, man. 357, 8 homers, 15 steals, 10, 18 OPS. Matt Shaw is your number 38 prospect in your top 100s, Scott. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I like him a lot. Obviously, we need to see more,

but he did, he made a big impact, even at higher levels as a, you know, know, guy just making his professional debut after the draft. The package kind of reminds me of Bo Bichette because there isn't like a lot of raw power and speed, but there's a great hit tool that helps him to maximize both of those in a way we saw from Bichette early in his career.

Not saying Matt Schall is going to be a first rounder in fantasy someday the way Bo Bichette was, but just to give you something to dream on, that would be a comp I'd use for him. All right. The international signing period has started, which means a new crop of prospects from all over the world can now sign with major league teams. And international prospects have been a little bit of a letdown, Scott, the past handful of years, I would say. Of course, last year we did get Ethan Salas, who rocketed up prospect rankings in the Padre

system, of course. But it sounds like there are four names that could be very popular ones in first year player drafts. And this is based on some things that I read and I heard on other podcasts. but Leo DeVries, who signed with the Padres, Paulino Santana with the Rangers, Jose Perdomo, with your Atlanta Braves. Got lots of hype around that kid.

And Fernando Cruz with the Cubs. These are all 17-year-old kids. We're probably not going to see them in the majors for four or five years, the earliest. But again, for those who play in Dynasty League, those are, I think, the names that you're going to need to know. And what's this? Breaking news, Scott.

The one, the, the only Ty Buttery is back and has signed a minor league deal with the Mariners. Thai Buttery is there? That's right. Frank.

I once knew a man named Lorenzo, last name, Game, like mine, only spelled differently, no E. You may have heard reports of me, Michael Gain, retiring from acting, and I must confess, it's true,

which has left me time to pursue other indefinitely. So I went to the store one day to buy some apples. You might presume I wanted red apples, but really I wanted red, green, yellow, blue, every kind of apple there is to be had for a certain apple stew I learned to make during my time into Pacific Northwest. The thought of it made me so hungry that I had to get something to eat. So I walked on over to the bakery, a part of the store where they were serving people breakfast right there in the store. I walked up to the counter and was met by a young man no more than 19.

He said to me, Hello, sir. What can I get for you today? I said to him, well, nothing more, nothing would please me more, sir, than a simple piece of toast. He said to me, well, that shouldn't be too difficult. I said to him, do you know the right? right way to make it, though. Hayes said to me, I've been doing this since I was nine years old.

I think I know how to make a slice of toast. But you see, I already told you he was no more than 19, and I'm not sure 10 years is enough to make toast up to my specifications. Every toast, I tell him, every toast of bread consists of three parts or racks. The first part is called the pledge. The server shows you something ordinary, such as a slice of bread. The second act is called to toast. The surfer turns that ordinary something

and makes it into something extraordinary. But you shouldn't clap yet, because making something go into the toaster isn't enough. You have to bring it back. He said to me, would you presume, sir, I'd leave it into toaster all day? I said to him, no sir, not you perhaps, but some men aren't looking for anything logical,

like a perfectly toasted slice of bread. There can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to wash a toast burn. He said to me, got it, no burn toast in. Would you like that with strawberry jam? I said to him, no sir. I prefer my toast Butchery.

Welcome back, Ty Butchery. If you know, you know, another instant classic from Michael Cain, aka Scott White. I would venture to say I haven't heard, or I don't remember every single one of these that you've ever done, Scott. That's probably the longest. Sorry.

Not in a bad way. No, no. No. I'll make it tighter next time. Gee. No, not in a bad way. People beg me all for weeks to do it. And I finally break it out. Ah, it's too long. I'm not saying it in a bad way. I'm commending you for staying in character for as long as you did.

Okay. Instant classic. Love it. All right, let's take our final break. When we return, we will talk about some position updates on CBS, as well as our favorite formats to play in. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in.

Let's break down some of the positional updates on CBS. What does that mean exactly? Just talking through some of the players, where they might have new positions in 2024. They might not have had these positions in years past. It might be a surprise to some people. Some people might already know this. So it's just kind of a refresher, a reminder for 2024 seasons.

Bryce Harper, Scott, is only first base eligible. Last year was mostly only DH eligible in years past. It was outfield. Now it's only first base for Bryce Harper. Mookie Betts has both second base and outfield eligibility. Bobby Witt, Jr., no more third base. He's shortstop only. Fernando Tatis, no more shortstop.

He's outfield only. Jadish Chisholm, only outfield as well. And Max Muncie, someone who used to have, you know, at times three different eligibilities, third base only. Those were, I think the biggest names that I could find, is there anything off the top of your head that I missed or stands out as a reminder, a healthy reminder on a certain player's position? well you know how good i am off the top of my head frank

it's okay if you don't have an answer uh hmm no not off the top of my head i could sit here and hem and hall about it for a while but i think we've wasted enough of the folks the fine folks time i really didn't i really didn't mean it in a bad way scott no it's fine the michael kate thing i actually was commending you uh the utility only bats these are typically players that I think fall down draft boards because they just don't have a position. And I mean, guess what?

You do have a utility spot in your lineup. So maybe these names are being overlooked. Shahi Otani, kind of a different breed. We know the deal. He's going to be a late first, early second round pick in most drafts. He's the top utility only bet. But then we get down to Marcelo Zuna, who has an ADP of 155 over the past month,

Eloy Jimenez, with an ADP of 224.3. over the past month. JD Martinez, an ADP of 225.4 over the past month. And then we get Byron Buxton, who does plan to play center field, so probably will earn outfield eligibility early on in the season. Other utility only bats, Joey Menesis,

Andrew McCutcheon, Heston Kierstad, and Mark Vientos. Outside of Otani Scott, the big three, we see Marcel Ozuna, Eloy Jimenez, J.D. Martinez. All of those draft costs that I mentioned, seem very reasonable for all of those players. They seem kind of insane, insanely low.

Yeah, I agree. I find myself drafting a lot of Marcel Lozuna early on going out beyond top, going beyond pick 150. And that's for a guy, look, I understand Marcel Lozuna has had his ups and downs over the years, and I might even put him in bust 1.0 because I recognize how unpredictable he could be from year to year. But he is coming off a year in which he hit 40 homers and drove in 100 runs.

And that was after just an absolutely dreadful April. It's the only reason his numbers were that low. From May 1st to the end of last season, the final five months, Marcelo Zuna hit 297 with 38 of the 40 home runs at 969 OPS. I mean, he was a monster. and now you're getting him pick 155 I mean

let me see like who what other hitters are going in that range can't be can't be anybody that good so see he's going just after Ian Hap Jorge Salare's going in that range

he's kind of another guy's pretty inconsistent from year to year um Luis Luis Arise is another back around there, Jake Berger. Yeah, I mean, these are pretty useful hitters, so maybe it's not insane,

but obviously they don't have that upside that Marcel OZuna does, where like he could be more than just a bit player for your team. Ozuna, by the way, his stat cast numbers last year, 284XBA, 583X slug, 91.8 average exit velocity,

16% barrel rate. My goodness. Yeah, I mean, I'll say this for Ozuna, even though he has been inconsistent, the bad years have been harder to explain than the good years. I mean, the data always makes it look like the data makes it out to be that Marcel Ozuna should be his 2024 self most every year. I mean, sorry, he's 2023 self most every year. And it feels like Ozuna has been around forever.

He's not terribly old. 33 years old, that's, I think you can. could still have another prime season in there. Hits in the middle of one of the best lineups in baseball, too. Kind of talking myself into Marcelo Zuna as well. Eloy Jimenez, he has to stay on the field. Obviously, that's been a huge issue for him. J.D. Martinez, maybe a little bit deflated in the ADP

just because he hasn't signed yet, but wherever he goes, guess what? He's going to play. He's going to be the starting DH. So my guess is that we'll probably move up a little bit after we find out what team Martinez is playing. It's hard to keep that utility spot open for these guys. I understand it. But this seems excessive, especially since we're using fantasy.

We've been using, I'm sorry, and we've been using NFBC ADP, where you're mostly talking 15 team roto leagues. And, you know, you're going to have, in a 15 team roto league, 14 hitter spots to fill,

there's going to be a not so good option in a spot or two. Yeah. So I don't know why, oh, I got to keep D.H. open to, so that I don't block a good hitter. You're not going to have a lineup full of good hitters anyway in a league that deep. That makes it all the more strange.

All right. The SPARPS for this upcoming season, these are starting pitchers who have relief pitcher eligibility and kind of a cheat code if you're playing head-to-head points leagues. You could plug starting pitchers into your relief pitcher spots. Not the best group, I would say. I feel like it's kind of been trending that way the past couple of years, Scott. But obviously, the number one spark this year, your boy, Cole Regens, followed by Michael King with the Padres, Nick Pavetta,

Frankie Montas, who's now on the Reds, Chris Paddock, who is on the Twins. Sean Mania signed with the Mets. Zach Lattel did flash a little bit with Tampa Bay down the stretch. Nick Martinez could be a starting pitcher for the Reds. Ross Stripling, Johnny Brito could start for the Padres. But really, I would say the top, the top three, maybe the top five names on this list.

Scott, Regans, King, Pavetta, Montas, Paddock could have some RP value. Yeah, I would imagine in those five will be drafted in virtually all head-to-head points leagues. Maybe not a 10-teamor, but anything deeper than that. Anything where, say, 250 or more players are rostered, given the advantage that being able to slot a full-time starter

into a relief pitcher spot does for you in that point scoring format. It's not to say there are all going to be mainstays for you that you roster for the entire year. I mean, Reagan's, yes, I expect that of him. Though obviously there's a health concern there. Michael King, same thing. There's a health concern. Nick Povetta.

Those three, Reagan's King Povetta, I like them enough that I could draft them expecting to keep them on my roster all season. In fact, Regens and Povetta are both listed on my sleep. They're part of my sleepers 1.0. Montas, of course, he's been that kind of pitcher in the past without having relief pitcher eligibility, so he could do it again. Paddock, same thing. Paddock in particular, you know, he was pitching, I think, with his elbow. at less than 100% for a long time leading up to the surgery. And you go back and look what he did as a rookie.

People thought he was one of the next aces. And he looked great coming back from Tommy John surgery last year, pitching out of the bullpen, multi-inning stints of the velocity was very impressive for Chris Paddock and with actual numbers. They were good, I'll tell you that much. So in five innings, he struck out eight. walked only one.

Obviously a tiny sample, but reason to be encouraged for Chris Paddock, especially given his history. All right. And then we have three players who should earn an additional position of eligibility early on in the season.

Von Grissom is shortstop only for now. Sounds like he's going to be the starting second baseman for the Red Sox. Gavin Lux is second base only. Should earn shortstop eligibility with the Dodgers. and this is the kind of loophole potential cheat code. Scott, Henry Davis, outfield only for now. But I think he's going to earn catcher eligibility.

We look at the Pirates Dept chart. They lost Andy Rodriguez, who's going to miss the entire season due to injury. And the only other catcher that they have right now in their 40-man roster is someone named Ali Sanchez. I don't know anything about that guy. To be honest, I didn't even know he existed before I looked at their roster resource page. So I think Henry Davis, who was drafted as a catcher, will at least be the team starting catcher at the beginning of the season.

I don't know that he'll, I don't know. Like they don't trust him behind the plate that much is clear. They weren't ready to abandon that completely. He never made an appearance behind the plate as a rookie last year. But it was always with the understanding, okay, he will go back there at some point. I think it's going to be more of a hybrid role, but he'll get enough starts at catcher that we'll be able to use them there before the end of April, which is all we care about in fantasy, right? Like we'd rather him have catcher eligibility

and not play catcher so much because that means he's starting more often. That means he's exposed to less injury risk and just wear and tear in general. So it's a good scenario. Don't get me wrong. I would be surprised if he was starting four games a week at catcher, though.

Okay. I did make a mistake. I said Ali Sanchez was the only other catcher on their 40-man roster. They also have Jason DeLay who's on the 40-man roster. So I guess there's a chance if they just want to go defense only and they just don't want to use Henry Davis as a catcher. That is possible. But I think they're going to give Henry Davis a shot.

And again, it's... The offseason isn't over either. It's true. Yeah, I mean, they could bring in, I don't know, whoever, Gary Sanchez or something to be their starting catcher. Let's wrap up, Scott, with our favorite formats to, play in fantasy baseball. We've, you know, gotten different variations of this question, but people like to hear what kind of leagues we play in and, and what our favorite might be. So

I'll throw it to you. I mean, you can list off the different types of formats that you play in, Scott. I know we both play in probably way too many leagues, 10 plus fantasy leagues, but which one's your favorite? What's your favorite format? My favorite format is dynasty. Like if I just had to put a single word on it. I'm really into the dynasty leagues these days. When I first started playing fantasy baseball and this was year 2000 was my first year doing it. So we're going back a long time at this point. I was a very active trader. I was trying to make at least a trade a week, basically, and generally succeeding. It was much easier to trade in those days, I'll also say. I wrote a whole article about that last summer. You should go check it out.

It's pretty good. But as I took on this job, as I was required to play in more and more leagues every year, and as trading got to be more difficult, I'm to the point now where in my redraft leagues, I don't trade much at all. It's just too much work for too little reward. If somebody makes me an offer, great. I'll consider it. But I'm not sitting there actively dreaming up offers most of the time, which is unfortunate.

I missed that part of the game, but it became a chore. So I stopped trading so much. Dynasty leagues, different story. Dynasty leagues, you're always thinking about next year. You're always looking to maximize value because you don't want to squander anything when you have that long-term year-to-year perspective. And so I still make a lot of trades in that format. And I find it's easier to make trades in that format too because it's less about kind of outsmarting the other guy and more about playing to each other's needs. which can be very different depending on what state of contention you're in.

And there's a reason we talk about the Scott White Dynasty League, 24 team had to have points league on this podcast so much is because that's probably my favorite overall. That was kind of my dream dynasty league that I put together. I'm really happy with the way the economy works in that league, just kind of emulating how call-ups are more or less free for the first few years of their career, and then their salary starts escalating.

and it's that's my favorite league but really I'm in a couple other dynasty type leagues and I just prefer them in general I find them to be I find them to be more engaging

on the whole now if you're talking about scoring format I still would say my fondness is for head-to-head points leagues it got to be harder during the juice ball era

to enjoy it so much because there were so many they tend to be shallower, head-to-head points leagues, and there were so many hitters to go around and so few quality pitchers to go around, and it just seemed like it became an exercise and who could get the aces first.

But now that things have kind of normalized and high-end pitching has dropped off, it's more, it's more of this glob thing in the pitching ranks where there is more need to differentiate yourself at the hitter positions. I do still prefer head-to-head points leagues. I feel like it's a cleaner game.

I feel like it rewards players in a way that's more equivalent to real life. And I feel like it keeps people invested all season long. You could get that from a head-to-head categories league too, but I think trying to compete in ratios on a week-to-week basis, there's too much, too many wild fluctuations that can have. with a team ERA, for instance, or a team batting average on a week-to-week basis that isn't felt as much in a points league because there are a way, like a guy could hit 150 in a week, but there's extra base hits and there's, you know, maybe he walks a lot.

There are ways that he can overcome that easier than in a category's league. So I think overall, I still prefer head-to-head points leagues. But, you know, I enjoy all of them to an extent, all the major formats. Yeah, I think that was really well said, Scott. I would agree that I think just boiling it down to there are three main scoring formats in fantasy baseball. Head to head points, head head categories, and the traditional roto. Now there are some other ones outside of that.

There are score sheet leagues and all kinds of different variations and stuff like that. I would agree that head to head points is still my favorite. I mean, that's how I started playing fantasy baseball as well. I think for anyone who is just starting to play fantasy baseball, if you're coming over from like a fantasy football league, it's very easily translatable. I mean, you just get points for what your players do on the field. It's much like fantasy football.

But my favorite format actually is the Tout Wars League that I was in, more on that to come. I am no longer in that league moving over to a different Tout Wars League, but it was a 12-te-te-te-te-point, head-to-head points, Roto-style lineup. So it goes a little bit deeper into the player pool. There are two catchers, one of each. infield position, five outfielders, a corner infielder, a middle, utility bat, and then just

nine pitcher spots. Well, rather, it was seven starting pitchers and two relief pitchers, but you could still use SPARP. So theoretically, you could just have nine starting pitchers in your lineup. And what I really liked was being able to set your lineups on both Mondays and Fridays. I really like that aspect. I don't have the wherewithal to play daily lineup leagues and look at 10 different teams every single day. But Mondays and Fridays is reasonable. gotten, I like the flexibility that it provides and the ability to maybe get players that got hurt midweek out of your lineup. You know, you're not just locked in for a full week. So I really like that Monday and Friday flexibility. And I still do really like Head to Head Points Leagues as well.

But as you mentioned, I like all the formats. I like the competitiveness really in Roto leagues. A lot of the industry leagues and traditional style leagues, they are, you know, those throwback five by five Roto Leagues, you know, Tout Wars, and I play in labor, and we have TGFBI, the Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational coming up. Those are 15-te-team five-by-five Roto leagues, and I like the competitive aspect of those leagues. Head-to-head points, probably still my favorite. Yeah, I mean, I like Roto Leagues, too.

I just, there's something about tradition, you know. I feel like our generation scoffs at tradition, but there's something. something about being able to share in this experience across generations that I find fulfilling in rotissory leagues. And yeah, it's true that if, you know, it could feel like it's over in August sometimes. But I do think that can be overstated at times, too. I mean, if you're on 10th place in August, you're probably not going to climb to first. But that's also true in our head-to-head league, right?

The chances of you making the playoffs or if you're that far down in the standings are not great. But unless somebody's just totally running away with it. And even if they are, sometimes it can be misleading because they have very small advantages in several different categories. And it can change pretty quickly even that late in the season. So, you know, I try to just manage my team without stressing about the standings too much. Just obviously looking at categories where I can maybe make up ground or lose ground and setting my lineups according to that.

But if I'm in sixth place in August, you know, not counting myself out necessarily because a lot can still happen at that point. All right. Well, there you go. Those are some of the formats we play in, some of our favorites. Let us know. Tweet at us. Let us know in the YouTube comments, what type of formats you play in. What's your favorite to play in as well. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. and we'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.