Fantasy Baseball Today - Live H2H Points Mock Draft Part 1! Rounds 1-10 Picks & Strategy (3/8 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

Join our FBT March Madness Bracket for a chance to join our listener leagues- cbssports.com/FBTbrackets No surprise as Juan Soto goes first overall in our H2H points mock draft (2:30). Should Ronald Acuña be a first-round pick in this format? ... Scotty steals Sandy (12:30)! Charlie Morton makes his way into the third round. ... Is Alex Bregman worth a fifth-round pick in this format (25:25)? What should you expect from Jack Flaherty? ... The seventh round was dominated by middle infielders and young, upside pitchers (35:25). ... Chris takes Yelich early in the eighth round (43:28). ... Scott starts round nine with Bobby Witt (46:46). Why did Marcell Ozuna go ahead of J.D. Martinez?  'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. All right, welcome in to another live mock draft edition of Fantasy Baseball today. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. And today we have ourselves a 12-team head-to-head points mock draft.

Scotty, are you ready to draft? I am ready. I better be ready because I got the first pick here. True story. Somebody left us a five-star Apple podcast review, which we appreciate, of course, but they wrote that Scott doesn't like being called Scotty and that I call you Scotty 100% of the time

and I actually texted you a screenshot of it because I had no idea. I was like, do you actually not like being called Scotty? And then you cleared up the situation. Well, yeah, I think we had a discussion on the podcast however long ago that I didn't like the I was I was called Scotty all the time growing up because my dad's name was also Scott and I didn't like it then no you know whatever I don't care that much I don't care I don't care Frank what was your your child nickname as a kid was it

just Frankie yeah I was I was Frankie and my dad was Frank but as I grew older I became I became Frank so Scott if you want to just be Scott that's cool I I can I can honor that what I do you want to know what mine was what do you got Kiki. If you guys want to call me Kiki, just go for it. I would rather call you Chris. How you doing, Chris? Good, good. All right, Scottie. Let's start up this mock draft. I know that you are in control here. You have the first overall pick. For those wondering, this again is a 12-te-to-head points mock draft,

a 21 round draft using the standard CBS head-to-head points scoring format. And for the hitters, we are using one of each infield position, three outfielders, one utility bat, no corner, no middle infielder. And then on the pitcher side, we have five starting pitchers and two relief pitchers, of course. You can use Sparps. Those are starting pitchers that you can use as relief pitchers. It's kind of a cheat code here in head-to-head point scoring.

And then we do have five bench spots as well. Scott is drafting first overall. I have the fifth overall pick, and Chris is drafting ninth overall. Scottie, you're up. Yep. Yeah, so I'm going Juan Soto. I'm not going with a starting pitcher, which itself says something about how things have changed from a year ago.

Because I think last year, right, in points leagues, we were going Cole de Grom Bieber to start the draft in some order. Obviously, this is the format that rewards starting pitcher more. And I will be drafting a lot of starting pitchers. But that's going to begin in round two, particularly late in round two, where I'll be picking in round two. All right, and I am up on the clock. The first four picks in this draft were Juan Soto,

Vladimir Guerrero, Fernando Tatis, and Jose Ramirez, I think all pretty standard in head-to-head points leagues. And I will be the first one to select a starting pitcher. I'm going to take Garrett Cole here fifth overall. I haven't taken a starting pitcher often this year in the first round, but as we've mentioned many times in head-to-head points leagues, you want reliable starting pitching. And despite the sticky substance situation last year,

I do believe that Garrick Cole is the most reliable starting pitcher in fantasy, and I'm quite confident that I'll still get a really good hitter in round two. So interesting to see who that would be. I had you pick fifth, Frank, just to see if you'd do that. I was testing you. Oh, I appreciate it. Honestly, these first five picks are exactly how I have them ranked in this format. Honestly, I wanted somebody to take Garrett Cole before me to test myself,

to see if I would take whatever hitter was available or Corbyn Burns. I probably would have taken Burns anyway just because I want to, to try it out. Draft a starting pitcher in the first round and see how it turns out. But nonetheless, Garrett Cole was there and I'm very happy to take him. Before we get further into the draft, for those watching us live on YouTube, please hit that like button and subscribe to the channel. If you haven't already, we really do appreciate it. And for our listening audience, this mock draft will be broken down into two parts.

So keep your eyes and your ears out for both of those. We'll probably break up rounds one through 11, one through 12 in the first part, and then the second part of the draft, of course, will be that second part in your feeds. After I selected Garrett Cole, we see Corbyn Burns go to Dan Schneier, more like Dan Schneier, because, man, I am not too excited to be drafting next to Dan based on the draft that he had last week

where he was basically taking the entire FBT team, so this should be a lot of fun. But after he selects Corbyn Burns, we see Bryce Harper and Ronald de Cunia go, and Chris, you are on the clock. are we going with a hitter or a pitcher? It's a hitter. And this is a tough spot in the draft because you've got Trey Turner, who's better in

Roto, but still very, very good in points leagues. And then you've got Mike Trout, who if he manages to play 155 games, very well may be the number one player in this format with how much he walks, how much power he has. So it's a difficult choice, but I am going to go with Trout here over Trey Turner. That's how I have it ranked. That's how Frank has it ranked. is not how Scott has it ring. Ooh.

Disagreeing with Scott. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. What do you guys think of the Coonia pick at 8? We've seen him creeping up little by little. I think the longer the season's delayed, the earlier we're going to see him go. But, you know, normally we're talking about a five-by-five context where his steals are much more pivotal than they are in this format, obviously.

I think that the. the shallower of the league. And again, this is a head to head points league where it is quite shallow. There's only three outfielder. You don't start a corner. You don't start a middle infielder. There's only five bent spots, you know, 21 roster spots. I think that it's more defensible in a league like this because the replacement value,

especially at outfield is going to be so, so good. So I don't really have a problem with it. He's been walking more. I mean, I just think, you know, with Trey Turner and Mike Trout. I'm not sure in this format of CUNY's upside is that much higher, if higher at all. It's not higher than Mike Troutes, I don't think. For what it's worth, Ronald O'Cuna averaged 4.2 fantasy points per game last year, which was the most among outfielders.

Yeah, I mean, no, that's the thing, is that he's turned into a very high walk rate guy. He was 19% in 2020, 14% last season. So it's no longer the case that Ronald Acuna isn't as good in points leagues. I mean, I suppose he is better in Roto than points, but it's not, it's like Trey Turner where there's not really a gap. And I would say the gap is probably smaller for Ocunia now. So I think it's fine. I just, I don't know if he's safer than Mike Trout in terms of injury.

And I don't know if he's safer in terms of production. So that's the thing that's hard to get around there for me. I guess the way I'd put it is assuming good health for everybody. It's a two-horse race who the best hitter is in Roto between Tatea and Acunia. and it's more like an 8 to 10 horse race who the best hitter is in points leagues. All right. Let's catch people up here.

A lot of picks going down after I selected Garrett Cole, Corbin Burns went, then Bryce Harper, Ronald O'Cuna, Chris selected Mike Trout, and then Trey Turner, Walker, Bueller, and Freddie Freeman to finish out round one.

And then the first three picks of round two. We see Max Scherzer, Jacob Grom, Mookie Betts, and Chris, you select, Brandon Woodruff, did that go into your process, your thinking of selecting a hitter first, just because you had a good feel

that you would get one of these ace starting pitchers in round two. Well, and I think the hitters at the end of the first round are just better. I think the gap between Max Scherzer and Brandon Woodruff, I don't think is as big as the gap between Mike Trout and Kyle Tucker or Bo Bouchet, who are in that range. So for me, it's mostly just, it comes down to how the, player pool is distributed there, where I think, like Scott said, there's that tier of about eight, maybe 10. I think you can make an argument that Mookie Betts should be in there,

Freddie Freeman potentially. So I think that is what made me go with the hitter more. Like, I wasn't necessarily going to take a pitcher in the second round. I was actually hoping Mookie bets would be there. All right. After you selected Brandon Woodruff, we do see Zach Wheeler go off the board. One of four starting pitchers who went 200 plus innings last season. Of course, fantastic in all formats, but I think maybe even better

in heads at points leagues. And then after that, Boba Shett and Shane Bieber are off the board. And I have a decision to make. Kyle Tucker is my highest ranked hitter. And then Shohay Otani, who his value in a points league does take a hit because he strikes out a lot.

And you're just going to use him mostly as a hitter, not as a pitcher at all really in this format. And then I have the third baseman. So I want to make sure that I do get a really strong third baseman. And I think I'm going to go that route and see how it turns out. I'm going to select Raphael Devers. Again, Kyle Tucker, my highest ranked player.

But you only start three outfielders in this format. And I think that there are some really strong ones in the middle rounds, specifically in a points league. So I'll take Raphael Devers, make sure I lock up that third baseman. You're seeing the effect here with the starting pitchers being pushed up in this format though, because already we're through Wheeler and Bieber being gone. It's not at all uncommon in a

12th team roto league for one or both of those guys to last into round three. We're still in the middle of round two here. Now, the thing that's going to be interesting with regards to the gap, the balance between hitters and pitchers in points leagues this season especially

is whether last year being a relatively down year for the high end pitchers, only one top 600 points. Actually, only one top to 582 points. That was Walker Bueller at 638. If you look at previous seasons, the leading pitchers were often 650 or better, often 700 range.

So that's, the hitter high ends has mostly been between 6 and 600 and 650 over the past like six seasons, but pitcher took a big step back at the top end. and whether Garrett Cole can get back to that range. You know, he was 741 points in 2019. Whether Shane Bieber can get back to that range. He was on pace for 750 in 2020. That's going to be an interesting thing to watch.

And obviously that's, I think, also a thing to watch in Roto, but especially in points leagues. Are we seeing a shift from the high-end pitchers giving you that kind of edge like they once did? Yeah, and this basically lines up with what we talked about in our starting pitcher previews is that the elite starting pitchers, the ones drafted in those early rounds, they didn't separate themselves as far away from the mid-tier as they have in years past. They didn't do it last year, so we'll see if they can get back on track in 2022 and whether

or not they can do that. They can separate themselves a little bit more. And this is consistent with what we saw in our first head-to-head points mock draft that we did, well, not our first, but one that we did about a month ago in February, where there were eight starting pitchers drafted in the first two rounds. And with Scott selecting Julio Aureas 24th overall, that now gives us nine starting pitchers in the first two rounds. So that's pretty common.

We did a roto draft last week where there were only six starting pitchers drafted in the first two rounds. So this is about right. you know, two or three more pitchers going in these first two rounds than we're used to seeing. And Scott, you are on the clock with your third round pick. Who you got? So, yeah, I took Juan Soto with the number one overall pick, an outfielder in a three outfielder league. Kyle Tucker stands out as the player who maybe slid beyond where he normally goes. I'm going to pass on him.

I don't want two outfielders with my first three picks. Plus, I'm really nervous about what the starting pitcher pool is going to look like. 23 picks from now when I get a chance to pick again. So I'm going back-to-back pitchers here. Julio Arias and Sandy Alcantara, also considered Robbie Ray. But I just feel safer with those two, especially in the points format,

where I think Alcantara's Alcantara's value is bolstered. So yeah, I may go pitch a pitcher in round four or five also. We'll see what's still available when it gets to me. Scott, there's a new rule here on the podcast that if you select Sandy Alcansara during a live mock draft, you have to say his name

like John Travolta does in the movie Greece. So are you willing to accept a challenge? I have not seen the movie Greece. I'm surprised you have, frankly. All right. Hold on a second. For all the movies that I haven't seen, Chris, Scott, I mean, we're talking about a classic here.

A classic. Yeah, but you haven't seen a lot of classics. That's true. I've seen Greece a lot of times in my life. It's a classic that hasn't sounded appealing to me, so I've never made it a priority to watch it. But it could be great. I just haven't, you know,

I haven't had the occasion to watch it yet. It's definitely a classic in the like 35-year-old playing high schoolers genre, which is always a fun one. So basically, Scott, you just have to say Sandy, like in a really high-pitched voice. Sandy. All right, well, you're allowed to have Sandy now. You selected both him and Julio Rius at the turn. Who went just before that?

We see Shohei Otani, Mani Machado, Ozzi Albies. Those were at the end of round two. Obviously, Scott took the two pitchers there. And then Yudan Alvarez, Aaron Judge, and Kyle Tucker. Three outfielers go right ahead of me here. And I have to decide between Luis Robert and another starting pitcher. Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. I am going to, I'm going to select Luis Robert.

Time will tell if that is the right decision. I do have Lucas Sheelito ranked ahead of Aeronola. I think that they're really close. Maybe, I mean, especially in a points league. Maybe Noah's a little bit better in this format. But Luis Robert, you know, strikeouts were much better last year. It doesn't really walk all that much. Admittedly, much better in a Roto or Categories format.

But he usually goes in the second round in that. format. So to get a one round discount here, if he breaks out the way that I think he can, that many people think he can, I don't really think it will matter. I think he'll still be really good in points leagues as well. I did want to comment on Judge and Alvarez going ahead of Kyle Tucker. Obviously, we would never see that happen in a Roto League. Tucker might be a borderline first rounder. It's getting elevated because of the steals, all 14 of them he had last year. But it is worth mentioning, he outscored both Judge and Alvarez on a per game basis, even in this format last year, 3.51 versus 3.35 for Judge 3.25 for Alvarez. Very close. And I think maybe there's room for Judge

and Alvarez to exceed last year's numbers in a way maybe there isn't for Tucker. So I don't think it's wrong necessarily, but it is worth commenting on. And you know who else outscored those gentlemen on a per game basis? Luis Robert, who I just got. So Luis Robert and Kyle Tucker both right around 3.5 fantasy points per game last season. After I selected Luis Robert, Matt Olson goes, then Aranola, and then Lucas Gialito. I believe Matt Olson is Dan Schneier's first hitter on his team, so I'll check in on that. But in the meantime, Chris, you are on the clock. You have one hitter in Mike Trout, and you have one pitcher in Brandon Woodruff.

Where do you go now? Yeah, it's a tough spot. I think there's a little bit of a drop-off here where I don't feel quite as safe with the options that are available. I am going to go with a pitcher here mostly because I think the hitter who I want will still be there the next time around. And it's entirely possible that that hitter would still be here the next time around. I have a really good feeling.

I know who it is, but we'll see. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. All right. So the pitcher that you select here is Robbie. Ray. Yes, Robbie Ray.

And you take him 33rd overall. One pick later, we see Nolan Aronado go. And Chris, I mean, it kind of feels like you're the optimist of the bunch. I believe that you have Robbie Ray ranked the highest. I mean, we're all kind of in a, you know, relative range. I think we all have in between like 10 and 13 or 10 and 14. But it appears that you are the highest on him. Yeah, I just, one thing about it is just among a lot of the starting pitchers in this range.

he has at least shown the ability to get through a season healthy consistently. He hasn't racked up huge innings totals often because he's been inefficient. But, you know, he has done, I think either a 30 starts or a 30-start pace each of the past three seasons. 2018, he only had 24 starts. I'm trying to, I think there might have been an injury that season. But that helps. And also, I just buy the improvements that he made just because I do think there was a conscious decision. It's oversimplifying it to say throw strikes, but to throw his fastball

in the zone more often. Robbie Ray is the type of guy who is going to get hit hard when he gets hit, but he decided last season, I think he figured out that when you get as many whiffs as he does, when you get as many strikeouts as he does, the one thing you can't do is have runners on base when you give up those home runs. And so I don't know necessarily if this was a situation where Robbie Ray's command got better, or if his control did, you know, I think there is a difference between the two of them. But I think functionally, what he did was repeatable. I believe what they told him last year, and this sounds super simplistic, but they told him to just aim for the middle of the zone and your stuff. Yeah, effectively, yeah. Yeah, and your stuff will, we'll make it work.

I mean, it'll basically play out. That's a, that's a, an approach that, you know, I think someone like Trevor Bauer when he was pitching really well. He had a very similar approach because Trevor Bauer wasn't someone who really showed up highly in the various control metrics. You know, you know, Saras has a control metric. Trevor Bauer is always among the worst, among the high-end pitchers, but it was, the stuff is so good that, yeah, you're going to give up home runs. I think Robbie Ray is like this now, too.

Yeah, you're going to give up home runs. You're going to give up extra base hits. but solo home runs don't really hurt you. You know, it's the meltdown inning followed by the three-run home run. That really has been the problem for Robbie Ray. And so I think avoiding that is the biggest improvement that he made last season

and it was a conscious decision like you said. So I buy it. And that goes back to the Justin Verlander School of Thought basically where a couple of years ago... Max Schurz are another guy who gives up more home runs than you would think. As these guys have, I mean, look, they've aged like fine wine.

They're basically in the prime of their careers this late in their careers. Both Justin Verlanner and Max Scherzer, they are fly ball pitchers. They allow a lot of home runs, but not with runners on base. They do a great job of limiting walks, so they're,

you know, they can give up a lot of fly balls and give up these home runs. It doesn't really matter when they're getting as many strikeouts as they are to help them wiggle out of jams. And a lot of those home runs wind up being solo home runs.

We have paused the draft. I am going to catch people up on what is going on here. After Chris selected, Robbie Ray, we saw Nolan Aronado, Austin Riley, Charlie Morton to finish out round three, and then to start round four, man, the double Scotty Snipe here.

Charlie Morton and Salvador Perez at the three-fourter. My favorite hitter and pitcher to draft Nathan Judah, our friend from over in the UK, drafting at whatever ungodly hour he's drafting at, decided to take both. I do not approve. I do approve. Well, technically, yeah, you do approve, but maybe not in this draft. After Salvador Perez went, we see Zander Bogartz, then Kevin Gosman. Chris selects George Springer, which is the player that I assumed he was going to take. I love him in a point. I mean, love him in all formats, but especially in a points league at the top of that, Blue Jay's lineup. I just, I think he could be one of those guys who pushes 600 points if he stays healthy. Yeah, 1,000 percent. Springer is.

Honestly, you could probably argue he's a third round pick in this format. Then Pete Alonzo goes, and then Lance Lynn, and then Teasca Hernandez. And here I am on the clock. And maybe it was a mistake to not take a pitcher in round two. There seems to be a whole tier of starting pitchers coming up. But I don't really love any of them. You know, to go back to springer. It didn't get bad.

Real quick. He reminds me of Aaron Judge at this point last year. but the only argument against him is the injuries. That's a guy I love to pick. That is correct. I've struggled getting a second baseman in the past couple of drafts, so I can put a little bit more emphasis on that. Paul Goldschmidt up at the top.

Paul Goldschmidt up at the top. It's certainly not great for being in round four, what we're used to seeing in round four. There are quality pitchers there still, but they all feel like reaches. Yeah. They're probably not. Yeah, or just varying levels of risks.

You know, like the top ones, I think on most of our boards are going to be like Jack Flaherty, Chris Sayo, Logan Webb, Max Fried. Right. A pretty risky group. Right. I wound up selecting Paul Goldschmidt. I have said multiple times that I like Paul Goldschmidt this year. I buy into what he did.

If you look at his career, he's basically hit 285 or better every season outside of the short in 2020. So that is a player that I want to buy. His stack cast numbers were better last year. than they ever were. We're talking about somebody who I think is like a borderline Hall of Famer just based on like his offensive numbers that he's accumulated in his career. So I buy it.

I like the player Paul Goldschmidt. I know first base, we've got the profit pocket a little bit later on. But I'm in on Paul Goldschmidt. Take him here in the middle of the fourth. There were a few other hitters. I was debating. I won't mention them just in case they make it back to me. We mentioned starting pitcher.

It doesn't feel like any of these guys are worth taking in the fourth round. So I now have three hitters. Paul Goldschmidt, Luis Robert, and Raphael Devers, and just one pitcher, Garrett Cole. So let's see how that pitching staff turns out. And I sniped Tim Kannick. So take that Tim for all the times you sniped me in the drafts that we've done.

He selects Marcus Semyon. Then Francisco Lindor, Wander Franco, was one of those hitters that I was debating, but shortstop is very deep. So maybe that's a mistake just because Wander Franco could be really, really good in this format. But I think I'll be able to get a strong shortstop later on which brings us to Scott it's got you have Juan Soto and two

pitchers and you are on the clock for for two picks so I am so I am well I'm definitely gonna take Chris Sale here I have him and Jack Flaherty rounding out that tier at starting pitcher where Lance Lynn and Charlie Morton where those guys are also So why don't I go sail in Flaherty? I don't know. I'm not sure Flaherty really belongs in that tier. He might belong in the next tier.

I just don't have a high level of confidence in him. He's really weird because it kind of depends on which metrics you look at, how you want to feel about Jack Flaherty. I mean, obviously there are just, he only made 17 starts last season, so that's not great, but also like his XERA, the last two seasons is over five. that's wild but his ex-fip was 3.42 in 2020. Fitzin starts for him over the past two years

that you could slice and dice the handful of starts up in ways to make him look great or make him look bad. I just think there are enough other pitchers out there with close enough upside that I'm willing to pass him up. What I'm actually going to do here is I admit it's a reach a little, but when you have only nine hitter spots to fill, you really don't want any of,

of them to be weak, except maybe catcher, catcher you could maybe get away with. I'm going to take Alex Bregman here, the start of round five. This is his better format because plate discipline is something he excels at. But part of it was just the fact Aeronado went early in round four leaves me without a buffer at third base. Bregman is kind of the last, at least from how I size up third base, the last option I can really feel good about at a very weak position. So I'll take him and take my chances at the other positions

that there still be players I like when it comes back to me and 20-something picks. All right, so the picks for Scott there at the turn. Again, Chris Sale and Alex Bregman, and we are off into round five, and J.T. Real Muto goes 50th overall. I did want to point out for whoever selects Jack Flaherty, it might be me.

I think he is really hard to figure out 2020, you know, starting and stopping, and the Cardinals had all this COVID stuff going on. last year he dealt with the shoulder injury. But 2018 and 2019, he made 61 starts. He had a 3.01 ERA. He had a 1.03 whip. And that was basically at the height of the batted ball era,

of the juice ball era. I don't know. I think he's a really talented pitcher, even though some of the underlying metrics are kind of weird for him. But yeah. But it's also worth remembering, he was awful to start 2019.

You remember how good he was at the end of that season. He had that historic stretch where he had an ERA under one for the final 16 starts. He had an ERA almost five in the first half of that season. So he's just been a little all over the place in his career. It's a weird thing for a guy who's coming up on 700 or 500 innings. Yeah. My belief is like you, Frank, that he's legit, but it just there are, he's raised a lot of questions over the past two years. I think it's fair to say.

Yeah. And look, I'm going to keep banging this drum. I mean, when it comes to the Cardinals, they have a fantastic defense behind them. And they obviously play in a great division for, in terms of opponents who they're going to be facing, the pirates, the Cubs. The Reds ballpark is tough to pitch in. But, you know, they lose Cassiano's lineup not as good as it has been. so I do like targeting Cardinals pitchers quite a bit myself.

After J.T. Real Muto was selected, Jose Berrios and Max Fried both go. Again, Berrios is awesome in this format. So many quality starts over the past, you know, three or four years. He's consistently giving you the volume that you need. So obviously, volume is massive in this format. And then Max Fried, look, down the stretch,

he was going six plus innings consistently. I believe he had one or two complete games during that time. So, yeah, really do like Max Freed. And then I selected... I was hoping Fred would make it to me. I selected Logan Webb,

and I was struggling. I wanted to take Hosea Altova, who went one pick later to our buddy Dan Schneier here, because I've struggled with second base in a lot of these mock drafts. And it still kind of felt like

I was reaching on Logan Webb. I mean, he was my highest ranked starting pitcher, but I feel like he's part of a tier where it's like, we're starting to get into that glob area where they all kind of, feel the same and there's not really a standout. But I will say, if Logan Webb meets his potential

and his ultimate upside, I think that he could be awesome in this format. I mean, the ground balls allow him to go really deep into starts. His K-minus walk, he has really strong control. He showed it last year down the stretch. I think it was 12 quality starts over his final 15 starts and then, you know, two more seven-plus outings in the postseason. So if that is the pitcher who we're getting in 2022, then Logan Webb could be amazing

in this format. I know, Chris, you've talked recently about the downside and basically the cons of drafting

Logan Webb, maybe this early in a draft. But I'll take him as my SP2, especially when I have Garrett Cole.

After I selected Logan Webb, again, Jose Altoouva, Catel Marte, sorry, Chris, and then Trevor's story, and you select Whitmerifield.

Were you going to take Cotel Marte if you? user? I think so. I think so. That, that, you know, filling that second base spot like you talked about a little earlier, that that can be a problem. And, you know, with Maryfield, for all the talk of, you know, he's slowing down or whatever, or the concerns that he might be hitting, you know, getting close to the end, he has 33. He's basically been 500 points or on pace for 500 points every single season that he's been irregular. Since 27,

That was his worst of 479. He's been at 515, 511, 197.5 and 60 games in 2020. That comes out to 500 points or right around there if you pace it out. And then 501 last season. So he was a bit of a compiler, but I do think that sort of underssells the fact that

he does play every day. Yeah, maybe the fantasy points per game won't be as flashy for Whitmeryfield, but the fact that he plays as much as he does, I believe he's played every game over the past three or four seasons. The guy is just an Ironman. So should hit near the top of that lineup for the Royals, which obviously leads to more plate appearances and more opportunities for fantasy points.

After you selected Whitmerfield, we see Will Smith the catcher, gets selected 58th overall. He's the third catcher off the board. And then Cedric Mullins and Freddie Peralta to finish out round five. And then Justin Verlander, Starling Marte, and Max Muncie, the first three picks of round six. Interestingly enough, I wanted to bring up, I listened to an interview with Max Muncie

on Monday, and honestly there wasn't much information to take away from the interview, but a few things that he said during this interview was that he was swinging a bat, so that's good to note. The last we heard from Max Muncie was that he had a torn UCL.

However, Tommy John surgery was never even all on the table. So he mentioned that this was a really bad situation for him overall that he had a torn UCL, but it was like the best of a bad situation. That's how he described it. I mean, it's so tough because like torn UCL sounds really bad, but what does it mean? You know, is it entirely torn where it can't heal or was it partially torn? Did it heal? It's his non-throwing arm.

He can play. So it's like, I don't know. I feel like he's a really good value. not necessarily at 60th overall this is a better format because he's one of those guys who gets a lot of walks in lieu of hits so the bad average is low but the OPP is high but he is a top

80 player if healthy top 70 player if healthy in both formats and he's been the thing is he's been falling to like 150 in a lot of drafts right now yeah I mean the list of at least known UCL

victims who have managed to avoid Tommy John surgery for the long haul is very short. How many of them were non-throwing arm? That's the thing that's so difficult is like, because I can think of hitters who have had torn UCLs and they all needed Tommy John surgery, but

it was like Matt Wheaters. It was his throwing arm, he's a catcher. Can't get around that. Glabre torts shortstop. I think Byron Buckston no, but I have a hard time believing he's going to be able to put it off forever just because we so rarely see it. And yeah, I mean, I think, I think the odds are maybe 10 to 20 percent. Max Muncie is able to navigate the season with that injury.

And I just think, I mean, certainly as early as he went here, I wouldn't be willing to make that gamble. But he'd have to really slip to the late rounds, I think, for me to take his shot on it in any format. I'll take him in the 10th round in any format. I think 150th overall is about the right time to take that gamble. Maybe you push him up in this format just because he's really, really good in points leagues. A few other items from that interview.

He said the idea was for him to be ready for opening day. This is Max Muncie we're talking about. And he won't know for sure how his body reacts, how his elbow reacts, until he's swinging a bat in real live games. And he's actually playing in those games. So once we have spring or summer training, that's just. tell us a lot about Max Muncie. What else is going on here in round six? I mentioned at the top. Justin Verlander, Starling Marte, and Max Muncie. Then Chris selected Corey Seeger. Then Josh

Hayter, our first closer off the board. Joe Musgrove. Yeah, Joe Musgrove was next. And then Byron Buxton. I selected Jack Flaherty. Someone I thought about taking with my last pick. So now I have three starting pitchers, Garrick Cole, Logan Webb, Jack Flarety. Feel pretty good about that. then Alec Manoa, Chris Bryant, and Frankie Montas. So starting pitchers are a flying here, Scotty. And you have, I believe, three of them. Mm-hmm. You have three.

So are you looking to select more here? Yeah, I'm definitely going to take Luis Castillo here because he's the last of a, he's the last before a drop-off. My second player I'm going to take is going to be a hitter. Let's see. There's a drop-off coming at second base. So, yeah, I'm going to make this simple and go.

Brandon Lau has my other pick. I also need a shortstop, but there are a few more options there that I can fall back on, I feel like. I didn't want to mention, you know, back at the five-six turn, RJ White took, you know,

He was picking 11th overall. So with two picks in between these picks, he took Cedric Mullins and Starling Marte, two guys who we see fall a couple of rounds in points league just because, again, steals aren't a requirement here. But they both still scored a ton of points last year. So I think it was smart on RJ to capitalize on those picks. I also thought it was interesting,

one of the two picks in between, Justin Verlander, going ahead of Joe Musgrove, Jack Flaherty, Frankie Montas, my Luis Castillo pick. I feel like we're seeing people, people are getting more sanguine about Justin Verlander's Tommy John recovery and are more willing to bet on the upside, which I think is reasonable. I think with, with a lot of pitchers, the more games that are canceled, the shorter the season is, the more it helps anybody who's returning from an injury or, you know, has serious injury concern like a Jacob de Grom or Shane Bieber. but yeah, I mean, Verlander, I've mentioned it many times. You know, by the time April came around, he was going to be 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery.

So the further he gets from that surgery, I think the more confidence we have in him, you know, not only going deep into his starts consistently, but going deep into the season as well. Let's catch people up here. Scott used to like the Luis Castillo and Brandon Lau was your first pick of round Seven, and then Dylan Sees, Trevor Rogers, and Shane McClanahan. Yeah, young upsidey pitcher run.

Yeah, which, look, as much as I like these guys, round seven, it's probably too early for these guys. Shane O'Mac, by the way, let's just give him his credit. Here comes the money. Here we go. Money talk. All right, I need a second baseman or a shortstop, and I do not have a lot of time to decide which one I want.

So I'm going to select Jorge Palaz. There you go. I finally get a decent second basement in one of these mock drafts. And coming off of a career year last year, a standout in points leagues, he makes a lot of contact. I think the power probably takes a bit of a step back, but even if he's mid-20s and homers, eight to ten steals, strong plate discipline, hitting in the top three or four of what I expect to be a pretty good twins lineup. Like, say what you want about the team overall, the pitching staff, you know, the bullpen, but their offense, I think it's going to be pretty good. So, I do like Jorge Polanco and even some of their other hitters later on. Josh Donaldson,

we spoke about on yesterday's podcast as well. After I selected Jorge Polanco, then we see Blake Snell and Nick Castiano's. Cassianoos, I think is a fantastic pick at this point as well. 79. He'd been my top player for about 25 picks in a row. Yep. And if I had now, he had two outfielders. I probably would have taken him. I think that's part of the strategy of drafting, right? Because it's not just always select your best player available. If there is a format to do that, this is probably the one, because you just want as many points as you could possibly get.

But you know, you look at each position and you see, all right, well, which one is dwindling down? And in my opinion, second base is starting to fall off a little bit. So while Nick Castianos was my highest ranked player as well, I chose to go with Jorge Polanco because I don't really want to be locked out of second base later on. Yeah, I mean, you just basically describe the tiers approach to drafting, seeing which position is dwindling the most and taking from there. And I think this format, it encourages that approach more than just taking best player available

because you have to, you have so few hitter spots to fill. You have to make sure that you fill them in the most optimal way that's not going to prevent a, you know, just, just, so you maximize the output of the output and the value of every lineup spot. All right. After Blake Snell and Nick Cassiano's went, we see Brian Reynolds. I think another great pick in the head to head points format. Chris, you select Jose Abraeu, and then Liam Hendrix and Hugh Darvish. Chris, I've seen you take a lot of Jose Abraeu so far this offseason, whereas in years past, he's not really your guy. Well, his price is falling. That's kind of,

My guy, if I have a guy, is the guy who was more expensive last season, whose skill set didn't change much. And that's Jose I Bray. I think, like, part of it is I just kind of hate this part of the draft right now. Like, I just, I'm looking around and I just don't like anybody. And so it was like, well, might as well get a guy who racks up counting stats in Jose Abrae. I think he's going to be one of the eight or so best first baseman every year. I just, you know, I didn't like him last season because I thought he was being drafted way too high. But there's, I think it's easier to talk yourself into him now than it was last year, at least for me.

And plus, I have a guy I'm trying to figure out if I want to take the shot on yet. because like I said, I don't like this range of the draft, so I kind of just want to take upside at this point. If I'm going to fill that last outfield spot, there's one name that really stands out for me as far as potential upside in this format. So I may go a little off the board here. All right.

Let's see who Chris may or may not select, but in the meantime, I'll catch people up. Liam Hendrix, U. Darvish, and Carlos Correa, those were the picks after Jose Ibrahim that finishes out round seven. And before we get to round eight, I do want to let you know that this Saturday, March 12th on CBS men's college basketball conference tournaments are underway. And so much will be on the line, starting at one Eastern with the Big Ten semifinals. Then at six, another school claims their automatic bid to the madness at the Mountain West Championship. We'll get you set for tip off at 12 Eastern with our crew on Instagram.

college basketball, a huge Saturday of men's college hoops this Saturday on CBS. Also, don't forget to join our FBT March Madness Bracket. The winner will get to choose which listener league they want to be in this year. You can find the link in the podcast and the YouTube description. We are going to take a quick break. And when we return, we're going to catch you up on round eight here on fantasy baseball today. All right, so what's happened in round eight? Clayton Kirshall goes with the first pick here, 85th overall. Then Javier Baez, Adam Wainwright, and Chris selects Christian Yelich, and Pablo Lopez, Jesse Winker, and Tim Anderson. I can tell Dan is probably watching this on YouTube and he sees that I had the shortstop position open on my screen

for way too long, and then he selects Tim Anderson to make sure that I do not want. You were going to take Anderson? I was going to take Anderson. Well, one of us was going to take Tim Anderson. There's still three people who need a shortstop, and we're down to basically jazz chis and Bobby Witt and Willie Adomas. So much for that depth. Are you forcing me to take a shortstop here, Scott? Is that what you're saying? Oh, geez. Do what you want, Frank?

Oh, no. Meanwhile, Chris took Christian Yelich. That was the... Yeah, that was the upside outfit. And, you know, part of it is I'm higher on him than pretty much anyone at this point. The big part of it is, like, outside of 2020, when his strikeout rate ballooned to 31%. The plate discipline has still been awesome. He's still been one of the highest walk rate guys in baseball each of the past three seasons.

He walked 15% of the time last season. So I just think, like, I don't know, it's entirely possible that that back injury is just going to ruin his career. But there are enough positive signs in his swing. He still hit the ball really, really hard. So it's not like there was some gigantic dip. his sprint speed was still 81st percentile. So it's not like there was some gigantic warning sign that not only was he hurt, but God, he couldn't play anymore.

That I just think when you're talking about this kind of format and you're talking about separating yourself from people at each position, Yelich is, I don't know if he's the only player left who has 600 point upside. But he's certainly the only one who's done it twice. remaining at that point. So that's, for me, that's just the bet on upside

and the bet that you're going to try to differentiate yourself somehow. That's my way of doing it. I will take your 600 points scored twice and raise you a J.D. Martinez. I feel like he's probably done that before, right, Chris? Maybe. He's hit 600 once.

Did he stay healthy long enough? Yeah, I think that's probably the question. Nelson Cruz might have. but I don't think so. I don't know if he walked enough. Nope, he's never done it. So, yeah. All right.

Well, you did it? Didn't look it up, but it felt right. Money. Money where your mouth is, selecting Christian Yelich. After you did that, we see Pablo Lopez, Jesse Winkard, Tim Anderson.

I selected Willie Adamas because I just couldn't stomach the idea of Scott getting Willie Adamas and me not having a, what I consider a top-tier shortstop. So I selected Willie Adomis, filling out my infield, and then Kyle Schwartz

Robert, Janice Chisholm, John Carlos Stanton, and Scottie's now up for two. And with the first pick, you select Ranger Suarez, who is arguably the top spark in this format. That is a starting pitcher who has a relief pitcher eligibility, which is basically like a cheat code. So, Scott, what are you thinking with this next pick? Well, boy, I made the wrong choice at the turn last time when I took Brandon Lau, because I had a second base need. I also had a shortstop need, and there was just a run. of short stops this past round.

Carlos Correa, Javier Baez, Tim Anderson, you took Willie Adamas. And I'm not the last one who needs a shortstop. So I think I'm going to take Bobby Witt here. It would be different if there was another pick screaming out at me. I think alternatively I'd take J.D. Martinez, which doesn't sound particularly thrilling to me. But I wish I'd taken a shortstop

because Jonathan India is still here. And that's why I don't like picking at the end is because you just, that many picks in between, all kinds of crazy stuff can happen. It's harder to anticipate what's going to be available to you with your next pick. It looked like second base was depleting a lot faster than shortstop. ADP goes out the window. ADP goes out the window in when you're picking at the edge. At the end of the draft, I think you just have to take your guy. It was less ADP than tears.

Yeah, right, right. There were five short stops I felt equally good about in three second basement. So I took the second basement. Yeah, yeah. Scottie made a gamble there and it just turns out that it was shortstop. It was the shortstop run that happened instead of the second base run. So, you know, you got to take those chances and ultimately that's what happens. Frank, I need to, I need to, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that I lied.

oof. All right. There was another player who is still available who scored 600 points. Okay, no name dropping. This format twice. You can reveal them once they are selected

if you think that they're going to be selected. Oh, I know who it is. And they will be. Okay. I know who it is. All right. I'm interested. Profit pocket, baby.

Oh, the pocket. The hot pocket. I can you, I only have one outfielder. Man, do I want to double down on my Chicago White Sox. Mercy!

I think, yeah, let's do it. I mean, I don't think that a points league is maybe the best format for Eloy Jimenez. He doesn't walk all that much, and it's probably going to strike out more than you like. But much like Luis Robert, his teammate, if he breaks out and does what I think

that he can do overall, if he hits 35 plus homers and he hits 280, then it's not really going to matter in this format. He's still going to be awesome. So I think the counting stats could be really good in that lineup in that Chicago White Sox lineup So I'm in I'm in Eloi Jimenez

And in round nine Whereas typically I feel like He usually goes in like round five or six I don't know maybe like round seven So I'll take a discount The thing with this format is like it's really hard For a hitter to be elite If they don't have good plate discipline

You know you're talking that 600 point range But Nick Castellanos has been in the 460 to 500 point range for even before his births breakout. And J.D. Martinez was often in the 500 to 540 range. And those guys don't necessarily have great plays to discipline. You're talking about above average strikeout rates, below average walk rates for both of them. It's, but you can still be very, very good. And Ilo Jimenez could still be a very, very good points player. He just, it's hard to see him ever having the elite season.

You know, a lot of things would have to go right. This is the year, Chris, that everything will go right for Eloy Jimenez. Just stay healthy. Please, Eloy, just say healthy, bud. I mean, sometimes everything goes right. It happens. For sure. After I selected Eloy Jimenez, we see Shane Bez go 102nd overall. He's another pitcher where

the further we go into this lockout, you know, I think regardless, he's probably someone who's going to pitch maybe between 100 and 130 innings this year, but the less games that there are overall, that means his workload will account for

more of the season. Yeah, I wrote about that on the site today. Just kind of an update on where the negotiation stand and what the impact could be. And that was one of them is just the injured guys and prospects, you know, with the season being delayed could be in line for, especially if, as was reported on Tuesday or Monday, today's Monday, NASW is reported on Monday that if they don't have a deal by Tuesday, they're not going to play a full 162. So, you know, that would certainly, in addition to the expected...

I thought it was a given anyway, but apparently not. Apparently not, yeah. I mean, I think that they're sort of just still dangling threats, but especially with the idea that, you know, we assume there will be some sort of incentive for teams to call their top prospects up at the start of the season. Yeah. And for anyone who wants to get caught up on the latest, again, check out Chris's article on the site.

at cbsports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. And I will promote another piece of work. Randy Levine, who is the team president of the New York Yankees. He was on the Michael Kay Show, if anyone's interested. I thought it was pretty interesting to hear, I guess, the other side. Are you promoting Randy Levine as a piece of work?

Yes. Yes, as exactly that, Chris, as a piece of work. I felt like you kind of heard some desperation in his voice, too. like, let's just get this done. Like, obviously, both the owners and the players need to make some concessions at this point. But yeah, let's do that. Let's

just get this done. And let's get people caught up on the latest in this draft as well. Joey Votto, was that the player we were referring to, Chris? Yes. Okay. So multiple 600 point seasons. Yeah, the profit pockets got crushed here all of a sudden. Profit pocket. All right. First baseman flying off the board after

Joey Votto. Cody Bellinger goes, Chris, fantastic selection of Framber Valdez, someone who excels in points leagues. Maybe the whip's going to be higher in a categories league, but someone who pitches more to contact, he's going to go deep into his start. It's probably going to get a lot of wins with the Houston

Astros. He was someone that I was eyeing as my SP4, but that will not happen, apparently. After you selected for Amber Valdez, Rees Hoskins, Yasmani Grandal, and Anthony Rendon. Three picks I also really like at this point in a headside points league. To start round 10, we see Mitch

Mitch Hanigur, Chris Bassett, Marcel Ozuna, Chris, you selected Eduardo Rodriguez, and then another traditional reliever in Ryan Presley, the closer of the Houston Astros. That's before, isn't that before, Reisel Aglius?

And Emmanuel Class A, yeah. Manuel Class A, that's interesting. Interesting. And you'll notice, because now the last pick is J.D. Martinez. Marcelo Zuna went before J.D. Martinez. So there are a few, a few surprise picks here.

But it's like we talked about, I think, on yesterday's podcast. You know, with Marcel O'Zuna, he probably should just be going in this range. Yeah, but I had a J.D. Martinez, his track record in recent years. I mean, one of the last three seasons, Ozuna's had a good season. And it was the short 2020 season. He was awful for the time he was available last season. He wasn't so hot in 2019 as well. Yeah.

No, that's right. Yeah. Remember 2019, he was like the poster child of expected statistics. Yeah. And we all use that as a reason to draft him in 2020. Yeah, still 29 homers, 89 RBI and 130 games. So he probably would have gotten to 35-ish. Right, yeah.

Penciled him in for 330 every year. Yeah, strong, 290. Strong plate discipline in this format. I agree wholeheartedly. Like, even if there was no concerns over Marcelo Zuna and maybe what his playing time is or what his situation is, I would still take JD Martinez, I think,

just in a vacuum over Marcelo Zuna. Zuna. But after Ryan Presley went, we do finally see J.D. Martinez and Tyler Malley is the next two picks off the board. I've got about five seconds to make a pick, and I will be selecting Sean Mania, who I'm okay with probably would rather have him as my SP5 in this format. But to this point, I have Garrett Cole, Logan Webb, Jack Flaherty, Sean Mania as my top four starting pitchers in a head-to-head points league. Kind of wish it was better. So, Looking back on those early round picks where, you know, I selected Louise Robert and I said,

let's see how this turns out. I think I probably should have taken a picture there. But that's just me being greedy in this format, if we're being honest. After Sean Mnaya goes, we see Trevor Bauer go 117th overall. And then Adolice Garcia, who takes quite a bit of a hit in this format. The plate discipline leaves a lot to be desired. We're talking about Javier Bayes levels of plate discipline,

30% strikeout rate, 5% walk rate. So maybe he's a little bit undervalued in a categories league right now based on ADP, but in a points league, I do, I think this is too early for him. And definitely going ahead of Tyler O'Neill was... He just went before Tyler. I don't want to rag on anybody's pigs. Right. You know, I totally scarce.

Yeah, no, that's... It's not a great format for him, and there's a lot more skepticism about the performance than there is for Tyler O'Neill, so that's very surprising to me. Yeah. I mean, you're right, Scott. I don't want to rag on anyone's picks, but like, if you selected Adelis Garcia, I would make fun of you. Oh, yeah. Fair enough.

You're on the clock for two picks, so what are we doing here, Scott? Well, and I think I'm going to do something I never, ever, ever do in points leagues. First of all, I'm going to take Josh Bell. That's not the thing I never ever do, but, you know, he's one of the two remaining from the pocket pocket. And I don't have a first baseman yet. Yes, I'm going to take one of the top closers. here. I'm going to take Ricea LaGlacius.

Yeah. It's weird. Have you now filled out... I mean, they've been falling too far. Have you been... Have you filled out your starting... I'd never dream of doing this normally. Okay, so you haven't filled out your starting pitchers yet.

You still have one spot available, but... Yeah, I mean, I could flex Suarez over there, Ranger Suarez over there if I wanted to, but obviously that's... Yeah, but I think part of his appeal is the fact that you can use him as a relief pitcher in this format. So you've got... Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, and just to... To put some context on that for people who haven't played this format or don't know, you know, what the value of a spark would be last season.

Let's see. Liam Hendricks was the number one reliever and he had 503 points. That's a real outlier. Reiselle Iglesias was 437, Kenley Janssen, 433. If you can get a starting pitcher in a who's relief pitcher eligible, who can just be decent. I mean, Anthony Desclafani last season. outscored every reliever

but two. He wasn't a spart, but that's the kind of pitcher that you're talking about. Anthony Descalfani, Tyler Malley, Chris Bassett, were not exactly anyone's ideas of really, really valuable

starting pitchers, and yet they all were right there with the number two relievers. So that's the edge that a spark can give you. What can happen, though, in this format, like during a season, during the heat of the season where all the best pitchers are already rostering.

Not talking the context of a draft, obviously, talking about filling out your lineup off the waiver wire during a season. It is probable that at some point during the season there will be a reliable saves earner who's on waivers

and not a great streamer option at starting pitchers. So there definitely could come a time during the season where I end up using Ranger Suarez in the SP slot. Even if that's not the optimal line up set up for me. All right, before we get into round 11, what we're going to do for those on the listening

side, we're going to sign off Hour 1 and then we're going to jump into Round 2. So get ready for that. But for the meantime, we're wrapping up Hour 1 here on Fantasy Baseball today.