Fantasy Baseball Today - Live H2H Points Mock Draft Part 2! Rounds 11-21 Picks & Team Recaps (3/22 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

We pick things up in the middle of round 10. Who does Scott wind up with at second and third base? Who winds up with Lars Nootbaar? Who are the late-round SPARPs to target in a H2H points league? We wrap up recapping our teams. Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Fantasy Baseball Today is a finalist in the Baseball Category for the Sports Podcast Awards! Quickly create an account and vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-baseball-podcast/ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Welcome back into Fantasy Baseball today. This is part two. This is our two of our live listener league draft. This is one that we're actually playing out. This is not a mock draft. This is a head-to-head points league. It's a 12-team league.

And we left off in the middle of round 10. And the player who went was Masataka Yoshita, who hit a massive... Who took him? I didn't take him. Who took him? Yeah, that's our wild card. What's that guy's name? Same guy who took Dustin May in round three and Brandon Lowe in round six.

Tom Coppy? Is that how you say that? K-O-P-P-E? Yeah, we might be butchering that, but regardless. He's doing his own thing. Which, you know, if he wins, he'll have nobody to credit but himself. 100%. Masataka Yoshita, massive three-run, home run in the semifinal of the WBC

going up against Team Mexico. And what we keep hearing, Chris? I don't know how likely this is to happen. Obviously, this is like a huge comparison. But they keep calling him the Juan Soto of Japan. So those are big shoes to fill. The Red Sox paid a big amount of money to get Masataki Yoshita on their team.

But he doesn't strike out. He's got good plate discipline. It sounds like he's going to hit cleanup for the Red Sox this year. So potentially some counting stats. What do you think about this move? Because I think in a headset point, he's probably going to be really, really good.

Yeah. I think he's got, you know, potential to be like a better version of Alex Verdugo in, in terms of what Boston's done. You know, you hope for a little more power. You hope for, you know, really good play discipline. I think he's got that kind of potential. So, you know, I, it's sort of an unknown, right? Like, we have a decent number of Japanese players who have made the jump over. And, you know, we know how to translate that kind of production.

But it's still sort of a wild card. You know, we don't know how he's going to, you know, the style of pitching in Japan is very different. You have a lot fewer big breaking balls. You have a lot more splitter. So, you know, it remains to be seen how he's going to translate. But, you know, the Red Sox gave him a lot of money. He's going to hit either lead off or cleanup. It sounds like it sounds like cleanup is more likely right now.

And, you know, it could be a situation where even if he's not a 30 homer guy, he hits 18 but drives in 100 runs and scores a decent amount. ends up being a really good value. After Masataka Yoshita, Kutel Marte, very good in a points league, Nestor Cortez, Wilson Contreras, Jesus Lozardo, and Scott, you've got back-to-back picks.

One of them was Danes v. Swanson. Where are we going with this second pick? And I'm relieved to get Swanson because I was sweating shortstop ever since you took Edmund. He was the last left before the big drop-off there, at least in this format.

So that's a small consolation, I guess, for me missing out at third base. I was thinking again about closer here, just because that seems to be where all the value is right now, but I just, I don't want to. I think I'm going to be fine taking whatever's left there in points league with only two relief pitcher spots to fill. So I'm going to go ahead and fill that third outfield spot with players looked really good this year, Taylor, this spring. Players looked really good this spring Taylor Ward, expected to bat lead off for the angels in front of Trout and Otani. and has shown the capacity to draw a lot of walks, which of course is valuable in this format.

So I'm hoping. It's a good pick here. I'm not a huge fan here of his. But I did, now I'm trying to remember, did I remove him from Bus 2.0 as well. I might have. You did.

Let's go. That's the only reason I took him, Chris. Yeah, you're welcome. I don't love Taylor Ward. I'm a little. Kyle Schwarber, Sorry, Kyle Schwerver just hit a bomb off you, Darvish. And I don't know if you guys were watching this plate appearance.

Yeah. He hit like six straight foul balls, like 440 feet. Right. And it was just like, he is on top of this, and he just needs to get the timing, right? That was, that was electric. That was awesome. Taylor Ward. Yes.

But 120th overall or whatever you got in 121, I love that value. Yeah. And I think this is a format where he, if there is a format where Taylor Ward is going to be more than just kind of a mid-tier outfielder. I think this is the format. And I was looking at the main event ADP over at the NFBC. Again, those are very expensive drafts, $1,750 entry fee and their roto leagues. But just kind of trying to see which players are getting pull up the draft board there. Taylor Ward is going inside the top 100 now. So these are smart people putting their money where their mouth is. And Taylor Ward is getting pulled up the board. So I think it's a good pick there for you, Scotty,

at 121. Thank you. Yeah, I thought about it. Very nice of you to say. Yes, I do like Taylor Ward. I wrote them up in Sleepers 1.0. Go ahead. Okay, so continue through the picks

because there's another one I want to talk about here. All right, so after Taylor Ward, Andrew Vaughn, Clayton Kirshaw, Anthony Santander, who had a pretty big WBC himself, Jose Miranda, Freddie Peralta, and Chris takes Kyle Wright. Which one did you want to talk about? Yeah, so Clayton Kirschel,

who went two picks after mine, that was who I was considering if I didn't take Felix Batista or Taylor Ward. And I think this is a point we've not really discussed much about Kershaw is I think, though it's hard to reflect in the rankings. I do think there's a pretty big difference between how you should approach Kershaw on a head-to-head league, particularly a shallower one like this versus a Roto League. Because, of course, head-to-head leagues, it's weekly competitions. It's just little bites of production that you're taking. And when Kershaw is healthy, for the 120, 130 innings he's going to be healthy.

He's still going to perform like an ace. He's still going to be as impactful as an ace in those weeks that he's healthy and secure you your team, all the wins that goes with that. It's just you're going to have to plan to fill in for him for those other weeks where he's not healthy. But you're going to be able to anticipate it. And it's not like a 130 inning picture who is spreading that over 30 starts. You know, those starts become less impactful because he's not going deep enough into him. Carlisle is going to give you all the length you want in those starts. And in a shallow league where you can fill in for him easier when he's out,

I think he's more valuable than his ranking would suggest. And I think it was a good pick. Yeah, he averaged just under 20 fantasy points per start last season. and it was not nearly as high the year before, but even then it was like 15. So yeah, like you said, that's ace level production on a per start basis. It's just like I still think it's possible he makes 30 starts,

but it's certainly not the likeliest outcome. There have been enough nagging issues over the years that you just assume he's not going to get there. But yeah, like you said, it's obviously the impact he makes on your team will depend on the timing. You know, if he makes 22 starts to start, season and then gets hurt, that's going to hurt a little more because he's not going to be there

for the playoffs. But like, if he makes 10 starts, goes on the IL for a month and then makes the rest of the starts, you're going to feel pretty good about it. After Chris took Kyle Wright, I had a dilemma to face because the person drafting just after me, team name is Lenars's new bars. He's got two picks coming up. Go get your guys. I pulled them up the draft board a little bit, but I don't have much new bar. I think I have them on one other team so far. And I think it'll be really good in head to head points.

He's got a great eye at the plate. I think the OBP will be good. Wouldn't surprise me if he leads off against right-handed pitching. So I went out and took him. I took Lars Neupar at 128. And yeah, I used an unorthodox strategy of looking at team names to determine my job.

Yeah, and that's almost why I passed up Taylor Ward is because I'm like, well, I have a chance at Lars Neup Bar later. it turns out I didn't. And that's been pretty typical for our drafts. He goes much, much higher than his ADP, like 70 picks higher than his ADP. And it may be justified.

I think the biggest obstacle, even more than performance, is just how much the Cardinals play him, particularly if Jordan Walker makes the team. Interestingly, Noobar was better against lefties than righties last year as a left-handed hitter, but it wasn't reflected in the playing time.

And could that continue as they're trying to fit all these outfielders into three spots? maybe that would be what that would be the the the card that topples the card tower is if the cardinals just don't play new bar every day yeah that is the downside for new bar and and i totally get that but i said this in the past i think the cream rises to the top and i think newpar is one of their most talented outfield slash dh eligible players on that team but the decision that i was faced with was do i take new bar or louise severino because i felt like severino last a little

bit too far in this draft, and he went at the turn. So we'll see if I wind up regretting that pick, but maybe I should have taken Severino first and seen if Lars Neupar would make it back to me. After I took Newpar, Alejandro Kirk, Nick Castiano, Severino, Hunter Renfro to finish out round 11, starting up round 12. Oof, some fun picks here and some ones that Scott is probably going to hate. Miguel Vargas, Riley Green, and Charlie Morton. Yeah, Miguel Vargas at 133.

I mean, if he's everything, I think he is, it's justified. But it's just frustrating that I keep adjusting my expectations in these drafts. Okay, even though he's going 220, I have to take him 180. I have to take him 150. I was planning to take him, actually, with my next pair of picks to be my second basement by week two. But now I can't. He went 133rd. Charlie Morton's the other one you'd expect me to tilt about.

I don't think I've drafted Charlie Morton yet. Interestingly enough, I'm probably his biggest fan of any fantasy analyst, but I guess I've done too good a job talking about because I never get a chance to pick up. Yeah, so I wound up taking Jeffrey Springs with this next pick of mine in round 12. This was purely a get your guys turn for me between Lars Neupar and Jeffrey Springs. Springs is my SP4 on this team. Probably better in a road door category's league, like everyone else on my team, because I don't know that he'll go that deep into his starts, but I think he'll be efficient once again,

and maybe he doesn't push seven, but I could see him getting more quality starts this year and at least going six innings for the Tampa Bay Rays. Springs has looked fantastic so far in the spring. No pun intended. After I took Springs, Tyler O'Neill goes off the board. Ty Franz, Tyler Glassnell, very sneaky pick at 140. Going to miss the first month or so with that oblique injury, but we do have a few IL spots. Miles Michaels, one of the one of you guys speak up what are we going with today golden girls all right well chris got to it first so we're going with the golden girls chris talked to me about tyler o'neal because i feel like you call them a bust but maybe this is just too late and you gobble up the value yeah he's a bust where

he usually goes which is let me see i feel like it's usually around 100 yeah 102.4 but i got him at 138 yeah so that that's another one where it's a lot like adoli scarcia Yeah, where it's just like, yeah, this isn't his best format. Even if things go well, you know, he only had 432 points in 2021. He wasn't playing every single day. So, you know, that's part of it. But yeah, it's just as a third outfielder waiting that long, I feel okay about getting him. I don't love it.

I will probably take another outfielder or actually another shortstop because I do have Fernetta Tatis, who will have outfield eligibility. So I'm going to need some insurance there between him. Stanton, but it was just too good value to pass up. After Miles Michael is Camillo Doval and Jack Flaherty. Scott, you are up for two picks. I will let you think about them while I pull up your team and see who you've got on this team so far. So I catch you. You've got J.T. Real Muto, Paul Goldschmidt at first base, then Danesby Swanson at short. Aaron Judge, Taylor Ward, Corby and Carroll in the

outfield, Shohei Otani at Utility, the pitching staff, Chris Sale, Robbie Ray, Zach Allen, George Kirby. This is a fun team, Scott. I mean, the only problem is you don't have a second or third basement, but I'm sure you got something up your sleeve. Yeah, I may be about to change one of those. I am debating that right now. I'm not going to.

I'm not going to. I'm going to go ahead and take Felix Baltista since I was thinking about taking him last time. The Mountain. Yeah, he's looked good since, you know, he was delayed. start of spring training, but he's I think had two perfect innings, two strikeouts in each since returning, and I think he is

going to break through as a stud closer this year. I basically rank him as such. Several have gone who I rank after him, including Camilla Duval. And I'm going to go the more orthodox route with the second pick here and take

Joe Ryan, who I think should be great in this format. Maybe in every format. I expect him to work deep into games. And might take a step forward this year. He's done some work on his secondary pitches.

His slider has more of a sweeping motion now, and there's some optimism in Twins Camp. It's going to be more effective. I mean, his fastball's so effective. He hasn't really needed a great secondary pitch. But he's done some work on his secondary arsenal. All right. So Joe Ryan to kick off round 13,

followed by Tyler Stevenson and Lucas G. Alito, who had another solid start here on Tuesday. apparently his velocity has been down pretty much all of spring. It's down like one to two miles per hour on the fastball. But reading some stuff from White Sox beatwriters, Gileiro says he's not really worried about velocity. He's worried about his mechanics and executing his pitches. And they're talking up a four pitch mix.

I mean, he's typically been fastball change up slider. So I mean, if he has four pitches and he can command all of them and execute, maybe velocity doesn't matter as much, but, uh, man, between Joe Ryan and G. Leto,

those are probably two of the harder starting pitchers for, for me to evaluate. And as a result, I just usually wind up passing on them. It could turn out to be a mistake. Do you feel like Ryan could get much worse than last year? I mean, the way I phrase that makes it sound like he was bad last year.

I just don't know that the floor is much lower than what he showed last year, which was obviously a pretty good year. Yeah, the only thing with Joe Ryan is he just has these blowup starts where he gets completely destroyed. And I worry about, like, he, fly ball pitchers should be okay in the post-JBE, but he gives up a lot of them.

Like, we're talking over 50%. And he's someone that, he kind of relies on deception and this, like, invisible fastball. I just wonder if the more times he goes around the league, do people start to pick him up. So, yeah, I don't know, I just kind of worry about Joe Ryan.

I typically don't wind up drafting him. He is that kind of profile. We haven't seen this since, I mean, the juice ball year, I kind of messed everything up in terms of pitching evaluations. But there used to be this kind of profile we talked about where there was a big disparity between ERA and WIP. And Joe Ryan seems like he might be that guy with pristine control. And, you know, all those fly balls are going to mean fewer hits. So the WIP's being kept down in a couple ways. But all those fly balls could lead to home runs, which will inflate the ERA.

not as worrisome in this format as in roto. Though in roto, he's interesting, just kind of a whip specialist. But I don't worry, obviously, about the ERA so much in this format. As long as he's giving me quality starts with regularity, he's going to be somebody I'm happy. I drafted. I did see Chris's pick coming here. It's a good pick. I don't know if he had something to say about Joe Ryan.

But he took Pablo Lopez, the other twins pitcher I was considering just a few later. Just looking through Joe Ryan's game logs, one thing that I wanted to see was, how did he do the second time he faced a team? And actually really, really well. You know, he had two bad starts once against Seattle, the second time he faced them, once against Boston the second time he faced them.

As in that, I mean, you look at the game logs and he had second, third times he faced Detroit, which, you know, that's Detroit, but he had 17 strikeouts and 11 innings in those two starts. Second and third times he faced Cleveland. He only allowed three runs total in those two starts. Second, third, and fourth times he faced Kansas City. He only gave up three runs.

You know, it's the AL Central. So he's going to have multiple starts against some pretty crappy lineups. Sorry. But it was a little salty. But. Oh, gosh. Yeah, that's... I was just about to take him.

That was Reed Detmer's at the end of round 13. Gosh. Yeah, he's one that just, I feel like the price hasn't moved up to reflect the real, real upside that seems to be there. So he was in my cue for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I got to say, though, Reed Detmer's, I feel like, could be a pitcher with a big disparity between his points. Yes.

Roto and points. And roto value because six-man rotation, so he's not going to have any two-star weeks. And I think he's going to excel mostly with strikeouts above anything else, which are of, the value on them is diluted in this format to a roto league. So I'm okay passing them up. I would have been excited to take him a little later. It's,

you know, if he goes the full extent of his possible breakout is just a no questions ask. A's redemers is going to be valuable in every form, obviously. But if it's, if it just gets kind of halfway there, I think this will be his lesser format.

All right. After we saw Kenley Jansen was the last one we left off with, that was who I took my first relief pitcher. He's kind of the last closer. I feel really good about the job security and that he'll actually be pretty good when he does pitch. Claibor Torres, Anthony Rizzo, Christian Walker,

I think three great hitter values at this point in the draft in round 13. Reed Detmer's to finish off the round. And then Jose Barrios and Kodi Senga as we get into round 14. Burrios, I mean, we had that one start in the WBC where he just looked absolutely awful. and he got destroyed.

And I feel like he hasn't done anything since then. We just kind of have that lasting image in our mind. And last year, Perios was terrible. But if he gets back on track, I mean, he was someone that typically eats innings, throws quality starts, pitches for a good team in the Blue Jays. I could see it making some sense,

specifically in a head-to-head points league. So I think that's a fine pick in round 14. And then Mero Kelly. Scott, the Mount Rushmore is dwindling. Yeah. Merrill Kelly and Miles Michaelis went a couple rounds earlier, right? So I was stressing about, you know, whether, remember my first two pitchers in round six and seven, it was Zach Gallen and it was Robbie Ray, and I kind of wish somebody had taken one,

so I didn't have to take both because that's where I was thinking I'd take Gunner, Henderson, or Max Muncie. Sure enough, Muncie, and Jordan Walker go before it gets back to me. and I'm sitting here thinking, is my pitching too strong? But the upside of that is now the Mount Rushmore is going early, and I don't have to care that much because I didn't go as weak at starting pitcher as I could have gone. All right, after we saw Merrill Kelly Clay Holmes,

I took Drew Rasmussen. He was someone we talked about. On a recent podcast, we did players we haven't talked enough about. And I like Drew Rasmussen. He's kind of in a similar category as Jeffrey Springs. I just hope he gets through six innings semi-regularly, but I think when he pitches, he will be very good, at least on a per-enning basis.

Then, Chris, you took Saye Suzuki. Again, we have three IL spots in this league. But frankly, I am a little surprised that you pass on the very next pitcher that went, and that was Patrick Sandoval. Yeah, it was just Patrick Sandoval's ADP is a lot lower than this. So it was just obviously knowing that... Get your guys, Chris. Yeah, knowing the people who listen to this podcast,

are drafting with us. You know, there's a, there's always some risk there, but I, I thought I could let him go another round, and obviously I couldn't. So if I could have it back, I would assume Sayas Suzuki would have been there the next time around. And, you know, I would have felt a little better about having Patrick Sandoval and Say a Suzuki rather than just say a Suzuki. After Sandoval, Hunter Brown goes off the board and he does have relief pitcher eligibility. So much like Spencer Strider, but not nearly to the same level of. productivity. Hunter Brown is a Spark starting pitcher with relief pitcher

eligibility. So you do like them in this head to head points format. Then Luis Garcia, the pitcher for the Astros, goes. And let me just kind of set the scene here. Not that people are watching along, but we're watching. It's the WBC final. This is like...

This is fun. You could not script this better. I'm getting like actual chills about to watch this ninth inning. We're going into the ninth inning. Japan is up by one run. Shohei Otani is going to come in to close the game. Scheduled to face his teammate, Mike Trout, who is betting third in the ninth inning.

Again, down by one run for Team USA. It's going to be fun. We'll see what happens. After Luis Garcia, Mitch Hanager, who we haven't got any updates on. He's dealing with an oblique injury. He started hitting again. Okay.

I don't think he's going to be ready for opening day, but he's going to return sooner than not. And then the pick right before Scott is Jared Kelmick. So I don't think you were, I don't know if you were planning on taking him, Scott. No. Team Gensler is taking a lot of Scott. I'm going to do a pair of get your guys picks here,

but they're not so much my guys as they're this formats guys. They're both players who've walked out, look great this spring, drawing a lot of walks, have shown the potential to draw a lot of walks, in the past and have been great in the past and they happen to fill the two positions that I still have open, second

and third base. And those two players are Jonathan, India and Anthony Rendon. I love it, Scott. I really do. If they're healthy and right, this is the format where they're most likely to put up

early round production. It's a big if, but they both look great this spring. They both look great this spring. They at least look healthy this spring, unlike they were really at any point last season. Anthony Rendon's line in particular is just off the charts. Yep. So because it's this format and because I left those two positions open, I think with mostly just bench spots that I'm looking to fill out otherwise,

I'll go ahead and take the shot on them and hope that Jonathan, India and Anthony Rendon live up to the potential they've shown in the past for this format in particular. I still like where I got Tommy Edmonds got in terms of value, but if you told me I could have got Jonathan India in round 14, I probably would have went in another direction. He's somebody that I've talked about liking, and if I wait on second base, I like getting Jonathan India at this point.

Frankly, regardless of... He's more your guy than mine this year. Regardless of format, too. Look, I think he'll be good in this format. The OBP should be fine and leading off of the Reds. I think he could be a 20 and 10 guy for Cincinnati. So maybe even run a little bit more. He's got a couple of steals here in the spring.

Stolen three. Stolen three bases this spring. Jonathan, India, three stolen bases this spring. Eight walks versus four strikeouts. Yeah. And meanwhile, since, let me go ahead and mention Anthony Rendon's number since we're doing this. He was somebody, I noticed today in the box score, Scott, and I moved up in my rankings, actually, because if he's healthy, you're right.

And he's having a massive spring. I think he's hitting over 400. And he's going to be in the... He must have taken an O for today. 391, two homers. but only five strikeouts in 27 plate appearances versus four walks. Clearly looks healthy. It is the Cactus League.

And, you know, so you always have to take Cactus League stats with a grain of salt. But even prior to spring training, I was thinking Anthony Rendon is being severely overlooked at that very thin third base position just because, you know, coming off a couple injury plagued seasons. Usually when you get that second injury play season in a row, we're seeing this with Chris. sale too. People are pretty quick to write off the player. It might be premature in Rendon's case, as I believe it is in sales case. All right. Well, after Scott took Anthony Rendon, we see Jesse Winker. I think it's a fine pick. I've got him as a sleeper as well. Jake McCarthy goes off the board. Nathan Avaldi, Kristen Kossis, and Grayson Rodriguez. What happened, Chris? I wanted Grayson Rodriguez. My pitcher cue got destroyed in the last round. I actually thought you were

reacting to Tristan Casas. That's kind of it, although in this draft I did take Matt Olson, so my need at first base is less than what it usually is. But yeah, that's a little frustrating as well. But no, the Grayson Rodriguez pick, I wanted some fun pitching and missed out on some of my faves. I was thinking about it too, Chris. I don't have Grace Rodriguez anywhere yet,

and it's kind of that FOMO situation. but I don't know how many innings he's going to go on a per start basis. So again, in a points league where you won volume, I like the pick, but, you know, if you just kind of want to make yourself feel a little bit better about not getting him, that's how I would do it. For sure. That's a fair point. And, you know, I'm not sure if he's going to be the guy

who just doesn't give you a lot of innings per start or if they, you know, try to skip some starts throughout the season to keep his innings down. But yeah, I wouldn't expect to see, like, I think 150 would be a really aggressive number for Grayson Rodriguez. After Grayson Rodriguez went, we saw Chris take Ezekiel Tovar, so that's a fun pick. I took Rowdy Tellez at pick 176. I know that most people probably have filled their first base spot or we don't have a corner infield in this league. So I had a utility spot open.

I love Rowdy Telez. So why not? Yeah, there's, there have been a lot of great first base spot. values in this. I mean, Tristan Kossis in addition to Teles and we saw Christian Walker go much later than he should have. So this is, yeah, I have experienced the frustration of, oh, I used my second round pick on Shohei Otani. Can't argue with the value, the last pick of round two. Yeah. But I, there were some obvious first base values there that I would have liked to capitalize on if I still had my utility spot open. And in fact, I even, I still thought about it. Just, oh, I'll use Otani as a lot. pitcher, but obviously that's not optimal value for him. After I took Rowdy Telez, Jeremy Payne is another one. You know, typically in Roto Leagues, he'll go around pick 125. So drops about 50 spots of value here.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it at this point. Daniel Bard. I think there's something wrong with it. Yeah, Chris, let's mute that mic for a second because geez, it sounds like the cops are here doing the draft with us. Daniel Bard and Alexis Diaz, so a few more closer. who have their team's respective jobs go off the board at pick in round 15.

Here's what we'll do. We'll take one more break. This is the first break of hour two, and we'll be back right after this. March Madness enters its second week and the Ion College Basketball podcast has you covered with in-depth previews, nightly recaps, bracket check-ins,

and more as teams look to punch their tickets to the final four. Can't get enough college hoops madness, Download and follow eye on college basketball wherever podcasts are found. After Alexis Diaz, Jorge Polanco goes with the final pick of round 15. That is pick 180. So for anyone who has an upcoming draft, if you're thinking about taking a discounted Jorge Polanco because of his injury status, likely to start the season on the IL, maybe around pick 180 is the time to do it.

We are into round 16. A little live WBC update for those listening on demand. You probably are not going to enjoy this part of the podcast, but Jeff McNeil has reached base. That was that was an unbelievable at bat too. That that take on a 98 mile an hour fastball just below the zone was outrageous. Oh gosh. Well, this is not going to be great.

And mooky bets hits into a double play. And it comes down to Shohei Otani versus Mike Trout with the game on the line. Team USA down by one run. Frank, I'm about five seconds behind you. I'm going to need you to not react. I will try my best. After Polanco, we get into round 16, and we've got Martine Perez,

Oscar Colos, fun pick. J.D. Martinez, all right. I mean, that's pretty interesting. I wouldn't have taken him over Roddy Theles, but thinking about it now, in a points league, I think it's probably a pretty good pick. Jordan Montgomery is the next pick off the board, and I am up.

I think I need some more pitcher depth here. I was thinking about taking Jordan Montgomery. Let me see what other starting pitchers are left here. John Gray, somebody I do have

written up as a sleeper this season. I could take a few Marlins to piss off Chris. A couple other pitchers. No, I'm going to spare you, Chris. I'm going to go ahead and take John Gray. I wrote him up in Sleepers 1.0, so way back in January.

I liked what we saw. last year. He had a couple of rough starts towards the end of last season that really kind of inflated the ERA. But before that, he was pitching to like a mid-3s ERA. It was really the best version of John Gray that we've seen outside of course field, of course. So I do like that. And I like the fact that Jacob DeGrom is now on the same pitching staff with him. So hopefully could pick up a few things from a fellow fastball slider pitcher in DeGrom. And as soon as I brought those names up, Trevor Rogers and Edward Cabrera are the next two picks. Yeah, I didn't think Cabrera would go off the board there, but I was also not thinking about taking either one of them this round.

I was hoping I could wait a little while, but since you mentioned it, had to spur me into action. So there you go. After Edward Cabrera, Alex Cobb and DJ LaMayhew, LeMayhew, somebody I know that you like as well, Chris. Yeah, no, I think that's a good pick if you need, I mean, first base, second base, or third base there. I would prefer not to have my first basement be DJ LaMahue, but if my second or third basement are going to be DJ LaMahue this late, I think that's okay. All right.

You know who's still out there, by the way, here in round 16? Who's that? William Contreras. And interestingly, there are two teams still who need a catcher. So they're playing a little game of chicken here. Who's going to go for it first? Well, maybe they know that they could fall back on the, the newly founded Gabriel Moreno, who...

Maybe? Maybe. Who will likely see a lot of the playing time for the Diamondbacks moving forward with the injury to Carson Kelly. After DJ LeMay, who goes, Cody Bellinger at Pick 190. Scott, we're coming up on your two picks here. What are we thinking? I don't want to say what I'm thinking. Oh, yeah, because this guy is crushing you, so you probably shouldn't reveal it yet.

Okay, he picked. He picked. All right. So yeah, I'm going to, this is definitely a get your guys pick here, pick 192, a guy who I look at my starting lineup, which is now filled out, and two of the biggest vulnerabilities, I mean, one's third base, obviously, but two other vulnerabilities are second base and shortstop. This guy, if he does stick around, might become eligible at both, and I think we'll be perfectly suited for this format. Anthony Volpe. Oh! Anthony Volpe. I think he could be a stud if he sticks around

and if he doesn't stick around he should be up soon. It's just a question of how long will I be able to hold on to him? I don't know. The next pick, for my next pick, I am going, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm going to take, no,

I don't know if I'd really want to do that. Let me look at the relief pitcher situation. Okay, well in the meantime, I'm sure not many people care, but Team USA has lost. Shoah Otani struck out Mike Trout to end the game. It was a very fun tournament. I think came down to arguably the two best teams, so it made sense that Japan and USA were going up against it there in the end. I think, I thought Dominican Republic would make it further than they did, but really fun tournament. Team Japan takes it down.

Shohei Otani closing out Team USA. Noot Bar, that traitorist fiend. Oh, gosh. I also wanted to bring up what Anthony Volpe did on Tuesday. He went one for two. He was batting, it looks like, fifth in the lineup. With a good amount of the starters in there. He was batting fifth.

He went one for two with a walk and a run scored. Did he steal another base? He did. He picked up his fifth steal. So I think it's a fun pick, Scott. I mean, we're seeing other prospects go around this time. Oscar Coloss went a little bit. earlier.

I think this is probably the right time to take the chance on Volpe. I just wrote the 12 prospects, the top 12 prospects to stash at the start of the year. And I left Volpe out of it because I think his chances of making the roster that good. I mean, if you're still with the Major League Club at this point, of course they're that good. I mean, Von Grissom's already been sent down, right? So I think it's basically 50-50 between him and Oswald Paraza who makes the Yankees roster. And, you know, I was talking about Paraza a lot earlier. I think he has upside as well.

But Volpe has more upside, and especially for this format, because there's a huge plate discipline disparity between those two players, Volpe's being much better, of course. So, yeah, this shallow, once you're getting into filling out your bench spots, I think you go crazy for upside. So I ended up pairing Tony Gonslin with Volpe. Obviously going to begin the year on the IL. But when he gets back, should be a guy who racks up a lot of wins for a good Dodgers club.

And, you know, in the meantime, he's not going to have to take up a bench back because I can stash him on the aisle. Tony Gonslin, as you mentioned, Scott, starting on the aisle with an ankle injury. Last year, he had the forearm. He does have a history of shoulder. But, I mean, I pick 193, can't really argue against it, taking a shot on the upside there. After Gonslin, Tyler Malley, Sonny Gray, Noah Cindergarde, Garrett Whitlock. Whitlock has recently returned to the Red Sox, who was battling an injury earlier on in camp. and he is relief pitcher eligible. So another spark.

Yeah, I like that one. Yeah, another spark going off the board. He's been really good as a reliever, Garrett Whitlock. Not as good of a starter. So we're still waiting to see, though, that talent translate as a starting pitcher. We'll see if he could do it this season. One thing I like about Whitlock, sorry, just moving forward, you know, through the rest of draft season the next eight days or so is he's going to get sent down at some point in the next week or so.

I'm pretty sure. They're saying he's going to make a couple of turns through the rotation, at least one at AAA. So he's probably going to be a forgotten guy in a lot of ways. And I think there's a lot of upside there. I think he's a super talented player. And, you know, looked good in his first spring start. I think he's got a chance to be a very useful option,

especially as a spark. So I think that's a really good pick. After Whitlock, Brendan Donovan goes, and he's got multi-position eligibility. second base, third base, and outfield. He's looked really good so far in the spring, has talked about adding more loft to a swing and pulling the ball,

and I think he's got like three home runs. So I don't think he's going to be this big power hitter all of a sudden, but maybe some increased power from Brendan Donovan. We know he makes a lot of contact. So an interesting play there. For the Cardinals, Chris took Tyler Anderson,

so another one of the Golden Girls. Golden Girls? Golden Girls. Yeah. Thank you for. No, the Brown Rushmore, or the Four Horseman, if you prefer. Ah, or the Four Boersman. The Four Boersman. Yeah, be careful how you say that.

Yes, yes, of course. And after Chris took Tyler Anderson, I took Carlos Carrasco. Now, I'm not sure how true this is. Someone tweeted it at me, so take it with a grain of salt. I don't think we know scheduling yet or where Carasco will be in the Met's rotation. He'll either be the three or the four. But someone told me that they will open up with, Carrasco will open up with the Marlins twice and the Oakland A's.

So if you are taking Joe Musgrove and he's going to miss the first couple of weeks of the season, I think pairing him with Carlos Carrasco is a very sneaky strategy because you get those really good matchups while you're waiting for Musco to come back and you go ahead throw Carasco in your lineup. He's looked fine so far this spring. He obviously still pitches on a really good team with the New York Mets. So as long as he's healthy, I think Carrasco will pitch deep into his starts

and likely wind up with a good amount of wins this season. After I took him, Whitmeryfield, Matthew Boyd, a very sneaky pick has looked awesome so far in spring, and he has relief pitcher eligibility, and then Alec Boe. I thought about taking Boehm a while ago just as another bench bat, maybe throw him in utility with like Rowdy Telez,

but... I, even though I scoffed at Alec Boehm when we had Ariel Cohen on as a guest, I'm putting together my breakouts 1.0. I was working on that just before this podcast. Adding boom to it. Adding boom. Let's go.

To breakouts. I mean, partly just because of the needed third base, I have to find excuses to take other ones. But I like what I've been hearing. I mean, he's hit four home runs this spring. And though he hasn't made a conscious effort

to improve his launch angle, he did gain, I think it was like 10 to 15 pounds of muscle this off season and they're saying he looks they're saying they think the added strength is helping him to turn on pitches that he should

turn on better and so you're just like it's more like he's going to pull enough of the pitches he could hit out now to actually hit them out even without a big improvement in launch angle it's the example I've gone to

a lot but it's what Christian Yelitz just talked about when he started hitting for power Alex Bowman is not Christian Yal. That's even pre-breakout. But it's the idea like, I think I saw Christian Yology either. He said in an interview or he tweeted it. But, you know, he said like, I'm not trying to hit more fly balls. I'm trying to hit the ball.

I'm trying to meet the ball at the front of the plate rather than letting it drift back so I can get out in front of it. That's, that's the idea. It's in practice the same thing. But it's not a Josh Donaldson or Justin Turner or John. JD Martinez situation where he's, you know, building this upper cut swing. It's, you know, hitting the ball at a different part of the swing path. And it wouldn't take a big improvement in home runs for Bome to be a strong contributor in fantasy. Now, his walk rate was so bad last year.

I don't know if it's going to hold him back in this format, even if he does have a breakthrough. He showed good, I think he showed pretty good play discipline in the minors, if I'm remembering correctly. I don't know. Somebody could check on that. but that wasn't the case in the majors last year at all. So, but thinking of more from a five per five perspective. He was already a 290 hitter last year just by virtue of playing as often as he did. He got close to, he got between 70 and 80 runs in RBI.

So if he ups his home run total by five or six with the added runs in RBI that'll go with it, I mean, that's looking at a pretty useful player at a position where there's a great need and especially a great need at the point in the draft where Alec Bome tends to be taken. We do see some pretty big walk rates here, Scott, in the minor leagues. Yeah, I thought so. In 2018, 8.3%, 2019 at A ball, 12.9% walk rate. That's better. At high A in 2019, 9.6%.

And then at AA in 2019, 10.4%. Kind of middling walk rates in the minors. It was just playing bad in the majors last year. I don't know how much improvement Alec Bome has in that regard. but maybe some that'll help him in this format specifically. I like it though. I like it. I wrote I wrote up Alec Bohm in Breakouts 2.0 as well. So if you just... What did he do, Frank?

What's detention next? What's up? I mean, once you hear the write-up, oh, I wrote him up. Yeah. Once you make the assistant principal connection, it's, it's, I can't unhear it now. I'm sorry. Right. Alec, Bohm, what did he do? Well, he just hit a bunch of bombs so far in spring.

and so he's earned that right. After he went, Jose Urquite, at the end of round 17, and then into round 18, Jeff McNeil, Jose LaClerc, Michael Conforto, Andrew Heaney,

and I am off the board. Somebody who's gotten my attention so far this spring as well, coming off a truly awful start. He was great before that. I've kind of warmed up to Kyle Braddish, and pitching in that ballpark

out in Baltimore and Camden Yards. I think it's obviously better for left-handed pitching with that, you know, basically a big cutout in left field. But he's looked good so far, mostly good, before he got blown up on Monday.

Strikeouts have been up. He's like a popular sleeper pick around the industry, so I've been drafting more Kyle Bradish, and I think I'm going to continue doing so. And a sneaky pick... What's that metric that Enosaurus came up with? Stuff Plus? Stuff Plus. Yeah.

I know Enosaris likes Bradish. Yes, he does. And some people, like, just by virtue of Enosaris' Stuff Plus liking him, people are going to like him. But yeah, I mean, Braddish, he had a couple near-no-hitters late last season and was working deep into games consistently. The strikeout rate was lacking, but it seems like there's a potential for him to improve

in that regard. And nobody that I read seemed particularly concerned about his blow-up start last time out. So I think it's a fine pick. Well, thank you, Scott. And speaking of fine picks, I think Chris made one as well, a very sneaky pick. at Juerkson ProFar going at Pick 210, recently signed with the Colorado Rockies, and there is talk that he could lead off for the Rockies.

So someone who walks quite a bit, doesn't strike out, and you're leading off in Colorado, I think that's pretty awesome. Yeah, I said I needed some insurance at Outfield. I took Sayas Suzuki for my bench as well. Obviously, he's going to need a couple of weeks at least to get up to speed. But I think Jerkson ProFar is very good. insurance at outfield for, you know, the sort of high variance,

Giancarlo Stan, Tyler, or Neal combo. He was 19th among outfielders last year, Dirkson Profar, even not playing in Colorado. And I've talked about how Alfield was in a pretty sorry state last year for this format in particular, and that contributes to Profar being that high. But, yeah, I think it's a strong pick at this point. Thank you.

I'm going to, what am I going to do? I'm going to snatch up Lance McCullors here, sort of like the only Gonslyn pick last time. Yeah, we have three aisle spots. Okay, I wasn't sure how many we had. So two of them are going to be filled right away by Gonselin and Lance McCullors, but that's fine. That just gives me more opportunities to play the waiver wire,

and hopefully I get some nice returns come May, come what may come may and the other player I'm going to take here so we did just see Matt Chapman go Eugenio Suarez is out there if I want like a stable third base option but in a league this

shallow I'm going to aim higher than that uh oh with a bitch pick oh I'm having second thoughts now uh oh should you have taken Lance McCuller Scotty and no no no no I didn't I I don't want hmm I'm going to take Josh

young. Oh, all right. Sneaky pick. Yeah. Yeah. Go with the upside. And I think, yeah, I think we mentioned this on yesterday's podcast, but Josh Young has a sub 15% strikeout rate so far in the spring.

Last year, he had a 38% strikeout rate in the small sample returning in September, making his debut at the Rangers. So you don't put too much stock. I get it in spring training. But specifically a skill that we wanted to see improvement from. young it has paid off so far he's looked good in that regard after Scott took Josh young Eduardo Rodriguez who's having a very good spring Tyro Estrada and Javier Baez Chris were coming up go ahead the thing I like about picking Josh

young in this format in particular like 252 players are rostered in this format not a counting I L spot so it's pretty shallow I think it's gonna be pretty clear early on if Josh Young is right or not if he's fixed if he's going to have if he's going to live up

to the upside in the way we expect because strikeout rate stabilizes pretty early right if he's still striking out 30 40% of the time I can move on pretty quickly from him

not keep that not keep that bench spot occupied you know turn my attention to the other many the other many waiver wire emerging waiver wire

options so that's that's part of the reason I opted to go young there instead of maybe like an Agenio Suarez. All right, after Javier Baez, Matt Mervis, first base prospect with the Chicago Cubs,

likely going to start in the minors, I think. I think that's probably the latest there. They've got Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini, so it kind of clogs things up there for him, but he was awesome in the minors last year and had a really, really strong showing

out in the Arizona Fall League. as well. And after that, Jock Peterson and Chris, you select Rwanzi Contreras. I know this isn't the first time you've selected him either. Yeah, I'm starting to talk myself into him. I think he's got a lot of the pieces

to be a good pitcher. He's been working on the change-up this spring. I'd like to see that develop. But, you know, it's my last bench pick, so I've got two picks left, a relief pitcher and a catcher. And I'd, you know, take a little bit of an upside opportunity.

on a pitcher there. All right, so I also took a starting pitcher who has relief pitcher eligibility. It is Nick Martinez, who will be in the Padres rotation, followed by Austin Meadows, and a potentially very sneaky pick here in Jared Schuster, who's battling out for the Braves' fifth starter job.

And the latest, Scott, you said that you think Schuster is the leading candidate. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of just going on their last start. he struck out seven in, I think, just a little over four innings against the Red Sox. I mean, Dillon Dodd was good too. But they're going to have to settle on one eventually. Unless they decide to begin the year with Kyle Wright on the IL, he made his spring debut, I believe it was Monday.

The results weren't great. But they've been saying all the long right should be ready to go for his first turn. So I don't imagine that's going to change. and I don't think Schuster or Dot is on the 40-man roster so they probably will just go with one and my guess is Schuster but it could change all righty well after Schuster

I was going to save this guy for my last pick but I guess that's not happening because Trevor Story goes who will likely miss the first two maybe three months probably closer to three months first half of the season for Trevor Story he is returning from an elbow injury. He had the internal brace put in, right?

Is that what it was for story, or did he have straight up? Yeah, he had kind of the Tommy John half measure. Right. Yep. So. Which is becoming more of a thing. It's a little surprising Harper didn't try that. It might have not been, you know, you need a specific type of tear.

But yeah, it's supposedly allows you to come back a little quicker. So that's the hope here. By the way, we're in the, the second to last round here. William Contreras is still there. That's because it's a one catcher league. Ten teams have a catcher. Two don't.

And yeah, me and one other guy are... I guess what you're saying is you feel just as good about Gabriel Moreno as William Contreras. Not necessarily. Although I think in this format it's entirely possible that Gabriel Moreno ends up being a little better just because, you know, Contreras, big power, big strikeout numbers. So, you know, we'll see. We'll see. The last pick of round 19 was Kent to Maeda, who has struggled this spring.

I still kind of think he's a sneaky pick, but I do want to see him kind of get better as we get closer to this season. Let's take our final break, but when we return, we'll catch you up on the latest picks. And one of them was William Contreras. We'll be right back. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. Make sure to download and follow our five-minute podcast. see baseball today in five wherever you listen to podcasts. Starting off round 20, a Eugenio Suarez, the aforementioned William Contreras. Was this one of the teams that actually needed a

catcher? Yes. All right, because it would have been really something, it would have been something if it was another team that just grabbed the second catcher, wouldn't it? That would have been pretty funny, but it didn't happen. And yeah, now I'm, unless Frank wants to take Cabreroe Moreno. Nope. I'm going to. That's what I'm saying. The fact we talked about it,

I halfway wondered if somebody would do it just to get a reaction. You know, take a second catcher. Yeah, no, I'm pleased that I ended up with Gabriel Moreno. Obviously, I'm not 100% convinced he's going to be a great player. But, you know, being able to wait until my second to last pick and get a guy with his kind of talent, I'm happy about that. All right. First base values continue, by the way,

because here with the third pick of round 20, Josh Bell. It's a really good pick. I thought about it for a while, just taking him as a bench bat and maybe shuffling through him and Rowdy Tellez as my utility, but really good in a points format too.

I mean, yeah, so he wasn't even that great last year by the standards we've seen Josh Bell being the past. His point per game average was the same as Nate Lowe in Rowdy to Les in this format because he walks so much and strikes out

so little. Did you see who's still out there though? I mean, I know we're all kind of out on C.J. Crone, but CJ Crone might go undrafted in this league. Yeah, I know. I don't think I want to use my last bench spot on him.

But it is... I mean, it... If nothing else, you play him at home. It does speak to the depth of first base in the league this shadow. that Josh Bell could go in the second to last round here. Okay, so CJ Grun just went. We don't have the embarrassment of me having to explain

in the mock draft results why CJ Grown didn't win. So that's, thank you for that. But like, still some very good players out there. Nico Horner, Ahmed Rosario, you know, guys that get drafted. Yeah. Yeah, they typically do. I want to ask you guys about the pick that I made and someone that like Kyle Bridges is really great.

throwing on me this spring, battling for the Mets fifth starter job. And it's David Peterson with Jose Gittana out the first two or three months of the season. It's Peter Peterson versus McGill. McGill got blown up and relieved the other day. David Peterson so far this spring, 12 shutout innings, one hit allowed, eight walks, it's way too many, 13 strikeouts. So, man, one hit allowed and 12 innings pitched. What do you guys think about David Peterson as a late round sleeper?

It's fine. I did like him last June when he started throwing his slider more. He was somebody I wrote about in the Waver Wire column for a couple weeks there. And I think there's some talent. It's going to take throwing enough strikes and optimizing his pitch selection. Yeah, 47% whiff rate on his slider. It's just that's kind of all he's got. And I'm not sure he's better than Tyler McGill, but, you know, it's a,

I think either of those guys is an interesting later on flyer. After I took David Peterson, Chris winds up with his man crush. Gabriel Moreno, pick 234. It's just fantastic value. Brett Beatty also think that's a fun pick. CJ Crone, Garrett Mitchell, Taiwan Walker. Brett Beatty has had a good spring. He got extended playing time because Eduardo Escobar was out at the WBC.

Chris, I'm just trying to figure out if Brett Beatty does make the Mets team, how do they kind of configure all? all of this. Do they play Brett Beatty at third base? Do they just slide Eduardo Escobar over to DH and kind of use Daniel Vogelbach situationally? What do you think in there? All of the above. Beatty, I think, has some experience at a corner outfield spots in the minors as well. I know they've worked him out there at least. So, you know, he's someone that like, if he forces his bat into the lineup, they'll figure it out. And, you know, if Eduardo Escobar has to lose playing time or or Dan Vogelbach, like, I don't think that's the worst thing in the world.

It all comes down to, like, if Brett Beatty hits enough to make it worth it, it won't really matter. You know, they'll figure it out. And from our perspective, you know, Edwardo Esquhar, I don't want to say he has no appeal. And same for Dan Vogelbach, but there are much more deep league options than anything else. Wow, let's go meds, huh? Because I just realized I have Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, and David Peterson. Also, my hitters, I mean, I'm really going to be focused in on the Dodgers, the Blue Jays, and the Cardinals. I have multiple hitters on each of those three teams.

So, all right, well, hope they're good. A couple other picks after Taiwan Walker, Michael Massey goes one pick before Scott. And then you are up with Kibrian Hayes. So another kind of interesting third-d-case pick. So, yes, I decided to take three. three bites at the apple in the hopes of getting a breakout third baseman, in part because people left them out there. Cabrine Hayes, sort of like Alec Boehm, has shown more power this spring.

He's always hit the ball hard. He just put it on the ground too much, similarly to Boehm. And this spring, I think he has three home runs. So there's still that chance that maybe he could break through. Obviously, I don't think it's a high percentage chance. but between Brian Hayes, Anthony Rendon,

and Josh Young, I think I gave myself a chance of having a pretty good third basement and hopefully that can sort itself out early so they don't occupy

so much of my roster space. Because right now, I only have five healthy starting pitchers just enough to fill the lineup. I am going to put Tony Gonselin and Lance McCullors

on the IL right away and probably pick up two starting pitchers immediately, probably be a match-up situation. But, you know, it's weird to come out of a head-to-head points draft with only five healthy starting pitchers. Definitely not what I'm used to.

Meanwhile, I paired Kibbrien Hayes with Scott Barlow here. That's my second relief pitcher here in the last round. And this is what I'm talking about. I mean, Scott Barlow, we have some doubts about his ability to fend off a role to Chapman all season, but he's perfectly fine closer. And here he is available in the last round because it's a head-to-head points leagues

where every team only has, you know, for the whole league, 24 relief pitcher spots to fill. Some are going to put sparse there. And you just don't have to stress that much about closers, I don't feel like. All right. Well, after Scott Barlow, we saw, we see Graham Ashcraft off the board. Ryan McMahon, Von Grissom, recently sent down by the Braves.

But obviously, you could choose to stash him and wait on the upside of a Von Grissom, though he is better in a categories league. after that, Ian Hap, Drey Jameson, we're still waiting to find out if it will be Drey Jameson or Ryan Nelson for the final relievers, final starter spot for the Diamondbacks.

Chris, you took Paul Seawald as I believe, is that your first reliever or second? That's my second. Okay, to my last pick, so it would have to be my second reliever. I got Emmanuel Class A back in the sixth round, fifth round, so yeah, I think that'll work. Okay.

I'm going to go ahead and so I took Nick Martinez a little bit earlier as a SPARP and I'm going to go ahead and take his teammate as well someone either tweeted at us or emailed us in asking about Seth Lugo who is going to be in the Padres rotation

at least to start the year and he has a relief pitcher eligibility so I'm just hoping between those two one of them emerges and is fine if nothing else they pitch for a really good team so maybe they wind up with some wins but what do you think about Seth Lugo, he's looked pretty good so far this spring.

I don't think there's a ton of upside there. I think he'll be worth streaming at times, especially since he is RP eligible. But he's below the threshold of SPARP that I'm interested in because I just, like I'd rather have a Scott Barlow level closer, unless it's, you know, two-star week or something. I'd rather have a Scott Barlow level closer in that RP spot. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see

if Seth Lugo can get back to being a multi-inning pitcher because he hasn't really done that in, he kind of did in 2020. He had 36 innings and 16 appearances, seven of them starts. But you know, you really have to go back to 2018. So it's going to be interesting because he's been a very good reliever, obviously, you know, for the most part outside of 2020, the one year he was used in multi-inning roles.

He's been very good. So, you know, he's an interesting pitcher. I do tend to be intrigued by the idea of guys who go to the bullpen, see a big jump in stuff, and then come back to the rotation. I always think that's an interesting profile, but, you know, obviously it's the kind of situation where if he makes one start, goes two innings and doesn't look good, you can just drop him in this league. In Seth Lugo's most recent spring start, he did go four innings, only through 26 pitches. So that was just incredibly efficient. Going up against the Oakland A's, I guess that'll happen. But yeah, we've got to see that pitch count get up a little bit.

If not, then maybe we're talking about some kind of piggyback situation with Seth Lugo. You know, if he doesn't build up before the season starts, I'll probably just wind up dropping him. But for now, got him and Nick Martinez as my second relief pitcher spot to go along with Kenley Jansen, who is my RP1. after I took Seth Lugo, Spencer Torkelson, Marcel O'Suna, and Brady Singer. I mean, I know we don't really get it with Brady Singer,

but pick 251, final round of the draft. He was obviously the best pitcher left. Yeah, why not? And we are... Well, there are some other decent ones. I think I'll have a nice selection off the waiver wire once I am, the colors and Gonsland.

And we end the draft with an auto draft. David Robertson is, is mystery relevant. Could turn out to be very relevant. But a job well done. Give yourself a round of applause to the listeners who participated in this draft. Fun drafts. I think they gobbled up a lot of the players that we like, which normally happens in a format like this. But again, a 12-team Head Ted Points League, a lot of fun. You know, it took me about two hours to mention this, but we should probably give last year's champion some credit. Do you guys remember who it was? it was Frank

Stamphle This league doesn't really even count so you know Did this person not want David Robertson He wanted Craig Kimberl So I'm just fixing that Oh all right so Craig Kimbril's Mr. Irrelevant

Not David Robertson Forget everything I said about David Robertson Craig Kimbril last pick of the draft Give yourself a rounds of a pause And yes Congratulations to our winner from last year His name is Frank Stanful Let's go through each of our team

real quick and then we'll wrap this bad boy up. Thank you for those still out here watching us late on a Tuesday night, two hours into the live stream. And we'll start off with Scott's team drafting first overall. J.T. Rue Muto at Catcher, followed by Paul Goldschmidt, Jonathan, India,

Anthony Rendon, Danesby Swanson, Aaron Judge, Taylor Ward, Corby Carroll, and Shohei Otani as the hitters. Slide over to the pitchers. We've got Chris Sale, Robbie Ray, Zach Gallen, Joe Ryan, and George Kirby. The relief pitchers, Felix Bautista, and Scott Barlow. On the bench, Lance McCullors, Key Brian Hayes, Tony Gonslin, Josh Young, and Anthony Volpe. So lots of upside on the bench here, Scott.

Two injured players in McCullors and Gonsolin. You triple-taps third base late, just hoping that you could find somebody who fills into that spot. What do you think? Once again, didn't work out. Didn't work out. Picking first overall. How do you feel about it? How do you feel about the way it turned out, you know, waiting on second and third base?

I mean, India was great value. What do you think of the team? Well, hypothetically, I mean, if India was who he was last year wasn't such a great value. It's, I didn't build, like, I don't think I was able to optimize value up and down my lineup. Like, I think I was forced to take some deeper positions earlier, rather than the scarcer positions I would have liked to take, like, third base. And for a format this shallow, I'd consider second base. one of the scarcer positions because obviously there's a higher standard

that you have to meet to measure up to your competition. So, you know, Goldschmidt and Otani, a DH in a first baseman with my second and third picks, not optimal. And I, for not taking my starting pitcher, my first starting pitcher until round six,

I went Zach Gallin and Robbie Ray at the six-seven turn. For waiting that long to take a starting pitcher, I wish my starting lineup looks stronger. I'm not saying it looks weak. It doesn't. Especially when, oh, my utility player's Otani. You can't ask for a better one than that. That kind of helps to make it better.

Obviously, I got the best catcher in JT Real Muto. I got, I think, the best overall player in Aaron Judge. But I look at India at second base and Anthony Rendona, third base, out of two out of nine hitter spots and think, oh, that could go really poorly for me. I am happy with the way I was able to mitigate the risk there by getting Josh Young and Kibbrien Hayes. Fingers crossed one of the three, them or Rendon,

turns out to be a top 10-ish third baseman. I think it's possible in all three cases. It's possible they could maybe even be more than that. But it's not the degree of comfort I'm looking for at that position in a league this shallow. I also like that I got Anthony Volpe. Anthony Volpe, I feel like if he does make the Yankees roster, if he doesn't, it's going to be hard to hold on to him.

But if he does make the Yankees roster, he's going to be pretty close to must start. It's hard to say that about a 20-year-old rookie, but he's just so disciplined and contributes in so many ways that I think I'm willing to say that about Anthony Volpe. So that might have been my favorite pick of the draft. and I'm almost hoping it's a situation where he plays more second base instead of shortstop

so that I have the India insurance in addition to Swanson insurance at shortstop because he comes in, Fulpe comes in with shortstop eligibility already. The weirdest thing about my team is, like I said, only five active starting pitchers Gonsolin and McCuller is going to begin the year on the I.L. It is kind of six, though, right?

Because if I really get in a bad spot, I can shift Otani over, stick one of those bats in the utility spot. Not what I'm looking to do, but it is there as an emergency measure, should I find myself with an emergency situation? Scott, in hindsight, we kept talking about William Contreras and Gabriel Moreno, those two lasting so late into the draft. Would you have rather waited at catcher? And I just look back at the results. At the four or five turn, you had an opportunity to draft Jazz Chisholm. I know that typically you're not on Chisholm this year, but a more proven or I guess upside-y type second basement

compared to India, is that something that you would have done differently in hindsight? No, I don't think so. I do find Jazz Chisholm very risky. I don't find Rio Muto that risky. And I wanted a game changer with that early pick. I think Rio Muto is a game changer. In this format,

I think it's I think I think I think rushman is the only real threat to real Muto's number one overall status and of course it takes Rushman taking a step forward so yeah I love the late catcher values for William Contreras especially but it it ultimately comes down to I didn't like my alternatives at the point I picked Rio Muto I'm not wild about taking Real Muto in a one catcher league but it was at the four or five turn and I wasn't wild about much of anyone else there either. All right. Well, let's slide over to Chris's team who was drafting seventh overall in this draft and got Gabriel Moreno as his catcher

followed by Matt Olson at first base. Marcus Semyon, Gunner Henderson, Fernando Tatis, John Carlos Stanton, Tyler O'Neill and Ronald de Cunia in the outfield, Ezekiel Tovar at Utility. So you can slide him over to shortstop while you wait for Fernando Tatis to return.

I've already done that. Yep. And then in the pitching staff, You've got Trista McKenzie, Shane, Hunter Green, Kyle Wright, and Pablo Lopez, the relievers, Emmanuel Class A, and Paul Sewell, on the bench, Jirkson Pro Far, Tyler Anderson, Rowanzee Contreras, Trevor Rogers, and Sayas Suzuki. You mentioned during the draft, Chris, that this was a FOMO-type draft where you were just taking players that you haven't drafted yet and just have this fear that they're going to go off this year.

How do you think it turned out? I'm really happy with this team. I think the offense is incredibly strong pretty much everywhere. The only problem, obviously, is when Fernando Tatis is out. And then, you know, there are some question marks between Tyler O'Neill and John Carlos Stanton in outfield, although I think, you know, Seizuqi, if he can get back quickly, he was someone that I had in my initial breakouts column. I do think there's another step he can take.

So I feel pretty good that I'm going to have three good outfielders. I feel pretty good about every spot in my lineup, except for catcher probably with Gabriel Moreno, but even there, I think there's a lot of upside, as we talked about with Carson Kelly, suffering a fractured forearm. Pitching is not the strongest staff that I've ever put together, but with Bieber and McKenzie and Cow Right,

I think I've got three guys I feel pretty good about, you know, the quality of innings that I'm going to get. Hunter Green has a lot of upside, obviously, and Pablo Lopez, one of my favorite late breakout candidates. So I'm pretty happy with this squad. There were a few spots where, you know, if I'm sure if I went back through the draft, I might prefer to take one guy over another,

you know, maybe passing on a manual class A and getting another pitcher is one. But I, uh, all in all, I'm pretty happy with the squad. Yeah, I think it's a pretty fun team as well. We'll wrap up with mine.

I drafted right behind Chris at eighth overall and wound up with Will Smith as my catcher, followed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Tommy Edmund, Max Muncie, Trey Turner. In the outfield, I've got George Springer, Adoli Scarcia, and Lars Nupar, Rowdy Tellez at Utility. Spence a little bit more on pitching than the rest of these guys. Got Max Scher, Kevin Gosman, Joe Musgrove, who will likely miss the first one or two starts

of the season. Jeffrey Springs and Jurasmuson, two of my, two Tampa Bay pitchers that I've been drafting quite a bit. Relievers, I've got Kenley Jansen and Nick Mark. Martinez as a SPARP. And then on the bench, I loaded all up on pitching. Carlos Carrasco, John Gray, Seth Lugo, who's a SPARP, David Peterson hoping he wins the Mets Fifth Starter Job, and Kyle Braddish. First thing I notice, and I think it's no surprise. The offense is not nearly as good as you guys. I don't think that there's necessarily a hole. I still like it. I like your offense considering you invested heaviest in pitching. I think, I don't think there's a hole. you were saying. Yep.

And I think you got upside in the areas where you were weak. Yeah, I mean, specifically in the outfielder, in the outfield, I kind of waited a little bit. Dolis Garcia just lasted so late until the draft, happy to do that. Lars Neupar, look, I was happy with the pick.

It was a get your guys pig. I took them a little bit early, but I'm still just thinking about passing on Luis Severino for Lars Neupar. Severino would have been my SP4. I don't know how that's going to turn out. I might regret doing that. And there was a lot of really interesting outfielders later on, too.

So we'll see how it's a strong staff, though. I mean, even passing up Louis Severino, like I said, you went heaviest on starting pitcher. I think you had two before Chris or before either of us took one. You already had two, Frank. So you definitely made the strongest investment in pitching. And so I think you can forgive yourself for that. I think Newt Barr rounds out your team nicely. Yeah.

If it comes through with the playing time and with the performance, which is, of course, a big if, but we all like the upside there. So I think it was a good job. I don't know if you brought up Severino's performance when that happened. So he's had a terrible spring serving up tons of home runs, but he bounced back very strong in this latest start. I think he allowed a home run in the first inning.

But his slider looked crisp. Yeah, it's interesting. He's going to be fine. He's, you know, remember last year he was starting that cutter. I don't think he's thrown that at all this spring. He's gone back to just fastball slider and change, which was partially a change he made towards the stretch run last year as well. But that's interesting because the slider's obviously been his money pitch.

And I had a tweet early on Tuesday because the first pitch that he served up, or not first pitch, but first battery face, Kerry Carpenter blasted a home run to right field. And I tweet out, oh, well, here we go again. It's been kind of a rough spring for Severino. Then he settles down, winds up with nine strikeouts, yeah. Nine strikeouts. And I think he threw a slider 38% in this start. Someone tagged me in a tweet that apparently he was just purposely working on that slider,

working on that slider. So, you know, maybe some of them got hit a little bit hard. But just a reminder that with some veteran guys, they're working on stuff. You know, they're throwing new pitches. They're throwing a lot of the same pitch over and over to get a, good feel for it. So I think that's just a good reminder with Luis Severino and I think it'll be a fine. And after his last start, I guess he was asked about all the home runs he was allowed and he was like, and he basically laughed it off and said it won't be like that during the regular season.

So yeah, if hopefully this this latest spring start will alleviate any concerns. People may have had about him. At least performance wise. Yeah, there's still still innings concerns for sure. tell you what, Scott, it's not easing my concern right now because I'm a little bit upset that I passed on Luis Severino, but we'll see what happened. I think it's going to be a fun season and a really fun league. Again, that was our 12 team head to head points listener league, and we are going to wrap there. For Scott and Chris, I am Frank. Thanks as always for watching and listening fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.