Fantasy Baseball Today - Live Roto Mock Draft! (04/02 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 2, 2020

We're doing a 12-team Roto mock draft, where Frank surprises everybody by taking Jacob deGrom with the fourth overall pick. Find out why starting pitchers actually went later than anticipated. How did we approach steals? How will Scott get saves? Does the season being delayed drastically change player values? '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: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! 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. One, one pitch, basketball pulled, and cast Alvarez and twilight. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. All right, welcome to Fantasy Baseball today, everybody.

Thursday, April 2nd. It's a big day because not only am I joined by my compod. Scott White, Chris Towers, and Adam Azer. But for the first time since I've joined the podcast, we're doing a live mock draft today on the show. 12 teams, roto format, five outfielders, two catchers, nine pitcher spots. I am pumped.

Chris Towers, what did you eat for lunch today? Some bagel bites. I'm actually a little concerned by how often I'm eating bagel bites. Day three of bagel bites for Chris Towers. Quarantine, bro. Hey, Frank, you're on the clock, man. You got the fourth pick, trout, yellow to cunia. What did you just do?

What did you just do? I just took Jacob de Grom. That is the voice of Adam Azer. Adam, how's everything going? I stunned right now that you took Jacob. I've never seen Jacob to Graham go forth in a roto league. Yeah, you're going to have to explain yourself now. Way to derail the show, Frank.

I didn't plan that, I swear. No, look, when it comes to Jacob de Grom, I just think in the second and third round, you can get first round caliber offensive players. I really do believe that. And I think that, especially with all the, the starting pitchers dropping like flies. We've lost Chris Sale.

We've lost Severino. We've lost Noah Cindergarde. I think Jacob de Grom, the last three seasons, a 253 ERA, 0.97 whip, 763 strikeouts in 622 in a third innings pitch, back to back Cy Young Awards. He's durable over 30 starts, three straight seasons, over 200 inning pitch, pitched three straight seasons. And personally, I think guys like Shane Bieber, Strasbourg, Jack Flaherty are overdrafted this year going in the second and third round.

So I like the hitters that I can get on the turn coming back my way. I had the fourth overall pick and I have no problem taking Jacob de Grom that early. But he had like 70 fewer strikeouts than Garrett Cole. Why'd you go with him over Cole? That's the only question for me is I don't have a problem with taking a pitcher there. I just, I would rather take Cole than DeGrom. Yeah, it's just the unknown factor. It's just moving over to a new environment.

It's obviously a smaller ballpark. and Jacob de Grom in his career with the Mets has pitched so well in city field. And if anyone wants to hold the argument of wins against Jacob de Grom, I think that's a little bit foolish because, you know, you can't predict wins. He's pitched about as well as anybody can over the past three seasons. And, you know, wins are out of his hand. So I think, you know, if the Mets can up that run support, we could be looking at 15-ish wins.

And they were, they were a good team last year. They weren't a great team, but it's not like they won 60 games. All right, guys, we're getting left into dust here. Yeah, we already got a round in here. All right, yeah, we're getting left in the dust. As Scott mentioned, first pick off the board, Mike Trout, Christian Yellich, then Ronald DeCunia, the top three, that's obvious. I ended up taking Jacob de Grom.

Cody Bellinger goes fifth overall. Mookie Betts, no surprises thus far. Trey Turner at seven, Garrett Cole at eight to Chris Towers, Alex Bregman to Scott White, Trevor Story at pick 10, Francisco Lindor. at 11 and then Max Schurzorz to rounds out the first round. So, you know, Garrett Cole to Chris Towers there and Alex Bregman to Scott. Alex, I just called you Alex, Scott White. Alex Breggman, someone that we know excels in points leagues, but you still like him in Roto here. You took him in the first round. You're actually on the clock right now. So you can talk about your first pick and make

your second pick as well. Yeah. So Alex Bregman, I mean, he's a stud at everything but steals, right? Obviously points league because of the play discipline, but even in this format, it's just the steals where he lags. And he's not far removed from being like a 15 steel guy with Dusty Baker as his manager. I think it's certainly feasible he gets back there. But ninth overall pick with the dual eligibility, I don't think that's required. I love him at the end of round one. It's amazing to me his ADP is like 13th overall and he's falling to round two. So I was happy. to take him there. Now, with the fourth pick of the second round, 16 overall, the big three starting pitchers are gone, right? DeGrom, who you took, Garrett Cole, who Chris took, and Max Scherzer

went at the turn. Justin Verlander's still there. By the time this season eventually gets started, Justin Verlander should be fully healthy, right? That's what I'm assuming. And back before he was injured with anything, he was going a lot earlier than this. So I'm happy to take him here midway through round two. Yeah, and by the way, Walker Bueller actually went one pick before Justin Verlander. And so that means for me, I'm up in a few picks. If I want to do my Roto strategy, which is, well, no, I can't do it. I can't do it.

It's not going to happen. Two top six pitchers, Ben Hader, then Paxton, and a bunch of saves. It's off the board. So picking second is great. I mean, I'll get one of the top three players, but I will have to have a more conventional team most likely. Anyway, sorry, Frank, if you want to catch us up on round two. Yeah, so in round two so far, Jose Ramirez went at pick 13, then Juan Soto, Walker Bueller at pick 15, as we mentioned, Justin Verlanders, Scott, Freddie Freeman to Chris Towers to pair with his

Garrett Cole, Nolan Aronado at 18, Fernando Tatis last until pick 19, Bryce Harper to Tim McLeod at 20. I took J.D. Martinez and then the very next pick was Jack Flaherty. That's been the second round thus far. Chris, why don't you catch us up on what you've done? You took Garrett Cole at pick eight and then you took Freddie Freeman in

round two as your first hitter. Yeah, unfortunately I got sniped both on the way in and then on the second way in by Scott. And I was fully ready to take Trey Turner at number eight overall. I was fully ready to take Justin Verlander at number what, 17? overall.

16. Oh yeah. 16 overall. 17. So I ended up having to go with Garrett Cole at number eight, which, hey, that's perfect.

Yeah, Garik Cole at number eight, which is perfectly fine. He's, you know, arguably the best pitcher in fantasy this year. Wait, so you were going to start pitcher pitcher if Rlander was there?

You were going to go, Col Verlander? Yeah. Yeah, I just wanted to see what it would look like. I would have done it because then I would have, you know,

then I would have done my, what the heck was my, tap-hap AMC. I did do that in out wars. I went Cole Bieber and that's a 15 teamer. And I was still happy with the way my team turned out, but I know I have a lot higher tolerance for the way my hitting's going to look than you do, Chris. So that's interesting that you'd at least consider it. I assume you'd take a long break from pitching after that point though. Yeah, I wouldn't have taken another pitcher probably until I filled

out most of my starting hitting lineup after that. But, you know, now I'm kind of got a little bit of flexibility moving forward. I can kind of go in either way, but knowing me, I'll probably just take a lot of hitters. Catching people up here after Chris took Frey Freeman, as I mentioned, we had Aronado, Tatis, Rice Harper. I took J.D. Martinez with Pick 21, and he's one of those hitters that I think still provides near first round talent. To me, I think he's like a very similar player to, you know, Nolan Aronado. And look, in a deeper league, though, I think you can argue those players are near first round picks. So to get Jacob de Grom and then get J.D. Martinez here in the second round, I think someone 40 home runs, 100 plus RBI solid runs as well. And I'm on the clock now and I actually took

Starling Marte. So to give myself a base of power batting average in both Marte and J.D. Martinez. And now I have some speed with likely 25 to 30 stolen bases. The rest of the picks in the second round, Jack Florety went at 22. Adam Azer took Mike Clevenger at 23, Ozzie Albee. my man, Ozzy Albies, 24. And then to start off the third round, we had Rendon and Blackman. So Adam, through three rounds, you have Christian Yellich, Mike Clevenger, and Charlie Blackman. I know that you are the Charlie Blackman advocate. Like, he's your guy. Charlie Blackman is your guy and you have one ace as well with Mike Levenger. I don't really see. I could have two, three, 15 or better hitters. I don't know if I'll get that from Blackman, but it wouldn't be a shock. But Yellich and Blackman. I think they're both probably going to hit over 300. He had 314 last year. I mean, I expect him to be a little bit worse, but he's going to hit over 300. So was Yelich. So I'm in great shape and batting average, which is a really difficult category. I felt that I don't really

love Starling Marte, because I just don't buy what he did as a hitter last year. So I felt it was too early for the steals guys. I wasn't going to take Adelberto Mondesie where I took Blackman, which was what, 26th overall. And then Clevenger, because he was hurt when we were originally drafting and wasn't going to be ready for the start of the season, you know, he to me is the seventh pitcher, right? You got your big four, you got Bueller and you got Flaherty, in my opinion, and then Clevenger was basically as good. He was amazing last year.

So I took him 23rd overall. So that gives me Yelich, Blackman, and Clevenger. I mean, I like the start. I don't think I did anything too fancy. I just would like to say that Aronado Freeman and J.D. Martinez in round two are such easy picks to make because they're the right picks to make. You know, can compare them to Bryce Harper who went in that same range. It was four picks in a row, was Freeman Aronado Harper, J.D. Martinez.

Actually, Tatis was in there too. Harper is a, maybe, you know, he's not a very good batting average guy. So the other three are probably 300 hitters. Those are really solid picks in round two. Yeah, so I was actually targeting J.D. Martinez or Bryce Harper. I was hoping either one of those players made it back to me. And you're right about the batting average for Harper. I think he can improve somewhat this year.

We saw that in the second half when he cut down on the strikeouts last year. But I think, you know, Bryce Harper 270, 275, I think is within the range of outcomes for him. So after Adam took Charlie Blackman, we saw Shane Bieber go off the board, Starling Marte to me at Pick 28, Jose Altuve, Stephen Strasbourg, Ketel Marte, Raphael Devers to Chris Towers, Patrick Corbyn's, Scott White, Luis Castillo, and then Lucas Gialito right now. We're at pick. We're rounding out the third round. Chris, Ravi Devers at 32. I mean, it's early in the draft.

I think that's an argument for steal of the draft so far. Sorry to jump in there. Because it's funny. I mean, I don't agree with that. I just, I thought, I was surprised Chris took him, because I thought that Chris would have felt it was a little too risky. Chris Chris did you leave

Are you having a pizza bagel again A bagel bite or whatever I had my mic muted I apologize It is It is a little bit It is a little bit risky We've only got one season

Of Rafael Devers performing at this level Although You know In his case It's a lot like You know One of the things we've talked about With those Astros hitters

Is a lot of them Were super hyped Prospects who came up and hit right away. And that's a big part of why we're not necessarily skeptical that a guy like Alex Bregman's going to suffer from, you know, whatever impact might happen from not being able to, you know, bang on a trash can and steal something. I think something sort of similar with Raphael Devers, where he's such a, he was such a good prospect. He was such an obvious top prospect. This was kind of what we thought he would be. and so it makes it a little easier to buy into in my opinion you know it it's also you're not buying what he did last season at this price he was like a top six hitter last year yeah yeah i mean the regression is almost baked into his price right now we're going to have to have the extensive rafel devers uh talk at some point i might have to debate at him on this one because i'm much higher on raffi devors i think you can argue he's a top 24 player i like rhodos i like

Don't get me wrong, but, you know, he was really, really bad two years ago. Huge bust. After Devers went Patrick Corbyn to Scott White, Luis Castillo, Lucas Gialito, and then Yurdan Alvarez rounds out round three. And then we saw to start round four, Keston Heura, we know the position scarcity at second base. Adelberto Mondesi, stolen base upside is massive, but could be a batting average liability. Aaron Judge, I mean, I don't understand why people are still drafting Aaron Judge. I know the season delayed should help Aaron Judge, but this is just mystifying to me. And then Scott White takes George Springer.

So Scott, catch us up on what you're doing so far. You have, you took Patrick Corbyn and George Springer with your third and fourth round picks. Yeah, yeah, I almost took Jordan Alvarez there in round three instead of Corbyn, but I was kind of rolling the dice thinking he could make it back to me. in round four. Clearly, he didn't. I ended up going with George Springer in round four. I don't like him as much as Jordan Alvarez, but he does at least fill the spot as opposed to just taking up that utility spot.

And considering Castillo and G. Alito went right after Corbyn. I don't know. I don't know. I'm torn whether I should have just gone with Alperes there. But it probably won't make a huge difference. I considered going with the Steel Specialist instead of Spring. just because I don't have any steals yet, really, and the early rounds are, you want to try and secure some in the early rounds.

Chris went with Jonathan VR immediately after my George Springer pick. That was the main guy I was considering. It just seemed like Springer was just a little bit too high end of a bat to sacrifice that for some steals. But I'm going to struggle for steals from this point forward. Yeah, I'm not totally confident with the direction I've gone here. Yeah, that's the problem is trying to rack up stolen bases in a Roto league early. And that's why, you know, I wound up potentially pulling someone like Starling Marte up the board. But if you don't address stolen bases, you know, within the first five, six, seven rounds,

I mean, you're going to end up drafting some guys later on who will give you steals, but will probably hurt you in other areas as well. So catching people up here after you took George Springer at pick 40. You mentioned Chris took Jonathan V.R. Homer. Zach Granky, the next pick at 42. Glaver Torres at 43. I think that's a good value as well. Austin Meadows at 44.

I took Charlie Morton at 45 and then Pete Alonzo at 46. Chris, I'm just kidding about the Homer pick. I mean, we're talking about stolen bases. Jonathan V.R., even if you have questions about the playing time, they haven't really settled on where he's going to play. It sounds like center field. Yeah. He's still going to give you 30 plus stolen bases.

I think that's a pretty safe. floor for him. Yeah, I think the expectation should be around 40. And there's there's upside beyond that, but it's, you know, it's obviously hard to say that he'll do that. The one thing that you have to be worried about, well, two things you have to be worried about with him. It's not so much the playing time on VR's part, because I don't think the Marlins have enough good players to take him out of the lineup. The question is whether he gets traded to a contender that doesn't play him every day at some point in the second half of the season. But, you know, comparing him to Adalberto Mondesie, I think Mondesies probably got more upside as a hitter, but I think VR is a safer bet to not kill you

in batting average. I'm not convinced Mondesie's going to hit for power coming back from the shoulder surgery. And, you know, Monadice should steal more bases, but I think he's just a riskier player. So VR, I have a really strong base with my offense with Freddie Freeman and Raphael Devers, who will hit for power, drive and runs, score runs, and hit for average. So now it's Jonathan VR. I'm not hurting as much by, you know, the potential for his batting average to be low. And I'm sure you can argue that I've made a ton of mistakes in his draft already, but I made one pivotal mistake.

And I'll talk about that in a little bit here as I catch you up on what's happening. So after VR, we saw Granky, Labor Torres, Austin Meadows. I took Charlie Morton, Pete Alonzo. Adam took wit Merrifield, Javier Baez went at pick 48 to round out pick four, and then to start the fifth round, we've seen Bobichette, Josh Hader, Zander Bogartz, Mani Machado, Matt Olson, and Clayton Kirshaw. And I think the mistake that I made here is I really- You've got to have to get into that.

Oh, gosh. We need to. You're right. Rankings debate next week. I've got to defend my Mani Machado love now. as well. I wanted Javier Baez badly, but I also love Charlie Morton. So I probably should have taken Javier Baez in the fourth. And to me, even if Charlie Morton would have went between my fourth and fifth round pick, I think that either getting one of Clayton Kershaw or Darvish, if Morton went,

would have been a negligible difference. But going from Javier Baez to Manny Machado for me is a pretty big drop off. So I'm actually mad that I took Charlie Morton instead of of your buyers. I think I should have went that route. Why do you guys hate Manny Machado? He has basically been Mike Mustakis since the trade from the Orioles in the middle of 2018. I actually, I've done this comparison a few times, but the per 150 game pace for Machado since that trade is something like a 260 average, 33 homers, like 90-ish runs, 90-ish RBI, and like five stolen bases. Mike Mostakis is per 150 game pace over the last two seasons. is like a 255 average, 33 home runs, 90-ish runs, 90-RBI,

and like three stolen bases. Maybe he will turn out to hit better than that this season. But Petco Park is a very hard place to hit, and he hasn't really been much more than a low 800s, high 700s OPS bat outside of Camden yards in his career. Yeah, and you could explain it with the bat at ball profile. He's a consistently poor line drive hitter. So his flyballs need to clear the fence for him to be of much help and batting average.

And in a small park like Camden, they do. Pac-co not so much. All right. So for me, for Manny Machado, I honestly, I can't get into it right now because I want to catch everyone else up on what's going on in the draft. But I will reveal, I'm sure, at some point, my love for Manny Machado, maybe as early as tomorrow. Little sneak peek for you there. After I took Manny Machado in the fifth round, we saw Matt Olson, Clayton Kirshaw,

U. Darvish, Chris took Chris Bryant, Scott took Aaron Nola, then we saw Victor Robles, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glassnow. Adam, what stands out to you, if anything from round five, you wound up taking Josh Hader with pick 50? And that was probably a standout pick.

You know, people were like, really? Josh Hader that early. There were some aces still on the board. Zander Bogarts was still on the board. but I'm actually going to still try a hater. Hater's basically my favorite player in Roto, I think. Just ERA, whip, saves, and, you know, he's going to help in strikeouts compared to almost every other reliever.

And, you know, I read a quote from the Yankees pitching coach, Matt Blake the other day, I think he was yesterday or two days ago. He said, like, he's a little worried. I don't remember exactly what he said, but the gist of it was he's a little worried that pitchers are going to struggle because of the time. off. The delayed start of the season could affect pitchers, you know, in a negative way. So I don't want that heavy of a lineup of a roster. I don't want too much starting pitching, I don't think, in a Roto League. In a Points League, it might be a little bit different.

But I do think, and I had that thought, too, independently, that if anybody's going to be hurt by this, it could be starting pitchers. Just their routines are going to be messed with so badly. So, yeah, haters seems safer to me than taking a starting pitcher there. and I'm going to see what happens if I can build the pitching staff that I like that doesn't have a lot of starting pitchers. But what stood out to me, I guess, was Victor Robles, a guy who makes such a bad, such a bad contact last year. Tried something a little different. I was trying to see if I could get Nelson Cruz in the next round. Yeah.

And I might have been able to if you hadn't taken it. And we'd gotten away with it too if it weren't for you damn kids. That is. Meddling kids. Yeah. I was trying to figure out if I should take Nelson Cruz with my pick or. this guy, obviously, John Carlos Stanton.

I keep defending Nelson Cruz. We need a little context here, okay? Because I'm talking about round five. You're into round six, and Jorge Soler had just gone off the board, and then Scott took Cruz before Chris could take him, and Chris took Stanton. Yeah.

So we're seeing some sluggers come off the board in round six with Carlos Correa. Chris Paddock lasting till the sixth round seems like an interesting value at 62. And then Jorge Solair, Nelson Cruz, Stanton, Joey Gallo, Anthony Rizzo, Max Muncie. So even if you want to include Muncie in that mix of those past five or six picks, these are where you're really starting to see the big home run RBI run supporters kind of

check in here in the sixth round. Scott, you took Cruz and then Chris Towers, no surprise. It's up John Carlos Stan. I keep talking about how good of a value of Cruz is, how awesome his numbers have been the past six years, and yet I'm never the one to draft him because it always catches me a little off guard versus ADP where he ends up going in our drafts and I've certainly seen him go this early I seriously doubted he would make it back to me

at the end of round seven Chris that he wanted of yes so I'm going to try it I mean a lot of times my utility spot's already blocked by Jordan Alvarez at this point so it's not even an option oh wait I just timed out oh do you want both It took the top player in my queue anyway, so that's perfectly fine.

That's how it works. So guys... So the guy who just went after Frank here, toward the end of round six, DJ LaMayhew, that's who I normally would take in the round six range, and I passed up this time for Cruz. So we'll see how my infield ends up shaping up because of that. So far six rounds in, I only have one infielder.

That's unlike me. And I want to talk about the dilemma I have now. I have so far Yelich, Blackman, and Merrifield, so I've got batting average, I've got some speed. I've got Mike Clevenger and Josh Hader, only one starting pitcher. Three players in my cue right now

are JT. Reaumuto, Josh Bell, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. I'm going to pass on Reoamuto because the two-catcher league, there are so many spots and his impact, I think, is minimized in this format. John, with a potentially compressed schedule,

I think his impact. That's a good point. He's going to need to have to take days off. All right, I'm going to take Josh Bell, because, you know, first base, thins out a little bit here. And yeah, I mean, there's still

Goldschmidt, there's still a Brayu. Not a Brayu anymore. A Brayu just went. I'm sure Frank wanted him. But you don't want to wait too long at first base. Yeah, look, you can. You can just, hey, I'll take it with an Carnaccio in round 12 or something like that. You can't. But, you know, it does get

pretty thin after Bell, Goldschmidt, and Abrae will come off the board. Because Santana's more of a points league. If in Carnacian has the bust year, if the bottom falls out this year and that's who you're counting on as your first base. It's pretty ugly after that.

You might end up with Christian Walker or somebody worse than that is your first base. We like Luke Voigt. You definitely like Luke Voigt, but you never know when somebody's going to take them as a utility before you had the chance

to take your first baseman. You're going to keep waiting and waiting. And then like now I'm back on the clock after a few picks. I took Bell, then Abraeu and Iloi Jimenez went. And I, really need pitching. So Burrios is not a bad option here. But like

Vladimir Guerrero Jr I just he's, this is the type of pick. It's risky. But if he hits like I'm taking him. Yeah, it's not a bad pick now. He was the top pick in my drive. That's a great pick at this point.

And rounding out the sixth round after Muncie, I took you on Moncada. I was going to take him. I didn't realize I was on the clock, which is something I need to pay attention to. Which is I'm on the block right now. Talk out. Talk out your pick, Frank. So I took Jeff McNeil right now,

and that's kind of just to round out the batting average and to continue to keep the batting average afloat. I was considering starting pitchers as well, but I also, I already have Jacob de Grom and Charlie Morton, so those are two of my top 12 starting pitchers this season. And so I have JD Martinez, Starling Marte, Manny Machado, Yuan Moncada, and Jeff McNeil. So I think I have a good blend of I've got some power, I've got some speed,

and I think Jeff McNeil helps kind of bring that batting average back up. I'd expect a two to 90, 20 home runs, maybe five to 10 stolen bases from Jeff McNeil. He'll give you a run scored at top the Mets lineup. So that's what I was looking at here in the seventh round and catching people up on what's happened. Adam took Josh Bell, Jose Abrae, went to round out round six, and then Eloy Jimenez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Trevor Bauer, Jeff McNeill, J.T. Real Muto finally went, Eugenio Suarez, Gary Sanchez, and then Luis Robert to Chris Towers.

I know many people are wondering where the prospect was going to be drafted, and he went at pick. Is it he on your bus list? Where'd you say that Luis Roberts going too early? Now you take him 80th overall? Yeah. Okay. Explain yourself, Chris.

The thing is, I'm going heavy on hitting. I've only drafted one starting pitcher so far, and it's Garret Cole, who I think is the best starting pitcher in fantasy. I know I need some more speed. Beyond Jonathan VR, I've got Freddie Freeman, Rafael Devers, Giancarlo Stanton, Chris Bryant, and Luis Robert. Nobody's going to steal bases out of that group. I'd be lucky to get 20 total. So that's part of it. Louise Robert obviously has 30 steal potential.

I think it's more likely he steals around 20, but I'm also expecting him to hit for some power and possibly, possibly hit for average. You know, it's a situation where the most likely outcome is Luis Robert is a disappointing pick at number 80. The most likely outcome is his disappointing pick at number 100. But... It's a good pick.

The most likely outcome isn't always what's going to happen. Sometimes he's going to be the, kind of player we're talking about as a first round pickman. All right, but just to sum it up, it's just the steals. The steals and the potential. And yeah, people have to take steals guys earlier than they wanted to. I get that.

That's cool. A guy just said, we're just coming by surprise. My plan was to take Luis Robert and Nick Castianos together. Nope. And I wasn't sure who had a better chance of getting back to me. I assumed

it would be Nick Castianos. we'll never know, but he did not get back to me. No, that plan has been foiled. By the way, I would agree with that plan, by the way, Chris. If you were just debating those two, who's more likely to make it back? I agree with you that I think it's more likely Castellanos would have made it back to you rather than Luis Robert. So Robert goes at pick 80 in round seven here, and then Scott takes Paul Goldschmidt, Jose Berrios off the board, Sunny Gray, and then Nick Castellanos to round out round seven. And then Miguel Sino, kicks us off in round eight.

Scott White is coming back up. Yeah, I mean, it's a little early here on, on Miguel Sino to go pick 85. Usually goes outside the top 100, you know, between 100 and 110. That's usually the range that Miguel Sino lives in. But then Chapman and Mike Moustakis. So we see a little third base run here. And Scott got up the clock. So kind of talk us through what's going on in your mind right now.

And kind of where you're pitching at. Do you agree with what Adam says that maybe pitching lags earlier in the season and you should fade them earlier on in this draft? I understand the argument and it may, it's just really hard to say. It's just really hard to say that the ripple effect of a condensed schedule and how it'll impact everybody. I'm trying not to overthink it. I'm in so deep on high end pitching that I'm just going to stay the course and see if it works out. the way I thought it was going to originally. Right now with this pick,

I'm torn between skill, scarcity, and position scarcity, because I have a lot of infield needs still, and those tiers are drying up. And yet, at the same time, I don't have a true base dealer yet. I was kind of pinned into a corner last round in round seven, kind of like Chris took one of his bus picks,

Louise Robert, in round seven. I took one of mine, Paul Goldschmidt, because I was worried about the drop-off first base. It looked like the three teams after me both had shortstop and third base pretty well in hand. Oh, I have Bregman, so I don't need a third baseman anyway. That's fine. I ended up getting Simeon.

They all had a shortstop. Simeon I have higher ranked than Goldschmidt, and I like more than Goldschmidt. Simeon made it back to me anyway because the three teams after me each had a shortstop. So that worked out nicely still. I don't love having to rely on Gultzman. And I don't love that I don't have a projected 20 steel guy yet among my first. five hitters and three pitchers. I want to point out a couple of trends in the drafts. Okay,

we're 90 picks in. And first base, you goldsmith, Abraeu, they're off the board. The best first baseman left is, what, probably Carlos Santana. Yeah, and then

Reese Hoskins. Who was the number eight first baseman in this format? Right, he was really good. Outlier season for batting average, but yeah. Pitchers, only two closers off the board. I took Hater, 50 something, like early 50s, and Chris took Yates, 89.

So that's and then Chapman went 90. Sorry, Chathamwin went 90. So that's a surprise man,

maybe I could have waited another round on Hater except I have a fairly early pick up the second pick so I would have to wait nearly two

full rounds but obviously you don't like to see Hater you don't like to take Hater and then see nearly 40 picks go before the next closer

but you live and you learn and then we're kind of running out of the top 37 I'm on the clock now and I think I have to take Frankie Montas so the

guys, there's still a decent amount left. You got... It's not a 37 anymore. It's a 35. 35. Okay. So you got... Kindergarten, Sailor, Gone. Soroka, Montas, Kluber, Wheeler, Shohei Otani. So, like,

I take Montas over Otani if we were playing a full season, but should I take Otani over Montas, considering Otani's going to be ready right from the jump? I wouldn't? Yes. The answer is, yes, I will. I understand that you wouldn't. But the fact that you hesitated

meant that it was justifiable. So I went with her gut. I mean, the biggest downside of Otani, even assuming he's healthy from the start, is he's going to be the sixth man in a rotation as opposed to the fifth man in a rotation, one of five guys in a rotation. I think it's a difference, you know?

How does that affect it, though, by the fact that they're going to be cramming games in and playing double-headers? I think it hurts his value, actually. Because they're going to, I don't think he's going to be the sixth man. I think he's going to pitch every six days. Right. You know what, maybe I'll take them both.

What's that? Maybe I'll take both of them. Maybe. So to round out round eight, we saw after Scott took Marcus Semyon, he was on the clock for that pick. We saw Kirby Yates go to Chris, then a roll his Chapman. We're starting to see a little bit of a closer run. Tommy Fam goes off the board at 91. Brandon Woodruff, Ramon Laureano was the pick that I made in round eight.

And then Roberto Osuna, Adam took Shohei O'Sou. Hani, Jesus Lozardo. Interestingly enough, through nine rounds, Brand Chasar, only has one starting pitcher, and that pitcher is Jesus Lazzardo, who he just selected. So he might be subscribing to the same theory that you are Adam. And then Adam Azer goes ahead and takes Corey Seeger.

And I am very pleased that you did not take Frankie Montas at him. Yeah, you're going to take him? Look, Seeger was Scott's second highest ranked shortstop on the board. considering Miguel Sinoe went in the 80s and I took Seeger 99th 98th I'm not convinced he would have made it back to me and if he and Polanco are both gone

then I'm going to be starting Elvis Andrews or D.D. Regorius or Gene Segar or something like that at shortstop. So I think Seeger in this, given what's going on right now when I have two starting pitchers. Chris, you have how many? One. You have one. Frank just told us.

us another fantasy manager in this league has won. That means hitters are being pushed up in this league, okay? So 98th versus Corey Seeger is not a reach. I think when you paint it that way, I think you probably still could have gotten him later on. And even to take him over someone like Tim Anderson at him, I don't need to. I mean, do you just doubt Tim Anderson?

Because I think that he's a 2020 player and you're passing on legitimate stolen base help there. I have Blackman and Yelich. If I get one more guy later and I have somebody that I'm targeting, I'll at least be competitive. Sorry, I have not Blackman and Yellich. I have Merrifield, Merrifield and Yellich. Sorry about that.

Blackman historically has been double-digit's guy. Last year was the exception, right? But he's getting older. I don't even expect 10. But I think I'm one more guy who can steal 15 to 20 bases away from being very competitive in the category. You know, not going to win it, but won't be a liability. So, no, I'm not going to take Tim Anderson, I just don't really believe in him.

I think Seeger is a better hitter. All right, fair enough. I believe in Tim Anderson a little bit more. I like the improvements that he made last year in terms of his batted ball data, just spraying the ball around a little bit more and his expected batting average was the highest of his career. So I think that he's not going to hit over 300 again.

I think he's probably more of a 270, 280 hitter. But if he does that with 2020, I think he's a really good value at 99. I took Frankie Montas at pick 100. Ahmed Rosario goes off the board. Mitch Garver. That looks like a really bad pick, by the way. Ahmed Rosario 100th?

Yeah, I wonder. Did he have a shortstop yet? Because shortstop has just gotten pretty ugly. He didn't. But that's the thing. And that's why it's a Corey Seagher. So if you're at that point where it's like, okay, I'm not going to be good at shortstop, just wait.

Then you punt and you take Gene Seguerra or Dansby Swanson. Because those guys could have good years. Or, I mean, the most underrated shortstop of all, Jorge Polanco is still out there. I don't know why you'd go with Rosario. I guess there's the chance Rosario gives you 15 to 20 steals. It's not a guarantee, but there's at least hope for that. I think it's a desperation move, though, if you're doing that. Yeah.

My point is don't fill a position because you don't have it. Now, look, maybe he believes in Ahmed Rosario. Rosario is getting better every year. Okay? So I do like that about him. but I just don't think he's quite good enough. I mean, 33.4% hard contact rates, not extremely expiring. But my point is don't just fill a position because you don't have it yet.

At one point, at what point, or at one point, you have to say, look, I'm just going to be weak at shortstop. So I might as well be great at other positions and just wait. And that's a really good point in a Roto League because, look, it's a deeper format where you have the middle infield, you have the corner infield, you have five outfielders. You have to realize going in, you are not going to be strong at every position.

So I think that that's a really good point to remind people, Adam, and you don't want to just reach on a position because that position is drying out. And I agree. I think that there are warning signs with the Medo Zarrio. He was caught stealing a bunch last year. You worry about where he's going to bat in the lineup for the mess. Is he going to bat near the bottom of that lineup again?

So I do have some concerns there. But catching you up on round nine, we saw Josh Donaldson go at pick 103, right after Mitch Garver and Ahmed Rosario, Marcelo Zuna to Chris. We saw Kevin Bigio to Scott. And then Zach Wheeler, Michael Brantley, Zach Gallin rounds out round nine.

And then we saw Brad Hand another closer off the board, Max Kepler, and Danny Santana. So we're seeing, you know, while, look, the hitters are being pulled up the board and specifically stolen bases. I mean, Danny Santana at 111 here. and a medrosario got pulled up the board a little bit. And now we're seeing Scott just took Tommy Edmund at pick 112.

So Scott, I mean, talk about that. Is this just a category scarcity situation where did you want Tommy Edmund? Or are you just looking at it and saying, look, I need someone that's going to give me 20 stolen bases? Yeah. I mean, if I already had stolen bases covered now, I don't think Edmund would be my pick here. I think this is perfectly appropriate value for Edmund. and kind of what I did here, pairing Bigio and Edmund in my round nine, round 10 picks, that's plan A if you pass up on the legitimately high-end base Steelers

because they are players who have a chance of contributing in other ways. It's not just they should give you a healthy steals total. They should give you 20 plus, maybe as many as 30 for Edmund, but they should be able to contribute in other ways, too. It's not a Malick-Smith situation where you're totally selling out for steals. So I feel okay with my steel situation now after pairing those two picks. I had to give up some other things. Yes, Mani Grundal is still out there when all the other big catchers have gone.

He's kind of falling quite a bit. When are we going to still out there? When are we going to get a goldschman picking round seven? When are we going to get a pitching run? Chris just took Corey Klober 130. It is unbelievable. I've never, I don't think I've seen a roto draft like this where pitching is being devalued this much, and it's time for me to take Carlos Carrasco.

I'm still going to end up with a good pitching staff, and I thought I was going to have a horrible pitching staff. I don't have my fourth yet. I haven't. Normally by round 10, I would. But there are still enough left from that group of 35. I think I see four or five. Yeah, and look, Paxton's part of the group now again, too.

He should be ready for the start. I forgot about him. Oh, I should have taken him. He didn't get into existence at a Scott because James Paxton just went off the board at pick 120. So after Chris took Corey Kluber, we saw Eddie Rosario go, Michael Conforto, Gavin Lux. I took Max Freed. Wait, let's talk about Lux. Yeah, so Gavin Lux.

I mean, a lot of people consider him one of the top prospects in baseball, but I think a situation we have with the Dodgers every year is, is he just going to, is he going to play enough? I think you can argue that for him, Max Muncie. I mean, they have about as much depth as anyone in baseball. and it's kind of a similar situation to what the Yankees have. So, Gavin Lux, I mean, is this the right spot for him to go at pick 116 in the 10th round?

No, I feel like he's been going a lot later than this, especially since it's not clear he has the job, I mean. But wouldn't he benefit from the schedule, from double-headers? He might play a higher percentage of their games, yeah. Because I think if we have... But it's not starting in the minors, though. No, I guess not.

That's totally in the realm of thought. If we have 30-man rosters or 28-man rosters, wouldn't you expect him to start in the majors? They're going to need depth. They're going to need guys who can play multiple positions. Maybe Lux would be somebody who really benefits from a shortened season because everybody's going to play a smaller percentage. Like all the studs are going to play a smaller percentage of the games because you can't run them out there every day if we have, you know, eight games, nine games a week. Who knows what it's going to be? But would Lux actually benefit?

possibly if you'll indulge me though the one thing i would say is uh you know you could take gabin luxe or you could take edwardo eskabar eduardo eskabar is edwin escobar gabin lux could be anything edwardo escobar was the number 31 player last season i guess that comes down to your evaluation of edwardo escobar because i think he was helped out by the juice ball last year I don't think we're going to see 30 home runs again from Eduardo Esquard. We're probably closer to 25 to 27 homers, which is fine. I mean, he'll give you some runs, some RBIs, but doesn't contribute sole and bases. Maybe he'll give you a handful 260 hitter.

He's just, he's fine. Like, I think he kind of is what he is. But I would argue for taking Lux over him just because of that factor that you mentioned, Chris, is the unknown. I mean, Gavin Lux could be 25 home runs, 10 stolen bases. He could be. He also might not be able to hit lefties at all. Fair point. Fair point. So after Gavin Lutz in the 10th round, Max Fried went to me, Andrew Benintendi.

Adam mentioned that he took Carlos Carrasco, James Paxton, off the board. And now we're starting to see a little bit of a closer run. Ken Giles at Pick 121, Taylor Rogers to Adam, Mike Soroka. I took Edwin Diaz, Eduardo Rodriguez, and then Madison, Baumgartner, Liam Hendricks, and Lance Lynn. So any surprise that, it seems like once the run starts, that all the relievers start to go. And round 11 seems like a fair round for Giles, Taylor Rogers, Edwin Diaz, and Liam Hendrix to all go off the board. Yeah.

Look, I'd like to ask you a question, Frank, because you're right about the closers. You took Max Fried over James Paxton. Is that the same reason I took whoever I took over Paxton because you didn't see it? Carlos Carrasco. Yeah, you didn't see him. Well, even two rounds earlier, I would have taken, I would have taken Paxton over Otani. Is that just because the rankings aren't updated

and you didn't see them? Because that is why I did not take James Baxter. No, so I've moved Paxton up my ranks, and I have him inside my top 35 starting pitchers, but I have Max Fried still a little bit higher than him. I just, Max Fried, a lot of people talk about as one of those potential breakout candidates this year. And I agree, I like what I saw in the second half.

he improved his command tremendously last year compared to where it was at in the minor leagues. And look, while the delay helps, the shortened season helps James Paxton, he is still going to be at risk for re-injury. I mean, that's always going to be on the table for Paxton, whether it's his back. He's dealt with a bunch of different injuries, a shoulder as well. So I just, I worry about the risk for re-injury with when it comes to Paxton. I would still take Max Fried over him regardless. Okay, fair enough. So after Liam Hendricks went off the board,

we saw Chris Towers take Lance Lynn doubling down on the Rangers starting pitchers there. Yasmani Grandal to Scott White. We saw Kenley Jansen, another reliever go, Carlos Santana, Julio Urias, to round out 11. And he's one of those starting pitchers that a lot of people think can see a boost in value

because the season being shorter if there's no innings limits, then we could potentially see Urias pitch for a majority of the season, maybe even the entire season. Mark Kana, Scott, Mark Kana goes with the first pick of round 12. Is he someone that you were targeting in this range? Or it seems a little bit early. I mean, 133 for Mark Kana. That's maybe the earliest I've seen him go.

Yeah, that's on the early side for sure. I was actually more bemoaning. Scott auto-picked. What? You auto-picked? I know. Are you going with that? It took out of my cue.

It's fine. All right, cool. I was actually more bemoaning that those pitchers I was talking about in the top 37, how many of them were left. They just went, bu, boom, right after another. So I have to settle for Junjun Riu as my fourth here in round 12. And he's technically part of the 35. And I guess he's someone who the short and season would help because they were talking

about limiting him to 150 innings. You know, obviously they're not going to have to break up his starts as much to do that now. So, I mean, he should give me a good ERA and whip. It's kind of like discounted version of Mike Soroka, I guess. But, you know, not as exciting. A little bummed out by that. I did get Yasmani Grunda all around 11, which seemed like great value considering considering Garver and Wilson Contreras both went in round nine.

It doesn't seem like it doesn't seem like Rondal should be discounted that much. No, but the problem is like I'm about to have the best pick of the draft in three picks. And like everything you guys are talking about right now just doesn't matter because I'm two picks away from stealing the draft. Unless I take him from you right now. It could be. Because I am taking, no, I don't think you want this player. I'm thinking Reese Hoskins

And I wanted Jose Abrae you earlier But if you tell me I can get Reese Hoskins In round 12 Who I think can hit 35 home runs And drive in 100 in that Philly's lineup Sure, I mean I don't mind waiting on first base If I can get Reese Hoskins in round 12 Just to see what everyone else has done

Eduardo Escobar Chris Tower is putting his money Where his mouth is So I do appreciate that I mean it was 138 overall He's a second base eligible player. I don't know if people realize he's second base eligible, but I was able to just move John Lombie R to shortstop and Eduardo Escobar at second base.

That's pretty great value. Okay, everybody ready? Sitting down? Uh-oh. He said he's going to steal more bases, folks. He's going to hit 300. A hunter, goger? He's David Dahl, my third outfielder,

143rd overall. Does this league have IL spots? he's a short season he's not going on the IEL but we never really I don't know if we ever talked about that news item that he said he was going to run more

I don't think we did I don't think we got a chance to yeah he's supposed to that lead off and did he actually say he was going to run more yes he said he said I need to steal

more bases basically I think that's I'm not sure that's exactly the quote but it was it was about as blunt as that yes you know running at him is probably going to lead to more bases.

So running more is going to lead to more injuries. So I would not consider that the... Beat first. So slight beat first. The steal of the draft here. And for that, Adam, you get one of these. Okay, so... How about this one?

You're going to be like, whoa, looking back, that was an amazing pick. Kyle Tucker, 146 over. I like that one more. That's two I almost went instead of a view. Yeah, what up! I had him in my queue for. three rounds and I had plotted it out and I was like, how long can I wait? I could probably get him in this round and you're a jerk. You're a stinky jerk. That was a Chris Towers sigh if I ever heard one.

That was, yeah, yeah. That was like an exclamation sigh. All right. So the quote from David Dahl, FBT listener at JT Marlin 77 sent him a message. You haven't stolen a lot of bases so far, just game flow related. Dahl said, I need to steal more and we'll look to do that this year. That's a little, that's a little thin.

What? What do you want to say? We'll look to do that more. I don't, I don't know how you're going to find a quote that addresses it more directly than that. Are you kidding me? Like, I need,

I need to do that. What did he say? What was the quote? I will look to do that more. What was the first sentence? Adam, you, I haven't seen Evil Dead 3 yet. I will look to watch Evil Dead 3.

What was the first sentence? Does that make you think I will go see Evil Dead? Didn't he say I will, what did he say? First sentence. I haven't stolen enough or I haven't stolen enough basis. I will look through that more. I'm pretty confident that it's going to be somewhat of a priority for him. Oh, Chris, you just sniped me.

That was so my plan was Matthew Boy in round 13, short, short eight pick gap. Kyle Tucker in round 14. That was my plan from like round 11 on. And Adam ruined it because he's a stinking. The circular circle of ruinage here. Because you've got to. Catching people up on what has happened in the draft. Going back to round 12, we saw Nick Anderson catcher Will Smith go off the board.

I took Hoskins. Scott Kingery then went David Dahl, the steal of the draft to Adam Azer in round 12. and then Kyle Hendricks to end that round. And then beginning round 13, we've seen Oscar Mercado, Kyle Tucker, David Price, I took Craig Kimbril, and then Hector Neris, Kyle Schwerber, Sean Maniah, Matthew Boyd, to Chris Towers, JD Davis, on brand there to Scott White, Malick Smith, and Justin Turner. So, Chris, why don't you kind of catch us up? I feel like we haven't heard from you in a while in terms of what's going on with the team here.

How has the pitching kind of came together after just taking Garrett Cole and waiting a while for your second starter? I'm actually pretty happy with it. I've got Garrett Cole, Corey Klober, Lance Lynn, Matthew Boyd, and Kirby Yates. So I've got one elite closer who I got around 80th overall. I'm fine with that value. And then I've got, you know, four other pitchers or three other pitchers after Garrett Cole, who I think have significant strikeout upside, especially Boyd and Lynn. and they were both in like the 240, 250 range last season. And I think Corey Kluber has a better chance of bouncing back

than most people seem to. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if I had top, you know, the number one starting pitcher and then three other top 30 guys. Wow. You think Klooper, you wouldn't be surprised at all if Kluber is the number one starting pitcher this year. No, he is Kuh. No, he is Gary Kohl.

Yeah. Sorry. Okay, that makes more sense. No, I was, this draft was really strong. with the way pitchers were drafted. So, yeah, it paid to wait. Can I just say something about Malick Smith? He went, what number was that?

That was 154. Not a bad pick. A perfectly fine time to take him. But the guy who took Malick Smith, Chris Mitchell, he has Danny Santana, Trevor Story, and Victor Robles. Yeah, it seems like overkill. Oh, seems like it's 100% overkill. It seems like not the guy who needs to take the hit that Malick Smith is going to deliver

in the other. So you can do that if you're just saying, okay, I'm just going to trade a stolen base guy or two stolen base guys. Like if that's your goal, fine. But if you're going to play this out and not make any trades, then this guy did not need Malik Smith. I will say. I was considered, it was either Malick Smith or Fran Mel Reyes with my next pick and neither have then made it to me. So now I have to go back to the drawing board. But I would have been happy to take him with my next pick, even though I have VR.

Robert. Why? Why would you do that if you have VR and Robert? Well, Robert isn't a guarantee to be a significant steel source. I like the upside, but it's not a guarantee. VR and Smith with a lineup that includes Freddie Freeman and Raphael Devers and Giancarlo Stanton and Chris Bryant. I think I could have afforded to take the hit. And I also don't think Malick Smith is going to hit for as low of batting average as he did last year. He'd hit 270 and 295 and 2018. I think he's probably more in that range this year. So I don't think he's going to just be empty steals.

He might be nothing if he hits close to what he did last year because I doubt even the Mariners would keep him in the lineup for long. It's not like he's a long-term building block. Yeah, but I'm just wondering, this is probably a topic for another show because I saw Garrett Hampson went 157th overall. That was three picks after Malick Smith. No, he's not the base dealer or Malick Smith is. But, you know, I like that pick a lot of Garrett Hampson.

He was the first guy in my cue. I was going to think about taking him. But I'm just wondering if the shortened season is going to make players that you're worried about their playing time, it's just going to take that away. If teams need a guy like Garrett Hampson, a guy who can play multiple positions, and maybe he's not an everyday player,

but maybe it doesn't matter because very, very, very, very few players are going to be everyday players. So maybe that's a topic for a different show, something we could dive a little bit deeper into, but I like that Hampson pick. Adam, you want to know... Go ahead. I was just going to say,

it's a leap, because not everything that's being discussed is actually going to be implemented. Weekly double-headers, maybe. Maybe not. I mean, even when double-headers do exist, we see players play both games of double-headers all the time.

Because they're infrequent. Yeah, well, I mean, that's a fine enough theory, but then if it doesn't come to be, you know, what's that going to mean? Adam, I just want to tell you the actual steal of the draft. Oh, the one I'm about to take with my next day. No, Hunter Dozier, like three rounds after David Dahl, who was a better hitter last season and headline from MLB.com, Dozier's 2020 priority, more stolen bases. I think if this is the dumbest quote I've ever heard, by the way. I think if I'm an outfielder, which I will be this year,

I definitely want to steal more bags. Maybe not as important as a third baseman, but as an outfielder, yeah, I want to get more. However, there is also quote from Mike Mathini that he thinks he'll run more. You know, the speed is there. So, yeah. I like that pick quite a bit of Hunter Dozier. He was really, really good before his injury.

And taking him in the 160s is a very nice time to do that. But I took a Bernard Carnacio, who's just obviously going to hit 35 home. runs all as well. I thought Fran Mill Reyes to end round 13 at 156 was a great value. His ADP is in the 130s. So you get him about 20, 25 picks later than his ADP. And then round 14 is looking like Garrett Hampson, Mike Minor, Robbie Ray, Scott takes

Willie Calhoun. Chris mentioned he took Hunter Dozier. Then we see Jorge Polanco, who can be a plus runs provider at 162. I mean, that just, that seems like a. a great value just comparatively to Scott taking, Adam taking Corey Seeger inside the top 100. Just going to throw that out there. Brandon Workman goes at 163.

Alex Colomé, I took Salvador Perez as my first catcher, then Brian Reynolds. Adam, Homer, just kidding. He doesn't play for the Yankees anymore. Edwin and Cornacione and Archie Bradley here in round 14. Edwin and Carnacione, look, round 14, Adam, 30, 35 home runs. It's easy power. Yeah, I don't think Mark Kana and J.D. Davis, sorry, should be going ahead of Edwin-Karnassion personally. I think Scott would probably disagree with me since they both did go ahead. That's fine. That's fine. Yeah. You're entitled to your opinion. You're an analyst now. You have opinions. It's so weird to have opinions.

Not like you, not like you hesitated to share them before. No, but now it's like I can't just. Now people might listen to them. Yeah, I can't just be so submissive and be like, well, you're right. I'm wrong. Horror of horrors. Adam, are you ready for the actual steal of the draft? I have you right now. It is my pick at 172 in round 15, and I am looking for power,

and this gentleman has not been drafted. Oh, man. K-Riss 8. I mean, at 172, Adam. That's a great pick. That's the steel draft. I should have taken them, and you know what? I almost never, well, I wouldn't say that.

but I rarely look at the just utility drop down, and that's what gets me, is utility only. That's what gets me. Yeah, that's one to pay attention to. It's, you know, sometimes you sleep on the utility guys because you just don't see them. If you don't go to the utility position here when you're looking through, kind of scrolling through

and setting up your cue for your next pick. And remember, the starting pitchers and just all players that have been affected by the shortened season, they're going to be lower in ranking, lower in ADP, something that Adam mentioned earlier regarding James Paxton, it's just something to keep in mind if you're still drafting now or if you're doing mock drafts or if your league just randomly decides to still have their draft at this time, which you shouldn't. Just remember, some players are going to be kind of scatterbrain

with everything going on. Yep. Adam, part of the problem is you sort by my rankings, right? Yes, and you're not high on him? Yep. Sorry. That's all right. So you got, if you're higher on someone than Scott is and you're sorting by Scott's rankings, Just put them in your cue or write them down on a piece of paper before your draft starts.

When is Chris going to take Luke Voight? I'm thinking next round Chris is going to take Luke Voight. Can you stop? There's a guy who has two picks between my next pick, who is on the podcast. Do it Scott. He's not. Scott doesn't like Luke Void. No, I think I'm going to take the Tray Mancini lunch here.

It seems low risk, high reward. I mean, he's got plenty of time to recover too, obviously. an abnormal situation having a tumor removed from his colon. But I will hope for the best, as we all are. Scott, what are you going to do about saves? Right now you have Verlander, Corbyn, Nola, and Ryu. Those are your only pitchers. Yeah, I am going to shop the bargain bin for saves,

as I've done, even in my 15 team leagues. There are certain save sources that just nobody wants, and I will be happy to grab those later. it's worked out for me in the past, so I'm just going to trust it's going to work out here too. And I have basically, every time we've done one of these two catcher roto drafts with five outfielders,

corner infield, middle infield, or utility and nine pitcher spots, I have almost every time waiting on catcher. But I don't want to have two terrible catchers. Chris took Wilson Ramos. I was going to take him. If I can get Carson Kelly in this round, I will. But we're in round 16 now.

So it's just I can never bring myself to, make the investment on catcher. Spoiler alert, Wilson Ramos is, we're going to talk about Wilson Ramos tomorrow, let's say. Ooh, a little sneak peek and it's word. I'm a big fan. Reminding people that on tomorrow's show will reveal my, my, Chris's, and Scott's All-Star team for fantasy baseball this year.

Like, which players are we targeting at each position consistently throughout all the drafts that we've done so far? So it doesn't just have to be all top players. It's just players that we've kind of wound up. up the most players that we like their value, where they're going right now. So we will have that on tomorrow's show. But we're actually coming up on an hour here and we're 16 rounds in. So, Scott, the rest of these results are going to be on posted on CBS, sports.com, right? Yes, they will. You can go longer if you want, Frank. It's your call now. You're the man now,

dog. Oh, is that allowed? Are you allowed to exceed the time limit? Can I break the rules? I mean, I don't think I've ever gone longer than like an hour or 15 on a mock draft. All right. So let's keep it, let's keep it going then. We're making great time. Let's do it. Let's keep it. So I'll catch people up on what's happened in round 15.

Since I took Chris Davis, Jose LeClerc, Kent to Maeda, Jose Orquite. They must have been listening to the deep dive. Wilson Ramos to Chris, Trey Mantini to Scott, Marcus Stroman, to Chris Mitchell. then we saw Hansel Robles, Avicayel Garcia, Keone Keller, to start off round 16, Will Myers,

Nick Senzel, Lourdes-Guriel to Scott. God damn, Scott. I wanted Lourdes-Guriel. He was at the top of the king. I know. I don't even like him, but,

yeah, but I mean, this is a great value. 184 for Guriel. I mean, if you expect 25 home runs, maybe 10 steals, it's just,

I mean, just look at what he's done in his career. It's about one full season, and it's well worth a pitch. a pick 60 spots before this. Chris, who did you take after Lordus Gariel went? I took Lou Voight. Oh, weird. Did not see that one coming. My corner infielder,

great value. We'll talk about him tomorrow as well, I would imagine. I like it. I think it's a good pick. Spoiler alert. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, look, it's 185th overall, 184th overall for a guy who last season before the injury was basically on pace for the same exact season Carlos Santana had and Carlos Santana was the number eight first baseman in this format. I'll take that every single time. All right. So we are in round 16. I just took Elvis Andrews at 189.

And I understand, look, he was on our all-decade team. Not surprisingly. Scott unfortunately had Troy Toulouinski as his shortstop of the decade. but I had to continue the theme of Elvis Andrews. And look, even at his advanced age, he's probably going to give you 10 to 12 home runs and 20 stolen bases, and you're getting that at pick 189 in round 16.

I mean, does anyone else kind of think that he's just underrated because he's like a boring player? Also, advanced age, he's 31, and he was the number 71 player in Roto last season. So he shows a lot of skills decline, though, and he's an old 31. Shortstop is a high demand position,

then players don't age well there, and he started at 20, I think. Scott, I'm an old 31. Well, no arguments here. You're only as old as you feel, Chris. I feel like 57. Oh, no. Adam, you did that on purpose just now, didn't you?

Taking G. Orchella. Of course, that was my next pick. Yeah. No, it would have been a great pick. I don't usually wait this long for him. I guess I waited too long. I love Urchella. We don't need to get into that again.

Because we've done that on half the podcast. It probably. Season. Wait, you like you, Urchella? Rounding out for round 16, we saw Byron Bucks in, Gio Orchella, go to Adam, and then C.J. Crone, and to start round 17, we just saw Mackenzie Gore off the board. Something we haven't talked about yet, and maybe we can get into it a little bit more, but I'll bring it up here. year today. Does the delay of the season, does a shortened season affect prospects being called up?

Or do you kind of still, because we don't know, you know, what the service time is going to look like necessarily, but, I mean, would you still think that McKenzie Gore has the same timeline as he did before? Like, do you still expect him to make his debut? I'll throw this one your way, Scott. I mean, does this season being short and kind of evaluate how you look at prospects in a redraft league this season? Uh, yes, kind of. It's, it's another situation where I guess I just have trouble with the theoretical. That's just not something my brain handles well. Um, so to speculate on how teams are going to behave based on this is, like, I feel like it's almost guessing. It's almost guessing. And I don't like, I don't like, I don't like, I, don't like dealing in guesswork. You are such a Samuel Tarley.

Why is beyond his view. Oh, sir. I don't know how to guess. That's the Samuel Tarley impersonation. But nailed it. That's what the little test I took showed, yes. Yeah, so I think, I think, I read that it's supposed to be, it's still based on a percentage, so it's still a certain percentage of the season that the service time check marks

That's going to be influenced by that? No. The way it works currently is it's based on a percentage of total players. So every player who has less than your service time. That's for Super 2, but not for the other ones, whatever the other one's called. Oh, I thought, yeah, I don't know. And I have to pick here and I haven't been paying attention. Take Gerochella.

Take her shello, yeah. Four, three, two. Luke Weaver, good pick. Great. Glad you think so. I'm not thrilled with that. That serves me right for trying to podcast while I'm drafting. Hey, you know, maybe O'Darezi deserves a little more love.

Frank, what do you think about Oterese? I believe he had a velocity increase last year, and that is a big deal. And also, if you just kind of look at what he was in his raise days, I think taking him 210th overall or what I were 203 right now would it be justifiable yeah I'm not a huge fan of oteresey I mean yes the Velo spike he pitched well last year but he can't go the third time through the order so I guess he is better as a rhodo player because if they just let him go five innings two times through the order I mean his numbers third time through were terrible yeah nine quality starts and 30 starts you're so you're right about the roto thing

So, I mean, he might be really good when he pitches and goes about five inings in. But, yeah, look, he surprised some people last year. He kind of bounced back to the player. We've seen him be in the past. But I think outside of Roto, yeah, at this point, around 200, it's fine. He's not really a target of mine. Like, Joe Musgrove just went off the board at pick 205. Like, I'd much rather have Joe Musgrove.

I think that the upside is still higher for Musgrove than someone like Jake Oterese. He's not going to go the third time through the order, like ever at him. No, but I think they have a. A good bullpen, good offense. He could be set up for wins, even if he doesn't pitch that deep into games. He won 15 games last year, Odoerese. And he was the number 22 starting pitcher in Roto, number 32 in points. That's a huge difference.

But if you compare his velocity, you know, it was similar in 2015 and 16. I don't think it was quite as good, but it was similar. In those years, Oterese had a 335 and a 369 ERA. 2017 and 18, his velocity was down, and he had an ERA over four both years. So if he can keep that velocity, we saw, you know, helps pitchers in general. But Clevenger is a big example of that. And over Oderese was one as well. If he can keep that velocity, maybe he really can be a top 30 pitcher.

Chris, you took Miguel Anduhar at pick 200 in round 17. I would argue that we talk a lot about the players who have been helped by the shortened season, the delayed season. I think you can argue Miguel Andohar is probably one of the players who has suffered the most in terms of giving Aaron Judge Stanton time to heal up because now where is he going to play? Is he going to have time in the outfield? Is he going to take time away from your boy Luke Voigt? I think there's some concern over the playing time now that everyone seems like they're going to be healthy for the start of this season, Chris. It does give some concerns, but it was 200th overall would be my response. You know, last time we saw this guy, he hit 300. nearly 30 home runs, a bunch of runs in RBI. It ultimately comes down to whether he hits. If he hits, I don't think it's going to matter. Things go wrong all the time.

And a guy who has the now flexibility to play multiple positions, who they could play at DH, if he hits like the last time we saw him or anything close, there's a lot that could go wrong for the Yankees. Not just the injuries, but we've got one year of Gio Rochello. We've basically got one year of Luke Voie. those guys probably one of them is going to struggle and so as long as Miguel and Duhar hits

I think he's going to find his way into the line that more often than not you sort of handcuffed Luke Voigt didn't you exactly yeah beautiful you've locked on Carlos Stans for yeah that's true yeah so if I mean if anything were to happen to Stanton there then you have you have Miguel Andohar waiting there in the wings maybe you come up with some interesting acronym for handcuffing the Yankees like Adam had for his tap-hap AMC. I don't know what it would. I can't.

Luke void. Moologs. Miguel And Uh-huhar, Luke. There's an A-somewhere, John Carlos Stanton. Just Ann. Miguel And Uhar, Luke, and John Carlos Stanton. Moologs. No, it's the A is for and.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Miguel and Uhar, Luke, and John Carlos Stanton. You all know Moolog. Moologs. Perfect. She had a little dragon friend. We saw Chris Howard's take Mitch Keller on brand here.

Scott White finally jumps in with some saves. He picks up Mark Malanson. Adam, you took Sean Doolittle. Is he your third closer now? He is my third closer and my fourth reliever. He actually took Seth Lugo. So I probably, if I can find a good starting pitcher that I like with upside, I will. If not, I might go the Lugo route, which would leave my rotation with Clevenger.

Carrasco, Otani, McCullors, and then three closers, a middle reliever, and maybe one more middle reliever. But I'm done with closers. Adam, you're on the clock. I'm just reminding you. I am going to take Francisco Mejia. Scott made a great sleeper case for Mejia

in our catcher preview. I buy into it, and I'm taking him. My biggest problem with Mejia is, I don't think it's, I don't think it's anything to do with his, offense, I just think that he is such a worse pitch framer than, who's the backup there? Austin Hedges.

Yeah, then Austin Hedges. He's such a worst pitch framer that I feel like that is going to factor into their decision for his playing time more than anything else. If he hits, he'll play. Defense is so overrated compared to offense, even at catcher, just as the Yankees. It's why he has to hit really well, but he did hit really well. you know, half the year, basically. And if he hits, he'll play.

That's my take. Especially if we have this condensed schedule, which I basically am basing my entire draft on, so it better happen. Scott, you've kind of gone the opposite route of Adam, where Adam has four relievers, three closers, and Seth Lugo, and you have just Mark Balancin.

So do you have a plan outside of that? Because I know on your Toutwork team, you kind of waited on saves as well. Is this something that's just consistently happening to you? Yeah, I don't like paying for saves. Half the guys we expect to be getting them at the start of the year probably aren't going to be getting them by the end, though I guess that percentage adjusts to some degree

when there's less time for closers to lose their job, too. But, yeah, I mean, I just want saves from my closers. And obviously, there are degrees of confidence in how varying degrees and confidence as you look down the rankings and how long you expect somebody to retain that job, but I think I don't know.

I just don't like to pay for saves. I'm not in a good mood right now, if you can't tell. I'm a little frustrated with the way this draft is going. Do you want us to sing happy birthday? Were you like, that we didn't pay enough?

Three days old at this point, no. Are you done with your cake yet? It hasn't There are some remains I'm not sure if I'm going to eat anymore Is that what's for lunch today Scott after the draft end? Are you going the Chris Towers

route of lunch? I had a can of Progresso soup for lunch And I think I'm I think my stomach is Telling me now that wasn't enough too So I'm a little hangary on top of everything else I had some saltines with it But like just not enough

Not enough Saltines are great Yeah, I have a question Since we're going off the rails here You guys You ever have capers You like capers? Oh God, no

I don't know that I've ever Put salt on your food You don't eat capers like by themselves You eat them with With you know, they're like little salt packets Basically but they look like peas Are they unhealthy or is that like a healthier way to have salt? I

I think like the sodium is the thing. I don't think it really... I don't know. Maybe it's like, you know, it's more natural. Those are the little things they put on like chicken marsala, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're not getting, you're not getting any iodine. So you gotta... He says it. He says iodine. Chris. Is that? I don't know what I'm talking about.

I don't know what else about capers. I have nothing that I can add to a capers, nutritional facts type conversation here. Yeah, that's a little... How are you supposed to pronounce iodine? Iodine. Oh. But isn't iodine? Iodines in food?

Iodines like that dye stuff. You put it in... They put it in salt. It has large health benefits. I didn't know that. You never paid attention to the iodized salt? I guess I never really thought, oh, there's iodine in that. I guess that makes sense.

I read an article about it a couple of years ago. It had huge health benefits. for the state of Michigan when they added iodine to the salt. Scott, will you just take John Birdie? Why is John Birdie still available in the 20th round? Well, he's not that good.

We hope he plays enough that he delivers a big steals total, but it's not like he's... I don't think it's strange that he hasn't gone by this point. His ADP is lower than 231, right? I guess so, but we only have like three routes left. Scott just made a selection for somebody accidentally.

That was awesome. That's a classic Chris Towers move. Frank, I think you might want to wrap things up here. Yeah, I mean, we've gone into salt, some capers, some iodine. Chris, buy me some fruit roll-ups. I want fruit roll-ups, Chris. Send them by way. Oh, that'd be good.

Yeah. I like a fruit. Love a gushers better, though. Oh, get the hell out of here. Love a gusher. Oh, man, that's a tough call. Fruit roll up. Twitter poll right now.

Gushers. Throw them all in there. Gushers, fruit by the foot. fruit roll up. But we're going to wrap up here. We'll have the rest of the results over on CBSSports.com. It's a 12-team roado mock draft. Scott is hungry. He's going to go eat something. He's going to also try and find some saves for Scott White, Adam Azer, Chris Towers. I am Frank Sample. Thank you all for listening. Tomorrow we'll be back with our All-Star team. We will see you then.