Fantasy Baseball Today - Live Roto Mock Draft Part 2! Rounds 12-23 Picks & Strategy (3/2 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

We see a few free agent outfielders in Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario go in round 13 (0:30). ... Rounds 15 and 16 are filled with closers (11:55). ... The Giants starting pitchers start to go in round 17 plus Gleyber Torres is in the best shape of his life (21:30)! ... People are sleeping on Adam Duvall and Carlos Carrasco as they both went in round 19 (32:25). ... Does John Mean Business in round 21 (42:30)? ... We see a bunch of catchers go in round 23 before we recap our teams (49:25). 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. With fantasy! Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hour two of the podcast, we are in round 13, and we will catch people up. The end of round 12 was Clayton Kirschaw, and the first pick of round 13 was Jorge Soler.

Somebody I probably could have used. I know Scott could have used as well. Yeah. And now. I'm counting. I'm overrelying on ADP here instead of just taking what I need, which is especially bad approach this late. It's not quite late in the draft.

It's right like the midpoint of the draft. But, you know, in the back half of the draft, that's probably not the best way to approach things. Brian Hayes goes with pick 146. and I need an outfielder. What kind of stats do I need? I've got a little speed. Probably could use a little bit more speed.

Batting average. Kind of middling. Could use a lot of everything. So I'm going to go with a player that I think provides a little of everything, maybe not a lot of everything. And I will select Eddie Rosario. I believe this.

is well ahead of ADP, but I do think that he is criminally undervalued right now because he has not signed with a team yet. And I think wherever he winds up, he's going to hit 260, 25-ish home runs, 6 to 8 steals, something like that. Could be a DH in the National League. I think that would suit Eddie Rosario quite well. And yeah, I still like him quite a bit. I know he got off to a real slow start last year. He was hurt, but obviously his time with the Braves was fantastic. He looked really good in the postseason, so I'm back in. I am in on Eddie Rosario. All right. After he goes, Caber Ruiz, another catcher here. Off the board, Trent Grisham. He was also atop of the outfield rankings. I didn't need a little bit of speed, but I don't know.

I don't know what to make of Trent Grisham. I'm a little bit worried, so I'll let our buddy Brad Johnson wind up with him. And then Frumber Valdez goes, Scotty, you know, are on the clock. Are you looking at outfield yourself? Maybe. Yeah, I'm considering a couple things here. There's, of course, oh, I wasn't quite on the clock yet. Okay. So I just got sniped, or at least,

I had the options narrowed down by Mike Giannella, who took Brendan Rogers, who, of course, I love this year, and he was the last middle infielder I could be genuinely excited to draft. So I will turn my attention to the outfields. And this guy's still there? Yes, he is still there. All right.

All right. Prepare to groan, everybody. Uh-oh. I'm taking a fantasy baseball today favorite. He goes by the name of Joe. Joe Adele. Oh. I was hoping he was going to cover Joe.

That would be a lot of me, personally. That's true. No, it would have been way too early for Connor Joe, but Joe Adele, yeah, a lot of upside, potential for speed. Early relative to ADP. Yeah, I didn't even, I didn't even take him that early relative to ADP. No, it is early relative to. Okay. Yeah, I believe the ADP 229, so no one's- I knew he wasn't going to last there with this group.

No, no one's counting, Scott, but, you know, just 80 picks. No, that's fine. No, look, you need outfielders. I mean, you can't be too fixated on ADP. And like I said, one of you guys was going to take them soon. I'm fairly confident. So, yeah, and it's nice to get a little more. I haven't really taken any speed since Otani, which is kind of my MO this year.

But I don't, I do. Odell's upside is such that I don't feel like I'm reaching for the speed, which is really the goal of the zero SB strategy. Man, if everything clicks for Joe Adele, I think we can get a, you know, 260, 270, 25 homers, 15 to 20 steals. He's got all the tools. He's just got to put it together, man, and stay healthy.

So it would be awesome to see. After Joe Adele goes, we see Craig Kimbrel, who is, I believe, very likely to be traded once the lockout ends. And then Sunny Gray. And Lance McCullors, I should point out that the longer the season is delayed, that obviously helps injured, currently injured or injury prone players.

So I think Lance McCullors would fit that mold. Max Muncie, who we mentioned earlier, Jacob de Grom, Adelberto Mondesie. I think it helps those players as well. I don't know. For me, I don't know that it makes a difference for DeGrom McCullors or Muncie because... The question isn't necessarily are they healthy for opening day, so much as it is can they get through the season? or really for those three, are they broken?

Like, have they been fixed yet? Sure. It's not, their injuries aren't necessarily the kind that are just going to be resolved by time. My thinking, Scott, is, say we wind up with like a five-month season. That's just a smaller portion that Jacob Graham has to stay healthy for, you know, smaller than we were expecting. So, yeah.

I understand that perspective, but I think, I think a big part of the risk for DeGrom is just he shows up to camp and he shut down a week later. Yeah. Yeah. Would not surprise me one bit. Chris, at the turn here, you double tap starting pitcher, which obviously you need to do at this point.

And you select one, I would say, upside guy in Patrick Sandoval and then one floor guy with Nathan Evaldi. But I think the combination makes sense. You just cross your fingers. You need both to stay healthy. Yeah. I mean, there's quite a bit of risk in this pitching staff, which is obviously going to happen when you take one starting pitcher in your first, I think, six picks.

You know, Morton's old, Nathan Avaldi, has an up and down track record at Roder Rodriguez, same Patrick Sandoval, injuries, and an up and down track record. But I like the group that I'm putting together in terms of their kind of comparable qualities. Like there are a couple of guys who I, you know, I like I do think Charlie Morton is relatively safe. I know the age gives him risk, but otherwise, I don't think there's that much there. Of all the solid contributor, if risk is, you know, there with injury. And then Sanneval and Rodriguez, I think those guys have that like 200 plus strikeout upside as well. Hey, I'm there with you on Erod and Patrick Sandoval. I think of all these fine too at this point in the draft as,

you know, an SP4 and SP5 plays on a good team. Just. past to stay healthy, which he did last year. And, you know, he pitched really well. After you selected Nathan Avaldi, we see Ian Anderson off the board, Ty France, and Adam Wainbright. Now, no matter what you say, Dan, in the chat, I believe that you took that pick

because he didn't want Scott to have him. I can tell it's going to be annoying to draft with Dan Schneider. This is the first mock he's done with us this year. And he wants to do, like, basically all of them going forward. So I'm going to get tired of that real quick. Especially me he's drafting right next to you, right?

Yeah. Well, I mean, fortunately, you're sick of your crap, Dan. In this starting, in this particular draft, I already have five starting pitchers, so I wasn't thinking about Adam Wayne Wright. But yeah, that's obviously normally one of my favorite pitchers to draft. All right.

I'm going to take another one of my favorite outfielders here, Hunter Renfro. A little ahead of ADP, but not that much ahead of ADP. Actually, one spot. ahead of ADP, and I rank him even higher than this. He was the number 19 outfielder in this format last year, and I don't think he did anything that he can't do again. Yeah, I question the batting average a little bit.

I think he hit around 260 that's been much lower in his career. I only struck out 22% of the time, which... Yeah, no, that was a huge part of it, yeah. If he does that, he can hit for a 260 average again. Yep. If you buy the gains that he made in contact last year, Hunter Renfro could be an absolute steal. at his ADP right now, and currently projected to hit cleanup in the Brewer's lineup. And if Christian Yelich bounces back, you know, anywhere close to what he's been,

Hunter Renfro right behind him, Willie Adomas and Colton Wong, lots of RBI opportunities for Hunter Renfro. So I'm a fan. I like him as well. Oh, really? I've got... Where did you say that? Oh, yeah.

What might you say then, if I were to say, I think Hunter Renfro is a great pick here? I think I would say I'm with you Scott Yeah I thought Scott was going For a Dave Matthews band thing there Oh no

You know he went to college in Athens I feel like that that That was a thing right That it was going for like a A lot of what you see You give me way too much credit I mean you know Dave Chris are you a Dave Matthews band guy

I mean I know you like every band But is that like what is that one of your bands? No. I have seen them live several times, but I'm on the clock. But not, not the biggest fan. Like, they play a lot of music festivals and stuff. What was that Dave Matthews song that they were always playing on community? Yeah, that one. What does that song call? Ants Marching. I think it's exactly that. Like, whatever Chris just said, that's the name of the song. I'm pretty sure. Um, look, I'm a fan

of all different kinds of music genres and, but Dave Matthews band is just one that I could not get behind. It is, it is, look, no disrespect to anyone who messes around with Dave Matthews band and they like them, but not for me. I can't do it. I selected Robbie Grossman. I was kind of, yuck. That's one of my guys. Come on, man. It's kind of, it was kind of a panic pick. I don't know. I was messing around with you guys. And then I realized there was 20 seconds left on the clock, and I'm like, oh, crap, I need an outfielder. So I. selected the top name, and I wound up with Robbie Grossman. I will say, I think I need some batting average on this team. I've got some, I got Grandal, I've got Jose Ramirez. Ramirez is fine,

260, but Robbie Grossman, Lynn Doors, probably like a 250, 260 guy. So you're not even, I hate when people take somebody from you and they don't even appreciate that someone like you do. Well, Scott, you distracted me so that I wouldn't take him. That's why you were trying to get me to save the whole... I know. It backfired. It didn't work. But let's catch people up on the picks

after you selected Hunter Renfro. Wow, there was a lot. Rizzo, Alex Verdugo, Dylan Carlson, Luis Garcia. I selected Grossman, then Avisa El Garcia, Luis Severino, Trevor Bauer, and Michael Brantley. And now we are in round 15.

Is it time yet? to select a second basement? No, I don't think so. I'm sure someone's going to troll me and try to steal my guys at some point, but that point is not now. Let's see who's available amongst the pitchers. Ooh, that's a fun name up top.

Could use a closer. Ah, geez, decisions. I am going to select Mark Malanson. but I don't feel good about it. You can't. I wanted Logan Gilbert. Oh, geez. Man, yeah, Logan Gilbert would have been my SP5.

But instead, I've got four starting pitchers so far. I probably don't need Logan Gilbert because I've got Wheeler. I've got Bueller. I got Musgrove. I feel really good about that top three. So I've got Will Smith as my first closer. Now I get Mark Melanson as my second. I think eventually the wheels are going to fall off for Mark Malanson.

I don't know when it's going to happen. I think it's going to happen. I hope it doesn't happen this year. But if he stays healthy and on track, you're probably getting solid ratios, not a lot of strikeouts, and, I don't know, 25 saves, hopefully, with the Diamondbacks.

It's not a great situation. After Mark Mulanson goes, Scott Barlow, oh, Logan Gilbert, geez, hurts my heart. And then Corey Canable, so closers are starting to go here. Relief pitchers flying off the board. True dat. Were you considering any relief pitchers, Closures, Scotty?

I know you're on deck. Oh, yeah, I am. Oh, Scott Barlow just went to Scott Engel. So Scott White has to start rethinking things here. That's right. Hmm. You know, Scott's not that popular of a name anymore. You know that?

You don't see a lot of Scots anymore. Yeah, you know, my, our generation just, they look at that name and they're like, not for me, not for me. I think they were all taken up from like the 60s to 90s. Those were all Scots and now they're just, they're gone. I think it's Scott Stapp's fault.

I'm going to take another popular name from the 80s. Alex Kirolov. Is that a popular name from the 80s? Well, there was... Michael J. Fox played a famous Alex on the... Pete Keaton?

Family ties, yeah. There was Alex Gonzalez. Chicago White Sox starting pitcher. There was another closer that went too, by the way. Blake Trinan. So this is the round, around 15,

lots of closers flying off the board now. Yeah. Yeah. If I wasn't making a name joke, I probably would have taken a close. I got a little distracted by the name play. But that's fine. I already got Kenley Janssen in the bag.

I, you know, I'll be okay. Alex Kiroloff has big breakout potential. I'm actually much more confident to break out for him than I am for Adele. He obviously doesn't bring the speed element Adele does, but I think he could be like a plus source of batting average while also providing good power.

So I'm happy to take him here in round 15, especially since outfield. Well, suddenly I have four outfielders, so it's becoming a less glaring need for me. And Alex Kirloff coming back from wrist surgery. So I do wonder if maybe he gets off to a slow start this year, but something he was dealing with for years, dating back to the minors. So I'm actually happy long-term that Kirolov had that surgery, and I think it's going to work out well for him.

I agree, Scott. I think eventually when he gets going, you can see big batting average, 280-plus, 25-plus home runs when Alex Kiroloff is at his peak. Maybe even better than that, honestly. After Kiroloff goes, Luke Voigt. Sorry, Chris, no Luke Void for you. And then Tyler Stevenson, Anna Dolis Garcia, and you are on the clock. Are you going back to pitching?

You, no, I'm not going to say it. Instead, I'm going to play. I'm going to take an upside shot. That's your mute button. There's my upside shot with my Clevenger. Delayed season could be useful for him. So we'll see on that. I could use a catcher.

So what I'm going to do is take Mitch. Garver, who's been my go-to fallback catcher. He's my first catcher, so not going to be a strength for me, but he can at least help avoid making it a weakness. It could be. I mean, he could be a top five catcher. Well, yeah, but him by himself can't be, can't make it a strength for it, well, given, you know, that I'm going to be picking from.

How good is any second catcher going to be? Like, if you have a good second catcher, it probably wasn't worth the trade-off, whatever that trade-off was. Yeah, that's probably true. Unless you just, like, Salvador Perez and Will Smith are kind of the only two who could be worth it. Love the pick by RJ White. Taylor Rogers. So another closer off the board.

Someone I'm pretty excited about, the numbers were fantastic from last year. Best strikeout stuff we've ever seen from Rogers. And he has the track record. He actually has done it under this coaching staff with Rocco Baldelli. He did it back in 2019, had 30 saves. And I trust him. I think Taylor Rogers is going to be pretty damn good. Let's see.

What else happened? Adoles Garcia went at the end of round 15. Chris, you selected Clevenger and Garver as you mentioned, Taylor Rogers. And then Yohan Moncada goes here in round 16. Yeah, he was the other one I was thinking of

if I didn't take Mitch Garber. It was going to be Moncada or Garver. So I'm a little disappointed. I think he was kind of like the last third baseman you can feel okay about. All right. Ah, Schneier. In case you're wondering what just happened,

Camilo Duval goes to Dan Schneier, and man, rounds 15 and 16 have just been loaded with relief pitchers and closers. I mean, this is the range where you need to take advantage. Camillo DeVall was the closer I was saying I probably should have taken with my last pick, and I almost got him anyway. Darn it.

What am I going to do here? So there are a couple of really big power bats left that I like. And in terms of where they normally go, this guy should be gone already. So it's my third, third baseman. I don't know what everybody's doing about third base. Matt Chapman. Ah, chappy, I was looking at him. I could use some power too.

That was the other third basement I was hoping for. Thanks, Scott. Blame Dan. Oh, yeah, Chris, you don't have a third basement. Geez. Wow. Yeah. Well, Eduardo Escobar, baby.

Honestly, you could do worse. I was, after our latest Nolan Aronado debate, I had the opportunity to take him in round six of TGFBI, 15-team league. So, you know, good value, you would think, for somebody who wants Aronado. But I was comparing his and Eduardo Escobar's 20-21 number side by side. and they're not that different. I mean, Aeronado hits six more home runs, but, you know, we've seen

Edward O'Escobar hit over 30 before, and there's no guarantee Aeronauta hits exactly 34 again. He could slump to 31, 30. I don't know. I don't know. Got me thinking. Got the old wheels of turning again. Jeez, man.

There was just a run of, power bats and I wanted one of them here. A Eugenio Suarez when Matt Chapman goes and I am left scrambling. I'm gonna take Luis Arias as my starting second baseman. Forget you Colton Wong, forget Eugene Seguera. I'll take my guy.

She was like a Moldo Escobar. No, no, no, no. No, we can't do that, Scott. Come on. I already have two Mets. I already have two Mets on my team. It's like how much, how much, How much bad juju do you want to put on one mock draft team, Scott? You can't have more than two minutes. Fair enough.

Yeah. All right. So, Dan says he's not trolling you, by the way. Yes, we all believe you, Dan, for the third time in the draft. Gary Sanchez goes, let's see who else went in this round. So we are in round 16. After Scott selected Matt Chapman, we see Hyunjin Ryu, Michael Conforto, A. Eugenio Suarez.

Akeel Badoo. I selected Luis Arias, who has second third and shortstop eligibility. Big second half for Arias last year. He'll be the starting third basement for the Brewers. And I'm a fan. Big prospect pedigree finally came through.

I think he can hit 270, 20 plus homers, six to eight steals. I think the counting stat should be good too. And I think he's going to be good in a points league too. I think that's an undervalued part of his game.

Really strong walk rate from Louis. Riesas last year. Gary Sanchez and Brandon Belt to finish out round 16 and Joe Ryan with the first pick of round 17 and Dave Mendelsohn says ugg snipped. Poor guy. All right. So let's see what we got catcher catcher catcher catcher catcher this position stinks. I'm not going to select any of those. there is a pitcher here that I like what about outfield I think I have four of those now yeah I've got four outfielders

a few names here that I do like nobody's screaming out that I need to select them right now that's good that's good it's usually good when nobody's screaming all right so I am going to go back to pitcher and I'm going to select Marcus Stroman who is now with the Chicago Cubs.

I think he's solid, safe floor kind of pitcher, stabilizer, strong ratios. The whip will be a little bit high, but good ERA. I think if he can maintain his swinging strike rate from last year, we could see a few more strikeouts from Marcus Tremon as well. He'll get to face the Pirates. Hopefully none of those series get canceled because I need all the Pirates starts that I can get from my NL Central starting pitchers.

But I do like Marcus Strowman. as an SP5 or an SP6 type. You know who hasn't been taken yet and it's kind of freaking me out? Is it Glaver Torres who just went right now? No. Glaver Torres, best shape of his life alert, by the way,

we got on Tuesday afternoon. Apparently he's slimmed down and he's looking great. We'll see if it helps. It's Miles Straw. I don't want to take Miles Straw, but I don't have many steals and it's really weird that he hasn't been taken yet.

I think many people don't want to select Miles Straw. But in the right build, Scott, if you need steals, then it makes sense. Here's the thing. I got one outfield spot left. So, you know what I'm actually going to do since Dylan Floro, my ultimate late round safe source got taken this round, and I already missed out on Camila Duval, and I only have the one closer, Kenley Janssen.

I'm going to take Joe Barlow. It's not very exciting. But I feel like it's my last chance at somebody who I'm confident is going to begin the year in the closer role. Not confident he keeps it, but, you know, for around 17 closer, you can only ask so much. So Joe Barlow is my pick. That is correct.

All right, Joey B. off the board. The Rangers are a team because they've made so many moves this offseason. They've made a lot of splashes. They signed Seeger. They sign Marcus Semyon. it wouldn't surprise me if they try to sign a closer type or trade for a Craig Kimbril. It wouldn't be the most shocking thing. I agree. But I'm not. What would it be the most shocking thing?

I don't know. Pirates signing Kimmel-Jansen. I don't know. Let's say, you know, the players and the owners came to an agreement. That'd be pretty shocking. That's fair. Yeah, that's fair. What else has gone on this round after I selected Marcus Stroman earlier, Anthony Descalcani. Nice pick to the king. Then Brandon Crawford. Glaver Torres, Jose Orkitti, Joe Barlow, and Thor. Noah Cindergarde's a good pick. Yeah, this is pretty late. 201.

Yeah. Pick 201 for Noah, Cindergarde. Dan Schneier. Yeah. The Akeel Badoo, I wanted to mention the Achilleep Badoop pick 189 overall. I was doing a little side-by-side comparison, Badoo and Randy Orozerrena. And see a lot of similarities there. I believe that that.

was one of the generic versus brand name. Oh, absolutely was. I'm not the first to notice this, yes. I mean, neither of us like a Rosarena. It's worth pointing out. We both have them as a bust this year. So I'm not especially high on Badoo.

It's less about that, but. It's definitely a why take a Rosarena when Badoo is there. So I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't notice Badoo is there, I guess. But he's a fun player too, man. He's one of these guys where you look at the stackass. The max EV is there. The sprint speed is there. He's got talent.

We saw last year he struggled with trikeouts early, but then made adjustments. Tricouts? Yes. And the plate discipline was much better. What did I say? He said tricouts. Tricouts? Is that what I said?

Tricouts. Didn't he? I don't know. Maybe I did. There's no need to be a jerk, Scott. God. It's funny. okay.

Akia Badoo, with all that, I think that he is a very interesting player. There was an awesome picture of him looking jacked up in the offseason if you're into that kind of thing as well.

Chris is struggling right now. He selected Joey Bart with one of his picks. I had one of those moments where the queue didn't update and so I thought Mark Malanson was still there and I could get another source of saves and then I clicked on it. And he'd been gone for like two rounds, right?

You're not paying attention to my team? Come on, Chris. So that was a source of frustration. So I took Joey Bart and was probably four rounds earlier than I needed to because I panicked and I didn't know where to go and he was in my queue. Oh, these things can go sideways on you folks. That's the thing to remember. Yeah, I mean, an hour and a half into a mock draft. I mean, people start to tilt a little bit at this point.

All right. Whatever. All right. Well, and I was going to take Michael Copac and Copac and he got taken two picks before me. Yeah, lots of upside pictures going in this range. RJ made a very good pick with Lucas Sims right before me too. That whole thing was very upset. Lucas Sims, I like him, but the sleeper in that bullpen, Art Warren, remember the name.

Big fan, Art Warren, 19% swinging strike rate last year. After Noah Cindergarde went, Michael Copac, Lucas Sims, Chris selected both, Joey Bart and Alex Cobb. So I think fantastic pick. Obviously we're all in. We're all in on the Cobb this year. And hoping that he can be the best version of himself with the San Francisco Giants.

After he goes, Ryan McMahon, Gavin Luxco. And Scott, you are on deck. Do you have any idea what you're trying to do here? Oh, you know what? I need to help out our buddy Dan Schneier. He's getting a ton of mentions here. Yes, do that. move Chris Taylor to the middle infield spot for him

so that you can take Miles Straw and in the end in the slide. In the slide, yeah. In the slide, I'll just go ahead. I'll go ahead and give it to him and I'm not sure. I'm not sure if he's watching us on YouTube or not, but he's trying to communicate with me.

Oh, there he goes. He got it. All right. And that brings us to you, Scott. What do we got? That brings us to me, doesn't it? Well, I was kind of wanting Straw to go. I was kind of urging him to go because

who do I say is like straw only better Nikki Lopez Nikki Lopez now usually he goes a lot later than straw but straw went so late then I'm going to go ahead and Ted take Lopez here and the reason

I didn't just take straw over Lopez a lot of times I would have straw projects for more steals I'd say but Lopez projects for a lot himself and is a better source of batting average. But he just, like I said, I had one outfield spot left. I'd rather fill my middle infield spot because there are a lot more outfielders I'm excited about the middle

infielders at this point. So I'll take Nikki Lopez for some for some late round steals. All righty, yes. And the Royals do value his defense quite a bit. So if you're worried about playing time or a log jam, I think you should be worried about it at some point for some of those fringy Royals players. But I don't think you should worry about it for Nick. That's the point that I was getting at, Scott. Is that... It looks like a 4-1 player last year. No, yeah.

Like, his defense is that good. So I think they want him in there. Provide a little batting average, some speed, of course, going this late in your draft. And it is round 18. Let's see, what do I need? I need a second catcher. I need a middle infielder. I need an outfielder.

I need some homers. Where am I going to get the homers, Scott? I don't know. This is what you're talking about, right? I need some home runs. and I don't see any Eduardo Escobar we mentioned his name a few times already

but I don't really want Edwardo Escobar on my team it's just not the fun pick you know but do I need a fun pick probably not I don't know there are a few

like old outfielders here that are but they're not going to give pop I think I got it I think I got the pick I just saw a name some stuff is going on in my head right now.

The light bulb's going off. I'm getting excited. But what else? What else has happened? After you selected Nikki Lopez, Lou Trevino, who I think will be the closer to start the year.

I read an article recently from the athletic where they pointed out AJ Puck could get an opportunity to close. Of course, he's a lefty. He's probably better suited in the bullpen at this point.

Throws hard, gets a lot of strikeouts. So I think it's interesting. But yeah, it might be kind of one of these wide open situations in Oakland to start the year. After Trevino goes, we see Trey Mancini, a little boom, boom, David Bednar, and then Adley Rushman goes to Scott Engel.

Yeah. Okay, do I want to- I thought I moved Adley Rushman up in my rankings, but apparently not. I think this is later than we normally see him go, and I think it's probably worth the gamble at this point. All right, well, it's just too late for this guy. I don't have a middle infielder yet,

I'm going to select Colton Wong. And if Luis Arias fails, then I have a solid insurance plan here with my guy, Colton Wong. I think a 15-15 candidate. If he stays healthy, solid walk rate, good on-base percentage. I think he could score 90-plus runs for the Brewers.

I like his skill set quite a bit. Yeah, apparently. Keep drafted them. Yeah, I mean, I just keep missing out on all these second basements. So, and then Kyle Hendricks goes. So I don't even think you need pitching anymore, Scott. So probably doesn't matter for you.

I have two pitching spots available. Okay. No, we're not drafting benches in this particular mock. Oh, thankfully. So, yeah, I don't, I don't need to overdo it at pitcher. But this is normally the part of the, like in a, in a draft where I went less pitcher heavy. This would normally be the range where I'm looking at that. That old forgotten trio of Kyle Hendricks,

Zach Grinky, and Carlos Carrasco, I may still end up taking. All right. To end round 18, we see Kyle Lewis go off the board. And I see a comment in the chat here. Thought I was the only Lewis believer left. I like the skill set for Kyle Lewis. And look, it's late enough where you can take the shot on him.

But these knee injuries have been recurring for him, and they've been pretty serious. He had knee surgery last year. so I'm rooting for the guy. I hope he can get back on his feet, but yeah, he still has some power, a little bit of speed there as well. But let's see, what else do we got?

Frank Schwendell goes at the start of round 19 and then Tanner Hauk. I am on the clock, and I need some pop, and I saw a name. Where is he? Where are you? Don't do it.

There he is. Hey, Zeus, Sanchez. From the Miami Marlins, wrote him up, Breakouts 2.0. and big pop last year, especially when he returned from the COVID list. He's had big pop in the minors.

And man, he's one of these guys that hits the ball so hard and so far that even though he plays in Marlins Park, I don't think that's going to affect his power. So if everything works out for him, I think he can hit, you know, 250, 260, 30 plus homers. Again, that is Hazu Sanchez. And he hit lefties well as a left-handed batter, so I do like to see that as well.

After I took Hazu Sanchez, Trista McKenzie, and Gregory Soto go off the board. And Tony Gonsland as well. I really like that pick. I know you like it as well, Scotty. I do. I do like Tony Gonson. I just don't have enough, like, I just don't have enough pitcher spots to fill. So, yeah, don't force it.

I'm okay letting these favorites of mine go to other people and focusing on my lineup for now. I'm debating whether it's worth dipping into catcher at this point still have two spots open and there are about five that I think stand out from the rest

not in a major way obviously but enough that in round 19 it might be worth jumping ahead in line for the catchers It's my turn to pick So I guess I have to make that determination for good here I am going to

Not take a catcher Because instead I'm going to take an outfielder I'm going to take the outfielder Who led the NL in RBI last year I'm going to take Adam Duval Oof you know what if I was looking for pop That guy probably made a lot of sense Yeah, I was afraid you were going to take him.

Let the NL and RBI hit 38 home runs. He's going to drain your batting average, but whatever. I mean, it's around 19. Who isn't going to drain your batting average at this point? Good point. So as somebody who is most, more than anything else, is most interested in not selling the power category short. I do, well, somebody I like targeting in this range.

And I am worried that I under- did it a little under power categories in this particular draft because I drafted so many pitchers early. So, yeah, I think it was important that I drafted him here. All righty. Well, let's see what else is going on in the draft after Tony Gonsolin went on Medo Rosario. I like the value on him if you need some batting average

and some speed late, 15 to 20 steals. I think that's certainly doable. Scotty selects Adam Duvall. Then Dan Schneier selects Carlos Carrasco. So another pick that we are fans of here. Andrew Vaughn, Ian Hap, and Chris, you go with Yuleiguriel, and you got your third baseman, Eduardo Escobar. Yeah.

Yeah, Eduardo Escobar is just kind of solid. But, you know, Scott, you did say how many players aren't going to hurt your batting at average. Well, Yulgariel's one in this range who won't. I was surprised he was still there. So happy to end up with him. As make sure Chris is all right there. Chris? I'm dying. I might have to tap out here for the rest of the stream because yeah, this is, oh man. I basically like have not been able to sleep the last three nights. I've been like, there's been like a three hour stretch every night since like Friday night where I've been like just coughing in my sleep and it's been really miserable and it's ruining my life. And the cough medicine, I took about 20 minutes before the show.

show started clearly isn't working. So I'm going to log off guys. I'm sorry. All good, Chris. Get out of here. We'll take a look at your team by the end of this podcast. Good stuff as always. He selects Dewey Gariel. Before I get into round 20, it's all good. See you later, Chris. We love you too. Before I get into round 20, we're going to take a quick break and we'll be back right after this. All right. So let's start with round 20 here. And Eduardo Escobar goes to Chris, Andrew Kittred, who is the likely leading, closer candidate for the Tampa Bay raise, though. You know, they're probably going to mix it up a little bit.

Right. But he was good. To whatever extent they have one. He was good. He was really good last year when he pitched. No, I think he's perfectly fine pick here. I think he could make the case for him over somebody like Joe Barlow, who I took a couple rounds ago.

But I just want to try and get as many saves as I can for however long those saves are available to me. I hear you. After Kittridge went, Andrew, Benintendi goes, I really like the value on Benintendi too. He's just, he's not flashy, but solid batting average, 20 homers, 10 steals. And that lineup too, like the Royals should be much more improved. So the counting stats, that might actually be pretty damn good for Andrew Benetendi. Dan continues on with his Scott White troll tour and he selects Zach Rankie one round after

selecting Carlos Carrasco. And Scotty does. You are. He does. You are. He does. Back up. So those three old pitchers, those three old forgotten aces are gone now and I am out of hitter spots to fill, apart from catcher. So I think I am going to

try fill it. I'm probably going to fill my two pitcher spots here before I go for a catcher. I think Aaron Savale is a lot like that old trio. I don't think he has like top 25 upside the way Hendrickson Grinky may still.

but should work deep into game, should have a low whip. The strikeout total should be better than the rates because of how deep he works into games. And I think it will do more good than harm for me, which is really all you can ask from a starting pitcher in this range, right? You just don't hurt me. Baby, don't hurt me. That's Scott tonight to Aaron Savale.

Yeah, I think he's fine. Like, again, he was, you know, some people were drafted. him. I was one of those people as a top 40 starting pitcher last year and now he's going outside the top 60 a lot of the times at starting pitcher. And he was pretty good. I don't really

I gather people were expecting this big step forward for him and it didn't happen, but that's fine. I mean he's, yeah, he's fine. He is fine indeed. After you selected Aaron Savale, A.J. Pollitt goes off the board, big fan of that pick. He was

really good last year. Just has to stay on the field. and I think the DH in the National League should help. AJ Pollack do exactly that. Miguel Seno, Jake McGee, Jonathan Scope, and then I selected Alex Wood, the last of the Giants starting pitchers that, as you know, by now, I want to wind up with at least one Giants pitcher

on my pitching staff in every draft that I do, if I can. So Wood was the last one available out of Desclofani and Alex Cobb. And he was really good last year for the Giants. You know, surprise, surprise. do a great job with really all their players, their pitchers, their hitters. And Alex Wood was no exception to that.

He's got to stay on the mound. He's dealt with a lot of injuries, but when he is on the mound, I think he'll be really good. After Alex Wood goes, Hazouz Aguilar, and a double tap of Tigers' prospects at the round 20 and 21 turn with Spencer Torkelson and Riley Green.

Scott, I mean, we're at that point where you can't really criticize any pick, Scott. Is this the right range where you should start to take some shots on upside prospects. Do you think that makes sense with the Tigers guys here? Yeah, I mean, it's not a high priority for me, but I don't think really any pick is wrong at this stage of the draft. And, you know, particularly, like, I don't approach this draft.

Like, we're drafting for a league where there are no benches, even though we're not drafting benches, you know. It's just because, you know, We're trying to not have the mock take too long. So we only draft starting lineups, but we're not drafting for a league without benches. So it's okay to draft guys anticipating you wouldn't really draft them as starters, I think.

I think that is... Because obviously Torkelson and Green aren't going to be up right away. Yeah, well, look, we'll see what happens with the CBA. I mean, maybe they'll be... I was listening today to Rob Manfred's press conference, and he talks about how they were incentivizing teams calling up their prospects for opening day. So I'm intrigued to see that part of the CBA and if teams actually do that.

So time will tell there. Yeah, it doesn't, I don't know what he was referring to. I mean, obviously, it's possible not everything that's been discussed has been leaked to the media. But yeah, that raised an eyebrow for me too because are you, you know, I was like, are you sure you're doing that? because I haven't really heard anything along those lines. That would be awesome though. Yeah.

Like, hey, if the teams are, if there is incentive for a team to call up a Spencer Torkelson on opening day, if they think he's ready, of course, why wouldn't they do it? I mean, we saw it with the Mets a couple of years ago. I mean, I guess their incentive was like, hey, we want to put the best team out there and they did it with Pete Alonzo,

and he rewarded them by having a fantastic rookie season. You know, not that every rookie is going to do that, obviously. But, man, you know, a lot of, of these guys are capable and we want to see them sooner rather than later so that would be awesome. Let's see what else is going on? After Riley Green went, Jordan Montgomery, I selected Charlie Blackman as my utility bat. I think we get a little bit of a bounce back this year from Charlie Blackman, good solid batting average, you know, high teens and home runs, okay counting stats, I think. After Blackman goes, Ramon Luriano, Drew Rasmussen, Steven Strasbourg, and Elias Diaz

somebody who I find myself targeting quite often as my second catcher. Yeah, that would have been one of the catchers that if I wanted to jump and head a line, I would have jumped ahead and line for. Okay. But there's really one last pitcher who I feel pretty good about not hurting me. So I'll take him. I'll take John Means. Business.

Who's kind of like Savale in that he'll probably excel at Whip. may have ERA troubles, but may not, because they're moving the fences way back in left field, Camden Yards. His extreme flyball tendencies may actually play to his benefit because of that, if it becomes a difficult part for right-handed hitters to Homer in, and it looks like it will be. So, yeah, I mean, I'm not as hopeful for a big strikeout rate from John Means, like last year. but he could he could be he could be good apart from that. All right, after you selected John Means, O'Neill Cruz, goes to our buddy Dan Schneier,

breakout candidate for me. Speaking of prospects being up early, you know, he ended the season with the Pirates. He played three games. He hit his first career home run. He also has the record for the hardest hit ball in the Stackass era by the, by any Pittsburgh Pirates player, and he did that in three games. So a very unique skill set for O'Neo Cruz, big human being, six foot seven, power speed,

you know, maybe some strikeouts and lower batting average to start, but I am very intrigued by the skill set there. After he goes, Mike Zanino, Austin Hayes, Chris selects Hermann Marquez to finish out round 21, and Gene Segura, my man, to start round 22. And Alejandro Kirk goes, So Scotty, some catchers starting to go here, bud. Yeah.

Yeah, all the ones I was sort of excited to take. But that's what happens when you get in the last two rounds, right? Like a lot of people are going to be taking catchers. It's kind of like kickers and fantasy football. Not exactly because, you know, obviously some people filled their catcher spots early. But there aren't many catchers worth using those spots on early. I'm going to take Travis Darno. Travis Darno.

You know, I mentioned this on our catcher previous, Scott. When I looked into the numbers from Darno last year, I was so overwhelmed. I guess it felt like he had a much better season than he did. I guess it was just the 2020 that stood out. 2020 season, he was incredible. Yeah, he was so fantastic. You know, there's obviously a chance he can get back on track there.

I think they could use him as the D.H some days to help keep his bat in the lineup. and keep him healthy. Right. He had a thumb injury last year. And look, I mean, he played over his head in 2020, obviously. For sure. Never had a year like that before.

It was pandemic short in season. I just don't think that's a realistic outcome for him. But you look at the previous year, 2019, 251 with 16 homers and 351 at Bats for the Rays. Like, I think that's something you can hope, darn no. those are numbers you can hope Darno will meet. And it was interesting because even though he was struggling last season, the Braves gave him an extension amid those struggles. So they clearly haven't lost confidence in him.

So, you know, I think he'll be in a two-catcher league, a perfectly serviceable starter. All right, we're coming up here on the last round of the draft after Scottie selected Travis Darno, Calquantral, James McCann, Bobby Dalbeck, Terrick Scouble, I selected Sean Murphy as my second catcher, so pairing him up with Yasmani Grandal. Definitely a down season for Sean Murphy last year, but Jan Goames is no longer with the team. He's signed with the Chicago Cubs.

I think they're going to turn it back over to Sean Murphy. Lots of pop in that bat. Batting average is probably going to hurt you quite a bit, but I still think there's something there with Sean Murphy. He's young enough. He's just got to put it together. I like the skill set. But yeah, it's just a matter of consistency and him figuring it out.

A lot of catchers here going. After Sean Murphy goes, M.J. Melendez, and then Carson Kelly. Scott, what do you think the plan is for M.J. Melendez this season? Because it's a pretty hard situation for me to figure out. Obviously, they have Salvador Perez, they have Nick Prado,

they have Vinnie Pasquantino, they have Bobby Whit, they have all these prospects coming. It's just, do you think maybe they give Salvi some more days at DH? And they call up Melendez and let him play Kevintin. catcher, I really don't know how it's going to play out.

Yeah, so, I mean, Melendez played a third of his minor league season at AAA and had even better numbers there than double A. It was the minor league leader in home runs last year as a catcher with 41. So you would think he'd be up pretty early this year. He did get some exposure to third base last year, I think, in anticipation of, okay, we're going to, we can't just make this guy or catcher. obviously Salvador Perez is there. I don't think they're going to give up on Melendez as a catcher, but they might get creative with their usage of him to get him in the lineup more. Obviously, we saw Salvador Perez get more starts than ever at DH last year.

So as he gets older, I think that will continue. And the biggest question for Melendez, I think, is just when does he come up? They'll figure out a way to get him at bats when he does. If Vinny Pasquantino beats him to the majors, that could present a challenge. Well, obviously, it would have to be Pasquantino and Nick Prado, both of the first baseman, beating him to the majors. And I just don't think that's likely to happen. I mean, Pasquantino hasn't even played at AAA yet. Yeah, I think if Pasquantino beats Melendez to the major, Scott, that means something probably went wrong with Nick Prado.

That would be my suspicion. but yeah, it's a good problem for the royals to have to have all this young talent. So now I've just got to figure out how to get everybody at bats. Let's see. Round 23, our final round has begun. And Aaron Ashby goes off the board, a breakout candidate prospect pitcher for the Brewers.

Just don't know if he's going to be in the rotation to start the season. Same thing could be said for Garrett Whitlock, who goes with the next pick to the Red Sox. He could be their closer. He could be in the rotation. Lots of upside there. I took Ken Giles as my third, quote unquote, closer.

I know the Mariners have a lot of relievers there, so no sure guarantee. He's coming back from Tommy John surgery as well, but obviously he has the experience. And, you know, if he's himself, then obviously he has the stuff as well. After I select Ken Giles, Rymel Tapia, Will Myers, Omanor-Veyes, Mike Yistremski, Scott, you select Eric Haas, Max Stassegos, Lane Thomas, fantastic pick, 274, round 23. Love it. But yeah, Eric Haas, your second catcher here, Scotty. You take him over Max Stacey.

Yeah, I thought about taking him actually with the previous pick instead of Darno. I'm a little surprised in this format in particular where you're just looking to get something a catcher. I'm a little surprised, Haas's. Kind of going ignored. I understand the Tigers got Tucker Barnhart this offseason, he's going to be their primary catcher, but Haas will be the backup catcher and get at bats in the outfield, too.

So I think there will be, I think relative to other catchers, there will be enough at bats for him. And he was one of the best power hitters at the position last year. Now, he struck out way too much, and there's a chance he just whiffs his way out of a job, essentially. But I think certainly with the last pick and at a position where it's so hard to get any kind of production at all, the risk is worth the reward. Yeah, look, he's an interesting player too. He played some games in the outfield last year, so, you know, they can. Yep, that's where he's going to get the, that's where he's going to get those extra

bats. Yep. All right, Scott, let's wrap up by looking through our teams real quick, say maybe what we like, what we don't like, and just how it turned out, you know, if our strategy worked to fruition or not. And let's start with your offense. You've got Travis Darnow and Eric Haas at Catcher. You've got C.J. Cron from the profit pocket at first base.

Brandon Lau, Raphael Devers, Corey Seeger, Nikki Lopez, and Matt Chapman as the rest of your infield. And then your outfield is Adam Duval, Hunter Renfro, Chris Bryant, Alex Kirilloff, Joe Adele. And you've got Shohei Otani in your utility spot. What do you think? I think it's okay. I don't think it's my best work. It kind of makes me second guess whether I like Otani as my first round pick because I felt like I was there was pressure to make up for batting average the rest of the way. Of course, I'm not going to be somebody who finishes high in the steals category, but I got a couple guys who should combine for about 50 steals.

And if I can make up, you know, if I can get about 20 more from the rest of my lineup, that should put me in the middle of the steel standings, which is what I'm aiming for. There's enough power, I think. I picks like Adam Duvall and Eric Haas helped with that. But I do wonder if the batting average is going to be what I would like it to be. You know, there are some high guys in there, some guys who are going to help offset the low guys. Like Nikki Lopez, I think, can be a 300 hitter. Of course, Corey Seeger, who I targeted explicitly for that reason. Who else?

I mean, Devers is going to be fine in batting average, of course. Cron should be fine in batting average. But then you've got low guys like Lau and Otani and Duval and Renfro is probably going to be on the lower end. Joe Adele, who knows what to expect. But I think it should be fine. I think it should be fine. I've done better. I think it should be fine.

Yeah, for me, Scott, when it comes to Otani, I'm not really worried about the production. Even though the batting average might be a little bit lower, it's the position. that, you know, you have to use them at utility. I just, especially in a rotos-sized lineup, it just feels like I'm chasing other positions for the entire draft after that, just because he's stuck in that

utility spot. So... Yeah, I don't know. I love the player. It didn't feel that way to me in this one. Okay. Because, I mean, the thing is if you're chasing at other positions, it's because your

utility player is that much better than everybody else's. So, you know, if you're middle infielder ends up a little worse, I don't know. I just, I don't think, you know, robbing Peter to pay Paul. I don't know if that's the appropriate expression, but you get what I'm saying. Yeah, and obviously, so I was saying my hitting isn't quite up to the standards I want, but that's, of course, because I spent four of my first seven picks on pitchers. Right? It was Shane Bieber, Sandy O'Contara, Kevin Gossman, and Frankie Montas.

I think it was for my first eight, actually. But that's heavier that starting pitcher than I've normally been going in rotisserie and obviously gave me a big advantage there. So there's some trade-off. I think all things being equal, I'd rather stick to my normal approach at starting pitcher, which is to get three of my top 30 instead of my four of my top 30. you know, hopefully have a higher end hitting base. But I kind of had to go with the flow of this draft.

And nobody seemed to want to invest in starting pitchers. And I think it was appropriate to go for them when I did, considering. Yeah, I mean, they all fell to good values. So it's not like you did anything crazy in terms of, you know, ADP where players are going right now. So, yeah, we kind of both try. out a similar strategy because I am not really leaning into starting pitchers early much myself. And I wound up, you know, taking two starting pitchers, my first three picks.

And I think it was three of my first eight. I think that's when I got Joe Musgrove, either eighth or ninth round. But just taking pitchers that early is not normal for me. So I quickly run through the team. And I don't know, Scotty, you can give me a grade or give me your feedback on what I did here. My catchers, I've got Yasmani Grandal and Sean Murphy. Then I've got Pete Alonzo, Luis Arias,

Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Colton Wong, and Josh Bell in the infield. In the outfield, I've got Eloy Jimenez, J.D. Martinez, Eddie Rosario, Robbie Grossman, Jesus, and I've got Charlie Blackman

at the utility spot. So my initial takeaway, you know what? I don't think it's as bad as I thought while I was drafting. Batting average might be a little bit too low. Got some pop from Pete Alonzo from Grandal, Jose Ramirez,

I think Lindor probably gets close to 30 homers, JD, Eloy, power there, Jesus Sanchez. I don't know. I think it's a pretty good blend of offense, Scott. What do you think here? I think it makes me feel better about my lineup. Oh, geez.

Yeah, but I mean, you know, It's just not the kind of build I'm going for this year. Too many non-power bats. And I don't think enough steals to make up for it. If you're going to have that many guys who are going to fall short of 20 home runs, I feel like you need to ensure you're going to be one of the better stolen base teams in the league.

How many guys do you think are going to fall short of 20 here? Let's see. Probably Sean Murphy. I forget the catchers. Yeah. Colton Wong. Sure. Robbie Grossman Eddie Rosario's borderline

Charlie Blackman certainly will Eddie Rosario borderline 20 homers Borderline I think Luis Arias is borderline too That's more than 20 last year But all right So maybe you know four guys Or five guys something like that

But yeah All right But look I knew you weren't gonna like it Because like obviously there's just players there That you just don't like you know Francisco Lindorz You like a big meaning you put me No that's fine

I mean look that's that's that's over here We've got to talk it out man This is like It's the end of the podcast. This is like our therapy session. What do I know even? Really? I mean, the people, they want to hear your opinion, Scott.

So that's why we're here. All right, so the pitching staff, I mentioned I drafted two pitchers with my first three picks. That included Zach Wheeler and Walker Bueller. Then I got Joe Musgrove as my SP3. I've got Sean Mania as my SP4. I've got Marcus Stroman and Alex Wood as the starting pitchers. And then at Closer, I've got Will Smith. I've got Mark Malay.

and I've got Ken Giles. And this feels pretty good. This is a pitching staff I would love to wind up with. I think I would also be perfectly fine if I didn't have one of Wheeler or Bueller, and I just substituted that for like a mid-round SP2 or SP3. Maybe if I had another power bat in here, I would like this a little bit more.

But that was the problem. I selected Jose Ramirez with my first pick, and then Mani Machado was my top hitter. And I just, I didn't want to go third base, third base to start my draft. But maybe I should have reconsidered it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the pitching staff is strong.

So, yeah, I mean, obviously you paid more for it. So that makes sense. I think it looks good, though. It certainly does. Scott, is this draft going to be on the site as well if people want to check it out? Yes, it is. All right.

So if you want to find out all the draft results that we spoke about, throughout this draft. If you want to find out how Chris Towers team turned out as well, then you could find the draft on the site. CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. We're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank.

Thank you all for listening and watching this mock draft edition of fantasy baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.