Fantasy Baseball Today - Mailbag! Daily Lineup Leagues, Trading Draft Picks & More (3/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 12, 2022

Join our FBT March Madness Bracket for a chance to join our listener leagues- cbssports.com/FBTbrackets It's mailbag time! Let's start with your Apple podcast review questions (1:25). ... What does an Austin Riley trade look like in a keeper league (4:20)? ... How should you use our rankings on the site (6:33)? ... How to value draft picks in a league where you can trade them (7:22). ... Is Ohtani the first overall pick in daily lineup leagues (10:17)? ... Which players gain an advantage in daily lineup leagues (15:12)? ... Let's move over to emails (23:26)! ... What's our strategy in a daily H2H points league (25:45)? ... Do we prefer batting average or OBP (33:50)? What about wins or quality starts? ... Which players should you target in a HR-only league (38:20)? '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. What is up? And welcome in to another mailbag edition of Fantasy Baseball today on Saturday, March 12th.

I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Chris Towers. We have all the questions. Apple Podcast reviews, your emails. We really do appreciate it. as always, as I mentioned last week, on those emails, please try and keep them as short and sweet as possible. So we can get to as many of your questions as possible. What's going on, Chris? How are you doing?

I'm all right. You know, it's, um, we're in the past when you're listening to this. So we have no idea if there will be baseball by the time you're listening this. They're very well maybe. So just a heads up, it is Thursday at 216 Eastern time on March 10th. and the deadline is in 43 minutes. Yeah, so there's a very real chance that something happens mid-podcast, and then we just kind of pause things and pick them back up. But anyway, we're going to answer your questions,

and let's jump right in. Apple Podcasts Review Questions, and this one's from T-Rite 888. Quick question in my 5-by-5-Roto, NO-only Keeper League with a $260 budget. I have Corbin Burns for one more year at $14. I can extend him for 2023, for $19 each of the next two seasons,

or I am considering flipping him for Trey Turner, who has a $40 contract through 2023. What would you do? Hmm, that's an interesting one. And I'm trying to look at like, who's an option you might be able to get with the money that you would save from Corbyn? And it's probably like, in an NL-only league,

would you rather have Corbyn-Burns or, or Corbyn Burns and Tommy Edmund or Trey Turner is kind of the way I look at it, right? Like that seems like a fair person you could get for about $25. I think I almost always would rather have the depth in any kind of only league. I think so too. The problem is like how much can you think about

2023 when you're talking about a pitcher, especially a pitcher who hasn't necessarily done the 180 inning? and, you know, I don't think Burns has like the kind of injury history that's super concerning, but he's a pitcher, he throws hard, we know how quickly things can go from, you know, he looks like the best pitcher in baseball to, oh, no, he's out for the rest of the season. So that's my concern there, but I do think the gap and the difference in value there is probably worth sticking with Burns.

Yeah, I agree. I would go with Corbin Burns. And if you're just talking about, you mentioned time. Tommy Edmund, second base. Other middle infielder's. Yeah, Jay Cronerworth is around there. Maybe you can get a Willie Adomis, a Chris Taylor. Max Muncie, but you're inviting risk.

I think keeping Burns is the riskier way to go about it. And Trey Turner's safer. You know what you're getting. He's discounted at $40 too. So it's not like you're overpaying. At least in my eyes, I think that's a discount for an L-only roto, Tray Turner. So I think you're inviting a little more risk and uncertainty, but, you know, it probably helps

you build a better team this year. I'm sure that in another life, Chris, your middle name was actually either risk or uncertainty. So I think that's probably the way to go. Sure. Yeah. You know, the funny thing in my actual life, I don't, I'm not like that at all. Yeah. I wear my helmet every time I go on a bicycle.

You don't do those. Go-Pro cameras from the top of buildings or anything like that? Oh, God, no. Never, never without my seatbelt. I don't go on roller coasters. Don't go in tall buildings. I'm a coward. So you save all the risk for fantasy. It makes sense. Exactly. And this next one's from I-M-S-H-N-E. Grade the Trade. I'm in a 12-te-to-head points league and get 10 keepers. I just traded Austin Riley and Christian Yellich to get Raphael Devers. Do you think I sold too low on Yelich? I was going to use him as a keeper. but with how shallow third base is, I sold high on Riley to get a stud endeavors. And this is interesting, Chris, because recently on another mailbag podcast,

we talked about the possibility of selling high on Austin Riley in a keeper or a Dynasty League, but I don't know that this was fair value for Austin Riley and Christian Yelich. My immediate takeaway is, I think he gave up too much, although I do like getting the better player

in, you know, a 10 or a 12th. team league. Yeah, I think it's mostly fine. I think Riley and Yelich is a really risky package and Devers provides a lot of certainty. Now that, and that certainty is

you know, not he's one of those weird players that's probably about even in head to head points versus roto value just because he's got some deficiencies in both. But yeah, I mean, there's a chance that we look at Riley and Yelich next season. It's not out of

question that those guys are going outside of the top 200 next year. Like Riley, you know, if the strikeouts come back and he looks more like the pre-2020 version and Yelich doesn't get back on track, it could look like a really, really bad deal if you had kept Riley and Yelich. So I'm okay with it. I do think you're selling a little low. You might have been able to get more, but I think it's fine. What would you grade the trade? And just for those listening, we'll calibrate the grade the trade meter. I don't think it's a meter. But C is a fair deal for both sides. Anything

higher than a C, if you get C plus, B, A plus, whatever, then you won the deal. Anything lower, obviously, you lost the deal. I think it's like a C minus. You probably lost it a little bit. Oh, all right. I was going to say C plus. I mean, I think I still would rather have Devers, but it is, it's close. It's like either a slight win or a

slight loss. Either way you look at it. So, C plus for me, C minus for Chris. This one's from Sean Black, 72. I play in a head-to-head categories league with the traditional 5-5 categories. Would I use your roto rankings or your head-to-head points rankings? And this is a great question and probably one that we should have addressed earlier in the off-season. But if you use the traditional five-by-five categories, then you should follow our roto rankings. Even in a head-to-head categories league now, if you play with OBP or any type of total bases or strikeouts for hitters or

anything like that, I would say use our head-to-head points categories because those are more heads-to-points rankings because those are more reflective. Yeah, there are different strategies between roto and categories, but yeah, the player valuations should generally map. Yep, for sure. This one's next from KQ Dad. I play in a Keeper League where we are allowed to keep five players at the round they were drafted. We can only keep them for the year. We initially acquired them plus two additional years. My question is what you think fair value is when someone wants to trade draft picks for a keeper. Let's say a player is likely to be drafted in the fourth round, but you can keep them in the 10th. A fourth round pick in exchange seems like it would be a

win since you could get a comparable player and you would still be able to use your 10th round pick. However, you can't expect a fourth round pick since there is no value for the other player in that deal. What do you think? is fair to both players. Is this a situation, Chris, where you just kind of split the difference and you're hoping you can get, let's say, a seventh round pick for a player that you're keeping in the 10th round, that is a top, I don't know, 50 overall player? No, I think if you expect a player to be gone in the fourth round and you can keep them

for a 10th round pick, I think that's absolutely worth at least a fourth round pick. because that person gets that fourth round caliber play well I guess because they're getting them for a fourth round caliber play they're getting them for the fourth round pick and then that the other player who is getting them

they would have to basically give up a fourth and their tenth round pick because that's where they're keeping the player right that's interesting yeah yeah I guess that probably makes it more like a fifth I don't know I don't think you know one one thing that's always worth keeping in mind with this

is like the difference between the round picks isn't linear. You know, the difference between a first and second round pick is bigger than the difference between a second and third round pick and so on and so forth. So, you know, I do think like a fifth or sixth round pick is probably right. This was from erect records. Chris, have you ever wrecked a record yourself?

I don't know. Is that a thing? Is that a reference that I'm missing? If it is, you know I don't know it. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I have intentionally. Like, I've definitely, like, been going to put the needle down on a record and just, like, slipped and had it go, which is a horrible sound. Jeez.

And can mess up your records. But not intense. Well, no. I did have, I found some, like, weird novelty records on the street once. And my friends and I just, like, threw them against a wall just to, you know, there's some, cathartic about just, you know, breaking things. I was going to ask if you've ever been to one of those wreck rooms where they... I really want to.

They just give you like a sledgehammer and go to town. I've never done it, but it does look amazing, right? Let off a little bit anger. Yeah. Have some fun. 12 team, five by five with OBP and quality starts. Daily lineup moves. Is Shohei Otani the number one pick at this point?

I think it's a very fair question. In fact, next week we will have a live head. Ted Categories draft here on YouTube and in the podcast feed. So we'll see if Otani is the number one pick. But, Chris, if you can use Otani as both a hitter and a pitcher and its daily lineup leagues, he probably should be the number one overall pick. I think you can make a very good case for it. The one thing about this particular format with OPP and Quality Start,

that's not necessarily his best format. Like, I think he's probably better in a batting average league than OPP. But yeah, I think he's absolutely in the discussion. The thing that would give me some pause would just be the fact that there is risk with Shohei Otani, not just the fact that he's had Tommy John surgery, but the fact that he's both a hitter and a pitcher. I don't know, four times as many opportunities as your normal pitcher to get hurt in addition to the relatively high baseline rate of injury risk for pitcher. So that would be the concern for me is he has more of a risk of. season ending injury than any other number one overall pick type of player.

But not that Fernando Tatis is that far off. Sure, sure. But yeah, I think if he's healthy, there's a very good chance he's the most valuable player in that format by a decent margin. As somebody who had Shohei Otani on a few different teams last year in weekly lineup leagues where I could not get both his hitting and pitching stats at the same time, It was very, very frustrating. I would use this opportunity to say yes. In this format, if you can get both his hitting and pitching in a daily lineup league, he is the number one overall player.

And I feel confident saying that, of course, he comes with risk. I think Tatis does as well. If you're about safety, you know, you could go with a Trey Turner or even a Jose Ramirez. But at this point, I don't know. Who's playing for safety? Let's go with Shohei Otani in that format. This next one's from MPJR-19-1-19. Interesting.

15 team, 5 by 5. OBP instead of batting average. $300 salary cap. I'm allowed five keepers. I'm keeping Rafael Devers for $13 and Logan Webb for $5. My other options include Tyler O'Neill for $8, Luis Severino for 7, Michael Kopeck for 5, Alex Kirilloff for 5, Akeel Bedou for 4.

I also have to call up Luis Patino. He's $0 and does not count towards my five keepers. side note this league is run by Adam Rones and he's won 10 of the last 12 years I need to beat him For those who don't know Second Adam Ronis reference on the podcast

Or was that after the podcast Last night? No we we recapped Scott Stout Wars team And that is a 15 team 5 by 5 league Where he is competing against Rones And for those who don't know Adam Ronis is a great fantasy player

Baseball basketball I'm in a basketball league with him He's obviously great in football. We played softball together. He's a good softball player as well. Just really good all around. I mean, I don't really like doing this, especially when it comes to Rones, you know, talking him up.

But let's help this guy beat Adam Rones, if possible. So which three are you looking at keeping here, Chris? I think O'Neill is the sure one at $8. I think Kiroloff at five. And I would go with Kopec at five over Severino at seven or Badoo at four. I just think Copac and Severino probably have similar upside.

There's probably a better chance that Severino throws like 160 innings than Copac, but I do think they could be very similar in terms of their volume and their production. So I'll just go with Copac, who feels like a bit of a safer thing

than, you know, obviously Severino, we haven't really seen him pitch since 2018. I'm with you. Let's do it. Let's take Tyler O'Neill, Michael Copac,

and Alex Kirolov. This next one's from Dan S.D. 82. Dear Greg, Tom, and Steve. I mean, can we have any more generic names, Chris? Yeah, I mean, like Tom and Greg are from Succession, but there's no Steve that I can remember in Succession, so I don't think that's it. Is that so good?

I've seen a lot of hype around it. That's very good. Okay. It's real good. And Greg and Tom are the funniest things in the show. I'm going to say Greg Maddox, Tom, Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton.

I don't know what they would all have in common. But that is my guess. Maybe it's the most Tsai Young Awards in NL history or the only four-time NL-Sai Young winners. That's my guess. All right.

I recently joined a head-to-head points league with daily lineup settings that includes 14 hitters, five outfielders, a corner, a middle, two utility spots. So I guess that means only one catcher, which is probably the way to play. And 10 pitchers, six starting pitchers, and four relievers.

Some of the offensive categories are inflated, two points per run scored, three points per RBI, and holds are worth seven points, almost as much as saves, which are worth eight points. Winds are 10, and quality starts are five. There is also a 12 start cap per week for starting pitchers. What kind of draft strategy would you use? the first thing that stands out to me here, Chris, is the fact that there is a cap on how many starts you can have per week

and because of that, I'm not sure that volume in terms of how many starts you have per week matters as much. I mean, usually we're chasing two-star weeks in this type of format. As a result, I think that I would want more quality when it comes to starting pitchers,

which is usually what we talk about anyway when it comes to head-to-head points leagues. Yeah, I mean, 12 starts. that's a, I guess with six starting pitchers, four relievers, 12 starts is probably not a cap that you're ever really going to hit. I mean, that would basically be, unless you have a spark, you would need all six of your starting pitchers to have multiple starts, which can happen, but seems pretty unlikely to happen more than once or twice in a season. And I would say even that is probably really unlikely. So I don't know if that start cap matters so much. The thing that does, stand out to me is the two points per run, three points per RBI. That means a home run would be, if we're using the, you know, the rest of it is CBS scoring,

it would be home runs are nine points, I guess, as opposed to a solo home run to be nine points. As a point, as opposed to six in a CBS league. So, you know, that's something to keep in mind. I think that does put more of an more value in those high voluminous. middle of the order power producers over everyone else. And then, I mean, this is basically a saves plus holds league. So when it comes to those relievers, you don't have to worry about closers that much. Closers will tend to get more saves than the holds leaders.

So that's something to keep in mind. But yeah, I think you kind of treat it as a normal points league for pitching, with the exception of holds being valuable. And then for a point, I think you probably value hitters more is the biggest thing. I think you value a Raphael Devers type even more. Okay.

So are you more likely to draft hitters early in a scoring system like this? Or just really kind of the same, the same that we're used to in a points league? I mean, I think normally in a points league, we're more aggressive on pitchers fairly. Yeah, I think in this because, one, there are more relievers relative to starters than in your normal points league. It's six to four versus five to two. And relievers are

going to be more valuable relative to starters because of the addition of that holds category. You're going to have more viable relievers. You're going to have, you know, guys like Paul Seewold who will get some saves and also plenty of holds. You know, I think he was top five in saves plus holds last season. those kind of guys are going to be much more valuable. And, you know, starters with the extra points for wins, that's valuable, but that's really unpredictable. So I think starting pitchers actually lose relatively in this format. All right. Let's move on to the next question. This one's from Justin Siragusa.

Dear Ron, Keith, and Gary, the best in the business. Oh, that's broadcasters. They are fantastic. I look, no hate here. Even as a Yankees fan, I will admit the Mets broadcast team is fantastic. Gary Cohen. Before you said Gary, I thought like, oh, Rolling Stones, but no, that's not. Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, but no. I don't think there's a Gary in the Rolling Stones. If you don't know, Chris, I don't know.

Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling, of course, there. I am in a 12 team 8x7 weekly head-to-head categories Keeper League with home runs, runs, RBI, batting average, steals. The three additional categories are walks, strikeouts and OPS, and then for pitchers, wins, saves, strikeouts, whip, ERA, the additional two are walks and quality starts. I can keep three of the following with a max-keeper budget of $55. Carl Sordaun for $1, Trevor Rogers for $1, Logan Webb for $1, Mike Clevenger for $1,

Schohei Otani, the batter for $8, Zach Wheeler for 12, Carl's Correa for 9, Tray Turner for 42. So you could go. So that kind of throws a wrench in things because I think you want to keep the initial takeaway is you want to keep Turner and Otani. But that brings you to $55. So then you wouldn't be able to keep

Zach Wheeler for $12. Well, no, that brings you to 50. So you wouldn't be able to keep Wheeler. Isn't that what I just said? But you would be able to do 55. So you would be able to do Trey Turner, Shohei Otani, and Logan Webb,

or Trevor Rogers. whichever one you prefer there. And that brings you to 51. Or you could do Turner and Wheeler and then one of Webb and Rogers. And that brings you to 55 exactly. So I would think Turner, Otani, and

do I have Web or Rogers ranked higher? Let me see. I have Webb ranked higher. I think I have Web ranked higher. I think I have web rang higher. I think that's the route that I would go. Turner Otani Webb. And that brings you to $51.

Yeah. So I think that's the way to go. Agreed. All right. And the last thing here from Justin P.S. Put your live YouTube drafts in as a podcast. Well, we do. I mean, we just started doing it recently.

So you might have left this Apple podcast review a couple of weeks ago. but we took your advice. And yes, the live mock drafts are now in the YouTube feed. And speaking, they're in the podcast feed. And speaking of which, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you haven't already, it's YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today.

If you're watching this on the YouTube channel, we appreciate you. Please hit the like button as well. But we're always doing a lot of fun stuff. Emergency podcast. All of our full-length podcast are streamed live there each night. Usually Sunday through Thursday

around 10 or 11 p.m. Eastern time. Yes, we are night owls. We like to stay up late and do the podcast with you. So please subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven't already. Emails up next, don't go anywhere. All right, let's jump back into emails, fantasy baseball at CBSI.com. That is the letter I. This one is from Rob in Toronto, who is writing in for the first time. I've been listening to your podcast for a few years now and really enjoy the show. Well, thank you, Rob. My question, I am in a 12-te-to-head keeper league and I can keep five players, and I have narrowed it down to Jose Ramirez, Shohei Otani, the batter, Tim Anderson, Whitmerfield, Javier Baez, Carlos Correa,

Sandy Alcansara. The categories are runs, home runs, RBI, steals, total bases in batting average, wins, losses, saves, strikeouts, ERA, and WIP. Which five would you suggest I keep? the addition of losses does make Sandy Alcantra slightly less valuable, unfortunately. Those darned Marlins. But I don't think that would scare me off of him. I would be keeping him.

And the addition of total bases does make sluggers more valuable. And obviously I think Jose Ramirez and Shohay Otani would be two of your keepers anyway. I think it's Ramirez O'Tani. Alcantra and I would still go with Tim Anderson and Whitmeryfield even with total bases

and those guys not necessarily standing out there although you know Whitmeryfield actually will be pretty good in that like sort of in that

like Zach Wheeler strikeouts way where it's like he's not going to be among the league leaders in strikeout rate and Whitmerichfield will not be one of the leaders and slugging percentage

but he's going to play so much he's led the led the majors and at bats, I think I think he's led the AL and at bats four straight years or something like that. So I think he was also tied for the league lead in doubles last year, so that helps total basis. Yeah, he'll

be good in total basis just because one, he's a decent hitter, but also he's a very, very active hitter. He's a lot of hitter. For sure, yeah. I'm going to Anderson, Tim Anderson, Whitmerfield, Sandy Alcounter, Jose Ramirez, and Shio Aton.

Let's do it. I agree with you, Chris. Those are the five that I like as well. This one is from Steve in Massachusetts. Dear George Shohei and Brendan. Hmm. I don't know. George Springer.

Shohei Otani. What would they have in common? Rogers? I don't know. See, what I thought was maybe it's George Herman Ruth and it's a reference to multi-hitter slash pitcher guys, but I don't know what Brendan. What Brendan would fit in.

Brendan McKay. Ah, there you go. Ah, all right. We figured it out. Nice. Is there a reason you guys hardly ever mentioned daily transaction leagues on the pod? We have feelings too, man. For instance, during the utility only hitters preview, you never mentioned how Otani should

be treated in a daily league where you can utilize both his hitting and pitching. Should he be the first overall pick in a daily head-to-head points draft, rotodraft, any other specific players that make a big difference in a daily format would love some analysis, thanks.

P.S. Love the Pod. One of my favorite parts is definitely Scott's occasional passive aggressiveness towards Frank. Too good. I don't know if I pick up on that. Yeah, I mean...

Maybe I'm too aloof. When I first read it, there's so much stuff going on throughout the podcast that half the time, I'm not paying attention to like Scott's tone if he's angry with me,

which... I don't know. There might be times where he is. I was going to ask you, Chris. I mean, you're getting a little... He was getting a little annoyed during the Mok Draat, the Tau Wars review. He doesn't like it when we're critiquing his team. I do know that. He was asking our opinion, so...

I don't know, but he doesn't really want it. That's true. I mean, Scott, we can only tell you the truth about Nikki Lopez so many times. Scott's not going to listen to this, so it's fine. Yeah, as far as the, like, daily transactions leagues, My sense would be that the biggest difference besides Shoha Tani potentially being the number one overall pick in both categories and points, if you can use him as both the hitter and a pitcher, is it probably makes non-closing relievers more valuable, assuming you don't have low innings limits because what you can do is have five or six starting pitchers and like, five or six relievers with a couple of closers and just anytime you've got a spot where a starting pitcher's not going, you just put one of those relievers in there. You should have all of your

relievers in your lineup every day, probably, unless you have like four starters going on one day, which won't happen too often. And that way, you're going to get whatever stats they have. And it could wreck your ratios occasionally if they have a blowup, but you'll pick up the occasional win, you'll pick up strikeouts. So that would be the biggest, strategy thing. And then Rockies players with their home road splits

become more valuable but also a little more annoying in a daily transactions league because you really probably want to just sit them all when they're not at course field. Trevor, Trevor Story being the exception

probably because of his speed if he returns. And then your platoon bats can be a little more valuable. You know, you do have to use multiple roster spots for them, but if you've got someone like Jesse Winker or Jared Walsh who

can't hit lefties, it's good point. You should probably just not start them against left-handed starters because Jared Walsh had a sub-600 OPS against lefties last season. I believe Jesse Winker has a sub-600 OPS for his career against lefties. They're going to crush righties. So if you can avoid the times that they're bad, it's going to make them even more valuable. Yeah, I think Akele-Badu is in that conversation as well, Chris. I mean, as much as he improves, he improves. As much as he improves, proved last year he did struggle mightily against left-handed pitching. And I remember vividly, someone emailed in last year, and they said that they love drafting platoon bats in head-to-head categories and that it's worked out for them.

And that whenever players who are bad against lefties are facing a lefty, they just sit them. And they just reap all the benefits against right-handed pitching. And I think it's a viable strategy. So Otani, as you mentioned, the Rockies, any other players who might have like drastic home road splits? I mean, I don't know, like, I would say Yank's hitters, but it's like, it's pretty hard to kind of, that's not really sticky year over year outside of the Rockies, so. Yeah, and I don't like, like, maybe DJ LaMayhew, you're more likely to start him at home, but I don't know if it's like an emergency that you have to sit him. Yeah, I would have said like the Blue Jays guys last year when they were playing in like these bandbox.

Those guys are also, for the most part, so good. Right. That like there's not really, you're probably not going to find a better. player than, you know, Boba Chet on the road. Oh, it makes it worth. I'll point out a pitcher too. Tyler Malley, his home road splits are terrible. Like, he is, he is awful in Great American Ballpark.

I think it was an ERA over five, and on the road he had an ERA under three. So. And I think you could point to like potentially Jonathan India as a guy who really benefits from his home park where, you know, he might not be as good on the road. But one thing you have to keep in mind with all those is like, it has to be worth it. And so if a guy's like a 900 OPS at home and a 750 on the road, okay, he's better at home,

but it's probably not worth the extra roster spot you're going to have to use to, unless you've got a Jake Croninworth or somebody with, you know, multiple eligibility, Luis Erez, who can give you the flexibility where you're probably just going to have them in the lineup somewhere anyway. But it's harder to do that when, you know, you're dealing with shorter benches or shallower leagues or something like that.

The only other thing I wanted to bring up about this catchers. Chris, are there any catcher tandoms? Because, again, that's something that people have emailed in the past about in a daily lineup league is, you know, if there's a team with a good catcher tandem, which it doesn't really feel like there's many. Like the raise could be one.

Yeah. But I don't, like, that's that's where it's just, it's probably not worth the roster spot. Yeah. To try to chase catcher production. Like, I was going to say the Brewers, I think they've got,

they've got Omar Nervaez and Pedro Severino, who's really good against lefties. But, yeah, like I, but even then, their catchers last season had a 738 OPS combined. So it's like,

all right, I guess that's fine, but you're probably just, you're probably just better off taking the zero when Omar and O'Rnevias is out of the lineup. because he's not going to be that much worse than that anyway. The Blue Jays might be worth it, Chris. Like if you have Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk together?

Sure, just because they could both be very good hitters. Right. And that's kind of with the raise with Mejia and Mike Zanino. You know, they combined for 39 home runs last season. And I think he had six of them. But between the two of them, they did have 95 runs, 97 RBI, 39 home runs. probably like a 2.30 batting average, but that's the one that I think you could maybe get that kind of edge with, but it's probably not worth the roster spots.

All right, let's move on to the next question here. This one's from Tyler in Ontario. Dear Ricky Bubbles. The Tigers, the Tigers catchers combined for 41 home runs last season. I, you know, I thought about bringing up the Tigers. They brought in Tucker Barnhart in the offseason. He's not really a notable offensive catcher. He should play quite a bit against right-handed pitching. Eric Haas is obviously interesting. He's got a lot of power,

but much better against lefties. I don't know if it's worth it. I think that one just misses the cut. This next one's from Tyler in Ontario, dear Ricky Bubbles and Julian. This appears to be the trailer park boys. Oh, okay.

Maybe. Don't know anything about them. Yeah, I don't know anything about them. This is a tele... I've heard of them. I think they have movies as well. I play in a 10 team head-to-head 5-5 category league with five keepers.

This off-season, after a heated debate, we voted to change average to OBP and wins to quality starts. I'm curious what your personal preference are in regards to OBP and quality starts as categories. I'm fine with OBP. Whatever makes your league more fun.

Whatever makes you... people in your league have more fun. That's truly my answer. What do you like more, Chris? The problem with quality starts is obviously, innings pitch per start are coming way down. There were only 12 pitchers who averaged six or more innings per start last season. 12 in the entire league and you need six starts, I mean six innings to get a quality start. I always thought that a quality start should be a sliding scale because, let's be honest. Six innings of three run ball is not a quality start. That's four. 0.5 ERA.

It should be five innings of one run ball, six innings of two run ball, I guess anything after that seven or eight or nine innings of three run ball, anything over three runs should not be a quality start. I always thought it should be a sliding scale,

but it seems like maybe we're lagging behind as an industry there. Yeah, and like, I don't know, there will be more quality starts than there will be wins, at least for the leaders. Like there were 22, no,

29 pitchers who had at least 15 quality stars last season, but like, I don't know, it's a weird group, like Cole Irvin and Chris Flexen and Kyle Gibson were among the top 29. So it's a weird group. I don't know. It's slightly less random than wins. And I think people like it because it's more reflective than wins in terms of how the pitch are actually pitched. But, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean a guy pitched well and um i don't know i just i don't have the like morality about it that a lot of people do or it's like wins are terrible and like i don't care because it's a game right and so the the point of fantasy baseball is to figure out how to win within the parameters of the game and part of

that is dealing with the randomness of wins and the randomness of batting average to a certain extent and so you know i i'm just in favor of whatever your league meets think is the best thing and that will make your league more fun and keep people the most engaged. And if that means going away from wins and favor of quality starts, that's perfectly fine. If people prefer wins, I think you should keep it. I don't think there's, I don't think one or the other is better necessarily. Yeah, it comes down to personal preference. And for me, I would go with OBP and wins. This one's from Jack, who is a fellow FIU alum. Go Panthers. Yeah. See the paw. Feel the claw. F, F, F, I, I, you. I like that. I went to St. Francis College, Chris, and our mascot is the terrier. So obviously a very fearsome dog. That's adorable. Yeah. He just groom him with a little beard. Yeah, he usually does have the nice little like mustache beard combination as a mascot. It, you know, it is what it is. Fun fact, one of, I believe five or six original Division I schools to

never make the March Madness tournament. And guess what? They won't be doing it this year either. Hey. I think FIU made it in like 1998 with Carlos Arroyo and Raja Bell. I think that's the last and maybe only time they made it. I mean, those are some pretty legit ballplayers there. I mean,

the pride of Puerto Rico, Carlos Arroyo. Hey, Kyle. Hey, Kyle, Jake, and John. Kyle, Jake, and John, that could be a lot of people. I don't know. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure either. Are those Rangers pitchers? Kyle.

Kyle Gibson. Kyle Gibson's on. He's not on the Rangers. Yeah, he's on the Phillies. I don't know. I don't know. Oh, this would have been, I think, Cubs. Kyle Hendrix, Jake Arietta, John Lester?

I make sense. That makes sense. I play in an 11 team strictly home run league. 10 roster spots, 7 starters, no ads, drops, or trades. A lot of ways to win here. Goal is to win each week. Streaky hitters help here. Most home runs at the All-Star break and also the entire season.

Teams with either of the top two league leaders in home runs win as well. Looking for your picks to lead the league in home runs slash streaky hitters to help win weeks slash sleepers. Matt Olson helped a lot last year. Thanks, Scott. Hmm. Hmm. Okay. Picks to lead the league in homers.

That's, I mean, oh, I feel like I should have some guys off the top of my head. But let's, I mean, if you're looking for one who, like, has a really good chance of leading the league at homers and might be undervalued in that regard, Mike Trout would be my answer. I think he might just be the best power hitter in baseball

when he's healthy. I would probably, use home run betting odds. Sure. There are betting odds for who's going to lead the league in home runs.

Obviously the top five or so, Vladimir Guerrero, Fernando Tatsis, Pete Alonzo, Salvador Perez, interesting, has the third best odds. Aaron Judge,

Matt Olson. He led the majors in home runs last year. Yeah, it's just, as good as Salvador Perez is, I mean,

he's still a catcher, which I think means he's more prone to injury, just the nature of the position. I would personally not be very excited to draft Salvador Perez in a home run hitter league. No, not coming off last season.

Matt Olson is up there, Mike Trout, Joey Gallo, obviously. Yeah, Joey Gallo. Fran Mulraeis, probably going to be... Fran Mulraeis would be an undervalued one. I would think George Springer is an undervalued one. He's been like a 40-plus homer guy over the past three seasons with his rate, obviously. Reese Hoskins, not necessarily the best raw power, but the way he swings the bat Kyle Schwarber and undervalued one.

Adam Duval is probably going to be overlooked. He's going to hit a lot of home runs. Jorge Salare. Jorge Salar. Miguel Snow. You know, there's always questions about playing time, but he could absolutely have a random 45 homer season.

Hunter Renfro? Hunter Renfro, yeah. I think CJ Crone is kind of interesting. Sure. Yeah, CJ Crone. How about... So you're talking about what? A 10 player league?

Boom or bust? 11 teams. So 110 players would get drafted. Josh Donaldson is probably an undervalued one. Cody Bellinger. Yeah, Cody Bellinger. Eh, Eugenie O'Swarez. A lot of people are going to overlook him,

but he still had, what, 36 homers last season? 31. Yeah, it was like low 30s. But no, that's a good one. I like that a lot. I think Matt Chapman. Matt Chapman, yep. On a bounce back.

Eloy could have a breakout, I think, entirely possible. For sure. Tyler O'Neill, I mean, we don't buy what he did necessarily. I think most of us view him as a bust on this podcast, but he cruises the ball. He's got legitimate 40 homer potential.

My problem with him is that he has been very prone to injury. So you want someone who could stay healthy. Obviously, we didn't mention them, but the Yankees make sense. Judge Stanton, obviously. Brandon Belt as like a really overlooked guy. He has Monty Grandal at the catcher position. I know positions probably don't matter all that.

that much, but he's someone who could absolutely hit 30 plus homers. Joey Votto, if you buy this power. Joey Votto for sure, yeah. Adoles Garcia hit 30 homers last year, Marcelo Zuna. The question really with him is playing time, but I think if he gets it, he'll be 35 or 30 plus at least. Max Kepler could have a random 35 homer season. Chris, I'm surprised we haven't said his name yet.

Deep Sleeper, Luke Voie. Luke Voie, for sure. Michael Conforto, if he lands in the right spot. Bobby Bradley. I was going to say Bobby Dalbeck. Bobby Dalbeck and Bobby Bradley, for sure, both of them. AJ Pollock. It's like potentially a last round pick.

You can give you like 25 plus. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll throw Anthony Santander out there. Sure. puts the ball in the air a lot. He's a switch hitter, so not affected as much by left field moving back in Camden. You know, I know it didn't help him last year, but if Anthony Rizzo resigned with the Yankees and was there everyday first baseman,

I think he'd be a good bet for 30 plus home runs. I know he wasn't good after the trade, but I think that's there. Christian Yelich, I mean, I know there's a lot of skepticism, but he nearly had a 50 homer season before, back in 2019, before his injury. Yeah. Yeah. I think we covered a Mitch Garver, another catcher

for a late round pick who could hit 30 plus homers. Routy Tellez. The Rowdy Rough Boys. Routy and Darren Ruff. Seth Beer. Seth Beer. Oh, we're going deep into the player pool now. Gavin Sheets

while we're at it. I mean, heck, the Royals had I believe three of the top four minor league home run leaders last season. and then Bobby Witt, M.J. Melendez, and I can't remember the name of the third guy. I'm hoping Frank knows it. Nick Prado? I think that, yes, that's the one.

So if those guys get called up, if you're looking for, like, streaky guys, there's one other guy I wanted to say. Now I can't remember it. It's all right. We gave him a little. Hazer Sanchez. Hazer Sanchez. Yes, I absolutely love it.

This next one's from Daniel. Dear Sandy, Mike, and Freddie. Sandy, Mike, and Freddie I would say that Freddie, no, well, he spelled it Freddie, F-R-E-D-D-Y. So it's not Freddie Freeman then. I was going to say, are these

Sandy Alcantra, Freddie Freeman, Freddy Peralta, and Mike. Mike who? Mike. Was there, there was a breakout Mike last year, right? I don't think so. Mike Trout, Zanino, Michael. I have no idea.

There can Fordo Brantley. Nope. All right. Well, stumped. 13 team of Roto Keeper League question. League specifics. 13 teams. Normal 5 by 5. 10 keepers per team. $300 budget. Roto rosters, but one catcher, two utility. Only two bench spots.

Contracts that don't affect this question. and huge inflation. For example, 2021 top bids were Trout for 92, Harper for 75, Freddie Freeman for 71, Lindor Bogart's for 67, et cetera. Max Scherzer and Jacob de Grom were kept in the 70s last year. Struggling with my last keeper spot, I was thinking Cassiano's at $43. Great pick last year, but what Scott was saying about late signing guys struggling has me a little shook. Here are my choices. Cassiano's for 43, a Roserese, for 47, Kirillov for 8,

Aronado for 54, Aroldus Chapman for 15, Corey Seger for 49. Hmm. So the late signing guys struggling is a thing. I don't know how much of a thing it is, but it's a thing.

But if we only get two weeks of spring training games this year anyway, which is the latest proposal, obviously by the time you're listening to this, we will know one way or the other. But I think that would probably have the benefit of shrinking whatever disadvantage exists for the late signing guys. And I would guess they're going to sign very quickly. So I don't know.

I kind of just think you go with Castellanos here because I think he's similar in value to Seeger and Arnado and a Rose Arena. and he's cheaper. So I say you just go with all of them. Yeah, it was... Like, what's the worst case scenario? He signs with the Marlins and he's like a 24 homer guy who hits 270 but probably drives in 90 plus

and scores 90 plus. Like, I think that the floor is still really high for him. I don't think the floor is particularly high for Aeronado or a Rosarena. Yeah, I was actually debating Seeger more than anything here. Yeah, yeah. I think Seeger is probably has as much upside as any of,

of those other guys. And, you know, I think the floor is just health related. I think if he's healthy, he's going to hit really well. I think he's going to hit close to 300 with good power. So I think it's Seeger or Castellanos. And I'm fine with either. My lien would be to Castellanos to save the $6. But given the inflation in this league, I don't know how much an extra $6 really matters anyway.

Right. Yeah. I'm with you. I think I will go with Nick Cassiano's. as well. Like, I don't know by you, Frank,

but in the Scott White Dynasty League, which is another league that has wild inflation, partially because of how deep it is, and partially because there just aren't that many free agents available in the draft. I almost don't worry about price that much

when I'm keeping, when I'm deciding to keep guys. The only one I did this year, I think I threw back Real Muto for like 40 plus. But other than that, it's just kind of, if the guys, good and he's not $70 like Mike Trow was for me, I'm just going to keep him.

Like, you know, that's just kind of when the inflation's this bad. Right. You just keep the guys who are good. Yeah. And obviously, it's relative to your league. So it sounds like, you know, as you mentioned, uh, Daniel, that the inflation is, is pretty high in your league. So Cassiano's why, while it sounds very high at $43, um, you do have, you know, you,

you included your keepers here and you have a bunch of other great values. So I think it's okay to maybe spend up on one player there. We're going to wrap for Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching this mailbag edition of Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back in on Monday. Bye-bye.