Fantasy Baseball Today - Mailbag! Favorite Draft Slots, FOMO Players & Prospects to Stash! (3/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Happy Kokomo Mailbag Friday! Let's start with your Apple Podcast questions (2:40). ... Keep Trey Yesavage or Jac Caglianone (7:52)? ... Trade Konnor Griffin for Junior Caminero in dynasty (13:32)? ... How to navigate early picks in leagues with OPS as a category (18:33). ... How do we rank our favorite draft slots (24:02)? ... How do the changes in Kauffman Stadium affect their hitters (27:12)? ... What is our FOMO rating on these players (37:10)? ... How to draft at the 1-2 turn in daily lineup leagues (46:51)? ... Who are our favorite late-round relievers (53:50)? ... Who are the top prospects to stash early on (1:00:15)? ... We wrap up with a Fantasy Justice question (1:03:30)! Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

in Tough Fantasy Baseball today on March 13th. I am Frank Stamphle joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, we are answering your mailbag questions. And we've got a lot to get to. Just jump right in. We are recording this a few days in advance, so hopefully nothing changes. We always have to give out that disclaimer.

We are starting with your Apple Podcast review questions. If you enjoy the podcast, drop us a five-star rating on Apple Pods and leave a question in their review, or just tell us why you enjoy the podcast. podcast. It really does help a lot. This first one is from 02 underscore Superman, head-to-head categories, Keeper League with six batting categories, the standard five plus OPS. Would you rather keep Jackson Turo for a 12th or Roman Anthony for a 19th? I guess let's answer that question first. There's another one here.

So I think OPS probably leans Roman Anthony's direction. Yeah. Even as a rookie, I think he was better than Jackson's. Jackson Cherio by probably 50 or 60 points if I had to guess without looking. I don't, that's probably enough to make it worthwhile just because it is a seven-round distinction between them. Generally speaking, though, if you're getting a first or second rounder for a 10th round pick, I prefer that to a bigger discount on a worst player. But I think in this instance, the scoring format probably tips it to the two of them being

closer anyway, in which case I'll take the cheaper Roman Anthony. Roman Anthony 859 OPS last year, Jackson Shrio 770. So he is a lot like Julio Rodriguez in that way, where he's got the power and speed, but just doesn't walk very much. He's not a big OPS bat, but from a standard 5 by 5, it makes sense because the batting average should be good and obviously power and speed there. But I think with the OPS in there, it does make sense to take the savings on Roman Anthony.

Lastly, who would you take at the 201 if I take? Gunner Henderson first. So it sounds like pick 12 here, back-to-back picks, hoping to take Gunner Henderson. The options would be Yordon Alvarez with outfield eligibility, Jazz Chisholm, Cattell Marte, Vlad Jr., or Jackson Churio,

if I keep Anthony. So currently locked in to keep Nick Kurtz and Camerro, so if I draft Vlad, he would have to be my utility bat. I think it's got to be Jazz Chisholm, actually, given the options that you're presenting, because among the four

players you already have in this instance, it's Gunner Henderson, Roman Anthony, Junta Comenaro, and Nick Kurtz. You're probably going to get, I don't know, 35 stolen bases out of those four, and 25 of them are probably going to come from Gunner Henderson, right? Yeah. So if anything happens to Gunner Henderson, your top four players, if you don't take Jazz Chisholm, are going to be a 50, stolen bases total right like maybe eight to ten for oman anthony and then the rest of those guys are a couple of stolen bases you know i love you already now brasmus he's not going to steal bases um so i i think you you probably need to take jazz who i guess is hurt a little bit by the ops

format i don't really you know he's not really a standout in batting average either but i think the The walk rate is like seven or eight percent, maybe nine. So I would think jazz has probably hurt a little bit by the OPS category, but he's still going to be good for a second baseman, which is where you're going to use him. And obviously I think you need the stolen bases. So I'll take 30-30 jazz. I think that makes total logical sense to go for the steals on a team that is already

constructed like this. My first lean was just to take Ketalmar. or Vlad just to continue to build up that batting average in OPS. Just because, like, last year, could tell Marte a near 900 OPS and Jazz was, like, 815. Yeah. So, I mean... I mean, what was Vlad? Like, 840?

It probably was not much better than Jazz. It was 850. Yeah. Yeah. So, at least in OPS, jazz is not significantly worse than Vlad Jr. I just think from a team building perspective, you would, look, you would have enough with Kurtz, Kamenaro, Gunner, and let's say it's Catele Marte, you would have enough power

that you could make, like, Chandler Simpson a priority and make up for that there. But one, I'm actually not sure Chandler Simpson's going to steal that many more bases than Jazz Chisholm, just because of the playing time concerns. And two, I'm actually not sure. I just, it is always so tough to put all of your stolen base eggs in one stolen base basket. Because if Chandler Simpson hurts his hamstring, which he did recently in spring training,

he's playing through it, but, you know, it's possible he's not as much of a stolen base outlier as a result of that. Or it's possible he starts to lose playing time. And if you really lean on him for your stolen bases, as a play on. One, someone might just jump the ADP and get him. In which case, well, now you got to take like Jose Caballera or something to have a hope. And that's a bad spot to be in. And two, if something happens to Chandler Simpson, you're just screwed. So it just, I think getting some of those, getting a stolen base source,

given everything else that we've got here, it should be a priority. All right, this next one is from Plex. Keep two of these three for $1 each. Bubba Chandler, Trey Yassavage, and Jack Caglione. That's pretty good, but I think it's clearly not Jack Caglione. As much as we like him as a sleeper, Baba Chandler and Trey O'Savage are both ranked ahead of him, for me at least. I don't know.

I didn't know if the recent kind of Yassavage handling in the way he's kind of being slow played and three to four inning starts to begin the season and we don't know how long that's going to last and just how good Caglione has looked, hit another home run in the WBC the other night off of a lefty in Ryan Yarbrough. So he's had a great spring and I think we all like him as a breakout candidate as well. I didn't know how close that decision got now, you Savage versus Cags.

I don't, I still think it's a Savage. I will point out, you know, someone mentioned this in the comments of yesterday's podcast. Don't ever read those, Chris. I will read the comments. But Yes, Savage, he threw 139 innings last. season. So, okay, they might limit him early on, but that's more about making sure that they don't have to hit pause on his way to 150.

But I don't know if it really changes what our expectations for Traja Savage should have been, because was anyone expecting 175 innings from him? I don't think so. And so it's just about making sure that those innings are going to come at the end of the season if, you know, he doesn't get hurt. So I, I don't know. I'm not that moved by this report. I guess in a head-to-head points league,

it does make it really, really tough to use Trey Savage for the first month, probably, or first couple of weeks at least, but in a Roto league, he might still be worth using just because if it's either that or some bad pitcher you drafted for your bench or like a middle reliever,

you're probably going to get a similar amount of innings from any reliever. So I don't know. I think you downgrade you Savage a little bit. Like I think I've moved him down below that group of second year pitchers that we've talked about, which includes Bubba Chandler and Cameron Schlittler. But I'm not, I still think he's like a top 140 pick. Cags is more like a 160 pick for me.

Yeah. And to your point about you Savage, I mean, you mentioned head-to-head leagues. We get so many questions and emails about people looking towards the end of the season. and already thinking about like who who can help me in the playoffs right like by that point in a head-to-head league you savage should be fully built up and obviously like you know if he's as good as we saw last season he's just going to be hopefully like a star pitcher at that point so uh you know i don't think we should overreact too much to early in the season there for you savage the one thing i want to really qualify with you savage though is we talk about it a lot with blake snow know yourself and know what kind of manager you are of your fantasy team. And so if you are the type of person who sees your 11th round pick giving you nothing in April and you start panicking and you're like, I'm just going to get rid of Trey you Savage. Don't draft him. They're telling us ahead of time what the deal with Trey

of Savage is and it's it's going to be maybe tough in the moment to handle, but you got to have a longer term perspective on these things. And so, you If you can't do that, if you just don't have the patience for it, don't get on the Traya Savage train. But I think it's going to be fine. I don't want to see a single question this April, Chris. Should I drop Traya Savage because he's throwing three innings per start? I don't want to hear it. Even if he struggles.

Because it's also, it might be a weird situation for him where you know, you're being told not to go full bore. And that can mess with a player's mentality. So it's possible he struggles this April. It really won't change my opinion of him. This next one is from El Buggy Baby. I need help with my final keeper, 12 team 5x5 auction at $10. Who would you keep between Chase Burns,

Emmichie and Kyle Stowers, or none of the above? Okay, $10. I think all of these guys are probably at least $15 players in my rankings. I would guess Burns is more, like 18. So I think they're all fine.

Let me make sure. I think Stowers is probably the lowest of them. And he is 15. There you go. Yeah, I think they're all about $15. So any one of them is fine. I would say Sheen is the lowest ranked. And it's only like a $3 value there.

So it's not necessarily a must keep, but I think I would go I have Stowers ranked ahead, but I'm leaning Burns. I don't know what you think, Frank. Yeah, Chase Burns is the answer for me too. I have Stourer as the last of this group. I think he's fine, you know, based on what we saw last season. He is a breakout candidate himself if he can maintain, you know, that power production.

But Burns and Sheehan are two names that I am, I guess, much more excited about their breakout potential for this season. I like both. I have Burns ranked a little bit higher, so I'll go with him. Sounds good. All right. This next one is from Carter Weigand. Should I do this trade in a 12-team Roto Dynasty League? I give up Chase Burns and Connor Griffin.

I receive Junior Camerro and Jonah Ton. Oh. So in general, I think you would rather have the elite hitter than the elite pitcher. And in this instance, you are getting, you are giving up probably the second and third best. players in the deal and getting the first best. Generally speaking, I think we all agree that that's the way you should do it. What do you think the chances are that on March 11th, 2027, the consensus is that Connor Griffin is the best player in this deal for Roto. It's probably not 50-50. There's a chance. But there's a pretty good chance. Of course, there's a pretty good chance. Chase Burns flames out or

gets hurt. And there's a non-zero chance that we're talking about Jonah Tong as a huge breakout star in 2026. This is a really, really difficult question to answer. It's a good question. I think I lean towards keeping Burns and Griffin. Same. But it's really hard to pass up the best player in the deal, especially when that best player is a 22-year-old who just hit 45 home runs. Like, it is a risk reward proposition here because kinder griffin is the top prospect in all baseball could come up this year we're drafting him as like a second or third round pick next season there's a chance by the end of the season connor riffin goes 2030 and he is the top player in dynasty yeah right like like who who i would guess bobby whit probably the top player in a dynasty draft right now if you're

doing a startup. Just the 10-year age gap between him and Judge and a six- or seven-year age gap between him and Otani. So, Connor Griffin has a very Bobby Witt as skill set, probably not as strong of a hit tool. Yeah, that's a real tough one. I lean towards just, it's not enough of a win to accept. Yeah. I think.

But, boy, I, yeah. Yeah, that's tough. Caminero, we've seen do it already. So it's like, it's tough. It really is tough. And he plays a premium position and he's, I mean, he's not Connor Griffin young, but he's real young. So that's a real tough one.

That's a great question. Yeah. Again, I do lean just keeping Chase Burns and Connor Griffin there. Let's take our first break, winner your turn. We'll get back into your questions right after this. Welcome back in, Fantasy. baseball today, it's a Kokomo mailbag Friday, and we will continue on with your Apple podcast review questions. This one is from DRAC.

Third overall pick in a 6x-by-6 scoring with batting average and OPS. Would you treat it like OBP and take one of Soto or Acuna? I guess that means ahead of Bobby Witt. So what do you think there? Soto, Acuna, or Bobby Witt in a league that includes OPS as a category. Witt is relatively weaker in OPS. I don't know if it's that big of a difference. I think he's still a very good source of OPS. Probably worse than Soto O'Rocuna. That is fair. But I don't know. I don't know if

it's that big of a gap to change my mind on these players. Is that, I don't know, what do you think? So Soto last year, 921 OPS, 263 batting average. Bobby Witt, 852, 295 batting. But it was like 950 the year before, right? 977. Yeah. But, yeah. Acuna's best is better.

His best was like 1,100, I think, in 2023. Soto's a 920 OPS are better three years in a row. So I think Soto's the better bet for OPS. I think Bobby Witt is the better bet for batting average. I guess the question is how like what you think. Soto the better bet for home runs runs NRII. I think you make a case for it. Witt better in steals.

So it managed. Well, maybe. Soto had more steals last year, right? I mean, yeah. That would be my expectation, yes. I definitely expect it, but it's an unknown. I'm okay leaning. Soto, I guess, but it's not an obvious change for me.

I don't think there's a wrong answer. I mean, that's the actual answer here. I think they're all fine options. Like, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them, unless, of course, someone gets hurt or just has a down season. But entering the season, it feels like they're all ranked pretty similarly. I would probably lean Soto for the boost in OPS, home runs, runs RBI. Expecting a lower-

I think it could be the highest ceiling of all three of them, though. Yeah. I mean, it could be $290. average 40, 40, 900 OPS? Yeah. It's possible. I mean, it could be a thousand OPS, right? Like, this is a guy who walks a ton.

You know, he's not quite Soto in that regard, but he's like a 12 to 15% walk rate guy. Yeah. If you want to draft for Floor, which is probably what I would do early on in the draft, I would go with Juan Soto there over. Yeah. And I think in an auction context, all three of these guys are probably $45 players. All right. This next one is from R.P.

XD, 10-team head-to-head categories. Here are the categories. Runs, home runs, RBI, steals, batting average, OBP, and total bases. So those last two are added on. Why not just a slugging percentage? Yeah. That's just my thought.

I mean, I guess the way this works out is it's more like a points league with the OBP and total bases added in there. Who should I pick with the third pick of the draft? All right, this is a popular question. I was leaning Jose Ramirez due to third base scarcity, but feared that I'm throwing away my pick by not taking Bobbywood

Jr. or Juan Soto? Well, I'm the guy who took Jose Ramirez ahead of Wonsato in a head-to-head points league. And this is basically head-to-head-point scoring. So I'm going to say Jose Ramirez, but I think that's

not the popular pick. I think I took some heat in the comments for not taking Wonsoto. So. Yeah. I have Soto ranked ahead of J-RAM in a points league. So in a format like this, I would go Soto. Look at me, huge Juan Soto fan. Big, big, Juan Soto, you know,

played for the Yankees. If you want to go for a, I get the third base scarcity point, and it's like, you're splitting hairs between these players. Again, they're all elite, they're all amazing. So I would not fall to you. I mean, with the OBP in there, like, man, that really does favor Soto. His OBP is so outrageous. So I would go Soto, but I don't think you are,

I don't think you're crazy by any means if you want to go to J-Ram. One wrinkle is it is a 10-te-to-head categories. league, I assume it's three outfielders. The replacement level outfielder in a 10-team three outfielder league is so high. It's always higher than third base, but, you know, your options at Alfield are going to be a lot better than they are third base if you don't take them. But I think that's, I think it's still probably worth taking. Yeah, my counter there is that in a 10-team league, I feel like everyone should still be able to get a a good third baseman.

There's not as much pressure as there isn't like a 12 or 15 team league. I mean, it's you know, the top eight I think that's true of, but after Ahio Hina Suarez in a points league, I've got Max Muncie, Matt Chapman,

Issa Paredes, Noel V. Marte, Royce Lewis. Like, I don't like any of those guys very much in a points league. I think your third outfielder will almost certainly be better than any of those guys. But that's that's probably not a considerate. you could just take Manny Machado if you take Juan Soto and then it's fine. Yeah, Manny Machado in the third round. I'm pretty sure he would be there.

This next one is from JTP 05. I am in a 12 team league where the first pick gets to pick where they draft from pick 1 to 12. So the second pick does the same, so on and so forth. Usually I go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12. But with guys like Akuna and Tucker available in the 6, 7, 8 range, I'm thinking 1 to 12 is just the order. What would your preferred order be? Categories league 6x6 with OPS and quality starts added. Let me, because this is, I'm understanding, right? It's KDS, basically.

Yeah, not like a... You just get to choose where you pick. So let me make sure I know what I'm talking about when I did my KDS. I think the way I did it for, a 15 team league was I went straight through to seven, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Then I did 10, 11, 12, then 8, 9, 13, 14, 15. Because I do think there's a drop off at seven overall for me.

That's Ellie Della Cruz. I'm higher on him than most. So I think there's a little bit of a drop off there. And then the 11, 12, the 10, 11, 12 would just be, I like one of the pitchers as a fallback. So that's probably the way I would go, especially this is a six by six with OPS and quality starts. So I think those high-end pitchers are even more valuable

because they should get a ton of quality starts. And Ronald Ocuna, obviously, if you can get him. So I think that's the way I would go. Yeah. But maybe you just go one, two, three, four, five, six, and then one of the pitcher spots, I don't know. I would go one or two first just because I think Judge and Otani are above the rest of the field.

And then I might put, if you don't see a big difference between Acuna, Soto, J. Ram, Witt, I probably would go 6, 5, 4, 3. Just because I get the earlier second round pick, right? I'll get whoever falls to me at 6 of those top 6 hitters. Or he mentions Tucker here. If you have Tucker in that tier as well, you could put seven and get whoever falls out of, you know, those seven hitters.

And then you have an earlier second round pick. So I would probably go one, two, and then maybe like six, five, four, three. And then maybe go like 12, 11, 10, because you get those back-to-back picks and maybe still get one of those elite starting pitchers. Ultimately, I tend to think it's easier to overthink the KDS stuff than to underthink it. A lot of times I just leave it one to 12 and I'm like, whatever happens happens. Yeah, like, ultimately it doesn't really matter. I do think getting one of the top two picks gives you a real advantage this year, especially because I'm not sure there's a big drop off in the second round.

But I think everybody's going to put one. Like, you should put one two at the top. That's not the question. So, yeah, I think it probably doesn't matter very much unless you get the chance to get one two. This next one is from Bender's big score. Am I nuts for moving Royals hitters up several picks due to the fences coming in. It seems significant, yet not a lot of discussion in the industry. So I know we spoke about it a lot when it was first announced.

I think that was back in January of this year. So just to remind everybody, if you're not aware, in Kaufman Stadium, they are pulling the fences in a little bit in the power alleys in left and right center field. They're also lowering the fences a little bit. So it's going to boosts home runs a little bit, but it's also probably going to lower batting average a little bit as well. So I think when we talked about this, like the names that would gain the most are the ones that have like the highest pulled air rates. So someone like Vinnie P. or Salvador Perez or, I mean, even like Isaac Collins had a high pulled air rate from last year and now he's on Kansas City.

But I wouldn't overdo it. Like I think you could boost those guys a little bit and use it as like a tiebreaker. But I wouldn't want to like double count it, you know, Chris and maybe overreact to it too much. Yeah. So when did Vinnie P get called up? 21? That sounds right, either one or two. 22, okay.

So he has played basically three full seasons in the majors because two of them were partial. According to the data that MLB.com did, projecting home runs based on stat cast, they would expect about four home runs per season more for Salvador Perez. and about two to three for Bobby Witt and about three for Vinny P. Now, that's not nothing.

But does that really fundamentally alter your perception of any of those players? It's, and here's the other problem. That's an average. And the way this is actually going to work out is someone on the Royals is going to hit six more home runs than they otherwise would have. and someone on the Royals is probably going to hit one more home run than they otherwise would have. Who that will be is impossible to guess. We can guess that there are certain guys who are more likely to benefit. Like when I look at the spray charts,

it seems like Salvador Perez has more of those long doubles or long outs than Vinie Pasquantino does. And the data does back that up. I don't know if we should assume it'll be a huge change. And one other thing to note is Coffin Stadium. they are moving the fences back to basically where they were from 1995 to 2003. And it wasn't above average base home run park during those years. It's the only time it has ever been. But it wasn't Coors Field.

You know, we're not talking like we're talking about going from a, I don't know, probably a 97 home run park factor to probably like a 103 home run park factor. That's not nothing, but over, it's only a half a season. And then like you mentioned, you're going to probably see. see lower batting averages as a result of this because fewer less ground to cover in the outfield on the whole i think it's a small upgrade for all of them but it's really hard to say exactly who is going to benefit and who's not it's going to be very noisy on a year to year basis and i think you just move them up a couple picks at best but i do think that's already factored in to projections and and everything like that

so. Yeah. Yeah, I think we're in agreement there. This one is from Scott's alternative account. All right, we got the burner here. Chris, why do you like cats, Brotato Chip? Why don't people? Like, why do the people who are anti-cat, like, what is this? Like, this like dog cat dichotomy where you're either a dog person or a cat person. I like having weird little dudes hanging out in my house who like, you know, every once in in a while just remember I exist. And they're like, oh, yeah, hey, I love you. And then they come up and, like, give you a little, like a little bump.

Yeah. And it's like, it makes you fit great. Like, my, I did, uh, this morning I did, um, my, my college friend is an elementary school teacher and she asked me to do career day. So I hopped on a Zoom at 8.30 in the morning and warned all the children that I am not a morning person and that I'm not going to be at my, my full capacity. But everybody seemed to have a good time. And one of the kids wrote me a little thank you note if you're on the YouTube channel.

He drew a little picture of me. It says I love my job. I'm sitting at my computer. And I just want to highlight how cute this little picture he drew of my cat is. That is like the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life because the cat made an appearance, as she does on the podcast occasionally. And cats are great. My elder cat, Liz Lemon, she comes into my. bedroom every night and sleeps in my arms like a teddy bear and she sleeps like that the

whole night is the cutest thing I've ever seen so the question I would ask you Scott's alternative account is why do you not like cats cats are great bro cat podcast Brotato chip you had to throw the Brotato chip but I also I have a dog like it's not like I'm like picking a sign this war Chris is pro animals pro pets we can I could probably call Stevie he's probably sleeping but at my don't doors open. I could come get him if anybody wants to see Stevie. That's a big dog. That could get a little rowdy. That could get a little rowdy over here. I'm not sure we want I don't know if he's, I don't think he's gonna come. I think he's sleeping. I feel like people who

might not, uh-oh, here we go. We're getting appearance live on the podcast. There you go. What a good boy. That's a big old dog. Oh, he's very sleepy. I'm sorry, you can go back to bed. I feel like the people who might not like cats are ones that either A, have had a bad experience with a cat, like scratched at some point or whatever, just we're around a nasty cat or something, or allergies. Like, I know that's a thing for me. It's like, I am much more allergic to dogs than I am cats. And so I just, I don't like being around dogs because they make me feel like crap.

So it's just, that's fair. That's part of it for me. I'm lucky I'm not really allergic to, I'm allergic to penicillin, but no pets. So if you name your cat penicillin, that might be a problem, but otherwise I'm fine. My wife, on the other hand, very allergic to cats. She's a trooper. Oh, geez, yeah. That is a...

It's tough. That is a big sacrifice, Chris. There you go. All right, this last one is from Hope You Get It Right, who just says, keep up the good word. Can you go deeper into the player pool for 15 team leagues and deeper? So we will have a Deep Sleeper's episode coming out next week when you're listening to this. So we will talk about all of our favorite picks outside the top, I don't know,

250, 300, and beyond. We did this last year and we rattled off like, I don't know, 60 names in 60 minutes or something crazy like that. So we're going to try and get to as many deep league names as possible on a podcast next week. Before we get to your emails, just want to remind people that the FBT listener leagues are coming. They will be announced one week from today. That is on Friday, March 20th. And there are two listener leagues. One is a 12-team Hatted Points League.

That draft will be on Monday evening, March 23rd. let's say 8 p.m. Eastern time or later. So make sure that you can make the draft if you want to be in that league. The other is a 16 team head-to-head categories for the People League. That draft will be the night before on Sunday evening, March 22nd.

Again, evening time, 8 p.m. Eastern time or later. If you want to participate in these drafts, email something creative to Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. That's the letter I. Again, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. It could be a funny Photoshop, a song, a poem, a haiku,

or if you're not the creative type, just let us know why you deserve to be in the league. Make sure to put FBT Listener League in the subject line, email subject line. That'll be nice if I can talk. And I will announce the winners again a week from today. Let us know which draft you would like to participate in. Let's get to your emails.

I guess let's take a break. Let's take our final break. We'll get to your emails right after this. Welcome back in. It's a happy Kokomo Mailbag Friday, and we are answering your email questions. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. And this one is from Owen

as draft season continues. And FOMO starts rearing its ugly head. Can you give me a 1 to 10 FOMO rating on the following players? Up first, we have The Miz. Nope. I don't have his sound drop. Why do I keep doing that?

I keep taking it out. I can only have eight in at a time, so I guess I have other ones. And he's awesome. And he's awesome. That's Jacob Mizirowski. What is your FOMO rating 1 to 10? Four?

He's not somebody that I target, but I could see regretting not having him. I could see it, but... I would put it at a five. I don't think it's like... I think it's more likely I regret not drafting Jacob Mizirowski. Sorry. Cam Schlittler or Bubba Chandler than Jacob Mizorowski. Just...

The upside is really tempting there, but... I don't know. He's such a weird pitcher because he had a really strong strikeout rate last year. The whiff rates weren't nearly as good as you would think for a 32% strikeout rate guy. Fastball whiff rate is awesome. Slider riff rate is not very good. Whiff rate is a fun couple of words to say. I'm struggling with Miz Yaroski, but I think I'm not too worried about it.

Next up is O'Neill Cruz, 1 to 10 on the FOMO rating. I'll say a 5. I don't really know how to calibrate this meter. I guess one is you're not worried at all. And you have them as a bus, so maybe you should have it lower than 5. I don't know. Yeah, I think the thing with Cruz, though, is the really high-end outcomes could be really high-end, right? Like, I think the likelier outcomes, the median outcomes are not that different from what we saw last year,

not that different from what we saw from like Luis Robert last year, and I just don't think that's a particularly useful player. But, yeah, if he gets it to like a 28% strikeout rate and he can handle lefties, I can absolutely see some outcomes where O'Neill Cruz makes me look real dumb. Yeah. So I'll say four. Again, I don't really know. Yeah.

I'll say six on Cruz. I've backed off a little bit on the bus case for him. You know, he worked a lot this offseason to get better against lefties. I like Marcel O'Suna being there as like a kind of Latin veteran voice there in the room to help guide and maybe help keep O'Neill Cruz away from those really long slumps that he's gone through in the past. So I'll say six. I mean, there is a chance that he goes like 250, 25 homers, 40 seals. And he's like a top three or four round pick again next year. What about Tyler Glass now?

One to 10 on the FOMO rating. One. We know what this is. One. One. No desire. I think he's fine to have a round. But we know what the limitations are.

I just don't... Maybe there's a world in which Tyler Glassnow throws 160 innings and he's a top 10 pitcher. It's a non-zero chance, but it's like a 5% chance and it throws like 160 innings, you know? Yeah, I think we're 10 years into his Major League career

at this point or pretty close, and we've gotten zero seasons of 140 innings out of him. It just seems really unlikely that it's going to happen. And like 160 is probably the absolute. peak, maybe 170, but just because they're in a six-mare rotation. So I think it's a lot easier to see ways things go wrong for Tyler Glass now than that I really regret not drafting him. Next up is Spencer Strider.

Woof. I don't want to have the Spencer Strider talk again. I feel like we have spent more time talking about Spencer Strider than any player. Certainly in the last like two weeks, but maybe all spring. Uh, he pitched again on Wednesday. The results were good, but it was like a C-minus version of a C-minus raise lineup. Uh, I think they only had four starters in. And one of them was Nick Fortez, who is a starter for them, but he's bad.

Yeah. So like the results were good. He got one whiff on 24 fastballs. Um, 22% CSW with it. He still just looks like a one pitch pitcher. Yeah. I, the thing is, though.

if I am wrong about Spencer Strider, I am going to really regret it because he's so good at his best and he's so fun and I'm a fan of his. It's kind of like O'Neo Cruz, but higher end. Like if he can get back to where he was, he's like a top 10 pitcher. Yeah, I think it's like a six, but that's just because if I am wrong, I'm going to really regret it. I just don't think it's very likely I'm wrong, unfortunately. Yeah, I put that at like a four or five.

Last two names here we have Luis Robert and McKenzie. But start with Luis Robert. 1 to 10 on the FOMO rating. For me, it's like a three. I'm not too worried about it. I know other people like him more than I do. I just think it's kind of a full me once. Shame on you, full me twice, shame on me kind of thing.

I'm much more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for the 2024 season. And then he goes out and has a 2025 that's very similar. And it's like, okay, this might just be who Louise Robert is. and then all the injuries. I'm not too worried about FOMO on Luis Robert. And McKenzie Gore is the last name here. I'm drafting him, so it's not. I'm not worried about FOMO because I'm going to have him on a bunch of teams.

So that's the where. But where I don't, I am pretty worried. So I'd say like a six. I think McKenzie Gore has real upside. I know Scott doesn't agree, but that's why he's not on this podcast today. I would say the number one FOMO player for me so far is Connor Griffin, just because I don't have him anywhere

and the price is rising and there's a real chance that I just won't get any Connor Griffin and if he's up on opening day, I could very gravely regret that decision not having him. I usually don't want to ever not

have any players, right? I think that's just, I'm not so confident in my abilities to predict this stuff that I can feel good saying, yeah, I don't want any shares of Yoshinova Yamamoto, who is a player that I'm out on relative to ADP, and who I have not drafted and don't seem likely to draft. But yeah, it's certainly pretty easy to feel like I'm going to miss out on something with Yoshinov Yamamoto.

So he's a fomo pick for me. Hazer Szilardo, just because I'm a little more out on him, is a bit of a fomo pick. Chase Burns is kind of Just I'm not sure how likely it is I'm actually gonna end up with him I don't think I've drafted him yet Even though I like him a lot I think he took him in a gladiator draft

Oh yeah I think I did Yeah that sounds right I only remember because we were at Nick Pollock's wedding And you're like hey I have Chase Burns Yeah but that was in December Yeah I think the ADP hadn't Caught up yet to where it is now So yeah

All right this next one is from Jerry I'm in a 14 team roto league with daily lineups, 10 categories using OBP and saves. We can keep four players. I've lost some of my early round draft picks due to trading. I'm very curious as to which four you would keep. So he has Otani and writes, of course.

Then Cotel Marte, Nick Kurtz, Wyatt Langford, Jack Caglione, Ben Rice, Edwin Diaz. I believe the first three are probably must. I usually have a rule that I just don't keep pitchers. However, should Edwin Diaz, being on the Dodgers now, be the exception. Hmm. So Otani Kutel Marta and Nick Kurtz are the ones he thinks are musts, which I think we

probably agree with. And again, OBP is one of the categories. So that does help Nick Kurtz. And then it feels like it's between Diaz, Langford, and Ben Rice for that fourth keeper. Yeah, I have, I believe, Langford ranked highest of this group. I'm pretty in on him. But does the fact that you already have three awesome hitters,

like you just kind of want to lock in that elite closer? You can always draft a closer. You don't have to lock in. Yeah, you can always draft a closer. Give me the elite hitter or the good hitter over the elite closer every time. I think it's the way I'm going to look at it. Like I was just looking, I'm doing a column for tomorrow's FBT newsletter,

favorite and least favorite picks in each of the first 10 rounds based on ADP. I think in the fourth round, Edwin Diaz is going to be. my pick because he is, I guess I could go with Mason Miller, they're backed back in ADP, and it's like I just don't want to spend a mid-40s pick on a closer. It just does not seem like it's going to be worth it. Deez is really good. It's not like he's been flawless over the past couple of seasons. There have been two different instances where he's lost his job when he was with the Mets. Is that right? Or just the one? There's definitely one.

Sounds right. I don't think that's going to happen, but it's within the realm of possibility. So I think I just, I hate spending a premium pick on a closer when they really only help you a lot in one category. They're useful in points and ratios, but their impact is relatively muted. So I'm going to take Wyatt Langford over Edwin Diaz. All right, this next one is from Dan in SoCal. I'm a longtime listener of the podcast and trying to determine my strategy

for drafting at the one-to-turn in my upcoming 12-team Head-Ed Categories League with daily lineup setting. I am pretty sure two of the top three pitchers will be available and I won the league last year with scuba and crochet. However, after listening to your latest 12-team Hett-Poits mock draft where Scott took Schwerber

and Cowrally, I was thinking about maybe going in that direction. However, this is an 8-by-8 category league where hits, strikeouts, and walks, are extra hitter categories. Walks would be great, but I would be worried about average and especially strikeouts.

What do you think appreciate the help? So the one thing is every category you add makes each category less valuable, right? Just math. You're going from batting average being one-fifth of your scoring to one-eighth of your scoring.

So that's one thing to keep in mind when you're talking about this question. I personally don't love the Schwabber Raleigh combo. I think in a points league, it's more justifiable, but in categories, it's locking in a bad batting average. Here, you're locking in a ton of strikeouts for those two. They're not going to get a ton of hits either. No, it's going to be a low number of hits.

I think Cow Rally, I would be shocked if he didn't lead all catchers in hits, just because he gets so many more played appearances that even though he's a relatively low-batting average guy, I would imagine that happened last year. I just don't. I don't love the Schwerber Raleigh combo. I hate locking up my UT that early as well. It just makes getting through the rest of the draft more complicated. So I wouldn't do it, but I think Scott would certainly be open to it.

So would you lean with just going one of those elite pitchers with whoever's available in that range usually, let's say it's a, I don't know, Gunner Henderson or Caminero or like, you know, whoever, like Corby Carroll, if he's there with the hamming. That would be my view, yeah. What about Pocket Aces? Any chance he'd do that? I think it's a worthwhile, um, I do wonder what the extra three pitching categories are. Right. He didn't include that. Because if they lean towards starters, that could just make scoble and crochet or school and skeeons or whatever. even more valuable. Yeah, like if it's,

let's say, quality starts in like K per 9 or something like that. Yeah, those stats, now you're dominating what, six out of the A categories for pitchers. I think pocket aces

might be the way I'd lean if that's the case. This next one is from Adam in Garden City. I am in a 12-team Hedgehead Categories League with OBP instead of batting average. And it's a one-catcher league.

I have elected to be the last manager to draft a catcher in my slow draft, but there's still too much talent to consider. My options that I feel obligated to consider are Adley Ruchman, Kyle Teal, Carter Jensen, not feeling Yiner Diaz's 284 OBP from 2025. Yeah, Yiner Diaz is a low OBP guy, although I would guess 2024 was pretty good when he hit 290. It probably was barely over 300.

He hit 299 with a 325 OBP. So 325 you can live with, but he had a 308 OBP. the year before while hitting 282. I would say split the difference. I probably would expect like a 305, 310. Yeah. For OBP, I think I'd probably go Adley, but man, I'm just not convinced he's a good hitter anymore. That is my concern.

I might lean Adley and Jensen. I do think once you're already the last player with a catcher, that's your last pick, right? and just whoever the best, if Adle is still there with your last pick, do that, if it's Carter Jensen, do that. Probably not Kyle Teal. We did learn on Wednesday that he is going to miss four to six weeks with a hamstring injury, I think.

That darn WBC strikes again. You know, I was watching the game when we were talking yesterday. It was during the podcast that he left the game, and I almost mentioned it, and I was like, I don't want to, I don't want to confuse Nick Pollock with a hitter. This isn't hitter list,

Yeah, Vaughan here. Yeah. So I, it's not Kyle Teal, but I'm totally fine waiting for whichever of those. It would be, Adley would be the edge, but. Yeah, I think so. Jensen's more fun. Yeah, I would probably go Adley there as well. And then again, it's a one-catcher league. If Adley doesn't work the first month, all right, cut him for whatever catcher has been good in the first month in the season.

Look, even if Yonder Diaz isn't a great source of OBP, he should be good at everything else for a catcher. Yeah, I think so. He's probably still a very viable. starter there. This next one is from Mike when researching batters and pitchers, which do you consider the most important analytical stat to look at for a roto league that

includes OBP? So he asks about like OPS, WRC plus, barrel rate, etc. If I had to choose, and I don't think that there's this one that does everything, Chris, but if I had to choose, I would probably say ex-WOBA

on statcast as just kind of a, because it looks at a plate discipline along with quality of contact and it spits out a number and those are things that we talk about a lot. So I would say ex-woba for a hitter and K-minus walk rate for a pitcher. Yeah, I think both of those are a good call. All right, this next one is from John. I do think it's worth noting you shouldn't just use one number. Right. Like the question is which what is the single most important thing? And I would say ex-woba would plays a heavy part in my analysis. But you don't have to take just one thing into account. You shouldn't.

you should consider the total breadth of a player skill set. Yeah. So we're looking at, I mean, we talk about this stuff all the time. It's K percentage, walk percentage for hitters. So plate discipline, but also underlying plate discipline stuff, zone contact, swing rate, chase rate, things like that. And then all the expected stats, XBA, XBA, X-Lug, X-WBA, average X-Vlocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate. So it's, you know, we're constantly looking at all of those things from the hitter side. And then, I mean, pitchers, it's just, it's never-ending, Chris.

It's, you know, K-minus walk rate is kind of the starting point, but you have all the ERA estimators with FIP and X-FIP, XERA, Sierra. You have swinging strike rate. You have all the other different things on stackcasts. You can look at specific whiff rates on pitches and X Wobah against certain pitches and things like that. So it's, it gets really, really down to the nitty-gritty. It's up to you. Like, how deep, how much time do you want to put into,

looking into pitchers because honestly you can you can do it all day if you wanted to this next one is from john i am in a standard five by five rhododraft with deep rosters 30 players deep pitchers are five starters two relievers and two pitcher spots i generally go thrifty on closers try and get two to three cheap closers later but always do like to pick up a late round elite setup man for ratios and strikeout help maybe even some more wins or surprise saves here and there who are some elite set up men that fit this mold that I should be targeting in rounds 25 to 30 of the draft.

Okay. I think the first one that comes to mind is definitely Brian and Brayu. But he's probably moving up. He's moving up for sure because he seems like he'll have a chance to get some... We did learn that Josh Hader is going to start the season

of the IL2. So Brian and Brayu probably will be a top 200 pick, maybe a top 150 pick in a lot of leagues the rest of the way. And it's, look, it's possible He just ends up to close or the whole season and is a top 10 guy, right? If Hader suffers setbacks. I would say you want to prioritize some of those raised guys like Garrett Clevenger, who will probably get some saves of his own.

Hunter Gattis on Cleveland maybe. Tyler Rogers on the Blue Jays. Jeremiah Estrada on the Padres. He's going to have a ton of strikeouts. Yeah. Matt Brash will get a lot of strikeouts and ratios, but I'm not sure he'll get like any saves really. Yeah, Matt Strom.

Robert Swares with the Braves? Robert Swarres with the Braves, Matt Strom or Lucas Ersig, but I think Matt Strom is a better pitcher. Yeah. Then Lucas Ersig, but if you think Carlos Estevez has a good chance of losing his job, Jose Alvarado for the Phillies is still likely to be very, very good. I know they have Yon-Daron,

but Alvarado should still be a very impact. pitcher for them. Jose Ferre won't get a lot of strikeouts, but he should be very good as a set-up man for the Mariners. Yeah, there's a decent number of those guys out there. Yeah, you just look at some of the Cardinals guys like Jojo Romero, Matt Fonson. I just, those guys are tough because I don't think they're going to be, I don't think they're great pitchers, you know?

That's the concern I have. So when you're looking at non-closers, Jeremiah Estrada would be near the top of Fernando Cruz for the Yankees is going to get a lot of strikeouts. Edwin O'Shea? Luke Weaver? What? Luke Weaver? Luke Weaver.

Yeah. Yeah. Adrian Moreone had 13 wins last year. That's not going to happen again. Yeah, it's not predictable. But, you know, that tells me he is used for multiple endings and he's used in big spots. Yeah, for sure. And he should have good ratios.

Tanner Scott for the Dodgers. I think he'll be better than he was last year. I don't know why things got so bad for him last year. Yeah. All right, this next one is from Kent. Who do you think will be the Rockies first basement? Everything I read is T.J. Rumfield or Charlie Condon, but hardly anything written about Troy Johnston.

I know Blake Crim is also in that mix as well. I get Rumfield is a, quote, new management guy, but everybody seems really quiet on Johnston. Johnston, former Marlins Farmhand, I believe. Former Marlins Farmhand. he did make his major league debut last year was okay it was a 750 OPS which at course field

he makes a decent amount of contact there's not a ton of pop there I don't know Troy Johnston the problem is he's 28 so it's it's hard to project much there T.J. Rumfeld I think is a couple years younger he's 25 he's a former Yankees guy who has very good plate discipline doesn't strike out very much those contact skills could work out well

in Colorado. And then Condon is kind of the high-upside wildcard guy where he was a top prospect. I think he's probably still a top 100-ish guy, but definitely not a slam dunk because he had a pretty disappointing first professional season. He's having a nice spring. There has been a lot of talk about him having a chance to win that job. I think it's probably Condon or Bust as far as fantasy relevance. Like maybe one of those guys could go on a little run,

but it's probably not likely that T.J. Rumfeld or Troy Johnston is going to be good enough to matter in most fantasy leagues. Condon at least has the upside, too, is my read. Yeah, and Condon, when he first made his debut, I think it was the year he was drafted or maybe the year after, he was awful. But last season he actually did make some adjustments and he improved and out in the Arizona

Fall League looked like he made a conscious effort to make more contact and strikeout less. He didn't hit for as much power so it was like a clear tradeoff there but so far this spring we've kind of seen like a good blend of him hitting for some really high exit velocity things

and some long home runs and he's kept the strikeouts down. So he has a chance. I mean even if it's not opening day I think he's probably up pretty early on in the season. So I am decently interested to see what Charlie Condon could do if given an opportunity there with the Rockies. This next one is from Tyler.

I play in a redraft league with two N.A spots for guys not on a major league roster. Who are the players who likely won't make the opening day roster who have the potential for the biggest fantasy impact in 2026? So we're looking at top prospects, Chris, who will probably be up early on in the season. Oh boy, that's a big question. Hold on, let me, let me. The first one that comes to mind for me, just because I've been pretty excited about him all offseason,

is Robbie Snelling with the Marlins. Yeah. So I just- Unlikely to be in the opening day rotation at this point, but should be up in the first half. I would put Jonah Tong in that conversation with the- Jonah-Tong should be up relatively quickly. Carson Benj, if he doesn't make the team,

right? Should have a chance for it relatively quickly. Aidan Miller, although he's dealing with that back issue, so I'm not sure how much that's going to slow him down. Colt Emerson, if he's not the Mariners' second basement, doesn't sound like he will be, is a name to keep an eye on. Any of Connor Griffin or McGonigal, if they are not on the pirates or tigers,

those are just like the clear top two. Yes. So the twins guys, Walker Jensen, Jenkins, and Emmanuel Rodriguez are both. Rodriguez, it's had a really good spring. Yeah, they're both having good springs. They've both dealt with a lot of injuries. They're both super tools. there's not much blocking either of them

so that those are names to know. Peyton Toley, if he doesn't make the Red Sox rotation, Travis Bazana, if he doesn't make the Guardians, he should be up relatively quickly. Thomas White, although he's had the, was it an oblique injury? Yeah. That probably makes it more like second half.

I don't think Liam Doyle is going to move as quickly just because for the Cardinals, they're likely to go. Quinn Matthews, first if an opening comes up. I think Jet Williams with the Brewers is could be good one. Ryan Walschmidt with the D-backs. Yep, yep.

The third basement for the Mets is Jacob Rimer. I could see if an injury comes up. He could move fairly quickly. Maybe George Lombard for the Yankees in the first half if shortstop becomes a big need. Connolly Early, if he doesn't make the rotation. Parker Messick, if he doesn't make the rotation. Carson Williams is a name that has been kind of forgotten, but there is some like Willie Adomas

upside for Carson Williams of the raise if it doesn't sound like he's going to be in the opening day lineup. Elmer Rodriguez with the Yankees and Josh Baez with the Cardinals. Yeah, Josh Baez having a very nice spring as well. Those are a lot of names. Yeah, we just set a bunch of names. But again, there's probably some other ones we didn't. The short stops are up at the table.

top. It's Connor Griffin and Kevin McGonigal if they don't make their respective teams. And then after that, honestly, the one, the first one I mentioned, Robbie Snelling is probably the one I'm most excited to stash after those two, to be honest. And then a guy who has an opportunity on a bad team, Kaelin Culpepper, could move relatively quickly too. Yeah, he is on the Minnesota Twins. This last one is from Chris, who needs a little bit of fantasy justice. Dun dun. Hey guys, I know you are deep into draft prep season, but I need help. I I run a 14 team head to

points league super casual. For years we have been using the CBS point scoring system. There was just one problem. We play as a daily lineup league with a max of five moves per week. Streaming pitchers has become OP and since this is a super casual league, I love that

he keeps emphasizing that. Some managers make very few moves all season and some managers are streaming five pitchers a week, making the league very top heavy. So this year we decided to make changes to the scoring, for example, innings pitched went from three points to two, earned runs went from minus three to minus two, maybe from minus one to minus two, that would make more sense, and then

others what I thought were minute changes. After the draft, we realized that Aaron Judge is projected for 600 points and Scoobo is projected for 250. Some pitchers are even projected for negative points. Scoobo is projected to finish as the 250th ranked player. Now half the league is saying change it back and others are saying no, I drafted with this scoring in mind. As the commission I don't think we can change anything since the draft is completed. What say you? Should we

just play it out? Live with some of the insane negative scores pitchers will give you or do I say this is a casual league and it's supposed to be fun. We should change it back. All right so it's a casual league. We've got that down. You can't change the scoring after the draft. No.

That's a big red line. Like you can't do that. I'm not opposed to just redrafting. I was thinking that too, but everybody has to be on board. If there's somebody who just has a stacked team and they really like what they wound up with, then you just got to play it out. But that's, yeah, but the scoring here is so wacky. Like the difference between judge and school being 350 points.

That's true. Is like, yes, everyone should read the rules. But if there's one really stacked team, Like one person just really didn't worry about pitching at all. I don't know. This doesn't sound like it will be a fun way to play fantasy baseball. It is ultimately what I'm coming back to. And that is always what your priority should be as a commissioner.

What will be the best way to manage this league that everybody has fun and stays into the league? And I don't think this scoring format is likely to do that. And hey, who doesn't want to do that? draft again. The draft is the best part of the year. So my judgment would be just, just draft over with different rules. I think you went overboard. You tried to fix a problem and turns out you screwed it up a little bit. And that's okay. We all make mistakes. I would rather just try to restart the league, start a new draft. And look, maybe lower the the max of moves per week if you're worried about people spamming streaming starters and take

advantage of it. You might be able to do an innings maximum, which could help fix that issue, so anything above a certain point just doesn't count. But this is always the problem with the Daily League is if there's an imbalance in how focused everyone is on streaming, it can create a lopsided league where you're just benefiting the guy who is most interested in min-maxing rather than the best player. So this is kind of always my concern with the daily lineups. Yeah. Yeah, it's a tough situation. Again, I think everybody needs to be on board.

I think the most logical thing is just to try and find a happy medium. Keep tweaking that scoring format. But make sure you test it out first. Like, you don't want to draft again and then realize, oh, crap, we mess it up again. So just like fine tune it to what it needs to be, but then everyone has to be on board to redraft the league. And again, it's like I don't think you could just do that unless everybody is on board. So that's what I would say. But I think it is logical to do that in this sense.

I agree. All right, we're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.