Fantasy Baseball Today - Mailbag & News from the Week! (2/6 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

Before we get into mailbag questions, let's discuss the news from the week (3:40)! Miguel Andujar signed with the Padres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Red Sox! ... We kick off the mailbag discussing draft-and-hold strategy (19:16). ... How early should Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes be drafted (27:11)? ... Which teams are expected to have strong offenses in 2026 (33:20)? ... Which defenses are expected to be good or bad this year (40:48)? ... How to decide your keepers (45:10)? ... How to evaluate your build during a draft (48:35)? ... Why isn't this talked about more in pitcher evaluation (54:13)? ... How will the Cubs and Yankees rotations work out (58:00)? ... Which hitter is most likely to breakout (1:03:11)? 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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

and welcome into fantasy baseball today on February 6th. I am Frank Stamphle, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, our first mailbag of the offseason will answer your Apple podcast and email questions. And we've got some news to get to from the week. Honestly, Chris, happy Kokomo Mailbag Friday. It doesn't flow as great as it should, but I figured I'd try it out. I think it's fine. I just, I have no idea what day it is anymore.

Like, because last week I was off Thursday and Friday. I had family in town. And then this week we transitioned to our in-season content schedule, basically, where we're working Sunday through Thursday. And I just have no idea what day it is. Like, you're saying it's Kokomo Friday. I asked you earlier today if it was Wednesday. I just have no, like I'm completely lost.

I will figure it out. But I am just a mess right now. It's been very stressful. And it doesn't help that we are recording this one day in advance. So it is, it is factually, objectively, not Friday right now. But when you're listening to this, it is Friday. And for anyone who watched or listened to our Framber Valdez emergency podcast, you will see Chris scrambling to know what day it is.

I believe you said, it's Tuesday, right? And I said, no, it's Wednesday. You're like, all right, it's Tuesday. And I'm like, wait, what? So, you know, it's hard out here, man. It's a busy time. This is crunch time. This is draft prep central for fantasy baseball.

Let's hit the news and notes from the week, and then we'll get to your mailbag questions. And first up, we actually just learned. Terrick Scoobal won his arbitration case and we'll make $32 million in 2026. This doesn't really affect his value, affect whether or not he's going to be traded. I don't believe the Tigers filed at $19 million,

so there was a discrepancy of $13 million in this arbitration case, Chris. I just find it, LOL, good for them. You should have to pay up Terrick Scoobel. You never know how arbitration is going to go, right? Like the arbitration system is not necessarily based on how we value players in the current marketplace, right? Like, they're still talking about like wins and batting average and saves. Like that's still the most important thing in this marketplace.

So like, you never know. how this is going to work out, but the record for a pitcher in arbitration, I'm pretty sure, was David Price back in 2016. He made $19.5 million. Now, that was slightly different because he was a super two guys, so it was his fourth year of eligibility in arbitration, but 10 years ago, David Price got more than the Tigers offered Terrick Scoobel coming off of two Syong awards. Yeah. Like, I think if they had offered 23 million, they probably win. But there was just no way that the arbitration panel was going to say, oh yeah, he should get less than someone a decade ago.

That's just, it doesn't, it didn't make any sense. I don't know what they were thinking on that offer. Good for Terrick Scouble. Yes. You want my Venmo? You got a little extra cash coming in. You know, if you want to hit a brother up. Miguel Anduhar signed a one-year $4 million deal with the Padres.

He's turning 31 years old in March, coming off a solid, season looked great with the Reds last year. Obviously that was a great place to hit. San Diego not as great, but Andrew Hart hit 318, 10 homers, 822 OPS over 94 games. My guess is that Andrew Har will start at DH, Gavin Cheats at first base, Jay Kronworth at second, with Sung Moon as their super utility player. Things can change, obviously. Chris, what do you think about Miguel Anduhar headed to the Padres? Yeah, I mean, I could see him in a, ending up being in a platoon with Gavin Sheets at first base as well. But I don't know if they have enough viable options unless Sungman Song is just a lot better than people expect him to be.

So, yeah, he'll probably play a decent amount. I don't have a lot of faith in Miguel And Duhar. I think at best he's an average bat. Last year, I know he was a little better than average. I don't really buy that. So unlikely to matter much for fantasy. He overperformed his expected stats by quite a bit in 2025. 354 Wobah, 296X Woba.

Yeah. I think the best thing Andor has going for him is dual position eligibility, third base, and outfield. And just a name for deeper leagues, I think, 15 team mixed roto leagues, NL only for sure. But outside of that, I don't think that there's too much there with Anduhaar. And he kind of profiles better as a short side platoon bat at this point. Last year, his splits, 986. against lefties, 7.59 against righties. So perhaps eventually

he does kind of just fall into that short side platoon rule. Isaiah Kinear Folefa signed a one year $6 million deal with the Red Sox. $6 million? A little bit more than I thought ICF would get in this economy. But last year he hit 262, two homers, 15 steals across 138

games. He doesn't really matter much for fantasy. He's a super utility option. I think this offers the Red Sox some insurance at third base, since Marcelo Meyer has just dealt with so many injuries. in his career. Yeah, is Eric kind of fill up as a totally fine utility guy, but if he's starting a significant number of games for you, that's probably a problem. I guess the Red Sox are just rolling with this infield, with Romy Gonzalez as the projected starter at second base. And I think

a team that's this close to contending that just signed Ranger Suarez and has some gluts in the rotation and in the outfield should probably have been more. aggressive in upgrading that second base spot. But in fairness, Marcella Meyer could have a breakout season and cement the third base spot for them in the long term. Christian Campbell is still around as a very recent highly touted prospect who is a primary second baseman who has positional flexibility as well. I understand the approach they're taking even if I would personally prefer a little more certainty. at multiple spots around the infield. Yeah, the problem with Christian Campbell is the Red Sox have already said they want him to primarily focus on the outfield. So do they want him to play second base?

I'm not so sure. I actually just yesterday recorded our Astro's team preview. It's actually coming out today for those listening on Friday. And had Matthew Kawahara on, he covers the team for the Houston Chronicle. And, you know, we just came to the conclusion. Get Dana White. Dana Brown. that would make more sense.

Dana Brown and Craig Brezlo in a room together, they cannot leave until they get a trade done. Because the Red Sox and Astros are just such a match made in heaven right now, right? The Astros need an outfielder. The Red Sox need an infielder.

So E Soc-Soc Paratus and something for Jaron Duran or Willie or Brayu. Like, it just makes so much sense. Let's get that done. And everyone's happy. But right now, there's obviously a cluster

for both of those teams. the Red Sox and the Astros. Carlos Santana agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal with the D-backs. He is turning 40 in April. Last year, hit 219, 11 homers, seven steals in 124 games. His quality of contact fell off hard. He was bad against both lefties and righties, but in previous years, he was better against lefties.

So I view this as a short side platoon kind of veteran presence on the team for the debacks. They kind of have a little bit of a glut of their own. I guess this will get figured out during spring training, Chris, but they have for center field, left field, and DH, some combination of Jordan Lawler, Alec Thomas, Blaze Alexander, Ryan Waldschmidt, Adrian Del Castillo. So feels like a spring training battle for all those spots, I guess. Yeah, I think a lot of those guys are pretty fringy.

It might work out that they all just end up playing ahead of Jordan Lawler. And we have some questions about how much the Diamondbacks actually like. Jordan Waller at this point. As far as these things go though, there's a pretty wide open path for Jordan Lawler to force his way into it if he earns that job. I think that's what it comes down to. And I think he's by far the most interesting of these guys. I think we know what Alex Thomas is and it's not particularly impressive. I think we know what Blaze Alexander is. I know he's had some stretches where he's looked better. I know he has a cool name, but I think he's probably not a particularly good Major League Baseball player.

Jordan Lawler might be. And I think in the long run, hopefully he takes advantage of the opportunity that's clearly here because I think the best version of this Diamondbacks team is one where Jordan Lawler transitions to the outfield smoothly and plays in the everyday line. AJ Hinch indicated on Wednesday that Kenley Janssen will open the season as the team's closer.

Here is the exact quote. I think they're all going to get saves. I think we can pretty much guess how it's going, it's going to be given that one of them has a historic number of saves. So Kenley Jansen will get the first save. I just thought it was interesting that he said, they're all going to get saves. I mean, that could mean Kenley Jansen gets 25 of them,

and Kyle Finnegan gets three, and Will Vest gets three, and it's just Jansen's job. But I thought it was kind of an interesting quote, I guess. Yeah, I mean managers so rarely these days come out and just say, yeah, that guys are closer. You know, they like the flexibility that not having one sec guy brings to the table. I think a lot of teams rightly or wrongly believe that playing coy with these things give them some kind of advantage over their competition,

a competitive advantage. I think that's kind of silly. but I still think Kenley Jansen is the closer here. It's just, does that mean he gets 90% of the save opportunities? Probably not. But I would guess if he stays healthy and remains as effective as he's been lately, I would guess at least 25 saves. Harry Ford is expected to compete with Caber Ruiz

for the starting catcher spot heading into the season. So we actually just did our catcher preview the other day. And we did bring up Harry Ford as a very deep sleeper. something to pay attention to there in spring training. We did get some clarity on the Reds after the Eugenio Suarez signing. Sal Stewart is expected to split his time between DH and corner infield.

Spencer Steer is expected to play some in the outfield and serve in a super utility role. So what that tells me, Chris, maybe I'm reading into this too much. It kind of feels like Sal Stewart is ahead of Spencer Steer just on the depth chart overall. When I hear Spencer Steer is a super utility type, but South Stewart is just like first base and DH.

That makes me a little bit more comfortable and excited about South Stewart. Yeah, I mean, you only have to go back to 2024 to find Spencer Steer playing left field, first base, second base, right field, and shortstop. I played one game of shortstop apparently that season. He played 30, 42 games, started 42 games at third base in 2023. three last year and at the end of 2024 he was dealing with a shoulder injury that limited him to mostly first base or dh if he's healthy and they think his arm is up to it yeah maybe he's just left field right field third base second base first base dh just depending on what the team needs in any given day and and spencer steer could just end up still being more or less an everyday player

and it's just he's not an everyday player in one spot. I think that's probably pretty likely, but it is good to hear South Stewart kind of has his spots. And I just think, as I said, after the Aahanias signing, I just think South Stewart's fantasy values in his own hands. If he's as good as we think he is, I don't think it's going to matter. I think he's going to play. I just do not think the Reds have enough good players

to keep South Stewart out of the lineup. unless he's bad, in which case we don't care that he's not playing every day. So I don't have too many worries about South Stewart's playing time. I think it'll be there if he earns it. And if he earns it, you'll be thrilled with him. White Sox reliever. Grant Taylor has a goal of reaching 100 innings in 2026. The team will deploy Taylor as a reliever this season before transitioning him back into his

starter role in 2027. So that sounds like maybe some multi-inning appearances here. you know, maybe he can get some kind of bulk relief at times. I still think Grant Taylor is very talented and probably going to be used in a high leverage role, but perhaps that could be, you know, over the seventh and eighth innings or things like that throughout the course of the season, if they want to get him to 100 innings like he's hoping for here in 2026. From a dynasty perspective, if you got Grant Taylor, I mean, if he's a starter in 2027,

that's something you look forward to there as well. So a pretty interesting name there is Grant Taylor. Before we hit the break, reminder to subscribe to the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already, CBSports.com slash newsletters. You can sign up for free. And like this video, subscribe on YouTube. If you haven't already, we have so much content coming for the next two months as we gear up for opening day. I mean, we're going to be doing position previews, live mock drafts, mock draft mega stream, reacting to spring training, all that fun stuff.

So make sure to like this video, subscribe if you haven't already. Let's take that first break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Edit this out. All right. Or don't. You can leave it in.

Okay. But I just noticed my lights flickering ahead of me. Okay. Which is what happened right before we lost power a couple weeks ago. Okay. So just a heads up. I have not lost power. But if it does happen, that might happen.

All right. Well, I note that there was a nether fire a couple blocks away from me. and I've noticed some con-ed construction happening. So hopefully we're okay, but I just wanted to give you a warning on that before we move on. All right. I do appreciate it. Hope you don't lose power because it's still really, really cold outside, obviously. And look, I mean, you don't want anyone to lose power, but especially when it's really, really cold, obviously.

So if that happens, we might have a solo mail bag here. So let's get to the questions, and we will start with the Apple Podcast. review questions and this one is from Body Bag 6. How should your draft change for draft and hold leagues? Closures get pushed up a lot in those leagues, sometimes even into the late third round. Does your approach

towards closers or just hitters and pitchers overall differ from a fab league? Do you target different types of players? Yeah, I think as a general rule, you take fewer risks on playing time. I think you prioritize

multi-position eligibility. because you're not going to have the opportunity to add guys throughout the season. You want to be able to have, you know, if you have, I don't know, 10 outfielders on your roster, having a couple of those guys with second or third base eligibility will help just because you might have a week where seven of your best players are outfielders. And you might lose that production if those guys don't have other eligibility. So I think that's the biggest one. And then this is a big part of what we talk.

about a lot when we talk about the NFBC ADP, which is those closers get pushed way, way up because there's such a priority on role certainty. And so the closers who have a certain role going into the season are going to get pushed way up just because you don't get to play the waiver wire. And so there are going to be a lot of dead saves in any given draft and hold. Even a 50-team or a 50-round draft where you're drafting, what would it be 750 players in a 15-team league? There will inevitably be a lot of closers, or at least guys who get 8 to 10 saves, who just don't get drafted in that format because they come out of nowhere. So I think that's why you see that marketplace the way it is on closers.

If you look at the NFBC draft champions ADP over the past month, these are 15-team draft and hold league. some closers, Mason Miller, Edwin Diaz in the second round, Andres Munoz, Cade Smith, Yohan Duran, David Bednar, Devin Williams, Arollas Chapman, all going in the third round on average. In the fourth round, you have Josh Hader, in the fifth round, you have Ryan Helsley,

Ricell Iglesias, and then the first pick of the six round is Carlos Estevez. So there are many different ways to win and draft and hold. If you wait on closers, you really have to get lucky, obviously. but there are stats, there's data to support that a lot of the best draft and hold players, they do pay up for saves, they do pay up for that certainty. So yeah, me typically, I do play in a few draft and hold leagues,

and I would like to get, for me, the cutoff is Ryssel Iglesias, I would like to get at least one closer by that point. So that means using one of your top five round picks on a closer, which is kind of foreign for some. I mean, it's not a comfortable place to be, but that is what the format calls for. And then I do like to jump in and get one of those second-tier closers, whether it's Fairbanks, Hoffman, Emilio Pagan.

So again, you're probably looking at two of your top eight or nine picks being closers, and it's not a place that you want to be. But typically the best players in this format that I have seen before, they do usually pay up for saves and pay up for closers. So that's just my two cents. I think overall from a roster construction view, you have 50 rounds. I like to get at least 10 outfielders on my team,

three of each infield position, having guys with positional flexibility, as you pointed out, Chris, I think those guys are even more valuable. And I like hitters who have been more durable in the past. You know, guys like Matt Olson come to mind, he never misses a game. Pete Alonzo, guys like that. It's just high floor guys that you know are going to play every single day.

I do put a little bit more emphasis on players like that. on the pitching side of things usually wind up with 22 or 23 total pitches of your 50 spots and I would say seven of those are probably relievers and the rest are starting pitchers. So divvy that up, you know, two lockdown closers and then maybe you're just taking five reliever stabs throughout the course of the draft,

probably later on in the draft for the most part. But there is still value in a draft and hold to the non-closer relievers as there isn't any format, but like there will be weeks where you have multiple starters getting bombed and there will be weeks when you have relievers who get a save and a win, even though they're not a closer.

And so many injuries too. I mean, I can't tell you how many times towards the end of the season, you have no starters left to put in your lineup. You might just have to put in a reliever just to stop the bleeding, right? So, I mean, somebody like, the reliever on the Padres,

who's really good, His name is escaping me right now. Sets up for Mason Miller. Jeremiah Estrada. Jeremiah Estrada. So somebody like that, who's probably not going to get any single saves this year, maybe one or two. But really good ratios, really good strikeouts.

I mean, somebody like that could have- Like eight games. Could have value in this format. Like the other reliever on the Padres. He won like 11 games last year, right? Is that pure reliever? That is the- Motelhoon?

Yeah, yeah. And he win 13 games last year. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Yeah. It's like eighth in the league and wins. Yeah. Yeah, there are definitely names like that that will have value. So I think you probably, if you draft seven relievers, you probably want two lockdown closers.

Maybe you mix in like one or two just ratio guys. And then the other three, you just want to be pure like save speculation dart throws that if everything goes perfectly for them, they wind up getting a couple saves this season. So very unique format. And you definitely do have to change the way that you think about drafting in that. one. This one is from J-Mack, NYG-10. And I know people tell me, I don't focus on the haters and stuff. I'll move very quickly through it. I don't care very much, but they left a five-star reviews. So I will just read it, and I will offer my opinion. That's it. Frank needs to focus on hosting and not pretending to be an analyst. It frequently sounds like he has to get his opinion out as

his last word, bring Azer back. So thank you for the five-star rating. You're entitled to your opinion. I wish we could respond to reviews on the app on the Apple Podcast app, kind of like you can on Google, but I can't. It's just not possible. So just for some clarity, I was hired to be like a host analyst

kind of hybrid here. So that's why I do it. But honestly, I give my opinion last a lot of times because I want you and Scott to give your opinion first. I mean, you guys have been on this podcast way before me. I mean, you're like the foundation of this podcast. So I would imagine most people wanna hear your opinions first. So that's why I usually kind of set it up that way.

I don't set it up purposely thinking like, oh, I'm going to get the final word so that they can't respond. It's just, you know, I want to get my opinion in. You can't please everyone, Chris. And a lot of people actually say they want my opinion more. So I don't know exactly what to do there. But like, I know you're not fishing for compliments here. No, no.

I just want to say. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. It is what it is. But I just want to say, one, the only person pretending to be an analyst is me on this show. No. And two. You do a phenomenal job.

You are a great host. You are a great analyst. The job you do is incredibly difficult. And I know this because you leave like six to ten times a year. And the show is a barely on the rails disaster. No. So you are doing a phenomenal job. You guys do a good job when I'm out.

I listen to the podcast. You guys still do a good job. I will admit, and I will agree with one thing that you say, Adam Azer is the goat host. I mean, we could all agree on that. I mean, I was not a host before I came here. I was just an analyst, so I would think I'm at least okay at that.

But anyway, let's get to your emails, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com, and this one is from Jesse. At one point in the first round of a 12-team league, would you draft a starting pitcher, either Skeen's or Scoobel? Not sure if format matters in your answer, but I play in both head-to-head points and head-to-ed category. So there's actually four questions here from Jesse. I included all of them.

So what is your answer there, Chris? Scobel and Skewis. When is the earliest who would draft either of those guys? Well, we have rankings. And my rankings say Terrick School Bowl 11, Garrett Crochet 12, Paul Skeens 13. I think that this person didn't mention Garrett Crochet, Jesse didn't, but I think Crochet is right there with Skeins and School Bowl. I think it's a top three.

I think you can put them in basically any order, and I would have zero complaints about it. And, you know, I have them starting at 11, but if you really want a pitcher, I don't have a problem taking them ahead of Corbyn Carroll or Kyle Tucker, the two guys ahead of them. Even Ellie Delacruz. I think there's a little bit of a drop off there, but you just look at the auction values that I have on the site. I've got Huli Rodriguez at 40, Carol at 39, Tucker at 39, and then three starting pitchers are $38 players. So there is very little distinction between the number eight and number 13 spots in my rankings. I think as early as eight is defensible.

And I think it's any of those three. I think as early as six. I have Scoobel as my sixth ranked player overall. If you wanted to take Carol or Tucker or Ellie over him. I think a little higher on Acuna and Ellie than you are. Yeah. And then I have crochet and skeins a little bit lower in the first round. But yeah, for me, it's as high as six.

I would be willing to go on Terrick Scouble this season. What do you recommend for mock drafting? I have been using Fantasy Pros, free Draft Wizard, any of their ideas. I find the ESPN and Yahoo Rooms to be a waste of time because people either leave in the third round or make unserious selections, i.e. closers. It is a tough question, Chris. I mean, there's no perfect answer.

I mean, I believe we have mock drafts on CBS, so you can kind of do those as well. But you're probably drafting against computers in a lot of them as well. So I would say maybe do like a best ball draft, a cheap one, like $10 best ball draft. At least, you know, people are paying a little bit of money so you know they care about it. But that's not completely reflective of home leagues either. So I don't know. Yeah, it's tough.

I think the best thing you can do is to try to avoid leagues that or mock drafts that have no league attached to them. One, it's just going to be hard for them to fill. Two, you don't know how seriously people are going to play them. Whereas, yeah, if you're doing, you know, one of those sleeper underdog drafts, if you're in one of the jurisdictions where that's allowed, I think that makes a lot of sense. Not underdog sleeper, right? Underdog. Sleeper doesn't have it. Underdog does. Yes, yeah, underdog. So one of those underdog drafts, you know, the cheapest one, but that requires money.

And I know that's not a viable option for everyone. And then that's the hard thing about this question is if you're. not going to spend money to play any league that's going to matter in some way, even a, even a, you know, small way. It's going to be hard to get a good mock draft going. You know, we can do that when we do our, you know, weekly or soon twice a week mock drafts because we're mostly bringing in people who work in the industry, who are analysts. And so that is, you know, I think there's just an inherent taking it seriously that a lot of people do there, even if, you know, we know, we know the league's. not going to get played out and people are going to take a few more chances as a result of that. I will say, follow Scott on X, the Everything app because he's occasionally looking for

people I know for the mock draft we did last night, last night, right? That was Tuesday. Wednesday night. That he was looking for a couple of people to fill out that draft. So it's hard to find really useful mock drafts for leagues that aren't. going to be played out. It's kind of the reality of the situation. Although, jump in the live chat during our podcast. If you can, you know, maybe put an extra cup of coffee on in the evening and stay up with us at midnight when we record because we have a very active chat

community on the YouTube channel. People in the comments are always talking about filling out leagues or, you know, doing mock drafts with each other. There's a handful of people I always always seeing there, Jordan, Uncle Ted, all those guys. So, you know, that you'll, that might be a way to go. Or the, um, fantasy baseball Reddit, uh, community is a great place to, to meet other people who talk about fantasy sports. And you might be able to get 11 people who are as obsessed with this sport as we are to, to do some drafts with you. Yeah, we also have a FBT Facebook group. So, and there's a lot, there's over 10,000 people in there. So you could just kind of start a thread there

and try and set up a mock draft there if you want as well. And all those, I would say, if you're looking for a new league to join as well, that's everything on the fantasy baseball today. Facebook group, everything on the fantasy baseball Reddit, is talking about finding leagues right now. Or people are looking for people to join their leagues. So I would suggest any of those resources for sure.

A little PSA on joining a community and trying to, find a league, do not send money to anybody that you do not know because, look, it sounds like an obvious thing, but this happens more than you think, and then people get scammed and things like that. And so obviously, it's not what you want, but it does happen. So just be careful. I've been in industry leagues where people have stolen money before.

Oh gosh. I guess we'll have to talk about that off air. What teams should be in line to have strong offenses that might be worth targeting? So look, the obvious ones come to mind, the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Mets. The Blue Jays should be very good. Red Sox. I think the athletics are going to be sneaky good. I've said this a few times, but I think there's a chance that an informal A's stack could be one of the most profitable things you can do in fantasy baseball in 2026.

I think the Orioles are sneaky too, man. Bringing in Pete Alonzo, trading for Taylor Ward. hopefully a healthy Gunner Henderson. We'll see what we get out of Adley Ruchman, but that team could be really good. I think the Orioles and the Diamondbacks jump out as potentially undervalued ones because the Diamondbacks had their big sell-off

at the end of last season. That lineup was still really tough. It's kind of a testament to how outrageously good Heraldo Pardomo and Cotel Marte were at the end of last season, that that was still not an easy. easy out despite losing Josh Naylor and losing Ehoyonio Suarez and playing a bunch of guys every day who maybe didn't deserve it. So that's, I think the Diamondbacks are a sneaky good one. It's a good place to hit. I think the Royals potentially. I don't know if that's going to be like

a top five offense, but moving the fences in a little bit. I think they've got some guys who could take another step forward. Obviously, we all love Carter Jensen. A name. we haven't mentioned at all this offseason and frankly I don't know when we're going to because Alfield is so deep but Jack Haggleone you know

you rewind the clock back about eight months and Jack Cagleyone versus Nick Kurtz was a legitimate argument and a lot of prospect people had Jack Haggleone ahead of Nick Kurtz so obviously you take Nick Kurtz ahead of him

but Jack Haganleone is still a premier prospect, premier athlete who, you know, if him and Jensen have breakout seasons and Isaac Collins could be decent, the Royals could be a sneaky good offense that, you know, for the purposes of this, just kind of, because it's not just who are the best offenses, but who provide a lot of potential for profit. And I think the Royals could be one of them. Yeah. And there's a lot of people who still like Jack Caglio, too. I remember out at first pitch, Arizona. Enosaris was talking him up in a kind of junior Caminero E type way where

Caglione is someone who's aggressive. He does chase pitches out of the zone, but he also makes a lot of contact, makes a lot of in-zone contact. Premium bat speed. Has a lot of raw power there as well. So yeah, Caglione's a good call there. I will just mention the Astros too. I mean, if they can find a way to stay healthy and get Paredes in the lineup, I mean, they're top six. Pena, Alvarez, Altuva, Correa, Walker, Paratus, in some order. That's awesome. That could be a pretty damn good lineup. Last question here from Jesse.

Aside from Casey adjusting the dimensions of Kaufman and Tampa Bay moving back to the TROP, are there any other stadium changes for 2026? You know, I want to circle back to the Astros before I answer this question too, because like, Zach Cole is a pretty interesting prospect. I think people are genuinely sleeping on Cam Smith. Like, let's not forget this guy was a pretty premium prospect a year ago. There was a report the other day. He's going to play center field.

Yeah, they're going to try him out in center field this spring. They seem pretty optimistic about his potential there. But like, I didn't even mention Jainer Diaz, who was, you know, a top 70 pick last year. Yeah, but Cam Smith was one of the best prospects in baseball this time a year ago, made the leap basically from A ball to the majors. I know he wasn't great, but the ex-Wobo was a little better than what he actually managed. I think there's plenty of room for Cam Smith in that same like Jack Haglione way. where people have just kind of forgotten about how excited we were about him. Now to get to the other question about stadium changes,

I think Kansas City adjusting the walls at Kaufman Stadium to bring them in about 8 to 10 feet across most of the outfield and lowering them, I think, from 12 to 9 feet, or 9 to 8, something like that. And then the Ray is moving back to Tropicana Field are the only two changes that I could find. it's possible there's some kind of you know like remember before the 2024 season the guardians changed the location of like concession stands in right field that created a wind tunnel effect so there could be something like that uh that made their park play way better for left-handed hitters

uh but we just we won't know until that actually happens i think so just earlier we were talking about the D-backs logjam and try to figure out what happens there. There was just a trade that sent Blaze Alexander to the Orioles for Cade Stroud. So Blaze Alexander, I'm looking at the Orioles roster, probably profiles as kind of a bench utility role there. But it does free up another spot for the D-backs. So now we're talking about Center Field, Left-Field, D-H for Alec Thomas, Jordan Lawler, Ryan Waldschmidt, Adrian Del Castillo. So there's one name out of the mix for the debacks.

That's seemingly good news for Jordan Lawler, at least. Let's take our final break. When we'll get into more of your email questions right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. Happy Kokomo Mailbag Friday to all of you listening. And a reminder to send in your emails, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. That's the letter I. And this next one is from Nate.

I heard you reference Harrison Bexion. to the Giants can help improve their outfield defense. Can you guys take some time and talk about what teams have a good defense and what teams don't have a good defense and how it can affect the pitcher? Do you factor that in your rankings if two pitchers are similarly ranked and one has a better defense than the other? I think that's the perfect way to look at it, Chris. I don't want to overreact to it.

I think it matters more for pitchers who rely on getting ground balls and put balls in play a little bit more. but more than anything, it's just when you're splitting hairs, you need some kind of deciding factor between one pitcher and another. I might lean on that other pitcher just because he has a better defense behind him. It's not a fundamental thing that I think changes my outlook too much on a starting pitcher. Yeah, I think a good example of that is the McKenzie Gore trade. You know, he goes from a truly awful Washington Nationals defense to what figures to be,

a pretty good Texas defense. I think they probably got worse this offseason losing Marcus Simeon, putting Brandon Nimmo in the outfield. I don't know. I know why Lankford rated out very well defensively last season, but I don't know if making him full-time center fielder is going to be great. So it may not be as big of an impact or improvement for McKenzie Gore as last year's numbers would make you think. But I think that's a good example of what you're kind of looking for. I think the Cubs are kind of the best example of this right now where we see. saw so much success from relatively low strikeout guys over the past couple of seasons. Justin Steele.

Kate Horton was amazing last season. Matthew Boyd. That helps because they've just gotten outrageously good infield especially. I think they're outfield. Peker Armstrong covers a lot of ground. It's a little shaky. I guess Ian Hap is a gold glover out in left field too. Yeah, he's good.

So that should be a very good defense. Toronto rated out is an exceptionally good defense last season. I think they should continue to be one. Don Varshow is an elite center fielder as well. Boston should be very good pretty much across the board. I think Milwaukee will continue to be good. You know, we talked about this, and I think the Mets are going to have a really good defense. I think it kind of depends on Francisco Lindor and how if there's any lingering effects of the elbow surgery they had this offseason.

But the combination of him and Marcus Simeon in his second base, I think Boba Chet should handle. third base well and I think their outfield defense should be pretty good with Luis Robert and Carson Benj taking over there so I think the Mets should have a pretty good defense I think on the other end the white sucks are probably going to be pretty bad losing Luis Robert the nationals I don't see any reason that's going to be any good the angels were by far the worst defense in baseball last season very bad um I did the angels add anyone that I guess Josh Lowe could be an upgrade in right field, but like they're going to be starting right now. It looks like Jorge Salar, Joe Adele, and Josh Lowe in the outfield. And there had been some talks about Mike Trout wanting to play center field events.

He's probably better than Joe Adele at this point in his career still. Netto is not a great defensive shortstop. Yon Magata is probably not a great defensive third baseman. I guess the good news there is that we're not drafting too many Angels pitchers. Yeah, but, you know, there is some bounce-back hope for Reid Detmer's and Grays and Grays and Rodriguez as very, very late targets. It's going to be an uphill climb for that to happen with that team around them. And I will just mention with the Giants too that, yes, Bader helps their outfield defense,

but we spoke about this after Luis Arise signed. I think the left side of their infield defense is going to be amazing with Adomas and Chapman. But the right side, you know, for groundball, pitchers, Arise, Devers, Eldridge. Bader's 32, his defense has slipped a little bit. I don't know if he's a great defensive centerfielder. But he was also playing a lot in left field. But I think that's probably just an upgrade for

Junghuli not playing centerfield. Yeah, for sure. So I think the Giants should be pretty good, but there are definitely some questions there. Yeah. This one is from Charles. Strategy and quasi-keeper question. in a league where keepers are kept with a premium,

like two-round penalty from last year's draft or $2 cost added to the salary cap, do you choose the best value or the highest quality player? For example, and the players mentioned are just for example purposes. Not so sure I believe you. If you have Hunter Goodman in round 10, but he'll cost round 8 or drafted at $8 and you have to keep at $10. Versus Michael Bush in round 20,

you keep him for round 18 or drafted at $1 and you keep for $3. Three. Goodman is the better player, but Bush is the better value. So this is very circumstantial case-by-case basis. Chris, I don't know that there is ever a you know, a flat-out right answer to a question like this, but which way do you lean? I think when it comes down to elite players getting any kind of discount on elite player is always going to be more valuable just because those are. the guys who are way harder to replace. So if you've got Juan Soto for $32 and you think he's a $43 player,

that is probably preferable to an $11 player who you have for a dollar, even though the gap is probably very similar, if not weighed in the lower price players advantage, but you can probably replace the $11 player. Yeah. There is no way. replacing Juan Soto at any price. So that is the highest level way you can look at it is prioritize better players and those few players who are truly irreplaceable, even if you get less of a discount. After that, it's a case-by-case basis. And, you know, the Goodman for $10 versus Michael Bush for three, I think Bush and Goodman are close enough that you just go with Goodman or with

bush. You just to save the money, you'll spend it later. But I think the thing you have to keep in mind with all these discussions is intentionally choosing a worse player to save money, you still have to spend that money. And there are a finite number of players who are worth X dollars. So, you know, it's not like there's an unlimited number of players. And you also have to keep in mind, the players who aren't kept in any keeper league are going to be more expensive than they would otherwise be. Because there's, you're keeping Michael Bush for $3 and he's a $10 player or whatever. There's seven extra dollars now in the player pool and everybody's got to have a couple of those. So your $45 players are probably $50 players in the auction at least.

I mean, our Dynasty League, it's a 24-team dynasty league. there are very few good players available. They're going to go for $60 in that one. If they're truly like first round players are going to go for $60 or $70 in that league. I think last year I got, I had to get Alex Bregman for $49. So you have to keep in mind that there will always be inflation, which just makes any discount you get on the high dollar players, especially even more impactful.

This next one is from Will. question for the mailbag. You talk a lot about builds for your teams. What are some of the ways you evaluate your builds while you are in a draft or an auction? Are you going on feel? Are you going by numbers? And I think it's a good question. And everybody is different.

It comes down to knowing yourself as a player and whether or not you can handle, you know, draft software and things like that while actually drafting because it is a lot to pay attention to and a lot to manage. We have had, I think, two polar opposites recently here on the podcast. Last week we did a YouTube-only episode draft software tutorial with Tanner Bell where he walked us through how to use his draft software and how to track your stats throughout the course of a draft. So that's one way to do it if you can manage it. And then this week we had Mike Mager on,

who is the auction overall back-to-back champion over at the NFBC. And maybe surprising to some, surprising to me, he doesn't track his stats throughout the course of an auction. I mean, he's been doing it for so long that he just kind of has a, a feel and he knows kind of what he needs. And he did say that he has like category targets that he knows of, but he's not actively like tracking those projected stats throughout the course of the auction or the draft.

He just kind of has a feel. He's been doing it for so long. So there's no right answer. And I think it comes down to you as a player, Chris. Yeah. And the thing you have to keep in mind when you're tracking your targets for categories in draft is let's say you're doing that based on a projection system. Well, what projection systems are never going to do is

project someone for, like Herald or Pardomo had 720 plate appearances last season. Projection systems are just never going to project guys for that kind of playing time, even though it does happen. And so your projected numbers, if you're tracking them based on, let's say, ATC projections, they're probably going to be lower than what they actually end up being. Your projected home runs will probably be higher than the actual projections themselves. So part of the problem there is, ideally you want to compare your projections to everyone else's projections. Well, that just became 12 times or 11 times as much work as you'd be doing otherwise.

So that's always tough. I think it's more on feel. I have gone through periods where I've kept track of my stats throughout the drafts. I don't know how much it really helps. I think you want to be able to say, oh, no, my batting average is really bad, and I need to make up for that. But, you know, trying to keep track of that through projections as the draft is going, I think it's of limited utility, unfortunately. I do think that pairing players together early on in the draft is something you could do just to kind of like build out balance and whether or not that's, you know, player pairings that make sense together. Aaron Judge and Trey Turner, right?

Something like that, where two players that kind of complement each other early in the draft based on the categories that they provide. I think that's one way to look at it. And something else that Mike Maher brought up the other day, which is interesting, is maybe not focusing so much on it in the draft and just getting the best values that you can and realizing that there are 26 regular season weeks or 27 regular season weeks where you can play the waiver wire.

You can do different things. And in the NFBC, you can't make trades, but in a lot of home leagues, you can make trades. So if you have a team that's great in home runs or great in steals, you know, you can trade off of that and try and address other needs. And maybe just getting the best values where you can makes more sense. With the caveat that I think you should pay more attention to batting average, because again, that's harder to make up in season. So pay attention to batting average. But, man, if you're just great in home runs or steals throughout the course of the season, you can, try and trade off that or maybe just address it on the waiver wire.

This next one is from Ryan. Which team won this trade? Team one received Roman Anthony for $7. Team two received Jackson Trio for 11, Logan Gilbert for 13, and Leo DeVrye's for three. It is a 10-team Hatt-Head Points League, $200 team salary cap. And as much as I love Roman Anthony, Chris, I do think getting Trujillo, Logan, Gilbert, and Leo DeVries is the much better of too. Yeah, I mean, $7 Roman Anthony, I guess in a dynasty league, it's slightly different, but is a $7 Roman Anthony that much more of a discount over an $11 Jackson Churria? You know, in a head-to-head points league, it becomes closer, but I still think you'd rather have

Churio, certainly for 2025 or 2026. So, yeah. And then you're getting a discounted Logan Gilbert. Yeah. I think a $3 Leo DeVries, That's pretty close to not, I guess, Dynasty, you know, it goes up every year. He said minor leaguers go up $1 each year, a major leaguers go up $2. Okay, so let's say he doesn't make his debut this year, so he's a $4 player next year. So he'll be a $5 player in two years when he probably is up with the athletics, I think. Yeah. I think that's probably fine, but yeah, I think on the whole, getting the three players,

Roman Anthony is going to have to be like a no doubt first rounder I think to justify this one And even with that I mean Jackson Trio could become a first round player this year So and Logan Gilbert could be the best pitcher in fantasy this year Yeah so team two by a landslide I would say This next one is from Bill I have a random offseason pitcher evaluation question

Whenever a pitcher changes teams Or is potentially getting called up to the majors For the first time the same talking points are reviewed For projecting expectations For example, the pitcher's track record from where he's been comparatively bounced against the new team's park factors and team defense, the team's new coaching staff, the new team's run support versus prior team, but you almost never hear anything about the other arms and minds in the rotation that he's joining. The guys he'll be sitting next to chatting in the bullpen for the 130 games he's not scheduled to pitch. Shouldn't that be a consideration? They must talk shop, right? Shouldn't that factor for McKenzie Gore?

he is joining obviously the Rangers and they have Jacob de Grom or someone like Bubba Chandler who's joining the Pirates gets to be around Paul Skeens a lot and there's no way for us to quantify this Chris I think there's a good point here and it's something I've tried to bring up in the past you just don't know exactly because everybody's different even if there's a young pitcher who's joining a staff that has established major leaguers and great pitchers around him maybe that pitcher doesn't want to learn from another picture. Or maybe they're shy or timid or they just like to do their own thing or they have their own

workout regimen and their own training that they do. I mean, it's just, it's so hard without maybe hearing a quote or, hey, reading a story, this pitcher is taking this pitcher under his wing and really helping him with this pitch. And it's just, it's so hard for us to know. Yeah, like, in theory, there's something here for sure. I definitely want to say that I definitely don't. want to say there's nothing here. But I think of like the Marlins. I think of the Marlins often. Sandy Alcantra and Yuri Perez are both super tall Dominican starting pitchers. So you would

think there's a lot in common there. And I'm sure having Sandy Alcantra while they're both going through the rehab process for Tommy John's surgery was very helpful for Yuri Perez. And I think he's talked about that. But then you actually look at Yuri Perez and Sandy Alcantra. They kind of couldn't be any different as pitchers, right? Yuri Perez is all fastballs up in the zone and trying to bury his breakers down. He gives up a lot of fly balls. He gets a lot of strikeouts. He's got great control. Sandy O'Contra has struggled a lot with command at times, although I think at this point he's very good. One of the rare examples of a guy really improving in command. But he's all east-west. It's low in the strike zone. He's trying to get weak contact. He's trying to get ground balls. So like,

even though they are both, I think Sandy's 6.5 and Yuri Prez is 6.9, they're both Dominican. They're both throw really hard. So there are a lot of things they have in common. How much has Yuri Perez learned about pitching from Sandy O'Contra? I can't say it's nothing, but they're not very similar pitchers. They go about their craft very differently. On the other end, I think back to when Trevor Bauer joined the Dodgers, and all of a sudden, Walker Bueller starts throwing with less velocity, but significantly more spin on his pitches. Whatever the physics of making that happen were, I think we all know,

that was, I think, pretty clearly a result of Trevor Bauer getting to that team and telling them to use spider tech, I think is basically the answer. So there's certainly something there. from where we're sitting, I don't know if we can do much more than guess about what the actual impact of any of that stuff would be. This next one is from Michael. Who gets bumped when Justin Steele returns?

Or as rumor hasn't, they signed Zach Gallen. I am worried about Kate Horton getting bumped from the rotation. So the answer is life finds a way. And we will, these things usually figure themselves out. Edward Cabrera has a lengthy injury history. Kate Horton has a lengthy injury history. And I think James and Tayon's had, is he had two Tommy Johns? They very easily could go with a six-man rotation to keep these guys healthy.

You know, Shoti Minaga came over from Japan two years ago, and they only pitch once per week there. So I think that's something that will work itself out. I mean, the way that it's set up now, if I had to guess, I would. Whoever's not pitching well? Yeah, I mean, it's. I just don't think. It might be James and Tyone, but he's also making a lot of money.

Yeah, he's making a lot of money. He's a tenured member of the organization. I genuinely think it just comes down to who's pitching well. But Cabrera had an elbow sprain last year. He's had a ton of elbow or shoulder injuries in the past. Kate Horan has had both shoulder and elbow injuries, as you mentioned. Matthew Boyd last year was the first time he'd thrown more than 80 innings since 2019. I am not worried about, I am almost never worried about

any team having too many pitchers, I think the Cubs will have opportunities, no matter who they add. And he has the same question for the Yankees. Also, when all the Yankees injured pitchers return, who gets bumped? I am worried about Ryan Weathers. So Ryan Weathers himself has not been able to stay healthy at all.

And if we're being honest, a lot of the Yankees pitchers have had troubles staying healthy. Again, it should figure itself out. It should work its way out. Rodon expected back late April, early May. Cole late May, early June, but Luis Heel has dealt with a lot of injuries if, if I had to guess,

and Max Fried and Cam Schlittler are healthy, and Rodon and Garrick Cole are healthy when they return. And Ryan Weathers is pitching well. I think that will be their five-man rotation. So that could mean Louise Heel's in the bullpen. You know, Will Warren is a spot starter, long relief out of the bullpen. If everyone's healthy, I think it's Cole, Rodon, freed, Schlitler, Ryan Weathers.

I would almost guarantee by the time both Rodan and Cole are back, that will not be the rotation. And I'll just say, I think in the long run, Ryan Weathers and Louis Healer in the bullpen before long anyway. You know, maybe it's not in 2026. Maybe they still need both of those guys. But I think they both just kind of profile as bullpen arms in the long run. Yep.

Michael also asked about two base Steelers who stopped running last season. Michael Garcia had 18 steals through the end of May and was caught stealing nine times. The rest of the season, he only attempted five more steals and was safe every time. Bryce Terang had 17 steals through the end of June and was caught eight times. The rest of the season, he only had eight attempts,

and was safe on seven of them. Were there any injuries that might have stopped, either Michael Garcia or Bryce Terrang from running last season? I haven't seen any injuries, Chris. For the Bryce Tarang one, it feels more like his profile just changed and he became more of like a, not a true slugger, but he hit for more power. I think there were just less opportunities for him to run.

The Michael Garcia one was a little bit weird. I think he was hitting in the middle of the lineup and stuff, so maybe there were just more RBI opportunities and stuff. But I expect Garcia to lead off for the team. I think the steals could come back up a little bit. The Bryce Terang one is a little bit tougher. I think he's fast enough to do it. I think the skill set is there.

But I also kind of trust the increase in swing speed and power that we saw last season. So I just don't know that he'll have to run as much, I guess, the brewers. Yeah, I think the way to react to this is not to say, oh, no, Michael Garcia is not going to steal any bases next year. Oh, no, Bryce Terang is not going to steal any bases. I think it's just, one, these things tend to come in bunches anyway. They're so fickle to steals. It's so hard to do. Steels, like, you don't know how teams are changing the way they scout opposing base runners, right? Like, are our teams more worried about Michael Garcia when he's

on the base paths after the first couple of months. It's certainly possible that they're just throwing over more and paying more attention to it. It's certainly possible that there was a change in the Royals approach for Michael Garcia. And they said, you know, we've got, you know, that's around when Vinnie P. started heating up, right? It is like June. Maybe it's just, hey, you know, Vinny P's hot and he's hitting behind you. Maybe we don't want to, you know, take our B.I opportunities off the board for him or something like that. So I think you're just, you're looking at the natural range of outcomes for these guys. And that for both of these guys is on the high end.

They could be 35 steel guys, maybe more. Bryce Trank stole, what, 54 bases a couple years ago. But, you know, the low end is maybe they're in the high teens. I think that's still valuable. But there's ranges of outcomes for every player. And this last one is from Jeff. And it is a fun one. Happy Groundhogs Day.

Ah, that groundhog, by the way. We're getting six more weeks of winter. You know what? Come on, man. He's only hitting like $3.90, which is like, that's good for a baseball player. But we need a new groundhog. If you're worse at predicting things than a coin flip, I'm not going to take it seriously, you know? The hitter most likely to break out in 2026 is blank.

Um. Hold on, let me update my... I think everyone's favorite breakout is Ben Rice, but he already kind of broke out. So my answer for this is kind of a cheap one, but it's Roman Anthony. Yeah, I think Roman Anthony is a good call. I think...

Yeah, in terms of most likely, I like Roman Anthony. I'm kind of talking myself into Wyatt Langford after doing a little more research lately. He's good. Like, going 2020, 22 and 22 in 135 games while having four different oblique injuries. It's pretty impressive.

Like, that's a pretty high floor. So I think why Langford is a very good bet to take a step forward. And then, like, I have, you know, different categories of breakouts on my breakouts one point O list. I've got, you know, the guys making the leap from stardom to superstardom or the guys making the leap from good player to star. And obviously I think the guy's making the leap to start him. I have a little more faith in. So like that's where I have Roman Anthony. I also have bounce back candidates.

If you want to count it, like, I certainly think Yorna Alvarez is going to have a much better season in 2026 than he did in 2025. Does that count? Is that cheating? Maybe I'm a cheater. Whatever. My other answer here, I guess. True breakout.

Oh, look, Roman Anthony is one of them. Sal Stewart. We talk about Sal Stewart a lot, man. It's just what he did last season, what he did in the minor is his ability to make contact, hit the ball hard, good eye at the play, great ballpark. I think the lineup's going to be pretty good too. I mean, pie in the sky, things work out the way

I think they could for South Stewart. I mean, we're talking 270, 280 plus 25 home runs, 10 to 15 steals, really good counting stats. And he's you know, a top 75 pick this time next year. So that's my other answer here. Most likely to break out, Sal Stewart. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into 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.