Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨Max Scherzer Traded to the Texas Rangers! - Emergency Podcast (7/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:03 Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Heading into the weekend, we didn't know if the Mets would tear it down and sell. Turns out the answer was a definitive yes. Welcome into an emergency edition of Fantasy Baseball today. On Sunday, July 30th, I am Frank Stamville, joined by Scott White. And apologies for the delay. This is a massive trade, more so for baseball than for fantasy baseball. I saw Oppenheimer late last night.

Starting point is 00:00:26 It was amazing. I highly recommend. But that's why we're doing this on Sunday instead of Saturday. Scott, let's jump into it. Max Scherzer traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for shortstop prospect Luis Anhele Ocuna, who is the younger brother of Ronald Acuna. The Mets ate a bunch of money in this trade, likely to get a better prospect back. And that's what they did.

Starting point is 00:00:46 We'll talk about the prospect in just a little bit. Let's talk about Max Scher. He is now 39 years old, and he has had a downseason here, Scotty. 401 ERA, a 1.19 whip, still well over a strikeout per inning. But I saw some interesting stats retweeted by Jason Stark. this is the nine-year low in terms of velocity on Scherzer's fastball. The spin rate is at an all-time low. The fastball is at a three-year low in terms of ride.

Starting point is 00:01:12 So there have been concerns this year. Obviously, the age is getting up there. Do you think this is a trade that can reinvigorate Max Scherzer? Maybe get them back to that ace form we expected coming into the season. I mean, I'd bet against that. I do think it's important to put this year in the context of the rest of Max Scherzer's career, because Max Scherzer is a generational pitcher. And so to say this is his lowest

Starting point is 00:01:35 an X number of years or lowest ever, it obviously means something different for him than it would mean for a lot of pitchers. I do think it's a fairly safe bet to say he's now the best pitcher on one of the best teams of baseball. Obviously, Nathan Avaldi's had a great year, but he's been kind of banged up lately

Starting point is 00:02:01 and his year's been out of character in a good direction that it's, you know, I'd bet against him sustaining quite the numbers he's put up even if he wasn't dealing with the health issues. So, I mean, Max Scherzer's still been a pretty good picture this year. His ERA is 401. It's been better recently over his past eight starts, 10.8K per nine and a 353 ERA.

Starting point is 00:02:26 So the ERA is still higher than we're used to seeing it, but with all those strikeouts, you know, that comes out to arguably a top 15 pitcher in fantasy, I would say. He's been giving up a lot of long balls this year, 13, even in that eight-start stretch was a big reason why. It's a 353 ERA. And his new venue probably isn't going to improve that. So, I mean, the biggest advantage for Scherzer in this deal is that he is going to one of those best teams of baseball. But even that, it's hard to say it's going to improve his value because he's nine and four this year. He wasn't having trouble winning games with the Mets.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Yeah, that was the next question. You look at the park shift and you kind of touched on it a little bit. The Mets overall park shift this year, according to baseball savanteer, 29th. And the Texas Rangers, where they play, it's 15th. And then if you look at the home run park factor, the Mets are 20th in City Field. And then it's 12th in Globe Life Field. That is where the Texas Rangers play. So it is a negative park shift, but that is kind of canceled out by the fact that he is going to the best run support in baseball.

Starting point is 00:03:34 The number one team in terms of run score. But you said he hasn't really had an issue in terms of getting wins this year and getting that run support. So you have no inclination to move Max Schrozer up in the rankings. It's kind of just status quo. You're going to leave him as like a low end SP1, high end SP2. Yeah, I mean, if he had bad win, lost luck with the Mets up to this point, it might be a different story. But that's not the way it's played out. And so I don't think we'll feel the change with him going to the Rangers in terms of run support.

Starting point is 00:04:01 And then the fact that the park is a little bit worse, you know, I think it cancels it out anyway. I think basically status quo for Max Scherzer, as you pointed out, bigger trade in real life than in fantasy, since it is status quo. Of course, if you play in an NL league and have Scherzer and getting Scherzer added to the player pool, I would, like if, if, If it's an AL-only league, I would throw all your FAB dollars at him. 100%. I want to... You know, Blake's... We haven't seen much from the Padres if they're going to make moves.

Starting point is 00:04:35 There are more NL players of a high caliber that I could see being on the move than A-L players. But still, I would bet on Shurs are being the best one to go from the NL to the A-L. Yeah, and we don't talk much about A-L and N-L-only leagues, but if you've been saving your FAB, you do it for the trade deadline in the hopes that. that one of these players changes leagues. And Max Scherzer is that caliber of players. So obviously it goes without saying, if you do have any FAB left, go out,

Starting point is 00:05:02 empty the bank there, if you play in an AOL only league because you will be gaining Max Scherzer. You know, this is just me trying to, I guess, buy into a storyline. Scott, as I mentioned, reinvigorated. I wonder if it's something that, you know, can light a fire under Max Schurz or any just pitches a little bit better this season.

Starting point is 00:05:18 But again, there's not really any statistical evidence to back that up. We'll see. Again. You never know, I mean, I think there's that possibility for Lance Lynn as well, going for the White Sox and Dodgers. Of course, he's been way more disappointing than Scher this year. And we've seen that happen for players in the past, this change of scenery, particularly for an aging player like this.

Starting point is 00:05:40 He seems to recapture some of his old form being inserted into a playoff race. It is interesting that Scherzer kind of entered into the postseason mercenary stage of his career. Remember the Dodgers acquired him a couple years ago, and then he spent just a brief time with the Mets when they thought they were going to be big winners, and now he's moving on to the Rangers. I do believe I saw, though, that now Scherzer, he was able to opt out for next season,

Starting point is 00:06:10 but now he's not. Like, that part of the agreement of getting him to waive his no trade clause is that he's going to be with the Rangers next year. Oh, well, that's a great deal for them, unless, of course, you really love this prospect in Luis Anhele Cunia. So let's talk about that. This is the return here for the New York Mets,

Starting point is 00:06:27 a 21-year-old shortstop prospect, who is the younger brother of Ronald Acuna. This season in the minors, batting 315 with seven home runs, 42 steals, and 8.30 OPS. I think I saw some more Scott that he's ranked, you know, around a top 50-ish prospect, probably more so from like a baseball perspective.

Starting point is 00:06:44 What are your thoughts on him from a fantasy perspective long-term? Is this a good enough haul for the New York Mets to get in return for Max Scherzer? Well, I mean, it is. looking like, let's see, would it be a buyer's market? Yeah, I guess it's looking kind of like a buyer's market right now. And so in that context and in the context of they're eating a lot of money, I think it's fine return.

Starting point is 00:07:13 I think it's a fine return. They're clearly declaring themselves out of it for 2023. And it wasn't even clear that Scherzer was going to be back since he had the ability prior to this trade to reenter the market in 2024. So the fact that they got a legitimate top 100 prospect, it arguably a top 50 prospect, as you said, in Luis Angel Acuna, Ronald de Cunia, Ronald de Cunia's brother, it's worth pointing out.

Starting point is 00:07:40 So there are some interesting bloodlines there to use prospect terminology. He is not Ronald Acuna. He doesn't have, he doesn't project to have nearly that much power. He's only five feet eight. So a shorter guy. But he has good bat skills. He very fast. He has over 40 steals in the minors this year.

Starting point is 00:08:03 I have seen him compared to Ozzy Albies. I don't know if it's a too convenient comparison. Like, because Albies is also on the Braves. Well, he's not Ronald de Konya, but maybe he could be Ozzy Albies. He is primarily an infielder, but he has played some center field as well. And Mets are kind of loaded in infielder, so it wouldn't surprise me if Luis Anheel Acuna ended up in the outfield. Yeah. Go ahead.

Starting point is 00:08:32 Yeah. A good dynasty prospect, I would say, but not a great one. I saw the same comp, too, on Ozzy Albies. And I just wonder if it's maybe a size thing. They're both kind of on the smaller side. Acuna 5' 5'8. I imagine Ozzy Albies is around there, too. But I don't think Acuna is going to come anywhere close to the power that Ozzy Albies has shown in the majors.

Starting point is 00:08:51 Maybe I'm wrong about that. You know, obviously this kid's still probably a year or so away. But maybe he winds up in the teens, maybe low 20s and home runs, but lots of speed there for Luis Anhelecuna. I think it's a pretty good return. All things considered here for the New York Mets. Speaking of those Mets, Scott, what's next, right? I mean, if you go ahead and trade Max Scherzer,

Starting point is 00:09:10 this is, you know, more so from a real-life perspective, but you have to imagine Justin Verlander's going to be next, right? I mean, it only makes sense. If you're clearly kind of selling out on this year and, you know, you're trying to bring back prospects and rebuild your farm system. We've heard there are many teams linked to Justin Verlander right now, the Dodgers, the Astros potentially bringing him back.

Starting point is 00:09:28 Do you think that's something that happens next? Yeah, I think that was a good chance of that. In fact, I'd be pretty surprised if Verlander didn't end up getting moved following this move. And we've seen some big name trade targets come off the market. Shohei Otani, of course, with Lucas Gialito trade. I just saw today that the Cubs aren't, they're telling them. teams, they're not going to trade Cody Bellinger. So that improves.

Starting point is 00:09:56 That makes it, I guess, less of a buyer's market. Like I was saying, it was buyer's market before when there are fewer prime assets to deal for. And increases the chances, the Mets are really going to like the return for Verlander and move on from him. He is, he's actually signed through next year, right? I think. For like for sure. Yeah, he is.

Starting point is 00:10:19 Yeah, I think so. Yep. So that makes it a little less urgent than trading Scherzer, but I still think it probably happens. So we shall see where the Mets go from here. Do they trade Verlander? Do they trade other pieces? I don't think they're going to trade Pete Alonzo, but other names have popped up. Tommy Pham, Marcana, some of those ancillary pieces as well. Some more relievers potentially on the move. And there were lots of trades this weekend. We'll get into those more so later on tonight. Scott mentioned Lanslin going to the Dodgers. We had some bullpen shakeups as well. So we'll get into all that a little bit later on.

Starting point is 00:10:48 but obviously the biggest trade of the weekend so far. Max Scherzer headed to the Texas Rangers in exchange for shortstop prospect, Luis Anhele Acuna. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today, this emergency edition of Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again a little bit later on.

Starting point is 00:11:07 Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨Max Scherzer Traded to the Texas Rangers! - Emergency Podcast (7/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

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