Fantasy Baseball Today - Players We Draft: West Edition; 50-Game Season!? (06/03 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 3, 2020

We're talking players we like to draft from the AL and NL West but first, we discuss Chris Archer who needs thoracic outlet surgery (2:20). Does anybody get a boost from this? ... What are these rumors for a 50-game season (7:31)!? It would be hard to have a Fantasy season if that were the case. ... Who are our favorite players to draft from the AL and NL West (13:40)? We get things started with the Houston Astros and Josh James. ... Why are Scott and Chris focused on two late-round Angels pitchers (17:47)? ... Surprise, surprise, Scott is going with Mark Canha when it comes to the A's (22:10). Chris and Frank are focused on a specific starting pitcher instead. ... Can we just skip the Mariners (25:55)? They do offer some late-round starting pitchers. ... When it comes to the Texas Rangers, Frank can't quit on Willie Calhoun (29:17). ... Shifting gears to the National League, the Dodgers are loaded (34:09). Is David Price the most underrated starting pitcher in Fantasy? ... We're all on the same page when it comes to this Diamondbacks breakout (38:52)! ... Why is Sam Hilliard so intriguing with the Rockies (42:02)? ... Why is Chris buying in on Eric Hosmer (43:58)? ... Is Mike Yastrzemski the real deal (47:07)? ... Email us at [e-mail]. 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive, center field, hit and slam. This is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to Fantasy Baseball today on this Wednesday, June 3rd. Frank Stanfield alongside Chris Towers and Scott. White. As you may know by now, we did not have a podcast yesterday on Tuesday. Frankly, as much as we love baseball, talking fantasy baseball, and helping you guys out, it's just not nearly as important as what's taking place in our country right now. Honestly, I try and keep politics and any type of controversial topics away from fantasy baseball content. But I will just offer this.

Please use this time for self-reflection and to practice empathy for those who are suffering. And with that, I welcome in my colleagues. Scott White, how are you doing, buddy? How's everything? I'm doing good, Frank. Doing good. Good to hear. Chris, how's it going? I'm a little, it's a little hot in the room that I'm recording in. I think I'm going to have to turn the AC on at some point. Can't leave the windows open when I'm recording. But otherwise, you know, I'm pretty good. I do want to echo what you said. I totally agree with that. We could use more empathy in the world. Fair enough. Speaking of opening your windows, watch out, Chris, because I live in NYC,

and I think we're about to get a downpour. So watch yourself. Yeah. Today on the show, what is this talk of a 50-game season? We won't spend too much time because I don't think that this is a realistic proposal or anything, but we kind of get duped a little bit by Jeff Passing the other day. So I'll just mention that quickly. Obviously, I have to talk about the news from earlier, Chris Archer. Which players? are we most likely to draft from the AL and NL West teams? Today we're going West Coast for the next couple of days.

We'll do Central, we'll do East, and today we'll do the AL and NLS teams. Please continue to send in your fantasy baseball questions as well. Email us, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Let's start right there with Chris Archer. Pretty unfortunate news, obviously, will not pitch in 2020 if there is a season due to thoracic outlet surgery.

and honestly, this might kind of explain where Chris Archer has been the past couple of seasons, of course. I mean, he had a 5.19 ERA last year, a 141 whip. And look, thoracic outlet is, you know, a well-defined entity where the connection between the neck and the arm with the nerves, arteries, and veins get compressed. So obviously, this is a surgery to decompress those things. and we've heard about the surgery before doesn't really have a great track record for players returning and being very useful. Matt Harvey and Tyson Ross

are the most recent examples that I could think of. According to Ross to resource, Derek Holland should jump into the rotation for the Pirates. He had a surprising 2018, but ultimately, I don't think that this really matters for fantasy all that much.

Chris, it is unfortunate because I know that you are an Archer fan coming into this season. Yeah, it's definitely disappointing. Turns out the haters are right. He will not be a good draft value in 2020. They're doing their victory laps already, Chris. Unfortunately, yeah.

You nailed it. No, it's disappointing. I really wanted to see what Chris Archer could look like with a better approach and a pitching coach who was more in tune with what we understand will lead to pitching success. So that's definitely disappointing. You know, there was a moment where Derek Holland looked pretty interesting,

and it wasn't just because of Oracle Park. You know, he actually did have pretty good peripherals in 2018 to go along with a 3.570RA. I don't personally see much reason to believe that he will be useful this season, although I guess it is worth noting for whatever it might. be worth that he did have a velocity jump last season. Why do we, wait, why did we get into Derek Collins? Because he had this? No, he's likely to be the replacement.

Oh, the replacement. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I did a lot of research on thoracic outlet syndrome three years ago because that's when Matt Harvey, Matt Harvey was coming back from it. And he's, he's kind of, I feel like he's kind of the face of this procedure now because it got the most attention with him.

and I was I was actually encouraged by what I found it seemed like I was apart from the consensus on that and obviously Matt Harvey hasn't been the same since he had it so that doesn't that doesn't make it look any better

but it's it's pretty spotty still I feel like like for instance Mike Fultenevich had it and he had it two years before his big breakout season and like I didn't at the time I was researching it I didn't even realize he had it when he had it.

It was just so under the radar. Josh Beckett had it before a pretty good bounce back season. It doesn't seem like, you know, it doesn't seem like a death sentence for a pitcher. I don't, you know,

somebody, Avi, obviously, who understands the science behind it better could probably explain what's going on there. But I don't think it's necessarily going to mean we never hear from Archer. He's never a relevant fantasy pitcher again.

We had reasons to be concerned he never would be already. And so, you know, this doesn't help with that. But, you know, let's not write him off forever necessarily. Yeah, that's definitely fair. Just because a few other people have not returned to their form after it doesn't mean that that is, you know, the rule. So we'll have to see what happens here with Chris Archer.

But again, just some unfortunate news. If anyone was thinking James and Tyone too, because that's where kind of my mind went. He had his second Tommy John surgery of his career last year in August. So I still, even if there's a season, I can't imagine James and Tyone really contributing much. Maybe if they go through August, we see him for a month or something. But outside of that.

What's up? If they go through October. Yeah, yeah. If they go through October, then maybe we see them. seem in relief, you know, like we did with A.J. Puck last year, although, you know, even in that case, I'm pretty sure A.J. Puck was coming off spring training the previous season. So it would require a very quick turnaround. You know, I'm remembering back to Jose Fernandez, who had it midseason, right around this time of the year. And I think he came back like 13 or 14 months later.

So it's really hard to come back from Tommy John any quicker than that. Especially a second Tommy John too while we're at it for James and Tyone. So there you go. That's what we have regarding Chris Archer. This, you know, it's not a proposal, but this report of a 50-game season. According to ESPN's Jeff Passon, Major League Baseball views a season of around 50 games as a, quote, last resort option should there be no agreement with the MLB players association? I mentioned passing kind of duped us the other day because he had this tweet like tune into sports center.

I've got big news and then he kind of talked about this, but it's not a real report. And what I saw, it's not a real proposal rather, but it is a real report. And I saw just before we started that the MLB has officially declined the offer from the Players Association for a 114 game season. So these are the negotiations that we're talking about going back and forth. I will quickly mention. The interesting thing about this 50 game issue that came up is that at least the way the owners understand the agreement that came in March and we've already seen the two sides disagreeing about what they actually agreed to in March.

So who even knows what that's worth. But they are of the understanding that they can set a length for the season and the players would be compelled to participate in it. Like, it's not even so much a negotiation. It's, this is what we want to do, so get back to work kind of thing. So I don't know that there's zero percent chance of it happening. Now, the players aren't going to be excited with a pro-rated amount if it's only for 50 games, obviously. So I don't think they're going to be eager to do this.

but I don't know I don't know that it won't be what happens in the end. I think it's unlikely I think more likely just for you know good faith they're going to find some middle ground it'll be something closer to 80 games

but it sounds like it's the reason it's not a proposal is because it doesn't have to be a proposal at least as far as the owners understand what was agreed to in March and I hope you're right Scott I hope if something doesn't happen. We don't dip below 80 games because anything below 80 just in my opinion, it feels like it would be

really, really hard to take that fantasy season seriously. A 50 game season, you're looking at, and a head-to-head league is non-existent at that point because you're talking about eight or nine weeks. So, you know, playoffs alone take two to three weeks and even a roto league for a 50 game season. It's just, it's hard to take seriously. I looked this up on May 31st last season, which is around the 50 game mark. Cody Bellinger was hitting 379. Would a 12-13 OPS? His numbers would go on to dip much further than that. And Garrett Cole had a 4.02 ERA.

The Nationals, I think, were 19 and 31. Yeah, I saw you tweet that out. Yep. The eventual World Series champion nationals had a terrible record, 50 games in. And like, Roto League's, you'd play them out the same way. But a head-to-head league, you'd seriously have to alter the way your season works. And I think it probably, like probably just like a tournament makes sense. Yeah.

Every scoring period, two weeks and just elimination tournament. Yeah, or you double up on like maybe you triple up on matchups. Yeah. Or yeah, it's going to be really tough. Yeah, there are there are things you can do. You get creative. Host two different drafts play both out and then do combined records. I think that could be pretty cool.

but yeah a 50 game season I mean first of all would they start in like August if they played a 50 game season I think the starting date would be the same it sounds like the owners are more concerned about letting things go deeper

into the fall because if there's a second wave that shuts things down and they don't get the playoff earnings that's that's a problem for them So it sounds like they're more interested in ending things sooner than beginning things later. I mean, this is an extraordinary cynical move by the owners, basically. They're basically, they've said they're not going to make a counteroffer. And they're just, it sounds like going to impose a 50 game or 60 game schedule and just say, well, it's up to you now, which is like, I don't know, man.

I'm not your average everyday sports fan. in a lot of ways. I can't predict how they're going to react. But man, this this scene feels like it should be a bad look, right? Oh, for sure. This is, this is, like a,

this feels like a dirty trick. This is, like, the agreement says, there's a quote, like, a quote that keeps getting put around about good faith negotiation about whether they can play games with fans in the stands.

There is nothing good faith about the, about these, reports. Now, it was reported as that they're considering that the last resort. So like I said, I think they'll still find some middle ground. But, but yeah, I do think it's possible this ends up happening. We shall see. The NBA kind of figured it out earlier today. It sounds like the NBA is expected to return around July 31st. So hopefully. Only 22 teams though. Only, yeah. Very funny. Yeah. They're just, the rest of you don't matter. Don't bother showing up. Yeah.

It's like when you're in like a college class and this probably didn't happen to you guys because you were probably good students. But, you know, you reach a point in the semester where the professor's like, well, there's not really anything you could do at this point. You might as well stop showing up. Yeah, I've never had that happen. So I'm sorry, Chris. I've never heard of that happening. Well, you know, I'm sure someone listening can relate. Shout out to my Knicks.

They are not one of those 22 teams. Let's move on to our favorite players to draft for each team in baseball. Today we're going to focus on the West. That'll be the AL West and the NL West. So mind you, these are 10 different teams that we're going to get to. Each of us have a player to talk about.

Maybe sometimes we have the same player to talk about. But honestly, about 30 different players. So again, like I did last week for the leftovers, I've got to time you guys because that's the only way that we're going to get through this. So let's focus on about three minutes per team, which gives us about one minute per player. I'll save myself last for each team because if you guys want to go on a little bit longer, nobody needs to hear my thoughts. They need to hear your thoughts. Let's start

off with the Houston Astros. A ton of players to choose from. I mean, this was probably one of the hardest teams and is going to be one of the harder teams to figure out. But Scott, I mean, me personally, I'm not going to use first round players. I mean, you can if you want. And it could be anything. It could be, for the sake of this exercise, whoever you consider the best value, whatever you consider the best skill set for fantasy,

whoever you just find yourself drafting the most from that team. Scott, for you, the Houston Astros, you have. Yeah, I'm going to go with Josh James here. I feel like any draft where I don't get Josh James, that means I have failed in some way because it's, you know, you don't have to try that, to get him. His ADP is 231 across all sites and just incredible strikeout potential. That was visible in the miners. It was visible in relief last year. He had some walk issues last year, his first

full season in the majors that weren't so consistent in the minors. And also he's made some adjustments to his delivery to combat that. When things shut down, he had the leg up for the fifth spot in the rotation. And I think the upside is there, particularly in a shortened season. if there is an innings concerns for him to perform like a high-end pitcher. Chris, I know that you're a big fan of Josh James as well from the Houston Astros. Is that the player you find yourself drafting most from this team or a different player? No, for me, it's definitely Kyle Tucker. I just, there aren't a lot of guys with the potential that he has.

His 150 game pace at AAA is like 34 homers, 36 steals. I think he has every bit as much potential as Luis Robert, and he's going 60, 70 picks later, and he has been pretty much all year. I think Kyle Tucker's ADP has kind of crept up as we've gone on. I don't know where it is exactly right now. 166.6.6. No, no.

It's still right in that same spot. And we don't know how much he's going to play is the biggest question. but when you talk about upside for fantasy, you talk about, you know, potential league winners. I think Kyle Tucker can absolutely be one of those. And playing time is the reason why you get him where he's going. If we knew for sure he was going to be the everyday right fielder, he might be a fourth or fifth round pick like Luis Robert, you know?

Yeah, I mean, I think he's easily a top 75 pick in that instance. But, you know, once you're discounting 90 picks, I think you're looking at a pretty solid discount. I'll quickly just add. Michael Brantley is the Astro I find myself drafting a lot. And just in general, I found myself putting a lot of old players on this list. So that might just be something I have to reflect on myself. But a 121.4 ADP, get him in like the 10th or 11th round.

He's a little bit older, but has managed to stay relatively healthy the past two seasons, at least a 309 batting average in each of those. And he can offer production regardless of format. 3.4 fantasy points per game last season. That was tied with Chris Bryant and Jorge Salair. And even in Roto, he's a plus batting average, which is harder to find at that ADP. And in Roto, you need five outfielders.

That's exactly where Michael Brantley plays. I find myself drafting a decent amount of Michael Brantley. Let's move on to the Los Angeles Angels. Chris, you can get us started this time. Another team that has a decent amount of intriguing pitchers, some bats there in the middle of that lineup, where do you find yourself going with the Los Angeles Angels? Player I'm most likely to draft.

I think the player from the Angels who I have the most shares of is probably Andrew Heaney. Who he's a really weird pitcher. He's a really interesting pitcher. He's one of the rare pitchers who throws a sinker exclusively, but throws it almost exclusively up in the zone. which is not what you normally see. It's so weird. So weird.

And so, you know, because usually you want to throw up in the zone if you're throwing that forcing fastball with the backspin that'll create the appearance of rise. He has, you know, a lot of side-to-side movement on that piss that he's throwing up in the zone. And it's led to mixed results, I think we can say. I think part of the reason why he gets so many strikeouts is because hitters just don't see a lot of pitchers who throw like him.

Part of the reason he gives up so many home runs is probably that he's throwing a sinker up in the in the strike zone. But I think he's better than his peripherals last year. Certainly more. He's got, I think, good control, good strikeout potential. It needs a little better luck on home runs, and he needs to figure out a way to reduce his home run rate in addition to that. but if he can do that,

I think there's a lot to like about Andrew Heaney. Scott, where are you going when it comes to the Angels? Who do you find yourself drafting a lot from this team? Two pitchers I find myself comparing pretty often are Andrew Heaney and Dylan Bundy because I feel like they both have a lot of swing and miss potential. They've both been very vulnerable to home runs. Dylan Bundy has the change of scenery case going for him.

when it's a pitcher leaving Baltimore, hitter-friendly venue, hitter-friendly division, and just a team with a dreadful track record when it comes to developing pitchers. You know, you always think of how, what happened to Jake Garrietta when he left Baltimore for the Cubs. I think Bundy still shows plenty of upside with the swing and miss on that split change and going to a bigger park out of division with a lot of pitchers parks. I think it could make a big change for him. I haven't actually been drafting him much because other people seem just as enthusiastic,

if not more so, about him. But among the angels, he's the one who I think, you know, I have some excitement for beyond... I don't even know how to word it, but he's the one I want to highlight here. Let's just say that. And I think it's relevant mentioning Dylan Bundy's name on a day where we talk about Chris Archer

because, Chris, something you bring up a lot with Archer is you shouldn't just know, not draft him because he's burned you before. And that's the same thing that I can see when it comes to Dylan Bundy. You know, I've talked of Dylan Bundy this year as a sleeper as well, and people will respond, oh, well, he's been so bad for so long. He's burned me. I can't go back to the well.

Well, he has a change of scenery now. If there's ever a time to go back to the Dylan Bundy well, it is now. The player that I find myself drafting most from the Angels fitting the theme of just older guys, Justin Upton, 194.4 ADP, dealt with a ton of injuries last year, a toe, a quad, a knee, by all accounts, it seemed like he was healthy during spring training. There was even a best shape of his life report. And he's one of these guys that gets hot. He's extremely streaky.

I like him better for roto leagues. But in a short and season, if Justin Upton could get hot, you know, hitting in the middle of that Angels lineup, I still think that there's something left. I'm trusting the bounce back on the health when it comes to Justin Upton. Let's move on to with that. Not so much on Dylan Bundy. who I think is just not that good but very smart people

I know Alex Fast is like in love with Dylan Bundy this year Alex Fast a pitcher list who I respect greatly but yeah I think Dylan Bundy's just bad Meh don't do that Chris All right the Oakland A's Scott Well I wonder where Scott is going with the Oakland A's

It's Sean Murphy No of course No one took you serious For those who haven't heard yet, why I'm so enthusiastic about Mark Kana this year, I mean, just look at the numbers, especially look at the numbers from the time he took over as an everyday player, lefties and righties, a lot of it in center field, actually. June 26th on last year, roughly half the season. In other words, he hit 2995 with 16 homers and a 936. OPS. He was basically, I don't know, Chris Bryant, as much as he walked. You look at his on-base percentage alone, just where he is on the leaderboard, it's like Mike Trout, it's Alex

Bregman, and then Marcana's right there. Yeah, he's, he's old. So I think, you know, people are just quick to write him off. He's 31 already. And niche as the lesser half of a platoon, the right-handed bat in a platoon before that, but he was even better against righties than lefties last year. He made a change to his approach where he stopped chasing pitches on the outer half of the plate and just swung at things in his wheelhouse.

And that helped lead to the increase in walks. It helped lead to the increase in overall production. And considering he's drafted outside the top 200, it's really a low-risk play for, I think, potentially, stud production. Chris, Oakland was another tough team for me similar to Houston. There are a lot of names that I like on this team. Where did you go? Yeah, you know, it's funny. I've written up Sean Murphy a lot, but I haven't really drafted him much, so I don't want to go with him. Put your money where your mouth is, Chris. For me, it is probably Frankie Montas, who we, again, another guy who we talked a lot about

this year. I've drafted him less than I thought I would have at the beginning because I was huge on him. last season at a time when it felt like there was a lot of skepticism and even at the start of you know draft prep season six months ago now um it didn't feel like there was all that much interest and then just kind of slowly started to build and uh there's been a lot of hype about frankie montas i agree with it a lot but there are times when there's someone who wants him more than i do but he's the guy I want to draft most out of this A's roster. Great, great splitter that he introduced last year that helped his slider and fastball play up. I think there is room for him to sustain, if not build on the breakout with, you know,

potentially using that slider even more and that splitter even more to make him even harder to predict. because, you know, he went through the league, you know, for 90 innings, basically, with that new split. He's got to have, he's going to have, the league's going to adjust, he's got to have to adjust to it. I just think he has the skill set to do. I'm 100% with you on Frankie Montas. He was the name that I had here, 11.2 ADP. It's tough because I draft a lot of Ramon Luriano and Chris Davis with a K. And then there's also a Markana who I do like.

But yeah, Frankie Montas, not working. about the PEDs. I don't think PEDs helped him throw a splitter last year. So I am in. He's ranked inside my top 25 starting pitchers. I'm quite bullish on him. The Seattle Mariners. I don't know if it's as hard to find a mariner that we like on this team. But Chris, get us started with the Mariners. I like they're not devoid of interesting prospects and recent prospects. A guy like Shed Long has some prospect potential. Kyle Lewis showed off some power last season, although way too much swing and miss in his game, Daniel Vogelbach, fell off hard but showed his upside in the first half of the season.

Evan White, another guy. Yeah, it's got to be Malik Smith for me, though. I guess I could make a case for you say Kikuchi, Justice Sheffield, and Taiwan Walker as well, but those are all really, really deep, deep sleepers who probably will go on drafted in most weeks. Scott, interested in any of those arms that Chris mentioned. I know last week you said you are not in on Marco Gonzalez, so I'm going to assume it's not him. Well, this isn't an arm. For a while, I was pretty high on Tom Murphy, the catcher, but then Scott Service, the Mariners manager came out and said it'll be a 55-45 split behind the play between Murphy and Austenola, and not to...

necessarily with Murphy getting the majority of those of bats. So that cooled me off on Murphy pretty quickly. I guess right now the most enthusiastic I am, player I'm most enthusiastic for relative to everyone else is just to Sheffield. Because I think he got downgraded a little too hard. He was dominant at AA last year after struggling at AAA, the PCL, juice-infused ball, everything else. He was terrible there.

Every pitcher was. Dominant at AA without some of the walk problems he had before. still has that awesome slider. And this spring phased out the four seamer for a two seamer, which in his case seems like a good move just for him having better command of it and it helping set up that dominant slider better than the four seamer was. And he was getting good results with it.

So Sheffield's the one I'm most excited about. And that's just, you talked about the interest in him being low. Partially it's because he struggled with a AAA. I think it's also just prospect fatigue. Yeah. He's been a top 100 prospect, I think, like five years in a row or something. He's been around forever in prospect land. And so I think, you know, we saw something similar with Carson Kelly last year where, you know, we had seen him in the majors a couple times. He had been a prospect for a long time. We'd heard his name. And I think when that happens, people can just kind of be like, okay, this has not even good. Yeah, yeah, Sheffield's a name that I like along with him. Kikuchi is the who I went with. you say Kakushi, basically free in drafts. His ADPs right around 400. I like, you know, just throwing him on the end of my bench towards the end there. He was dreadful last season. There's

no doubt about it. ERA over 5, a 152 whip. He did come over with a lot of hype from Japan, and there were reports of his velocity being up this spring, two to three miles per hour on both his fastball and his slider. So I'm willing to take a shot on that. I think both him and Justice Sheffield are our names that I am interested in late. Let's round out. the AL West with the Texas Rangers. Scott. So I'm positive the guy I'm drafting most often is Lance Lynn. And I've talked about how I feel like he's one of the pitchers who loses value in a short season. And I think ADP we've seen, you know, from the shutdown to today reflects that.

But that just means I can get him a round or two later now. and I'm still excited about doing that. And, you know, he was seventh innings last year, seventh in strikeouts. Really didn't take off till about mid-May, though. So for a quarter of the season, he was that same old bum we've known for the past few years. But then, you know, the final three quarters of the season,

low three ZRA and obviously a ton of innings and strikeouts. And made a change to his pitch selection that may explain it. Or it may not. It may be a total, it may have been a total mirage and I should just listen to the track record here, but I don't think he's being marked up to the extent of the breakthrough if you do buy into the breakthrough.

And to get him as my number four or sometimes even number five pitcher, knowing how awesome he was for me down the stretch in so many leagues last year, I mean, he was a true ace for that final three quarters of the season. And I'm happy to take a chance on him again. since the markup doesn't seem to be bad at all.

Chris, the Texas Rangers, this is finally your opportunity to talk about Todd Frazier. Yeah, who doesn't love the Todd father in 2020? No, no, my player is Cory Clover. He might be finished. We might have just seen the last of him being good in 2018 and the first month, six starts of 2019. were just who he is now.

But I don't buy it. I think we had similar discussions after the first month of 2017. And then he came back and I believe won the Sāyaung that year. I'm not saying Cory Kluber is going to win the Saj Young in 2020, but I'm not as convinced as a lot of people seem to be that he's just finished. Weird things happen.

in six months or six starts. Yeah, for sure. That's a name that I actually wrote down because I want to talk more about this on another show coming up because I'm not on Corey Klooper, but I can, I see both sides, but I think it's worth having that conversation. The name for me is Willie Calhoun, 180.2 ADP. He's just my guy. I can't quit him.

I've drafted him every year. Anytime there's speculation about him getting called up, you know, since basically 2018, I've drafted him. I'm still chasing that, you know, 2017, where he hit 31 homers with a 300 batting average in AAA. And it looked like he was breaking out last year. 21 homers in 83 games. That's a 40 homer pace over the course of a full season. He makes a lot of contact.

He puts the ball in the air. Scott, I know you've made the comp to Mike Mustakis. I think that that is a fantastic comp. You know, if we can get a 260 to 270 batting average out of Willie Calhoun with 30 plus home runs. Sure. I think it is ADP that that would be great, obviously, over the course of a 162 game season, which won't be the case this year, but suffered the fracture jaw by all accounts, all reports that I've seen, Willie Calhoun is healthy and ready to go, assuming we get a season.

So just can't quit, my guy, Willie Calhoun. Let's take a quick break right here. We've gone through all the ALS teams. When we come back, we'll talk about the NOS teams and the players that we're drafting most from those here on fantasy baseball today. already we're back. We're going to talk about the players we are drafting most from the National League West now

and guys, the Los Angeles Dodgers a lot like the Houston Astros. I mean, you can go in 10 different directions. We can do a whole show on Dodgers that we want to draft this season. But Scott, get us started with the Dodger you are targeting most or winding up with most on your teams.

So you threw me for a loop with this one because with the AL West, you went alphabetically by city. Did I? I was wondering the same thing. I didn't even mean to do that. Now you're starting with Los Angeles, which is like in the middle. But that's fine.

I can roll with it. Los Angeles, the player I'm drafting, I tend to target most often as Corey Seeger. Yeah. Now, I do, you know, there's a lot of players to like, so I don't need to get into alternative picks potentially. But Corey Seeger, like, he's my ultimate fallback option at shortstop. It's really hard to resist filling that spot sooner because there are so many good short stops. and a guy like Marcus Simeon, I tend to fill that spot with. But even if I do that, you know, in a roto league,

there's a middle end field spot to fill with Seeger. I've even been willing to stick Seeger in my utility spot if I haven't already filled that with Alvarez or Cruz. I just think he deserves a pass for most of last season coming back from Tommy John's surgery. And, you know, it was like three years ago. We were thinking of him in the same vein as, like, Francisco Lendor, to the point he was actually getting drafted in the first.

round. He has a great profile for hitting for average. He has enough power to play up in today's environment, but considering he's 26, I'm not even sure we've seen the full extent of that yet. And you look at what he did toward the end of last season once he had a chance to shake off the rust and the elbow was back closer to feeling 100%. He had a hip injury that he was coming back from two that probably slowed him out at the gate. But he was a stud down the stretch for the Dodgers and I expect him to be a stud again. Nobody is targeting him like they expect him. to be though. He goes, man, what's his ADP? He tends to go like

around 10 or 11, 127 overall. Yeah. Chris, Corey Seeger's the name for me as well. Can we make it a clean sweep across the board? I won't be mad at you if you say no. He is definitely the player that I want the most on this team. I just think he's by far the best value.

Everything Scott said, basically from May 1st on last season, he was on like a 55 double, 25 home run, 120 RBI pace with like a 285 batting average. He was really good for most of last season, but, you know,

I don't want to agree. He is the guy, but I do. I want to mention another guy, and I will share a take with you guys, and I want to see your reaction. David Price is the most underrated pitcher in fantasy baseball heading into 2020.

He's one of them, and he is, it was hard for me to narrow it down between David Price and Corey Seeger, because I find myself drafting a lot of David Price. I think similar to what we said about Kent Amayeta the other day, that the price has not corrected itself following the trades. I think the same thing could be said for David Price. So I definitely think that he is undervalued. Is he the most undervalued? Yeah, that might be a bit of a take. Well, I don't know that I agree he's undervalued. Feast your ear holes on this.

David Price went on the DL on August 8. And when he was placed on the DL with wrist issues, manager Alex Corr told reporters that he had been feeling something for the last three or four stuff. So those last three or four starts, those last four starts, he gave up 11, 14, 20 earned runs in a small amount of times. I don't want to do the math again. Through his first 17 starts, which is directly before that, he had a 316 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 88.1. Now, those 88.1 innings came in 17 starts. So the start, the innings per start was pretty low. However, you also have to keep in mind that he had two starts of one and one third inning or or fewer. He went six innings in more than half of his starts overall before that point.

I think David Price is still pretty good. And I think the Dodgers are going to get the most out of him. I think David Price is incredibly overlooked in 2020. We're going to have to use Scott's retort as a tease for an upcoming podcast because I do want to get to these other teams as well. But yes, we will talk about why Scott does not share the same sentiment as Chris on David Price. I do find myself drafting a decent amount of David Price. But Chris, we'll come back to you right quick. Arizona Diamondbacks. Who do you find yourself drafting there. I think I know the answer. You think you know the answer. I think I know the answer.

Well, maybe I'm not as predictable as you think. Does it rhyme with Schmap-Schmelin? Maybe I'm as predictable as you think. Yeah, at second. I mean, this is actually a team that has a lot of guys who I'm interested in drafting. I really like Carson Kelly, as we talked about a lot. I think Christian Walker is very interesting. Ketal Marte and Starling, Marta obviously if you want to go in the early rounds. And then, you know, Luke Weaver.

But Zach Allen, four pitch mix, four pitches he can throw anytime in any count, throw him in the strike zone, throw them out of the strike zone, has a couple of breaking balls that look like they can get swings and misses last season. He really had two starts where his control faltered. I think he had 11 walks in two different in two starts and otherwise. his walk rate was very good. And that's the case. That's been the case throughout his minor league career.

So, you know, we saw an above average strikeout rate, 28.7%. That's actually very good. I think the walk rate's going to come down. And I think we're looking at a guy who you can peg in the mid-threes. And I think he has a upside. Yeah, I'm very bullish on Zach Allen as well. Ranked inside my top 30 starting pitch. And I'll just throw this out there. I think it's very underrated. But at my previous job, we had Zach

Allen on the show. And he said being reunited with Carson Kelly is something that will also help him. The two came up throughout the St. Louis Cardinals organization together before Zach Allen was traded to Miami and Carson Kelly was traded to Arizona. Now they're both on the Diamondbacks together. And I think working with a catcher, who he's familiar with throughout his minor league career, something that might even help Zach Gallen develop even more. So just another reason why I am very bullish on him this season. Scott, the Diamondbacks. It's a clean sweep. Zach Allen would be my answer here too.

And in fact, earlier during the shutdown period, I did an audience survey on social media where I had eight questions. Who's the one player you have to have this year? The number one answer was Zach Gallen. So the whole world feels the same way about Zach. Allen. He got 19 of the votes. The next closest was 14. Just to highlight somebody else,

I'm also enthusiastic about drafting Cotel Marte in the round four range. He's what I tend to go with if I don't take a starting pitcher. Usually I'm so focused on starting pitcher I can't. But he seems to me the standout at second base these days

and then when you add outfield eligibility, the versatility there. Yeah, I'm really excited. I think he performed like a second rounder last year. So to get them in round four, if you trust the breakthrough as I do, is something you want to do. Guys, let's move on to the Colorado Rockies. And no, you cannot say all of them. Scott, let's get us started here with Colorado.

Let's make these thoughts a little more brief so we get some emails. Ah, yes. Well, you didn't make the timer. So don't put that evil on us. I was using the timer for all of them. I just, I hate budding in to get you guys to stop talking while you're making good points because you guys make great points. I'm trying to talk fast. year. I think Sam Hilliard is probably who I draft most often. The rest, it kind of just comes down

to where I'm picking as to whether or not I pick them. But yeah, Sam Hilliard had 42 homers and 24 steals last year between the majors and minors. The time he spent in the majors was brief. It was September, but he hit seven home runs during that stretch. And the fact that it looks like there's going to be a universal DH now, I'm not nearly as concerned about his playing time anymore. He cost next to nothing. He's going outside the top 300 players, and particularly in like a five outfielder league, a roto league to get a potential power speed threat in an environment where you know the power is going to play up. I think that's an exciting pick. Not sure he's going to play much against Ritey's, but in a five outfielder Roto league, I'm not sure it matters either.

Yeah, his ADP 325.4, that's who I went with as well. I like both him and Garrett Hampson. Chris, the Colorado Rockies. you know you said you can't go with all of them and that's not an issue for me there are guys who I like because they're cheap but I think this is kind of a bad team I think it's like an underrated bad team I think they're not going to win many games at all and I look up and down their starting lineup and it's like well story black men are and auto yeah I want them after that there's nobody penciled into their starting lineup if I'm particularly interested in drafting at all. So I guess I'll default to Garrett Hampson.

Fair enough. San Diego Padres. You guys have heard me talk about Mani Machado a ton. I am the Machado man. But I assume neither of you are going to have Mani Machado as the Padre you want to draft. Scott. No, no. I thought you were going to go with Chris first. I'm going to go with...

I think it might be McKinsey Gore now. I think it might be. I was going to say to Nelson Lamet, he's a super trendy breakout pick. He's on my breakout list, a ton of strikeout potential with that slider. But I never end up drafting him because somebody else is more excited about him than I am. But McKenzie Gore, you know, there's been some talk with the shortened season. He's going to be in the opening, in the rotation from the start of the year. Even if he's not, I don't think it'll be long.

and like once he's in the rotation, I'm going to be as excited about him as I am about Jesus Luzardo. He's widely considered an even better prospect than Luzardo, which is hard to believe because I don't find many faults in Luzardo. But Gore is very exciting potential. He has the deception. He has all the deception of an Alex Wood with the stuff of a Walker Bueller. And yeah, you get him with your last pick, potentially.

At least that's the way it's looking right now. Mackenzie Gore currently going 200 picks on average behind Jesus Lazzardo, so definitely could be a great value there. Chris, who's currently playing with David Bowie? Who do you like on the Padres? That sounds weird. That's a cat, David Bowie. Pause.

Yes, David Bowie is my cat. She got... No, no, no, that was just me saying pause because it sounded weird when I said you were playing with David Bowie. Yeah, David Bowie got spayed yesterday, so she's having a hard time, so I just wanted to give her some love. It's weird. Yeah, I honestly, this, I don't know, maybe there's like a body snatcher's thing going on and someone's taken over my brain and I'm not aware of it. But I think it's Herri Cosmer.

He's going, he's real cheap. I've drafted him quite a bit in corner infield spots, bench spots. And the thing about Harrah Cosmer is, The perception of him as an elite talent is 100% correct. He hits the ball really hard. He makes a good amount of contact. He's got a good eye at the plate. He just hits the ball into the ground way too often.

And he's acknowledged that. I think for the first time he's really acknowledged that, you know, there was an athletic piece in the beginning of spring training where he talked about, you know, kind of facing a like fork in the road about whether he was going to be worth his contract with Padres. And he talked about it. I think the direct quote was, I hit the ball really hard. I just hit it into the ground too much.

And I have to fix that. If he does, I think you're looking at a guy who could hit $2.90 with 25 to 30 homers. He really does have that potential. The San Francisco Giants, much like the Seattle Mariners, kind of a team that we could just skip over here, unless you guys are excited about. I have Maricio Dubon, but that's more about in deeper leagues.

Chris, we'll go back your way. Once again, San Francisco Giants, anybody who tickles the fancy. Oh, no, no, not really. But I will say, like, it's interesting to see Kevin Gosman laying in San Francisco. I don't think that's a name we've said

even once on this podcast. Hold on. How can you be against Dylan Bundy and you're talking up Kevin Gosman? Well, because Dylan Bundy's not pitching in San Francisco. They both stink. That's fair. But Dylan Bunby's not pitching in San Francisco.

San Francisco, I think, can make Kevin Gosman look decent. But I guess my real answer has to be Buster Posey. He's, you know, I rewrote my catcher preview yesterday and in it, any position preview, I have a

sleeper breakout and bust free position. And I didn't change Buster Posey as one of my, as my sleeper for the catcher position. I think there's a chance that the last two seasons in particular were the result of a pretty serious hip issue that he had surgery on last offseason. I believe it might have been a micro fracture surgery. But it was a serious surgery. And he might just go back to being a catcher who hits 290 with 10 home runs. And hey man, that's that's a starting catcher. That's

probably a top 12 catcher. Scott, do you share the same sender? for Buster Posey and or Kevin Gousman. Not really either. Not really either, but I am excited about a couple giants, but one in particular is Mike Yistramski, who I'd love to draft as my fifth outfielder in every roto league, but it seems so often that I'm drafting Sam Hilliard instead. But like 15 team leagues, Yistrinsky's a must for me,

and I don't understand why nobody else seems to have any to like him at all. A second half numbers, 287 with 16 homers, a 915 OPS. His numbers on the road, 300 with a 929 OPS. His numbers against lefties, even though he's a left-handed hitter, 329 with a 943 OPS. And he sat a lot against lefties last year. I think there's no way that happens this year. I think he's clearly their best hitter,

and they're going to play him every day. I wish he didn't have to play in San Francisco so often. his numbers there, as you'd expect, not so great 238 with a 759 OPS. But, you know, he's so many of the other splits are so good, and he has a good batting eye. He has the right batting ball profile to hit for power. I think he's a sleeper to hit like 270 with, well, like a 30 homer pace. Obviously, he's not going to hit 30 homers in a short season, but that kind of pace. and, you know, for a next to nothing cost, I'll take that all the time.

The thing I struggle with is we play 250 games between AAA and double A and had like a 760 OPS. He may just be a late bloomer, but man, that's tough for me to get over, you know, based on 107 game sample size. Chris, throwing some cold water on the Mike Yistramski love. But there are the players that we have been drafting in both the ALN and NL West. Before we get to your questions, fantasy baseball at CBSI.com, just want to remind everyone to continue submitting those five-star Apple podcast reviews. Much appreciated. Make sure you subscribe as well to Fantasy Baseball today.

And join our Facebook page. Our Fantasy Baseball today, Facebook page, go over there, join the group, lots of interesting discussion points as well from some of our most loynolds. listeners, so we appreciate that. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Your questions. This one comes from Nick, dear, Ken, Vladimir, Fernando, and Jerry. I have no idea. Because like Ken Griffey Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero, okay, that, that seems like a good start. I think these are second generations. Fernando Tatis Jr., Jerry Harrison, Jr. Wait, who's Ken? Ken Griffey Jr. Ken Griffey Jr.? Yeah. And then Jerry Hirston Jr.?

Is that who we're doing with Jerry? He doesn't really fit the mix here, but that's just what I came up with. Okay. All right. Yeah, that's as good as I could come up with. With all the talk of potentially weird end-of-season stat lines in a shortened season,

how much does this boost the chances of a team that would have been a fringe contender to instead end up a potential World Series champ? Certain things would have to go right, but I could see the Padres going far if Fernando Tatis doesn't regress as much as expected, and if Tommy Fam contributes as much or more than expected, for example. What do you guys think about, no, I guess a fringe team making a run?

Yeah, I mean, it becomes even more likely the shorter you make the season. So in the unlikely scenario, it's only 50 games. I mean, we talked about how the World Series champions were only 19 and 31 at that point. And they had kind of a historic recovery. But I think it's realistic to think any team, except for maybe like five, you know, the obvious bottom feeders like the tigers, royals, Orioles, Marlins, and pirates and mariners. So I'll say six.

Am I forgetting somebody from the West who's? The Giants. Yeah, the Giants. So seven. All but seven teams, I think, could realistically make that kind of run in a 50 game season. 80 games, I, you know, I might have a few more added to that. that list. But yeah, I could definitely see that happening. I mean, you've got a situation where you mentioned 23 teams you could see realistically having a chance to make a run. Sixty-one percent of

those 23 teams are going to make the playoffs because we're going with a 17 playoff in each division too. Yeah. Yeah, like I could see a team like the Blue Jays absolutely getting hot. And even if they don't get hot, some teams probably going to make the playoffs at like 26 and 24. this year with seven spots. Yeah, that's exactly what came to mind. And it just, a lot of the MOB postseason is just who's hot at the right time. I always go back to the Colorado Rockies when they made the World Series against the Red Sox. Like, that Rockies team to me should not have been in the World Series, but they just got

hot at the right time and they just, they made, they made their way through. So a lot of the MLB post season is just whoever gets hot at the right time. So I think an 82 win Cardinals team win the World Series? Am I remembering that wrong? I don't, not entirely sure off the time of my head. I know there was a team in the 80s that that didn't win many games, but I can't remember. They like upset that maybe it was the Reds, the 1990 Reds.

What was their record? Or no way. The 06 Cardinals won 883 games and won the World Series. Wow. Yeah. I'm thinking of the, I'm thinking of the Kurt Gibson Dodgers, what year was that 1988

yeah but they won like 90 games 88 yeah but they won like 90 games 91 I think okay this next one's from Joe McGinley hey Chris Jalen Juwan Ray and Jimmy that one's easy

Fab 5 now we're gonna try to figure this one out together because he says obviously this is a fab question but then doesn't really ask a fab question so we'll try and figure this one out together wondering what to do with Nelson Cruz

and Shohei Otani hit her only in a daily lineup changes, head-to-head categories league, with only one utility spot. I think they are both undervalued. Do I wait until both start mashing when the season starts? Will Otani stop swiping bags now that he's pitching? I don't know how Fab works into this, but I guess basically, what would you do if you own both Otani and Nelson Cruz with only one utility spot?

Well, I mean, I'm assuming I'd Okay, so this must be Yahoo Because he's saying, Hey, O'Tani hitter only. Yeah, so we're leaving out, okay. Um, I think I'd just wait for now, probably trade crews.

But, you know, is O'Tani, if he's going to be sitting that often, is he going to be some, how often are you going to end up starting? It's a daily league. Okay, sorry, I'm catching up here. Okay, so Daily League helps Otani's case. Yeah, I'd probably shop crews,

but I don't know that now's the time to shop him because, you know, we all agree probably he's one of the more undervalued players in draft. So, you know, wait, wait until somebody emerges with a hot, obvious hitter need and try shopping them then. I think it's why to approach it. I think you trade Otani.

If you've only got Otani the hitter, he's only going to hit like four, maybe five days a week. you might only get 40 games out of Shohay Otani as a hither this year. I just wonder what are you going to get back in a trade for Otani? Does he even have much trade value, the hitter? He still has the name value, I think. Yeah, he has name value and also,

I think there might be people who don't realize how rarely he's going to play. They might look just at how much he played last year and say, all right, Shohay Otani's close to an everyday player. But I just, I don't think he's going to have a hitter only. show Hey Otani, I don't think he's going to have a lot of value. Yeah, I tend to lean towards if Otani gets off to a good start as a hitter, I would probably try to ship him out. I want to keep Nelson Cruz on my team. I hear what you're saying, Scott, but I mean, for all the reasons we call him under value, that's exactly why I want to keep him. I just think he can be

massive in the middle of that twins lineup. That was already one of the best lineups and they added Josh Donaldson. So, I mean, it would be really hard for me to trade away Cruz unless you get blown away. I mean, maybe, you know, someone else really wants him in your league, but I'd probably wait for the season to start. If Shohei Otani does anything, I'd probably try and ship them out. This last one is from Luke. Can you grade this trade in a deep 12-team points league? I give Raphael Devers and Ryan McMahon. I get Aaron Judge, Tyler Glassnow, and Larice Arise. What do you guys think? I think it's fine. I think... I mean, it's...

if Aaron Judge is healthy on opening day, I think you win this trade going away. Because you get, you know, Aaron Judge might be better than Raphael Devers. I might give a healthy judge maybe a 40% chance to be better than Devers. But, you know, Glassnell, he only needs to hold up for 50 to 80 games now. So, you know, he's potentially an ace and Luis Arias. I think he's a perfectly viable low-end starter, especially in a Categories league if you need batting average help. Yeah, this is tougher for me, Scott,

because I love Raphael Devers and I'm not on Aaron Judge at all, but I think in a short and season, Tyler Glass now could perform like a top 10 pitcher. What Cardinals team did you say when only 80-something games, Chris? I think it was... 83, the 2006. 2006. I will never forget that team

because they won a World Series with 83 wins and David Eckstein was the World Series MVP. It might be the absolute strangest World Series win of all time and I believe that was also the Carlos Beltran struck out looking Andy Chavez here.

Poor Tigers, man. You should have had that. They had such a good run there in the middle of the 2000s. Did you know one of those Yankees teams that won the four straight world series or I'm sorry

four world series in five years one of them only was won 87 games 2000 the Subway series them in the Mets they were 87 and 74 I did not know that yeah that's that's weird huh it's pretty weird

Scott do you have a grade for this trade by any chance oh I thought Chris thoroughly covered it I will give it a a minus. I'll give it a B plus, but it has the potential to be an A if Judge is healthy. B plus, yes.

I never give grades. I'll ungrade the trade. I'm a bad person. I'll give it a B. It's a little bit tougher for me, man. I hate giving up Raphael Devers, but I can see it if Judge is healthy. All right, that'll do it for today. Appreciate you all for listening for Scott and Chris. We will be back again on Thursday. Bye-bye.