Fantasy Baseball Today - Players We Keep Drafting & Fading! (3/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Another day, another injury. Ryan Weathers will start the season on the IL (3:03). ... News (7:24): Andrew Abbott will also start the season on the IL. ... Who were standouts on Thursday (13:03)? ... It's time to announce our listener league participants (21:30)! ... Let's get into the starting pitchers we keep drafting and the ones we're fading (24:44). ... Chris has wound up with Emmanuel Clase three times this offseason (34:30). ... Why do we keep drafting Steven Kwan (44:17)? ... Which of the three keeps drafting Bo Bichette (52:57)? ... The third round is popular for third basemen (58:15). ... Ozzie Albies continues to be undervalued (1:01:22). ... First base seems spread out (1:05:06). ... Does it make sense to take the injury discounts at catcher (1:10:49)? ... Who are the players we have FOMO with this season (1:14:31)? 🏀 Join our Fantasy Baseball Today Bracket Game: https://shorturl.at/zezZC Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 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/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Kokomo Friday and welcome in Tough Fantasy Baseball today on March 21st. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, players we draft most and the fades at each position. I will announce the participants in our listener leagues, and another day, another pitcher hurt. We'll start there, and one might say that we are in the midst of an injury storm because Ryan Weathers will begin this season. I get where you're going with that. Yeah, yeah. Ryan Wethers will begin the season on the aisle

due to a left forearm strain. He'll be shut down for a few weeks and is expected to miss the first four to six weeks of the regular season. Obviously, Weathers has looked really good this spring and he was someone that was getting a lot of hype. He was also throwing with more velocity, 99 miles per hour at times with that fastball

from the left-hand side might have contributed to this forearm strain. Scott, do you think Ryan Weathers is still worth drafting with maybe your last pick and just stashing him for the first month or so? Me personally, no. I mean, he was an interesting late round target, but far from my favorite. And, you know, the Marlins sound pretty optimistic that this isn't a serious thing

and that he'll be able to make it back at the end of that timeline. There's always a possibility for the setback. But, you know, Ryan Weathers was somebody who, even when he'll, I was putting it behind other spring rises like Hayden Birdsong and Tomoyuki-Zugano. And there are a couple who emerged just today that I might have moved ahead of Ryan Weathers if he were healthy. And even if you're just talking about, okay, well, late-round injury stats, I'd rather have Cody Bradford, who I preferred to Ryan Weathers in the first place, a similar timetable for both of them. So I think outside of very deep leagues, Weathers is off my draft board and we'll reassessing.

once he's once he's building up to return. I think it's totally fine to add him just because it depends on what league you're in, right? If you're not in a league with multiple IL spots, then no, you're not going to have room for him because there's going to be too many other guys who are more of a sure thing who get hurt

and you're going to need to stash them. But I'm in a league with, I think, six IL spots. And I did draft Ryan Weathers in that one last night. I went really cheap at pitcher and I think he was my like SP4 or 5, which is not great. If you already have him and you have a lot of IEL spots, it's not like you have to drop him. I'm just saying as your draft is winding down.

It depends, right? If you're in a league where everyone's really tuned in and all the guys that we've talked about, Hayden Bird Song and all those guys are likely to be drafted, then no, you probably don't want to draft around with us. In most leagues, there are still going to be some interesting pitchers. available on the wire to open the season. And I think it's actually reasonable to prioritize Ryan Weathers

ahead of some of those guys because if you add, if you don't draft him, you would probably, I mean, if most leagues don't allow you to go over your roster limit to add someone, you're going to have to drop someone to add Ryan Weathers if you wanted to IL him. Whereas if you draft him, you can IL him.

then you've got the roster spot to play with to add someone else. That's not how CBS leagues work, but if- It can be. If that is how your league works, then I understand that rationale. I'm just thinking like, you know, if you've got those real, those dozen late round pitching targets you're looking at and you have to pick your favorite among them and then kind of maximize your roster space kind of, you know, cast as wide of a net as you can at the start of the season and picking up

pitchers as they emerge on the waiver wire, the injured guy is going to go ignored. So wait to pick him up until you actually can't officially add him to that IL spot and pick up the higher priority target instead in the drafts. But, you know, that's really getting deep into strategy. And ultimately it comes down to how much you like weather. I think he's, there's upside there, but there are so many hurdles he has to clear to meet it that he was never among my favorite upside targets anyway.

With Ryan Weathers out, it looks like Jansen Junk is next up in the Marlins rotation, who also left Thursday with back spasms. So after him, I don't know. Chris, you might be getting a call to pitch for the Marlins this season. I got my baseball ready. Andrew Abbott. It's a T-ball. Andrew Abbott will be.

the season on the IL as he's still building up after a shoulder injury. Carson Spires will begin the season in the Reds rotation, but I don't think we have any interest in Carson Spires, correct? Correct. Are they really that shallow already that they're turning to Carson Spires? I think Ret Louder is also hurt. Yeah, Red Louder's hurt, and I guess the Graham Ashcraft experiment is over. I don't know.

That was a little surprising that they don't have anyone. more interesting than that. They got some guys, some interesting prospects coming up, but I guess they don't want to call on Chase Paddy or any of those guys yet. Yeah, not just yet. Some Orioles updates, Gunner Henderson is running out of time to be ready for opening day.

Brandon Hyde added he was hopeful. So sometimes we get these just conflicting quotes like, he's running out of time, but Brandon Hyde is hopeful. So do with that, which you will. Felix Batista is not a guarantee to be on the opening day roster. he's still ramping up in his return from Tommy John surgery.

If Batista starts in the IL, I don't think he'll be out for long. They're just still kind of building up his stamina and his pitch count and his arm strength, obviously. Any idea who to target for saves in the Orioles bullpen if Batista is out? I would guess it would be a committee. Sir Anthony Dominguez was holding down the role after Craig Kimbril lost his job last year. So that would be the first name that came to mind. He's had a bad spring, but that would be my guess. I don't know that it's worth pursuing outside of an AL-only league, because like you said, it wouldn't be long that Baltista is out unless it gets hurt again.

Yeah. Well, I will say they've already said he's not going to pitch on back-to-backs early in the season. There are going to be some save opportunities here. It would have to be, I think, a 15-team league. But, like, I'm sure there are some 15-team leagues where Alex Vescia is getting added after the first game of the season. There shouldn't be, but maybe. I agree. but there will be.

A little quirk, by the way, with NFBC. Yeah, you can get the save. If you're doing a draft or you can still add him, you add Vescia because you get that first look and you could throw him in and still get that save that he got. Yeah, you get that save. That makes sense, but I still just think, like, if Dominguez ended up with four or five saved by the end of April,

I wouldn't be totally shocked. All right, Zach Gilaff is day-to-day after X-rays on his right hand came back negative. Brooks Lee was scratched Thursday due to lower back tightness. He's day-to-day, but yet another injury for the twins. Jose Miranda could be an option there. The White Sox informed Chain Smith that he will be part of their opening day roster. He was the top pick in the Rule 5 draft, and he's made some noise this spring.

They didn't say that he was in the rotation just yet, but just based on the White Sox roster, I would guess that Chain Smith will be a starter for them. Is he worth a, he is worth a late-round pick, obviously, in deeper leagues. What about head-to-head points as a potential spark? Shane Smith. Yeah, you could try it. It's a sort of thing where, I don't know. I probably wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't be shocked to see it either because of the way people go after the sparks in those leagues.

I don't think we're looking at Garrett Crochet level upside here. And he's a white socks pitcher. And I do like some things about Shane Smith, but odds are a closer will be more valuable in that relief pitcher spot than he will. You are. It wouldn't surprise me. We just did a head to head points draft and he went late in it. You are throwing stuff at the wall in when you're talking about most of the sparks. Shane Smith is stuff.

So I'm fine throwing him against the wall and seeing if it sticks. All right. Again, that was Shane Smith of the White Sox. The Braves signed Alex Verdugo to a one year, $1.5 million deal and optioned him to AAA. Obviously just needs to get built up. but my guess is that once that happens, he will join the Braves,

and maybe he takes over right field instead of Jared Kelnick while Ronald de Kuna is out. Maybe it's insurance for jerks and pro far and this bone bruise in his wrist. It's got any thoughts here on Alex Verdugo? It wasn't so long ago he was useful in fantasy, but a lot has to happen for him to become useful again, and I wouldn't bet on it.

By the way, since you brought up Jerks and ProFar on the wrist, Return to the lineup today went two for four and a nice line drive double in his first at bad. We didn't have exit velocity readings for that game, but I thought it was very encouraging for ProFar. Congrats to Aaron Judge

for getting his friend a contract. What's the story there? You didn't see the story the other day. Like Aaron Judge and Marcus Stroman were complaining that Alex Verdugo hadn't been signed and now he's signed. It's great. All right. He's not good. He's actually really bad.

Yeah, I think that's fair. The Padres selected Gavin Cheats from AAA, which means he'll be on the opening day roster. He had a huge spring and a name you could look to add in NL-only leagues. Apparently, the debacks have received trade interest in Jordan Montgomery. He is 32 years old coming off an awful year, which got off to a slow start because he signed really late in camp. He's also due nearly $24 million this upcoming season.

I have to imagine the Yankees are one of the teams that are interested in Jordan Montgomery. we'll monitor it and see where he winds up if a trade happens. I did not get to go through Thursday's games just because it's been a crazy day going through all the listener league emails and all that fun. Was there anything that stood out to you guys from Thursday's game that you would like to quickly mention? Actually, there's quite a bit that stood out to me, Frank. You missed a...

Quickly. A doozy of a day here. All right, let's start with Chris Paddock, who I didn't really care about until today. he struck out seven in four and two-thirds innings of work against the Red Sox. Sixteen swinging strikes on 84 pitches. Nine of them came on the fastball. You know, I love that. It had an extra two miles per hour.

It had an extra two inches of induced vertical break and looked like a dominant pitch for Paddock. I think if you're talking about late round sleeper targets, I'd at this point rather gamble on him than. an injury stash on the level of a Ryan Weathers. I'd certainly put Paddock ahead of like Griffin Canning as well. Yeah, I think he's interesting. His previous start was pretty good too, but the data on this one was just phenomenal.

Three other pitchers I'm looking to move up in my rankings after today. One is Kumar Rocker, who struck out eight and four two and two-thirds innings against the Rockies. he had a curveball that I presumed was just being, I presumed was just his slider being classified as a curveball this time, but it wasn't because it averaged 78.5 miles per hour, the slider's more like 84. So it was a harder curveball than the few we saw rocker throw last year,

but it wasn't the slider. And it was responsible for six of his 12 whiffs. He didn't even really throw the slider much in this one. the best in its class type slider for Rocker. So he's working on expanding his arsenal. It seems like he has a curveball there that might be effective. And that's the way it goes in spring sometimes. As a guy will look completely hapless,

and then suddenly it all comes together. And you're like, wait a second, do we need to care about this guy? I think we're there with Kumar Rocker. I guess because Tyler Malley looks so good yesterday, it's not so clear. Isn't there still room for both of them though? I don't-

Jack Lider? Oh yeah, because John Gray got hurt. John Gray and Cody Bradford. Yeah, right. Yeah, that's right. Okay, yeah. So Kumar Rocker's probably in.

He deserves late round looks again, I think. Tage Bradley had a huge whiff game. 16 whiffs on 101 pitches. He gave up some runs. So it wasn't like if you just looked at the box score, you wouldn't be that impressed. But all those whiffs for Tage Bradley definitely caught my attention.

Nine on the fastball. Six on the cutter, which he modified from last year. It's more like a slider cutter hybrid. And there's clearly upside there for Bradley still. He is prone to hard hit balls, prone to fly balls. I have him as a bust because of where he'll be playing his home games, but a reminder today of just how much upside Tosh Bradley has. And finally, Kodai Senga, after looking pretty bad in his previous start.

he had just one whiff on 53 pitches in that start. And his velocity was down in that last one too, right? And I was pretty worried. But then it comes back here, his start at the Nationals. Three and two-thirds, no-hit innings, six strikeouts. Don't know how many whiffs it was because there was no stack-cast data available. Don't know what the velocity was. But he got six strikeouts in three-and-two-thirds hitless innings.

I imagine all that underlying data looked good for a sense. I can get to. A couple other things on the hitter side. David Hamilton went two for three with three stolen bases, had some nice plays at second, is up to eight steals now on the spring. He is really trying to win that second base job. Christian Campbell's still hanging around, but I haven't seen anything that impressive from him, either offensively or defensively. So I'm still giving Hamilton the edge there, and he is a great. bench option in deep roto leagues as somebody, even if he's just a super utility guy,

he'll probably approach 40 steals in that role. Wyatt Langford, his hardest hit ball last year was 111.9 miles per hour. Today he hit one 111.1.1, and he hit another 113.2. So he is upping his exit Velo game there. And Zach DeZenzo, I feel like we haven't talked about him much. I'm not sure how I'm not sure how much he and

Cam Smith are competing with each other for outfield time. They're both infielers trying to transition to the outfield. But DeZenzo's been playing a lot and he's been hitting well. Today he went three for four today, meaning Thursday, three for four with two doubles, a walk and a strikeout. Both doubles

were over 106 miles per hour. He's batting over 400 for the spring. And I think he needs to be in the deep sleeper discussion because he was a he was a pretty good prospect in his own right. I will say with regards to Hamilton and Campbell, I think you draft Hamilton either way, right?

I think his value is kind of independent of Campbell's because whether he, I mean, obviously, if he is the starting second basement and Campbell gets sent down, that's better for his value. But I do think he's going to play a decent amount no matter what. He's versatile. He's played a lot of outfield. So if you're looking for speed,

he's a viable option either way and there is a path to a little more upside if Campbell isn't on the opening day roster. If Hamilton is a true everyday player and they want to be committing to him to that role for the whole season, obviously, but let's say he starts out there. He's so prolific as a base dealer,

he might just be a must-start player across the board in fantasy. He might emerge as that. He wouldn't start out there, but he might emerge as that. I'd be really surprised if he was that in points. I think it's a really weak bat. I think he's a pretty low upside hitter.

So for me, it would just be as a stolen base specialist, but he could be super impactful there. It's the way we talk about Victor Scott's chances of being a deep sleeper for steals, right? Except we've seen David Hamilton actually have success at the Major League level, which he did last season. So I totally get that. His ADP over the past week at NFBC, 4.83.

So yes, and those deep. Keeper leagues, feel free to take a, use a late round pick on David Hamilton and see what happens. Let's take a quick break and when we return, we will reveal our listener league participants after this quick commercial break. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. It is time to announce our listener league participants. But first, I do want to thank each and every person who sent something in. If you sent in a submission at any point this offseason, I saw it. I saw it this week. I went through everything.

I read every poem. I listened to every song, read every story, and you are all amazing. Like every year I am blown away by the creativity, the thoughtfulness, just the overall support and things that I hear and read from everybody. It really does mean a lot. So thank you again. And as always, it was an impossible decision selecting the winners here. But here goes.

And I do apologize for any mispronunciations on the names. So participating in our 12 team head head, Points Listener League this Tuesday evening on March 25th, Taylor Allen, Greg Steinmest, Benjamin Waluconis, Rob Heatman, Heitman, Benji Aflalo, Brendan O'Donnell, Rod Lover, Kevin Sawyer, Joshua Butler, and that is it. Again, that was for the 12-team Head-Head Points Listener League. That's coming up this Tuesday evening. Now we have the participants in our 16 team head to head categories for the People League drafting the following night Wednesday, March 26th. Opening day Eve, how about that? Slade Hall, Scott Cole, Matt Dixon, Lou Gleich, Gleach, Evan Knisley, Kinsley, sorry, Stephen Kokoa,

Daniel Hoffman, Martin Kluck, Kluke, Ryan Johnson, Adam Uphill, Eric Patrick, Kyle Kent. And again, those are the participants of the 16 team head to categories for the People League coming this Wednesday night. So if you heard your name, please reach out. Email me, frank.standful at paramount.com. If I don't hear from you by Sunday, then I will reach out. And hopefully we can get everything sorted away. And as I like to do each year, let's highlight a few of the song submissions throughout this podcast.

And the first one is a rendition of Ludacruses What's Your Fantasy, Performed by, Stephen Kokes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bit of playing now. Bit of playing now. Bit of playing now. I want to pick, pit, pit, pit, pit. Go tie me straight from the go.

And I want to move George Kirby from round three to round four. And I want to avoid injuries on my team. But I got a net, knit, no, what's your fan to see? I want to gig, gig, gig. Be with pick number two. L'I de la Cruz to a title with them socks and them shoes. Then I want to go pitching heavy Let's focus up my sleeve

But I got a N, N, N N N know what's your fancy to see? Love it. It's solid. Fantastic. And again, that was from Stephen Koko's. I think I might have said Kokoa before. So it's Stephen Kokos.

Please reach out. You are a winner. All right. Let's get into the players we keep drafting in the fades at each and every position, guys. We cannot give descriptions and explanations for every player. This is really mostly listing players off. maybe a sentence type thought,

something like that, but we've got to keep things moving. Let's start with pitchers, because we usually start with catchers. People want to hear about pitchers. They're obviously much more important. And let's start with Chris, the starting pitchers that you keep drafting.

Yeah, I did this exercise. I've got 10 teams that I'm choosing from here, and Zach Gallen is on half of them because everybody has decided that Zach Allen's terrible because he had one weird year where he had a hamstring injury. I also have on at least four of my teams, Jackson Job, you say Cacucci, Corbin Burns, and Zach Eflin. It's weird because Cacucci and Eflin aren't necessarily targets of mine, but Cacucci sometimes falls so, so low in drafts.

He's a great source of strikeouts. Eflin's a really good whip guy. And then I've got a handful of guys I've drafted three times. But those are the five, six guys I've drafted the most so far with two. drafts left. All right. Scott, who do you keep drafting at starting pitcher? All right. So I have 11 teams I was counting here. Oh.

And, well, three to go. But where we are now, 11 teams, there's one guy I've drafted seven times, and it's Chris Boobich. Ah. Well, I've talked a lot about obviously look great in relief last year and transitioning back to a starting role. Didn't look so great in his spring start Thursday. but I'm not going to let that that one data point dampen my enthusiasm. Nick Martinez, though, I've drafted six times, so very close.

Love him as a late round whip source, and obviously has the relief pitcher eligibility for points leagues that's also valued. Cody Bradford, I do have on five teams because I already, that was all before he suffered the injury, and there's enough I else, there's enough IL spots that I can go ahead and stash Bradford away. I plan to do so. Justin Steele, I have in four leagues. I think he has been one of the most disrespected starters in the entire draft pool this year.

He was just as good inning for inning last year as during his near Sy Young winning, 2023. And let's see, a couple more here. The ones I've drafted in three leagues are Aaron Nola, Jack Flaherty, Grayson Rodriguez, taking advantage of him sliding because of injuries is mostly what that is. Chris Bassett and Richard Fitts. So Nolan, Flaherty, I mean, we've talked about how Flaherty tends to fall. People don't really buy into his breakout, it seems like. But I like that the team responsible for the breakout was the one that paid to get him back in free agency.

I think that's a very encouraging sign. And Chris Bassett's a guy we've never really talked about, I think. The three leagues I have them in are all deep rotisserie leagues. And I'm talking very, very late in a league where 450 players are drafted. He was not very good last year. And people, I think, are attributing that to him being 36. But it was mostly because he didn't throw strikes at his usual rate. He was actually throwing the ball harder than he used to.

So there weren't those telltale signs of age there for Bassett. And meanwhile, the previous three years, he averaged 14. wins a 341 ERA, a 113 whip and 8.5 K per 9. He's looked great this spring. I think it's very likely he bounces back to the Chris Basset we saw prior to last year, and that's going to be a coup in those deep leagues if he does. Richard Fitz, a spring riser. We've talked about him quite a bit recently, velocity way out,

but even before the velocity rise, he showed some interesting signs in the minors last year. I have drafted 11 teams so far, not counting the Divers. Dynasty League. I have four more drafts to go. About half of those are draft and hold leagues, so no waivers and stuff. I'm just, you know me. In the offseason, I can't stop drafting. I'm a madman. High-end pitchers I have on at least three teams. So Dylan Sees kind of surprised me a little bit. I think it's around that range where the hitter pool starts to flatten out a little bit in deeper leagues. And so I just like to get Dylan Cs as an ace there. Framber Valdez,

Spencer Schwellenbach. Everyone knows I love Spencer Schwellenbach. Justin Steele, Scott, I'm right there with you. It just feels undervalued, underappreciated this season. Sure does. You're committing theft whenever you take Justin Steele and they send the cops after you. And I somehow haven't drafted him yet. Justin Steele?

I'm shocked. That's because Scott and I keep drafting. I guess, yeah. Yeah. Sunny Gray, I mean, this is someone I feel like I always taking a mock draft. Well, I'm taking him in real drafts too. He's kind of a boring veteran. The skills were really good last year.

Another picture that I think most people just aren't interested in. And Zach Allen, that one surprised me. I guess those are leagues that you aren't in Chris, but yeah, I usually wind up with him as like my SP3 or four, and he's just another one that flies under the radar. Mid to low end starting pitchers that I have on at least three teams, Jesus Lozardo, Clay Holmes, Michael Soroka, and Merrill Kelly.

I wanted to mention Merrill Kelly, kind of like your Chris Bassett pick, Scott, where he just goes so late, boring veteran guy, but he pitches on a good team. Last year dealt with a shoulder strain, so that is worrisome at his age, but the two years prior to last year, it was a sub 3.4 ERA for Merrill Kelly.

So I don't know if he gets all the way back there, but I think he's a pitcher you can put in in the right matchups, and there'll be decent win potential for someone like Merrill Kelly as well. Chris, who are some pitchers that you are fading? Yeah, it's interesting. Among the, there are nine different pitchers

going inside of the top 50 in NFBC ADP, who I have not drafted. Yeah, and some of them I was never going to draft. Like Paul Skeens, I just can't get there on the value. Garrett Crochet, same. He's ADP over the last week, 31.7. And then like, Blake Snell, another one, I was never going to draft at his price.

But then, like, I'm surprised I haven't gotten Cole Regans or Dylan Cs or Logan Gilbert because I'm totally open to it. And I know I've drafted Zach Wheeler multiple times in, mock drafts. And it's one of those ones where it just so happens than all of my real drafts, I never got him, which is weird because I'm higher on him than the consensus. It just didn't work out that way. So I'm not fading him. It just didn't work out. So I would say if I'm fading, it's Paul Skeen's Garretre Crochet and Blake Snell among the high end guys. Scott? Yeah, my list isn't as long here, but a few names.

are Pablo Lopez, who we've talked about in recent days, why I'm fading him. I think the big strikeout surge in 2023 was with a new sweeper that didn't play nearly as well last year. And I'm not sure that's going to be a longstanding weapon. It's part of his arsenal still, but I'm not sure it's going to be as impactful as it was that year. His changeup also isn't as good as it used to be. And he's only once had an ERA below 360. So he's, I think he's being overrated. Luis Castillo worried with the continued velocity drop this spring.

It may just be normal spring stuff for a veteran, but since he already lost velocity last year, I think there's a chance his stuff is just eroding at age 32. And Kodai Senga, I've dropped him a tier. He did look better in this start, but it's still, like we, we got to, We got a chance to see them four times last year. Once in the regular season, look great. Three times in the postseason, they're all pretty bad. And it has control issues that are likely to hurt your whip.

Durability issues go without saying. Just not somebody who I am ever excited to take, and I usually let him fall and fall and fall until somebody else finally takes him. And finally, Sandy Alcantara, which we've gone over this a few times. but he was never like a big strikeout guy for as high end as he was in fantasy. It was largely volume. You knew he was going to eat a lot of innings.

It's not going to happen the first year back from Tommy John. I know they've said no innings limit, but this is their number one trade asset and they're not playing for anything. So it would be insane for them to just treat it like a regular season and let him go. And then meanwhile, he pitches for the Marlins. So there's not going to be wins.

There's not going to be strikeouts. ERA should be good. But I don't think it's enough to justify the price tag. All right. The pitchers that I am fading, Chris Sale, it's just betting on a 36-year-old, repeating a near-Syung season as a third-round pick. It's just not going to be for me.

Jacob de Grom, I just don't trust him to stay healthy. Maybe he proves me wrong this season. Hunter Green, he's another one, extensive injury history, fly ball pitcher pitching in Cincinnati, questionable control. Luis Castillo, I think the decline has started. I feel like he's kind of overperformed his expected numbers the past couple years, and maybe we see some regression there. And Roki Sasaki, it's just a top 100 price tag for a pitcher who could be limited at times this year,

extensive injury history, only one start, but obviously the control looked really bad in that first start, so we'll not be drafting Roki Sasaki. to move over to relief pitchers that you keep on drafting. And Chris, your first up. Lucas Serseg is on five of my 10 teams that we're talking about here. And he is the highest true reliever. I also have Emmanuel Class A on three, Calvin Foshe on two,

Kenley Jansen on two, and Robert Suarez on two. I'm surprised you're that invested in Class A. You've been the first to grab a closer three times, huh? Yeah, yeah. Actually, there was definitely one time that he was not the first closer taken. We did one draft where Devin Williams went ahead of him. But yeah, no, there are times when people wait too long at closer. I'm never taking him like when he goes 30th, like in those NFC drafts.

But I think I did take him as my first true pitcher in TGFBI. I think that was in the fourth round. So he fell a little bit in that one. And then I've got a bunch of sparse. Jackson Job, Clay Holmes in three, Mike Soroka in three, Shane Smith and Nick Martinez in two. So I've got some spark options too. Scott, relievers that you keep drafting. Well, I mentioned Chris Bubich in 7 of the 11, Nick Martinez in 6 of the 11.

They technically count as relievers, I guess. But true relievers, a couple of scraping the bottom of the saves barrel guys, which you know I love to do in those deep rotissory leagues. Calvin Foshae and Mike Clevenger both. I have them in four leagues. It's just they're the obvious frontrunners on really bad teams and they're sketchy closers so they go very, very, very late. And sometimes those guys stick. Yeah, you work for Cal Fingen last year.

If nothing else, they can keep me afloat in the category until I find better options. Clevenger especially, like he's free. Nobody's taking him seriously at all. let's see I got him to go for $4 in my auction the other day Oh yeah

I put him out there for two And two people bit him up I was thrilled That wasn't free in that one Yeah Edwin Useta is the other one here I think He is

Like a lot of those closers and wadings Are getting pushed up Again we're talking deep rotissory leagues here Where all those guys are taken Because of saves Are so scarce But you got Lucas

Sirceg, A.J. Puck, Porter, Hodge, Griffin, Jacks. They're kind of all priced out of my range for that kind of reliever. Edwin Useda goes quite a bit later, and he is backing up a closer who simply can't stay healthy. So I think he's just as likely, if not more likely, to inherit save chances than some of those guys I just listed off. And in deep leagues where saves are very scarce, that's not a bad way to go about. it is to grab one of those guys who you see, who you could really see inheriting that role at some point. I've noticed that I'm not spending up as much on relievers this year and I have, my most drafted reliever is Trevor McGill. So hope whatever was going on earlier in camp is not a

big deal at any point this season, but first half of last year filling in for Devin Williams, he looked awesome. The brewers do a great job developing these kind of closers and waiting and I think Trevor McGill is kind of just next up in that long line for them. David Bednar, I have on multiple teams. It is scary right now. Kyle Finnegan, ratios might be really bad, but I think he's locked in as the closer. Calvin Foshae, Jason Adams, just betting on a Robert Suarez blow up there. And AJ Puck, I have on three different teams.

So I am firmly on Team Puck this season. Relievers that I am fading, Robert Suarez, bad second half. Velocity's been down this year. year. He's kind of a one-trick pony with that fastball. Other really good relievers in that bullpen. Pete Fairbanks, Scott, he brought up. He can't stay healthy. Velocity was down last year. And Alexis Diaz has been a disaster this spring. I wrote this up way back in January and like busts 1.0. It's just the walk rate was really bad last year. The strikeouts came down and came down as well. It's a bad park to pitch in. So Suarez, Fairbanks, Alexis Diaz, not for me. Scott,

relievers, you are fading. hard for me to be that picky because I guess I fade all the upper tier relievers. I just don't like investing precious draft capital in that one category. But it's it's gotten really hard to have any ounce of confidence in Alexis Diaz, who you mentioned and David Bednar, neither of whom has a great alternative there. And that's kind of the best thing they have going for them because they're really bad last year and they haven't looked any better this spring and there's been skepticism surrounding

both holding on to that role. So it's, it's, it's gotten pretty scary. The closer pool has tightened up quite a bit when you don't have those two guys, when you're not considering those two guys to be a part of it. And I think with my last three drafts here, I am going to have to pay up a little for saves, maybe go the extra mile to get a Ryan Walker type or even like an Andrus Munoz because of how scary, how hairy things have gotten

at the lower end of the closer pool. Chris, relievers, you are fading. For me, it's more like the second tier relievers. So I don't have any Ryan Helsley. I just don't expect 47 saves again. There's an injury history there as well. I don't have any Andres Munoz, Juan Duran. It's not that I'm fading those guys.

I just don't have them on my team. I'm with you guys, Alexis D.S. and David Bednar. I've never really been an Alexis D.S guy. Fly ball pitcher in a bad park with bad control. Just feels like a bad mixture. But yeah, those are the guys I'm fading for sure. Before the podcast I saw in the YouTube chat, there was an over-under on sirens tonight in

Chris's neighborhood. I said under on four and a half. We might get there, yeah. We've already got two. It's like a crime spree going on. Let's see what we get. All right, before we take another break, our final break, let's get into listener league's song number two.

This next one is a rendition of the police's every breath you take. Oh, really? Performed by listener Matt Dixon entitled, Bo, I'll be drafting you. Bo Bishet, I know last year was always. I dream at night I can only see your face. Show stop is deep, but it's you I can't replace. You cut your hair and I long for your embrace.

I keep crying, Bishop, Bishet, Bishet, please. Those hammer on. Bo, can't you seek to? Awesome stuff. Just awesome stuff. Great guitar playing too. It was, yeah, that is great. And as you'll see in the short stops that I keep drafting, Bo Bichette, one of my most drafted players this year.

That's why he's not among mine. How did that happen? I haven't drafted Bichette once this year. I've kept him in a league. It's all in leagues without you guys, though. It's my only opportunity to get him. So we'll talk about that right after a quick commercial break. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today.

Players we keep drafting and the ones we keep fading at each position. No surprise. We're going to go a little bit longer on today's podcast. But we do have to keep things. moving and we will get into the outfield. Chris, outfielders that you keep drafting. Ooh, outfielders that I keep drafting. Surprisingly, it was Anthony Santander as my most drafted outfielder. I've taken him in five leagues. And it mostly just comes down to you need power at that part of the draft. Anthony Santander is there for you. Otherwise, I've taken

Jared Duran and Dylan Cruz in four of my leagues. I think it's just Jaron Duran Falls. a little bit and I'll take him. Otherwise, I wasn't really targeting. Dylan Cruz, I like a lot. I'm actively targeting him in a lot of leagues. I think they're superstar upside. I know the production wasn't great, but I thought the approach was really good and the tools are there.

Then I've got Mike Trout and Luis Robert in three teams each. Hopefully, I don't think it's the same team for any of them. That would probably be pretty untenable. But look, we know there's huge upside there, right? like Luis Robert, if he was a top 25 player this year, I don't think anybody would be surprised. I guess we'd be a little bit surprised that he stayed healthy. Same with Mike Trout. I think Mike Trout still has top 10 upside if everything goes right.

We're talking about a guy who his last 162 games, I looked it up the other day. I think it's like 47 homers and 11 stolen bases or something. He absolutely still has first round potential. Then jerks and pro far, Stephen Kwan, Kyle Tucker. Michael Harris, I really like. James Wood, I'll take the flyer on if he falls a little bit. Evan Carter, then some boring guys like Taylor Wood and Max Kepler.

Taylor Ward, yeah, excuse me. And then I've actually drafted Spencer Steer a couple of times lately after being mostly out just because people are treating him like he's radioactive and he falls to like 180 at some points lately. So I'll take him if he falls that far. Scott, outfielders, you keep trying. drafting. So the one I'm invested in the most is Jerks and ProFar, who was top 10 in points, top 15 in Roto last year among outfielders.

I have six, I have ProFar in six of my 11 leagues. He's my most drafted hitter. Wow. And part of it was I thought he was under value to begin with. And once it started to climb after he signed with the Braves and was expected to hit leadoff, Then he suffered the wrist injury, and so his stock plummeted for a while there, and I took advantage of that in several leagues. And like I said, he was back in the lineup today. Looked good.

Look like he's going to be ready to go. You know, I was skeptical of the 2024 performance, too, but the cost has been so low that there's really not a lot of risk there. Anybody else you draft where you draft a pro far would have a lot of downside risk. So happy to have them in those six leagues. Brendan Nimmo, of course. We've talked about that a lot. I have them in five leagues. Again, there was a period this spring where people were treating him like he was radioactive.

And very easy to draft. He is likely to be a top 20 outfielder if he can stay on the field. He's back playing the field for the Mets. It doesn't seem like his availability for the start of the years in Jeopardy at all. And he could be a five-category contributor. One who you probably don't associate me with me is Dylan Cruz, who Chris brought up. I have him in four of my 11 leagues. I've come to think of him as an upside play with,

like a ceiling play with a very high floor too because the plate discipline is so good and because he's going to be so prolific as a base dealer and he's batting second for the nationals. Okay, maybe he hits 250 with 16 home runs but I still think he'll be a must start regardless of format if that's the case because of what he's doing in those other areas. And there's a chance he just goes off as a hitter.

Andy Pahez have him in four leagues as well. Even now that we know he's the Dodgers starting center fielder, he is still being drafted outside the top 350. I love getting him as a bench option in those deep five outfielder leagues. There's a lot of power potential there, and he's an everyday player in the Dodgers lineup. So there's clearly jackpot potential with Andy Pahas. People aren't appreciating that enough.

I have Stephen Kwan in three leagues. It's very format specific for me. Points league sees a standout. Any league that rewards OBP, he gains value. And I think that's it. Outfielders that I keep drafting, names inside of the top 150, Stephen Kwan, my most drafted outfielder, on four different teams.

We all said Stephen Kwan. And oftentimes, it's just I need batting average in the range that he's going in draft. Say a Suzuki, no surprise there. an outfielder, I always look to take. It's just across the board production. Hopefully he can avoid that one I-L stint this year. I have them on three different teams.

And then Kyle Tucker, I have on two. Randy Rosarena, I have on two. Kyle Tucker, I have ranked as my fifth player, and I had a few drafts with picks six through ten, and he usually just slips to that range of the draft. Some mid-to-late-round options. I have three-plus shares of Tommy Edmund, Jorge Soler, Garrett Mitchell, Lars Newpar, Max Kepler, Austin Hayes, Zach Feene, lots of names that we have talked a lot about this offseason.

Outfielders that you are fading. For me, Jazz Chisholm, Outfield and third base eligibility. It's just the injury history. A lot of times he goes in the second round. Ronald de Cunia, as a second or third round pick, it's just missing the first six weeks of the season. He is falling down a little bit. It's just I don't want to start with a player out for that long on my team. O'Neill Cruz, top 50 pick usually, and sometimes there's someone who likes him even more than that, like a third or fourth round pick. It just seems a little bit overvalued. And Mike Trout, around Pick 100,

I just don't really want to mess around with the injury risk, so it's not going to be for me. Over to Scott. Outfielders, you are fading. Luis Robert and Mike Trout. The top two on this list. I did draft Trout in Tout Wars because it's an OPP League, and I was desperate for an outfielder at that point.

But for the most part, I don't have any faith in these two being available. And in Robert's case, I don't have faith in him actually being good. Certainly the upside's there. But I don't think the discount is enough to justify the downside. And I'd rather take Dylan Cruz, who tends to go later. And I just talked about how high I think his floor is. Randy a Rosarena when you said you were invested in Frank

He did kind of salvage his season from June 1st on The numbers looked more a Rosarena like But I've never been a big believer in him He's somebody who's always Greatly outperformed his expected stats And as he gets older I think that's going to be harder for him to do

I think last year may have been The first indication of it and it seems like a profile that's not going to age very well. There are other outfielers going in the same range that I'm much more excited to take than a Rose Arena. Chris, outfielers, you are fading. O'Neill Cruz. I just can't justify a top 40 price with the flaws that he has. White Langford, there's always someone who likes him a lot more than me.

I would take him if he fell to 50 or so, but that doesn't happen ever. Lawrence Butler kind of the same thing I don't dislike him it's the price he's just never worth it and I have not been I think people are overreacting to Cody Bellinger

having a good spring I think we know what he is and it's not a difference maker and his price keeps getting pushed up so I'm I'm out of what he is at Yankee Stadium though I mean maybe it's like three or four extra home runs but I just the quality of contact was bad two years

ago and everyone did this like, oh, but with two strikes, he changed his approach and it worked. And last year he was terrible to strikes. Now it's Yankee Stadium. Right. But like I think he could rep. I think he could meet those numbers this year. I think the whole profile is super weak. He's missed a lot of time the last couple of years with injury that doesn't seem to get dinged.

And yeah, I don't know. Maybe he hits four extra home runs. But I just, I don't see much reason to be excited about it. short stops that you keep drafting, Chris. We're through all the big positions, to be fair. Yeah. Weirdly, Willie Adamas is one of the guys I've drafted the most. He's on three of my teams.

One thing I'm noticing throughout this conversation, my most drafted players are not as often drafted as yours. I think I tend to just take what drafts give me more than targeting specific players, because I don't have a single shortstop I've drafted more than three times and they are Willie Adomas, Carlos Correa, and Trey Turner.

I have also drafted Jacob Wilson, Corey Seeger, and Ellie De La Cruz twice. So a lot of diversity at the shortstop position. Correa, no surprise there. I've talked a lot about how I think he's just super undervalued. All he has to do is stay healthy for like 100 games and he'll be worth the 230th pick or whatever you get him with. Adomis is surprising.

I think that might just be, I would guess drafts that we've done with people who listen to the podcast and know that we are not in on Willie Adamas, and so he tends to fall longer than he should. Scott, over to you for short stops that you keep drafting. I don't have any that I've drafted more than three times either. There are three. one is David Hamilton, dual eligible up the middle.

We already talked about him. It's just in those deep rotisserie leagues as a bench middle infielder who can specialize his steals. The other two are higher end. Corey Seeger, not so surprisingly, every year I think he's on this list for me. He might just be the second best shortstop in points leagues.

Others are in the discussion, but it could easily be Seeger. And then in roto leagues, depending how your first two or three picks go, Corey Seeger is often the perfect pick because you're looking to make up ground and batting average. So that's why I got my three shares of him.

And it's C.J. Abrams, surprisingly. I didn't realize how invested I was in him. It looks like twice in Roto Auctions, he was an economic choice for steals because sometimes the steel specialists get elevated there. And meanwhile, somebody like C.J. Abrams, who's great at steals also, but we don't think of them as a steel specialist,

can be surprisingly affordable. And then I also got him in Tau Wars, an OBP league where he slid like 30 spots beyond ADP because everybody just didn't like the OBP. So there are only two short stops that I have on three or more teams, and Bo Bichet is one of them. I have him on four teams. He is tied for my most rostered player right now.

It is the year of Bo. Having an awesome spring contract year, just stay healthy. And I also have friends. I hope I can get him. one of these last three teams. And Francisco Lindor is someone I have on three teams. So when you're drafting towards the back end of the first round, he's typically a player that I'll target.

And maybe he's why I keep drafting having to draft Stephen Kwan. Because Lindor is not the biggest batting average standout early on in the draft. Hassan Kim is someone that I've drafted on two teams. Hassan Kim from the now Tampa Bay raise. Just as a stash candidate and someone in deeper leagues who can contribute a little power and some, speed once he is activated in May, hopefully activated in May. Short stops that I am fading, Willie Adomas at cost, just the ADP around 70. He does slip a little bit sometimes, and that's

when Chris gobbles him up. And Matt McLean, someone who keeps rising, you know, top 90, top 80 picks sometimes now too. It's just coming off a year where he did not play at all. We don't know what to expect. Can he stay healthy? Will the strikeouts be an issue? Too many question marks for me to use a top 100 pick on Matt McLean. Over to Scott. Shortstop, you are fading. Yeah, there's really only one on this list, and it's Matt McLean.

Just the fact that he really only has one year to hang his hat on and then missed all of the following year with injury. And the one year he could hang his hat on, there were exit velocity and especially strikeout concerns. So people just seem a little too confident

they know what they're getting in Matt McLean. I'm trying to see, is there anyone else? I think that's it. I think that's the only, well, no, let's say Anthony Volpe and Ezekiel Tovar are here as well. I just, I don't see what everybody else sees in them. Just as simple as that.

Chris? I somehow didn't draft Bo Bichette, but I am absolutely not fading him. That's a weird one, though. I am fading O'Neill Cruz. How are we not getting? Like, we've talked up Bichette a lot more than Frank has. Here's the thing. I've done more NFBC drafts than you guys, and you guys know his ADP is super low over there.

Yeah, we drafts with most. of my leagues, I guess, are with people who know I like Boba Chet and just, they're just, you know, they're vindictive and have to take them before I get the chance. Yeah, if I'm baiting anyone, it's O'Neill Cruz, Ezekiel Tovar, Anthony Volpe. I think those three and kind of Jeremy Payne and they're all kind of very similar. It's just like they play a lot and they'll, they'll rank highly at the end of the season, but I'm just not excited about what they're actually going to do. Let's move over to third base

And Chris right back to you Third Baseman that you keep drafting Surprisingly Alec Bohm is on three of my teams And that's probably one where it's just You get to the point in the draft Where Alec Boeum's about to go And you need batting average or RBI or both And Alec Boem is the perfect source of those

Otherwise, Ehio Henia Suarez is on three of my teams That should be no surprise I really like him I think what he did last year was for real Cam Smith has become One of my late round favorites So he's out there. Alex Bregman, Jordan Westberg, no surprise there.

I've taken a few late round flyers on Christopher Morel and Royce Lewis. Scott, third baseman, you keep drafting. I have three shares of Austin Riley. I think he's a four category stud still. One of those shares is in a head-to-head points league, which is odd. I don't like him so much in that format. But, you know, it's kind of just where I happen to draft and the fact that I believe in Austin Riley. And then another third basement I have three shares in, thankfully, is Isok Perides,

who I believe is the only one of the four players from the Valentine's Day episode, who I have three or more shares of. I've made the case for Esauk Perides many times. I think he'll basically be in Houston what Alex Bregman was the past couple years. The third baseman that I keep drafting in the early rounds, Austin Riley on three teams, Jordan Westberg on three teams, Manny Machado on two of those teams, and that shouldn't surprise anybody. I've mentioned third round if I can get one of Riley-Machato Devers

or in the mid-round 6-8 range. If Westberg is available, I'll look for him. I have Esoc Paredes on two teams, and my most rostered third baseman, going a little bit later, Jamer Candelario, I have him on four teams, and he's just a cheap corner infielder in deeper leagues. It's a great park, solid lineup. He's getting paid a decent amount,

I think he's just going to be in there whenever he's healthy. And he's someone we liked as a sleeper entering last season and dealt with some injuries and stuff. So I'm looking at a bounce back for Candelario. Corner infielder in deeper leagues. Third baseman that I am fading, jazz, mentioned it earlier. Mark Viantos, all the strikeouts last season, I think could be a problem this year.

Scott, I'm pretty sure I just stole your answer. But over to you, third baseman, you're fading. Yeah, Viantos is a best pick of mine. I did get them really cheap in the Memorial Magazine League. but in regular drafts, it never gets to a point where I'm taking him. Otherwise, you know, Royce Lewis would have been on this list, but now it's more likely I'll draft him if he just becomes an afterthought with the hamstring injury. No interest in Nolan Aeronado, I guess. Josh Young, who we talked about yesterday, but they tend to go pretty late.

That's about it. Chris? Mark Vientos, Jake Berger, and Matt Chapman. have been not really the part of the draft I want my third baseman and I don't really love any of those three. Second baseman that you keep drafting, Chris, back over to you. Second basement I keep drafting.

Marcus Simeon and Ozzy Albys are my most drafted second baseman, so I guess I love taking a second basement around 50th overall. Otherwise, I've taken two shares of Jose Altuve, two of Jordan Westberg, two of Luis Arias, which is probably just I need batting. average at that specific point in the draft. Two of Jonathan India, surprised it's not higher and two of Christian Campbell would like to make

that three or four in our final two. But I guess it'll either be he gets much higher or much lower in the last two drafts we do because we should know if he's made the opening day roster by that. Scott, second baseman, you keep drafting. I am most invested in Ozzy Albiz, four shares in the 11 leagues. and I think the disagreement there that allows me to get him is I see him as ultra-durable,

other people see him as injury-prone. When he doesn't break bones, he plays 150 games and is a 30-15 guy with tons of runs in RBI. So I will bet on him not breaking a bone, though I suppose he could. And then Jonathan India,

I'm more invested in him than Chris, surprisingly enough, with three shares. He's like my ultimate fallback at second base Head to Head Points Leagues where he excels with the better plate discipline and should be a good compiler batting leadoff for the Royals. Second baseman I keep drafting. Jordan Westberg, I mentioned him at third base. He has both second base and third base eligibility. Bryson Stott, I have on three teams. That's the point in the draft where I'm very often looking for just to add more speed and Stott, Jimenez, give you those 25 to 30 seals. Tyro Estrada, I have on three teams a season. I've talked about him a lot this offseason.

Marcus Simeon I have on two just feels really undervalued this year, especially in some of those NFBC drafts. He goes closer to 100 than pick 50, which is where you said that you were drafting him, Chris. So just really underrated on that site. And Otto Lopez, as a deep league middle infielder that I think could provide a little batting average, some speed. He's going to play for a bad team.

So I do like to target him. second baseman that I am fading Bryce Terang just and you know the fact that he's hurt now too definitely does not that's an answer for all three of us does not help his cause and Luis Garcia Jr. is someone I just I never look at taking also one of mine yeah Scott yeah I hate Terang I don't think he's good whoa hey come on I hate him as a fantasy asset don't think he's a good hitter should steal a lot of bases and he fell a long long way in Tout war so I did get him

there I'm also fading Luis Garcia, who I just don't think he's going to play enough and his skill sets not any good for points leagues. And also, kind of Marcus Simeon, he started out as a really good discount, but he kind of moved up draft boards and I think he's going to be a batting average liability. I'm not sure about steals anymore. I'm fine with him in a points league, but he tends to get elevated even more there. So I just, I either never have a chance for him or I, I, I can never talk myself into taking him. Chris, anyone else you wanted to mention,

or you go on Tarang and Luis Garcia? Michael Garcia's ADP is around 200th, and he is a player I haven't even considered drafting one time. I'd rather have David Hamilton straight up. Yeah, I'm not sure he's an everyday player for the Royals. So, yeah, I don't get that one at all. Again, that was Michael Garcia, and we are over to first basement.

that you keep drafting, Chris? First baseman Michael Toglia, no surprise there. I'm much higher on him than I think anybody in the industry. I think the batting average concerns are potentially overblown with Michael Toglia. He's the only one I've drafted more than twice. So first base is a position. I'm happy to take whatever comes to me. I've taken Luis Raias twice, Paul Goldschmidt twice, and Spencer Steer twice.

everyone else I've taken only once so I'm going to have a lot of different things going on at first base this season which I guess is good no first baseman is going to tank my season Scott first baseman that you keep tracking sort of same for me I've been I guess I haven't been that intentional about this position the only first baseman that I have at least three shares of and it's only three

is Bryce Harper once was an OBP league, I guess two actually were OBP leagues, and once the price just happened to be right in an auction. It's not like I was targeting Harper specifically, though. I do have two shares of Freddie Freeman and two of Tristan Kossis, which I, two of Ryan Moucassel, two of Michael Bush, two of Jonathan Oronda. But no, I think with these final three drafts,

I am going to be more intentional about first base, because it's the position where I've gotten burned a few times. So I might end up with a couple of shares of, a couple more shares of Freeman and or Matt Olson, who I only have one share of currently this weekend. The first baseman that I keep drafting, I mentioned Candelario. He has first and third base eligibility.

I have him on four different teams as a corner infielder. Same thing with Carlos Santana. It's just in these deeper leagues. He's going to play. He's probably going to hit 20 home runs. Josh Bell, another one I have him on two different teams. It's just, he's on a bad team and he's going to play and he's going to hit in the middle of that lineup.

Esock Paredes and Christian Walker. I also have on two teams each. So hoping the oblique holds up for Christian Walker this upcoming season. First baseman that you are fading, I will admit that I am pretty scared about Freddie Freeman. Maybe he just proves me wrong, but with the ankle, the rib, one year older, resting day games after night games. It's just...

I don't feel like... As a second round pick... For what I was just saying... For what I was just saying, I don't feel like I can afford to be that skeptical of Freddie Freeman because... Particularly in points leagues

where he's always a standout. First base just turns so ugly if you don't address it early. Yeah. I mean, he's also a standout because he provides volume and will he provide that volume this season? So I think there is a question there.

Josh Nailers is someone I've been fading. I get that he's on a good team. I don't know if the ballpark is suited for his swing. And last year, the power came down in the second half. And I think maybe playing in progressive field with the left field kind of, you know, right field. I'm sorry, helping out some left-handed power last season. It's just, yeah, I'm doubting Josh Naylor and Jake Berger as someone I think has been elevated too far.

I know it's a much better team in Texas, but, you know, you have to use around a 100, pick 100. on a Jake Berger. Who are you guys fading at first base? Tristan Kossis, even though I have two shares of him, that's why I had kind of a reaction to that. I have lost all faith in him, and I was high on him as a prospect.

I was high on him as a breakout candidate last year. But the strikeout rate ballooned, in addition to him having a pretty concerning injury because it was just him swinging the bat. He suffered an injury in his rib cage. And then he's been striking out a lot this spring, too. So I'm hopeful he can get back to showing the upside he did in the second half of 2023. But I think it's a leap of faith around Pick 100.

And I've taken it a couple times because of how first base looks, but it's not something I want to do. I feel like I've waited too long if I have to resort to Tristan Kossis. I will say one thing I want to point out because I see it a lot in the comments. and in various discussions among like the fantasy baseball audience, there is this idea that Tristan Kossas has been like terrible. And he's been a very good major league hitter, even though he's been a disappointment for fantasy.

I share a little bit of Scott's reservations on him. I just, I see way too many people going way too far in the Tristan Kossis criticism. That being said, if there's a first baseman I'm fading, I didn't think it was, but Vladimir Guerrero, I have not drafted him at all. And part of it is just we've got one amazing season, one really good season, and a bunch of mediocre results. And we're just drafting him as if the really good season is who he is forever. And if I'm going to do that with a four category player, Yordon Alvarez is almost always available at the same time Vladimir Guerrero is. And I will take Yoron Alvarez every time.

He is a much more consistent, high-level hitter than Vladimir Guerrero. One I also want to mention, because I'm a much lower on him than the consensus, is Paul Goldschmidt. I just, I want nothing to do with him. I think he's in the downward spiral. I think it'll get even worse this year. I'd rather have Ryan Mountcastle or Reese Hoskins straight up. All right, catchers that you keep drafting. Go.

Adley Rutchman is my most drafted catcher at three. He just slips too far sometimes. Otherwise, I'm happy to draft between 80 and 110. So J.T. Romuto twice, Salvador Perez twice, and Cow Rally twice. Catcher-like relief pitcher is a position I don't invest much in, except in smaller lineup leagues where I like to get Contreras or Rushman. But the only one I have more than two shares of is Sean Murphy. In those two catcher leagues where the cracked rib has caused him to just tumble in the rankings.

He's practically free, and a lot of times I draft him, planning to stash him and getting a really discounted number one catcher for a deep roto league in the process. Yeah, it's the walking dead for me. I've got Sean Murphy on four teams, Tyler Stevenson on three. A lot of those were before the injuries occurred. My poor NL labor team, I have both Sean Murphy and Tyler Stevenson. What a disaster. Wilson Gutierrez I have on two teams. Cabert Ruiz I have on two.

teams. He's just someone in those two catcher leagues that you know is going to play. He's kind of boring, but you know, the plate appearances are going to be there for him. Yvonne Herrera, I have on two teams and Danny Jansen in two catcher leagues is someone I've been winding up with. I just think he's going to be the

race most everyday catcher and could pop 15 to 20 home runs and solid OBP guys. So yeah, Danny Jansen is someone I've been kind of waiting on and he's usually there. Catchers that I am fading. It has nothing

to do with the actual player himself. It's just a cost. I'm never going to be the first person to take a catcher. And so William Contreras is just not going to wind up on my teams. Especially when in some of these 15 teamers, he's going in the second round. It's just, I can't do it. And I just don't really go after Cal Raleigh or Shea Langelliers

because of the batting average. Scott, catcher, you are fading. I feel like I see a draft Langleyer's a lot, but that's fine. I drafted him in Tout Wars and like the rotomok we did this week. But those are the only two teams I took them. I'm not opposed to taking Will Smith, but I am kind of worried about the bruised foot

and the effect it could have on his playing time. And so I usually wait for him to go and then take J.T. Real Muto, or at least that's what I'd like to do. I'm not sure it's ever actually happened, but that's, in theory, that's what I want to do. No interest in drafting Logan O'Hoppy at cost. I think he's going to lose more playing time

to Travis Darno than people think. I think his play discipline is horrible, ironically because it was very good in the miners. I don't see as much upside in the bat to begin with and I think he's a major playing time risk. Yiner Diaz was going ahead of Adley Ruchman for most of the spring and that was bonkers and not justifiable.

So Yonar Diaz has been a fade for me and then people just got too high on Wilson Catreras. He's been going like top 70 in nearly every draft I've done and I just for all the things we like about him he's still had a ton of injuries. He's still like 34 years old. Playing not playing catcher is not just a guarantee

that he won't get hurt. And then I'm with Scott on Logan O'Hoppy, no interest there. Yeah, the Wilson Gattrayer shares that I got were just the way too early drafts that I did. I think I did one in like November and one in December where I still got him around pick 100. And now he's like a top 75 pick.

So yeah, I totally hear you. It hasn't been any recent drafts where I've been able to get Wilson Contrers. Let's wrap up by revealing some FOMO players. I mentioned I have four drafts left. I know you guys have a few drafts left. It's just four names for me that I have not drafted yet that I have to get at least on one of these teams. James Wood, Lawrence Butler, Cody Bellinger, and Robbie Ray. Lawrence Butler is going to be tough because a lot of people like him.

So we'll see if I could pull that one off. Same thing with James Wood. I mean, these are hype guys. I get it. Like Cody Bellinger, you heard us talk about him early. It's, you know, which side of the fence do you play on? For me, I'm in on Cody Bellinger. And Robbie Ray, it says, I made the comp.

It kind of feels like this year is Chris Sale. And I think he's going to have a big season if he could stay healthy. Those are good picks. I guess I should mention Bo Bichette since I said I haven't drafted him yet. Mainly it's the cost that I like for Bichet. And part of the reason I haven't drafted him yet is because in my drafts, he hasn't gone. cost. But hopefully

he does some this weekend and I have an open spot for him. Lawrence Butler, top of the list for me. And it's funny because I know I've taken him in several mock drafts,

but it hasn't happened. So we will be battling in the listener leagues. Yeah, to get Lawrence Butler as well as all the listeners because he's probably our most discussed player

this preseason. Good thing nobody knows in those drafts that you want him in one of those two drafts. Never heard of the guy. Spencer Schwellenbach. you keep getting him, Frank.

That latest spring start, and he's look good all spring, but that latest start especially, it's like, oh, this guy, this guy has, like, sneaky Cy Young upside. And I moved him up a tier, and hopefully that'll allow him to get Schwellenbach in one of the final three drafts I'm doing.

And also, surprisingly, I'm finding that I want to be, I want to have some investment in Jackson Holiday, whose strikeout rate has been much better this spring. He has, by design, been running a lot more, so I think he's going to be a better source of steals. I've moved him ahead of those kind of mid-to-lateish second-based steals targets like Bryson Stott and Andres Jimenez, because I think Holiday now has similar upside in steals

and obviously much more upside overall. And so hopefully that move in my rankings will allow me to get some Jackson holiday. I'm happy you mentioned the Shwellenbach Dark Horse Siong candidate because I did put a bet in. It's $20 to pay out around $600 for Shwellenbach to win the Siong this year.

Chris, any FOMO players for you? I have not drafted Julio Rodriguez and that feels really dumb. I feel like he is just under-hyped and kind of forgotten. I know he's a top 15 pick, but this is still one of the handful of most talented players in baseball.

And there's going to be top three pick last year. Yeah. And there's going to be a season where he doesn't get off to a slow start and just mashes the whole way through. And 4040 is a possible outcome for Julio Rodriguez. So I got to get him. I don't have any Catell which feels kind of dumb. I feel like I probably need to draft Rafael Devers at least once, just in case all of my

skepticism is wrong because we know he's a monster if he's right. I wouldn't mind getting one share of Wyatt Langford just in case my skepticism. skepticism is wrong. I think that's probably the the answers. I don't know. I don't like, I think it's the wrong way to think about it, you know?

It probably is. You know, like, no, I get it. Like, there are, like, if I'm wrong about Wyatt Langford and he's the superstar that a bunch of people think, I'm going to look really dumb for both publicly criticizing him and not having him on any of my teams. So drafting him once would at least alleviate some of that concern. but yeah, I don't know. That's probably not good process though, right?

Yeah, you get players. Yeah, totally get it. I do have Lawrence Butler in my home league. So pressure's off there. All right, Scott, you don't have to get them. I'll leave them to you in the pod. No, I'm just kidding. No, no.

I want them. I still want them, Frank. All right, well, we shall battle. Let's end the podcast with one more listener league song. Chris, I know you'll enjoy it, especially since I learned today. This is your go-to character. I did this song literally last Friday at karaoke. Here is a rendition of Oasis's Don't Look Back in Anger by listener Benji Aflolo titled

Don't Draft Pitching Early. And we're going to wrap there. Bye-bye. Terrific stuff. Bye-bye.