Fantasy Baseball Today - Rankings Debates for the Top-50 Starting Pitchers! (12/3 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

Ranking the top-50 starting pitchers has been a tough exercise (3:00). ... Let's take a look at the Top-10 starting pitchers (6:36). ... Our first disagreement comes in the form of Blake Snell (10:40). ... What's not to like about Joe Ryan (19:33)? ... Which Dylan Cease are we going to get in 2026 (25:02)? ... Framber Valdez might be undervalued based on early ADP (30:28). ... News (37:53): the Blue Jays signed pitcher Cody Ponce from the KBO. ... Pablo Lopez dealt with a lot of injuries last season (45:42). ... When will Gerrit Cole be back (48:26)? ... Ranger Suarez is an interesting free agent this offseason (52:30). ... Sandy Alcantara was so back in the second half (56:30). ... We wrap up with Trey Yesavage and Bubba Chandler (1:01:25). Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Normally, we're nice and friendly on this podcast tonight. That all changes.

Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, December 3rd. I am Frank Stamble. join by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we are revealing the biggest differences between Scott and Chris's top 50 starting pitchers. That's right. Get ready.

Of course, those rankings are subject to change here on December 3rd, so we'll try our best to get feisty. Subject to change depending on who makes the better argument. I think there will be changes during this show, but I just want to start off by saying

that Scott's a big duty head who doesn't know anything about ranking starting pitchers and, wow. You know, it just has to be said. This is the type of ferocity that I was looking for. I think you are overpromising the amount of discord that will be coming from this discussion. Because I think the honest truth is you get to a certain range at start.

and this speaks to the position's depth, a very wide range. And it's like, they're all good. Just give me whoever. Yeah, it's like, it's what do you want? Are you chasing strikeouts? Do you want upside? Do you want safety? Yeah.

And that begins about 25 in my rankings personally, like 25 to 50. I feel, I feel like it's real squishy, like one through three, four through like 15. like 16 through 25-ish and then I agree 25 like there are big tears that I don't have a lot of strong feelings about throughout the position but like I don't know because like I wrote about Gavin Williams today as I'm doing my way too early busts that are coming out on Wednesday and I read about Gavin Williams we're not going to talk about on the show later but we'll talk about him now and he's a bust for me and also I have him ranked right around ADP.

And so it's this weird thing where like, I'm probably not going to draft him at price or, you know, my basic assumption is really that Gavin Wayne Price is just going to keep rising from here as people remember what he did early in late in the season and push him back up and get really excited. But like one of the things that's tough now is like it's hard to have, it's hard to find an edge analytically in fantasy baseball. And we've talked a lot about this over the past couple of years.

where a decade ago, Gavin Williams, a 24-year-old former top prospect who throws 97 miles an hour, that guy puts up a 320 or whatever 304 ERA, whatever it ended up being, he's a top 15 starting pitcher. And now I think he's 42nd in ADP so far. And it just speaks to how much the game has changed and how much our analysis of players has changed the royal hour in this instance. But that being said, Scott is wrong about all of these players. I think to your point, too, Chris, I mean, Gavin Williams being ranked where he is in ADP, there's also just a lot of exciting pitchers in that range. There's just a lot of guys to like.

You guys mentioned 25 to 50. There's a lot of really young, exciting pitchers that you can talk yourself into in that range. It's just, which one do you want? I was looking at some guys. Like, when I went through to, you know, I have my spreadsheet. You were asking me, hey, can you send me your top 50? so I went through, made sure I felt somewhat good about the 50 that I chose and then sent it out. And I, you know, highlighted from like, I think I started at Tanner Bybee.

I went down to Tanner Bybee and moved up and I was like, yeah, it's got to be 50, right? No, Tanner Bybee was like 60 for me. And like, Jurassicson is not in my top 50. And Carlos Rodney's got the elbow surgery, but he's not inside my top 50. Kate Horton, I don't think, is in my top 50. Yeah, he's not. It's just like... Only one of those names is in mine, and I can be talked out of it.

There's a lot of really interesting, really, really fun pitchers outside of the top 15, top 20, top 50. All right, well, let's get into it for those watching on YouTube. I did make up a bunch of graphics today. I don't know why all of a sudden I'm like, hey, producer of the year, let's just make a bunch of graphics and have some fun with it. So if you are watching along, you'll be able to see all of the top 50 starting pictures for both Scott and Chris.

Obviously, I'm not going to read all of them on the podcast because that would not be great podcasting. But here we go. We'll throw up the top 10 for you guys here on the screen right now. And interestingly enough, the same top four, I mean the top three, obviously scoble, crochet, and skeins for each of you guys. But you both landed on Chris Sale as your SP4. Does that surprise you at all? Scott was surprised that I went with Sale as the fourth. But I feel like I was the first person to drop that flag back in like,

September. And for me, it didn't come down to Yamamoto, I think, is going to be the default number four. I, Yamamoto's not really in that discussion for me. Maybe I just misunderstood. Yeah. When you, because I remember coming out of the playoffs, you were like, Yamamoto's going to be four. And I was like, I think I'm sticking with sale. Oh, yeah, no, it's not. You were just gauging perception. You weren't offering your own take. Yeah, because he is in, in the early ADP. 12 spots behind Garrow Crochet and the overall ADP, and about nine spots of head of Hunter Brown, who's number five. So Yamamoto is kind of on that island right now as the SP4, at least in 80Ps.

And I don't think that makes any sense, personally. I just, I think we saw something close to the best case scenario for him in 2025, and he already wasn't the SP4. He wasn't far off. I think he has a high floor. I think he's safe, but I think the ceiling there is a hundred, 175 innings. Like I just don't think there's any way he gets above 175 innings, given that they're going to monitor his workload.

They're going to limit him to pitching every six day. I've said it a few times with the first time in his major league career and probably the first time in his life that he pitched on less than five days rest was when he pitched on zero days rest in game seven of the World Series. Who around him, though, are you confident will exceed 180 innings? I mean, certainly the first three. It depends what you're asking. That's not a debate, scuba crochet and schemes. It depends what you're asking, right? If everything goes right, I think Chris Sayles start on 180.

I think if everything goes right, Logan Gilbert started 200. If everything goes right. Right, but things can go wrong. They could for Yamamoto. Yamamoto feels like the safe pick of this. And I actually think 2025 was the season we were expected. from him all along. I don't see it as the best case scenario. In fact, I think he could reduce the walk rate and maybe end up a little better. Is he going to throw 200 innings? No. I think he could

get to 180. I mean, obviously he was a workhorse in the playoffs. Otani and the potential six-man aspect of it. And just the fact that the Dodgers like to cycle through so many pitchers during the year. It puts the odds against 180, but I think he's a very safe 170 Yamamoto and he's going to be Yeah. And he's going to be a plus in ERA whip and strikeouts. Yeah. And probably wins. I think he's good.

Yeah. I think he's good. I just, if I'm going to pay that premium for at that point in the draft, which I'm just not going to do for Yamamoto, I'd rather do it with someone with a little more upside. I'm probably not going to do it either. And I right now am leaning towards having Yamamoto ranked as my SP4,

but I do agree with you guys that SPP. 34 through about 12 or 15 feels like a tier. So why wouldn't I just wait until round three or four and grab whoever's left from that tier rather than taking Yamamoto in round two where you're most likely going to have to draft him. Actually, nine of your top 10 for those watching and you see this on the screen,

you have the same names just in different orders. The only difference here, Chris, you have Hunter Green inside your top 10 at SP10. Scott, you have Max Fried at SP9. And it's not like, you guys aren't way off. I think Chris has free just outside his top 10 and same for Scott with Hunter Green there.

So let's move on to 11 through 20 here and this this is where the action begins and the disagreements start. Blake's now. Scott has at SP 13. Chris, you have all the way down at

SP 22. We don't even see him on your side of the screen. So here's what we'll do. Set it up. You guys can go for about a minute each on you know, I guess why you're in on Chris versus why you're out. And Scott, we will start with you. Why, Snell, I think I said Snell, Snell at SP 13.

I mean, he's an ace. You just look at his numbers from the last four seasons, 276, CRA, 11.8K per nine, ace. And I understand there have been some injuries during that time. One year he won a Sa-Young, not so injured that year. So it's not like it's unavoidable. Snell's going to miss time with injury. But, you know, look at the other names around here.

Cole Regens, Hunter Green, Jacob de Grombs, Spencer Swell and Bob. I mean, they all miss time with injuries. It's not really the sort of thing I think you can count on. And Blake Snell has proven his consistency from year to year. And he's on the Dodgers. You added year to year. Okay. Yeah.

No, I mean, ultimately, that's what you want, right? Like, we could ring our hands over, oh, this month was terrible and this month was amazing. But there's no reason to have those worries anymore because we know where the final numbers end up. And they are indisputably ace like. You drop, you know, down to the back half of this 11 through 20 range. Those guys aren't aces. Like, I see no reason to put Snell behind him, a guy who can have 12K per 9 and consistently does while pitching for one of the best teams in baseball.

Like to me, that's just, that's just being way too fearful of the injury risk to take a, for sure, non-Ace and rank them ahead of a perspective and certainly on a per star basis, ace and Blake's now. So I will note that just in looking at it, I'm moving home up a couple spots already. No, no, no, no, no. No, no. Not the first picture, we're already capitulating. Come on. No, no, no, no. Hold on.

Not to 13. I'm not crazy. All right, let's do a little trivia. All right, I want you guys to guess how many times in his career Blake Snell has been a top five starting pitcher in fantasy. Well, if you're doing totals, I'm going to say twice, the two years he won the Siam. Okay, you are correct.

How many times in his career has Blake Snell been a top 15 starting pitcher in fantasy? I mean, again, you're talking about just two years where he's thrown even 130 innings, so I'm going to say twice. How many times has Blake's? Snell been a top 25 starting pitcher in fantasy? I'll say twice. How many times has he been a top 30 starting pitcher in fantasy? One of these times you're going to get us, but I'm going to say twice. You nailed it. That was a great job. Usually trivia can be really tough, but you guys really knocked that one out of the park. I'm proud of you. And famously, this is not Blake Snell's third season in the majors.

I don't know if you guys realize that, but he's had 10 seasons in the majors. He's been a top 30 starting pitcher twice. I am not saying, Chris, what is the per game average? What are we doing? What is this 2004 analysis you're doing? The thing I will point out about Blake Snow is, and I've said it many times over the years, you have to know yourself and you have to know what your willingness to take a beating is because there is going to be some stretch in every season where Blake Snell is horrible.

That's just been the case. And you can say all we care about is the final numbers. And I agree. Until it's May 17th and Blake's now has a 540 ERA, which has happened like three times in the last four seasons. And we're getting, I'm dropping Blake's now, I'm done with Blake's now, I'm dropping Blake's now, I'm dropping Blake's now, or seeing him drop in your leagues. Or as happened last year, he got hurt and missed a bunch of time and was surely dropped in at least some leagues

where you didn't have IL spots. And so it's all to say that you have to know your patience and your willingness to put up with some frustration. And if you can't do that, take him off your board. It doesn't matter if he falls to 30. Don't take him. Because if you can't handle that, and we can say,

All that matters is the final numbers. And if he gets to a 320 ERA by the end of the year, that's all that matters. But we know that's not how people actually play fantasy baseball. That's not how some play fantasy baseball. But look at the actual roster rates during those stretches where they were like, I'm going to drop snow. He's gotten. This is lowest common denominator type of stuff.

I'm just saying in 2020 or 2023, one of those seasons. He got into the 60s. Okay, one time. But here's the, like, I related. to this. Like, I will have something that's bothering me. And it's not bothering me that much. It's like something physical going on with my body that's bothering me. It's not bothering me that much. But because I don't know what's going on, I'm freaked out about it. It could be anything my imagination conjures up. So I have to see a doctor just so I have an explanation for what this thing is. And I

won't feel any better after seeing the doctor, but psychologically I'll know nothing bad that bad is happening to so I can just deal with it. It's not a big deal anymore. And so Snell, when he was collapsing in 2020, and we hadn't really seen that from him before, I think there was rightful reason for panic. But by now, I gave his numbers over the last four years, beginning in 2022.

It wasn't 2020 when he began collapsing. It was 2021. But anyway, you get the point. Like, we've seen it play out enough times that we know he eventually comes around. We know that this. uncomfortable stretch he's going through is not actually a debilitating issue that's going to completely tank his value. And I think by now we know to just navigate it. Maybe not the crazies out there, the casuals, but us who actually care about this stuff in November or December,

yeah, we're not that worried about it. All right. With that, you know, starting to get a little feisty. I like where this is headed. Let's take a break when we return. We'll argue about Joe Ryan. right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. We are here having some rankings debates way too early for 2026, taking a look at some discrepancies

between Scott and Chris's top 50 starting pitchers. And that brings us to Joe Ryan, who Chris has as his SP 14. Scott has him down at SP 26. So Chris, we'll give you the first word. You are higher on Joe Ryan. Why is that? Part of it is I want to be cognizant

about whip and protecting my whip and making sure that my high-end pitchers are not going to wreck me in whip and say what you want about Joe Ryan, but he's going to protect your whip. His worst whip over the four seasons, he's been a professional or a full-time starter. 117. There are good pitchers who 117 would be a good outcome for them. That's Joe Ryan's worst. So I think that is the main argument for him, but it's also then it's, you know, you not going to get a ton of innings probably around 170 last year was a career high 171 he got to

161 as well one year era probably going to be mid three's that's where it's been three out of the last four seasons the one year was the 451 you're going to get close to 200 strikeouts you're going to get probably a mid three's era and you're going to get a very very good whip the twins of it all worries me but it might be the red sox of it all in a couple of weeks in which case that concern is gone. So I just think he's one of the safest bets for an elite whip in baseball, a pretty good bet for 190 plus strikeouts. ERA might be a little high. I think you can overcome that. This is one that kind of just baffles me because I know I'm apart from the consensus here. I know Chris is close to the consensus. People are drafting Joe Ryan early on like a borderline ace.

14 where Chris has him. Like that is still firmly in the ace range of my starting pitcher rankings. I still have Ace. I have Jacob de Grom 14. So we're still talking about ACEs in that range. And to me, I just look at Joe Ryan's numbers. They don't look like Ace numbers to me. And like it's been pretty consistent over his career.

I think we know exactly who Joe Ryan is at this point. He's 29 years old. Chris already told you the numbers. It's going to be a 350, 360 ERA. Really good whip. Good strikeout total. Not as good as the K-per-9 rate would have you believe because he doesn't really take on that many innings.

He certainly doesn't take on an ace workload, Joe Ryan. 171 was pretty good this past year. It was the most he's ever had. It was 135 the year before, only twice as he ever exceeded 150. So he's not like a workhorse, Joe Ryan. And so the strike-out number isn't as good as the K-per-9 rate. would have you believe. Whip is great.

He's a whip specialist, fine. But that ERA is a problem because of how vulnerable he is to home runs. And so getting into good but problematic starting pitchers, pitchers with known issues that they're not going to overcome, they have no chance of being aces, that range of my starting pitcher ranking is more like 20 to 20 to 30. Jor Ryan, 26, you said. Like that, that's where those guys.

belong the Nick Povetta types the who else is in that range they're they're all just like they're strong number two options who are going to be good you set it and forget it but they have some kind of flaw that you're going to have to account for and in Joe Ryan's case it's it's the ERA it might just be semantics but what you're describing Scott I look at your rankings right now on the screen and I see Jesus Lazzardo at 16, Logan Webb at 17, Framber Valdez at 18, Freddie Peralta at 19, that's the range

for me where I start to think exactly what you just said. They all kind of have a wart. They feel more like an SP2 than an SP1 and it kind of feels to me like Joe Ryan should just be in that range of your rankings. I mean, maybe you just have him at the lower end of that I think Freddie Peralta is very similar

and if you if you wanted to if you wanted to tell me no, Joe Ryan needs to be 19th, not 26th, because I have Freddie Peralta 19th. Okay. I mean, I guess that's fine. I'd rather have Peralta because I think he's going to take on, I think he's going to take on more innings.

He's more likely to win games. He's at least shown in this past year potential to help an ERA. I don't think that's going to continue, but he's at least shown it before in a way Joe Ryan hasn't. So I give the slight edge to Freddie Peralta, but there's not a big difference between 19 and 26 for me. It's more that Chris has him 14, Joe Ryan. That's, yeah, I could move him down.

But it, so I've said it's like, I think it's 4 through 13. And then that's where I think there's the drop off. And so I have Joe Ryan there, Spencer Schwellenbach, Dylan Seas. You have a couple of those guys in different spots. But to me, that's where the next round, the next tier starts, where it's like, pick your favorite of Joe Ryan or Blake Snell or Logan Webb. Like, what warts do you want to deal with? And I think for me, I'd rather deal with some ERA uncertainty, knowing that that's a stat that fluctuates wildly from year to year anyway, more so than certainly strikeout rate or whip. So that's where that comes down to for me.

Let's move on to the next one here, Dylan Seas, who is in a similar range of your guys' rankings that we're talking about. Chris has him at SP17. Scott has him at SP25. So we're not extremely far off here. it's eight spots and it sounds like it's within the same tier. And we spoke about him last week signing with the Blue Jays. So I'll give Scott the opportunity to talk first here. Why a little bit lower on Dylan C's now with the Blue Jays?

Well, part of it is just he's extremely difficult to rank Dylan C's because you're obviously not ranking him on last year's numbers. You for sure want to draft Dylan C's. Like he has enough success in his history. Look at the big contract he signed. everybody's expecting them to be better than last year. But how much better and how confident are you? Because, you know, there have been other years just as bad as last year for Dillon C's, 20203, for instance.

So it's less about how good you think he is where you rank them than just how risk averse you are and how you perceive the relative risk reward of the players you're ranking ahead of him. So to me, this discussion, any distinction between where Chris and I have Dylan Seas is less about Cease himself, who I think will bounce back nicely. He should have a better defense behind him, right? I looked at outs above average end defensive runs, say the Blue Jays were noticeably higher than the Padres last season.

Yeah, yeah, he should have a better defense behind him. I know Bappip is, we've talked about that before with CISC. That seems like part of the source of his struggles. So I think he's going to bounce back, but I'm not 100% confident. I'm not 80% confident even. And I don't exactly know what he's bouncing back to. You know, the four pitchers I rank ahead of Dillon Cis in reverse order are Yuri Perez, Tyler, Glaston, Shohay Otani, Kyle Braddish.

I think in terms of, he might. They might make as many starts as all four of those guys. What's that? He might make as many starts as all four of those guys. Combined, you're saying? Yeah. And might have the highest ERA. And his ERA might be also combined all four.

Right. Right. So like, right. I know who those pitchers are more than I know who Dylan C's. I know at least in terms of percentages what they're going to give me next year more than I will for C's. are they're less durable than cease but I don't think other than glass now maybe

I'm not penciling them in for an I L stent already like especially Bradish I think Bradish could be a Cy Young contender next year I have Brash 19 I'm yeah you have been higher than I'm extremely excited I think all three of us are going to love Kyle Bradish I yeah I I wanted to make sure we mention that before we move on

because I started talking myself into Kyle Bradish in my breakouts earlier this week and He's so good. Boy, yeah, I think he might just be like a top five pitcher in baseball. Oh, okay. What he's done, like, I'm not going to rank him that way, but I think he has that kind of upside. He's just, he's so good. What he's done since, I mean, really, since 2023, but especially the leap he made between

20203 and 2024 that he sustained last year, I'm extremely excited about Kyle Bratch. As for Dylan C's, trust the process. I know we have the 458 ERA in 2020, followed by the 455 in 2025 and you can look at that and say ah two bad seasons out of his last three well the 458 in 2023 he earned that one he had a 411 xera his quality of contact was much worse it was the worst command he's ever had it was the worst strikeout rate i think what he is is more like what 2024 was i think it's going to be a mid three c r a he's not going to be hugely helpful in er a but i don't think he's going to hurt you like he did this year i don't think he's

going to kill your whip the way he did last year i think last year is last year is the the one where it just felt like things went wrong for him but not that he pitched especially poorly so i think we're going to see like throw a 22 out we're not getting a 220 area and you should never expect that again if he has a sub 3 a that's a huge win but what you are going to get is five straight years of 215 strikeouts nobody else in baseball ball has three years in that stretch of 215 plus strikeouts. I think the ERA is going to be helpful. I think he's going to win a bunch of games in Toronto.

He has no injury history to speak of. He's, I don't know if he's the safest starting pitcher. I don't know if such a thing exists, but if it does exist, Dillon Cs has to be that. Safest in terms of durability or something? Dereability, yes.

So there are risks for everyone. Yeah. But the one risk Dillon Cis does not have is, and especially heightened injury risk. And his ADP is on the rise in six drafts since Thanksgiving, so that's after finding out he signed with the Blue Jays. It's up to 71.7 as the SP 19, so it might be even a little bit harder for you to get your hands on Dylan C's for next season.

Next step we have for Amber Valdez, who Scott has as his SP 18 and Chris has at SP 27. Of course, still a free agent. We're not sure where he's going to be playing yet in 2026. typically very consistent. He did have a rough ending to last season here and mostly a workhorse the past, you know, four or five years. Interested to see what the difference is here.

But Scott, I'll give you the first word, why a little bit higher on Frambervaldives? I think he's the same as he's always been. I understand the ERA was his highest in four years. The whip was his highest in four years. I think just the ebb and flow of the season, he happened to finish and more of a, is the good one the ebb or the flow he was he was on he was going down the roller coaster

to to mix metaphors here yeah because i think he was in a rough two dimensional you know the curveball was not working as well we've seen you know the curveball comes and goes for valdez when it comes he's he's an ace like any other ace getting double digit strikeouts and everything but when it goes he gets knocked around a little bit and so because he was in an worse stretch when the season ended though his very last start was dominant

I'll point out so he may have already been back on that swing but anyway the ERN would finish a little higher but not like so different from the norm that I think something's changed I look at the underlying numbers I see basically the same pitcher

we've always regarded him as at least during this last four year stretch when he's been a known commodity in fantasy. We've regarded Valdez as a top 15 to 20 type. I see no reason to change that. I think he's got to rank close to Logan Webb because I think they're very similar

in terms of strengths and weaknesses. And so I have them right next to each other. Webb 17, Valdez 18th. And that's my take on that. I think that's fair. Logan Webb and Framer Valdez are very similar. I think Logan Webb is, won a better bet for strikeouts and specifically strikeout upside based on what we saw last year.

That's only been true last year. Valdez has been the better strikeout pitcher generally. Okay, yeah, because Webb's 194 was also a 200 strikeout season for Valdez. Yeah, it's been basically a push to the last three and then Webb had a big lead last year. But I- A push because Webb gets more innings, yeah. Yes. But I think that's most.

what it comes down to for me is if I'm going to chase the safe number two starting pitcher and I think that's what Webb and Dylan and Framber Valdez are. I'll go with the guy who's younger, almost exactly three years younger in Logan Webb's case. And there's just the change of scenery with Framber Valdez. I don't know how that's going to go. He is a guy who has, we saw a very prominent example of this with that weird situation with the backup catcher. You guys remember that around late summer where he pegged him in the chest.

Seemingly intentionally crossed up his catcher and Frambervades has had trouble keeping his cool on the mound, I guess is the way to say it. And that's something he's talked openly about that he's worked of sports psychologists and keeping level. And we know that works in Houston.

You know, we know that he found a happy equilibrium there. You're just injecting a little bit of uncertainty into a profile that's all about certainty. And so that mostly is what it comes down to for me. It's just he doesn't have the upside when it comes to ERA and especially WIPP. You know, I think his career best whip is right around 1-1. He doesn't have the huge strikeout rate upside. So you're kind of hoping he volumes his way. and any time, you know, one month long,

E.R. or IEL stint can kind of derail a season for a guy like that. So for me, it's just he's a safe pick who I don't know how safe he is. And so there are other guys I'd rather take the chance on. The early ADP for Valdez, 92.3 as the SP 26. Of course, you know, NFBC players typically kind of deflate ADP until a player's signed. So once we find out where Valdez is going to play, I guess is that number will probably go up. But right now the ADP is closer to where Chris is ranking Valdez.

Yeah, and I think I'm going to have a lot of Valdez because I just don't. You guys would agree that this is a downgrade for Valdez from where we're used to drafting him, right? Like that's... Yeah, I'm totally fine. I'm totally fine drafting him as an SP2. I think my problem last year is I was drafting him as an SP1, which ideally you don't want. But as a two, I think he's totally fine. Right.

Yeah. So I guess it's just, maybe it's just a big tier thing again. I think there are more, I think there are more than 12 SP2s, you know. Yeah. All right. Well, let's take our final break. Before we do so, make sure to hit that like button and subscribe for more 2026 fantasy baseball content.

Let's take that break. And we'll get to some news and notes right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's quickly run through the news and notes before we start fighting once again. And let me see if I can feel. fix this up. All right, that looks better. The Blue Jays stayed busy. They signed Cody Ponce to a

three-year, $30 million deal. And if you're wondering who Cody Ponce is, that is a very fair question. A former Major League pitcher last appeared with the Pirates back in 2021. He went over to Japan where he did not pitch very well, then spent this past season in Korea

where he was insanely good. He had a 189 ERA, a .94 whip, 12.6K per 9. He also won the KBO MVP. Are either of you interested in Cody Ponce as a deep sleeper for next season? I mean, I'm interested. That's, that's legit money that the Astros threw at him, three years, 30 million. That's not just...

Blue Jays, by the way. Yes, Blue Jays, sorry. Astros signed the other one, Ryan Weiss, who you don't have in the notes. It was pretty good in the KBO too. But we're talking about Cody Ponce, who was better, won the MVP, as you said, three years, 30 million. 17 and 1 record. You didn't mention that number. Normally we don't mention win-loss record,

but when 17-1, I think it's worth mentioning. He improved his velocity by two miles per hour. It looks like that fastball has a pretty good shape to it, capable of getting swings and misses in its own right. And even beyond that velocity increase, he developed what most people are calling kick change. I think some people are calling it a splitter, but it's a very low RPM pitch.

that just tumbles out of the zone, gets a lot of whiffs with that too. His strikeout rate Cody Ponce and the KBO is higher than any former major leaguer we've seen coming back from the KBO, including Eric Fetty, who himself was an MVP over there. And that transition hasn't gone great for Fetty,

but just... The first season back was pretty good. It was pretty good, but in a way the underlying numbers suggested, eh, he's not going to continue this. But Cody Ponce, like, the, uh,

the, you know, Saris types, the real, like, analytically heavy pitching analysts seem to be excited about him. And the Astros are pretty...

Blue Jays. Gosh. Gosh, Cody Ponce is a Blue Jay. Yeah, I think he's going to be worth a late round pick, and he could surprise there. I think he's worth a late round pick. He had a higher strikeout rate than Eric Fetty did,

during his KBO MVP season. Fettius was like 29.5%. Cody Pons was right around 36%. So that's huge. I will also point out, Cody Ponce might have been like the worst pitcher in professional baseball at any level in 2024. He made 15 starts in Japan

where the league ERA was 304. He had a 672 mark. in 22. This is only 2024. That is more than double. That is really bad. He got sent down to the miners. And look, it's just worth knowing. The level of play in Korea is if Japan is kind of AAA equivalent, you know, maybe a lower end AAA, Korea is probably double A, maybe high A. So you should not expect Cody Ponce to be a difference maker. throw a late round flyer on him, give him a couple starts, see what it looks like. I think that's perfectly fine. I'm a little more hopeful than you.

It sounds like part of the reason I'm saying late round is earliest I can go for Cody Ponce is because 80 in my starting pitchers is like Cody, Kodi, Senga, and Ries Olson. Like, it's just so deep that I can't justify making Cody Ponce more than a late rounder. But I think he's going to be fantasy viable.

I really do. Of the three. How good is hard to say, but I think it'll be viable. Of the three of us on this podcast, I probably would have guest Scott last to be making six, seven references. But here we are. He's got kids. That doesn't make sense.

Nobody's making six, seven references in your house or my house. It's happening all. I assume it's just 24-7 in Scott's house. It's burned into my brain by now. I will never not associate six-seven with that. It's just, I can't unhear it. I have never felt more, am I out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong than with this meme.

I just like, look, God bless have fun. Look, my friends and I every Friday for like three straight years were just saying whatever Dave Chappelle said on Chappelle's show for the next week. So like, who am I to criticize? At least there was. I don't get it. At least there was a basis for that. Like at least there was an internal logic to the jokes you guys were telling each other. I'm just out of touch is what I'm saying.

I'm not criticizing the kids. You can be out of touch and the children can still be wrong. In fact, children are often wrong. It is a, it is a, their brains are still developing. Exactly. Very mushy brains. Yes. I am going to quickly run through the rest of these news items.

The angel signed Alec Manoa to a one year $2 million deal. Rolling the dice has not been the same since. that amazing 2022 season. He averaged over five walks per nine in the minors last season. So, not very many expectations for Alec Manoa. As expected, Griffin Jacks,

Edwin Useta, and Garrett Clevenger are expected to be part of the raise closer by committee. That is according to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. And the Cubs are currently projecting regular playing time for one of their top prospects,

Owen Casey, in 2026. He's 23 years old, hit 22 homers with a 937 OPS in the miners last season. I think I saw that they're also looking to get Moises by Astero's regular playing time. So he, Casey, and Sayas Suzuki, and I guess others might have to be on a rotation of some kind, unless Byesteros gets some catching appearances, which I imagine he will. But yeah, it sounds like they're ready to try those guys out,

which probably means they're not going to be that active on the free agent market. And, you know, I think Casey's ready for that opportunity. I think Byesteros is ready for that opportunity. I think in fantasy, we're not going to complain about that. If I could also mention real quickly, while that may start out as a committee for the raise, I think Edwin Usaita ends up taking the reins before too long. He's the one I would be targeting in that bullpen. He was...

He's just got to avoid the slow start. Yeah. He was so bad early last year. He dropped his arm angle too much. and it messed up his fastball, but then once he fixed that mid-season, he was a bat-missing monstrosity. And remember, coming into last year, we thought he could challenge Pete Fairbanks for the role.

I think it's going to ultimately be Usset. I can't disagree, but Griffin Jacks is really, really talented as well. So I can definitely, maybe they want to use Jacks as kind of like the firemen all over the place in the biggest spot earlier in the game. But yeah, I think both are really, really good. I mean, nothing against Clevenger. He's great, too. He is a lefty, but yeah, I think it's,

Mostly Jacks and Useta heading into next season. Let's get back into some rankings debates. We have about 20 minutes left here on the show. So try and power through as many of these as we can get to. And into the top 30 starting pitchers. We are taking a look at Pablo Lopez, who Chris has at SP 26. Scott has at SP 45. So the biggest discrepancy yet, an injury-riddled season for...

I just moved him up. Injury riddled season for Pablo Lopez limited to just 14 starts, missed two weeks with a hamstring, three months with a strained right shoulder, and then ended the season on the IL with a strained forearm. Chris, you get the first word here on Pablo Lopez. Honestly, I think it's, I believe in the skills. I think he's a really good pitcher. Obviously, we never quite saw him put everything together in the way that we hoped for.

And I'll admit on this one, I have to move him down. I think I was just a little too blaze about the injuries that he's pitched through last year. I forgot, I think, about the strain forearm at the end of last season. So this is one that I'll concede. Scott's more right on this one. All right, Scott wins. That's it. No, it's good.

Yeah, I think if Pablo Lopez, if there were no health questions about Pablo Lopez, he would still be pretty decidedly second tier. He did have a 274 ERA last year, but apart from that, he's high threes, and that was obviously an abbreviated stretch where he had the low ERA last year. And it came with a reduction in strikeout rate. So there are lots of reasons to think it was just a fake thing that happened. Normally, high threes ERA for Pablo Lopez, a whip that's going to be over 1.15. Volume was really the greatest thing he had going for him, just a workhorse. Lopez, but now that's out the window after you're with a couple of arm injuries. So I have him numerically.

You said I have him, what was it, Frank? 45. 45th. So that's down there in the same range as Robbie Ray and Michael King and Ranger Suarez. Who are all really talented pitchers too? Yeah, they're all guys you'll be starting if you draft them as long as they're healthy. But they are, nobody's going to mistake any of them for an ace in all likelihood. They're probably going to be pretty middling in terms of ERA and WIP.

And there are questions about how many innings they're ultimately going to give you. So Pablo Lopez, to me, belongs among that group. Yeah, Pablo Lopez, like Joe Ryan, we mentioned this earlier, likely to be traded this offseason. So we'll be interested to see where Pablo Lopez winds up. The early ADP 136.4 as the SP 37 off the board. So honestly kind of splits the difference. I think a little bit closer to where Scott has him.

But yeah, a little bit in between there on Pablo Lopez. Next up we have Garrett Cole, who Chris has at SP 28. Scott does not have him in his top 50, and I will just say right now, the early ADP is 240 as the SP 68. So, yeah, people are pretty worried about Garrett Cole, 35 years old coming off Tommy John's surgery with the internal brace as well. He had that on March 11th of last year. the hope is he could be back in May, but, you know, armed things older, there could be setbacks,

but the hope is he's ready for May. I mean, that's the whole thing with me is you got to figure he's missing a quarter of the season. And maybe he'll be Garrett Cole after that, but a quarter of the season is a big chunk of the season. There's always a possibility of a setback and whatever else. I've gotten burned a number of times just last year with a number of different pitchers thinking, oh, their timeline says they're coming back then and then they come back two months after that, you know, and it's,

there are too many other good pitchers in the top 50 for me to rank Cole even in the top 50. Chris has them here in the top 30. Well, gosh, I definitely take Brandon Woodruff and Trevor Rogers and any of a couple dozen other pitchers over three quarters potentially of Cole coming back for major surgery.

I think this is where he's going to end up getting drafted by March. That's a bold prediction from me, but I think you look at the timetable. He had the surgery early March or early March of not last year. Okay, we usually say 12 to 14 months, so maybe you think may, but this is a veteran. This is a guy who's thrown a ton of innings who knows his own body. The last report I saw, he's already throwing off a mound. He expects to start.

he's kind of through the ramping up phase, you know, getting off a mound, and he's going to start, like, actually pitching after the new year. Sounds like the plan is he's going to start facing hitters during spring training. I think there's a chance we see him in games in spring training, and as soon as that happens. I mean, just think of Spencer Strider last year. Spencer Strider was coming back from a more recent surgery, had less of a track record than Garrett Cole, and was starting to be drafted as like a top seven.

50 pick after we saw him on the mound one time. Maybe we won't see Garrick Hall on the mound. Maybe I'm being too optimistic. I'll grant that. But you're talking about in both instances, the guy who was the number one pitcher in baseball, the year they got hurt, coming likely to be back on the mound early in the season.

There's a chance we see them on the mound in spring training. I think we're going to see a lot of helium for Garrett Cole. I am actually shocked at how low he's going right now. I think that's going to change dramatically. In the new year. I'm just more optimistic about the timetable. Sure. Yeah, a little bit.

I agree. If he's pitching in games in spring training and looks like Garrett Cole, okay, I'll move them way up. I just don't, from where I sit right now in December, spring training is obviously a long way away. I'm imagining, based on what the Yankees have already said about them, how they've already committed to not having them ready for opening day. I imagine they're going to play it a little slower with them than you're imagining.

entirely possible. And what I'm noticing here is there are a few players that I just, I've done this ranking process kind of in the dark, you know, all throughout. I have not been looking at other sources. I've only started looking at ADP recently. This is just my baseline assumption. I'm not drafting right now on this anyway.

And I wouldn't draft Garacol at 31. So it's relatively easy to move him down. There are a ton of pitchers in the top 50, top 60, top 70, who are interesting and have upside. I think it makes perfect sense to move him down. But right now, this is where I got to in my first run, just being optimistic on him. All right, let's move into SP 31 through 40,

and the first name that we have up here is Ranger Suarez, who I feel like, Chris, in years past, you were always like the, hey, let's slow our role on Ranger Suarez guy. You have him at SP 31. Scott has him down at I wrote that you don't have him in the top 50 But that's not right I think you have him in the top 50

Yeah I think it's like 47 or something like that So it's somewhere in the late 40s But 47 and I actually moved him down Because I was afraid I had him too high And here Chris comes in Rangers Wars at 31 His ADP is way higher Way lower than this right? Yeah oh yeah

His ADP is 182 as the SP 55 Again that's another track of that is He hasn't signed yet but I don't know what people are worried about I mean the past two seasons he's got a 350 ERA

and a sub 1 20 like right around a 120 whip and it's you know 8.6K per 9 he's kind of like a little bit lesser version of a Framber Valdez you're not going to get as many innings but he'll do it over like 150 160 I think he's a great value right now

yeah I love the value even if if 31's too high okay like we've said a ton of times these rankings, especially in this range, very squishy. There's not a lot separating them. But for me, the big thing was finally seeing him get through the season without falling apart, without the huge step back. We've seen good half seasons from Ranger Suarez. What we saw in 2025 for the first time was he stayed very, very productive the whole way through.

The underlying numbers were from a run prevention perspective. borderline elite 320 ERA backed up by a 315 XERA at 321 FIP. We'll see what the market looks like if he ends up settling for a one-year deal, like a pillow deal and has to do that with like an option or something, then okay, maybe the skepticism of the major league teams will tell us a different story. But from where I'm sitting, I just think he's a really good pitcher. I think the weird thing is Ranger Suarez should be a really good whip guy. and he's not.

That's the one thing that's weird about his profile is he's got phenomenal control. He doesn't issue many walks. The quality of contact metrics aren't terrible and he's been a 120 whip each of the last two years

even though Philly defense was better last year, at least on the infield. So that's the one weird thing about it. That's where I was going next. I feel like overall the Philly defense is probably pretty bad, no? Groundball guys

can struggle to keep the whip down. because just enough of those sneak through his hits relative to fly ball guys. Now, there are exceptions. Max Fried is an exception, but he is like a really good control guy. Ranger Suarez has gotten to be a pretty good control guy himself, but Max Fried's on another level as far as that goes. For me, it's just there's too much upside here to settle for a high floor, low ceiling guy like Ranger Suarez.

Ranger Suarez, he still hasn't even thrown 160 innings in a season, and you're getting a high whip with that, not an extremely high whip, but somebody who's going to hurt you and whip. Probably helping ERA, hurt and whip, give you a pretty good win total, just kind of not terrible for strikeouts. It's just, it's more like a number four, number five to me in fantasy

than a number three number four, which is more how Chris ranks them. Yeah, maybe it's sometimes, I kind of get like deep league brain. And so I think maybe in a league like that, Ranger Suarez is a little bit better just because I think he's a good bet to just outperform his ADP

and just kind of like give you excess value. Although, you know, he's not going to be a league winner or anything. But yeah, I just, I think he's a solid value where he's at right now. But I don't really disagree with anything that you guys have said about Ranger Suarez. Next up we have Sandy. Sandy.

Tell me about it. Sandy Alcantara, who Chris, Homer, has SP 33. He's not even going to be a Marlin. Scott, that's true. Scott doesn't have in his top 50. This one, I know I got it right. So first year back from Tommy John surgery, a tale of two seasons. The first half was abysmal for Sandy Alcantara.

Final 12 starts, he was back. 313 ERA, 0.99 whip. The stuff plus was much better. The location plus. The walks per nine, everything got much better over those final. 12 starts, Chris, my guess is that you just think he's closer to that pitcher we saw in the second half of the season.

Yep, and look, even when he was struggling, you know, there was a point in like July where he started to go like six, seven innings every time out. Six, sorry. And there were not going to do that every time I hear it, I promise.

Six to eight innings every time out. And even the bad starts, right? Like he had a seven-inning start where he gave up, unfortunately, six runs. Not in that order. He had another one, five innings, five earn runs. That to me was kind of the sign, though, that he had figured it out. That, like, that's what even the good years of Sandy Alcantra, you would have a few stretches like that, where he's still pitching deep into games. He just gets Babbitt to death. And

seeing him do that, I think he was more or less back to himself down the stretch. Frank, you mentioned that the final 12 starts he went 77 and two-thirds innings in those final 12 starts that is like six and two-thirds innings per start if my math is correct which it should be six and a third maybe uh 313 era the strikeout rate was back up over eight per nine uh the stuff was good all year it just he just needed to find his feel i think the lesson we should take from a lot of those guys last year don't bet on that first year back from Tommy John surgery, says the guy who ranks Garikull super high. But by the second year back. And I think that's going to be the smart thing to do with Sandy. And look, maybe you

can make the argument that, you know, given how many upside guys there are, chasing a pitcher who doesn't have, you know, the 28% strikeout rate upside, the 10, 11K per 9, maybe that's not the smartest thing to do. But he went 174 innings in his first. first year back from Tommy John's surgery. If you project improvement, you know, a 350, 360 ERA, I think, is what I would expect. You're going to see him pitch deep into a lot more games. You're going to see that strikeout rate come up. I think he's a pretty good bet for 200 strikeouts or at least 190.

200. Yeah. That's what he was doing. He did it in 2021 and 2022. He would have to throw like, like, he would have to throw 210 plus innings. He would have to lead the league in it. Or at least that's what I'm saying. I think he's going to be, he's going to be back to being that guy.

Maybe it's a 190. Under a different regime when they weren't protecting his trade value. Maybe it's a hundred 90. Yeah. Maybe it's 190 strikeouts. But I think we're going to see a big improvement in the strikeout numbers. I think he's going to be a much, much more valuable player than he was when he was, you know, pitching through something in 2023 and then coming back in 2025.

Yeah. It's another situation where we don't see the player that differently. We just value different things more because I think Sandy Alcantra basically regained his form. I don't know that he's going to be able to sustain quite those numbers during that great stretch. But I think that's closer to who he is than what his full season numbers are. That's 8K per 9. So, you know, still not a very good strikeout pitcher. but ERA help, sure, whip, innings, okay.

I'll feel a little better about him if he does get traded to a contender. Partly I'm dinging him because he's on the Marlins, and so I expect the wins to not be very good. Oh, you mean the Marlins who finished with more wins than the Braves and were alive for the playoffs in the final weekend of the season? Wow. That's exactly what I mean. That's exactly what I mean.

So I'm, it might complain. about Sandy Alcantra is not dissimilar to Ranger Suarez. He's just boring. He's just higher floor rather than higher ceiling. And there are just so many high ceiling pictures that I'd rather have before

I consider a high floor guy. All right, well, let's talk about some of those higher ceiling pictures that Scott is also higher on here. And we have the macho man, Tray you savage. Oh yeah! Scott has an SP36. Chris does not have in the top

50 and Bubba Chandler who Scott has at SP40 Chris also does not have in his top 50 so Scott tell us what you like about your Savage I mean you can just say hey you know playoff world series the guy's amazing and Bubba Chandler

and then Chris can tell us why he hates fun yeah I don't think if anything I feel like I have to talk I would feel like I have to talk people out of drafting Trey Yassavage too early because of how many headlines he generated during the postseason and down the stretch in the regular season.

That splitter is crazy good. His strikeout numbers in the miners were insane. I do think people remember all the good starts for you, Savage, and miss some of the bad starts that came in between. But I also expect him to make strides in his second go at the majors and shore up a lot of those inconsistencies that made for the on and off pattern. And if that happens, the upside we know is monstrous, particularly for strikeouts. So I think if you want to have any shares in you Savage, you have to rank them about this high.

And I want to have some shares in you Savage. And then Bubba Chandler, who obviously took us on a roller coaster ride going from being the most stash prospect at the start of the season to not being called up until August 22nd because things got so rocky firm at AAA. And they started out kind of rocky in the majors too, but by the time they moved him into the rotation, his final three of four starts,

the first star was terrible. But the final three starts, he'd allow just two runs on seven hits with no walks and 19-strikes. cuts in 16 and 2 thirds innings. I will say that again. Seven hits, no walks, one hit by pitch. So eight base runners in 16 and two thirds innings.

He had a whip below 0.5 in those final three starts with all the strike up upside you could hope for. So I think Bubba Chandler showed us what he's made of in those final three starts. I think he'll already have a spot in the Pirates rotation locked up. and I'm despite the rough minor league showing I am convinced again of the upside and I want to buy into that upside

and I don't think you can wait much later than 40 to have a chance of buying into that upside. Chris? So one thing I will say is if the logic is that you want to rank him so that you draft him, you can go ahead and move these guys down. At least based on where they're going right now.

Bubba Chandler's around God, they mix in these releases. I have it. I have it. It's Bubba Chandler is SP 51. Scott has a met SP 40. Trey Yassavage is SP 43. Scott has him at SP 36. Okay, so you savvy. You probably need to leave there. But Chandler, there's a little bit of wigger worm. I think with you Savage, it's just going to come down to there are so many of those awesome rookie slash second year pitchers. I think Nolan McLean, did he lose rookie eligibility? I think he just hit got under. He is a rookie. Mizirowski's over, Schlittler's over,

but Bubba Chandler, Trey, Savage are both under. But all those guys, you know, this really exciting group, Chase Burns, I think is ahead of those guys, but you could throw him in there as well. There are so many of them. We both rank... Chase Burns.

We both rank Chase Burns ahead. That's not the consensus, but we both rank Burns several spots ahead of the others. Yeah. In Yassavage's case, I just as talented as he is, as fun as he is,

as weird as he is. And I'm increasingly of the opinion that weird is a compliment when it comes to pitchers. Oh yeah. Absolutely. There's just nobody who pitches like Trey is Savage.

Way up there with that armaged. Yeah. There's like one other pitcher who's, I'm blanking on the name. I think it was... John Tongue, kind of. That's probably not really.

Yeah, a little bit, but I don't think the stuff's quite as good. Although, Jonah Tong was just as good as him in the minor. Yeah, it might be. It might be. I don't know if we can write that off despite how much he struggled. With a lot of these guys, though, I have concerns about workload or innings or in Cam Schultz's case.

Some real injury concerns that are going to scare me off of them. But in your Savage's case, it's just what's the inning ceiling here? Is it 150? Yeah, probably, at least that. He only threw 112 this season if we don't count the playoffs. Yeah, he could get to 150 easily. And what we should count the playoffs. Yeah, we should. So that's an extra 27 and two-thirds. So, yeah, he was up around like 140.

Yeah, 140-ish. Okay, yeah, if you think 150 is not the ceiling, then I think ranking him as a top 40 pitcher makes sense. I think he can get like 160, 170. You know, Savage. And if you have more to say, go ahead and I can jump in with it. But I feel like what I'm sensing here with Ranger Swars, with Sandy Alcantra, and with you being lower on these guys, it sounds like for workload reasons is the main reason you're lower on the young guys than I am. And volatility in general, yeah. Fair enough.

But that that plays into the same point. I am approaching this as if I can get decent pitchers off the waiver wire still. if things go wrong. And you're approaching it, correct me if I'm wrong, you're approaching it more as I can't get serviceable starting pitchers off the waiver wire if things go wrong. I think, I would say it's more, what's the right way to put this? I think there are so many guys with upside that I don't feel a need to push for upside.

I think there's going to be upside everywhere, you know, at every part in the draft. So do I really feel the need to like, I don't know if I specifically need to have X guy or Y guy. I would be worried that if I invested in a non-upside guy like Ranger Suarez, I mean, you can't just draft pitchers endlessly. Like, sure. You have these opportunities in the draft to jump in and grab a pitcher. And by the time I look to pitcher again, the upside guys are gone. And it's like, shoot, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, wish I'd taken one of them instead of settling for Ranger Suarez.

That's fair. I just, I'm looking at ADP right now. And I think Edward Cabrera's got a decent amount of upside the way he pitched last year. And he's like SP 60. I mean, Connolly Early has a ton of upside. Chris Bubich has a ton of upside. You could say McKenzie Gore has a ton of upside. I think McKenzie Gore does have a ton of upside.

Technically speaking, but like they've, there's enough of a track record with Edward Cabrera and McKenzie Gore that you don't expect the upside. I think it's reasonable to expect the upside from Yesavich and Chandler, given the caliber of prospect they were, given how dominant they were in the small sample we saw them. It doesn't mean it'll work out. That's how it goes for rookie pitchers. They're inherently volatile.

But I think it's foolhardy, if I may say so, to expect the upside from McKinsey Gore or Edward Cabrera at this point, given how many times they've fallen short of that in the past already. I did just want to wrap it up by letting everyone know how you guys rank this group of hype pitchers because I think there is going to be a lot of discussion about them leading into next season. So for Chris, you have Chase Burns up at the top. For both of you guys, it's Chase Burns at the top. Chris has Sheehan followed Emmett Sheehan, then Nolan McLean, Jacob Mizierowski,

Cam Schlittler, and then I assume it's you, Savage, and Chandler in that order, Chris. I think I'd go Chandler over your Savage. Okay. And then for Scott, it's Chase Burns. Nolan McLean, Trey I Savage, Cam Schlittler, Bubba Chandler, Jacob Mizirowski, and Emmett Sheehan. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today.

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