Fantasy Baseball Today - Roto 101 Extravaganza! (05/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 13, 2020

Today we're dedicating the show to the rotisserie format but first, Adam reveals our special guest for Thursday! We know Carlos Santana is Mr. H2H but which players gain the most value in the Roto format (4:00)? Stolen bases seem to be a common trait. ... Introducing Roto 101 (13:51). What are the categories? How does the scoring work? ... What do the rosters look like in a Roto league (17:15)? Should we play with two catchers? Do elite catchers like JT Realmuto and Gary Sanchez gain or lose value in this format? ... What is your typical Roto draft strategy and has it changed in 2020 (23:42)? Scott reveals what he's doing differently this season. How does Frank like to attack hitters in this format? ... Pocket Aces (Adam Aizer) is known for his world famous pitching strategy known as TAP-HAP-AMC (34:40). What is it? ... We've heard about punting in H2H category leagues but can you punt in Roto (42:36)? If you do punt, where do you need to finish in the other categories? ... What should you be targeting in each category for an 80-game season (52:00)? Last but not least, a quick prospect dive on Sherten Apostel (1:01:00). ... Email us at [e-mail]. 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Happy Hump Day, everybody. Welcome to Fantasy Baseball today. Wednesday, May 13th, Frank Stamphill, here with. I was excited because I thought we were going to have an entire week of the full team together. But, alas, we're here with Pocket Aces and Scotty Dobs. Adam Azer. What's going on, buddy? Well, you forgot I'm not going to be on the show tomorrow.

You're kicking me off for a special guest. So even if Chris had been on the show today, although Chris is not going to be on tomorrow, right? So yeah, you could join us. So maybe I can come back on for the special guest. You know, the special guest is somebody that I have a pretty good on-air chemistry with. I've had some good segments. So I would like to be part of that show. Adam may need to sit in the host seat again.

Maybe Frank should sit this one out. I don't know. When he and I finally met in person for the first time, because we had always done these, I was in Connecticut, he was in Florida. When we had finally met in the, it's like our eyes lit up.

We had this moment like, oh, it's so good to finally meet you, former Marlins president, David Samson, who's coming on the show tomorrow. There you go. The special. guest is revealed. He'll be on the show tomorrow to talk about he wrote what his proposal would look like for Major League Baseball. So we'll have him on. We'll talk about whether or not he thinks

baseball is going to happen this season at all. So we'll get his thoughts from someone who used to be part of the game. Scott White is also here. What's going on? Scott, what can you tell me about shirt and apostol? Oh, we're going to jump right into Shurton Apostle. We're going to say it for later on, but I just wanted to give you a little. That's a difficult name to say. It is, really a shirt and Apostle. The Apostle Sherton. Yes. Yeah, no, I think I'm going to have to resist the urge when David Samson is on

to just ask him survivor questions because, yeah, that's something I'm really into. And he was voted out first the season he was on, which must have been awfully embarrassing for him. As someone who was watching the show,

of course, before I knew David Samson probably deserved to be voted out first I'll say I'll say I'll say least based on the edit I'm gonna tell him you said that Scott yeah I'd I'd rather you not lead with it lead with that I'm gonna have to hit the the Wikipedia page for David Samson because I have not watched any of the survivor and I had no idea he's a movie buff it's the season he was in was is probably on the Mount Rushmore of survivor seasons. How many survivor seasons are there, five?

40. I've got some catching up to do. Ford? Holy cow. Okay. They've been doing two a year. Today on the show, we are going to, it's basically a roto special today,

a roto extravaganza because we've done these general strategy discussions. The past couple of Wednesdays, we talked about head to head points. We've talked about some in-season management, how to make trades, some auctions. I wanted to talk about Roto today and some of the difference between Roto and head-to-head points. So we'll talk about that for a large majority of the show.

You heard the name, Shurtun Apostle. That is a prospect that we will evaluate later on. That came via an Apple podcast review from Baseball Crazy 3. Continue to send those in. If you have a prospect, you want us to talk about and evaluate, we will do that here on the show. Leave us a five-star review on Apple, and we will get to your prospect emails later on in the show,

Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. I wanted to start with this, guys. Who is the player that gains the most in Roto versus head-to-head points? Basically, the anti-Carlozantana. Can we all agree that Carlos Santana is probably the face, the player that gains the most from head-to-head points versus Roto? Is that fair to say? Yes.

Yep. Yes. I've been saying that for years, Frank. Years. So basically, what's the opposite of that? Who is the nemesis of Carlos Santana? This is the easiest. I'll let Scott answer.

He looks like he's thinking. You shouldn't be thinking that hard. It's so easy. Well, I had for years said Starling Marte. Is that who you were thinking? No, but it's a good guess. But him on steroids. That had been my example for a long time.

But he has, you know, he has gained power in recent years. and lost speed. And so it's kind of, it's kind of normalized. He's still more valuable in Roto because anybody who steals bases is, but not, not to the degree he once was.

I guess now it would probably be at Alberto Mondesie. Ding, ding, ding, ding. Yeah. Or Malik Smith. His plate discipline. Well, but Mondesie's plate discipline is so bad. Like, yeah, yeah, Malick Smith has late round,

you know, appeal in Roto, but, and none in points. Mondisi has early round appeal in Roto, Roto and basically not in points. Like he has to basically hit his best case scenario for him to be good in points because his plate discipline is so bad and he's such a category specialist. But if he does what he did at the beginning of the year, I don't remember how many games it was, but then he'll be good in both formats and he'll basically be one of the

five most valuable players in Roto, Alberto Monashie. But that, you know, he'd have to really hit. At Alberto Monashy last year, nine home runs, 62 RBI, 43 steals and only 102. games hit 263, a 4% walk rate with a 291 OBP. His career OBP is 282 across 943 played appearances. So definitely a name there that makes sense. Jonathan VR, I think, is another one that just comes to mind. I remember in the head-to-head points Tout Wars auction that I was a part of, he went for single-digit dollars in a head-to-head points auction, whereas, you know, in a Roto League, he's probably going to go for over $20.

I'm sorry. Who was the name? I missed it. Jonathan VR. Okay. Okay. And how deep is, I'm not sure the Tout Wars version of head-to-head points.

How deep is it? So it is 12 teams, but the roster construction more so resembles a Roto League. So there's a corner infielder, there's two catchers, there's five outfielders, and they're just nine pitchers.

So the roster really is like Roto, but the auction and everything else, the point scoring system is for head to head points. And you're auctioning bench players too, or is that a reserve draft? We did a reserve draft. Yeah, okay. John, you all went like seven bucks in that? Yeah.

I feel like he's, well, I'm kind of torn on this. If he's who he was last year, like exactly who he was last year, he's being undervalued in points leagues. And that tends to happen to base dealers because you just get in your head that they're better. for Roto and it it becomes their they're only for Roto for some reason that's what the message you tell yourself is it um but you know looking at what he actually did last year had to head points per game VR was in between Kestan Hira and Mike Mustakis who's the head of Whitmerfield Cabin Bigeo you know he was certainly a must-star player but you know the the still kind of low end though right yeah three point two fantasy points per game it's not terrible

It's somebody who would be started. Yeah. I'm sure, especially when you consider he's multi-eligible and he'll probably be triple eligible before this year is done getting outfield as well. I mean, they talk some about him playing third base. Maybe he'll be quadruple eligible. So that version of VR would have a place to play

for somebody in a 12-team points league. Is he a stud? No. But he, you know, he deserves to be drafted as a starter for somebody. the other side of the coin is will he be that guy again and he has to regress some right like 24 home runs he was hitting in camden in baltimore now he's in mi in marlins park so you have to imagine some of the home runs come down um the runs 111 i mean you would have to say that that will definitely come down but baltimore wasn't a great line of people no no they were not uh the walk rate's solid better than monosy for sure 8% um best plate discipline in

in terms of strikeouts since 2015. Do we know where they're going to bat him in the order? Because he didn't run much when he batted third. He had only eight games there, but he did not attempt one steal last year. And I could see him being one of the better hitters on the Marlins. Do we know where they're going to bat him? I was assuming leadoff. I don't think they have another candidate to lead off.

That's why. Well, I mean, I guess they could. So roster resource has VR betting leadoff, Dickerson batting. third. I suppose you could flip the two, but my perception of Don Mattingly is he'll go the more traditional route and have VR bat lead off. I'm not, I mean, if we could find a spring lineup, that would probably give us some insight. I'll see if I can find it. I don't want to derail us too much. And quick side note, a few weeks ago, ESPN wrote a story about Don Mattingley's age. It was one of the most interesting baseball articles I have ever read.

It was unbelievable. His age for a while, nobody knew how old he was. He said he was a different age than the Yankees said he was, during his playing career. And I encourage everyone to Google it and read it. Sorry, Frank. No, that's perfectly, that's incredibly random. Oh, my God.

It was all about his baseball cards. And one of them said, his age is actually this, and the mystery behind it. The mystery behind Donnie baseball. The last name I will mention, It's really a trio of short stops here in Starling Marte. Tim Anderson was the shortstop 19 in head-to-head points last year, a cumulative points, and he was the 11th best shortstop in Roto.

A 3% walk rate is going to do that for Tim Anderson. So he's another one. I like him in Roto, but in head-to-head points, I tend to look the other way just because of the lack of plate discipline there and the lack of walks, really, for Tim Anderson. Some news and notes. Will Myers had a new approach at the plate during. spring training. I don't remember reading about this, but it was interesting to read about it now. It was a small sample, but it was paying off. He was batting 300 with a team high three home runs.

You want to talk about the universal DH. I think Will Myers is another one who benefits from that in the National League. He was striking out just 18% of the time in the spring small sample. That number was a career high 34% in 2019. So that's Will Myers. Corey Brock of the athletic reports the Mariners' top prospects Jared Kalenick and Julio Rodriguez are not expected to debut in 2020 even with expanded rosters. That's pretty much expected, right, Scott? That was my expectation. I'm sure you could have found other analysts there who, at least for Jared Kalenik, where they were hopeful he would wind up on the opening day roster. And there still doesn't seem to be consensus over how much the rosters are being expanded. My assumption is to about 30.

with the taxi squad of about 20. But, you know, there's not a lot of clarity there yet. It seems like most of the talk is, you know, hammering out financial details right now. So there's still a lot up in the air. And because of that, you know, now still isn't a great time to draft. The same cannot be said for Dylan Carlson, who, according to Mark Saxon of the Athletic,

is expected to debut as a result. of roster expansion. That was something that we were expecting. Just nice to see confirmation from a Cardinals beatwriter there. So Dylan Carlson, someone we spoke a lot about yesterday, him versus Austin Riley, someone that we're excited about, Dylan Carlson, for this upcoming season. All right, we're going to jump into Roto 101 general strategy discussion. What do you need to compete in a Roto league in this short and season?

What are you going to need in each category to compete in an 80 game season? And so we'll talk about all that. We'll do it next after this quick break. All right. So the age old question, what is roto? What is five by five? Roto, short for rotisserie, because I don't really know. You know.

They ate at a chicken place. Yeah, yeah. The guys who started it, they met at a rotisserie chicken shop to talk shop, I guess. I was wondering if there was something a little bit more, you know, a deeper explanation. No. No, you... You'd hope so, but no. I guess the name just stuck.

It was the rotisserie baseball league, and it became attached permanently to the scoring format that they used. I guess it made sense in my mind because, like a rotissory chicken is something that's being spun around. I don't have to make something out of this where there's nothing, but it's like it's a slow, like the rotisserie format plays out slowly. Like it's not cooked quickly. the way a head-to-head league is, something like that.

A slow burn. Scott gets it. So when you hear Rodo or five by five, this is the format we're talking about. Five by five usually represents there are five offensive categories and five pitching categories. The offensive categories that we use are batting average typically. Batting average, home runs, run scored, RBI, and stolen bases.

And the pitching categories are ERA, whip, wins, saves, and strikeouts. There have been more people in recent years that have been opting for OBP over a batting average. There have been saves plus holds instead of just saves. There have been quality starts instead of wins. But the traditional five by five is the categories that I just mentioned. Scott, what is the best way to describe how the scoring works in a roto league? Gosh. I'm going to let Adam take this because I know he can do it more succinctly than I can,

because we've done this enough that I just know that. If there are 12 teams in the league and you have five hitting categories, let's say home runs. Well, if you finish first among all the fantasy managers in the league and home runs, you are awarded 12 points. If you finish last, you are awarded one point and everywhere in between. If you finish third in RBI's, you get 10 points for that. If you finish third to last, you get three points for that.

So however well you do relative to the rest of your league in each. category you are awarded corresponding points one through 12 or one through however many teams are in your league and there you go. That was great. Thank you. You're right, Scott. That was succinct and that's exactly what I was looking for. That's why he's the best. That's why Pocket Aces is here, the Roto Specialist. I also had a really funny joke about the rotisserie chicken thing that I never got to make. All right, Will. He said it was slow, was turning and all that. And I said, yes, they were choosing between either the rotissory baseball league or the hot dog. at 7-11 baseball league.

You know, that's like spinning on the rack. Right, right. I'm not sure. More so the thing. I think the moment passed, Adam. I think the moment passed, and you probably should have just pocketed that like you pocket your aces.

Pocket aces. Okay, okay. I was thinking more of the tequitos in 7-Eleven rather than the hot dogs, but I guess you could go with either one. Big fan of the tequitos, by the way. It's a free plug there for 7-Eleven. The rosters, the biggest difference. What is the difference?

We've talked about this a lot. In a head-to-head points league, you have one of each infield position catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop. Only three outfielers, one utility. In a roto league, you have two catchers, the same infield, first base, second base, third base shortstop, but a corner infielder, which can be a first baseman or third baseman,

a middle infielder, a second base or shortstop, five starting outfielers and a utility bat. And on the pitching side of things, you just have nine pitcher slots in roto. You can fill those out however you want to. It could be six starting pitchers. Three relief pitchers, it seems like that's the direction

that many people like to go in. It could be five and four. It could be seven and two. You can go all starting pitchers if you want, but then you're going to leave yourself behind and saves. And in a head-to-head points league, you start five starting pitchers and two relief pitchers, which can be sparse or closers.

I don't know how many people actually play in two catcher leagues. That's the only thing I'll say. And obviously, you can do whatever you want with your rosters. But having hosted this podcast for so long and reading all the emails that we get and the tweets, I get so few about two catcher leagues. And they really don't make any sense to me. It's just I know.

I'll tell you why they make sense. Why don't we play two tight end leagues? I just like, I know I've been on sort of a mission to eliminate them. It's been a half-hearted one. I know that a lot of people in the fantasy football circle are trying to eliminate kicker. But having one kicker makes so much more sense to me than having two catchers.

I don't like it. There's really nothing redeeming about it. In leagues where there's just one catcher spot to fill, you go so deep, you go, you hardly, I'm having trouble talking. It's a good thing I let you explain that. You don't go deep enough into the catcher position. And it makes it so that it's easy to fill that position off the waver wire,

too easy. You hardly have to invest anything in a one catcher league in a catcher because you know somebody's going to emerge and nobody's going, nobody who's already satisfied with their catcher is going to need him. Nobody's going to have any other reason to pick him up because you don't play a catcher in a utility spot. Catchers only are only started a catcher,

and it makes it so just not that many are needed unless you force that many to be needed. Ideally, maybe like a 1.5 catcher league, would be the right depth to balance it out with the other positions. But of course, that's impossible. What's half of a Kurt Suzuki? What's that? What's half of a Kurt Suzuki?

Exactly. But I don't agree. I mean, a guy like Kurt Suzuki in a one-catcher league would never even break the radar. You'd go and look at the waiver wire and all the best players would be catchers. And they'd be like, this is- No, that's never the case. We play in one-catchers, you know, because I play in two-catcher leagues. No, but I'm saying, you know, in the points leagues we play in or in the

Roto two catcher league or the Roto one catcher league that I've played in. It's never the case where the catchers are the best. All right, let me ask you this, Adam. What happens, unless you're investing in a high-end catcher, you're going for Sanchez or Real Muto, you know, any of those guys, maybe even pay up for like a Will Smith. But if you don't get one of the truly high-end types, what are you doing?

You're waiting until the very end of the draft to take a catcher in a one-catcher league because you know you're going to be able to fill that spot competently. No, I think you're going to be able to fill that spot crappily. I'm serious. And it's, look at all the catchers who emerged off waiver wires last year. Omar Narvaez,

Christian Vasquez. Like, if you didn't end up with a competent starting catcher, you just weren't trying very hard because they were easy to find. I mean, I guess so. But historically, you know, last year was always just like, offense was up and everybody was great. But historically, it's a really bad position. And rostering two of them is rostering two

really bad players. And the worst part, in some cases, and the worst part about it, Scott, is that two-catcher leagues devalue Gary Sanchez and JT. Rayam-Muto. And I think they take the strategy away from the catcher position. Because they make it, for me, I basically punt catcher every time I do a two-catcher league. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I shouldn't. But if we're talking two catchers, five outfielers and a quarter infielder and a middle infielder, so many hitter spots, the catchers just don't do enough. They don't play enough games. So I think it actually makes guys like Sanchez and Rayamuto and all those guys, all the good ones, less valuable.

And therefore, there's almost no strategy. And I know, Scott, I know you, every two catcher league, basically you wait on catcher. You have no regard for that position in two catcher league, whereas there's some strategy in it into one catcher league. I would disagree with that point that they get devalued, though, in a two catcher league, because Gary Sanchez and Real Muto are so much better than, you know, if you wait and you wind up with a Jason Castro or a Kurt Suzuki. they give you so much of an advantage at that position that I think it actually makes them more valuable. I'm not someone who typically drafts them because, again, like you said, I mean, there are players at other positions that give you more stats and more played appearances than a catcher will.

But just in general, I think that in a two-catcher league, those guys are become more valuable because they're so much better than the backups at their position. Scott and I don't agree on that. We've been sort of had, but I know a lot of people do agree. Yeah, a lot of people do. A lot of people do. A lot of smart people do. You know, when I'm drafting with, you know,

I do all these experts drafts. They want to know if it's a two-catcher league because they're going to reach earlier for catchers if it is. I don't agree with that. I mean, especially since a two-catcher league, there's so many other lineup spots to fill. It's more about just what's the higher priority for me and rarely is a catcher.

Exactly. But, you know, I think we don't want to make this a two-catcher show, obviously. I'll just say that I think about 35 to 40% of leagues on CBS Sports.com or two catcher leagues. At least a third of leagues or two catcher leagues. Obviously not the head-to-head leagues. So that's about half right there. And then there are some roto leagues that are probably just one catcher. But it's still a reasonable number of people playing in two catcher leagues.

But it is a big part of strategy, though. I hope it was a relevant discussion in terms of how to draft them in a two-catchel league. Well, speaking of which, that kind of leads us to our next point. Is draft strategy in a Roto League? I mean, how do things change in terms of your overall strategy heading into a draft in a Roto League versus a head-to-head points league? You know, what are you trying to do? What are you trying to accomplish in a Roto League?

I mean, what is your general draft strategy, Scott, when it comes to this format? generally or for this year because this year I can make this year I can sum it up much easier than maybe in past years. I wrote an article way back in February at the start of what seemed to be

draft prep season a stolen base isn't high in starting pitchers are the only things that matter anymore. Now obviously if you're talking specifically a roto league that's true if you're talking a point League, then stolen bases don't even matter anymore. It's really just I am starting pitchers.

But roto league, those are the things I'm focused on getting because those are the the scarcest commodities, the ones that are going to set your team apart most. And since

this is a rotos specific discussion, stolen bases is what I want to emphasize most. There is a hunger for stolen bases unlike I've ever seen before. Home runs are so plentiful. Stolen bases are so scarce. And the few guys who are capable of providing them in a number that, in a quantity that matters in a way that's reliable,

they are, they are overvalued. They're not because that's what the format requires. And yet it feels like they're overvalued because your perception of what makes a play, are good says this guy isn't good enough to go this early, and yet I need the stolen bases. So you kind of just have to hold your nose and do it unless you're punting on stolen bases. And I hate it. I hate it, but that's where we've come with the way the game has evolved and the way Rota works weighing each of those, weighing your placement in each of those categories equally, even though those categories obviously aren't equal in terms of what they mean for.

for the real game. Are you talking, when you say those categories, you're talking about steals and what? I'm talking about the five hitting categories. They're all weighed equally, even though, you know, a home run is not as valuable as a stolen base in terms of what makes a player good.

But stolen bases, your finish and stolen bases is just as valuable to your roto team as your finish in home runs. So if there are a small number of players who can contribute to that category, then they're all going to get pushed up in the draft and you're just going to have to go along with it

or else punt basically, which, you know, I think there's a valid case to make for it. I'm generally not one to do it, but if there is a category you're going to punt on just because of the amount of resources it takes to fill it, I think stolen bases would be the one. Adam, generally I like to, in my drafts, early on,

And I guess in the middle rounds, I try to grab as many hitters that can help me across the board as I possibly can, chip away at steals. You know, maybe not bank on those 30, 40 steel guys and really focus on 10 to 15, keep chipping away, keep chipping away. And then later on in the draft, you target those specific category contributors, guys that, okay, if you can find a Malick Smith late, his ADP is 174.8, he's going to give you 40 plus steals. Or like a Chris Davis with a K who's going outside the top 160, 170, and his head. he'll give you hopefully 35 plus home runs. You can find those specific category contributors late. Typically early on in my drafts, I try to get hitters that are going to contribute

in as many categories as possible. That's a really good plan. It's harder to do now, I think. Yeah, I mean, that's why those players go as early as they do, the Lindorz, Fernando Tatis. Yeah, like, how would you do it? Give me your first four picks, if you're thinking along those lines of more balanced guys.

Yes, because it has to start in round one, right? Who's your first pick? Or maybe it doesn't. For me, it's Ronald Acuna. It would be the first pick in Roto. All right. Well, let's say you have a pick in the middle of the round. I would take, like, Mookiee Betts, I think.

Okay. Mookie bets in the first round, for Nano Tatis in the second round, someone who's expected to contribute, or someone like Jose Ramirez, I think, makes sense there. In the third round, Javier Baez, someone we've talked about, contribute a little bit across the board. fourth round Austin Meadows, someone like that who can just contribute

across, and that's basically what I would try to do. And that's not how I would plan out my entire draft, because I'm going to work in some pitchers there too, but those are typically the hitters I like to target early and then all right, figure out later on in the draft, okay, I'm a little bit light here in steals, let me target him, Alex Smith, I'm a little bit light

here in home runs, let me target a Chris Davis with a K. I think if you're going to reach for steals, if you're going to get a guy like Mondesi or VR or something, and I don't think you have to do this this year, but I wouldn't do it in the first two rounds. I would make sure I have two hitters that I feel really confident in as hitters. Last year, I think it was, I really was sweating the decision,

Trey Turner versus Nolan Aronado in a Roto league. They're so different. And I went with Aeronado, and actually this was two years ago, I'm sorry. And I made the right call because, you know, like Turner steals are great, but I think he got hurt and, you know, Aronado is just a much better hitter. And there are other ways to get your steals. So while Steel's guys have to be pushed up in ADP,

and I understand reaching for them, you have to feel really confident in them as a hitter if you're going to take them in one of the first two rounds. So, you know, this year... Why would you not feel confident in Trey Turner at this point? I do now. Okay. I think I have kind of the opposite opinion here,

because stolen bases are the value of them has been inflated so much, the only base Steelers who are probably worth their draft position are the ones going in the early rounds. Others are basically being drafted where they are just for the stolen bases. But I'm saying the first two rounds. I'm saying don't pass up established hitters for Steel Specialists, but I don't think you have to. The only one that comes to mind is Turner,

but I consider him a pretty established hitter at this point. 21, I don't know if somebody can verify this for me, I think it's right, but 21 guys stole 20 or more bases last year. Six of them go in the first two rounds right now. But they're all good hitters, right? Exactly. Which is why I'm saying, better to get your stolen bases in a guy you like as a hitter anyway, from a guy you like as a hitter anyway, then have to reach for them just for the stolen bases. Especially at a time when the kind of hitters you can get in the middle rounds,

sometimes even into the later rounds, I mean, they can be pretty high in themselves just because of the way home runs are so widely distributed right now. So the only example that I really think applies here, honestly, is Trout versus Acuna, or even Trout and Yelich versus Acuna. And I will take Trout and Yelich over Ronald Acuna. because just like we've seen in the past young hitters, sometimes they have disappointing seasons. I mean, there's almost no chance in hell Mike Trout and Christian Yelich are having

bad years at the plate. Acuna's not going to be bad, but I could see him hitting so much worse than Trout and Yelich. She basically did last year. I mean, Chowd and Yolish were much better hitters than Akunia. Or I'm going to take those guys over Akunia, even though I expect a lot more steals from Akuna. Yeah, and I was there at first, but then when push came to of and just having done a few rotomog drafts and finding out how hard it is to get the stolen

bases I need, how I have to do things I'm really uncomfortable with to make it happen. And because I'm uncomfortable with it, sometimes it just doesn't happen. Having done that a few times, I realized, I just got to go with the Kunya number one. It's such a relief to get those steals locked up early from a hitter you trust anyway. I thought about how to me last year. My favorite second round pick right now is Jose Ramirez, because, I mean, unless you just don't think he righted himself last year, I do, I think most people seem to, obviously, based on his ADP,

that's a guy who largely because of his bat was going third overall last year, and now he's available in round two. You can pencil him in for 30 plus steals. If you can combine him with somebody like a mooky bets. No, you can't. Well, all right, maybe you can. If you combine him with Trey Turner, your steals needs are basically met at that point.

Yeah, it's a great. I like those guys. I just don't want to, I think I was making a point that didn't really need to be made because I don't think anybody's reaching for bad hitters that are steel specialists in the first two rounds. I do think that begins maybe as early as round three. And I wouldn't personally do it.

because, Frank, I think people try to win steals. They make picks like, I got to get a bunch of six. You don't have to win steals. Like finish eighth. Finish sixth and steals. You know, that's not the same as punting. Don't forsake the rest of your lineup or your pitching step. No, it's a really good point.

I just wanted to add on Ronald Acuna, 37 steals last year. So he does give you that advantage versus someone like Trout or Yelich. And the difference between him and you brought up Altuve, Adam, is he's 22 years old. So, yeah. He does have youth on his side. I think we all expect them to continue to run.

And for what it's worth, he had a 518 slug last year, Akuna. His expected slug was 572, which, I mean, it's a simple stat, but how much better can he actually get? I don't know that he could be the best of Ronald. The main thing that separate Trout and Yelich from him is plate discipline. Yeah, please. I feel like, which, you know, batting average kind of relates to that. But mainly it's plate discipline,

and that's not really rewarded in a standard 5-by-5 league anyway. No, but it does give you a little bit of. a safer profile, I think. Yeah. No, I get that Trout is safer than Acuna, but I don't really have doubts about whether Akunia is going to be good, not at this point. Entering last year, yeah, I had some,

but he's certainly, he's proven himself twice over now. Frank, I'd like to talk about my pitching strategy if you... Yeah, go ahead. Would indulge me. Tap happy AMC. I put this sort of to use. If I could give you this pitching staff from our auction league,

Tapap AMC, and this is something I learned last year's second half of the season in our Roto League that we play in every year. Memorial Magazine was not having a great year, but I did much better in the second half because I decided to stop with my, I've got to have six starting pitchers and three closers garbage and just get some better middle relievers in there and get better ratios. And not all middle relievers. Like I had, I know I had Gialito last year in the second half. I think I had one more really good pitcher, but basically TAPHAP AMC is, and you can do this if you have a late first round pick or if you're in auction. Two of your two of my top six, which would be Cole, de Grom, Scherzer, Verlander, Bueller, Flaherty. Two of them, two aces plus, that's Tapp, Hater, and Paxton.

It gets a little bit tricky now because Paxton's ADP is going to be pushed up because he's not injured anymore. Tap hap is two aces plus Hayter and Paxton. AMC is and more closers. Two aces plus Hayter. Hater is the key to this. You have to have Josh Hader. And Paxton. That could be your favorite, you know,

kind of mid to late round pitcher. And more closers. And my pitching staff in this auction league, Roto League, Max Scherzer and Walker Bueller, Josh Hader. James Paxton. Who else do I have?

I have Hector Neris and Alex Colome for more saves with Hader. I have Jose Alvarado, who I think is going to get some saves, and I think he's going to be really good, good ratios. And then I have Masahiro Tanaka, Luke Weaver, Domingo Armand, I'm going to have to drop now. Cole Hamils, J. Hap, Dallas Keikle. I have Delhambatansis. At some point, I'm going to take some of these low-end starting pitchers like Keiko or Haap.

Kiko, I think, is low-end in this format, and try to replace them with Middle-Rexamble. relievers that give me great ratios. And yeah, wins and strikeouts are probably not going to win, but since I have Scher and Bueller, they're going to help me stay afloat, especially in strikeouts. But I think I'm going to do well in pitching. And hopefully with that strategy, it frees you up to invest more of your early round picks and hitters.

So how many starters are you, how many starting pitchers are you planning to play in your, to actually have in your lineup? On a weekly basis, probably four. Four or five. It depends how good they are. But could be a few. I still think most people are going to have six or seven. Yeah.

I'm going to zig. Yeah, but I don't think you're going to be able to hang in wins or strikeouts for that matter. Yeah, wins will be tell. But I think that this is a path to be going potentially first place in Save ZRA and Whip. potentially, but saves is a really easy category to do well in. Anyway, I mean, we talk all the time about the amount of turnover that happens at the closer position, how often you can meet that categorical need in season just because there's so much turnover happening there. It is not uncommon for me to exit a mixed league roto well, auction more likely than draft,

just because they don't want to invest the dollars in a closer. It's not uncommon for me to exit with one or maybe even none and still finish in the middle of the pack in saves, which is all I made me to do. You know, you just prioritize closers as they emerge on the waiver wire. Maybe target a guy who looks like he's positioned for that. So I don't think,

and look, it sounds like other than Hater, you weren't exactly paying up for closers. I get that that's part of the strategy, but they're very, very likely to be replaced. And then you're, you're just at the mercy of the waiver wire as anybody else.

Somebody like me who's going out and trying to pick up closers too. So I'm not sure you're really guaranteeing yourself anything there. But a lot of people do this, right, Frank? A lot of people don't really invest in starting pitcher in Roto leagues. And they just go, like, all relievers. I mean, historically, you can't go. I mean, there are requirements. There are endings pitched requirements in most Roto leagues.

Like in a standard roto league, 12-team league, you have to have 900 innings pitch throughout the course of the season. So about 100 a spot. So that it basically you could still go pretty reliever heavy. Yeah. But you don't just start all relievers and you dominate the rate stats. I mean, you're going to do it at a cost because you're not going to win wins. You're not going to win strikeouts.

Yeah. So it comes out of cost and there is an ending's pitch minimum. But I mean, the way that you laid out, you can go four or five starters and the rest for levers and make that work. The thing is, and this is part of why I'm investing, you know, I want four of the top 35 starting pitchers, I always say. What if one of those two aces you draft gets hurt, which happens all the time with pitchers, obviously?

What if one of them doesn't pan out for whatever reason? What if Josh Hader, since your plan seems to hinge so much on Hater, what if he takes backseat to Corey Kenebel? That's why you got to get a little. lot of closer. So that's the thing about Hater. I don't get him just for his saves. I get him for his 120 strikeouts and his YRA in his whip. It's going to be a poor use of a draft pick, though, if he's not getting saves. Uh, well, you handcuff Corey Knable with Hater when you draft him, Adam? I could. I easily could. I mean, I think he did get drafted in this in our reserve rounds,

but yeah, it's like a last round pick right now. That's an easy thing to do. And, and I think, you know, I will compensate by having other saved sources. And no, I, I don't, I don't, I don't, don't think, again, a points league if Hader stops getting the saves, he's a useless player. But in a Roto League, he's still going to be the best middle reliever with the most strikeouts and elite ratios. And that's still a really valuable player. Yeah, he probably will be. But you still, like, is that worth the seventh round pick or whatever he ended up spending? Oh, I think it was a fifth round pick. No, it was an auction. But in other leagues in which I've done this, yes, Scott, because my whole damn strategy, like, you can't spell tap Hap AMC without Hater.

So I had to reach for him. Hater is the only reliever who can give you a strikeout total, at least reliably give you a strikeout total, like that of a bad starting pitcher. Like, you know, probably not too far behind what Kyle Hendricks would give you. I guess not that Kyle Hendricks is bad, but, you know, kind of an outlier in terms of strikeouts right now in a bad way. So that helps, but he's the way.

one reliever who could do that. So if you're, if you're building a staff of five relievers, if you're building a pitching staff of four or five relievers, and three of them are going to be well behind any starting pitcher, you could plug in. I have two guys who could strike out 300 batters.

That's the thing. The two aces part of this is also, yes, if one of them gets hurt, if one of them gets hurt, then I'm in trouble. I absolutely see that. But, big trouble. But, you know, look, if Adelbert Omonisi gets hurt, then whoever drafted him is in trouble. That's the thing about Roto in these categories. It just strikes me as like a more straightforward approach to pitching would have both

more upside and less downside. I don't know. It worked for me in the second half of last year. Okay. All right. I want to give it a shot. Look, they don't call pocket aces for nothing. You have to have two aces to execute tap-hap AMC. You know, you guys have talked about punting categories. And I've heard this question before. Can you punt a category in a roto league and still remain competitive. So I wanted to just get into this real quick. I asked Chris earlier if he can find out, you know, the average amount of points in a 12-team league you would need to accumulate to win in Roto. And he said around 90 points. So what that means is if you're competitive in all 10 categories, you have to average at least a fourth place finish

in all 10 to give yourself nine points in each. So that'll give you 90 points. so that that's enough to win the league. Now, if you take one of those out, if you punt one of those categories, that moves up to third place. You have to average a third place finish in the nine other categories, third place or better, basically.

In the nine other categories that you're not punting, the 10 times nine will give you 90 points and then plus one in the category that you finished last. That will give you 91 points. So you could still compete, but Scott, it does make it harder. you kind of give yourself a handicap. That's why typically I don't like to punt a category in Roto.

Maybe you have one or two categories where you're a little bit lower. You're in sixth, seventh, eighth place, whatever it might be, and you excel somewhere else. But completely punting a category, putting yourself in last place, you have to make up the difference so much else in other categories. You have to average a top three finish in every other category. Yeah, I've never punted before. I don't think I've ever punted in any form.

format before, but I could see the case for it in a head-to-head categories late more than I could in a roto league. The season is so long, normally, I guess the season we're coming up on, might not be so long, but the season is so long that it's just, it's hard to say on draft day how things are going to play out in each of those categories. If you don't give yourself a chance of getting anything in one, though, it's, it's really going to be hard to try to make up ground there if you find out that you do need some points in that category as the season's playing out. And plus, if your team, if your team looks weak in stolen bases going into the season, you didn't completely ignore the category. You have a

couple of pretty good base dealers, but, you know, it's not looking so great. But you don't know who's going to get hurt on some of those other teams that, look like they're in a better position to compete in steals than you are. You don't know what kind of magical waiver wire find you'll have that maybe allows you to leapfrog a couple of teams in the stolen base standings. And you could wind up getting four or five points in that category without even trying that hard just by, you know, trying a little, you know, not, not completely abandoning it. And four or five points, I mean, that could certainly be the difference between winning and losing.

It could be the difference between first place and fifth place, probably, depending on how tightly contested the league is. But yeah, it's not something you want to do, punting. Yeah, and like Scott said with closers, you know, you can punt it on draft day, but that doesn't mean you have to punt it for the full season. You know, you pick players up off the waiver wire to help you out. I'll just say this, Frank, in your scenario where you try to get 90 points, and you get a zero in one of the 10 categories.

If you finish first place in three categories, and honestly, like, if you're going to win a league, there's a good chance you're going to finish first place in three categories, right? Then you need to average fourth place in the other six. So three first place finishes, average of fourth place in the other six categories plus a zero gets you 90 points. Well, just to, you know, just to be clear, you don't get zero ever. Oh, you get one.

You could have zero stolen bases and still get a one for. stole. Okay, but it's still, that wouldn't change. Average would be right around fourth place. Yeah. What I wanted to point out, too, is about the rate stats. People ask, like, how do you climb out of a hole when you're in a roto league? That's why sometimes you'll see whoever's in the last place in June or July, they just kind of pack it in a roto league because it's, they say it's too hard to make up the

difference. And in the rate stats, that's definitely true. I mean, that's why I would typically, I would try to cover batting average, ERA, and WIP. That's probably at the top of my list. And then, of course, steals because they're just a very scarce category nowadays. But it's just, Scott, in season, it's so hard to make up the rates. Those are the ones that I struggle with the most. And that's why I'm putting an emphasis on those.

Because when you're lower down the list in ERA and WIP, trying to make that up, even getting like multiple starts of like really, really good starts in a row, it's just so hard to make up those rate stats. And those are the ones that I typically struggle with the most. So that's why I put emphasis on those and steals because it's a very scarce category. Yeah, yeah, I think the two categories to gain or lose ground

in the quickest are saves and stolen bases because it's generally a low number you're dealing with. and the people who provide them can provide them in large... There's few of them who can provide them, but they can provide them in large quantities. So just by adding or removing a couple to your lineup, it can make a big difference.

But in terms of the ratio stats, I don't know that it's actually harder to make up ground in ERA than it is in like wins, you know, or if it's just... It's just harder to see how you're... going to make up grounds because, you know, you can't do that quick arithmetic in your head. I've sometimes wondered about that. I have had years more in like an AL-only roto league where it's easier to justify starting

a middle relievers, where I just get off to a bad start, NERA, and whip. I try a bunch of starting pitchers at the beginning. Obviously, there's not much on the way for I accept middle relievers. So I discard half of them and replace them with some high, some good ratio middle relievers and end up finishing in the top three in ERA and WIP, even though I didn't have much success early on with my pitching staff. So it's hard to know exactly when to pivot to that. That's the main thing I struggle with in Roto,

and that's partly why I have trouble sometimes deciding what I'm willing to trade. Like a category that I'm thriving in, if I can afford, how much I can afford to give up in that category in pursuit of one I'm not. not driving in. I have a hard time with those calculations, knowing exactly when to do it. But it can happen. You can make it work. I want to talk about what you need to compete in each category for an 80 game season. Chris wrote some articles earlier on back in February, where he outlined what you need

to finish first place in each category last season. So basically we'll cut that in half and we'll talk about what you need here. But Adam, remind us, what did you talk about on fantasy football yesterday today. That's sounded weird. Yes, today's episode of fantasy football yesterday was the all-time one-hit wonders, the breakout seasons, and the outlier games of the last 23 seasons, 1997 to 2019. For example, Ronnie Brown running the wildcat against the Patriots, five touchdowns, one of them a passing touchdown, and they crushed the Patriots.

the Dolphins did. That was a lot of fun. Steve Slayton and Peyton Hillis, those one-year wonders. I had my two breakouts were from the same season. They were Victor Cruz and Rob Grancowski in 2011. And Grancowski, that was his second year in the league. He had less than 600 receiving yards as a rookie.

Did have a lot of touchdowns, but then he comes out and has the greatest tight-end season ever. And Victor Cruz, and I think five touchdown catches in basically his rookie year. I mean, he barely played it all the year before, and he was nothing, like he was an undrafted free agent. He comes, he has five touchdown catches of 68 or more yards. So that was on the 2011 season.

So we're reminiscing about some of the biggest outliers, the breakout seasons and the one-year wonders of the last 23 years. Friday's episode is what I'm most looking forward to. We're going to predict the next five years, basically, because we did our all-decade team a couple months ago. We did our Mount Rushmore on Monday. So who are going to be the premier players of the next five seasons, the next half decade? And we'll see if any of the current college players make that list.

Ooh, college players eligible. Looking forward to that. Danny Dimes, Adam. I think the Giants have one there. You think so? Don't tell my Jet fan friends that, but I'm pretty excited. I'm not sure. A lot of turnovers.

A lot of, that's, it was pretty alarming. It was. It was. What do you need to compete in each category in an, 80 game season. The rate stats, I think, are kind of hard to measure here because for the most part, they'll probably look similar to this in an 80 game season. The one thing I'll point out is that in a half season, we could see something spike. So, for example, last year, a 278 batting average was good enough to win first place in a 12-team Roto League. And I looked this up. At the end of June 30th,

which is about the 80 game mark for every team last season, there were three players hitting over 340, Jeff McNeil, Cody Bellinger, DJ LaMayhew. The last time we had three qualified hitters that 340 or higher in the season was 2009. So you're going to see some random-stamps. Nice stat there. Yeah, so you're going to see some random stuff happen where the batting average and potentially, the batting average could be higher and the ERA and WIP could be lower. Does that make sense, Scott, because it's a smaller sample size?

Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. Stats won't have a chance to to normalize as much. And they always do over time. You see a lot of, you see a lot of weird stat lines at the All-Star break. Yep. It's going to be a little annoying, I think.

And saves I struggle with, which isn't great for Tapap AMC, because I feel like it's just going to be kind of bunchier. You don't have as much time for, like, the cream to rise to the top. I don't know what the trade deadline is going to look like. You know, you draft these, closer's thinking, well, they're just going to get traded.

I have no idea what that's going to look like this year. And, you know, you might get a, I don't know, it's hard to think like Alex Colomay might have a 10 save month or something like that. I don't know. I just feel like it's going to be really wacky and kind of lucky. It would be interesting to look back and see what certain starting pitchers numbers looked like 16 starts into last season. of course you Darvishes and Jack Flaherty's would be terrible.

Those are more famous examples. But I'm curious like somebody like who got off to a slow start like Aaron Nola. Like what were his numbers like 16 starts into the season? Because that's approximately how many starts each of these pitchers is going to have. Presuming they're taking every turn and teams aren't using a six-man rotation or whatever. And maybe does that make, does that make a guy like Max Scherzer less valuable? Because on a per start, like if you look at, let's say a made up stat, strikeouts per start, the more starts he makes in a Roto League,

the more value he gains, I would think, right? You're just not going to be able to blow away your competition at strikeouts with those heavy strikeout pitchers. I don't know. Or maybe it's just all the margins, all the margins in the categories are going to be closer, right? Yeah. We are for sure. That would probably be true across the board, right?

I would think so. The gap between players at every position becomes smaller, right? And the likelihood of players delivering their expected outcomes becomes less. But that's true across the board. I don't know if it, maybe it's a little more true at starting pitcher just because it's, you know, such a small number of appearances they're actually making. And if things get skewed one way or another, there's just not the time for it to normal.

I mean, it's kind of true to every position, but I can see how it could be more true at starting pitcher. So here's an example, Aaron Nola, who had kind of a disappointing year, but the overall numbers were still, I think top 25-ish or something like that, 455 ERA through 16 starts,

which, I mean, changes the way you think, of that season. I can't say exactly which pitchers are going to get off to the kind of start that skews their line like that, but it's going to happen to some pitchers. I think back to the 1994 season, actually, which was the shortest season, in my memory. I think they played like 114 games or so. So, you know, we're still talking quite a bit more than the 80 we'd be looking at this season. but still quite a bit less than the average season.

John Smolts and Tom Glavin, it was like the worst year both of them had, ERAs over four, other than the years when they were just beginning their career, the worst seasons they had. You had Matt Williams on pace to break Roger Maris's records. You had Tony Gwynn batting like 390. Yeah.

Everybody thinks back and says, what if they were able to finish out that season? Well, what if is their numbers probably would have normalized, heist and they probably would have looked closer to their career lines the rest of the way. And, you know, it wouldn't have been so historic. But because it's a small sample like that, weird stuff is going to happen. At June 30th last year, Hyunjin Ryu had a 183 ERA. Mike Miner was second in baseball with a 2-40 ERA.

Cole Hamils 298. Yanni Tureinos was 13th in baseball in ERA with a 310. Spencer Turnbull. You guys know Spencer Turnbull had 17 losses last year? No. It's a random stat. But Spencer Turnbull had a 331 ERA at June 30th last year, which would have ranked 18th in baseball.

So you know what? We can't do buy low, sell high segments. Just not enough time for them to come true. There's no point. You're not wrong. What else are you going to need in these categories and basically just halved what you needed for first place in each of these? So for home runs, you would need about 192.

Last year, that was at 383. Runs, you would need 592. Last year, that was 1183. RBI's, 569. Last season, 1137. And steals for first place, you would need around 75, 76. Last year was 152. And how many hitter spots?

14? Yeah. Okay, so that's really not that many steals per person. No, it's not. What is that, like, five or six per roster spot? Yeah, around five. Yeah, five or six. That would make sense.

For the pitchers, last year you needed a 3497 ERA, a whip 1.131 wins. 52 would get it done this year. Last season, it was 103. Saves, you needed 100 on average to finish in first place. So this year, 50. And strikeouts last season, 1622, this season. That would be 8-11.

So that'll wrap up our Roto discussion, unless you guys have anything else to add. We've got to get to the apostle, obviously. I mean, there's probably a lot more to add. There is a lot. Roto is not my favorite because I just think it becomes almost like solving a math problem and not drafting the best players.

That's why I've become more of a fan of head points. It's a little of that. Fantasy is mostly about drafting the best players. and as long as you keep that in mind, you're going to do pretty well. I think stolen bases in particular, I guess, to kind of bring this discussion full circle, have maybe, like this year is the first year

I can remember having to go so aggressively after base Steelers that you're taking them at a point they don't deserve. They're not actually a good enough player to go as high as they're going. You're just doing it because that's what the steals, that's what the scoring format requires. So it feels a little icky, but hopefully it's just a short-term phenomenon.

Yeah, don't do that, in my opinion. I mean, if you think that you're going that high to reach for steals, you know, it's different philosophy, I guess. I wouldn't do it. The bigger question, when it comes... That's what you have to do to get them. When it comes to tap half AMC, Frank, why is Scott still so low on James Paxton?

How is James Paxton not ahead of like seven of the pitchers? eight of the pitchers in front of them, at least 10 of the pitcher. He should be 21st behind you, Darvish. 21st? He's 30th. There are nine pitchers that he should be ahead of. Well, you don't want to know where I have him then. Where do you have them?

I have him 31st. What kind of a Yankees fan are you? What kind of a Yankee fan am I? One that plays to win the game in fantasy baseball. We can have a little James Paxon debate the rest of the week. I think that makes a lot of sense. Sorry we didn't get to your questions today, but we will do that tomorrow.

And Friday, but real quick, Sherton, Apostle, the, I don't even know if I'm saying his name, right, prospect evaluation. This came via our Apple podcast review. A top 10 prospect in the Rangers organization. Scott, he came over to the, he came over from the Pirates in the Keone-Kella trade. He's a third baseman for now.

Many think he'll wind up at first base. Last season between A-ball and high A, 251 batting average, 19 home runs, 59 RBI. Good eye at the plate. consistent double-digit walk percentage. 60-grade raw power is his best tool. The comp that I had from, we spoke about this a little bit

before we started recording, was Yandy Diaz with more strikeouts. Okay, that's not the comp I was thinking at all. I was thinking Mikel Franco with more strikeouts, though it's not clear that Apostle's going to be, that strikeouts are going to be a big problem for Apostle. His plate discipline is pretty good, actually.

He walks at a fairly good rate. It just seems like his profile is so dependent on power. That hasn't fully manifested yet. He did see a jump in home runs last year, finished with 19 between low Class A and high Class A, 251 batting, average 779 OPS. There's time for him to get better. He'll need to get better to become an impact player in fantasy,

and there's time. It'll probably be in home runs. That's the one that's going to carry. him and I just question like with Franco if if it'll be quite enough for him to put him over at the top in a in a power rich environment plus the fact he's already 21 and still not quite ready to play in double a I think is is worrisome a little bit of a red flag there I'm not super high on Apostle but there's you know there's a chance he could develop into something Yeah, the reason I gave him the Yandy Diaz comp is because he hits too many ground balls for a power hitter.

Last year, 46% ground ball rate at high A ball in 41 games. So he has to lift the ball a little bit more if he wants to become a consistent power hitter. But the strikeouts, a nearly 31% strikeout rate in high A ball. It was a little bit better in single A, 22%. So struggles with strikeouts, needs to lift the ball a little bit more. You're looking at the ETA. I wouldn't expect them this year. maybe 2022, but he still has some things he needs to work on.

Adam, anything to add on the Apostle? Probably. Yes. He has, I'm guessing, a brother, Shendrick Apostle, who is also from the same town in Curacao. So I think that's probably his brother. And he is in the Pirates Organization. Well, that would make sense because Shirton Apostle came from the Pirates Organization. That kind of sucks that they separated them. How do you separate the brothers? Very selfish trade.

Yeah. At least, you know, take on both if you're going to do that. Agreed. How many, like, you can't have enough apostles. Yeah, you need all the apostles you can get. And that's how we're going to wrap up the show today. We'll be back tomorrow. David Samson's special guest will join us from the Nothing Personal Podcast,

which is part of the CVS Sports Podcast community. So make sure you tune in for that. We'll talk about what he thinks will happen this upcoming baseball season, what his proposal would look like. for Adam Pocket Aces, Scottie Dobs, Scott White. I am Frank. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.