Fantasy Baseball Today - Target Austin Riley? Early 2022 Third Base Rankings w/ Matt Williams! (10/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

We're happy to welcome our first guest of the offseason, Matt Williams of NBC Sports Edge (1:12). ... Why is third base so bad (3:00)? ... Should Cody Bellinger's playoff performance give you confidence for next year (5:50)? ... News and notes (10:35): Nick Castellanos plans to opt out, Carlos Carrasco had elbow surgery, and DJ LeMahieu had sports hernia surgery. ... Who were the top-five third basemen in 2021 (13:35)? Are we buying Austin Riley's breakout? ... What about top-10 at third base (29:17)? ... What went wrong for Rendon, Suarez, and Moncada (35:00)? ... Who are the top-20 ranked third baseman for 2022 (42:32)? What do we do with Alex Bregman and Adalberto Mondesi? ... Who's an early target and avoid at the position for each of us (59:44)?  '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: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @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/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive. Center Field. What 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. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today, presented by Lining Cougals, more on their great variety of beverages later on in the podcast. Thursday, October 21st, Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and our very first guest of the offseason here to talk all things, third base, and take an early look at Scott's 22 rankings. Speaking of our guest, let's introduce him right now. You know him in the fantasy industry.

You've had him on this very podcast before. Writer and host at NBC Sports Edge. You could also find his writing on The Athletic. You can listen to him on the Turn 2 podcast, fellow 2021 Tout Wars champ, Also, fellow tab maniac, we found out that this gentleman has lots of tabs open at all times. I do the same exact thing. It is Matt Williams. What is going on, man? And a former third baseman for the Giants and manager, failed manager from the Nationals.

I do a lot of things. Good to be here. We're saying, my second time being on the show, first time actually being on here with Scott. So, yeah, our first official welcome or greeting between the two of us. So I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me. You know, there's a Matt Williams who writes about fantasy baseball yourself, obviously. And there's also a Garrett Atkins. So two former, two fantasy baseball writers named after former All-Star third basement. And they get hyperlinked in my CBS articles whenever we do a mock draft recap. Yeah, it's great.

Whenever I try to go find my work, we're like, hey, what did I wrote about this? I'll write an NBC Sports Edge, Matt Williams. Okay, that's not, it's not ever going to be me. for a while. Some years we'll have to separate for Matt Williams and baseball to ever be me. Yeah, I don't have to really worry about that issue. There's not many Frank Stanfels in the world.

Fun fact, actually, we're like going way long here in the intro before we even get started, but it's fine. There's actually a Frank Stanful that lives in my neighborhood, in Queens, New York, right? Like, how random is that? It's not my dad either. Like, we have the same name, but there's like a separate Frank Stanfell. Just completely random, and I thought I would let everybody know.

Maybe someone stole your identity and just lazy. It's definitely a possibility. Matt Williams and Scott White don't find that to be particularly impressive. Yeah, that's definitely fair. I could throw a rock on my window and hit a Matt Williams and a Scott White. Make sure to follow Matt on Twitter at Matt Williams instead of the L's. They're seven. So it's at actually Matt W-I-7-I-A-M-S on Twitter,

especially with his hashtag 22 player breakdowns coming soon. Does absolutely fantastic work with those. Scotty, you are here. What is up? Why does third base suck so much? Oh my gosh, Frank. It is so bad. And it's amazing because just entering last season, you know, we did kind of a season prep twice for last season.

So it feels like it was even longer ago than that. But it was just entering last season that I was marveling that third base was like the deepest position I'd ever seen. And I even went through this exercise where I showed you could put together a full head-to-head. head style lineup with third base eligible guys and there'd still be enough quality third baseman left over for the rest of the league like that's where we were just entering last season and now you know catcher aside because catcher hardly counts as a position third base is clearly the weakest position just to illustrate how how thin it is i have dj le mayhew 14th at the position for next year, that's compared to

22nd at first base. I have Luis Arias 19th here at third base. Entering next year, that's compared to 26th at second base. So 19th versus 26

for LeMayhew, it was 14th versus 22nd. Like, that's that's yucky, Frank. That's, like, even with that head-to-head style line up in a 12-team league, like a couple people really aren't going to be happy with the third baseman they get. Yeah, no, it's rough.

And, you know, scrolling through where players finished this past season, what I notice is it's just a lot of guys that are losing third base eligibility. That's really what dries up the position because Jonathan India does not have third base eligibility for next year, not on CBS at least, where you need 20 games from 2020. Max Muncie doesn't have third base. Tommy Edmund doesn't have third base. Chris Taylor won't have third base. So it's really just a lot of these players losing third base.

base eligibility. Well, that's part of it. And like, plus a lot of those guys we really liked heading into last year of just collapsed. Like Matt Williams, Mets, J.D. Davis. Nobody wants anything to do with him anymore. He was actually like, okay. He just had this like hand issue that never got right and the Mets didn't want to play

him. When he played, he was fine. I mean, who knows? Maybe they'll trade him and Dom and they'll get themselves some at bats. But yeah, Donald, or is it Donald? Well, Donaldson's always started. Maconda disappointed, Chapman, disappointed, swore. I was disappointed.

LeMayo he disappointed. Pretty much, I think that's the main problem is just, it could rebound. I mean, it could end up being really deep, but not as we look at it right today. But, you know, if these guys all bounce back, it could be solid.

But yeah, it's a friggin, it's a hole. And I think two of the biggest wild cards at the position are just guys that can't stay healthy with Alex Breggman and Anthony Rendon. So we'll talk about those guys later on in the podcast. And speaking of wild cards,

we usually start off with a little bit of playoff talk. No spoilers for Scotty's Braves. They're playing right now. But I do just want to be. to talk about Cody Bellinger because him and Christian Yellich are probably the two hardest players to figure out from 2020 going into 2021. The thing is, Belanger's actually playing pretty well in the playoffs here. It's a super small sample size, so you don't want to put too much on it. But entering game four of the NLCS, I think I got that, right? He was seven for 24,

292 batting average, one massive home run, obviously, three steals, the walks are up, the strikeouts are also up. He's hitting a lot more line drives in the postseason. Again, it's a super small sample size. Matt, what do you take away from this playoff, if anything, for Cody Bellinger? Because he is going to be one of the hardest players to figure out for next season. I don't know if I'm a hypocrite.

I hate small sample sizes, but on him, I'm willing to jump back in on seeing him do well because the things that went wrong with him were kind of weird things that weren't connected, injuries that you didn't want to see. And then he had that weird slump at the end of his MVP C, and now you have the lower core baseball, the sticky substances. Maybe he was trying to hit the ball differently because of said differences. But it's not really a health issue.

I think we all think he's going to move into next year healthy. So seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and how cheap he's likely going to be, I'll probably be in on him, unlike Yelich, who has a legitimate long-term health problem and just looks brutal. So I'm like completely out there where I kind of want to just cross his name off all of my lists. but Bellinger, I'm like still real skeptical, but yeah, I mean, he's going so late, or at least in early drafts for any psychos like me who are currently drafting in leagues. But, yeah, Bellinger, I'm willing to at least like pull the curtain back and peek a bit. Well, that was like obviously it's been analyzed to death already if you watch any baseball media.

But that that Luke Jackson fastball that he hit out in game three to tie the game, like more than just what it, meant for the game. Okay, obviously I didn't like to see it. It was a dagger to my own heart. But for what it meant for Bellinger, considering he hit 176 off fastballs this year, and, you know, it was a good fastball way up out of the zone, one that he shouldn't have been able to connect with,

much less in that way. I mean, his mechanics have been so messed up if a guy that young is not being able to catch up to fastballs. and like catching up to that fastball specifically in that moment. It definitely, it definitely reminds you how good he could be. You see his face too? He just looked like, oh my God, look what I did. You can just see it on his own face.

Like he wasn't expecting that. He was just like, looked at his teammates. Like, look, look what I did. Yeah. Yeah. I'm working on outfield rankings now. I mean, Bellinger's not eligible at first base heading into next year. But obviously in the outfield.

not sure where to put him yet, but it's probably going to be outside the top 30. Matt, you mentioned that you're a madman and you're already drafting, and he's going super, I guess, probably not super late, but later than we would expect, just give us a ballpark. Like, where is Cody Bellinger going in these early drafts?

Easily past the 10th round. Okay. All right. I mean, people are not, people are just not interested. Yeah, I don't want to get too excited, but like, you know, this game, I really think this one game,

like what Scott was kind of, of saying. I think this one game is enough to jump him up. Though the only need his one guy in a league anyway, but I think that's enough to jump up. People just kind of want to like see it. So I think a hot playoffs from him or just this little spurt will like really dramatically change his value. Just, yeah, people were just kind of booking him like, all right, he looks done. And he did. He looked. He looked done. Yeah. No, he did. There's no doubt about it. There's nothing in our underlying numbers that say he should have been better than he was this year.

Obviously had the shoulder surgery last offseason. So that's something that could have been lingering all year long, but this guy is just too young and a former MVP, I think by the time we get to February, March, he's going to move up definitely into, I would imagine at least like six through eight round range, but even then, I think I'd be interested in Cody Bellinger. You know what I think is the weird thing for him. I know we're going long, but I think the weird thing for him, at least so far early, everyone hears that number 10. It sounds crazy. He's in that weird area. First base eligibility is gone. He's outfield. Everyone's looking to bolster their starting pitching in the middle rounds. People are starting to go closer heavy because no one knows

where to get their saves from this time of year too. So he's in a weird place and there's still other healthy outfielders. Healthy outfielders, you feel more confident in that just keep pushing him back. So it's not necessarily like everyone doesn't really like him. It's they'd just rather go like another direction. All right. Let's hit a few news and notes before we get to third base. A lot going on here before third base, but we'll get there. Don't worry. John Heyman reported that Nick Cassiano is expected to opt out of his deal. As expected, Cassiano's was a top. 10 outfielder in both Roto and head-to-head points this past season. Carlos Carrasco underwent surgery to remove a bone fragment from his right elbow Tuesday.

Matt, you are our resident Met fan that is on the podcast right now. You're currently at City Field. If you're watching us on YouTube, you can see the City Field background. Any hope that removing this bone fragment for Carlos Carrasco can potentially get him back on track? I would hope so. I mean, every year when he comes into spring training, even he's with the Indians, he always comes in and he has a little bit of elbow problems. You never want to hear it, but he always has that every single year and he goes on to pitch is fine. This year he had other problems with like

soft tissue injuries, hamstring injuries. So I would think they said he was pitching through this and he's been brutal, especially early in games. So yeah, I would hope that this will, yeah, give him, you know, make him healthier. It says he's going to be fine going into spring training. Got to hope for the best as a Mets fan. He's definitely a, I mean, he's not going, you know, he's not being really drafted at this moment. So he'll be one of those guys where if you happen to be drafting early, you can try to get late shares now, you know, because if he shows up healthy, he'll jump way up. But I can't, well, I say this, as a Mets fan, I'm not really counting him as part of the rotation going forward in terms of like anyone I'm hoping will help. Like if you're counting like,

all right, one, two, three, four, five, what do they have to do in free agency? He's not really in the plans. Anything he gives is I think is kind of gravy at this point. We had a huge Yankees news dump on Tuesday afternoon as well. Aaron Boone is back as the manager. Jaymison Tyone is scheduled for ankle surgery late October, and his rehab is five months long, which brings us to late March. And the Yankees are famous for doing this.

I don't know why they wait and delay these surgeries. Like, if you knew he needed surgery, why didn't Tyone have surgery the day after they lost the wildcard game so that he could be ready for early March? It's really important to pick about a couple weeks versus waiting all off season for Luis Severino to have Tommy John surgery. That was the worst. Aaron Judge, right?

Yeah. Oh, yeah, the rib thing. They've done it so many times. It's like the way that they handle injuries, at times in season has been frustrating, but even like delaying these surgeries and stuff. I don't know what they're thinking half the times. DJ LaMahue underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia Tuesday, but is expected to be ready for spring training.

Aaron Boone was asked if they could pinpoint when. the injury first started for DJ LaMayhew so that we can know, okay, was this something he was playing through all season long? If that's the case, that's a pretty good reason for why he had as bad of a season as LaMayhew did, but they didn't have an answer to that question. So if LeMayhew's healthy next year,

maybe we get that bounce back. Definitely would be welcome. Aaron Hicks hopes to play in Winterball in preparation for the 2022 season. Who cares? 2021, year-in-review, top five, third baseman, presented by lining Cougals, and let's start up top.

this past season in 5 by 5 formats at third base. No surprise. Jose Ramirez 266 batting average, 36 homers, 111 run scored, 103 RBI, 27 steals he finished as the number six overall player despite concerns about his lineup entering this past season. Great plate discipline as always. The best batted ball of batted ball data of his career. Best in average exit velocity, hard hit rate, barrel rate.

his 278 expected batting average was his highest since 2017. Scotty, Jose Ramirez is a rock solid mid first round pick, I think in both Roto and head to head points. Yes, because he's arguably the best power threat at his position, at least among them, and at least the second best stolen base threat at his position. And then he doesn't strike out much either if you're on a points league. that helps differentiate him further there.

What's interesting is how high should he go in round one? Because you apply the position scarcity argument, which I just recently discovered exactly how shallow third base looks for next year. And it makes you kind of want to sell out for Ramirez, kind of like the good old days of fantasy baseball, where you'd elevate like a Hanley Ramirez or Troy Touloulywitzky just based on them being shortstop eligible. You know, I don't think, I mean, obviously, Tatis and Acuna status is up in the air.

Right now, I'm still penciling them in as numbers one and two. And then you got Guerrero who has to be up there, Soto, who has to be up there. I put Otani as, I think, a clear number five. But maybe Ramirez right after that. I know Trey Turner's in that mix, too. What do you think, Matt? I'm weird. Trey Turner's my 101

like in general right now for Roto. I don't blame you. I don't blame you by the way. Well, it's because I'm not right now. I like, I love for Nanotatis.

I'm not taking him at one. I'll take Turner. Vlad with the big boost, you got a Danedian with the lack of speed. I have him behind Ramirez too. Juan Soto, I'd have a hard time passing up. But I could see if you're not,

if you're not really willing to put the risk out there for Tatis and Acuna, and you really want to get that speed. I can see taking J-RAM as early as three or four. I really could. The only opportunity I've had so far is I had the number five pick in a draft, and I was deciding between him and Bo Bichette. And I decided to go with Jose Ramirez clearly only because of, you know, third base. It's just, I mean, he's got to be one of the safest and strongest picks you can get,

just because you get that such an edge up. You don't got to worry about third base. You know, shortstop's pretty deep outfield. There's obviously very, you know, there's a lot of different options there. But yeah, getting that power and speed at third base is just so great. So I can see that the consensus is going to be more like what Scott was saying, but I can see taking Ms. Hires three or four.

You can't really make a mistake that early in the draft. But again, again, no one burned me at the stake for saying anything about Vlad. He's fantastic. But if you realistically look at what he did, June 21st on, which is the crackdown, he didn't really differentiate himself too much from Joey Votto and Alex Riley or even Josh Bell. It's actually very close there. And if you take away the speed, I could, you know, you can make an argument that, all right, I have Jose Ramirez, I'm going to set myself up for the rest of the draft with some speed. I can see it. Yeah,

yeah, I'm totally right there with you. I'd be all right elevating him inside that top five if you, if you're talking about Roto leagues for for next season. Let's move on to number two, Rafael Devers, hits 279, 38 homers, 1001 run scored, 113 RBI, 5 steals finishes as the number 12 overall player. He's now been a top 12 overall player in two of the last three seasons. The walk rate was up this year. He absolutely crushes the ball, 89th percentile or better on stack cast in barrel rate, average exit velocity, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage. And the 286XBA actually tells me that, We could have positive regression in the batting average department for Raphael Devers.

Matt, what do you think about Raphael Devers? I assume you're fine with him as a second round pick. Yeah, I'm okay with it. I would love to not be okay with it because of what he offers. I'd like to get speed that early, not that you can write. I mean, he gave you, what, eight stolen bases? And he's stolen. Five.

No, he's stolen. He gave you five. He gave you eight in 2019. So that, you know, the five, eight range is not nothing. And that's an important thing people should remember. A zero is a zero, a five or an eight. That's a lot better. And it really does add up.

But he has these weird off-year things with the 2017. He batted 282 versus fastballs. Then in 2018, 226, 2019, 308, 2022, 39. And then this year, 266. So it is this weird thing with fastballs. I don't think it's an issue. Last year, had a lot to do with the videotape. But yeah, between him and Machado, I can flip a coin.

Because of position scarcity, he can't. move them back any further. But I do like one guy that's behind them a bit more just because of the discount. But these guys are incredibly safe. So yeah, if you want to, if you want to not worry about it in your draft, take Devers or Machado and just not worry about it, I'm totally cool with that. All right. So whenever we reveal who that player is, Matt, just let us know.

You can, like, jump out of your seat and be like, all right, that's the guy. That's the guy that goes behind Devers that I'd rather have. So just let me know when that happens. For the cost, you're saying, not straight up. Yeah, yeah, for the cost. Yeah. Number five. Actually, actually, I mean, well, I mean, whatever. We'll get to him in a second. I like this player just as much as Devers. He just doesn't have a track record. And you're paying for, if Devers, you're paying for the track record for good reason. All right. Well, maybe it's this player. Number three was Austin Riley because he hit 303 with 33 homers, 91 runs and 107 RBI this past season. The number 23 overall player in 5x5 Roto. And we knew the power was possible, but the batting average really surprises. He hit a lot of line drives this year. the 10th highest line drive rate amongst qualified hitters.

The BABIP, however, 368, third highest in baseball. I'm thinking maybe we get a little bit of regression on the batting average. Scott, are you buying your boy, Austin Riley, and his breakout from this past season? Mostly, I do think, and this stat cast data would suggest, the BABIP, as you point out, would suggest he overachieved a little bit. He profiles for a high BAPIP with the high line drive rate and as hard as he hits the ball. but, you know, over 360 might be a little much. I'll say he's 80 to 90% of what he was in 2021, but that's no reason to discount him

because, well, we haven't gotten to Machado yet for his, you know, 2021 numbers, but we've already mentioned him as being one of the top three players at the position for next year. And Riley's right there with him because the, the herd really begins to thin out like almost right after that. So like there's there's no place to to hide Riley, I guess.

You just have to go with them as the top five option at the position and you're going to have to draft them fairly early at round four, round five, something like that. So yeah, I mean, I just don't see much room to nitpick here. All right, Alton Riley wasn't the player, right? Oh, this is definitely the player. Oh, okay. Who else could it be?

Yeah, exactly who else could it be, right? We've ran out of options already. We can end the show. No, I mean, I love Austin Riley. He doesn't give you the speed, but again, instead of Devers a two, give me Riley the four and five all day. He had the 368 Babup, which seems a little much, but, I mean, he carried a 374 in AAA,

carried over a 400 in double A. Like you said, he hits the ball so hard. He can carry this babbip. I'm not saying I would expect a 300 average, but it's not like a lot of people who are casually going to dismiss it. I don't think you have to. I think that if it dips, it's not going to be dramatically less. 25% line drive rate is great.

20% flyballed home run to fly ball ratio is just going to be the norm for him. That's nothing going to be crazy. He just, he gets to a level he improves. He gets to a level he improves. He gets to a level he improves. His chase rate and his swinging strike rate have improved every single year. He's been here. So who's to say he won't even get a little better next year?

and fine-tune some problems he had. The only thing you're not getting him as speed. And I think this is probably, you know, last year was the cheapest you were ever going to get him. And I think this year will be the cheapest you'll get him. He'll be more expensive next year. I think he'll move up into that kind of next group. Because you saw with Nolan Aronado, how, you know,

he had Corse Field, obviously aiding him. But you can see how high you can get without stolen bases aiding you, even without having those crazy Juan Soto or Vlad numbers. I think Riley can, you know, at least give you. I mean, you're not going to get a lot of return on investment on early picks, but he can still, I think, bump a round or two from where you drafted. Number four at the position was Mani Machado. He hit 278, 28 homers, 92 runs scored, 106 RBI, 12 steals,

finishes as the number 26 overall player. And it kind of felt all season like he was underwhelming for where you had to draft him. Most often a second, maybe a third round pick heading into 2021. The home runs took a little bit of a step back. The home run to fly ball ratio is lower than where. it's been in recent years. Maybe that had something to do with the ball. But it's not often you see a player underperform his expected numbers the way that

Machado did. 278 batting average, 290XBA, 489 slug, 517 expected slug. So, Scott, if we were getting any kind of discount on Manny Machado next year, if he, you know, slips around to like the fourth or whatever it might be, I will be very interested in that. Oh, yeah. I'm not sure I totally won't. to rank Devers ahead of him.

I'm kind of just going with the crowd on that for now. But on paper, by data, Machada, Machado was the better player. Machado was the better player in 2021. Now, Devers out homered him by 10, so, you know, practically speaking, he wasn't. But like, Statcast said he says he should have been. Let's just put it that way. And obviously he has an extensive track record. He has years where he's homered like Devers did this past year.

So I'm not really sure there's real projectable separation there in the home run column. There definitely isn't the stolen base column. You know, if we're expecting five from Devers, we're expecting 10 to 12 from Machado. And, you know, batting average seems like pretty much a toss-up too. So I don't know. I may end up going against the grain in ranking Machado ahead of Devers. You know, I guess I'm leaving room for Devers to improve some, particularly in the batting average department, like you mentioned, Frank. But it's a really close call between those two.

And I think they both should go like at the round two, three turn. Yeah, I'd be all right with that as well. I mentioned, obviously, any player that I like, I'd love to get at a discount. But it would make sense if Machado goes in a similar ADP as he did heading into last season. Number five at the position was Max Muncie, but he won't have third base eligibility. So let's move on to Nolan Aronado, who hit 255, 35, 35, 34 home runs, 105 RBI, only 81 runs scored. Doesn't walk all that much. We know that, you know, he's not a fast player.

So the runs totaled down here for Nolan Aronado. First year out of course field, I think for the most part, it went the way that we expected. Maybe I thought he would have a little bit better batting average, a little bit better OPS outside of Coors. power is still there, not much else. 249 Babib this year, career high, 49.8% flyball rate that's definitely going to fuel that lower Babb. And he was quite bad at Bush Stadium as well. So Matt, what do you think about Nolan Aronado?

Do we really depend on him for anything outside of power at this point? Not really. I mean, overall, he had a 255 average, 246 expected. His walk rate was still low from last year when he was disappointing. so that's not good to see. So I think overall this is just kind of what we should expect is what we just saw, kind of a middle 250 average, 34 home runs, 100 RBIs, which is great. It doesn't really necessarily stand out anywhere, though.

You know, as far as like home runs per like 600 plate appearances, since I love using the June 21st date because that's when everything kind of got leveled playing field. Power and speed-wise, he's kind of there with most third basemen. There's no one who really, as far as, a power output. There's no one that really hit more. I mean,

he was right there. He actually had more home runs per 600 than even Devers. The only person that out homered in was like Kyle Seeger or in Patrick Wisdom in that entire area. So he's fine. Just seems early, doesn't it, for what seems like a guarantee of no return on?

There's no expected value over where you drafted him where there is a ton of that later on. It's basically you're drafting him. so you're just kind of like, all right, fine, I'll take him and I don't want to worry about it. But it's like write down his numbers and just hope that he delivers. We think a lot worse of Nolan Aeronado right now in the season he had if he didn't play third base. Because if he didn't play third base, you know, if he was like an outfielder or something, you know, Ryan Mountcastle or Nolan Aeronado, I would still take Aeronado, but it would be a closer call than you'd think given the name value.

Well, you're at third base, though. Like who would you, where you're going to have to take him? You could throw this out every year because he's perennially underappreciated, but Justin Turner really didn't underperform Aronado that much, you know? He no doubt did it in less stolen bases. I'm not even saying this looking at it. I just know that it was probably very close. So I just, I probably won't be going with Aronado just because there's too many reasons to wait.

It's just there's got to be a better value drafting another position than Aronado at that spot. but I can see someone looking at the rest of their base, like we're saying, and being horrified and just doing it. But I won't be doing it. I'd rather gamble and take a shot. Yep. So there you have it. Those were your top five third baseman from 2021, presented by Line & Coogles.

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for more information about all of the delicious beers that they brew. Let's hit 6 through 10 here at third base from this past season. Let's move through these a little bit quicker. Justin Turner, 278 batting average, 27 homers, 87 runs, 87 RBI. He's mostly solid. He stayed healthy, played 151 games his most since 2016. Kind of fell off in the second half. Turns 37 in November. Matt, you mentioned his name, but I feel like he's fine. He's Justin Turner. He's fine. He's fine. I only mention him because there's a lot of guys that, like, Aronado, like And Rendon, they have their own kind of weird. Well, Aronado is just expensive. And Rendon has injury worry. Whereas Turner, he has injuries from

time to time, but he kind of know what you're going to get. And he's just always cheap. So I like him. I'll probably have a lot of shares of him this year if I don't get my third basement early. Just because you can, until he proves he can't do it, I'll say, I'll just assume he can. Number seven at the position was Jonathan India, but he will not have third base eligibility. So let's skip him. Next up was Chris Bryant, 265 batting average, 25 homers. 86 runs, 73 RBI, 10 steals. The final product was very solid, but it was quite the roller coaster ride

for Chris Bryant this season. First two months, he hit 324 OPS over 1,000 in June. He hit 114-45 OPS. The next two months in July and August, he had 285, 901 OPS, and then in September and October, he hit 245 with a 700 OPS. He dealt with a few injuries,

obviously had all the trade situation, Looming gets dealt to the San Francisco Giants he turns 30 in January The injuries are there he's an unrestricted free agent Scott I was not on Chris Bryant at all this past season And I probably I probably won't be next year either honestly well we looked pretty dumb in April and what April when he was one of the few hitters actually hitting and and then in May But you know became pretty ordinary after that and I think he's pretty ordinary His numbers didn't decline really with the move to San Francisco, so he handled playing in a big part fine. I bring this up because he's a free agent, of course.

But he's sort of like Nolan Aeronado in that he hits a lot of fly balls with kind of a middling exit, average exit velocity. So I can see Bryant having a resurgence if he goes somewhere with a small park. It'll be worth monitoring that in free agency. But presuming it's neutral or. big the parking winds up in you know he's he's one he's a worthy starter at the position that's saying something because we're running out of those but uh i'm not going to be terribly excited to draft them yeah the speed the speed is the only thing keeping him relevant right

yeah i would say because i mean it's it's sneaky speed um that i mean without it he's edward o escobar uh but with it you know he's he he gets a in a decent boost so i mean as long as you think he's going to keep the speed i think that keeps him relevant enough i mean he gets on base a lot he scores runs. He's, you know, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's fine across the board, really. Like, he's not, there's nothing he's really weak at, especially relative to the position. What are we at, like the seventh, where he's, we're at the seventh guy. You're like, whatever, he's, he's, he's, he's fine. Yeah. Such a bad position. And, and you're going to see eight through 10 here, like, it only gets worse. Tommy Edmund and Chris Taylor were the next two names up, but they will not have third base eligibility. So you skip them and you get to,

Eduardo Escobar, who is Chris Bryant without speed. 253 batting average, 28 homers, 90 RBI. He's fine. He proved that 2020 COVID season was an aberration. He hit more fly balls this year. Helped with the home runs. He's a floor pick. I don't think he has much upside.

Also an unrestricted free agent. Matt, he's fine. Yeah. Like, what else he's going to say? If he's fine, somewhere to be an everyday player, he's fine. I don't think that's a whole guarantee. That's true. Yeah, I know he was sitting a little bit down the stretch.

He didn't play every game. in the postseason for the Brewers. So it's a possibility that he's not an everyday player at this point. Yeah, that's true. That's something you got to think about. But yeah, whatever, right? Yeah, whatever. Ryan McMahon, he hit 254, 23 homers, 80 runs, 86 RBI, six deals.

And under the hood, it kind of looked like it had the makings of a breakout year because the strikeout rate way down, the ground ball rate way down. He hit more line drives, more fly balls. Colorado kind of played weird this year. Trevor Story didn't have as good of a year in Coorsfield. Ryan McMahon didn't have like this awesome season in Coors Field. He was better than he was on the road, but it wasn't astronomical or anything. I say all this because look, if the Rockies lose Trevor's story, their lineup could be truly brutal.

So again, like we're up to number nine here, Scott, and we're talking about Ryan McMahon. Yeah, exactly. It's discouraging. It was both encouraging and discouraging the season he had. Right, because he cut way down on the strikeouts, started elevating the ball better, did exactly what you thought he needed to do to have a breakout. And yet he didn't really have that breakout. His percentages were basically the same as 2019. Yeah, I went to look at his numbers, like before the show.

I had no shares of him last year, so I didn't necessarily was that familiar. I was so surprised at how underwhelming his overall stats were. I was expecting a little better, actually. So, yeah, I mean, it's, what are? He throw him in the pile with the rest of these guys. But yeah, like you said, underwhelming. Yep.

Number 10 at the position was Kyle Seeger. He hit 212 with 35 home runs, 101 RBI, so lots of power, but a brutal batting average. He's also an unrestricted free agent. He turns 34 this off season. We are not going to talk about Kyle Seeger. What went wrong for these players?

These were all third basemen that were drafted inside the top 100 picks this past season. And I'll just kind of throw all these names out at you and you can talk about them. but Anthony Rendon had an ADP inside the top of 30. Eugenio Suarez, 62 was his ADP. Yohan Moncada, 93.4.

He finished 27th at the position. Suarez, we know batting average way down, still hit for a lot of power. Anthony Rendon, lots of injuries. Scott, what happened with these three? Which one are you most likely to buy in on next year? I'm going to be most likely to buy in on Rendon just because he's in my top 12.

And he has the best track record, obviously. But I'm going to need a starter at third base, and it may end up him because I may not pay up for one of the reliable high-end guys. You know, I've been a big Rendon fan for his whole career. I love guys who walk as much as they strike out more or less as he has always done. And that'll keep him pretty high-end in points leagues, I think, no matter what direction he takes with the power production. but I do think it's possible Anthony Rendon,

part of what went wrong for him was the new baseball because it's not like he's somebody, aside from the 2019 season, which was an outlier, it's not like he's somebody who's gotten his home runs by hitting the ball exceptionally hard. And those are the players you have to worry about, especially since we see their early returns here. It didn't lead to as many home runs as we're used to saying.

And he didn't really become a guy who hits for the kind of power, used him pitting for until until the juice ball era started. You know, that lasted basically five years, four and a half years. So Francisco Lendor, you can kind of say the same thing about him. Guys who took a big step back power-wise this year, particularly if they're not ones who produced consistently high exit velocities, I think you have to be skeptical of whether they're going to get that back.

A. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Horez, he really has not been the same since he had shoulder surgery back in January of 2020. And then with Munkata, it kind of just looks like that 2019 was an aberration for him, an outlier season. He had a 915 OPS that year, and he's had a 787 OPS or less every other season. So Matt, what do you think about this group? Really three that led us down at the position this year, Rendon, Suarez, Moncada. Suarez, I don't know what to make of, but I don't think it's going to matter, especially you're in a deeper league. You can take a shot late because no one wants him. That batting average is going to scare everyone off.

I don't, you'll look at his September, and, you know, the end of the season, he had that, like, incredibly high batting average. He had, like, over 400 babbip as well. So I want to dive in deeper to that, but he's still had tons of power. So that's worth something regardless if you're covered at the bats,

or you're covered at batting average. Rendon quickly, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he bounced back, but the injuries are not a new thing for him. And if you take any of that away, He falls back to the pack kind of quickly, even with the batting average if he, you know, if he's not able to stay on the field for the whole season. So I'll probably stay clear.

I'm most interested in Moncada merely because I'm flabbergasted that he's not better. Like, how is he not better? He's always at the very top of the league in exit velocity. He's very fast. He's at 94th percentile in walk percentage. And his expected data actually mirrors his real data. So there's nothing weird going on. 26.6.6% line drive rate.

Is it like too high? Is he thinking directly at people? What's the deal? I will be taking a shot on him because he'll be going very late this year as my, I see you have to be good. There's nothing to suggest you're bad. So I'm just going to like hope that you're good because, you know, that is my reason.

It's a stupid reason. But again, if you're hitting at the ball as hard as anyone, you're really fast. You can carry a high babbip. There's a recipe for the MVP season, and you could draft him super late. It's just, it's bizarre. I'll stay on board with him. I mean, I don't think it's a stupid reason because, like, at this position,

you're forced to see the glass half full with all but the top five, basically. Yeah, I mean, you want to find someone that has upside, right? And we want to believe that Moncada still has that upside. He's entering his age 27 season next year. So he's technically in his prime right now. Matt, I thought you brought up something that was interesting and the walk rate. I think he's too passive at times. I think that could be an issue for Yo-a-Mankada because in the year that he broke out in 2017,

that was the year he had the highest swing rate of his career. 47% swing percentage. Every other year, he's been below 43%. So it doesn't sound like a lot, but he was swinging at more pitches outside of the zone that year. Maybe it was just like he was locked in and it's as simple as that. But he's dealt with COVID. you know, maybe there's some lasting effects. I think he just needs to be more aggressive.

I think Montcada is just a little bit too passive at times at the plate. Look, you need a quality third basement in fantasy baseball, much like you need quality meat in your meals. You've got to take care of yourself and there's no better way to do it than with butcher box. Not only does it taste great, but their sourcing decisions are made holistically, always delivering products you can trust.

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Austin Riley, and Nolan Aranado. We already kind of talked about where we think Austin Riley is going to go. Scott, where would you actually feel comfortable drafting him next year? I'm not ready to say for sure yet, but I could see, now that I have a better grasp

of how thin third base is, I could see round four. I could see doing round four. Yeah, top 50, top 60, pick. Matt, you mentioned you're doing some drafts. Where have you seen also Riley go? I've, I can't remember offhand, but I mean, as I learn more about this, I can go, I think I would go end of round three. If you're on the turn, if you're going, if I think if you're going three, four, I can see doing it, depending on how the rest of everyone is falling. It's completely draft dependent. But yeah, I think Scott's kind of right. We're like round four. But I think I think I could take

him kind of right at the beginning there too. And I just want to say, I know we've talked about these five a lot, but Jose Ramirez, Rafael Devers, Manny Machado, Austin Riley, Nolan Aeronado. Those are the bankable five here. And like, we already talked about how we're not thrilled about Aero, you know, at least you know what you're getting from him. And so I think these are the five that are really going to get paid up for at the position. Because he's there because of health, right? Basically. Well, yeah. I mean, that's the only advantage he has over some of these other guys like Turner and stuff like age and health, really. Age and health. I mean, Yeah, yeah. Well, let's just go on to the next five.

Well, six through ten, we could do a whole podcast on just this group here. Alex Bregman, Adelberto Monassie. Oh my gosh, Adelberto Montesey. Chris Bryant, Anthony Rendon, and Justin Turner. Again, that's six through ten at the third base position. Matt, what do we do with Adelberto Montesey? I'm interested. I don't know what I'm going to do, but he's finally probably at a draft price that's appropriate.

Last year he was going like mid-second. Now he's probably going fifth, sixth, which for, I think, where how much of an advantage it gives you a stolen basis, if you're going for some kind of an overall situation, that is a more, that's a situation where if you fail and he blows up, it doesn't completely ruin your team. That being said, I'm out. I can't do it. Him and Buxton, I'm just like, break out on someone else's team. The Royals have even been quoted as saying they're not sure he's even in their plans.

So I don't even know exactly what the heck that means. I would assume he is, and they bring up, they went to play shortstop, and they put him on to see a third or something. But, yeah, I can't. He looked great in spring training. He looked great when he played this year. He can't stay on the field. The way I interpreted that from the Royals was that they can't,

they view him as enough of an injury risk that they can't plan on him being there in their lineup for the full season. And I don't know if that means periodic rest or what. But, I mean, it's pretty clear you're just drafting him for the, for the potential he gives you a lot of steals and however many games he gives you. I mentioned Jose Ramirez is the second best steel source at the position. That's because at Alberto Mondes, he qualifies at this position now. And thank goodness he does, because we don't really need him at shortstop.

We need him at third base. For what it's worth, I have him seventh here. That's for Roto, obviously. Stans to reason he's a player whose head-to-head points value would be different. And in that format, I rank him 11th. So seventh versus 11th. He is. Did you just do that in your head or do you know that?

No, I had a spreadsheet pulled up here. I see you looking up. I'm like, is he just doing this in his head? That's pretty awesome. I got a monitor, a top monitor and a bottom monitor. So whenever I look up, I'm looking up at the top monitor. Scott, let me give you a pro tip. The next time a guest asks you if you just did that off the top of your head, just say yes, man.

Why not? When someone asks, if you're a god, you say yes. I mean, he's literally doing calculating all this stuff in his head. I'm like, holy crap. Another name I mentioned in the 6-10 range is Alex Bregman. And honestly, I could have lumped him in with the what went wrong with this group. You know, he dealt with a lot of injuries this past season. 270-homers, a 7-77 OPS in only 90 games.

He still has great play discipline. Seems like he's better suited for points leagues at this point. You don't want to write him off, Scott, because he's still young enough where in that lineup, if they bring back Correa, even if they do. don't. He's still going to have a lot of run scoring and RBI opportunities with the Astros. So, it's just a matter of staying healthy. Well, I don't think it's just a matter of saying healthy. What I said, what I said earlier about, um, about Anthony Rendon, I think applies to Bregman to, and perhaps even more so, because his, his average exosities have been even lower over

the years than Bregman has, Bregmans have, or than Rendon's have, sorry. We've seen Bregman be a 40 homer guy before, that's never happening again. I'm not counting on him really to even hit 30 home runs again with just the way his profile looks and the way the ball is playing now. But yeah, great play discipline, just like I said for Anthony Rendon, and that's always going to keep him productive for as much as he's on the field. And in points leagues, I think it could make him, it could keep him high in still. Yeah, I don't think we should count on MVP level production from Bregman anymore. And I say that is probably the biggest,

one of the biggest supporters of Bregman over the years in the fantasy baseball world. 11 to 15. Go ahead, Matt. No, just real quick with Bregman. He's the kind of guy I look at. I'm like, do I believe in a comeback enough to take him here? Or would I rather, do I believe in Matt Chapman or Yon Mancata bringing back something later on?

This is the kind of guy I pass on because I'd rather just take a risk later on. This is like the exact guy I passed on, at least this year. 11 through 15 in the third base ranks. You just mentioned one of those names. Josh Donaldson is 11. Then we have Matt Chapman at 12, Yuala Makata at 13, DJ LaMayhew at 14, and Kyle Seeger, the unrestricted free agent at 15. And I kind of feel like as a community, we kind of, we fall down this slippery slope in our analysis where we constantly say, well, I can get similar production later on. And it's like, at some point, that's just not true, right?

So I was going to make the argument that why, you know, why draft Nolan Aronado at his cost when you can get Matt Chapman, right? Like, we've seen Matt Chapman hit between 250 and 260 and for a lot of power. The thing is, like, the counting stats still add up for someone like Aronado, the RBI and the runs. And I feel like that's what kind of gets lost in that slippery slope analysis. I say all that because I do kind of believe that Matt Chapman can bounce back. I mean, he had shoulder surgery last off season.

It was hip surgery, right? I think it was hip surgery. Actually, yeah, I think you're right. I think it was hip surgery. But it seems like it's definitely something that affected him this year. A major surgery. Yeah. And, you know, it mostly showed up in the strikeout rate, which is weird.

Because he hasn't been a guy who historically has struck out a whole lot. But you can understand his batting average being so low considering. But it's all swinging mist stuff. His chase rate was actually still good. So it was maybe because of the hip, it was just a mechanical. swinging thing because his in-zone contact rate really took a downward hit and it was a swinging strike rate. As far as it wasn't like bad plate selection, which I would count as a plus, right?

Yeah, sure. This looks certainly more fixable than some problems. Right. No, I am, like I said, at this position, you're forced to see the glass half full on everybody. And I do think Chapman, if I miss out on that top five at the position, and you know, I'm probably going to be somebody who's excited to draft Bregman just in the hope of a bounce back. Rendon, if the price is right, just to do. in the hope of a bounce back.

But if I miss out on all those guys, like I could see myself having a lot of Chapman and just crossing my fingers, it was all the hip, and he gets back to being a legitimate, legitimate standout and fantasy. Yeah, like, just take one look at his 2019, right? Like, if we can get 90% of the production

he put up that year, 249 batting average, 36 homers, 102 runs, 91 RBI. 90% of that as the 12th, 13th, 3rd basement off the board, I think that's going to be a steal at the position. I mean, that's kind of what you're expecting from Nolan Aeronado. So I think that comparison makes sense. But that's kind of the best case scenario for Chapman versus what you can basically bank on from Aeronato. Yeah.

And that's going to be the reason why they go, however many parts, rounds apart, five, six, seven, whatever it might be. Josh Donaldson, he was still useful this year. 247 batting average, 26 homers, an 827 OPS in 135 games. Strong plate discipline, but he's turning 35. in December, dealing with these calf injuries constantly. It feels like really just all types of leg injuries. Matt, we haven't ranked 11th here. That means if you play in a 12-team league,

he might wind up as your starting third baseman. Would you be okay with that? No. I had him this last year, and let me tell you, I mean, 114.7 at max X velocity, 17.4 barrels per batted ball event is like elite at this position. He still is the bringer of rain when he's healthy. he's just never healthy.

And if you're in a league where you have to set weekly lineups, the problem, especially this last year, which is way worse than normal, hopefully the soft tissue injuries will take a break next year a little. But these things always seem to happen in the beginning of the week, and then you've taken zeros for weeks. So this one thing, it depends on the format area. And if you're in a daily format league,

I actually bought Donaldson up significantly higher because I have the ability to make daily moves. But if you're in a weekly league, I'm really scared off of some of these third basemen or any of the position players with who have a recurring soft tissue injuries because not only do you not know when they're going to go on the IL, they occasionally will just cost you an entire zero

for a week at a position. So I just can't do it when he gets another year older. He's like, he's guaranteed to miss time. He just is. Yep. And the twins lineup, it's not going to be as good as it has been in years past. Obviously, there's no more Nelson Cruz. You know, they have some prospects on the way.

will see someone like Jose Miranda can make an impact on this team. Byron Buckson if he could stay on the field. But definitely big question marks with the Minnesota twins heading into next season. 16 through 20 at third base. A fun group. Eduardo Escobar, Ryan McMahon, a Eugenio Suarez, Luis Arias, and Patrick Wisdom. Is there anything, Scott, that you would like to say about any of these players? Well, we talked about Escobar and McMahon already. We've talked about Suarez. Rias is just not that interesting to me. Wisdom, I don't know, I don't know if there's a lot of wisdom to ranking Wisdom 20th.

I did it because, well, at least, at least if he just, if he's not one of those guys who, you know, with additional exposure, his 40% strikeout rate, he just shrivels up and dies, you know, from a baseball perspective

and gets shipped out and never returns. I could definitely see that outcome happening for wisdom, kind of like when we talked about Eric Haas in the catcher preview. But if he is good enough to stick around, he should hit a lot of home runs. And that will make him worth rostering. You'll notice, though, I don't have Cabrian Hayes here. I was ready to ask you about that.

Which is significant for me especially. I don't have Alec Bohm here. J. Mer Candelario is somebody, I guess, you could consider for that 20th spot instead of wisdom. And I do have him ahead of wisdom in a points league, but he's just not not that exciting, not a lot of upside there.

Yeah, the reason I left out, Kibrian Hayes is because I just, there was just nothing redeeming about his stat line, nothing redeeming about the stat cast data. You could chalk it up as, okay, he heard his wrist early in the season, and it was never quite right, and

off season of rest is all he needs. Maybe, but that's the hope for kubriyan haze is based on what he did for basically half a month in the major leagues at the end of 2020 you know and then to follow it up with a season like this one you know even look at his mildly trucker it's not like he was in for a lot of power there so um i just i'm just have a hard time getting motivated to invest in kibrian hayes again and if push comes to shove i might take him over wisdom just because i really don't like wisdom but you know, I think the odds are better that wisdom is more useful. I think it's going to come down to price, right? Like, if a lot of people feel the same way as you do about Cabrion Hayes,

I think he's probably going to fall later than he should, especially as someone who's turning 25 years old in January, a former top prospect, known more for his defense than offense. But, yeah, it seems like the risk definitely could have played into the majority of his season. And, like, maybe even affected the bad at ball data because, like, a 57% ground ball rate is egregious.

In a dynasty league, if you're invested in Hayes, that is certainly what you're hoping for. And I know I have them in one dynasty league and probably not going to trade them. But again, like it's not like coming up through the minor leagues. This was some can't miss prospect. It was rated highly, but mostly on the strength of his defense, you know. Yeah. I would say that there's a difference, obviously, between rankings and ADP because you take, you know, value for what it is. And it depends on if it's roto or not.

but if it is roto, he was still, you know, June 21st on, which is what I've been using. He was on pace to still, still between 16 and 20 bases and about around 250. So I would think in the end, people will just hope for the best, see the stolen base potential. And I think he'll still get pushed beyond, at least get drafted before this last tier of Escobar McMahon, because I think people will just kind of close their eyes and hope, which I think, based on our conversation, and maybe we'll push him a little earlier than you may be comfortable taking him. But yeah, I get the feeling that he'll still find his way up there

because this position is really bad. I do want to mention something about Kyle Seeger, who was in the previous group. He was number 15 for me. And part of the reason I put him there, you mentioned it earlier, Frank. He's a free agent in the off season. And I actually think that could be a significant development for him.

Obviously, he spent a long time in Seattle, what is it, over a decade in Seattle? Yeah, 11 years in Seattle. So we've never seen him anywhere else. His career home numbers, 238 batting average of 721 OPS. His career away numbers, a 262 batting average, an 801 OPS.

And if you look at just how things went for him this year, he hit 159 at home with a 573 OPS. He had 261 with an 861 OPS on the road. So, you know, it's got to depend where he signs, obviously. But if he signs in a park that's on the other end of the spectrum, the hitter pitcher spectrum, then I think there might be some modest enthusiasm for Kyle Seeger next year, or at least there should be. Can I ask a quick question here?

I know we're running really. Heimer Candelario, just because we skipped over him completely. With Torkelson coming up, possibly sooner than rather than later, he had a little minor injury in the Arizona Fall League. Where does he fit in if he's not playing, if he's not playing like on that, you know, like where, where does he fit on that team if he needs to be moved around? I just bring it up. He let the American League in doubles, which I think most of the planet probably didn't know.

If he were to, I'm just to keep in everyone's mind, if there's ever trade rumors to him leaving that park, he could see a massive boost, like not like Nick Castellanos, who he, you know, was a doubles machine too, but he would see a pretty massive boost if there was ever a reason for them to try to move him because Detroit's going to try to improve a lot, which could move excess pieces maybe like him. So it's just something I think to keep in the back of everyone's minds because he is being drugged down by that park in a big way. Those doubles can turn in a home run pretty much anywhere else but there. Yeah, and I believe he had a pretty big second half because every time I looked at him in that second half, it seemed like he was doing something. So I'll

Put this up real quick and see what it looks like. But yeah, second half for him, 282 batting average, 882 OPS, made more contact, walks around 10-11% of the time. He's an intriguing player. So, yeah. I definitely see a lot more use for him in points leagues because of that doubles power because he is pretty good plate discipline. But just not a lot of upside there. Maybe in a different part. Yeah, in a different park.

It's just one of those things where, like, always being traded, everyone's ears should perk up. All right. Let's wrap up like we do with the other pods. And an early target, Scott, 20 seconds or less. Give me a name. I will say Chapman, who I mentioned earlier, I expect to have a good number of shares of him. All right. Matt. Austin Riley, shouldn't be a surprise.

I'll take him. I think I already said I take him as early as the third. So I think that kind of said it all. Love Riley. He's legit. Yeah, I want to see where the value winds up on both of these guys. And I also want to see them in spring training. but Anthony Rendon and Matt Chapman are two that I could see myself drafting a lot of next year.

An early avoid. This time we will start with Matt. Mondesie already said, I'm pretty much getting rid of anyone who's an injury prone and he's a guarantee injury prone guy. So I'll find my stolen basis somewhere else. Scotty? And avoid.

Gosh, I don't see huge... As bad as this is, I kind of just feel like I'll take whoever falls to me. I guess Mondesie is the right answer. I don't see myself, in addition to the injury risk, I don't see myself investing a lot and guys who mostly just give you steals. All right. Nolan Aronado, for me, I think he's probably going to go higher than I'd like,

and he's just kind of boring, which is fine. I mean, depends on your team build, but yeah, like if you have other risky players, then Arirnado could fit well there. A few prospects to know, third baseman 4, 2022. Spencer Torkelson, we talked about on the first base, podcast. He's played first, third base, in the minor so far. But a few other names for the Mets, Brett Beatty, who apparently is having a really great Arizona Fall League. For the Texas Rangers, Josh Young, for the twins, Jose Miranda, who we brought up multiple times this past year on the

podcast. He hit 344 with 30 homers between AA and AAA. Cleveland's Nolan Jones, who plays a little bit of third base, a little bit of outfield. Former top prospect, he's kind of lost some of his luster. and then the Dodgers, McGill Vargas, is named that we could see rise up the ranks in 2022. I want to throw up one more, Nolan Gorman, the Cardinals. He's blocked by Aronado by all practical purposes. I've actually read that the Cardinals are interested in possibly putting him at second base as their starter at second. So obviously keep an eye on that for sure. You talked about him in the second base preje because that's actually where he's going to be eligible on CBS.

He spent more time at second base than on that third base this past year. Scott, anything you'd like to add on these prospects? I just realized I forgot to rank Jose Miranda, so I need to get on that. But I was going to say for Josh Young, you know, I mentioned just outside of my top 20s, Candelario, Cabrion Hayes, Alec Bome. 24th is Josh Young. And he might be, I haven't looked at pitchers yet, but he might be the second highest drafted minor leaguer after Bobby Witt, or at least he might deserve to be,

because I think he'll be up really early in the season. Yeah, I think Adley Ruchman will be in that conversation. I think Nolan Gorman will also be in that conversation. But yeah, I mean, if you're just talking about like the top five prospects for redraft, I think Jose Miranda will definitely be in that mix. He is Matt Williams, writer and host at NBC Sports Edge. You could also find his writing at The Athletic, and you can listen to him over at the Turn 2 podcast.

Make sure to follow him on Twitter at Matt W-W-I-7-I-A-M-S. That's Matt Williams with Sevens as the L's. Matt, appreciate you coming on. Thanks, man. Thanks for having. Yeah, man. All right. For Matt and Scott, I am Frank, thank you all for listening and watch Fantasy Baseball today.

We'll be back again on Tuesday. Bye-bye.