Fantasy Baseball Today - The 2026 All H2H Points & Roto (categories) Teams! (3/9 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Let's start with the news from the weekend, starting with updates on the injured hamate bones (6:00). ... Nick Pivetta and Ivan Herrera are dealing with injuries (8:00). ... Zack Littell signed a one-year deal with the Nationals (10:13). ... What's the latest on Merrill Kelly and Quinn Priester (17:41)? ... Let's get into the 2026 All H2H points team, starting with the infield (28:30). ... Which outfielders get a boost in H2H points leagues (46:16)? ... Which starting pitchers and relievers gain value in that format (53:36)? ... Let's move over to Roto/categories, starting with infielders (1:00:28). ... Which outfielders gain the most value in category leagues (1:15:22)? ... Which pitchers are better in that format (1:21:18)? Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hello, welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, March 9th. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Stay on the show. we have the all-roto and all head-to-head points teams. We'll look at the players who specialize in each format. Got a bunch of options to choose from, but we will actually choose a team. So one player per position, but we'll talk about all the players that are better in each of those formats.

Kind of messed you up this year, didn't I? Yes. With the article, didn't I? You haven't written it yet? Didn't I? No, I wrote it. I just changed the format. I used to do an all-head-to-head all-roto team.

But I decided that's a stupid game. and I should just list all the players at each position that are better or worse than each form. That's actually more helpful and it would take me less time to put together. Then you don't have to write. So you're telling me this whole podcast is dumb. No. All right. Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow.

Thanks listening. The gimmick works better in a conversational setting like this. So I think it's just not pre-made. You're saying this podcast is a gimmick. Wow. That's even worse. I'm saying the idea of pointing out which players are better or worse in particular formats by making an all head-to-head-to-head-all-rotto-team. I'm saying that's a gimmick.

Scott, you can't take it back. Yep, nope. Can't unring that bell. It's forever in the internet and it will live on and on and on. But we will talk about all those players and we will come up with a team collectively for each of the formats. We'll also break down some spring news and talk about some pitchers. Should we be talking about these guys more? So I've got a whole bunch of names there.

The World Baseball Classic has started. It has been a lot of fun. Chris, how much did you freak out on Saturday night when Puerto Rico hit the walkoff? I think I scared my dog who was sitting on the couch next to me because I jumped up and clapped. That was Darrell Hernay's walkoff home run was so much fun. How about this is what the sixth World Baseball Classic, I think,

and there had never been a walkoff home run. and then Saturday about 4 p.m. Ozzie Albis, I mean, that was heartbreaking. I don't know if you guys were watching that one. Nicaragua down to two outs in the ninth inning would have been their first World Baseball Classic win ever, and they left their reliever in too long. Dusty Baker is their manager after all, and Ozzy Albies hits a walkoff home run, and then a couple hours later, Puerto Rico walks it off in San Juan. It was electric, incredible.

If you haven't seen the videos of Francisco Indoor watching and reacting, that was super fun. It's real, how can you not be romantic about baseball season in the Tower's household? I'm enjoying it. Panama Canada right now going in the ninth inning. Very excited for Panama, Canada. Just to bring this back to fantasy for a second. Ali Albi is looking pretty good. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident that Ozzy Albies is just healthy and going to have a great

season. Also, Owen Casey looking very good in the first couple of games. Very excited about that. Yeah, don't think that broken hamate bone is going to be an issue for Ozzy Albee's power. He, I saw him with one off the wall. Yeah, the walkoff was a lefty home run. It went over 400 feet. I saw from the right side him hit one off the wall, nearly a grand slam against the Red Sox earlier this spring. It just looks like like he walked me in Ozzy Albies again. And he's had a long time to recover from the hamate bone injury. So all the optimism we're hearing from Francisco Lendor and Corbyn-Carran when they were had mere weeks to recover from it, I think is also a good sign for Ozzy. Also, Cuba, Puerto Rico tomorrow night at 7, Mexico, United States at 8.

Yeah, I will be seated. Oh, we're going to be recording, aren't we? Right in the middle of our Memorial Magazine at live auction. What can go wrong? I'm sure nothing will go wrong. Let's first hit the news and notes from the weekend, get people all caught up, and then we'll get to the all-roto, all-headed points a little bit later on. Speaking of the Hamay bones, we do have updates on each of the players dealing with that injury.

Jackson Holiday hit 40 balls off a T on Saturday using both hands to swing and said that he expects to take batting practice within the next week. Of the three players, him, Carol and Lindor, the Orioles have kind of been a little bit more cautious with Holiday of the three. So, I mean, maybe he starts on the aisle, but it seems like the other two that there is, More of a chance. Does the math add up? Not so sure, but here we are. Yeah, I mean, it's at the very front end of the usual timetable for this injury.

But I did also see an Orioles article this weekend that they're not sure about opening day anymore. That was interesting because right away they said he's going on the IL. He's going to open the season on the IL. But obviously they haven't actually put him on the IL. So I don't know. Maybe they were. maybe they were trying to keep expectations down. But yeah, it sounds like all three could be ready for opening day.

That still seems unlikely that all three would hit the exact best case scenario. And I'm still a little worried about what that's going to mean for their readiness for the season. But I don't know if they're playing in games by next Tuesday or something that I think would give them four or five games to get up to speed plus some sim games. And I don't know, everybody does like the warm up game at the time. their stadium, so they'll have some chances. I'm still a little worried about the prospect of a slow start for Carol and Lindor in particular, but could be available for opening day. Yeah, the updates on those other two, Carol has been taking live at Bats and said he does

plan to play on opening day, and Francisco Lindor started a hitting progression last Wednesday. Saw some video of him doing some defensive drills as well. The team has been consistent all along that Lindor will be ready for opening day. the updated ADP in March for those two in particular, Carol at 14.6 and Lindor at 25.4. Nick Povetta apparently is dealing with mild arm fatigue, and manager Craig Stamman said it's nothing major. Look, anytime it's something with the arm, you know, you have to pay attention. But Scott, I feel like, whether it's spring or early on in the season, we kind of get like a dead arm phase for a lot of starting pitchers. So, I mean, unless we hear about like imaging or something,

this probably isn't a big deal, right? It'd be probably not. It, I think, is another reason for Paul's when you're going to draft Nick Povetta, who do we all have him as a bust candidate for this year? Yeah. Now, I find in drafts I've done, he tends to fall a couple rounds below ADP anyway. So I've been drafting Nick Povetta a lot. Some bus candidate, right?

But, yeah, I mean, there's a chance he might. fall even further now. I guess what I'm saying is if you're intentionally avoiding him, there's still a good chance he's going to be worth bidding on, just because he is a popular avoid candidate

and this might make that condition even more acute. Don't love this next one. Yvonne Herrera was scratched Sunday due to knee inflammation and he had off-season elbow surgery but also dealt with that knee issue last year. And Chris, this seems like it might

affect his ability to crouch and play catcher, which is what we need him to do. Yeah, that would definitely be a concern. I suppose the good news is they have worked him out in the outfield and at first base. So maybe they're comfortable using him elsewhere, because obviously we'd love to have Yvonne Herrera get catcher eligibility, but getting eligibility anywhere would help. You know, if it's outfield at first, I think Ivan Herrera is going to hit and plenty to be a good outfielder. But it's also a little concerning that

I think he played in like three spring games and then started dealing with knee inflammation. So that would be the bigger concern. It's just that it indicates some inability to stay healthy on Herrera's part, which would be a bummer because he's really good and we're all really excited about him. Zach Lattell has agreed to a one-year deal

with the Nationals. He's 30 years old and coming off a solid season on the surface, 381, ERA 110 whip, but the strikeouts came way down last year for Zach Lattel. The Nationals, they could go with a six-man rotation, or I guess one of Cade Cavali, Bradlord, Josiah Gray, or Foster Griffin is now on the outside looking in. Scott, do you have any deep league interest in a Zach Lattel? Yeah, it's like a late whip specialist. It's hard for me to wring my hands over the strikeout rate as late as you can get Zach Lattel.

it's like, okay, well, what useful can I find at this stage of the draft? And you see Zach Lattel with his excellent control and the low whip and like, okay, maybe there's something handy there. Signing with the Nationals should give him terrific job security. And I imagine he'll be, he threw over 180 innings. So they'll probably give him workhorse treatment

as much as he can handle anyway. So it's a good spot for him. I don't think it's going to be Cade Cavali. That they kick out of the rotation, by the way, not after his... I'd be surprised, yeah. I hope not. Six, four one hit innings against the Astros on Friday, struck out six. Showed a deep arsenal of pitches.

It used to be a top prospect. He's missed most of the last three years with Tommy John's surgery, but they were taught... The MLB.com article I read about it was talking about him as a potential opening day starter. So I think Kate Cavali's role is secure, and I think there's some low-end sleeper, appeal there too. Man, all those jokes I've made about Miles Michaelis being their opening day starter are going to go to waste.

He still might be their opening day start. Chris, we had two spring debuts this weekend for some big name pitchers. Brandon Woodruff made his return. Two shutout innings with three strikeouts there. The fastball velocity down 1.1 miles per hour, but that's

within the range of acceptable outcomes at this point in the spring for him. And then Cam Schill Littler also made his spring debut on Friday. He pitched two and a third scoreless, got the pitch count up to 39, had four strikeouts, and the velocity on his cutter was up three miles per hour. He was averaging almost 95 with his cutter, which I'm not so sure that's what we want, all that velocity from Camp Schlittler, but did you see anything here that is notable for

Brandon Woodruff or Schlittler in their spring debuts? Yeah, the cutter is super. notable for Cam Schlittler. He, you know, we've talked a lot about his arsenal and how it kind of was lacking swing and miss stuff, especially outside the four seamer. And I think that's probably more true of his arsenal versus lefties because I think he should probably be able to handle righties either way, just with how good his foreseamer is. But he doesn't necessarily have a great lefty match.

pitch and an even better cutter could certainly help because that pitch was pretty good for him. It got decent amount of whiffs, very good results on balls and play. That could be just another wrinkle if that pitch is even better. Seeing it being up three miles per hour is not unconcerning given the underlying concerns I have about Schlittler and his ability to handle all the velocity he's added. He seems to be putting a ton of pressure on his elbow, but in terms of the skill set, it looks rock solid, man. I don't really have any concerns about Schlittler's skill set.

I think he's going to be good. It's just a question whether he can hold up. And that is true for every single pitcher ever basically. Especially a young one. Yeah. So I don't see any reason to downgrade him because of that. And I think he's actually been pretty reasonably priced. throughout. I mean, in March, it's still 137.6 ADP, so that's one spot ahead of Brandon Woodruff,

interesting. But behind Michael King, who has a lot of injury question marks. And Tyler Glass now, I don't even think they're injury question marks. They're just injury exclamation points for Tyler Glass now. Like, he's going to miss time. It's just every single season. Emishian, he's still going behind, Schlittler's still going behind Jacob Mizierowski. Like, I think there's plenty of room for, yeah, I kind of agree on that. I'm toying with Mizorowski as a bus. Scott, I know you have him already, right? Let's make all our list identical.

Let's do it. I'm invested in Cam Schlittler now. He's my number four in TGFBI. Nice. Number four. And Povetta's my number three, so, you know. And then with Woodruff, the stuff looked really bad according to the various stuff metrics, but it was his first start.

He's going to be taking it slow this spring. He's already said that. He already is taking it slow. Velocity was down again. But his velocity was down last year and it didn't matter. So my concerns with Woodruff are a little bit performance, but mostly just I don't really have any faith that he's going to make it through the whole season or anything close. So I'm not out on Woodruff.

I probably have him ranked fairly close to his ADP. But he's definitely never, I don't think I've reached a point this spring where I've clicked pick on Brandon Woodruff. So I'm just a little wary of that, but obviously I can see the upside. All right. Next up here, Garrett Cole threw 30 pitches over two innings during a simulated game on Friday. His fastball topped out at 97.5 miles per hour, which sounds promising for him. Shane Bieber had a heavy flat ground throwing day on Friday, but there remains no timeline to throw off of a mound. He's dealing with that forearm fatigue. But, but just to, there is no timetable.

but it sounds like they're pretty optimistic about Beaver. If I could find the quote, I was taking notes before the show, and I don't have it here. Did they pull up last year's notes instead? Never mind. Keep going. I can't find it. I will say, you know, one thing we talked about when the Blue Jay signed Scherzer was the idea that they were going to slow play him and have him be ready for the, for the postseason. But did I, I saw correctly that Scherzer pitched in a game this week.

again, right? Four no-hit innings. Yeah, that was, uh, that was very surprising. His velocity was actually up, uh, in that one. Scherzer might be in the opening day rotation at this point. I don't know. Like I spent hours putting notes together. And then when the moment comes up, I have to reference it.

I don't know if I spelled his name wrong in my, I don't know what happened. It's not a hard name to spell. I'm sorry. This keeps happening. It's embarrassing. Hmm. I believe it was not a lack of effort. It's just a lack of execution.

Scott, I believe it was going to change people's worlds. I mean, basically, you know, he said everything looks good. They're just taking it slow with Beaver. That was the, he's chomping at the bit, which is spelled champing, right? But you're not actually pronounced it champing. Horses champ. Or you do pronounce it champing. And people just like to say chomping.

I have no idea. Okay. Well, this has been a useful segment. Yeah. Let's continue on. Merrill Kelly threw a successful bullpen on Sunday and we'll throw another one this week before potentially pitching in a Cactus league game. He is dealing with mid-back tightness. Quinn Priester continues to deal with a right wrist issue, which has plagued him since August of last year. Manager Pat Murphy added that Priester isn't responding correctly to bullpins and they're thinking of sending him to a specialist. So if Quinn Priester is not ready for opening day, it seems like one of Kyle Harrison,

Brandon Sprote or Robert Gasser could fill in there. And Kyle Harrison on Sunday, three innings, two runs. One of those earned eight strikeouts in that one, 10 whiffs on 60 pitches. He looked really good. There are any pitcher here that you would have your eye on as a deep sleeper if prester's out? I'm not much of a believer in Sprote. He throws hard, but the fastball shapes aren't great.

He was pretty bad for most of last season at AAA. I just don't have a ton of faith in it, although obviously. Look, the Brewers have earned a lot of benefit of the doubt. I know Robert Gasser is someone that a decent number of people are interested in as a sleeper. Let me see if I can find this note. Kyle Harrison, big performance Sunday, struck out eight and three innings, has a new kick change. Yep. Remember, the problem with Kyle Harrison previously was he only had that fastball.

The Giants could never figure out a secondary offering for him. Brewers are pretty good at this pitching development thing. Harrison might have been in the rotation regardless. I think they were leaning that way, but obviously if there's a new opening there, Harrison's odds improved that much. And I think he's, you know, eight strikeouts in three innings,

new pitch and a great organization for pitching. Yeah, I think Kyle Harrison is in the deep league consideration now. Yeah, because he toyed with a cutter last year. I think the primary focus is just, he's always had the fastball, which he throws like 65%

of the time. He has the slurve. And then it's always been like, does he have anything to get righties out? And that's obviously a big problem with a lefty pitcher. But the thing about the kick change and the idea behind it is there are guys who just naturally cannot throw a change up. I think, Frank, we've had this discussion. I can never remember if it's supernators or pronators. I think pronating is you can spin breaking balls really well.

Suponation is you can throw. Don't take my word on it. I'm not a kineshesiologist or whatever. I don't even think I said that word right. But the idea is for guys who can't throw a change up, like a classic circle or palm or whatever change up, is you spike your finger on the lace, you just throw it like your fastball.

It's going to look like your breaking ball out of your hand, but it's going to die. And that's the idea behind the kick change. For a pitcher like Kyle Harrison, who does, not seem to generate very much glove side movement. He doesn't throw a sinker. He doesn't throw a classical change up. That could be a real difference maker. It could play off the slurve really well. It could play off the fastball potentially. And so I've never been much of a believer in Kyle Harrison,

but this is worth monitoring, especially because he still has the heightened fastball velocity from last season. So if you can get to like throwing the fastball 55% of the time and the slurve like 25 to 30 and the rest are kick chains and that pitch can be decent, A lot of ifs there, but I'm open to it as a, you know, let's see what the rotation looks like early in the season. If he's in, maybe throw a buck at him in your auction or a late round pick and give him a couple turns through the rotation, see if there's anything there. Bryce Miller threw a 25 pitch bullpen on Sunday at about 80% intensity. He's working his way back from a left side injury. Riley O'Brien made his spring debut this weekend.

He allowed a walk and a hit over a scoreless inning of work. and he has been working through a mild right calf strain. Do you guys still expect Riley O'Brien to lead the Cardinals and saves this season? Yeah, I think things were trending that way at the end of last season, and he's come back in enough time that he should be ready for the start of the season. I do think that Cardinals closer scenario is one of the most likely tandem, a true committee situation, at least to start out, at least until somebody removes himself from the equation or distinguishes himself.

So I think Jojo Romero, what actually happened is I think it was a dead even split after they traded Helsley, the deadline between Romero and O'Reilly just seemed like the momentum was more toward O'Reilly. O'Brien. Riley O'Brien. Maybe it was just because he's the right-hander. but, you know, it would be helpful to have Jojo Romero available in more of a lefty role if O'Brien were able to seize the job. So, yeah, that's the one I'd target first,

but behind all the assured closers. All right, a couple of quick news items here. Chandler Simpson has been held out of game since Wednesday due to renewed tightness in his left hamstring. Yandy Diaz has not played since Tuesday due to, to soreness in his left hand. Manager Kevin Cash said Diaz is fine. They're just giving him some extra time to get right.

Edwin Nusaita is unlikely to be ready for opening day due to that shoulder inflammation. And Josh Lowe took dry swings on Friday and, quote, said it went well. He was diagnosed with an oblique injury. On the last day of February, it's the same injury he's dealt with each of the previous two years. Still has some time to get ready for opening day, but has just constantly dealt with injury. So we'll see. We'll monitor the situation there on Josh Lowe. Also, I think it's worth mentioning.

Jackson Cheerios missed the first two games, I believe, of the WBC with a wrist injury. He got hit on the wrist with a pitch, but it all, it sounds like it's, I think the term I saw was soft tissue contusion, so it shouldn't be anything to concern yourselves about. But just figured we mentioned it for a high-end player, currently not 100%. I think I saw that he's expected to play on Monday, so. Okay. Well, hopefully that's the case for Jackson Cheerio. Before we hit our first break, I just want to run through the schedule for this week, because we're kind of all over the place right now. But on Monday night, we'll be live at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Time with our annual live auction draft that we do.

That is a real league that we're playing out. It's 12-Team Brodo. It's the Memorial Magazine league that we do every year here on the channel. And always fun to do a live auction. It usually gets pretty crazy. Tuesday night, we'll be live with Nick Pollock talking, pitching risers throughout spring. Wednesday night we'll be live our normal time with position preview updates. And then Thursday. Finish those? Yeah, but a lot has changed since then.

So, you know, got to get people ready for drafts, Chris. And then... I wasn't asking to question you. I just can't believe we're two weeks out by Wednesday. Jeez. Yeah, man. It's coming soon. It's good thing baseball season's short. And then, oh gosh, Thursday, we will be live at 3.30 p.m. Eastern time.

with our mock draft mega stream. That will probably be seven hours long. It's going to be a fun, long day. And then Friday we will have a mailbag. Just a reminder on some of the details here on the megastream. I'll throw that up for those watching on YouTube. But again, it is this Thursday, 3.30 p.m. Eastern Time. We will do four different drafts all in a row.

The first draft will be a 12-team roto on CBS with Special guest Vlad Sedler, that will be at 3.30 again. Then we will, at 5 p.m. We'll do a 12-team head-ed categories on Yahoo with Joe O'Rico. At 6.30, we will do a 12-team head-to-head points on ESPN with Ariel Cohen. And then at 8 p.m., it will be the nightcap. That is our Roto Wire online championship over at the NFBC. That is a 12-team roto with an overall championship component.

And we found out we have the sixth pick, guys. So I guess. Jose Ramirez, baby. Whoever falls out of J-Ram, Soto, and Acuna. Let's do it. Let's take that break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today.

I did have a segment set up here for pitchers that we maybe should be talking more about, but I think we should just get into the all-roto and all-head-to-head points teams. And we've got Nick Pollock coming on later this week. So we'll ask him a bunch of questions about starting pitchers during spring training. Let's start with the all-head-to-head points teams.

with an emphasis on plate discipline, playing time, extra base hits, and we will start a catcher. So I'll just present some names here, as Scott did in his article. I basically just stole the names. I added a few names where I thought they were necessary. Oh, really? You don't think I did a good enough job. Oh, yeah.

You want to criticize my rundown, Scott? I'm going to criticize. No. And then we will... So we're... Is the idea we're picking the most representative player of the format, not necessarily like the best in the format, but it is the most represented.

He gains the most value in this format. He loses the most value in the other format. That's exactly what I'm looking to do here. Let's do it, baby. At catcher, the obvious candidates here are William Catreras, Will Smith, Adley-Rutchman, Gabriel Moreno, and Alejandro Kirk. Again, this is the head-to-head points side of things.

These are the names that gain value in this format. Who do you guys think is the most representative to be the catcher on the all head-to-head points team? My leaning is, Moreno here has always been a low strikeout guy, which helps, but he's lacked the home runs that that would help him even things out. And Rodo, I think Adley Rushman is a very strong contender, too, for the same reasons. But I think, and I have hoped that Moreno's power production will improve this year.

But I think just going on past precedent, I would give it to Gabriel Moreno. My lean was Adley Rushman. I just always associated him with this format. It's great plate discipline and lots of doubles, too, throughout his career. Like what he lacks in home run power, he usually kind of just makes up for with a lot of doubles in this format. I think Moreno is fine as well. Chris, you are the deciding vote. Who is the catcher?

My first thought was Andy Rushman, just because of what you said. It's the lack of even when he was the consensus top catcher in fantasy, which was pretty much 2023 and 24 drafts. It was always, yeah, but you think. like to see more over the fence power. I think his career high is like 20 or 21. A lot of doubles, phenomenal plate discipline.

I'll go with Adley here. Sorry, Scott. And now we don't even know if he's, we don't even know if he's a good hitter. So you might just be bad. I will tell you, the bigger, the catcher who actually changes in my rankings the most, improving in head to head and dropping in Roto is Moreno.

I think they're probably like six spots apart in the two formats. Moreno being top 12 and head-to-head points. But it's fine. I mean, Adley's a good choice, too. The biggest thing with Adley is just, like Frank said, he might just be bad. Like, he's been a pretty bad hitter for two years now, a year and a half, really, if you want to split up that 20-24 season. But it's possible he's just not worth using in either format, in which case, yeah, it's probably Gabriel Moreno. Yeah.

Let's move on here to first, Bay. and a couple of options for the all-head-to-Hontes team. We have Freddie Freeman, Vinnie Pee. Baby. Vinny Pasquantino, Yandy Diaz, and I threw in Luis a rise here as well. I guess, look, arise if he hits for a great batting average, it scores a bunch of runs, he'll probably just be fine in a category.

I thought about him. I do like him more in a points league. But he is such a specialist in that batting average category for Roto that I felt like, it felt wrong to me to single him. out as a points league specific guy. Yeah. But I don't, yeah, I get what you're saying there.

What do you guys think? Who is most representative of the all headhead points team at first base? Well, I will tell you, the cover of the article contained one of these players. Uh-oh. One of these players was the cover boy. I'm going to guess Yandy. It was Yanty DS. Yeah.

Yeah. He might be the player whose value changes. Well, he might be the player who's value. changes the most between the two formats. He's in the discussion, not a runaway. But the thing is, two of the last three years, he's exceeded 20 homers. It's only two times in his career. He's done that.

And so he's been a worthwhile player in both. But, you know, one of those was last year in Tampa in Steinbrenner Field, where his opposite field power played really well. And I don't think we're going to see the 20 homers. continue for Yanti Diaz now that they're back at Tropicana field. In which case, great strikeout to walk ratio, which helps in points, should hit a good number of doubles but won't really have the home runs, I think, to hold up as a corner infield option in Rodo.

So, you know, whether he hits 20 home runs or not, Yandi Diaz, great points league starter, but it makes a big difference for his roto value. Yeah, and Roto, he might just be like a batting average specialist. think that's still useful, but definitely, I think the, maybe, like Scott said, the biggest example of what we're talking about here is Yanni Dias. Yeah. And one more note on him, 29 or more doubles four years in a row. So what he lacks in home runs at times, he still, when he hits the ball hard, it's on the ground. You know, you get a lot of those balls that just either roll down the line or into the gap, and boom, you wind up with a lot of doubles there

for Yandy Diaz. So our all head-to-head points first baseman will be deep. as let's move over to second base where we have a good amount of options here. Cotel Marte, Jose Altuve, Glaber Torres, Brendan Donovan. So, Chris, good mix of plate discipline here, keeping the strikeouts down. Glaber got the walk rate way up last season.

Who do you think is most representative at second base for Head Dead Points? Lees. I think it might be Cotel Marte, but I feel like that's kind of going against the spirit of the exercise, right? Because he's really good in both formats. Right.

He's a superstar in both. He's one of the best hitters in baseball. Whereas Claibor Torres, for instance, especially what we saw last season was kind of a bad player in Roto. Like a barely viable middle infielder because he, I think it was like 75 runs, 75 Robreyes, something like that. Only 14 homers, if I remember incorrectly, something like that. But points leagues, he was a legit starting caliber second baseman. So I think that's probably the biggest overall difference is Glaber Torres going from, honestly, even as a middle infielder, he was pretty fringy last season. But pretty close to a top 12 second baseman.

Head to head points per game, Glabortort. Well, you said eighth overall. Head to add points. 7th. Head to head points per game, he was tied for eighth at second base was Torres. And that was because the plate discipline was so good in a way that we hadn't really seen from him before. And so that's why, you know, this list could tell Marte Jose Al-Tuvic labor tours, Brendan Donovan. Did you add anyone to those four or were those standouts?

I mean, I guess a rise will gain second base, but I didn't add him here. Yeah, there aren't longstanding. Like there was a while where we would have said Jose Al-2 is a better roto player. Because batting average standout, stolen base standout. It doesn't walk much, but because it's more just power and low strikeout rate, well, that, that tips the scales more in the points league fair. So it's not like there's a longstanding, oh, we know this guy is a points league standout. Maybe Brendan Donovan, but how much of a standout is he really? You know, he's definitely better in points leagues, but it's not like he's going to get drafted in every points league.

And we should expect some of his outlier play discipline to be a little worse in Seattle, I would say. Yeah. So Glaver Torres could end up giving this back if he doesn't repeat that near 14% walk rate. You know, a lot of times he's been closer to 20% strikeouts than 16. A lot of times he's been closer to 10% walks than 14. And so I think this is this upcoming year, we got a lot to figure out with Gleber Torres. It's hard to say exactly at this stage of his career what kind of player he is. but I think just going off what we saw last year and how much better he finished at points than Roto.

And that second base doesn't have a clear representative, long-standing representative for this. I think it makes sense to pick him. All right. Again, that's Glaver Torres, who is our all-hatted points second baseman. I do think Marte would have been a fine pick if we wanted to do that. He's great regardless of format.

But to me, honestly, probably jumps up a whole round of value in a points league versus a Roto or a Categorys league there with its own. Now that LC and Chisholm switch. Yeah, I think that's the second base. Yeah.

Yep. At third base, we have Alex Bregman, Esock Paredes, Max Muncie, and Alec Bohm. I mean, Breggman and Muncie have kind of been two faces of head-to-points leagues for the past decade. I would probably go with Breggman just because I don't expect Muncie to play every day at this point. But do you guys feel differently? I think Breggman's a fine choice, especially since I think he'll lose some power. going to Wrigley Field

that'll make the distinction between the two formats even bigger. I'm inclined to say Muncie just because I think like he is a total afterthought in a roto league. Maybe if you're desperate to fill your corner

infield spot late, okay I guess Muncie's the best I could do. But in a points league, he's going to be drafted as a start, even without a corner infield spot. As thin as third base is, Muncie's going to be drafted as a starter everywhere. So I'd lean Muncie here.

And part of what makes them worse in Roto, great, great walk, great for points leagues, but low batting average for Roto. So it's one of those, you gain something here, you lose something here. And that's where you see the distinction between the two formats really increase. So either one of those is fine,

but my pick is Muncie. All right, Chris, you are the deciding vote. Alex Breggman. or Max Muncie. I don't want everyone to think that it's like an anti-Scott thing. That's my problem is you putting this up on me is like, well now I've got to disagree with Scott again. I'll just, I'll let you guys go first from now on and then I'll be the deciding vote. For me, it just comes down to is he going to start 80% of the games? He's a really good points league player, but that's Muncie you're talking about? Yeah, discounting what he does by 20%

you know, you're starting from three fantasy points per game. That's awesome. That's a must-start caliber at any position. But if he's missing 20% of the games, then it's 2.4 points per game functionally. Yeah. That's the thing that's tough. You don't really know because I know after he came back from,

what was the injury last year? Was it a hamstring or knee? It was the knee, right? It looked like a bad knee injury, but it did not be in so bad. He came back and he was sitting a lot against left. but they said at the time it was more about giving him, not overworking him,

coming back from the injury, wanting to take it easy on him. And, you know, there's also the fact that even when he doesn't start because a lefties on the mound, well, he enters the game as a pinch hitter very often,

which was a similar situation to Michael Bush last year. So I think just given the state of third base, Look, if Max Muncie was for sure slam dunk everyday player, he'd be, you know, he'd be in the argument to go ahead of Austin Riley even. And points league. But because he's not, you know, he's probably more like 10th at the position. Maybe you could say 11th behind Matt Chapman. But in a 12 team league, it's still, Muncie's going to be drafted as a starter. Let's take a look at shortstop.

Names that gain value and head head points league. So you're picking Bregman. Yes, I would go Bregman. At shortstop, we have Mookie Betts, Haroldo Perdomo, Corey Seeger, Jacob Wilson, Xander Bogartz, JJ Weatherhold, Kevin McGonagle, J.P. Crawford. So interesting, we have two prospects on this list that we haven't seen even take a play appearance.

Haven't seen a plate appearance in the majors yet, but man, they have such outlier plate discipline in the minors that we're just expecting that to carry over into the majors as well. So who was your guys pick B for shortstop? Which, by the way, been wrong about that before. Logan O'Hoppy. Yeah, Logan O'Hoppy is the biggest example of that. Yeah, like a lot of times guys who are great walkers and the minors, they come in the majors,

and they're not anymore. So maybe that's how it'll go with Weatherholt and McGonical. They're such high-end prospects that I think that's going to remain part of their skill set. But it is an assumption, like anything, for a guy who hasn't debuted is an assumption. But neither has looked at all overmatch so far in spring training. Weatherholt has, I think, five walks to three strikeouts, seven walks to four strikeouts in eight games. And this is a tough list, man.

There are a lot of good candidates here. A lot of good candidates here. I mean, Perdomo walked more than he struck out last year, which is huge in this format. And I think you could, at the top of the draft, you know, it might be as much as two rounds difference, which is a ton that early, depending on the format where you draft him.

but I think the one whose value changes the most. I mean, even Corey Seeger has a case for that, since he's a good plate discipline guy who doesn't, one of the few shortstops who doesn't steal bases. But I think the one whose value changes the most is Jacob Wilson, to the point that he is, I think I have him 13th. So not quite in a head-dead points league with no middle-end field spot, not quite a starter,

but ahead of Trevor. Everstory and Willie Adams and Danes B. Swanson. And, you know, he's behind all those guys in Roto. It's, and he could be a batting average standout in Roto. It's a little bit of a Luis Arise situation, but it's beyond that because he is so good in points leagues just by not striking out much at all. His head-to-head points for games, Jacob Wilson I'm talking about,

were 2.91, which, let me see if I can find a good comment. for that. 2.91s, better than Michael Bush. Sounds right. Not far behind Bryce Terrang. Issock Perides was right there.

That's Jacob Wilson in a points league because that strike rate is so insanely low. Yeah, I think you could, we also haven't really talked about him, but I think it's possible that's where Mookie Betts us at his, in this point in his career. Like, I can see a world where for Roto, he's kind of,

a runs specialist and that's about it like should be a decent batting average but he might hit 275 this season he might just be a 20 to 22 homer guy and probably isn't going to steal a lot of bases i i'm hoping for better than that certainly but uh i do think there's a chance that mookie is just kind of a and also ran in a roto league who should still be a big standout in a points i mean mookie's kind of what we got used to see from alec brachman yeah like i i could I could see Moogie being the seventh best shortstop in a points league, but finishing outside of the top 12 in Roto, just because so many of those guys at shortstop are kind of the opposite. There's a lot, like, there's a lot of options for better in points than Roto. I feel like on the high end, there's even more better in Roto than points guys at shortstop.

So is that your official pick, Chris, Moogie Betts? No, no, no. I think Jacob Wilson, just because I think he's even the best case scenario for Jacob Wilson, which for me is pretty close to last. season, I don't expect him to be much better than that. I think even the best case scenario is not a must-start shortstop. Very good middle infielder, but not a must-start short-star. Middle. Yeah, you're saying, you're saying his best-case scenario in Roto is not a must-start shortstop.

Yeah, it's not a must-star shortstop. More like a useful middle infielder, but probably not even, I think it's just one stand-out category, and then you're hoping he does enough elsewhere. Yeah. I was leaning Mookie Betts as well, but I will not argue against Jacob Wilson. I think there's a lot of great options here. So we are going with Jacob Wilson. He all head-to-head points shortstop.

The truest answer might actually be J.P. Crawford, but he's so low-end. Yeah, he's not going to be a top-12 shortstop and head-dard points. Was he even a top-12 shortstop in 2024? I think he was. That was the year he set a career high in home runs. But it was the year he set a career high in home runs. Usually he's not. He's far better in points leagues, but he's not good enough to get drafted in the eye one still.

It was, what year was it that J.P. Crawford was good? It wasn't 24? Was it 23? No, it was 23. He was 3.45. Yeah. He was 11th. So even like he had 94 walks and 19 homers. By far the best season, J.P. Crawford's career, 380 on base percentage. And he was the 11th best shortstop in road and head to head points. So yeah, that's, it's hard to, like, you're probably right in a overall sense, it just probably doesn't matter. Yeah. All right, let's move on to Outfield here and the names that gain value in Head Dead Points Leagues.

We have Juan Soto, Roman Anthony, Cody Bellinger, George Springer, Jose Altuve, Jacob Marcy, Brandon Nimmo, Ian Hap, Stephen Kwan, and Sal Freelich. Lots of great options here as well. Let's go with three. Choose our top three here. Okay. All right, well, that's interesting. That's interesting. I'm going to lock in Jacob Marcy. I don't know if you guys agree with that, but I think even if we get the really low-end batting average outcomes, which I think are possible.

You know, he might hit 2.35, but I think he's going to walk a bunch. And I think the playtestism is going to be pretty good. So I think Jacob Marcy has a pretty good chance to be viable in head-to-head points leagues, even if we get the low-end outcomes. I know that one's tough just because the steals are so good. Yeah, it depends on CBS scoring for sure, having two points per steal. Yeah. Because if he doesn't get two points per steal, it's going to be hard for him and head-dead points. But, you know, kind of goes without saying we're using CBS scoring here.

I want to lock that one in. I don't know, because there's three after him, yeah. Here's the thing. Juan Soto would have been one of the faces of the all-head-to-head team previously. If he didn't steal 36. But, yeah. Or 38. Now that he's had stolen bases to his repertoire

And we you know who knows if it continues But right now we have to factor that in I still think he's a strong contender Just because he's the best plate discipline guy in baseball But in terms of how we're drafting him It's like one spot difference in the two formats Yeah so I don't know Cody Bellinger

He's good in Roto But I feel like he's great in points And in a way that's kind of underappreciated points league last year it was 3.34 points per game for Cody Bellinger which was

right up there with right up there with Julio Rodriguez who's not a very good points league player but still that shows you

how much the gap closes there with Bellinger in this format HAP has always been great in this format Ian Hap Brandon Nimmo used to be he did not walk

at his usual rate last year and so I don't know that he still fits this. But Stephen Kwan, I think, belongs here. So my leaning, I mean, Freelicks is a lot like Stephen Kwan, but he's not Stephen Kwan yet. So my leaning here is Cody Bellinger, Ian Hap, who great plate discipline but low batting average and not much speed, which also holds him back in roto.

So Cody Bellinger, Ian Hap, and Stephen Kwan. I will hear Roman Anthony because I think I have far more concerns about Roman Anthony living up to his ADP in Roto. It's 162 game pace last year. It was only 18 home runs. And so he's got to do better than that, I think, to live up to his ADP.

But his plate discipline is so good that I don't think it's going to matter in a points league, 2.9, 4 points per game last year. I think he'll live up to that even without any power improvement. So Anthony is on the bubble. But right now I'm thinking Bellinger, what I say, Bellinger, Ian Hap, and Stephen Kwan. To me, the two locks were Hap and Kwan.

Whenever I think of points leagues, those guys just automatically move way up the draft board for me. And the third one I was thinking was Roman Anthony, because I think whatever he loses in home run power, I think it'll just be a lot of doubles for him. I believe he has a great eye at the plate. He's going to walk a bunch. It's going to be a really good OVP hitting at the top of the Red Sox lineup as well. So lots of plate appearances, lots of volume.

I think it's close with Bellinger. But yeah, I would definitely put Hap and Kwan in there. Chris, what are you thinking? I'm okay with Hap, Kwan, and I just don't want to, I don't feel comfortable at this time pigeoning, pitch and holling Roman Anthony there. Sure. I actually, like, part of the problem is I think Cody Bellinger,

as he's very good head to head points. I think he's also just really good in Roto. So that one makes me a little uncomfortable. But I think I'd rather go Bellinger than Anthony, just because we're pretty certain. Ballinger's veteran had to head points than Roto. Yeah. Roman Anthony might just be a top five outfielder in both.

Yeah, he might. That is certainly possible. You just did that so that the audience wouldn't think you're out to get me. Exactly. Also that. Yeah. All right, let's take our final break. When we return, we'll quickly do a U-Till bat, a starting pitcher,

some starting pitchers and relievers here for our all head to head points team. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. currently making the all head to head points team for the 2026 season and we are up to the utility bat and Kyle Schwaber Christian Yellich Moises byesteros all options for the I guess you can play anyone there but if we're talking a pure utility only bat I got to go Schwabes I was going to say is this where we cheat and put Luis Arias no it's Schwerber yeah first rounder in a points league and I I think some would argue he's not a second round

under in Rotto League. I'm not among them, but I think some would argue that because of the, how much he dings you in batting average. And it has always been a better head to head points league player. Like, at best in Roto, he's like a three category player who doesn't hurt you in batting average. That's what he's been the last two years. But the floor is he is actively dragging you down in two categories. So I think in a way that doesn't actually impact his head to head points all that much. Yeah.

So, yeah, I think it's short for sure. Let's take a look at starting pitchers here. And Scott, you provided us with six names. It was going to build a rotation of five. So I guess technically we could just eliminate one of these. But they're all fine options. Logan Webb, Framber Valdez, Sandy Alcantara, Ranger Suarez, Aranola, and Zach Gallen. These are all names that provide high innings pitch per start.

They give you a good amount of quality starts as well. And that's what we're looking for, mostly volume of innings in a head to point. league. I think the one I'm going to kick out is Fromber. Because we've seen him deliver some pretty good whips before, which these others are held back by that, Logan Webb especially. In Roto, they're held back by high whips. And Valdez, he should have a pretty good strikeout total, too.

Yeah, I think if I'm going to eliminate one to give us a clear five, it would be Fromberg to go Webb, Alcantara, Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nolan, Zach Allen. Can I make a couple of suggestions just to expand the list a little bit? Yeah. Merrill Kelly. Oh, yeah. Luis Castillo. There was one other one I wanted to mention. Oh, I think you could make the case for Kevin Gosman falling under.

this if his strikeout rate doesn't bounce back, which it hasn't the last two years. It bounced back a little bit last year, but he's he's not a 200 strikeout guy anymore. And big volume, big volume. I know I do have him ranked higher in points leagues. So I might, like, I think Merrill Kelly's such a good whip guy for where he goes that that's what I was thinking by leaving him off this and thinking he's still plenty valuable on Roto. And Galsman is more valuable in both formats, obviously, but I think the distinct. there is clear with the volume,

but lack of strikeouts. I think Matthew Boyd could be a good one in a points league too. Doesn't get a ton of strikeouts, but regularly... His whip was really good last year. Yeah. I hear you.

I think starting pitcher for... Obviously, the fact I put so few names here, right? I think starting pitcher you see much less distinction between the two formats than you do with hitters. And it's honestly, it's mostly... names that we've brought up boring innings-eaters types,

I think are where like, yeah, who cares about Mitch Keller in a Roto league, but in a points league, he's going to pitch deep into games, he's going to give you a lot of volume.

You know, those guys... If I went to, yeah, Mitch Keller's a good one. Jose Burrios. Yeah. I didn't go that deep into the list.

Michael Waka, yeah, there's a lot of guy, I think even like Tanner Bybee on a somewhat higher end. I just mentioned like two-thirds of my pitcher so far in TGFBI. That's a head 10 points league, right? Yeah.

That is a, for those wondering, 15-team industry Roto League that we are all drafting in right now. So if you're on Twitter and you see a bunch of screenshots or read about TGFBI, that is the great fantasy baseball invitational. So are we going with Webb Sandy, Nola, Gallen? I feel like Framber should be in there, but I don't know who else to get rid of. Yeah, I don't want to go against Scott again, but I did feel like Framber was one of the more obvious ones just because he gives you so much volume. But last year was...

Well, last year was the outlier in terms of whip. Mm-hmm. You know, I think he was 120. Am I remember correctly? Was he... Yeah, it was like a 123 whip last year. But usually he's better than that, whereas Webb, now we're looking at two straight seasons north of 120.

And even his good years are more like 111. So I feel like Quinn Priester's a points league guy too probably should have him on there Yeah um no land gallon are just like yeah they just might not matter in either form I just don't want any better yeah I don't want anything to do with them in roto and in points league it's like yeah they're gonna eat innings all right I'm gonna put framber in there I'm gonna take ranger Suarez out even though they're all that was my second yeah choice yeah swara's we don't know but he he doesn't pitch super deep into games unless things are going really well for him. Yeah. At Relief Pitcher, all the Sparps obviously gain value in Headhead Points League.

So Ryan Nelson, Braxton Ashcraft, Cody Ponce, Joey Cantillo, Ray Dettmers, Anthony Kay, Nick Martinez, Stephen Mats. But also Ryan Helsley and Carlos Estevez, who are closers who might have bad ratios, but still just might get a bunch of saves this season. So I guess if we had to go one Sparp and one closer, let's do it. it that way? I guess Ryan Nelson just because he's the highest end part, but I am reaching the point with Cody Ponce, and maybe I just want to highlight this here. I think Cody Ponce just needs to be drafted in every head-to-head points league right now. It might just be every league, Chris, every category.

It might be, yeah. His stuff's looked really good so far this spring. He's sitting 97 or 96 with the fastball. But I think head-to-head points leagues for sure he should be drafted, whereas, you know, 15-te-team Roto? Yeah, probably 12 team. I think he's pretty opening pretty fringy. There are a lot of guys like that. But there's a chance he's a really good spark this year, Cody Ponce. So I kind of default to Ryan Nelson just because he's the best spark, but it wouldn't take much for Cody Ponce to just move past him in my rankings. I've been pretty impressed. I'm going to say Reed Dettmers,

because I don't see myself drafting redetmers in Roto. And I absolutely see him, must draft in points. Okay. Honestly, we can just go with multiple sparps if you guys want to do that. Yeah, just because like the problem with like closers who might have bad ratios is those guys probably won't be closers if the ratios are bad enough that they're hurting you in Roto.

Yeah. So unless you want to make the argument, no, I don't want to make any kind of argument about Victor Vodnik. So no, I, yeah, I think it's more like. likely Carlos Estevez just loses his job, then that you're happy you have him in a head-to-head points league, you know? Yeah. And only that.

All right, let's quickly recap here. The all-head-to-head points league for 2026 at catcher. We have Adley Ruchman, first base, Yandy Diaz, second base, Glaiborz, third base, Alex Bregman, shortstop, Jacob Wilson. In the outfield, we have Ian Hap, Stephen Kwan, and Cody Bellinger. Utility bat is Kyle Schwerber. Starters, you have Logan Webb, Sandy,

Aaron Nola, Zach Allen, and Framber Valdez. And then at reliever, I put Cody Ponce and read Denver. So we'll go with the, uh, the sparse there. Let's move over to the all roto slash categories team here. And, uh, pretty much the opposite, right? These are guys that might not walk very much. Um, they're going to give you likely a lot of steals, not great plate discipline. And obviously, we're going to go a little bit longer here.

Batting average. Yeah. Batting average. Yep. Uh, so at catcher, Hunter Goodman, Salvador Perez, Yiner Diaz, Dylan, Dylan, Dingler. Dylan Dingler, Logan O'Hoppy. I also threw Augustine Ramirez in here. I feel like he could be good in both formats, but...

Yeah. The steals... I think there's another name you're forgetting. Yeah. All right? You didn't say Yarnie Diaz, right? Oh, you did. He said.

And I think he's the representative. It's between him and Salvador Perez, who... Sal just plays so much. He plays so much. Like, his point per game average is kind of pathetic every year, but he's still drafted as a starter and head-to-head points. Yiner Diaz... is not and theoretically I know it was a down year form but theoretically he is

one of if not the best bet for batting average at the position so that helps I mean he was being drafted an NFBC second a catcher last year which was kind of silly but that's that was the hope that he'd help him batting average I'm gonna go with yiner Diaz edging out Salvador Perez here I think Augustine Ramirez I actually like him both I didn't so he ended up seventh in points last year despite not getting called up until May It's a low strikeout rate That's what I was a plate discipline

And I think he walked more in the miners So I have hopes for him doing that more too Mm-hmm But if he's a 25 steel guy And remains like a 6% walk rate guy Then that could absolutely tilt it to the right of the side It's gonna be worth 50 extra points And head to head points

That's true yeah Yeah So Chris do you have a do you have a pick here Yiner. Yiner. All right. We'll go with Yiner D.S. He is the catcher for our all Roto and Categories team.

At first base, only two options here. Alec Berlinson and Munataka Morikami. So Burleson, he doesn't strike out much, but he also just doesn't walk much. So it's not, you know, not crazy OBPs there. And not much power, which holds them back.

Like the batting average helps in Roto, but the lack of power hurts and points. Yeah. And then Moracami, he is expected to strike. out a lot. His K rate has been up over 28% in each of the past three years in Japan. And projections on fan graphs have him anywhere between a 29 and 38% K rate for this season. So, yeah. I was thinking Burleson, I just have no interest in points league. I don't think the upside is enough given his, given his lack of power at first.

But not that it's zero, you know, but he's not, it's a stretch to think he'll hit even 20. So that's kind of my problem with picking him for this, is I just, I don't think he's going to be that useful either way. Oh, come on, guys. I'm right here. He's a popular, he's a popular roto dog. Yeah, I can just. It's just because of batting average where you can get him.

I can at least see a 35 homer season for Murakami. You know, where I can see Murakami. It's on the higher end. Well, I mean, the high end I think is 40. But realistically, I think we could get, 2025 Spencer Torkelson season out of Murakami, where that's probably not all that useful in a head-to-head points league, but could be a top-12 guy in Roto. I think Murakami, it's very hard to – he'll probably walk a lot.

I think he's going to be a patient hitter either way. But I think the strikeouts are going to be prohibitive for head-to-head points in a way that should still work in Roto, even if the batting average. is pretty bad. I was trying to look like... I thought about putting Kurtz. Nick Kurtz. I thought about putting Spencer Torkelson.

Yeah. But Spencer Torkelson walks a lot. I mean, he's not super valuable in either format, but I think he's the same level of kind of fringy. And Kurtz is a second rounder either way. And Kurtz walks a lot too, so... Yeah, and I'm kind of thinking Kurtz's strikeout rate's going to go down, too. You know who it could be?

could be if he gets the stolen bases back, Spencer Steer. If he goes back to being a 15 to 20 steel guy, which he was in 2023, 15 steals, 2024, 25 steals. Last year it was only seven. I have no idea if that's going to come back. But if it does, and he's a 2020 guy, he's always been pretty fringe in points leagues, even when he was good. But Spencer Steer could be that guy in a Roto League. All right, you got to break the tie, Frank. I say Burleson, Chris says Murakami.

Yeah, I lean Murakami. I feel like his strikeouts are going to be untenable in a points league, but he could be a power specialist late in a draft as like a, you know, 30 homer but 220 batting average type of guy this season. So I will take Morikami, the starting first spaceman here for our all-Roto Categories team. At second base, we have Jazz Chishol, Ozzy Albies, Brandon Lau, Ceylon, Raphael, and, Jose Caballero, and Luis Garcia.

So like second base in points leagues, second base at Roto, there's a lot of great options here. So who do you guys associate most with Roto in category leagues at second base? All right, so Caballero is the one that like has zero value in a points league and is a must draft player in Roto.

So he might be the most true example of this, but one, there's a little game theory here. He's eligible. second, short, third outfield. And Saddam Rafael, who I think is the other obvious choice here, is only second in outfield. So it's like, do we want to save Jose Caballero for third base or shortstop? I don't like having Caballero on this team because I think he's pretty low-end either way.

Like the only reason he's getting drafted in Roto is because he had this number of steals next last year. Last two seasons, yeah. Still live the I.L. on steals. but you know in the long run not a full-time player like that could all go away very quickly and I just don't know that like I think everybody understands that I don't think anybody's excited to draft caballero it's just like I really need steals okay he's still there I'll take him and hope for the best so I think say Don Rafael is the because he's just he's worthless in points leagues but he's going to be drafted in every single

categories league for the dual eligibility and hope for 2020 outcome. Amazingly, Senna Raffaella was the number 10 second baseman, uh, in points last year, but was he. Yeah. He did get the strikeout rate down below 20%, but he just does not walk at all. He also had 79 runs, which I don't think is sustainable. So I think you, you knock 15 off of that off the top, I think. And that probably gets him to a that would drop him to like 15th. So Cedon Rafael, per game, I think. So he probably played a ton of games last year and finished ahead of some injured guys. Per game, it was only 2.47 points per game.

In the second half, it was 1.85. And really, it was just, I think, May and June, he was good. And the rest of the season, I would guess he was a complete non-factor in points league. So I think San Rafael is the clear choice here. All right, San Rafael, the starting second baseman on the All-Roto and Categories team here. What about at third base? We have Junior Cominero. Speaking of the WBC, I mean, my gosh, Kamenero is just destroying baseball.

I'm going to go ahead and plant my flag right now that the like, junior Kamenaro is a Steinbrenner field merchant takes that you're seeing occasionally right now are going to go down as some of the worst takes of the baseball preseason. Like this dude is going to like I have some questions. about just the tropical field of it all. But if Junior Cominero is bad this year, it's not going to be because he wasn't at Steinbrenner field. He had a 260 ISO on the road last year and a 197 Babbap. Like that is just there was no skills reason why Junior Cominero was worse at home on the road than at home. I feel like we've had these kinds of arguments on the show.

So I'm hardened to hear you say that. But like it's just like he was in the running for Best Prospect in baseball a couple years in a row. And did what he did last year at age 21 with some of the highest eggs of velocities in baseball. Like, are you really want to bet against this guy? For me, it's just the only thing I've ever said is just, what if he's Willie Adamas and he can't hit at Tropicana because he can't see the ball?

That's the only, but that is not enough to like downgrade him. And that is very different than he was only good because of Steinbrenner Field. Yeah. Let me be very clear because I have kind of made this argument against Kemp. Menero. I do not think that he is a Steinbrennerfield merchant by any means. I don't think that he was like a product of playing there. But when I take a hitter in the first two rounds, I want no doubt about the player that I'm getting there. And just the fact that there is a sliver of doubt about how he will

perform in Tropicana Field, I probably will not be the person to take him in the second round. But I understand why he goes there. That's entirely where I'm at. I think it's fine to have a small question mark and at that price, it's the same as Nick Kurtz, right? It's just everyone else here has done it multiple times and those guys have only done it once. And that's the only real thing, but I think he's going to be. Just to correct myself real quick, he was in the conversation for best prospect of baseball just one year. Last year, he technically used up his prospect eligibility already. I don't know if I read off all the names. I might have just stopped at Cam and Arrow. So let me read those off. After Caminero, we have Jazz Chisholm, Austin Riley, Eugenio Suarez, Jordan Westberg,

and the aforementioned, Jose Caballero. So a lot of heavy hitters here at third base. The format really suffers in points leagues, I feel like. Though it does pick up Max Muncie. I'm going to say the most representative, you know, Riley has a good case because he's such an infrequent walker, but I think it's Jordan Westberg, who is on the fringes of startability. in a points league. I understand he's injured right now,

so I don't know, maybe we just want to pick a healthy guy. Yeah, he might not play this year. I was thinking Riley or Suarez. Yes, Swares is tough because he was third in this format last year. And it's like if he's a 40 homer, you're like, that's the thing is. I don't care how bad your play discipline is. Right. If you're a 40 homer guy, you are a must start player and head to head points leagues,

regardless. There might have been a Joey Gallo season where that wasn't true, but on the whole, I think that's going to be true. And so it's just if A. Johanio Hohsi or Swarer as isn't a great roto player next year or a head-to-head points league player it's probably because he's just not a great roto player either well yeah i mean the distinction is it must start or not yeah they're riley's must start regardless of format too but it's does does austin riley really stand out from the mid-rounders at the position in right i mean in points leagues and no he doesn't even at his best he didn't

so if if we're not going to pick westberg which i don't think the consensus views he's going to miss the rest of the season just to put that out there. But with the nature of his injury, it's always possible. So I'm going to say Riley then. I think Riley's a good one. If we wanted to go a little deeper, I think like Addison Barger would be a good call because I'm not sure he's going to matter at all for points. He had a four to one strikeout to walk ratio. He's probably not going to play every day. But he's going to get drafted as a corner infielder in a lot of leagues. So Addison Barger's a little lower end version of that. But I think Austin Riley is a fine choice. All right. Let's move On to shortstop here.

Again, these are names that gain value in Roto and Category Leagues compared to Head-Ted Points Leagues. And we have Bobby Witt Jr., Ellie Dela Cruz, Trey Turner, Zach Nettoe, C.J. Abrams, Trevor Story, Colson Montgomery, Ezekiel Tovar. I mean, gosh, this is an all-star list of Category League players. I don't really know how we whittle it down to one, but will you try. If you want to go high-end, it's either C.J. Abrams or Trevor Story, I think. Zach Netto's plate I was gonna go Netto Oh yeah Netto

I was gonna go Netto Because I've noticed this So the last Head to Head Points mock we did And the head to head points mock we did Netto head points auction we did Netto went for kind of a normal price Yeah

And CJ Abrams And Trevor's story And There was a third one It wasn't Trey Turner A few of those Oh it was actually A guy who's not on this list

It was Jeremy Payne They went for they went for cheap They got the excess treatment at shortstop. Well, Netto was treated like one of the guys. We look at their actual head-to-head points per game last year. Netto was behind both Pena and Abrams. And so I think he's being overrated in Pointsley. Just from the example of those two drafts.

Yeah. That's a good point. So I'm going to say Netto. I was leading him, but man, we saw in our Pointley draft, Abrams last to like 120th or something. But I'm saying he shun it. Yeah. He was actually better than Netto last year.

And I think you could make the argument, Netto came close to maxing out as per, closer to maxing out as per game production than Abrams did. Yeah. I think like Trevor's stories, plate discipline was actually a little bit worse than Zach Netto's last year. Yeah, he was like 20, 29% strikeout, 5% walk, I think. He walked less than Zach Netto.

So I'm good with Netto or Trevor's story. He's a good candidate, too, story. I just think story's going to be a bust, regardless. So that's kind of why I don't want to pick him. But if you don't view him that way, then he might make more sense than Netto. Although, man, Ezekiel Tovar might actually be, yeah, like in terms of the skill set, might actually be the platonic ideal of this because I have less than zero interest in him in a points league. I would guess even 2024 when he was pretty good. He was not even close to being a starting caliber player. Um, but, you.

Yeah, let's go with, um, let's go with Zach Netto. I think that's true to the spirit of it. All right, Zach Netto, our starting shortstop on the All-Roto Categories League team. Let's take a look at the outfielders who gain value here. Julio Rodriguez, Jackson Churio, Pete Crow Armstrong, Jackson Merrill, Riley Green, Randy Rosarena, Michael Harris, Joe Adele, Teasca Hernandez, Andy Paez, Chandler Simpson, and Brenton Doyle. So lots of options here as well.

Scott, I was wondering why you put a Rosarena on here. Is it just because he's so wildly inconsistent from like month to month? Because he does walk quite a bit. Yeah, he walks a decent amount. Yeah. No, it's just strikeout rates high. But yeah, I mean, I feel like when I'm drafting in Roto, it's like, oh, this is a great second outfielder. And whenever we draft in head-to-head points, a Roserina is one of those guys who keeps falling and falling.

Because there's just not as much interest in that power speed combo. in that format. 12 points last season. Kind of surprising. I could dig him off. I was on the border with him. I was just thinking about how it feels to draft him in the two formats. And there's much more enthusiasm in Roto, I feel like, than in points.

I mean, it was just a 9% walk rate last year compared to 27% in strikeout rate. That's a pretty bad ratio. I think Bucks didn't belong to in this conversation. Was he on the list? No. Last year, such an outlier in terms of points per game that if what he did last year was real, then he's just a superstar. Right, he was fine. I think he was top five and head to head points per game among outfielders.

But historically, you're right. Buxton better in Roto. So I maybe should add him, yeah. I think Chandler Simpson is the most obvious one for me. Yeah, Pekro Armstrong 1,000%. Yeah, Pekar Armstrong as well, probably. It might be like a hundred-point difference between where you should take him in, Rodo versus head-to-head.

Oh, should James Wood be on this list, too, you think? He walks a lot, but he also strikes out a lot. Yeah. I think the downside case for Wood is bad in either instance, I think is the problem. Yeah. I think the upside, like, I always pair him with Pekro Armstrong in my mind. And, like, Pekro Armstrong, I can't see him shaking the Roto label. I can in James Wood case, in James Wood's case,

especially since he's not a big base dealer, like Crow Armstrong is. I could actually see a world where James Wood's a better points league player than Roto. Whereas that is inconceivable for P. Carr Armstrong. As much as we were wrong about him last year, that would be like one of the biggest upsets I've ever seen if P. Parker Armstrong was better in points than Roto. So I don't know that I actually want Chandler Simpson.

Okay. as one of the three because he was nearly, again, we're talking CBS scoring, two points per steel, and he hardly strikes out at all. So he was, you know, I kind of think back to like Juan Pierre. He was always a good points that's going way back. But he was always a good points league player, even though you think it's more rhodos specific. 2.72 points per game last year, which is, you know, about like a third or fourth outfielder. but that's how he's being drafted in Roto too.

So I think absolutely, what was the other one you guys said? PCA. PCA, absolutely. Michael Harris, I feel like, is a poster child of this exercise. Now, it's not as stark because the batting average, he's not as much of a batting average standout as he was at first. And that helped elevate him in Roto beyond points. But still, like, he's got some of the worst play.

discipline and there's still that hope for batting average i kind of think jackson barrel's in the same category i know i'm a downer on him relative to you guys but it's poor plate discipline it's an optimal scenario batting average uh is it's going to be with the main area where he excels um i could hear riley green i think riley green is treated like a number two outfielder in rhodo and he's at best a number three in points because of how bad those strikeouts are i like joe adele for man. He does not walk and he strikes out a lot. Andy Paa has. Yeah, he does not walk very much. We can keep naming him. He only walked 29 times last year.

Yeah, Michael Harris, by the way, 16 walks last year. 16 walks. All right, so Crowe Armstrong and Harris. I think we're in agreement on those two. It's just the third guy. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. You know, sorry. I don't think we need any more. names but Kerry Carpenter's another one of those guys where like he's got some low end value in Roto but yeah you just can't use him in a head to head point unless it's daily and then even then platoon bad doesn't walk yeah yeah he was consciously like I wanted to fully reflect the biggest distinctions at each position but I also didn't want to like have an overwhelming

number of names that yeah I think I put it in the lead like if you highlight everything on the page, you might as well have not brought a highlighter, you know? Yeah. So I left. All right, we'll stick with the names on there. Yeah. I'm going to say Andy Paz, just because I have zero interest in my head-to-head points league, but he's someone, I suppose, you have to draft in a Roto League.

All right. Scott, you go with that? Andy Paz? No. No. I really like Joe. I like the Joe Adele call again. I would go with that over.

All right. That's fine. I think people are very excited to take him in a category. Dude continues. At utility, we have Bryce Eldridge here because he will likely strike out quite a bit. I mean, could sit against some left-handed pitching and could just turn out to be a power specialist there. So we'll go with Bryce Eldridge as the UTIL only. At starting pitcher, we're basically looking at guys who get lots of strikeouts,

but could have their innings limited on a per start basis at points throughout the season. So I've got Jacob de Grom here, Freddie Peralta, Chase Burns, Tyler Glass now, Jacob Mizirowski, Emmachian, Blake Snell, Nathan Avaldi, Gerasmussen, Shota, Imanaga. I think Rasmussen would be my first choice. Just, you're just, he went six innings like five times last year, I think. Jacob Mizzerowski too. Yeah, Missouri, like just that's, it's, it's volume, but it's more specifically volume per start. Cause like, yeah, Tyler Glass now has never thrown more than 134 innings in a season. He pretty

typically goes six innings. It's just he only makes 19 to 25 starts. Freddie Peralta never goes six innings per start. Miserowski, I have a really hard time seeing him go deep into games. Jurassicson, he's never going to go deep into games. We talk about this a lot that Freddie Peralta, he doesn't go six plus innings very often. As a result, he's much worse in a points league than in a Categories League. Yeah, he was like 12th last year in Roto. He was like top, or 12. He was like top seven in Roto. So at that level, that's a pretty big gap. Yeah.

I mean, his Roto appeal falls if he's more like a 360 ERA guy like he normally has been. And like the stats say he should have been last year. So I don't really put Freddie Peralta in this category. I understand what you're saying about the innings. But there are some ratio issues for him in Roto. I would say Rasmussen is like the permanent. permanent choice for this list because I just don't see him improving beyond it. Like you could pick most of the Dodgers rotation for this list.

I think Beerserowski is a good choice because he might just have a high whip and be bad in Roto too, but I'm more willing to gamble on him in Roto than head to head points. Image Sien with kind of the uncertain role in the innings being flaky from Audi to outing. I think he could be kind of a disaster in points leagues, but the ratio should be awesome for Roto. So I put Shee in as the third choice here. I kind of want to say Snell and Glass Now. Snell, I like a lot because he's inefficient at times

and doesn't always go six innings per start. And he's not going to get those two-star weeks as well. So that's the thing. It's like Yamamoto, Snell, Glass Now, Sheen, whatever, Shoheyotani, all of them. even the ones who pitch deep into games are still limited in a head-to-head points league because you're not going to get those two-star weeks. And that's not everything. Look, most teams at this point are trying to get their guys five days of rest whenever they can.

That's not to say everyone's going to go with a six-man rotation, but generally speaking, when the schedule allows it, they're going to try to get an extra off day if they can. The difference is the Dodgers are going to do that every single time. not going to have guys pitching on four days rest. So I think Snell is a good choice just because even when he, unless he's just really good, he never averages five and a half innings per start, basically. Part of the thinking with Glass now is, okay, and Roto, he gives you, I mean, this is, I know some,

we say Roto and we're kind of talking head-to-head categories too, but this is, this is specifically a Roto thought. he's healthy for his 16 starts or whatever and you keep those ratios he gave you they're permanent they stay with your line for the rest of the season but ahead to head you get them and he's gone and you like there's no like it's it's just in the past at that point you're not getting any benefit from having draft glass now once he's hurt so that's why I'm thinking he's the fifth guy here but you kind of make the same case for Avaldi I just think of all these more of a workhorse when he's healthy. Yeah. I wonder if that's going to change at some point, but yeah, he goes six innings pretty, pretty consistently. I think Chase Burns is a good

name for this too, because I could see a lot of five and dive. He'll give you, you know, his seven, eight strikeouts on a five, you know, in a five inning start, but I think he's also going to walk quite a bit and that'll force him to be inefficient. So I think it is important from a perspective of helping the audience, which I suppose is the goal here, to highlight a pitcher like that. So I think you could say Chase Burns. Trey Savage should be awesome in Roto. And if you get your 145 innings out of him, that's going to be great. But I am predicting right now that we are going to get some, hey, what's going on with Trey

of Savage? I'm going to drop him questions in April. I think we're going to see a lot of short outings for Trey of Savage early on. That's the way they're talking. I think that's a good name to highlight just because that's the other version of this, where Tray Savage, you get four innings out of him, but he gives six strikeouts and allows one run. That's valuable in Roto.

It's not in points. It's not nothing, but, and he might be in a six-man rotation to start this season. It might be in a six-man rotation the entire season, actually. So I think Tray-Savage actually is the best choice for fifth starter here. Okay. I go with that, and I'll add him. It is similar to Mizorowski.

Oh, yeah, that's a good point. in that, like, Yassavage could be undermined in Roto League by high whip, too. I don't think it'll be as extreme as Miserowski. Like, I think you'll live with the whip. It won't be so bad. But that is something to consider with Yassavage as well. Like, that report about him is from his manager's mouth, going three to four innings for the first few turns, whatever that means.

That's kind of, that's kind of turned me off to him. pretty sitting. In Roto too? Because I'm still fine with it in Rota because it doesn't change my relative. Relative to the way we had been talking about you, Sarah's like, why is he going so far behind Nolan McLean? Now it's like, oh, well, that's why. And I'm kind of just on board with him at ADP now. Sure. Okay. That's fair. So recapping the five names that we have here on the all Roto and categories team, Jacob Miserowski, Emmachian, Blake Snell, Drew Rasmussen, and Trey is Savage. At relief pitcher, I would say, the ones that give us great ratios,

but we're a little bit uncertain about the role. So it's Abner Arebe with the Brewers and Griffin Jacks, who we do expect to get saves, but probably won't get the full complement of saves there. And then Brian Abrae, who has big upside of Josh Hader is out and misses a lot of time, but if Hater's there, doesn't really have any value in a points to get all.

So, yeah, basically every stud closer is in the category of being more valuable in Roto than in points too. Yeah. But for most representative, it would be those three listed off. Who are all worth drafting in a roto league, but probably not ahead of head points. Unless. Yeah.

I could see draft in Arebe. Because I think it'll be a rebate or Miguel. And so a rebate may soon graduate from this. And Obrayu is worth, I think, a late round flyer just because what if haters not ready? You can use them for at least a couple weeks. And if there's a setback, you might have a. top 12 RP. And look,

Jacks will probably get drafted and head to head points too. It's just will he be worth holding on to? The problem is the guys who only get 60% of their team saves, you know, if that ends up being 24 saves over the course of the season, that's awesome in Rodo for Griffin Jackson. Because you're gonna get the 100 strikeouts and 70 innings of really good ratios.

In a Points League, that's probably 300 points. And that's just not. Not enough. That's, you're gonna do better just streaming RP starters or picking up, you know. Dennis Santana or whatever goes. Yeah, that's the same name I was thinking.

Dennis Santana, maybe Kirby Yates if he emerges as the angel closer. So let's go, let's go Griffin Jackson, Brian Abrayu here. All right. So recapping the All-Roto, 2026 team here. We have Yiner Diaz at catcher. Morikami at first base.

Sadan Rafael at second. Austin Riley at third. Zach Netto at shortstop. In the outfield, we have Peekro, Armstrong. Michael Harris and Joe Adele. The U-Till only bad is Bryce Eldridge, the rotation, The Miz, Sheen, Blake Snell, Rasperson,

and Yesavage, and the relievers, Griffin Jacks, and Brian Abray. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

And we will be back again tomorrow, 7.30 p.m. Eastern Time with a live auction. See you then. Bye-bye. Paramount Podcasts.