Fantasy Baseball Today - Top First Base Prospects, World Series Talk & Arizona Fall League Updates! (10/26 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: October 26, 2023

The World Series is set (2:25)! Why is Scott rooting against the Diamondbacks!? ... Let's start with the top first base prospect, Kyle Manzardo (14:10). ... The Rays have another big first base prospect in Xavier Isaac (22:15). ... Nolan Schanuel reached base in every game he played with the Angels (26:07)! ... What do we think of Ivan Melendez, Blaze Jordan and Jordan Locklear (32:15)? ... Does Matt Mervis have a shot at the Cubs Opening Day roster (36:32)? ... Bryce Eldridge, Hunter Goodman and Nathan Martorella round out the top-10 first base prospects (42:38). ... News (49:12): Alex Kirilloff had shoulder surgery. ... Who are some dynasty trade targets at first base (54:10)? ... We wrap up with Arizona Fall League updates (58:10). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @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. 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. We're on to first base prospects, and no surprise, Kyle Manzardo is up at the top. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, October 26th.

I am Frank Sample, John. by Scott White and Chris the Welsh. A very excited Chris Welsh. We'll get to that in a second. Today on the show, we'll break down the top first base prospects for Dynasty and Redraft Leagues and talk Arizona Fall League updates. But first, the World Series is set.

The Texas Rangers are hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks. Woo! Welsh! You must be on a cloud nine man. What is the feeling right now? Well, well, well, it's crazy. those knuckles a little bit. Nice to see you, Frank and Scott.

Hmm. Nice to see you so much. I am doing fantastic, if you're asking me. I'm rooting for the most exciting team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and I joked about this with somebody just today, a couple, like, year and a half ago, whatever. I had lost a long-term career job I was doing.

I have had more people reach out to me to get me to the work World Series than I had people trying to help me get back on to job stuff. It's amazing the amount of people that have jumped into it, which is incredible. I'm obviously on Cloud 9 because as someone call me a Homer, whatever you call me about it. I'm a diehard Diamondbacks fan, but I've also been a pessimist and I did not think the Diamondbacks were going to get to this spot. I did think that Corby and Carroll was maybe not even as good as advertised, but better than everybody else thought. I did think Brandon fought was a real deal and I wasn't right about the fantasy season but boy I

look good right now I didn't think the diamond backs were this good it's all coming together and first pitch Arizona is coming up next week with the world series the whole baseball world is in I am literally on cloud nine and thank you to everybody that has sent me all the nice wishes and Scott White so here's the thing you say you didn't think the diamondbacks were this good. I don't think anybody thought the diamond backs

were this good and in fact they weren't this good during this season. They won 84 games they had a negative run differential they were outscored

during the season. True. But they've had a really good three weeks. So here they are. This is the frustration. And like, you know,

it's hard to do this talking to a diamond Backs fan because as a fan, you of course have a right to be very excited and you should absolutely want the Diamondbacks to win. I don't. Just beat the Phillies, swept the Dodgers. It's crazy. I know. Not very good. That's that's thrilling for you as a fan. But as a an impartial observer, if I may speak from that perspective, I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like what the expanded playoff pool has led to. The possibility of an 84-win negative-run differential team winning the World Series.

Now, both of those have happened before. The Cardinals were World Series champions in 2006 as an 83-win team, which I also didn't like. And somebody, I actually didn't confirm this, but somebody pointed out to me that the 1987 twins had a negative run differential and won the World Series. I did not know that about that Twins team. So what's happened? I don't think it's good, though. I don't like it. But do you think, like, I mean, do you think you're talking about, like, what has happened in the playoffs?

Do you think at this point it's worth talking about? It matters to, like, I get what you're saying, like, hey, this is a negative run differential team. They've had a really great three weeks. I mean, the Diamondbacks have been phenomenal. They have played above board, absolutely played above their pay grade, if you will. But what, what is the game? gain of it to just complain about the the expanded wildcard. I'm not I I fall short of it because I did I told you off there I understand how I felt

you were coming from it was you were viewing a six game over 500 baseball team. You were viewing them like how you would in the NFL like a old school seven and nine team and now I guess it would be like whatever you know eight and nine. An eight nine team, a seven five hundred team making the playoffs and then advancing into the playoffs and you're like what are we doing here this team is going to win. the Super Bowl, but I've lost a little bit track of the like old man yells at clouds element. I don't see why this is an old man take, all right?

Okay. This is this is me worshiping at the altar of sample size. I don't think sample size is an old man thing, personally. So I gave this some thought as well, Scott, and it sounds like you think the baseball season should kind of just be like rotissory style, right? There should be no playoffs. It should just be whoever has the best record at the end of 162 games should be crowned the champion. That's it.

That's who should be the champion. I'm so glad you said that because Bogman and I came to that same conclusion that the people that were kind of mad about where the diamondbacks were. We said this exact same thing, Frank. You are astute. That it is the most fantasy take you can put to real baseball. It is the roto take. It is, no, I was the best. We have to have the best of the best.

can't have the variance of playoffs. It is a very, very roto take. I love that that intertwines into this conversation, because that's okay, by the way. Well, this is going to branch out in so many different directions that we may have a hard time containing it. But... The multiverse.

So, let me start by saying, we talked about this, what was it last week, Frank, where I did not like the idea that the 2007 Patriots, who went 16 and 0, did not finish out that season with the Super Bowl championship. That irks me. Lord knows the Patriots don't need another championship, but that should have been one of them

because they were a historically dominant team that season, and because they didn't happen to win their last game, they're just kind of a footnote now, and that's, I don't like that. And to be fair, at the time, I did tell you I thought that was a bad take as well. So I'm just remaining consistent. Okay, I mean, you're allowed to think it's a bad take.

Yeah, it's just fine. It's nonetheless. It's an honest take. It's the way I honest. It's your take. It's your take. And that's, you're allowed to have your take. Yes.

I feel like when, because I'm on the record, preferring head-to-head leagues to rotisserie leagues because it keeps everybody engaged. Agreed. It keeps everybody engaged. It makes it more interesting. And, you know, plenty of people argue, well, because the playoff field is expanded,

more fan bases are interested in, okay, that's true. That's true. The difference there for me is, one is like history, you know, like, one is reality. Okay? One is this is actually what happened in the real world and now we all have to live with it. What happens in a fantasy league nobody cares about except the people in that fantasy league. It's the difference between historical record and fun diversion.

You know, like I want history to make sense. I want to, okay, this team was the talk of the season, clearly the most dominant team. Everybody knew it, but they're not the championship. And like that'll never sit well with me, regardless of what team it is. Now, I understand I'm probably talking more about it because my favorite team happened to be that team this year in baseball. But like I said with the 2007 Patriots, it never sits right with me when it happens. And that's been the case for a couple decades now, regardless of what sport you're talking about. I no longer gravitate toward the underdog story because I would rather things make sense.

I would rather history show what actually happened. in terms of the best team was the best team instead of the best team was still the best team, but nobody can act like they were the best team anymore because they didn't win the championship. But how else do you do that? I mean, what? I find that frustrating as an analyst.

But you kind of have to slice it and dice it because I understand the small sample kind of variance. I understand it from that perspective, but the best teams are the best teams because they are the teams that perform in the postseason. right like that's where we've arranged that's where legends are made right like you make your name in the post season and guess what the Dodgers got swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks they were supposed to be one of the best teams in all of

baseball and they laid an egg now it was only in three games but they had three opportunities to do so and they did nothing so that's my arrangement we've we've all agreed on as sports fans but it still frustrates me and I'm not even saying like the arrangement needs to change because it would take a lot of interest away from the sport. It would, you know, kind of, it would, the postseason intensity is necessary, I think, in baseball, especially where there isn't so much intensity during the regular season. But it still frustrates me.

I'm allowed to be frustrated. You are allowed to. You are allowed to. You're allowed to feel and say whatever you want, you know, in defensive view. Because, like, I was having fun with your tweet, and I was like, what did you say? And then people jump into it. The problem that happens with everything is everybody started to put ideas into your thoughts. And they're like, oh, so you think about money and where the market is and small market.

And that was that was a bad, I think that was a bad approach to how everybody else did that. I'm not even like, you know, so many people aren't even on Twitter. And I don't want to make this all about like a tweet I had in people's reactions to it, which were. I just didn't like the Go Rangers part. You're like, you're like, oh, blah, da, little, little. And then you're like, go Rangers. And it was like, oh, what's just a heartbreaking? Like, you can be right about all those things, but you can't deny that the Diamondbacks have been the most exciting team through the playoffs, whether you like it or not, whether you're the Nate Silvers of the world that are like, this is going to be the lowest viewed, blah, blah, blah, it doesn't matter.

You know what? This is going to be great baseball. This is going to be amazing. Adoles Garcia is maybe one of the most exciting players in baseball right now, at least through the playoffs. You have one of the best hitters in our game in Corey Seeger, one of the best leadoff guys of Marcus Simeon. You've got storylines and Max Scherzer being a Diamondback and you've got this crazy rag tag team that is led by the rookie of the year

who destroyed all records. It is exciting in the baseball terms. The outside terms are, I was just personally hurt when you put Go Rangers here. And, you know, I think we might need the meme. You know, the airplane girl? Like, that's not real. This is you right now.

You are pointing. You're like, this team is not real right now. That's how you are. Right. All right, game one Friday night. We have Zach Allen going up against Nathan Avaldi. Obviously, the Welsh is going for the D-backs. Scott is going for the Rangers, and I'll split the difference.

I will be rooting for the Diamondbacks, but I think the Rangers are going to win. So there you go. That's my official take here on the podcast. Let's get into the Welsh's top 10 first-based prospects in Dynasty, and we'll kind of talk about which ones are closer in proximity once we get into it. But Welsh, I guess an overarching thought, a quick thought on this crop of first-based prospects. What do you think? Yeah, I think it's a little bit top-heavy.

I think there's some great value. I don't feel elite. We've had years where Spencer Torkelson and Andrew Vaughn both kind of led this off. I absolutely think there are players that are going to be moving around positionally. There might even be some of this in this case. I would not be surprised if you were like, oh, by the way, in CBS, it's not going to qualify. Like, that could definitely happen. I think it is like the very tippy top of Kyle Manzardo is where I want to sit.

I think there's some intriguing names in the middle. middle and you're just digging a lot deeper, but it doesn't have the star power that it's had before. But I think the position itself is going to have some value that you're going to be able to, you know, pick at throughout the off season if you're trying to acquire some power bats in your dynasty leagues. All right. Well, let's start with the number one first base prospect heading into 2024. And that is Kyle Manzardo, a name that we have talked about quite a bit recently. He's out there playing in the Arizona Fall League. He's 23 years old with the Cleveland Garland.

He came over in that Aaron Savali trade. Did have a down year in 2023 after a breakout 2022 season, again with Tampa Bay at the time. But he was dealing with some injuries this year. He also had some personal stuff that he was dealing with off the field. His updated Arizona Fall League stats after Wednesday night's action, batting 290 with five homers and a 1023 OPS. Scott, I'll actually start with you here with Manzardo. He's played 94 games at AAA. and it kind of feels like he's ready.

The early roster resource page for the Guardians, 2024, has Kyle Manzardo starting at first base on opening day? Do you think that's a realistic possibility? Oh, yeah. I do think it's realistic. I mean, it's going to require him having a good spring. I think the fall league performance has certainly helped

because he had a disappointing minor league season at AAA between both the Ray's organization and the Guardian's organization. But I never lost faith in the talent because even as he was batting 237 with an 802 OPS, I mean, that kind of tells you the talent right there, hitting only 237, but still drawing a lot of walks, still hitting his share of extra base hits. But in spite of kind of the underwhelming numbers

for Kyle Manzardo, the data was still terrific. You had the great strikeout to walk ratio. The exit velocity readings were, we find those. So max exit velocity 112 miles per hour, average exit velocity around 90. His in zone or zone contact rate was up over 85%,

which is great. Don't find much better than that from a legitimate power hitter like Kyle Manzardo. Like he very much has that Vinny Pasquantino type profile that appeals to us so much in terms of high quality and quantity contact and also drawing a lot of walks, Kyle Monsardo. But it was just an underwhelming season. I mean, last year we saw it translate to a 327 batting average 1043 LPS. Okay, great. Kyle Monsardo, prospect on the rise. Disappointed numbers this year, maybe some people, it scared

some people away. But the data, I think, tells the story there. Luzardo's finally living up to it here. Welsh, I know you've had a lot of opportunities to watch Kyle Manzardo. I actually have a clip here. I'm going to pull up. You actually got to see him here on Wednesday where he hit a double and I think earned everybody in the ballpark or burger, right? Something like that. Yeah, they, do you remember last year? We were sitting together and Jack Samarrow came up and he was like three feet from us and everyone kept yelling at him because he was the

double double player of the day. They didn't even announce it. He crushes this double and then they announced it like, you know, a minute later. They're like, ladies and gentlemen, Cal Manzardo, everybody a double double and everybody's we're also dumb everyone's like oh yeah we want to double double who cares but yes he he he did hit uh he what was important about this double two i want to point out because oh that's in and out i was trying like what's the double double yeah sometimes i go to like it might be what a burger it is in and out in and out we've got some in arizona so people get excited um i don't want to belabor the point with him but this clip is

one of the things i do think is like semi important and part of his development is this is dj hers He's batting against for anybody that's watching on the YouTube. And you're going to see, bam, right there. This is off a lefty. And you love to see that. DJ Hers is a pretty sneaky lefty, by the way. Owen Casey some time back had mentioned that, you know, he was one of the better pitchers in that Cubs system.

And he was pumping his fastball, commands it, a little deceptive. He was throwing this breaking pitch. And Kyle Manzardo able to just crush this to the wall. I mean, you can see back that's Victor Scott. One of the fastest guys in baseball could not catch up it. So I mean, it got out in a hurry. And he didn't have a great run of hitting lefties. He had lots of struggles this past year. But he hit under 200 against lefties, which is something you want to think about. But he has hit homers against lefties in the AFL. He's crushing doubles against lefties. He has shown the probably most controlled zone of any player. You can't attack him low. Everyone's trying to attack him high. I'd love to speak to him to talk to him about that. Defensively, I was touting how awesome he was. He's had a couple bad days, if I'm being honest with you. But, you know, he is hitting at the middle of the order, getting more consistent playing time. And I think he's just the cream of the crop.

He has got lightning power, lightning power, however you want to call it. He hit a 471 pull homer out in Peoria. And I really do like everything about him because he can walk. He can control his strikeouts. He's starting to hit left. He's just doing everything you need to do is a major league bat. And I think it is completely on the table unless something falls apart that he could break camp with this team. I think they want him to do it, and he has not slowed down on his at-bats in games here.

So I think it's pretty firmly the number one first-based prospect. And I will say maybe the biggest variable helping Monsardo's chances of making the Major League roster is that he's not with Tampa Bay anymore. No. Because I said earlier, okay, you shouldn't have lost faith in his potential just because he was having a down year. Well, I did trade him away in the Scott White Dynasty League. when he was still with the raise, because I worried they were going to delay his arrival,

they were going to make him a platoon player whenever he did come up, and it was just going to be more of a headache than it was worth. And, well, I regretted that once the Aaron Savale trade went through that sent Monsardo to the Guardians. All right, let's take our first break, and when we return, we've got nine other first base prospects to talk about. We'll do that here on Fantasy Baseball today.

Welcome back in. Let's talk top first base prospects. Again, the number one name, no surprise, Kyle Manzardo. Number two on the list is Xavier Isaac of the Tampa Bay raise. He's 19 years old, a former first round pick from 2022. He had a breakout season this year, hit 285 with 19 home runs, 12 steals, and a 916 OPS in 102 games across A ball and high A. And Welsh, you know, perhaps the raise felt, I guess,

the word I'm going to use is comfortable, trading away Kyle Manzardo, because they knew they had another first base prospect in the system in Xavier Isaac. Yeah, I absolutely believe that. And if you remember, I think I talked about it on here. You know, there also has a possibility that the Rays might not have been completely sold on where he was going to play. And this is a completely outside the box thought. But, you know, the Rays love their players to be multi-eligible. And Manzardo had told me before spring training started that the Rays had asked him to pick up a third base glove. And there was even thoughts he had said when he was drafted. the team had talked to him about playing second base, which he's like, that's a bad idea.

But, you know, that conversation had come up, maybe he didn't fit that bill. Maybe he wasn't comfortable doing it. And that could have been something where they go, okay, well, the lack of flexibility, position flexibility could have been a part of it. We've got depth at this position. And sometimes you just have to trade good things to get other good things. That's the other thing. We can overanalyze like, oh, my God, how could they have possibly given him up? Like, well, how else sometimes are you going to get long-term controllable pitchers that maybe

they have higher valuations than others. So I think that should also be just be on the table in general. But yeah, your statement in general is like they've got the depth. They've got they locked up Yandi. That was locked up. You've got Xavier Isaac that's coming up soon. And Xavier Isaac is a, you know, someone I was kind of a little bit later to as far as like jumping on the overall hype.

But, you know, he's met the call. He's stealing some bases. He's lost some weight. He's got an absolutely gorgeous swing. Rotow wires bat at ball data put him around 28.5 on there, literally 28.5 on the hit strength, under 21% K percentage, double-digit walk percentage, high batting average.

I absolutely just love his approach in general. It actually feels very Yondi-like, but with more impact. He steals bases. I think there's bigger power projections there. He's a younger guy, raise, marinate these guys, but I would definitely, this is a more exciting guy. Again, the talent doesn't feel like it has in years past,

but Manzardo's, the high, ceiling with a proximity. Xavier Isaac is further away, but there's a lot more sealing in play here with everything that he can do on the field. He did go 12 for 12 in steals this year. Did Xavier Isaac, but like I don't think steals are gonna be part of the profile long term. He's pretty husky. Not that those guys can never steal bases. He lost weight though. I want to point out like you're right. Like his player page, his player page lists him at 240. I don't think he ended there at the end of the season. He looked quite.

quite a bit thinner, but also like, do you think, like, what is stolen bases being, I didn't mean to interrupt, this is your time, but like when you say like this is not going to be a stolen base threat, but like 10 stolen bases to a first baseman, like, don't you think it's like more relative to maybe like 20 to a middle infielder? I just think it's really hard to predict what he could be as a base dealer because he stole 12 bases as a 19 year old in A ball, you know? When they change the rules too. Yeah.

But I do think he has an impact bad. And I think there's no greater testament to Isaac's bat than that he's with the Rays, who used their first round pick on him in 2022, even though he is strictly a first baseman. I mean, you mentioned how much they want their players to be versatile. There's no versatility here with Xavier Isaac, and yet they were willing to use a first round pick on him. So they must really, really like that bat.

And so far, so good, as far as that goes. The number three first base prospect is Nolan Shanuel, who is a 21-year-old with the Angels, and we actually got to see him play last year. He was drafted last year, this year. He was drafted this season. 2023, 29 games with the Angels, where he hit 2.75 with one homer, 19 run scored, 20 walks to 19 strikeouts. He got on base in every single game he played. 29 games at least 29 times on base for Nolan Chanuel, which is pretty insane for a dude that

got called up after playing just 22 minor league games. So I think it's a testament to him. And Scott, you could talk more about this, but obviously he's not a perfect player, Shanual, but he looks like he could be potentially a standout in points leagues, in OBP leagues. The problem, what else is he going to do outside of that? Is there potential power impact coming? I'm not so sure. Yeah, no, I'm not either. His average exit velocity with the big club

85.4 miles per hour. Scott turned the mic. I don't know why this keeps happening. It's a diamond-backed mic today. It's in loose or anything. I don't know. Like, lopper? I don't know. Yeah, it's still kind of wonky. All right. Let the Welsh talk. I'll let the Welsh talk. You kind of

get yourself situated. Just punch it a couple times. Just punch it a couple times. just punch it. Maybe hop out and come back in. But, well, you know, look, I saw multiple different outlets that gave Nolan Chenuel a 50 grade power. So like, I don't know, maybe he can turn into a 20 home run hitter or something like that. Yeah.

See, like, this is kind of where I fall sometimes. And I know maybe it's a crutch. It's a prospecty type of crutch. But to look at this because, listen, we all do the same thing. We go to like baseball Savant and we see Max E. E.V. of 103. That's not great. A 2% peril rate.

That's awful. average EV 85, that's all bad. But to take like that sample size and be like, okay, this is the guy, he can never be anything. I pair those things with a player that got on base every single day. That literally went from college to playing in the complex. I saw him next to my house like a week after he got drafted and then he got to the majors leading off for the angels.

You take all those things in and you say a guy with really great plate presence. He's got a nice swing. He can walk. and there is a power grade out there. It actually feels very much like, I always referenced at Luis Garcia with the Nationals. He was one of those guys that when you would see him in BP, his BP, crazy.

He could just absolutely mash homers, but he didn't have a feel for hitting that allowed him to take the home run approach. So he would have much more of like a groundball centric across his body take. But like if he were to adjust to that, I could absolutely see that guy having 20 homers. So I kind of take that to Shan,

well and I just go, well, this guy knows how to get on base. He met the test in two months, you know, two or three months after being drafted. Is there room for development? And that's what I take with it. There's absolutely warts, but is there room for development that we can get those other things that we like? Yes, I do think there is. He's not going to run.

There might be low power potential. I always referenced those type of guys as like the old school, like James Loney, Chad Tracy, you know, these guys that it's like, hey, you get it for high average, runs in RBI, but there's no homers and stolen bases, that kind of stinks. That might be the case. He might be another Louisa Rize type of player. But I also think that kind of creates a floor. That's why he's of interest here. That's why he's higher on the list because I believe there's room for development. And he's already met so many, you know, he's answered so many questions so far that I think the floor is so high. We have to consider that a ceiling could be built around him.

But I don't think his floor is high for fantasy. like because but i mean is louisa rise you just saw the floor and it i mean i'm not a louisorized in a category of one in terms of batting average potential he's kind of a unicorn i i don't know like i i feel like if there was power more power potential here with chanwell we would see it with um

you know like the max exit velocity uh like he would that would show that there it's it's like Usually when you're, okay, untapped power potential, you see it somewhere. You see it in, okay, well, he hit a ball 110 miles per hour once. So if he can tap into that a little more, maybe he could develop into something, especially considering he's not a teenager. He was drafted out of college. He's already in the majors.

Like, I don't know that there's that much room for Shanwell to develop. And maybe it's just a difference of opinion for us. I think you could be a valuable real-life player because the on-based, skills are so good. But like, was Dave Magidon a good fantasy player? I don't know. I didn't play fantasy back then, but probably not. And that's what I see Shenwell being. Yeah, I mean, I put Xavier Isaac who is not remotely close. I mean, I think my rank also, I'm just building in. Like, you're not wrong. Like, there is a limit, it feels like to him. And there could be, uh, the floor could drop for sure. But I, I, I don't know. I, I, I am a optimist.

I suppose, I suppose with certain skill sets in prospects, I'm an optimist because I have seen so many prospects for multiple years going to teams organizations throughout the minors and have literally no tutelage. Have no hands-on approach, not changing anything, not analyzing. This guy got drafted and went to the majors within like a month. The only process that happened was at the major league level. And they also were probably like, hey, just get on base. Keep doing what you're doing. Get on base.

This is working. You're leading off. So I just don't know if they've had a time to sit back and be like, this is what we need to change for you to be a better hitter. but that is just a bigger question that doesn't equate on paper and could concern people being like, okay, well, I don't care about that. I want the now. I just think there could be room,

but I understand the numbers don't say it at all right now. All right. Well, so I'm going to throw three names your way, number four, five, and six in your first base prospect rankings. We have Yvonne Melendez with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He's 23 years old. Blaze Jordan with the Red Sox is 20 years old. And actually, if I saw this correctly,

He will have first base eligibility in CBS this next year because he played more games at first base in the minors than he did at third base. So looks like Blaze Jordan will be considered a first baseman in fantasy. And Tyler Locklear, who is a 22-year-old prospect with the Mariners. Based on everything I noticed in Red Welch,

it seems like all three of these dudes have big power potential. Melendez is the one that's tapped into it most so far. He just had a 30 home run season, but he also struck out way more than either of those other two batters as well. Yeah, so just being kind of quick about this. Two of these guys are out in the AFL right now,

and I 100% looked at Blaze Jordan's game log, so I didn't get screwed on that. I know 100% confirmed that before I sent you that list. I'm like, we're going to make sure. But, you know, I am worried about Melendez. I'm actually a little bit cooler on Melendez after seeing him in person. He's also playing a lot of third base, which I just want to give him some credit for,

a little bit more position flexibility he's been playing out here. But I've cooled a bit because the swing and miss is such a huge part of his game. He's not showing off insane power like I thought he could hear. Locklear hit a homer today. And of course, I had my camera down and didn't get it. Absolute moonshot. But he is, I can't say a nice. He's the worst defender out here.

I mean, he cannot play. He can't even play first base. And he was like a third baseman. Yeah, that's funny because it's awful. It's a third baseman. Maybe it's a couple. Being it's a couple of games I've seen, but he does not look good at first. So I start to worry, is there more DH in him?

And that's going to hurt a little bit. All of these guys. have, I think, similar traits. I think Blaze Jordan actually might be the guy that could be the best complete player as far as batting average goes and pure raw power. I think Melinda's has the best raw power, but the swing and miss does not look improved whatsoever. And he is getting, he's getting the old Spencer Torkelson low in the zone treatment, and it is not helping a ton. And I'm, I'm not as super hot on Tyler Locklear right now, but he does have amazing power. And he does fit he physically looks very impressive but I think defensively it's going to be a

pretty difficult situation to find so if you're you know if he if he's a liability or d-hing I'm not sure he can hit quite enough to stick at that spot but again this is where the pool kind of opens up a little bit there's a little bit less excitement I think there's there's there's improvement abound for all of these guys and these are guys all you can invest in because of other specific traits but I'm not enamored where some people are like oh I have to have to have to have to have Locklear as a top 30 prospect because of his hard hit. He had a 35% almost hard hit strength according to RotoWire's data.

That's fantastic. But he's getting challenged here and it hasn't looked fantastic. It hasn't looked great. So I'm just not in love, really with any of these guys. I think it's worth putting an actual number on Melendez with the strikeouts in the home runs because the strikeout rate was basically 34%. Yeah. he homered 30 times in 96 games.

And I will also throw out, Yvonne Melendez was the Golden Spikes Award winner in college in 2022. That goes in theory to the best college player for that year. So, you know, he was a decorated college player, and he's come up and he's mashed, but with an insanely high strike rate, 34% between high A and double A, so he hasn't even gotten to AAA yet.

No, we've seen in recent years players overcome, astronomical strikeout rates with high-end exit velocities. I think Melendez is going to put that to the test like no prospect before him. I think it's going to be an interesting experiment because I could see it working out in him being. I've seen the Pete Alonzo comparison for Melendez before. He's going to have to bring his strikeout rate down quite a bit down quite a bit for that to happen.

but could he be a 240 hitting 40 Homer guy in the majors? I think it's within the realm of possibility, and that would certainly make him a valuable fantasy asset. Or he could hit 199 and not stick around for long. The number seven first base prospect is someone we are very familiar with. That is Matt Mervis of the Chicago Cubs. Turns 26 years old this upcoming April. It was a tale of three seasons for Mervis last year.

Got off to that strong start at AAA. He played 24 games. games there, hit 286 with six home runs and a 962 OPS. He was promoted to the majors where he played 27 more games. He hit 167 with three homers and a 531 OPS, 32% strikeout rate. Definitely showed some interesting things in terms of stat cast data, but the swinging strike rate and the overall strikeout rate was a mess for Matt Mervis. He returned to the minors for his final 76 games where he hit 280 with 16 home runs, a 922 OPS, and a near 25% strikeout rate.

Welsh, did you see enough in his return to the majors? That gives you hope for this upcoming season. I mean, he's kind of getting up there, turns 26 years old in April. Or is this potentially like a perennial quad A type player? I think this is like a make a break year. I would say in my mind, I think like Locklear, like Melendez and Jordan might be in their own little tier. And then it opens up where like Locklear and Mervis kind of sit into their own territory.

because I could justify Mervis going up as high as four because I don't want to completely discount that this can't be fixed. You know, if you do think about how much at the higher levels has been worked on with him, it was right towards the back into the year, into AFL and then into last year, you know, did they do a lot of in-season changes? I'm really not sure that happened. He wasn't atrocious, at least in some short sample sizes against lefties. He was able to hit quite a bit. His power was coming pretty strong from the right side, but defensively, I thought he always struggled. So I do worry about that.

I worry about these like first baseman that struggled defensively that if anyone else is consistent with matching defense, there's just no reason for them to play. But that team's going to have to decide. Like whatever happens with Cody Bellinger is probably going to be a portion of what they decide to do. And last year, they literally picked everybody over him.

So I don't think it's done for. I think there's the possibility because he did still have a decent minor league season and he has insanely big power. and we saw Torkelson. We've seen Torkelson make these big changes, and it took quite a bit of time. So I don't think we should discount that that's not a possibility, because there are openings at the major league level,

potentially for the Cubs to give him a shot this year. And I know there have been a couple previous podcasts where I've kind of interrupted everything to say, what's your take on Matt Mervis? Like, he is at such a crossroads because I look at the numbers, and they're not flawless, his own contact rate. is lower than I'd like. His average exit velocities are lower than I'd like.

His max exit velocity is good, like legit power hitter. And he took a step back statistically even if you're just comparing minor league numbers from one year to the next for Matt Mervis. It was good in the minors this year. Wasn't great like he was last year. The biggest thing, though, and you mentioned it, is how the Cubs gave him his chance and then never went back to him all year. And he's 26 years old already, or is he 25?

He's old. He's 25 and a half. Turning 26 in April. Okay. So he's on the older side for a prospect. Like, it was weird. It was weird that they didn't bring him back in September just to keep him around and maybe give him pinch hit appearances or whatever. That concern, that makes me think, and it goes against all we were hearing them saying about Matt Mervis last off season, but that makes me think the Cubs don't really.

see him as a long-term chip. Could be wrong. I was kind of ringing my hands over the Cubs' handling of Nolan Gorman at this time last year, and obviously he went on to have a good sophomore season. But yeah, it is

a make or break year, clearly for Mervis. When I do my first-based prospect rankings, I will probably move him to third behind Kyle Manzardo and Xavier Isaac because And I think that speaks to first base as a whole.

It's not a position where you get a lot of can't miss prospects. Because normally, you know, big prospects from other positions move to first base late in their minor league careers or even after reaching the majors. So like first base is just not a position for prospects, period. And Mervis, I feel like if he does stick is going to have a lot of fantasy upside. But yeah, I mean, if it doesn't happen next year, it's probably not going to happen at all. And I only want to add one thing is I, from a philosophical standpoint with prospects, guys that are in,

guys that have shown off like, you know, big aspects of talent, like 30 plus homers and we've kind of into that projected world of thinking, okay, this guy could be this. When they get into that make or break time, I think it's,

I think it's great spot to buy. When you're at the dirt cheap level, no one is excited about Matt Mervis, we still had a pretty good minor league season. There are still roadblocks in front and that we know this is a make or break time. I would, I would try to buy him right now because how expensive is that going to be?

We know it's not going to be that bad. Buy him. See what happens. If you lost, okay, you burned it a little bit, but it's nothing that's going to be harmful. But there's a lot of upside. It's a gamble, I think, in the prospect world, that very post-hyped sleeper range that, again, it doesn't always work out. Joe Adele has never worked out. But Kellnick even had a little bit of a run and then it went back down.

I mean, you can follow those waves. This is one I would try to buy Matt Mervis on the cheap. and see where it can pay off into next year. And no harm, no foul if it doesn't. For what it's worth, the very early offseason roster resource projections do have Matt Mervis pencilled in as the starting first baseman. But that's also because the Cubs have multiple free agents, Cody Bellinger, Jammer Candelario.

So we'll see what they do in the offseason. But if they don't resign any of those guys, then there is a chance that Matt Mervis will have an opportunity to win an opening day job in spring training. 8, 9, and 10 in your first base rankings. We'll just quickly run through these. Bryce Eldridge. who is a 19-year-old two-way player,

a first-round pick this year in 2023. Big dude, 6'4-7, really showed out in the 31 games he played in the minors as well. I think he's a really interesting player when I was just kind of researching him myself. Number nine, you have Hunter Goodman, who is with the Rockies. He's 24 years old. We saw him a little bit late towards the end of the season. He had 34 home runs in the minors, but did strike out quite a bit in his 23 games with the Rockies.

And number 10 is Nathan Martarella, who is a 22-year-old in the Padres organization, Welsh. Any quick thoughts here on Bryce Eldridge, Hunter Goodman, Nathan Martorella. Yeah, real quick. Eldridge might not even get to first base. He played more outfield. I asked him about that in his pro debut, and they said they were having him out in the corner. I kind of think at the end of the day he's going to sit at first. So this also could be one of those eligibility things in spots, but all the talent in the world, big bodied guy, very raw. I like him more than like Reggie Crawford, who's a two-way player with them.

So I think he, if you're looking for upside plays on this list, the biggest upside plays are Xavier Isaac and Bryce Eldridge. Hands down. Hunter Goodman, the destination with the power potential. This is another just one of those three bets. But that's also speaks, I think, a little bit to the position that we're in right now of first base where you might be better set taking a shot on a guy that I think is maybe less talented than some players below him. But he's at the majors. and you could take advantage of that. And Martarella has actually been playing some outfield out here in the AFL.

A lot of people called him Cal Manzardo Light, a little baby Manzardo. I don't quite see it outside of some physical standpoints. He struggled with batting average this year, did hit 19 homers. He has a really good opposite field approach out here in the AFL. You're going to get to see him soon here, Frank. But I don't know if he's got enough great position flexibility or the offensive power to overcome some of the negatives, like a Kalmanzardo can with the power.

So we're in a tier of just, you know, kind of taking a stab at some players, especially if things do change. Martarella, there's some interest there. I don't want to be dismissive that he can't be like a Kalmanzardo light. I don't quite see it. His approach is very different.

But there's, you know, a little bit of excitement. And I left some other semi-exciting players out this list, Abamelek Ortiz, who's out here. I haven't loved him. He was one of the biggest home run leaders out here. But it's, you know, we're talking excitement. to like middling first baseman interjects in some place because these are not the these are not the best first base prospects to that we've had in the last three or four years real quick on eldridge i know

him and shanuel are available in first year player drafts well i'm kind of putting you on the spot here but where do they kind of just line up in those rankings are they both like top 12 top 15 top 20 guys in FYPD so i have got shanwell top 10 and i've got brys eldridge in the top 20 I think some other people might have Eldridge a little bit higher. I'd be honestly that I don't love the development of how the Giants seemfully committed to two-way players. Reggie Crawford, I don't think it's going super well, even though he's physically talented. I also think these two-way players take a really long time. So I'm not quite as excited as some other players or some other fantasy prospect people out there.

But top 20 for Eldridge, top 10 for Shenwell. First your player. So let me quickly run through again, the Welsh's top 10 first, prospects Kyle Manzardo, Xavier Isaac, Nolan Chanuel, Yvonne Melendez, Blaise Jordan, Tyler Locklear, Matt Mervis, Bryce Eldridge, Hunter Goodman, and Nathan Martirella. If you're looking at proximity first base prospects, guys that can make an impact as soon as 2024, maybe you're doing some of these way too early draft and hold leagues over at the NFBC. Kyle Manzardo is number one. No surprise. Nolan Chanuel, who likely is the starting first baseman for the Angels on opening day. Matt Mervis with the Cubs, Hunter Goodman with the Rockies, who maybe he's like outfield first base, D.H, something like that for him. Somewhere in there. And Nathan He will be outfield only to begin the year on CBS, well, Hunter Goodman. But good to know. His future is probably a first base. Yeah, I was thinking about that. I kind of feel like

Chris Bryant is going to be their first baseman of the future. I mean, the guy is just always hurt and he can barely move as it is. Just kind of feels like he's bound to first base soon. Well, yeah, maybe. And I don't think the Welsh would disagree with me in saying this. Like Hunter Goodman's future in the majors probably is not as an everyday player. He's probably like a power bench bat. I think the DH has helped his potential of being able to stick around and the bat is really excited. I am not as excited as some other people about Hunter Goodman for sure.

Yeah. Lesser half of a platoon, something like that. Yeah, there's definitely possible. All right, let's take our final break. When we return some quick news and notes, some AFL updates. We'll do that right after. this. Welcome back in. Not a lot going on in the news world in terms of fantasy baseball this time a year. We're kind of in this weird in between. Once the World Series ends, we'll start to fire up

the hot stove. So that will be a fun time. But as of now, not too much going on. Some good news, bad news here. Alex Kirillov had shoulder surgery, which did not involve his labrum or rotator cuff. So, you know, not great that he's having surgery. But it's pretty good that it, you know, didn't involve any of those kind of major things up there in the shoulder. Good chance of being fully recovered by the start of spring training for Alex Kierloff. He's like the million dollar man. We can rebuild him. And they are trying.

They are 100% trying to rebuild that guy. And Scott is up there with his grin. And I know he's waiting for the one year that Alex Kiroloff could stay healthy and hopefully put it all together. Yeah, me too. Yeah, I mean, Kirilov, I kind of feel like is, is, where I'm at with him is sort of where I'm at with Miguel Vargas where I wish I could go back, I wish I could look back at earlier exit velocity readings from earlier in their minor league career and see if they match up with what we saw from them in

the majors. Because sort of like with Vargas, they're pretty underwhelming for Kirillov. And I might have had a different stance from the beginning if I had seen them from the beginning. All right, Brian Abraeu, who was handed a two-game suspension for throwing at Adoles Garcia in the ALCS. will serve said suspension in 2024. My guess is probably the first two games of the season. A little hot stove action. It's not completely hot. It's kind of like we're, we're warming up the stove.

We're trying to figure out what we're gonna eat for dinner. Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Padres and Yankees have had a preliminary conversation about Juan Soto. Talks have not progressed past the initial check-in. Soto is entering his contract year in 2024. I think, I just, This may never happen, obviously, but you look at Soto's numbers, and in San Diego, obviously, we got a bigger sample of that this year.

His numbers in San Diego specifically are pretty awful. It's not a great hit environment in general. So maybe the key to getting him back to clear first round production is just getting him out of there. And the Yankees Stadium, obviously, would be the opposite end of the spectrum as far as that goes. Yes, yes. Keep talking, Scott. Make it happen.

You know what this trade needs, though? This is the need for, like, NBA. We need a three-team trade because I'm looking and I kind of like sit back and I'm like, all right, so what would this trade look like? Last thing in the world, the Padres need is a middle infielder in Glaver Torres. I look at the last thing in the world they want is prospects. They're not looking for prospects. They want these.

So Spencer Jones, Drew Thorpe was awesome, by the way. One of the most underrated minor league pitchers in the prospect world that people should be paying attention to. what they don't care about. Why would they care about any of these players? You need a team that wants to unload major league talent for those prospects to go to the Padres so then the Padres can send one Soto over. It's just a weird match between those teams. I know the Yankees could afford it and they could pay up the prospects, but the Padres just don't, it doesn't feel like they're the team that would be like, cool. Send us Spencer Jones and Glaber Torres and Drew Thorpe and we'll be

happy with it. Yeah. No, I think that makes sense. So we'll see. I mean, again, This is just, you know, very early rumblings here entering the hot stove season. Big actual baseball news that went down since the last time we talked. Dusty Baker is retiring after 26 years in the majors. Happy for him that he actually got that ring last year in 2022, but it looks like, at least for now, Dusty Baker is hanging it up again. The Giants have hired Bob Melvin as their manager, which means the Padres now have a managerial vacancy.

and under Gabe Kapler, the previous Giants manager, they were 29th in stolen bases. Under Bob Melvin, the Padres ranked 21st in stolen bases. So perhaps we could see a little bit more aggressiveness on the base paths from the Giants in 2024. Former Cardinals manager, Mike Schilt, will interview for the Padre's job on Thursday. Buck Showalter is a candidate for the Angels managerial vacancy.

The Mets have received permission from the Brewers to interview Craig Counsel for their managerial opening. And the Red Sox have hired Craig Breslo as their chief baseball officer. The 43-year-old has spent the last few years in the Cubs as the Cubs assistant GM. And if the name sounds familiar, that's because Craig Breslo is a former pitcher who retired in 2018. So not too long ago, five years ago. We're seeing a lot more former major leaguers back in the executive chip. Have you noticed that?

Twain Chris Young and Chris Gets and Jerry Dapoto. How long until the Yankees fire Brian Cashman and get Derek Jeter in that seat, huh? How about that? I don't know if that's going to happen. I just completely made that up. All right, let's quickly run through. We talked about focused on first base prospects here today.

So we'll give you a quick buyer sell in Dynasty here. The keyword is quick. So, Scott, I'm going to throw it. your way first. We don't need like a crazy amount of analysis, but... Throw it. Throw a Welsh's way first. All right. Walsh's way first. Okay. I'll be quick. A first basement you're looking to buy in Dynasty. All right. I thought about going deeper and I think there's obvious names so I don't want to steal it, but you know, Scott can mention them. I think Tristan Kassis, Spencer Torkelson are two names. I'm trying to buy, but I think everybody's

excited about them. How about one I just decided to throw out here? That is a higher name that is not ranked quite in the same general vicinity. But I'm about Peter Long. Bielanzo is someone that I might kind of poke around on right now. I know he still costs up there, but you're also looking at a guy that hit under 220 this past year. But when you go into expected numbers, expected batting average around 240, he had a career low BABIP, which was around 75, close to 75 to 80 points lower than his career average. People may know this. He still had 46 homers, 118 RBI.

but take it to the point of like, you know, Scott's own ranks, you've got Pete Alonzo. What do you have, four or five somewhere in that area? I just think he might be more acquirable, and I think he can become a better hitter this coming season. So from the high end standpoint, Pete Alonzo kind of stands out to me as somebody I might try to pick because I think he well underperformed a lot of his expected stats while still putting up monster numbers. And we might still have those conversations of like, who do I like, Petalanzo or Vlad? with bigger names that I think are very obvious in Tristan Kossis and Spencer Torkelson as two players deeper that I would love to have. But I think in an irony, they might be tougher to acquire because of how hot they are and what that conversation is going to be around than the expectation of what a guy like Pete Alonso would be.

All right. Not fast enough. You're in trouble, Welsh. Scott, your help. Benny Pee, baby. All right. It was disappointing even before the injury and then missed a lot of time with the end. but I think the foundation is still strong there for Vinny Pasquantino. A couple others real quick.

I think Kyle Monsardo fits the bill for dynasty leaguers who aren't on the edge of the seat, on the edge of their seat watching the, the, the, the AFL, which is probably a lot of them. Kyle Monsard is coming off a down season, but I think he's still really talented. And Jonathan Aranda, who has fumbled his major league chances so far, but the minor league data and, you know, actual staff. are just so spectacular that I still think the future is bright for Jonathan Oranda. Now maybe your last chance to buy in. All right.

Speaking of last chances, Welsh, I'll give you a last chance for a first baseman to sell in Dynasty. Wasn't I quicker? I thought maybe I wasn't. Cody Bellinger, because I don't believe it. There you go. I don't believe it. Babbs too high. Hard hit percentage way, way down.

I don't believe it. I have a hard time with it. Cody Bellinger barrel percentage is down. I don't like any of it. He's going to a new place and he's going to fall back into his old things. You go, Scott. Vladimir Guerrero might be a bylaw, right? I thought about that too, but I just, I don't know how realistic it is.

Yeah, I don't know how realistic it is. Okay, so sell high. That's what we're doing now. Wait. I am going to say Spencer Steer. Oh, yeah, sell high. Because I think the rookie season might turn out to be his best season, especially given the competition there in Cincinnati.

And I'm also going to say Yandi Diaz, who's not young, but he's coming off of what I think will ultimately be his career season as well. Oh, you know, a name just came to mind. Well, she's not going to like this one. But if you're thinking long term from a dynasty perspective, Christian Walker might make sense as like a Salon Dynasty. Have anybody been worse than the playoffs that had such a great?

He has been just so bad. It's so frustrating. And I completely agree because we're going to look and see Christian Walker's numbers versus some huge names that we're going to be. This will be the Jose Abrae thing again. I don't need Matt Olson because I can get Christian Walker. I agree. If somebody is buying high, we do it.

But if they're paying attention to the playoffs, no one's buying him high. All right. Let's wrap up with some Arizona Fall League updates. Welsh, I know you were just out there today. We showed that video clip of Kyle Manzardo. I'm going to throw two hitters your way, and then we'll talk about two pitchers after this. A name that I keep waiting to slow down.

It hasn't happened yet. James Triantos, 20-year-old infield prospect with the Chicago Cubs, a second round pick in 2021. So far in the NFL, looks like the MVP, batting 436, two homers, three doubles, five triples, seven steals, doing it all. A 1304 OPS. He's crushing it right now.

And a name that you sent me a Mets prospect, 23 years old, J.T. Schwartz, was named the AFL hitter of the week for the third week of action there. And in 12 games played, he's batting 319 with two homers, six doubles, and a 927 Ops. What have you seen or heard about James Triantos and J.T. Schwartz? I also want to give you credit. I sent him a Yankee, and he didn't. Frank didn't put a Yankee on this. So I just all, you guys are like, oh, Frank, go home.

Frank didn't put the Yankee on here. So let's just give him that acknowledgement. Yeah, Triantos has been a monster. I found it really interesting. He did an interview with foul territory today. And he talked about the player that he thinks he resembles his game most like was Luis Arise, which I thought was really telling. Because Triantos, one thing he has done is he has become one of the hardest outs.

I actually would have put my money down that Ryan Bliss was going to be that guy because Tinkin said that. Tinkin said in a private setting that Ryan Bliss was one of the toughest outs he had ever had. But that's become Triantos. He can get lower in the zone. The bat is always in the zone. He's making good contact. He's barreling.

Maybe there's some bigger, longer turn questions that this is just an environment that he can do. But he's up for MVP right now. Highest OPS on, I think, in the entire Arizona Fall League right now, the walk-to-strikeout ratio is impressive. He just is a, he looks like a complete player and he looks comfortable. I don't, I think the numbers could lie a little bit, but I think Triantos is a 20-20 type of guy. You know what I think he could be not what Nico Horner is on the stolen base side, but I think he could be a 2020 guy that if he can get out of his head, I think he can continue hitting for contact. And you know, the Lisa Rice thing is really interesting, a guy that prides himself on the batting average. Scott, James Triantos, I want to quickly ask you about him because when he was drafted, I know it was a second round pick, but there was, I think, a decent amount of hype. I read a feature kind of comparing him to like David Wright, if everything kind of worked out like 95th percentile.

for James Triantos in his career. We haven't got to like second or third base prospects yet, but is he a name that maybe you'd be looking to buy following this AFL performance? Not really. Not really. I mean, it depends how deep. It depends how low. I think he's beyond the threshold for most dynasty leagues,

you know, not the extremely deep ones I play in. until he actualizes some of that power potential. I mean, it's just, like, let's have a double-digit Homer season, you know, before we, before I'm really convinced it's there. I know some of the scouting reports think there's upside. They said that once upon a time about Nico Horner, too, that he might develop power. Never happened. He's a great base dealer, so we don't necessarily need him to, but I don't think Triantos is. I compare to Horner in that way.

I do think the downside could be going away from the stolen bases, which could. make him more Louisa rise. So I think if the AFL, if you were to win MVP and the AFL would take him, I, the hype machine would actually make me think he's a cell. Like I'm talking him up for what he's doing here, but I don't think there's a long enough track record to be like, oh, if everyone's talking, I'm not saying anyone is, but if someone's like, he's a top 50 overall prospect or 25, I would try to capitalize on it because I still think, you know, short sample size here is something to consider. And I just wanted to add, because I didn't talk about it, but you mentioned J.T. Schwartz and J.T. Schwartz, he's been, maybe, maybe,

the most impressive Glendale player out here and he's playing with Perada and them a really, really nice swing, taller player. I've been trying to think on who he reminds me of. And I don't know, it's maybe Matt Olson-E. I don't want you to think that that's who he is, but not striking out a bunch, hitting over 300, a 900 OPS, couple homers, six doubles, which I believe is near the tops of the AFL. He's just got a really easy swing and seems to be making good pitch decisions. And that I think at least this might be a guy that is a major league bat at some point. I just don't know if it's going to be at a super high level. All right.

Let me ask you about one pitcher that I know you're excited about. Emiliano Tejoto, who is a 22-year-old in the Texas Rangers organization. This guy throws heat. We're talking up over 100 miles per hour with the fastball. So far in the NFL, he's thrown seven shutout innings, one hit, one walk, 14 strikeouts are not an issue for him. If you look at his minor league numbers, tons of strikeouts, well over a strikeout per inning, but the walks have been a big problem.

4.8 walks per nine in the minors this past season. Hasn't been a problem so far in the AFL, but whilst you told me this is a guy that could be a closer of the future type. I think so. I will point out he was starting. You know, he's starting under his belt. I think there could be some command issues. He hit 102 on the gun. It's on my Twitter.

If anyone's like, there we go. We're going to check it out here. These were, I think, $290. mile an hour fastballs. And then if you see, Nassim Nunez literally backed up from it to get a view of it. And he has this gorgeous

85 mile an hour slider that he threw for every single one he threw for a strike. I think one's coming here. Yeah, right there, just boom, right down the middle. And then he comes back with a 99, hit 100, hit 102.

He was a starter. I think the command issues are why he will be in the bullpen. He's strictly been bullpen here, but that might be a, you know, just might be an AFL thing. Lots of guys do that.

Jerpy's doing that. But this guy's an electric fastball that people talk about. And I think that breaking pitch gives him two offerings that make him a closer. And Nassim Nunez couldn't even do anything with that right there. And that's pretty much how that stint went. He went one inning, two strikeouts. He has become unhittable. And I think if you're in a dynasty league that you like to poke around at potential closers, maybe he works as a starter. But I think he goes immediately in as someone we're looking at as a closer in the future. Some good movement on that pitch, too. I love Emiliano Tiotto. Can I ask the Welsh about one more first base prospect?

I put it in air quotes because he's 26 years old, but I just find him fascinating, and that's Troy Johnston. I thought Scott was going to ask you about Matt Mervis again. No. What are we doing? Matt Mervis again? Someone who already is 26. Troy Johnston in the Marlins organization,

between double and AAA this year, hit 307 with 26 homers, 24 steals. A 948 OPS. Good plate discipline. Awful exit velocities. Like 30 grade speed. And yet, you know, he was 24 for 20. Like, he's just such a, he's like a walking contradiction because the data is horrible,

whether you're talking about power or speed. But the production was amazing this year. I kind of hoped to see him in September for the Marlins. It didn't happen. They had too many first basement as it is. Do you think there's a chance he gets like, do you think there's a chance he's anything first of all since the skills seem

questionable I would have thought there might be more there's two things if he were sent to the afl I think they could have been very telling because there's another 26 year old guy all of her done with the Phillies who's actually had a really good afl but I mean like he is the oldest guy here

by bar none 26 something years old just hit a homer today actually makes tons of contact those guys are tough because I view when they come here this is for the team to see how they can push the innings really far to see if they want to start him, or they are positioning other teams to take a look at them. And Johnston has been in the system since 2019.

I struggle with these type of players. His numbers are video game-like. I personally think they give him a look, but I don't think the team would make that commitment. He's a great player to probably try to make the bet on. Maybe it works out, but you know, you're going to pick on Matt Mervis. Not saying you, I'm just saying the rhetorical of like, you're going to pick on Matt Mervis for a guy that's owned.

almost 26. Well, Troy Johnson's been in the system since 2019, has not had an overly crazy productive year until this year. And now is that going to make him a big thing? Absolutely worth. If you're a speculator, why wouldn't you? This is a, he had 20, he used to 30 grade speed, 20 plus stolen bases, I think it was. 26 homers. Yeah, it's a super weird. Yeah, it's a super weird. He's slow and he doesn't make hard contact. But I do. But I do. A near 25, 25 season. Something that might be done soon here. It's a really like, early process, but looking at ballpark factors too might play a bit of a role. We might need to pay attention to the ballpark factors for the Marlins at higher levels as well.

But I'm not a, nothing can happen. It could, but these 26-year-old prospects are the worst for me. I'm usually pretty dismissive of them. All right. Again, that is Troy Johnson with the Miami Marlins. We're going to wrap there for Scott and the Welsh. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today.

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