Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨Trade Deadline Recap! Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers & Much More! (7/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 31, 2024

The Trade Deadline is over! Let's start with Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers (2:07). ... Tanner Scott is headed to the Padres for a massive haul of prospects (7:45). ... The Orioles gave up Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers for Trevor Rogers (18:35)? ... The Orioles also acquired Eloy Jimenez (26:40). ... Bryan De La Cruz is headed to the Pirates (30:12). ... The Dbacks acquired Josh Bell to help fill the Christian Walker void (31:16). ... Could Lucas Erceg earn saves with the Royals (35:50)? ... The Guardians acquired Alex Cobb, which means Hayden Birdsong will rejoin the Giants rotation (37:30). ... We hit on some other trades like Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Pirates and Paul DeJong to the Royals (40:11). ... We wrap up with some winners and losers, including Garrett Crochet who was not moved at the deadline (45:30). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv 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/ 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

Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. We don't say this often, but it was a good day to be a Marlins fan. Welcome into an emergency edition of fantasy baseball today on deadline day. July 30th, I am Frank Stamfield, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers, and let's just jump right in. We didn't really get that, oh my goodness, that huge name, that big, massive trade, but we did get Jack Flerty on the move, and that's pretty close. The Dodgers acquired Jack Flarity from the Tigers,

for catcher Theron Lorenzo and shortstop Trace Sweeney. And Flaherty has had a huge bounce back season, 295 ERA, a 0.96 whip, 11.2K per 9. The walks have been solid as well. He's dealt with this lingering back injury off and on, but when he's pitched, he's pitched great. And Scott, he is now moving from the Tigers to one of the best teams in baseball.

Yeah, I mean, obviously, from a team standpoint, that's an upgrade. It's hard to say that Flaherty stock has done anything other than improve with this deal. It was the biggest deal of the day. It also might have been the biggest head scratcher of the day. I understand this is a fantasy baseball podcast, but my biggest reaction to this deal is that's all it took for the Dodgers to get him. I mean, Chris, not to steal your thunder, but you made the point in slack.

The Blue Jays, I mean, sorry, the Astros gave up considerably more for you say Kikuchi than the Dodgers gave up for Jack Flaherty. And I just wonder what all the other contenders were doing, what the Tigers were doing. I mean, why not just settle for the compensation pick if. It feels like one, there must be some really scary stuff in Jack Flaherty's medicals, right? we're talking about a guy who's missed a lot of time with shoulder injuries over the past few years, has missed time this season with a back injury. Like, it must be just.

It's two months. It's two months. Yeah, no. I completely agree. And the Tigers just must really like Lorenzo, who is a catcher who is already starting to play a lot of first base in DH in the minors. And who is hitting 220 with basically an average weighted runs created plus.

in high A, just turned 21. Big tools, but yeah, it feels really light given what everybody else gave up for significantly less impactful players than Jack Flaherty. Do you think this significantly improves his fantasy value? I mean, obviously the win potential, but you know, going from Comerica to Dodger Stadium, you know,

could be a little bit more home run prone. What do you guys think there? I mean, the 15 to 25. range in my starting pitcher rankings is there's a lot of maneuverability in that range and so I could see sliding Flaherty up within it. But I don't know. He's already been so good.

Better chance for wins and to avoid losses, I would say. Yeah, I mean, his value goes up. It's not completely transformed, but it goes up a little bit. I don't think we have to overthink it beyond this. if he's a true talent, 32% strikeout rate, 5% walk rate guy,

the park doesn't matter. Right. Like if that's who Jack Flaherty is now, he could, he could pitch in the best park in baseball or the worst park in baseball. He's still going to be a high-end fantasy pitcher. I clearly, there is some skepticism around baseball about how real this all is.

But, yeah. I agree. Like, it's a slight arrow up. I don't even know. Like, it's just, how could you be more skeptical of Jack Flaherty than you say Kikuchi? I don't know.

I just feel like it, it was the Tigers panicking at the last minute. Maybe other teams didn't do their due diligence because the Tigers were asking for too much at first. And the Dodgers just happened to get in at the last moment. I don't know, but I have a hard time. seeing that that it's anything other than

it's like that there's anything to worry about with Flaherty in this deal. I do wonder if it might affect, if it might push out somebody like River Ryan who he'd been interested in. Not right now, but as some of their other, I don't know,

if Walker Bueller ever comes back, what's the latest on Walker Bueller? Yeah, Bobby Miller. Yeah. I think they're both rehabbing, throwing. Yeah, I could see River Ryan getting crowded out because of this.

obviously Justin Rebloski, not that we're as interested in him. Yeah, that seems like the first dominant of all, right? Reblisky gets out of the rotation and then if and when one of the people. He was already on the way out. Yeah. I wonder if this is any indication on like Yamamoto, just maybe not kind of bouncing back or he's further behind than we think. Well, I mean, this team needed a starter either way.

Like, even if Yamamoto came back, that still would have left you with Kershaw, who I think we expect good things from, but is still a huge question mark coming back from the shoulder surgery. He's made one start. Gavin Stone seems fine, but it's not hard to imagine things going sideways for a guy with a 685 K per 9. So I think the Dodgers no matter what, even if they were confident in Yamamoto, Bueller and Miller, enough things have gone. wrong already that I think they had to add a starting pitch. All right. So it's arrow is pointing up for Jack Flaherty in the biggest move of the day for fantasy purposes. But let's move over to the Marlins. Your Marlins, Chris, who were quite busy here at the deadline. The Padres acquired Tanner Scott and Brian Hoeing from the Marlins for a

hall that included pitchers Robbie Snellin and Adam Major plus infielder's grand Pauley and Jay Bishires. We'll start there. They have built a juggernaut of a bullpen. From a real-life perspective, I mean, this is reminiscent of the Royals when they won the World Series, when they had all those amazing arms

at the back end of their bullpen because they have Robert Suarez now, they have Tanner Scott, they acquired Jason Adam, they still have Jeremiah Estrada. So it's a great bullpen here with the Padres. It shortens games for their relievers. But from a fantasy perspective,

Tanner Scott is awesome. He's also not going to get saves anymore either. So if you play in just a traditional five-by-five categories league with saves as a category, is Tanner Scott just dropable? So I would just say that if your waivers don't run until Sunday,

there's no need to make a move. Maybe the Padres do something unexpected and give Tanner Scott some save opportunities. But Robert Suarez has been so good that I don't see any reason to think that's going to happen. So, yeah, I think in short order, we're going to be dropping Tanner Scott pretty much across the board. So, yeah, I think that's fair.

I mean, maybe they can mix a match a little bit just because Tanner Scott has been really, really good over the past two seasons. So it wouldn't be crazy, but, you know, Robert Torres has obviously had a huge breakout season in that bullpen as well. I am a little skeptical of Scott because his walk rate is about double what it was last year. Like last year you could say, okay, look at how much better his control is. That's why he's suddenly so good. And that has regressed. He does have a 112 ERA, and so it's hard to poke too many holes in that, I guess. But also, he's the one of the four relievers you mentioned who's left-handed.

So I imagine the Padres would want to keep him more versatile. Their manager doesn't seem like the sort that would take to the, the closer committee. So yeah, I think I'm in in all but league, in all but the sort of leagues where saves are always scarce on the Waver wire, I think it's totally fine to drop Scott. Let's talk about this return for the Marlins. And maybe I'm just overvaluing these names because they were ranked highly coming into

the season. They have had down seasons in the minors. There's no doubt about that. But these were really highly ranked prospects. Robbie Snelling, a 20-year-old lefty, he entered the season as one of the season as one of the minors. the top pitching prospects in baseball. The numbers at AA have been atrocious. At a measure, we've seen eight starts for the Padres. It hasn't been good.

749 ERA 181 whip. Graham Pauli, 23-year-old third base prospect, has not been good this season in the minors either, but last year, 23 homers, 22 steals. And then Jay Beshear's, a 22-year-old second baseman, hasn't shown much offensively yet. But Chris, what did you think here on the return for the Marlins? So I think this is something that you have to keep in mind when it comes to midseason prospect updates is like MLB pipeline hasn't updated their team by team rankings yet, right? Like a lot of baseball perspective is only to the top 50 midseason updates. So it's hard to say where all of these guys rank given that they were all pretty highly regarded before the season and are not having good seasons. that being said from a Marlins fan perspective, you have to love it.

Like, if nothing else, these guys are lottery tickets. These are guys who are obviously talented. They're young. They're interesting players. You know, this has kind of been the Marlins M.O at this trade deadline is just acquiring a bunch of guys. No, no like can't miss prospects in any of the deals that the Marlins made. but they just got a ton of volume and a ton of guys who are like, I don't know,

100 to 180 ranked prospects. And so if they get two or three starters out of their whole trade deadline haul, I'm thrilled with it. Yeah. But these are all players who have taken a hit in terms of their prospect standing. But I like it. I really like what the Marlins did here at the deadline, because they didn't give up that much.

They didn't have much they could give up, other than just Chesham, of course. Yeah. And that was the one that got the biggest return. But between all the trades they made, Chisholm, Tanner Scott, I couldn't have lost them on. Trevor Rogers. Yeah, I'm sure we'll get to that one. Oh, yeah. Like, they collected a stable of really interesting prospects, not top prospects, but former top prospects who just kind of lost some of their shine, like a Robbie Snelling.

or kind of emerging prospects like an Augustine Ramirez or De La Cruz, right, who they got in the AJ. Deiardis and DeL Santos. I'm sorry, that was it. DeLos Santos. De La Santos and Augustine Ramirez. Like pitching, hitting, they just got volume. And as they're looking to form a new foundation for what will hopefully be their next contender, they've given themselves a lot of bites at the Apple.

without giving up a whole lot. And I think it was, I think the Marlins are the winners that the trade deadline overall for just talking, uh, team perspective. Yeah,

like I don't know if they got any, I mean, honestly, they probably got several top five and top 10 prospects in their organization just because their organizational prospect rankings are pretty bleak. But they didn't get like a ton of guys who would be in the Dodgers top 10. But they just got.

got a lot of pretty interesting, mostly high miners guys. So, you know, I think we'll, there's a good chance we'll see De La Santos. There's a decent chance we might see Augustine Ramirez at some point this season. Grand Polly has already been at AAA. Like a lot of guys who might be fantasy relevant very quickly and are obviously going to have an opportunity on a team that you look at the Marlins right now. Xavier Edwards is like the only guy who might be on the team in 2025

in like a starting capacity like that things are pretty bleak there so a lot of guys that we should see fairly soon like they didn't add Connor Norby right to the roster but it wouldn't surprise me if that happened fairly quickly yeah go ahead Scott well are we going to wait to talk about Connor Norby

since we haven't gotten to that trade yet. You just want to jump into that trade since we're talking around it. Let's just very quickly do the Marlins closers. Yeah, that's what I wanted to get to. With Tanner Scott on the move, who do you guys think takes over? I don't know that there's a clear answer here,

but it looks like there are at least three options. Andrew Nardi, who's a lefty, Calvin Foshae, and Anthony Bender. Wasn't Nardi traded? No. I don't think so. Oh, was that a false report I saw? Yeah.

No, they traded Sharquois. I don't know. J.T. Chaguar, yeah. Yeah. I would guess

Bender is the likeliest to get saves. I haven't seen anything about it. But remember in 2022 before he blew out his elbow, he had emerged as the closer for a little bit for the Marlins.

He ended up getting six saves. He's having a fine season 383 ERA. The underlying numbers are better. I don't know if they have five people in their. bullpen right now as we're talking about Tuesday night's game. But Nardi, I believe, is the only lefty in the bullpen. So I would assume that they're going to be a little hesitant to make him the closer.

So I would put my money down on Anthony Bender. Scott? Well, Calvin Fotcher. Fosier. I know how to say his last name. Fochay. He has been the eighth inning guy. Mm-hmm.

So. Yeah, could be him. I would guess Bender too, but like it's with so little certainty and with so little optimism for how we do in the role that it's almost like the White Sox situation where it's just like, I don't know how much I care. It's a little better than the White Sox situation, but not much. As somebody who is stashing Andrew Nardi in multiple deep leagues, I hope you're all wrong. And it's Andrew Nardi. But yeah, seeing as how he's the only lefty left in the bullpen, he might not be. The clothes are moving forward, and there might not be an answer.

We'll find out soon if the Marlins can win a game. But let's take our first break, and when we return, we'll talk about Trevor Rogers, getting dealt to the Orioles. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in, and the Marlins aren't done yet. They traded away Trevor Rogers to the Orioles in exchange for Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers. Another return that seems very, very interesting and pretty favorable for the Marlins. We'll start with Trevor Rogers. okay as a streamer in fantasy,

but this one's pretty baffling to me. A 453 ERA, a 153 whip, 7.3K per 9, 3.9 walks per 9 for Trevor Rogers. The velocity on his fastball is down over two miles per hour from where it was a couple years ago. Maybe they look at it and they think, all right, we're putting a lefty and Camden with that big cutout and left field,

and maybe he'll get better. I just don't see it. Chris, what do you think about Trevor Rogers with Orioles? The thing is, his velocity is down even more lately. I think in July, it's down to 91 miles per hour. I don't, I'm stunned that they were able to get as good of a return for Trevor Rogers as they did. He really hasn't been very good since 2021. Former first round pick, top prospect.

I think he finished top five in rookie of the year. Like, you can see a team talking themselves into him. I'm just surprised it's one of the. the leading contenders to win the world series, talking themselves into him as a stretch run option. Look, it's a great home park. It's a great situation. So like the arrow is pointing up for Trevor Rogers, but he has to pitch better or it doesn't really matter. Right. Like, is Trevor Rogers better than Cole Irvin, who was DFA today? Like, just taking what they've done this season. I'm not sure he's actually a better pitcher than Cole Irvin or the other like

fringe rotate Dean Kramer and and the likes that the Orioles have trotted out. So I'm confused. They must believe that there's a mechanical adjustment that they can make. They can get his velocity back up. Or they think that he can be like a high end bullpen arm in shorter stints. But I I don't have a lot of optimism about Trevor Rogers. The underlying numbers are bad. They really haven't been very good since 2021. I'm confused. And he bumps Albert Suarez from

the rotation, I presume. Not that I'm so hot on Albert Suarez at this point in time, but yeah, it's an upgrade over him. I kind of wonder okay, Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers are

interesting in that they put up good minor league numbers, not high-end prospects or anything. but assets. I'd argue they're better than what the Dodgers gave up for Jack Flaherty, but maybe that's just me. I wonder if the Orioles found themselves in a situation where they have so much high-end talent that's young and controllable that anytime they got in a serious conversation with other teams,

those teams couldn't look past those players. Like they weren't even willing to look at the, the Stowers and Norby class because there were these more obvious targets and so the Orioles just had to settle for whoever would take the ones they actually

wanted to trade even if comparing to what other teams were offering it was obviously better and to be clear like Norby and Stowers are pretty flawed prospect. Yeah yeah

Stowers is solid power but not we're not like he strikes out like Jake Berger but he doesn't hit the ball like Jake burger you know like there's there's a decent chance he's not a major league regular and Connor Norby has put up good numbers in the minors

but does not hit the ball hard at all and was going to have a really hard time maximizing his volume or his value in Baltimore I think in Miami not a great park but probably better one for right-handed power than Baltimore. So, you know, I think Arrow pointing up for him. But like, I can get why like those guys weren't super valued on the trade market. And I don't think this is like, it's, it's a great trade for the Marlins because I didn't, I didn't think Trevor Rogers had much value at all.

He seemed like a, a non-tender candidate for the Marlins with his contract going up next season. So like getting anything for him seems like. like a big win. But, you know, Norby and Stowers and, you know, the, the guys that they got for Tanner Scott, even Davidson de la Santos, for the most part, everyone that the Marlins got are like C plus B minus types. And you're just talking that a couple of them turn into regulars. Yeah, I did want to stress that about Connor Norby because I've been so negative about him. It was mostly because he doesn't. have high-end draw power.

And so he was going to have to make that first or second row in the bleachers, in the left field bleachers type power work at Camden Yards. And I didn't think it could. But now he's out of Camden Yards. As you say, Miami not a great place to hit. But for a hitter with his profile, it might be workable. I have more optimism for Norby now. And just a much more clear path to playing time.

Of course. Yeah. Same thing for Stowers. Yeah. Are you guys looking to add either in deeper leagues? Obviously, they'll become available in NL only, so, you know, leagues that deep. Anyone who has a heartbeat is going to be considered. But, you know, 15 team roto leagues, five outfielers, corner, middle infield spots.

Are you going to be putting in bids on someone like Norby or Stowers this weekend? I think 15 team leagues, Norby for sure. Not high-end bids, but, you know, a two or three percent. of my fab, that seems reasonable. See if you can get him for $14 out of $1,000 or something. Stowers, I think it depends on if the Marlins call him up. As of now, we have not seen that. But, you know, if he's going to play every day in the Josh Bell role,

I think he'll be worth a very low bid in a 15 team league just in case. You know, there could be, I think the best case scenario is probably like 250 and 25 Homer pace for for Kaus Stowers but that'll play in a 15 team league I'm gonna guess they do call them up because right now roster resource

shows Forest Wall as their left fielder Emmanuel Rivera I believe is the name of their DH today yeah so yeah things are pretty grim on the major league roster right now the next Otto Lopez is their

second baseman right there's just good Jonah Bride. I think we should see Davis and De LaSantoes and Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers before the end of the year, certainly. But specifically the Orioles guys, I would think, this weekend.

Poor Jake Berger. He's like the only guy left from last year's team. Yeah. I don't... Like literally him, Hazer Sanchez, and Nick Fortez are the only hitters left over from last year's team. I can't really say poor Jake Burger because he also just hasn't been good, right?

Like, we were excited about Burger coming into the season, and he just... I know, but he seemed to have so much fun last year. Yeah. Now... If he was having a good year, he probably would be on a contender right now. His fortunes have turned.

Yes, they surely have. I want to get back to the Orioles for just a second, because the next question, anytime there's a move with the Orioles is, does this mean Kobe Mayo is next? But they also traded for Eloy Jimenez, which seems like a head scratcher. And he doesn't directly influence the third base role,

but it's just another DH-only bat that kind of factors in here. Maybe he's just a short side platoon for like Ryan O'Hern, but they're also trying to find the bats for Heston Kirstad right now. So just not really sure how everything fits with the Orioles. I think they foreclosed that, the finding of the bats for Heston Kirstad, with this move. Yeah, I think my read on Eloy is just he has a $16.5 million player option for 2025. There is no way the White Sox were going to pick that up.

So I think the guy they gave up for him is a reliever who's having a very good season. He's also 26 years old and just got to AAA for the first time this season. So they gave up nothing for him. Maybe a middle reliever in the long term. But it's just an opportunity to see if, hey, maybe Elylea, Helenez is having a terrible season because he's in the most miserable offense of the last 50 years. And that's not an exaggeration. The White Sox are on pace for the lowest run scored, I believe, since 1969 in a non-strike short season.

So maybe he bounces back. If not, they pay him $3 million this offseason to go away. And he signs for like $6 million. Like that's the trajectory we're on for Eloy. Jimenez. So I really think with the Orioles looking at him it's just let's see if we can catch lightning in a bottle with a guy who was

a very good hitter a couple years ago. But seriously, you can probably dump Heston, Kirstad with this. Probably, yeah. I mean, there was some talk that maybe Ryan Mountcastle could be on the move but it didn't happen.

Yeah, they didn't move anybody. So it was obviously going to play and they have Ryan O'Hern of course. and, you know, it's not even clear, like is O'Hern going to go to the outfield? Does that mean Colton Kouser's playing time is going to be cut into with the acquisition of Aloi Jimenez? Like, I just don't see how there's any path for playing time for Kirstad now. There may still be for Kobe Mayo if they're willing to stomach him at third base.

But given that he's not up yet, I think that's very much a question. Notably did not call him up after the deadline. Yeah, they had to make a roster move and they called up just some kind of They've got a catcher who I'd never heard of. So, yeah. I mean, it sounds like Chris doesn't have much optimism on Eloy, which I totally get. But Scott, how about you? I mean, is there any chance?

Are you looking at Eloy in case, you know, he can maybe just make some noise with Baltimore? I mean, look, I've had him this whole time in Tau Wars and TGFBI, 15-Team Roto League's hoping. So, you know, the eggs of velocis are still good. especially for a guy who strikes out less than 20% of the time. It wasn't long ago that we saw him and his be a productive hitter. But it's going to depend on the playing time, and it's going to depend on him actually doing it. Anywhere that he's not already rostered,

I don't see much incentive to go and at him. Let's get into some other trades. Nothing else really major that went down here, but some players who are actually going to play for their new teams. The Pirates acquired Brian Dela Cruz from the Marlins. That's right. For Yun-Suck Shim. Hope I got that right.

And Garrett Forrester, Dela Cruz having a solid season, 245 batting average, 18 home runs, a 707 OPS. But he goes from a bad park for right-handed power to the worst park in baseball for right-handed power in PNC Park. So does this change anything in your minds for Brian Dela-C-C-Rews? It might be stocked down. Escaping the Marlins' lineup seems like a good thing, but doing the whole stat cast expected home runs by ballpark,

four fewer if he played every game at P&C Park this year, and 10 fewer over the last three years. And that's all he really has, is home runs. Terrible on-base guy, not a base dealer. I don't think it's implausible that he, could fall out of favor with the pirates before the season's done because he's just not doing anything. Yeah, I think that's fair.

We can move on to the next. The debacks acquired Josh Bell from the Marlins. Every deal is with the Marlins for a player to be named and cash. And this makes sense because Christian Walker was placed on the IL with a left oblique strain. Josh Bell has been okay, 239 batting average, 14 home runs, 699 OPS. He has been much better so far in the second half, 10 games, 342 batting average. five home runs a 1208 OPS. Chris, any interest here on Josh Bell?

I mean, he does move to a much better lineup, but... He's hot right now. Yeah. Five homers in his last seven games. I don't know if you mentioned that. And look, last year when the Marlins acquired him, he had a 701 OPS with the Guardians. And then he, you know,

I think it was like a 830 OPS or something the rest of the way. Right now he has a $699 OPS. Like there is precedent for Josh Bell getting really hot in the second half. I think he's been a better second half player overall. I think he's like 40% rostered, even with this hot streak, probably not like a huge priority,

but it's a significantly better lineup. He's probably going to play every day for at least the next month. And after that, if he gets hot like Josh Bell is known to do, he can absolutely be a must-start fantasy player. He hasn't been anything close to that this season. And I don't necessarily expect it, but it's well worth in the,

realm of possibility. So if you need power, I think there are worse bets to be made than Josh Bell. Eloy Jimenez to name one. The two most added first baseman on CBS right now are Juan Yippez and Michael Tolia. Would you take Josh Bell over either of those? I would take Yippez, but I think I would take Bell over Tolia. Oh, I was going to say just the opposite. That might actually just depend on when the next Rocky is home. stand is. I mean, Tully has been

hitting all the home runs on the road. He's got legit power. I don't know that it'll continue,

but I think he's the most exciting of the three. I do wonder would they play Jock Peterson in the outfield

to keep Josh Bell at D.H. when Christian Walker returns because it doesn't sound like it's going to be a long absence

for Walker. Yeah, three or four weeks probably. Yeah. So that's, yeah. But we're

We're thinking short-term in fantasy anyway. So I'm going to go just the, I'm going to go the opposite of you. Tolia, Bell, Ypres. That's fine. And I'm going to take both of those other names over Josh Bell. He can get hot. It's just based on what we've seen so far this year. Yappez is racking up the hits.

Tolia's hitting home runs. So I'd rather just take a shot on those guys over Josh Bell right now. Let's take our final break. And when we return, we'll talk about Lucas Erzig was traded over to the Royals. Could he factor into the saves mix? Maybe. We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back in.

continuing on with our trade deadline recap. The Royals acquired reliever Lucas Ersig from the A's for right-handed pitchers Mason Barnett and Will Klein, as well as outfielder Jared Dickey, and Ercig having a solid season, 368 ERA, a 120 whip, just over 10K per 9. He gets lots of ground balls.

He gets a good amount of whiffs as well. Scott, do you think Lucas Ersig could be in the mix for saves with the Royals? I think if they were going to make a change of clothes, it would be to Hunter Harvey. I think he's the closer. I think he's the most talented reliever in the bullpen. I think what they gave up for him shows that they view him in that light.

They haven't moved on from James MacArthur yet, but that seems like only a matter of time. I think it would be Harvey before Ersek. Chris, if you had to just make a bet on one of these relievers to lead the Royals and saves the rest of the way, you have Ersig, you have James MacArthur. Hunter Harvey currently dealing with back spasms, he's day to day, but was not placed on the IL.

So could return shortly. Who would you place your bet on? I would place a very low dollar bet on James MacArthur, just because he is currently the closer. Okay. That's, yeah. I don't, I don't really have any strong opinions about it one way or the other. Hunter Harvey hasn't overtaken him yet,

so I don't know why I would bet on Lucas Ercig to just leapfrog him. On the A side, we know that Mason Miller is on the IL, So we were debating past couple days. Is it Tyler Ferguson? Is it Lucas Ersig? Well, now that Ersig is traded away, as long as Mason Miller is out, I do think Tyler Ferguson will be the next step for saves in Oakland.

Let's talk about the Guardians who acquired Alex Cobb from the Giants for left-handed pitcher Jacob Bresnahan and a player to be named later. And Alex Cobb has yet to make his season debut, still working his way back from off-season hip surgery. He recently had a blister issue as well. He's going to make one more rehab start and then make his Guardians debut. They confirmed that today. Okay.

And Alex Cobb was solid last year, a 373, ERA, a 130 whip over a strikeout per inning. I think he's kind of in that, you know, Kyle Gibson, Jose Cantana type tier of streamers in the right matchup. Chris, any excitement for Alex Cobb to the Guardians? I think the bigger excitement is Hayden Birdsong, who's getting put back in the Giants rotation now. Yeah, if I was going to add one of them, it would be Hayden Bird. song. I'm glad I didn't drop him in TGFBI where I have him because he looks like he could be a really good pitcher. I mean, the past two starts are carrying a lot of weight for him, but all of a sudden, he's up to a 30% strikeout rate in the majors. A lot of the pitch characteristics look really good

and potentially three really good swing and miss pitches in his arsenal. So Birdsong looks really interesting. I think he's someone who should be added pretty much across the board. Cobb is just solid. He's very rarely much more than solid, but he's going to a good team that tends to maximize their pitchers. Park has actually played up this year, so it's a downgrade from what we were expecting. But I think Alex Cobb is probably going to have like a 380RA

because that's what he's done three years in a row. He'll get around a strikeout printing. And he's perfectly fine to have a round. If you don't add Alex Cobb, it's really unlikely that you're ever going to, going to look back and say, oh, man, that's where my season turned. I didn't add Alex Cobb. So it's fine.

He's perfectly fine. Scott, do you think Hayden Birdsong becomes a priority ad amongst pitchers? Yeah. I mean, I'd add him over any of the sort of fringe prospects, the Marlins acquisitions. Would you add him over River Ryan? Yeah, I'd add him over River Ryan because there's more job security there. and he might just be better than River Ryan, getting tons of swing and misses on his secondary pitches.

The most 39.7% or higher on the slider curveball and change. Yeah. For Hayden Birdsong. The most added pitcher on CBS right now is Tyler Phillips of the Phillies who threw a complete game over the weekend. Would you guys rather have Birdsong? Yes. All right.

I agree with that. The Pirates acquired Isaiah Kinear-Fellepha from the Blue Jays for third-based prospect Charles Mac. McIntyre Folefa currently rehabbing, but with solid for the Blue Jays, 292, seven home runs, three seals, 758 OPS. I'm sure they'll find somewhere for Isaiah Kiner Folefah to play, but this doesn't really move the needle. I mean, before I went on the I.O.,

Kiner Folefah was kind of emerging as a semi-useful player in points leagues because of the low strikeout rate. He was having one of his better offensive seasons, but Will that continue? It was a long shot either way. I think it's a pretty inconsequential move for fantasy. I will say that I like Charles McAdoe. He's been one of my favorite emerging prospects this year

between high A and double A. He's slashed 315, 394, 538, has 14 homers, 17 steals, plays third base in the outfield. And the Blue Jays are, you know, we've raved about what the Marlins did in stockpiling young talent that could turn into something. I think the Blue Jays are right behind them between this McAdoe acquisition and what they got back in the U.S.a Kikuchi do. And I think there were some other ones too. Yeah. The Royals acquired Paul DeYoung from the White Sox for right-handed pitcher Gerald Rosado.

And DeYoung has been solid, 228 batting average, 18 home. runs, just don't really see a place that he's going to play. Chris, does this matter at all? Paul DeYoung to the Royals? It matters quite a bit for my AL-only tout war's team, where Paul DeYoung has been really valuable for me, so I'm a little upset. I mean, look, like, their combination of Michael Massey, Michael Garcia, and Garrett Hampson is pretty underwhelming across second and third base. So like, I could see Paul DeYoung working his way into that grouping. And playing somewhat regularly. Michael Garcia has been

kind of a disaster this year. I know we were doing some victory lapping around April 10th or so, but things have been really bad since then. Massey, I think, is probably pretty safe. For what it's worth, because I know like the OPS and everything batting out. Oh, he's been pretty good for fantasy.

Right. He's still a top 12 third baseman on the year in points leagues. And I think, the same in, yeah. Oh my gosh. He has 24 steals. He has the fifth most points at second base, Michael Garcia. The number five second baseman in points leagues. But now he's moved down the lineup and, you know, like I think the young will play,

but probably not every day. It is like he'll play somewhere occasionally. Yeah. We had some other pitchers on the move. The Mets acquired Paul Blackburn from the A's, the Padres acquired Martin Perez from the Pirates. Pretty much back-end starters for their respective teams. I don't think either of these matter, do they? Paul Blackburn to the Mets, Martin Perez to the Padres. Blackburn always has a stretch where he looks good. And it's obviously a better team, but a worse park.

So I don't know. Probably not. All right. Some other reliever trades that we got. The Red Sox acquired Luis Garcia from the Angels. and that likely means that Ben Joyce will be next up four saves in Anaheim. Right, Scott? Maybe that's what I'd do.

I can't speak for Ron Washington, but I think that's the most exciting choice. If, you know, because we've talked about Marlins closing options, we've talked about Angels closing options, this is a trade that didn't happen that I think is worth bringing up. Chad Green remains with the Blue Jays. So he's good. Has him.

Yeah, he's good. He for sure has the role. He absolutely needs to be rostered in any league where saves count for anything. The Orioles acquired a lefty reliever Gregory Soto from the Phillies for right-handed pitcher Seth Johnson and another pitcher at Moises Chase. And Soto, he's been solid 408 ERA. The whip is massive 158. but over 11 strikeouts per nine, walks are a problem.

He does have closer experience. I only bring it up because, you know, Craig Kimberl's going through one of those stretches again. I mean, Chris, is there any chance that Soto picks up some saves here? He'd be behind Yanir Cano, I think, pretty clearly. Knoe was obviously pretty good in that role last year, so I would not expect Gregor Soda to step in and usurp him.

Some other reliever trades that didn't really affect the saves market at all in fantasy. The Red Sox acquired Lucas Sims from the Reds. The Yankees acquired Mark Lighter Jr. from the Cubs. The Mariners acquired J.T. Chagua from the Marlins. The twins acquired Trevor Richards from the Blue Jays. The Rangers acquired Lefty. Andrew Chafin from the Tigers.

And the Astros acquired lefty Caleb Ferguson from the Yankees. So I just want to wrap up with any other thoughts that come to mind in terms of winners, losers. The one immediately, the White Sox. Now look, Luis Robert, Garer Crochet, those guys are still young. I understand, you know, the team control is kind of running out here for Garry Crochet. I think they could still look to trade those guys in the off season and get a pretty good return for them. But for Garretre Crochet this season, the rest of this year, I think he's a clear loser. I just don't see it.

What do you mean? What are you getting at? I think that he's going to continue to be limited on a start-to-star basis. I mean, the White Sox have, you know, like a couple of weeks ago, their manager came out and said that, said as much that he was going to be limited. And then he's been limited since. And then I know there were some quotes that said, all right, like, you know, it was just like a couple start stretch and like now he's going to get stretched back out and he's going to be fine.

I don't buy it, man. I am not buying that at all. I think Garrett Crochet is a big loser from this deadline. There's a lot of confusing messaging because on the one hand, it seems like Crochet is resistant to the idea. of being limited. He's the one both pushing back

against it, and yet it was also his camp that said, if a contender required him, they'd have to sign him to a long-term deal, which would seem to be, which would seem to me,

at least his representation is thinking about his workload, even if he's not. So, look, there were, there's a lot of ways you can explain what's happened with each individual start, because I know it's been

about a month since he's had an outing where he worked deep into the game. And there's been explanations offered each time. I mean, last time out, he just didn't pitch that well. So, of course, he wasn't going to work deep into the game. But the plan, at least in his mind, is that he's going to build back up now that he's had a chance to limit his innings, get a nice extended rest here, and build back up and be a conventional starter again. I understand being skeptical. I think the way you approach him kind of depends how deep your league is

because he is a top 10 starting pitcher and fantasy, clearly if he is given a full workload. And if he's not, he's going to be pretty hard to start. So I think the shallower the league, the more you can sell out for the upside and you can afford to be optimistic and say, okay, it's going to play out exactly like Crochet thinks it's going to play out. But if you play in a deeper league, I don't know.

You may have already missed yourself high window. Yeah, that's the biggest thing. It's like you're not dropping him right now. Right. And unless you think his value is going to go to zero, which I think that's a possibility. But unless you think his value is going to go to zero and you just need to get anything you can for him,

yeah, I don't know what the, I don't know if there's anything actionable here. I think you just got to roll with him. My expectations personally are like, I would be stunned if he threw more than 95 pitches. in a game the rest of the way. But we have seen several occasions this season where he has gone six really good innings

with less than 95. Right. He can do a lot with 95 pitches. It mostly just depends on how well he pitches. And I think the biggest thing that you have to think about with Garrett-Curchet is not his values tanked. The margin for error is much slimmer now than it is certainly than was early in the season, certainly than any other pitcher with his skill level.

Like, it is much easier for things to go wrong in any given start for Garrett Crochet. And maybe it's just he's not a must-start pitcher the rest of the way. I think that's reasonable to expect. But I don't think it just, I don't think his value is just completely tanked either. However, him not being traded, and I think this is to Frank's point, it at least opens the door to the possibility that they just say, okay, your season's over at some point. two weeks from now, whenever.

Yeah. That is a possibility because what are the white socks gain from pitching him? Yeah. No, that's exactly it. And I said that all along is that, you know, outside of the obvious team context, moving from the White Sox to a contender, going to another team would have meant that he's not getting shut down and that they want to continue to use him as a starter and, you know,

he'll have opportunities for wins. Those things are not there at, you know, really at all with the White Sox. So I had him ranked as a top 20 starting pitcher heading into today and just eyeballing it when I update the rankings tomorrow. I think he's outside the top 30. I think he's somewhere in the mid-30s around like the Gosmans and Tanner Hokes. So I think that's reasonable. That's where I'm planning to move Garrett Crochet down in the rankings.

Anyone else that stands out as a big winner loser from this deadline outside of us, the fans for, I guess, not getting a massive deal here on deadline day? Well, I'm going to write a winners and losers article, so I'll have more to say there. And I assume you mean apart from the players who were actually moved in the deals, you're thinking kind of like sneaky winners and losers? It could be anybody, yeah, I mean, I guess anyone that we haven't mentioned yet.

Josh Bell's a winner. Okay. I think that's a big improvement for him, and I could see him getting hot and really mattering for fantasy. see Jorge Soler is a winner. I know you guys talked about that last night, but I do think the park upgrade and the lineup upgrade there is nice.

I don't. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know that his value changes, actually, but that's fine. And we didn't talk about Lane Thomas, really. Frank and I did yesterday. Oh, okay. Sorry, that went down last night.

Yeah, he's a loser. Yeah. I'm not sure he's going to play every day in Cleveland. So that's, that's, Oh, we didn't, we didn't consider that. You don't think he's going to play every day. I think there's, yeah, I mean, it's a much better team that's competing and he's got. But they don't really have any outfielders beyond Stephen Kwan.

No, he just has massive platoon issues. And so, I don't think, I don't think they'd give up a legit pitching prospect for a, well, it just may reach a point where having a 6603 OPS against Ritees in your lineup every day becomes untenable. Yeah. I think there's just more risk there. I'm not saying he's definitely not an everyday player, but... I just thought it was a bad park for him.

That's why we talked about him as a loser. And I said his stolen base pro-clit, like he's become such a prolific base dealer that even if he does lose some power, it's probably not that big of a deal. So that was my tape for what it's worth. I'm giving it just for you. Chris, the audience has already heard it. And then... That's probably...

Okay, so like some low-key ones, Junior Cominero. I don't think he's going to be up tomorrow, but... Hopefully. Yeah. I think he'll be up in a month and have... And forever more after that. Dylan Cruz, I think, is very likely to be up at some point in the final two months. Let's see.

So those are some winners. losers, Jeff Hoffman. I mean, we talked about that when the deal happened. This is from a couple days ago. I don't, that's probably it for today. Tanner Scott's a fairly obvious one, but we expected that.

Yeah, sure. All right. Well, if you do want of... Mark Kana, if that matters. I didn't even bring up Mark Kana. Wow, how did I miss that? Yeah, he was traded to the Giants. So if you play in NL only, there you go.

You get another serviceable outfielder in Mark Kana. But if you do want to find out more about winners and losers, be sure to check out Scott's article. You can find it on the site by tomorrow. CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today.

Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again later on tonight in about, I don't know, four and a half hours. See you then. Bye-bye.