Fantasy Baseball Today - Week 21 Sleepers, Prospect Report & Scary SP Performances! (8/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 13, 2021

What are the chances Frank has seen the movie Field of Dreams (1:03)? It was a crazy game, though, between the Yankees and White Sox! ... Is Tanner Houck a must-add (7:46)? How about Marco Gonzales? ... News and notes (15:05). Brandon Woodruff left his start early, Jacob deGrom is going for another MRI and more. ... Prospect Report (21:58)! Should you hold on to Luis Gil? ... Week 21 sleepers (29:31)! Which two-start pitchers are viable for next week? What about sleeper hitters? ... What happened to Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks (40:07)? ... Do any of these double dongs excite us (46:30)? ... We have some Thursday leftovers, bullpen updates, and weekend streamers (51:36). ... We end the week with Fantasy Justice For All (55:34)! ... Email us at [e-mail].  'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @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

Happy Cocoa Friday and welcome in to fantasy baseball today presented by Lining Cougals. More on their great variety of beverages later on in the podcast. Frank Stamphle joined by Scott White on Friday the 13th. However, the only scary thing is my ERA after Kyle Hendrix and U. Darvish's latest starts. And we will get into all that. Today on the podcast, Week 21 sleepers, two-star pitchers, weird double dongs, those crappy starting pitchers.

much more. But let's start with the field of dreams. Scott. What an awesome movie. What a great night of baseball. Have you seen the movie? Have you seen the movie? That's what we really need to ask. Of course. Yeah. My favorite part is when Kevin Costner is like throwing the ball to the guy and the, I've never seen it. You haven't seen the movie. I've never seen it. It's no surprise, right? Like at this point I you know, if I actually listed out, first of all, All the movies that I haven't seen, we know by this point there's a lot. The baseball movies I haven't seen

is even more embarrassing, Scott. So I don't even, I can't talk about it because then I'm just gonna. What do you watch? I don't. I don't. I was just thinking about it before we start. I'm like,

how have I gone this far in life without seeing this many movies? I was listening to fantasy football today and they were having an argument, their top five Arnold Schwarzenegger movies of all time. I haven't seen any of them. It's crazy. I haven't seen like predator, any of the terminators.

You haven't seen any terminator. No, I'm just like, where is Jingle all the way on the list? Like, jingle all the way is top five, right? It has to be. How do you? Turbo Man. What do you make of all the cultural references to these movies that are like ubiquitous, you know? Oh, yeah.

I mean, I know of them. I'll be back. Of course. Get to the chopper. I can't tell you what movie it's in. I don't know. I just like there's, Scott, in all honesty, there is so much content. It's this hard.

It's hard to go back in time now and watch older movies. Even though they might be classics and I'm admitting that, there's so many movies and shows that are coming out now that it's just hard for me to go back and watch older stuff, if that makes sense. But you've never watched it before. So it's new to you. That's true.

You know, I mean, obviously not all of the movies we talked about are great, but most of them are most of the ones that we get upset at you for not seeing. They're genuinely great. They will enrich your life. I should. I should watch them. Again, like, I have a whole list. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on Netflix.

I mean, I've got to sit down. Maybe Friday. I've got nothing going on like today, tomorrow, whenever you're listening to this podcast. Anyway, is Field of Dreams actually a good movie? I am of the belief that I'm in the crowd that, you know, it's kind of overrated. It's a little, it's a little too sappy, a little overly sentimental. And that doesn't mean it's a bad movie. That doesn't mean it's a bad movie.

I wouldn't consider it my favorite baseball movie. It's not a movie. I felt like I need to watch over and over again. I've probably seen it twice, you know, and that's enough for me. All right. It's, it's solid. I did enjoy the pageantry of this game, though. Like, you know, Kevin Kossner.

And I haven't seen the movie. And I enjoyed, like, everything that they did for this. and the way they set it up and walking through the cornfield. Yeah, the way the players. It was awesome. Kevin Costner was just kind of like milling around the field, like looking around.

Everyone was like, what's going on? And then the players just like appear out of the cornfield, which, you know, it's kind of cool how the effect of things going in and out of the cornfield. It's like they just appear and disappear. You know, I guess I haven't been around enough cornfields to know what that's like.

But even all the home runs that were hitting, there were a ton of home runs hitting this game. Like, the ball clear, like, I never saw it dropping into the corn because it's just like, it just sucks it up, you know? Like, it just disappears. Let's talk about all those home runs and this game in general, the White Sox pull it out nine to eight. And man, if you saw me about two hours ago, I was, I was really on edge. It was, it was not a good look for me. But shout out to my White Sox fans out there. That's a lot of yeses from our guy, Hawk Harrelson.

Anyway, eight home runs hit in this game. Neither Lance Lynn nor Andrew Heaney were good. obviously no surprise with Andrew Heaney. Jose Ibrahim hit his 23rd home run. He's on a 10-game hitting streak. He's hit five homers during that stretch. So he is heating up. Eloy Jimenez hit his fifth home run in five games. Aaron Judge had a double dong.

He now has 25 on the season, including one of those off of Liam Hendricks. John Carlos Stanton hit his 18th. That was also off of Liam Hendricks. So the Yankees take the lead. They're going into the ninth inning. They call on Zach Britton. What does Zach Britton do?

He stinks. He gives up a walk-off, two-run shot to Tim Anderson, who by the way, it is just awesome. I love everything about Tim Anderson, super animated, plays the game the way that it should be. I just enjoy the way that he plays and the fact that he brings as much energy as he does. He's now betting 300, 13 homers, 16 steals. Scott, this game was filled with action. Is there any other takeaways that you have?

I think the biggest takeaway for me isn't so much what happened to Zach Britton, who has now blown two saves in his last three appearances. with one save in between. And it's a wonder why he's been chosen to fill in for Roldus Chapman here. Hopefully that won't be for much longer. But, I mean, did Liam Hendricks just give the White Sox an excuse

to go to Craig Kimbrel next time they need a save? I hope so. Craig Kimbril's ERA, and he worked the eighth, scoreless eighth, in this one. His ERA now sits at 106. and Liam Hendricks, ERA, after giving up four earned runs, two home runs, 308. So more than two runs higher.

And I was surprised to see this. Liam Hendricks actually has six blown saves now this year. That's a lot of blown saves for supposedly one of the best two, three closers in the game. And I'm not saying Liam Hendricks isn't a great closer. He is, of course, but Kimbril's better. He sure is. He's been doing it for longer. He's a borderline Hall of Famer.

I'm still reluctant to just tell people to drop Kimbril. I think got six weeks to go. We'll see what happens. They interviewed Hendricks mid-game, and they asked him about the bullpen. How's everyone getting along? He's like, oh, you know, we don't care what ending we're using. We don't care what kind of roles that we have.

All right, let's put it to the test. Let's go. Next time out. I want to see Liam Hendricks in the seventh, the eighth inning. And then we'll have Craig Kimball in the 9th, and we'll see if there's any backlash because I need it.

someone who has Craig Kimberl in multiple leagues. So it was a really fun game. I will hopefully watch the movie at some point in time. Let's talk about a bunch of other stuff. Oh my goodness gracious from Thursday. Oh my goodness gracious. All right, Scott, where would you like to start? I'd like to start with somebody I don't feel like we've talked about.

Tanner Halk. You remember talking about Tanner Huck recently because I don't, but he's been great. He's been great since returning from, the minors, I believe it was. I don't think he was on I-O. I think he was just in the minors. And in this most recent start here on Thursday,

Tanner Halk went five innings. He gave up three earned runs, four runs total, struck out eight with no walks. So, you know, kind of a mixed bag there. It wasn't his best outing, giving up the runs that he did. But eight strikeouts in five innings, 18 swinging strikes on 89 pitches.

That's obviously a great number. And the breakdown, I'd like to break down to the swinging strike. Seven on the fastball, five on the sinker, three on the slider, three on the splitter. You have three plus on four different pitches. You got a nice arsenal working, and I think more of an arsenal than I even thought Tanner Howck had. So you take this start from him, which was kind of a mixed bag, but you combine it with the previous four starts since coming up. And I think he briefly got sent back down, just kind of a roster rigmarole situation.

And he got called back up prior to this start. But basically, you know, he's been up for five starts now. And in those five starts, 221 ERA, 0.98 whip, 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings. I mean, amazing numbers. A great swinging strike rate. A good ground ball rate. I think his ex-fip is just barely over two. He's been amazing.

Now, the reason we've overlooked it is because this was his first five-inning start. Most of them have been really short. but they recently moved Garrett Richards to the bullpen just to clear a spot for Howk in the rotation. I think he's sticking around, and he looks really impressive. I think it might be time to think about picking up old Tanner Halk. So we're not at must-add territory yet.

Well, he's 43... He's 43% rostered, so he's pretty available. I mean, we're getting close. it's it sickens me how available like Patrick Sandoval is which is you know he's not as available as how it is sickens to me how much patch how available Patrick Sandval is and Logan Webb who pitched who had another great start here on Thursday let me see if I can find that now that I brought him up six shutout innings against the Rockies three hits allowed eight strikeouts 13 swinging strikes is a pretty good number for

him in seven starts since returning from the IL for Logan Webb, seven starts again, 175 ERA, 0.94 whip, right at a strikeout per inning, and with an amazing ground ball rate that would lead all qualifiers. So you take that solid strikeout rate, that elite ground ball rate,

I've pointed out before. If he had enough innings to qualify, Logan Webb would have a top five X-FIP, and of course the four head of him are all aces. Yeah. So, you know, Logan Webb's still about 30% available. I think Patrick Sandoval's about 25% available. So neither of them are as available as Halk.

But, you know, it's just to say, to call Halk a must add, I would be telling some people to add him over Sandoval and Webb. And I don't want to tell people that. So he's not quite that level. Okay, so he's behind those two. I assume Tanner Hauk is also behind Josiah Gray. Yes. Yeah.

But they're close. I mean, I think skills-wise, they've looked similar. All right. Would you put Tanner Howe ahead of someone like Cal Quantrell, who we will talk about later on. He's in line for two starts next week, and he's looked pretty good recently as well. Yeah. Yeah, I don't trust what we're seeing from Quantrol. Though his whiffs have been up the last two starts. So I'm not, if that becomes a trend, then I'll change my mind. But overall, the underlying numbers don't look so great for him. All right. So if we're ranking those four, we're probably going.

Patrick Sandoval Logan Webb Josiah Gray Tanner Howick and then Calquantral after that Okay cool that makes sense I want to talk about Marco Gonzalez Who went up against the Rangers

And we were telling people all week Even dating back to last week Stream Marco Gonzalez this week Because he's going up against the Texas Rangers Even though his underlying numbers Are not very good The Rangers they are that bad right now Marco Gonzalez's complete game

Two hits one run aloud One walk nine strikeouts 17 swinging strikes. Marco Gonzalez is not somebody who generates whiffs often. He had 17 swinging strikes in the start on 108 pitches. Over his last five starts,

he's got a 1.68 ERA. He's 52% rostered. And would you like to guess, Scott, who he faces next week? The Texas Rangers. That's right. The Texas Rangers. I don't usually like the

start-up pitcher, a fringy starting pitcher two times in a row against the same team, but against the Texas Rangers, I'm all for it. So, look, 52% roster. I'm not adding him over any of the names that you just mentioned,

but if you just need a streamer for next week, yes, yes, Marko Gonzalez. Well, and what's funny, you mentioned you don't like starting the same guy making a start against the same team so close together. That already happened with this start. This was his second start in three against the Rangers, so now he's about to make three starts and four against the Rangers.

So hopefully he doesn't finally catch up to him. But, no, it's worth pointing out. As you mentioned, the underlying numbers weren't great for Markov Gonzalez. And they're not. They're really bad. But he has always been somebody who greatly outperforms his exfit. Like the previous two seasons, he outperformed it by a full point. So, you know, it still looks pretty bad.

It looks worse this season than it did those previous two seasons. But, you know, with three good starts in a row, it's starting to look better. he might be, oh really, it's more like four good starts in a row. Really, it's more like five good starts in a row. Just three quality starts in a row, but five starts were in a row in which Marco Gonzalez is allowed two earned runs or fewer. So, you know, he may be coming around. Yeah, again, during that stretch, it's got 1.68 ERA over his last five starts.

That includes tonight. So again, if you need a streamer, he is someone that you can look at. Before we hit the news and notes, just want to remind everybody, again, Again, we do apologize, but starting next week, we will only have four podcasts per week. We still will be streaming every night on YouTube, not every night. But Sunday night, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. We will be streaming on YouTube. You will have a podcast in your feed Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Moving forward for the rest of the month of August, same thing goes for FBT and 5. All honesty, it's just, it's getting tougher with football approaching. There's a lot going on right now. So they're asking more of me. It's more responsibility. So we will have four podcasts starting next week. We do appreciate all of your support all season long. We're not going away.

Just had to eliminate one per week. News and notes, Brandon Woodruff left Thursday start after three innings. But apparently it was not due to injury. I saw the pitch count got up pretty high in those three innings. I believe it was like 74 pitches. So not an injury. Good to see there. Jacob de Grom will undergo another MRI in the coming days.

He was shut down in late July due to forearm inflammation. Shane Bieber could throw a bullpen session this weekend. He's already missed about two months with a shoulder strain. And Scott, I do kind of question how much are they going to push Shane Bieber to return, right? Cleveland is 11 games out of the division. They're nine games back of the wild card. I just don't really think that there's much of a rush here. Maybe they want a couple of starts for him to end the year so that he kind of has a nice little routine,

whatever, going into the off season and build up again. But I don't really think there's much of a rush here. There probably isn't a rush, no. But, yeah, it's not like I think about dropping Shane Bieber or anything. He could obviously make a huge impact for you the last two or three weeks of the season. Maybe, maybe, you know, maybe the whole last month of the season. I hope so. I hope that I'm wrong.

I hope that he does come back sooner rather than later. It's just they don't really need him, if we're being honest. Nick Casti, well, they needed him earlier on in the season. That's the problem. Nick Castellanos was out on Thursday due to. swelling in his foot. Wilson Contreras was placed in the IL with a right knee sprain, though that injury was deemed,

was not deemed a serious one. If you are looking for a catcher, some that might be available, Travis Darno, Alston Nola, he's 32% rostered. I'm going down the list here. Mitch Garver's still 69%. So if you're playing a shallower,

one catcher league, he is someone that you can look at. Scott, how would you rank these? Let's go with these four. Elias Diaz, Travis Darno, Austin, Nola, Carson, Kelly. How would you rank those four if you lost Wills and Contreras? Well, the only one that's in my top 10 sleeper hitters for next week is Elias Diaz. However, it's because the Rockies are home all of next week.

If I was investing in one for the long term, well, Garver, I don't know if you were including him. He's 69%. So he's like right on that fringe of being two-rastered. otherwise probably Travis Darno I'd take a shot on him you didn't mention Max Stasi he's still available in more than half of leagues he's a little banged up right now himself

but he's not on the IL so keep an eye on that and I'm also interested in Dalton Varsho who you didn't mention I think is pretty widely available I'd be more interested in him than Carson Kelly let me see here here's the problem with Varsho Scott he has only started two

of their last five games Yeah, that's what I was looking at because he was playing a lot of outfield earlier and he hasn't as much lately. Two of his last six actually, excuse me. Yeah, yeah, Carson Kelly coming back looks like it's cut into his playing time quite a bit. And really, Dalton Varsha going cold again.

Probably what's cut into his playing time the most. Yeah. Yeah, okay. So I guess Varsher wouldn't be the high on the list. So if you do need to catch it for next week, it sounds like Diaz is a good streamer, longer term, someone like Stasi or even Travis Darno. Justin Turner will not be available.

on Friday, which the Dodgers previously had hoped. Reese Hoskins is expected to be activated from the IL on Tuesday. Brendan Rogers has missed four straight games with that hand contusion that he suffered last weekend. After heating up recently, Dylan Carlson left Thursday's game with right wrist soreness. He is set to undergo an MRI. Eliezer Hernandez made his third start on his rehab assignment at AA on Tuesday. He went five innings. He allowed one run, had 10 strikeouts.

He's 27% rostered. Corey Klobber also made his first rehab start on Thursday, one in a third at AA. I think he got up over 40 pitches. Maybe it was 30. It was between 30 and 40 pitches that I saw. Scott, how would you rank Eliezer Hernandez, Wascari Noah, and Corey Klober?

I'm going to put Kluber first, even though he's not helping you right now. Even though he's the furthest from returning. it's actually if you don't need the immediate help it's nice that you can continue to stash him in an IL spot because if you had L.EAS or Hernandez or Huasca Eenoa stashed

it's going to be difficult to remove them from your IL spot. Bottom line is I just have more confidence in Clouber as a performer but they're pretty close I would go E Noah second and Hernandez But really encouraged by this rehab star for Hernandez where he had 10 strikeouts in five innings and He's been injured so much the last two years that I don't know how Legitimate it is

But a liaison Hernandez's numbers in between all those injuries the past two years So we're talking about a total of eight starts in two years 327 ERA 0.94 whip 11.7 K per 9 That's awesome That is awesome Yeah. I've seen him floating around in some deeper leagues, too, 15-team Roto. Yeah.

I'll get, because I mean, like, who is Eliezer Hernandez? Other than that guy who's done that in eight starts over the last two years, it's not like he was some kind of great prospect or anything. His 2018 and 2019 in the majors, he had an ERA over five each year. But, you know, we suspect he was maybe developing into something. kind of the same boat as Wascar I-Noah. It's not like Wascari-Noah was a big deal before he started doing things in the majors this year.

But he started doing him, and we're all like, well, maybe this is who he is now, and then he got hurt. And it's like, okay, so, you know, we're not, we've had time to sober up a little, I guess, on Wascari-Noa. And we're skeptical again. And I think that's fair. I think that's fair.

So I don't know that Wascarinoa or Eliezer Hernandez is a must add coming off the IL, but I would be keeping a very close eye on both. And Luis Severino is ahead of all of them, right? Oh yeah, definitely. Okay. So if we're ranking them, it's Severino, Kluber, Wascari Noah, and then Eliezer Hernandez in that order. Josh Harrison left Thursday's game and was diagnosed with a quad-trained.

De Nelson Lemette had a procedure to clean out a hip infection. Cole Calhoun went back on the I.L with a left hamstring injury. Kevin Vizio started a rehab assignment at AAA on Thursday, and Paul Seawald was placed on the paternity list. The prospect report, Scott's article is currently live on the site, and as we tell you every week, we got five on the verge. Those are the five closest to making an impact this season in fantasy baseball, and then five on the periphery.

Those are five prospects who are currently doing something. They're not necessarily close yet, but ones that you should have on your radar. Let's start with those five on the verge. As always, Bobby Witt at the top, absolutely crushing it right now in AAA. Luis Heel of the New York Yankees, who we've seen make two starts,

and he was very good in those starts. Jose Miranda, third baseman for the Minnesota Twins. Vidal Bruhan is tearing it up for the Tampa Bay raise in AAA right now, hitting for a lot of average. He's running not a lot of power, though. Edward Cabrera, starting pitcher with the Miami Marlon Scott. And I know one of the things that you've focused on in your article was, is Louise Heel worth holding onto? What do you think?

Well, I've said before a few times that I'm not sure beyond Bobby Witt, there is a minor leaguer that's worth stashing widely in fantasy. You know, obviously, if there's just nobody out there on waivers, I'd rather stash a prospect than a scrub. But at this stage of the season, and Bobby Witt is the only one that I feel confident would inspire a rush to the waiver wire if he got called up. So, you know, I have to come up with five for the column, but really there's only one right now. However, having said that, if you're asking me the minor leaguer that I would want to stash the second most, it would be heel because we've seen him now in the majors twice,

and he looked great, and both of those starts didn't allow an earned running either, didn't have the walk issue she showed in the minors, and I'm not. saying he never will have those walk issues in the majors he probably will at some point but you know particularly in light of what we've seen the past two years with with prospect call-ups like you can't really count on even the best of the best to come in and and just perform right away we're we've already seen from louise heel that he's not going to be overmatched that he's not going to shrink in the moment he's going to come up and he's going to do the best He can.

And, you know, again, there might be some stumbling along the way. There might be some walks. But those two major leagues start count for a lot more than anything, any of these other hitters, or any of these other players, I should say, are doing in the minors. Major league production, at least from a player who's, you know, has that top prospect pedigree. What we see in the majors, no matter how small the sample counts for more than anything, we see in the minors. So that's why I have Luis Heel number two

among my prospects to stash. I also want to point out I moved Edward Cabrera down. He's now fifth. Because of, you know, we were just talking about Aaljeze Hernandez. He's coming back very soon. And it doesn't sound like Pablo Lopez is that far from returning either.

So I'm just, I'm becoming less confident. Edward Cabreras is having trouble throwing strikes at AAA. And I'm becoming less confident the Marlins are going to need his innings. So, you know, That's why I'm suddenly less bullish on Edward Cabrera's chances for this year. Though I should also point out, the Yankees are about to get four starting pitchers back. They're about to get Garic Cole and Jordan Montgomery back from COVID.

Yeah. They're about to get Luis Severino back. It sounds like Domingo Hermann's not that far returning. I'm not even counting Corey Clover. The Yankees are about to get four starting pitchers back. So that'll hurt Louise Heels chances of coming back as well. Yeah. Does not bode well for him.

What I liked most from when he made his starts here in the majors was he wasn't walking many people. A lot of strikeouts, good control, and in the minors, that was a big problem for him. So I was very encouraged by that. And I think if you have him as a dynasty asset, you should feel pretty good, at least based on what you saw from Luis Heel. Five prospects on the periphery, Seth Beer, first baseman for the dimebacks. That is an A plus name. By the way, he's betting 292 with 13 home runs and a 923 OPS at AAA this season. And he's been especially hot lately.

And he's 24, I think. So I'm not sure why the Diamondbacks are still running Christian Walker out there at this point. I imagine it won't be for longer, for much longer. I don't know that beer is such a high-end prospect that you need to pick them up ahead of time unless it's a deep league. But I think there's a good chance we see him soon. And think of all the promotional nights that they can have, right? If they call them up, come on. I mean, that's easy money right there.

Shay Languiliers is a catcher for the Atlanta Brave Spencer Strider. This guy has a ton of strikeouts. I was just searching leaderboards the other day, and he has a lot of them. Spencer Strider is a starting pitcher with the Braves. Even more impressive than the strikeouts for Spencer Strider. His swinging strike rate, of course I'd go there, is over 20% between three levels.

He's had his last start, he had 26 swinging strikes, and then he had a start earlier this season where he had 29 swinging strikes. And, you know, this minor league pitcher, he's not like he's pitching that deep into games. all the time. You know, he's just been a,

his stuff is amazing, Spencer Striders, and he's jumped two levels already this year. I imagine he factors into the, into the Braves plans for 2022. Nick York is a second baseman with the Boston Red Sox. I know he's been very hot recently as well. And then,

oh man, how do I say this? Brandon, Brandon and his last name is spelled P-F-A-A-D. DT. That's what I'm going to go with. I think I said it right. Starting pitcher with the Arizona Diamondbacks. We also had a few promotions recently. The Mariners promoted George Kirby from a high A to AA and he is a very well regarded prospect, pitching prospect. At high A this season had a 2.38 ERA 0.98 whip 52 strikeouts over 41 and 2 thirds. Eddings pitched. If you are a Mariners fan,

even if you don't make the wild card this year, you are in a great place. Just know that. Young pitching prospects, young hitting prospects, a lot of help is on the way. And then first overall pick, Henry Davis, catcher prospect with the Pittsburgh Pirates was promoted from the FCL to high a ball. We're going to take a quick break when we return. We're going to get you the week 21 pitcher and hitter planner next here on fantasy baseball today. The week 21 pitcher and hitter planners presented by lining coogles. And let's start off with scheduling for next week. It is a little bit wonky. We have two teams. with five games next week. That includes the Blue Jays and the Washington Nationals. We have 14 teams with six games. We have 13 teams with seven games. And then we have one team with eight games. That is the New York Yankees, who is at top Scott's best hitter matchups for next week. So a little sneak peek there for you. Let's jump right into some to start pitchers, Scott. Who are some names you're looking at for next week?

Okay, so some questionables here that are widely rostered, but are worth discussing. I like how Nathan Avaldi bounced back on Wednesday at New York for his... At the Yankees for his first start, but he gets the Rangers in that second start. So I think Avaldi is pretty much a must. He's dominated the Yankees this year, by the way, too.

I know we've been on the fence about Framber Valdez recently, but his two matchups are at KC and versus Seattle. So I think that's a must start. John Means was terrible. We haven't talked about him yet from Thursday, but he had a terrible start on Thursday. Let me see if I can find the numbers, unless you find the first.

Four and a third, eight hits, six runs, three home runs. Against the Tigers. Now he's a fly ball pitcher, so there are going to be starts where he gives up a lot of home runs. and his velocity was down in this start, which I found interesting. But remember we were worried about the spin rates when he first came up.

Those have been fine for the last three starts or so. The previous two were good. I'm not really sure what to make of John means anymore in a general sense, but I think for a two-star week, I'd still go with them. I think I would. Some that are more available.

Tuki Toussaint. Now, four of his five-starts, getting called up, four or five, have been no worse than decent. So he's had one terrible start, but the other four have been fine. He's out Miami and at Baltimore this week.

So I think that's pretty attractive. Terrick Scoobel versus the Angels at Toronto. You know, those matchups aren't very good. But there's two starts, and he hasn't allowed to run in his last two starts.

So, you know, we could call him a sleeper. David Price, these are good matchups versus Pittsburgh, versus the Mets. It's just, are the Dodgers even going to let them go five? They haven't even let him go six once yet.

So a little worried about how impactful David Price could be even with those good matchups. Vladimir Gutierrez, this is an interesting one. Versus the Cubs versus the Marlins. Obviously two really good matchups. He turned in another great start here on Thursday, one run in six innings.

That was his sixth quality start in seven. for Vladimir Gutierrez. Now, he's a flyball pitcher, and being a flyball pitcher who pitches for the Reds, his home numbers are not very good. Both of these starts are at home, but I think the matchups are good enough. It's not like those lineups are full of sluggers.

That I'd be willing to call Vladimir Gutierrez the sleeper for this week. And then Cal Quantrell, just because he's been so hot at the Twins versus the Angels. You know, those matchups are so-so. but he's a two-star pitcher who's on waivers and 31% of CBS Sports League. So he's worth mentioning here as well.

Yeah, Gutierrez in particular, he was great again against the brave, six-ennings, one-run, six strikeouts. You mentioned that. 14 swinging strikes on 102 pitches on Thursday. Over his last four starts, a 1.79 ERA for Gutierrez, and he's only allowed two home runs during that stretch.

So that's improvement for him. because last time we saw him before he got sent back down, he was getting hurt by the long ball. Tuki Tucson, by the way, two earn runs or less in four of his five starts. Some single-start streamers, Scott, that you're looking at for next week? Single-start streamers?

Okay, so Patrick O'Sand-Avall and Logan Webb. I mentioned they're both under-rastered at this point. Sandoval is at the Tigers, Logan Webb's against the Mets. It's a situation like Joey Votto earlier this season, where until they get picked up in enough leagues that they don't qualify for this list, they're probably just going to be at the top of the list every week. So get on it, people. Add Patrick Sandoval.

Add Logan Webb. Add them. I also like Josiah Gray at Milwaukee. I like Marco Gonzalez since he's going against the Rangers again. Sure do. And speaking of Rangers, Rangers Suarez of the Phillies. really take it to the rotation now. He's starting to get it going.

This was his third start here on Thursday. It was his longest start. Went four and a third innings through 82 pitches. That's up from 61 in his previous start, and I think 33 in the start before that. So he was building up quickly here, up to 82. I suspect he'll be ready to go five innings for the first time next time.

And he was successful against the Dodgers in those four and a third. third innings only allowed one earn run. So he's still boasts a 107 ERA on the year, does Ranger Suarez, with a ground ball rate that would rank first among qualifiers. And I know I keep saying that for various pitchers, since none of them are qualifiers. It's technically true that they each would rank first among qualifiers. But to break it down. So among the starters I keep saying that for, Framber Valdez would be number one, followed by

Ranger Suarez, followed by Logan Webb. So that's how their ground ball rates relate to each other. Some sleeper hitters. These are from Scott. They are rostered in less than 80% of CBS League. Scott, who you got? So pretty good slate here for the hitters. Some pretty good options for this week. I think the best of all is another hitter that just people have been really slow to pick up, AJ Pollack. He's been one of the hottest hitters since the All-Star break, batting over 400 with an OPS over 1,000,

and he was hot before the All-Star Break, too. I was showing a lot of power. The Dodgers have the second-best hitter matchups this week, and now the Mookiee Betts is back on the I.L. Really nothing to worry about here with regard to playing time. So A.J. Pollack, I think, is a must for this week. Luke Voight, he barely squeaks in here at 79% roster ship, but worth mentioning,

because the Yankees have the very best matchups, are the only team play in eight games. It's possible Anthony Rizzo comes back from the COVID-I-L this week and creates havoc. But with eight games on the schedule, I think Voight will get enough playing time to matter. And, you know, it still remains to be seen how they're going to handle Rizzo and Voight healthy at the same time. They could play Aaron Judge in center field at least some of the time to get both of them in the lineup. But I like the matchups for the Yankees this week. Z.J. Grown, you know, last week he hit four home runs.

Playing at home. He's back at home this week. I think you got to get him back in. His homeway splits are about as dramatic as it gets. A couple outfielders who we've been talking about a lot lately, Raphael Ortega and Anthony Santander. Neither has amazing matchups, so the matchups are fine.

I think they're hot enough. I'd call them sleeper hitters for this week. And I'm really starting to like Ortega a lot, actually. Yes. I think there may be something there. for that 30-year-old career minor leaguer. Let's see. Oh, this is an interesting one.

Aledmus Diaz. I don't think we've talked about him. He's only 12% rostered. He's taken over a third base for the Astros after Abraham Toro got traded, and his splits against lefties are amazing. OPS over 1,000 against lefties. Four are those left...

No, no, is it four or is it three? Let me check. Yeah, four lefties on the schedule for the Astros. this week. And he's been hot anyway, has Ledmus Diaz. So that's a nice deep sleeper for you. Nice. Yeah. We spoke about Aledmas Diaz. The only names that you mentioned today that you said, oh, we haven't spoke about them recently. Chris and I just spoke about them last night. I wasn't there. Okay. Yeah, Aledmus Diaz and Tanner Howick, we spoke a little bit about both of those guys last night. I do wonder, you know, Yulee Gerell's due back Friday, Alex Bregman, whenever he returns,

that will create a bit of a logjam. But if Bregman's not back by next, week, then playing time should still be there for a lead-miss-D-S. Kyle Farmer, I know someone that's on your list here, too, Scott. He hit his 11th home run of the season. On Thursday, 49% rostered, seven home games for Kyle Farmer next week. And one other name I'll just throw in there, Connor Joe, for those in deeper leagues. He's been playing consistently. Rymel Tapias on the IL, 6% rostered.

They face three lefties next week, and six games, all of their games are at home in Corse Field. The best hitter matchups for Week 21, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Rockies, the Rockies, the Rockies, the Angels, and the twins, the worst hitter matchups, the Nationals, the Mets, the Tigers, the Blue Jays, and the Giants. So there you have it, the Week 21 pitcher and hitter planners, presented by Lining Cougals, and it is hot right now in the Northeast. It's been up over 90 degrees.

Three days in a row, it's going to be 97 here on Friday. It's gross. Make sure to stay cool with an ice cold, lining Cougal, summer shandy, the perfect blend of crisp lemonade and refined. refreshing beer. Shout out to Chase Field in Arizona, by the way. They've got shandies all over the stadium there. Grabbed one myself. It was awesome. And the summer shandy isn't all they offer. They also have their Session Hellas, which has all the flavor of a crisp German-style beer, and it's only 99 calories. And if you're into IPAs, Lining Cougals has their lemon haze IPA. It's a well-balanced

hazy IPA that blends hops with delicious lemonade. No matter what you're craving, Lining Couglas has you covered. Just head on over to linie.com. That's L-I-L-E-I-N-I-E-E-D-Com. Or follow Lining Kugles on Instagram or Facebook for more information about all of the delicious beers that they brew. Let's talk about brutal pitching, some brutal pitching on Thursday. You Darvish at the Diamondbacks, I'm just going to list all these names out. You Darvish, Hermann Marquez, Kyle Hendricks, John Means, Jose Barrios. They were all very bad on Thursday. And specifically with Darvish, I shot off the Yankee game in like the 7th. I was like, oh, they're going to lose, and then they came back.

I was watching Darvish very intently. I have him in a few very important leagues. He had nothing. He had absolutely nothing in this start. No command whatsoever. And he got lucky, actually. The umpire was very generous with some of his calls. But two and two thirds, six hits, five runs.

And it turns out that he left this game with lower back tightness too. So last 13 starts for you, Darvish. This is dating all the way back to May 29th. Right around the time then when they started, cracking down on sticky substances. 13 starts. 5.46 ERA. 15 home runs allowed for U.

Darvish during that span, Scott. I don't know if he's going to go on the IL or if he's going to make his next start, whatever it might be. We spoke about the circle of trust the other day. I don't know, man. U. Darvish is like, I think he's getting closer to the fringes there because 13 starts,

that's a pretty long time now where he's been kind of bad. Well, you do remember the previous start for you Darvish. Yeah. Seven innings, two earn runs, 12 strikeouts. That was against the Diamondbacks,

and then Thursday night was against the Diamondbacks. Right. But he left with back tightness. So, you know, it's very likely he was feeling bad from the beginning, right? So, I mean, I guess we just have to see what happens with the back.

But if he makes his next start and it's another bad one, and there's no more talk. of him feeling bad, then I'll, yeah, he might be on the verge of losing his place in the circle of trust. I agree. But I think the back tightness saves him from that for now. Yeah, the biggest thing for him this year, and I brought it up all season long, his fly ball rate is 46%. It's by far a career high. Last year, that number was only 31%. And he only allowed five home runs total in 12 starts. I just mentioned, he's given up 15 home runs over his last

13 starts. So this is clearly an issue for him. He might be pitching through. And that's what's changed for him. He wasn't giving up many home runs early in the season. And then he started to. And I would. The fly ball rate kind of caught up to him. And I wonder if he's just like pitching through something overall. He went on the I.L with a hip thing. And now he's got the back. So I mean, it might just be something that's been lingering for a while now. But yeah, the last 13 starts for Darvish, he has been quite bad. Hermann Marquez, there's inconsistencies at times. I mean, I mean, he goes through stretches where he looks awesome, and then he was at the Giants on Thursday, four innings, seven hits, seven runs. He did have six strikeouts.

And it's just odd because he's got a 3.05 ERA at home. And entering this start, he had an ERA at four on the dot, 4.00 on the road this season. So he has been better in Corse field. His two worst starts this season have been on the road. He had an 8 run outing. Weird. But, you know, overall still 11 quality starts in his last 15, including this one. Yep. Kyle Hendricks, speaking of quality starts, he's giving you a lot of quality starts this season.

He was up against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. Four innings, 11 hits, nine earned runs. The ERA is now up to 4.15 for the season. Obviously, this start had a lot to do with it. His last 18 starts before Thursday, 2.89 ERA, but that comes with a 4.30 X-FIP. And I think it was maybe a month ago now at this point. I called Kyle Hendricks a sell-high candidate, because while he always outperforms his peripheral numbers, it's something that's consistent with Kyle Hendricks. This year, they're even worse. He doesn't usually get a lot of swinging strikes.

His swinging strike rate is the worst it's been since 2017. He's got a 42% ground ball rate. That is well below his career mark, which is right around 47%. So you couple those two things together. He's allowing more contact, more of that contact is in the air for a soft tossing pitch.

it just doesn't equal good things. So what do you think, Scott? Where are we at right now after this latest start for Kyle Hendricks? I think you just have to recognize this is going to happen with Kyle Hendricks sometimes because this stuff isn't that good and it's never been that good.

Yeah. He's 31 now. He's going to turn 32 in the off season. His stuff appears to be a little diminished. You mentioned the swinging strike rate being down this year. So he really depends on it. Precision.

And, you know, sometimes you're going to be a little off. And in his case, when he's a little off, he gets crushed. So his ERA is up to 4.15 now for the season. And yet, 14 of his last 17 starts have been quality starts. And he has 13 wins this season because of how regularly he pitches deep and pitches successfully.

So it's just going to have a really bad start sometimes. And it's annoying when it happens. but ultimately, Kyle Hendricks does more good than bad for you. John Means, we spoke about a little bit earlier, up against the Tigers, four and a third, eight hits, six runs. That includes three home runs that he allowed.

He gives up a ton of fly balls. Scott, you mentioned where you're kind of like, don't really know how to feel about him at this point, but you're still running him out there for next week with the two starts. Anything else you'd like to add on John Means? No, not really. need more information. I was feeling encouraged about him

prior to this start, so I don't want to throw it all out because of that. But, you know, obviously we need to see more consistency here. Jose Barrios was at the Angels four and a third, eight hits, six runs, four walks to only three strikeouts in this one.

It was his first non-quality start since July 19th. I don't think there's anything really here that stands out. to me, Scott. Velocity looked right. Didn't give up that much hard contact. Anything on Jose Burrios? No.

I think it was just one of those starts. Yep. We had a bunch of weird double dongs actually on Thursday. Starting with Colin Moran, he has multiple hits in back-to-back games. He's 19% rostered. I'm not very excited about Colin Moran.

He's got six games next week. Four of those are against lefties, so it doesn't bode well for Colin Moran. Actually, I'll just list all these out, Scott. You tell me if there's anything here. with any of them. Mitch Morland, double dong, Mani Pena, double don't. Luis Arias went five for six with a double dong. He now has,

I was surprised to see 16 home runs on the season for Luis Arias. And then DJ Stewart had a double don't. He's now at 10 home runs. He has started only five of the last eight games for the Orioles. Moran, Morlin, Pena, Arias, DJ Stewart. It's a weird group. Yeah, I think Luis Arias is the most interesting because it seemed like he lost his job. when they acquired Eduardo Escobar, and he basically did. But lately they've been playing Escobar at first base occasionally, and Arias has been back in the lineup a little more. And after a game like this, five hits with, I think, three doubles and two home runs.

Yeah. Yeah, a high-scoring game for the Brewers. Everybody in their lineup was good, Pena, who you mentioned. Also, Jace Peterson had five hits, a double in a home run. Not that I think anything of Jace Peterson, but. but Luis Arias was clearly the standout and you know they haven't gotten much production from first base so if they're willing to play Eduardo Escobar there maybe Arias gets back involved

let's talk about a few Diamondbacks because they went off in that game that you Darvish started they finished with 15 hits 12 runs scored Carson Kelly went 4 for 5 with 2 RBI he is 56% rostered again they play three games in cor's field next week for the Arizona Diamondbacks Pavin smith went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI over his last 15 games. He's betting 321 with two homers. He's 39% rostered. And then Josh Rojas,

I think his roster rate is still too low because he just returned from the IL. He goes 4 for 4 in this game, 4 for 5 rather, with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored. Again, 3 games in Corus Field next week, 47% rostered. I'm pretty intrigued, Scott, by Josh Rojas. Yes, I can understand that.

I think the best thing he has going for him is the versatility. And I will point out that even though there's three games at Coors Field, the Diamondbacks matchups aren't that great overall. They get Kyle Gibson, Ranger Suarez, and Zach Wheeler in the series. Before that, they get John Gray

when they are in Colorado. So, you know, that's why Josh Rojas isn't on my sleeper hitters. And his first two games back from the IO, he struck out three times, I think. He didn't look that great. He did have a three-homer game on his rehab assignment at AAA,

which I thought was interesting. but we already know Josh Rojas puts up monstrous numbers in the minors that's that's why he became a key piece in the Zach Granky deal a couple years ago

so I don't know that him destroying minor league pitching really should mean anything to us but he did have a three home game down there so it was kind of interesting I know I just I just gave a bunch of conflict conflicting information but I don't think Josh Rojas is like a stud in waiting

I think he's a pretty good hitter who's versatile and worth using with the right matchups. Yeah, I mean, he's had a solid year. 271, 10 homers, 7 steals, 797 OPS, and 96 games. That's, I mean, over 150 pace. It's like 15 homers, 10 to 12 steals. Again, it doesn't blow you away, but it's a solid player. There were a few pitchers that actually were not terrible on Thursday.

Marcus Stroman went up against the Nationals, five and a third, one run, eight strikeouts, Nice little bounce back there for Stroman. Chris Bassett at Cleveland, six shutout with six strikeouts. His ERA is down to 3.06. 16th quality start of the season. That is tied for third most in Major League Baseball. And then Shohei Otani just keeps chugling along.

Chugging along. What does chugging along? What is chugling along? I think I just want to, my mind is always wants to go to negativity. And I want it to say struggling. He's not struggling. Shoah Otani is pitching very well. Six innings.

Two runs, six strikeouts. He's got a 2.93 ERA now on the season for Otani. He has delivered five straight quality starts with only four walks during that span. Just thinking about where Otani was earlier in the season to how far he's gotten now, it's awesome. So shout out to Shohei Otani. Raise your hand if you have none of that production

in your lineup this season. I was just looking at it to see if chuggling was listening. in urban dictionary because usually when you just make up a word, it's in urban dictionary meaning something. I hope not. Gross. It is. It is an urban dictionary.

It doesn't appear to be anything gross. Well, I think I might have just read something different than don't look it up. If you're listening to the podcast, just don't look it up. A few leftovers from Thursday. Michael Conforto bounced back. They had a double header, four for six with three runs scored. Pete Alonzo. I've found it now.

Don't say anything, Scott. Pete Alonzo went three for four with a sock in his shoe in, I think it was game two of the doubleheader, his 25th homer, his third steal of the season. Bryce Harper is on fire. He's batting 3.46 with a 1221 OPS in the second half. Matt Chapman went 0 for one with five walks and three runs scored. According to MLB stats on Twitter, Chapman became the first A's player to draw five walks in a game since Mark McGuire back on April 26, 1997. So shout out to you, Matt Chapman. Robbie Grossman went two for five with his 18th home run. He's been great. Cedric Mullen's three for five with his 22nd steel of the season. He actually stole home.

Wanda Franco went one for five with his fifth home run of the season, and it came off of Tanner Hauke, a righty. So that was a welcome site because Franco has really destroyed left-handed pitching this season. On the opposite of that, Jesse Winker has been awful against lefties, and he had a grand slam off of Kyle Muller. Kyle Muller, he went three for four. That was his 24th home run of the season. The call to the pen, some bullpen updates.

Edwin Diaz got his 25th save. Kyle Finnegan gave up a solo home run to Pete Alonzo, took his fourth loss of the season. Alex Reyes gave up two runs. One of those were earned, but he picked up his 27th save. Ian Kennedy got his 19th save. Michael Fulmer went two innings

and picked up his seventh save of the season. season. Gregory Soto had pitched three of their last four games. We mentioned what happened with Liam Hendricks. He gave up four runs, took his sixth blown save, and Zach Britton blew his second save in his last three outings. To stream or not to stream for the weekend, let's start with Friday. Brett Anderson at the Pirates, Adbert Alzali at the Marlins, Hazers Lozardo versus the Cubs, Chris Flexson versus the Blue Jays, Michael Paneda versus the Rays, and Mike Minor versus the Cardinals. Let's go with

Albert Alzalai who can hopefully keep the ball in the park at Miami and that's definitely my favorite Mike Minor versus the Cardinals that might be okay Brett Anderson

Yeah, Brett Anderson at the Pirates it might only be a five-inning start but it should be a decent one Pittsburgh is very bad against lefties they just made J-Hap look competent recently. On Saturday, to stream or not to stream, Zach Davies at the Marlins, Kyle Freeland at the Giants,

Brad Keller versus the Cardinals, Willie Peralta versus Cleveland, John Lester at the Royals, and Bryce Wilson versus the Brewers. This group is very bad. Yeah, it's a good matchup for Brad Keller, but I just don't trust him after his own back issue. He kind of's falling apart again.

Let's see. Is there anyone? Just one? Maybe. Not really, but if you forced me to start one, probably Kyle Freeland at the Giants. Yeah, it's... Don't stream anyone on Saturday. How about Sunday?

Drew Smiley at the Nationals. Luis Patino at the Twins. Trissa McKenzie at the Tigers. Alec Mills at the Marlins. Zach Thompson versus the Cubs and J-Hap at the Royals. Zach Thompson against the Cubs? It's okay. Yeah, he's slowed down recently, but the Cubs lineup is pretty bad.

Mm-hmm. And, uh, I don't know. I wouldn't, I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn't mind Tristan McKenzie at Detroit, Luis Patino at Minnesota. There's, there's a chance they give you like a great start, but it's kind of a coin flip. Yeah. I think I prefer Trissa McKenzie of the two. Just based on that matchup at the Detroit Tigers. All right, let's wrap up the week with some fantasy justice.

Yeah, yeah. By the way, if you ever have a question. question that is not fantasy related. There's something weird going on in your league. Commissioner, trade, vetoes. Send it in and put fantasy justice in the email subject line. This is from Matt in Boston. It is a head-to-head seven-by-seven categories league.

Get one-win total, not one for each category. Weekly move limit of five. Trades do not count towards the number of moves and players transfer once a trade is accepted instantaneously. We have Ennings pitched and strikeouts as two of the pitching category. This was the scenario. On Sunday, Team A and Team B are playing for a playoff spot. Both teams have used all moves.

Team A makes a call to Team C, which has two moves left, asking to pick up two streamers, trying to win innings pitched and strikeouts for the week. And Team A will trade him a closer, Lutrovino, which Team C and fourth place needs. The trade benefits both Team A gives them a chance to win, and Team C gives them the closer that they need. However, Team B and some league members believe this is cheating slash collusion.

They see it as targeting Team B trying to make them lose. I don't have a problem with this. I understand why Team B would be frustrated. I would be frustrated if I was Team B. But if it's a fair trade, if you're just trading streamers and it's like not an egregious trade, two starting pitchers for Lou Trevino, who is a pretty damn good closer, that's a fair trade um

Scott looks flabbergasted yeah I'm I kind of had to read it over again to make sure I followed it okay so okay so there was a move limit like an ad drop limit yeah but there's not a trade limit so a team

that had moves left to make at the request of a team that didn't have moves to make made two pickups and then they made a trade yes so team A couldn't make any ads anymore. So they called up Team C to make

those ads and then say, hey, trade me those streamers for the final day. I'll give you Lou Trevino since you need saves. I mean, it's kind of a loophole. I kind of get not liking it. I've never played in a league with move limits before.

So, you know, other than the natural move limit that comes with having a, in a Fab League where zero dollar bids aren't allowed. I guess that technically there are move limits there. But yeah, I don't necessarily have a problem with it, but it is clearly a loophole. And if you do have a problem with it, your commissioner has a problem with it, then you can have to

figure out a way to close that loophole, I guess. Yeah, I mean, look, if there was no rule set up about it in advance, then I think it has to go through. And then maybe it's something you discuss in the offseason. And if you want to create a rule about doing something like that, then you can do it later on. But if there's no rules set up now, then I think it just goes through. Yeah. I mean, it's competitive.

I assume Team C is playing for something still, right? Yeah, they're in fourth place and they need saves. Right. So, I mean, this is something Team B could have done with Team C instead of Team A doing it with Team C. I mean, I don't think it undermines competition or anything. Yeah. It just kind of gets around the rule.

We do have one more, fantasy justice. This one's from Tyler. 12 team categories, OPS and hitter strikeouts, and then saves plus holds for pitchers. I'm making a run at the chip this year currently in second place and have been active on the trade market, including one that happened today. The trade is giving me, well, not actually today, it's from when they sent this email. The trade is giving me, rather, I'm all over the place, man. The trade is me giving Reese Hoskins, getting Ryan Presley and Tommy Pham. The trade was offered to me several days ago, Thursday or Friday, this was last week.

I had a busy weekend, so I let it sit until I could really mull it over and actually worked out another deal in the meantime. So when I got the deal done early this morning, I texted the guy who offered me Presley and Fam for Hoskins and basically said, hey, bud, I'm going to accept, just letting you know as a courtesy. All right, blah, blah, blah. A few hours later, so I hit accept. He said yes, a few hours later I get the notification that Hoskins is on the IL. To be fair, the player update had documented that he was out of the lineup Sunday for a third straight game with a groin injury. Our league allows for a majority veto, so this may settle itself, but I want to know if you guys think this trade should go through. I'm really asking because I'm the commissioner of the league, and therefore I try to hold myself and my league to a high standard of integrity,

and I don't want to be called into question, especially in a league where I'm making a run for the title. If this trade goes through, is it just tough luck for the other guy or do I have some obligation to be a benevolent commissioner and try to stop it from processing? No, I mean, you warn the guy that you were getting... I thought, you know, that's technically not necessary, but I do think it is a good faith move. It shows you're acting in good faith by letting the guy know.

you know, circumstances may have changed so that you may not want this trade anymore. So I'm letting you know that I'm going to take it in case you want to pull it back. You don't have to outline everything that's changed for, circumstantially for this.

He should be paying attention himself and know that Reese Hoskins is banged up and potentially going to go on the IEL. You shouldn't have to spell that out for him. I think you did fine. And, you know, because it is a league where they vote on trades, then as you said,

if everyone really has a problem with it, they'll turn it down. And, you know, I don't agree with that setup anyway, voting on trades. But since that's what you've operated on, you, that offers another layer of protection for you. And you don't have to then overrule that against yourself. Yeah.

It is, like you said, it's a good faith thing to, if you want to reverse course because of it, but it would be worse if you waited until Hoskins went on the IL and then you hit accept, right? Because the trade was just pending. And I've seen stuff like that happened in Lees before. That kind of stuff, I mean, that's a little bit more messed up. But this guy had the same information as you did, or girl.

So, yeah, I mean, I think it should be able to go through. And whatever, Reese Hoskins is coming off the IEL and the minimum time anyway. So I don't think it's anything that crazy. All right. Supposedly. Supposedly, right? The year of the setback continues. Justice has been served.

Yeah, yeah. For Scott, I am Frank, thank you all for listening and watching fantasy baseball today. We'll be back again on Monday. Bye-bye.