Fantasy Baseball Today - Who's That Baseball Player!? Adam Aizer Fact or Fiction (06/19 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 19, 2020

Today on the show we're playing "who's that baseball player?" and we have a little fact or fiction for Adam Aizer's birthday! First we have a Flashback Friday. What's the worst trade or move you ever made in a Fantasy Baseball league (4:03)? Did you learn anything from it? ... Next up we're playing WTBP, beginning with a slugging outfielder (9:45). Why doesn't this player get more love? ... Next up we have a 36-year old first baseman who just had a career-year (14:20). Is he undervalued? ... Moving over to pitchers, this man is known as "The Professor" (18:45). Why doesn't Adam ever draft him? ... Our fourth player might have been too easy for Scott (23:23). This pitcher had 200 strikeouts last year but is the 44th starting pitcher off the board in drafts! ... Our final player is a corner infielder for deeper leagues (29:00). Is his brother really that much better than him? ... To celebrate Adam's birthday, we have Fact or Fiction courtesy of Nando Di Fino (35:21). Did Adam once date a woman who had a movie made about her life!? Is Adam a collector of beach towels? ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyCfkdUcqL9UnNpGfkF039Q '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: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! 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

Domingo Santana Forcus for cocked a jag Like Michael Walker Polanco and from Happy Friday everybody Welcome to Fantasy Baseball today June 19th Frank Stample here

alongside Scott White And Adam Azer And I've got a fun show planned for today Every show is fun I realize that But this one is going Over the top

I've got a flashback Friday I've got some sound drops We're going to play a game And best of all We have Factor Fiction Adam Azer edition because today is Adam Azer's birthday. Adam, happy birthday, buddy.

Hey, thanks, Stevie. Yes, it is my birthday. It is also Jacob de Grom's birthday. Frank's favorite player in fantasy baseball. It's Durknavinsky's birthday. Very powerful trio, me, Jacob deGromm and Dirk Novitsky. It is Juneteenth. I've learned a lot about Juneteenth this year.

I'm very happy to say that. So, you know, a very important day around America. and I think June 20th for fantasy baseball is going to be a big day because I feel like we're going to get an agreement tomorrow, Frank. That's what I'm feeling. Last Friday you made a bold prediction. You said on Monday we're going to have a season. Well, my bold prediction is on Saturday.

We're going to have a season. All right. I hope you're right. I hope. Frank's bold prediction was dead wrong. So you're suggesting you're better at this than he is. Well, it's like when you get to go last in Price is Right, you have an advantage. So I let Frank go first. He got it wrong. And now I get to make, you know, we're getting close with it's almost now or never.

I thought it would be on my birthday. But, you know, it's not going to be today. I'm feeling it tomorrow, June 20th, it's going to be the day. We have a 65-ish game season. And then we'll be doing a podcast probably to talk about it. And your background is giving me seizures, Adam. Yeah, I don't know what's going on there. Yeah, what's going to get it. Adam. What's going on with your. green screen. Your green screen technology. Did you just paint your room green over the past couple days? Is that what it is?

Because my wall is kind of green? Yeah. I didn't paint that wall. This wall is hideous. I moved in here and we were like, oh, we're going to repaint all these walls. And we basically never did. The people who lived in this house before me had dreadful taste. They had a green wall in here.

It is disgusting. But it's never done this before. Yeah. I have an idea. I'll try to fix it in a moment. Frank. I just, I need to know why you guys are both wearing San Francisco Giants. You didn't get the memo? No, it's really weird. San Francisco Giants Friday, duh. Yeah, we both look like diehard Giants fans. Neither one of us is. I guess we just

both like wearing baseball gear. I've gotten, uh, weird looks before when I've worn a, like I had the hat of 12 different teams or something like that. I'm trying to go for all 30. And, you know, you wear one and people are like, hey, oh, I didn't. I know you were a Twins fan or whatever, and you're like, I'm not. I just like the hat. And you get the weirdest looks when you wear, when you wear gear that doesn't belong to the team you're a fan of. Apparently, you have a lot of gear from different teams too, Frank. Oh, I absolutely do.

I have, of course, the Diamondbacks hats, but I do like the Diamondbacks as my National League team. I've described that before. But I do like just collecting some stuff. Like, this is a Barry Bond jersey. I have a Ken Griffey jersey. I have a Justin Upton All-Star Game jersey from like 2013. So I do just kind of collect memorabilia for players that I like, teams, logos that I like as well.

And we did not plan this. So we decided to just roll with it. Let's go Giants. Probably going to be one of the worst baseball teams in 2020. We're going to be disappointed. All right, let's get things started off with this flashback Friday. And I hope, Adam, that you were able to actually find an answer to this question. Because I want to know, what is the worst trade that either of you have ever made in fantasy base?

baseball. I've got one ready. If you guys need some time to think about it, then I will go. Frank, you know what an azure trade is, right? Oh, so basically every trade offer you ever sent is a bad trade. For the other guy? For the other guy. So I haven't made any bad trades. I couldn't find one. I went back four years and I looked. I could find one trade that I made in 2016 on June 4th. I traded Ryan Braun for Andrew McCutcheon. Ryan Braun had, an 868 OPS rest of season. Andrew McCutcheon had a 762 OPS. Braun was much better.

Six more home runs, two more RBIs, 10 more runs, six more steals. That's it. That's all I got for you. Did you learn any lessons from that trade, Adam?

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But I do have another trade that was made the day after. That might be one of the best trades that someone made. Would you like to hear that trade? Let's go.

June 5th. 2016. Scott White makes a trade. He trades a pitcher who was 7-1 with a 33-E-R-A named Chris Tillman, if we remember him. Oh, yeah. Trades him for Vince Velasquez and Freddie Freeman. Sorry to leave you hanging there. Freddie Freeman, that was when Freddie Freeman really became like one of the best

hitters in baseball. After that, he had a 770 OPS at that point. And after Scott traded for him, he finished the season batting 3.30 with 25 home runs, a 1072 OPS. Which league was this? Podcast league. So, great trade. I can't say I remember that trade. But that's, I was on the wrong side of a two for one there.

In theory, I got the two back and it obviously worked out for me. I don't remember that trade at all. So I can't, I can't comment on one. was going through my mind at the time. I'm sure I've made a lot of trades over the years. I'm sure I've probably made some bad ones. Like Adam, I'm very reluctant to pull the trigger on a deal. If I'm not supremely confident, I'm on the better end of it.

So I have a, I'm not one to take big risks and trades. So I don't think I have many bad ones. I'm struggling, though, to think of one. I mean, if there was one so bad that it seems like it would stick out in my mind and I'd just, I'd always think about it, you know? I don't have one like that, but I do have a move I made in my 24-team Dynasty League where players you pick up off the waiver wire become very cheap to keep for a long time and obviously 24 teams. I picked up Corey Kluber and held on to him for a couple weeks. and then I dropped him for, I wanted to find,

I wanted to find exactly who I dropped him for because I'm sure it was somebody really dumb. And a week later, it was obvious I had made the wrong decision and Corey Kluber, you know, just caught fire after that and obviously became everything we knew Corey Kluber to be. So that's the one that sticks out of my mind is the worst move I've ever made in fantasy baseball.

I'm going to see if I can find it. You can start talking, Frank. I'm going to see if I can find exactly who I dropped Cory Kluber for, because I think it would make the story better. Yeah, so I was pointing to myself because there's exactly one trade that stands out in my mind, and I made it before the season started. I have never, this is the only time I've ever done this,

where I made a trade before the season started. For some reason, let me set the stage. The year was 2012. The season hadn't started. And I really wanted Kelly Johnson on my team. Kelly Johnson. Yeah, that Kelly Johnson. He was one year removed from hitting 284 with 26 homers and 13 steals.

So I offered up, this is like my second to last and my last pick, my homekeeper league, head to head points. I offered up Adam Dunn and Jim Johnson. Adam Dunn went on to hit 41 homers. Jim Johnson had 51 saves. I dropped Kelly Johnson a few weeks later. That's just one that stands out. never forget it. All right, I'm going to find this.

Well, that's bad, but that's a good story. The moral of the story, don't trade before the season starts. Uh-oh, Scott, who did you drop Corey Kluber for? All right, so on May 1st, I won him for $5, which meant that would be his starting point for keeping him. I'd keep him for $6 the next year, $9 the next year, $14 the next year, and on and on. Two weeks later, I dropped him

for an infielder named Chris Nelson. Ooh. I don't remember him. Never fantasy relevant. Never ever fantasy relevant. That year, Cory Kluber went on to go 11 and 5 with the 385-year-A-R-A-126 whip,

you know, a little less than a strikeout per inning at a 24 team league, obviously an asset, right? The following year, he wins his first Sigh-Young Award. and he's an ace for several years there. Yeah, that's the worst move I've ever made.

I'm pretty sure. Damn. Yeah, that is a, that's a rough one. Guys, I mentioned I want to play a game. Are you ready? Are you ready to play who's that baseball player? Adam, you have not played this before. We played it once before with Scott and Chris.

And basically, here's how it's going to work. I'm going to give you up to five clues. It could be five clues. You can guess it before then. I will give each of you a clue. And you could just blurt out as many answers as you possibly want, Adam. We want chaos. We want madness.

And I even created a little sound drop here for my Pokemon fans out there. Who's that? Baseball player. You ever see the movie, Frank? The Pokemon movie? Yeah. Of course. One that just came out.

I tell you, my best friend wrote that movie. What? Yeah, yeah. He wrote it. Wait, which one? The Detective Pikachu? Yeah. Oh, no, I didn't actually see that yet.

I thought you were talking about the animated movie. Yeah, there were movies before that. I would like to watch it. All right, are you guys ready? Wait, who was that voice? Oh, that's my fiance. I mean, obviously the sound was from the show itself, but then baseball. Who is saying baseball player?

Who is that? Baseball player. Is that your fiance? That is my fiancee. So showing off my production chops here. All right, here we go. I'm going to give you some background music as well. First clue for player number one.

I'm an outfielder who's hit at least 24 home runs three seasons in a row. Remember, you can just blurt out names whenever you want. Okay. I was born the same year as Frank Stamphill, 1991. Aaron Judge. False. Despite a 3.7% walk rate in 2019,

I averaged 3.4 fantasy points per game, tied for 16th among outfielders. Oh, my goodness. Same here. Okay, Eddie Rosario. Boom! Yeah! Damn.

Eddie Rosario, Adam left in the dust on his birthday. Well, only round one, dude. Give me a break. I never played before. Why isn't there more love for Eddie Rosario? Is it just... I have a theory. I'll present it to you guys and you let me know what you think.

I think it's because he goes right around Nick Castellanos and right around Marcelo Zuna, and he's not really dissimilar from them. Like, he doesn't really do anything much different than those guys. So I think he just kind of gets lumped in with them. But he's a very good player. And I don't know that we give him enough respect, Scott. He doesn't have the upside either of them do.

I'm not sure how legit the 32 home runs were last year. The previous two years, 24 home runs, 27 home runs. And I don't think there was really a change to the batted ball profile that would lend itself to a big increase like that. He does tend to hit. for a high average. 276 last year was actually kind of low for him. But certainly in points,

leagues, the walks limits is upside. And even in categories league, the fact he's probably not going to make a huge impact in the home run category, you're kind of paying up for security there. And that's usually in the middle rounds, an idea of people are not in favor of.

I'm not necessarily in favor of it either. The other two clues that I had for, Rosario that we didn't get to. I posted career highs and home runs, 32, runs 91, and RBI 109 last season, and I'm currently being drafted as the 26th outfielder off the board at pick 91. So even despite the low walk rate, he was a top 20 outfielder last year, and he's being drafted as the 26th outfielder now. So I think there could be some value there for Eddie Rosario in one of the best lineups in baseball with the Minnesota twins. Adam, would you rather have Eddie Rosario or Luis Robert?

Eddie Rosario. But, you know, he's streaky and he's annoying. And he hit 11 home runs in his first 23 games. His last 114 games, he had a 759 OPS. And he had a, he hit 21. Like, he did hit a decent amount of homers. He was on pace for 30 homers at 162 games. but just like he doesn't walk.

He's always a low OPS guy because of the walk. Yeah, the OBP is obviously not good. But 11 home runs in his first 23 games and only 21 rest of season. Like he's good. I like him more in Roto. He's not really someone I look for in points leagues. He'd have to be my third outfielder. Fair enough.

Are you ready for round two of? Who is that? Baseball player. All right, here we go. Player number two. Your first clue I am a career 293 hitter

Aaron Judge False From July 1st on last season My 23 home runs were tied for fifth most in baseball With Mike Trout Paul Goldschmidt False

I am the same age as Adam Azer Oh old guy Old guy Career 19 Nelson Cruz No he's older than that False All right, old guy. Despite being a top 10 first baseman in both

Roto and head to head to head points last season, I am being drafted as the 15th first baseman off the board. As a what first baseman? 15th. It is not Jose Abraeroy. Carlos Santana. It is not Carlos Santana. Yule Gariel is correct.

Adam is getting crushed. I'm not surprised by the way. Oh, man. Yule Gariel, of course, had the, the career year last year and hit more home runs than we've ever seen from him. And, you know, what we've come to expect, where he hit 18 in 2017. He hit 13 in 2018. And then, of course, hit 31 home runs last season.

Scott, he did make some changes. Started hitting more fly balls. He raised the launch angle. Career high, hard hit rate. He did things differently last year. but for the most part, people are not buying into it. Why is that? Yeah, I'm not really buying into it either.

So he hit, what's the best way of breaking this down? So he hit, of his 31 home runs he hit last year, 20 came during the 40 game span from June 23rd to August 14th. You know, he was pretty much ordinary Uly Gurry. actually he was pretty abysmal before that he was pretty abysmal after that the thing that I think we can definitively say he does well is hit for average he makes a lot of contact especially so you know I prior to this year I thought he was kind of undervalued as a batting average or maybe even an RBI specialist because of the

lineup he's hitting in but obviously he's not being drafted that as that anymore he's being drafted like a power threat as well and considering he's a 36-year-old who had just basically a less than even two-month stretch where he was that and then receded thereafter. I'm just, I'm not buying it. I'm just not buying it. And I think it's risky. I think he's still going to, I think he's going too high at a point where the risk doesn't, isn't worth the reward. The ADP right now. The ADP for Yule Gurriel 132.6. Adam, would you rather have Yuli Guriel or somebody I know you like in Edwin Encarnassion? I knew you're going to ask that. I knew it. I'd rather have Guriel, actually.

Okay. I think, you know, there's a lot of risk with Edwin Encarnacion, but I probably, well, if it were like a backup, a bench spot or something like that, I'd rather have Encarnacion. Or maybe in a deeper league and it's a corner infield or something and you're just going for an upside play. rather than Incarnacion. If you really think that you need this guy to contribute, if you're in a deeper league and need this guy to play every day, I'd rather have Gerell. Because he's not going to be bad.

His worst case scenario is going to give you a very scarce category. He's going to have a really good batting average and be in a good lineup. Encarnacion could easily fall off a cliff. The final clue that I had for Yuli Gueriel was, my brother also plays in the American League. That I think I would have got. Were you right? Have you been presenting these from a first person perspective?

Oh, yeah. I am Yuli Guerrillo. Okay. I was Eddie Rosario. You play for the Giants now. That's right. I actually don't have any Giants on the list, so that'll potentially help you guys. Oh, all right.

Good. That helps me. Yeah. Only 29 teams to choose from. All right. Here we go. All right. Round three.

Who is that? Baseball player. All right. First clue. I've posted a 3.95 ERN. or better for six straight seasons. Old guy. Lance Lynn.

False. I received my bachelor's degree in economics from Dartmouth College in 2012 and I'm nicknamed The Professor. Who'd you say? Tile Hendrix. That is correct.

Yeah. How did you... I did not think that the Dartmouth College would help anybody. He seems like such a smart guy to me. I don't know. That is wild. Great job, Adam.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know how it is. I'm not going to draft them. I'm going to be wrong about them every year, so I'm right. Every single year. The final clues that I had, since 2015, my 1.12 whip ranks 14th among starting pitchers. Despite this, I am the 39th starting pitcher off the board in ADP.

My final clue was Scott White might throw harder than me. Ooh. I would have gotten it there. So he's actually pretty interesting. I don't, by the way. He said that he dealt with fatigue late in the season And he was working on strengthening his legs And his shoulder and his back during the offseason

He got he gained Two tenths of a of a run in ERA in his last two starts He went from 326 to 346 not a huge deal But he said he was fatigued Not going to happen this year So short in season might help a guy like Kyle Hendricks I'm still I just can't do it

I just don't believe in pitchers who don't strike guys out is usually what it is other than prime Dallas Kichael. So I'll pass on on Hendricks. He's only 30, but he feels like super old. Such a stable track record though, Adam. It's stable. It's so stable. And, you know, he might, he might beat Josh Hader and strikeouts this year.

He might. He won't beat him in a whip, but not by much. Yeah, I mean, I feel like the Cubs never let him. pitched that deep into games. So his win potential is stifled. He won 11 games last year. And last year there was this weird turn where he became not much of a ground ball pitcher.

So his Sierra and X-FIP were both much higher than before, even though his ERA was about the same. So I don't know. If that trend continues, if he continues to allow more fly balls in this environment, then I do worry there's some downside here that's being under explored. I'm not a big fan anyway because, I mean, I basically have my pitching staff built by the time he goes off the board, and I don't want to settle for his limited strikeout ceiling. Yeah, and not only did he give up more fly balls, he also gave up a career high, hard contact rate,

and he was terrible third time through the order. So I do see some things for Hendricks that could go wrong. Scott, do you think there's any chance you mentioned that they don't let him go deep into games? That might be because he struggles third time through the order, but they also have a new manager now in David Ross, so any chance that that could help him go deeper into games. It's possible, yeah. Yeah, it feels like Joe Madden's been gone for a long time already,

but I guess he was with the Cubs last year. Yeah, that's possible. It's possible a different manager. I'll handle them differently. Is he bad third time through the order? I don't know. He was last year. 575 ERA.

Yeah. I mean, all pitchers are worse third time through. the order, but that does sound particular. What's the career? I don't want to slow the game to a halt here, but I'm not finding it very quickly. Okay, here it is. No, that's not it. I just have offenses.

I'm very interested in this. That's the good news. Third time. Third time. Okay, so first time opponents have a 635 OPS against him. Second time, 641. third time 715. That doesn't sound so bad. 715.

So maybe it was just last year. So there could potentially be something there. But I'm with you, Adam. I typically don't draft him, but it seems like he does outperform his ADP every year. It doesn't have a lot of upside, obviously, but he's a good stabilizer. That's what I'll call him. For a

fantasy rotation, if you took some risk early on, and he's your SP5 or whatever it might be, I think that he's a good person that can stabilize that. Are you ready for player number four, Adam. You crush the last one. Let's do. I'm the, I'm the professor now. Actually, last one should

have been worth more points than the two I got. Like, you should, like, the last clue, if you get it on the last clue, it should be one point, second to last two points, third to last one. Oh, you sure you want that? Because that would mean you guys are tied now. Okay. Fine with me. Who's that baseball

player? Don't hear me complaining. It's a better game that way, I think. All right. Player number four. I am a former first round pick for the Atlanta Braves. Oh, come. Are you kidding me? To the surprise of many, I was one of 24 pitchers with 200 strikeouts last season. Mike Minor.

Get the hell out of here, Frank. I played for the New York Knicks in 1994. Why don't we have a question like that? Well, you wait and see there. That might be the fifth player. Patrick Hewing But it was so long ago I didn't think that it really mattered

Right with Mike Minor That means you're getting Mike Minor back when he was a brave You're getting crushed now Adam Because he got on the second clue So yeah That was Bias No wonder why

Is the second clue worth No wonder why Scott You know Scott knew what he was doing He introduced that as a possibility He's like yeah I'm about to get this next one I wanted to put more pressure on myself Basically All right the final three clues I had for Mike Minor

I was out of baseball for both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Despite finishing as a top 25 starting pitcher in 2019, I am currently being drafted as the 44th starting pitcher off the board. Last season, I pitched in a park, and this year I'll be pitching in a field. That's a good one. And he was bad in that park last year. 431 ERA, 11 homers. 299 ERA on the road, but 19 homers in 20 more innings, but still eight more home runs. So I don't know if there's much to that. That could just be a one-year thing. I liked Mike.

I was a little slow to get on the Mike Miner bandwagon, but I thought he had some pretty good stuff. I do think that a 1-24 whip is very alarming. Very alarming. It's really hard to have a 359 ERA with a 124 whip, I would say anyway, especially with still under a strikeout per inning. Yeah, he made a change to his arsenal,

a pretty significant one last year, developed a change up. He had thrown a change up previously, but it was a lot better. He used it a lot more, and it seemed to help his fastball play up. It makes sense that he took a step forward as a swing and miss pitcher, but he still wasn't like a great swing and miss pitcher. He still had less than a strikeout per rind. He got 200 over the course of the season, but he was still less than one per inning

through a lot of innings. And, you know, the ERA predictors are all uncons. kind to him. The most favorable is XERA, which pegs him at 391. But X-FIP, FIP is 425, X-FIP 460, Sierra. That's probably pretty bad, too. I don't see it here. 427. No, 451. So yeah, bad. Bad, bad. I don't, I want to believe in Mike Minor. But if I'm being intellectually honest, that would scare me away from most other pitchers who achieved like that. Yeah, I want to know what you guys think of this. Mike Miner had a 359 ERA.

He was 19th in points. He was 23rd in Roto. That was his fantasy finish. 359 ERA, 200 strikeouts and 208 in a third. 1.24 whip. But you break down his year. 240 ERA in the first three months, 499 ERA in the last three months.

So I think a lot of people would say like, well, that's, you know, he's not that good. But if you took a different sample size of 2018 post-all-star break, and then the first half of 2019, you're talking about 170 innings with like a 270 ERA. So he was doing this. He had this amazing first half, 8 and 4 with a 240 earn run average. And that was backed up by what he did after the all-star break in 2018. So it seemed kind of legit. And then he goes out in the second half and he has a 499 R.A.

So is there a chance that hitters started to figure him out from the previous second half and the first half of last year? Is there something that they figured out during that time that helped them perform better against him? I mean, based on that 4.99 ERA. I mean, that's not a startable fantasy pitcher over the final three months of the season. I'm sure a lot of people still used him

because of how good he was in the first half. And they were hoping for him to get back to that point. but it's pretty troublesome. I'll add that nobody really seems to believe in the year Mike Miner had. He's not being drafted at that production level. So I actually do draft him from time to time, but usually is like my sixth or seventh starting pitcher as opposed to somebody, because he just fell, you know,

as opposed to somebody I'm really depending on. Yeah, I'll tell you why I don't draft Mike Miner is because his ADP is 157.8, and Kenta Maeda's is 172. so I can get Kenta Maida 15 picks later and in a vacuum I'd rather just have Kenta Maeda anyway. Absolutely. If it plays out like that, I would guess there's a stock up arrow next to Kenta Maeda's name,

but that's just a guess. Like in more recent drafts, he's probably going earlier than that. All right, we'll do the final player for fun. Why not, right guys? Are you ready? Why, I've already clenched? Aaron, Judge. I would say so you won three of the five players. Well, no, we're doing this by a point system.

All right, so you have to get it. You said we were tied going to the last one, which means I either have to get it on the first guest to win or the second guest to try. Yeah, yeah. If it's Aaron Judge, I'm in trouble. Well, I already told you. It's Patrick Hewing.

Who's that? Baseball player. All right, player number five. Are you ready, Adam? This is the first clue that you have to get it on. Do you have to say a clue first? All right, you can just guess to start guessing names, Adam. Well, no.

Aaron Judge. My 863 OPS in the second half last season ranked 12th best at third base. Aaron Judge. It's not Aaron Jules. O'Seneau. It is not Miguel Sineau. Gio Orchella.

Gio O'Scella. It is not a Yankee. J.D. Davis. It is not J.D. Davis. Matt Chapman. It is not Matt Chapman. It is not Matt Chapman. Say another clue.

All right. Kyle Seeger. Kyle Seeger. Kyle Seeger. It is Kyle. You stalled for him, you stalled. It's his birthday. All right, happy birthday to me, I just won.

You just won, Adam. What an upset. It is Kyle Seeger, the final four clues that I had for Kyle Seeger, and this is more for deeper leagues. I have hit at least 20 home runs in eight straight seasons. Last year, I hit 23 homers in just 106 games, which means I was on pace for a career high 35 homers. over a full season.

Despite all these fun facts, you might not be eager to draft me at my ADP of 272. My brother plays in the opposite league as me. That's a dead giveaway there. Don't sleep on Kyle Seeger. Come on, everybody. Why not?

You believe in him? It's such a deep position, man. It's more so for deeper leagues, potentially AL-onlys and 15-teamers. All right, fine. I'm asleep on Kyle Seeger there. But, yeah, it's not a 12-te-play at all. 15-team league, it's very likely I already have three third basemen

by the time I'm thinking of taking Seeger. And like he just, it's weird, but because you wouldn't, you wouldn't think so given his skill set, but he's kind of established himself as a batting average liability here. Oh, gosh, yeah, 249, 221 and 239 last three seasons. That ballpark's bad. He's bad. I think he's bad.

He just helped you win the game, Adam. I love him. How you talk about Kyle Seeger? Come on, man. To me, he's Corey Seeger's brother. Oh, that's not nice. Look, you know, I think you can argue. Everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion

that Corey Seeger was going to be so much better than Kyle Seeger. Kyle Seeger's kind of had the better career. Oh, yeah. Kyle Seeger was the steadiest, most predictable third baseman. He was really reliable for fantasy for like four years in a row. He probably finished around top eight, something like that. But he was never. spectacular.

And I don't know why he just really fell off a cliff these last three years. I wonder if it's a shifting. Shifting thing. Nah, that probably would have started earlier, though. I always attribute that to Brian McCann's decline as a vatting average source. And frankly,

Albert Poole's, too. He does pull a decent bit. I know if Chris were here, he'd back me up on Kyle Seeger. I know he likes Kyle Seeger. But again, it's more so... Who has the better second half between Corey and Kyle last year?

Look at that up. I don't have it all. off the top of my head, but... 863 OPS in the second half for Kyle. It was Kyle. Yeah, it was Kyle. There you go. Don't sleep on him. Corey had a big September, though. All right. We're going to pause here.

What I want to do first is promote our fantasy baseball today YouTube channel. Of course, you're listening to us. You can now watch us as well. You can find the link in the podcast description. We're constantly tweeting it out at FBTPod. We tweet out, whenever the YouTube videos go live. So make sure to subscribe.

And it also came out in our newsletter today as well. So subscribe, hit that little bell. And every time we have a new video come out, you will get an alert. And I also want to promote the first cut golf podcast. I don't know anything about golf, but I do know that these guys are absolutely crushing it right now. Their crew includes Rick Gaiman,

who hit on Daniel Berger at 66 to 1 to win the Charles Schwab Challenge. at Colonial. This upcoming week, they're previewing the Travelers Championship. You can expect two preview pods every week covering Daily Fantasy, Storylines to Watch Sleepers, and their best bets. They also have an instant recap podcast after every single round, including their Sunday night recap, after all the thorny action has wrapped. Again, that is the first cut golf podcast. Check it out. Believe me, I would not steer you wrong, unless, of course, Manny Machado stinks again this here. All right, let's take a break. When we come back, we will have fact or fiction,

Adam Azer edition. All of these were brought to you by the one, the only, Nando dafino. We'll be right back. All right, we're back here on fantasy baseball today. Of course, we are celebrating the birthday and the life of Adam Azer. Yeah, so I figured why not? Let's do a little fact or fiction, Adam Azer edition, and I have all of these, courtesy of our good buddy, Nando Defino. What we're going to do is, I'm going to do is I'm going to read this, Scott is going to predict whether or not it's fact or fiction, and then Adam is going to tell us

whether or not it's actually fact or fiction. Do you know the answers, Frank? Because if you don't, you should guess as well. I have no idea. So I will guess along. All right, first up. Actually, I know the answer to this one. The man who introduced Adam to his wife was not included in his seven-man wedding party. What do you think, Scott?

That is a fact. That is a fact. It was Nondo, right? Yes. That doesn't give you entitlement to be my wedding party. It was like my brother, my cousin, my brother-in-law, and my best, best friends from childhood, basically. Wow, that's already a pretty big wedding party. Yeah, it was that small. Non-no's not one of your best friends, Adam? Come on, man. He is, Frank, don't get out. Don't be like that. All right, next up, Adam Azor once dated a woman

who had a movie made about her life. That sounds like a, that sounds like a fiction. I don't know Adam's got a grin on his face I'll say fiction as well it's a fact oh my god really I don't want to talk about that but it's a fact yeah

is the movie like a known movie no but it has like big name actors in it it just flopped well we have to know what the movie is at least never can you tell me privately yeah I'll tell you

oh my goodness all right Adam Azer can name all the dates associated with the horoscope zodiac signs start to finish. I'm sorry, I was still thinking about the last one. You're going to have to repeat that one. Adam Azer can name all the dates associated with the horoscope zodiac signs, start to finish. That's, I feel like Adam owes it to the audience to say the movie, but that this one, this one is a fiction as well. Well, it's the first fiction, I guess. I'll say fiction. Yeah, there's no chance. It's fiction.

You know, I mean, you're a little quirky, though, Adam. So I thought, you know, there was a chance. I had a little bit of doubt in my mind for that one. It doesn't seem like Adam's brand of quirk. Nah, no, I think. Adam Azer joined a gym specifically so he could do a leg workout he saw on YouTube that claimed to give him more power in kickball. I think that one's a fact.

I think it's a fact. I'll say fiction. It's fiction. Come on. I don't go to the gym. But you used to play kickball. it was really intense from the way you talked about. I loved it. I miss it so much.

It was the best. It wasn't really that intense, but it was so fun. But nobody could ever... You said nobody could ever get a hit, right? And the only way to get on base was bunting. I don't even know exactly how that works. That's true. Really like big, powerful people could get, could just kick the ball really hard and really far and get hits.

Otherwise, bunting was probably was the best way to get on. Yeah. You were a bunter. I was a bunter or like I could slap a single. opposite field. You didn't want that training regimen that would make you. The gym and I are not friends. We never have been. All right. Fair enough. Adam, I played in a competitive dodgeball league last year. So if you ever want to move down to the city, I'll get you involved. I would love to. That'd be fun, yeah. The second time Adam hung out with

the woman who would be his wife. He spent the time largely under a beach umbrella playing with his computer. That sounds like a fact. It seems to, it doesn't seem creative enough to be fiction. I I think it's a fact. I'll say it's a fact. It is a fact. In fact, he was editing FBT. I had a lot of work to do. It was a baseball weekend and I had to go through all the games from the night before and take my notes. I wanted to hang out with her and Nando and his wife. So I went to the beach. I brought my laptop. I did my notes. That sounds, that's exactly what I would have guessed it was. The amount of research that goes into a sport where every team plays every day is, is kind of something. stifling. I'm sure I had early dates that were semi-sidestracked with my wife. You can't take a day off in baseball. You can't. Yeah. Like, you're screwed. I tried to cut corners when I was dating my wife and I successfully did in some areas. But you can only do it so much. Even if you try to enjoy the weekend, right? It's like, if you miss a Saturday or Sunday or both, God forbid, oh my gosh. Oh, no. You have no idea. Some days, I've

tried on like at the end of the weekend to catch up on the entire weekend and it it takes like four hours like it's it's terrible it is wild all right if you make a bet with adam azer he will try to make it so the loser has to sing in some public fashion then he'll find a way to lose the bet so he can show off his tender voice uh that that sounds like the way nando would describe something that maybe adam adam wouldn't agree with that characterization but i think I think it's essentially a fact. I will go with fact as well based on Adam's reaction. It is entirely false.

There has never been an instance of anything resembling this, but he always says stuff like that. That I want to be like, oh, no, no, I don't play guitar. All right, give me the guitar. I'll play something. Yeah, no, he's never happened. I was around for him doing a lot of that, yes. Yeah, like the guy in the progressive commercial,

Jamie, where they're at his mansion and then he starts playing the classical guitar. That's you. Oh, buddy ball! I don't watch commercials anymore. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Adam Azor once went to Disney World with a girl and made her pay for half of everything. What? I'm going to say that's, I mean, is Adam giving it away? I'm going to say that's fiction. Or is he playing us for a fool? I'll say fiction as well.

I went to Disney World with a girl. She was just my friend. friend. She bought her ticket. I bought my ticket. We didn't. So it is a fact. I guess, but it's not like it says girl. It doesn't say girlfriend. Yeah. It was like if I had gone with a guy,

that's all. I have had a few like if something was a date, I would absolutely pay for. But if it's not a date, then it's not so much that I objected to paying for it. I'm just not sure how

it would look if I paid it. Of course. I couldn't pay her. Why would I pay for her? Right. I mean, and Disney, I mean, obviously Disney World. Disney, yeah, I want to pay a hundred bucks for a ticket. Give me a break, Nando. It's such a Nando thing. Every time Adam Azer visits a new state or country, he makes sure to buy a beach towel there to commemorate the trip. A beach towel specifically? That, it's just so random. I'm going to say fact.

I'll say fiction. Where does he come up with his? Crap, it's fiction. Okay. All right. Adam Azor not a big fan of the beach towels. Yeah. All right.

The last, Jim. The last one, Adam Mazer bought a laser disc player on eBay so he could watch Star Wars in the original unaltered format. That's fiction. That is fiction. That is, yeah. You know, I haven't even seen Empire Strikes Back or the Turner of the Jedi. Right, right.

As cavalier as you've been about the whole Star Wars thing. You wouldn't go to that length now. Yeah, no. Definitely not. So what do you think, Adam? What do you think of your factor fiction? We learned a lot about you today. We actually still needs to learn more.

Yeah, the best one. I'm not really giving you the details on that. Right. I was funny. It was good. And he did a good job putting things out there that sound like they could be true, but aren't. But also, Nando has for 10 years, or however long it's been, has just perpetuated a bunch of myths about me over and over and over again.

So, you know, who knows what's fact and fiction at this point. Who knows? All right. We're wrapping up with this. All right. I just want to say, hold on. What do you got? I was supposed to get Anthony's coal fire pizza tonight.

That was my goal. Meatball and ricotta pizza and chicken wings. They have that up in New York. They do. They have it. I actually had it the day of my wedding. They have it in White Plains. They had it right by the hotel I was staying at in White Plains.

So we had it for lunch. They are still closed. I don't know why they have not opened. So I was all excited the entire week. the entire week. I was like, yeah, we're getting Anthony's. Check today. They have not open.

That is unfortunate. I do not know what I'm doing for my birthday. I think I'm going to order different pizza, which is 25% as good as Anthony's. Very disappointed, Frank. Is Anthony's, like,

even in New York, which is supposed to be like the pizza capital of the world, like Anthony's is still considered. I don't know, though, because Adam lives in not the city. But I've lived in the city. And the pizza out in Westchester's is terrific.

Anthony's is as good as any, New York City pizza private place I've ever been. I actually don't like Anthony's that much. What does that say about me? Have you ever had it, Frank? I have not had Anthony's, no. But meatball and ricotta pizza.

It's just, and it's like really crispy. It's so good. Yeah, that's the one I usually get when it's the meatball and ricotta. And the wings, I like the wings. Wings are great. Yeah. If you're ever in Queens, Adam, I'll take you to a real pizzeria. Roses.

Down with that. I love pizza. I mean, have you ever had roses? No. Upside down Sicilian, man. The sauce on top of the cheese. It's, oh gosh, it's ridiculous. That sounds good.

So good. All right, thanks again to Nando. I appreciate it, helping me do my job for the day. It's the first thing I texted him in the morning. Hey, Nando, can you help me out with this? And of course, he came through like he always does. Emails, fantasy baseball at cbsi.com.

This one's from Brian. Hey, guys. Help me narrow this group to three. Frankie Montas, David Price, Madison Bumgarner, Zach Gallin, Corey Kluber. Does not say what format.

Montas, Price, Madbom, Gallen, Cluber. Pretty easy. Montas, Gallin, and Cluber. Yeah, I already responded to him off the air, actually. I wrote him an email back. That was one of the easy ones that even I could figure out. Now the whole audience benefits, though. Right. I wanted to say price, but I can't go that far to take Price over Cluber.

So I agree. I'll go Montas, Gallin, and Cluber. This next one's from Scott in Rochester. Lost Trey Mancini for the season. commission. Commish's opening waivers next season. Does he know next week? Next week. Does he know something we don't? Need a first basement.

Best available are Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Justin Smoke, Brandon Belt, G. Man Choy, Eric Thames, and Howie Kendrick. Not really a great group there. I think it's McGie. Just hope that that weight he lost.

Well, hope that he kept it off. Really? I like Justin Smoke here, Scott. The Universal D.H. Should help him. Great ballpark? I still don't think he's going to. Split on smoke. I still don't think he's going to play

every day because they have Jed Jerko. I'm imagining a platoon between him and smoke. Jed Jerko. Ah, good Nando impression. Nando's favorite player. Speaking of which. Didn't you get stuck with him one time, Scott,

because you were trying to... Ah, yes. You were trying to outbid him, bit him up? Yeah, that story is chronicled in my... 20-year retrospective of playing fantasy baseball. But yes, I thought I had Nando pegged.

Like, when he likes a player, he likes a player and will go to all lengths to get him. And Jed Jerko was his guy. And frankly, 24 was way too much for Jed Jerko already. But I just thought, I thought he wasn't going to back down. And I was kind of flaunting it as the bidding was happening. And he was intentionally trying to tease. teach me a lesson there. And I still finish fourth, I think,

or maybe even a little higher. But yeah, I'd already spent like 120 combined dollars on Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera, who were the obvious top two players that year. I was trying like an ultra-studs-and-duds approach. So I had to be really careful with my money from that before. And I could go splurching on Jed Jerko

at a value Nando wouldn't have even paid. Yeah. So you spent up for a dud. I mean, you still went with your studs and duds. You just paid way too much for Jedjerko the dud. And I didn't even, yeah, it's not like I really even wanted it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just wanted Nando to, I just really wanted to stick it to Nando, and he stuck it to me.

All right, Adam, what do you think? Miggie, Poo-Holes, Smoke, Belt, G. Man Choy, Eric Thames, and Kendrick. Kendrick. All right, so three people on the show today, three different answers. You got Kendrick, you got Miggie, you got Justin Smoke. Take your pick. This next one comes from our Apple Podcasts reviews. Continue to send in some five-star Apple Podcasts reviews.

Drop a question in there, and we'll be sure to read it here on the air. This one's from Schwanky Man, 17, 12-team League, drafted before the pandemic hit, and we have already decided that no matter what happens, we are not having a season this year. As a result, our draft is just rolling over into the 2021 season. Are there any changes slash new rules that could go into effect this year that could affect next season.

If so, what should I do? That's the Universal DH this year or next year. That's the only thing I can think of. That's the obvious one, but I think... Like, I think rolling over makes sense if there's no season

as opposed to, you know, is this a dynasty league? Does he specify? Like, I assume it's Keeper League of some kind, right? Yeah, it doesn't specify. It just says 12-team league. Well, let's just assume, because I think a lot of people out there may be wondering this, if it's a dynasty league, and there's no season, I was under the assumption that you should

not move salaries for it or anything like that. Player values wouldn't really change. There would be a handful of players who just by virtue of being a year older, or maybe a few who changed teams, maybe their value changes. But for the most part, every player's value is going to stay exactly the same, relative to each other because we don't have new data. But if you're introducing new data and not having the season, then I think you kind of have to revalue players based on that, right?

Yeah, I think it changes the math there. So I'm not in favor of punting on the season. Obviously not. I mean, I'm sure that would, that's the line the company would want me to take too. But just as I don't see the point in committing to that, like, especially, if you're then going to have to elevate prices across the board again on your keepers. Might as well just enjoy the benefits of a partial season. But, you know, I can't tell you what to do, obviously.

Something else I thought of was, you know, expanded postseason has been included in the past couple of proposals. That means we could have more teams playing deeper into October, and that means they have less of an offseason. Does that matter at all? It's just the only other factor I tried to think. of. No, but I think that it could mean that teams would be more aggressive calling up prospects because they have more to play for. Fair enough. Yeah. It could. This next one's from Mark.

Startup Dynasty Points League, Trade Away, Mike Trout and Noah Cinderguard, receive Alex Breggman and Steven Strasbourg in a Dynasty Points League. I believe I would do that in a Points League. I think the gap between Trout and Bregman is so big that, you know, Cinderguard, I mean, especially if you're playing out this, especially if you're assuming there's a, this season, and Cindergarde's not going to be a part of it, and he'll probably miss early next season too. Yeah, I think I'd do that. Is that, it's just a pass-fail thing? Yeah, do it. Bregman scored the most fantasy points last season, but Trout averaged 4.5 fantasy points per game

compared to 4.2 for Bregman. I think it comes down... That's remarkable. I think it comes down to team context, honestly. If... I'd say if your team is closer to competing and you want to compete this season, then I would take the Bregman and Shrosberg side.

But you have to be realistic with yourself. If you know, you're more of a year or two away, I know Trout's older, but I would rather have Trout and just hope Sindergarde comes back and pitches well. Well, the thing is you're paying, like a lot of times we get excited about picking up these Tommy John recoveries in a buy low scenario or in a, you know, if you're a dynasty startup,

you're getting them at a huge discount. And yeah, the probability is really high. He'll come back from Tommy John surgery and be great, but there's a chance he's never the same. And you're paying full price for him here, I feel like. I just think it's, crazy that Breggman just had what could end up being

his best season of his career and Trout was still that much better than him on a per game basis. So I do think there's a pretty big gap there. I'm tempted to say no, I would not trade the Trout side. I think it's obvious if the season

doesn't, if the season gets canceled then you definitely don't do it. But it's really a toss up. Go with your gut. Yeah, I would, I'm with I'm closer to you. I would probably want to just keep Mike Trout just because he's my trout,

but again, how I laid it out. If you want to compete this year, then maybe think more about taking it. This next one's from Victor. Hello, Todd, Clint, Walt, and Jeff. Frazier. Yes. Hey.

Jeff Frazier. Is there a Jeff Frazier that I don't know about, like a famous Jeff Frazier? Because there's a baseball player, Jeff Ringer. You and I both don't know about him, if that's the case. Jeff Frazier has... 24 career played a lot of. appearances. He hit 2-17 with zero home runs. But the rest of these guys, Todd Frazier, Clint

Frazier, and Walt Clyde Frazier, of course. My home league is transitioning from a keeper league where we keep seven MLB players and three minor league players, so 10 keepers total, to a full dynasty league. In this transition, we are all allowed to select two players from our past league to keep with us into the new league. It is a 16-te-head-to-head points league where wins are only worth three points, saves are five points, holds are three points, and strikeouts for pitchers are one point. I am honestly not sure who to keep between Catelle Marte, Austin Meadows, Wander Franco, Shane Bieber, and Jack Flaherty. He can keep two of those players. Ketel Marte, Meadows, Wander, Friber, Flaherty. I'm leaning Wander and Flaherty.

16 team, head-to-head points league. I mean, my dynasty startup rankings would would say Beber and Flaherty. And I think... You have Bieber and Flaherty? Oh, I'm sorry. Beber and Flaherty, okay. I would be interested in knowing how much innings are worth in this points league. If it's the standard three,

you know, and being a full point per strikeout, I think that actually tips things more in the, toward pitchers, even though wins are devalued in this league. The fact that strikeouts are worth twice as much as the standard points. I think that actually helps the case for Bieber and Flaherty. But if innings are only worth one point, which is true sometimes in points leagues,

that would change the math, and I'd be inclined probably to keep Flaherty and Franco, too. Yeah, I lean Flaherty and Bieber here, but man, I kind of won Franco. Yeah, it's hard to pass them up in a dynasty league. If you're as sold on Cotel-Marté, as you have been, Scott, I'm surprised it's not like one of the pitchers and Marte. Well, look, I actually think I have Franco ranked last of this group in my dynasty leagues.

They're all great keepers. But, you know, it's difficult to come up with one-size-fits-all dynasty rankings, of course. And I think in varying formats, it would make sense to rank Franco the highest of the hitters. Adam, where would you go here? I would go Flaherty. and Franco. I would go

Bieber and Franco. That's... And I'm going to B. Burn Flaherty. Unless innings aren't worth three points a piece. Fair enough.

The final one for the week. Not really a question, but I thought it was an interesting email. Guys, tied together since high school in the same draft class, Clint Fraser tears up the minors

and Austin Meadows is good, but prospect pedigree fades. Now Meadows is very good, productive MLB player with four to five tools, and Clint Frazier is missing chances and has constant maturity issues. Patience rewarded.

Oh, wait. The Pirates traded Austin Meadows. Ouch! Yeah. That's a fun way to sum it up, sure. Yeah. It's funny. Well, you know, when you see lists of like the worst trades

in baseball history or whatever, I don't really, I know about them, like the Jason Veritas. trade, stuff like that? Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, those come to mind. Yeah, but who was in the Veritick? Like, I don't even remember. But was that, that was like a

crazy lopsided trade? It was like Heathcliff Slocum and Who was the prize? It had to be someone better than Jason Veritech, right? Jason Veritech. I thought Jason Veritech was the prize. Was he? I thought, okay, whatever. So I guess I'm even Yeah, but I thought it was him and someone else.

All right. So it was Derek Lowe. Derek Lowe and Jason Veritech for reliever Heathcliff Slocum. Yeah, Low and Veritech for Heathcliff's loch. But like now I know I will always think of the Chris Archer trade. It's the worst. It's bad. I mean, look, Tyler Glass now could hurt him, get hurt this year and never end up putting together a career.

It would still be bad, but it may not be historically bad. If it basically just ends up being Meadows. but if Meadows and Glassnell's, their careers play out like we expect them to now, and also Shane Baz hits as a prospect because he's become higher end since coming over in that deal. Yeah, that, it seriously might be the worst trade ever,

except I guess, you know, you could point to like Babe Ruth, I guess. Historically bad trade, but yeah, I mean, in modern times, that might be the worst, it might be the worst trade ever, honestly. Fraser, you know, it's just been an unfortunate situation for him. It's tough to crack the Yankees outfield. He's been promising enough when he's played.

He's not done yet. He's not done. He got really good tools. He's a talented player, for sure. Like, his bat speed is electric. And we were reminded of that early last season, the first two months. I mean, he was, you know, he was a waiver-wired darling. But, I mean, based on what I've read, he's like,

really not liked in the clubhouse. He does have maturity issues. It just doesn't really mesh well with everyone else. So it just doesn't seem like overall the organization likes him. And if those things are real, then maybe other teams don't want to trade for him either. So just keep that in mind. All right, guys, that'll do it. Happy birthday to Adam again.

That's it for Scott and Adam. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching on the Fantasy Baseball today YouTube channel. We'll be back again on Monday, assuming we don't get an emergency pod over the weekend. Bye-bye!