Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Who Will Hit The Most Home Runs in 2025?

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

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Hello and welcome to Talkin Baseball Homer Draft. It's the Homer Draft. Me and Trev, mono and mono. And you guys get a team too. Let's do it. Let's talk ball. Let's both be hitter. Okay.

I'm Mani Machado. I'm Mani Ramirez. Oh. Me and Mani Ramirez would have a good time. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Presenting you by Seatheek. Torrelli, Trevor Glove, produced by Rob Chiraco. We are doing another one of our, man, Trev, we've been at this for a minute now.

Another recurring episode, the Homer Draft, it's the Homer Draft. This year we are going to put up a lineup of who's going to hit the most home runs. Guys got to play that position. And we are going to add a team gets eliminated. So if you were to take Joe Hottani, who I could see going in this draft, algorithm show hey otani show hey otani um that would eliminate the rest of those dodgers so uh

I'm excited uh and at the end because we're going to do nine players each uh that'd be 18 teams trev you know that Stanford man um and that's going to leave a bonus team for the fans so if you guys win at the end of the year maybe we'll post feed or something trev how you doing mr b shoyotani democrats are probably That's how you do the algorithm right there, baby. Can I pick Mania Ramirez?

He's playing somewhere. Did you see him? He showed up at Spring. He showed up at, Rob, you might have to bring this up. He showed up at, um, they're doing the qualifiers for the WBC. Him against his son versus Andre Agassi's son. And he had, he had wired headphones in by himself in one of the series. I'm in on wired headphones.

Now I'm out on AirPods. I'm not wearing him anymore. Really? Yes. Dude, do you remember when I came to the studio? in warehouse and I couldn't hear that the mic was on. Yeah. So I don't know, man.

I'm just, there's a lot of things you've got to be careful with. Wireless. Wireless headphones are like my favorite invention of this century, which says a little bit about me. The only thing about wired headphones is you have to keep your phone on you. And like, I don't want my phone on me either.

So I might just go, I might be the guy at the gym to go speakerphone music. It's an alpha move. Just my own. Ruins everyone else's day. I'm not going to do that. I would never do that. I'm excited about this one today.

You said that I dominated it last year. I wish our socials would put that out, so I get a little bit of credit. No, no, we're good. I think I got a few guys here that you might bet your eye at, but then later in the year, you'd be like, oh, wow, this guy not only knows ball, he is ball. Mm.

Kyle is ball. It's going to be a, wow, not getting drafted, probably. He plays great defense out there. Yeah, Trev, I'm excited. Last year, I was drawn a blank for a little bit. It was you and BBD versus me and Jom. And you guys got the nod by like 50 homers or something. So I don't know.

I'm not too proud about that one. But that's what this year's for. So I'm excited to do it. I think this is a better format for the teams, because I want to get as many teams involved as possible. And I think it adds a little strategyry for us. So let's get into it. I think Team Trev, team Jake, team Magnum, team Conn, I don't know, we'll figure that out.

The two consensus guys, if you have no idea who we're referencing, would be Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge. Shohei, what do you go 60-60 last year? I forget. 5450? Crazy. Aaron Judge competes with his own American League home run record every year. On our sheet, it has Judge projected for 47. Shohei projected for 43. I mean, if you want,

I could give you the honors if you go Shohei for DH. I would take Judge for right field and then you get the pseudo first overall pick. Do you like that or do you feel weird about that? I'm okay with that. I'm an LA guy. You're a New York guy.

Shohei 54-59 last year. I'm sorry about the stolen bases I took from him. We'll do that. I'll take Shohei. That's my DH. You take Aaron Judge. That's your right fielder. Are the Dodgers and Yankees eliminated now, or do you want to just keep them on the board?

I think they're eliminated. I think they're out. We're not coastal elitist. No. Get out of your New York. Get me more central. Yeah. I did have one of my buddies.

Shout out to my friend Nick Hill. He sent me a trivia. a question yesterday. It was the four MLB teams that haven't well it is actually is a tweet from Jay Kuda who kills it.

I saw that. Who haven't won a playoff game since 2014? Zero playoff games in the last 10 years. I can name them. Please. I believe it's the Orioles. I believe it's the pirates. I believe it's the Reds.

And who else is it? It's not the Blue Jays, is it? Now, Rendon's HALOs. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's, I should have known that, yeah. Crazy. Crazy. And a couple teams get saved by the new wild card format here.

Our Mariners have two wins over the Blue Jays in a wild card format over the last 23 years. Anyways, enough of that. Let's get into the actual Homer draft. Team Plouffe slash team Shohei, team Storelli, team judge. And it's all brought to you by Factor. Get ready to optimize your nutrition this year. Factor has chef-made gourmet meals that make eating, well, easy. They're dietitian approved and ready to heat and eat in two minutes.

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So I took DH, so I can't draft Kyle Schwerber. He's the only other guy projected in the 40s. So that means you kind of have that unlock, unless I pick a Philly right now. Right. You can block, you can go whatever you want with it. And you can't pick a right fielder anymore. Hey, I'll beat Team Shohei if you want.

You can't pick a right fielder anymore I can't pick a right fielder Okay This is this is gonna get interesting Because there is gonna be some strategy here I believe obviously we're trying to pick guys that Are gonna hit homers That's kind of the gist of it

But I do want to block some of these Some of these teams from you So you can't pick a right fielder I gotta go with a guy Who I think is just gonna like blow his Projection out of the water here we're hunting 40s right

we are hunting 40s right now oh man this is this is this is actually tougher than I thought I'm gonna go with my first baseman and I want to grab oh shoot there's a couple guys there

this is this is a couple guys there I want to go contract year both these guys are on a contract So basically between Pete and Vlad, but the strategy has to be right, okay? If I pick Pete, I can't have Juan Soto on my team. And I guess neither can you, but you already can't have a right fielder. Right.

I'm going to take Vlad. Okay. I'm going to take Vlad. Second overall pick, contract year. I think he's going to go for it. I really do. I hope he doesn't play it safe at the end of the year. That's my only thought would be, man, what if the Blue Jays are like?

kind of not in it. And he's like, wow, I played three quarters of a year and I'm on fire. And I need to get past one more month of baseball without getting significantly injured. Wouldn't you ride that out, though? You know what I'm saying? No. Okay. I'll be honest with you.

If my payday was looking like 500 M's, if I just kind of shut it down, like, oh, my hammy. It's the only thing I'm worried about a little bit. But I'll take Vlad. I think he's going to hit 40 this year. I think we're hunting 40s. I think Vlad's going to hit 40 this year. Trev, I'm interested to see how the crowd reacts because that's... Vlad had his 48 homer 2021, a couple moons ago.

And I think that was a lot of... Not a lot of. I'll take that back, Toronto fans, but they were playing at the minor league part for a chunk of that. Yeah. Where the ball goes pretty good. It does feel like something just clicked for him last year. He landed with 30. He's as safe of a pick as you're going to find.

And I... It felt like the light bulb went. on like the guy was out of control um in the second half last year and i know you're a big spring training guy currently one dot three so vlad probably just carries that into the season i just it's the contract year i i pete was obviously he's probably the safer choice i think but i want to save some other choices for later uh are you going to go there just a just a reminder and a reminder for myself. Vlad's second half last year, 1.127. 16 homers and 63 games.

So if that light bulb and launch angle went on for him. Treve, I think it's a good pick because another guy that, and maybe this would surprise the people, but Anthony Santander hit 44 home runs. Toronto's a great place to hit. And he stayed in division. Like sometimes free agents move teams and were like, well, I don't know.

They're going to see some new pitchers. He's not. Like Anthony Santander would have been a great pick in this draft. He gone. He gone. He gone. My God. He's got.

Alejandro Kirk. You know how I feel about him. I think Dalton Varsho's got a couple homers too in spring. I would, but he's just starting the season a little late. You know that a lot. up talking to me I might have screwed myself. All these right fielders are so good. I want

homers. Whole game, Jake. I'm going to go with no, I shouldn't go there. Oh, you're in my head, Trev. God damn it. You always are in a way. Do I go with Pete and that blocks you on Soto?

Yeah, man, I'm going Pete. I'm going Pete. I don't care. Again, positionally, I know you just went first base. God, I like a couple of those other guys, but I, contract year got to believe. Like, Pete had a down year last year, and he still ended up with 34,

which was the most by a first basement. So, like, I, if that's his down year, we talked about it during his free agency, but the FU Pete tour should be coming. That whole lineup should be better. that yeah I know Sotel will be taken in this draft

sorry Juan I guess people forget when you go cross town um that yeah Pete and Judge this is this is beautiful so over the last three years Aaron Judge has the most homers with 157 Pete Alonzo 4th with 120

not bad so you got number one and number four I have Shohei is 132 at number two I like it I liked one Soto there. This is where it gets a little interesting with me too because I think Tautice is going to hit a ton of homers. I do.

And that would only, the only thing about that is it would get me out of the running for Jackson Meryl, who I think, I don't think the sophomore slump is coming for that guy. There's just something about him that says, no, it's not going to happen. Okay. So I have DH and I have first base.

here. I'm gonna I'm gonna go with a guy who like I feel like has the position kind of on lock. And I'm gonna go with that man. My favorite one of my favorite teams out in Seattle. I'm going Cal Raleigh. Wow. Projected for 30 last year hit 34. He is just kind of set it and forget it guy at that position. I think that is about as good as it gets. He's tied for 15. over the last three years he's got 91 total. Oh, 34 homers with runners on base since 2020. That's the sixth

most in Major League Baseball. So he doesn't just hit them solo Johnny's. He's waiting for the stakes. I love it. Kind of like love the division that he's in as well and he doesn't care. Oh, I play at this park. It's so tough to hit. Cal Raleigh doesn't care, dude. I love it.

I'm, I'm, Martinas, hitting coach. I'm very jealous, Trev, because we love Big Dumpur. Like any, any player in the league, if they were nicknamed Big Dumper, they'd be a highlight on this program. Him and Contreras feel like they have the catcher spot, like 1A, 1B, a little bit of different flavor from those two players.

But yeah, when the article comes out this offseason that, like, oh, nobody can actually hit in Seattle. The batter's eye is twisted. There's a gust by the mound. And then it's like, okay, if all that's true, then we need to appreciate Cal Riley even more. 34 homers last year. For the Homer Drafting Catchers,

I think he is the guy. And Trev, do-d-d-d-do-do-do-do. He's our draft king of the week. There was one landmine. That's why Rob had the video ready. I wish I knew that. He's our draft king of the week. He went big flying spring train.

Do we have that video, too? Is this a Mariners program now? Let's see, Cal Rally. Oh, God, you leaned on that. A little sidearm piece from Cleveland. You just throw that 90 and a half up over the plate? Like that's, who was pitching right there? Rob, run that again because I want to see the first base coach freak out too.

That's Paul Seawald. Oh, Paul. Spin's not there yet. That's an early spring trading. First base coach is like, Cal Raleigh is our draft king king of the week. Okay. Kind of wish I knew that. Might have taken him last pick.

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age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction, void in Ontario. New customers only. Bonus, bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see D-KN-G dot co slash audio. Can I go back and just talk about Cal Raleigh. I did say Cal Raleigh doesn't care about hitting it at home. He does. Last year's splits, the career splits. 668 OPS,

383 slug at home, 503 slug, 809 on the road. Here's my thought process now. I'm just talking myself into this pitch. Edgar Martinez, we looked at his splits. Right. He could hit there. Yeah. Maybe he

he's the difference maker. And then maybe Cal Raleigh, instead of hitting, you know, 11 homers at home and 20 on the road, maybe he's got 15 homers at home and 20 on the road. We up it. I'm in. I'm in.

Okay. I, um, yeah, there, I know baseball doesn't really work like this, but if Cal Raleigh played for the Cincinnati Reds, what would we be talking about, you know?

Yeah, it's WRC Plus. Oh God, you and I both replied to the same troll yesterday at the same time. You just caught us at the wrong moment, Pat. The Mariners were 12th and WRC plus I said, what about runs? Like, don't let me start it here. This is not the episodes for that. You can manufacture runs in different ways.

You got to play to your park. Let's go. Guys, Twitter handle is like, fire everyone on the Mariners. And then he's replying to us, well, the barter should have gives it that bad. Seems like you don't like it. Kid. All right. Glad we both got that out of our system.

Um, Trev, this is fun. I, um, that was a good pick. But now I'm going to wait on catchers, because I've got a couple on kind of oddball teams that I think could hit, hit Taters this year. Um, Judge in Rightfield, God, you took Santon Santander off the board. Took Julio off the board.

Yeah, Julio's gone in center. Center starts to get a little, just a little more tricky. All right. I think this guy should be talked about with Judge and Shohei. Every year he seemingly gets one injury that he's never had the crazy home run season. You thought I knew. Where'd you think I was going? If you don't mind me asking.

For this pick? Yeah, because you started nodding and then I, and then you stopped nodding. My pick's locked. There's no spoilers here. Well, if we're going, this is homers. I'm thinking Kyle Schwerber But it's not It's not

It's another It's another guy listed as a D-H Yordon Alvarez Yeah Dude He never had the big Homer Yes But that's like no fault of his

I mean In a way it's a fault of his own Can I guess his highest homer season Sure I think we've looked this up before I don't think he's got in the 40s I want to say it's 34 37

So in 2022 he had 37 last year he had 35 and a buck 47 so he played the full season I don't know it used to be a joke on this show that like every October would come around and we'd be like oh there's your Don the most feared hitter in baseball when it comes to October like you know during the regular season it'd be like oh Altuve's going nuts this week how good's Kyle Tucker and then October comes and it's like oh there's Yordaun Alvarez so I'll I'll slot him in the D.H spot he's got to have a 40 coming I like it.

I mean, I think you just wanted him on your team because he's that type of dude. Yeah. But I agree with you. I've always looked at his homeowner and told him like, how? Like,

you are an absolute beast. You don't get fooled on pitches. You don't offer it bad pitches. I do agree with you that we're going to have one season where he hits 50. Like he's, right? He's one of the guys that people would say, well,

if he tried to hit more homers, he could. I think he, I think he might fuck around and try at one point. Yeah. It wouldn't, like, if he showed up and hit 50,

50 homers this year. Nobody would say a word, like, yeah, that makes sense. We saw that coming a mile away. He hit 31 in 114 games in 23. So quick math on that. Don't have it. But it's coming. It's coming.

That's your DH. Kyle Schwabro, we're sorry. I thought you were going there for sure. That's a lock for 40. I was looking at both of them, and I was kind of like, I think Yordaun's got to have. have the year coming. I think we missed on that one a little bit. Okay. I apologize to my guy, shoot. Did the, well, a Phillies player, well, I don't know. I was going to assume a Phillies player goes,

but if Schwabber ends up on the fan team, we're going to lose. Okay, okay. This gets interesting now. Do I believe in this guy to be the player that he once was? We had a 975 OPS, first three years in the league. Now, albeit there's a shortened part to that as well, the 2020 season, but he had a 965 OPS. Since then, coming back from an injury and some PEDs, it hasn't been the same, 770 Ops, 833 Ops, do I pick for now on Tatis Jr. to be my right fielder. That's kind of where I'm at, because almost like you're, Yoron-Alvarez pick, I'm like, this guy's going to have a monster. Right. He watched him play. Like he still has it.

He still got it, man. He's not moving any differently. He's, you know, the postseason was comical. 25 years old. I'm taking him. I'm taking Fernando Tatee's Jr. As my right field,

he's projected for 38. He only hit last year. He only hit 21 homers. That was in 102 games. 141 in 2023. He hit 25. So it hasn't been there. That was the first year back, right?

That was the, yeah. Yeah, slug has been down. Last year is 449, 492, but before that, he wasn't below 570. Can he be that guy? Do I, I'm taking him. Right on Tatis Jr., welcome to my team. I like it. I think it's a risky pick, to be honest with you.

Like, you think the talent's there, but we got to see it, Pop. We saw it in the postseason, I understand that. Yeah, I mean, that's a, whole 23 Padres team will go down as one of the weirdest teams in history, why it never came together and there's been rumors about clubhouse stuff. It's in there. I think when you take time off baseball and you're just not playing, it's tough that, like, this is kind of the year we find out.

And we said that about, like, Vladdy last year and we found out, you know? It's a lot easier to bet on Tatis than bet against Tatis. Yeah. I think that's the easier way to look at it. How was he projected for 38 homers this year? Who knows what? What are the computers know? What are the computers know?

We save that for the end of the show. I've been using AI stuff. Yeah. I should just AI's my whole team. You're in? I'm just trying it out. I've never used it for anything, but I'm like, if I just tell it to do something,

will it do it? And it's like, yes. I've started to use it. as essential like Google searches, like actually almost ask G's style, like write out the question. And it's like, here's an answer.

So I like that. I think it's cool for like if you need to like write sales emails and like go cook AI. All right. And that was our AI segment. Brought to you by Coach Trep. That was its own. All right.

So you have show hey, Tatis, flaty and big dumpers. Hmm. I'm at your dumb. So Jacks and Merrill. Mani Machado, out. Yeah.

Centerfielders might get a little weird. You know what? I like the whole crop at this position, but there's just a guy I like more than others, and I think more importantly, Prev, as you get a little older, you get a little more old man muscle, you stop worrying about running a little bit more.

And you know it helps when they take away, some bleachers in the stadium. So Jose Ramirez just turns on balls and they're gone now. They used to hit the wall. They're out of the park. I'm going to take J-Ram as my third baseman. He led third baseman in home runs last year with 39. If we were doing obnoxious baseball content.

Actually, no, my guy Booney cut in. He's like, Jose Ramirez is not underrated. Who says he's underrated? I don't know anybody that says that. It's insane. When you mentioned top players, I guess for me, Trev, we still talk about Tatis and we're excited. And is Tatis's MVP coming?

It's like, Jose Ramirez does it every year. Every year. I don't know. I mean, nobody that I know was like, yeah, Jose Ramirez, who's that? Dude, you know what he's going to do every single year. It's beautiful. Has he ever been bad? Has he ever been hurt?

I told you. I remember him as a young dude taking Ricky and Alaska up top. Paul Maldor, Tom Bernancie, Kurt Suzuki, top stepping him so mad because he like, you know, pimped it. And he like went to apologize to Ricky Nalaska the next day. And from that day forward, I was like, I like, wow. He didn't have to do that. But I think Tito was like, hey, man, they're not happy. They're going to, they're going to hit you.

He didn't play the next day. But he went and apologized. I'm like, all right. Like, he didn't have to do that, but he did because he just, you know, maybe he respected Ricky in his tenure in the league, his time, his dirt on the spikes, whatever. But after that, I like that guy. And then I believe, like, following years, it was just like, psh. In. Go, everyone go check out his baseball reference page. He has had two top three MVP finishes, three top five. Career war guests, Trev. Ooh, I bet it's pretty high. I'm going to say, gosh,

he's been playing since 2014 was his first year, I want to say. A cup of coffee and 13 as a 20-year-old. 13? Yeah. We're talking 10 years. I mean, he's in the 40s. 52.

52. Yeah. Right? Talking Hall of Famer. We're talking Hall of Famer. He can basically lock it up with one more good season. Casual 39 homers last year,

118 RBI 6.8B war That's crazy, bro. So yeah, I have no qualms with that. And the team needed a little guy. Judge Yordon Alonzo, that's too much beef. Man. Love that for you, Jake. Love that for you.

I actually forgot that he had 39 homers last year. Maybe I'm one of those people who just doesn't know. Okay. So you got your third basement picked. I can wait on that a little bit. Or do I just go for it? I'm going to go with a guy here, Jake. that I think actually has become underrated a little bit.

There's a shiny new toy at this position that everybody loves. And rightfully so, you got to love this guy. But when you become like, you were that guy, you were the shiny new toy and then someone comes along and steals your shine, I think there becomes a little chip on your shoulder. Okay. going the shortstop position. I'm going with the guy that actually led short stops in homers last year. I'm going with my guy Gunner.

Okay. I think a lot of people would pick Bobby Witt here. I understand the type of player he is. He's dynamic. He can show up at 50 out of nowhere. Like he's going to grow into his body a little bit, I'm sure. But Gunner's like kind of like been the guy. Like he's last year hit 37 homers as a shortstop.

Yeah. Bobby Witt, 32. Again, I understand the type of player he is. We're doing homers here. And I do think Gunner's like, hey, man, like, kind of still really good here too. Gunner Henderson, welcome to my team. Projected this year for 34,

it's the most of any shortstop, above Bobby Witt at 31, above Mookiee Betts at 29. Corey Seeger's light to me. That's just games played. He's also at 29. I feel like he could have been a good pick for this. but I'm taking my guy gutter.

It's the right pick, Prev. And yeah, there's been a lot of Bobby Witt talk. A lot of Bobby Witt talk. They won their playoff series. And if Judge, if Judge wasn't there, Bobby would have won MVP. Gunner would, Gunner ran almost the same season.

Like Bobby was just a tick better in almost everything that you wonder, guys are wired differently. Like Gunner Henderson could have, like, a dartboard with Bobby Witt's face on it or he could be one of those Southern guys that doesn't care at all and he's going to hit 37 again either way. He had a 9-1 B-war last year. That's more than I had my entire career. I was just, I'm glad you went there because I would have felt a little bit. Bobby Witt 9-4. But everyone's talking Bobby Witt. More than I had in my career.

Man, that's a really good pick. And I guess like Adley Rushman off the board, it's been one of the weird Orioles things when we do their team is so balanced that there's not a lot of positions that scream like Gunner does. So that was a good pick there. And like you mentioned, there's a couple there's some sneaky shortstop options.

We should have mentioned Lindor when the Mets got taken. Like that's another name who's off the board. Deger and Bobby. Okay. Linderer's like a model now. He's like, most, he like, I think he called himself the most fashionable guy in the league. Or maybe somebody else called him there.

Yeah. Probably up there. I'm sure he dresses really nice. I'm sure he's got a nice stylist. Lindor has a good style. Got swag. Everybody that's got good style has a stylist. I want to just burst everyone's bubble.

All these guys are showing up and these clothes. You didn't pick that out, bro. Not me. Bryce Harper, stylist. Maybe. No. He doesn't. He's not trying that hard.

He's calculated, though. I'm sure, like, at times he has a stylist, but not one on full. Like some of the guys we know. Oh. I'm going actually full baseball mode today. Did you the CAA? Old school from...

I'm going to the gym after this. I got my Joe Mower Hall of Fame hat on. You're a baseball guy. You're a rap. Okay. So that takes Baltimore off the board in your shortstop position. I think I can wait on shorts up

because I like a couple of the options, even if you block some teams for me. I'll go next. Next to shortstop. I'm going to get my second baseman. I thought you were talking about this guy. I'm putting together an all Jake team here. Cotel Marte.

Arizona, great place to hit. Cotel Marte led second baseman in homers last year with 36. And he missed a little time. My God. Yeah, I could almost everything I said about J-Ram, I could say about Cotel-Marty. And, you know, I think another thing going back earlier in Cattel's career, even though he was great, they moved him around every year.

And he talked about not loving it. Like he was, he's like centerfield, shortstop, second, center. He's the second baseman now. He's one of the best switch hitters in baseball. He's one of the best players in baseball. Ganim here, I like that a lot. 25 homers in 2023, 36 last year. Switch hitter looks bigger than 210.

Like he looks roped up. He probably has zero body. at. So that's where we're getting that leanness from. I'm, I think this guy is underrated. Like, he's actually the guy that's underrated in the league. That's what I think. I'm fine with that. All around absolute stud.

A couple of six, eight seasons. That gets me going, man. When you can put up seasons like that, that's, that's when you get paid. Obviously, he's got his contract. It's great. Love that pick. I figured you're going to go there. Nicky one of the best contracts in baseball

I can tell him Jolly dropped that Jacob de Gras might be one of the worst contracts in the history of baseball So solidly I just wish you know You and me we hide our biases Jolly just can't do it

He went Let me just give you the What happened With Jolly when you weren't here Right He He Um

gave the story of Jacob de Grom Big Leagueing him But he liked it He's like yeah He told him how much he cared about him on the Mets and Jacob de Grom hit him with a, okay, drop that story.

Right. Okay. And then he said one of the worst contracts in sports history because he's, you know, $40 million a year hasn't pitched. I understand. I guess I understand the logic there.

And then he said, well, I think Jacob de Grom will be pitching in the playoffs, but not as a starter. We're going to turn him into a reliever. He just threw Jacob de Grom all over the place. So I don't, actually know if he does like him.

He acts like he likes him, but... Jolly's becoming a problem. You know? He's too confident. Like, Trep, think about that. Like, I, you know, I've gained my juice at around, like I entered my 30s. Like, you know, talking Yanks, talking baseball's going,

John Boy Media, all that, whatever. I'm a little old, a little zesty. Jolly's early 20s? And he's, you know, the mess. That's our new, the new hot team. This is the story of how. Kind of all coming up, jolly.

It's all coming up. Who are you coming up? I'm going to go with the guy, who I think it hit 40, who hasn't, who has trouble staying on the field. I want this guy on my team. Because I actually think it's going to ruin my projection right now, but I think that it's going to win me the league. And I'm going with my guy Royce Lewis at 30s.

Whoa. there is just something in that guy's bat. There's some lightning in it. Where if he can play a full season, Jake, just his overall sets, 549 at bats in the big league so far, 33 homers. That's like a little bit less than a full season, and we're talking 33.

I think he has more. He's getting used to the league. I think he can absolutely. go off. Now, I know like last year, ended not great for him. Before that, it was just like, anytime he was on the field, he's been electric. Last year, towards the end, had a little bit of a slump there, wasn't great. But he's just too good. Like, he's so,

he has so many tools. There's so much natural ability there that I think that he, he, almost more than any guy on this list has the potential to absolutely blow his Homer projection out of the water. Like, I would not shock me if he had 40 home runs next year. That's just the kind of guy he is. So, I mean, for instance, his three years, his home run percentage, 5.5% the league average is three. Like, he's, he has the potential to do it.

I'm going Royce Lewis for my third base. Treve, there's a lot of names at third base. There's a lot of names. We won the wildcard pick. Rafi, Riley. Does Rafi play third? Um, okay. I mean, hey, Trev, I mean, to be fair, like, Royce is projected for 27, which for how many games he's played. Like, that's, that means everyone thinks it's in there that, yeah, if the full season happens for Royce, um, okay, it's a little twinsie.

You don't think I was going to get a twin on my team? Yeah, that's my bad. Everyone knows how biased. Matt Walner off the board. Um, Mark Vientos, I guess he got eliminated early with the mess. Is Walner not even on our projection sheets for this year? Because that's crazy. He's there. He's there. He's at 23.

He's got to play, Trep. All these twins have to play. Matt Walner is going to hit leadoff. Okay. He's the next Cowell Swarper. Enough talking twins. I hope you're right. I hope you're right.

You love him. You fucking love Matt Wallner. His stats are silly. Tats are silly. Okay. So Trev, Cal Raleigh, Vladdy, Royce Lewis, Gunner, Fernando, and Shohey. I've got Pete Citell, J-Ram, Judge, and Alvarez. I'm going to do my wild card round.

I guess this is wild card round, as we're fake labeling it on the fly. And I don't know, you might call BS on this, because this guy does hit home runs. Okay. I'm heading out to SACDO. and give me my catcher Shea bang Jaliers. Not a wild card. He's the second projected home run for catchers.

I like it though. I like it though. 29 homers last year. Neither of us could take Brent and Rooker. He was already done because I had Shohei and you had taken your non-alpros as your DH. And you know what, Trev? I will take it back.

Maybe this isn't my way. I'll give you another wild card coming up. because he hit 29 last year, which for the catching position is great, and playing in SACTO this year. It's going to be hot, the ball's going to be flying. That's a good pick right there.

Dang it. Dang it. My catcher plays is the worst part in all of baseball. But you know what? He is going to be going there. How many times? Six times? Yeah.

Six or seven, right? I don't. Who knows? Nobody knows anymore. Nobody knows anymore. Who does the schedule? I thought it wasn't, isn't it too old people? It used to be.

I think they let your AI in. AI is in it now? I think so. I'm all about it. Taking jobs from a beautiful old couple. Maybe they were always AI. Oh. That's.

Yeah. Think about that for a second. That's not mind blowing at all. All right, coach. You need second base, left field, and center field. I do. And for everyone else, teams that have been eliminated, Baltimore, Yankees, Blue Jays, Guardians, twins,

Athletics, Astros, and Mariners, and the NL, only three NL teams so far. The Mets, the Dodgers, and the Padre. I think I'm about to change that. I'm going to go second base here. So I think that you still need a shortstop, if I'm not mistaken. Okay, I want to just take this guy off, just in case.

You're probably going to go Bobby anyway. I'm going to go Matt McLean small guy good park here's a thing he's an extra base hit machine when he's on the field so I'm going to take him he also is projected for 25

which is second best Brandon Brandon Lowe and Catea at 27 Matt McLean at 25 I'll take him I'll take Ellie off the board for you I think that you probably weren't going to go there but that could have been your wild card pick

too because he doesn't have a crazy Homer season. So Matt McLean, when he's on the field, extra base hits galore, man. And he's going to be playing a full season. He's going to be hitting at the top of the lineup. I'm in. I like the McLean pick. What a, some Batman and Robin stuff

flying around with him and Ellie. Pretty funny. And yeah, man, if the Reds are going to finally go and get that playoff win this decade, he's got to be a big part of it. And yeah, of the second base options, Lowe can be exciting. I thought Simeon would be a similar block

because you'd be blocking Siger from me. I'm not sure where I want to land, land the shortstop bus. Let's go grab a corona quick. You know that, coach. That's what baseball's about, kicking back, ordering some coronas, and enjoying the ride together from the moment.

We all bail on work to enjoy opening day. I guess it's a little hybrid for us. to the last play of the World Series. Baseball is the one sport where anything can happen. Any team can catch fire, go on a run, and take their fans to the promised land. For us, baseball guys. Nothing quite like sharing a corona,

relaxing and enjoying every unpredictable moment with friends. So go ahead. Turn the cheap seats into your own private island. In there. And your back porch into a sports bar oasis, that's what Trev does. More ice cold coronas, the official servesa of Major League Baseball.

Crack open to Corona, America's favorite pastime with Mexico's favorite present time. Get yours at Corona.com. 21 plus enjoy responsibly. Corona extra beer imported by Crown import, Chicago, Illinois. Okay. I think I can still wait on shortstop because I like a couple of the options.

I need left field, center field, and you need left field center field. All right, so let's play a little defense. Mm-hmm. Let's play a little defense. In left field, man, you weren't joking. Left field's ugly and I still need to get a wild card out of you. I'm going to leave it because I can't believe this guy's on the board.

I almost took him really early. I'm taking Lubbob. It's got to happen, right? It has to happen, right? Like, if you're Luis Robert, play your way out of town. Like, come on, man. I believe in Luis Robert. Cuban Mike Trout. He's 27 years old. He had 38 homers in 2023. In 100 games last year,

was only 14. And that 2023 is the outlier. But again, like, put him in the Vlad bucket. Put him in the Tatis bucket, right? That, I don't know, for him, he is currently in his, he's making 15 mill this year, and then it's a 20 million team option next year. So like, if Luis Robert were to have a bad year, there's a chance that that doesn't happen? I don't know. If you're Luis Robber, I think you should have all the passion in the world to put another massive season together, probably get traded away. And at center field, he could easily have the most home runs that I believe in him for this year. And I, that's not my wild card pick. I'm glad he's still on the board pick. I agree. I mean, he has the potential almost like a

Royce Lewis to blow his projection, you know, out of the water. He's got to be on the field. And the motivation factor. That's like the only thing, Jake. Because he doesn't have to be great to have them pick up team options. It's true. Like he's not saying, hey, if I go off, I can decline this option and go out in the free agency. Like, it's kind of like set. And what is it? 17 mil. 20. 20. So, I mean, you're right. Like if he plays an okay. season, Chicago's going to pick that up. So pick it up and say, can you go, can you get better so we can trade you?

But if he gets like hurt, I don't know. Go play well and get traded. I need to think about that more. My brain is not there on the Lubbob freaking team option spectrum right now. But I like it. I've seen it, man. I've seen him do it. We all have.

He's a stud. And you're right. Center field and left field. These are interesting. I got my guy in left field. Good. Great. I'm going to go with the guy.

who again you know there's not there's only so many we can do now that we've eliminated teams i'm gonna go with the guy who was in centerfield last year who plays it not a great ballpark but it doesn't doesn't matter yeah this is a good this is the right pick i'm going with elliott heli ramos is that you didn't think i was going there i thought you were going riley green no okay tough ballpark i like i like the country singer riley green more than ball player riley green spelled they spelled the same I don't even, I know one song on Riley Greens. It's with that girl, they don't even sing, they just talk. I like that song.

I do. It reminds me my grandpa. But I'm taking Elliot Ramos. Jake, I mean, the guy put up 22 last year in 121 games. Slaughter for a full season, like he's going to turn 25. Like, everything kind of just points to him to continuing to mash. Let me look up the home road splits real quick because I'm very curious of that. 511, by the way.

So 510. 5-10. Yeah. Last year at home, he slugged 441. He hit eight homers in 62 games on the road, 14 and 56 games. So got to get it on the road. He also will be playing. No, I guess they will go to Sacramento.

Or maybe they won't. They'll play the A's. But I'm not sure about that. Anyways, I know the pitching can be tough in that division. It was tough last year. He doesn't care. I think he's just a masher. And I'll take those homers.

I'll project him my own projections. Give me 27 bombs out of Elliot this year. Yeah. I mean, 30 might be in play, man. Last year was his first full season, 22. And yeah, that lineup got beefed up a little bit. He had 22 and 121 games. And yeah, my anecdote at the All-Star game, which he was at,

the guys were taking BP. And a guy sounded different. And this is amongst the all-stars. And it was Ramos, man. He's got a little Dolis-Garcia in him that, like, that, the big season could be inbound. I like the pick, Trev. Shortstop and left field for me.

I'll stop doing funny business at shortstop. It's nuts that Bobby Witt's still on the board. You could say I played the game. Grame. You could say I played the Grame well. Bobby Witt's still there. Is there more in that bat? If there is, that's insane.

And we think there is because he's still. Bobby Witt's age, is he 24? Bobby Witt, Jr. He's 24 years old. He turns 25 in June. Coming off a 32 homer 9.4 war season. I, yeah, he hit 30 the year before too. So, like, I, people are going to be happy with that pick for me, Trev.

well as soon as i went gunner over and i took cow rale early so i wasn't taking sal i mean he was going to stay on the board essentially yeah so i like that you waited that was the right play here's what you've missed he got married and maybe the strength is gone oh wow i'm just kidding that's just so stupid yeah that's the opposite of everything you believe in i know i love being married you're just trying to tank the pick so i appreciate what a great i appreciate the hustle but get out of Once I saw him hit a Grand Sam off Yon Duran I was like remember that

That like set him off I do remember that I remember that too There was that sick fan angle Yeah Like that little girl that was hyped up Or whatever that was crying It was like that was it

Crazy Love that I got one pick left I got a shortstop Your center field You're center fielder There's two guys At the center field position Jake Two guys that I can pick from

Basically right now it's Michael Harris second out in Atlanta who's projected for 24 homers this year never hit more than 19 in his career so the projection they're bullish my guy money mike jaron duran last year hit 21 they're projecting him to slow down a little bit and only hit 19 this year there's actually more of a difficult decision than I thought earlier in the show I was talking about duran and how maybe this is my guy my guy that can be my wild card pick can be

a guy that outperforms his projection by a ton I think I'm going to go with that route I think I'm going Jaron Duran and now I'm starting to second guess myself but I'm going to lock it in Jaron Duran is my center fielder over Michael Harris

the second for homers this year and I don't know if I love that that one's a difficult one for me but I'm taking Jaron Duran Hey, if I was Jaron Duran going into this off-season, maybe the only part of my game that I'd want more from would be a couple more home runs because everything else he was insane at, crazy speed.

You think he wants 30-30? Thinking his mind is like, I'm on 30-thirty. Oh, I like that, yeah. Definitely. Definitely. So he went, I mean, again, he hasn't played a ton. He's turning 28, which I thought he was younger than that. Yeah.

He was younger than that. No, he's. Last year was his first full year. He had 735 plate appearances at 21 homers last year. Need you to get that many plate appearances again this year, big guy. Yeah. Need that. Leads off every day.

Good lineup. Good ballpark. Good last pick. And I'm actually, I'm stoked it takes Boston off for the fan team because I'm currently living in fear of that now. Because, Trev, I don't think a Philly's gotten drafted. I don't think a Brave has gotten drafted.

drafted. We, I'm currently like team fainty. Um, but for my last pick of the draft, I need a left fielder. I still owe you a wild card pick. Left field luckily is all wild card picked. Um, I mean, honestly, I thought about dropping a dropping one on you because I knew it would really hurt your heart if I took Max Kepler, um, off the board with the Phillies. I could play defense against the Phillies for the fan team. I can't do it. Because I'm going to play to win. That's what I do.

That's who I am. A potential breakout player of the year. Give me James Wood. There's a wild guy. You know what I'm saying? We could look up this year and James Wood could hit 35 and he's that guy and that's just baseball now. He's a massive human. He came up to the league and just started raking.

And that almost like, I don't want to say took hype away from him, but everyone was just like, okay, but he hit last year. In 79 games, he had a 781 OPS. He is listed 6-7-234. I don't know. Gets the ball extremely hard.

Get a little backspin going. I'll allow that as your wild card pick, and I love it. I wish I took Max Kepler just because I know that would have stung you a little more, but I'll go James Wood. Hopefully the breakout happens. So, with that,

The final teams for... Can you just see Max Kepler just following my footsteps? He's such a... Philly is great, got it down. Such an A's guy. Wow. Such a raise guy. Like...

Texas Spring training to wrap it up. Team Jake. Behind the dish, Shee Landjoliers, first base, Pete Alonzo, Cattel Marte, J. Ram, Bobby Witt,

in the outfield. James Wood, Louise, Robert, and Aaron, There's a little more risk there than I remembered selecting and Yordon, D-Hing. Projected for 281 homers, we'll see. Team Trev, big dumper behind the dish, obviously. Vladdy Jr. at first.

Matt McLean, Royce Lewis, and Gunner, young studs in the infield. Elliot Ramos in left field, Sharon Duran and center, Tatis in right, and Shohay Otani, D-Hing projected for 272. Trev, let's try to speed run a fan team. I see Rob in our sheet trying to fill it out for us. So this is basically our massive miss section slash the fan team that's going to be us. We maybe pick somebody else on their team so they couldn't have gotten picked. Okay.

Or at their position, there's somebody that could hit more homers than them. This isn't a. These are open teams. Yes. These are open teams. So this catcher is a lock for me, William Contreras. Yep. And he might be the best catcher.

I've short stuff. Corey Seeger. Yeah, man. That's what I'm saying. We mess this all thing up. We mess this whole thing up. Or do we go Harper at first, money, Mike, and center? I think that might be the play.

For second base, I say we, this is a team that didn't get picked, obviously. This is a dark horse guy. Nolan. Yeah. In second base in St. Louis, projected for 22. Hey, for second base, he hit 19 last year. He hit 27 the year before that. So that's fine.

19 and 107 games. So yeah, that's another great pick for the people. Our guy, Junior Caminero, who maybe will hit 50 homers this year. Let's put him at third base. Breakout potential. Tampa hasn't been there. So all we need now, Jake. Riley Green and left.

Riley Green and Left. field. That's an easy one. And the DH, who have we not taken yet? Did we not take a... Did we not take a cubby? So Kyle Tucker's and Wright? Yes. Jesus. I like this team.

And let's go Jorge Saler, for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 28 projected homers this year. Is it more homers projected for them than our teams? Let's see. Okay, we are projected to beat them, but we should. We started with Shohei and Judge. So the fan team for everyone tuning in.

Contreras, Harper, Gorman, Cominero, Seeger, Green, Harris, the Deuce, Tucker, and Jorge Soler, projected for 244. If the fans beat us, I think we do owe them something. What do they want the most? like shirtless push-ups from us. It's usually skin. Yeah. It's usually skin. But it won't happen.

It won't happen. Please comment below what we missed. What didn't work out. Sorry, Marlins. Pirates. Yeah. So we did nine times three is 27th, so we were missing three teams. I think it's the Rockies.

Did my Rockies get snubbed too? Arlans, Pirates, Rockies, we crushed it. Yeah, a little bit. The fan team crushed it. Brett and Doyle, O'Neill Cruz, Marlund. I don't know. Xavier Edwards, a lot of small bases. Conine?