Speaker 1: What's going on? Everybody, Welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is
Speaker 1: the Fantasy Baseball Podcast. We are doing our free agency
Speaker 1: preview today. It's a slightly delayed episode because of some
Speaker 1: scheduling conflicts. I was pushing up kidney stones earlier in
Speaker 1: the week and doing some traveling, so we had to
Speaker 1: push this one back. But we are very excited to
Speaker 1: kick off our off season baseball content a little bit
Speaker 1: earlier than usual. But we love baseball, we love talking
Speaker 1: about it. We could only keep us away for so long.
Speaker 1: I am your host today. Joel Rico joined for I
Speaker 1: believe the first time we've ever done a show together
Speaker 1: by the Wonky Penguin. Kelly Kirby, Kelly, how you doing today.
Speaker 1: It's great to talk with you.
Speaker 2: Finally, I'm doing pretty well. I'm very excited to be
Speaker 2: on podcast with you. I think whenever I've seen you
Speaker 2: on like leading off, I'm like, nah, I think you
Speaker 2: and I would have some really good vibes. So I'm
Speaker 2: glad they put us together for this, And I'm really
Speaker 2: glad that you might be past your kidney stones because
Speaker 2: that just sounded horrific.
Speaker 1: So they're still kicking around in there, but We've got
Speaker 1: the right comment nation of meds that makes it so
Speaker 1: I can get through a podcast and get back into
Speaker 1: the working world after having to take a couple of
Speaker 1: days off. But it's great to be back talking baseball.
Speaker 1: I haven't done a podcast in a few weeks, and
Speaker 1: we got a lot of fun players to talk about. Today,
Speaker 1: we are going to be breaking down the free agent
Speaker 1: class of twenty twenty four slash twenty twenty five, and
Speaker 1: I think there's really nowhere else to start except with
Speaker 1: Juan Sota, who is the by far the biggest name
Speaker 1: available in the class. There is a chance that he
Speaker 1: gets the biggest contract we've ever seen. I know that
Speaker 1: there's you know, with all the deferred money and all that,
Speaker 1: things do get complicated, But Wan Soto is going to
Speaker 1: get an absolute haul that could exceed six hundred million dollars,
Speaker 1: and it probably should after the year he just put
Speaker 1: together one hundred and twenty eight runs, forty one homers,
Speaker 1: which was a career high for him, one hundred and
Speaker 1: nine RBI, seven stolen bases, and he also hit two
Speaker 1: eighty eight with a four to nineteen on base five
Speaker 1: to sixty nine slugging. I do think that the landing
Speaker 1: spot does come down to probably three places. I've heard
Speaker 1: Toronto thrown around in there. I'm not going to get
Speaker 1: hurt again on that front. We just did that last offseason.
Speaker 1: It does seem like New York in terms of the
Speaker 1: Yankees and the Mets are going to be the front runners,
Speaker 1: and also the Dodgers. Kelly, do you have a lean
Speaker 1: right now or where you think Wan Soto is going
Speaker 1: to be playing come April.
Speaker 2: I think it'll be really hard for him to not
Speaker 2: go back to the Yankees, given that they made it
Speaker 2: to the World Series, they came close, and he and
Speaker 2: Judge just created such a monstrous you know, two three
Speaker 2: or however they were batting toward the end, that that
Speaker 2: would make the most sense. I would love if the
Speaker 2: Blue Jay has got him, but I understand you wanting
Speaker 2: to avoid that type of thing two years in a row,
Speaker 2: and maybe we just won't track planes this offseason. But
Speaker 2: I suppose you could go to the Mets. I just
Speaker 2: feel like I feel like the Yankees are gonna kind
Speaker 2: of come in like hard for him given what they've done,
Speaker 2: and if the Dodgers swoop in and get him, then
Speaker 2: you know, that's just the end. Of baseball as we
Speaker 2: know it, right, So.
Speaker 1: If he goes to the Dodgers, it's I'm not sure
Speaker 1: how closely you follow basketball, but this is essentially the
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant to Golden State move from well seven years
Speaker 1: ago or so. You lose the championship to the superpower
Speaker 1: and you think, all right, can't beat him, might as
Speaker 1: well join him. I hope for baseball's sake that they
Speaker 1: don't get Wan Soto. There's another big free agent we're
Speaker 1: going to touch on in just a minute, And honestly,
Speaker 1: most of the big free agents we've listed potential landing spots.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers are going to be in on all of
Speaker 1: the big names. But if they get Wan Soto and
Speaker 1: you're trotting out however you want to arrange them Otani
Speaker 1: bets Freeman Soto, maybe they get ta Oscar Hernandez back,
Speaker 1: they might win one hundred and thirty eights.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I thought that last year when they had just
Speaker 2: the three, the Freeman, Bets and Otani, I was like, who,
Speaker 2: what pitcher is going to want to go at that threesome?
Speaker 2: You can't add a fourth like this. I think it
Speaker 2: would be devastating and as a Cubs fan, I would
Speaker 2: prefer he stay out at the National League, So maybe
Speaker 2: that's why I'm really hoping Yankees. But yeah, I also
Speaker 2: think from a fantasy perspective that on the Yankees he
Speaker 2: has a good chance of, like those numbers, keeping them
Speaker 2: up really high if they could bring in anyone else
Speaker 2: in that lineup to kind of help boost them, which
Speaker 2: I think they would if they got him. So I
Speaker 2: like him there, especially with the short porch. But it
Speaker 2: is yeah, like I said, as long I don't I
Speaker 2: would just prefer not being the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: So if it's the Dodgers, it's I mean, for a
Speaker 1: fantasy point of view, that would be amazing for want
Speaker 1: Soto's value. He might have one hundred and fifty runs
Speaker 1: and one hundred and forty RBI and god only knows
Speaker 1: what else he could put up in that lineup. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how they would arrange it. I would imagine
Speaker 1: he'd be baddened first or second, considering the on base prowess.
Speaker 1: But you could take those four names, saw them at
Speaker 1: the wall, and it wouldn't really matter how you come
Speaker 1: up with them one through four. It would be ridiculous. Now,
Speaker 1: I do think the Yankees need to really really push
Speaker 1: for getting want Soto back. Whether it's ten years, fifteen years,
Speaker 1: sign him until he's one hundred years old, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter because if he leaves, you got Aaron Judge who
Speaker 1: is on the wrong side of thirty, You got Jazz Chisholm,
Speaker 1: and then that's kind of it. Offensively, we saw them,
Speaker 1: even with Juan Soto this year, kind of struggle outside
Speaker 1: of the Sodo Judge incredible pairing. They kind of need
Speaker 1: to get him back, and that would also be, as
Speaker 1: we saw this past season, a really great fantasy spot
Speaker 1: for him in terms of the Mets. I don't know
Speaker 1: how great that would be in terms of the counting stats,
Speaker 1: especially if Pete a Lonzo were to leave. They're still
Speaker 1: Francisco Lindor. But I think we probably both agree that
Speaker 1: would be the weakest landing spot from a fantasy point
Speaker 1: of view.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent. I thought that too, where a
Speaker 2: Soto Lindor top of the order is formidable, But if
Speaker 2: they lose Alonso and they don't bring in somebody behind them,
Speaker 2: that's not the ideal spot for a fantasy. I mean,
Speaker 2: he would still be worth having, obviously, like Wansota's going
Speaker 2: to be worth having wherever he goes. But I would
Speaker 2: be way less excited if he was on the Mets
Speaker 2: just from that perspective.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's a first round pick regardless of
Speaker 1: which one of the thirty teams he ends up on.
Speaker 1: But I think if I were a betting man, and
Speaker 1: occasionally I am, I think that it's probably the Yankees.
Speaker 1: They're probably going to to just give him six hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars or something. But we'll have to
Speaker 1: see how that one plays out. Let's move on to
Speaker 1: Corbyn Burns unless we have anything else to add on Sodo.
Speaker 2: Nope, that's all I've got.
Speaker 1: So Corvin Burns had a fantastic season. Fifteen wins, one
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety four innings. He struck out one hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty one batters. It was a two ninety sixy ra,
Speaker 1: a one to ten whip. The thing with Burns is
Speaker 1: that his stuff numbers the stuff plus metrics that Enosaurus
Speaker 1: has that you can check them out on fangrafts, and
Speaker 1: the strikeout rates have gone down in each of the
Speaker 1: past four seasons. Makes me a little bit nervous from
Speaker 1: a fantasy point. Of view to really invest in Corbyn
Speaker 1: Burns some potential landing spots again, the Mets, the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: the Red Sox, the Orioles. What's your look on Corbyn
Speaker 1: Burns's landing spot and do you have any concern about
Speaker 1: some of the kind of bad trends we've seen from
Speaker 1: him over the last couple of years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have more concerns about him based on how
Speaker 2: kind of the last year went with especially those strikeout numbers,
Speaker 2: and even I know it sounds absurd, but even like
Speaker 2: that era was seemed just a little bit higher than
Speaker 2: what you know, you expect from him on a regular basis.
Speaker 2: So in this case, I think it does matter if
Speaker 2: which park he ends up in terms of home park
Speaker 2: for pitching and I so it's like I would rather
Speaker 2: he not go to the Red Sox. But yeah, I
Speaker 2: see him. I see him more as a Met than
Speaker 2: kind of anybody else I think, so that's where I
Speaker 2: would put him, But I have I definitely have concerns.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I would take him as like
Speaker 2: the first pitcher off the board or anything next year
Speaker 2: just because he's going to turn thirty, it's it's go
Speaker 2: in that direction.
Speaker 1: In my early rankings, and again it's the calendar. Just
Speaker 1: slipped in November. They're probably gonna be torn apart and redone.
Speaker 1: But he is like a borderline top ten pitcher for
Speaker 1: me right now. I could potentially move him outside of
Speaker 1: the top ten even and I think there's there will
Speaker 1: be people who are still in on him as a
Speaker 1: as a top five, top seven pitcher. I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: a huge problem with it. But you know, he threw
Speaker 1: one hundred and niney four nings. He didn't even meet
Speaker 1: that strikeout parading threshold. That is something to worry about.
Speaker 1: The ballpark will obviously also be a factor wherever he goes.
Speaker 1: I think if he stays in Baltimore, that would be
Speaker 1: what they probably need outside of him. And you know,
Speaker 1: they've got Grace Rodriguez who hasn't quite lived up to expectations.
Speaker 1: I believe Zach Efflin is still under contract. They have,
Speaker 1: you know, the building blocks for a good rotation, but
Speaker 1: I think Corvin Burns is kind of necessary if they
Speaker 1: want to continue at the pace they've been at for
Speaker 1: the last couple of years of ninety to one hundred wins,
Speaker 1: making it, you know, hopefully making it deep in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: I think they really should make a big push to
Speaker 1: bring him back. And of course that deep wall of
Speaker 1: Mount Baltimore, whatever you want to call it, in left field,
Speaker 1: certainly does help there from a pitching standpoint, for Corvin
Speaker 1: Burns and for everybody in Baltimore that's made it more
Speaker 1: of a much more pitcher friendly park over the last
Speaker 1: couple of seasons. But you are leading the Mets at
Speaker 1: this point.
Speaker 2: I'm leaning the Mets just because I feel like the
Speaker 2: way that the season went for them, where they were
Speaker 2: so good and then they were you know, where they
Speaker 2: were so bad and then they were so good, and
Speaker 2: I felt like when it got to the playoffs that
Speaker 2: pitching just you know, when they started, QUOTEA saying at
Speaker 2: one point like who hadn't pitched all season? Like, it's
Speaker 2: very important for them to lock down somebody that they
Speaker 2: can count on. And if nothing else, Burns has been
Speaker 2: pretty consistent at giving Indians I believe, so he fills
Speaker 2: that rotation guy really strongly for them. I can definitely
Speaker 2: see Baltimore doing it with kind of the same idea
Speaker 2: that they just didn't have. They didn't have a great
Speaker 2: rotation do exactly what they wanted it to do, and
Speaker 2: so bringing him back for the Grace and Rodriguez situation.
Speaker 2: And even though they you know, brought in Trevor Rodgers
Speaker 2: in the weirdest trade in history, I don't think he's
Speaker 2: going to be in there either. So yeah, I like
Speaker 2: him in Baltimore too, I think, but I don't like
Speaker 2: I said, I'm not a big fan of him going
Speaker 2: to the Red Sox. But you can tell Mike Meyer that.
Speaker 1: So that was one of the more puzzling trades at
Speaker 1: the deadline. I mean, Trevor Rodgers and Eloy him and
Speaker 1: Az didn't save their season. It's hard to be surprised
Speaker 1: by that. E Flynn was a pretty good pick up
Speaker 1: with them. But a couple of deadlines and row as
Speaker 1: a side note, that have been a little puzzling in Baltimore.
Speaker 1: I know, they acquire Jack Flaherty in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: That was kind of their big move before he kind
Speaker 1: of had his resurgence, and that didn't work out too
Speaker 1: well for them. So they're gonna have to start nailing
Speaker 1: these deadlines. And I do think they are gonna have
Speaker 1: to start nailing some of these free agents if they
Speaker 1: want to remain competitive in the American League East, where
Speaker 1: outside of Toronto, every team is probably going to be
Speaker 1: very good again next season. Then we saw what can
Speaker 1: happen down the stretch to a team like Baltimore. Even
Speaker 1: though they started off really well, they did have a
Speaker 1: pretty disappointing second half and a bit of an early
Speaker 1: exit from the postseason. Let's mention Roki Sazaki, who is
Speaker 1: I just saw a report the other day. I believe
Speaker 1: it was Kylie McDaniel who said that there is a
Speaker 1: strong likelihood that he is going to be posted, and surprise, surprise,
Speaker 1: the Dodgers are going to be the team that is
Speaker 1: very in on Roki Sazaki. Japanese players do tend to
Speaker 1: like playing on the West coast. He already has the
Speaker 1: Imamoto and Otani out there. It would make sense and
Speaker 1: it would be a rather scary thing, I think for
Speaker 1: major league batters. As amazingly is still just coming off
Speaker 1: of his age twenty two season. He had a two
Speaker 1: thirty five ERA in Japan last year over one hundred
Speaker 1: and eleven innings with one hundred and twenty nine strikeouts.
Speaker 1: His whip was one point zero three. He looks like
Speaker 1: even a slightly better version almost of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and
Speaker 1: quite a bit younger. Pretty scary thought of him potentially
Speaker 1: going to the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Kelly, Yes, and that is I think where I would
Speaker 2: put him too. I mean, like you said, they like
Speaker 2: to stay on the West coast a little bit more,
Speaker 2: and I mean, I don't know if you send Otani
Speaker 2: for a recruitment trip, like, who's going to say no
Speaker 2: to him? So it's and they've been scouting him super heavily.
Speaker 2: I was surprised to see. I mean, we were looking
Speaker 2: at a list from the Athletic as well, and I
Speaker 2: was surprised to see the Diamondbacks seem to be very
Speaker 2: very much in on him as well, which is kind
Speaker 2: of an interesting dark horse because you're still out in
Speaker 2: the west somewhere, so perhaps, but they have a much
Speaker 2: higher hill climb I think. So. Yeah. I couldn't get
Speaker 2: that he was twenty two, because I know that a
Speaker 2: lot of times coming out of the Japanese League, they're
Speaker 2: much older when they get posted, and so he would be.
Speaker 2: He would be in very interesting case studies, I think,
Speaker 2: for how Major League Baseball is going to interact with
Speaker 2: the MPB going forward.
Speaker 1: We just saw Yamamoto get the biggest ever pitching contract
Speaker 1: last season, and he's I think twenty nine or thirty
Speaker 1: years old. There's a good chance a Zaki is able
Speaker 1: to beat that on a per year basis, and even
Speaker 1: maybe on a term basis. If he gets signed to
Speaker 1: a fifteen year contract or something. It wouldn't really surprise me.
Speaker 1: It's like almost doubling his lifespan to this point in
Speaker 1: terms of the contract, almost, but it wouldn't surprise me really. Again,
Speaker 1: it's the same culprits. The Dodgers, the Mets, the Yankees, Boston.
Speaker 1: These are the teams that historically do spend, and you
Speaker 1: figure when a twenty two year old ace pops into
Speaker 1: the free agent market, they're going to do what they
Speaker 1: can to try and sign him. If I were to
Speaker 1: place money on this right now, I'd say he's probably
Speaker 1: going to go to the Dodgers. It just seems to
Speaker 1: be the most likely outcome at this point for Issazaki.
Speaker 1: We were going to talk about Garrett Cole, but he
Speaker 1: did opt back into his contract, so there's not really
Speaker 1: too much to discuss there. The Yankees didn't have much
Speaker 1: of a choice, even though Garrett Cole has some injury problems,
Speaker 1: some flash concerns, he's getting older. But without Garrett Cole
Speaker 1: in that rotation, I don't think there would be really
Speaker 1: much to talk about in New York. So no real
Speaker 1: surprise there, Kelly that they picked up the Garrett Cole option.
Speaker 1: Anything to add on him.
Speaker 2: I just I think it'll be really interesting to see
Speaker 2: where he goes and drafts for fantasy, given that his
Speaker 2: numbers have been if he and he. When he's good,
Speaker 2: he's good. When he's not good, he's not good, and
Speaker 2: you're again same age thing. How old was he? I
Speaker 2: forgot thirty four four? Yeah, so yeah, you're starting to
Speaker 2: really look at him, like how are people going to
Speaker 2: draft him based on name more than current level of talent?
Speaker 2: And it'll be interesting to see. But I always assumed
Speaker 2: he would just still be Yankee when it was all done.
Speaker 1: So yeah, the name value is going to push him
Speaker 1: up a little too high for my comfort level. I
Speaker 1: think I have him at like fifteen or sixteen, and
Speaker 1: I could make an argument that he should be top five.
Speaker 1: You could also make an argument that he should probably
Speaker 1: be like outside of the top twenty five. We're talking
Speaker 1: about the declining trends with Corbyn Burns. It's been kind
Speaker 1: of the same thing with Garrett Cole. His numbers are
Speaker 1: more closely resembling what he did in his late Pittsburgh era,
Speaker 1: early Houston era to some extent more so than what
Speaker 1: we've seen over the last five or so years. So
Speaker 1: a little bit of a decline. He's still probably going
Speaker 1: to be very solid, but not somebody that I really
Speaker 1: want to be taking in the first couple rounds where
Speaker 1: he's gone the last couple of seasons. I don't have
Speaker 1: early eightyp pulled up in front of me. There's like
Speaker 1: twenty or so drafts that have been completed. But you
Speaker 1: get the feeling that Garrett Cole is probably going to
Speaker 1: be a little too expensive for our taste.
Speaker 2: Again, yeah, I think so, And then you know, they'll
Speaker 2: make us look like fools if he does what he's
Speaker 2: what he has been doing. But I would imagine a
Speaker 2: lot of people in the industry are going to be
Speaker 2: down on him further than people outside of the industry.
Speaker 1: There's something to be said about those Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: superstar level talents where sometimes they just do things that
Speaker 1: aren't expected of Garrett One another sog Young next year,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be overly shocked by it, but I do
Speaker 1: think we are kind of on the back nine of
Speaker 1: his career at this point. Another pitcher who does have
Speaker 1: some injury concerns is also a free agent. That's Max Freed,
Speaker 1: coming off of a pretty solid year. There were a
Speaker 1: couple of ups and downs, but eleven wins, one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy four innings. He struck out one hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty six batters with a three twenty five a one
Speaker 1: sixteen whip. I think there's a decent chance he goes
Speaker 1: back to Atlanta, But from some conversations I've had with
Speaker 1: people who follow the Braves, they don't know that it's
Speaker 1: all that likely. Baltimore, New York, Boston are also potential
Speaker 1: landing spots in New York, as in the Mets there.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on Max Freed? He has dealt
Speaker 1: with four arm elbow problems each of the last few seasons.
Speaker 1: Would that give you any pause as a team looking
Speaker 1: to sign him and as a fantasy manager looking to
Speaker 1: draft him in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the left forearm neuritis never sounds good
Speaker 2: for a left handed pitcher. I have some concerns about him.
Speaker 2: I feel like he had a nice kind of bounce back,
Speaker 2: and he did come back from injury and he got
Speaker 2: up to that one one seventy four mark, so you know,
Speaker 2: he was able to he was he was able to
Speaker 2: kind of fight through it. But whenever somebody, whenever picture
Speaker 2: has an injury to that arm, I get a little
Speaker 2: bit nervous. And neritis is one of those words where
Speaker 2: you it's like, Okay, well we don't know exactly how
Speaker 2: feverar that means, and when it can like flare up,
Speaker 2: it can make it very difficult to assess. So I
Speaker 2: would I wouldn't have any concerns given what it'll take,
Speaker 2: I think to sign him, I wouldn't have too many concerns.
Speaker 2: But I do enjoy the salary comps that were compared
Speaker 2: for him were like people like Patrick Corbin and Tyler
Speaker 2: Glass now, and that's not really inspiring in terms of
Speaker 2: injury stuff. So yeah, I'm but I also think in
Speaker 2: terms of fantasy, he depending on where he lands. Again,
Speaker 2: you know, like he won't have a lot of win
Speaker 2: equity if he goes to somewhere that just doesn't have it.
Speaker 2: And Braves are a decent landing spot if they decide
Speaker 2: to resign him. But I see him landing in Boston
Speaker 2: for some reason.
Speaker 1: I think I could see that. I wouldn't love it
Speaker 1: from a ballpark standpoint, more one of the more hitter
Speaker 1: friendly ballparks. I think it's usually third, second to fourth
Speaker 1: kind of range if you look at stat cast park factors.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't be my favorite thing. From a fantasy point of view,
Speaker 1: I'd like to see him stick around in Atlanta. You're
Speaker 1: going to have a full powered lineup supposed to be
Speaker 1: a full powered lineup with Lacuna coming back. You know,
Speaker 1: Ozzie Albi's, Michael Harris, Austin Riley. All these guys missed
Speaker 1: time this season. He did still win eleven games, and
Speaker 1: double digit wins is not something that we can be
Speaker 1: so secure in with starting pitchers these days. Generally speaking,
Speaker 1: it's a win. But I would prefer to see him
Speaker 1: going back to Atlanta as opposed to going to the
Speaker 1: Mats or going to Boston. Baltimore would be kind of
Speaker 1: interesting as a landing spot. I'm not sure they'll open
Speaker 1: the books for him and carbon Burns. If they're going
Speaker 1: to sign a big starting pitcher, I'd imagine be one
Speaker 1: the other, and they probably would go more with the
Speaker 1: incumbent there and burns. But somebody that I do kind
Speaker 1: of worry about. I did a show last preseason again
Speaker 1: talking about Enosaurus, and he was reading off some stats
Speaker 1: about the recurrence of elbow and four arm injuries, and
Speaker 1: once you have one, especially if you have multiple, the
Speaker 1: recurrence is like eighty percent or something. So I feel
Speaker 1: like there will come a time when Free does need
Speaker 1: Tommy John surgery and we'll need to miss a lot
Speaker 1: of the season. I kind of factored that into early rankings.
Speaker 1: I haven't in like the low twenties right now, which
Speaker 1: probably is a lot lower than a lot of people
Speaker 1: just generally perceive Max Free to be. But I am
Speaker 1: a little bit worried about that arm holding up for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And you know one thing that I always talk
Speaker 2: about or just believe I guess in my own is is, well,
Speaker 2: you can't predict injury. You can't say, oh this is
Speaker 2: you know, anyone can get injured at any time. I
Speaker 2: do think there are you have to pay some attention
Speaker 2: to little things like this where it does exist. And
Speaker 2: I think he does have a higher he has a
Speaker 2: higher inclination. I think for an arm issue than a
Speaker 2: few some other pitchers. So it's okay to take injury
Speaker 2: into account in situations like this.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Yeah, I think he'll still get paid
Speaker 1: because of a pitcher who I mean, if you look
Speaker 1: at his track record, just if you just forget about
Speaker 1: the injury problems and his look at the scoreboards these
Speaker 1: last six seven years, every year pretty much he's right
Speaker 1: around the three era. He's winning double legit games. He's
Speaker 1: been a workhorse, and I think that will get him paid,
Speaker 1: even though I think we're both maybe a little bit
Speaker 1: nervous about what that can potentially look like. Before we
Speaker 1: keep going, we got a special offer for you guys
Speaker 1: right now. You can unlock a free month of Betting
Speaker 1: Pros Premium when you download the Betting Pros app and
Speaker 1: use that promo code FP free. So FP free. Baseball
Speaker 1: might be done for now, but there are tons of football, basketball,
Speaker 1: and hockey games to be betting on. Get access to
Speaker 1: tools like the same gay Arla tool, the prop bet Analyzer,
Speaker 1: and the Prize Picks prop bet cheat sheet. Don't miss
Speaker 1: out try it for one month for f free.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: It's available on iOS and Android, and once again that
Speaker 1: code is FP free, Kelly, Let's keep it going. We've
Speaker 1: mentioned him already once or twice, and Pee Alonso is
Speaker 1: next on our list. He had a pretty solid season
Speaker 1: ninety one runs, eighty eight, Ribby's thirty four home runs
Speaker 1: two thirty seven. Batting average wasn't so so great. I
Speaker 1: think it was kind of a little bit lesser than
Speaker 1: what we were expecting, and there wasn't. It's funny because
Speaker 1: there was a contract offer that he had. I think
Speaker 1: it was like seven years, one hundred and sixty some
Speaker 1: odd million before this season. I don't know that he's
Speaker 1: going to get that number now. Some of the potential
Speaker 1: landing spots are the Mets, Seattle, the Yankees, even the
Speaker 1: Nationals were listed in that article. What are your thoughts
Speaker 1: on p Alonzo? Is he going to be able to
Speaker 1: recoup what he was offered? I believe it was before
Speaker 1: this season. Is there any real reason to be concerned
Speaker 1: about his landing spot or his fantasy value going forward?
Speaker 1: As far as you see it.
Speaker 2: I'm not as concerned about him, but I don't know,
Speaker 2: aside from being represented by Boris, I'm not sure if
Speaker 2: he'll be able to get that back. Like I understand
Speaker 2: wanting to test the market, and I think in terms
Speaker 2: of power, bats and first basement, it's a little it's
Speaker 2: he's kind of the one that's out there, if I
Speaker 2: remember correctly, But so I feel like he's got that power.
Speaker 2: His average is right where I expected it to be,
Speaker 2: just because he was so low last year or and
Speaker 2: kind of split the difference between the years before. But
Speaker 2: I think he has forty home run potential pretty much everywhere. Obviously,
Speaker 2: if he lands somewhere with a nice outfield like the Yankees,
Speaker 2: then you've got it. The Mariners would be the worst
Speaker 2: of the landing spots just from a power perspective, but
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have any issue. Like the way I always
Speaker 2: look at him is you're drafting him for three categories,
Speaker 2: and as long as you keep in mind you're drafting
Speaker 2: him for three categories, then you probably won't be disappointed.
Speaker 1: Seattle would not be something that I love from the
Speaker 1: power perspective. I think he's strong enough to negate a
Speaker 1: lot of that. But still, even if it would have
Speaker 1: been maybe forty two home run somewhere else, it might
Speaker 1: be thirty five, thirty six in Seattle. You're also looking
Speaker 1: at a team that struggled, even just outside of the ballpark.
Speaker 1: Their lineup was atrocious last season. Julio struggled, everybody struggled.
Speaker 1: Now you got Randy Rosorina in town, which does help out.
Speaker 1: But he's also a guy who struggled last season. Wouldn't
Speaker 1: be my favorite choice. I mean, hell, I'm a Blue
Speaker 1: Jay fan, I'm an Al East fan. If he goes
Speaker 1: to the Yankees, I'm probably gonna cry a little bit,
Speaker 1: especially if Sodo goes back there. But in terms of
Speaker 1: the potential landing spots, that might be the most favorable.
Speaker 1: If you're getting him right behind Judge and Soto, you
Speaker 1: might be looking at one hundred and twenty hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty RBI. Well, the Yankee spend to that extent hasn't
Speaker 1: been their mo in recent years. But when a guy
Speaker 1: like Alonzo's on the market, if you can get him,
Speaker 1: that would be probably pretty wise for the Yankees to
Speaker 1: at least pursue that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can see them kind of checking in on him. Again,
Speaker 2: I don't. I would guess he's going to go obviously
Speaker 2: where the most money in the most years are, and
Speaker 2: independent of anything else, the Yankee I feel like, yeah,
Speaker 2: if they throw the whole thing at Soto. I don't
Speaker 2: think they would be willing to throw another whole thing
Speaker 2: at at Alonzo, which, like you said, as an Alias fan,
Speaker 2: I don't think anyone wants that because that would be
Speaker 2: kind of a frightening lineup as well, kind of that
Speaker 2: foursome that you don't want to deal with. But from
Speaker 2: a fantasy perspective, you know, either New York I think
Speaker 2: is a good landing spot for him.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, he's shown that he could be productive in
Speaker 1: the Mets lineup. There's a familiarity aspect there. Yeah, either
Speaker 1: one of the New York lineups would probably be the
Speaker 1: best estimation. I've seen kind of a mixed bag of
Speaker 1: responses to him potentially going back to New York from
Speaker 1: the Mets people I follow on Twitter, they seem to
Speaker 1: be kind of they don't want to pay him for
Speaker 1: his declining years in his thirties. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: you know, thirty five home runs, Hunter and RBI don't
Speaker 1: just grow on trees, and as a team that would
Speaker 1: really really need to fill that hole if he were
Speaker 1: to go somewhere else, or some potential other players on
Speaker 1: this list we're going probably going to that could be
Speaker 1: that person, but I think the Mets should should really
Speaker 1: push the chips forward to try and get Pete Alonso back.
Speaker 1: Alex Bregman is another guy here about what we were
Speaker 1: expecting this season, maybe slightly less in terms of the
Speaker 1: counting stats. Seventy nine runs, seventy five RBI, but still
Speaker 1: had twenty six home runs. He still batted to sixty.
Speaker 1: There's been some kind of cute quotes in the media
Speaker 1: from Scott Boris the last couple of days, making some
Speaker 1: jokes from some jokes about his clients with Bregman and
Speaker 1: with Pete Alonzo. Now the potential landing spots Houston, the Yankees,
Speaker 1: the Nationals have popped up a couple of times on
Speaker 1: this list, Seattle, Detroit. I think he probably goes back
Speaker 1: to Houston, but I don't have a great feel for
Speaker 1: the market on Alex Bregman at this point. He probably
Speaker 1: hasn't been exactly what people were expecting over the last
Speaker 1: couple of seasons. He had that amazing MVP worthy year
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen I think it was, and then over
Speaker 1: the last few years hasn't been bad by any means,
Speaker 1: but hasn't really been an out standing player either. Where
Speaker 1: are you on Bregman. Do you think he'll end up
Speaker 1: going back to Houston or will he potentially go to
Speaker 1: one of these other markets?
Speaker 2: I think if I feel like, if Houston wants him,
Speaker 2: they'll make a solid offer and he will have to
Speaker 2: kind of decide if he wants to move on from them,
Speaker 2: which I haven't seen anything that says that he wants to. However,
Speaker 2: we also know that Houston has no problem letting free
Speaker 2: agents walk no matter how long they've been in an organization,
Speaker 2: and with Bregman mean thirty, I can kind of I
Speaker 2: can see the Astros deciding they're going to get younger
Speaker 2: and kind of build around Jordan and Tucker and start
Speaker 2: over with a few people. So I feel like, I
Speaker 2: don't know. I feel like the Nationals are an interesting
Speaker 2: landing spot for him, The Tigers are an interesting landing
Speaker 2: spot for him. I don't really have a strong desire
Speaker 2: like to have him in fantasy just because I feel
Speaker 2: like he's a I feel like he usually goes too
Speaker 2: high for the production that he's giving you. But he's
Speaker 2: also the type of player that will beat you, like
Speaker 2: randomly every week that you play against him, and you'll
Speaker 2: think why don't I draft Alex Bregman. So I find
Speaker 2: him to be a very infuriating fantasy player sometimes obviously,
Speaker 2: like if he goes to Detroit, that's not a hitters park.
Speaker 2: If you go Seattle, the same thing. Staying in Houston
Speaker 2: I think has the best fantasy impact other than again,
Speaker 2: the Yankees, but that kind of goes without saying at
Speaker 2: this point, if everybody lands with the Yankees, then that
Speaker 2: is a boost for all of their value.
Speaker 1: Yeah, with the park, and then you know, especially if
Speaker 1: Soto goes back there, then you just add around them
Speaker 1: in that lineup. Anybody who gets added to that lineup
Speaker 1: is looking pretty pretty damn interesting. In terms of Bregman,
Speaker 1: there was I think it was Jose al Tuve or
Speaker 1: some member of the Astros right when the season ended
Speaker 1: that was making kind of a public plea to re
Speaker 1: sign him. Forget if it was al Toovey, I think
Speaker 1: it was al Tuve. There are I think he is
Speaker 1: wanted by his teammates. They do want him back. However
Speaker 1: much of an impact that has, I'm not sure, but
Speaker 1: keeping your superstars happy he generally is a good thing.
Speaker 1: If they're happy playing with Bregman, having him as their
Speaker 1: third basement and still giving you decent production. There's a
Speaker 1: good chance that they listen to their stars and bring
Speaker 1: him back for fantasy. I always find that he gets
Speaker 1: pushed up a little bit because of the perceived scarcity
Speaker 1: at third base. All the position drives up. I got
Speaker 1: to take somebody, and then Bregman ends up going same
Speaker 1: thing with like Nolan Arnado the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: he ends up going a little bit earlier than he
Speaker 1: probably should. I don't think he should be a top
Speaker 1: hundred pick at this point. If he's in Houston, he's
Speaker 1: probably borderline. But I agree with you that he's kind
Speaker 1: of a frustrating player to roster, especially in head to head,
Speaker 1: because you do get weeks where it is okay, he
Speaker 1: went one for seventeen, and then the next week he
Speaker 1: goes nine for fifteen and hit three home runs. It's
Speaker 1: like what what? What are we doing? So he is a
Speaker 1: bit of a polarizing player for sure, especially as he
Speaker 1: enters into his thirties. He's already in his thirties, I believe,
Speaker 1: but you're not looking at amazing production going forward. But
Speaker 1: I think, especially if he's back in Houston, you're still
Speaker 1: getting solid third base production, and you know, there is
Speaker 1: something to be said about the position not being super deep.
Speaker 1: So I don't hate him as long as the price
Speaker 1: is and get pushed up too too much, right yep.
Speaker 2: And I think if he goes back to Houston, whose
Speaker 2: price will probably remain pretty much where it needs to be.
Speaker 2: If he goes to the Yankees, he'll get too expensive
Speaker 2: in ten seconds or less. So yeah, it's I'm almost
Speaker 2: always out on Bregman, but I don't begrudge people who
Speaker 2: want that type of player in their lineup. And like
Speaker 2: you said, third base it's a weird position. They felt
Speaker 2: like last year it was deeper than what people thought
Speaker 2: it was, and because you could find them out there
Speaker 2: until all the injuries hit and then all of a
Speaker 2: sudden it was you know, who has third base ability?
Speaker 2: Is there a catcher that has it? Like I mean,
Speaker 2: it got a little ugly for a while.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it would be interesting to see what they do
Speaker 1: with Jazz if he does go to New York, because
Speaker 1: then they'd have to find out if they want to
Speaker 1: put him back on the outfield or maybe stick them
Speaker 1: back at second base or something. They need to do
Speaker 1: some mixing and matching. If that were the case, but
Speaker 1: it's one of those good problems that teams have. Should
Speaker 1: they sign Alex Bregmant potentially, Let's talk Blake Snell, who
Speaker 1: did have a bit of an abbreviated year, missed a
Speaker 1: little bit of time at the beginning. He was a
Speaker 1: late signing. I think it was I think spring training
Speaker 1: had actually started before Blake Snell had put pen to
Speaker 1: paper on a contract. But what he did was excellent.
Speaker 1: He had a three twelve Vira, a one zero five
Speaker 1: whip and a thirty five percent strikeout rate. It's Fanny Kelly.
Speaker 1: If you look at his cy Young season, then you
Speaker 1: look at this past year. He was actually better this
Speaker 1: year in terms of a lot of those era estimators,
Speaker 1: in terms of the command, in terms of a lot
Speaker 1: of things. There was actually a step up from what
Speaker 1: he did when he won his second cy Young the
Speaker 1: previous season. Again, the landing spots stopped me. If you've
Speaker 1: heard this one before. The Yankees, the Orioles, the Mets,
Speaker 1: Atlanta and San Francisco are the probables here. Do you
Speaker 1: think he'll go back to San Francisco? Is there a
Speaker 1: chance that he goes somewhere else where? Are you at
Speaker 1: on Blake Snell at this point.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, can we just take a moment
Speaker 2: and get really excited that he pitched into the eighth
Speaker 2: inneen for the first time ever in his career this year,
Speaker 2: and I think he did it twice. Yeah, So if
Speaker 2: he's not parlaying that into a bigger contract, then they're
Speaker 2: just doing it wrong. But yeah, I mean, I guess
Speaker 2: I see him going back to the Giants, so I
Speaker 2: feel like it's that's such a friendly ballpark for him,
Speaker 2: and like you said, he improved on so many of
Speaker 2: his metrics that I think that he would see that
Speaker 2: as a as a positive place to land. I do. However,
Speaker 2: you know, again, he's going to follow the money wherever
Speaker 2: that takes him. On the Orioles would be interesting, but
Speaker 2: I can also see him on the braves. Those are
Speaker 2: kind of the three that make the most sense to me.
Speaker 2: I don't know how long of a contract he's going
Speaker 2: to get because of his track record being so up
Speaker 2: and down and all over the place. I've seen some
Speaker 2: that are like, let's you know in five six years.
Speaker 2: I've seen some that are like, no way as anybody
Speaker 2: going to go more than three. But you know, you
Speaker 2: get a full season out of him, I think he
Speaker 2: would be worth a pickup for pretty much anyone.
Speaker 1: The thing with Blake's now the last couple of years
Speaker 1: is the start of the season have been they've been awful,
Speaker 1: and then he picks it up in the second half
Speaker 1: and he's been just fantastic. Any concern from a fantasy
Speaker 1: point of view about trusting him, maybe, especially if you're
Speaker 1: looking at head to have leagues where maybe he turns
Speaker 1: it around in August, but you might have lost your
Speaker 1: playoff spot if you trusted him as your first starting pitcher.
Speaker 1: You never know what the year is gonna bring. But
Speaker 1: each of the last two seasons really poor starts where
Speaker 1: people have even debated dropping him, and then he's turned
Speaker 1: into a cy young worthy pitcher. Each had lost two seasons.
Speaker 1: So how does that factor into you drafting him next
Speaker 1: year for fantasy?
Speaker 2: Well, I have a tendency to never draft Blake Snell,
Speaker 2: and I know I said that about Bregman too, But
Speaker 2: it's funny that we fell on both of those guys
Speaker 2: so close together, because I hate rostering either one of
Speaker 2: them for different reasons. If you can get him as
Speaker 2: your sp two, I think that it's worth it if
Speaker 2: you have a solid as people like, if you're gonna
Speaker 2: if you're gonna do pocket aces as a strategy, Okay,
Speaker 2: Like I mean I would still want a better race
Speaker 2: for my second one, but if you want to get
Speaker 2: to kind of higher octane guys, but you have one
Speaker 2: that's much much more solid and much more reliable early
Speaker 2: in the season, once you have a track record like
Speaker 2: he does. Yeah, as long I mean, as long as
Speaker 2: you draft him knowing that it's going to get ugly
Speaker 2: and he's going to have some like nine walk starts
Speaker 2: where you just don't understand what happened. But I would
Speaker 2: be more willing to draft him if he goes back
Speaker 2: to the Giants, I think, than almost anywhere else. So
Speaker 2: that's that would that's going to influence my decision a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we can't forget about the injuries, the
Speaker 1: year in year out inconsistencies. I only drafted him one
Speaker 1: time last year, and I did I think eighteen leagues
Speaker 1: and it was coming close to draft season. It was
Speaker 1: like in March when he fell around or two because
Speaker 1: he was unsigned, and I figured, okay, getting a bit
Speaker 1: of a discount, I'll draft him. It did work out.
Speaker 1: But I am in agreement with you that he's not
Speaker 1: somebody that's generally a target for me. There just some
Speaker 1: quote unquote safer options, although who is safe among starting
Speaker 1: pitchers at this point you never know, but perceived safer
Speaker 1: options that I can get in the similar kind of
Speaker 1: range as Blake SNeW and I feel like what he
Speaker 1: did in the second half is going to have him
Speaker 1: a little bit out of my price range, probably depending
Speaker 1: on landing spot, but as of now, I think he's
Speaker 1: he's going to be a costant, a pretty penny come March,
Speaker 1: come February March, whenever you guys are starting to get
Speaker 1: into your drafts. Freddy Peralta is another guy who is
Speaker 1: a little bit polarizing for me. He had a fine season.
Speaker 1: It was nothing to flow you away though three sixty
Speaker 1: eight Era one twenty one whip. He did reach two
Speaker 1: hundred strikeouts, which is a big deal. Still had a
Speaker 1: great strikeout rate. Now the Brewers have a team option.
Speaker 1: I think it's twenty two million. I think they're probably
Speaker 1: going to pick this one up. I haven't seen any
Speaker 1: news since we started recording earlier today that they did
Speaker 1: pick it up, but I think Kelly the likelihood is
Speaker 1: Freddy Peralta ends up back in Milwaukee.
Speaker 2: Yeah, his team option is actually only eight million, so
Speaker 2: I think for sure while headed back there. Yeah, because
Speaker 2: on free agency he would he would make significantly more
Speaker 2: than that. But he's kind of in the I include
Speaker 2: him in the in the Blake Snell chat where when
Speaker 2: he misses, he misses bad. But I don't mind him
Speaker 2: as an SP two either, So he'll be back in Milwaukee.
Speaker 2: I don't mind that as a landing spot for him, so,
Speaker 2: but yeah, I can't see them passing them up for
Speaker 2: eight million.
Speaker 1: I was looking at the yearly value of his contract
Speaker 1: at this point, which had been twenty two so forgive
Speaker 1: me there. Yeah, but I think Freddy Peralta is ninety
Speaker 1: nine point nine percent chance to be pitching in a
Speaker 1: Brewers jerrasey once again, although they do love to piss
Speaker 1: off their pitchers. Corbyn Burns last year declined the option,
Speaker 1: Devin Williams this year. I think it was over a
Speaker 1: million bucks. Again, they do like to make some business
Speaker 1: decisions that are not generally player friendly, But I do
Speaker 1: think Freddy Perlta is pretty much a lock to go
Speaker 1: back somebody who had one of the bigger surprise kind
Speaker 1: of breakouts this year for me was Anthony Santander. Forty
Speaker 1: four home runs, one hundred and two RBI. He scored
Speaker 1: ninety one times. The batting average wasn't too pretty at
Speaker 1: two thirty five, but you don't really care considering you
Speaker 1: got forty four homers and one hundred and two. Riviis
Speaker 1: probably going back to Baltimore if I had to place
Speaker 1: money on it. But some of the other potential landing
Speaker 1: spots are Washington, Cincinnati, Toronto, and Seattle. He goes to Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: that might be a fifty home run season, Kelly, But
Speaker 1: what are you thinking right now on Santander in terms
Speaker 1: of landing spot and in terms of your interest level
Speaker 1: heading into draft season?
Speaker 2: You know, I ended up drafting him a lot of
Speaker 2: places last year without a lot of interest in him.
Speaker 2: I feel like he fell to me a fair amount,
Speaker 2: and I thought, oh, he has like thirty homer possibility.
Speaker 2: Like in my head, I was just like, okay, thirty
Speaker 2: home runs and he's in a decent lineup, So popping
Speaker 2: forty four was just that was just a bonus on
Speaker 2: top of a bonus. But I see him going back
Speaker 2: to Baltimore. But the fantasy player and me wants him
Speaker 2: to go to Cincinnati really badly. So if he does that,
Speaker 2: I would bump him up a fairmount just yeah, because
Speaker 2: like you said, I think it would be worth around
Speaker 2: probably six to seven more home runs.
Speaker 1: So if you were to go to Seattle, though, I mean,
Speaker 1: and that would not be my favorite thing. I think
Speaker 1: in all likelihood it's probably Baltimore. But it is interesting
Speaker 1: to see Washington. And again we're using some data from
Speaker 1: the athletic and from MLB trade rumors, it seems like
Speaker 1: Washington could be an interesting team this this winter in
Speaker 1: terms of maybe picking off one or two big names.
Speaker 1: Do you think this is just, you know, maybe some speculation.
Speaker 1: Do you think there might actually be some some smoke
Speaker 1: to the fire here.
Speaker 2: I feel like in some ways the Baltimore players get
Speaker 2: linked to Washington. I don't know if it's a geography thing,
Speaker 2: but it seems like that's they get tossed in a
Speaker 2: lot with the two teams. But I think Washington has
Speaker 2: the ability, like if they decide that they're going to
Speaker 2: not go all in, but if they're going to go
Speaker 2: partially in starting like this year and hoping that some
Speaker 2: development of the players that they've gotten through trades elsewhere
Speaker 2: continues to development. I could see them going after him,
Speaker 2: you know, he's thirty. But with hitters, I don't worry
Speaker 2: about it quite so much as quickly anyway. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I think the Nationals are a relevant team in his case,
Speaker 2: but I think I think it'll be the Orioles so
Speaker 2: not the Mariners.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't love it unless the Mariners
Speaker 1: do get a few pieces, and then you can think
Speaker 1: they'll play off of each other. If they get Alonso
Speaker 1: and Santander, adding into Julio and Randy Rosarana, you figure, Okay,
Speaker 1: the ballpark factors will be offset by the talent in
Speaker 1: the lineup. But I don't wish Seattle's ballpark upon anybody.
Speaker 1: They're just unless you're a pitcher, of course, and then
Speaker 1: it's like it's pitching Mecca. But I mean, in terms
Speaker 1: of hitters, you can't really do too much in Seattle
Speaker 1: unless you are just super super talented. With the way
Speaker 1: that the factors have gone over the last couple of seasons, specifically,
Speaker 1: last year was a dark year to roster Mariners hitters.
Speaker 1: Let's talk Willia Domas, who also had maybe not a
Speaker 1: breakout year, because he's had seasons that could be called
Speaker 1: breakout years in the past. But thirty two home runs,
Speaker 1: he stole, twenty one bases, one hundred and twelve RBI
Speaker 1: he hit two fifty one, which you'll absolutely take the Dodgers, Brewers, Braves.
Speaker 1: I've even heard the Blue Jays potentially thrown into the
Speaker 1: mix here as options. The Dodgers do seem to be
Speaker 1: the team that has He just seemed to be linked
Speaker 1: more to the Dodgers than any other team that I've
Speaker 1: seen so far, and it does feel like that's the
Speaker 1: way the wind is blowing that LEAs is going to
Speaker 1: be in California next year.
Speaker 2: Kelly, I agree with you. That's everything that I've read
Speaker 2: about him kind of heads that direction, and yeah, he
Speaker 2: would slot right in the left side of that in
Speaker 2: field pretty easily. And you know, again with them, they
Speaker 2: have all of the same problems where like where do
Speaker 2: you want to play Mookie? I guess you can play
Speaker 2: what seven spots and you bring Adamis in. It's like
Speaker 2: his strikeout pros prowess is infuriating sometimes, but the amount
Speaker 2: of pop you get from a guy with shortstop eligibility
Speaker 2: in that situation. I like him in the National League.
Speaker 2: If he stays with the Brewers, I'm good with that too.
Speaker 2: But I think he'll be like you said, I think
Speaker 2: he'll be on the West coast somewhere. Ironically, they haven't
Speaker 2: been tied to him at all. But I did read
Speaker 2: yesterday about the Padres how they might ironically need a
Speaker 2: short step, even though like two years ago they had
Speaker 2: like eight short steps on the roster. Are so I
Speaker 2: wonder if they might come in as a dark horse,
Speaker 2: depending on like what the market is shaping up for
Speaker 2: Adamis to be. But I would guess Dodgers.
Speaker 1: If I had to, Padres would be hilarious, like their
Speaker 1: whole roster of shortstops Tatiast Merrill, Kim. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think Machado was initially a short stop like everybody. Everybody
Speaker 1: was once a short stop, and then they eventually have
Speaker 1: a different, different place to play on the field. It
Speaker 1: works out though, it tends to work out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: look at Jackson Merrill. He moves off a shortstop and
Speaker 1: then he puts up one of the one of the
Speaker 1: best rookie seasons we've seen in a long time, so
Speaker 1: good that he may even dethrone Paul Skins for the
Speaker 1: Rookie the Year, but that's the show for another day.
Speaker 1: Marcelo Zuna was also on our outline, but it looks
Speaker 1: like his club auption is going to be picked up
Speaker 1: if if it hasn't been already, I think they'd be
Speaker 1: crazy not to take back a forty home run, three
Speaker 1: hundred hitter with a one fifty four WRC. Plus he
Speaker 1: was a player in a half last year. I'd imagine
Speaker 1: he's going back to Atlantic.
Speaker 2: Kelly, Yes, yeah, I think they've already exercised it, or
Speaker 2: they will for sure. Yeah, So yeah, he'll be there,
Speaker 2: and it makes sense like we said he was. He
Speaker 2: was a in the draft this season, so next year
Speaker 2: he'll the price will be much higher for him. But
Speaker 2: he still has tons and tons of power.
Speaker 1: So well, the utility only designation keep him off of
Speaker 1: your teams or is that something that we just don't
Speaker 1: need to worry about as much anymore, considering Ow Tawny
Speaker 1: and Rooker and everybody else is going to be just
Speaker 1: utility eligible. Is it something that you're going to factor
Speaker 1: in a lot? No?
Speaker 2: I Actually I've been writing the outfielder profiles and that
Speaker 2: was one of the things I say is I'm like,
Speaker 2: when you have a hitter like that, that's quote unquote
Speaker 2: clogging your utility spot. Like let let him clog it.
Speaker 2: It's fine, Like just pretend he's got second base, Like
Speaker 2: it's just one part spot in your roster, and that's
Speaker 2: just where they are. So you're not gonna you're not
Speaker 2: gonna regret having them. Just don't draft too many of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't even draft two of them, depending on
Speaker 1: you more some of them. Yeah, something you can just
Speaker 1: start one and there's something to look out for. Even
Speaker 1: with Brent Rooker, who I think he'll get outfield back
Speaker 1: initially or eventually, but initially he's going to be utility
Speaker 1: only depending on where you play because they different games
Speaker 1: played thresholds, But just something to be aware of as
Speaker 1: you're drafting your teams. If you draft Otani, then that
Speaker 1: kind of that kind of takes care of the utility
Speaker 1: spot for you.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Christian Walker is another name that is headed to free agency.
Speaker 1: Seventy two runs, twenty six homers, eighty four ribbies in
Speaker 1: a two point fifty one batting average, not quite to
Speaker 1: the same level as the past couple of seasons, but
Speaker 1: still very very good production at a pretty weak first
Speaker 1: base position. Diamondbacks should probably do what they can to
Speaker 1: get him back, but I'm also saying the Astros, Yankees,
Speaker 1: and Mets that are linked to him. What's your prediction
Speaker 1: with Christian Walker? Is he going to be back in Arizona?
Speaker 1: And what's your interest level?
Speaker 2: I love Christian Walker. Every year I go on at
Speaker 2: least two podcasts and talk about how no one drafts
Speaker 2: him and everyone should. His oblique injury last year kind
Speaker 2: of a little dent in that. But I think I
Speaker 2: think he'll end up in Houston. The Diamondbacks will make
Speaker 2: a push for him, but I think the Diamonbacks are
Speaker 2: going to look a little bit harder at pitching in
Speaker 2: free agency than so I can see him in Houston.
Speaker 2: I've also seen him link to Seattle, but again, like
Speaker 2: it's kind of those same teams where you know what
Speaker 2: you and Seattle can use him, but if he goes
Speaker 2: there again, you're just kind of in a weird like
Speaker 2: hitter's graveyard. And so I'd much prefer that he is
Speaker 2: in Houston and having him bat behind Tucker and Alvarez
Speaker 2: would be that would be a really good landing spot
Speaker 2: for him.
Speaker 1: I think Houston would be the best, although Arizona's offense
Speaker 1: last year was the best in baseball, so I don't
Speaker 1: think it would be bad necessarily, But yeah, either one
Speaker 1: of those two teams would probably be the preferred landing spot.
Speaker 1: If he goes to the Mets, you'd figure that would
Speaker 1: be a replacement for Pete Alonso, so they'll probably wait
Speaker 1: for that domino to fall. And then the Yankees, of course,
Speaker 1: who are in on probably everybody this offseason, as they
Speaker 1: probably should be considering what happened to them this year
Speaker 1: the World Series going the way it did. I think
Speaker 1: they're probably gonna not want to be embarrassed like that again,
Speaker 1: and they have the money to spend, so we'll see
Speaker 1: if they end up spending it. We had Cody Bellinger
Speaker 1: on the sheet, but he did off back into his contract,
Speaker 1: so no need to really talk about him much. Shane
Speaker 1: Bieber is also on the list, just two starts. He
Speaker 1: looked like the steel of draft season for the first
Speaker 1: couple of weeks and then Tommy John surgery, so I
Speaker 1: don't think he'll be back until probably a couple months
Speaker 1: into the season. But some potential landing spots Cleveland, the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: the Rangers, who are in on every pitcher coming off
Speaker 1: of injury. It seems at this point, what's your prediction
Speaker 1: for Shane bieber Kelly? Where do you think he'll end
Speaker 1: up at? What's your interest level heading in the next
Speaker 1: year as well?
Speaker 2: I don't have a ton of interest level unless he's
Speaker 2: like again, the discount would have to be really high
Speaker 2: because when he pitched it, like he said, he looked good.
Speaker 2: But that's just a few different arm injuries. I think
Speaker 2: for him that would scare me off. I can see
Speaker 2: Cleveland going back after him, But like you said, the
Speaker 2: Rangers have this very weird infatuation with with pitchers coming
Speaker 2: off of injuries, and you would think that, you know,
Speaker 2: the one that they most recently did would kind of
Speaker 2: deter them from that, but they don't seem to care,
Speaker 2: So I can see him landing in there too.
Speaker 1: If I were to throw money, I'd say probably Cleveland,
Speaker 1: but it's a bit of a toss up. Considering the
Speaker 1: injury timeline, I think he'll probably miss the first like
Speaker 1: two months of the season, although people are coming back
Speaker 1: sooner and sooner. From Tommy John it seems like it
Speaker 1: was fifteen sixteen months, and then it was thirteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: and now it's just over a year, so you never know,
Speaker 1: but he won't be ready to start the season. I
Speaker 1: think that's something that we can be pretty assured of.
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of other free agents here, Kelly, and
Speaker 1: we are pushing up against the clock. So I want
Speaker 1: to throw it to you, is there anybody else on
Speaker 1: this list, whether it's Jack Flaherty, Sean and Ayah Walker Buehler,
Speaker 1: who else is somebody that you're gonna be keeping an
Speaker 1: eye on over the next couple of weeks and months
Speaker 1: as free agency really gets.
Speaker 2: Going in earnest, I have a lot of I have
Speaker 2: some weird interest in Bueller, and I also want to
Speaker 2: am excited to see where tay Oscar Hernandez lands. I
Speaker 2: think because he doesn't right you know, he doesn't havetion.
Speaker 2: He he came out of not didn't come out of nowhere,
Speaker 2: but he just got in the right lineup. And and
Speaker 2: so Fernandez lands in another lineup like that, or goes
Speaker 2: back to the Dodgers, like I feel like you got
Speaker 2: to move him up the ways just because he seems
Speaker 2: to he seems to play well, or with the team
Speaker 2: around him, or he plays down if the team around
Speaker 2: him is doing nothing, but always call him in the
Speaker 2: home run call contest when he's facing a lefty and
Speaker 2: and like I, like I said, I have a thing
Speaker 2: with Walker Buehler. I just feel like he has so
Speaker 2: much talent and he's not He just hasn't like put
Speaker 2: it all together. And I'm not saying that I think
Speaker 2: that he will put it all together, but I'm just
Speaker 2: wondering if, like maybe, given how he performed in the
Speaker 2: World Series, like maybe there's a little bit of a
Speaker 2: renaissance coming. But I'm shocked that he's thirty, so I
Speaker 2: would have put him. I think in my brain he'll
Speaker 2: just always be like twenty three. So you know, so
Speaker 2: that those are the two that I have the most interesting.
Speaker 1: How about you, well, Buehler is I mean, what he
Speaker 1: did in the playoffs was just so night and day
Speaker 1: from what we've seen from him this year, you know,
Speaker 1: a couple of Tommy John's no more sticky stuff. You
Speaker 1: wonder if he'll ever fully get back to where he was.
Speaker 1: But I feel like we got that glimmer of hope
Speaker 1: in the playoffs that yes, old Walker Bueller still exists.
Speaker 1: He's not dead. He is still there, even though I
Speaker 1: would have never expected to see that kind of production
Speaker 1: from him. Again, I personally would have told you three
Speaker 1: weeks ago that he's cooked, he's done, there's nothing left there,
Speaker 1: but definitely some promise, And I wonder if that will
Speaker 1: really push him up draft boards because people just remember,
Speaker 1: you know, what have you done for me lately? Is
Speaker 1: kind of the big thing in a lot of fantasy sports.
Speaker 1: Baseball is no different. People will remember those those outings
Speaker 1: over the final couple weeks of the season, and maybe
Speaker 1: he gets pushed up a little bit too high, but
Speaker 1: definitely got my interest back with him. Jack flaherty is
Speaker 1: the one that is super interesting to me because he's
Speaker 1: been around. I think he's pitched seven seasons in the majors,
Speaker 1: two of them great, five of them terrible, and he's
Speaker 1: coming off of the best one where if he'd stayed
Speaker 1: in the American League all year, Jack Flaarity's probably getting
Speaker 1: top five cy Young consideration, if not even higher. But
Speaker 1: do we trust him now, especially if he goes to
Speaker 1: another new team, which would be his fourth team in
Speaker 1: the span of what a year and a half, getting
Speaker 1: accustomed to a new environment, new coaches, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1: Will he be able to recreate that magic that he
Speaker 1: had this past season. I'm hoping he goes back to
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. But Jack Flaherty is somebody that I'm really
Speaker 1: interested in, and I'm not really even sure what to
Speaker 1: do with drafting him just and ranking him because skills wise,
Speaker 1: he's probably top fifteen or so, but he should probably
Speaker 1: be in the twenties, if not the thirties. Like, he's
Speaker 1: a really really polarizing player for me as we get
Speaker 1: into ranking and draft season for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and all I'll say about him is he has
Speaker 2: Minnesota twin written all over him in my opinion, so's
Speaker 2: that same sort of injury risk, but coming off a
Speaker 2: decent year, and they tend to know what to do
Speaker 2: with them right up until they get injured again. So
Speaker 2: I feel like Minnesota would be a pretty decent lens
Speaker 2: but for him.
Speaker 1: As well, Minnesota has really does some great things with
Speaker 1: pitching over the last couple of seasons. If we add
Speaker 1: him into that mix, you got him and Lopez and
Speaker 1: he got over and Joe Bryan, Like that is a
Speaker 1: formidable rotation. They have a really solid pen. You know,
Speaker 1: their lineup was actually surprisingly really good this year. I
Speaker 1: think there were top five or seven if you look
Speaker 1: at wOBA, WRC plus and things like that, So that
Speaker 1: would be a kind of a scary one. I thought
Speaker 1: the Twins were going to make some noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: It turns out that that didn't exactly happen. A yeah,
Speaker 1: a bit of a rough run over the last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks of the season, but I think there is
Speaker 1: definitely room for them to add a couple pieces and grow.
Speaker 1: And you know that division is not exactly fantastic, so
Speaker 1: I think they'll probably bounce back next season. But Kelly,
Speaker 1: it's been great to record with you. It's been a
Speaker 1: lot of fun breaking down these free agents. I want
Speaker 1: to give you just a chance, just let everybody know
Speaker 1: what you got going on. If there's any articles coming
Speaker 1: up to Plug or any other podcast, I'll let people
Speaker 1: know what you got going on.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm going to be a fair number of baseball
Speaker 2: podcasts in the off season, for sure, with different hosts
Speaker 2: different times. I think I'm doing like two a month
Speaker 2: at this point. Right now, I spend the vast majority
Speaker 2: of my time I'm in charge of the hockey betting
Speaker 2: model at betting pros. So that offer that you were
Speaker 2: talking about, We have a ton of stuff going on
Speaker 2: over there every day. And hockey is my favorite sport
Speaker 2: to bet on because not everyone does it, so the
Speaker 2: lines are a little bit better. But so that's my
Speaker 2: plug for that. But yeah, otherwise, baseball is my favorite sport.
Speaker 2: I will be around talking about it and getting in
Speaker 2: on the article is probably it's starting late December.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, make sure you're following Kelly over on Twitter at
Speaker 1: the Wonkie Penguin. You can find me at Joel Rico
Speaker 1: ninety nine and let us know in the comments. Where
Speaker 1: are your favorite players going to be headed in a
Speaker 1: free agency? What kind of money are they going to
Speaker 1: be getting and how will that impact the way you
Speaker 1: view them? For Fantasy Baseball on twenty twenty five. But
Speaker 1: for Kelly Kirby, I'm Joe Rico. We'll see you again
Speaker 1: next time here on the Fantasy Pros Baseball Podcast.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball Podcast.
Speaker 3: If you love the show, the best freeway to support
Speaker 3: us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts
Speaker 3: or Spotify, Follow us on x, Instagram, and TikTok at
Speaker 3: Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube
Speaker 3: dot com Slash Fantasy Pros MLB