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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Fantasy Sports Radio Network. Did let
Speaker 1: me just become best friends? Fantasy best Friends forever? Our
Speaker 1: number two Fantasy best Friends forever. Fantasy Sports Radio Network
Speaker 1: is live with you. I am Gregg Sousman, joined by
Speaker 1: Frank's Staffle the Closer talking about closers, Chris Ventral Well, Chris,
Speaker 1: what up? What up? What? How's everybody doing? Close to day?
Speaker 1: It's only fitting the closes the voice doing. How does
Speaker 1: everything feel better? Much better? Yes? A lot of soup,
Speaker 1: a lot of teas. I'm just waiting for the wind.
Speaker 1: That all the man, That's what we're talking about yesterday.
Speaker 1: We all are, but not not just gonna get blasted
Speaker 1: by like another snowstorm though for sure. Yeah not just
Speaker 1: Joined by the closer. Though. We're also joined by our
Speaker 1: guy from Fan Duels, my buddy Jim Sons. What's up, Jim?
Speaker 1: It's all good, Greg. You know we're talking relievers today.
Speaker 1: I struggle with relievers in season long. I'm here to
Speaker 1: listen to you guys too. I want to get your
Speaker 1: insights to make sure I'm on the right path this year.
Speaker 1: So this is as much a learning experience for me
Speaker 1: too as it is a fund to shares insights with
Speaker 1: the two. Right. I'm with you. Well, I think we're
Speaker 1: all in this. I don't think it's just learning experience
Speaker 1: for everyone. It's not just you, Chris. I I hope
Speaker 1: you guys aren't just looking my way because I'm not.
Speaker 1: I have my own looking around to Chris, you decide
Speaker 1: how much you're selling your rankings for yet? Oh did
Speaker 1: I decide how much? No? I have not, because I
Speaker 1: I had told our audience that I am uh my
Speaker 1: rankings for what Penny lessons. We'll see I'm undercutting the market.
Speaker 1: But marketing will see what happened, right, all right, So
Speaker 1: let's let's kind of get back to where we were, guys,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna ask you. I asked Frank a moment ago,
Speaker 1: jam I'm gonna ask you, and then I'll ask you too. Chris,
Speaker 1: rank these three guys for me, Brad Hand, Felippe Vasquez,
Speaker 1: and Roberto Osuna. So I have Roberto Suna first on
Speaker 1: that list by a pretty decent margin. I really don't
Speaker 1: like saying positive things about him, giving all the stuff
Speaker 1: that went down last year, But when you look at
Speaker 1: him as a fantasy asset, the situation is so good
Speaker 1: with that team. It seems like he's pretty locked in
Speaker 1: as being there closer. And last year, you know, the
Speaker 1: numbers were not great, but you get back to seventeen,
Speaker 1: he had a thirty three percent strike out right, a
Speaker 1: four percent walk rate. His swinging spranker was sixteen point
Speaker 1: eight percent. And when I look at those numbers and
Speaker 1: you put them in a pitcher's park on a team
Speaker 1: that is as good as the Astros are projected to
Speaker 1: be once again, even with you, if you assume the
Speaker 1: starting pitching takes a step back or which I do,
Speaker 1: I still put a Zuna first. So for me it's
Speaker 1: as a first I do put Brad Hands second. I
Speaker 1: think the skills are very good, thirty five strike ever
Speaker 1: right for him, I expect Cleveland to take a step
Speaker 1: back this year as well, given the fact that you know,
Speaker 1: they don't care something about their their outfield. But the
Speaker 1: pitching is still very good. The starting pitching is still
Speaker 1: very good. They're still gonna get wins. So I ranked
Speaker 1: those three, Oh, Zuna and then Hand and then Vasquez
Speaker 1: is third, largely because of team strength. Well, it's it's interesting,
Speaker 1: actually bring anything and Lely you Chris, you write those
Speaker 1: three guests. So it's close, right, Um, yeah, it's close.
Speaker 1: I would say as soon as well. Houston. You know
Speaker 1: that's a big deal to me. I think he holds
Speaker 1: down that job the whole year. He's still a young guys,
Speaker 1: twenty four years old. Uh, he's got the stuff. I
Speaker 1: didn't have the greatest year, but listen, I think he'll
Speaker 1: the strikeout rate will go up with Houston. He'll get
Speaker 1: a lot of opportunities in Houston, I think as well.
Speaker 1: I just like the sooner, the best out of these
Speaker 1: to hold down his job for the whole year. I
Speaker 1: like Hand as well. I think I'm gonna go though
Speaker 1: with Um. I think I'm gonna go with Vasquez Overhand them.
Speaker 1: I think I would take baskets overhand, just because I know,
Speaker 1: you know, he has a little bit more of a
Speaker 1: pedigree for me, and I think that, you know, he'll
Speaker 1: continue to hold down his job as well in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: and listening. Even though they're a bit they're not a
Speaker 1: great team Pittsburgh, I think, listen, bad teams often give
Speaker 1: you the most save opportunities. I know one year, the
Speaker 1: Miami Mallins had like the most save opportunities and uh
Speaker 1: A j Ramos benefited from it. And I had one
Speaker 1: of the most you know, top three and saves the
Speaker 1: Mets when um it's his familiity and the Mets didn't
Speaker 1: have a good year. He had like eighty you know,
Speaker 1: like crazy amount of saves that year. Um So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, he could definitely get the save opportunities in Pittsburgh. Now,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting past three of different people, you might
Speaker 1: get three different answers here. Greg asked, is that what
Speaker 1: is that? What's happening? Continue? What do you got? Frank?
Speaker 1: How do you have that? That wasn't my ploy? Just
Speaker 1: I haven't I have Brad Hand, Philippe Vasquez, Roberto listen
Speaker 1: to six and the issue for me for Roberto as
Speaker 1: soon as the fact that he's he's had like mental
Speaker 1: lapses on the mound and stuff like, I don't not
Speaker 1: just on the mound, I don't know how he's gonna
Speaker 1: like handle the pressure of like pitching for a contender,
Speaker 1: and like they have pretty good people behind him. You know, Jim,
Speaker 1: I know that you're a Twins fan, so you've seen
Speaker 1: Ryan Pressley up close, and he's amazing there in that bullpen.
Speaker 1: I mean, once he came over to Houston last year.
Speaker 1: I mean, he had a one e r A last year,
Speaker 1: and you know, they add and of course, as Houston does,
Speaker 1: they take Ryan Pressley, they tell him start throwing more slider,
Speaker 1: start throwing more Curdi balls. He starts strowing more breaking stuff,
Speaker 1: and he turns into an elite reliever, like they do
Speaker 1: with any anyone that the Astros get their hands on,
Speaker 1: just turns into an elite picture. I still think Roberto
Speaker 1: Soon is very good. He doesn't offer the same strikeouts
Speaker 1: upside upside of some of these guys. I mean, last
Speaker 1: seares below eight strikeouts per nine. Still very good for
Speaker 1: Roberto Sooner, no doubt about it. But I do think
Speaker 1: like whatever thinks he's gone through, like off the field.
Speaker 1: On the field, the mental lapses. I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's gonna handle the pressure. Hector Rondon is there as well.
Speaker 1: Um to me, it just feels like brad Hand and
Speaker 1: Felipe A Baskets. Maybe the job security is a little
Speaker 1: bit more safe. I can't really argue. I mean, he
Speaker 1: might have the most upside though, pitching for the Astros,
Speaker 1: which is the best team of this bomb. So that
Speaker 1: kind of sounds like where Jim and Chris's heads were at, Like, hey,
Speaker 1: he's playing for the Astros. He's still very very young,
Speaker 1: and I want the chance the most saved. I mean,
Speaker 1: hands on Cleveland, where are you gonna have a lot
Speaker 1: of opportunities as well? Actually just games? And there's there's
Speaker 1: no more inan miller there, Like I can't tress that enough.
Speaker 1: There's no one here to really press brad Hand. But
Speaker 1: so here's we're on that. Here, care's we're on that
Speaker 1: with And you actually pointed this out, Christ, like when
Speaker 1: Jerry's familia did what he did the Mets, that's weren't
Speaker 1: like winning ninety games right like that that wasn't a thing.
Speaker 1: So wins and great teams aren't necessarily the perfect indicator
Speaker 1: for getting the most saved, so I don't necessarily want
Speaker 1: to use that. And I said this to you. I
Speaker 1: think he was on the air, Frank, but like I
Speaker 1: said this to you yesterday, and that a guy like
Speaker 1: Roberto assud On, My only issue with him on the
Speaker 1: Astros is kind of you just brought up with Ryan Presley.
Speaker 1: We have seen so many guys come out for the
Speaker 1: Astros and be successful, and Ken Giles was the closer
Speaker 1: until he wasn't and even when he was pitching, well,
Speaker 1: Hector Rondo, Aldo, Brad Peacocks got a shot, Kristevinsky got
Speaker 1: a shot. There's a lot of names in that Astros,
Speaker 1: and I'm just a little bit nervous that if Roberto
Speaker 1: Studo falters even a little bit, they're just not going
Speaker 1: hesitant to go in a different direction. When I looked
Speaker 1: to Cleveland, Brad hand is by himself. When I looked
Speaker 1: at Pittsburgh, no Felippe A. Basquez is by himself. Like
Speaker 1: Vaska's struggled last year at times before he ultimately turned
Speaker 1: it around, like he really struggled, and they just stuck
Speaker 1: with him because like, listen, this is the guy's our
Speaker 1: best option. And he was and he wound up having
Speaker 1: a really good season. To me, Oh, Soona is last
Speaker 1: on this list. I'll go with Vasquez because he's been
Speaker 1: really successful for Pittsburgh for a couple of years now.
Speaker 1: So I have Vaska's first. I have hands second because
Speaker 1: I trust him with this job. I trust his ability.
Speaker 1: As Frankie mentioned, they gave up a top prospect for
Speaker 1: this guy, and there's nobody else in this Bullpend I
Speaker 1: believe will be the closer. So for me, it's very easy.
Speaker 1: Vasquez hand in the no soon not worried about John Edwards.
Speaker 1: I believe he was already he had a kid out
Speaker 1: of wedlock. When he's running for president in North Carolina.
Speaker 1: I will say, I'm sure you do not get reference.
Speaker 1: I have no idea. That's why I'm just gonna keep
Speaker 1: moving on here. I like I like Greg's point. I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't e be on a good team to be
Speaker 1: a good clare don't. Yeah, And that's why he's gonna
Speaker 1: play close games these terrible teams. Diego, I still have
Speaker 1: Felipe Vaska is ranked ahead of Osuna just because for
Speaker 1: what you mentioned, Greg, I mean, they stuck with him
Speaker 1: last year. I will say this, I have him behind
Speaker 1: Brad Hand because I do think that there's a better
Speaker 1: next man up in Pittsburgh than there is in Cleveland.
Speaker 1: They went out and they acquired Keona Keller last year,
Speaker 1: and Keona Kelly is kind of a name we've been
Speaker 1: talking about for years. We thought he was gonna be
Speaker 1: like the Rangers closer for years, frankly, and it has
Speaker 1: never really happened. But I do think that he is
Speaker 1: more talented than some of the guys behind brad Hand.
Speaker 1: So that's why I pushed felipe A. Vaskis down the board.
Speaker 1: I guess at this point, I'm just ranking based on
Speaker 1: like job security, and I think brad Hands job is
Speaker 1: the safest. That's probably the best way to do it.
Speaker 1: So I think if you want to do one counter
Speaker 1: argument to brad Hand and the strength of the other
Speaker 1: guys in the bullpen is that Cleveland last year had
Speaker 1: a lot of issues holding leads down. And it wasn't
Speaker 1: just Cody Allen, it was the rest of their bullpen too,
Speaker 1: And if you don't get to that ninth inning with
Speaker 1: the lead, you're not getting a save op. So I
Speaker 1: think that that could actually it is a positive for
Speaker 1: brad Hand that there's no competition, but it could also
Speaker 1: lead to fewer save opportunities if the guys before him
Speaker 1: are blowing those chances that saves. And I think that
Speaker 1: when you look at Houston, that's not gonna happen because
Speaker 1: Ryan Pressley, as you mentioned, is dirty and he's really good.
Speaker 1: And the Houston the thing that I love about them
Speaker 1: is that they're a very smart organization. They understand when
Speaker 1: to use guys like Ryan Pressley, bring him out there
Speaker 1: in the highest leverage spots, keep that lead and then
Speaker 1: get it to us soonest. So I think that that
Speaker 1: when I when you think about it in that from
Speaker 1: that perspective, it makes me feel better about us soona
Speaker 1: and a tiny bit worse about Hands. But I think
Speaker 1: that the job security angle is a good reason to
Speaker 1: potentially have Oh it's been a lower than where I
Speaker 1: have in which is is higher potentially than it should be.
Speaker 1: For sure, is there anybody else guys that you have
Speaker 1: in this tier with these guys? So for me, the
Speaker 1: next few that I have in here, Hervey Yates, Sean Doolittle,
Speaker 1: jose La Clark, and I as Rice Sell Glacia is
Speaker 1: here too. That's the start of a new tier for
Speaker 1: me just because I think the combination of the relievers
Speaker 1: we've already talked about here with Vasquez and and the
Speaker 1: combination of what they've already done, what we've seen them do,
Speaker 1: their job security, their talent level. I think it's all
Speaker 1: better than those other names that we're gonna talk about. Okay,
Speaker 1: and and that's fine, let's let's start off the next
Speaker 1: I do have Josh Hater in that tire, but it's
Speaker 1: like what you do, we'll get to Hater. So if
Speaker 1: the next tier is Yates La Clerk Iglesias, how would
Speaker 1: you rank those crest Yates order. Yeah, I might even
Speaker 1: put Yates, Oh boy, oh boys should go right into
Speaker 1: the next tier too. Does in them too? I mean,
Speaker 1: like Yates proved last year that, like I meant, hit
Speaker 1: sixty three innings, didn't really want seventeen walks, not a
Speaker 1: lot of walk, nineties, strike at six, like everything you
Speaker 1: want to see to one four r a not done
Speaker 1: across the board basically point nine two whip. Like I
Speaker 1: think in San Diego is a great place to get
Speaker 1: saved because they always play close games, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. I mean this is a little bit bolstered
Speaker 1: of age now Machado and everything else. But that should
Speaker 1: only make him a little bit more competitive. It means
Speaker 1: they should be in a lot of games and they
Speaker 1: should be saved out the two days. I think Kirby
Speaker 1: Yates should top this list, at least in this tier,
Speaker 1: or maybe even be at the end of that that
Speaker 1: tier we were talking about with soon a hand and U,
Speaker 1: how do you rank of Jim? I had the same
Speaker 1: order Yates the clerk, and then uh and then Iglazias last.
Speaker 1: I think they were the Yates. It's pretty easy to
Speaker 1: me to put him first. And I think like if
Speaker 1: I were putting a tier on it, I think I'd
Speaker 1: have Yates a tier above the other two guys too,
Speaker 1: just because he's been He's been really good for a
Speaker 1: long time now. Two point two six skill interactive r
Speaker 1: A last year strikeout rates, seven percent, walk rate, and
Speaker 1: he keeps the ball on the ground a bit, gets
Speaker 1: a lot of swings and misses. And I agree that
Speaker 1: the strength of San Diego this year will be better
Speaker 1: than it has been years past. Like they kind of
Speaker 1: have an issue with playing time, like they have too
Speaker 1: many guys who need to play, and that's like a
Speaker 1: good issue to have, and especially when you look at
Speaker 1: the potential progression of the young guys too, this is
Speaker 1: not a bad offense. They're going to get leads. They
Speaker 1: have some mildly competent starting pitching. I guess you could
Speaker 1: say I do like Joela CAZy Chris Paddock. Once he
Speaker 1: gets up there should be pretty good too. So like
Speaker 1: they're not a bad team. And when you give me
Speaker 1: someone who is on a not bad team, who is
Speaker 1: as good as Curby Yates, I'm going to take him
Speaker 1: about the rest every single time. I hate La Clerk's
Speaker 1: team with a pretty fervent passion. Iglesias not gonna get
Speaker 1: every save ops. So I think for me it's pretty
Speaker 1: easily Curby Yates of those three. Yeah, I have a
Speaker 1: reliever ranked above these guys that we haven't mentioned, hitter.
Speaker 1: I have Sean Doolittle as my tenth closure. So I
Speaker 1: have my head of Curby Yates. And I can't disagree
Speaker 1: with anything that you guys have said about Yates. You know,
Speaker 1: I do think in terms of his talent, his swinging, missibility,
Speaker 1: his strikeouts, he's I mean, he's up there with the
Speaker 1: rest of these guys, And you know, for me, I
Speaker 1: have the next man up for the padres as Craig
Speaker 1: Stammon and Jose Castillo. So I'm not really worried about
Speaker 1: job security when it comes to Curby Yates either. I
Speaker 1: don't think that Andy Green has committed to him yet
Speaker 1: definitely as the closer, but where else are they gonna go?
Speaker 1: I think he's just the most He's the most talented
Speaker 1: reliever in that pen. And you know, once they drafted
Speaker 1: Brad Hand, they did go to him last year, uh
Speaker 1: four save opportunities. So I trust Curby Yates. It's just
Speaker 1: I like Sean Dooittle as long as Craig Kimberal is
Speaker 1: not signing with the Nationals, I like him a little
Speaker 1: bit more. I think the peripherals are a little bit better.
Speaker 1: He just needs to stay healthy like Nassive nassive point
Speaker 1: six zero or a last year from doing it. But
Speaker 1: I'm not questioning doolittle talent. I'm questioned his ability to
Speaker 1: stay still had at least twenty four saves and needs
Speaker 1: of the past two years. Sure, great little pedigree also
Speaker 1: wiries me a little bit too, what's up in years past?
Speaker 1: He he hasn't been this good, nearly this good? Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: he was really good, really good he was, he was
Speaker 1: solid twenty seventeen, he wasn't what he did like five
Speaker 1: in one hits sixt k like, I mean, he literally
Speaker 1: was lights out last year. I don't think you're gonna
Speaker 1: get that again over each of the past three years.
Speaker 1: I am not question is not a question for not
Speaker 1: even remotely a questions John Doolitt. It is his ability
Speaker 1: to stay healthy. Yeah, I think I understand that, But
Speaker 1: I mean, the Nationals are also gonna be the best
Speaker 1: team that we've talked about of this group with the Padres,
Speaker 1: the Reds. And though you know, it might sound a
Speaker 1: little hypocritically here because some people, you know, some people
Speaker 1: are making the argument, well, you know, if a team
Speaker 1: is not you know, if they're not so good, they're
Speaker 1: going to be in closer games. But it's also it
Speaker 1: also helps when you have a team that is going
Speaker 1: to be in more positions to just ultimately win more games.
Speaker 1: We're you know, we're expecting the Nationals to win at
Speaker 1: least what you know, eight plus games this year, which look,
Speaker 1: they're just gonna be a better team than the teams
Speaker 1: that we're talking about here. So Jimmy wants to do
Speaker 1: a little over over these guys in here. So I
Speaker 1: have Sean Doolittle above Brad Hand and Felipe Vasquez like
Speaker 1: I have him like above both those guys. He is
Speaker 1: behind the guys that talked about so far, he's behind,
Speaker 1: only it was sooner for me because I think almost
Speaker 1: two a fault. I don't worry as much about health
Speaker 1: because past health is not necessarily indicator of future health,
Speaker 1: and you know it maybe is a higher injury risk
Speaker 1: than others, but any picture can get hurt, especially a reliever,
Speaker 1: at any time, So I don't want to overcorrect for
Speaker 1: health in my rankings and overlook a guy who last
Speaker 1: year had a one point nine five Sierra thirty seven
Speaker 1: percent strikeout rate, four percent walk grade. I agree with
Speaker 1: what Frank said about the Craig Kimberl thing because I
Speaker 1: saw that blur pop up on on Rhodo World and
Speaker 1: my skin got all itchy because I was really scared
Speaker 1: once I saw that, because I do like Sean Doolittle
Speaker 1: a lot, and that would be the one downfall here.
Speaker 1: But I think unless that happens, Sean Doolittle will be
Speaker 1: probably my the reliever I have on the highest percentage
Speaker 1: of my leads this year. Right. If you have to
Speaker 1: guess Sean Doolittle's whip last year, what would you say
Speaker 1: one point one? What would you say that? Negative seven?
Speaker 1: We'll just say it was his whip like pointn F
Speaker 1: zero point six zero elite And that's why I put
Speaker 1: him in three of eer A with strikeouts and as
Speaker 1: long as he says healthy. The Clark is the worst
Speaker 1: of the tier because of the world walk right too,
Speaker 1: very high walk rate. When we come back, we'll talk
Speaker 1: about jose La Clark, who's got a contract extension, and
Speaker 1: we'll also talk about Rice Siler Glaziers. I want to
Speaker 1: ask Jim Sonnas a question about that. Jim's with us
Speaker 1: for the next hour, as is the Closer Chris Venture.
Speaker 1: We continue on trying to tear this all apart when
Speaker 1: we come back on the Fantasy Best Friends Forever. Daily
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Speaker 1: All right, gentlemen, So we were talking about this tier
Speaker 1: of closers against how I have the tier really really
Speaker 1: and ozyla Clerk and Rosslglesias. We're here, and if it
Speaker 1: wasn't for a couple of reports out of Sinnati, Jim
Speaker 1: right u LASiS probably be in most of our tier
Speaker 1: ones because he's been very good for a very long time.
Speaker 1: At this point, he theoretically, when he's healthy, is the
Speaker 1: unquestioned guy. And because reports saying, hey, we're gonna let
Speaker 1: this guy face the heart of the order whenever that is,
Speaker 1: we've all dropped him into closer you know, ten to fifteen. Basically,
Speaker 1: have we gone too far here? Like I understand? And
Speaker 1: that all right? You want to use them in situations
Speaker 1: where the game is on the line, But does that
Speaker 1: happen often enough for us to drop him to these deaths?
Speaker 1: If you will? Do you think we're making a mistake.
Speaker 1: Uh No, I don't think so, because I've dropped him
Speaker 1: pretty far in my own rankings, and I think that
Speaker 1: the way that I think about it is if I
Speaker 1: had zero questions about this guy's talent, and I loved
Speaker 1: his strikeout right, and I loved his walk right, everything
Speaker 1: about him, like if he were Sean Doolittle level talent,
Speaker 1: that I wouldn't worry as much, and if he were
Speaker 1: on a better team, I wouldn't worry as much. When
Speaker 1: you look at right sol I Glaziers, his numbers is
Speaker 1: still interactive. He r rate last year with three point
Speaker 1: three one the strikeout rate twenty eight percent, walk great
Speaker 1: nine percent. His swinging striker was still very good at
Speaker 1: fifteen points three percent, but not high enough where I
Speaker 1: would say that his lower strikeout rate was a total anomaly.
Speaker 1: And he does allow some hard contact and a hit
Speaker 1: her friendly park. So I had concerns about Ricel Iglaziers
Speaker 1: from a talent perspective and from a team perspective before
Speaker 1: this report came out. Now you are taking away the
Speaker 1: most valuable resource he has, which is his you know,
Speaker 1: his hold on this job in Cincinnati, and you kind
Speaker 1: of make that a bit more questionable, and then you
Speaker 1: start to dig into the rotation here for Cincinnati Sonny Gray,
Speaker 1: what's he gonna do? I like Alex Wood if he
Speaker 1: can stay healthy, but that's a big gift for him
Speaker 1: as well. Uh Luis Castillo is very good, but Tanner
Speaker 1: Rourke in that park not great. Anthony day Scholfani didn't
Speaker 1: have a great year last year. So I think that
Speaker 1: when you stack the concerns up for Rice saw Glaziers
Speaker 1: and then add in the report that he's not gonna
Speaker 1: get every save ob that makes me concerned because I'm
Speaker 1: not totally sold that this guy will drag down both
Speaker 1: my whip and my e r a like someone like
Speaker 1: Josh Hayter would do. So I think that for me,
Speaker 1: the report was just kind of another reason for me
Speaker 1: to have sketchicism about right so I Glaziers, and I
Speaker 1: think that that's why I have him pretty low in
Speaker 1: my rankings relative to consensus. Where do you have him
Speaker 1: points leagues like it's it's real low. And that's because again,
Speaker 1: a lot of it comes down to team strength. I
Speaker 1: kind of treat relievers similar to running backs in season
Speaker 1: long fantasy, where I want to target good teams and
Speaker 1: good situations and then worry about talent second. And I
Speaker 1: think that when I do that, I wind up putting
Speaker 1: guys like Matt Barnes who could have this really good situation.
Speaker 1: Could is the key word there, and I'm gonna put
Speaker 1: them above Rice saw Glaziers because I love that upside.
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, I like Cincinnati's offense, but
Speaker 1: I have enough concerns about the pitching staff, enough concerns
Speaker 1: now about Igleziers his ability to maintain that high strikeout rate,
Speaker 1: and enough concerned about his park and other things where
Speaker 1: I probably won't have him pretty much anywhere this year.
Speaker 1: So I like the idea of comparing closers to running
Speaker 1: backs also, But the one thing you didn't mention there
Speaker 1: is Bell Cow, and you we all want Bell Cow
Speaker 1: running backs. I think Rice sell Iglesias could be essentially
Speaker 1: a Bell Cow closer, Like I know what you're doing
Speaker 1: in that Barns and potentially in Boston. I get that,
Speaker 1: But Rice sell Iglazias is a to me ahead of
Speaker 1: the death charter right right now. And I know the
Speaker 1: numbers aren't weren't there the peripherals you give the Sierra
Speaker 1: out as well, But to me, Frank he's kind of
Speaker 1: he is a bell cow type of guy. I think
Speaker 1: you think that's that's the question mark right now, and
Speaker 1: the issue that I have it was obviously that report
Speaker 1: that says he's gonna be used in the highest leverage situations. Again,
Speaker 1: that could be, you know, the basis loaded in the
Speaker 1: sixth inning, It could be, you know, the seventh enning
Speaker 1: with runners on. But I don't think it will be.
Speaker 1: I think you're talking like but they're but but there's
Speaker 1: been something that has happened with the reds in that
Speaker 1: they've brought over over the Brewers pitching coach that kind
Speaker 1: of like discovered Josh Hayter and used him in that
Speaker 1: similar fashion, right, Like that's how they used Josh Hayder
Speaker 1: in Milwaukee. Derek Johnson comes over as the pitching coach
Speaker 1: of from the Brewers over to the reds Now, and
Speaker 1: it just so happens that they they say these things
Speaker 1: about Riceley Glaciers that he could be used in the
Speaker 1: same way as Josh Hayter. Now, look, I do think
Speaker 1: he's the best reliever of the bunch that they have,
Speaker 1: but I'm I have concerns as well. I'm not as
Speaker 1: many as Jim I haven't. I still ranked as my
Speaker 1: thirteenth the ranked reliever because I do think that he'll
Speaker 1: get the most save opportunities for the Reds this year.
Speaker 1: But what does that turn into is that? I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know if he has the opportunity
Speaker 1: to win, like to get like thirty thirty five plus
Speaker 1: saves like maybe some of these other guys that were
Speaker 1: talking about, like Kirby Gates, Chris. We just mentioned Josh
Speaker 1: Hayter in that sentence. I know he's what number three you, Frank,
Speaker 1: I have nine, So he's number nine for Frank. Probably
Speaker 1: won't ever drive off. Are you drafting Josh Hyder? I
Speaker 1: mean it depends right Like obviously as we get closer
Speaker 1: to the season. That's why we do our drafts later.
Speaker 1: But in rural leagues, I would think we're close. Man,
Speaker 1: we're twenty two days out. I know, I'm saying within
Speaker 1: like a week or two, I'm hoping something happens where
Speaker 1: we find out exactly what his role is gonna be.
Speaker 1: But um, the deal is so like rotal leagues, you
Speaker 1: like a guy like a hater because he still gives
Speaker 1: you the k the innings AND's gonna give you like
Speaker 1: a D thirty plus strike, it's gonna give you an
Speaker 1: elite e r a elite whip as one. He's going
Speaker 1: just behind Doolittle, Iglezias and Kirbas Yeah so and Igleziers
Speaker 1: to me, I think would be a little bit more
Speaker 1: same thing, like higher rated in rural leagues, just because
Speaker 1: even if he's not the closer, he'll give you innings,
Speaker 1: will be in big spots, He'll get a lot of
Speaker 1: innings pitched. Um. But the thing is for me, I
Speaker 1: play points leagues and you want saves and all that.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't want a sketchy situation. So the
Speaker 1: guy got like Matt Barnes isn't gonna be on high
Speaker 1: on my list. He's gonna be down more because I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's gonna get those opportunities. I'm thinking
Speaker 1: this situation with Rosiglaciers, maybe he misses a couple, maybe
Speaker 1: three save opportunities the entire season. I don't think it's
Speaker 1: really gonna AFFECTI that much because honestly, the biggest thing
Speaker 1: in closing Okay, and I was a closer true story
Speaker 1: Jim Jim uh just a joke explainer. He was a
Speaker 1: closer for his junior varsity base of a high school
Speaker 1: and accounts man. That's the highest level. That's intensity. You
Speaker 1: need the attitude there for mey, you need that mentality
Speaker 1: and closing mentality is a real Some people don't have
Speaker 1: the capacity mentally to do it. None of these guys
Speaker 1: in this bullpen really have the experience. Jared Hues did well.
Speaker 1: He did Oh yeah, he did well, But like, can
Speaker 1: he do it sustain it for a season? People fall apart.
Speaker 1: People can't take the pressure sometimes, and Glaciers has done
Speaker 1: it for two years now. I think he's locked down
Speaker 1: that he can get the job done at closer. He
Speaker 1: secured that. Uh so I think more often than not
Speaker 1: you're gonna see him closing games. So I like you, Glaziers.
Speaker 1: I think he's pretty safe even with these comments. Not
Speaker 1: too too worried about those comments, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't drift them high though, but people aren't going
Speaker 1: to drift in my eye way, He's falling down the board,
Speaker 1: so it's better for me. Here's what I'll say about
Speaker 1: points leagues when it comes to Josh Hayder, Greg and
Speaker 1: Everyone's points leagues are different. Like you know, if you
Speaker 1: give out points for for holes or saves or whatever
Speaker 1: it might be. UM using the CBS Sports just they're
Speaker 1: default scoring system. From last year, Josh Hayter was the
Speaker 1: tenth best reliever. Now, he did have a historic type season,
Speaker 1: but he can I mean, even if he dials back
Speaker 1: a little bit, he could be a top twelve guy.
Speaker 1: I mean even in points leaves. Right. Look again, when
Speaker 1: it comes to points leagues, I don't really I don't
Speaker 1: target closures that much more. I think they're much more
Speaker 1: valuable in ROTO. Obviously, when you're trying to find the
Speaker 1: saves category. Um, you can win punting a category in roto,
Speaker 1: but it's really really hard, as I mentioned, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to be top three and like every
Speaker 1: other category if you want to pull that off. So
Speaker 1: I wouldn't advise punting it completely. I do think Josh
Speaker 1: Hayter still has some value in points leaves based on
Speaker 1: what I'm looking at it. He was the tenth best reliever. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and his whole career he had he's done nothing but
Speaker 1: do well. I mean he's you know, he's a pretty
Speaker 1: young guy, twenty four years old. He's gonna be twenty
Speaker 1: five very soon. But like, I think this guy could
Speaker 1: lock down the job. The problem is you've got other
Speaker 1: guys there. You know, Corey knebel Is, you know, he
Speaker 1: he did very well the year before as a closer,
Speaker 1: so he you know, he has that experience. Once again,
Speaker 1: the experience means a lot. So I would like to
Speaker 1: see how the Hater thing develops. That's why I would
Speaker 1: put Iglesias ahead of Hater right now, because I know,
Speaker 1: I Glecias is the best relief on the team. Is
Speaker 1: the closer on the team. To me, at least, no
Speaker 1: one else I could see that could do that. You
Speaker 1: know throughout the whole season. Hater might end up being
Speaker 1: like and Andrew Miller was for Cleveland and end up
Speaker 1: pitching you know, like six, seven innings, seventh inning, eight,
Speaker 1: you know, eighth inning, set up man, long, set up man,
Speaker 1: something like that. So I don't know, I'm a little
Speaker 1: worried about that. But he is a great picture. We
Speaker 1: all know that. Yeah. We we've mentioned throughout the show
Speaker 1: that there's like closer committees and you know, multiple guys
Speaker 1: that can be used. Based on what I've seen and researched,
Speaker 1: there's only one team that potentially has three guys that
Speaker 1: can get saved on like a regul or basis, and
Speaker 1: that is the Brewers with Josh Haydn who was great
Speaker 1: last year as well. It's great for the team for life.
Speaker 1: I mentioned before, Clark gets the contract extension and is
Speaker 1: the closers for the Rangers. You expressed some concerns there, Chris, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the walker. You don't want to see what he did
Speaker 1: last year, which I think was twenty eight walks? Uh
Speaker 1: was it twenty five walks? I'm sorry in fifty seven
Speaker 1: innings a little high from me, little worries. So it's
Speaker 1: a guy who you know you probably didn't do too well,
Speaker 1: you know, younger guy, kind of years old. Like we
Speaker 1: don't know if he can be that closer for entire season.
Speaker 1: Like I said, this experience thing is very important. So
Speaker 1: if he gets into that role for a full season,
Speaker 1: can he hold it down? If he he might have
Speaker 1: a short I know that Texas doesn't really have too
Speaker 1: much behind him, but can he hold that down? If
Speaker 1: he blows four saves in a row, You're really gonna
Speaker 1: start to worry, especially if he's walking guys, putting guys
Speaker 1: on pace. That's really bad for a closer. You want
Speaker 1: a closer that's gonna get guys out quick. You know,
Speaker 1: first guy needs to be out. You need to pound
Speaker 1: the zone against that first guy. You don't want to
Speaker 1: get that first guy on what. I didn't walk anybody.
Speaker 1: You didn't walk anyone. I pounded the zone. If they
Speaker 1: smashed the pitch more to contact, I'd say my strikeouts
Speaker 1: will probably like a little below. Okay. You know he's
Speaker 1: like Roberto Yeah, kind closer. Yeah, was solid with jose
Speaker 1: La Clark. I will say this right, I think the
Speaker 1: second half he was elite last year. The walks for
Speaker 1: nine in the first half four point nine one not
Speaker 1: really what you want to see out of your closure.
Speaker 1: In the second half that drops all the way down
Speaker 1: to two point five. I mean, he does have elite swing,
Speaker 1: and I think the fact that the Rangers don't really
Speaker 1: have much behind him. What I'm looking at here is
Speaker 1: they have Jesse Chavez and Sean Kelly. Yeah, that's Sean Kelly,
Speaker 1: who feels like he's been on every team in baseball
Speaker 1: and he's bounced around the MLB. I just don't really
Speaker 1: think the Rangers have too many dozens. And I know
Speaker 1: that they just gave him a contract extension as well.
Speaker 1: You're gonna play a little bit of Devil's advocate here.
Speaker 1: Though with the contract extension thing, I don't know that
Speaker 1: that necessarily makes him more likely to be on the team,
Speaker 1: because Brad Hand was given a contract extension this time
Speaker 1: last year and he ended up getting traded, So I
Speaker 1: don't I don't think that the contract extension automatically means
Speaker 1: that he can't be traded. It just Rangers are probably
Speaker 1: gonna be really, really bad. But I do think that
Speaker 1: he's unquestionably the closer in Texas just fear it just
Speaker 1: feels like he's a little bit safer in Texas. Jim,
Speaker 1: where are you? And whose la Clerk? I'm lower than
Speaker 1: a DP on him, but I think I'm higher on
Speaker 1: the talent, Like I love the talent of la Clerk.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Frank the cut in his walk rate the
Speaker 1: second half. That was great to see, but also the
Speaker 1: strikeout rate stayed really good, like the strikeout right for
Speaker 1: the full year last year thirty eight percent, and that
Speaker 1: is high enough where he is going to help you
Speaker 1: in multiple categories. For a road league. It won't just
Speaker 1: be saves. It will be your e R right, it
Speaker 1: will be your whip and he'll get you some strikeouts too,
Speaker 1: So I like that. I just think this team is terrible,
Speaker 1: Like it's a terrible team. Like let me read you
Speaker 1: their rotation right now, roster resource like minor Lance Lynn
Speaker 1: is their number two starter in the year twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: Drew Smiley coming off of fifteen surgeries. Edinson Volkez is
Speaker 1: in the league. Shelby Miller is there number five starter, Like,
Speaker 1: how many safe chances will he get? I still am
Speaker 1: okay drafting the clerk if he falls a little bit
Speaker 1: below his ADP because again, I like the talent a lot,
Speaker 1: but I value situations so highly that it's really hard
Speaker 1: for me to to go out of my way to
Speaker 1: get him. So if he falls to me cool, I'll
Speaker 1: take him. I think that he's a good pitcher, and
Speaker 1: I like his job security. I just can't seek him
Speaker 1: out with how bad that pitching staff is. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree with him. You don't really want to target him
Speaker 1: if you could get him in a nice value, great,
Speaker 1: But like he said that, that rotation is a bunch
Speaker 1: of guys that have promise about eight years ago, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Uh, and the and the bullpens,
Speaker 1: you know week as well. So the road to him,
Speaker 1: like he said earlier, to be even like I wouldn't
Speaker 1: check l Clerk for more than like that's not good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't want I wouldn't target him, but if you could,
Speaker 1: he's gonna give you a lot of strikeouts. And I
Speaker 1: think the peripherals. Greg. You know fun fact about Edson
Speaker 1: Volcas He actually started his career with the Texas Range. Yes,
Speaker 1: he didn't remember who he was traded for. He was
Speaker 1: traded for Josh Hamilton's and it's correcting traded from the
Speaker 1: Rangers to the Reds for Josh Hamilton's. Absolutely all right,
Speaker 1: let me continue on a little bit lower it tire
Speaker 1: that I think I combined all together. I had to
Speaker 1: Cody Allen, I get to Ken Giles, I get to
Speaker 1: Wade Davis. Jim, how do you write these three guys?
Speaker 1: I would go with Cody Allen first, Um, what was
Speaker 1: the second name there? Ken Giles? Oh, Ken Giles. I
Speaker 1: would go second, and then I've got Wade Davis third.
Speaker 1: Wade Davis is actually pretty low on my list. I'm
Speaker 1: worried about his A couple of things with him. With
Speaker 1: Cody Allen, I think, like I don't totally subscribe to
Speaker 1: the Unita A closers mentality, but like you has done
Speaker 1: it before, I think he has a good team as well.
Speaker 1: Now he had last year too, but you look at
Speaker 1: last year, like, yeah, the numbers were pretty bad overall.
Speaker 1: Is skill interactively or even was three point seven seven
Speaker 1: That's higher than I'd like. But strikeout rate still twelve
Speaker 1: point seven percent swinging strike rate. And he's not a
Speaker 1: super old guy either, And again I like the team
Speaker 1: he's on. So Cody Allen, to me, I think is
Speaker 1: a really solid picture to pick. And we've seen in
Speaker 1: the past the Angels having committed to a closer, but
Speaker 1: I think that's partly because most of the guys they
Speaker 1: had in that role were bad and they couldn't hold
Speaker 1: down that job. But I think that Alan, given his
Speaker 1: experience and given the fact that he does still have talent,
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna hold that down. So I have
Speaker 1: Alan first in that tire, I have Gile second. I
Speaker 1: still think I can get sucked in as still to
Speaker 1: Ken Giles. I know, I know I boom myself sometimes
Speaker 1: too with Ken Giles, but I think I still subscribe
Speaker 1: to a bit and then Wade Davis to means a
Speaker 1: pretty distant third in that group. Really with Wade Davis,
Speaker 1: I haven't ranked highest something because look, I know it's
Speaker 1: tough to pitch in corps Field and it's scary. It's
Speaker 1: like he's had an e ar A over four, but
Speaker 1: the indicators were better than that last year. I just
Speaker 1: don't think that there's anyone else there really in Colorado
Speaker 1: that's going to push him. And I do you know
Speaker 1: they gave him this huge contract extension. I mean outside
Speaker 1: of him being hurt. I just I don't really I
Speaker 1: can't envision Wade Davis losing his job here. Uh what
Speaker 1: I'm looking at They have Sung Juano and Scott Oberg
Speaker 1: right behind him, behind Wade Davis. So I just don't
Speaker 1: know that they can go to you know, Sean Juan Oh.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's lost his job like multiple times in
Speaker 1: multiple locations and now find himself as a setup man
Speaker 1: in Colorado. So I just think the the contract here
Speaker 1: is gonna dictate Wade Davis. Canna be pretty safe for
Speaker 1: saves out there in Colorado. Plus I drafted him in
Speaker 1: the Great Fantacy Basic Limitation, so I have to myself
Speaker 1: feel better about drafting him. I tend to feel pretty
Speaker 1: good as well. I don't care that he's old either way.
Speaker 1: David's listen. He has experience, right, that's important to me.
Speaker 1: He's got that job pretty much locked up. And I
Speaker 1: do like Colorado's, you know, starting rotation, the rotations getting
Speaker 1: a lot better. It's the best it's ever been, really,
Speaker 1: and I think that's a good road for him to get, says.
Speaker 1: I think the opportunities are gonna be there. So he's
Speaker 1: got the security, he's got the opportunities, the pretty decent picture.
Speaker 1: I think he's the best these other two. As I said,
Speaker 1: I like Cody Allen and Ken Giles as well. I
Speaker 1: have these guys all here together for me, we'll think
Speaker 1: a break, we'll come back a whole lot more guys about.
Speaker 1: I don't know how we're gonna fit in the next
Speaker 1: two minutes, and we'll figure it out. This college basketball
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Speaker 1: of Madness is calling the shot. Leron hasn't been a
Speaker 1: very good team this year. He hasn't. Whether that is
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Speaker 1: being one of those where like just leave this movels.
Speaker 1: I can't deal with it if we talk about who's
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Speaker 1: buck starts. It almost stopped with Magic at Blinka weekdays
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Speaker 1: you just copied in paste and use what the optimizers
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Speaker 1: like we're tied, I'm like that is dude, did the
Speaker 1: same thing. But you can't just copy and paste. You've
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Speaker 1: Were talking about closers at this point. Sorry are you sorry?
Speaker 1: We didn't We didn't get through all the closers, all
Speaker 1: the relievers. I didn't. There's a lot to get to.
Speaker 1: I didn't know. You know, some people have asked us
Speaker 1: to start talking about holds too, so we got to
Speaker 1: try and find sometimes so I wasn't the one who
Speaker 1: needed to fit this and you felt that you need
Speaker 1: to fit the talking. Could always do a second, I said,
Speaker 1: I was having to do a second show. Let's get
Speaker 1: this all in. Yeah, you could do a second. I
Speaker 1: hate talking about relievers. There's a lot, but it's important, important,
Speaker 1: it is important. I didn't want to rush through anything. Okay,
Speaker 1: So in my around, the guys that we're talking about
Speaker 1: even want to call it tears because we all have
Speaker 1: different tiers. Essentially, there's a bunch of names here, so
Speaker 1: I'll throw them out. Everyone's kind of a comment and
Speaker 1: we'll continue one. What do you make of I guess
Speaker 1: I should move this guy up Hunter Strickland, Seattle Jim.
Speaker 1: How safe is he? Uh? I'm avoiding, like I don't
Speaker 1: even want to draft him at all. Like I questioned
Speaker 1: the talent, I questioned the team's desire to win. I
Speaker 1: questioned the stability to the bullpend to get in there.
Speaker 1: They did a like they're doing in the middle of
Speaker 1: this weird. I don't know if they're tearing down or
Speaker 1: rebuilding or what they're doing. But like, when you combine
Speaker 1: that with the fact that it's Hunter Strickland, I really
Speaker 1: just want no part of it. So hard pass for me.
Speaker 1: And they haven't committed to a closer either. They've actually
Speaker 1: gone the route of saying they're going to use a
Speaker 1: committee approach. As of now, that's all we know, and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be between Hunter Strickland and Anthony Swarzak, two
Speaker 1: guys that are both not great, splitting stage for a
Speaker 1: team that's not great. No, I'm not excited about the
Speaker 1: situation at all. What about in Chicago, Jim, Alex colon A,
Speaker 1: Kelvin Harreros. You guys have done it before. Two guys
Speaker 1: we like Herrera. I believe it's not pitching yet, Colony
Speaker 1: is What do we think about Chicago? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: this is a hard situation for me to read, and
Speaker 1: I think that we can expect the White Sox to
Speaker 1: be better this year, even though they took on all
Speaker 1: Manny Machado's friends and didn't get any Machado like. I
Speaker 1: think that they should be better than May were because
Speaker 1: Roy Him and z is probably gonna hit one or
Speaker 1: two bombs this year and that's gonna help out their offense.
Speaker 1: Having Carlos row don't healthy for a year should help.
Speaker 1: You know, They've got guys who could improve in their
Speaker 1: pitching staff too. So I don't mind targeting this team,
Speaker 1: but it's so hard to predict who's going to be now. Personally,
Speaker 1: when I look at a Galley Carrera, you look back
Speaker 1: at last year and it wasn't a great year for him.
Speaker 1: At three point eight one, Sierra t strikeout rates a
Speaker 1: swinging striker. It was better, but it's not anything eye popping.
Speaker 1: So I think, if I'm going here, I'd rather go
Speaker 1: with the guy who's gonna give me more strikeouts. Go
Speaker 1: with column A, get him, and then see if he
Speaker 1: can take that job. So I'm going between one of
Speaker 1: the two, and I don't mind going with them. At
Speaker 1: the end of draft, I go column Ay there agreed,
Speaker 1: and there actually has been reports out of White Sox
Speaker 1: Beat Beat reporters thus far. Let's say column has a
Speaker 1: leg up on the job because he's been pitching in
Speaker 1: the spring. He's healthy. You know, I think Harrer is
Speaker 1: still returning from like a foot injury or heal injury,
Speaker 1: something like that. So it seems like column A has
Speaker 1: a leg up on the job as of right now.
Speaker 1: But you know, even once the season starts with both
Speaker 1: guys are healthy, they could end up splitting something here.
Speaker 1: Because of that, I have column A ranked as my
Speaker 1: twenty six reliever, but you know, he's in a tier
Speaker 1: of Yeah, it's like Michael Givens, Shane Grey and like
Speaker 1: Pedro Strope. That's because because you don't know who has
Speaker 1: the job. Let's say you knew that common was the closer,
Speaker 1: Like I like mat As himself, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, he did really well. You know, I think
Speaker 1: he I think he deserves to be the closes over. However,
Speaker 1: at this point, yeah, look he does. He gets more
Speaker 1: spings and misses, he gets more strikeouts, So I look,
Speaker 1: I can't dispute those things. I feel like there was
Speaker 1: a report earlier on even before this, that they were
Speaker 1: gonna it was gonna be like a fluid situation, like
Speaker 1: they're not gonna have a set closer kind of thing.
Speaker 1: But then now we're getting like from like beat reporters
Speaker 1: that like, if there is going to be a guy
Speaker 1: like Colum has been better, I mean he's the only
Speaker 1: one with pitching right now. So we've kind of got
Speaker 1: like conflicting reports. And this is again, this is what
Speaker 1: a lot of what's going on in baseball right now is.
Speaker 1: There's no set closures, there's no set roles. So it's frustrating.
Speaker 1: But you know, if I had to choose right now,
Speaker 1: who's gonna lead the White Sox in saves coming out
Speaker 1: of the season, I would choose. I got a question
Speaker 1: real quick, is this leading to an era of like
Speaker 1: no closers. We have to get rid of closers. That's
Speaker 1: why I think more and more people are going to
Speaker 1: saves plus holds. I mean, asked the Phillies. They've already
Speaker 1: gotten rid of the closer, then they don't have a
Speaker 1: set close. Yeah, it's gonna be Robertson, it's gonna be Domingu. However,
Speaker 1: like if there's lefties coming up there, they'll probably fresh
Speaker 1: listen there, Maybe Hector Nervis gets worked in again, you know,
Speaker 1: like it's you ask a few teams in baseball, I mean,
Speaker 1: the clothes is already gone. It kind of makes sense though,
Speaker 1: like why always go to the closer all the time?
Speaker 1: You don't happen on the show I said. I mean
Speaker 1: from a baseball real life perspectives, if it helps you
Speaker 1: win games, like with the Brewers last year, if it works,
Speaker 1: don't fix it. I don't have a problem with that.
Speaker 1: I mean from as a fantasy player, of course, I
Speaker 1: have a problem with it sucks, But I mean from
Speaker 1: a real life perspective, if it's helping you win games,
Speaker 1: I can't really knock it. I mean it's kind of
Speaker 1: similar to running backs in that in that way that
Speaker 1: you know, if if it helps using a committee approach
Speaker 1: for running backs. If that makes your team more effective
Speaker 1: and helps you score more points for real life football,
Speaker 1: I can't knock it, but it sucks for fantasy. It's true.
Speaker 1: It's like the you know, the running back by committee thing.
Speaker 1: It's the same situation. There's two more names here that
Speaker 1: I think my interest because I don't know their situation.
Speaker 1: I do know a situation. They're really good. I wonder
Speaker 1: how many saves are gonna get. That's Jose Alvarado and
Speaker 1: that's Jordan's Hicks. Jim. What do you think of those guys? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I like all I like Alvarado because I think that
Speaker 1: I agree with you where the talent is definitely there
Speaker 1: at strikeout rate last year, twelve swinging strike grade. And
Speaker 1: he's on a team that, you know, given the creative
Speaker 1: means they use to win games last year, and given
Speaker 1: you know, the talent I think that they do have
Speaker 1: on that roster in the rotation, I'm okay with him.
Speaker 1: So I like Alvarado. I agree with you. I don't
Speaker 1: know how many saves he will get, just because they
Speaker 1: are another team that thinks about things in an analytical
Speaker 1: way and may not put their best reliever and necessarily
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. But I think I
Speaker 1: do like alvarado quite a bit, So I think Alvarado's
Speaker 1: gonna be my pick there. I think that he's he's
Speaker 1: really fun. But Jordan Hicks, I like watching him pitch.
Speaker 1: I don't enjoy owning him in fantasy as much because
Speaker 1: the walks really tilted me a lot. So I'd rather
Speaker 1: just watch him pitch than than have him in my
Speaker 1: my fantasy team. So I'll go Alvarado over Hicks. Personally, Yeah,
Speaker 1: like Alvarado over Hicks as well. But I'm intrigued by
Speaker 1: both of these guys because I think Alvarado has legit stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean over eleven case per nine last year two
Speaker 1: point three nine e r A. The X fit was
Speaker 1: three point one five. But you know, even if he
Speaker 1: could be a low three ear a kind of guy
Speaker 1: with getting that many strikeouts, uh per endings pitched. You know,
Speaker 1: the walks werery me a little bit with Alvarado. But
Speaker 1: you know last year and we were trying to figure
Speaker 1: out who's gonna pick those games for the raise, Greg,
Speaker 1: you know, I was constantly telling you Alvarado is the
Speaker 1: best guy in the bullpen. Even though he's a lefty,
Speaker 1: Like I know, you know, your typical closure is not
Speaker 1: a lefty. He was the best one out of that bullpen.
Speaker 1: They still kind of like use Sergio Romo here and there.
Speaker 1: It was a frustrating situation. But you know, Sergio Romo
Speaker 1: is now gone. Thankfully he's in Miami, so you know,
Speaker 1: just doing enough to make another situation another committee. But
Speaker 1: with the Tampa bay Rays, I don't know that, you know,
Speaker 1: Chas Row and Diego Castillo, I just feel like Alvarado
Speaker 1: so much better than those two guys. I want to
Speaker 1: go with the talent here. We also have really seen
Speaker 1: Alvarado be used as an opener. They traditionally like him
Speaker 1: in the back. It's a good team to have a
Speaker 1: to have a closing. The problem is you just don't
Speaker 1: know if he's gonna close every game. I like Jordan
Speaker 1: Hicks a lot too. I mean, he's overtaken um rollers.
Speaker 1: Chapman is like the fastest throwing reliever in baseball that
Speaker 1: doesn't automatically translate to saves, and he did. He still
Speaker 1: did walk a lot of guys, didn't get a lot
Speaker 1: of strikeouts. But if you've been watching throughout the spring,
Speaker 1: he's throwing the slider more and it is nasty, Gregg,
Speaker 1: it is absolutely nasty. So I'm the young dude. I'm
Speaker 1: hoping that that's something that could carry over. I mean,
Speaker 1: if he can essentially turn into a roll of Chapman
Speaker 1: that has like a one mile proud fastball and a
Speaker 1: nasty slider, I mean, that's really all you need to
Speaker 1: be a good reliever. You worry about Andrew Miller being there,
Speaker 1: but I think they're gonna use Andrew Miller and the
Speaker 1: Andrew Miller roll him. That wiries me a little bit.
Speaker 1: The Miller thing thoughts. You know, blown we said that
Speaker 1: for years with Cody Allen. It was a different to
Speaker 1: it definitely was. It could be you know, organizational philosophy,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. And they paid they they paid
Speaker 1: Andrew Miller, right, you got in two years millions something
Speaker 1: something around there. So yeah, they clearly needed him. But
Speaker 1: what do they want? What are they needing for Miller?
Speaker 1: And I hate a hater type guy then and all right,
Speaker 1: then that helps us, and I think, you know, Jordan
Speaker 1: Hicks will be more of that traditional closes. This could
Speaker 1: be like a value this team, particularly if you take
Speaker 1: Hicks Miller. Whatever it is, the closer here could be
Speaker 1: the value pick of the draft as far as closes,
Speaker 1: because I think it's teams pretty good, pretty decent rotation there,
Speaker 1: and I think they're gonna be in a lot of
Speaker 1: close games. It's just going to be a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of these teams are just all gonna beat
Speaker 1: up on each other. I think top to bottom, the
Speaker 1: end of Central is uh the most talented division in baseball. Jim,
Speaker 1: let me parody, Let me throw this out. We're towards
Speaker 1: that middle of the pack. These all these guys who
Speaker 1: we cannot trust, the players we have not mentioned yet.
Speaker 1: Who do you have rights the highest? Who do you
Speaker 1: want the most? Who do you trust the most? So
Speaker 1: trust is not the word I would use. But the
Speaker 1: guy I have ranked highest, largely based on the upside
Speaker 1: he would have if he were to get his job
Speaker 1: is Matt Barnes. And you look at the situation with
Speaker 1: the Red Sox. They've said they're not gonna resign Kimberll,
Speaker 1: so it's pretty sure that the guys they have there
Speaker 1: are going to be the guys trying to close it down.
Speaker 1: It's Ryan Brazier and Matt Barnes, and Barnes last year
Speaker 1: at a thirty six percent strikeout rate a lot of walks.
Speaker 1: That's a concern, But I think that when you strike
Speaker 1: out thirty percent of the guy as you face, you
Speaker 1: can deal with a little bit higher walk rate. And
Speaker 1: what Barnes would get you is strikeouts. He gets you
Speaker 1: a good her right, not as good of a whip
Speaker 1: because of the walks, but he gets you access to
Speaker 1: a whole lot of safe chances. And it may not
Speaker 1: work out. That's a very real possibility, and I think
Speaker 1: that that is something that's the reason I'm not gonna, like,
Speaker 1: you know, take him like a hundred overall or anything.
Speaker 1: But once you start to get into this this really
Speaker 1: weird situation with relievers, I'm okay taking a gamble on
Speaker 1: someone else I may not trust, But who has higher
Speaker 1: upside than everybody else if he were to get that job?
Speaker 1: So for me, that answer is Matt Barnes, just because
Speaker 1: that team is so good. Same question to you, Chris, So, guys,
Speaker 1: you haven't mentioned who do you want the most? You
Speaker 1: trust the most A guy that I'm interested in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's hard to trust any of these guys
Speaker 1: in the backpack, But definitely Archie Bradley. I agree with closer.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna have that job pretty much. For
Speaker 1: the only thing that worries me about him. Listen, he
Speaker 1: does everything well. You know, he could get the innings pitch.
Speaker 1: You know, he pretty low. You know, hits per perrainting
Speaker 1: um walk raide isn't bad, the ky's k raid isn't bad,
Speaker 1: pretty solid across the board. The problem is four saves
Speaker 1: in eighteen opportunities in his career. That worries me. Maybe
Speaker 1: he doesn't have the closing mentality, but you're getting him
Speaker 1: late and he should hold down that job for the
Speaker 1: most party should have a decent leash. So so I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't even know if he has a
Speaker 1: leash at all. I Greg Holland could start the year
Speaker 1: as the closer. He could, I mean, he could end up,
Speaker 1: but I think that Verano could start the year as
Speaker 1: a closer. To me, with the diving backs. They've never
Speaker 1: wanted him to be the closer ever, they want to
Speaker 1: be a starter. They've tried to find every reason and
Speaker 1: not to make this was a top prospect. But the
Speaker 1: thing is he is that kind of like swingman, multi
Speaker 1: ending reliever type of rolling. He's been very good in
Speaker 1: that rule. So I just feel like I don't doubt
Speaker 1: the talent with Archie Bradley. I just feel like for
Speaker 1: years now they've tried to find reasons not to give
Speaker 1: him the closed role. To me, the next person I
Speaker 1: have ranked tias is is Corey Knabele. I mean we
Speaker 1: haven't really talked about him. I haven't ranked nineteen ahead
Speaker 1: of some of that, just ahead of like Will Smith
Speaker 1: and Visky, you know. But with Corey Knabel, I think
Speaker 1: we've seen his upside. His upside is a top five reliever.
Speaker 1: Two years ago he had thirty nine saves. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was lights out to the league by storm, So
Speaker 1: we've seen his upside. It's just can do the Brewers
Speaker 1: go back to that kind of like close our mindset?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't think anyone has. Like this
Speaker 1: is more like who do I want? Was one of
Speaker 1: your questions, Greg, I mean, who do I trust the most?
Speaker 1: There's not a lot of guys who I trust at
Speaker 1: this point. It's like Shane Green. I probably trust him
Speaker 1: to like be the Tigers closer, but I don't really
Speaker 1: want him because he sucks. But I mean the next
Speaker 1: guy up all things consider that I would wants. It's
Speaker 1: a good point because Milwaukee, honestly, if they had a
Speaker 1: true closer right now and knew who it was, he'd
Speaker 1: be up there on the list. Maybe, you know, he'd
Speaker 1: be up there to say if he doesn't convert like
Speaker 1: three in a row, that they're just like, all right,
Speaker 1: this is working, Let's just go with it. Let's use
Speaker 1: cork Nable the way that we did. And you know
Speaker 1: he wins thirty, he gets thirty plus saves for a
Speaker 1: really good brewer. Seam. So a couple of names that
Speaker 1: that call teams. I should say that I want to
Speaker 1: hear that we really haven't gotten into I don't we
Speaker 1: have about five minutes ago the Phillies, right, the Phillies
Speaker 1: and Braves both with the Phillies and David Roberts there
Speaker 1: with the Braves. If they don't sign Kimberall, I do
Speaker 1: think it's Viscay, you know, I think he has a
Speaker 1: leg up, just because Minter got hurt throughout spring and
Speaker 1: you know they went to vis guy you know first
Speaker 1: last year as well. San Francisco giants Will Smith and
Speaker 1: Mark Mulanson. Jim, I like Will Smith, Um I think
Speaker 1: that the talent there is probably gonna win out for him.
Speaker 1: Thirty four percent strike out right, four swinging strike rade,
Speaker 1: good park to uh and the pitching staff could be word.
Speaker 1: I think that's the best endorsement I can give for
Speaker 1: the Giants. UH So, I like Smith. I think I'm
Speaker 1: actually a little bit higher on him than than his
Speaker 1: ADP right now. So I will probably wind up getting
Speaker 1: him a decent number spot just because I think that
Speaker 1: he's good enough to win that job and hold it down.
Speaker 1: I think he I think skill wise, he's like very
Speaker 1: underrated because I think he's a prime candidate to be
Speaker 1: traded this year probably. So, Yeah, Pedro stroke for the
Speaker 1: Chicago Cubs is Brendon Morrow works his way back. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's no guarantee Morrow gets his job back if Stroke converts. Similarly,
Speaker 1: I like, I like where strokes but going. I like
Speaker 1: taking a stab on him as an upside play here
Speaker 1: for exactly what you mentioned. I mean, if he's the
Speaker 1: closer for the first, you know, month of the season,
Speaker 1: and he does a lights out job, who's to say
Speaker 1: that Brandon Morrow just comes back it automatically gets his
Speaker 1: job back. I feel like that happens a lot in
Speaker 1: baseball where we say, all right, well, you know when
Speaker 1: this reliever comes back, he was the closer before, he's
Speaker 1: definitely gonna be the closer again, and it just doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: So if Pedro stroke gets the opportunity and he runs
Speaker 1: with it, I do think that he's kind of a
Speaker 1: sneaky sleeper in this range. I look at the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Twins where they have at a read, they have Trevor May,
Speaker 1: they have Blake Parker, Trevor Hildenburger too. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: think we should go to uh, we should go to
Speaker 1: the resident Twins fan this one. This is a Jim
Speaker 1: Soilist question I had as Yeah, resident Twins fan and
Speaker 1: resident Trevor May enthusiast, always have been to a fault
Speaker 1: back when he's a starter. I love Trevor May, but
Speaker 1: last year he came back from Tommy John two point
Speaker 1: one seven skill interactive e R A thirty five percent
Speaker 1: strikeout right, five percent walk great. He is the best
Speaker 1: reliever on this team, and I think it's by a
Speaker 1: pretty decent margin. My concern is that this is another
Speaker 1: front office that is analytically minded. I could see them
Speaker 1: using Trevor May more in the Josh Hayter type role,
Speaker 1: more in the Andrew Miller role, and not getting in
Speaker 1: the night bitting. So that's my one concern. Trevor May,
Speaker 1: I have no concerns around the talent. I know he
Speaker 1: has a mentality for it, so I have a little
Speaker 1: bit of concern that he may wind up getting that
Speaker 1: that other role, but also taking regardless he's really freaking
Speaker 1: good at baseball. What about Chris staying in the Al
Speaker 1: Central in Kansas City where while he Parleta did a
Speaker 1: nice jobs and to the year, brad boxburgers there too.
Speaker 1: I want to stay clear of that situation. You're talking
Speaker 1: about five games this Yeah, there's no road there, Yeah,
Speaker 1: ned Yost all of a sudden, now, I mean these
Speaker 1: are pictures that aren't even brending towards analytics, no set
Speaker 1: closer kind. I mean, Um, Miami, we have Miami. We
Speaker 1: haven't mentioned Drew second rider, Adam Conley seemed to be
Speaker 1: the favorites there. Sergio Romo is there as well. So
Speaker 1: all three of those guys, Um, Shane Green we talked
Speaker 1: about briefly. Is there anything else I'm missing? Guess now
Speaker 1: we talked about Michael Gibbons, a little bit earlier on
Speaker 1: in the show. I just don't know who else they
Speaker 1: have there, like Richard Paul Fry and Richard Byer, Like
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know who's going to take the
Speaker 1: job away from him. Um. Ryan Brazier pretty much covered
Speaker 1: everything here. We did it. We did the whole thing.
Speaker 1: We didn't even need the ducks. Jim sadis following match
Speaker 1: missions list of the podcast watched. You fan to a
Speaker 1: hurry up and head on over to Number fire for
Speaker 1: all of Jim's projections. I want to thank Jim Sanas.
Speaker 1: I want to thank uh Jordanian. I want to think
Speaker 1: Chris Fincher. I want to thank Fank Stamford. I want
Speaker 1: to thank Chris Bavona. I want to thank showing it
Speaker 1: downstairs as well. Alex Masano to Greg Susman, stood all
Speaker 1: me Tomorrow, we hope