Speaker 1: Wake up, it's sleeper time. Let's talk to the pros.
Speaker 1: Welcome in everybody to Fantasy pros. This is the Fantasy
Speaker 1: Baseball Podcast, and this is me be Joey b Jopi's And
Speaker 1: today we're continuing our onslaught of all teams.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: We had our all Breakout team yesterday with Erl Cone.
Speaker 1: Then we had our All Bus team which was very
Speaker 1: depressing with Jason Collette. But today we've got one of
Speaker 1: the greats, a legitimate journalist with us, the one, the only,
Speaker 1: Steve Gardner from USA today to help us do the
Speaker 1: all Sleeper team. And Steve Gardner, you and I mean legitimate,
Speaker 1: like you vote for the Hall of Fame. It's been
Speaker 1: year three of you doing that. I feel like when
Speaker 1: you got that ability, it was like something for all
Speaker 1: of us all of a sudden, we can vicariously live
Speaker 1: through you after.
Speaker 2: All these years.
Speaker 1: So I want to know who made your ballot for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two slash twenty three.
Speaker 2: Who was on there? Who'd you vote for?
Speaker 3: Well? I liked I'm a big Hall guy. I didn't
Speaker 3: think I was going to be until I actually had
Speaker 3: the vote and the ballot in my hand. But I
Speaker 3: voted for nine ten This year, I voted for seven.
Speaker 3: I believe Scott Roland for one. Congratulations to him. Uh
Speaker 3: Todd Helton might make it in this next year. I
Speaker 3: voted for him, voted for Billy Wagner, voted for Andrew Jones,
Speaker 3: Gary Sheffield, Carlos Beltron first year on the ballot, and
Speaker 3: also Jimmy Rollins. So those were my guys, and I
Speaker 3: felt pretty good about it. Not not going to get
Speaker 3: into the mix with Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, those
Speaker 3: guys just because they they failed their drug test. And
Speaker 3: if you do that, you know now that Major League
Speaker 3: Baseball has been testing for that for a long long time.
Speaker 3: That's that's kind of a disqualifier for me. And so
Speaker 3: that's that's kind of how my mindset.
Speaker 2: Was, and and that is absolutely fair. Welsh knows. I
Speaker 2: can't get enough with the steroid era of baseball. I
Speaker 2: wanted all day long. I want those guys all back.
Speaker 1: Everybody, just monitor everybody, just you know, grandma falls down,
Speaker 1: breaks or hip they give us steroids.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm just saying.
Speaker 4: Maybe too, I think that's a I would say that.
Speaker 5: I do think you I'm getting part of it.
Speaker 4: But I think that's one of the problems with baseball though,
Speaker 4: is like Steve, you can have that opinion, and I
Speaker 4: think a lot of people share that, but then there's
Speaker 4: literally the exact opposite opinions, and I think having that
Speaker 4: big of a gap and that Baseball can't step in
Speaker 4: and figure out and just be like, hey, you need
Speaker 4: you can't consider this or you like, I think this
Speaker 4: is what makes this whole thing messy because there are
Speaker 4: because I don't personally agree, I go on, the stats
Speaker 4: are going, the players there might have been cheating. There
Speaker 4: was cheating in the seventies in different ways and stuff
Speaker 4: like that. So to me, it's a non factor. But
Speaker 4: like that baseball doesn't come in and step in and
Speaker 4: try to.
Speaker 5: Get this fixed.
Speaker 4: It kind of stinks because then you know you're everyone's
Speaker 4: put in a weird situation. Like see, if you're putting
Speaker 4: a weird situation, especially if someone wants to do like
Speaker 4: a gotcha with the steroid guys.
Speaker 5: You just have the perfec argument.
Speaker 4: But it's like you and the next Hall of Fame
Speaker 4: writer who's voting could have completely different ideological reasons.
Speaker 2: But push it off to the piers.
Speaker 1: Now, like I think that's it, right, You're sort of
Speaker 1: you're you're allowing now the players that they played with
Speaker 1: to vote them in, and I think that is a.
Speaker 2: Perfectly good way of doing it.
Speaker 1: Also, I mean, I don't think we're gonna get this
Speaker 1: deep into the Hall of face up, but I love
Speaker 1: I can talk about this all the time.
Speaker 2: It's the players of their era, you know.
Speaker 3: Before the testing, you know, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens. I'm
Speaker 3: perfectly fine with those guys and was perfectly fine until
Speaker 3: they dropped off the ballot. It's just that once major
Speaker 3: League Baseball finally took a stand, you know, and Bud
Speaker 3: Selig wasn't just saying go ahead, I don't see anything.
Speaker 3: We're making lots of money, you know, once you have
Speaker 3: the testing and people test positive. That to me is
Speaker 3: the difference between the Manny Ramirez and the A Rods
Speaker 3: versus the bonds Is and the Clemenses.
Speaker 2: Thank goodness, Steve Gardner voice of reason.
Speaker 4: Too, because I don't think I knew that, Steve, that
Speaker 4: that's what your stance was on those guys, because you
Speaker 4: just I think it's really important that you differentiated those
Speaker 4: two because I kind of assumed you were clumping all
Speaker 4: of that in together makes a lot of sense, makes
Speaker 4: a lot of sense to what you're saying.
Speaker 3: I don't have a line somewhere, and that's where I
Speaker 3: particularly choose to draw it, and at least that way,
Speaker 3: I try and stay consistent, and that that's what you
Speaker 3: want if you're, you know, listening to people's arguments as
Speaker 3: long as they don't you know, go all over the
Speaker 3: place and say it's it's good this way and bad
Speaker 3: that way. You just have to have some consistency. And
Speaker 3: that's what I try and do now.
Speaker 1: I don't know if any of the names we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about today are going to end up on the
Speaker 1: ballot for the Hall of Fame voted by Steve Gardner,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna get to some of these names because
Speaker 1: they should be on some of your draft lists. So
Speaker 1: let's start here with the All Sleeper Team. These are
Speaker 1: the again, sleepers are a notion that gets overdone, overwrought,
Speaker 1: but really players that are undervalued, underrated, maybe underappreciated, and
Speaker 1: that's what give some love here.
Speaker 4: I do want to tell you I struggled with this
Speaker 4: one because we just didn't all breakout team, and I'm
Speaker 4: not gonna lie to you guys that the all Breakout,
Speaker 4: the all Sleeper kind of live in a similar They
Speaker 4: live in a similar building. They might be on different floors,
Speaker 4: but they're in a similar building. So like, I had
Speaker 4: to work a little bit harder to not throw all
Speaker 4: the names that you guys expect. I think I did
Speaker 4: throw one that I just can't help but put on
Speaker 4: here because I think they qualify it both, but they.
Speaker 5: Kind of do.
Speaker 4: I even did this, by the way, and we've talked
Speaker 4: to this with a jillion times, I was like, what
Speaker 4: is the definition that the Internet.
Speaker 5: Says of sleeper?
Speaker 4: Because I think there's four hundred different ways killed sleepers.
Speaker 1: Because that's the problem is everybody talks about them so
Speaker 1: much that they end up becoming inflated almost and then
Speaker 1: they have to return too much of whatever that perspective
Speaker 1: value is and that becomes the trouble here. But I
Speaker 1: think this list of you guys put together is really good.
Speaker 1: So let's start with the catcher here, Welsh, why don't
Speaker 1: you kick things off with yours, which is actually a
Speaker 1: player we talked about with Frank Stample, we talked about
Speaker 1: with Aeron Con a catcher who made this team for you,
Speaker 1: Logan o'hapi.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think again, I don't know which one.
Speaker 4: You guys would all kind of fine, what's better the
Speaker 4: all sleeper, they all breakout team. I think he kind
Speaker 4: of fits into both. Logano Hopy, I completely agreed with
Speaker 4: it when it was brought up almost his entire minor
Speaker 4: league career. It's a sub twenty percent K percentage, good
Speaker 4: walk percentage, good batting average, has really big power. I
Speaker 4: personally love the guy. It's a unique little fact about him.
Speaker 4: He loves to talk to fans. He did this in
Speaker 4: the AFL. He would walk up, he would stand right
Speaker 4: by the nets. He would turn around, and he would
Speaker 4: start talking to people. And one time there were these
Speaker 4: two guys I'm not gonna go along about this. They
Speaker 4: were talking about Bryson Stott and they were like, ooh,
Speaker 4: did you know the Bryson Stott is blah blah blah
Speaker 4: this in Baseball America's ranks, And Logano Hoppy turned around
Speaker 4: to these gentlemen just sitting there in the stands watching
Speaker 4: this game, and he goes, that's too low, and Logo
Speaker 4: Hoppy's like, that's too low for Bryson Stott, And I
Speaker 4: just I always got a kick out of that is
Speaker 4: my weird anecdotal thing with o'hapi. But like in his
Speaker 4: own right, he was such a talented and is such
Speaker 4: a talented player. He hit fifteen homers with the Phillies
Speaker 4: in double A last year and eleven with the Angels.
Speaker 5: There's big power.
Speaker 4: It's being undersold by projections. I personally believe the low
Speaker 4: k rate gives him a really good low baseline, and
Speaker 4: he's essentially almost had a two hundred ice so it's
Speaker 4: probably around one ninety his entire career that that really
Speaker 4: can equate to twenty plus homer and power if he
Speaker 4: can take over the gig from Max Stassy. I think
Speaker 4: he's a massive sleeper. He goes outside of like the
Speaker 4: top twenty in catchers. He's a no brainer in two
Speaker 4: catcher leagues, and if you fall flat kind of in
Speaker 4: a fifteen team, I would try to pick him up
Speaker 4: and see if he can take a majority of the
Speaker 4: gig because he's got twenty plus homer and power in him.
Speaker 2: Easy.
Speaker 1: Now, Steve, you got a veteran on your list, which
Speaker 1: is great because I love that because to me, sleepers
Speaker 1: are not always just the young players. The improven player.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's undervalued veterans, and yours is Yasmani Grandal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I liked him for several years just because of
Speaker 3: the plate patients and the ability to hit for power,
Speaker 3: and he had none of that really last year. It
Speaker 3: was just a lost season for him, injuries to the back,
Speaker 3: the knee, everything. But from all indications he's healthy this spring.
Speaker 3: And the White Sox had injury up and down the
Speaker 3: roster last year, so it was kind of a lost season.
Speaker 3: You know, there was the Tony LaRussa experiment, experience, whatever
Speaker 3: you want to call it. It wasn't great for the
Speaker 3: White Sox, so I think everybody suffered there. And you
Speaker 3: look at Grundal, He's got a track record for power,
Speaker 3: had four consecutive twenty plus homer seasons from twenty sixteen
Speaker 3: to twenty nineteen, and then hit twenty three of them
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty one. So he's still got the power
Speaker 3: and if he's healthy, a this is a solid White
Speaker 3: Sox lineup, and I think he's getting overlooked outside of
Speaker 3: the top two hundred for sure, and I think he's
Speaker 3: somebody that you could definitely get late and be very
Speaker 3: happy with.
Speaker 1: I'm fascinating to see what that White Sox lineup is
Speaker 1: when it's healthy, and now that Tony L. Russ is
Speaker 1: not in the dugout, I kind of want to see
Speaker 1: the combination.
Speaker 2: Of that and see what this team comes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, all right, let's get to the first basement here, Welsh,
Speaker 1: want you kick things off.
Speaker 2: Who made your first base list for the sleeper team
Speaker 2: of twenty.
Speaker 5: Three qualifies that?
Speaker 4: Think it multiple of the breakout or sleeper conversation, but
Speaker 4: I'm going to do it, especially when you look at
Speaker 4: ADP here it is Miguel Vargas, and we've talked a
Speaker 4: ton about him. This is in that rookie camp. Miguel
Speaker 4: Vargas shows up at first base as the twenty ninth
Speaker 4: first baseman, still with an overall ADP outside the top
Speaker 4: two hundred, the only place I think a CBS where
Speaker 4: he's inside the top one hundred. Also, I don't think
Speaker 4: i've seen this across where we've talked a lot about
Speaker 4: like projections and stuff.
Speaker 5: That there's the bat and the bat X.
Speaker 4: By Derek Cardy and the BATEX I think has a
Speaker 4: few more ballpark factors. Miguel Vargas breaks his system because
Speaker 4: in the bat the normal bat, he's projected twenty homers
Speaker 4: with ten stolen bases. The bat X is thirteen homer,
Speaker 4: six stolen bases with a really really high batting average,
Speaker 4: low strikeouts. Again, I love playing that, and he's a
Speaker 4: cheat code because he's qualify at second base.
Speaker 5: He's gonna have that gig all year.
Speaker 4: Miguel Vargas had that little I think it was a
Speaker 4: hairline fracture in his wrist or his finger, and he
Speaker 4: hasn't been swinging and he's still getting walked like. He's
Speaker 4: just such a unique individual, who's gonna steal, who's going
Speaker 4: to hit homers. He might not be your traditional first basement,
Speaker 4: but how often can you get double digit stolen bases
Speaker 4: out of a first baseman who will also quite qualified
Speaker 4: a position you're going to move him out. So if
Speaker 4: you want to talk about sleepers, getting a guy for
Speaker 4: a high powered offense, I'll have multi position eligibility and
Speaker 4: is a really really high floor prospect. Getting him outside
Speaker 4: the top two hundred is big time sleeper team stuff.
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna pick micgal Vargas as my first basement here.
Speaker 1: All right over to you, your first basement for twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three. All sleeper team is who's Steve.
Speaker 3: Well, it's Brandon Belt, another old veteran and another injury
Speaker 3: problem from last year. But I like the situation. Everything
Speaker 3: seems to be lining up well for him going from
Speaker 3: San Francisco to Toronto. Number One, Apparently the knee is fine.
Speaker 3: They're still trying to bring him along kind of slowly
Speaker 3: this spring, but you know, all indications are he feels fine,
Speaker 3: and you know, coming off a lost season last year,
Speaker 3: twenty nine home runs two years ago, you know in
Speaker 3: San Francisco. Now he comes to Toronto, where they brought
Speaker 3: the fences in, especially for left handed power, it's going
Speaker 3: to be wonderful. It's going to be enticing for him,
Speaker 3: and the fact that he's going to be able to
Speaker 3: DH and do that against primarily right handed pitching. So
Speaker 3: you know, he's got a barrel rates and up with
Speaker 3: the top players in the major leagues. I think ninety
Speaker 3: fourth percentile barrel rate in twenty twenty one, ninety six
Speaker 3: percentile last year. Despite the injuries. He knows how to
Speaker 3: hit it, and I think in Toronto that's a great
Speaker 3: place for Brandon Belt to land. So even though he's
Speaker 3: thirty four something like that. I think he's got a
Speaker 3: shot at possibly even hitting thirty homers this year.
Speaker 2: Brandon Belt's a fascinating case.
Speaker 1: I always wonder if he had stayed healthy and not
Speaker 1: played in that ballpark for his career, what Brandon Belt
Speaker 1: might have been because in the minor leagues, this was
Speaker 1: a guy who you know, that rare elite three four
Speaker 1: five slash where three hundred and four hundred OVP five
Speaker 1: hundred slugging. You know, when you see that in a player,
Speaker 1: that usually a special indicator. And most of the players
Speaker 1: that have that in the minor leagues they tend to
Speaker 1: become really good players in the major leagues. And you
Speaker 1: look back at what Brandon Belt was doing back then
Speaker 1: and what he could have been.
Speaker 2: And some of those classic what if stories.
Speaker 1: But you're right in Toronto, perhaps a player that's being
Speaker 1: grossly underappreciated, undervalue too and in deeper leagues should pay
Speaker 1: attention to, especially with corner being so tough this year.
Speaker 1: I mean, corner is a yeah, you get it's very
Speaker 1: top heavy at first and third. That's all you can
Speaker 1: say about it. All right, let's continue all of the
Speaker 1: infield here. Let's go to second base. Welsh, you are up,
Speaker 1: who is on the second base side for you? In
Speaker 1: the all sleeper realm?
Speaker 4: I went deeper than I think I've probably gone. I
Speaker 4: guess on these last couple of names, this is a
Speaker 4: guy that I find myself drafting really at every single
Speaker 4: spot that I possibly can in deeper leagues. If I
Speaker 4: miss out on second base, middle, infield, he's a target.
Speaker 4: And it's Colton Wong with the Seattle Mariners fifteen and seventeen.
Speaker 4: Quietly last year with Milwaukee while hit two fifty one
Speaker 4: projection see double digits on both sides again, does not
Speaker 4: strike out a whole bunch is another thing you can consider.
Speaker 4: Hitting theoretically at the top of a Seattle lineup, I
Speaker 4: think really works in his favor. And I think the
Speaker 4: run totals could come up. I don't think the RBIs
Speaker 4: will come up. I think he could run a little
Speaker 4: bit more. We talk about, you know where will all
Speaker 4: these new found stolen bases come from? Top middle bottom?
Speaker 4: I think those middle guys really stand out to me
Speaker 4: as players that could move into a next level of
Speaker 4: stolen bases. Would not be shocked if Colton Wong dropped
Speaker 4: into twenty And if you've got fifteen to twenty.
Speaker 5: Out of him.
Speaker 4: Even if you got even if you've got fifteen fifteen
Speaker 4: or ten to fifteen, either of all of those will
Speaker 4: break the adp that he is coming at. Where it's
Speaker 4: in like the two fifties.
Speaker 2: Just a twice two second base line on Fantasy Pros.
Speaker 1: And if you want to see that again fantasypros dot
Speaker 1: Com slash rankings, you could see the rankings there for
Speaker 1: the MLB and two forty nine. I agree with you
Speaker 1: in those rural formats where you're looking with the spots
Speaker 1: for corner guys, I mean a middle infielders, why not.
Speaker 4: Twenty eight second basement. When you look at the get
Speaker 4: on Fantasy Pros here, and.
Speaker 2: If he hits at the top of that order, Welsh,
Speaker 2: that's the big key.
Speaker 5: That's a game changer.
Speaker 4: That's the game changer with Coulton long Oh, and again
Speaker 4: doesn't strike out a whole bunch, he can walk, makes
Speaker 4: pretty solid contact, and you're in the spot here where
Speaker 4: this team likes to run. They're gonna other than not
Speaker 4: quite the powerhouse, and maybe some of these other teams are.
Speaker 4: I think there's a little bit of manufacturing that happens
Speaker 4: in general. But what if Kelnick is rocking, Julio keeps going,
Speaker 4: and you've got Colton Wong near that top of the lineup.
Speaker 4: It's a recipe for a huge sleeper at the middle
Speaker 4: endfield at a position that not everybody likes.
Speaker 1: At second pace, and when you're practicing all those mock
Speaker 1: drafts over the draft Wizard at Fantasy Pros, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a great opportunity for you to go and
Speaker 1: look for some of these guys too and see who
Speaker 1: the ADPs.
Speaker 2: Are, especially if in those deeper leagues.
Speaker 1: I mean to me, that's why it's such a great tool,
Speaker 1: because you could really start to find some of these
Speaker 1: guys where they're buried in ADP. And again, if you
Speaker 1: haven't already checked it out, check it out. Fancybros dot
Speaker 1: com Slash Draft Wizard. Go there, run some mock draft simulations.
Speaker 1: You can run by yourself. The mock draft lobby is open.
Speaker 1: You get draft against other people. You get sent links
Speaker 1: and create them with just your friends or your enemies,
Speaker 1: however you want to do it.
Speaker 2: Fancybros dot Com Last Draft as the roads. Download the app.
Speaker 2: The app is the way to go. Apps are great.
Speaker 1: It's an app for everything except for you know, for
Speaker 1: what isn't there an app for at this point?
Speaker 2: Welsh At this point, I mean there's apps.
Speaker 3: That's one.
Speaker 5: Appetizers, that's what weird.
Speaker 1: There you go, well the sleep, there you go. All right,
Speaker 1: So let's uh, it's continue on here. Let's get you
Speaker 1: a second basement here for your team? Who is it,
Speaker 1: Steve Gardner?
Speaker 3: I'm going with Tyro Estrada again. You know, Uh, wels
Speaker 3: Go's a little bit deeper. I'm a little shallower this
Speaker 3: time and a little younger than my other two's. Uh
Speaker 3: that I that I've picked so far. He's entering age
Speaker 3: twenty seven season, and I don't think he's getting anywhere
Speaker 3: near the love that he should have. I'll tell you
Speaker 3: a quick story from last year. I had Tyro Estrada
Speaker 3: in the f SGA Champions League and was looking to
Speaker 3: make a trade to get some more pitching. I had
Speaker 3: Carlos Korea as well on that team, and I was
Speaker 3: looking to see who I could trade, and in checking
Speaker 3: out their stats was right there in terms of productivity
Speaker 3: with Carlos Korea, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 3: I could trade Carlos Korea, get pitching and just plug
Speaker 3: Estrata in as my shortstop and I'll be fine. And
Speaker 3: it worked out tremendously. I think I got like Blake
Speaker 3: Snell for Carlos Korea. Blake Snell went on a heater
Speaker 3: the second half of the season and carried me to
Speaker 3: a championship. Can I say that here with the humbly
Speaker 3: all day. Maybe that wasn't the key to It wasn't
Speaker 3: the only thing. But I still think even looking at
Speaker 3: his his stats and where he's sitting, I had to
Speaker 3: move him up in my rankings. I was even undervaluing
Speaker 3: him in my rankings this year. So yeah, first year,
Speaker 3: last year, played more than fifty five games for the
Speaker 3: first time, had fourteen homers, twenty one steals. Now he's
Speaker 3: got the job all to himself. He doesn't have to
Speaker 3: worry about anybody looking over his shoulder. He could be
Speaker 3: a twenty twenty guy. And you know, he's I think
Speaker 3: one to fifty somewhere in there in terms of ADP's.
Speaker 3: That's a pretty good guy to have on your roster.
Speaker 3: And he can play also shortstop or second So I'll
Speaker 3: slot him here at second base and be very happy.
Speaker 1: You know, the power is something with him that I'm
Speaker 1: slightly concerned with. But if you look at the minor
Speaker 1: league track record, he had two eitighty six for his
Speaker 1: minor league career five hundred plus games, so that's a
Speaker 1: pretty good sample.
Speaker 2: So there might be an.
Speaker 1: Upticken batting average that we haven't seen yet as well.
Speaker 1: I think I might buy that before more of the power.
Speaker 2: But you're right.
Speaker 1: I think Estrado's one of those players that people last
Speaker 1: year kept waiting for the bottom of drop out and
Speaker 1: it just never quite did. And he was just a
Speaker 1: very productive player and there's certainly opportunity for him this year.
Speaker 1: Let's go over to third base to the hot corner.
Speaker 1: Who is a hot sleeper for you? The Welsh?
Speaker 4: Well, I went with the Max Mounsey, the Max Monsey
Speaker 4: with the Los Angeles Dodgers. You know, he's actually funny.
Speaker 4: I was taking a look. I was like, is there
Speaker 4: an advantage on the shift? I just don't want to
Speaker 4: throw this anomaly out to you guys when you talk about,
Speaker 4: you know, the shift could change some of these guys.
Speaker 5: He actually had a three thirty.
Speaker 4: One wow being shifted to twenty one, but on non shifts,
Speaker 4: so that's like a really weird unique one. But he's
Speaker 4: like a weird, unique contact type of player. Hit what
Speaker 4: was the second lowest or third lowest of his career
Speaker 4: hitting under two hundred. It was the third lowest in
Speaker 4: those same years where he had really low babbbs that
Speaker 4: were like under two thirty, he would hit under two hundred.
Speaker 4: That's a little bit of an anomaly. He also got
Speaker 4: very what of the things if you're looking at the game,
Speaker 4: I hope he can fix he's he got really pull
Speaker 4: centric and that also led to him being like getting
Speaker 4: the ball really high up in there is what I'm
Speaker 4: trying to tell you, Like he had a twenty percent
Speaker 4: where was it a twenty percent launch angle or a
Speaker 4: twenty degree launch angle, which was like five higher than
Speaker 4: the previous and that coincided with his poll rate being
Speaker 4: astronomically bigger than usual. Guy was pressing the whole year
Speaker 4: while also suffering injuries. Projection systems are not on that
Speaker 4: Max Muntzi is going to have another sub two hundred
Speaker 4: batting average. The bat x is at two thirty six.
Speaker 4: The highest is actually the bat at two point forty seven.
Speaker 4: He's got thirty home ru In potential can be a
Speaker 4: little bit higher in a lineup with the Dodgers. He
Speaker 4: can move around a little bit. Positions not great. I'll
Speaker 4: take thirty home run power on one of the best
Speaker 4: offenses in baseball. I guess I got two Dodgers already
Speaker 4: in here, but there's reason to be because he is
Speaker 4: cheaper than in previous years. One of the things that
Speaker 4: almost made me not put him on here was he
Speaker 4: still is a little costly. It felt like when I've
Speaker 4: seen in drafts, but on the Fantasy Pros consensus ADP,
Speaker 4: he's actually the ninth third baseman. But at a one
Speaker 4: thirty two to EIGHTYP thirty plus homers is worth right
Speaker 4: around a one hundred overall pick at a really bad position.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go with Max Munsey on the bounce back,
Speaker 4: and I think he's a sleeper.
Speaker 1: I know we're not going back and forth in every
Speaker 1: single player here, but Steve, what are your thoughts on
Speaker 1: Max Munsey because this is one that I have a
Speaker 1: tough time with. Whenever you hit a buck ninety four
Speaker 1: in a season, to me, that's a huge red flag
Speaker 1: like something else is wrong. I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: just hit his limit. I don't know if it was
Speaker 1: just the injuries, whatever it was, Welsh's right, there's still
Speaker 1: power there. He's still with the twenty one home runs
Speaker 1: in one hundred and thirty six games. But I mean
Speaker 1: I can find twenty home runs from Brandon Drury or
Speaker 1: maybe Miranda or Matt Chapman a few rounds later. So
Speaker 1: is there any plus to taking Max months you or
Speaker 1: is he a sleeper? In Welsh, you're just saying, hey,
Speaker 1: this is a down year, wipe it away and then
Speaker 1: just continue on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think last year his numbers were rescued a
Speaker 3: bit because of the elbow injury and coming along slowly
Speaker 3: and spring training. I think he may have rushed to
Speaker 3: get ready for the season, and then when you do that,
Speaker 3: sometimes your performance is not what it should be. I
Speaker 3: think he hit a lot better towards the end of
Speaker 3: the season, so I'm willing to give him a pass
Speaker 3: for last year. And you look at his track record too.
Speaker 3: I mean, he is very consistent, especially in terms of
Speaker 3: power over the last several seasons that it makes last
Speaker 3: year look like the anomaly. So I know you won't
Speaker 3: get a great batting average, but you know that you
Speaker 3: will get power, and at third base you need power,
Speaker 3: and I think that's you know, He's a guy that
Speaker 3: I've been targeting. I haven't gotten yet in drafts, but
Speaker 3: I would not mind having Max Monsy at all.
Speaker 4: And to Steve's point, he hit two thirty in the
Speaker 4: half of the season, so if you want to look
Speaker 4: twoy's not the greatest thing in the world.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's really helping it's but I
Speaker 2: want to.
Speaker 4: Point out though, when he was hitting two thirty, though,
Speaker 4: when he was a two thirty two to forty guys,
Speaker 4: he was going easy inside the top one hundred, and
Speaker 4: now you know you're going around one thirty, maybe even
Speaker 4: a little bit later. It's just kind of some fun
Speaker 4: qualifications you can get out of him. But I thought
Speaker 4: this was a tough one. I'm gonna be honest with
Speaker 4: you that that third base, third basement.
Speaker 1: Draft Austin Riley, that's my answer. Let's take a quick
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Speaker 1: Let's move on to of course Steve's and overachiever. He's
Speaker 1: got two names here, potentially for third base. So is
Speaker 1: this a position battle? What's going on?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I started to think that DJ Lemayhew
Speaker 3: is one of those, you know, bounce back guys for
Speaker 3: last year. But I didn't want to have too many
Speaker 3: of those injury bounce back guys because you know, I
Speaker 3: kind of get in the rut. I like a little variety,
Speaker 3: so I'm gonna go a little bit deeper, you know,
Speaker 3: Whilst taking Max Muncie, who's you know, got a pretty
Speaker 3: decent ADP. I'm going way into like three hundred Jamer Candelario,
Speaker 3: all right, hear me out on this one. Okay, everybody
Speaker 3: hates the Washington Nationals this year. They may be the
Speaker 3: worst team in baseball. But I think they made a
Speaker 3: smart move in getting Candelario because he coming off a
Speaker 3: bad year with the Tigers. Everybody had a bad year
Speaker 3: with the Tigers, gout of be in the White Sox syndrome.
Speaker 3: But you look at two years ago, he had sixty
Speaker 3: one extra base hits, sixteen homers, forty two doubles. Playing
Speaker 3: his home games in k America, which is one of
Speaker 3: the toughest, if not the toughest pitchers park in all
Speaker 3: of Major League Baseball, so much that they had to
Speaker 3: move the fences in. He then goes to Washington where
Speaker 3: he's pretty much the unquestioned starter. He's gonna get a
Speaker 3: lot of opportunity there, and those doubles that he hit
Speaker 3: in Detroit could very well turn into at least some
Speaker 3: of them into home runs in Washington. So they don't
Speaker 3: have a whole lot, but he's gonna hit higher in
Speaker 3: the lineup and we've seen many times examples of bad teams.
Speaker 3: But if you hit, you know, I think of the
Speaker 3: Pirates with with Brian Reynolds and Brian Hayes and those guys.
Speaker 3: You know, they're gonna get so many played opportunities, and
Speaker 3: they'll eventually, at least if they're not putting up great
Speaker 3: you know, batting averages and stuff, they're gonna get you
Speaker 3: counting stats. And I think that's where Candelario can really
Speaker 3: be a factor and help people because he's practically free
Speaker 3: in drafts.
Speaker 1: And Candelario is definitely free ADP of four thirty. He
Speaker 1: was also good in the twenty twenty COVID shortened season two.
Speaker 2: He had a good season there.
Speaker 1: He at two ninety seven, at seven home runs at
Speaker 1: fifty two games. So it's not like again, playing time.
Speaker 1: That's what's all about, and there's nobody else to take
Speaker 1: it away from him. Same thing reason we like cj
Speaker 1: Abrams so much on the show. We always say it's free,
Speaker 1: we go take it now, shortstop. By the way, c
Speaker 1: j Abrams made your list, so we might as well
Speaker 1: stay with you said you're going on the all national
Speaker 1: side of the left side here on the Indie.
Speaker 3: Steve maybe maybe there's a little local bias here. Maybe
Speaker 3: I need a reason to watch the Nationals here in
Speaker 3: the DC area. So but no, I like C. J
Speaker 3: Abrams obviously, you know, coming to Washington and the one
Speaker 3: Sodo trade, lots of prospect hype. And while you probably
Speaker 3: know a lot more about C. J. Abrams and his
Speaker 3: growth than I do, but he's still only twenty two.
Speaker 3: And that's what I like, the fact that he's got
Speaker 3: room to grow. He's got room to grow physically and
Speaker 3: as a baseball player, and there's still that speed. And
Speaker 3: I think this year we talk about the bases being
Speaker 3: a little bit larger, the pickoff rules, things like that,
Speaker 3: I think that's tailor made for cj Abrams to take
Speaker 3: advantage of. And so in Washington they want him to
Speaker 3: settle into the leadoff spot. The Nationals, you know, ever
Speaker 3: since Trey Turner left, have not really had a leadoff guy.
Speaker 3: C J Abrams could be that guy for them. And
Speaker 3: you know, again, just multiple plate you know, plate opportunities,
Speaker 3: chances to get on base, like to see the OBP
Speaker 3: a little higher. I think he can do that. And
Speaker 3: once he does get on base, you know, it's off
Speaker 3: to the races. So CJ. Abrams again not getting a
Speaker 3: whole lot of love in terms of ADP. But he's
Speaker 3: got a lot of room to grow and I think that,
Speaker 3: you know, maybe he takes that step forward this year and.
Speaker 1: He's got a lot of love on this show because
Speaker 1: again cheap, he's got the job.
Speaker 2: He's got upside.
Speaker 1: Just be patient, you know, because the Nationals have to
Speaker 1: be patient with him too. They have to show something.
Speaker 2: I keep saying, they have to show something for that trade.
Speaker 2: See James are gonna have to be that guy, and
Speaker 2: like he's not gonna be won Sodo.
Speaker 1: Nobody's gonna be won soda. That's why he's so special.
Speaker 1: But can he get a good everyday player? And I
Speaker 1: think the answer is yes.
Speaker 4: And from fantasy him on my all Breakout team to
Speaker 4: I think he was my second.
Speaker 1: And I've talked about him before and thinking like guys
Speaker 1: outside of ADP, I think we did we did a
Speaker 1: show on that that I he he was on my list,
Speaker 1: so a lot of people smarter than me and Welsh
Speaker 1: see Steve Gardner over there talking about it. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get to your shortstop. And this is one of
Speaker 1: my favorite guys, one of my favorite guys last year.
Speaker 1: We talked about him so much, and all he did
Speaker 1: last year was hit thirty one home runs.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about him. Go ahead, Welsh.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm I'm turning even more and more, and I'm
Speaker 4: gluing this all in with my dislike of this back
Speaker 4: end of the deep shortstops that we like episode yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 4: just like in that muddy water. Of those back end guys,
Speaker 4: the only one that I really like Williadamas and Williadamas,
Speaker 4: I think it's just.
Speaker 5: So impressive that you can have a career.
Speaker 4: Low batting average under a career low babbit, and you
Speaker 4: have a career high in home runs. He also his
Speaker 4: RBIs were through the roof. He really found a spot
Speaker 4: in a place to hit. He's a two hundred ice
Speaker 4: so guy. He also lowered his strike you think of this,
Speaker 4: think of this. His batting average and his babbit were
Speaker 4: lowered babbit accuading to batting average dip down. He also
Speaker 4: lowered his strikeout percentage from the previous year twenty six percent,
Speaker 4: which was tied. If you want to get into the decimals,
Speaker 4: it was a little bit higher than one year, but
Speaker 4: twenty six percent is a career best of what he
Speaker 4: can do, so, he lowered his strikeout percentage while struggling
Speaker 4: from Babbit. The Homers were there. Projections want the batting
Speaker 4: average to kick back up because the Babbitt tells us
Speaker 4: the story it is, but the Homers don't. I don't
Speaker 4: buy that. I think Willia Domins could be a thirty
Speaker 4: five homer player. And when he's sitting around a territory
Speaker 4: of a consistently inconsistent Carlos Korea with injury worries Tim
Speaker 4: Anderson who can't play one hundred and twenty games, and
Speaker 4: littany of a couple other players, I just think Williadomas
Speaker 4: is one of the better deals. I think he's a sleeper.
Speaker 4: Even though this is like a top one hundred guy.
Speaker 4: I think Willi Domas has got top fifty upside that
Speaker 4: you're getting ADP shows around ninety. I've seen him go
Speaker 4: post one hundred and plenty of drafts and he's actually
Speaker 4: really not the target. When everyone's like, oh, the position
Speaker 4: so deep, give me Tim Anderson. No one's trying to
Speaker 4: get Willia Domas.
Speaker 1: But isn't it every year we do this to ourselves,
Speaker 1: where we go, oh, this is the really deep position,
Speaker 1: and then like by June, we look up and go,
Speaker 1: what happened to that position? It just got decimated or
Speaker 1: whatever it is. And you know what, just because it's deep, like,
Speaker 1: don't take.
Speaker 2: It for granted. You know, if you can get will
Speaker 2: that's my point.
Speaker 1: And if you can get Willy at your middle infield
Speaker 1: spot somehow, it's.
Speaker 4: My two favorite thing to do, now, Joe, my favorite
Speaker 4: thing to do. That's it right there is. I want
Speaker 4: one of those higher end shortstops if I am too,
Speaker 4: even the ability padded also want it because it's good.
Speaker 2: I don't care like I about chasing the other things
Speaker 2: and chasing talent.
Speaker 4: I want to take him off the pool though, too,
Speaker 4: because everyone's like, oh so deep. I want him to
Speaker 4: be gone. I want him at my middle infield. Your
Speaker 4: middle infield this year most likely should be a shortstop.
Speaker 4: I don't really want it to be Jeremy Panina. I
Speaker 4: don't need it to be Carlisle career.
Speaker 2: I'd rather I love the depth.
Speaker 4: If I were to go and take an on'eal cruise,
Speaker 4: I'm taking on a lot of batting average risk. But
Speaker 4: I don't even hate the idea of getting Willia Damas
Speaker 4: because you know, if I've got some insecurity at shortstop,
Speaker 4: specifically with him. I want another guy.
Speaker 2: You just had. You know, it's funny.
Speaker 1: I was looking at the Wonder Franco home road splits
Speaker 1: today too, and he struggled at home last year. And
Speaker 1: I just you know that batter's eyes is not great
Speaker 1: in Tampa. And I just I know Wonder Franco's not
Speaker 1: going anywhere for the next I don't know five hundred
Speaker 1: years he's in that contract on how long it is.
Speaker 1: But you see these guys when they get out of Tampa,
Speaker 1: what they're able to do.
Speaker 2: It's I mean, it's not easy.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: It's funny about Willia Damas too. If everyone doesn't remember,
Speaker 4: Williadamas was actually the core piece when David Price was
Speaker 4: traded and no one knows who the hell he was.
Speaker 5: Everyone was like, who is this Willy? What was this trade?
Speaker 5: You looked at David Price like what is this trade about?
Speaker 4: And everyone's like, watch out for Willia Damas who was
Speaker 4: at the Tiger system. And now Willia Domas, you know
Speaker 4: he is, uh. I mean, imagine trading David Price for
Speaker 4: Willia Domis right now, just think about that.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's get to the outfielders here and on
Speaker 1: your list, I've Gardner, You've got Jesse Winker, who is
Speaker 1: one of my favorite guys that keep talking about because
Speaker 1: he was one of my biggest.
Speaker 2: Dayaways last year.
Speaker 1: He's one of my biggest targets this year because it's
Speaker 1: all business, is not personal with me.
Speaker 2: The ADP is free in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: By the way, all these guys in Milwaukee, Oscar Colas
Speaker 1: and Harrison Batter. So let's talk about these three guys,
Speaker 1: your outfielders. What's special about them potentially in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three where you think they're sleepers?
Speaker 3: All right? Winker, obviously we liked the hitting environment in Milwaukee,
Speaker 3: so coming back to the National League where he had
Speaker 3: so much success in Cincinnati playing in the NL Central
Speaker 3: and he's healthy too. Again, that's kind of a theme
Speaker 3: that runs through a lot of these sleepers. For me,
Speaker 3: the neck and the knee and whatever else he had
Speaker 3: go wrong, you know, personality conflicts or clashes in Seattle.
Speaker 3: But deep down there's still that all star from twenty
Speaker 3: twenty one that hit three zero five, three nine four
Speaker 3: five point fifty six in Cincinnati, And you know, the
Speaker 3: one thing that you could knock him for in that
Speaker 3: All Star season was that he didn't hit left handed
Speaker 3: pitching well, had just like a ops under six hundred
Speaker 3: against left handed pitching. He hit left handed pitching better
Speaker 3: than he hit right handed pitching last year. So you
Speaker 3: put all that together. Healthy in Milwaukee taking advantage of that,
Speaker 3: I see a big bounce back from Jesse Winker.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the other guys too. It's it's funny,
Speaker 1: you know, Welsh. I say the same things, but it
Speaker 1: sounds much better when Gardner says.
Speaker 2: It doesn't sound much smarter.
Speaker 4: Well, when a Hall of Famer mentions it. Yeah, when
Speaker 4: a Fantasy Baseball Hall of famers.
Speaker 2: So much, he's much better. All right.
Speaker 1: So all right, So let's get to Ocar Colos, which
Speaker 1: is one of Welsh's guys in Bader, give me your
Speaker 1: your lowdown on those two.
Speaker 3: Okay, Baier, I think another one of those guys that
Speaker 3: has the potential to steal a ton of bases this year.
Speaker 3: Obviously with the Yankees, they're gonna have to worry about,
Speaker 3: you know, opponents will have to worry about Aaron Judge,
Speaker 3: and I think this is an opportunity. Bater's going to
Speaker 3: full time center fielder He's the only center fielder really
Speaker 3: on the roster, so he's going to be in the
Speaker 3: lineup every single day. And he was putting together a
Speaker 3: succession of a better slugging seasons in Saint Louis until
Speaker 3: the injuries last year. Had a four to sixty slugging
Speaker 3: percentage in twenty twenty one. I think he's got the
Speaker 3: potential to hit twenty home runs there in New York
Speaker 3: and steal twenty maybe thirty bases if he can stay healthy.
Speaker 3: I think the potential is there in New York that
Speaker 3: Harrison Bader can continue his growth and be, you know,
Speaker 3: a factor there for the Yankees on a team that
Speaker 3: really needs him. You know. I think they showed when
Speaker 3: Aaron Judge was kind of carrying them through all of
Speaker 3: the second half of last year they needed somebody like
Speaker 3: Bater to come in and he did performed for them
Speaker 3: in the postseason. But getting a full season there in
Speaker 3: New York, I think can only help it.
Speaker 1: And colas a player who's going again pretty much free
Speaker 1: three seventy two Chicago White Sox, we know the talent
Speaker 1: that he brings potentially is the matter of how much
Speaker 1: playing time he's going to get and do you think
Speaker 1: he is going to be one of those guys from
Speaker 1: the jump that gets it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this could be. You know, he may be playing
Speaker 3: for a job, a starting job in spring training. I
Speaker 3: think he's going to make the roster. He progressed through
Speaker 3: the minor leagues, was very successful at Double A and
Speaker 3: Triple A last year, and the only guy in front
Speaker 3: of him, it seems like, is Gavin Sheets. And when
Speaker 3: you've got a twenty four year old with this kind
Speaker 3: of raw talent, I don't think that it's going to
Speaker 3: take him long to overtake Sheets. The one issue with
Speaker 3: him in the minor leagues is the strikeout rate, and
Speaker 3: he's done exceptionally well in improving on that so far
Speaker 3: this spring. Obviously small sample sizes, but you've got a
Speaker 3: guy who can hit for power, can steal bases, and
Speaker 3: you know, if he's not striking out, there's a better
Speaker 3: chance he's going to be getting on base again. I
Speaker 3: like the bounce back for all of this, you know,
Speaker 3: White Sox offense. Yeah, Coulos could be part of that
Speaker 3: and a very big part of that.
Speaker 1: Now it's a special day on the show because we're
Speaker 1: recording this on the ninth of March and Welsh.
Speaker 2: I had the the over on.
Speaker 1: This, but you've hit the under the amount of times
Speaker 1: you can mention Lars Newpar So that's it. You've now
Speaker 1: officially you're done, hit your limit. The quote is done,
Speaker 1: so the rest of the year you can't mention him.
Speaker 1: But he is one of your three outfielders, so if
Speaker 1: you want to mention him, you ken. But just no,
Speaker 1: this is it for you. I might do the other guy,
Speaker 1: but like do the other guy, but I just everybody
Speaker 1: knows new Bar was on the list here because Welsh
Speaker 1: has the man crush on him for sure.
Speaker 4: I was also gonna put Jeffrey Springs, but like, I
Speaker 4: just can't keep doing I understand it, but I was
Speaker 4: just struggling with it, like I am so susceptible. By
Speaker 4: the way, if Corbyn, Carroll and large newpar are not
Speaker 4: good this.
Speaker 2: Year, well I'm gonna hear it. Corbyn Carroll, you know
Speaker 2: I'm all in on.
Speaker 1: I mean, the more I watched, the more I watch it,
Speaker 1: it's just I think he's just such a He just
Speaker 1: handed up so fast.
Speaker 2: Well, he's got such.
Speaker 1: Strong quick hands to the baseball, his athleticism. I just
Speaker 1: wrote this up in a piece for Fantasy Pros too.
Speaker 1: It's up on there my must haves. He's one of
Speaker 1: my must haves this year. I think he's almost slump
Speaker 1: proof because of the athleticism, because of the quick stroke,
Speaker 1: because like the amount of that paths is gonna get.
Speaker 2: I know, like maybe I'm jinxing it, but I really.
Speaker 4: Want that was a little jinxy, but like I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, you know that on this show the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. And I mean, how many years
Speaker 1: have we've been doing shows together when you and I
Speaker 1: agree on a player and were this excited?
Speaker 2: How often are we wrong? We? I mean, so I'm.
Speaker 4: Gonna like we did like bold predictions last year in
Speaker 4: mine we're the silliest ever, and they weren't like in agreement.
Speaker 4: This is a full agreement. And like I said, I'm
Speaker 4: just the conductor of these trains. There's a lot of
Speaker 4: people with it and with me on it.
Speaker 5: Uh, it's just very tied to it.
Speaker 4: Large new bars and another one I've talked about it
Speaker 4: at nauseum, but like if you're talking about it belongs
Speaker 4: on my sleeper. Here's the other guy then that I
Speaker 4: can pivot to is Taylor Ward. I think Taylor Ward
Speaker 4: is coming at an exceptional cost. Outside the top one hundred.
Speaker 4: You're probably looking easily at a twenty to twenty five
Speaker 4: home run season batting averages to eighty last year, XBA
Speaker 4: maintained almost a two seventy hits both righty and Lefti's
Speaker 4: good hit too, sixty eight against lefties to eighty six
Speaker 4: against righty's and maintained both halves, which is pretty solid
Speaker 4: to eighty six in the first half to seventy five
Speaker 4: in the second half. Just a consistent hitter that's gonna
Speaker 4: have a lot of opportunity for running RBI in that
Speaker 4: that angels Ligne up. And I think he's a pretty
Speaker 4: good deal. My other outfielders that I threw out to you,
Speaker 4: I'm actually gonna pivot. I want to give you this
Speaker 4: guy first. This is a cheating one, but I want
Speaker 4: to talk about him because he's not doing a outfielder anymore.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but we don't get to talk about d it.
Speaker 4: We don't talk about you two guys in any of these.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: I drafted him yesterday and I drafted him at I
Speaker 1: drove him yesterday in the league, and I drafted him
Speaker 1: today in the RST slam. I drafted it, and that's
Speaker 1: why I wanted to bring up aunt.
Speaker 4: Another Dodger in jad Martinez. And I know he's not
Speaker 4: technically an outfielder, but JD. Martinez is cheat code stuff.
Speaker 4: With the Dodgers still hit two seventy four last year,
Speaker 4: but obviously struggled totally offensively. Batting average looks like a
Speaker 4: going to maintain projections. Love a huge bounce back in
Speaker 4: power to the twenty five range, and I guess at
Speaker 4: the end of the day, like I'm not, I like.
Speaker 5: A lot of the Dodgers, but it's just a why
Speaker 5: wouldn't you.
Speaker 4: It's a big, huge, powerful lineup, and I keep picking
Speaker 4: on Dodgers that are coming at costs that are way
Speaker 4: cheaper than they were in previous years, and their bounce
Speaker 4: back stuff. I mean, Munsey and uh and Jadie Martinez
Speaker 4: are bounced backs. Miguel Vargas just hasn't gone there. I
Speaker 4: think he's just kind of a no brainer that everyone
Speaker 4: forgets about because he's util only. I don't think he's
Speaker 4: gonna at the outfield stuff, but he's.
Speaker 1: Just they don't sort in the draft, and how many
Speaker 1: guys are sitting there where he is an ADP where
Speaker 1: you could legit say there's a chance he goes thirty
Speaker 1: ninety like that. That's that's absolutely the range of outcomes
Speaker 1: for him. And it's not absurd like it's just he
Speaker 1: came off a down year. We're going to know right away.
Speaker 1: I think in the first month or two if Jady
Speaker 1: Martinez is washed or if Jady Martinez is gonna have
Speaker 1: a renaissance, I really do go ahead, Steve.
Speaker 3: You know, guys, there's another reason that I'm bullish on JD.
Speaker 3: Martinez as well. Coming to the Dodgers, they hired the
Speaker 3: guy that turned his swing around. Remember when JD. Martinez
Speaker 3: was essentially a nobody and all of a sudden, wow,
Speaker 3: where did this come from? The guy's named Robert van Skyak,
Speaker 3: And he wouldn't he wouldn't tell me. I remember interviewing
Speaker 3: him like the year after that, and he wouldn't tell
Speaker 3: me the guy's name, and he wanted to keep it secret.
Speaker 3: He didn't want anybody going there. That finally got out
Speaker 3: and the Dodgers hired him as hitting coach or assistant
Speaker 3: hitting coach or he's with the Dodgers this year, so
Speaker 3: reuniting the two of them, you know, whatever might have
Speaker 3: been broken last year for JD. Martinez. I think there's
Speaker 3: a pretty good chance that it gets fixed.
Speaker 1: It's one hundred worth a shot at the ADP too.
Speaker 1: I think that's what Welsh is driving home. So you've
Speaker 1: got Taylor Ward, You've got Martinez nut bar. I'll give
Speaker 1: you one more Welsh since I didn't let you use
Speaker 1: your nude bar today.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: No, I wanted to talk about this one.
Speaker 4: This is important because I actually walked myself into this
Speaker 4: one because I was not about this guy at all.
Speaker 4: I was on a bench with Bubba, our dear friend,
Speaker 4: Casey Bubba, and we were talking about the Diamond will
Speaker 4: be on.
Speaker 2: The show tomorrow, by the way, on the Friday mock
Speaker 2: Draft show. So there you go.
Speaker 5: Go and listen to that. Yeah, there you go, you
Speaker 5: guys and check us out. Well.
Speaker 4: In that show, I started to have this revelation about
Speaker 4: Lordis Curriel and I had brought up the idea. I said, listen,
Speaker 4: I'm not sold. When you look at roster, rest of
Speaker 4: resource tells you that Jake McCarthy's a guy. I don't
Speaker 4: believe in it, and I don't know if the contact skills
Speaker 4: are there enough. I also believe you know, the stolen
Speaker 4: baser are going to come from Carol. Whatever, it doesn't matter,
Speaker 4: I said, look out, because the perfect type of guy
Speaker 4: to hit three for a team like this is actually
Speaker 4: a guy like Lordis Gurriel.
Speaker 5: We know what ended up happening. Spring started.
Speaker 4: He's starting almost every single game hitting three for the Diamondbacks.
Speaker 4: It's spring training. Things can change, of course they can.
Speaker 4: But Corb and Carroll against Righty's leading off Kateel Marte
Speaker 4: is firmly at two, and I want to point out,
Speaker 4: in every one of these games, Katel has hit two
Speaker 4: and Lord has has hit three. Walker comes in at four.
Speaker 4: It seems like a foregone conclusion that Lordis Guriel is
Speaker 4: going to hit three. Now, why is that important? You
Speaker 4: have Corbin Carrol maybe going to lead the league in
Speaker 4: solo basis, even if it doesn't, is going to be
Speaker 4: a threat. The fastest man in baseball is your lead
Speaker 4: off hitter. You've got to tell Marte, who is noticeably
Speaker 4: trying to still hit for contact, not for power. Lords
Speaker 4: is not exciting, but he's dirt cheap, dirt cheap, and
Speaker 4: what if those RBI numbers start to represent what he
Speaker 4: did in twenty twenty.
Speaker 5: One with the with the Blue Jays.
Speaker 4: What if it's into the eighties, what if he gets
Speaker 4: to fifteen homers, He's going to hit for a high
Speaker 4: batting average. I think it's a cheap, free opportunity when
Speaker 4: outfields stinks so bad that you might be able to
Speaker 4: get a couple really good categories outside the top two hundred.
Speaker 4: And I just wanted to point out Lordis Gurriel because
Speaker 4: I kind of walk myself into this him hitting three thing,
Speaker 4: and it has been happening all spring long, and I
Speaker 4: think it's something we should really really pay attention to
Speaker 4: for a diamondback team that is going to try to manufacture,
Speaker 4: it might be a tiny bit better than a lot
Speaker 4: of people expect.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the pictures. Here the three
Speaker 1: pictures on your list. Steve Gardner has actually got four
Speaker 1: because again overachiever Lucas Gilito, one of my favorite bounce backs.
Speaker 1: Also a guy drafted yesterday in our Fantasy Bros.
Speaker 2: Draft.
Speaker 1: Freddy Peralta who we've had mixed things about, so I
Speaker 1: want to definitely get your input on him. Tyler Molly
Speaker 1: and Tyler Anderson. So two Tyler's a Freddie p and
Speaker 1: a Lucas g So let's talk about these guys. We'll
Speaker 1: take them one at a time, first Giulito, and then
Speaker 1: run through them for us here, Steve.
Speaker 3: All right, Gilito, I think we have mutual love the
Speaker 3: Welsh and I on him. I just I think last
Speaker 3: year again it's the white Sox thing. Maybe that's that's
Speaker 3: another theme for today. But where did that, folks, that's
Speaker 3: the sleepers or where did that come from? That's what
Speaker 3: I want to know. I mean, he'd been he turned
Speaker 3: things around since leaving Washington and going to Chicago. It's
Speaker 3: a huge buying opportunity. I mean, the k rate still
Speaker 3: above a strikeout per inning, he's still missing bats last
Speaker 3: year at the seventy first percentile. I just seems to
Speaker 3: me like there was just a mirage last year and
Speaker 3: Gilito is a guy that can come back to ACE level.
Speaker 3: And again you're talking about where he's going in ADP.
Speaker 3: I got him as my second starter in the al
Speaker 3: Labor draft over the past weekend and he was sixteen
Speaker 3: seventeen dollars and uh, you know he was somebody.
Speaker 2: Last year, by the way, can we I mean he
Speaker 2: was just out of shape?
Speaker 4: You mean wait, yeah, he noticed a lot. He said
Speaker 4: he lost like thirty five pounds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he came up with two forty five this year.
Speaker 2: He was too eighty last year.
Speaker 1: I mean obviously the mechanics had you know, it threw
Speaker 1: that off, It threw off the stem, and it.
Speaker 2: Threw off everything.
Speaker 1: So I mean, just coming into camp better shape. I
Speaker 1: think that hopefully's gonna be enough. Steve, I'm with you
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. What about paralitic, because that's a guy's
Speaker 1: very polarizing because Nick Pollock, I mean literally I didn't
Speaker 1: sleep the entire night after we had him on. He
Speaker 1: talked about Freddy Pearulter's shoulder. But everybody keeps saying he's
Speaker 1: fine and he looks healthy in the spring.
Speaker 3: But what do you think, Well, I'm buying into the fact,
Speaker 3: and maybe I should be, uh taking this with a
Speaker 3: grain of salt. But if they say that he's healthy
Speaker 3: and all indications are at this point that he's healthy
Speaker 3: entering spring training, then I love Freddy Peralta where he's
Speaker 3: going right now. I mean we saw what he could
Speaker 3: do over a full season a couple of years ago
Speaker 3: with that era under three one hundred and ninety five
Speaker 3: k's and he just the one thing I like about
Speaker 3: him the most is he doesn't give up hard contact
Speaker 3: and home runs. So you know, when you can limit
Speaker 3: that in Milwaukee and get the you know, your team
Speaker 3: to hit a few extra home runs, that's where Freddy
Speaker 3: Peralta can be, you know. And he's not even the
Speaker 3: number one of the number two guy there in Milwaukee.
Speaker 3: He's their third starter, so the expectations aren't anything that
Speaker 3: he has to deal with. And the strikeout rate again high.
Speaker 3: It's been over ten k's per nine for for a
Speaker 3: couple of years. Was down a little bit last year,
Speaker 3: but I attribute that to the injuries. I'm looking for
Speaker 3: the bounce back here and I'm buying.
Speaker 1: At the dip okay, and then you got Tyler Molly
Speaker 1: and Tyler Anderson on your list.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about those two guys.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll get real quick again. Tyler Molly two years
Speaker 3: ago struck out two hundred and ten batters at a
Speaker 3: three seventy five e RA in Cincinnati in a pitcher's park.
Speaker 3: You put him in Minnesota with Carlos Carea, Brian Byron
Speaker 3: Buxton or Michael A. Taylor in centerfield. You know those
Speaker 3: guys up the middle there good defense. I think that's
Speaker 3: Taylor made for him to come back and and be
Speaker 3: maybe not an ace, but certainly much better than the
Speaker 3: sp five or six or whatever. He's being drafted. And
Speaker 3: Tyler Anderson, I don't, I don't get it. I mean, yes,
Speaker 3: he's not impressive to watch, but he does get ahead
Speaker 3: of hitters. That's one of the He's one of the
Speaker 3: best in the majors at getting ahead of hitters, or
Speaker 3: was last year, and that's what I think contributed a
Speaker 3: lot to his two five seven e r A and
Speaker 3: one point zero zero whip. Going to the Angels, it's different.
Speaker 3: You know, we won't have the Dodgers, won't be shifting,
Speaker 3: and you know they were the one one of the
Speaker 3: best teams at shifting. But still the mentality of getting
Speaker 3: ahead and nobody batters chased balls on him as much
Speaker 3: as they do almost any other pitcher in all of
Speaker 3: Major League Baseball. I think that's the kind of skill
Speaker 3: that can translate to a new environment. So Tyler Anderson,
Speaker 3: again way outside the top two hundred, I'm buying.
Speaker 2: All right now.
Speaker 1: Welsh you have ge Alito on your list, Andrew Heeney,
Speaker 1: George Kirby at a mornings to be said about Giolito,
Speaker 1: but Welsh, if you got something there, drop it. Let's
Speaker 1: get to Heeni and Kirby as well. Why do these
Speaker 1: guys make your all sleeper team?
Speaker 4: Yeah, the only thing I would add with the Gilito
Speaker 4: as well. On top of the weight loss, he was
Speaker 4: pitching inside his body and you could pretty visibly see
Speaker 4: it where he kept his arm inside kind of like
Speaker 4: really close to the vest and then he would explode
Speaker 4: on it. That was something that he changed from years prior.
Speaker 4: Went to drive line again. That's gone, so he's kind
Speaker 4: of changed his delivery. He lost a whole bunch of weight.
Speaker 4: It seems very much like an anomaly. I'm just very
Speaker 4: much in on him.
Speaker 5: We've talked a lot about Kirby.
Speaker 3: Kirby was a.
Speaker 4: Big guy that Nick Pollock was in on, and you know,
Speaker 4: I've kind of been pretty vocal about it as well.
Speaker 4: I like the nine k per nine. I love that
Speaker 4: he is a command zone pitcher. He's just going to
Speaker 4: pump all across his zone with a multitude of pitches.
Speaker 4: I think he's going to take a big step up.
Speaker 4: I love the spin rates. I just love everything about
Speaker 4: George Kirby I've seen him touch one hundred as well,
Speaker 4: so I think there's always something in the tank for him.
Speaker 4: A little bit bigger. Just saw him today actually in camp.
Speaker 4: You know, he's just adding a little bit more muscle
Speaker 4: onto his body. I think George Kirby set to really
Speaker 4: break out. And you know, Andrew Heeney is someone I
Speaker 4: haven't really talked about recently, but like he was kind
Speaker 4: of Jacob de gram light with what the Dodgers changed
Speaker 4: with him. He only had seventy innings last year, which
Speaker 4: is also a Jacob de Gram light. But okay, Joe,
Speaker 4: you're giving me a reaction there. Joe thirty five point
Speaker 4: five K percentage, which was over thirteen K per nine.
Speaker 4: Of all pitchers who pitched seventy or more innings, Spencer
Speaker 4: Strider had the best K minus Walker twenty nine point
Speaker 4: seven number two Andrew Heeney twenty nine point four percent.
Speaker 4: The Dodgers, like they do, were able to fix him.
Speaker 4: I'm very hopeful that that is going to come over
Speaker 4: and that is going to take part in Texas, because
Speaker 4: that is an increase in K prinine. He lowered his
Speaker 4: walk per nine last year. He didn't give up as
Speaker 4: many Homers. This is a guy if you can get
Speaker 4: the innings out of him, is crazy, crazy valuable at
Speaker 4: low rounds that people are just not targeting. That has
Speaker 4: him around one hundred and forty innings. Like I said,
Speaker 4: this is like a goodwill version of Jacob de Gram.
Speaker 4: I love the strikeout numbers. I think Texas is going
Speaker 4: to be way better than people are giving credit for.
Speaker 4: So Andrew Heeney is a target. I think he's a
Speaker 4: sleeper and if he gets one hundred and ten hundred
Speaker 4: and twenty innings, he's going to smash his value.
Speaker 1: Sorry, I just still trying to come down from the
Speaker 1: Jacob de gram comparison there.
Speaker 4: But like Jacob, it's like goodwill, goodwill. Jacob de Grod
Speaker 4: thirteen k per nine is the second best case. Can
Speaker 4: also only pitch seventy innings.
Speaker 2: I mean, I was gonna say the most Jacob de
Speaker 2: gram as thing he can do.
Speaker 1: He's seventy four innings this year. That's probably gonna be
Speaker 1: uh somewhere in that rage.
Speaker 5: All right, let's close x fip better than his HERI yeah.
Speaker 2: Let's close things out with the closers.
Speaker 1: Justin Mason has a great piece on fantasy pros right now,
Speaker 1: the all undrafted team, and this guy's on it.
Speaker 2: Well, so let's talk about your relief pitcher.
Speaker 4: Uh, as far as relief pitchers go, this is interestingly
Speaker 4: all undrafted.
Speaker 5: One.
Speaker 4: I've got Alexis Diaz with the Cincinnati Reds, who's actually
Speaker 4: out right now for the I believe he's I'm trying
Speaker 4: to remember what team he is, but he's out in
Speaker 4: the WBC. And Alexis Daz is just one of those
Speaker 4: dudes that this is. Also I believe he's brothers or
Speaker 4: cousins with Edwin Diaz, so you can obviously kind of
Speaker 4: get excited there. This is a bad team with a
Speaker 4: lockdown closer. So this is kind of like similar to
Speaker 4: like Daniel Bard how you would view it, except I
Speaker 4: think the stuff can be bigger head of one eight
Speaker 4: four era last year. The worrisome stuff is the walk
Speaker 4: numbers are really high, and technically his ex FIP was
Speaker 4: like at nomically higher, so he got away with a
Speaker 4: lot of stuff.
Speaker 5: But it is.
Speaker 4: Big strikeout numbers, doesn't give up homers, and he has
Speaker 4: the gig and he's going to keep down that gig
Speaker 4: for quite a while.
Speaker 5: So I think as far as the.
Speaker 4: Sleeper goes Ario Cohen talked about alex slang you could
Speaker 4: look at him. Daniel Bard is kind of fun with Colorado.
Speaker 4: But Alexis Diaz, to me, I think has the most real,
Speaker 4: true life closer stuff and if that control can be
Speaker 4: a little bit under control, if you will, then Alexis
Speaker 4: Diaz has a potential to be like a top twelve.
Speaker 4: I actually really think this is like its like Daniel
Speaker 4: Bard where you know Daniel Bard, I guess you got
Speaker 4: him probably like twenty fifth or something encloser and he
Speaker 4: could return top fifteen. I think Alexis d has a
Speaker 4: easy going to do that, and if he has a
Speaker 4: gig all year controls those walks, I think he could
Speaker 4: finish top probably ten enclosers. So he's a guy that
Speaker 4: I'm trying to drop absolutely everywhere.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's playing for Team Puerto Rico. All right, though,
Speaker 1: let's go for you, Steve Gardner. Close us out here.
Speaker 1: And this is a closer that I take in almost
Speaker 1: every mock draft that we do. He has very little
Speaker 1: competition as far as I'm concerned, and I do agree
Speaker 1: with Welsh. I think Texas is going to be better
Speaker 1: than people realize. I'm not sure how. It's just they've
Speaker 1: just knock the talent on their roster the.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: But no, but look, they went out there and they've
Speaker 1: spent money and they've run into major league talent and
Speaker 1: that's something that roster's lacked the last three years, let's
Speaker 1: be honest. So that just off the bat is a
Speaker 1: good thing. So the closer there, jose lea clerk, that's
Speaker 1: your guy.
Speaker 3: Steve Yes indeed, and uh, you know, if de Grom
Speaker 3: and and those guys can get further into the game
Speaker 3: and maybe take some of the pressure off of the
Speaker 3: bullpen in Texas to get it to the ninth inning,
Speaker 3: jose Le Clerk is going to be. Uh. It seems
Speaker 3: to me the no doubt closer there. They just did
Speaker 3: sign Will Smith this past week, who does have closing experience.
Speaker 3: But again, you like to see the right hander as
Speaker 3: the closer and use the left hander in situations. And
Speaker 3: you know, coming back after Tommy John surgery a couple
Speaker 3: of years ago, made it back to the roster throwing
Speaker 3: ninety six again last year, and he has closing experience.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's done that for a couple of years,
Speaker 3: and now it seems like the job is his I
Speaker 3: think he's in a perfect situation and everybody seems to
Speaker 3: have forgotten about him, at least in drafts that I'm in,
Speaker 3: where you know, nobody knows who's going to close for
Speaker 3: Texas because nobody had many saves for them. He's the
Speaker 3: guy he came back in, you know, towards the end
Speaker 3: of the year and took the job over. I think
Speaker 3: he's going to keep it all season long. And if
Speaker 3: you can get a closer who has the job all
Speaker 3: season long and not get traded, then you've got gold,
Speaker 3: especially where he's going.
Speaker 1: I love that we've come full circle here this week
Speaker 1: because after the show with Collette he had so many
Speaker 1: of my favorite names on his All Bus team. You've
Speaker 1: got a lot of names that I like Steve Gardner
Speaker 1: on your all sleeper team.
Speaker 2: So now I'm feeling a little bit better. It could
Speaker 2: rest easy.
Speaker 1: Those names are at Catri Gasmani Grondal at first, Brandon
Speaker 1: belt Estrata, Candelario Abrams make the rest of the infield.
Speaker 1: Then you've got Jesse Winker, Oscar colos Ha Bader in
Speaker 1: the outfield, the pitchers, Giolito, Peralta, Molly and Anderson, and
Speaker 1: the closer, jose Leclerk, Welsh's all sleeper team, the slap
Speaker 1: of Yo Hoppy as Ariel Cohen calls him. Miguel Vargas,
Speaker 1: Colton Wong, Max Munsey, William Domas, Lars newtbar Taylor, Ward, Lords,
Speaker 1: Guriel JD. Martinez, then Kirby Heeney and Gildo will Alexis
Speaker 1: Diaz at the end.
Speaker 2: So some really good names there.
Speaker 1: Obviously, go practice getting these names on your roster over
Speaker 1: at fantasypros dot com slash Draft Wizard, download the app,
Speaker 1: run those mock draft simulations. We got a draft show,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned, coming up tomorrow with Bubba. We're gonna
Speaker 1: do head to head Rhodo categories. I think we should
Speaker 1: all draft right next to each other. Welsh, what do
Speaker 1: you think like five six, seven tomorrow.
Speaker 5: That's a pretty yeah, all.
Speaker 1: Friends after Still, I think we should do that. Steve
Speaker 1: Gardner go follow him on the Twitter machine at Steve A.
Speaker 2: Gardner. He is first class for a reason, one of.
Speaker 1: The best guests, one of the best baseball people I've
Speaker 1: ever met in one of the big reasons I'm still
Speaker 1: kicking in this industry. So Steve, just thank you again
Speaker 1: for your time and coming on sharing your knowledge with everybody.
Speaker 1: It's also one of the best fantasy baseball players out
Speaker 1: there too. If you're ever in a league with Steve Gardner,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna tell you he's gonna kick your ass
Speaker 1: like it's just I've experienced it myself on more than
Speaker 1: one occasion. So one of the best there is. And
Speaker 1: check out the USA today that's coming out the special
Speaker 1: Fantasy Edition very soon. I want to thank the sponsor
Speaker 1: of today's show, and that's fan Tracks. Head over to
Speaker 1: fantracks dot com slash Fantasy Pros today for your chance
Speaker 1: to win the fan Tracks game day experience for your
Speaker 1: entire fantasy baseball league. Again, that's fantracks dot com slash
Speaker 1: Fantasy Pros. And while you're there, join the Black Book
Speaker 1: Challenge over Fantasy Pros. I tweeted the link Joe P's
Speaker 1: a P seventeen on Twitter.
Speaker 2: Check that out. Join it's free. The winner gets a
Speaker 2: Fernando Tattist autograph jersey.
Speaker 1: That'll do it for us, but the story of the
Speaker 1: game goes on for Steve Gardner and the Welsh I'm
Speaker 1: Joey P.
Speaker 2: We'll see you next time. Kids.
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