WEBVTT - The Cycle: The Biggest Fantasy Baseball Questions For The Second Half (Ep. 1077) 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.320 Hello, everybody, Welcome into the cycle. I am Ryan Warmley, 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.120 joined today by Mike Mayor. It is the day before 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.480 fourth of July, kind of an unofficial ish midway point 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.360 of the season, and I think if you look at 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.599 the games played, we're technically a little bit pass it 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:22.000 at this point, Mayor, but we wanted to use this 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:25.640 holiday and this like pseudo midway point to look ahead 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:27.800 to the second half. So on today's episode of Rounding 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.560 the Bases, which is part one of the cycle, we're 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:32.800 kind of taking a different approach. Instead of our usual 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.680 run through of different trending topics than maybe a specific debate, 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.760 we wanted to have some news notes and injuries. We're 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.280 running through some key questions for the second half of 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:46.080 the show. These kind of burning questions type shows is 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:48.800 one of our favorite formats to do here at Fantasy Pros. 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.800 We did one for the whole year prior to opening day. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:54.120 So now we're going to kind of do one of 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:56.240 key questions for the second half here. We've got three 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:58.840 each that we're gonna go back and forth and kind 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:00.880 of talk through. Here, we are going to jump into 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.920 some quick news updates at the very top. One in particular, 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.200 that just happened this morning that we felt it was 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.480 worth hitting on. But that's what will look like and 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.800 just everybody knows. Instead of our usual three parts on 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:14.640 the episode this week, because of the holiday and you know, 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:17.119 editors and everything, we want to be able to kind 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.880 of enjoy this friday off for fourth of July, we're 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:21.840 just going to do two parts this week instead of three. 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:24.680 So instead of that part two, we're going to loop 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.200 the waiver pickups into part three. We'll have our pitching 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.679 streamers episode to help everybody get ready for next week. 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.760 Throw some waivers, you know, additions at you in that segment, 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:35.200 but we're not going to do that part two that 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.760 we usually do. Does that all sound good, mayor. 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:40.520 That sounds good? It sounds like a lot. While you 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.360 were talking, I thought to myself, I wish we would 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.600 have gone back and looked at the preseason burning questions 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:48.120 because it would have been fun to kind of look 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:49.880 back at those right now at the midway point and 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.960 see how all those questions looked. But we didn't think 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:53.800 about that, and it's. 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.440 Too late now, yeah, definitely too late. Absolutely no chance 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.160 we could just quickly pull up the old outlines and 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.280 see how this did. I'm going to try and pull 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:04.760 it up just to see. I don't know if I'll 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.360 actually be able to fine or not, but before we 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:10.040 do that, if we do end up doing that, the 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.040 big news update that we did want to hit on 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:18.960 Louis Ortiz being investigated for gambling. Now, this news literally 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:21.800 dropped minutes before we started taping this show, so we 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:24.440 don't really have any kind of follow up to this 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.799 news story. But obviously this is something that has been 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.360 going on in the NBA, like this is you know, 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.519 there's a history of gambling and baseball. Obviously we talked 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.639 about Pete Rose earlier when he passed away, but this 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.360 is something that has become more prevalent. It feels like 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:43.320 since gambling has become more legalized, where you kind of 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.680 have these issues of athletes, you know, participating. We don't 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.480 know if this is we're assuming he's being investigated for 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.840 gambling on baseball. Again, this story is brand new, so 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.960 we don't have information yet. And not like you, uh, 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.280 those Lions players, I think it was last year, maybe 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.080 two years ago, we're gambling, not on football, but they 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:03.840 were gambling in the Alliance facility and then they got suspended. 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.519 I don't know if this is that type of situation 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.800 or a baseball situation, but when you saw this news story, 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:10.440 mayor what was the first thing that came to your mind. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.000 So the first thing that came to my mind was 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.520 as someone who was a proponent of sports betting, I 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.040 was like, Oh, no, this is another kind of knock 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:21.680 against sports betting. It's another piece of ammo that you know, 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.359 opponents of sports betting are going to use to say, 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.200 this is why we can have legalized sports betting, this 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.240 is why we can't have it in the country. I 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:30.800 have a pretty different take on this in that I 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:32.840 think this kind of thing has been happening for decades 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.680 and I actually think this is a good reason for, 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.640 like a good argument for legalized sports gambling, because I 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.000 think this is how people get caught and there's just 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.120 a ton of regulation around this stuff. Now that these 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.160 sports books have a lot of really advanced like geo 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:52.320 targeting and like they track not only like performance pretendencies, 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:54.600 and we saw it with the NBA, like you know, 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.320 there was a lot of weird activity on Terry Rosier's 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.080 props in a game or two, and all that stuff 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.040 gets flagged and that's kind of that's how the Lions 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.480 players got flagged too, Like they were gambling into team facility, 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.440 which is a no gambling area, and they got they 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:09.920 got caught for it. So I think a lot of 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:11.560 this stuff has been happening for a really long time, 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.200 and that legalizing sports betting is actually leading to more 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.800 people getting caught, which is you know, an argument for it, 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:18.640 because it's you know, you're gonna help keep it out 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:19.040 of the game. 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:22.680 I assume you would have no problem with like a 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.440 lifetime ban on anybody who was gambling on the sport 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:26.040 they're playing. 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.200 Yeah, I think so, especially you know in these days, 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.720 it's it's very clear this is like a no go zone, 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.359 and so if you get caught, I'm you know, you 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.000 got to go. I was in favor of letting Pete 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:38.760 Rose back in after all that. 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.600 Time though, prior to his to his passing. 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.320 Yeah well yeah, yeah, well, I. 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:47.040 Just mean I think the timing would have been nice 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.360 if it had happened before he had one hundred comes. Yeah, 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:53.240 we talked about that already, we sure did. Yeah. I 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:54.880 don't really disagree with anything you said. I think it 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.160 is like I think anybody who use points to this 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.600 as a reason that gambling is that legalizing gambling is bad, 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.240 is missing the big picture. And I think it's a 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.360 good thing to find stuff like this because I. 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:13.080 Will also say that he is innocent until proven guilty 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.159 or found guilty. You know, there was an investigation, and 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.040 we saw that there are a lot of triggers that 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.479 can cause an investigation for this or call for an 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:23.560 investigation like this, and we saw it, you know, just 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.320 referencing the Terry Rozier situation from a couple of years ago. 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.440 They just Sham's just reported the other day that he's 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.640 at least for now been cleared and that like, you know, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.680 there were other people involved in that situation, but at 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:39.080 least in terms of his standing, there's nothing pending right now, 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:40.560 and so it could just be that, like, he's not 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.200 involved and it's just you know, there was some suspicious 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.320 activity and they want to look into it. So it's 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.920 also possible that's the case, which is again even more 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.440 reason to have these legalized books with all the increased 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:52.880 regulations that come with them. 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.960 Different scenario, but I mean, just think about the reactions 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.520 when all the first stuff came out with shohe and 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.280 his interpreter and some of the jokes and some of 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:03.800 the not conclusions that were being jumped to, but some 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:08.080 of the like possible outcomes that could have played out 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:12.719 from that. So it's it's important to let the investigation 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.039 play out, and like you said, innocent until proven guilty. 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.400 I did mayor pull up our key questions from before 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:20.720 the season. Do you do you want me to run 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:21.440 through them quickly? 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:23.640 Sure? I wasn't sure if you're gonna be able to 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:24.760 do it, just because I know on my end, I 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:26.880 don't have the episodes labeled other than by the. 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.719 Date I see I do label them. So I was 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.160 able to pull that up relatively easily because I am organized. 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:36.160 Question number one, We'll go through these really quickly. Question 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:38.800 number one, how does sho Heo Tani follow up his 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.559 historic twenty twenty four season, especially now that he's pitching again. 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.360 He's still really so far he's not really pitching, but yeah, 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.240 he's not really pitching, but he's still really good. 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.159 He's still really good. Just I think we thought he'd 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.480 be pitching sooner than he's like just starting to start 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:54.240 pitching right now. 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:57.719 Speaking of historic twenty to twenty four seasons, Paul Skeens 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:00.320 has the highest ADP of any pitcher as he enters 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.000 a year two. Will he justify a first round pick 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.240 this season so far? 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:07.880 Maybe? 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:10.840 Kind of not. I don't feel like he's I mean, 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:12.360 he's been good, but I don't feel like he's been 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.680 a first round player. Yeah, in terms of I'm not 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:17.320 looking to actual VBR right now. 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.240 That's P three. In terms of, you know, if you 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:21.560 were going to take a picture, he's one of the 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:22.840 three you would have had to take it school. 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:24.800 Yeah, but I think I think to be a first 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:28.120 round pick, you need to be like better than that. 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.320 Like just being the third best starting pitcher to me 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.080 doesn't mean you're a first round pick in the way 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:33.520 I approach first rounds at least. 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:36.000 Yeah. 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.239 Question three, Any chance we get more two hundred plus 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.200 innings pitchers this year? Just four of them in twenty 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.160 twenty four, Logan Gilbert's two hundred and eight and two 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.760 thirds innings were the smallest number to lead the league 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.560 in the years. Do we feel like we're on pace 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.800 for that this year or I mean, obviously we don't 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.920 have any two hundred any pictures yet, but yet. 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.280 We have a couple that could do it. Just looking 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.320 at the the top pitchers with a ton of Dings. 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.080 Schooble has one hundred and nine. Skiings himself has one 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:06.720 hundred and eleven. I don't know that they're gonna let 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.480 him get to two hundred, though, depending on what September 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.160 looks like. Max Freed is one hundred and fourteen. He's 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.560 a candidate. Garat Crochet is one hundred and fifteen. Maybe 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.280 more unlikely depending on how things go in Boston. Logan 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.880 Web one thirteen. So there's a couple that are within 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:23.600 shouting distance who are kind of on pace. 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:26.440 Twenty twenty four was a bit of a down year 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.920 for top hitting prospects making their debuts. Get in the 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.280 twenty twenty five rookie class buck that trend. 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:32.800 No, No, they cannot. 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:37.040 Yeah, that's an easy one. Here's the fun one. Question 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.760 number five, Will we get one last ride from a 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:46.080 hopefully healthy Mic Trout? Ooh, that feels like I do no. 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.440 Question six. Stolen bases are up across the league after 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.640 recent rules changes, but even still, Ronald Acunya is the 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:56.560 only player to hit seventy stolen bases in a season 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.840 in the last fifteen years. With lots of candidates, this year, 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.800 Will any player top that mark? 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.440 Uh? No, it doesn't look like the league leaders has 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.880 a Cabierra with thirty O'Neil cruz as twenty eight, peak 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.400 arm turns twenty six. If they gave Chandler Simpson a 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:13.240 full year, I can. 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:17.000 Say if they didn't send Chandler Simpson down, maybe he 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:18.000 would have had a shot. 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:21.719 He's got twenty three in like Nalys, a third of 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:22.680 the time of everyone else. 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.640 Speaking of Akunya, how will the Brave Stars look coming 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.280 off injury? Will Spencer, Stryder and Acunya reca't reclaim their 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.520 perchase atop their respective positions or will it take some 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:35.280 time to work back from their injuries? 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.679 I think mixed? So far Acunya hit the ground running, 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:43.959 he home runs his first pitch back. Stryder has been mixed. 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.280 But we you know you can see it still, you 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:47.720 know you can see the potential there. 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:50.920 Just how good will Garrett Crochet be in Boston with 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:52.439 the presumed full workload? 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.720 Really good, very good unless you ask wells. 0:09:55.920 --> 0:10:00.559 Yeah, are any White Sox worth rostering besides the Louise. 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:02.680 Robert not even Louise Robert. 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:06.840 Yeah? Do you want to make the case for uh, 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:09.320 I don't know, like Sean Burke or somebody. 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.400 I Chase Mydrath it is like fine, he's not like 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.760 a must roster guy, but he's you know, he's fine. 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:19.480 Let me see if there's anyone else that in VBR. 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.440 Luise Robert is one thirty three and he is the 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:27.959 top ranked either, although maybe I don't know. Chase Mydrath 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:29.640 is one ninety eight, so I would have to be 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:37.880 let me check pictures. Uh no, I mean Chane Smith flashed. 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:39.360 There was like a little bit of like a Shane 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:40.560 Smith era that we had the. 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:42.760 Picked Shane Smith for me in the two Star pitcher 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:43.800 competition one week. 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:45.800 So yeah, well, I mean he was hot. He was 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.240 hot and then then he was not. That how it goes. 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.560 Last last question here from before the season, pick one 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.520 player in the first round this year who will be 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.320 outside the top twenty five and twenty twenty six, and 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.920 pick one player outside the top twenty five who will 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.760 be a first rounder in twenty twenty six. 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:03.800 Was one of the James would do we predict? 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.319 James Wood, I was gonna say, I forget who you picked. 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.720 I do remember my two picks for this, and I 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:11.199 was very correct. About the player outside the top twenty 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.079 five who will be a first round of next year, 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.319 because I did pick James Wood, I was very incorrect 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.440 about the player in the top twenty five who will 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.120 in the first round, who will be outside in twenty 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.920 twenty six, because I believe I said, I don't want 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:25.360 to pick any of them, but if you had to 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.319 make me pick, I would pick Aaron Judge. 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.640 Yeah, that's a mess. I feel like I might have 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:36.600 picked Jared Durant as a potential first round pick, but 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.640 that's not looking he's having a down year. I don't 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.439 know who I would have picked to be out of it. 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.520 I remember us saying like there we feel really good 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.199 about these first rounders and also like feel like they're 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:50.319 gonna be good next year. So like, I don't think 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.439 either of us was like, oh, this is the clear 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.520 first rounder who we don't like. Like I wasn't saying 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.640 I'm definitely predicting that. For Judge, it was just if 0:11:57.640 --> 0:11:59.880 I had to pick one, I was trying to paint 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:02.960 a case for it, which obviously didn't pan out, but 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.160 that James would call looks great, and. 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:09.800 So I can't remember, like, not a non Yankee stadium. 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.200 Would, I think is a really good U test case 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.040 for sometimes, Like I think a lot of the conversation 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:16.920 not a lot, but some of the conversation around Wood 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.160 during March was well, you're drafting him at his ceiling, right, 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.080 like you're projecting this step forward, but he's already going 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.600 like just inside the top fifty. I think it's it's 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.000 proven that if a player is talented enough and you 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.920 really like them and believe in them, like you don't 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.000 really know what their ceiling is all the time, Like 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:37.840 he clearly his ceiling is a first round player, not 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.960 just a guy who's inside the top fifty. So not 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.800 not to say like maybe he's the exception not the rule, 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:49.040 but I was not scared off by the high draft 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:52.440 capital on James Wood this draft season, and I have really, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.200 you know, reaped those rewards because of it. And I 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:00.640 think that's a good lesson that not every young, totally 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.920 unproven player who there's a lot of helium around is 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:06.599 at their ceiling. There is always a chance for a 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.360 step forward if the players talented enough. 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:12.320 Yeah, for sure, I just pulled up, But not that 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.199 we have to spend the whole episode looking back, But 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.079 I just pulled up another random episode of was our 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.760 preseason superlatives, and the very first one is pretty funny, 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.160 most likely to succeed Shane McClanahan for you and Brian 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:23.880 Reynolds for me. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:31.320 That definitely was before the injury. I think I think 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:33.440 one of those superlatives or like maybe it was our 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.679 bold prediction. I one of the ones I remember is 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.280 Chandler Simpson leading the league in song bases, and then 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.719 I know I remember another one was Devin Williams will 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.080 get Cy Young votes. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:46.440 Yeah, that did not happen. 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:48.640 Those were supposed to be bold though, right, Like, there's 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:50.199 there was always a good chance they were't going to 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:51.600 pan out. All right, let's doeb you into our key 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.560 questions for the second half, because we are already fourteen 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:57.680 minutes into this episode. We just came up with three each, 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.079 and uh yeah, well just go for I'll go first year, 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.480 which surprise fantasy MVP will have the better second half? 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:10.680 Pete Crow Armstrong or Cal Raleigh. When you read this question, 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.280 I'm curious who you kind of settled on after thinking 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.840 about it, But what was your gut reaction like two 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:17.760 seconds in if you had to answer when you first 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.040 read it, who was the first name that jumped ahead 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:20.320 for you. 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.040 My honest gut reaction was like, ooh, that's a good question, 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:25.640 and I don't know who I'm going to pick. And 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.880 then my second gut reaction, I don't know how many 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.840 gut reactions I can have, how many guts I cand half. 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:35.360 But my second reaction was maybe I lean Pca just 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.000 because of the stolen base floor that he offers. But 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:43.600 then my third gut my third reaction was like, well, 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.280 cal Raleigh is he has a little bit better of 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.360 a hitter profile, and he also has been stealing some 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:54.200 bases oddly enough, and so I lean and he also, 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:58.000 if I'm not mistaken, he walks a lot more, and 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.880 so I lean cal Ray. But I think it's it's 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:02.960 really good. Even if you look at their stats year 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.560 season to date in terms of VBR, like you know, 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:09.640 the fantasy value so far Aaron Judge one, Choio Tani two, 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.880 Peak a Roamstrong three, cal Rally four. So they're three 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.720 and four already, even with cal Rawley has thirty three 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:20.040 home runs to peak. Roamstrong's twenty one batting average is 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:24.280 almost identical cal Raley's on base percent on base percentage 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.160 is a little bit higher. So it could be a 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.160 situation where if we're talking points leagues, it's probably cal Rally, 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.960 but if you're just talking straight Rodo, it's it's a 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:32.560 coin flip. 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.200 I you might remember that in late April in one 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.440 of my leagues, which is a roto league, these two 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:43.640 guys were traded for each other, and it's a keeper 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.320 league too, and it was this whole big thing where 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.800 like at the time people thought it was really lopsided 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:51.760 one way, and then they started to think it was 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:53.600 lapside of the other way, and now it just looks like, 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:55.400 really even it is a two catcher league, so cal 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.920 Rale even more valuable. It's also a five outfielder league, 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:58.360 so PCA. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.800 I remember talking about that. At the time, it wasn't 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.120 immediately clear. You're like this, this was proposed as a veto, 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:04.440 and I was like, I don't even I'm not entirely 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:05.680 sure which side is Vito. 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:10.480 Yeah, exactly. My gut reaction was that it's really close, 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.160 and I didn't know how to pick. My second gut 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.680 reaction was cal Raley just given the kind of the 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.280 fact that he's a catcher, it's going to be such 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.760 an advantage over other players at that position, especially with 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.480 a lot of the other elite catchers having down years. 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:26.840 It just feels like that gap is even wider than 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.760 we would have guessed for the top catcher. And I've 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:33.640 also been kind of expecting a dip from PCA for 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.800 most of the year, not a dip into unplayable. I 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.520 think he's a very good player like this. This is 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.960 a strong enough first half to be a believer, There's 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.600 no doubt about that. But I've been expecting regression more 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.680 from him than I have been from cal and so 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:51.800 I gave this slight lean to Roley, but I think 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:52.720 it's really really close. 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:54.800 I could see this situation, like I think we talked 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.640 about this last week week before. It is this kind 0:16:57.680 --> 0:16:59.840 of phenomenon where even though the All Star break is 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:02.240 not that long of a break, you see players who 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.560 are like running hot, then they take the break and 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.960 then they're completely different player out of the gate. Like 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.440 I could see that, like peak Romstrung getting out of 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.520 the gate slowly just because of his profile. But yeah, 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:16.520 I also agree, I've kind of been predicting regression for 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.520 a while now. It's you know, he's kind of outliving progression, 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.800 and so I think he's really good. And again, I 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:26.520 think if it was just like twenty one, you know, 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:28.280 twenty something home runs and he had like eight or 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.480 nine stolen bases, I would be more concerned the fact 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.800 that he already has twenty what is it, twenty six 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:36.080 stolen bases? That makes me a little bit more excited, 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.160 you know, with like the floor that he offers there. 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.040 Yeah, let us know in the comments who you think 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.440 is going to have a better second half Pee Korarmstrong 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:45.439 or calra Maybe we can put a poll up on 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.280 YouTube or something and see what the listeners think, because 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.080 I think it'd be pretty close. Would be my guess 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.080 peakro Armstrong or cal Raleigh. So that was my first 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:55.800 key question. What was your first one? 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.680 My first key question was who's the player most likely 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:01.600 to be moved at the trade deadline? Who could see 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.280 a bump in value in the second half. 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.719 When you came up with this question, did somebody kind 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:08.960 of jump to the front of your mind. 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.200 It's the same name, and it's kind of had like 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.520 a really bizarre season, and so I don't know if 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.879 he's necessarily the best answer, but it's the answer that 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.080 kind of everyone had coming into the season at Sandy 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.080 l Contra that everyone was just like, all right, last 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:25.920 year's contract, coming off a big injury, the Marlins just 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:27.639 want to get him healthy, get him up and running, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.560 and then trade him at the deadline. And then he 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:34.480 looked awful to start the season. It's kind of in rocky, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:36.480