K ꓘ 185 - The Vagaries of Spring Training

0:00From unsolved mysteries to unexplained phenomena, from comedy goal to relationship fails, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts, included with Prime, because the only thing that should interrupt your listening is... Well, nothing. Download the Amazon Music app today. Hello and welcome to the Keeper Cut Podcast, Chad Young, and Pete Ball with you here today. And it's been a couple of weeks. It'd be a few weeks. It's been a long time, Pete. It's been a while. Although the last episode was my solo episode, so I think it's been a very long time. Yeah, you talked about that one. We've been, we've both been traveling. As much as it seems like it's been a long time, actually, in the midst of all this travel, you were in Seattle. And we got dinner. That's right. It was the first ever in-person Keeper Cut, except we didn't record it.

1:01We just ate dinner and hung out, which was quite nice. But yeah, so it's been a while. And we were in the midst of evaluating our listener-league drafts. And we were talking about this just before we started recording that, you know, maybe we should keep going with that. And then it's like, yeah, but it's been a couple of weeks. And things move so quickly this time of year that it's really hard to know how to analyze something when context changes constantly. And it's been like there had been some real changes. So instead, the thing we're going to do is take a look at those two leagues and we'll look at our rosters and talk a little bit about how things might have changed for our rosters and what we think we might need. Because tonight, this episode, well, this episode is recording on Sunday, March 8th. It'll come out tomorrow on the 9th.

2:02But tonight is the first fab run for both those leagues, which means you and I are both sort of in the in the midst of figuring out what we want to do. And I know on my teams, I've got some moves to make. And so we're going to talk a little bit about how quickly things change. And that's sort of the general theme for this episode. But I want to actually start with something that happened this morning. So just this morning, I was in an auto-new auction. This was from my food and travel league that I talk about quite often because I just love that league. And one of the managers in that league bought Zach Wheeler. And I want to see if I can pull up right now the results from that auction. Because he paid a hefty price for Wheeler. And Wheeler has, you know, his value has fluctuated quite a bit. So Wheeler went for $31. He actually did not get bought back by that manager. This is my mistake. He got bought by someone else. But that manager was in on the bidding.

3:02But it was a $31 Wheeler who had been cut at $27 on January 31st. So, you know, six weeks ago, five and a half weeks ago, right? Right at the deadline. He was cut at $27. And I got to be honest, I thought $27 was kind of a no-brainer cut price. I don't know. I don't know. If I look at my other leagues right now, this was the last semi-auto new leagues to auction. And Wheeler's price is $22, $23, $18, and $27. Except for this one where he is $31. And that $27 was last week, like just a few days ago. And so, I think it's fascinating. Wheeler is just an interesting guy to me because when he was cut at $27, that felt like an obvious cut. And paying $31 from right now doesn't feel that bad to me.

4:05Because it feels like the entire news and talk track around Wheeler has really shifted in the last month or so. It has, but I'm not entirely sure why. I mean, like, he's saying the right things. And like, we still haven't seen him against Major League batters. And he's older. And this was a serious injury. So, like, I think he's a cut at $26, $27, whatever it was. And I'm not buying him at $31. I just, the closer we get to the start of the season, and the longer he goes without facing Major League batters, like, that, that worries me. And like, if he's 80% of what he was before, maybe that makes him, I don't know, like, like, Sandy Alconter. And there's a lot of value there. But I just feel like there's so, we're in a point for whatever reason and baseball. There's so much pitching upside. I mean, it's, it's crazy. Like, like, that from pick 100 to 200 and redrafts is like, there's so many awesome names from Chase Burns

5:05and Treyis Savage and Cam Schlittler and Boba Chandler. Like, it's Nolan McLean. Like, there's a lot of good names there. And Wheeler's kind of going amongst that. And so, like, I don't know, $31. I feel like I could maybe, maybe almost get two of those guys or in a draft just take one of those guys over or right before, or right after I should say Zach Wheeler. So, you're right. Like, the thesis here is things really change right in the due. Clearly, they have for Wheeler based on that price. But for that specific player, I just, I'm still out. I'm still out. It's interesting. I am, I'm in on Wheeler. I mean, I have Wheeler in one of our listener leagues, the head-to-head league, I picked him up. And I picked him up in the road. There we go. We both have. I picked him up in part in the head-to-head because if he was out for a while,

6:07I just need a back for the playoffs, assuming I can make the playoffs, right? And the reality is for me, I felt like the odds that taking Wheeler over one of those other guys, whoever it would have been, at that point in the draft, and I'll have to go back and look and see where I drafted him exactly. But like, taking Wheeler where I took him wasn't going to stop me from making the playoffs. That is sort of where I landed, was I wasn't going to be in a, I didn't think I would find myself in a position where, oh, I would have made the playoffs if only I hadn't taken Wheeler there. And instead, I found myself in a position, I am hoping to find myself in a position where I make the playoffs and Wheeler is available to me by then. At least that was my thinking almost a month ago, when we drafted, and where I say things have changed, I think part of what's, part of what's made such a big difference is that,

7:07while we haven't seen him against Major League hitters, yes, it is just him saying the right things. There are a couple of things that have happened that, it's really just one thing, I guess, but a couple of things that have happened, that do matter. One of those is he's throwing off amount. He's throwing some bullpen, like he's, no, we have not seen him in a game, no, we have not seen him face Major League hitters, but he's throwing. That's important. The other thing that hasn't happened, I guess, rather than the thing that has happened is, he has not been put on the 60 day. That doesn't mean he's not going to open the season on the IL, but the Phillies have been suggesting that he'll be available, the first time they need him. Whenever it is, they first need a fifth starter, basically, they think he'll be available. That should be within the first couple of weeks of season. That might be enough for him to go on a 15-day IL and then he comes off in mid-April. Like I said, when I drafted him and was thinking, hey, I'll have him for the playoffs, at least.

8:07A June return seemed very much in the cards, or at least, you know, a possibility. That seems super late now. It seems pretty likely we're going to see him in April. And that makes a big difference, I think, in terms of his value, not just because you get the extra couple of months of time with him, then you might have thought, you might have expected a month ago, but because it suggests that he's healthy and progressing and close. Guys who are two months away, the difference between Wheeler and Garrett Cole. Two Aces, two older guys coming off serious surgeries, questions about what they're doing. We haven't seen either of them on a mound yet. Similar situations, but we already know Cole's not going to be back, and he's looking at a June timeline. And Wheeler's looking at mid-April. Being a month away from a guy's return significantly reduces the opportunity for things to go wrong. Doesn't mean he can't, right?

9:07He could have a setback. Things could go wrong. A guy could be due back tomorrow, and things could go wrong. But knowing we're within a month of a return, roughly for Wheeler, makes a big difference. If he slips by a little bit, fine. I just, I think when guys are, I feel like in the last couple of years, I've gotten burned too often by guys who are like, oh, this guy should be back in mid-season. And then mid-season becomes July, and July becomes, well, we're going to wait till after the All-Star break, and then it becomes late July, and then also in its August. And then the pitcher is working their way back into shape, and they're not really, we don't really know what we have in them until September. Right? Because their first three or four starts are still sort of like, eh, we don't know where they are. We're going to see like, with Wheeler, I feel pretty confident that even if his date slips, and he's more like late April, by the time I hit June 1st, I'll know what I have.

10:07And that may be a guy I have to cut. Like what I have may be a guy I have to cut. I get that. But I'll know what I have by June 1st, whereas like Cole, hopefully he's back down a mound by June 1st. And then it might be, that might not happen, and then it might be July before I know what I have, and that's a big difference to me. Yeah, that is for sure a big difference. And it's worth noting these two aren't the only two. I mean, there's, uh, I know, Jared Jones is one of these guys who's going late, who you can stash on an IEL spot. And that's obviously a huge part of this is, does your league have IEL spots? Because I really don't want to touch any of them unless they do. Um, and help me out here, Chad. I feel like there's one or two other, other obvious guys here who are coming back from, uh, Carlos Rodón is another, uh, Justin Steele is another, so like you said, you're going to be able to find out quicker with Stack Willer and be able to make a roster decision based on that. At the same time, he is going more expensive than those guys. So I think this is also an approach thing of like,

11:07if you want to take a shot, and we talk about this every year, especially in keeper leagues, because you can get such good potential value on these players when you draft them super late, because they're hurt, and then they come back, and then they're good again. If your approach is, you just want to get one of them and hope that they do. If your approach is, you just want to get one of them and hope that they turn into a keeper, then I might want the latest of the group, or in this case, maybe the second latest of the group, because I don't know how interested I am in Jared Jones. Um, but if I have IEL spots, and I could secure one of them, then, then I'm in, but I just, I look at the price, and we're like, I'm in a draft right now on ESPN, and for head to head categories leagues, they have them ranked as a top 100 player, and I just, to me, that's like, that's like crazy. Um, so, I'm having a hard time with that, but I, I also understand, you know, it's Zach Wheeler, the upside's crazy, he's arguably the SP1 over the last five seasons. Yeah, and I, for what it's worth, I took him with, it was a pick I had traded for,

12:07so it was the seventh round, the ninth pick of the seventh round, which is, I, it's hard to say in a keeper league, is that inside the top 100? I guess it's within the first 100 pick, including keepers, right? Because the end of the seventh round would be the 84th pick in the 12th team leagues. This is the 80, first pick. Um, but with all the keepers, you know, wasn't actually the 81st pick, he was probably like the 60th pick, but the 60th pick is probably the 120th best player, or something like that, right? Like, I, I don't know. Um, but, so I'm borderline there. I do also, like, I took Cole in that league as well. Um, and again, that was a, first of all, I took a mulch later, I took him in the 13th round after taking Wheeler in the seventh. Um, so I did get him a lot cheaper. Um, and it does go to the same sort of like, I just want them back for the playoffs in, in a head to head league. Um,

13:07I've got to get there, of course. One of the things that has changed for me, you know, I talked about quickly things can change. When I drafted those guys, I assumed they would both be on the IL before our first fabric. Um, and they're not, right? Fab is going to run tonight. Neither of those guys is on the IL. In fact, the only one of my pictures who is actually on the IL is Resolson, who was healthy when I drafted him. So, um, yeah, that's not, that's not ideal. And he got, he got put on the IL on February, six, there's something like that. February 10th. It was, it was reported on the sixth. I drafted him like, I mean, we drafted like late January with that team. That lead. And so, it happened real, real quick where, he went from a guy that I was pretty happy to pick up to a guy that had

14:08zero value. And I think he really does have zero value. I'll stash him on the IL IL. Why not? Um, but the second he's gone. Yeah. What's the thing is like, he isn't, I like Resolson. He is not good enough for established enough for me to want to stash him for an entire year coming off a serious shoulder injury where I just don't know what I'm going to get from him next year. So, my hope is that I keep, I can keep him stashed long enough that I find out something. What his timeline is, I get some information that tells me whether or not he is worth holding on to, although off top of my head, I don't even know what round I picked him in. I wonder what is, because I suspect, just as I drafted him on January 21st. It doesn't tell me the round. That's very annoying. Let me pull up the draft results and see if I can find him. Um,

15:10I took Resolson, I took him in the 14th round. So is he potentially a keeper in the 13th next year? I don't think so. And so, yeah. So I, again, I'll keep him stashed. Who knows, but the second I need that spot, he'll be gone. Um, but this is an interesting situation because this team, like I thought I would need to add a couple of pictures just to replace the injured guys. And then I added a third injured guy, but the other two injured guys, I can't actually replace yet, because I can't put them on the aisle yet, so I'm just going to sit on them. But I did get another roster spot back because I get to cut jerks and profar, who I also took on this draft and now can't use. Um, profar is appealing this suspension. His arguments crazy. I haven't even seen it. But it's the, the same, it's still in his body from 11 months ago.

16:12But like, he, he tested positive for the same exact thing. And that's because it's still in his body. He's in his system. Yeah. Now, as I've said, maybe 600 times on this show's history, I am not a doctor, but I have a hard time believing this. Yeah. Like, he, he has no business taking performance injuries and drugs anymore. He's not caught. He's still got paid. He's going to make $15 million. You're like, he's an absolute idiot. If he did it. And I think he did. But you know what? Maybe there's some merit to it. Maybe, you know, he's going to get this thing reversed and we're often running. I did think he was playing in the World Baseball Classic. But apparently there is a different J profar playing in the World Baseball Classic. So he is, he is not playing in that, at least as far as I know. So, that's an interesting one. I mean, are you, if you've got him on a roster, I have him on both of our listener leagues. I had some, some fun with that in our listener league discord when I realized that I haven't been both of those leagues.

17:14Um, I mean, is he, are you cutting him immediately? I mean, I guess, is there any reason for me to wait for the appeal? Well, honestly, if I knew he was appealing it, which I didn't, I just got reaction, just cut him in, uh, new league 13, then I probably would have held on to him just to see. Um, and I'm going to feel like a fool if it gets reversed because I had him for $5, and that's, that's a pretty good value in that league, I think. But yeah. Yes, of course there's, there's merit in waiting, unless there's somebody who, you think is just as good if not potentially better on free agency because I would make that move now, especially with these two leagues, the Fabron coming. I, in those leagues, no, I, I think I'm, I think I'm cutting because I don't think he's, I guess the Roto is OBP, and he's, he's pretty good in that format. But in the head to head, I'd have no hesitation of finding a replacement form. Yeah, and I think the, you know, obviously, if there's a, a better replacement,

18:14um, that's, that's easy, right? Like, if I was like, oh, this guy might be better anyways, fine. Um, I think the challenge that I'm already running into as I look at that is like, the top free agents in, we'll see, and the head to head league, the top free agent outfielders by, let's do it by roster percentage, since I don't know what fan track score really means, are, uh, Nick Castellanos, Mickey Moniac, Jonathan India, Tommy Edmond, Willie Castro, Victor Scott, Cedric Mullins, Matt Walner, Jeff McNeill, Trevor Larnock, Isaac Collins, Tyler O'Neill, Gavin Sheets, Sam Chaz, Brandon Marsh, Parker Meadows, CJ KFIS, are, are you, are you entertained yet? Is there anyone on this list that you're like, like, you can't zone, is up there, uh, Yostremsky, Jorge Soler, the names are just getting worse.

19:14I mean, I'm going further down the list, right? That's what happens. Uh, I know, I know there are some people out there who like Denzel Clark, uh, yeah, I, you know, my hope was that what would happen here is I would find somebody whose situation had changed in some way, right? And so we were just talking about how things changed so quickly this time of year. And like, somebody who, you know, suddenly was in line to start, who wasn't previously. Somebody who looks like they're in a called up who we didn't think would have in the past. And I just, I'm not, I'm not seeing it. I think, um, I just, I don't know. I'm, I'm looking at, uh, like Jake McCarthy,

20:14but that trade happened before we drafted. So it's not like, it's not like, we need new to course. Right. And, if anything, they've got some L. Feelers who are looking better. Right. Like I mean, Zach Vene is all of a sudden becoming interesting. And Jake McCarthy has always been a sketchy everyday player at best. Totally. So no, I don't, I don't think so. Yeah. And the other, the other challenge with, uh, McCarthy for me is, I already have Brent Doyle on this team. And I don't, I, you know, just talk about this in, in the autumn, new Slack the other day. Um, the, the Rocky's Outfielders. And maybe, you know, a quick break, we come back, I want to talk about the Rockies Outfielders and, and a challenge I see with them. All right. Welcome back to the KeeperCut podcast. As promised, we're going to talk about Rockies Outfielders, because, who doesn't want more opportunities to talk about the Rockies? Um, but, I am going to jump into, last week was, uh, bold predictions week, at,

21:14photographs. And so I have my bold predictions got posted. And I'm going to jump into those for a second to read something to you. And then talk about a challenge I am having. Uh, one of my bold predictions, is that the Colorado Rockies have three outfielders who return $10 of value in all auto-new formats. Three out, at least three outfielders, who are worth $10 by the end of the season. Okay. Um, that was based, the fact that Brent and Doyle, Mickey Moniac and Jordan, back have all been going for, under six, and a vex case, under five dollars, MacArthur and Veen are going for more like a buck and a half, or two and a half bucks, between the two of them. Um, and basically the argument I made is, if you go and look at players from last year, I pulled up, uh, Giancarlo Stanton, Roman Anthony, Jerex and Profare, and Dalton Varsho, who played between 71 and 80 games each, um, and all returned very close to, if not above double digits in salary in that amount of time.

22:16I don't see any reason to think that there can't be three of those five Rockies who do the same thing. And by, do the same thing, I mean, produce $10 of value if you only use them in the 71 to 80 games that they start Acquers field. The challenge I have is, the obvious thing to do, if I really believe this, which I, which I do, is to get all these guys, pick them up everywhere. They're, they're, I can get them for half their value. The problem is, I am not sure I want to be, I can find myself in a situation, where I have three Rockies outfielders on a team, because it forces you to build an outfield that can fit all three of them half the time, and replace all three of them the other half the time. Yeah, no, that's crazy. I don't think it works. So when I look at this, I think you got to pick your, you got to pick your favorite one and try it with that one. Yeah, and I, I think the, I think in general,

23:16I'm currently in the middle, where, I couldn't come up with that. It also feels like that. Well, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, because that's what you're going to do, it, but after, when, so, when I get, and I've been, and I've been, and I've been, and I've been, and I've been, and I've been really excited to hear what the, and I've been, and I've been, and I've been, He's just not, that's not who he is. And so I could see a case in five by five where you're like, you know, McCarthy, not only is he gonna run a lot, but he'll like his legs if he has a job, like they're still valuable on the road. Like he might hit poorly, but he'll run. But I think in five by five, it's either Beck or Doyle. And I actually think in the, is it the podcasters league that I have, I think I have both of them actually. Pull out my roster there real quick and double check that,

24:18cause I think that's accurate. Doyle, Beck, yeah, I have them both. I have them for $8 total. I think that in five by five, those guys are the obvious answers. I think in four by four in Fangrafts points, I'm torn between Doyle, who I think is the better play than Beck, or Moniak, who was really good last year. It's a, yeah, it's a tough decision. In auto knew where I have both Doyle and Beck and is five by five league, at least it is deep enough that like, if I look at my lineup, when the Rockies are at home, my outfield would be Judge Schwarber, Rooker, Doyle, and Beck. The outfielders I've got stuck on the bench are Josh Lowe, Elliott Ramos, Jumhu Lee, Hazu Sanchez, and Jordan Walker with Emmanuel Rodriguez, hopefully joining that group

25:20at some point. That does feel like a situation where when those two guys are at home, they're obvious easy starts over those other guys. I'm not worried about benching someone from that group, but when they're on the road, I should be okay to start Ramos or Lowe or Lee or Sanchez or Walker. Like I should be able to come up with two other outfielders from that group. I hope. In our fan tracks league, the benches are a little shallow. Hello, hello. I like swung my arm and hit the mic. It did the same thing to me. I don't know what you're saying, but I got to fix mine too. It fixed yours too. I hit my bike so hard it messed yours up. I guess so. What the heck? That was really weird. It's not even like I hate when this happens. Yeah, let me try this.

26:29I think I gotta leave. Oh, there we go. There you go. All right, let me pick up where I left off. Yep. So in our fan tracks league where the benches shallower, it's a little bit, it's a little bit harder to work around two of those guys. And so Moniac and McCarthy are both free agents in that league that I could pick up. But with Doyle already in place, I'm not sure I want to be in a situation where I have to start those two at home and have to have two guys to replace them when they're on the road. And I don't want to start those guys on the road. One of them is fine. Like one of them, I can bench or if I have to start them occasionally, so be it. But man, I am looking at the outfielders available here. And like, it's just, it's just ugly. Like Moniac stands out to me, actually, as a guy I'm interested in, but I don't think I can pick him up. And so I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what I'm going to do. I mean, you know how I am.

27:31I prefer skills to gimmicks. And although cores is an undefeated gimmick, like it works. If you look at Doyle and you look at Moniac and you look at Beck, there's splits. It's like almost all three of them hit over 300 cores and they all hit under 200 away from cores. Like it's like clockwork, like I get it. The same time, if it's going to put me in any kind of roster constraint, I want it to be at least be players that I believe in the skills. And I just don't really with any of them. But if I had to pick, I think I'm in the same boat as you. We're like, Doyle has done this for a whole season of being, like Beck had a great year or less here in So did Moniac. And I don't want to cut that short. But Doyle had like a top 100 fantasy season. You know what I mean, two years ago. So like, I think that's my guy. And I hate to speculate on stuff like this. I don't think this is speculating. But I could swear Doyle was also dealing with off the field stuff. He wants. So like, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt then, and assume that maybe those numbers in the road

28:34aren't quite as bad as they were last season. And he continues to mash at cores. And that's the guy that I'll circle the wagons on. But the other two, it's just taking up too much of my roster, unless it's out new, where, you know, you have 40 from the sponsor spots. Like your situation where those backup options, those are all, that strategy's going to work great. Like, there's enough there. I mean, Hazus Sanchez was like the fourth guy you rattled off. I think he could have a pretty good season. Like, I agree. So I think it works there. But in the road or in the head to head, listen early, I just don't think there's the space to do it. Like I'd rather commit that space to like the guys who were talking about earlier, like give me some injury bounce back pictures that I can just stash on my bench or whatever it is. Yeah, the problem is I need outfielders that I can use because I have to replace Sure, except for some of these still is the conundrum here. It is and it's, and this is the thing in this time of year is like things are changing, but not really like, you know, I think the hard thing for me is I look at what's happening

29:39with like I look at what's happening with pro far and like he is, he is hurt or not her. He is suspended or, you know, expected to be suspended and like I have to do something about that. I can't, I can't sit on him. But then it's like, okay, well whose value has really raised in spring training and among guys who, you know, might be available, like Micah Strems, he's having a great spring. Do those 20 played appearances really make me think he's that much more valuable? No, I don't know. I mean, there are guys who's like, you know, what might move up a draft board a little bit, but like, man, when I'm looking at guys I wasn't willing to draft a month ago or six weeks ago or whatever it was that we drafted, it is really hard to find someone who six weeks ago I was like, eh, and now I'm like, okay, that guy could replace pro far for me. And so that's why like I look at the list and, you know,

30:40now I've switched over to the head to head, or the rodeo leagues, that was that to head. And like Victor Scott also available here and maybe more appealing because in rodeo, at least you can rack up some steels for me while I figure things out. But then like, he's having a terrible spring after, he supposedly retooled his swing and his... Oh, and you don't want to hear that, yeah. He's trying to punt for hits more, which I guess is like, all right, I guess that's something. Sure. Again, don't worry about being a better hitter, just fine to gimmick. Yeah, well, fine. You know what, if it works, it works, I guess, but Sanchez is the answer for me. Maybe Sanchez is the answer for me. I could be in both. I mean, maybe that's what we can take from this, but the rodeo league is gonna be even harder because that's a weekly format, right? So, but you can't even consider the Rocky's approach unless, you know, all right, they're a way, it's Cincinnati and they're home against bad pitchers. Like, all right, in that case,

31:40I'll start three Rockies outfielders, but like, that's a format where that's just not gonna work. So, I think it's hard to do this now because we did just draft, even though we started this trail by staying like, you have to do long ago to really talk about it effectively. But we also did drafts so recently that like, like guys like Mikey Stremsky having a nice spring, that's cute, but that doesn't really move the needle at all. So basically what we're looking at are all the players, the people decided, I don't want any of these guys in one season starts, that's what it'll be easier to replace those guys. So I think right now the answer for replacing pro-fars, if he was taking up a prominent spot, like an outfields three spot and outfield four spot is exploring that trade market. Yeah, I guess I could look at trades. Part of me is as I'm looking at the Roto League, which as you pointed out, as a weekly format, my outfield in that league is weird. My whole roster in that league is weird. Like, I have what I think is a pretty strong infield in general.

32:46I got Shay Langley as a catcher, I got Vinnie Pascontino at first, Jose Ramirez at third, Neto at short, Maracami at corner, but I also have Max Muncie as my util. And so I can move him into a corner spot if something better comes along. I've got either Jackson, I've got Jackson Holiday at second base, but I also Willie Castro, who's speaking of Rockies, when he's at home, I think Castro's gonna be a great play. I think he'll be a really, really good fit at course. And I have Travis Pazana on that roster, who may in fact, forces way into the Guardian's plans sooner rather than later. I love to see you. So I really like what I've got in the infield there. My outfield is SodaStrum, Elliot Ramos, Evan Carter, Jurex and Profare and Taylor. And it's, I've got Cam Smith and Brandon Marsh on the bench. The thing I have working in my favor here

33:49is that because it's a weekly league, I don't need depth the same way, right? I could, so one of the things I could do is replace Profare with just someone I think might be interesting who I don't trust, because I don't have to trust them yet. I'm in a similar boat with my pitchers, cause I've got a mess on my hand there too, because again, I have both Justin Steel and Garrett Cole, neither of them are on the IL, and so I can't replace them yet. And so I have to decide if I'm, I don't know what I'm gonna do about pitching this first week unless they get placed on the IL soon enough that I'm able to bring someone else in, because as it stands right now, I've got Slitler, Hunter Brown, Logan Webb, and then I have Drew Rasmussen. It's like that one through four of, I guess the right order to put that would be Webb Brown, Rasmussen, Schlitler. I'm good with. My fifth starter could be Garrett Cole

34:50or could be Justin Steel, but it won't be yet. It's Robbie Snelling for now. And I like Robbie Snelling. The problem is, I basically have three stashes between Snelling Cole and Steel. Yeah, I was just gonna say I don't know if Snelling's gonna start here in the Miami rotation. Right, now I have a roster spot open because I also have Spencer Schwellenbach who's already on the IL, which is just my pitching, getting decimated in these leagues is not the most fun. But I have an open roster spot and I really like, I can start Brown, Rasmussen, Schlitler, and Webb first week. I just need one more guy to slide in there and I can play matchups for that first week. So maybe I can figure that out. But I'm basically gonna be streaming that last spot until somebody steps up. My big concern in this league, though, is my outfield as a mess. And while Profar is not a star by any means, in a 5-5-5-OVP league, he was pretty valuable.

35:56Having Sodorstrom as my number one and then Ramos Profar and Evan Carter was my next three and then Taylor Ward really even as well. Those four guys, none of them are a true number two but they're all pretty good for a three or four, right? And so like, I felt like I was in a good, I felt like I was in a good spot. And, but it was, it's precarious. And so now I'm counting on like, I can slot Brandon Martian, he is fine. I'm hoping that Cam Smith is better than he was last year and more the guy that don't be worse, for sure. But yeah, that roster got real ugly, real fast. And that, unlike the Roto League, it's not just, stay alive, keep yourself in the top six, make the playoffs and see what happens. This team actually has to be good from the get-go if it's gonna compete in a Roto format. So that's the one where I really have work to do, I think.

37:01Yeah, I mean, I'm not entirely in a similar boat but this conversation kind of goes full circle because we were talking about Zach Wheeler and how drafting these injured pitchers could really put you in a tough position. And so I purposefully, as Chad mentioned, this is a, you start five starting pitchers and that's it for the week. There's only five starting pitchers slots. So I drafted Zach Wheeler as my sixth thinking, all right. You know, I have five guys ready to go. The problem is one of those five guys was Hunter Green who, I don't know, man, I don't feel good about that situation at all, you know, a guy who has 100 million miles an hour on his elbow. Like, I don't know about that. So because I drafted Zach Wheeler, like, I kind of feel like I'm in a spot now. Fortunately, I also had Gavin Williams. So my five starters are Sandy Chase Burns, Yuri Perez, Cole Reagan's, Gavin Williams. And like, that's a, that's a pretty good rotation. But now, if anyone of those five go down,

38:01I mean, I'm looking at Kodai Senga or I'm looking at free agency and neither of those options really excite me that much. So yeah, I hear you on the injury front. I'm feeling a little bit more on the pitching. Another injury that has changed things since we drafted, which again, I guess is kind of the focus of this pod is in my outfield. I had an individual by the name of Corbin Carroll on a great keeper contract, too. Now, I'm not scrambling quite as much. I did draft. I think it was Chase DeLotter to fill in for him. Yeah, that looks like the case. So my outfield is now Roman Anthony, Kerry Carbiter, Dylan Cruz DeLotter, Kwan, until Corbin Carroll comes back. But if one of anything happens to one of those guys, like we are, I am also in the same boat where I'm looking at Taisu Sanchez or whoever it might be. So I think now, particularly in keeper leagues, these long term leagues, like this is a great time to hit that trade market. Start sending those emails, start sending those messages and seeing what can come out. Because I haven't had any bites yet in the keeper cut, listener league,

39:02ought new league that I really want to make some deals in. But otherwise, I've been able to make some deals and some other leagues that have certainly helped deal with all these injuries. Yeah, it's a tough time of year to trade because in general, other than people having injuries to deal with, everybody is at the moment, like they had just drafted these guys. Like, you know, it's hard to find, like, trades work best, especially early in the season when both teams are still, you know, when someone's not selling, and maybe someone is selling. But if no one's selling, then trades this time of year work best when there's a mismatch between how one party values a player and how the other party values him, right? So like, but you sort of know that like a few weeks ago, you drafted a guy who I didn't draft. So, right, like, you took him earlier than I would have.

40:06And so it's a little bit harder, I think, to find those trades right now. And that's, I think what I'm struggling with is when I look at these trades, it's like, cause I've gotten a couple of offers in that, in our auto-new listener league. And they're just, they haven't been interesting. And it feels like there should be something there, and I don't know what it is, because in general, I'm like, eh, I, like, I have the guys on my roster, I have because I like them. And so it's hard to find, it's hard to find the right fit. Now, in that league, because I am, because of some of the stuff I'm trying to do, I joined OPL on that league. And so I am interested in like moving some future value for current production. I've got some guys I would move who I think are pretty intriguing, but it hasn't really led to anything yet. And the offers I've been getting have been, I don't know, mostly unimpressive.

41:08Yeah, I think, and it's weird, because you would think in a format like out new, or even in a keeper league, it's actually easier to make those post-draft trades, because it isn't as simple as like, well, I didn't draft that guy you're offering me, and I drafted these guys and said, so why would I want them? Because especially in out new, like, some of us, we went into the auction with 30 players, and we're only looking to get 10. So you would think there's more to pick from there, but I've noticed the same thing in that league, I've had a hard time, but I guess a good example of having that surplus of things that you've kept that is maybe interesting in trades, is like, I didn't like my rotation when we got out of that auction in league 13, and I knew I had a cheap infield, like all across the board, I've got a cheap weather hole, it's Coleson Montgomery, I had a cheap Westburg, I had a cheap Eugenia Suarez, I was like, all right, I've dept there that I can trade from. And so I offered Jordan Westburg for Gavin Williams. Now obviously that looks really good now because Jordan Westburg has a partially torn UCL, and we don't know how that's gonna end. But even if Jordan Westburg wasn't hurt,

42:10I still felt like that was a good trade for my team regardless, because I'm trading from depth to makeup for this shortcoming from the draft. So that's why I think that's a more feasible market, whereas if I was going to free agency in that league for starting pitching at this point, I mean, good God, I don't even know who would be there, like maybe Cutter Crawford is somebody I could get for a dollar, but I don't know, man, with all these injuries that are coming out of spring, if you can't do the trade market, I just don't know if there's answers at this point. Yeah, and that is sort of where I'm feeling stuck at the moment is like, I don't know where I'm gonna find, where I'm gonna find anything useful. You can find parts, but finding something useful that will actually make your team better is so hard this time of year, because everything is, you know, except nothing, the things that have changed for me,

43:11at least, and I'm curious if you feel the same way, but for me, only bad things happen this time of year. Right, it's like, this guy got suspended, this guy got hurt, but like so and so has like, you know, the news that someone has like a new swing if they're hitting the ball harder is like, okay, they hit the ball harder in Arizona, like I don't know how much to value that, and the answer in general is not very much. Maybe that's a little different with pictures where like a big jump in velocity is like a real measurable thing that has value, but I really struggle this time of year because I just don't care for somebody to sprint and change things. The thing is jumping off the page for me is like, oh, you know, I missed out on this guy before, but now I got to shot at them and I'm excited because they're somehow better because they just,

44:12I don't, I just don't buy it. Well, like the classic example of that right now is Matt McLean, who's, you know, hitting like over 600 with like four home runs and, you know, he's a player who's been drafted highly in the past. He was pacing for 30, 30 is rookie season, like he's an appealing guy, but when you look at a lot of it, like not enough to me anyway seems to have changed. Like it's not like he's posting a new high max exit velocity. It's not like, I don't know. I don't even know what it would be that would make me think, okay, based on the spring production, I need to start pushing Matt McLean up my board. I would just feel like I'm now over drafting this player and falling for spring stats, whereas you're right. The bad news just feels so detrimental. And most of the time actually is, we can put stock, you know, like I can put stock in the fact that I have no idea when I'm getting Blake's now or Hunter Green back, but I can't really put a lot of stock in Matt McLean tearing it up, assuming that I'm gonna have some 30, 30 beast

45:14and second base, like it, it is spring is just a bummer, man. Like in our heads, we think spring is so awesome, but it's really just gloomy weather around here. It's raining all the time and players get hurt. It's not a lot of good news to pull from it. Yeah, I think that's true for me. I just, I, even when I hear things like the positive stuff is like, oh, this guy whose velocity was down, had a better velocity this time around. I'm like, okay, it was down two miles an hour. Now it's only down one. Maybe next time he'll be back where he's supposed to be. There's not a lot that I look at him like, oh, good. Although again, I do think velocity is the one thing. Like I am continuing to track what's going on with Shota Amanaga, because his velocity being up as much as it was, I'm trying to, it was up like three miles per hour. That is actually intriguing to me. Like that is a real measurable thing

46:15that the results haven't followed. And so now you get into an interesting debate of like, if you believe the velocity increase is real, and there's no reason to think the velocity increase isn't real. But if you believe the velocity increase is real, how much are you willing to bet on the, how much are you willing to bet on that turning into results when you're not seeing them yet? And that is a, that is always a challenge for me this time of year when I see something that looks intriguing but isn't delivering yet. Yeah, I don't know what to put into that because we're talking about a 32 year old pitcher who has a pretty established track record, not necessarily just in the major leagues, but as a professional of not throwing this hard. And so, and it's not like he had trouble generating, getting guys to chase or anything like that. Like he's actually pretty good at that.

47:16So I still like him, but and that does make him maybe marginally more interesting. So if that's gonna be what splits the difference for me between him and I don't know what pitchers are going around him, but then sure, but it's hard for me to really put even much more stock in that. I guess with pitchers it's more like, if I hear there's a new pitch and it's working. Now, we've been bitten by that in the past. I mean, just last year was like, oh my God, Robbie Ray is back. And now he's in San Francisco. And he learned this change up from Tarrick Scoobal so he's just gonna be a beast. And then he just wasn't, you know. So even putting stock in things that I think are legit oftentimes doesn't work, but I'm gonna need to see, I'm gonna need to see Imanaga throwing a lot harder for a lot longer than just the spring for me to buy in on that. There's too much age there to in track record to put too much stock in it. Well, and that is the other thing about throwing longer to you that matters at this time of year is keeping that

48:17velocity up for, you know, three innings is really different than doing it for five or six. And that's the thing that, you know, that'd be the next thing I'd be looking for from someone like that is like, okay, if he's throwing that much harder as he's still doing it, is he maintaining that velocity deep into games? And that, you know, that remains to be seen, right? I, you know, I just, I was actually, I was in Arizona this week. I took my, what would my sister and brother-in-law took my son and my nephew down to Arizona to see spring training, super, super fun. But one of the games we went to, Tristan McKenzie was starting for the Padres and I didn't even know he was there. Yeah, he is throwing harder than he, as far as I can tell, has ever thrown in the majors?

49:17He was sitting like 95 or 96 or something like that. And I was super excited just to see him doing that. But like his control wasn't great. It wasn't super impressive results. And it was, you know, it was a short outing. So like, does that stick around? I don't know. And I don't know, I'm not, I'll say this like, he wasn't on my radar to draft for obvious reasons. And he's still not on my radar to draft, despite the fact that he had this big jump in velocity, because I just, I don't trust that he's going to stay healthy. I don't trust that the velocity is going to stick. I don't trust that he's going to have the command of that velocity to make it count. But it is something that like, I noticed. But that is sort of where I am with all this spring stuff. It's like, there's stuff I've noticed that's positive. But there's not a lot that I'm like, oh, now I need to go get this guy.

50:18Because it just hasn't, that just typically hasn't been a good way to go about things. So let's take another quick break when we come back. I want to talk a little bit about some prospects because that is this is a big time of year for prospecting in these Keeper League. So we'll be right back. Welcome back to the KeeperCut podcast. We are going to talk a little bit about prospects in spring training because this is an area where in theory, you have an opportunity to pick up guys who, if they break camp with the team or up soon and break out, you get real, real big long-term value in your Keeper Leagues. And this is an area where Keeper Leagues really differ from redraft because the risk, even on a guy like Kevin McGonagall, even on a guy like Connor Griffin, the risk in redraft is, and in actually redraft and in Keeper for that matter.

51:20The risk is that they're actually not good, right? And I don't want to get into scouting reporting to any of these guys, but it is always possible that a guy like that just actually isn't good. The upside in redraft is much lower, right? Like if you pick McGonagall and he is a star, that's great. Maybe you get him starting a couple of weeks into the season and then he's up early and you get him for most of the year. Like that is awesome. And then you start over next year. Whereas in Keeper Leagues, if you pick him up and he is a star, now you've got your shortstop for the next decade and that's huge. I don't think we need to talk a ton about those two guys because they're being talked about a lot, but there are some other rookies, potential rookies

52:20that have been, at least for me, less on the radar, but are having excellent spring trainings. And I am interested to know what you think of some of these guys and if they are guys who are moving up on draft boards for you or moving up onto watch lists for in season pickups or anything like that. And the guy I want to start with as much as it pains me to make you talk about a Yankee, but Spencer Jones, it's only 19 played appearances, but the strikeout rate is reasonable and he's hit three home runs. Are you interested in all at all in Spencer Jones? So it's funny of all players you mentioned him because he's a guy who I feel like I have him honestly, I think every Aught New League just because for some reason, towards the end of auctions, I'm like, all right, what prospect can I stash? I love doing that in Aught New League. I'll take a couple of prospects for a buck and just see how they turn out. That's why I have weather holds in McGonagall

53:20in league 13 is because I just threw a dollar at them and now for now, that looks like it may have worked out, but like you said, they could both be stiffs. In Spencer Jones's case, I will be excited when it's announced that Spencer Jones is being called up to the Yankees to play baseball. Like that will be exciting news. The problem is potentially the talent? Potentially, he's not a slam dunk prospect. He's been on and off top 100 lists. Like this is not like some top 50 guy we're talking about. He's been on and off top 100 lists. But his problem is play time. Like they are so log jams with just these gigantic goons. They didn't expect Grisham to come back. Grisham comes back. They have to bring Belinger back. They say they want Jason Dominguez to be an everyday player. You're not going to bench the best player in the American league. Giancarlo Stanton, when he played last year, was freaking awesome. Now he can't open a bag of dips without being in screaming pain. But like, there's just his words.

54:22I'm not trying to mean those are his words. Like, there's just no room. Like we might see George Lombard before we see Spencer Jones because where the heck is this guy going to play? Yeah. I do think that is one of the big questions with him. I think they brought back Paul Goldschmidt. Yeah, like I think when you, I think that's like the thing with with Jones that I see is, first of all, like I said, not some like top 10 prospect, not a surefire guy. The warts in his game are obvious. And you don't have to be a scout to be like, ah, I don't know, he's got a long swing and maybe major league pitchers like, no, he just strikes out all the fricking time. Like that's, it's not hard to see what his issue is. But he has huge power. If and when he gets the Yankee Stadium,

55:23he'll, you know, be in Yankee Stadium, which is a great place for a guy with huge power. And like I said, he has got the strikeout rate down to 26.3% in 19 spring training played appearances. Now, that is not, you know, it's 19 played appearances. It's not enough to, you know, mean much of anything. But it is the first thing I've seen from him in years. And he's been on our, I mean, the other thing he mind with him is he's 24. He turns 25 in May. He is old for a prospect. So I think one of the other things that people are gonna have to keep in mind is like, if he starts off just crushing AAA, like he better, right? Yeah, that's a good call. He's had 300 played appearances, almost 300 played appearances in AAA last year. That's his only exposure to AAA.

56:25And even at that point, he was already borderline old for the level. He has to crush AAA because doing less than that at his age isn't a good sign. So I think if he started, I'm gonna be looking for, is he crushing AAA, is he striking out a ton still? Is the swing and miss still a huge problem for him? Because if it is, then I'm not super excited that he's hitting a bunch of home runs. I know he'll hit a bunch of home runs in AAA. That is a given. But yeah, I think the other big sort of red flag here for him is the Yankees seemed to have no interest in seeing what he can do, just none. And maybe that's just the reality of their situation that like, like you said, they want to see what they have in Dominguez. They can't even do that because Grisham accepted the qualifying offer and they're in this weird situation.

57:26We're like, okay, well, judge and Grisham and Dominguez, yeah, that's an outfield. We can be pretty happy with, but their offense isn't really good enough to rely on that without going out and getting Cody Belinger back. Exactly. And so they did that, which makes sense. It was the right thing to do. But so maybe you can make an argument that like, hey, this isn't, you know, the fact that there's no room for him is not that they aren't interested in. It's purely a, they're the Yankees and the Yankees can't, like the Yankees can't accept the risk of mediocrity, right? And I get, and so therefore they don't have a room to give him a shot right now, but they wish they did. Maybe that's true, but it's also pretty hard not to look at him and be like, eh, maybe they just don't care about Spencer Jones at all. And so I am in general, I think the combination of lack of opportunity, the fact the organization doesn't really seem to believe in him. And the fact that he has this massive red flag

58:28in his profile, like all of that added up, like those are all things that individually I could get over added together. I don't think I can. Yeah. So I want to talk about a different big power bat in the outfield. This guy is younger, has only reached a AA, but was excellent in AA last year for the Cardinals. And that is Joshua Baez. Baez is 22, he doesn't turn 23 until June. He should be ticketed for AAA this year and ready for a call up whenever the Cardinals decide they are ready for him. And it seems like the Cardinals plan this year is to let Victor Scott see what he can do, let Jordan Walker see what he can do. And then if these guys are bad, move on, which means Baez should get a shot when it comes up. He is also having a huge spring. He has a 470 Woba in 21 play-to-parentes. But having a huge spring, doing everything you could ask

59:30of him. And he did have in 2024 a real strikeout issue in his first look at high A, 260 play-to-parentes at high A to 37.3% strikeout rate. Came back in 2025 in high A and it was 21.4, moved up to AA and it was down to 20.2. And it's only 23.8 in the spring. Okay, that's only 21 play-to-parentes. But he is showing me the skills that I want to see from a big power back. The power is legit. He walks at a high rate. He has consistently run double-digit walk rates. He's at 9.5% this spring. He doesn't seem to have a big strikeout issue. And if you go look at his like, looking at fan graphs right now, looking at his prospect grades, a 60 current 70 future raw power, a 50 current 60 future game power he has a 50 speed right now, they see that going down to a 40 in the future, probably as he fills out. The big question mark with him is a 35 current 40 future hit tool.

1:00:35But that strikeout rate, and that sense of the strike, so I'm like, that doesn't strike me as a guy who has a massive hole in his swing. And so I am, like, bias is way ahead of Jones for me right now. Even though he is a lower rated prospect, I think he looks super fascinating. Yeah, I mean, particularly from a fantasy perspective, when you talk about a guy that 20 homers and 54 stolen pieces last year and grades out in the fun categories, like his raw powers off the charts on the prospect scale. Like that part's exciting, but I guess my only hesitation for 2026 is actually what you said at the start, which is, all right, the card will need to get a look at Jordan Walker and they gotta get a look at, I forgot the other name that you mentioned there. Victor Scott, Victor Scott, but their roster is actually full of guys who they need to get a pro long look at

1:01:38to make some decisions going forward. So if that means that bias needs to basically spend almost a full season at AAA so that he can mature and do whatever it takes to turn that raw power into real game power, whatever. Like they need to get a full season's look at large new bar. Like this was a player that a lot of us liked he's still relatively young. Jordan Walker was supposed to be like the next freaking chipper Jones. He's awful. We need to see a full season out of Jordan Walker. They have talked about how they wanna get 500 or 600 played appearances out of Nolan Gorman. That was last year. I have no idea if you reach those parks or not. I'm perfectly fine. If anybody's like, no, look, we're done with Nolan Gorman. He's gonna have a strikeout rate over 30%. I can't promise that. But like there's so many guys in this team they need to see a full season out that that is the only potential thing I think getting in the way of bias. When you have a spring like this, all it takes, if the Cardinals somehow start the year, eight and three, you know, and they're feeling pretty good and this kid is tearing the cover off the ball in the minor leagues,

1:02:39then maybe they will rip the bandaid off on one of the million names they need to see a pro long look at and end up calling them up. Yeah, I mean, I think the question that I have with the Cardinals and this, you know, you're right. They have talked about the fact that they need to see who these guys are and the thing that I'm not sure of is do they need to see who those guys are or is this more that they need to know what they have? And the difference to me is, we need 500 played appearances of Jordan Walker is different than we need to know if we have our long term, you know, right fielder. And if the thing is that they need to know if they have their long term right fielder and the first order of business is finding out if that's Jordan Walker and they decide by May, like, dude, it's not happening. They may feel like they need to move quickly to find out if bias is that answer.

1:03:40No, maybe they won't, right? To your point, like, they're not winning anything this year. So they may also just be like, whatever, we're gonna let Jordan Walker play all for the full season, even if it's obvious how it's happening because we just, we're gonna make sure that there is no question on that, no. That is, that is a possible outcome here. So it makes it really hard for me to know that do I think bias is near-term in their plans or not? I think what I will say is, like, if you look at their minor league system right now, you know, it looks like Weatherholt is likely up. Oh, he's got his, he's got his, he's got that. He has to be. Then if you look at the rest of their top prospects, they've got two really, they've got two interesting catchers. Jimmy Crooks is, you know, semi-interesting older, and then Reiniel Rodriguez who looks really interesting,

1:04:41but is further away. And then you've got a bunch of pitchers. You've got Liam Doyle, Dr. Angelo Kunchi, Brandon Clark. They don't really have another interesting outfield prospect at all. Like, you go down like, if I'm looking at their fangiraffes, let's say I'm like, they're 13th and 14th best prospects are both outfielders. They're in rookie ball and high A, respectively. Their 25th best prospect is Nathan Church. He's a 40 future value. Like, that's it. Bias is it. So if I go and look at, you know, if I think, put myself in the cards position where they are thinking, we think we've got a pretty solid core forming here with Herrera and Weatherholt and Burleson and Wind, and we have to see who else is part of that core. There's a real world in which they're like, that means finding out now if we need another outfielder

1:05:42or if Bias is the answer. And so I just see it going both ways. That's all. And I guess the one footnote you could add to that is if they feel like Bias from the jump could be a rookie of the year contender, well, that could actually bolster that sad, minor league situation. So yeah, that's one of the perks now of having those guys called up early and having them in contention for that rookie of the year. So that could for sure. You have to think that that comes up in closed-door meetings for every organization about their top prospects. I would think so. And like, this is where, boy, if I were running the Guardians, having Travis Bazzana give us, like having both Bazzana and to Lauder give the team, not only give the team two shots at those picks, but also probably be the best center fielder

1:06:43and best second base options on the rosters anyway. Like, this feels like a no-brainer. And I'm surprised we haven't seen more teams, call guys like that at up, give them six to eight weeks. And if we're like, wow, those two guys look like they're, you know, a good second half, they're gonna win the rookie of the year, at least being the conversation. If they're not at that point, then you send them down. You say they have something to work on. You figure out something for them to do. They go work on it for a month. And it's no different than having called them up two or three weeks later, except you've given yourself a real shot at some bonus draft picks that have a ton of value, especially for an organization like Cleveland. Like, I can understand why, you know, in theory, someone like the Dodgers might be like, eh. Like, yeah, draft picks are nice, but like, we can go get the guys we need when we need them anyways. And so that's not our biggest focus.

1:07:47But like, man, these teams that don't spend money, this is it. This is your opportunity to steal an extra draft pick. And those draft picks are like gold for teams like that. And so I'm surprised we don't see it that situation happening more where they're like, yeah, we think he's ready. Oh, he's not going to win rookie of the year. Maybe he wasn't ready. Let's give him some time to get ready. And like, this just, it seems like a, you know, you could argue it's, it's disingenuous or whatever. But like, it would be so easy to pull off without it looking problematic. Because if the guy's not a rookie of the year candidate, then it's not that hard to argue. He could use some time in triple A. And most of the 90 plus percent of the time that actually is the case, right? We see this all the time where people are pounding their fists to prospects to get called up. They finally get called up and oh, look at that. They're actually getting their asses kicked because they weren't ready for this. That ends up being the case.

1:08:48So like, it's not like you have to, you know, tuck your tail in between your legs and walk the other way. Like, you can stand on two feet and say we gave him a chance. He's got stuff to work on. Hopefully it works out next year. Like, there's nothing wrong with it. Yeah. The prime example of this actually from last year is Christian Campbell. Oh, yeah. Right? Like, everybody was like, this guy's ready. He's going to be a star. Like, now we're not even sure if he's going to be on the roster this year. So like, he was going like top 100 in some drafts. Like, when the helium got to its height, I mean, it was out of control. Yeah. So I got one more guy I want to talk about real quick because we're sort of running out of time here. But another guy having a big spring who I picked up in a draft today. And so I am, I'm especially interested in your take on this guy. But a couple of years ago, when he was a little bit younger and in the Philly system, Mick Able looked like he was maybe on his way to being something special, the results were never really there,

1:09:51especially in the high minors. He just wasn't that good. He got to Minnesota last year and AAA for Minnesota. He made five starts. 24 innings had a 1.85 year A. He had a 35.5% K rate, a 26.9% K minus BB. He has now shown up in spring training. He has thrown 10 innings. 10 innings, obviously, not a lot and it's spring training. But 10 innings, 13 strikeouts, zero walks, five hits. That's really good. So is Mick Able like is this it? Is this, you know, he, he should have a real like, real opportunity this year that a team doesn't have anyone else. Right. And well, the big thing was the Pablo Lopez injury because otherwise they could roll out a Joe Ryan Bailey Ober Simeon Woods Richardson and they got Taj Bradley at the last year's trade deadline. So he could have been boxed out, but sadly, Pablo Lopez, a guy who you and I are fans of,

1:10:52Keeper Cutspeaking and a Pablo Lopez went down and now that opportunity is there and I feel like we're, we're gonna see it. He's gonna be the fifth starter in Minnesota. It's easy to like Mick Able is a big dude. He is six foot five. He gets great extension like I am excited. I don't, I can't really say like, oh, well, you know, I have a lot of faith in what the twins do with their pictures. I don't think we have a ton of evidence of that. Recently, right, Joe Ryan is more a product of the race. Bailey Ober has had an up and down career. So it's not one of those situations, but it is a situation that you broke down pretty well. He's a former top prospect. He had his chance, he didn't shine, but all of a sudden he's kicking butt now. So, you know, we want to be careful. We don't want to overrate spring training, like we were just saying not to do and we do the stance every year. But if you're looking for something to get excited about, if you're looking for a pitcher to replace Hunter Green or Pablo Lopez or, you know, whoever it is that you have, I don't know if there's a lot of better options right now than Mick Abel. It's looking pretty good. Yeah, I'm, you know, I think the three guys

1:11:54who talked about Jones and Bias and Abel, I think we talked about them in reverse order of how intrigued I am by them right now. I think Jones, I'm just, I'm just not gonna have, I'm just not gonna have them on rosters. Like, I don't know whatever, like, I'm just not, because I'm, I just don't, I don't want to sit waiting on him forever and I just don't, I don't know what the path is and I don't trust the talent. Bias, I'm really intrigued by the talent. I think there is a path, but it's not super clear what that path is or how quickly it'll become available. And then you have Abel who it looks like, I'm excited about like, he's got the talent, he's got the opportunity, I'm sort of all systems go, I'm gonna make Abel right now. Agreed, yeah. All right, well, thank you all for listening to this. This was a, I feel like this was a little rambly. We went here, we went there, we talked about some guys, but hopefully it was interesting.

1:12:56We'll try to get back into more of a routine. I don't know about you, Pete, but I'm done with travel for, I got spring break on my gonna month. But until spring break, I'm done with travel. So hopefully we'll be able to get some more of these in. Yeah, 100%. Well, again, thank you all for listening and hopefully we'll be back with you next week, if not soon after. Have a good one.