OTW 247 - Born To Draft Wild; First FAAB Run

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How's it going and welcome to episode 247 of On the Wire?

Proud member of the Petulous Podcast Network.

I am Adam Howe joined as always by Kevin Hasting.

Kevin, we always do this remotely,

but we are doing this slightly different remotely.

I am still at home in Indianapolis before flying off to Boston for the weekend,

but you have already done plenty of traveling for the both of us.

Where are...

Tell everybody where you are now.

Well, right now, I am in Las Vegas, Nevada

for the NFBC main event,

and that's the draft I'm going to do.

I'm also going to do the Bubba and the Bloom 12 team stand-alone league on Sunday,

and that'll be a lot of fun.

But yeah, I'm here in Vegas,

and things are really getting kicked off today.

I got in yesterday.

A lot of people started showing up last night,

and some people had already been doing drafts here.

There were a couple earlier in the week,

but they really got hot and heavy today and tomorrow.

And yeah, I'm in that 11 a.m. local time main event.

I think 10 leagues going off at once.

At least eight, if not 10.

That's a...

And yeah, it's going to be a blast.

Where is it this year?

Because I know the Mirage is not a thing anymore.

Yeah, we're at the Rio.

So we're off the strip a little bit,

but yeah, it's been awesome.

That's cool.

And as I was telling you off here,

the basketball has been treating me pretty well so far.

This can change where we'll see how this goes.

Yeah, that tends to be the case in my limited action in Vegas during this

during this event.

There's more than just fantasy baseball drafts happening.

For sure.

The amazing thing, like my favorite thing so far,

I know that I can see you,

and nobody else can see this,

because we're not on video,

but these...

They made...

Our name tags are baseball cards.

Awesome.

And it's...

I just found that so cool.

Yeah, I mean, if anybody would cost them like 12 cents to do that,

but it's amazing.

If anybody's watching,

if you're listening to this,

go back in YouTube, you'll check it out.

We, you know, the podcast does get published on the Pitcher List YouTube channel as well,

but it's classic.

It's a classic design, too.

It's like the 88,

with the tops of the wood,

the wood stain frame.

Yeah.

Everybody, literally,

everybody that's listening to this has that set,

because because everybody has that set,

we're like in 87, 88.

Cool.

Well, I know that.

Yeah, I think it's...

That might be the Bond's rookie card year, actually.

There you go.

I like, too.

I saw it, but the...

It has the former...

Or the previous champion label on it,

kind of like the rated rookies,

or like the rookie would have on there.

If you had an all-star,

you got the little banner on there.

So they went all out.

You had an amazing idea,

and all the NFBC guys are so busy this weekend,

but if I run into them,

after things are done in an evening,

and they're relaxing a little bit,

that idea you had of the NFBC results,

being the stats on the back of the card,

that's an amazing idea.

I don't know how much work that would be for them,

but I love that.

Right, because where did they even get the picture from?

Did you send them the pictures?

They had as we walked in to check in,

that we were here.

They took your picture,

and they were done in like an hour.

Oh, shoot.

I feel like every little league

in the nation should have whatever machine

they just used to do that.

Like, seriously, when I get back home,

I am going to contact

whoever is in charge of the little leagues,

and offer to buy them that machine.

So every kid playing little league

can get a card of their relationship,

because yeah, it took an hour,

and it was ready.

That was pretty cool.

That's pretty cool.

All right, well,

it's a whole wild ride out there in Vegas,

and that's my forcing of a segue

into what we're going to be talking about today.

If you didn't realize,

we have fab on site.

You know, there's still a lot of drafts happening,

and the season doesn't kick off until Wednesday.

But that means fab starts today.

And there's a lot of intricate rules

of depending on what the format that you play in.

I reminded everybody in the PL Discord

today, earlier today,

that, you know, FBC has a very intricate rule

about players that have not made their MLB debut.

This season, being eligible to be picked up in fab.

Or it's not just rookies.

It's anyone.

Jared Jones of the world.

The roster, yeah.

Yeah, Jared Jones of the world.

Anybody who's basically

anybody starts on the L or on the IL

that was not drafted,

you can still pick them up this week in fab.

But if they're still not picked up

after this Sunday,

you won't be able to pick them up

until they make their debut.

This is an NFBC rule of

sure, it's different in your Yahoo

and your fan tracks and all your other leagues as well.

But keep an eye on your formats rules

when it comes to who you can pick up

when you can pick them up.

And if you are in the NFBC

and you have some flexibility to stash,

this is the time to do it.

Because you can always pick them up,

drop them next week,

and then they become available

because they were dropped.

They were drafted or picked up

in the first week of fab and then dropped.

Those players, even if they haven't made their debut,

they would be in the pool first.

And that's when the notebook

comes in handy.

John, all those down.

Not just the one you did

make sure you're jotting all those down

that anyone else in your league did

so that you're aware

if things start to look like,

you know, try to get them a week or two ahead

when there are a couple bucks,

not 130 bucks.

So, Kevin, these wild cards

that we always talk about throughout the season

almost always, it's prospects

or what have you.

But ultimately, they're stashes.

Who, like, how many stashes

are you allowing yourself to have

by opening day?

So, after this Sunday,

how many stashes,

guys, you don't plan on dropping right away,

are you allowing yourself to have

to start the season?

One, with the exception,

if I drafted Zach Wheeler,

things are looking better and better every day,

so I wouldn't so much consider him

a stash anymore.

Yeah, sure.

So, then I would go another one,

even though he's probably not going to be

their opening day,

but other than that one.

Sure. So, I mean,

this is, this is,

we don't have a lot of spots.

No, especially in the NFPC

with only those seven benchmarks.

Yeah, of course.

But like, if you drafted Carlos Rodan,

like, that's a stash.

If you drafted somebody,

like, if you drafted Connagriffin,

we'll get to him in a little bit

and he doesn't make the opening day roster,

he becomes a stash because you don't know when.

But your Wheeler example is a good one,

because we are pretty confident.

Like, we know he's going to start on the IL,

but we're pretty confident he's going to come.

Like, when is it not a stash?

If you think somebody's going to come

up before the end of April,

is that an out of stash?

Or does it have to be like two weeks into the season?

It's not just timing for me.

It's the quality that I think I'm going to get.

That's why Zach Wheeler,

obviously, is a good example.

I will not consider him a stash.

If I think I'm going to get him in April,

but the lower and lower you go down in the tiers,

then that timing needs to be three weeks, two weeks, one week,

I'm not considering them at this point.

Does it matter if you're in a 12 team or a 15 team,

whether or not you'd increase that number of stashes

or you'd hold on to your stashes longer

in one of those formats?

That is a great question.

I'm not sure I've considered enough,

but I think off the top of my head in a 12,

I could go another stash just because we're going to be...

Well, it's a give and take, right?

Because you're going to be turning a few players every week

in a 12, typically.

So you need your spots, but at the same time,

the replacement level and guys you can find

is going to be better just by sheer numbers.

I would still lean that in a 12,

I might make one more stash.

The opposite side of that is in a 15,

that stash, if they work out,

is going to be a lot more valuable to you.

So I think it probably evens out a little bit.

I think that in a 12 team,

I'm more comfortable stashing a high profile stash.

Somebody who is, you know, because that 30th round guy,

I'm going to...

Yeah, in a 12, typically, you're looking for the most elite guy

you can get at every position.

Exactly.

It makes more sense.

Yeah, so in that 30th guy I get in my draft,

and the replacement value for the 29th and 30th guy.

But if I'm using my 29th or 30th round pick on a stash,

I'm not actually rotating that position, right?

And I'm just kind of crossing my fingers.

So I don't mind grabbing a,

you know, going after a con of Griffin in a 12,

as opposed to, you know, 15 where, you know,

that...

I don't know when...

I'm going to have to pay the same price, right?

I'm going to have to pay the same price for con of Griffin,

or that, you know, top high-end prospect.

And if I don't know that I'm going to be able to rotate that position

because of where I drafted him,

I'm like, I'm just not going to be able to do that to myself

and pay that draft price.

I'm less likely to do it.

But I'm probably still going to use a...

I'll probably still have a stash spot on my roster,

but it'll probably be somebody that I grab later on in the draft

in the second to last, maybe even last round.

Because the replacement value of that spot

is not going to be there, like it is in the 12th teamer.

And obviously, this is very different in a team,

in a league, like, I am way more likely to stash somebody

in a head-to-head league than I am in a rodeo league.

Because I trust myself in being able to do what I need to do

weekend and week out to get to the playoffs.

And so, in my PL staff league,

I grabbed Wheeler, Rodon.

Did I get SNL?

Like, I grabbed a lot of pitchers later

that I knew I wouldn't have for at least a month

if not multiple months.

Yeah, so you just have to tread water and then you're set.

Just need to tread water.

Yeah, and it's like my own little trade deadline.

And like, I'm just trading for all these guys

within my own roster.

And I don't have to do any trades to get better before the playoffs.

So, obviously, completely different format.

Completely.

And an aisle.

So, you'll be able to fill those free aisles.

So, I'm good.

There they are.

In my home league, we have 10 aisle spots

because everybody was just sick and tired of all the injuries

that were always happening.

And I'm like, we're all like fine.

Let's just give everyone, let's just give them.

Actually, the rule is unlimited aisles,

but Yahoo only allows you to give up to 10.

So, we're like, until Yahoo changes it, we'll love 10.

Nobody is complained about that.

So, yeah, my home league keeper league is unlimited aisle.

And that becomes interesting.

Being a keeper league, that's what makes it really interesting.

Yeah.

It's nice in a dynasty or keeper league,

that is important, I think, actually,

to be able to have all those aisle spots

because you want people to be able to rebuild

and build up to future competitive,

without losing their competitive edge this current season.

Otherwise, people just tank.

Yeah, you don't want somebody to have to drop a guy

that's going to be valuable to them in the future

just so they can enter a valid starting line up.

Exactly, exactly.

Man, all right.

Well, we have, we have Fab to talk about, right?

But we are still considering

what these last couple picks

or what these stashes might look like

if you are still drafting

or if you're considering drafting

one of these still available players in Fab.

So, not drafting, but bidding on them, excuse me.

So, we did this last year.

We're going to do it again

because we haven't done it enough this off-season,

but we can do it two weeks in a row

when we're playing fast.

And we're going to do a rookie edition, right?

So, the grouping that I put together

are all rookies across the board.

I check their status.

There's a couple of players I wanted to include,

but they've all gone over their rookie status.

The 140 at bats or 50 innings pitch,

I think it is, from over the course of their major league career.

So, we'll start at position two.

We'll start at catcher.

We'll go around, we'll finish up with pitchers.

And then we will go through some, if, you know,

there's some news that's going to come up through this,

through this game, we'll bring up.

But if there's any other news that would

maybe impact how you might be spending your fab dollars

this weekend, we'll get to that as well.

So, make sure you listen to the end for that

before, and this will go out on Sunday,

before fab bids are due in NFBC.

That is 10 o'clock Eastern for every league.

Except for the Earthleagues, I think we set that for midnight.

We get special treatment for that.

So, that's kind of fun.

But everybody else across the board, 10 p.m. Eastern.

And so, make sure you set your alarms.

Always, we'll always say, like, there's nothing stopping you

from going in and placing bids right now.

You don't have to wait till Sunday night to do it.

Like, I tend to do sometimes.

You can do it on Wednesdays.

And then it's a lot easier on Sundays

when you already have some bids placed and edited.

Or just to edit.

So, we're going to play Ask, Rookie Edition in just a second.

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All right, Kevin.

I got to check how's your basketball game going.

As you brought that up,

I went to not covering

with 10 seconds left.

I will close my mouth.

It's all good.

It's all good.

That was totally my fault.

All right, now I got to hit some pre-throws.

I hate watching that.

That's why I hadn't looked.

I hate watching when I bet I'm basketball at the end of the game

because I hate watching the whole free-throw thing.

All right, so we're playing ask for those listening at home

for the first time ever.

Ask is avoid stream keep our version of MFK.

You have three players.

I'm going to give you.

You have to avoid one of them.

You're not even considering drafting them.

You would not consider fapping for them

throughout the course of the season.

You can stream one of them.

In other words, you're good to fab them this weekend.

And you might even draft them,

but you would plan on kicking them off your roster

or string them in and out.

And one of them, you'd feel comfortable keeping.

And you have to make that decision about one of these.

One, you would draft, if you sell a draft,

you would bid top dollar to get them in fab this weekend.

And you would plan on keeping them all season long.

So our rookie catchers that are being drafted

in most, if not all, 12 teamers.

And of course, NFBC to catch your league.

Harry Ford in Washington, Carter Jensen in San Diego,

formerly of your Kansas City.

And Samuel Basallo of Baltimore,

they're not being drafted in that order,

per se, believe that they are in reverse order

for what I just listed.

But that's neither here nor there.

What I care about Gavin,

especially with a wild card stashing mindset,

which one of these guys, these catchers,

are you good to avoid, stream, or keep for the 2026 season?

The avoid here for me is Harry Ford,

with recent news that he was sent down to Tripoli.

I mean, it's everything.

Yep.

I came up with this before that happened.

Yeah, I'm sure you did.

And so the other two are close for me.

And I was very outspoken that Carter Jensen was being

overdrafted for Kansas City.

That may have changed.

And that might have hurt a lot of my teams,

where Freddie, for me, is my second catcher

in a couple of spots.

And my third catcher in a whole lot of drafting holds.

Pretty much everyone I drafted,

NFBC 50s, any drafting hold.

He was my third catcher.

But yeah, Jensen probably has the playing time now.

But I'd still rather have Basalo, I think.

It's close.

But Basalo, I think, is still the guy,

Ruchman Struggles on the offensive side

over the past season and a half.

I think gives him that playing time

that we want.

Those played appearances, we talk about it catcher.

So Basalo's my keep, Jensen is my stream.

Although, he could become much better than that

as the season goes on.

And maybe even right out of the gate,

we'll have to see.

And then Harry Ford, due to actually being sent to AAA.

For now, he would be my avoid, but keep an eye on him

because Cuibert Ruiz was not good last year.

Now, really disappointing in general, Cuibert Ruiz was.

Question, though, does Basalo,

Basalo, in my mind, has a path to more at bats

than Ali Ruchman does.

Just because one, he's already gotten paid.

So I do not expect him to get sent down.

And then, too, I know where you're going.

The way Ruchman has been hitting for the last year and a half,

he will not D.H. when he's not catching, but Basalo can.

Yeah.

Well, Basalo will D.H. more than he catches,

but he'll catch when he doesn't D.H.

Right.

And so I think that there is as much as, you know,

I love Ali Ruchman.

You know, I do think that there's more volume potential

in conjunction with injury history for Ruchman as well

for Basalo in general.

So I think that's the right order to put those guys in.

Yeah, and I just really quick, I think that one's pretty cut and dry.

And unless you really think Jensen's going to get a lot more playing time,

then I feel like he might, right away,

that group of three there, I'm pretty confident about

what the way we lined it up.

Yeah, I agree.

I think that was a pretty easy one, especially with the

Harry Ford news of being sent down corner infield.

First third, this is a little bit of a jump south Stewart

at first base eligibility rumors of getting second base eligibility.

So I'm still keeping them in the corner infield grouping right here.

We have Murakami coming over from Japan for the Chicago White Sox.

And then the other third basement in the group.

Okamoto in Toronto,

there are all rookies.

Two of them have no experience.

South Stewart did not get enough to do away with his rookie of the year status.

Does South Stewart have a strong chance at rookie of the year

before you answer the ask question?

What you're actually, I haven't looked at the odds.

But if he is starting at the major league level to start the season,

which he should be, I don't know if it's officially been announced on the roster,

but there's no reason he wouldn't be from my mind.

Whether his chances are you giving him to take rookie of the year,

the NL rookie of the year honors?

I think he's got a really good shot.

As he was coming up through the minors, would he develop power was a question?

He was always considered a good hitter in general.

But we've seen that over his last couple of seasons in the minors.

He's really developed that power.

So yeah, and with that said, he's my easy keep out of these three as well.

I know how you feel about Murakami.

You said so many times, but has anything changed throughout the off season

in his situation in Chicago that would make him your streamer or is it an obvious avoid?

The only aspect that I give Murakami the edge here is in playing time.

I think he's going to get it right out the gate and the white socks are going to let him roll.

But at the same time, I just can't do that strike out rate.

I'd rather have a Okamoto and hope he gets the playing time in Toronto.

And it looks like he should where it's just not as certain as it is for Murakami.

In my opinion, all three of these guys not available in your fab.

So if you want them and you haven't added them to any of your roster yet,

you're going to have to jump into a draft because they're all going

within the top 300, I think, 325 of drafts.

Yeah, it's close.

I think there might been a couple really early drafts where Okamoto might be available.

And I would check that out.

But our next group, Adam, if you drafted early, you might have to choose between all three of these

guys. It's true. But yeah, I'm looking at just online championships roster percentages.

If you did do a fab league early on, you might have a shot at one of those guys,

especially Okamoto, because he did sign a little bit later.

Middle infield, though, as you said, a lot of juice here.

Connor Griffin, top dog in this list, as far as ADP coast, I've only got one league where I'm

exposed to him. And that's not going to change. I did grab him in my PL staff league, again,

head to head league with IEL spots. No NA spots, but so it is truly a stash.

Well, maybe we'll see. We'll see. We'll see you come next week.

JJ Weatherhole of St. Louis and then Kevin McGonicle in Detroit. We talked about McGonicle a decent

amount this off season, only because if nothing else in back my head, I'd been looking at Zach.

We can streak quite a bit. As we know, as we always say, like we're always targeting

guys that can hit at the top of a lineup who play middle infield or specifically shortstop,

because these guys are not typically wanting to be platooned by their team. The only way,

Zach Miskinstry kicks out is if Kevin McGonicle is a thing. Once he's a thing.

And it's looking more and more that way. Yeah. And once he's a thing, not even went like if

when he's a thing, McGonicle still has value as a pretty much can play every Swiss Army knife of

a player, but obviously not as much of a guarantee in play. Yeah, we were counting on those every day

at batten. So Kevin, if you got a draft today, well, you have dropped in the morning. If you

have a draft in the morning, who you have to avoid one of these guys stream one of them,

and you're going to keep one of them all season long, where are they going to fall?

Okay, so love all three of these guys. I

don't recall having any shares of any of them, but I could be incorrect about that because I love

them all, but a lot of my drafts, we didn't have the news about these guys that we have gotten

recently. Connor Griffin, I think it's been two to three weeks ago that we became pretty certain

he was going to make the team and be in that lineup on an everyday basis. It's only been about

a week, I think, for McGonicle. JJ Weatherhold, I think we probably assumed that, but we didn't know

it. We probably thought that for longer. And so if, and I don't think it's that big of an if,

I'm going to assume all three of these guys start the season with their teams. And if they do,

they're playing every day, or they would be in the minors. So with that said, due to lineup,

I think Weatherhold can be great, but he's my avoid. So it comes to Connor Griffin or

Kevin McGonicle. And I think Connor Griffin was, is ranked above McGonicle on so many prospect lists

because we assumed he was going to arrive to the majors sooner. I think it's a lot closer than

people think. And I'm not so sure I wouldn't take McGonicle ahead. And in fact, I absolutely

could be wrong here, but McGonicle's might keep Griffin, my streamer and Weatherhold, my avoid,

just because, and that's only a lineup thing. I will not avoid Weatherhold. Sure. Yeah, you have

to make a choice, right? I make this difficult for you, Kevin. Weatherhold, I feel like you're right,

we assume he makes the roster, but it had, I had less to do with him and more to do with the Cardinals.

And there are versions as opposed to, you know, McGonicle, you know, he has to earn it type of thing.

It's like Detroit has options that they came plug in at shortstop throughout the, you know,

the first month or two of the season. But if he forces their hand, which it sure seems like he's

trying to do, you know, I would expect him to be up from the jump. Anyway, you always have the extra

wrinkle of if these guys qualify for that benefit, that that extra draft pick that their teams could win

if they win work of the year. I believe all three of these guys are on two of the three top 100

lists that they have to be on and they have to start the season now. And they have to hit a certain

amount of at bats, I think, throughout the season. But that doesn't stop a team from putting them on

the roster to start the season, waiting two or three weeks, setting them down for two or three weeks,

and then calling them back up with enough time for them to accrue enough stats to still win

rookie the year and keep their rookie eligibility. Now, I might correct myself. I believe if they win

rookie of the year, they also win like an extra year or one less year of control or something like

that. I think there's some other wrinkle in that. Yeah, it's not like that. And it might even be

like top three, if I'm remembering white. Yeah, but yeah, there's something along those lines.

Yeah, I think I think Adley got that because he didn't win, but he was in top three and he gained

an extra year or lost a year of control. I guess it's the way to put it. So yeah, I mean, I don't have,

I don't have my hands on whether or mechanical, mostly because I've, I've, I've already used my

stash in some other capacity in most scenarios. But to your point, these are guys are turning out to

not be stashes or at least not looking like they're going to be a stash. They're going to be

a little bit from. I don't think many people thought he was going to make the team out of the

gate or he would have been being drafted earlier and he is skyrocketed over the last couple days.

So we've seen this though. We've seen this with all other players and in spring training and

it goes both directions. We have the tattoos. We have the Bobby with to the world who, you know,

they earn their their way up through spring training and they force their team's hand and then

I think the big one that it happened in spring training was J ride.

I mean, these are very positive examples. But then we have the Jordan walkers of the world who

are like, again, they they force 13's hands in spring training and then did absolutely nothing

with it after the fact and a lot like Jordan Walker and others are still doing the same thing.

Kalanik might have actually fit into that as well as an example from a positive training.

So which one of these guys do you think fits like is there any one of them that you're more afraid

fit into the Jordan Walker bucket than the J ride bucket or Bobby with will use Bobby with because

it's crazy is it may sound to some people you because for years we talked about the

St. Louis Cardinals voodoo magic but in recent years they they've they haven't gotten anything out

of their prospects and they let them go. We didn't Randy or Rosarina wasn't good until he was,

you know, and and several other guys in that concept. So I would say weather holds the one I

would be the most worried about and it's because of the Cardinals. Yeah, Nolan Gorman really hasn't,

you know, I mean, he's got some power in there but he was also a lot of least Garcia they had

that there were several they were all outfielders too, I think. Oh yeah, yeah, I just meant

the guys that are on the team like Nolan Gorman comes to mind now because I know he's a top

prospect and he's still there. Jordan Walker, obviously, but yeah, it was they were all out it was

the out the Cardinal outfield curse. It's like you can't be good until you get traded,

drop the pin you're an all-star. Yep, yep. Garcia was a rule five pick. Yeah, and there you go.

Now he's now he's in Philadelphia and he continues to be I'm all done with my drafts but like he

continues to be like the guy is like on my grip. I'm like, hmm, Garcia's still there and he's just

taking the place and probably in the cleanup spot in Philadelphia. So it's like you gotta at least

pay attention or we'll speaking about field. Let's jump over to the outfield when we are going

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All right, Kevin. Speaking of outfield and speaking of Philadelphia, we're going to lead this off

with Justin Crawford who is expected to be one of the starting outfielders for the Philadelphia

Phillies, if not the fourth outfielder. Carson Benji of the New York Mets still no guarantee.

I think that he has made the roster as well, but it is one of those expectations, especially

after the Mets did not make any moves in the outfield in the infreagency. And then Dylan Beaver

who did make his debut in Baltimore still kept his rookie eligibility going into 2026.

All exciting in their own right, Beaver's obviously I'm the most familiar with just because

I rostered him in a fantasy league, traded him away, and then I was very upset that he got called

up like about a week after. I traded him. I won the championship. I don't care what I actually did.

Everything I did was the right thing. So I'm just telling myself that you didn't make any

mistakes. If you, if you always say trophy guys, none of these guys have guaranteed every day playing

time for by any strength of the imagination, but they are the top three outfielders going in drafts

according to ADP that have rookie eligibility. So Kevin, I ask you, you have to avoid, you have

to stream and you have to keep one each one of these guys. What buckets do they fallen?

Okay, so I do have to give an edge to Dylan Beaver's because he has the experience

and it the most, I think, guaranteed playing time. But he's not my keep. My keep is going to be

Justin Crawford in Philadelphia because he has a specific skill that we know we can count on.

As long as he's playing, we know we get stolen bases out of him. So Justin Crawford,

with a decent batting average, I believe in that lineup run scored. So he's at least a three

category player out the gate in my mind. So Justin Crawford is the keep. And I hate to say this

because I think Carson Bench probably does get the playing time, but I don't, I'm not certain of it

yet. So he's going to be my avoid and because of the experience and already been with the team and

got some playing time last season, Dylan Beaver's will be my stream.

I think that Crawford, as a good analysis of Crawford in general, he also benefits from the

Johann Rojas being suspended thing as well, not only to make the roster, but also he just fills

that void. He like, he is Johann Ross, probably a little bit better than him overall,

overall where Rojas is basically just a stolen base threat. And that's about it.

Yeah, I wouldn't be worried about Rojas coming back and taking his position back.

Exactly. So I agree with that a lot as well. Plus Crawford being the lefty, you know,

even if he does get put into a platoon, at least you know he's putting into that short shot.

I worry about you're right. From the jump, Beaver's is quote, guaranteed the most playing time,

but I do not think he gets the most at bats by the end of the year.

From either one of them, because I do believe at least Benji, if Benji is called up,

he's the type of player that I think the match are going to be like, if we're going to have him

up here, we're going to play him. It sounded more and more like he's going to make the roster, I think.

So if he makes the roster, I think there's, I don't think he's making the roster just to sit there,

either, especially with the options that the meds have across the board between, I mean,

the rest of their outfield, they did make, I'll correct myself, they got Luis Robert Jr.

Luis Robert Jr. the place that are field from Chicago, obviously one Soto's still there,

but their DH is kind of being being held up by their infielders between, you know,

Vientos and Brett Beatty with Polanco coming in to take over for Alonso. And so, I mean,

they have Mike Talkman as a non-Roster invitee, possibly making the roster out of camp and

Tyrone Taylor is still there as well as a short-side platoon. So I do think Benji, if he is there,

he is as roster resource has him. Well, he has them, they have a lot of strong-side platoon in

right field with probably with Taylor. But we'll see, I think that they're going to give him

opportunity to win both sides of the platoon and then kind of force their hand. It's nice that

you have Taylor, you can only platoon so many players. So he probably would be the first one to

get platoon, but I do trust Benji to be the one that gets, I think, and Benji gets more at bats

of the three of them by the end of the season. So I do like that. I like how you kind of started

that off. And you start talking about Beaver and you're like, I'm like, he's going to pick Beaver,

is this keep? And then you're like, I'm not going to keep him. I'm not going to pick him. I'm like,

oh, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah. It's just that he is the most projectible at this point. Sure,

put in a couple of weeks that could change very quickly. Yeah. And I mean, the options between,

I mean, Tyler and Neil's not going to stay healthy. Colton Calder has had his own injuries

as well. And then Taylor Ward has probably been the most consistent other outfielder of this

bunch. But yeah, there's going to be lots of opportunities for Beaver to get in there, especially

also as a lefty. Yep. All right. We'll move into pitching. We're just going to do starters.

It started as was harder just because there are a lot of them. So I did, I think I did jump

around a little bit. I had to use Tetsuai Mai from Houston. He's the, I think the highest ranked

by ADP of all the players we talked about. Next up would either be Connor Griffin or Sal Stewart.

But we've got a Mai in Houston, Robbie Snelling, who did just get sent down. He's not going to make

the open day roster rotation in Miami. And then JR Richie in Atlanta, who was turning heads at the

beginning of spring training. But honestly, I haven't heard his name come up at all in the second

half of spring training. So I'm not actually not sure what he's doing. But Atlanta has had some

recent history of pushing some of their young guys up earlier than probably most would expect.

And with all of the injuries that Atlanta's already had to hand deal with on both sides of the ball,

this off season, I would not be too surprised to see Richie up sooner than Snelling at this point.

So between a Mai Snelling and Richie, I'm pretty sure the obvious one is obvious, but I'm going

to let you say it anyway, who you're going to, who you're going to avoid, who you're going to stream

and who you're going to keep? Yeah, and Mai is the, the keep as you were saying. And when you,

when you made this list that may not have been so apparent, but it is now on the side time of

year. So we will take, we'll take the good, we'll, we'll take the information as we get it and

start knowing what we'd rather do. I think in spider being sent down Snelling is my stream here.

I have a few shares knowing that I actually leaned on the side that he does not start the season

with the Marlins, but I think is he's really exciting and with I think we'll see him

early. Richie, same, I don't think he's going to make this roster. He's not on the 40 man at the moment,

I don't think. Maybe he is, but I just, yeah, Atlanta has had injury issues and he may get an

opportunity, but I feel like Snelling will get an opportunity and early. It's closer than I thought

it would be when I first read these names, when, when you put this list out, it, it's making me think

a little bit, but I'm still going to lean Snelling and that's probably a personal bias to make

myself feel better that I have several shares of him. So I wonder where, if there's a world in which

Robbie Snelling ends up being your keep in a my ends of being coming your streamer.

If I knew Snelling had a job, that would absolutely. No, and hear me out, even without the job,

just based on draft costs. It really depends. And I'm not confident in the ratios from my,

and this is exactly where I'm going. It's like, are you willing to take much of them? You

talk me into that right away. Yeah. I'm there. Now, it obviously depends on if you've already used

your one's stash or if you're willing to take on a second stash for Snelling is what you have

for pitching on your roster at that point in the draft. Yeah, but it doesn't take much to talk me

into that at all. Because as you said at the start of the show, it's all about those quality of

endings you're going to get from that player. And is Snelling a stash? Yes, he's still a stash,

because you don't know when those endings are going to start. You don't know how good they're

going to be at the major league level. He's still on Miami. You're still chasing wins pretty hard

there. And there's going to be, I do think Miami has had some positive history with bringing up,

used to think Miami, obviously pitching machine, pitching prospect machine.

Even when they're not a playoff team, they're okay. They're not what we saw out of the white

socks for a couple of years. They're not what we see out of the Rockies. They're still going to

compete. So the wins can still be there. It's true. It's true. Yeah. All right. Well,

something to consider as you again, finish up your last couple drafts or draft of the season.

And go into your first fab period. And we're going to go through. I'm going to scan through some

of the news that might have come up. But ultimately, we do need to probably pick up some guys

in fab, especially if you did do a fab league, fab league draft in December or even January or

even early February. There's going to be some things you need to adjust. I know I did my

golf draft in late February. And I know I need to make some adjustments.

So we'll get to that. We are going to take one last break.

All right, Kevin. Let's do it. Let's just get right into, you know, midseason form. We'll go

category by category. If you need to make an adjustment in power, who might, you won.

Let's, I'm going to scan through the news and see who you might have to be thinking about

replacing or at least putting a bandaid on Kyle Stowers was removed from the game today with a

right hamstring tightness. So you might, you missed a couple weeks last season with the same

strain of his hammy. You might have to replace some power with Kyle Stowers at least to start the

season. We've got Jason Dominguez has officially been options by the Yankees. It's a lot of people

expecting that to be an option. Yankees made it official. He will not. Spencer Jones is also

somebody that I could have put on this list because he was actually turning some heads in spring

training, but he won't make the roster either. A lot of options in at the DH position in

in the outfield for the Yankees. Jason Dominguez, not one of them. And, you know, smaller ones,

Nolan Jones was outrated the triple A as well. And I'll keep scrolling, but if I see anything,

here's some majors in fit and power, I would say maybe that's more of an opportunity, but he had a

tight hamstring is considered day to day as well. This is, we are recording this on Friday evening,

by the way. So if I'm saying today, I'm talking about things that happen on Friday.

And yeah, anything anything from that or any other piece of the news that you noticed that

would kind of fit into the power category that you need to make considerations for.

I don't know. There's a couple of guys that I just drafted in a drafting hold that I still

love going on. In fact, there's like three rounds remaining. And it's my CLQ. And I feel pretty good

about a couple of picks. And one of them is is Brandon Lockridge in Milwaukee. And he hasn't had

a ton of power throughout his minor league career. He did hit 14 when he was in the Yankees

organization at AA in 2022. And we haven't seen a lot of power out of him, but we haven't seen

a whole lot of opportunity for him either in the spring training. I know, I know it's spring

training, but we do think Brandon Lockridge is now going to make this Milwaukee Brewers roster.

And probably get the plane time. And with four home runs and three stolen bases in 13 games,

this is this is looking pretty nice as a, you know, 29 year old rookie. Basically, he does have

160 major league played appearances. But so he is not technically a rookie, but 29 year old

looks like he's going to have some play here for the Brewers. And he's having a wonderful spring.

I'm not putting a ton of stock into those four home runs. It's about the stolen bases. You know,

I love that he's hit four home runs in spring training. And he had the 14 back in 2022 at AA

for the Yankees. So I think there's moderate power here. But I really should have waited to the

next question. You asked me and put him in here for stolen bases. But I just think he could be

and, you know, well into the double digits, walk rate, low 20s to mid 20s, strike out rate,

all throughout the minors. So I think he could be an all around like contribute batting average,

contribute, obviously the stolen bases runs. And if if he gets back to what he did back in 21 and 22

in the minors, yeah, the the power can be there a little bit too to give us the home runs and

RBI's. At least get us to, you know, double digits and 60 to 70 RBI. I think Lockridge is

really nice. And somebody that would not, I shouldn't say he wouldn't be on anybody's radar,

he wasn't on my radar prior to this recent news that he's going to make the team.

Well, if you need to fill in any other power, I've got him in a bunch of places, but he's only

24% rostered in online championships. That's your 12 teamers. Your boy, Josh Bell readily available

in a lot of places should be playing close to every day at first base for the twins, who

unrelatedly just released Liam Hendrix unfortunately. Yeah, I saw that right before we started

recording made me so sad. The other power guy that did get also got sent down that I thought

was worth mentioning that you might want to consider whether or not you want to stash him or not

because he doesn't have any positions eligible is Bryce Eldridge of San Francisco. It's going to

take him a lot longer to gain that first base eligibility if anything now that he will be starting.

I love this. He was sent down along with Tyler Fitzgerald and Grant McCray to Triple A Sacramento.

Yes, there is also a Triple A team that plays in the major league stadium that the A's play in.

That is sad. As a Red Sox fan, I have to ask you, how much do you think this has to do with

is Rafael Devers being adamant that he does not want to D.H. or would we see Bryce Eldridge?

I don't know. I feel like that's the low hanging group. I feel like Buster Posey would say

get over it. You're the D.H. But at the same time, that's probably what we're seeing here.

It might be, I mean, this is what happened in Boston for the most part. I think Boston didn't

handle the situation very well. But in Devers said all the right things when he went to San Francisco,

he's like, I'll do whatever they want me to do. But it's been a season now. It's been an

awesome season. No, I'm not a D.H. Yeah. The other guy that recently, due to him signing,

because he's one of the guys that, as we talked sometimes, could have went to Japan or Korea,

or maybe even retired. I doubt that, but it may have been a possibility. But now that

Reese Hoskins is resigned, he's somebody I'm definitely interested in for power, latent drafts,

and would look at in fab this weekend if I need him. Same kind of type of player, Marcelo Zuna

is available in 15% of 12 team online championship. That's right. Because that was, it's been

a few weeks, but there were fab leagues being drafted before he signed. So absolutely, he

there might be some pretty big fab bids on him this week. Of course, he is one and a PC that has

that UT designation. I do not expect him to gain anything other than that in Pittsburgh. So

you'll plan accordingly for that one. And I'm not talking triple digits, but I'm saying a couple

blocks isn't going to get him. All right. Let's get some speed options in there. It's a lot of

those. I'm curious to know if Crawford, yeah, Crawford, not JP Crawford, wrong Crawford,

Crawford Crawford, also not concerning, yeah, Justin Crawford, 99% rostered. So there's one

league out there where Justin Crawford is available in your online championship. But if that's not

an option, then Kevin, any other speed guys out there that have impressed enough to at least

catch your eye outside of Lockbridge. Um, this isn't we, we, we, or I have talked about this guy. And

I feel like in some 12 team leagues, he probably hasn't been drafted, maybe even a handful of 15s

out there. And that's not seen Nunez in Washington. Talk about him. He is the everyday shortstop.

You're not going to get anything else, but you'll get those stolen bases. So yeah, I've been

grabbing him late. Absolutely. And then, um, in Seattle, I'm, I'm looking here really quick.

I think, I think we'll get, I think we'll get some stolen bases out of Leo Rivas that is

set to make the Mariners roster. Okay. Um, second base middle infielder and he's stolen a ton of

bases in the minor leagues. And it really looks like he's going to make this roster now. I grabbed him.

Um, you know what, the, the draft and hold I talked about, I was so excited. I grabbed Lockbridge

and I grabbed Rivas. And then the news came out, um, that made us realize that Eric Larr is

probably in the rotation. And I tried to grab him, but he went like five picks before me. So I,

I have had some good fortune. I hope with news recently with a draft and whole, a slow draft

and hold still going. But, uh, yeah, Rivas, uh, he stole 50 bases at AA and 20 just two seasons ago.

So, um, yeah, absolutely. And he really looks like he's going to make this club. Yeah.

Nunez only 26% rostered across the board. So if you need speed, that's my number one target.

Absolutely. He's a shortstop on a bad team. He's going to play every day. He's going to play every

day. And then he has the ability to play other positions as well. So there's a non-zero chance.

He gains some other position eligibility in the next, in the first two months of the season.

Um, I think he's one of my most rostered players in 15s. I don't think I need to go that deep

into 12, but in 15s, I think he's easily one of my most rostered players. I got to look at that.

I'm pretty sure mine are Jose Caballero and, uh, Salvi. Um, my two, I know I'm pretty sure I have

them on all six of my rosters, um, for this season. Mine is my most rostered by far. It's not

close as Brandon Donovan, just where he's being drafted as the every day lead off hitter.

Seattle is announced flat out publicly that he's going to lead off versus righties and lefties

with that lineup. I don't understand how he's still going after pick 200 in the lot of drafts.

98% rostered in the online championship 12. Yeah, but he's going late. You got to check.

You got to check. You might be there. Um, yeah, obviously that made a big difference. The

trade made a big difference on going to Seattle and the announcement on top of that. Um,

all right, opportunity. Um, I like in the last pick of almost all my drafts. I have been

grabbing, uh, I grabbed Patrick Bailey in two of them. Um, only because we have that one game

on Wednesday of the eighties and, and, and, and, and giants. Um, so I grabbed Patrick Bailey in

two leagues and I grabbed Ryan McMahon in another league, um, because he was still there as a 12

teamer. Ryan McMahon readily available in all these 12 gamers. Um, again, this is all about

opportunity. I do not expect to hold on to either one of these guys past week one, but

I'm going to gain eight more at bats on those on those on that day because you can make that

lineup switch, um, on Thursday or Friday and kick them out or maybe they, you know, maybe

I keep them in for the weekend. I don't know. Um, but those are those are the type of opportunities

I'm looking for in this first, you know, fat period. Um, you got to take whatever you can get.

You get squeeze every at bat out of out of your lineup that you possibly can. Um, so if you

didn't draft them in your 30th round because that's all you had to do, um, check to see if they're

available because they are right. Ryan McMahon 5% rostered in online championships. Um, this is

personally my, my favorite way to spend my first five dollars in fab, um, is on a player that I

know nobody actually wants, but we'll actually do something. Um, no guarantee that Ryan McMahon starts.

I'm more confident that Patrick Bailey starts, um, in that game, but, uh, I think pretty sure Logan

Web is starting. So we don't have a lefty on the mound for McMahon to not start against, um,

if they are platooning that situation by the Yankees. Any other opportunities that you're trying

to take advantage of in this first one? Yes. I, um, I was big on this guy last season. He didn't

get the playing time. I did expect him to get, but I'm going back to the well. I do believe,

I do believe Jacob Young is going to get the run in Washington. I thought he was going to get

last season, uh, due to his defense. He only had 364 played appearances last year after five,

21 in 2024. And that's what I wanted because he had 33 stolen bases in, in 2024, uh, that dropped

to 15 and 364 played appearances last season. But I do believe he's going to get a good portion

of that playing time back, um, maybe not to 521, maybe not the 33 stolen bases, but, uh,

450 plus and 25 plus stolen bases. So, uh, the opportunity for Jacob Young, I think, is, is looking

up for us. We'll get into the wild card, but there's a lot of, quote, opportunity you can take

advantage of with like some of the guys that hadn't weren't drafted, but may be stashable,

even if you don't want to stash them yourself. This is again, as a reminder, this is your

opportunity to bid them up and then drop them next week or the week after that, um, and kind of

seeing where that goes. And if everybody in your league doesn't have that notebook that Kevin was

talking about, there you go. You, at least you're keeping notes. Um, all right, moving on then to

our pitching categories. Uh, this is just like opportunity. You obviously are, if you're chasing

wins and you're chasing strikeouts, there's only, you know, game, there's one game on Wednesday,

handful games, most of games on Thursday and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, uh, not everybody's

going to pitch, um, that you drafted. If you drafted a number five pitcher, strong possibility,

he doesn't get into games this week. Um, this week. So you want to make sure that you are filling

that pitcher slot, um, every one of those pitcher slots that you have available to all nine of them

in the NFPC platform, uh, that's how many get you want to make sure you're getting numbers out

of every one of those nine spots. So if you need to chase some available wins or strikeouts, Kevin,

is there anybody out there that you might be looking at? Yeah, I already brought them up, uh,

briefly, but we didn't really talk about them in this respect. And that's, uh, Eric Lauer. Blue

J's with the savage news, uh, looks like Lauer is going to be not only in the rotation, but being

the only lefty in the rotation, probably, uh, uh, third or, you know, maybe even second at times,

but somewhere in that two, three, four range, he won't be the last guy. And so with him entering

the rotation now with Toronto's lineup and it's, I don't want to get, I don't want to just say that

that's the only reason I do performance and what we think, I'm stumbling over when I'm trying to say

how we think he will perform. There's what I'm trying to say. Uh, plays a big role as well,

but we've seen some, we've seen good audience out of Lauer in the past. And I, if we're chasing

wins, once again, that's our category here, uh, this, with that lineup, that bullpen, uh, I'll,

I'll take a shot on Lauer. Absolutely. Uh, the name I started drafting, uh, recently late, and I

will be looking to see where he's still available in my earlier drafts in fab is Anthony Kay,

who the white talk did say will be their number three starter. He as like, just like Lauer is

the only lefty in their rotation. Um, so I'm not surprised that he, you know, isn't the number five,

he's officially the number three. So he'll get in this first series, um, against Milwaukee. Um, and

so we don't really know what to expect out of Milwaukee as a team. Obviously they were a very good

team last year. They surprised a lot of people and they, you know, had a very good record. Um, but

they didn't bring back everybody and, you know, who, who's to say what, what they're going to do

if you're chasing wins. It's a white socks, maybe it's a fool's errand, but, uh, he will get you

the innings, um, coming over from MPB or coming back from the MPB. Um, I, he continued to pitch, um,

deep into games, had a hundred fifty five innings last year, um, in the MPB. So he is stretched out,

he is definitely a starter. I would expect the white socks to let him roll, um, especially in this

first start, uh, Anthony K of the white socks, be somebody that I'd be looking at. And I think we'll

be talking about him and he's readily available, um, across pretty much everywhere. Let's see,

Anthony K at three percent rostered in those twelve teamers on NFPC. So, um,

going down and trying to, this is the, this is probably the toughest one for this first fab period,

Kevin, because usually we're targeting relievers. We're looking for ratios,

ratio help at the very beginning of season. You don't even know, you don't have any ratios to help

yet. Um, and we're trying to target usage usually in this. We want to give as many innings to make

those ratios hit a lot harder, but regardless, is there somebody out there that you are confident

will pitch, even if it's just one to two innings, um, this, this, this week that we'll still at

least get you to the right, get you going in the right direction in your ratios.

Yeah. I, I'm glad you prefaced this, this way, because I was going to start my answer. If you

to ask in a different way, it was, I hope this doesn't sound like a cop out, but it, it kind of is,

but it's, you know, we kind of build this list throughout the season. We start adding guys to it,

but at this point in the season, you're going to have leagues where it, you're not going to get

enough starts out of your starting pictures this weekend. If you have fours and fives and you're

starting lineup in a deeper league, they're probably, they're, they're not starting this weekend.

So you need to look at some of these guys. And yeah, it's a cop out, but any of them, right?

Seventh, eighth, anything guys for any of these teams. We're going to talk about them all season

long. We're going to add them to our list and they'll be big. One name I, what did want to bring up,

you asked me about them a couple of weeks ago, uh, as a closer stash. And I don't think he is a

closer stash, but this opening weekend, if I don't have enough starters, I'd love to have

Brad Keller on my team to throw them out there. I, I would expect him to at least one, if not

a couple of appearances in the short and week. So guys like him, uh, but there's a lot of them.

And it's almost anybody just the setup guys for any team. Um, but then exactly what you said,

we'll start to get a little better idea of how each team is using these guys this year because

it's so volatile for some of these, a lot of these teams, most teams, how they use their relievers

from year to year and how they relievers perform is very volatile. So yeah, this is a better question

we can address in a couple of weeks, but for now getting us through this opening weekend,

you don't have enough starters, somebody like Brad Keller's great.

Jeremiah Estrada readily available, even in 12 teamers. Uh, not surprises me. I'm surprised he

wasn't drafted more. Uh, 35%. I'm sure he's more readily of, he won't be as readily available in

your main events after drafts, after these drafts are concluded. Those are 15 teamers,

a little bit different, but even in your 12 teamers for this opening weekend, go, you know,

grab somebody like Estrada. Um, man, even like, but even to the guys that like you didn't want to

draft because you weren't sure if they're going to be a closer like Garrett Clevverger or Clevverger

of Tampa, like 44%. He's available in over half of these 12 teamers. Like he's still valuable in

this first week. Um, you might not trust that he'll be the closer in Tampa for the entire season

or at all, but this week, you know, guys like that. Um, yeah, you might be pleasantly surprised

when they vote through of save on top of your, your, your, your ratio help. Um, so I think this is

the biggest point. And probably the only reason that people that drafted the last few days,

prior to Fab running on Sunday, would realize, oh, maybe I didn't take this into consideration,

and I need to do something here. I think it's, you're not, you, you may not have, you know, seven

starters to throw out there. And you might not have one of these guys on your roster. It may be time

to, you know, everybody's got it. If you drafted more than a couple of weeks ago, we, we all have

somebody we can let go. And you go get one of these guys. And I think that's probably one of the

bigger points of this episode. Um, you, you don't want to starting pitcher in your lineup that's

not going to pitch even for a short and weak. Exactly. Exactly. I never want to take a zero unless

you're at a point in the season, especially if you're in an overall contest. Exactly. And not take a

zero. Yeah. So I mean, that pretty much covered the next category anyway, the sales category. It's

like you're just like I just said, you're looking for these guys that may possibly, you know, surprise

you. If that's the category that you're trying to vulture away, just look for those, you know,

the guys that are fighting for, for a position at the top of a bullpen that may have gone not valued

during your draft. But now all of a sudden, they might be pretty much everybody in Tampa Bay. That's

not named Griffin jacks. Um, anybody. I think we mentioned a couple of weeks ago that, um,

but I've, I've come to realize, I think Taylor Rogers is going to get some saves in Minnesota.

So we've talked about him many times in the past, but if he's actually going to get save opportunities,

I'd definitely be interested. Yeah. Um, pretty much all of the, all the bullpen that used to,

that we say, we're, I'm just ignoring. I'm just leaving it alone. Yeah. Now it's time to grab one of them.

Same kind of like that. Uh, St. Louis is kind of like that. Uh, Joe, Joe Romero seemed like he

was the guy, but he hasn't really looked that good either. So, um, who's to say, again, St. Louis

doesn't surprise us in the opening weekend and provide us with three different save opportunities

from three different, uh, closures. Um, so yeah. I was sitting in, uh, I'm a good one. Yeah. I was

sitting in, I, this is kind of a, uh, a little bit of sidetrack, but it is relevant. Um, watching

an auction today, and I'm not going to name the players, uh, but I am going to name the drafter,

because he's, we, we all know what a great fantasy baseball player he is, filled the so,

in an auction this morning, I watched it. The first two players he drafted were closures.

Uh, as they came up, I don't think he nominated either one, but he grabbed, um,

a guy like this that we're talking about was the first player he drafted for like five dollars

as a spec. And then he went and got an elite guy. So we spent $31 and I took note of this. One

of the best fantasy players we know in an auction spent $31, but one of them was a spec. The other one

was the elite guy. Yeah, just the way you choose the builder and to do that early is always,

interesting. Whoever throws that kind of a player out there is point is in our snake drafts. Yeah,

grab one of the early closures and then wait. And one of these guys we're talking about might be

okay to get you through until a, uh, a fab weekend here in four to five weeks and we'll,

we'll add a few more saves to the roster. We're talking about saves. I gotta bring this up,

because you talked about it, I think last week or the last episode, um, Robert Stevenson,

suffering a step back and Yates has skyrocketed in the last minute event drafts. Yeah. Skyrocketed.

And probably rightfully so, um, though there was the whole tweet from, uh,

Passon that was talking about the possibility or his almost expectation.

I don't want forwards in his mouth. He didn't say that, but you made it sound like that

redeemer's could end up with the most saves, um, in Anaheim from, uh, out of everybody when

the season's all said and done. And I forget what's been Joyce's injury. Do we expect him back

anytime soon? Uh, I think he's out for a little bit. Um, but that's a good question. Um,

unlikely, definitely starting it on the I.L. And it is a, I mean, shoulder surgery. So, um,

in last year. So he's just, yeah, I wouldn't go overboard on Yates, but I would be fairly

confident he's gonna have the job for at least a couple months.

But I am more, at least a more interested in deadmers, um, in those, in drafts that I might

still have, um, just because it's like one of those players like if he fails at one job, he probably

got the other job that's also valuable. Um, especially at that point in your draft,

you're, you're fine drafting almost either one, a closer or, um, you know, a spec starter.

Um, all right. Well, this closes us out then Kevin to the wild card section, which was what

we talked about. Um, I'm gonna throw out a name that I don't think is, it's not something that

we were considering. Um, but I'm wondering, and we've talked about him in the past, um, Anthony

Volpe, 28% rostered. He's another one like a Carlos Rodón teammate, uh, where if nobody picks

them up in fab and no one draft them in your league, you won't be able to pick him up until he

makes his debut later on this season. So like is Anthony Volpe somebody worth throwing a couple

dollars on and stashing him for a week or two and then dropping him back in or stashing him if

you don't have that stash spot yet? I would hope I don't have to drop him, but I think any

league I'm in that he's available and I have anybody that I can drop. I'm putting a bid down on

Volpe. He's readily available everywhere. So I mean, we were talking about drafting him, you know,

a few weeks ago. So the, the early leagues and then I was a little over excited about some of

the reports and thought we might seem a little earlier. Doesn't sound like that was the case,

makes perfect sense. They want to wait a little bit and then they're not even going to allow him

to attempt to dive on that shoulder until April. But as soon as he passes that test, he's he's in.

So there's only that's probably there's only one way to pass that test and that's that actually

dive on the shoulder and see what happens. Yes, exactly. So, um, yeah, I any league he's available

if I have somebody I can drop I'm putting a bid on. Yes. Um, yeah, anybody else that kind of fits

this and then just hope and he approves that batting average because we know he's the 2020 guy.

We just need some batting average out of him. He's young enough to do it.

He's become a stash, but River Ryan somebody I really like and he's become a stash because the Dodgers

also sent him down officially. Um, so somebody that I'm just keeping an eye on, I won't,

I will only be able to keep an eye on him. If I bid on him though, this weekend, a lot of my

leagues where he wasn't drafted. Again, that's the theme here. Um, but any of those guys that did not

make the roster, you want to keep an eye on them to make sure that they are going to be available.

Somebody who did make the roster that might have been considered a stash if he wasn't going to

do is let louder, uh, didn't make the opening rotation for the Reds. Um, I'm going to that opening weekend.

I'm, I'm curious to know. Oh, nice. Yeah. I'm going because the socks, the Red Sucks play in Cincinnati,

the first weekend of the season. So I'm going to the Sunday game, the Sunday game, the Red Sucks

have already announced their rotation for the first like six games in its crochet. Um,

um, um, oh jeez, I'm blinking. Why am I blinking? And probably against like the Dolores, right?

Well, for the Reds, on the Red Sucks said it's crochet, gray, TBD, as their third rate, they're

going to. Oh, I thought you were saying it was crochet on Sunday. I don't know. But I'm like,

how do I go to the third game of the season and I get TBD? They're all being ranger,

or as for the fourth game and the next series and then crochet is going to play again on that

next round. But like in Bayo as well. But like, who do am I going to get for TBD? Um, I think a lot of

people are thinking it's going to be either Oviedo or possibly Connolly Early actually, you know,

gets the call type of thing. If we get that news before Sunday, that's a, that's definitely,

you're getting that one start out of them for a good team, right? That's a definite pickup.

Hopefully we get news on that. We have about 48 hours here. And that would definitely be

somebody I'd be interested in as we were talking when we were talking, you know, some non-closing

relievers for ratios, somebody like that. If you want to go lean more towards the chasing wind

side of it and grab the Red Sox picture on Sunday, absolutely. Yeah, as long as you get the news

before, you know, your bids go on Sunday night. Um, but you're not going to be able to spec on

it early. He's pretty much drafted everywhere. But Johan Oviedo, only 50% rostered in those 12

teamers. So he'd be more readily available. So if you want to take a spec, his thing is that

Oviedo, he's not going, I don't think Oviedo gets sent down. So even if he doesn't start that game

on Sunday, uh, he probably gets you some innings regardless as well. Um, so you have that option.

Uh, Braxton Garrett was also the one was also sent down by my Amy. If I remember, if I'm remembering

the correct, uh, Garrett, uh, Debbie Matthews also put sent down by the twins as well, um, speculating

that make able makes that rotation or at least makes the opening roster. Yeah. And then, um, as Nick

Pollock tweeted out saying that Janssen Junks should probably be the number five, um, in Miami.

So you have options there as well. Junks not going to get any innings. Of course, in that first

series, just because he's, uh, the number five, um, but just know that Braxton Garrett's not going to

be your option either. Um, and I'm not sure you want to be stashing him where you did. Um, so you

might see a lot of drops of Braxton Garrett in your first week, uh, first week into fab as well.

So, um, yeah, uh, anybody else Kevin that kind of comes to mind that either, you know, was, was

dropped down by their team. Um, looks like Ryan Weathers is probably going to make that rotation

after all, even after a slight injury, uh, scare, um, for the Yankees. Um, I was just saying,

of course, Braxton Garrett got sent down as if he Matthews got sent down by the twins. Um,

anybody else that kind of fits into this category that you're keeping an eye on.

No, I, I think

and unless I'm forgetting somebody and I don't think I am, uh, I'd, I'd rather go towards our

ratio reliever guys if I can't get like a lower or, uh, or one of those guys. Um, yeah, just because

yes, you make the amazing point every season, the ratio categories, the, the competitors ahead of

you can come back to you at the same time. If, if we don't set a good foundation, it makes it really

hard to improve our ratios. So I, I, I don't want to go too deep here this early. I, I, I stream

guys all season long. I stream player, I, I stream pictures of a lot of people would vomit at

the, even the thought of picking up, uh, based on their, their matchups, but hopefully you've drafted

so that you don't have to do that this early. Fair enough. Yeah. Uh, we're just wild card question.

Is there any, any reason to do this whole idea where you pull somebody up now and then

just to drop them on somebody like Lucas Chialito, who, you know, again, he'll fit into this category.

He doesn't have a team. So you won't be able to bid on him until he finds one, though it doesn't

seem like there's been a whole lot of interest. Right. That's what I was going to say. You said

somebody like him was the only reason that, that makes us intriguing because it sounds like nobody's

interested in Chialito, but someone like him, sure, if, if, if, if you haven't,

if you didn't draft a couple of stashes, even if you did one stash, right, you're, you're dropping

this guy anyway. So the, there's, there's, there's some, there's some room here. But, uh, yeah,

absolutely. If, if, even a veteran player to your point, that's a point you're making,

even a veteran player in NFBC formats, this is something you have to into consideration. Do you

want that player to be available to be picked up before he is added to the major league roster?

You got to put him in that notebook and then you really have to stay on top of it or you did

someone else in your league of favor. Exactly. That's the hard part. Yeah. Um, because this is like

a, you know, a partial stash, if you will, it's like you're just making him available. And so you

can save some bucks. You can save somebody because then you can be like, all right, I'm going to try

to get in on him a week early, two weeks early, even. Um, so there's always going to be a level of

stash that you're going to have to do to keep this guy. Um, because if you wait too long, just,

everybody realizes it. And then there's still going to be a bidding frenzy anyway. So you're

either saving money and you're stashing a little bit or you're paying full freight anyway. So

you got to know who you are as a player and what you're willing to do.

All right. Well, good luck to everybody on their, on their final drafts of the season. And your

first week of fab, don't forget it actually happens. Um, and we'll be here weekend week out to go

through our standard fab strategies category by category by Kevin as you prepare for your main

event. And you're bobbin the bloom. Uh, that's a live draft too. That's all that's super fun.

That's a live. Yeah. Listen to league live drafts. Yeah. 12 team are standard alone league. So

little I, even as standalone leagues, I don't, I'm not going to go in thinking I can put a category,

but as the draft goes on, if things are looking that way, uh, it is something, uh, for those drafting,

those home league drafts this weekend, if in a standalone league, as the draft goes along,

if you realize that there's, it's going to be very difficult to really make up enough ground

in a category, embrace it. Don't fight it. Just embrace it. Pun it. And because if you don't,

you're not taking the advantage of being able to bolster your other categories, which you

can do if you're just forgetting about that. At the same time, don't forget about it completely.

Get a few, right? I wouldn't completely punts saves, right? Get through them.

Grab one of the Milwaukee guys. If you're going to punts saves, you're going to get a handful

from either one of them, even if the other guy gets the, the majority. Grab somebody so you don't

have a zero gets your three or four points in that category. Uh, but then, but embrace it. Don't

fight it once, once you get several rounds into a draft in a, when it's a standalone. Don't go

into a draft planning on punting in my opinion, but if it starts to work out that way,

uh, yeah, yeah, bolster, make, make the rest of your team that much better.

Right. Yeah. In order to pun a category, you have to be the best at everything else.

Ultimately, yeah. Um, all right. And that's why not quite if you don't take a zero, you know,

you can finish, if you finish eight, then get five points in a 12 team league. That, that can be

huge. So, uh, but yeah, I, I think that's a great point for a lot of people drafting their

homelies this weekend, an opening day, Adam. Less than a week away. By the time you're listening

to this, it's four days away. Yeah. Three for the one game. We have a game. Math is hard.

And we didn't bring this up, Adam, but I have to before we go, how much fun did you have

watching the world baseball classic? That's the most fun I've watched. I've had watching baseball

when it wasn't October in my entire life. I mean, except for the way that the US Dominican

game ended, uh, besides that one pitch. Yeah. That was horrible. But yeah. But I, I, I was,

before I came to Vegas, I went to visit my mom in Omaha and she's remarried since I left home.

So I, I don't know my mom's husband that well. And for four nights in a row, we watched every

single pitch of the baseball game and had a blast. That's great. It was amazing. Man, I want, um,

I used to live in the Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area. So I went to the 2013, uh, World

Baseball Classic, the semifinal game because it was at then AT&T Park. Now it was horrible.

In San Francisco, dude, it's just a completely different, like, it's just a completely different

feeling of the game, the atmosphere, everything. Yeah. And the stadium, what, and I'm fortunate,

that was early on in the existence of W2BC. I think it was like the second or third, uh,

tournament that had happened. Um, and so it wasn't, it wasn't sold out stadium,

which was disappointing. But yeah, like everybody who was there was just, it was just a blast. It was

so much fun. I, yeah, I kept saying that it was an amazing time having so much fun watching

baseball in March. But the more I thought about it as, yeah, I don't think I've had this much

fun watching baseball when it wasn't October. Right. It was amazing. Yeah.

Well, yeah, it's nice that they can co-exist with spring training without pulling players out

during the regular season. Um, you know, it, me personally, I'm like, it'll almost be nice if

it was in February, just so we could get a true spring training for everybody. But I mean,

the way that they compete and the way that they, they work it out, um, most, it seems as though most

of the players not only have a blast, but they also, um, they get, they get their reps in,

right? They get, they get what they need to do. They, they went in depth on this a couple of weeks

ago on a race and barrels episode when Brit Geroli was back, uh, after she'd been covering the

Olympics and she brought up great points. It's the major league owners have given zero

consideration to taking a longer break in the middle of the season. But if they would consider

that the world baseball classic could even get that much better because

sure starting pitchers would be stretched out ready to go and they'd let them really fire

and, and that would make, I, and I feel like every country except the United States did that

to the extent they could get away with it without the major league teams pulling the players back.

Yeah. But yeah, I think it could be even better. I mean, if they could do like hockey,

but major league owners haven't even considered that thus far. I mean, the NBA is doing something

like that recently with the whole cup thing. I mean, those are still regular season games. They

still count. Um, it's different. Yeah. But it's still like this little mini tournament that they

do in the middle of season. And the same thing. Just some do that. Um, all right. Well, that is

going to do it. I got to get up early in flight of Boston. You got to get up early and you have a

great time. Kill your draft. You have a great time having your, uh, uh, dynasty league,

win the league. That's so much fun. Everybody, everybody needs one of these. Like your home league,

your, your whatever league that where you're, you're, I mean, we've been doing this. It will be the

26 season of this thing started in 2001. Uh, have you been in it the entire time? I have. I was

an original six. We started a six team league. That's embarrassing. Is that sounds? Um,

but we only had six teams in the first season. We went up to eight and then 12. We've been at 12

team league pretty much the entire time. Um, but yeah, mostly like the, the core of the group has

been in the league for the last over a decade, um, with like a few exceptions. So it's a pretty

tight knit group. So shout out to the ACC, the EHCC, uh, and mostly in Boston, but we've got

players from California, down in Nashville. Um, is that the league that every team has a real

Twitter page? Yeah. Most of them do. Um, the ones that try to love it. You get extra, you get

extra minor league picks. And that's my point. Yeah. Have fun, have fun this weekend in all week.

We got opening day coming up in our biggest drafts and meetings to have a blast. Yeah.

Just center yourself around baseball. That's all you need to do.

All right. Well, with all that and everything else, that's going to do it for episode 247

of On the Wire. I am Adam Howell on behalf of Kevin Hazel. Thanks for listening. And we bid you

goodbye.