Wins Below Replacement - Episode 91 - 12-team Roto League Mock Draft

0:00It's a podcast about fantasy baseball, and it'll be Husted by three RCs, fatal coups, and Maddie. So sit back and relax, get yourself out of your parent's basement. It's time for another episode of Winnie's Ballot Reckless. Winnie's G'day, and welcome to the WBR, the Aussie podcast designed to help baseball fans across the globe stay up to date with their MLB and fantasy baseball news. Leading off, I'm Shane, that's Crypts on the Hill, and batting clean up, we've got Maddie. Tonight's podcast is proudly brought to you by Woodenax Brewing, who are giving boring beer the axe. And if you like what you're hearing, the best way to show your support is through giving us a five star review on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Lads, welcome to episode number 91. Here we are right in the thick of WBC,

1:00right in the thick of, well, just about to start all of our fantasy baseball draft season. Things are looking pretty good on all fronts. How are we doing? What's been keeping you busy and it's nice to see you? Yes, it is. Well, I, I've had a really weird week, like just been super, super busy at work, because of that promotion, I've not done any draft prep. This is the least I've been prepared for fantasy baseball in a long time. You get a win. You get a win now. Like that's how it works, right? Like just get completely prepared, get the exact team that I want and just score the most points and miss the playoffs. We'll see, we'll see what happens this year. But outside of that, like the Detroit Red Wings actually made a good deal at the trade deadline, and then got three players injured, which is just how things go. And then the WBC has been phenomenal to watch, like the games just incredible,

2:01but Australia just, it's like horrible stuff, which we'll talk about. But yeah, I'm just glad to be back because I haven't paid much attention to spring training. It's just the WBC has just taken all of my attention when it comes to baseball. It's so cool. But we're getting pretty close to actual baseball, major league baseball coming back. So I'm interested to see that as well. That's going to be pretty cool. But other than that, I've just been working like crazy. So yeah, not much to report on the home front. What about you, Manny? Well, sorry to hear about the work, Sitch. We've had a bit of that going on around here lately, because my wife and I are going to New Zealand, New Zealand. And as is always the way whenever you want to go on a holiday, people just come out of the woodwork and they want everything straight away. But I did have a bit of a fun night last night. And for those who don't know, Bruce Campbell, one of my favorite actors and Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise is one of my all-time favorite movie characters.

3:05So when my ridiculously understanding why I said, Hey, do you really go see Evil Dead, the musical? Of course. I was like, all in, but more than a little curious how they'd make a musical out of what I guess you would call horror movies. And it was freaking awesome. Like I haven't laughed that hard in a very, very long time. Amazing cast at a great band. As we had two hours of public transport in front of us to get home, we opted not to sit in the blood spatter seats, because that might have caused a few more questions than we had answers for. I was actually trying to explain this to a lovely lady today. I saw it in the park and she had no idea what I was on about. And looking at me like I needed some form of therapy. And when it comes to Evil Dead, that's pretty much the perfect response because if you know, you know, but maybe if you have no idea what I'm talking about, I think it's doing the rounds in Australia at the moment. It's going to hit the Melbourne Comedy Festival as we speak. So as he listeners, go check out Evil Dead, the musical.

4:05So that was my, I've had a couple of wins lately. With back to the future, I didn't know how that would translate. And now Evil Dead, go figure. I mean, when they have songs like, what the fire truck was that, you really know that you're onto a good thing. It was just a lot of good fun. That's a big fan of Bruce Campbell. Like he's really good. He's been in a bunch of shows that I like. When he did the TV show, Ash versus Evil Dead, that was good fun. That was, I watched Burn Notice all the way through because that was really cool. And sad news this week. He's a cancer as well. Yeah. Treatable, but not curable, which is a real sad thing here. So yeah, I don't imagine he will be listening to this humble podcast, but let us say that his legacy will live on. And yeah, best of luck to him in the fight that he has upcoming. But seeing as he's taken on Dead I'd say back him against anything. Anyway, we are a baseball podcast.

5:05So let me throw to you, Shane. How are you doing, mate? Mate doing really well. Just a little tired, but I think that the excitement of WBC, the excitement of our home leg points, mock you or not mock you. Sorry, the actual draft coming up on Saturday has just really just kind of burnt the candle at both ends. So I am very much looking forward to catching up with your lads tonight, a restful one tomorrow and then just kicking things into overdrive on Saturday morning. Me and the other hand creeps have been as I do every single year over analyzing over preparing. And just fretting this year on how I'm going to be taking this first few rounds. So preferably in the pudding, I've done enough practice. If I can't get it right after what this is the year number 15, I think, in our leg. Then you know, I can't get it right now. So it's going to be good fun. You can't wait and the week's been pretty not eventful, which has been nice as well. So hopefully just a nice smooth run into the weekend is just what we all need. Winners tonight, we have got a fantastic episode lined up for you all.

6:07We'll start off with the news and that'll feature pretty heavily around the WBC specifically around Australia. Before then we go into a more worldly baseball classic update for you all. We've got injury news as well, just as we creep closer and closer to the start of baseball season officially kicking off. And then the feature piece for tonight off the hot off the heels of the back of our points league. Mocky that we did, we're going to be taking you through a 12 team Roto leg Mocky as well this evening. So winners sit back and relax, grab yourself a can of wooden axe. And if you can hear the drums in the distance that can mean only one thing. We've got Maddie P and Coupi at the news desk here at WBR. Fresh from the hot corner and into your headphones. This is a wins below replacement new slash with your host, Maddie B. All right, well, it's actually going to be Maddie Coupi just to start it out because I just wanted to talk about Team Australia.

7:16And it was a phenomenal start to the tournament. We were talking about it last week. It was just great to see Travis Bazzana hitting that home run and Australia getting off to a great start against Chinese Taipei. It took care of business against the Czechia. And then it came down to the two tough matches against Japan and Korea. And Chinese Taipei actually gave me a gift by Beating Korea as well, which meant that they didn't even have to be Korea to get through. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So they had a one to nothing lead over Japan, the absolute dominating force in World Baseball in the seventh inning. And we're talking about they had one out and a double playable was not completed. It was an attempted three six one. And they just threw behind the picture as he was coming on. I think it was Kennedy was going back to the bag and just didn't quite get that double play.

8:19And wouldn't you know it up comes Yoshida and Blaster to run home run. Now that's just crushing. Like when you when you give teams like this an extra out, they're going to take advantage. And they absolutely did. That was one of the first opportunities they really had. They took advantage of it. Then in the eighth day sort of ran out of pitching a little bit. And there was two more home two more runs for Japan. But Australia put up some fight in the ninth inning and came back with Alex Hall and Glenn Denning. Actually punching home runs a four to three loss extremely respectable like taking nothing away from it. When you're talking about them going up against team Japan and ending up with a four to three loss outstanding. And that that's what you want to have happen on the world stage. But then you had the game against career and this is basically you winning you go through. But they had a situation where it was don't lose by four runs or more more than four runs.

9:22And I got to say I think they went in with that attitude. Yeah. Like it was like they didn't go in saying we win this game and we're in. It was more like just don't lose by more than four runs. And I think that played into the choices around the pitching staff. And maybe even some of the attitude of the players when they were in there. Because when their backs were against the wall and they went down by four or five runs early. That's when they started to play well. And they they got some really big at bats from people to just bring us back from five run deficit to just have it be a four run deficit. And that's what we actually needed. But it was that way until the tipping point when Travis Bessana gave us a single his first hits since game one. To actually drive in that run and bring us back to a four run deficit at 62. And it was a chance to advance we went to the bottom of the ninth inning.

10:22One out and a runner on first and again a double playable comes to Jared Dale. And he boots it and he then panics tries to throw it to second base throws into the right field both runners events. Then there's a sacrifice fly. Australia goes down by five runs and we just cannot get another run on the board to advance. Absolutely crushing for Australia. For baseball in this country really from an exposure standpoint to be able to go into the quarterfinals with some of these big teams would have been enormous. And some of the reporting that's come out about the financials that go along with the WBC. There was an extra one million dollars that would have been assigned to Australia had they made the quarterfinals 50% of that goes to the federation and 50% goes to the players. So obviously they the team was crushed like you get that close to advancing in a tournament like this for some of them this would have been their world series.

11:22And obviously you could see it on all their faces. All respect to them for getting there. But boys, what did you think about this one and what sort of criticisms would you levy against the team maybe because I have my opinions. I just want to hear what yours are. Yeah, good. You're right on the co-tails of how disappointed I was and where I'm going to solely not solely but majority of the blame and where I feel it sits. That's a smart play. Look, yeah, first of all, hats off to the lads because they went out early in the tournament. They shoved and they did exactly what they needed to do to put themselves in a position to be in consideration for the quarterfinals. Yeah, and that's for me, you know, where it kind of ends because like you said, and I'm not going to recap too much on what you did. It looked phenomenal against Japan. We went out there, we took the lead early and really stunned the crowd in the Tokyo Dome as well. The first time in, I think it was what 20 plus years where the Emperor of Japan actually attended a game in person. So it was all to play for for the Japanese home crowd.

12:24And my goodness, I think they were probably getting out those those samurai swords probably halfway through the game thinking that there might have to be some kind of noble death. Have they not taken? Yeah, that's what it was. I couldn't think of their traditional name. But look, they managed to really claw and fight and did exactly what they needed to do hats off in that game. The Korean game, he said it creeps. It was the first time that we had actually gone out and not led in a ballgame, which was a pretty bad moment. I think to start when we led in two in the second, then two in the third, and then another in the fifth before we even posted a run. And I was like, oh, this boy is not looking that great. We managed to claw back, we managed to fight back. Like you said, for me, it's the pitching selections. I couldn't wrap my head around in both the Japanese game and the Korean game, why we didn't see Todd Van Stenzel out there pitching. And that's a home reason for me. I played with Todd, a lot of my junior career and some of that kind of senior career as well, to not see him on the bump. I pitched one inning across four games.

13:25The ABL leading saves like close of all time in Australian baseball. He is an electric pitcher, he's a strikeout pitcher, and he keeps the ball on the yard. Why is he not in the game? And for me, this is kind of what it alludes to, Dave Nielsen, give yourself an uppercut. And I think it probably, you know, if he's not obviously going to listen to this podcast, if he does, then Dave I'm not going to kind of hold back at all. That is just bonehead managerial decisions. I think that there's situations and scenarios across the tournament specifically versus Japan, where he went with Hampton who then led in two versus Todd. And then again in that Korean game, you put Todd in there in the ninth, he gets the job done. And we don't let it run in and we're in. I just think this is crazy, crazy managerial stuff. I talk about it in, you know, the playoffs for MLB when managers got too long a leash. Here it was just the opportunity to get a player in that is a shut out player and really carry the team. And like you said, creeps from an exposure perspective.

14:27The things that this would do for Australian baseball on the Australian, I guess fan base level. We've seen it with women's football or soccer, how the materials have come through. And look, it's soccer versus baseball is not apples for apples. But the amount of exposure that you get when you're playing in a world stage like this just does wonders for a sport. And it's a massive opportunity missed in my books. Yeah, I think anything I'll really touch on quickly, because I think you guys are covering it. I think he's splitting it the seams to weigh in on this. And I really want to hear what he has to say. It's just a crushing shame because I think baseball with the WBC, especially on a world stage, it just felt a bit different this year. WBC has come up before, but it just felt like everyone had bought in, the players had bought in. You know, after the game one, we were seeing articles in Australian news going, oh, the Australian superstar that nobody knows about, which was Travis Pazana that makes me very sad to hear that that's the way that they were reporting him.

15:31But this was an opportunity to put us on the map. And I think they took it personally when, you know, they were ranked slowly. And then they came out and beat Chinese Taipei. And, you know, in sporting terms, it was almost like they played their grand final against Japan. And just didn't seem to come out. And I agree. I think they were playing not to lose badly and didn't come out with that attitude that they needed because Korea is no joke. I think in our tenure in ball, we played against plenty of Korean players. And certainly in recent times they come to play. And geez, didn't moon wear out that outfit wall in that game. It was just crushing to see the way it all panned out. Matty, you know, where are you at? Yeah, so I, like I said, I think a part of it's when they started. They started Lockham Wells, who hadn't pitched in the tournament and is not a major legal like his brother. Yeah, started in game one and was phenomenal.

16:33So I think, especially in a game like this, you want to, you want to shut the other team down early. Like I don't understand why we went with three other pitches before we brought in our aces. Like you had two major, well, three major legas in Alex Wells, Jackal Lockham, and Warwick Saapold. And we didn't see, we didn't see Saapold really pitched two, two, uh, two outs against Japan, which maybe I understand you want to have him in a big game. But I would have maybe saved him for the one that really mattered. Like if you beat Korea, then you were in. This is a big game. Yeah. So I don't understand that it is Australia's had these moments so many times in the WBC. I remember we were up against Cuba before. It just seems like when we get to this point where we're, we had another one is Mexico, I think. When we are in this key situation where the beat, the lights are shining bright. The guys just don't seem to be able to like really turn over that moment.

17:34So it's, it's great that we have the ABL. But it's still not that level of competition that you're talking about here where you are on the world stage and everything's happening at a thousand miles an hour. And it just, it feels a bit rough that we had two plays at shortstop that could have actually got us through to the next round and didn't happen. I don't want to harp on Jared Dell. That's, that's maybe rough. But yeah, it just would have been nice to put the best foot forward, I think, in terms of our pitching selections. And realize what it actually meant in this moment for Australian baseball. And what it could have been to actually get through. So yeah, bit of a shame, but again, fantastic showing from all of the guys. They, they did himself proud in this tournament as a whole. And they probably should have been the ones to advance out of this group. Yeah, I had to hold my time. I had to hold back on a lot of that stuff as well.

18:35I am still fuming about it, but you know, opportunity missed. Hopefully the next time it rolls around, we grab it and we play the way that we played in the first three games, let's say, and finish really strongly. Mate, over to you, some injury updates potentially and some our signing news. Yeah, look, let's just whizz through this because we've got a bit more WBC to get to. And obviously the draft, which is going to be just a short piece. So look, the Phillies are locking up the Lizard Man himself, Jesus Lazaro on a five year 135 million dollar extension. The only thing I'm just going to say on this is, I think they actually kind of needed to do this. Look, they've got Christopher Sanchez, obviously at the top of the rotation there. Looking up Lazaro, but it's, you know, Tom Walker, you know, it's a little skinny at the back end of that rotation. I know they've got a dude coming back, Aaron Nolas not getting any younger. So I think this is a good one.

19:35But, you know, really, he's just come across had a great year last year, but showing a lot of faith in Jesus. Yeah, I was a bit surprised at the amount of money and like he could have thrown that at Ranger Suarez and then had Jesus Lazaro for this year as well. Because he was still under contract. This was an extension. Yeah. He talking 27 million average annual value for Lazaro who had those massive tipping problems last year and has had injury concerns. I was a little bit surprised by it, but he did end up seventh and say young voting last year. So it was a great year overall that the stuff is absolutely there. So yeah, good deal for the Phillies and yeah, they'll need this moving forward, depending on what happens with the lockout. Indeed. Well, we've got some injury updates. Look, I'm going to race through these guys. So if you've got something to say, let me know hunter green.

20:36Oh my god, he's going to be out until sometime in July late July. I don't know. I think that's a tad optimistic. He's undergoing surgery to remove bone chips and loose bodies from his right elbow, which we kind of reported on last week. That's a big blow for the Reds and just once again, as we alluded to Hunter, he's got prodigious talent. He can't quite stay healthy. Yeah, you've got still a nice rotation. You go Ladolo, Brady singer, Andrew Abbott, Chase Burns, and then Rhett Louder. That's still pretty decent five. And then if they get hunter green back at the deadline, like, ooh. Yeah, well, all gas no brakes from that point, hopefully. Yeah, a bit of a bummer for Hunter and a guy who listeners will know I have a bit of a soft spot for anyway. Another loose body in the form of Carlos Rodon through live BP on Monday.

21:38Is he underwent surgery? The green is going to have he had it last October. He will start the season on the aisle. So end of April is the earliest possible return for Rodon, which kind of makes me think if it's a similar surgery. I can't really see Hunter green being back in July, but anyway, you never know. Staying with the socks, Tristan Cassis will not participate in any spring training games. Is he still recovering from Patilla, tendon surgery on his left knee, poor kid can't catch a break. A couple of angels in the form of Ben Joyce and Josh Lo are working their way back from injuries. Joyce has been throwing bullpenes without issue though and nearing some game time. Lo has an oblique says he'll be ready for opening day, but unfortunately it's always been the knock on Josh. He just can't quite stay healthy when he does. He can be a very productive player. Bryce Miller cut short his first full effort bullpen due to discomfort in the area.

22:38It didn't specify what area it was. I'm guessing it's a shoulder, but oh, number two, what in his bum? No, no, I mentioned this last week, so he actually has a tear in his UCL and they were trying to rehab it. And it sounds like it was just a situation where he just started throwing and then said no, my elbow hurts. So I'm guessing that means TJ. God damn it. Well, he's certainly not going to take his place in the Mariners rotation to start the season. It's a bit of a shame. He was working his way back and he was so low on draft boards. I thought if he was healthy, he would have been like an SP six or seven. You could have taken a shot on, but I don't think so. Now, Coltill, this is a bit of a bummer too. I had had some shares of Coltill last season expected to miss four to six weeks with the right hamstring strain. So that's probably going to be borderline to start the season.

23:38Hammies, I don't think you're going to start catching the dude. Yeah, no, for me, I had had him this year. I mean, last week we did the mock draft and I took him dead last with justification around the fact that I thought he was great value there. And that I don't typically take pitch catches rather until the later rounds. I'm going to have to adjust now to try and find another kind of late, rosterable catcher with Coltill out because four to six weeks hamstrings are really fickle and it'll be interesting to see what happens when he gets back. Yeah, that's the first real injury we've seen from the WBC. Coltill, the typical Italian name. See how that actually works out. Yeah, let's hope there's no more really because it's been a great tournament. Yeah, indeed. Miss Goosie reminds me of Euro trip. Miss Goosie, that tunnel thing. Header and his biceps will begin the regular season on the I.L. Brian, I pray you likely to get the nod in the ninth for the strobe.

24:41It seems more they're just trying to give Hayder time to build up rather than it being a problem. He's just had a bit of an interrupt start. Never know about these things. Somehow Corbin Carroll made his cactus lead debut this week. Broke his handmade bone a month ago, but apparently he's on track to be ready for the start of the season. Seems kind of nuts. Yeah, well, they say you could actually play the very next day if you wanted to when you have your ham made out. It's just that it really hurts. I'm guessing that Corbin Carroll is just an absolute psycho and he's just saying, well, he's going to play through the pain. We're back, baby. It's our year. Well, he is a stud and he's on my dynasty legs over Corbin. Good job, buddy. Keep doing what you're doing. Hopefully he can stay productive, though, because there's one thing we talked about. There's many Machado, didn't we? One thing about being on the field, another thing about actually producing.

25:42Blake Snow is making throws to a standing catcher as the Dodgers cautiously bring him along. With no return time table set, and we'll not open the season due to lingering shoulder issues. Frankie Lindor, who also underwent surgery on his left hand, participated in fielding drills this week. He started taking cage swings and the meds are hopeful he'll be ready for opening day. Yeah, he's no Corbin Carroll, though, is he? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jordan Westberg took ground as on Tuesday, but isn't throwing due to that partially torn UCL, which he isn't currently undergoing surgery for at this time. I'll be curious to see how this plays out. Jared Cole apparently touched 97.5 miles an hour on his fastball into innings of live batting practice session on Friday.

26:43As he's been working his way back from Tommy John surgery, he appeared, could be in your draft last week. Interesting little late brown flyer that you could throw in there. He's going to be flying up draft boards after that one. Yeah, indeed. And Brendan Rodgers likely to require season ending right shoulder surgery won't be available for the Red Sox at the Keystone for 2026. And just can't seem again to stay healthy. Moving on to news to know, look, this is a very quick one. I'll do, but apparently the Brewers tried to implement a challenge card system in spring training. Pretty quickly snuffed out. It was allegedly more situational, but where the Brewers were putting a green card in their dugout for the batter to see, which. Met they were allowed to use a challenge and not necessarily for individual balls and strikes. Murph said they've ditched it. It wasn't in the spirit of the rule, but. I think we could make some funny.

27:44I don't know comparisons in rugby league in Australia where you could have a red card system up for any front rowers who spill the ball and try and pretend they didn't. But yeah, kind of an interesting one. The first of many ways to maybe work with the ABS. Yeah, we'll see if Houston gets some trash cans out and does something there. But the. Just out of interest at the moment, we're sitting at 51% success rate on challenges through spring training. Wow, batters are at 45% and their pitches and catches are at 57. So batters don't know the strike zone. There you go. Interesting. Now, so Mr. Payne, I believe that is it for the news. We're going to take a very short break. When it will be right on back with other things happening around baseball. We're almost done with the news. Have a fan do not like this one bird. And here come the pretzel.

28:44But here is coos with other things happening around baseball. All right, so the other thing happening around baseball at the moment is the world baseball classic and man has this been an electric tournament. It is really, really cool. I was a bit concerned about it when we had the insurance problems that were dog and people. And then there's always the issues with pitches not being allowed to play and how that's all going to work. It's just been great from start to finish. All the group stages have been great. They've had some amazing storylines. We had the first ever walk off home run in the WBC, which is crazy for a tournament that's been going for 20 plus years. Yeah. My mate Tyler actually got to call it and it was phenomenal. Great call. We had the Netherlands coming back from almost losing to Nicaragua, which would have been an amazing story. But Aussie Albies hit a two out three run homer to actually take the lead and beat them.

29:45We had the very cool story of Lucas Ramirez hitting two home runs against the USA. And whose son is he? Boys. Money. Money. Money. His son apparently married a Brazilian lady. And so he's been playing for them 19 years old. Just no fear at all. Just smashing home runs out of the park. It's been phenomenal. Chip off the block. Tim Italy and their cappuccino espresso. Sorry. They're espresso in the dugout. It's good. Big team USA. Vinnie Pasquantino just seems like a leader of men. Like he is the guy to have in your clubhouse in the dugout. Just phenomenal. And if you want copies made because he's an excellent aristocrat. Apparently he's the mayor on that espresso machine. It apparently just needs to dial down the temperature. He burned someone's mouth. Yeah. Maybe not right after you hit a home run. So apparently the US, including their manager, Mark DeRosa of MLB Network, thought they were

30:49through. And actually you said yes in a press conference that they were through. The team was out celebrating the night before. And it looked like it when they were playing against team Italy who just came out and just beat the crap out of them and really got some knowledge of the claim. And then they figured it out about the fifth inning and started doing things. And they were going to have Clayton Kershaw come out and pitch. But then they decided, no, we might need to actually score some runs here and make sure that it's actually a tough battle for Mexico. Italy then went and just destroyed Mexico today. So they advance as the undefeated champions of Group A, which I don't think anyone really had that on their scorecard. But the USA does squeak through on the, as the number two seed, but that's very cool. We had a Logan Allen off. There's two Logan Allen's and they both stood after the national anthem of Panama and Canada and would not leave the field, which is really cool. That sort of fun stuff that happens in international baseball and tournaments like this.

31:52And Andrej Satoria, the Czech electrician who struck out Shohei Otani in 2023, actually got two standing evations in the Tokyo Dome. This was his last international professional appearance. He threw four and two-thirds schoolers against Japan who didn't really get many runs against some of these lowly teams. They actually put up a nine spot against Czech here in the ninth inning. But very cool to see and some very cool stuff. And we've now reached the quarter final stage where we have Korea versus the Dominican Republic, which is going to be a good game to start us out. That's my army on Saturday. USA versus Canada. They've been playing each other a lot. That was the Winter Olympics hockey matchup in the women's and the men. So that was really cool. The battle for the 50 second state. That's going to be good. Yeah, we'll see what happens there. I'm sure Donald Trump will be involved in that somehow. Puerto Rico versus Italy. That's going to be a fun one in Houston.

32:52Italy looking really strong at the moment. So see what happens there. And then Venezuela versus Japan. That's going to be another great matchup in Miami on Sunday. That's your quarter final matchups. Still a lot of baseball to be played in the WBC and some really fun stuff going on there. I've loved this tournament from start to finish so far. We're not finished yet, but I'm going to be watching a lot of these games and really enjoying just the passion that a lot of these teams play with. Like I don't like to see people get too excited. But when sometimes when you're watching this tournament and you see like the Dominicans and the Cubans and the. The Venezuelans, they love playing baseball. Like every time someone hits a double, the entire team is on the field and celebrating it. It's absolutely ridiculous, but it's it's it's a lot of fun. The home run that Tarte is hit today and the way he celebrated unreal. It was almost it was like you hit a walkoff. It was just sensational. He was of what this like hopstep and backstep and triple jumping.

33:52He's way around the bases and you know, just what you want to see. The flair of those Latino cultures coming out and just celebrating. And this is what's really made the tournament as well. There's been this great little quirky moments like you mentioned. But saying so much passion for pulling on your national team jersey. Is really what's going to push this to be. And every three year must watch. Drop everything. Get behind it event. It's so good. Yeah. Question though. How do you feel about the lack of shaking hands? That was going to bring them enough. Love it. I love it. It's the dog. A couple of ball dogs behind the dish. And you know, Kal's obviously is taking a leaf out of Australia's book. With that kind of play as well. So I loved it. I thought it was a bit funny that Randy came out and this kind of puberty zone teammate. So close to the start of the season. I think it's, you know, it's what sports should be. It's back to hard no sport in the 70s, 80s, maybe even early 90s as well. Where you were mortal enemies out there on the field.

34:52But then after the game is when you can go in there and just kind of enjoy each other's company. But yeah, on the game, you got to be switched on. I love it. Well, you said you had the other way. So when the Dominican was playing against a Venezuelan today and Tatis and could hug before the first pitch. They're not even teammates. So that was a little bit. Yeah. But there was some reporting that it was due to pintar. So basically they thought Randy was trying to mess with Kal and just get his hand or sticky. So he couldn't actually throw it. Well, you never know. You never know which way it's all going to go. It could have been gamesmanship. But maybe it was just Kal saying, you're not my teammate right now. That would, I like his, like you said, you know, that would have been cool. Yeah. Absolutely. But look, that's it. Like you said, Kupy, quarterfinal is coming up over the weekend. We are blessed that we're going to be getting games right around the time that we can watch the middle of the day. It is some phenomenal matchups that we're looking forward to.

35:53So don't change the dial. Make sure you tune into the WBC. We'll recap that for you next week when we join you. And let's take a very short break then, Lads, and be right on back with our feature piece for this evening, the 12 team Roto Mocky coming up right after this. You are listening to the WBR and we are here tonight to bring you our 12 team Roto Mocky. Now for those playing along at home, this is our opportunity to take you through what it's like to live the life of a drafter. One of my favorite times of the season, I wish there was more opportunities like this to take you through. But essentially last week we were talking through a points league this week we're talking you through Roto. So the real key difference is instead of players earning points, what they're going to be doing is actually earning statistics.

36:55So we're looking at some kind of a guess five by five key kind of statistics when it comes to things like what is it walks, hits, strikeouts, home runs, etc. On the offensive side and on the pitching side wins, strikeouts, losses, etc. on that side. So you're really looking to build up your category totals in order to stay relevant and on top in your respective leagues. Now, Lads, we've expanded the rosters because that's typically how Roto does it. So this week we are going through and having two catches to draft. A first base, a second base, a third base, a shortstop, a middle infielder, a corner infielder, five outfielders, five starting pitches and two relief pitches. And we don't care too much about the bench because we just want to assemble the sharpest team we possibly can. Now, Lads, before we get stuck into the draft, as always, we have the option of choosing draft positions. I went first and decided to take draft pick number five. Maddie, I believe you're in at number 11. 10. 10. There we go. Thank you for the correction. And Kippie, who was the last man to choose, decided he would try and hurt my feelings very close to our points.

37:58They draft home league. And he's in at number four. So Kippie, the way that this started out was Aaron Jarge at the one one. No surprising in this Roto format. Otani in at two, Soto in at three. And you are now on the clock for your very first pick in our Roto format. Yeah, so the categories that you generally get in the five by five are batting average, RBI's runs, stolen bases and home runs, and then wins, saves ERA whip and strikeouts for the pitching side. I was kind of interested to see how this would go. And I'm a little bit surprised they took Soto, but maybe that's a knock on how many stolen bases he actually got last year. That's, that's where it goes. The software is telling me to take Jose Ramirez at third, but I'm going Bobby wit all day long. Do it. Do it. Do it already. There he goes. Nicely done. Kippie, so I was thinking, God, I sure he's going to take Jose and you went and took Bobby my boy wit junior Bobby baseball and soft.

38:58I am going to then fall on that sword. And I'm going to take Jose Ramirez because I think that he's a player that just does it all in a very weak position being third base. That's where I'm going to go. And that's then pivot across straight after me. Ronald, a junior at the 106. Ellie, the accrues at 107. Great road player. Hullia Rodriguez, 108. Tarrick, scuba. First pitch off the board at 109, which brings us to Mr. Paying. No, first pick at 110. Well, given that we've got a lot of picks to get through tonight, I'm not going to fill a buster too greatly, but I will explain that the one big difference for me anyway between a points league team and a rotisserie team is you're really kind of trying to build a monster here. A batting monster and a hitting monster. It's the sum of their parts. So in rotisserie leagues, some of these guys who don't really stand out in points leagues and head to head things hold immense value even in these rotisserie things where categories matter. All of the sudden things like whip, you know, yeah, all become kind of important depending on the categories that you actually pick.

40:04Anyway, I'm going to pick a category stuff here. I've got a choice between some pretty good dudes. I think of awesome for that handmade bone. I was looking at you, Corbin, but I'm going to take Mr. Kyle Tucker because he's going to give me some hits and some steals and he's hitting in a pretty decent team there in LA. Very nice good sharp pick there. I think that pulling on the Dodger Blue, which is disgusting, he's really going to pay dividends. And as we go, Kyle Tucker, Maddie, are straight after that second picture of the board in pool schemes and to round out the first round. Of course, the three headed monster in the three starting pictures. Garrett crocheted the 112 back on the flip side. 201, gonna Henderson off the board and then Fernando Tarte's junior at two or two and Mr. Payne back with you again for your second pick. Oh, this is kind of interesting. Isn't it one way? Another because somehow Corbin's come back to me, which is probably due to that little injury there. Now, should I fade that? No, but we do have five outfielders to field.

41:06One thing I know from our point of view draft is third base is very, very skinny. And when we have to field a third base and a corner in field, I think it's time to reach a tad. And that's exactly what I'm going to do here. I'm going to take Mr. Junior Caminero. Mr. Cooper through a gritted teeth there. That was probably when he was hoping there's going to fall to him. He did not. Yes. So there we go. So you took there, Mr. Payne, Junior Caminero, after that Cal Rally 204. Just Chisholm at 205 Corbin, Carroll 206. And then Jackson Turio at 207. It is my pick at 208. Let's have a very quick look at the board and see where I'm going to be casting my dice. I feel that, and this is one of my plays. I always love to, and the first rounds get power, but also high batting average. I think that sets a really nice floor when it comes to Roto. And I think, for me, I'm going to have to take the first baseman. And I'm going to go with Vladimir Guerrero, Junior.

42:10Nice pick. Mr. Cooper right behind me. Yeah. Not too sure on this one. I'm looking around, and you really should try and get, as you said, some category stuff is here. Tell Marte still on the board is the one second baseman. It doesn't really steal any bases anymore though. So that's maybe something I want to stay away from. I'm just going to take Nick Kurtz, just because it's fun. Yeah, boom. Boom. Thank you, boy. Straight after that, we had Nick Kurtz, Carl Schwalber, Yordan Alvarez, which is hoping was going to land with me. Peter Lonzove wrapped up round number two, round three, Bryce Harper, the first pick off the board, Freddie Freeman. Straight after that, first baseman's a plenty of these picks. And could tell Marte just before my pick, or rather, Cooper's pick. I'm getting ahead of myself at the 304 spot.

43:10Yeah, this is tough. I'm thinking I might try and double up on a short stop here because there's still some really good, complete players in here. Frankie Lindor and Trey Turner are available. I could go to pitching, but I'm not really sold on Christopher Sanchez or Yoshinobi Yamamoto at this point. Yeah. I think I might just take Trey Turner. Yeah. Well, there's one NW spot. We'll take it up. So pretty happy with that. Nicely done. I am in the similar bucket to you, Cooper. I'm either thinking taking another first base, getting my corner out, corner infield done. Or maybe going early on an outfielder. I worry that if I don't take an outfielder now that I'm going to be really burnt, I'm going to take my first outfielder right now. And I'm going to take the young stud was featured in the WBC Roman Anthony with my first outfielder slot. Nice. All right. Well, there's been a bit of a run on the old one B position.

44:15To be honest with you, for me, anyway, Matt Olson is kind of the last of that top tier. You could probably squint your eyes and say we could put graphic devas in that. And then we're sort of into another tier for me. Yes. So whilst you're lamenting straight after that Roman Anthony pick, Mr. Paine, Frankie Lindor, straight behind that. Yoshinobi Yamamoto, Chris Sanchez and Logan Gilbert. So a little mini picture run here. Yeah. Actually, I was probably thinking of taking one of those guys at this point in time just to have a picture locked up. I do believe that there are chunks of pictures that come up various points and you just have to get on a run. I've picked the other end of the draft this time around. Look, just so I can move things along. I'm going to pick Matt Olson to fill out one B and hope that because he does fill most categories pretty good. He's not going to still any bases. But the one thing about Matt Olson is he doesn't miss any games.

45:17Doki. Picra Armstrong went straight after that. Mani Machado then and James Wooden Hunter Brown went before your second pic, Matti, and starting out round number four for us. Ooh, we okay. I've got some decisions to make here. Look, Mookie is the number one choice. Jaron Jaran, you would have taken two years ago. I think I might be looking at a picture here, but Wyatt Langford is looking pretty tasty at this point in time because he's another category stuffer. So just for taking a bit of a different approach to what I did last week, I'm going to fade pitching in the early rounds. I'm going to plug in another outfielder and I'm going to take Wyatt Langford. Very nice. Wyatt Langford there. Zach Netto straight behind him. Brian in at 405. Mason Miller first relief picture of the board at 406 and Rafi Devas then in at 407. I feel now lads.

46:17I've got first base, third base and an outfielder that I might have to dip my toes into the starting pitching market. I'm going to do so with hold faithful. I think Chris Sail for me is where I'm going to go first picture off the board. I think that if he can stay healthy, then 200 strikeouts could be within reach for him. And that might be super value given that we're already in the fourth round. So I'm going to take him. Nice. Kupy, it is a yopic. I'm going to try and round out second base with a lot of steals and a bit of power shown last year. So let's go Bryce Turing. That's a good pick. Very nice indeed. Okay, I really thought some of these boys were going to come back to me. So all the pictures came off the board. Edwin Diaz, Max Fried, Brent Rooker winner of the turn, Logan Webb, Jacob DeGrom and Cole Reagan. They're the two that I was iron up. I was going to take Logan Webb as a backup. I don't get any of those guys. So let's see what I can do in return.

47:19I'm going to go with a guy that I took last week because I actually think he's going to have a bit of a bounce back in Jackson. Another category stuff up. Nice pick. Took it. The rug straight out from under me, Kupy. I'm going to then pivot and I'm going to take a short stop. Mookie Best has been sitting there for too long for my liking. And that's where I'm going. I think he has a bit of a bounce back year in L.A. After that weed bug that he had for most of season. Straight after that, Riley Greene went. Munoz then as another closer hunter Greene. Well, injuries be damned at 508 to 509. Freddie Peralta before Mr. Payne is back on the clock for 510. Right. Well, given I've had how many hitters now, four straight hitters, I probably need to tap some pitching because we have had a bit of a run on that. Having a little look here, we've got Framber the Union Zeta. But I don't know. In Rotoe, that's not necessarily a great thing. It's a good thing in point sleeves. Look, I don't want to take the same guys.

48:21I take all the time, but I think I am going to hit George Kirby in the spot just because I think he's a dependable arm. And we'll see who might come back to me. And who do we have go off the board? Oh, William Contreras. Sorry, I'm still in your thunder here, Shaneau. Mate, go for it. The closer in the form of Mr. Smith, Ben Rice, who would have been a nice choice there, Josh Nale. But because he's a base still in L. All right. So apparently I'm supposed to pick Jaren Duran here, but I've got a couple of outfielders already, even though I have to fill out five. But I've got a funny feeling. I'm in a double tap, some pitching here, because I'm a bit worried being at this end, what may or may not come back to me. So I'm going to try and boost my strikeouts, even though it hurts me a little bit, and other categories and take Dylan six. Dylan ceases where I was looking to potentially go. And that's fine, because I'll have to pivot then, matey.

49:22Jaren Duran went straight after that, Austin Riley, third base, Randia Roserena, a nice little option for a Roto player, and then Alex Braggman at 607. I think that I'm going to have to go with it, starting pitching as well. There's no one really that jumps off the page for me, though, when I'm looking up and down. But why don't we go with the Lizard Man? Hazus Lazardo there for pitching. I think that those numbers there can really help, as you mentioned, electric stuff, and let's hope that he can have a nice little season. Over to you, Matt. It was a 27 million AAV on that one. See how that goes? I'm going to try and, you know how I am, with trying to get my infield sorted. So I'm going to take a guy that I really like, and again, just really solid all around play out with steals and a bit of power. Let's go with Michael Garcia. I'm hoping he might come around. I tell you the other thing I really like about that pick, especially in the earlier stages of the draft, he gives you position flexibility, so you can move him around.

50:23If you don't have value somewhere, you can go, well, I'll play him at second, or I'll play him at third. Especially in season two. Yeah, so that's a bit of a habit. Now, I'm going to go a guy who's in a pretty nice park and has fallen a bit further. Just watch out. I don't have a catch yet, so it doesn't matter. Friend of others. Friend burr. Friend burr. And it is my pick, then. So behind that, the Kippie we had, Jaren DeRan, Cody Belinger, C.J. Abrams, David Bednar before Framber fell to you. Not liking the lack of outfield depth that I don't currently have. Let's have a little look up and down these lists. I think I'm going to have to go with. Yeah, I'm going to go with him. Give me a play who I never, ever get the opportunity to draft. Sayas Zuki, I think that he can't really hurt you. He does not have the greatest batting average pace, but 32 home runs out there in the Windy City. I'll take that for my second outfield.

51:23And then we're going over to, let's have a little look and see Mr. Payne. Right, where are we at? Round seven. Oh, I tell you what, you want to talk about an upside play. I'm going to take someone who hits for some power. He can run a bit. And who knows? He might even stay healthy. I'm going to put Byron Bucksdon into my outfield. Very sweet little deal there, Mr. Bucksdon. In between that, there were some plays that I thought I might be able to have. Vinnie Pasquantino, Corey Seger, Ayuhenio Suarez, and Karl Brattish went between your two picks, Mr. Payne. Right. Well, as I'm following my theory of last week and probably scaring the life out of Coops by not picking anybody in my middle infield, I was hoping that Corey Seger might have slid to me for his usual 115 games of the season. So I'm also going to bank on another bit of an upside play here with the newly minted Met who will give me shortstop.

52:26And at some point in the season, hopefully give me third base in this mock draft and take Bobo. Wish it. Very good indeed. It is my pick now. A few plays once again. I don't know if the board that I would have liked Nick Pavetta. Christian Yellich, Tyler Sodistrum, is really where I wanted who's got that dual eligibility here on Fantasy Pros at first, and outfield. And then on your cruise, which is a bit yuck. I think I'm going to have to go with some. Let's have a little look. Outfield once again. I could really do with some help there. Starting pitching though seems to be the way I might play this out, but I also do need a second baseman. I am going to go with. No, I'm going to go just complete upside here as well. Probably a few picks earlier than what he should go, but Chase Burns for me is starting pitcher is where I'm going to go there. Yeah, like it. Yeah, I was actually really iron off only a cruise there. I think that's somebody who could come back a little bit.

53:28A lot of he was still a darling last year, and it's fallen a long way, and a much better pirate's lineup, so that was kind of interesting for me there. I should really take some pitching, but I think I'm going to just maybe try and get some outfield first. Shane's going to hate this pick, but it's just one that's very, very solid and does what it says on the 10, the Brandon Nimmer. I hate Brandon Nimmer. He's hurt me so many times as a player playing against infanity, so that's something that I don't necessarily miss too much, Mr. Cooper. You're back on the clock, because in between them, we had where do we go? Nimo, then Pania, Spencer Strider, a role just Chapman, Baldwin of the Atlanta variety at Catcher, Kevin Galsman, and then Yuri Perez. And regretting maybe what I should have done there, I think I've maybe should have taken Strider, and then you could have come back to Nimo might have still been there. Pitching's just flying off the board and runs at the moment. I'm going to take Nolan McLean despite his outing.

54:28I still think he's someone who's going to be really important for Matt's. Very nice. I'm going to go and take a second baseman, because this guy has been around for forever in a day, but he still manages to do it all. He'll still steal some bases. He'll hit some home runs. The little man, Jose Al-Tubey. And then after that, let's have a little look, Blake Snell went. Sandy Perez, Devin Williams, and Harris III before Mr. Paine's pick there at 9-10. Yes, interesting one here, because we have had that run of pitching, and I could probably do with another arm, but I think I probably need to start showing up my keystone. And the guy who hit a home recently, I'm hoping for a bounce back. If he doesn't break anything, he's a good accumulator. And that's Mr. Aussie Albies. So I'm going to plug it into my tubey. You don't mind a little bit of Aussie. Don't mind a little bit of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Tyler Glass now will Smith, Michael Bush, Michael King, between your picks, Mr. Paine.

55:33Wow. OK. I've only got two pitches at the moment. I need a third, and I am tossing up between, and let's make this a question, guys. I'm going to make my own choice, but if it was up to you and you could only pick, a pitcher, and you could only choose between Nick Ladolo, Jacob Misarowski, and Trey Savage, for example. Who would you pick? I like Misarowski. I think that I'll, whilst he had a bit of a tumultuous season, he started off really hot. He was an all style. It's not forget that, but then he kind of faded. I think Milwaukee, they need that quality for a starter. Ladolo would be the other choice for me. I think his savage is just too much of an unproven commodity at the moment. Coups, what do you think? Yeah. I threw a campsite there and there as well. So that's the, they're all ranked pretty closely. I'm going to miss his comp is prime to Grom. Like, there's nobody like that. So he doesn't think he's going to hit it, but that's how good his stuff is. Yeah. Well, well done. You picked it all.

56:34Even though your savage is rated a little bit higher, I think, Misarowski, I think he might have a little bit higher in the whip category. So that may come back and haunt me, but I am going to go, yay, Cobb. So thanks, Lads. I feel better about that now. No worries, mate. I'm happy to help out this time when it doesn't count. Stephen Kwan, who was a player who I was thinking about, really rodeo darling, went straight after that. Ryan Helzley, another relief pitcher. Augustine Ramirez. I was eyeing him off a catcher and he's gone. And then Carl Stau was, God, Jim, it was exactly where I wanted to land. And that's the way the fantasy beast crumbles. I've now got to make a tough choice. And I'm going to have a quick look down the outfield board. There's no one really there that jumps off there for me. And I think that I'm going to have to probably take. And I don't like doing this this early. It's probably other players I wanted to do. But we're going to to catch a leg, Lads, and catchers very quickly thinning out. Sadly, Rutschman for a bounce back this year, giving to me.

57:36Even though I said I'd never draft him again. I'm noticing that the catch is going. But I'm also noticing that the closes are just disappearing. It's just gone. So I am going to take the guy who's actually starting on the injured list right now in Josh Hader. Because I just, I'm not taking Inglaces or Jeff Hoffman. And I don't trust Palencia or Carl Stau's right now. So that's where I'm going to end up with Josh Hader. And that's a good thing, especially in season long roto leagues, because you're not playing it. It's the end of season numbers that count, right? So, you know, if you're not playing in a category's league, we're weak to weak matchups. The be all and end all as long as your numbers look good at the end. That is the big one. I've, I've gone a bit on the. It just quickly. So we had the injury run. So you had Spentish Wallenbach, Zach Wheeler, Sonny Gray, Tioska Hernandez, Rice Hill Inglaces, and Yandee Diaz went in between my picks.

58:37I want to try and take someone like a camp slitler or a tray of your savage, even a nick or a dollar. But I just, I think I've gone a bit too risky. So I need to be a bit more safe. And I'm going to take a Ryan Pepeo here just because that guy just gets it done. Very underrated. Ryan Pepeo. I, I, I realize that after I dropped him last year. Yeah, you go on and break in my heart. Coups, break in my heart. Oh, my goodness. All right, let's have a little look. I think I do need a relief picture as well. But I need two slots to really feel in there. I'm looking up and down that pitching list. And I think Nick Lidolo is still around and about. And I think I'm just going to have to take him there. So give me Nick Lidolo. And that's two sincere pictures now. My line up, which is a little bit dangerous. But straight after that, we had Luke Keishel, nice little Keystone player there, William Dames, Brandon Woodruff, and then Trevor's story before Maddie Payne's pick for the 11th round.

59:37Yeah, I've got to admit, Keishel coming off the board there hurt me. I did take him in the points league. But again, he's just a really good floor play. He's going to hit this marriage. You know, he'll give you a little bit of pop, not a lot. But he's not going to kill you. He's going to contribute across the board. He's a really solid pick there. I like you. I could probably do with a, I could do with a relief pitcher. I think one's going to fall back to me. At least I hope it will. Oh, geez. Funnily enough, I didn't think the savage would come back to me. Unproven commodity. But I do like him. I also like Tanner Bible. He's not being very well rated in this situation. But I actually think I prefer that pick. So I'm going to take the Bible. Or the Bibbi. Nice little pick there. And straight after that, we had Luis Robert of the board. Oh, wow. Luis Castillo, double Luis's Nathaniel Voldy, and then Brandon Lau.

1:00:37Luis Robert is a sneaky upside play in especially in a roto format. Because if he can actually come out, even with Chicago, he was stealing bases. If he can hit for some pop, he could stuff a couple of categories for you. And I was actually hoping he would fall back to me in the situation. But he did not. So that's a bit awkward. So I am going to go to my leaf pitching because I need some saves. Oh, hopefully he's figured it out because he wasn't real good last year. But I'm going to go Jeff Hoffman. The half is off the board. It's probably worth mentioning. He allows as well. It comes with the whole heap of strategy playing roto because you end up saying, well, if I've missed the run well and truly, then maybe I just punt this category, which means that I'm just avoiding it completely and trying to really make up for that by having strength somewhere else. Now, for me, that position is really looking like a relief pitcher at the moment. And I'm now saying,

1:01:37where can I try and make some value up against these guys that I'm drafting against, specifically Coups and Matty. And I think for me, the last decent catcher off the board that I'd be happy to take, is Yanni Adea. So I'm going to go ahead and do that and take him there, just because I think that is what I need to do in order to forget about catcher. Not something I can mentionally do, but I think there's still value in depth across other positions that I can make up for later on. Interesting. I was actually going to take that one. So you got one back on me there, Shana. Well done. Thank goodness for that. Yeah. So while we... I think I can wait a little bit on catcher now because I don't think there's a couple of guys there that I think will at least come back to me on the next one. A couple of outfielders that I really like in Andy Pahez and Laurence Butler, I think I'm just going to take Pahez. I like him just a little bit more. Butler just hasn't had the consistency. So we'll see what happens. And if he does come back, he does come back.

1:02:37If I wanted to take him as well, where are we with the pitches? Oh jeez, that's... Still a tree savage. Still got Cam Schlittler available there. I'm going to take Cam. Nice. You're on mute shadow. Very good to see that the COVID times are still well and truly in full force. They're talking on mute. Gosh, OK, Cam Schlittler. I think that I'm... I don't... I'm pivoting to a pitcher here now as well. Although I don't really have any outfielders either that I'm too happy with. There's no one here on the board that really jumps out at me too strongly. I'm going to go. Do I want to go tray savage or Robbie Ray? Now for me, Robbie Ray obviously is a big play. I think the strikeout numbers there for me lend well. So I'm going to take Robbie Ray over, tray savage because I think the strikeout numbers and the innings that he'll pitch out there in San Fran will outweigh what I can get off the board

1:03:37when it came to your savage. And straight after that, Drew Rasmussen, Herrera at Catcher. Trey, your savage didn't last too long. Matty, I bet you were hoping he was going to land back with you. I was. Taylor Ward and then your pick. So where are you going? Well, this is an interesting one for me because again, probably showing my cards here a little bit. Jacob Wilson is staring at me. Another guy is going to hit for average. He's not going to kill you. You can plug him in every day. He's going to be really good. Do I take the upside risk on Baba Chandler? I think he's got immense potential but he could absolutely crush you in some categories if he doesn't get it right. But there's a guy staring at me and we talked about him in the news and he's a bit of a long-term play. I'm going to take Garrett Gold. Nice times. Straight after Mr. Cole, Cody Simpson, stolen base machine. And that's one of those guys where you're going to be fading a bit abouting average and a bit of power

1:04:37just to get the upside. And well, I think it's probably going to be the stolen base leader if he plays and gets a starting gig out there in Tampa Bay for this year. Canley Jansen, Sandy Alcantara and Neavoli Marte as well in at 1402. Mr. Payne, you're back on the clock. Yeah, a bit of a heartbreaker there. Noel V. Marte was there. I would have loved to have thrown him into a corner because again, another guy, I think he has some upside. If he can stay away from the funny stuff he puts into his body. So, oh, I could do with another outfielder. So, do I take a punt on some power or do I take a floor play? Do you know what? I think I'm going to pick a bounce back. You guys picked it last week on Lawrence Butler and plug him in to give me some pop. And hopefully you can figure it out out there. I've got four outfielder's picked on my five. Very nice behind Lawrence Butler.

1:05:37Pick was Danzby Swanson, Spencer Torkelson, Mr. Rodgers out in Baltimore and a picture who I was looking at maybe getting in that next slot there, but he didn't land with me is Mackenzie Gore at 1407. 1408 is with me now. And I think I probably need to grab another outfielder. This one is a nice little romantic play. Took him last week, taking him again for the power upside in Mike Trout. No, gosh done it. So, this one's a little bit of a world series play, just someone who bounced onto the stage. He's actually here at some playing time because of the injury to Anthony Satter. Now, I'm going to take Addison Barger, who gives me a lot of position flexibility as well. Love that pick. Love that pick. Very nice behind Barger we had. Mr. M.I. out of Houston, Dylan Cruz in Washington, Tyler McGill in Milwaukee, Jacob Wilson in Houston, in Oakland, rather. Oh, Oakland. Mr. Reynolds out in Pittsburgh

1:06:38and Mr. Walker out of Houston, could be your back on the clock. Yeah, so Trevor McGill did actually go there. He's still pitching, but I'm just going to take the upside on Abner, your rebate here. If nothing else, I'm going to get great ratios from him, but he can fill out as somebody picks up a lot of saves. Very nice. My pick, I need to get some relief pitching now, I feel, although I do need another outfielder. Where are we going to find solid production? I'm going to have to go with Emilio Pagard as a closer, first one for me off the board. Nice. A couple of big picks here. So Connick Griffin straight after me, Alejandro Kirk, Colson Montgomery, and then Xavier Edwards. Maddie Payne, you are on the clock now. Where are we at? Round 15. This is where we're really swinging for the fences. I do need a catcher, and in a two catcher league, starting to get a bit ugly at this point in time.

1:07:38I'm going to pick a guy who I'm backing for a little bit of a bounce back, and you don't realize how young this dude is. 24. Had some issues last year, came back in the second half of the last season, and I'm actually really good after a little stint. The mind is I'm going to take Francisco Alvarez. Nice one. And do you want to run us through, Maddie, because I think you're up again. The picks between you two. Yeah, Mr. Pete scares the living daylights out of me Fairbanks. That's like owning Tana Scott when you're watching him pitch. But again, probably one of the last of the, I guess more recognized closes. Glaibar, the Oriol Killer Torres, Zach Galen, and then Brenton Doyle. A guy who, jeez, if he could figure it out, he would be really good in this format. I'm just having a quick look at what I need. I need a catcher corner and middle infielders. I could do with another closer.

1:08:39I think I'm hoping someone will fall to me. There is some pitching here. Mind you, when you're starting to get down to your fifth pitcher, there's really where you're kind of going. Look, I can just go anywhere. All right. There's an outfielder. I've got my eye on. I'm hoping he's going to fall to me. So I'm going to go my guy, Baba, Jan Lighter, fill out my pitching stuff. Not a bad little choice there, Mr. Pain, rolling in to me now. I've got to feel two outfield slots. I've got to feel both my corner and middle infielders and a utility as well as a relief pitcher. Gosh, there's still a lot to go draft wise lads. I'm going to take a guy, once again, that I think's got a decent floor. He's playing in a really solid team. And for me, that is going to be an outfielder in the form of Dalton Varsho. Oh, that was the guy. Reading in line, Mr. Pain.

1:09:40I think he's primed. I'm going to take a guy who's actually playing in the WBC right now. Sucking down on some espresso, Jack Cagliol. Nice. That's where I was going. I thought he might just be deep enough to not be touched. Nicely done, Mr. Cooper. Gosh, darn it. I really do need to take a catcher at some point soon here. I am going to go with home a pick and I'll just take some Samuel Bessio. Yeah, nice. Samuel Bessio, which means it's my pick now. I'm going to be going. I need to go and get some corner and middle infield or maybe just find some guys with upside. I am going to go with a guy that I don't necessarily love and I don't normally pick him unless it is a road I play. Alex Bome is a player who's just got a bit of versatility and the more I think about it, the less I'm thinking about taking him. That a Royce Lewis really for me. But do I want to go that route as well?

1:10:43Give me Royce Lewis. I'm taking Royce Lewis. I think that's where I'm going to have to go. If he stays on the park. Yeah, that's it. That's the thing is, if you hit on the season that he plays, I'd know 125 games, he's a league changer. I do believe. Why don't you play relatively large-minute last year and do super good? So anyway, right, where are we at here? I need another catcher. Oh, you need some corner infielders and some relievers. Another catcher. Oh, it's fun. That Mr. Pamyab, Shane Bars, Bubich, Lyle and Isak, Perredes. Probably fair to say, left my middle infield play a little bit too late. So I'm really patch working here at this point. I could take Royce arise

1:11:44and just do the pure batting average play. But he's just so unsexy. If he doesn't, he doesn't really do anything else. Does he? Oh, golly gosh, golly gosh, golly gosh. I also could do another closer. I'm really not liking the value of anybody around here. I did take a gamble and map my clean again. No, I do not. I'm going to take... Where is he? Dennis Santana. I'll fill out my saves. Yeah, that's where I needed to pivot too. But we won't worry about that now. Mr Cooper, I believe it is your pick. No, it's not Mr. Payne, sorry. Yes, Robert Suarez. Another good play there if you're wanting to get the back up closer. But again, a guy you can pitch in a roto and he's going to help you in categories. Elsewhere, Marcus Semyon, South Freelich. And who's a Caliero?

1:12:45Caliero. Let's see now. Well, I don't need outfield. Helia Ramos is a nice outfield play though, later in Drasi. He can tank some shots for you. I really need some middle infield. Do I do auto Lopez? He's like this perennial roto player. Like a 15-15 guy. It's very, very unsexy. Or do I think that he's probably going to come back and take a punt on somebody? Let's see. Can I find him? To do, to do, to do, to do. There we go. I'm going to take our homers in here because we're at the point where we're reaching. And I think Kevin McGonigal is going to break camp with the Tigers. So I'm going to jump in here. Very nice, Mr. McGonigal. After that, we had South Stewart, Gabby Moreno, Carlos Rodón, Griffin Jacks,

1:13:47was one of the guys that I thought I could surely nab. After Coupi talked up a very big game on why Jacks was going to be an absolute name to watch this year. I do need another outfielder. Not a player that I'd be normally looking to go for, but I'm giving you a little bit of the captain out there in Korea. Captain Korea, Jungkook Lee. And that's what I'm going to take there to round out my outfielders. Coupi, you're on the clock. And now Matt's on mute, which is funny. So there we go. Infra penny, Infra pound. Sorry. I don't know if you can hear in the background, but my partner is just yelling at her grandmother in Croatian. And it just wasn't sure if the list is wanted to hear that. Of course. But yeah, sorry about that. So I'm actually going to take someone who seems to have been a little bit underrated just because there's so many other superstars coming through the system. But will your abrey who's been phenomenal for a long time?

1:14:49That's a good one. I'm going to take him because he doesn't hurt you in any category at all. So the projections are really good on him. And get a few steals. Still at this late point in the in the draft, I think is a good play to get. And we've got Matt McLean, Bruce, the stock JJ Weatherholt Max Muncie, which was actually one that I wanted to pick up as my utility looking at that one there. So I'm not really too interested in getting anybody else in that. Where are we going to go now? If we have a look at who all is left. And I need to get a catcher a utility and a starter. So let's have a quick look at what's left started. Yeah. That sounds pretty good to me. I'll pick up Edward Cabrera because I think he's going to be much better now that he is in Chicago. I agree. Nice one. I need to get a relief picture better. Make sure that I do before I go ahead and draft him.

1:15:49I do indeed. I don't like this pick. It is very unsexy. But give me Ryan Walker out there. Hopefully he holds on to the job out in San Fran. That's what I'll take. Yeah. The older pitch tipping comes back to Horn people. It would appear. I need another catcher. And I'm a bit gutted because I thought Kyle Till would have come back to me. And now there's a big bucket of raw. I just not really great. But this is what happens when you have to fade a position every now and then. Sometimes in drafts, a guy like Samuel Bussier, who might fall to this point in time and he's a lovely pick. But I am drafting Mr Cooper. So I'm basically going to have to punt catcher. I think at this point in time. Do you know what? I need to fill out a little bit of power in my utility. And why not just take Marcel Ozuna? Not bad.

1:16:49Not bad at all. Mr Payne there. It's a nice little tasty pick. Who have you got in between your picks, though? I had a well at least Garcia. Gian Carlo, the statue stand with his two tennis elbows. Ramon Loriano, who actually is probably a better pick than what people think. And Caleb Durbin went at second base. So I now still need a corner in filter and out filter. And out filter and a catcher. And oh, actually, do you know what corner in filter? That's a shame. Because Mason win is sitting there. I quite like him in certain situations. To do corner in filter. Geez, no, I don't take. Colman Zardo could fill the void there. Hit for a lot of power last year. Wasn't terrible. Colt Keith is the other one who gives me a ton of position flexibility, but he's probably not quite as sexy.

1:17:49So I think let's just keep the draft going. And I'll pick the man Zardo. And Zardo, in between that one that Mr. Payne we had. Manzardo, we had J.T. Realmudo, Lopez Horton, and a braille before my pick. Now, the fancy pro's biggest booster predictor is telling me, I need a middle in filter. And it's telling me that Luis arrives. Maybe we mentioned him about five rounds ago as a potential play. Very one dimensional. He's out there in San Fran. I'm going to take him in my middle in filter. Yeah, biggest boost. So I'm in a situation now where I just need a catcher and a utility player. I'm going to go with a guy that I just wish that the Tigers would play every day. Give Kerry Carpenter a leader of men at bats every day. And let's hope that they do facts.

1:18:49So after me, it was Jordan Beck, Moistus Balisterus, Carlos Carrera, Tyler Stevenson, Logan O'Hoppy, and Matt Shaw. So that actually hurt me quite a bit because I was thinking I was going to get Tyler Stevenson or Logan O'Hoppy. That leaves me Ryan Jeffers, Dylan Dinglett or Austin Wells. So I'm going to take Austin Wells in this situation or bow nail it. Nope, we're going Austin Wells. Very good. In between that coupé, there was nothing because obviously you and I are back to back, which is fantastic. Now, I've only got a utility position to fill. I've got a few names jumping out at me, TJ Friedald. I'll just end up with a team that's half full of Cincinnati players, which isn't a bad option if you're thinking about it from a park factor perspective. Last year, 14 home runs, 12 stolen bases, a batting average. It doesn't hurt me. 81 walks. You know what? I might have to take in, but let me just have a quick little glance and see what else is available. The next best player, Mason, win maybe.

1:19:49There's not a lot of plays when you forget about just how deep this has to run that I'd be comfortable in taking. I think it's going to be TJ that I'm taking there to round out my draft as my super strong, super utility. And then to round things out, Mr. Payne, but before you do, there was players of the ilk of. Let's have a little look and see Jeffers, Trent Grisham, really Castro, Colton Couser. That would have been another play that I would have looked at entertaining with my last pick. I need to catch up. There really isn't a whole lot to pick from here, but I can use a little bit of Homerism and know that Dylan Diglar will hit for some pretty decent average. We'll send a couple over the fence. And I think he's an ascending player there for the Tigers, obviously a Homerism pick, but I'm going to pick Dylan Diglar. Very good. And lads, this is the moment that we're all waiting for when Fantasy Pro tells you just how you are grading out.

1:20:50Now, last week we all had smiles on our faces and we couldn't wait to reveal what our scores were. I'll leave myself to last. I can see Mr. Payne shaking his head. I don't know if that's a shaker or a little smirk. Maddie, give us what you got graded out and what you got out of a hundred. Well, let's just say that this didn't quite go as well as last week. I have been given a B minus and an 80 out of a hundred. Fantasy Pro usually hates my drafts and it didn't like this one a whole lot. So there we go. It projected me to finish pretty much dead last. Yep. And I'm 10th. So I got 88 as a B plus and Shadow, I've already seen your score, which is just ludicrous. Yeah. Still lads. Okay, well then, let's not get the winners along with home wondering. I ended up with, as I always do, an A plus, a 100 out of 100, a perfect score lads.

1:21:51Yeah, is a pretty comfortable result once again. So these mockies have been paying off. It certainly seems if I have a quick look at the projections, doesn't necessarily see me finishing, you know, necessarily all that close. I think I'm still in second spot when it comes to draft analysis. So what a draft lads. That was good bit of fun to talk through all of that piece in terms of, yeah, I guess where we finished up second overall, second and hiters, second and started. So gosh, that team that finished up in the top position was certainly one for the ages. Top players, I said that they got José Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero. If I drafted Frankie Lindor and drafted now field later, apparently would have had a better team. And Chris Welch of Fantasy Pros likes my draft more than any other expert. Here we go. Well done, Shay. I am looking at team number one. And it started with its first three picks were Aaron Jarge, Pete Alonzo and Bryce Harper. That's a pretty interesting build there.

1:22:53It's the full power thing and then Brent Rooker. But no, well done. I also realized I picked an extra picture, which I didn't need to. So I have the best bench. I do. I am crushing the bench. Like true. Crushing the bench. But see, I would have put him on my L spot and then and then pick somebody else. So anyway, that was that was a lot of fun. Yeah, absolutely. And look, we've we've rinsed through that one there. We spent a whole lot more time talking and waxing poetic on our point sleek piece. But hopefully when is that's given you a bit of insight in just just where to go. I think could be probably articulated at best when he was talking about players that don't hurt you, players that kind of give you a lot when it comes to multiple categories. And that's really what you need to do. You're coupling him with what Maddie and I were talking about around punting positions. If you've got no depth there, we saw both of these lads do that to some regard from a catcher position. Don't worry about trying to make up ground in rodo legs. If you're strong in some areas and you can kind of focus in on that, don't lose your grip on that.

1:23:57Yeah, it's interesting to there's obviously different ways to do it. Some people like the stars and scrubs approach for positions, especially a picture. I got a couple of glue guys is what they called or oatmeal. You're often here in some other fantasy podcast where there's nothing sexy about them, but they're going to hit 260. They're going to get 18 home runs and 10 steals and they're going to get 80 RBI and home runs and runs. And that's just what you need to round out your your actual team. You can have those boom or bust guys, but chances are some of them are going to boom and some of them are going to bust. So you want to have some guys that are just going to sit the middle there. Yeah, I agree with that completely. I also every draft, I just pick guys I like watching ball. So, you know, does it potentially hurt my fantasy teams at times? Maybe I'm trying to win, but also when I'm, you know, at the gym or, you know, on the Lou at 3am or whatever, I'm looking at them coming up to bat and I'm hoping that they're going to do well.

1:24:58And it's just the way I like to play fantasy because I like to watch guys do I enjoy playing baseball and seeing what they do out in the field. So, you know, every flavor is different. None of them are wrong. And we'll see which one shakes out the tastiest at the end of the year. Absolutely. And that we've still got about a week and a half before baseball resumes for the 2026 season. And so, who knows, you might even be able to slide in another little mocky there if the cards kind of get cast in that direction. But that being said, we've now done a points league and a rider leg mocky. Hopefully there's a fair bit to chew on as a lot of leagues now head to draft boards this weekend and beyond. We're going to take a very short break and we're going to be back with a little bit more before we wrap things up here for episode number 91 here at WBR. You're listening to the WBR.

1:26:03Lads, it is that time where we give the ball bag a shameless plug. The ball bag is empty lads. I'm sure we're going to get that filling up as we go into the regular season with plenty of questions on start, sit, drops. But before we look to finish up episode number 91 at around about the hour and a half mark, are there any parting words or parting shots? WBC, watch it. It's awesome. And then I will see you boys on the weekend and we'll see how that goes. It's always a fun time when you actually get to sit around with all your friends, despite how old you are, do stupid things that you did in your youth. It's one day a year and we certainly make the most of it. So we'll recap that next week. Yeah, absolutely. I can't wait to see you guys in person on Saturday. I will also be off for a couple of weeks as I will be in New Zealand and zip lining and canning and doing all sorts of fun stuff.

1:27:13So I will be handing the mantle over to you to handsome gentleman to continue on in my stead and will move out to even better. So, but I will miss our being on the pod and I will catch you when I come back. No doubt with all my vows mixed up because that's what Kiwis do. Love it, Maddie. Well, you make sure you have a lovely trip, a safe trip, give our best regards to Trish, travel safe and just take lots of photos and make us all feel jealous. Well, that's winners playing along at home. That's it for episode number 91. So, on behalf of Maddie & Coops, I'm Shane. Check your swings and make sure, Mitty, you pick your chili bun and your gendels and have an excellent time in Inzer. You've been listening to the Wins Below Replacement podcast.