Full Transcript for Top Second And Third Baseman For 2027 Dynasty | Fantasy Baseball

Meade a lot. 00:06:06 Speaker 3: He is definitely going to be probably my prime target at third base, just simply because he's attainable. And I just don't think that I'm going to be able to access Caminero or Ramirez on teams where it's a position that I need upgraded. 00:06:21 Speaker 5: Right. 00:06:21 Speaker 1: I think you're dead on about the injury, the timing of the injury, the fact that he's been out of sight, out of mind for this long. If he had finished the year just on that exact same pace, I don't know how acquirable he would. 00:06:35 Speaker 2: Be right now. And I'm with you. 00:06:37 Speaker 1: He's the guy that I'm going to lead off tomorrow's Target article with. And his ADP right now in Draft Champions Leagues is around 180% the highest he's gone is 128. Um, so, you know, that's, that's some buy-in, but I think there maybe should be even more buy-in there, uh, on me. Like I would, I think I would take him inside the top one 50 at this point. 00:07:04 Speaker 3: Um, and he's probably going to have second base eligibility because he's not going to be their first baseman or their third baseman. They're, searching for dh options right now i think as currently constituted the dh spot might still go to roman anthony so you might be talking about him getting you know enough second base run within the first month of the season that he's first base second base third base middle infield and corner infield eligible and that just that makes a world of difference in terms of flexibility with your roster too and coverage at other positions so yeah i mean i'm all in on me yeah. 00:07:41 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a pro-mead show. Jeff, Manny Machado, one of my favorite players to roster in fantasy since I started playing fantasy. He was actually, I think he was the first minor league player I picked up on my first keeper league team a long, long time ago, and I rostered him for basically his entire career. He's been just a stalwart from a games played standpoint. 00:08:07 Speaker 2: He's also been incredibly consistent with his production. 00:08:10 Speaker 1: Until 2026, where Machado fell off quite a bit, I think I can still feel decent about. 00:08:20 Speaker 2: The power, the runs, and the RBI being there with Machado. 00:08:23 Speaker 1: My big worry is that he doesn't move very well anymore. I think the five steals last year, that could even be cut further in 2027. 00:08:33 Speaker 2: And then the ratios, he hit 217, 303 OBP. 00:08:39 Speaker 1: Um, career worsts, uh, in, in a couple of those slash line categories, career worst in all three of the expected slash categories for, for Machado. 00:08:47 Speaker 2: Uh, I put him at eight. 00:08:49 Speaker 1: In this, this top 43rd baseman for dynasty. 00:08:53 Speaker 2: There's a lot of kind of respect in that ranking. 00:08:57 Speaker 1: Uh, I, I could definitely see the case for having him more than that sort of 12 to 13 range. Um, I think he's entering his age 35 season, um, or turns 35 in

July where would you have slotted Machado. 00:09:12 Speaker 2: In these and how, how comfortable do you feel about him going forward? 00:09:16 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:09:17 Speaker 4: You know, not incredibly comfortable. And I think he hit the nail on the head. 00:09:21 Speaker 3: A lot of the value that's been derived from Machado obviously like is been. 00:09:27 Speaker 4: A great hitter. 00:09:29 Speaker 3: But last year, you know, still finishes with 30 home runs and decent counting stats. And a lot of it is he's just so consistently in the lineup. Nobody sees quite as many plate appearances, it seems, over the last 15 years as Manny Machado. When you look through it, it's been an incredible run of health. So a lot of wear and tear on the body is kind of the other side of that, right? He's 34. He's going to turn 35 right before the All-Star break uh next year so you're really on the back nine and you know this isn't the type of you know outlier power hitter where he can sort of slide to a dh roll and you know he's he's going to hit 35 to 40 home runs i think when you look at you know how the bat speed deteriorated a little bit this year. That's led to, you know, a lot less fast swings, a lot less top, you know, high end bat speed, you know, drop below 75 miles per hour, less squared up contact. And, you know, he still got to 30 home runs, which is one of those things where it's like, you know, you can't totally dismiss that. He doesn't strike out at alarming rates, but I think the lack of him not moving very well, he doesn't move very fast. 00:10:49 Speaker 2: Fast any longer. 00:10:50 Speaker 3: So you lose some of that like rotational explosiveness. I kind of wonder, like, can you bank on, you know, a 30 home run season next year? Like, is, is that a reasonable number to project? I mean, steamer has them at 26. So they're more or less saying, yes, you're silly, Jeff, that still projects. But I wonder how much of that is historical versus kind of looking at 2026 in a vacuum and trying to make a determination of like, can he continue to put up these kinds of counting stats? 00:11:22 Speaker 4: Will his batting average get a little better there? 00:11:25 Speaker 3: I mean, the splits, there's nothing there that tells me like, Oh, he had a bad run against lefties or, you know, had a down year, you know, down first half, like batting average wise, he was down in the first half, but he hit for more power than he did in the second. And the second adding bat second half batting average was like two 37 or whatever. 00:11:46 Speaker 2: So it, I don't know. 00:11:48 Speaker 3: It's a very tough one because he's been good for so long. And I think you said this off air, and I'm sorry for repeating it, but you don't want to write off Hall of Fame talent either. But it does feel like this is very much the end. And 26 was kind of the beginning of the end for Machado here as a top 10 dynasty third baseman. 00:12:12 Speaker 4: To his benefit, it's not a deep group. 00:12:14 Speaker 1: I know I was just going to say, you know, as we talked through it, I do sort of feel like he does more belong in that kind of like 12 ish area, but it's, it was sort of a, a testament to the guys behind him that I didn't push him down just because it's like, you know, some of these guys haven't proven hardly anything. So, you know, it is, it's a very weird group. There's a very strong prospect group at third base, much stronger than I was expecting. And, that might've been just because I just got done with the second baseman where it was not as strong, but we'll get to them in a second. Um, we're going to head to a quick break. Um, but we'll be right back. 00:12:52 Speaker 2: All right. 00:12:54 Speaker 1: Back with Jeff Ponce here, uh, breaking down my top 43rd baseman for dynasty leagues. We'll be talking about my top 42nd baseman for dynasty league later in the show. Uh, Jeff, we talked about like the top guys, um, There's a run of some veterans or some mid-20s guys at third base here from 14 to 25. I've got some kind of younger guys that can steal some bases, do a. 00:13:21 Speaker 2: Little bit of everything. 00:13:22 Speaker 1: Javier Sanoa, Brooks Lee, Caleb Durbin, Michael Garcia in that top 20. Then I've got Casey Schmidt, Josh Young, Jordan Westberg, Max Muncy on that sort of 22 to 25 range. These are guys that I think in dynasty leagues, like if you need a third baseman this off season to just plug in, you could, you could acquire these guys without paying a premium. Do you have any targets sort of among this, this group here? 00:13:53 Speaker 4: Yeah. I, yeah, I, it's tough. 00:14:01 Speaker 3: I've wanted to buy into the, Mikel Garcia for a long time. Cause I think you look at like some of the underlying stuff and it's like, is there going to be a power breakout at one point? I just don't know that he can necessarily alter his swing enough to kind of get, get to that. And, you know, his home park Hoffman, I think we talked about on other shows played really well this year. It's not a bad lineup situation. He did deal with some injuries, obviously was limited to what was it? 80, 82 games, somewhere in that range. Um, so that obviously impacts the numbers, but I feel like I can never stop sort of buying in there. 00:14:40 Speaker 4: I like him more than some of the other guys ahead of him. 00:14:43 Speaker 3: Caleb Durbin is interesting because the team tried to tinker. 00:14:49 Speaker 4: With the swing. 00:14:49 Speaker 3: You mentioned it in your write-up as well, but they tried to get him to hit for more pro pull side power. I don't think it was something that naturally came to him. He's not kind of explosive like that. It's not his game. 00:14:59 Speaker 4: He kind of sought outside help, found his hitting guy. 00:15:03 Speaker 3: Got back to kind of what he did well in Milwaukee and had a really good second half. I think when you look at the stolen bases, maybe kind of sneaky home run power and then

just his ability to score some runs, et cetera. And I think there could be maybe even some more upside next year when he has a full year of kind of just staying within his identity. I kind of like him as a target here. I think Durbin would be a target for me. And I think buying the dip on Mikhail Garcia a little bit too. 00:15:35 Speaker 4: I'm just, you know, I like the guys at 10, 11 Sato, Akimoto. They're interesting. 00:15:42 Speaker 3: We'll maybe talk about them later. Kobe Mayo to me has to figure out how to hit righties. Like he he's great against left-handers, but having a guy that is a weak side platoon bat that I have to kind of worry about how I use them is really more useful as like a deep, deep league, like a, 24 to 30 team league bench bat that gives you a guy that, Hey, like when he faces a lefty, he's like an all-star. And then I just put them on the bench. Otherwise kind of how I view Mayo. I'm not crazy about Bichette. So no has interesting, but I wonder how much impact is there and not a big believer in Brooksley. He's just kind of sick white rice. It's just very, very bland. 00:16:24 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:16:24 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:16:24 Speaker 1: I mean, I, I, Like you can never really have too many of these sort of everyday players and they're like, you know, 24, 25, 26 seasons. But yeah, these, these are sort of guys that, that you plug in when you don't have a premium guy. I'm 100% with you on Durbin from June on last year, he slashed two 79, three 69, four 24 with 12 homers, 16 steals in 404 plate appearances and, was striking out 12.5% of the time, walking 10% of the time. Basically behind Jose Ramirez, I think Durbin is the best source of stolen bases at the position and just feel really good about the playing time after that slow start last year. 00:17:13 Speaker 2: Feels like he's just kind of set it and forget it right now. 00:17:16 Speaker 1: And then, Jeff, I've been sort of out on Josh Young. 00:17:20 Speaker 2: For a while. 00:17:21 Speaker 1: Just durability, um, you know, how much power is he actually going to get to that? The park definitely not doing him any favors. Um, I just wanted to point out, like he actually had some skills growth last year, uh, career high, hard hit rate. Um, all of his, you know, strike zone metrics were, were career bests by a I think the price on, on Josh Young is just really, really cheap for obvious reasons right now. But, um, I just think he's, he's interesting just because I think he actually got better last year. He's not like, you know, he's not in his thirties yet. Um, so like, I think he's heading into his age 29 season now. Uh, I just think he's, I think he's interesting if you want to go cheap and with a guy that, that might be a little undervalued. 00:18:13 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:18:14 Speaker 3: I mean, I, I think there's maybe, um, even some uh similarities that you could draw to like what we were saying about mead um the production was a little bit better for me when he was on the field but kind of similar like truncated seasons but really good under the hood numbers um expected numbers that support the production that he did have um and i think the the big thing with him too kind of similar to mead is like the approach came full circle. And it's funny because as a prospect, that was not something that I had a tremendous amount of concern that, that young was going to be kind of wild and swing himself into outs. But that kind of defined him for like the first three to four years of his career. And he really turned a corner, got the O swing below 30%. And, you know, subsequently the swinging strike rate and all the contact metrics went up and, sometimes just swinging at the right pitches is the difference between good and bad seasons. So I think young is definitely a target at 28 years old. 00:19:17 Speaker 4: He's in his prime. 00:19:19 Speaker 3: But there's certainly some risk as to whether this guy could ever play 135 games consistently, you know, he's only had one 30 once. 00:19:30 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. The key on him being a target is the price. 00:19:32 Speaker 1: Like I'm assuming he'll be cheap, but like if, if for whatever reason he's not, then I'd move on. 00:19:38 Speaker 2: Um, Jeff, I mentioned how. 00:19:39 Speaker 1: Loaded the third base prospect talent is here. And, you know, of course, not all these guys are going to end up at third base or spend their whole career at third base. 00:19:50 Speaker 2: Um, but I just, I really like this group. 00:19:53 Speaker 1: Um, I didn't really have that many bad things to say about, uh, about any of these guys. Um, I couldn't even fit as many of them into the top 40 as I wanted to. Uh, I'll, I'll throw out a couple names that really kind of, um, caught my eye as potential guys to go get this off season. Uh, Johansson column a with the athletics, uh, obviously pro debut is delayed by injury. 00:20:16 Speaker 2: Still got into 32 games though, in the DSL. 00:20:19 Speaker 1: And, uh, I think his, his under the hood data is, is really kind of up there with any of the, the high pedigree guys, um, 14, 14% chase one Oh six Evie 90, um, you know, walking more than he was striking out nine steals on nine attempts. 00:20:37 Speaker 2: 6'2, 190 pounds. I like the frame. 00:20:40 Speaker 1: I think Calame, you're not going to be able to get him for cheap necessarily. Everyone loves these guys in Dynasty Leagues, but I think you could buy at a fair price now and a year from now, maybe 18 months from now, I could see Calame being a potential top 25 prospect for Dynasty. I dig the idea of going after Calame this afternoon. 00:21:05 Speaker 4: I'll say on the pro, you know, evaluation side. 00:21:09 Speaker 3: So separate from the fantasy stuff, the handbook, the top tens, the top thirties, all that stuff that we do. You know, I've had some conversations with Mark Chiarelli, our editor who also handles the A's for us and column is going to be pretty high in that system.

And I think there's a reasonable opportunity here for him to potentially get onto the. 00:21:30 Speaker 4: Back of the top 100. 00:21:32 Speaker 3: Other guys we've talked about Gomez, obviously he's going to rank very highly. I think Renteria has a chance to be in the top 100. Certainly Samil Serrano, who I put a report out last week with some really good nuggets on it, kind of digging into his season and what makes him so unique. 00:21:48 Speaker 4: And then you factor in Columet. I think he's right there with those guys. 00:21:52 Speaker 3: So I think a very reasonable chance of this guy somewhere in like the 75 to a hundred range on the top 100 come January, just based on feedback, some of the underlying numbers. He had a very unusual off the field incident that, you know, uh, was uncomfortable. And, uh, you know, that led to him missing some time, but when he was on the field, he was as good as just about. 00:22:15 Speaker 4: Any prospect in that league. So really exciting DSL class. 00:22:19 Speaker 3: And I, and I think you, you hit the nail on the head. The exciting part of the third base rankings are not the major leaguers. It's all the guys that are kind of coming up. And there's a few of these guys where maybe you're projecting third base. 00:22:32 Speaker 4: They've seen a little bit of time there. 00:22:34 Speaker 3: Um, But quite a few of them are upper minors guys or close to the upper minors guys or players that are in mid-minors, high A, double A, that are in an organization with another really talented shortstop. So they're already kind of playing third base and getting some reps there. 00:22:54 Speaker 4: It's a really good group. So there's a lot of names in here. 00:22:57 Speaker 3: Jesus Baez is another one that I think has a realistic shot of potentially even being with the Cardinals in the first half of the season, being a productive player for him, for them, maybe takes a little bit of a hit in OBP leagues because of how he hits, but there's power batting average potential here. 00:23:16 Speaker 4: And could be, could be an exciting one. It's a, it's a really good. 00:23:19 Speaker 1: I mean, I think the thing that I, uh, that kind of sold me on bias, like I I've been low, I've been like too low on him for a while. Um, but the thing that really kind of sold me on bias is just the defense, like the fact that he will be able to provide some value on that side of the ball, uh, at third base, um, you know, would probably be the best spot, but like, I, I worry, like if he had been more kind of a, you know, a slight negative defensively or something like that, like, I don't think the approach necessarily plays, but I like the fact that, um, you think he can at least add some value at third base. Um, another guy that I just wanted to highlight really quick, um, that does not get much coverage is, uh, Dean Curley, uh, with the guardians, um, just really, really intriguing, uh, stuff like 93 and a half, uh, average EV, um, one Oh

six and a half EV 90, uh, 16% chase rate for Curley hit, you know, 35% of balls on the ground. So he, you know, he was a little old for, for high at 22, but there's, there's some passivity maybe in his game, but I just, I'm really intrigued by how hard he hits the ball on the swing decisions with Curley. 00:24:37 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:24:37 Speaker 3: It'll be interesting to see if the numbers can turn into, you know, good production in the upper minors because under the hood, he looks great. 00:24:45 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. 00:24:45 Speaker 1: All right. Let's head to another break. When we come back, we'll talk about the top of the second base rankings. 00:24:55 Speaker 6: AJ, do you like to do your holiday shopping early? 00:24:58 Speaker 5: I'm a last minute guy, Scott, but you know what? I always want to make people happy and mint mobile. 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Availability, speed, and coverage varies. 00:25:53 Speaker 6: Cmentmobile.com. 00:25:55 Speaker 1: All right, back with Jeff Ponce. We covered third base in the first half of the pod. Now the top 40 second baseman for Dynasty Leagues. Jeff, the top three, at least for me, felt pretty easy. Fernando Tatis, who I, you know, I think of him more as an outfielder than a second baseman, but it's more fun to have him at the top of the second base rankings than, you know, third or fourth on. 00:26:19 Speaker 2: The outfield rankings. 00:26:20 Speaker 1: Uh, and then JJ Weatherholtz, uh, over Bryce Terang, who I have third, you know, basically just kind of the age difference there is why I've got Weatherholtz over Terang. Um, I went with Jazz Chisholm at four, but like, I also felt that it kind of opened up a little bit here. Chisholm, a free agent, um, but I just didn't, you know, Luke Keishel could tell Marte, maybe Marte just because he's the best. 00:26:45 Speaker 2: For, uh, 2027. But, um, what did you think about that? 00:26:50 Speaker 1: That sort of top of, of the second base rankings and how it sort of, uh, at least in my mind kind of gets murky after drink. 00:26:58 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it does. Like it's a pretty clear top three. 00:27:03 Speaker 3: Um, no, I mean, to tease is exciting, but it's not the most exciting group. No fantasy, at least like whether Halton, Bryce Terang, or guys that like you want on your fantasy team. 00:27:14 Speaker 4: I'm not saying that, but you know, there's, there's. 00:27:16 Speaker 3: No like really loud superstar top 20 type of guy really teases. 00:27:24 Speaker 4: That is kind of it. 00:27:27 Speaker 3: I thought it was funny, kind of like just seeing the rankings out in social media and not everybody realizes what dynasty rankings mean. people got really mad about the jazz chisholm stuff. I found it funny because like, I understand where you'd be coming from, from like a real life perspective, but he's a year removed from a 30, 30 year. He's still 41 bags this year, still had 19 home runs. Like that is an incredibly productive player for fantasy. So some of the stuff that, you know, might bother you about him being on your actual team, you should be able to remove that and realize that there's, there's enough production here and he's not slowing down. He's still running at quite a high rate. And I think that some of the power will probably get recovered this year, you know? So it will see, it will see. I mean, he's, he's been in the lineup consistently. I don't think he's going to end up back in New York, but we'll see where it goes. 00:28:26 Speaker 1: Yeah, it would, it would just be tough for me to get fired up about anything after that top three. Like, um, it's just, you know, like what, who are the guys that are so great that need to be like pushed up there? 00:28:37 Speaker 2: Um, yeah, yeah. 00:28:38 Speaker 1: Like I, I would have no issue having jazz at like seven or eight or something, but, uh, like Luke Keisha, you know, the power it's, it's still debatable to me. He had a real hot run, uh, to close the year. Um, His defense has been weirdly just bad, it seems, at both second base, center field, right field. The twins have a bunch of similar guys. I assume Kieschel's going to play, but just would like him to be a better defender. Marte, he's a 33-year-old second baseman, but still I expect him to be great in the four categories when he's healthy. 00:29:22 Speaker 2: Bazana. 00:29:25 Speaker 1: You know, he's, he's struggled quite a bit against same handed pitching, but I do think he'll play. 00:29:32 Speaker 2: I love Tate South. 00:29:33 Speaker 1: And honestly, like South of scenes, the guy I like the most after the top three, but I think that would have just been ridiculous to put him fourth. 00:29:40 Speaker 2: Uh, over these guys. 00:29:41 Speaker 1: But, um, yeah, I, I don't, I don't have any issue with someone saying they want any of those guys at four. 00:29:46 Speaker 2: Really? 00:29:46 Speaker 6: Yeah. 00:29:47 Speaker 3: I think I, I think I would have Bizana maybe like five. I'm also like, I'm a Stan, right? Like I, I love Travis. That's my guy. But you know, I think

like just realistically to, um, there's enough power speed combination there. I think there's more upside just in terms of batting average as well on base percentage will continue to be good. Maybe there's some question with like second base defense and yeah, he struggled against lefties, but you know, first run of the majors, I do think he's a guy that improves each off season and kind of can take on challenges. You know, he's going to put in the work to adjust. Um, and they're going to give them run. They believe in them and I'll have a good lineup spot. So I think there's some upside with Bizana for, you know, like a potential 20 home run, 20 plus steel season could be like 20 homers, 25 to 30 steals with like a two 60 batting average and pretty good counting stats. 00:30:47 Speaker 4: So, um, I do like him. I'm, I'm not, I'm not, uh, I'm not moving off of the Bizana thing. 00:30:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is definitely the opposite of third base, where, like, I wanted to put all those guys third, and I just, like, didn't know who to put third, whereas, like, I didn't want to put any of these guys fourth, but I had to put someone fourth. So, you know, I just want to quickly say Brandon Lau, like, he's so hard to rank. Like, he's probably the second best power hitter on these rankings. 00:31:19 Speaker 4: He had a great year, too. 00:31:21 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Like, you. 00:31:23 Speaker 1: You might be able to just say, I want Brandon Lau fourth because he's going to hit 30 bombs and none of these other guys are going to hit 30 bombs. 00:31:32 Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's interesting. So, yeah, I do want to, like, third. 00:31:37 Speaker 1: Base has way more prospects I like than second base. But I think the top second base prospects are guys that I would be trying to buy this offseason, whereas I think you probably missed the boat on trying to buy Aiden Miller or Caleb Bonhamer. Um, but like, I think I'm still probably, you know, as high as anyone on Tate South, the scene, uh, saw him briefly in the AFL, uh, thought he looked great. And I just, I think he's going to steal 30 bases and hit 20 homers and not kill your ratios. And that's going to be great in fantasy and Mitch Boyd. I kind of think it's going to be about the same. Um, like I just, I love, I love that both of these guys can really, really hit, um, or at least like, I think they, They're going to put the ball in play enough and make good enough swing decisions to be neutral at least and maybe better than neutral in the ratios. 00:32:31 Speaker 2: And then just the way Voight finished the season. 00:32:34 Speaker 1: I'm intrigued by him kind of finding this next level after getting further removed from being a two-way player. And they're both just going to steal a bunch of bases, which in the end at second base– You're dreaming of a guy that's hitting 20-plus homers with good ratios with the speed, but I really think you kind of need the speed. It's such a key part of the fantasy value

at that position. I'm buying high on South the Scene and Voight this offseason just because I view them higher than I think most people. 00:33:10 Speaker 3: I like South the Scene. I think we'll see where the power goes with Voight. just in games. Like I think he over, I don't know. I wonder like what the, the, the power ceiling is there. I think he's going to hit a ton. I think he's going to be great in on base percentage leagues. I think he's going to steal some bases. 00:33:34 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:33:35 Speaker 3: A good player, but yeah, when you start to look at some of these third base prospects versus a guy like Boyd, I think you're, you're certainly more excited. The one that I find really interesting is 14 is chase my draw. And I think it, kind of hammers home your point about stealing bases. If I could bank on chase by draw 15 to 20 bases, somewhere in that range, high teens, low twenties, I feel like he'd be in the top five, right? Like there was some significant growth in terms of quality of contact in the second half last year. 00:34:06 Speaker 4: He's always been a good hitter. He's always made contact. 00:34:08 Speaker 3: He's always walked at pretty high rates dating back when he was in the minor leagues. That hasn't necessarily been the case in the majors, but I think the style of hitting has been a little different. if he could run and he's just not, I mean, he's just physically not a runner, right? He's not very, no, he's not super twitchy. It's just not what his game is. He's an incredibly skilled baseball player. And that's kind of what drives his production. I think will for a long time, if he could run a little bit, man, I think you'd be talking about much, a lot more runs, et cetera. 00:34:40 Speaker 6: Yeah. 00:34:40 Speaker 4: I think that's ultimately what sinks him. 00:34:43 Speaker 3: And it makes sense why you have, some of the guys like the prospects, et cetera, that you do in front of them, because there's just more upside for, you know, a reasonable power season with good counting stats and good, you know, average and, and on base percentage. But those guys are all probably going to steal 15 plus bags. So that's kind of what the big difference is or hit 30 home runs like, like Brandon. 00:35:08 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:35:08 Speaker 1: I feel like I like my draft as much as I can. Um, Now, Jackson Holiday, Jeff, he remains, to me, one of the toughest players to rank. And it's just because of his pedigree. And I don't think I've ever had anyone ranked number one for as long as I had Holiday ranked number one and had them not pay it off. 00:35:31 Speaker 2: And so it's just kind. 00:35:32 Speaker 1: Of like, but I don't really see anything that tells me it's going to get much better than it's been. So I just kind of put him at 12. but I didn't feel comfortable putting him anywhere really. Do you have any thoughts on holiday? 00:35:50 Speaker 3: Yeah, man, this is another one where it's just like, it's just not loud. 00:35:56 Speaker 4: And, and, you know, I think. 00:35:58 Speaker 3: We had hoped that he would grow into more power initially because he was our number one prospect as well. 00:36:06 Speaker 6: Right. 00:36:08 Speaker 4: And he flashed a little bit of that in 25 where, you. 00:36:12 Speaker 3: Know, went 17, 17. 00:36:14 Speaker 4: Still wasn't a great offensive season, but I think it was like. 00:36:17 Speaker 5: All right. 00:36:18 Speaker 3: Like there was growth in year two, first full season to put up numbers like that makes you feel a little bit better dealt with. 00:36:24 Speaker 4: Some injuries this year. 00:36:25 Speaker 3: So I don't know, you know, and, and it was a, what left wrist surgery that he had that ended his season. Right. 00:36:34 Speaker 2: Or yeah. Yep. 00:36:35 Speaker 4: Was it wrist or hand? 00:36:36 Speaker 2: It was a, it was hand to start the season. 00:36:39 Speaker 4: Oh, and then it was risk later on where he had the surgery. 00:36:41 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:36:41 Speaker 4: I'm looking at fan graphs at nine 23. 00:36:44 Speaker 2: It was reported. 00:36:44 Speaker 3: So, I mean, hand and wrist stuff, that's going to sap a little bit of power. So maybe we still haven't seen that first full season. The other part of it is he's still 22 years old. Like he's a month away, literally like a month away from turning 23. 00:37:01 Speaker 4: He's younger than some of these. 00:37:02 Speaker 3: Prospects that we like. So I do think that we got to put that into perspective. And there was a rot and just general stink around the Orioles the last two years. Maybe they can make some changes. Maybe some things will look different. I have no idea if it will or not, if we. 00:37:18 Speaker 4: Can bank on that. 00:37:18 Speaker 3: But it wouldn't shock me if there's a bounce back. I do think there's potential upside here with Holiday. And I don't want to write off the pedigree. 00:37:27 Speaker 4: Like you said. I think he's a good hitter. I think he can run. 00:37:30 Speaker 3: It's always been the power question to me, but even 17 home run seasons, if he can steal bases and hit the way we thought he was going to hit, that's perfectly fine. 00:37:39 Speaker 4: That's acceptable because the other staff should fall in place. 00:37:42 Speaker 3: So yeah, I, he is one of those guys where I'm kind of glad he's not a prospect. 00:37:48 Speaker 2: Thank God. 00:37:49 Speaker 1: Yeah. Glad you don't have to do the dance dynasty rankings anymore. Pedro Ramirez of the Cubs. I mean, he had such a sneaky, good rookie season. Uh, I think he's just a little undervalued because he's not prospect eligible anymore. And because he wasn't, you know, playing regularly enough as a rookie to really kind of catch people's attention, unless you had him on a team, um, you took him in our graduated rookie draft. Uh, how well do you think Ramirez can, can do in year two? 00:38:23 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:38:24 Speaker 4: You know, I think it's one of these things

where, you know, at the end of the day, um, It. 00:38:30 Speaker 3: Gets a little murky with rookies or drafts like that. Buy the skills. Buy the guy that has shown some skills. There was a big skill jump last year. The production was excellent in AAA. It was pretty good in the majors, I think, especially once he started to adjust. 00:38:49 Speaker 2: I think the. 00:38:50 Speaker 3: Power stuff will grow and get a little bit better with time. 00:38:55 Speaker 4: But I like the hitter. 00:38:57 Speaker 3: I like the underlying skills. I think the swing decisions will probably also improve a little bit, but a lot of contact, not a lot of swing and miss. There is some hard contact there. There's some ability to steal bases historically as well. 00:39:13 Speaker 4: You know, yeah, it was nine, nine and 10 last year in the major. 00:39:17 Speaker 3: So I think that there's upside here that this is another guy that you could write up as a breakout type of player that, you know next year if he gets enough run ramirez you know could be a guy that i think he's probably if i was matt shaw i'd be a little nervous because i think i was can can do more than he can at the same position so i kind of wonder. 00:39:43 Speaker 1: About that yeah you gotta you gotta be hoping that they find room for both of you i think if you're matt shaw yeah um Cause if, you know, maybe they both have to play outfield then basically, and with some DH mixed in, um, and, uh, Ramirez is the youngest player in the top 20 with big league experience, even younger than holiday. 00:40:05 Speaker 2: So, um, I think, you know, I. 00:40:08 Speaker 1: Think he could go, like, I think he's basically going to give you the same fantasy stats as holiday. 00:40:14 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:40:15 Speaker 2: Could be better. Yeah. It'd be better. Um, Yeah. 00:40:19 Speaker 1: And the other thing about Ramirez, like, like you said, his, his run at AAA, like go back. 00:40:24 Speaker 2: And look at that. 00:40:25 Speaker 1: Like it was dominant at AAA. So like the swing decisions, like you mentioned, I think those will get better. Jeff, I feel like I just, I'm too low on Michael Arroyo just because people keep telling me I'm too, too low on Michael Arroyo. Like, I just, I don't love the way he fits his home park. And I just, worry about the guys where it's sort of second or left field, but they're not good defenders at either spot. 00:40:51 Speaker 2: They don't have like huge power. So like, where are you at on Arroyo? 00:40:57 Speaker 3: It's the Willie Calhoun profile. I feel like I learned this lesson with Willie Calhoun and I've just faded these guys for years. 00:41:05 Speaker 2: It's funny. 00:41:06 Speaker 3: Like I was thinking back, it was the, the earth drafts. I did the nerf for a few years and, And I was sitting there at the table because we did a live draft, and they were asking me about Tamar Johnson. 00:41:20 Speaker 4: Somebody there loved Tamar Johnson. 00:41:21 Speaker 3: They referred

to him as Willie Calhoun with a better marketing team. And ultimately, that's what these guys are. And I think that's what Arroyo is, too. 00:41:32 Speaker 4: It's like a Willie Calhoun profile. Calhoun, if you go back, I mean, he mashed in the minor leagues. I totally bought into it. I think we all did. 00:41:40 Speaker 3: We had him ranked as like a highly ranked, you know, dynasty prospect. He looked good for a little bit. And then it just, he never had a position could never figure it out. 00:41:51 Speaker 4: And you really got a hit. If you're a guy like that, like you. 00:41:54 Speaker 3: Have to be one of the best hitters in the big leagues, frankly, to kind of survive with zero defensive value and clog up a DH spot, you know? it's just so hard to be that profile and make it. And that's what my concern is with Arroyo. He's a really good hitter. If he was, you know, a 45 in, you know, right field or second base, I think he would have been in the big leagues and saw a lot of run and been really good, you know? 00:42:27 Speaker 4: But I just don't know if he's ever going to get that run. 00:42:29 Speaker 3: And I feel like eventually what happens is, you have to put time toward improving as a defender at that level. And it takes some time away from the adjustments that you need to make as a hitter. And I think eventually you, you sort of sink it's guys have made this work before. So I'm not going to say it's a, a no, but it's kind of the thing that worries the heck out of me when it comes to a Royal. Cause I just don't know that he's going to be good enough defensively to play a position that it's not going to bleed into. 00:43:03 Speaker 4: You know, his bat. 00:43:04 Speaker 1: Yeah. I, I got off Calhoun a little early and I, I think that's kind of fortified my position on those types of players where just, it's kind of like, yeah, like you have to just really, really buy into them being just kind of this, this elite offensive producer. 00:43:23 Speaker 2: So yeah, I guess, you know, Arroyo, is he going to be in my fade section of tomorrow's article? 00:43:32 Speaker 1: We'll see. I, I, I think I still am fairly low on him. I it's, it's partly the park. It's partly just the tweener profile, but you know, he's a good hitter. So I, I found a few sleepers, I think in this at this position, Jeff, in the second half, how you leave with the, the tigers like he might be there, their fourth best hitter, fifth best hitter. And they've got like, so many of these guys where they're below average defenders pretty much everywhere. And it's like, how are we going to find time for this guy? And I think Lee just being maybe the best hitter of those guys, like better than Colt Keith. I think he's a better player than Max Anderson. I just was really impressed with how you lead it. And another guy where what he did at triple a before his promotion, it was a tiny sample, but just, he was, so, so pristine under the hood at AAA before his promotion. Um, so I think people maybe are sleeping a little on, uh, on how you leave and just how productive he could be next year. And then, uh, Connor Norby with the, the Rockies, um, on his third organization now, but, uh, he was, was really good with the Rockies as, as, uh, as you can be. Um, and I could just, I could see the Rockies just giving him, more playing time than people are expecting in 2027 and you know there's there could be like a 2010 season in there for norby just just partly because of the course factor uh any thoughts on those guys or any other second baseman you want to shout out. 00:45:10 Speaker 3: Do you want to correct myself i forgot that michael arroyo did get up to the big leagues and was. 00:45:14 Speaker 4: Really good. 00:45:17 Speaker 2: Oh, I, yeah. 00:45:18 Speaker 1: I mean, he, I thought you were going to say like he would have gotten up earlier in the season, but. 00:45:22 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I think he probably would have gotten up earlier in the season. I totally forgot that he, he was, he was there after, you know, your final 15 games of the year or whatever. I like how you, I think that's a good call out and he's one of those guys that like under the hood, the stuff has looked really good for a while. 00:45:38 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:45:41 Speaker 3: It's just, it's not a great ballpark and you know, you just got to wonder, how does he fit into, you know, their lineup every day? But I think he's a good call. I think he's a good sleeper. I also think now is pretty interesting. I think, um, has more offensive upside than like Rokio and some of these other guys that have been in the mix for them for a while could play all over the infield and potentially have a bunch of eligibility. Um, and you know, the, the, the plate skills and power has always been there. 00:46:12 Speaker 4: And we've had them as a top 50 prospect for a long time. And, uh, I think there's upside with him now as well. 00:46:18 Speaker 2: Yeah. Great call. 00:46:20 Speaker 1: All right, Jeff, let's end the question or end the show with a question about a couple Braves hitters who have been near the top of the second base and third base rankings for, for quite a while. I came away from both of these without much hope for Austin Riley or Ozzie Albee's uh, to be more than just kind of counting stat compilers with shaky ratios for however much longer they get to play every day. Um, like I just, I, if I have those guys in dynasty, I, I feel like I might've missed my window to, to cash them out. Um, is there any, any, uh, reason for optimism with, with Riley or Albies going forward? 00:47:07 Speaker 4: I don't think so. 00:47:08 Speaker 3: Um, I think with both of these guys, like I tried to buy back in on Riley last year and I did too. 00:47:14 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:47:15 Speaker 3: I just, I can't do it anymore. I just think it's lost. And I think the same, I think in some ways Albie's just kind of got figured out and he is what he is. Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm kind of done with buying into the baby Braves resurgence. It just, it hasn't happened. And I even think to an extent Acuna is not the same guy that he was. Right. 00:47:36 Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm with you. Um, Acuna is someone that I. 00:47:43 Speaker 1: Just the price, like, uh, like I, I guarantee I'll tell you Acuna's ADP. 00:47:48 Speaker 2: Right now and you'll be amazed. 00:47:50 Speaker 1: Um, his, yeah, his ADP is like 19 right now. Like he's still getting taken in the top 20. Um, like I, that's just, I can't do that. Um, you know, Jackson Merrill's going later in him, uh, Corbin Carroll, Julio Rodriguez, I think all three of those guys. Um, but yeah, I got, I think, I bought low on him, uh, or I thought I was buying low on him. I was the sucker in that trade this past year. 00:48:26 Speaker 2: Uh, and then. 00:48:27 Speaker 1: Ozzy Albies, I was able to cash him out. Um, uh, you know, and I traded Albies and Hayden Alvarez for, uh, Curtis Mead and, um, chase my draft in a league. So, um, got, got two second baseman better than Albies in that deal, but, uh, his second half was just so, uh, so rotten. 00:48:49 Speaker 2: Um, like he's always been a bad OBP guy, Albies. 00:48:53 Speaker 1: And like, I just think he's going to be kind of a bad batting average guy now too. So, Really just getting him for the homers and the runs in the RBI that he gets from playing every day. That will do it for us on third baseman for Dynasty and second baseman for Dynasty. 00:49:10 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.