Full Transcript for Dynasty Baseball Pickups: Ep 159 - Year End Recommendation Review Pt. 2

right. 39 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:48.920 We'll get into a quick note on our listener league here. 40 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:53.719 The championship was handed out last weekend within a matter 41 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:57.599 of hours of us recording and, The Portland Mavericks defeated 42 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:02.299 me quite handily, frankly, in the final. Congratulations to Kyle Bennett, 43 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:05.019 who runs that team. And I think I speak for 44 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.359 everybody in the league when I say that we are 45 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.199 coming for that crown next year. So you better make 46 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:11.219 sure that your team is. 47 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:12.060 Ready to go again. 48 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:15.689 But speaking of next year, that is what we on 49 00:02:15.729 --> 00:02:18.550 this podcast are all looking forward to in terms of 50 00:02:18.650 --> 00:02:22.530 our real-life teams. Because neither the Jays or the Giants 51 00:02:22.689 --> 00:02:24.870 made the playoffs this season. So I'm going to stick... 52 00:02:25.030 --> 00:02:28.069 with you first on this one, Raj. What went wrong 53 00:02:28.150 --> 00:02:30.830 for the Jays, and do you like their chances of 54 00:02:30.909 --> 00:02:32.650 returning to the playoffs next year? 55 00:02:34.110 --> 00:02:35.610 I think it was just a matter of, there's a 56 00:02:35.629 --> 00:02:37.400 couple of things, but I think, first of all, I 57 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.759 think it's just the pressure of trying to get back 58 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:41.280 to the World Series, trying to win the World Series. 59 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:45.060 That was just too much for them. Especially because in 60 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.979 past years, I feel whenever this iteration of the Jays 61 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.419 team had expectations, they usually fell short. But in 2025, 62 00:02:51.419 --> 00:02:55.370 there wasn't any damage expectations because 20-4, they're coming off 63 00:02:55.409 --> 00:02:58.129 a pretty bad year. You're hoping for maybe a wildcard 64 00:02:58.229 --> 00:03:00.889 spot at best, but the Jays end up being the 65 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:02.990 best team in the AL Day ritual series and got 66 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:06.199 pretty close to the Dodgers. And I think that's the 67 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.699 main thing, but also it's just a matter of a 68 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:12.379 lot of the guys on that 20-25 team were overperforming 69 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:14.939 and they regressed. Like Ernie Clement, a very big good 70 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:18.419 example that Vladdy also underperformed. And I think another part 71 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:21.750 is that because a lot of these players played in 72 00:03:21.770 --> 00:03:25.539 the WBC, I don't want to blame the WPCC on everything, 73 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.710 but because they reached World Series, played seven games and 74 00:03:28.750 --> 00:03:32.090

also seven games in ALCS. Then they had a very 75 00:03:32.110 --> 00:03:36.009 short off season from the World Series to WBC where 76 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:39.280 it was a high intensity environment. And it was just 77 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:41.680 so much intensity in such a short time that you'll 78 00:03:41.699 --> 00:03:46.479 think the team ever truly recovered and had a, was 79 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:47.860 able to settle down. Yeah. 80 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:48.199 Yeah. 81 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:50.460 I certainly don't disagree with you on any of that. 82 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.409 The good news is they've got plenty of time to 83 00:03:53.469 --> 00:03:56.479 rest and recover this offseason. So hopefully they get things 84 00:03:56.539 --> 00:03:59.919 right heading into next year, whenever the start of that 85 00:03:59.979 --> 00:04:03.280 season may be. Taylor, same question for you, though. What 86 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:06.020 went wrong with the Giants this year? And do you 87 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.300 think they will be making a push for the playoffs 88 00:04:08.539 --> 00:04:09.259 next season? 89 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:14.219 I hope so. What went wrong is the pitching. 90 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.639 Primarily the relief pitching was really bad. Our new manager 91 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:21.269 had a lot of issues. It just seemed like from 92 00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:23.970 day one, the team was off. There were a lot 93 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:27.509 of injuries, a lot of guys declining. There were some 94 00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:31.720 bright spots. We got Bryce Eldridge up. Bo Davidson is up. Obviously, 95 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:36.120 our farm system now is stacked. But I think it 96 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:37.540 comes a lot to what are the Giants going to 97 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:39.399 do this offseason? I think they're going to invest pretty 98 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.639 heavily in pitching, which they really skimped on a year ago. 99 00:04:42.670 --> 00:04:45.569 I think there are some exciting breakouts that we had 100 00:04:45.589 --> 00:04:47.449 this year with Casey Schmidt and everything. So I think 101 00:04:47.569 --> 00:04:50.199 our lineup, could actually be pretty darn good next year 102 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:52.420 but we really need to invest in pitching I think 103 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:56.100 if we do yes we can potentially make the postseason. 104 00:04:56.600 --> 00:04:59.009 Hopefully next year is a better season for both of 105 00:04:59.110 --> 00:05:01.949 our teams Taylor you noted Bo Davidson there we're going 106 00:05:01.970 --> 00:05:04.550 to get into his big league debut at the end 107 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:07.709 of our conversation regarding the news and notes from baseball 108 00:05:07.750 --> 00:05:10.310 this week a few other topics we're going to discuss 109 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:14.639 include some front office and managerial extensions we're We've got 110 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.290 the final start in the career of a baseball legend. 111 00:05:18.350 --> 00:05:22.089 We've got some injuries, some DFAs, demotions. And then we'll 112 00:05:22.129 --> 00:05:25.689 talk about Bo Davidson before getting into our main discussion, 113 00:05:26.050 --> 00:05:30.470 which are the or will surround the grades for the 114 00:05:30.629 --> 00:05:34.939 second half of the 2026 season recommendations that we made 115 00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:37.209 this year. Before we get to any of that, I 116 00:05:37.250 --> 00:05:39.889 want to remind everyone about all of the incredible offerings 117 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:43.519 we have here at PLive. That includes the PLive rankings tool, 118 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:47.319 which houses our live prospect and dynasty rankings, as well 119 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:51.060 as our open universe rankings and PLive Plus. There's also 120 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:55.319 the PLive manager tool, which includes the league and roster analyzers, 121 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:59.160 as well as Hobby Plus, PLive playing time, the daily sheets, 122 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:02.120 the draft planner, the PLive box score tool, and the 123 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:05.610 ability to sync your leagues directly into the site for 124 00:06:05.629 --> 00:06:09.470 the best insights on all of your dynasty teams. And 125 00:06:09.629 --> 00:06:11.930 right up until the end of the year here this week, 126 00:06:12.029 --> 00:06:15.149 our dynasty team has continued to roll out content every 127 00:06:15.250 --> 00:06:17.980 single day of the week. That includes three up, three 128 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:21.240 down articles from Tom Gates, dynasty diplomas from Lucas Morrell, 129 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:25.459 expected edge from PJ Benicillo, P-Live plus and minus deep 130 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:27.139 sea diving from Charles Trimble. 131 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:28.360 We've got Raj. 132 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:32.420 Mehta's midweek dynasty pickups articles, my weekend dynasty pickups articles, 133 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:37.120 David Goffman's lineup card articles, Ray Coons, various fab driven articles. 134 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:39.750 We've got in the spotlight in the shadows from Breck 135 00:06:39.790 --> 00:06:42.829 Wiedemann and a variety of articles from Trevor, who I 136 00:06:42.850 --> 00:06:44.449 just want to give a shout out to all of 137 00:06:44.529 --> 00:06:47.730 my fellow dynasty team members who have been pumping out 138 00:06:47.769 --> 00:06:51.769 the content and quality content at that every single week 139 00:06:51.949 --> 00:06:55.860 this season on the pro scouting side of things. We 140 00:06:55.899 --> 00:06:59.139 got a new under the hood article from Brandon as 141 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.209 he dove into the profile of Brad Pacheco and And 142 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:05.569 Billy McMahon gave us a live looks article after sitting 143 00:07:05.610 --> 00:07:08.250 in on a game between San Jose and

Lake Elsinore 144 00:07:08.389 --> 00:07:10.839 earlier in the month. So check that one out if 145 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.180 you're interested in some insights on players like Joshua Gonzalez, 146 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:18.660 Lan Hong Su, and more. On the podcast front, Andrew 147 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:21.610 Parker dropped a number of interviews this past week with 148 00:07:21.709 --> 00:07:25.589 a bunch of pitching prospects for his podcast, To The Show. 149 00:07:26.009 --> 00:07:29.529 That includes interviews with Brady Parker of the Rockies, Jager 150 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:32.560 Beck of the Astros, Wiley Maddox of the Nationals, and 151 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.060 Max Banks of the White Sox. The ProSide pod goes 152 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.620 live every Monday, so be sure to tune in to 153 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:41.040 that one as the guys discuss everything going on in 154 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:44.389 the baseball world. And on the P-Live Dynasty pod, Greg 155 00:07:44.430 --> 00:07:47.930 Kugkamp was joined by Lucas Morel, Breck Wiedemann, and Raj 156 00:07:47.990 --> 00:07:50.589 Mehta to discuss the AFL by having a little bit 157 00:07:50.689 --> 00:07:53.620 of a draft, so an interesting podcast. episode there as 158 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:56.279 we prepare for the Arizona Fall League. But as you 159 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:58.839 can tell, there is a ton of incredible work being 160 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:01.639 done up and down Key Live. Whether you like to 161 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:04.689 read articles or listen to podcasts to consume your content, 162 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:07.870 whether you are into fantasy baseball, real life scouting, the 163 00:08:07.949 --> 00:08:10.709 amateur side of things, card collecting, you name it, we 164 00:08:10.750 --> 00:08:13.490 have something for every kind of baseball fan. And it 165 00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:16.870 is all available at FullSpectsLive.com for as little as just 166 00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:20.589 $ 7 per month. If you enjoy our podcast, please rate 167 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:23.569 and review us. We really appreciate the support. And please 168 00:08:23.629 --> 00:08:25.569 give us a follow as well. You can find me 169 00:08:25.670 --> 00:08:29.009 at Sonny underscore 108 on X and Sonny 108 on 170 00:08:29.050 --> 00:08:32.250 Blue Sky. You can find Taylor at Dynasty Pickups on both. 171 00:08:32.669 --> 00:08:34.049 You can also get a hold of us with all 172 00:08:34.110 --> 00:08:39.399 of your Dynasty Baseball questions at DynastyBaseballPickups at gmail.com. Let's 173 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:41.840 get into the news and notes here. Let's get into 174 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.259 everything going on over this past and final week of 175 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:48.350 the regular season in the MLB. And let's start with 176 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:50.570 the Boston Red Sox, who have decided to pick up 177 00:08:50.730 --> 00:08:56.100 the 2029 and 2030 options for Craig

Breslow and remove 178 00:08:56.139 --> 00:08:59.759 the interim tag from manager Chad Tracy, as they have 179 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.120 extended him for three years. And we're going to lump 180 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:04.399 the Mets in here as well, because they have also 181 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:07.990 removed the interim tag for manager Andy Green and extended 182 00:09:08.090 --> 00:09:11.169 him for three years. So Raj, we've got a couple 183 00:09:11.210 --> 00:09:15.250 of organizations making some pretty high up decisions with their 184 00:09:15.289 --> 00:09:18.179 managers and with their front office presences. What do you 185 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:20.559 think about these moves for the Red Sox and for 186 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:23.970 the Mets? And does it maybe help your confidence in 187 00:09:24.149 --> 00:09:29.110 either organization and how that can affect our dynasty players sometimes? 188 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:32.070 Because as we know, especially the front office and how 189 00:09:32.129 --> 00:09:35.789 they operate can really affect things from a fantasy standpoint. 190 00:09:37.029 --> 00:09:39.649 Yeah, so the Craig Bessel thing was pretty interesting because 191 00:09:39.669 --> 00:09:41.009 you remember at the start of the year and early 192 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.080 on in the year, a lot of people wanted him 193 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.379 to be fired and fired. Because of how bad they 194 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.259 were at the start of the year, they fired Cora, 195 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:50.870 even though Cora was like this longtime manager for Red Sox. 196 00:09:51.649 --> 00:09:53.929 And he was pretty well respected by the team as well. 197 00:09:53.990 --> 00:09:56.970 But Chad Trace has really done well since he stepped in. 198 00:09:57.049 --> 00:09:59.269 I know the first month or so of his tenure 199 00:09:59.850 --> 00:10:03.440 was as great, but then that 3-2-5 run has really 200 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:06.100 propelled them into a clear position. And I think as 201 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:09.059 long as you're winning here, people are going to be 202 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:12.669 in good graces with you. And the thing about Craig Breslow, 203 00:10:12.889 --> 00:10:15.769 I know that he had a lot of very weird moves. 204 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:18.549 Even at the deadline, I remember they traded Conley earlier 205 00:10:18.590 --> 00:10:21.269 for Curtis Meade. I was pretty Head scratching at the time. 206 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:24.169 I know Curtis Meade has been good this year, but he, 207 00:10:24.590 --> 00:10:26.470 it hasn't really worked well because Chris Meade went on 208 00:10:26.490 --> 00:10:30.019 the aisle almost immediately. So the thing about Breslow, and 209 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.720 I want to get your guys' thoughts on this, is 210 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:36.159 that Craig Breslow, the way he operates just reminds me 211 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:39.279 a lot of AJ Prowler,

is that he gets a 212 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.200 ton of prospects, but he doesn't really care about the prospects, 213 00:10:41.220 --> 00:10:43.740 he's just trading them away for whatever, just trying to 214 00:10:43.779 --> 00:10:47.259 win now whenever he can. The Ali Oshman deal, for example, 215 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:49.570 they He is arguably one of the best catchers in 216 00:10:49.590 --> 00:10:51.730 baseball right now, but they trade a ton to get him. 217 00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:54.289 Anthony Ionson has been one of the best pitching prospects 218 00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:58.190 in baseball, plus Andy Azekar, Kirsten Weatherspoon, plus some more 219 00:10:58.210 --> 00:11:00.250 guys I'm forgetting. So I'm interested to see how you 220 00:11:00.389 --> 00:11:05.470 feel about Breslau. I believe he's the chief baseball officer, 221 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:07.409 so I'm interested to see what you think about him. 222 00:11:08.169 --> 00:11:11.149 Yeah, I think he's similar to an A.J. Preller in 223 00:11:11.190 --> 00:11:14.809 that he's certainly more of a go-all-in type than a 224 00:11:14.970 --> 00:11:20.309 hoarding resources type. But I do think that the Padres 225 00:11:20.409 --> 00:11:23.429 and Preller are certainly a more extreme version of what 226 00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:30.940 Breslow is doing with the Red Sox. Anything that you'd 227 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:33.659 like to add, Raj, on Andy Green as well before 228 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:34.279 we move on? 229 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.159 I just thought it was interesting that for most of 230 00:11:38.250 --> 00:11:40.090 the year, Andy Green was saying, oh, I don't really 231 00:11:40.129 --> 00:11:42.230 want to be the manager. I just want to go 232 00:11:42.269 --> 00:11:43.809 back to front office after this year. So it was 233 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:46.759 interesting to see them. extend them. Cause I think also 234 00:11:46.779 --> 00:11:48.679 the front office said they were going to be looking 235 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:51.389 elsewhere for a manager. So it was a came as 236 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:54.330 a surprise when that happened, but I liked the Mets 237 00:11:55.149 --> 00:11:57.509 having him. He's been a pretty good manager for him 238 00:11:57.610 --> 00:11:57.970 thus far. 239 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:00.529 I think it's safe to say that the Mets have 240 00:12:00.549 --> 00:12:04.690 made several interesting decisions with their manager spot over the 241 00:12:04.710 --> 00:12:07.620 last few years. We'll see how this one works out 242 00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:10.620 for them. Hopefully for Mets fans, it goes a little 243 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.539 bit better than it has in recent years. but we 244 00:12:13.590 --> 00:12:17.250 are going to move on to a quick discussion regarding 245 00:12:17.309 --> 00:12:21.330 the career and the final start of Justin Verlander. I 246 00:12:21.370 --> 00:12:23.350 don't know if you guys have seen the clips. I 247 00:12:23.389 --> 00:12:25.120 don't know if you tuned into the start at all, 248 00:12:25.509 --> 00:12:29.059 but if you can watch the highlights of Justin Verlander 249 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.500 leaving the game in the sixth inning yesterday and the 250 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:36.240 way that he broke down on the mound and He 251 00:12:36.289 --> 00:12:38.620 saw his daughter running onto the field to get him. 252 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.799 If you don't get emotional watching that, I'm sorry, but 253 00:12:40.820 --> 00:12:43.279 you just don't have a heart. It was an incredible 254 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:47.139 heartfelt moment in what was the final start of an 255 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:51.799 incredible career for Justin Verlander. Taylor, he was briefly a giant. 256 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.799 I don't know that you have a ton of memories 257 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:55.450 from his time as a giant. 258 00:12:55.490 --> 00:12:56.179 It wasn't long. 259 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:58.610 It wasn't at the peak of his career. But I'm 260 00:12:58.649 --> 00:13:01.490 curious if you have any thoughts on Verlander during that time. 261 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:05.509 Yeah, just one of the most dominant pitchers of his time. 262 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:07.889 And he is for sure a Hall of Famer in 263 00:13:07.929 --> 00:13:10.820 my mind. And I don't have a lot of memories 264 00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:13.200 of him as a Giants pitcher, but I do remember 265 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:16.700 facing that team in the World Series and how dominant 266 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.240 he was this year. And I believe that was Pablo 267 00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:23.259 Sandoval going after him and humbling a little bit, if 268 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:26.590 I remember correctly. But yeah, Verlander just at his peak 269 00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:29.850 was so dominant. The guy has pitched forever. Just what 270 00:13:29.870 --> 00:13:31.389 a career. Hats off to him. 271 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:33.899 Absolutely. Incredible career. 272 00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:37.330 Raj, I know you already discussed this earlier in the 273 00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:40.870 week on the P-Live Dynasty pod. I'm curious, now that 274 00:13:40.889 --> 00:13:43.309 we've seen the final start of his career, if you 275 00:13:43.330 --> 00:13:44.679 have anything else you'd like to add. 276 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:48.149 It was nice for them to get the win on 277 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:50.789 his final start, I believe. He did. They were down 2-0, 278 00:13:50.830 --> 00:13:53.080 I believe, when he got taken out. But it was 279 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:55.980 very fun to see him walk off Mason Montgomery, which 280 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:59.279 was very tough to do. But it's nice to see 281 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:02.019 him getting the win. not for any league attackers getting 282 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:03.340 the win in that final start. 283 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:05.600 Yeah, absolutely. 284 00:14:05.659

--> 00:14:07.700 Really good to see the team get the win in 285 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.639 his final start and really good to see him have 286 00:14:09.730 --> 00:14:13.629 a strong final performance. Five and one thirds, six strikeouts. 287 00:14:13.669 --> 00:14:17.230 So really cool to see a strong end to an 288 00:14:17.289 --> 00:14:21.789 incredible career. We might be seeing something similar in Toronto today. 289 00:14:21.850 --> 00:14:24.409 There haven't been any announcements. I don't think Scherzer even 290 00:14:24.429 --> 00:14:26.830 knows what he's going to do. But he is making 291 00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:30.429 at least his final start of this season on short rest. 292 00:14:30.490 --> 00:14:32.730 It's probably not going to be anything deeper than a 293 00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:35.730 few innings, but it'll be interesting to see what we 294 00:14:35.769 --> 00:14:38.360 get out of Scherzer today as well. We're going to 295 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.240 move on to some injuries real quick here. On the 296 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:43.620 hitting side of things, Colt Keith is down with a 297 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.559 thumb injury. Jung-Hoo Lee is dealing with a groin injury. 298 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.879 Bryce Eldridge and Samuel Basayo are dealing with concussions. Dalton 299 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:52.730 Varshow has a wrist injury. 300 00:14:53.169 --> 00:14:53.809 Josh Young. 301 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:57.259 who unfortunately has dealt with a number of injuries throughout 302 00:14:57.299 --> 00:14:59.559 his young career, is back on the I.L. with a 303 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.509 fractured hand. And on the pitching side of things, we've 304 00:15:02.529 --> 00:15:06.009 got a lat injury for Cal Quantrill. Troy Melton is 305 00:15:06.049 --> 00:15:09.090 dealing with arm fatigue. Dylan Cease hit the I.L. with 306 00:15:09.149 --> 00:15:13.309 a shoulder injury. Christian Javier, a groin injury. Luis Castillo 307 00:15:13.350 --> 00:15:17.320 with a shoulder. Clark Schmidt has a biceps injury. Martin Perez, 308 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:21.149 a back injury. Corbin Burns with a shoulder injury. Casey Mize, 309 00:15:21.269 --> 00:15:24.509 an ankle injury. And Blake Trinan with a shoulder injury 310 00:15:24.629 --> 00:15:28.129 as well. Raj, there's nothing we can do about any 311 00:15:28.169 --> 00:15:30.080 of these injuries at this point in the year. It's 312 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:32.679 the final day of the season. We're not acting on 313 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:35.879 anything from a fantasy standpoint. But is there anything here 314 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:39.360 that you maybe have some reason for concern as far 315 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:42.090 as what next season might hold for any of these players? 316 00:15:43.389 --> 00:15:45.129 For me, that's going to be Corbin Burns. And that's 317 00:15:45.149 --> 00:15:47.389 because he just came off the aisle like not too 318 00:15:47.450 --> 00:15:49.580 long ago. And I

believe he was Tommy John. I 319 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.950 just double-checked how many starts he made since then. Yeah, 320 00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:55.590 he only made three starts since coming back, and now 321 00:15:55.629 --> 00:15:57.950 he's back on the eye-over-shoulder thing. I'm not really sure 322 00:15:59.110 --> 00:16:00.870 how long it's going to take him out for. If 323 00:16:00.970 --> 00:16:02.750 it eats into next year, then it's going to be 324 00:16:03.669 --> 00:16:06.779 really tough. We'll have to lock out. Maybe he's fine, 325 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:11.059 but Corbin Burns, like, I'm not sure what to do 326 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:13.179 with him at this point because he's been hurt for 327 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:16.039 a while. He's been declining before then for a while, too. 328 00:16:16.139 --> 00:16:19.639 So maybe... I'm not, I wouldn't exactly call him a sell, 329 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:21.600 but because at this point his value is probably the 330 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:24.000 lowest it's going to be for a while. The lowest 331 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:27.570 it has been for a while, but I'm not keen 332 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:30.809 on buying him either. So I'm not really sure what 333 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:31.269 to do with him. 334 00:16:32.870 --> 00:16:35.269 Yeah, I think I'm with you. Burns is the concerning 335 00:16:35.370 --> 00:16:37.370 one here, but it's probably a spot where you just 336 00:16:37.389 --> 00:16:39.909 have to hold and wait and see what happens. Because 337 00:16:39.929 --> 00:16:42.830 like you said, if you're selling now, you're not going 338 00:16:42.870 --> 00:16:46.159 to get anything for him. And if you're buying, it 339 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:48.929 is far too big of a question mark, in my opinion, 340 00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:51.750 to be giving much of anything up. Certainly anything that 341 00:16:52.149 --> 00:16:54.769 a Corbin Burns owner would actually be willing to move 342 00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:57.169 him for. So at this point, I think you just hold, 343 00:16:57.509 --> 00:17:00.090 you wait, and you see what happens, and you make 344 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:02.789 a decision from there. We're going to quickly move on 345 00:17:02.830 --> 00:17:08.170 to some demotions and DFAs here. The Pirates demoted Camilo Doval. 346 00:17:08.289 --> 00:17:11.150 He was quickly claimed by San Francisco, so a return 347 00:17:11.210 --> 00:17:14.619 for him there. Jesus Sanchez, who was just claimed from 348 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:18.109 the Jays by the Diamondbacks, has now been DFA'd by 349 00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:22.329 the Diamondbacks. And Josue de Paula and Alex Freeland were 350 00:17:22.410 --> 00:17:25.829 demoted to AAA by the Dodgers. Taylor, I know you 351 00:17:25.849 --> 00:17:28.990 wanted to touch on Camilo Doval returning to San Fran, 352 00:17:29.029 --> 00:17:31.319 so I'll get you to discuss that in a moment, 353 00:17:31.730 --> 00:17:34.079 and then we will return

to Raj, and I'll get 354 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:37.140 your thoughts on Josue de Paula specifically here. But Taylor, 355 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:39.880 what do you think about Camilo Doval and his return? 356 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:43.009 Because as you noted before we started recording, He looked 357 00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:47.269 dominant in his first appearance back with the Giants this season. 358 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:48.710 Yeah. 359 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:51.359 Welcome home, Camilo. Glad to have you back. 360 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:53.599 I don't know if listeners remember, but when the Giants 361 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:56.559 traded Camilo Duvall, that was the one trade of Posey's 362 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:58.599 that I just was really like, eh, I don't know 363 00:17:58.619 --> 00:18:01.400 about this one. They got Parks Harbor in that deal. 364 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:03.960 He looks pretty darn good. And now they've got Duvall 365 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.240 back anyway. I think that one worked out for the 366 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:09.900 Giants there. But yeah, just looked dominant in his return. 367 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:11.380 We'll see what we get out of him next year, 368 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:15.190 but The Giants badly need some bullpen arms, so hopefully 369 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:15.759 he'll stick around. 370 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:16.309 And I just want to. 371 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:19.160 Mention DePaul real quick before Raj touches on him. I 372 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:21.920 did mention this as a possibility about the reason that 373 00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:23.859 DePaul came up and they had to put him on 374 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:26.049 the 40-man anyway. And I thought it was likely when 375 00:18:26.069 --> 00:18:28.009 Otani comes back, he was going to get sent down 376 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:29.089 regardless of his performance. 377 00:18:30.130 --> 00:18:32.250 Yeah, I certainly don't think this is anything we need 378 00:18:32.269 --> 00:18:35.960 to be concerned about. About with DePaula, especially when we 379 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.779 look at his 11-game sample, he had an OPS over 1,000, 380 00:18:39.769 --> 00:18:44.369 a 199 WRC +. So even though it was a 381 00:18:44.430 --> 00:18:47.890 very small sample, he was nearly twice as good as 382 00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:52.480 the average major league player in his big league debut stint. 383 00:18:52.539 --> 00:18:55.900 So Raj, is that enough for us to feel confident 384 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.240 that he will crack the opening day lineup for the 385 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:03.490 Dodgers next year and contribute for our fantasy lineups throughout 386 00:19:03.529 --> 00:19:04.430 the entire season? 387 00:19:05.750 --> 00:19:09.200 I'm not going to say 100%, just because there isn't 388 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:11.460 really a spot for him to play. When Otani went down, 389 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:13.440 the DH slot was open, so they just called him up. 390 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:15.480 But then when Otani came back off the LDA, they 391 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.960 optioned him down. And he is pretty limited defensively, and that's, 392 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:21.819 I think, part of the reason why I didn't want 393 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.880 to keep him up. But in my opinion, he's a 394 00:19:24.900 --> 00:19:28.069 better hitter than Teoscar Hernandez in left. Kyle Tucker, he's 395 00:19:28.769 --> 00:19:31.589 had a down year, I think, based on this year. 396 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.500 You can argue DePaulo over Cal Tucker, but I think 397 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:37.240 next year the Dodgers will hope for a bounce back 398 00:19:37.269 --> 00:19:40.009 from Tucker. And hopefully, I think Tucker as well has 399 00:19:40.049 --> 00:19:44.910 been hot lately. But I think it depends on what 400 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:47.619 they do in this offseason because I can really see 401 00:19:47.670 --> 00:19:51.339 a world where the Dodgers try to move to Oscar 402 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.099 Hernandez in the offseason and try to open up a 403 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.079 spot for DePaula and I think that's really the only 404 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.740 path for DePaula to get regular playing time in the 405 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:01.000 big leagues is if they are able to move to 406 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.589 Oscar Hernandez and the Dodgers they've been Able to do 407 00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:06.890 this somewhat in the past. Gavin Lux comes to mind 408 00:20:06.910 --> 00:20:08.900 when they traded him to the Reds. And they were 409 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:11.440 able to get Mike Sroda in that deal, plus the graphic, 410 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:15.359 which he used to get Charles Davilan. So it'll be 411 00:20:15.380 --> 00:20:17.660 interesting to see just if they can move Chastain Hernandez, 412 00:20:18.289 --> 00:20:21.309 and if they do, what his market looks like and 413 00:20:21.329 --> 00:20:24.390 who gets him. Because Chastain Hernandez is also a bit 414 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:25.430 of a down year this year as well. 415 00:20:27.170 --> 00:20:30.349 Yeah, it'll certainly be interesting to see how they move 416 00:20:30.390 --> 00:20:32.349 the pieces around. They likely do need to move some 417 00:20:32.369 --> 00:20:35.230 pieces in order to get DePaula in there on an 418 00:20:35.309 --> 00:20:37.569 everyday basis. But I do think that he has shown 419 00:20:37.630 --> 00:20:41.190 enough where if I'm the Dodgers, I'm trying to find 420 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:43.450 a way to get him into my lineup on opening 421 00:20:43.490 --> 00:20:46.190 day and every day after that. Like you said, it's 422 00:20:46.250 --> 00:20:48.089 probably not going to be as the DH. So they're 423 00:20:48.109 --> 00:20:50.430 going to have to find a hole. They're going to 424 00:20:50.450 --> 00:20:52.710 have to create a hole somewhere else in the lineup 425 00:20:53.009 --> 00:20:55.450 that they

can plug him into. But it is, from 426 00:20:55.509 --> 00:20:59.750 a fantasy standpoint, certainly encouraging to see the way that 427 00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:03.069 he started off his big league career. But speaking of 428 00:21:03.170 --> 00:21:06.670 players starting their big league careers, Bo Davidson made his 429 00:21:06.750 --> 00:21:10.890 big league debut earlier this week. He is prospect number 430 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:14.470 117 overall in our P-Live rankings. And in 125 games 431 00:21:14.490 --> 00:21:16.059 this year between AA and AAA, Davidson slashed 290, 361, 432 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:24.250 527 overall. He had 29 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 433 00:21:24.369 --> 00:21:28.309 and a 129 WRC plus between the two levels. Now, 434 00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:30.349 I don't need to go any deeper than that because 435 00:21:30.490 --> 00:21:32.710 I am going to throw it over to our resident 436 00:21:32.769 --> 00:21:35.049 Giants fan and expert, Raj. 437 00:21:35.650 --> 00:21:36.190 No, I'm kidding. 438 00:21:36.210 --> 00:21:37.009 I'm kidding. 439 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:41.609 Taylor, tell us a little bit more about Bo Davidson, Taylor. 440 00:21:42.490 --> 00:21:44.869 Yeah, if you could have seen my reaction. Yeah, he's 441 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:47.329 the one I'm really excited about. Obviously, if you've been 442 00:21:47.349 --> 00:21:48.789 listening for a while, you know I'm a Giants homer. 443 00:21:48.990 --> 00:21:50.819 I'm always going to get excited about Giants prospects for 444 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.150 the most part. But I really think Bo Davidson is 445 00:21:53.609 --> 00:21:57.299 made for fantasy. Just power, speed, didn't look out of 446 00:21:57.339 --> 00:21:59.839 place in the majors in a small sample, 114 WRC 447 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:02.240 plus so far. No extra base hits, but he does 448 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:04.160 have a steal. I think he's going to play a 449 00:22:04.660 --> 00:22:05.940 lot next year. I think he's going to have a 450 00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:09.220 role potentially out of camp. And I think him and 451 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:12.329 Eldridge are part of this next wave of Giants talent 452 00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:14.490 that is going to hopefully keep on coming. 453 00:22:14.910 --> 00:22:16.539 So really excited about him. 454 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.119 Yeah, it's hard not to be excited about a wave 455 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:21.400 of young talent coming up like that. We haven't seen 456 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:24.339 that level of talent come up for a while with 457 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:27.380 the Jays, but Raj, how excited are we to see 458 00:22:27.460 --> 00:22:30.740 Bo Davidson and how big of a role he might 459 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.539 have next season? Because as Taylor said, it looks like 460 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:37.839 he could pretty easily, certainly more easily than a Josue DePaula, 461 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:40.960 have that everyday role right from opening day next season. 462 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:45.809 Yeah, for sure. Part of that is because the Giants stage, 463 00:22:46.349 --> 00:22:48.869 So did I, so we have a lot more spots open, 464 00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:52.410 but the Chinese, it's just been a very messy year. 465 00:22:52.730 --> 00:22:55.490 Right now, I believe they have, you look at the 466 00:22:55.849 --> 00:22:58.450 roster resource page, there's just a whole list of guys 467 00:22:58.490 --> 00:22:58.890 on the I.L. 468 00:22:58.910 --> 00:22:59.170 Right now. 469 00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:02.059 I can literally fill my whole page with guys currently 470 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:05.160 on the I.L. It's just insane. And there's a lot 471 00:23:05.180 --> 00:23:08.619 of guys in that outfield that could be everyday outfielders, 472 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:10.619 but not a lot of guys who are really locked 473 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:13.400 in except for maybe Jung-Hoo Lee. Beta, you want him 474 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:16.490 to bounce back, but he's been awful. And I don't 475 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:18.880 think the giants are really too keen on him after 476 00:23:19.220 --> 00:23:22.769 his off the field shenanigans. But yeah, there's a lot of, 477 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:26.700 it's a very wide open roster and I think it's 478 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.640 very easy for both days and just lock in a 479 00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:29.319 role pretty quickly. 480 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:30.839 Yeah. 481 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:32.819 I just want to comment on what you said, Raj, 482 00:23:32.839 --> 00:23:35.640 because I think that was a great point about the 483 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:37.420 turnover and the injuries the giants have had this year. 484 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.720 I believe they set the record for most players use. 485 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.730 They set the record for most rookies. And they don't 486 00:23:43.769 --> 00:23:47.759 have a single member of their opening day starting lineup 487 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.440 currently in their starting lineup, nor their opening day pitcher healthy. 488 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:54.700 So it has been a crazy season of turnover for 489 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:55.039 that team. 490 00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:59.079 Yeah, that certainly says all that needs to be said 491 00:23:59.259 --> 00:24:03.089 about how the Giants season has gone. With that, though, 492 00:24:03.170 --> 00:24:05.589 we are all through the news and notes, and we 493 00:24:05.630 --> 00:24:09.089 are going to get into year-end report cards, part two. 494 00:24:09.710 --> 00:24:11.730 Just like last week, we are going to discuss some 495 00:24:11.769 --> 00:24:14.849 of our best recommendations, some of our worst recommendations. We're 496 00:24:14.869 --> 00:24:16.849 going to make our case for a few players that 497 00:24:16.890 --> 00:24:19.450 we think could have received higher grades. And then we're 498 00:24:19.470 --> 00:24:22.619 going to discuss

some players that we think could maybe 499 00:24:22.650 --> 00:24:27.420 bounce back next year because they were relative misses for 500 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:30.920 varying degrees this season. But Raj, we're going to start 501 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:33.220 with you. And I know second half of the season, 502 00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:35.680 it's a little bit harder to find a bunch of 503 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:39.210 players that you feel really confident in. So before you 504 00:24:39.230 --> 00:24:42.960 get into a few of your best recommendations here, how 505 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:47.240 did the second half feel different compared to the first 506 00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:49.599 half in trying to find these players that you wanted 507 00:24:49.619 --> 00:24:50.140 to recommend? 508 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:54.000 It's definitely tough because I think in the second half, 509 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:55.859 it's really hard to find a guy who's going to 510 00:24:56.700 --> 00:24:58.430 raise his talk because a lot of that happens, I 511 00:24:58.430 --> 00:25:01.609 feel like, in April or maybe May because that's when 512 00:25:02.130 --> 00:25:04.289 players get to make their big first impression. Like, for example, 513 00:25:05.009 --> 00:25:07.900 Ronnie Cruz, he had a very... high April, but rest 514 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.660 of the season, not so great. But his roster jumped 515 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:13.099 up a ton between the start of the year and 516 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:14.759 the end of the year. And his stock is still 517 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:17.359 way up. Whereas for some of the guys that I recommended, 518 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:20.859 they did have good stretches to end the year, but 519 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:23.259 because it happened at the end of the year where 520 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:24.960 the rest, first part of the year was not so 521 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:27.480 great versus at the start of the year, their stock 522 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:29.420 maybe only went up like one or two percentage points. 523 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:32.640 And because that it's really hard to get those very 524 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:36.759 good call just because I think you need a guy 525 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:39.519 who performs well, but also loses their roster rate a ton. 526 00:25:39.539 --> 00:25:42.640 And it's very hard to find, very hard to do 527 00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:44.559 that second part. So it's very hard to really get 528 00:25:44.980 --> 00:25:45.380 the call outs. 529 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:46.660 Absolutely. 530 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:48.930 Especially as we get deeper and deeper into the year 531 00:25:48.970 --> 00:25:52.329 where people are more concerned with optimizing their big league rosters. 532 00:25:52.769 --> 00:25:54.390 And then you add in the fact that between the 533 00:25:54.450 --> 00:25:56.869 three of us, and I referenced this in my article 534 00:25:56.890 --> 00:26:01.390 that released this morning, there were more than 250 total 535 00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:03.900 recommendations between the three of us. So I can't tell 536 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.640 you how many times I found a player that I 537 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:09.069 was interested in. I looked up his name on our 538 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:12.930 sheet and saw that somebody else had already discussed him, 539 00:26:13.009 --> 00:26:16.849 recommended him earlier in the year. So where many of 540 00:26:16.910 --> 00:26:21.250 the players that would have been easy recommendations were already taken, 541 00:26:21.390 --> 00:26:25.309 it really narrows down the list and makes it difficult 542 00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:28.670 to find a bunch of players on a consistent weekly 543 00:26:28.710 --> 00:26:31.859 basis that you are confident in. but you were still 544 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:35.019 able to get some really big hits in the second 545 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:38.000 half here. So who were some of your best recommendations, Raj? 546 00:26:39.369 --> 00:26:41.269 So I think my best recommendation of the year was 547 00:26:41.650 --> 00:26:45.789 probably Yosin Peña. And it's pretty interesting because at the time, 548 00:26:45.809 --> 00:26:47.589 I didn't expect him to have this sort of rise 549 00:26:48.190 --> 00:26:51.509 because at the time he was at the DSL 0% roster, 550 00:26:51.950 --> 00:26:54.269 but he was hitting pretty well. He had a very 551 00:26:54.289 --> 00:26:56.720 good EVs, equal number of walks of strikeouts at the 552 00:26:56.740 --> 00:27:00.069 DSL as an 18-year-old, 150 WC +. But the thing 553 00:27:00.089 --> 00:27:03.109 that really boosted his stock is that he was promoted 554 00:27:03.150 --> 00:27:05.769 from the DSL straight to single A, which you don't 555 00:27:05.809 --> 00:27:06.690 really see that. 556 00:27:06.569 --> 00:27:07.130 Often, like at all. 557 00:27:07.230 --> 00:27:09.829 I know a lot of guys did get, given just 558 00:27:09.869 --> 00:27:11.910 getting promoted from DSL to the complex is pretty rare, 559 00:27:11.970 --> 00:27:14.470 but Yosei Pano went straight to single A and at 560 00:27:14.690 --> 00:27:17.269 single A he actually hit pretty well there too. 323 average, 561 00:27:17.269 --> 00:27:18.430 389 on base, 550 slug, 141 WC plus. And because 562 00:27:18.609 --> 00:27:20.029 of that, he went from 0% rostered all the way 563 00:27:20.049 --> 00:27:22.329 up to, I believe it was a 15% rostered and 564 00:27:29.549 --> 00:27:32.130 It's just, I think at this point, and also ranking 565 00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:35.059 162nd overall, but I think at this point, he's almost 566 00:27:35.079 --> 00:27:37.759 a little bit too overvalued. I know Kyle, you're a 567 00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.039 little bit lower on him, but because of the age 568 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:45.940 questions surrounding him, but Pena, he's been a very impressive 569 00:27:46.059 --> 00:27:48.940 player this year. Very easy to see that why he 570

00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:51.220 got an A plus. And then my other A plus 571 00:27:51.269 --> 00:27:55.289 was Brilla Antunez, and he's a guy who, very good EVs, 572 00:27:55.470 --> 00:27:58.849 but The question has always been like, can he make 573 00:27:58.869 --> 00:28:01.190 enough contact? And at the start of the year, it 574 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:05.630 wasn't really hitting for damage contact, but why I recommend them, 575 00:28:05.710 --> 00:28:08.630 I saw that the past month or so, his contact 576 00:28:08.650 --> 00:28:12.259 rates got better. His dragon was like mid twenties. So 577 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:14.539 that's why I recommend this. And he's been able to 578 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.160 hold onto that. Those are good rates. Since I, even 579 00:28:19.180 --> 00:28:21.579 though like he was pointing to single a since asking 580 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:23.859 lay three 42, four 55, five, eight B slash one, 581 00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:27.140 same to you. There was a plus. 11.6% walk rate 582 00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:31.619 and 24% carry rate. That's since I recommended him. And 583 00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:33.859 then my third guy is going to be Leandro Pineda, 584 00:28:34.380 --> 00:28:36.609 who's a little bit not so good. And this is 585 00:28:36.660 --> 00:28:39.650 also a case where he didn't get the highest grade 586 00:28:39.690 --> 00:28:43.250 because he didn't really rise that much, but he had 587 00:28:43.269 --> 00:28:45.390 a pretty interesting year because he was at double A 588 00:28:45.529 --> 00:28:47.170 and he wasn't that great at double A. He only 589 00:28:47.289 --> 00:28:51.359 had an 89 dev receipt plus, but the naturalists sent 590 00:28:51.380 --> 00:28:54.019 him to the dev list, I believe. And they sent 591 00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:56.369 him there for a couple of weeks. And then when 592 00:28:56.390 --> 00:28:58.190 they bought him back, they sent him straight to AAA 593 00:28:58.230 --> 00:29:00.319 instead of sending him back to AA. And that sort 594 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:03.039 of showed that the Nats were really high on him. 595 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:06.299 And since coming back, he had only played a couple 596 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:08.000 of weeks at AAA at that point, but he had 597 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:10.720 very good numbers. And then since calling him out, he 598 00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:13.640 continued to hit well. In 45 games at AAA, he 599 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:15.099 put a 329, 440, 650 slash. It won 81 derbies 600 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:17.039 to plus. Strikeout rate of 19.6%. Walkway at 13.6%. And 601 00:29:17.059 --> 00:29:21.259 the peripherals are all very good, maxed out weak. 1.5, 602 00:29:21.259 --> 00:29:28.500 12% barrel rate, 41.9% hard hit rate. Yeah, Pineda, I 603 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:31.730 actually really like him, but I'm not really too sure 604 00:29:31.769 --> 00:29:34.930 what his future outlook is. But even though I got 605 00:29:34.950 --> 00:29:36.930 to be like,

I just really like his performance. 606 00:29:39.130 --> 00:29:41.000 Yeah, certainly some strong... recommendations there. 607 00:29:41.019 --> 00:29:43.559 And to your point, it's tough in the second half 608 00:29:43.579 --> 00:29:45.769 of the season when there just isn't a ton of 609 00:29:45.869 --> 00:29:49.309 stock movement in general, in most of these players to 610 00:29:49.650 --> 00:29:51.430 figure out who some of the best ones are, because 611 00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:55.019 it isn't necessarily the ones whose stock have moved the most. 612 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:57.460 And when we're talking about someone like a Pineda whose 613 00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:02.500 performance maybe says more than the stock and whether or 614 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:05.079 not it has shifted, it's one of those things where 615 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:07.759 I know Taylor in the past has especially focused on 616 00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:11.109 a player like Devin Fitzgerald, who was a recommendation that 617 00:30:11.150 --> 00:30:13.549 didn't gain a ton of stock. But then you see 618 00:30:13.690 --> 00:30:16.230 that sort of thing sometimes come in the offseason. So 619 00:30:16.250 --> 00:30:19.049 that could be something we are looking at for really 620 00:30:19.089 --> 00:30:21.130 a number of the players that we recommended in the 621 00:30:21.170 --> 00:30:25.519 second half. But Pineda is a good example of that. Now, Taylor, 622 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:28.940 you didn't make a ton of recommendations in the second 623 00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:32.170 half here because it was just one per podcast episode. 624 00:30:32.490 --> 00:30:35.549 I believe it was nine total post-All-Star breaks. You got 625 00:30:35.589 --> 00:30:37.730 a little bit of a smaller list to pick from 626 00:30:37.789 --> 00:30:40.930 for some of your best and worst recommendations. You're only 627 00:30:40.970 --> 00:30:43.609 going to have a couple of names here for us, 628 00:30:43.650 --> 00:30:46.140 if I'm not mistaken, for the best recommendations. But I 629 00:30:46.140 --> 00:30:48.799 also wanted to get your thoughts on how things shifted 630 00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:51.900 for you in the second half as you were trying 631 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:54.599 to find players that you were confident in recommending for 632 00:30:54.890 --> 00:30:55.130 on the. 633 00:30:55.089 --> 00:30:59.410 Podcast yeah if you saw raj's grades i didn't have 634 00:30:59.450 --> 00:31:04.150 any misses so i feel like overall this is the 635 00:31:04.359 --> 00:31:05.839 i don't know maybe the secret sauce is doing one 636 00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:08.180 recommendation a week or something because i feel like i 637 00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:11.400 did way better than any but i've been doing this 638 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:13.799 for a while i've been pretty happy with my results 639 00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:17.160 for as bad as my fantasy season was my recommendation 640 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:19.880 season was awesome this year i'm really proud of that 641 00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:23.099 and proud of the fact that i had some pretty 642 00:31:23.140 --> 00:31:26.480 good calls in the second half here. So I had, 643 00:31:26.579 --> 00:31:28.480 I'm going to go with just two because my list 644 00:31:28.500 --> 00:31:30.460 is a little smaller, but I had Wilder DeLis of 645 00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:33.480 the Colorado Rockies. Recommended him back in July. He had 646 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:37.420 a 5% increase in his fan tracks roster rate. He 647 00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:41.509 moved from 643rd to 371st in our prospect rankings. Had 648 00:31:41.509 --> 00:31:44.640 34 games after recommended him, posted a 150 WRC plus. 649 00:31:44.700 --> 00:31:46.589 So Raj Gaming A grade. 650 00:31:46.750 --> 00:31:47.349 Thank you, Raj. 651 00:31:47.529 --> 00:31:49.650 I did have him a little bit higher than where 652 00:31:49.670 --> 00:31:50.069 he's at now. 653 00:31:50.109 --> 00:31:51.130 I had him 300 plus. He's at 371, but. 654 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.099 Overall, pretty happy with how that turned out. And then 655 00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:59.009 Samuel Serrano of the Washington Nationals recommended him back in August. 656 00:31:59.460 --> 00:32:04.569 Another 300-plus recommendation. He went from 2% to 9% rostered, 657 00:32:04.609 --> 00:32:08.069 526th to 347th. Only played six games because the DSL 658 00:32:08.089 --> 00:32:12.769 season was ending, but posted a 174 WRC-plus in those 659 00:32:12.809 --> 00:32:13.349 six games. 660 00:32:13.910 --> 00:32:15.849 So yeah, pretty happy with both of those. 661 00:32:16.869 --> 00:32:17.349 Absolutely. 662 00:32:17.410 --> 00:32:22.190 I can't complain too much about those players results really 663 00:32:22.250 --> 00:32:26.470 across the board with your recommendations here but especially with 664 00:32:26.579 --> 00:32:29.819 those two in particular I do have a trio of 665 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:32.440 names as I said the second half was certainly a 666 00:32:32.900 --> 00:32:35.859 little bit more challenging in finding players that as Raj 667 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:38.349 noted are going to move significantly because while many of 668 00:32:38.380 --> 00:32:41.089 these guys performed well the stock just doesn't move a 669 00:32:41.089 --> 00:32:44.170 whole lot but Raj did give me a trio of 670 00:32:44.190 --> 00:32:47.390 A or A pluses so I've got three names to 671 00:32:47.430 --> 00:32:51.150 discuss here I'm looking at Boston Smith of the now Mariners. 672 00:32:51.309 --> 00:32:53.670 I've got Rafe Parrish of the Rangers, and I've got 673 00:32:53.779 --> 00:32:58.039 Eliezer Dishmay of the Miami Marlins. Smith, I would argue, 674 00:32:58.099 --> 00:33:01.720 was my best recommendation of the second half. It was 675 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:04.359 the only A-plus, I believe, that I got from Raj. 676 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:08.960 He was recommended on August 2nd. His roster rate improved 677

00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:12.450 from 2% to 10%, and he went from unranked in 678 00:33:12.670 --> 00:33:17.109 our rankings to 322 overall. Now he started the year 679 00:33:17.170 --> 00:33:19.710 down in single A with the White Sox. He quickly 680 00:33:19.769 --> 00:33:23.890 rose to high A and then to double A. And 681 00:33:24.170 --> 00:33:27.950 after demolishing A ball, both single A and high A 682 00:33:27.990 --> 00:33:32.880 to the tune of a 996 OPS and a 156 683 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.680 WRC plus across the two levels, double A did not 684 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:39.670 slow him down at all. he put up an absurd 685 00:33:39.670 --> 00:33:45.549 1151 OPS and 197 WRC plus in 23 games before 686 00:33:45.589 --> 00:33:48.710 getting traded to the Mariners. Now that's where things did 687 00:33:48.789 --> 00:33:52.099 finally slow down a little bit for Smith, but through 688 00:33:52.140 --> 00:33:55.000 his final 23 games after the trade, he still had 689 00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:59.099 an 879 OPS, a 136 WRC plus, and he finished 690 00:33:59.180 --> 00:34:03.259 the year with a 990 OPS and 158 WRC plus 691 00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:07.119 across three levels and two different teams. Rafe Parrish, I 692 00:34:07.180 --> 00:34:10.619 recommended on July 19th. His stock improved from 2% to 693 00:34:10.619 --> 00:34:15.269 8% on fan tracks and a 599 ranking to 323 694 00:34:15.269 --> 00:34:17.829 overall here at P Live. And this is a name 695 00:34:17.869 --> 00:34:20.289 that I believe Breck is going to be really excited, 696 00:34:20.309 --> 00:34:22.789 Breck Wiedemann, to hear me talk about because I think 697 00:34:22.909 --> 00:34:25.969 it's him that's been pounding the table for Rafe Parrish 698 00:34:26.130 --> 00:34:29.099 as of late. And to Breck's point, Parrish has been 699 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:32.320 a consistent high-end performer all season long. He started the 700 00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:34.519 year in high A, albeit a little old for the 701 00:34:34.579 --> 00:34:37.789 level at 23% He turned 24 in late May, but 702 00:34:37.809 --> 00:34:42.119 he posted an OPS of exactly 1,000 with a 151 703 00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:45.780 WRC plus in 38 games. He was then promoted to AA, 704 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:49.320 where in 78 games, he put up a 981 OPS 705 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:53.260 and 148 WRC plus. And I'll also add here that 706 00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:56.639 I'm not entirely sure I buy into the full extent 707 00:34:56.760 --> 00:34:59.730 of the power surge that saw him hit 27 home 708 00:34:59.769 --> 00:35:02.550 runs this year after hitting six last season, but I 709 00:35:02.989 --> 00:35:06.059 Parrish has plenty of raw power. It's plus raw juice 710 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:09.519 in the tank here. What's really holding him back are 711 00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:14.500 his launch angles. He's cut his ground ball rate down 712 00:35:14.739 --> 00:35:18.030 this season. It was about 50% last year, closer to 713 00:35:18.030 --> 00:35:21.289 40% this season. And more specifically, what really encouraged me 714 00:35:21.329 --> 00:35:22.670 was the fact that he cut it from 47% in 715 00:35:22.690 --> 00:35:27.949 high A this season to 37% in double A. So 716 00:35:27.969 --> 00:35:30.780 I'm encouraged by that. I do think he's more than 717 00:35:30.860 --> 00:35:33.179 a six homer bat. I'm not sure that we're going 718 00:35:33.239 --> 00:35:36.619 to see a consistent 30 homer bat unless he improves 719 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:39.639 his launch angles. But I do think that even at 720 00:35:39.639 --> 00:35:44.210 323 overall and a rise of more than 250 spots 721 00:35:44.349 --> 00:35:46.969 in our rankings since I recommended him, I think Parrish 722 00:35:47.030 --> 00:35:51.250 is possibly still underrated and would be a good offseason target. 723 00:35:51.690 --> 00:35:54.309 And I think the same thing of Eleazar Dishmay of 724 00:35:54.429 --> 00:35:59.199 the Marlins right-handed pitcher here. I recommended him on August 23rd. 725 00:35:59.340 --> 00:36:02.280 He rose from 5% to 6% rostered, so not a 726 00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:05.099 huge move there, but he did rise significantly in our 727 00:36:05.179 --> 00:36:09.360 rankings from 526 to 353. And as I alluded to, 728 00:36:09.429 --> 00:36:12.650 I think that's arguably a little bit too low. Much 729 00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:16.329 like Parrish, Dishmay performed well across both IA and AA 730 00:36:16.369 --> 00:36:19.969 this year. But interestingly enough, while his strikeout rate dipped 731 00:36:20.190 --> 00:36:23.210 a few percentage points and his ERA rose more than 732 00:36:23.230 --> 00:36:26.289 a full run following his promotions, He actually cut his 733 00:36:26.349 --> 00:36:29.969 walk rate 3% and saw his fifth improved by about 734 00:36:30.070 --> 00:36:32.429 half a run in double A compared to high A. 735 00:36:32.469 --> 00:36:34.630 So that walk rate is going to be the key 736 00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:40.159 here because his 33.3% strikeout rate was third in all 737 00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:43.079 of minor league baseball among arms with at least 100 738 00:36:43.079 --> 00:36:46.760 innings pitched. He was behind only Christian Zazueta of the 739 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.480 Dodgers and Caden Hunter of the Orioles in that regard. 740 00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:52.519 And those are two really good names to be behind 741 00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:56.070 if you're going to be behind anyone. But, His 166 742 00:36:56.070 --> 00:37:00.309 batting average also ranked as the lowest among that same 743 00:37:00.329 --> 00:37:03.449 group of minor leaguers with at least 100 innings pitched. 744 00:37:03.989 --> 00:37:06.530 Now I know that 100 innings might seem like a 745 00:37:06.670 --> 00:37:09.429 high bar to set here, but there were more than 746 00:37:09.429 --> 00:37:13.030 250 minor leaguers who reached that mark this season. And 747 00:37:13.090 --> 00:37:16.599 it really emphasizes just how good

and how consistent Dishmay 748 00:37:16.619 --> 00:37:19.139 was over the entire season. So like I said, similar 749 00:37:19.260 --> 00:37:23.300 to Parrish, despite a rise of nearly 200 spots in 750 00:37:23.340 --> 00:37:25.949 our rankings this year, I think Dishmay is another name 751 00:37:26.190 --> 00:37:29.130 that might still be underrated and could be another good 752 00:37:29.329 --> 00:37:34.969 offseason target. Now, unfortunately, not all of our recommendations were hits. 753 00:37:35.130 --> 00:37:38.329 Even in the second half here, when there wasn't a 754 00:37:38.429 --> 00:37:41.510 ton of movement in either direction, there aren't a ton 755 00:37:41.630 --> 00:37:45.750 of huge misses either, but there were still some misses. So, Raj, 756 00:37:45.909 --> 00:37:49.630 who were a couple of your worst recommendations this season? 757 00:37:51.030 --> 00:37:52.489 So the first one I'm going to talk about is 758 00:37:52.670 --> 00:37:55.030 Jermon Noel. When I recommended him, I believe he was 759 00:37:55.369 --> 00:37:57.829 at the complex, but had just been promoted to single A, 760 00:37:57.889 --> 00:38:00.409 and he was this sort of in-field slash utility type 761 00:38:00.449 --> 00:38:04.239 of guy who had very good basketball skills and good speed, 762 00:38:04.260 --> 00:38:07.219 but not that much power. And I think the reason 763 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:10.599 why this didn't really work out just because he was 764 00:38:10.619 --> 00:38:13.760 just too far away from the big leagues. Because you 765 00:38:13.780 --> 00:38:15.800 think about a guy I recommended earlier in the year, 766 00:38:16.010 --> 00:38:19.130 like Josh Kordegaard, he's not a pro far away. Good 767 00:38:19.150 --> 00:38:23.050 back to ball, not much power, but he's just doesn't 768 00:38:23.090 --> 00:38:25.909 strike out that often. And the thing is that Kodogar 769 00:38:25.929 --> 00:38:28.219 was at AAA. Since he was hitting well, a promotion 770 00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:31.159 meant going to big leagues. And that's basically, I wouldn't 771 00:38:31.179 --> 00:38:33.480 say make a big, but that's where a guy can 772 00:38:33.500 --> 00:38:34.960 really boost his stock is just like getting to the 773 00:38:34.980 --> 00:38:38.039 big leagues and potentially performing. And Jamal knew well, he 774 00:38:38.090 --> 00:38:41.650 was at the complex. So for him to basically be 775 00:38:42.389 --> 00:38:44.590 a guy like Kodogar, he'd have to go through essentially 776 00:38:44.610 --> 00:38:47.809 the entire mining system. And that was just very tough. 777 00:38:48.239 --> 00:38:49.869 to do just because a lot more can go wrong 778 00:38:50.630 --> 00:38:53.130 from being that far away. And that's the way a 779 00:38:53.250 --> 00:38:56.829 lot went wrong. He had a 54 WC plus. So 780 00:38:56.849 --> 00:38:59.590 it's not great at all. And I, you gave me 781 00:38:59.610 --> 00:39:01.269 an F grade for that. I'm pretty sure I deserved 782 00:39:01.329 --> 00:39:03.949 it for the wall. And then the, I know we 783 00:39:04.110 --> 00:39:06.909 list pick two for our worst friend nation, but I'm 784 00:39:07.110 --> 00:39:10.960 actually going to group two more together for this. And 785 00:39:10.980 --> 00:39:13.760 that's Gage Mill and Robert Moore. And just cause I 786 00:39:13.780 --> 00:39:16.420 think what went wrong for them is pretty similar because 787 00:39:17.219 --> 00:39:20.380 There are two guys who... They were bad-to-ball guys that 788 00:39:20.420 --> 00:39:23.610 were closer to big leagues, but they weren't really playing 789 00:39:23.690 --> 00:39:26.269 that often. They were only playing four times a week 790 00:39:26.349 --> 00:39:28.739 instead of pretty much every day. And a lot of 791 00:39:28.780 --> 00:39:32.010 that was because... I think the team just didn't really 792 00:39:32.050 --> 00:39:33.679 believe in them that much. And I think when the 793 00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:35.780 team doesn't really believe in them, why should you believe 794 00:39:35.880 --> 00:39:39.099 in them? Their performance fell apart a bit in the 795 00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:41.940 second half. I do think they're good players, but because 796 00:39:41.980 --> 00:39:43.480 they didn't really play every day, they didn't really get 797 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:46.780 the consistency to get better. And because that day just 798 00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:47.440 got worse instead. 799 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:50.280 Yeah, absolutely. 800 00:39:50.300 --> 00:39:52.039 I think that the biggest thing that we can take 801 00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:54.840 from these second half recommendations, at least on the worst 802 00:39:55.099 --> 00:39:58.619 side of things here, is why they went wrong. And 803 00:39:58.659 --> 00:40:00.889 when we're looking at a couple of guys, like you said, 804 00:40:00.909 --> 00:40:02.989 with Miller and Moore, it's pretty clear that it's just 805 00:40:03.030 --> 00:40:06.110 a matter of what does the organization. 806 00:40:05.550 --> 00:40:06.150 Think about them? 807 00:40:06.289 --> 00:40:08.090 What should I think about them? And I've got a 808 00:40:08.130 --> 00:40:10.909 couple when I get to mine that are certainly learning 809 00:40:11.190 --> 00:40:14.110 opportunities as well. I'll get to those in a moment, though. 810 00:40:14.389 --> 00:40:16.159 I'm going to throw it over to Taylor first. I 811 00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:18.840 know you said you didn't have any misses last this, 812 00:40:19.219 --> 00:40:21.920 this cycle in the second half here, but who did 813 00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:24.300 you think was your worst recommendation? 814 00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:27.420 Yeah, I had all C grades is like my, my 815 00:40:27.460 --> 00:40:30.489 lower grades. So it was hard to pick, but Jason 816 00:40:30.510 --> 00:40:33.030 Moribell was the one that was a C that wasn't 817 00:40:33.070 --> 00:40:35.469 because he just didn't play a lot after he did 818 00:40:35.730 -->

00:40:38.829 play quite a bit after 42 games, but really didn't 819 00:40:38.929 --> 00:40:41.349 see his roster ship percentage move at all, just from 820 00:40:41.349 --> 00:40:43.889 1% to 2%. And I called him a pickup in 821 00:40:43.909 --> 00:40:47.429 leagues of 400 plus. He didn't even crack our top 800. 822 00:40:47.429 --> 00:40:49.309 Wasn't horrible after I wrote him up with a 109 823 00:40:49.309 --> 00:40:52.510 WRC plus, but wasn't that great either? I'm not sure 824 00:40:52.570 --> 00:40:54.289 he's going to pop off anytime soon. 825 00:40:54.409 --> 00:40:57.699 He's fine. But yeah, I think that that qualifies my worst. 826 00:40:58.719 --> 00:40:59.559 You're doing pretty well. 827 00:40:59.639 --> 00:41:02.440 If your worst is a fine recommendation, because I've got 828 00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:05.320 a couple pretty clear misses here. One of them being 829 00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:07.960 an outfielder for the Red Sox, Skylar King, and the 830 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:11.699 other an outfielder for the Jays, Sam Shaw. Now with 831 00:41:11.739 --> 00:41:14.559 Skylar King, the recommendation was always a bit of a 832 00:41:14.579 --> 00:41:17.480 long shot anyways, but But it still really missed the 833 00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:21.000 mark because he had an 84 WRC plus in single 834 00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:24.559 A prior to my recommendation. And to top that off, 835 00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:26.960 he was an old for the level 22 year old 836 00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:30.159 college draftee. But I saw a stat line that had 837 00:41:30.199 --> 00:41:32.739 been improving month by month for a prospect with an 838 00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:35.820 intriguing power speed blend. And I tried to get out 839 00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:39.989 ahead of a potential breakout that just never happened. He 840 00:41:40.070 --> 00:41:42.289 did earn the promotion to high A that I was 841 00:41:42.329 --> 00:41:44.710 looking for, but things really fell off for him there. 842 00:41:44.769 --> 00:41:47.550 So while he was a deep recommendation for leagues with 843 00:41:47.550 --> 00:41:51.019 500 plus prospects rostered, he was still a miss. I 844 00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:53.360 added him in some deep leagues of that sort of 845 00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:55.619 range and I've dropped him there. So if you still 846 00:41:55.659 --> 00:41:58.380 have any Skylar King shares after my recommendation, you can 847 00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:01.360 probably drop him. And my other one here, Sam Shaw, 848 00:42:01.400 --> 00:42:04.429 this is a little bit off script because Raj gave 849 00:42:04.469 --> 00:42:07.280 this one a D grade instead of an F. But 850 00:42:07.420 --> 00:42:09.489 I personally think it was a little bit worse than 851 00:42:09.530 --> 00:42:11.389 a couple of the Fs that he did give me. 852 00:42:11.789 --> 00:42:14.429 And the main reason being, similar to a Skyler King, 853 00:42:14.469 --> 00:42:17.289 the writing was on the wall for Sam Shaw because 854 00:42:17.329 --> 00:42:20.130 he's a player that was coming back from surgery to 855 00:42:21.190 --> 00:42:25.690 address thoracic outlet syndrome and blood clots in his shoulder. 856 00:42:26.170 --> 00:42:29.210 So there was already a reason to be concerned with 857 00:42:29.250 --> 00:42:31.920 what it could look like. And he then left with 858 00:42:31.960 --> 00:42:34.860 an undisclosed injury in early July. And although he was 859 00:42:35.059 --> 00:42:38.179 activated at the end of September, the high season had 860 00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:41.469 already ended. So we didn't see him again after my recommendation. 861 00:42:41.570 --> 00:42:44.150 So I do think Shaw is still a talented player. 862 00:42:44.170 --> 00:42:47.769 I don't think the fantasy upside is anything special. And 863 00:42:47.789 --> 00:42:50.449 I think the risk of the injuries here just outweigh 864 00:42:50.469 --> 00:42:52.639 the reward. So even though he was a little bit 865 00:42:52.679 --> 00:42:55.719 of a deeper recommendation as well, he is one that 866 00:42:55.880 --> 00:43:00.539 I would consider one of my worst recommendations. Now, there 867 00:43:00.619 --> 00:43:04.519 are a few recommendations that, for better or worse, maybe 868 00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:08.400 didn't get the grade that we thought they deserved. So, Raj, 869 00:43:08.440 --> 00:43:11.750 who was one player that I gave maybe a lower 870 00:43:11.829 --> 00:43:13.250 grade than you thought they deserved? 871 00:43:14.409 --> 00:43:18.710 This one might be not the best to pick for us, 872 00:43:18.730 --> 00:43:21.309 because that was depending between the two guys, but I'm 873 00:43:21.329 --> 00:43:24.329 going to go with Bryce Meyer. You gave him a, 874 00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:27.369 maybe so I saw a bit of a, Tough one. 875 00:43:27.389 --> 00:43:29.130 Cause you gave him a C plus and I do 876 00:43:29.409 --> 00:43:32.389 agree with that because the performance was on the surface 877 00:43:32.429 --> 00:43:34.909 of performance. Wasn't the best, but you consider the fact 878 00:43:34.949 --> 00:43:38.269 that he was promoted to PCL. It's I think the 879 00:43:38.309 --> 00:43:41.869 performance is more so a factor. The poor surface numbers 880 00:43:41.949 --> 00:43:43.349 is more so a factor of him being at the 881 00:43:43.369 --> 00:43:47.070 PCL rather than him being a worse prospect because at 882 00:43:47.090 --> 00:43:49.309 the PCL, he's had pretty good strikeout rates. His walk 883 00:43:49.329 --> 00:43:51.429 rate is actually a little bit better in AAA than 884 00:43:51.449 --> 00:43:54.679 in AA and I think that The thing that really 885 00:43:54.760 --> 00:43:56.980 weighed his numbers down was his, was the home runs, 886 00:43:57.099 --> 00:44:00.579 but you look at the home run to fireball rate, 887 00:44:00.699 --> 00:44:04.139 it was 22.5%. And his 25, 29, except it still 888 00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:07.179 doesn't look that great. But in terms of the PCL averages, 889

00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:10.719 it's actually pretty much league average for the PCL. And 890 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:13.090 he gets a ton of weak contact, only a 5.9% 891 00:44:13.090 --> 00:44:16.610 barrel rate, 25.9% hit rate. So I do think that 892 00:44:16.650 --> 00:44:19.869 home run to fireball rate is something that should have 893 00:44:19.889 --> 00:44:22.809 been a lot lower. And you consider the fact that he's, 894 00:44:23.539 --> 00:44:25.300 He's just getting used to a triple A ball. A 895 00:44:25.340 --> 00:44:28.440 guy that's knock on the door. I did give him 896 00:44:28.460 --> 00:44:31.639 an aggressive grade of 200 plus prospects, but an arm 897 00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:35.760 that performed well at triple A and is pretty close 898 00:44:35.780 --> 00:44:38.739 to big leagues. I think it's one of those cases 899 00:44:38.780 --> 00:44:42.239 where even though he's ranked around 400, I do think 900 00:44:42.739 --> 00:44:44.690 I would roster him in some 200 plus league just 901 00:44:44.710 --> 00:44:48.989 because it's because he's close to big leagues. There's some 902 00:44:49.030 --> 00:44:51.010 formats where you want a guy closer to big leagues. 903 00:44:51.719 --> 00:44:53.719 over as one of those more far away guys. And 904 00:44:54.260 --> 00:44:56.989 a guy like Brysmaier could be rushable in those 200 905 00:44:56.989 --> 00:45:00.670 plus leagues, even though the performance wasn't the best. Although 906 00:45:00.690 --> 00:45:03.389 the performance was, I do think, pretty solid, given it 907 00:45:03.489 --> 00:45:04.369 was in the PCL. 908 00:45:05.730 --> 00:45:08.719 Yeah, this was one of the tougher grades to give, 909 00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:12.199 because as you noted, the performance at AAA on the 910 00:45:12.260 --> 00:45:16.719 surface wasn't good, but... where he was not just in 911 00:45:16.900 --> 00:45:20.059 AAA for his first sample, but in the PCL, that 912 00:45:20.099 --> 00:45:22.800 certainly has a lot to do with it. On the 913 00:45:22.820 --> 00:45:25.340 flip side of things, the main reason it didn't move 914 00:45:25.460 --> 00:45:28.940 up into a B, despite the fact that the roster 915 00:45:28.960 --> 00:45:31.460 rate rose from six to 7%, and he did move 916 00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:35.039 from unranked to 418 overall, the main thing was just 917 00:45:35.139 --> 00:45:38.599 as you noted, it was a recommendation, a fairly aggressive recommendation. 918 00:45:38.949 --> 00:45:41.489 for leagues with 200 plus prospects rostered, if he had 919 00:45:41.730 --> 00:45:45.369 gotten closer to that recommendation level, he would have received 920 00:45:45.409 --> 00:45:47.570 a higher grade. But for me, I did take that 921 00:45:47.690 --> 00:45:51.650 into account, especially when there was a large discrepancy in 922 00:45:51.670 --> 00:45:53.789 the recommendation to where they ended the season. So I 923 00:45:53.829 --> 00:45:57.070 can certainly see where you're coming from here. But the 924

00:45:57.110 --> 00:46:00.030 league size recommendation compared to the ranking maybe played a 925 00:46:00.090 --> 00:46:02.619 little bit more of a factor for me than it 926 00:46:02.659 --> 00:46:06.039 did for you with some of your grades that you gave. 927 00:46:08.360 --> 00:46:10.900 All right, Taylor, I know that, again, the list is 928 00:46:10.980 --> 00:46:13.880 relatively short for you here, but we've got a repeat name. 929 00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:16.480 So why do you think this player deserved a better 930 00:46:16.539 --> 00:46:17.420 grade as well? 931 00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:21.829 Yeah, it's O'Neal Hernandez or Joneel Hernandez of the Giants. 932 00:46:22.170 --> 00:46:24.210 Raj gave me a C grade because he didn't play 933 00:46:24.570 --> 00:46:26.949 after I recommended him, at least in the regular season. 934 00:46:27.070 --> 00:46:29.889 He actually did play in the playoffs. I don't fault you, Raj, 935 00:46:29.909 --> 00:46:32.269 for this. I wasn't expecting you to dig deep into, like, 936 00:46:32.570 --> 00:46:33.909 minor league playoff stat lines. 937 00:46:34.610 --> 00:46:34.829 But. 938 00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:37.360 I will say maybe this changes the recommendation a little 939 00:46:37.389 --> 00:46:38.889 bit to at least the C plus because it was 940 00:46:38.929 --> 00:46:44.030 just five games, but in those five games, 924 OPS, 273, 333, 941 00:46:44.030 --> 00:46:46.730 591 slash, two home runs, a double, and a stolen 942 00:46:46.750 --> 00:46:49.320 base in that time. So went off in the playoffs. 943 00:46:49.530 --> 00:46:51.500 How much you want to wait minor league playoff data 944 00:46:51.980 --> 00:46:54.059 is up to you, but I feel that did not play. 945 00:46:54.280 --> 00:46:56.300 If you move in that he played pretty well, went 946 00:46:56.360 --> 00:46:58.559 off after, I think it bumps it up to at 947 00:46:58.579 --> 00:46:59.940 least a C plus, if not a B grade. 948 00:46:59.960 --> 00:47:02.869 I'm not sure because I know like minor league playoffs 949 00:47:02.949 --> 00:47:05.389 are like not too They don't matter too much, and 950 00:47:05.409 --> 00:47:06.969 if you think of a big league, now that he's 951 00:47:07.010 --> 00:47:08.500 in insurance, he's probably not going to be in the 952 00:47:08.519 --> 00:47:09.360 playoffs that much. 953 00:47:10.860 --> 00:47:17.820 Oh, okay. That's it. Gauntlet thrown. I challenge you to 954 00:47:17.840 --> 00:47:18.400 a dual, sir. 955 00:47:19.960 --> 00:47:21.960 Yeah, I think part of it is that he was, like, 956 00:47:21.980 --> 00:47:24.800 you recommend him for a league of 250-plus prospects, and 957 00:47:24.820 --> 00:47:29.619 when you recommend him, he was already 332nd on a ranking, 958 00:47:29.639 --> 00:47:34.650 so I think it wasn't, like, as aggressive enough or great, 959 00:47:34.670 --> 00:47:38.460 because I think, like, while he was sort of, like, 960 00:47:38.519 --> 00:47:41.500 rosterable in those leagues, he didn't really boost his stock 961 00:47:42.059 --> 00:47:45.920 that much to where it's like, oh, I'm, this is, 962 00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:48.590 I'm not sure how to explain it, but basically, he 963 00:47:48.610 --> 00:47:50.150 didn't really boost his stock that much, and it was 964 00:47:50.190 --> 00:47:53.190 already a recommendation where, like, he was already in that, 965 00:47:53.449 --> 00:47:56.989 and then he just stayed in that tier rather than, like, 966 00:47:57.070 --> 00:47:57.469 moving up. 967 00:47:59.190 --> 00:48:01.739 Yeah, totally understand. Yeah, for sure. 968 00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:05.199 Oddly enough here, I am also going to be defending 969 00:48:05.300 --> 00:48:07.980 a San Francisco Giants player, but it's also one of 970 00:48:08.059 --> 00:48:11.989 my favorite recommendations from this season as a whole, not 971 00:48:12.050 --> 00:48:15.250 just the second half. And that's Jacob Bresnahan. Raj, you 972 00:48:15.269 --> 00:48:17.769 gave this one a B because he had a four 973 00:48:17.789 --> 00:48:20.989 and a half ERA after my recommendation. But what I'm 974 00:48:21.010 --> 00:48:23.550 looking at more than those numbers is the fact that 975 00:48:23.670 --> 00:48:29.340 his ranking rose from outside our top 550 to 200 overall, 976 00:48:29.679 --> 00:48:32.610 which is exactly where I recommended him. And his roster 977 00:48:32.630 --> 00:48:36.329 rate rose from 7% to 12%, so a significant boost there. Now, 978 00:48:36.389 --> 00:48:38.429 I would love to say this deserved an A or 979 00:48:38.510 --> 00:48:43.510 even an A +, considering his stock arguably improved as 980 00:48:43.639 --> 00:48:46.119 much as, if not more than some of the players 981 00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:50.019 that I mentioned earlier as my best recommendations. And that's 982 00:48:50.059 --> 00:48:52.500 the whole point of these recommendations, is to give you 983 00:48:52.559 --> 00:48:55.000 players that are going to rise in value. So when 984 00:48:55.039 --> 00:48:58.050 I see a player whose stock rose significantly, both in 985 00:48:58.090 --> 00:49:03.210 terms of roster rate and ranking, and who fell right 986 00:49:03.349 --> 00:49:07.349 into the category where I recommended him, I am very 987 00:49:07.389 --> 00:49:10.099 encouraged by that. Again, I would love an A or 988 00:49:10.119 --> 00:49:11.940 an A +, but I would have settled for an 989 00:49:12.019 --> 00:49:13.800 A- due to the performance. 990 00:49:15.550 --> 00:49:18.469 Yeah, I think the performance is what's weighing it down 991 00:49:18.510 --> 00:49:21.050 from an A. to more of a B for me. 992 00:49:21.139 --> 00:49:22.820 I didn't really give any like B plus or A minus, 993 00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:25.579 just an A plus, A, B, C, and that sort 994 00:49:25.599 --> 00:49:28.760 of thing. But I do think that he should be, 995 00:49:29.619 --> 00:49:31.719 he probably should get consideration for A. I think this 996 00:49:31.760 --> 00:49:35.219 is more a situation where

I'm not the highest guard 997 00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:39.510 in Jacob Bessahanna, but... Everybody else was definitely high in 998 00:49:39.849 --> 00:49:42.630 the performance. I know after the recommendation wasn't great, but 999 00:49:42.849 --> 00:49:44.550 before the performance was so good that he was able 1000 00:49:44.570 --> 00:49:46.889 to carry his stock up a ton. So I do 1001 00:49:46.909 --> 00:49:51.610 think even though the performance wasn't that great, the roster 1002 00:49:51.679 --> 00:49:54.360 jumped so much, especially considering how hard it is for 1003 00:49:54.400 --> 00:49:56.980 that to jump in the second half. I think he 1004 00:49:57.000 --> 00:49:59.480 probably does. I think you're right. He probably does deserve 1005 00:49:59.539 --> 00:49:59.710 an A. 1006 00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:02.619 I'm glad that I've got you on board there. I 1007 00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:04.920 know I don't need to continue to make my case, 1008 00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:07.059 but if I'm not mistaken, Taylor, maybe you can correct 1009 00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:09.559 me on this. I think this was the third straight 1010 00:50:09.599 --> 00:50:12.599 year and the third different level that he has now 1011 00:50:12.679 --> 00:50:15.599 received Pitcher of the Year acclamation for. 1012 00:50:15.619 --> 00:50:20.519 Yeah, I'm not 100% sure on that, but that sounds plausible. 1013 00:50:21.139 --> 00:50:21.920 I think he did. 1014 00:50:22.019 --> 00:50:25.280 So that would be maybe if I needed to make 1015 00:50:25.360 --> 00:50:29.119 another argument, one more notch in the belt of Jacob 1016 00:50:29.139 --> 00:50:31.480 Bresnahan here. But we're going to move on to our 1017 00:50:31.599 --> 00:50:35.739 final category here. One miss who could bounce back next year. 1018 00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:38.579 So Raj... Who do you have for us in this spot? 1019 00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:41.719 So this is a guy that I was debating with. 1020 00:50:42.980 --> 00:50:45.190 Bryce Meyer is like the guy who I felt you 1021 00:50:45.210 --> 00:50:47.230 graded too well because I'm going to go with Patrick 1022 00:50:47.250 --> 00:50:51.590 Copen and you graded him a D grade. And one 1023 00:50:51.610 --> 00:50:55.230 of the things that was really nuts, he's a guy 1024 00:50:55.250 --> 00:50:57.489 who always had very good stuff, but the command wasn't 1025 00:50:57.530 --> 00:51:00.880 that great. But in the second half, he improved his 1026 00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:02.599 command and that's why I called him out near the 1027 00:51:02.619 --> 00:51:05.079 end of the year. And since then, his command has 1028 00:51:05.119 --> 00:51:11.150 continued to be great, only a 7.6% walk rate in 1029 00:51:11.170 --> 00:51:14.670 degree starts after I recommend him, even though the strikeout 1030 00:51:14.690 --> 00:51:17.579 rate was a little bit lower than you expect 18.2%. 1031 00:51:17.579 --> 00:51:20.670 394 ERA and 330 ERA in degree starts after I 1032 00:51:20.670 --> 00:51:23.949 recommend him. And overall in the second half, 46 and 1033 00:51:23.989 --> 00:51:27.670 one third innings pitch to a, let me just double check. Yeah, 1034 00:51:27.670 --> 00:51:31.510 46 and one third innings pitch to a 330 ERA 1035 00:51:31.670 --> 00:51:35.880 and a sub three fifth 297. 28.1% carry and a 7.3% 1036 00:51:35.880 --> 00:51:38.880 walk rate. And you factor in the stuff, you factor 1037 00:51:38.920 --> 00:51:43.019 in the versioning command in, I guess, 46 and a 1038 00:51:43.019 --> 00:51:46.119 third innings only, but it's not nothing. And I do 1039 00:51:46.139 --> 00:51:48.849 think if he can continue that next year, he can 1040 00:51:48.889 --> 00:51:51.409 really pop off. Because as I said earlier, if you 1041 00:51:51.429 --> 00:51:54.170 have that good first impression, he could really boost his stock. 1042 00:51:54.210 --> 00:51:58.929 And Patrick Copeland, if he does what he did at 1043 00:51:58.969 --> 00:52:01.010 the end of this year, at the start of next year, 1044 00:52:01.170 --> 00:52:04.059 I think he's probably going to Because you look at 1045 00:52:04.139 --> 00:52:07.139 also the... One of the reasons why I didn't pick 1046 00:52:07.159 --> 00:52:11.079 him as the guy to... That I felt like he 1047 00:52:11.099 --> 00:52:13.760 graded too low on is because the roster actually went down. 1048 00:52:14.219 --> 00:52:16.260 They went from 3% to 2%, and the ranking went 1049 00:52:16.300 --> 00:52:20.449 from 450 to 500 around. But if he can pitch 1050 00:52:20.469 --> 00:52:22.409 like this and start next year, I think he's probably 1051 00:52:23.110 --> 00:52:25.610 maybe in that 250, 200 range. 1052 00:52:25.510 --> 00:52:25.989 Even, maybe. 1053 00:52:27.130 --> 00:52:29.510 Yeah, I think there's certainly opportunity for him to rise. 1054 00:52:29.610 --> 00:52:30.050 I do. 1055 00:52:30.690 --> 00:52:32.550 like the call out I think it was just a 1056 00:52:32.590 --> 00:52:36.260 matter of yeah maybe poor timing with people realizing what 1057 00:52:36.320 --> 00:52:39.800 the kind of overall line looked like on the season 1058 00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:41.780 and his stock falling a little bit because of it 1059 00:52:41.840 --> 00:52:45.500 it would be fantastic to see him rise back up 1060 00:52:45.539 --> 00:52:47.730 the ranks though so that will be a name certainly 1061 00:52:48.050 --> 00:52:50.630 to keep an eye on next season Taylor who do 1062 00:52:50.670 --> 00:52:53.909 you have as a miss that could bounce back next season. 1063 00:52:54.809 --> 00:52:56.190 Yeah, I'm not going to get too much in depth 1064 00:52:56.210 --> 00:52:58.170 on him because we just covered him a couple weeks ago. 1065 00:52:58.190 --> 00:52:59.869 It was my last recommendation of the year, but I 1066 00:52:59.889 --> 00:53:02.469 think Kelvis Salcedo, again, not a miss. He didn't really 1067 00:53:02.510 --> 00:53:04.429 pitch after I recommended him, but I feel like this 1068 00:53:04.489 -->

00:53:07.519 is the guy who I feel probably will rise the 1069 00:53:07.559 --> 00:53:10.800 most across the offseason as people do a little bit 1070 00:53:10.840 --> 00:53:13.650 more digging and get a little bit more excited about him. 1071 00:53:14.940 --> 00:53:17.019 Yeah, I think that's a really good call out because 1072 00:53:17.039 --> 00:53:19.769 that's one that we've talked about a few times over 1073 00:53:19.809 --> 00:53:22.409 the last couple of years and the, the hype just 1074 00:53:22.449 --> 00:53:25.159 never quite seems to catch up to. It seems like 1075 00:53:25.260 --> 00:53:28.679 the performance. So hopefully that is a name that we're 1076 00:53:28.699 --> 00:53:31.159 going to see with a little bit more of a 1077 00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:34.079 rise next year. I am going to dive into my 1078 00:53:34.139 --> 00:53:36.659 name here. And while I'm never going to give up 1079 00:53:36.840 --> 00:53:39.860 on Josh Knopf, he could easily be my choice here. 1080 00:53:40.280 --> 00:53:42.809 I'm not going to talk about him. I instead am 1081 00:53:42.849 --> 00:53:45.849 going to take a look at Coy James, a shortstop in. 1082 00:53:45.809 --> 00:53:46.750 The national system. 1083 00:53:47.230 --> 00:53:49.929 And honestly, this is another one similar to you, Raj, 1084 00:53:49.989 --> 00:53:53.489 talking about Copen, that I thought about maybe arguing for 1085 00:53:53.530 --> 00:53:56.150 a better grade on because his stock really didn't change 1086 00:53:56.309 --> 00:53:59.730 at all. And while his performance in 11 games after 1087 00:53:59.789 --> 00:54:03.300 my recommendation did come with a 48 WRC +, he 1088 00:54:03.340 --> 00:54:07.300 also continued to show strong contact and approach metrics over 1089 00:54:07.340 --> 00:54:11.360 that span and got really unlucky with a 189 Babbitt 1090 00:54:11.500 --> 00:54:14.139 dragging down his numbers. And a big part of why 1091 00:54:14.219 --> 00:54:18.539 I recommended James when I did is because he was 1092 00:54:18.639 --> 00:54:21.400 a prospect with an exciting blend of power and speed 1093 00:54:21.480 --> 00:54:25.300 who started displaying some much improved contact and approach numbers 1094 00:54:25.820 --> 00:54:28.400 after the minor league all-star break so although his final 1095 00:54:28.400 --> 00:54:32.099 11 games were a bit unlucky I'm still really encouraged 1096 00:54:32.219 --> 00:54:35.739 by what we saw with regards to again especially his 1097 00:54:35.800 --> 00:54:38.920 approach and his contact in the second half and if 1098 00:54:38.960 --> 00:54:41.739 he can continue that into next season I think he's 1099 00:54:41.760 --> 00:54:45.559 going to be a really big riser All right, that 1100 00:54:45.699 --> 00:54:49.139 does it though for all of our recommendations for all 1101 00:54:49.260 --> 00:54:53.280 of our grades this season. But before we end today's episode, 1102 00:54:53.320 --> 00:54:56.400 before we go, before we take a bit of a break, Raj, 1103 00:54:56.500 --> 00:54:58.500 I understand that you have a bit of a surprise 1104 00:54:58.559 --> 00:54:59.320 for us here today. 1105 00:55:00.320 --> 00:55:02.719 Yeah, so I wanted to do a bit of a 1106 00:55:02.760 --> 00:55:06.039 year in review, but I didn't want to just tell 1107 00:55:06.059 --> 00:55:08.420 you like a bunch of numbers. So what we're going 1108 00:55:08.440 --> 00:55:09.619 to do is that we're going to do a bit 1109 00:55:09.659 --> 00:55:12.539 of a trivia where I'm going to ask questions about 1110 00:55:13.119 --> 00:55:14.820 your recommendation and you're going to try to guess. 1111 00:55:15.860 --> 00:55:16.280 We'll see. 1112 00:55:16.800 --> 00:55:19.820 You'll get the picture. Just to recap this year, I, 1113 00:55:19.929 --> 00:55:23.630 me and Cal each made 115 recommendations and Tara made 23. 1114 00:55:23.630 --> 00:55:27.070 So that's on our 253 total recommendations. So a little 1115 00:55:27.110 --> 00:55:31.289 over 250. Cal, this first question is for you. So 1116 00:55:31.329 --> 00:55:34.059 what do you think was your most recommended team this year? 1117 00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.420 And that is what I mean by that is which 1118 00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:38.659 team did you recommend from the most? 1119 00:55:39.880 --> 00:55:47.480 Most recommended team. I don't... It's tough. 1120 00:55:47.519 --> 00:55:49.940 Maybe the Nationals? I know I recommended a few players 1121 00:55:49.980 --> 00:55:50.699 from the Nationals. 1122 00:55:51.820 --> 00:55:54.239 So the Nationals, you had six, but the team you 1123 00:55:54.260 --> 00:55:57.570 recommended from the most was actually the Cleveland Guardians with 1124 00:55:57.570 --> 00:55:59.170 10 different players recommended. 1125 00:55:59.190 --> 00:55:59.449 Oh, wow. 1126 00:56:00.469 --> 00:56:03.190 Yeah. So Taylor, this is for you. 1127 00:56:03.409 --> 00:56:03.829 You had. 1128 00:56:03.849 --> 00:56:06.269 I'm going to ask you your most recommended team, but 1129 00:56:06.289 --> 00:56:09.070 you actually had two because you had two teams tied 1130 00:56:09.090 --> 00:56:11.889 for three recommendations each. So if you like, you can 1131 00:56:11.929 --> 00:56:14.059 give two guesses for what each of them were. 1132 00:56:15.429 --> 00:56:17.030 Oh, man, this is a tough one. I got to 1133 00:56:17.050 --> 00:56:18.219 guess the Giants, obviously. 1134 00:56:18.239 --> 00:56:21.019 It is not the Giants. 1135 00:56:21.539 --> 00:56:25.980 Oh, let's see. Try to think back through all my recommendations. 1136 00:56:26.579 --> 00:56:28.719 Probably the Brewers and the Dodgers? 1137 00:56:29.980 --> 00:56:32.900 No, it's actually the Tigers and the Cardinals. 1138 00:56:33.559 --> 00:56:33.860 Whoa. 1139 00:56:33.960 --> 00:56:35.159 Three from each. 1140 00:56:36.079 --> 00:56:37.960 Wow, would not have expected that. What was yours, Raj? 1141 00:56:39.039 --> 00:56:40.940 Mine was, like, it's going to be an answer for 1142 00:56:41.039

--> 00:56:41.519 one of the. 1143 00:56:41.599 --> 00:56:43.320 Future ones, so I'm not going to say it yet. 1144 00:56:43.340 --> 00:56:46.230 Okay, never mind. go for it. 1145 00:56:46.750 --> 00:56:48.630 So next, we're going to go for the teams with 1146 00:56:49.010 --> 00:56:52.760 zero recommendations. Kyle, this is for you because you didn't 1147 00:56:52.800 --> 00:56:54.119 recommend as many, so you have a bunch of you 1148 00:56:54.159 --> 00:56:56.940 with zero recommendations, but Kyle, you only had one team 1149 00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:00.800 where you did not recommend a single pair from. Can 1150 00:57:00.820 --> 00:57:02.059 you guess which team that was? 1151 00:57:02.969 --> 00:57:07.510 One team without any. The problem is that probably means 1152 00:57:07.550 --> 00:57:09.710 they're off my mind entirely, so I don't know that 1153 00:57:09.730 --> 00:57:11.550 I'm going to get this, but I'm going. 1154 00:57:11.389 --> 00:57:12.929 To take a stab at. 1155 00:57:17.659 --> 00:57:19.039 I'm going to take a stab at. 1156 00:57:20.760 --> 00:57:22.699 Let's go with the Phillies? 1157 00:57:22.719 --> 00:57:27.000 It was actually the New York Mets. And the thing 1158 00:57:27.039 --> 00:57:29.460 that made it this one interesting is that even though 1159 00:57:29.480 --> 00:57:31.840 you didn't recommend any players from the Mets, you ended 1160 00:57:31.900 --> 00:57:34.079 up having two players who were traded to the Mets 1161 00:57:34.119 --> 00:57:36.619 at the deadline. One of them was Gabe Davis, who 1162 00:57:36.639 --> 00:57:39.360 I know in the last week's podcast, he thought he 1163 00:57:39.380 --> 00:57:42.059 would break out next year a bit. But the other 1164 00:57:42.079 --> 00:57:44.840 recommendation was actually Aiden Smith. And this one was interesting 1165 00:57:44.860 --> 00:57:47.539 because that was actually a drop recommendation for you. So 1166 00:57:47.559 --> 00:57:50.489 I want, and just see how you feel about Aiden 1167 00:57:50.510 --> 00:57:52.630 Smith for next year. Cause I know that he's with 1168 00:57:52.650 --> 00:57:54.769 New York now. Is that what probably changed the last 1169 00:57:54.789 --> 00:57:57.570 time you just hear what you think about Aiden Smith? 1170 00:57:58.369 --> 00:58:02.150 I think I'm probably still where I was prior to 1171 00:58:02.210 --> 00:58:05.829 the trade in that he's an incredibly exciting prospect with 1172 00:58:05.869 --> 00:58:08.590 some really big questions that he still needs to answer. 1173 00:58:09.130 --> 00:58:10.889 So I don't know that I'm going to be moving 1174 00:58:10.949 --> 00:58:14.530 him significantly in my rankings until we see what that 1175 00:58:14.590 --> 00:58:19.320 looks like next season after a full off-season of communication 1176 00:58:19.389 --> 00:58:21.480 with his new team. So I know it's a bit 1177 00:58:21.500 --> 00:58:24.480 of a cop-out answer, but I'm probably not doing anything 1178 00:58:24.539 --> 00:58:26.500 with

him right now. I want to see what happens 1179 00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:27.380 in 2027. 1180 00:58:27.380 --> 00:58:35.119 Okay, so now let's look at the overall numbers. There's 1181 00:58:35.159 --> 00:58:39.110 two teams that are tied with 16 recommendations overall. And 1182 00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:42.179 can you guess? I'll give you each two chances to 1183 00:58:42.219 --> 00:58:44.099 guess which teams they were. 1184 00:58:45.079 --> 00:58:48.380 I recommended 10 Guardians, so I got to assume that's 1185 00:58:48.480 --> 00:58:48.800 one of them. 1186 00:58:49.659 --> 00:58:50.739 It is not. No. 1187 00:58:50.760 --> 00:58:55.090 Oh, wow. Is this like Family Feud? Can I steal 1188 00:58:55.110 --> 00:58:55.860 another category here? 1189 00:58:55.969 --> 00:58:58.409 No, you both get two opportunities because this is all 1190 00:58:58.429 --> 00:58:58.630 of us. 1191 00:58:58.769 --> 00:58:59.969 Okay. Are we switching back and forth? 1192 00:59:00.570 --> 00:59:02.010 Yeah, go for it. Okay. 1193 00:59:02.030 --> 00:59:03.050 I'm going to go with the Brewers. 1194 00:59:04.289 --> 00:59:04.510 No. 1195 00:59:05.090 --> 00:59:08.079 Brewers had 13. These two teams each had 16. 1196 00:59:08.079 --> 00:59:09.659 Okay. This is tough. 1197 00:59:09.900 --> 00:59:12.179 Tougher than I was expecting it to be. These are 1198 00:59:12.199 --> 00:59:13.219 some good questions, Raj. 1199 00:59:13.260 --> 00:59:13.739 What about the. 1200 00:59:15.519 --> 00:59:17.510 I don't think we had this many, but what about 1201 00:59:17.550 --> 00:59:18.070 the Yankees? 1202 00:59:19.110 --> 00:59:21.329 The Yankees only had seven. Yeah. 1203 00:59:21.989 --> 00:59:22.769 That was a bad guess. 1204 00:59:23.750 --> 00:59:25.730 I'm going with the Nats. 1205 00:59:25.750 --> 00:59:29.349 No, the Nats had 13, so the... Two most recommended 1206 00:59:29.369 --> 00:59:32.369 teams at 16 were the Boston Red Sox and the 1207 00:59:32.449 --> 00:59:33.110 Miami Marlins. 1208 00:59:33.929 --> 00:59:36.449 Okay. We should have gotten Red Sox. 1209 00:59:37.130 --> 00:59:39.309 Yeah. I know you asked me what my most recommended 1210 00:59:39.550 --> 00:59:42.889 team was. For me, it was the Marlins with nine recommendations. 1211 00:59:43.190 --> 00:59:43.469 Okay. 1212 00:59:44.050 --> 00:59:44.380 Got it. 1213 00:59:44.389 --> 00:59:45.219 That checks out too. 1214 00:59:46.360 --> 00:59:49.800 So now what about the least recommended team? And this 1215 00:59:49.840 --> 00:59:52.699 team only got two recommendations out of the whole year. 1216 00:59:53.300 --> 00:59:55.659 One from me, one from Kyle. Taylor, you can start 1217 00:59:55.980 --> 00:59:56.360 this time. 1218 00:59:56.239 --> 00:59:56.860 If you want. 1219 00:59:57.510 --> 01:00:01.050 Least recommendations. And I didn't recommend anyone from them. I'm 1220 01:00:04.269 --> 01:00:09.050 trying to think of like really bad teams. I don't 1221 01:00:09.070 --> 01:00:11.380 know why, but this one's popping in

my head. How 1222 01:00:11.400 --> 01:00:12.460 about the Arizona Diamondbacks? 1223 01:00:14.099 --> 01:00:14.539 It is not. 1224 01:00:14.800 --> 01:00:18.199 The Diamondbacks had seven recommendations from us this year. 1225 01:00:19.679 --> 01:00:19.960 You know what? 1226 01:00:20.019 --> 01:00:23.070 I guessed this earlier for my least recommended. So I 1227 01:00:23.190 --> 01:00:25.030 still feel good about this. What about the Phillies? 1228 01:00:26.190 --> 01:00:27.170 It is not the Phillies. 1229 01:00:27.409 --> 01:00:28.929 I think I know who it is. Wait, I think 1230 01:00:28.949 --> 01:00:30.809 I know who it is. Is it the Padres? 1231 01:00:31.849 --> 01:00:34.929 No, Padres had three. So they're like second least. 1232 01:00:34.949 --> 01:00:35.590 They're right there. 1233 01:00:36.710 --> 01:00:42.380 Yeah. So the least is actually the Athletics. And it's 1234 01:00:42.500 --> 01:00:45.159 pretty interesting because the two guys that I recommend were 1235 01:00:45.659 --> 01:00:48.659 Brice and Guedes, which is Carlos, and mine was Joshua Kortegaard. 1236 01:00:49.579 --> 01:00:52.519 And I think both of them, like Kortegaard had a 1237 01:00:52.559 --> 01:00:55.409 good year, Guedes not so much, but I think there's... 1238 01:00:55.869 --> 01:00:58.269 Even though they weren't like, we didn't have that many calls. 1239 01:00:58.469 --> 01:01:02.530 I think those two guys were like pretty impactful, especially again, 1240 01:01:02.570 --> 01:01:04.070 as I think he can really bounce back next year 1241 01:01:04.110 --> 01:01:04.369 as well. 1242 01:01:05.449 --> 01:01:09.489 So yeah, those are two almost complete opposite recommendations too. 1243 01:01:09.550 --> 01:01:11.820 Those are really interesting that those are the only two 1244 01:01:11.880 --> 01:01:12.960 we looked at from the A's. 1245 01:01:14.199 --> 01:01:18.539 Yeah. So now let's look at the, this is for Cal. 1246 01:01:18.579 --> 01:01:25.650 So there was one team that got five recommendations, but Cal, 1247 01:01:25.730 --> 01:01:28.630 you had all five of those recommendations. So I don't 1248 01:01:28.650 --> 01:01:31.150 recommend a single pair from that team. Taylor doesn't recommend 1249 01:01:31.170 --> 01:01:33.429 a single pair from that team. So which team are 1250 01:01:33.449 --> 01:01:34.409 you secretly a fan of? 1251 01:01:37.159 --> 01:01:37.699 Oh, boy. 1252 01:01:37.820 --> 01:01:38.519 You know what? 1253 01:01:39.119 --> 01:01:41.239 This is probably going to be a team that I 1254 01:01:41.400 --> 01:01:45.690 have in no way any actual fandom for, isn't it? 1255 01:01:47.119 --> 01:01:48.090 Let's go Braves. 1256 01:01:49.550 --> 01:01:53.369 It is not the Braves. It is the Seattle Mariners. 1257 01:01:54.190 --> 01:01:54.949 Okay, you know what? 1258 01:01:55.050 --> 01:01:56.969 I don't hate that. I've got a few players that 1259 01:01:57.010 --> 01:01:59.860 I do enjoy there. And I got to interview one 1260 01:01:59.900 --> 01:02:02.739

of the players that I recommended. So I'm just fine 1261 01:02:02.760 --> 01:02:05.139 with that being one of the answers for me here. 1262 01:02:06.960 --> 01:02:09.300 So now one final question. This one's going to be fun. 1263 01:02:09.360 --> 01:02:14.440 So which team got more recommendations this year? The Giants 1264 01:02:14.500 --> 01:02:17.570 or the Blue Jays? And you can each give a 1265 01:02:17.619 --> 01:02:18.670 guess before I give the answer. 1266 01:02:20.590 --> 01:02:22.150 I think it was probably the Giants. 1267 01:02:23.650 --> 01:02:24.909 Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the Giants. 1268 01:02:26.519 --> 01:02:31.320 Okay, so this year, Kyle, you had five recommendations for 1269 01:02:31.340 --> 01:02:33.760 the Jays and three for the Giants. So that's plus 1270 01:02:33.780 --> 01:02:36.219 two for the Jays. But I canceled you out. I 1271 01:02:36.260 --> 01:02:38.900 had six for the Giants and four for the Jays. 1272 01:02:39.880 --> 01:02:41.989 So it all comes down to Tara. And Tara, you 1273 01:02:42.030 --> 01:02:45.989 had one recommendation from the Jays, but two from the Giants. 1274 01:02:46.070 --> 01:02:49.769 Tara's Giants bias makes it 11 calls for the Giants 1275 01:02:49.849 --> 01:02:54.610 and 10 for the Jays this year. And that's all. 1276 01:02:54.630 --> 01:02:55.730 All right. Love it. 1277 01:02:55.889 --> 01:02:56.329 You know what? 1278 01:02:56.489 --> 01:02:58.309 It took until the very end, but at least we 1279 01:02:58.349 --> 01:03:01.090 got one right. Those were some tough questions, Raj. Those 1280 01:03:01.190 --> 01:03:04.710 were really good questions. Apparently, we don't know our recommendations 1281 01:03:04.769 --> 01:03:05.849 as well as we thought we did. 1282 01:03:07.769 --> 01:03:10.400 We have to be more prepared next time around. Absolutely. 1283 01:03:10.420 --> 01:03:12.940 Thanks a lot, Raj. Yeah, that was awesome. 1284 01:03:12.980 --> 01:03:15.760 But Raj, thank you, not just for that quiz at 1285 01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:17.579 the end to keep us on our toes a little bit, 1286 01:03:17.639 --> 01:03:20.619 but for joining us again this week and for the 1287 01:03:20.780 --> 01:03:23.650 excellent work that you have done all season long on 1288 01:03:24.110 --> 01:03:28.000 these articles, on the podcast when we got you on. Please, 1289 01:03:28.320 --> 01:03:30.980 one more time here, tell the people where they can 1290 01:03:31.039 --> 01:03:32.579 find you and what you're going to be working on 1291 01:03:32.619 --> 01:03:35.599 this winter because while our articles are ending, we are 1292 01:03:35.679 --> 01:03:36.840 still going to be very busy. 1293 01:03:38.099 --> 01:03:40.800 Yeah, so you can find me on bluesky at rajmantra.ca 1294 01:03:40.840 --> 01:03:42.889 and now that we're in the off-season, we're going to 1295 01:03:42.909 --> 01:03:46.409 be working on our 2027 Dynasty Outlooks for each MLB 1296 01:03:46.469 --> 01:03:50.050 team as well as the 2029 lineups for each team 1297 01:03:50.150 --> 01:03:53.300 and so I'll be doing the Rockies, plus a few others, 1298 01:03:53.440 --> 01:03:56.510 but the Rockies, since we're working from the worst teams 1299 01:03:56.530 --> 01:03:58.510 to the best, Rockies will be one of the first 1300 01:03:58.530 --> 01:04:01.610 teams we'll talk about. So I believe this week you'll 1301 01:04:01.650 --> 01:04:04.190 find me on a podcast yet again on the main 1302 01:04:04.449 --> 01:04:07.210 Dynasty pod with Greg, and we'll talk about the 2029 1303 01:04:07.210 --> 01:04:12.760 minus for the Rockies as well as their Dynasty outlooks. Awesome. 1304 01:04:12.780 --> 01:04:15.280 We look forward to seeing everything else you've got coming 1305 01:04:15.340 --> 01:04:19.480 this winter, Raj. Thank you once again for joining us. Taylor, 1306 01:04:19.599 --> 01:04:22.119 is there anything that you would like to add Before 1307 01:04:22.139 --> 01:04:24.039 we take a bit of a break through the playoffs. 1308 01:04:26.119 --> 01:04:30.360 Just enjoy the postseason, everybody. Hopefully we get a full 1309 01:04:30.400 --> 01:04:33.360 season next year. But even if not, we'll still have 1310 01:04:33.380 --> 01:04:34.699 some minor league ball to talk about. 1311 01:04:34.980 --> 01:04:35.519 Absolutely. 1312 01:04:35.659 --> 01:04:37.659 We are going to have a ton to talk about 1313 01:04:37.719 --> 01:04:41.190 this winter and even next season, regardless of what's going 1314 01:04:41.329 --> 01:04:45.090 on with the major league season. As Taylor said, enjoy 1315 01:04:45.130 --> 01:04:48.070 the playoffs. Those of you that have your favorite team 1316 01:04:48.110 --> 01:04:50.829 still in there, unfortunately, that is none of the three 1317 01:04:50.869 --> 01:04:53.610 of us on this podcast today. But good luck to 1318 01:04:53.719 --> 01:04:56.099 all of your teams out there. And thank you all 1319 01:04:56.139 --> 01:04:59.280 for joining us, not just today, but throughout this entire season. 1320 01:04:59.780 --> 01:05:02.199 If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a rate 1321 01:05:02.219 --> 01:05:04.300 and review and give us a follow while you are 1322 01:05:04.400 --> 01:05:06.559 at it. You can find me at sunny underscore 108 1323 01:05:06.559 --> 01:05:10.150 on X and sunny 108 on Blue Sky. And you 1324 01:05:10.170 --> 01:05:13.159 can find Taylor at Dynasty Pickups on both You can 1325 01:05:13.179 --> 01:05:14.820 also get a hold of us with all of your 1326 01:05:14.880 --> 01:05:19.659 dynasty baseball questions at dynastybaseballpickups at gmail.com. And all of 1327 01:05:19.719 --> 01:05:22.380 that contact info will be posted in the show notes 1328 01:05:22.559 --> 01:05:27.019 as well. As always, please consider subscribing to Prospects Live 1329 01:05:27.039 --> 01:05:29.800 for as little as $ 7 to gain access to a 1330 01:05:29.880 --> 01:05:33.059 wealth of incredible tools and content, including more. 1331 01:05:32.840 --> 01:05:34.619 From us at prospectslive.com. 1332 01:05:35.550 --> 01:05:37.489 As I said, we will be taking a little bit 1333 01:05:37.530 --> 01:05:40.360 of a break now through the MLB playoffs, but we 1334 01:05:40.420 --> 01:05:44.750 will be back with plenty of off-season content. Until then, 1335 01:05:44.769 --> 01:05:47.150 thank you all for listening, and we'll see you next week.