Fantasy Feud

Some guys are thriving others are scuffling, Sara and Shelly are joined by Fantrax Senior Writer Lauren Auerbach to discuss how we're making roster decisions early this fantasy baseball season.

Discussions:

To hold or not to hold, which players are droppable and which are you waiting for more information on?

Michael Busch tied a Cubs franchise record with home runs in five straight games, is he a Dude or just a guy riding a hot streak?

Speaking of guys names Mike, Mike Trout is off to a hot start and stealing bases for the first time in years. 

Taylor Ward and Tyler O'Neill are both off to hot starts, who do we like more for the rest of the season?

Reid Detmers and José Berríos are both at the top of the FanGraphs player rater for pitchers, who do we believe in more?

Closers on bad teams can still rack up saves, we debate Mason Miller v. Kyle Finnegan.

Love it or Leave it?

Oakland on a bit of a series win streak and we love it that the As are sticking it to John Fisher.

The Red Sox defense has left a lot to be desired.

The Ippei Mizuhara case just keeps getting more intense and if you haven't read the charging documents you should.

Guest: Lauren Auerbach

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Starting pitchers have been in the news dazzling us with their performances but also decimating us with an onslaught of injuries. Sara and Shelly are joined by the founder of Pitcher List, Nick Pollack, to debate all things starting pitchers.

Discussions:

There are more injuries, we can all see it, but what is causing the spike?

Max Fried has struggled to start the season, is it small sample noise or cause for concern?

We were all excited about Michael King's move to San Diego, but it's been a bit of a bumpy ride.

Were we a year (or two) early on Reid Detmers?

Javier Assad has a 2.96 MLB ERA in 158 IP -- is he legit or not?

Zack Littell has been outstanding in his first two starts, did the Rays do it again?

Love it or Leave it:

The Rogers Centre renovations have made it harder to track home plate lady and that's a loss for all of us.

There is a simple fix to MLB's ongoing quest for the perfect playoff structure.

The Red Sox brought back the 2004 crew to kick off their home opener and you will not want to miss any of it (yes, even if you're a Yankees fan).

Guest: Nick Pollack

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Baseball is back and with it come a bunch of decisions, we'll debate them today with Michael Govier from the Pallazzo Podcast.

Discussions

Ronel Blanco has the first no-hitter of 2024, are we in on Blanco long term?

Shōta Imanaga made his shutout MLB debut and shoved, but there was a lot of hard contact in this two hit shutout outing - are we worried about what happens when the wind is blowing out at Wrigley?

It wasn't all great starts, Bailey Ober threw 1.1 innings with eight earned runs. Are we already over Ober?

Two early round picks with similar early lines: who has the better overall roto season: Luis Robert Jr. or Elly De La Cruz?

Milwaukee closer watch: Abner Uribe gets his third save as we're recording, does he have a lock on the job long term?

Oswaldo Cabrera has gotten an opportunity to start and is not missing his shot, you could do worse at your CI position.

Love it or Leave it 

Govier is overjoyed with all of the baseball news and this is why he's fantasy baseball's number one hype man.

Is the Red Sox rotation good, actually?

This is probably a love it for some and a leave it for others, but man Juan Soto looks like he was born to be a Yankee (sorry, Shelly)

Guest: Michael Govier

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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It's baseball eve and Yahoo's Andy Behrens joins Sara and Shelly as we discuss some of our hottest takes heading into baseball season.

Discussions

Ceddanne Rafaela has been red hot this spring, is a breakout season on the horizon?

Kutter Crawford is the pitcher everyone thinks Brayan Bello is.

Nelson Velázquez is a 35+ home run bat as the designated hitter for the Royals.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be in the Cy Young conversation right up there with Spencer Strider.

Is Jared Jones a streamer, a DUDE or a bust?

Richie Palacios is the next great ex-Cardinals outfielder

Love it or Leave it (one thing from baseball each week we are into or over)

We hate injuries but with Dylan Carlson out to start the season, Victor Scott II will get a chance to steal some bags and make spectacular plays in center for the Cardinals.

Shōta Imanaga will be making his MLB debut at the Wrigley Field home opener on April 1 and that's just magic.

Draft season is over! Now all the fun begins.

Guest: Andy Behrens

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Sara and Shelly are joined by Rotowire's Erik Halterman for an ADP deep dive as the MLB regular season kicks off in Korea.

Discussions:

Where do you want to draft? We hash out KDS and the benefits of drafting from the ends or the middle.

Pitching injuries abound and both starters and closers are being pushed up. We discuss whether you should follow the crowd or invest in bats while early pitching goes.

Our cases for round two  aces looks at Zack Wheeler, Corbin Burnes, and more.

When pitching gets up, bats move down we debate Nico Hoerner v. Matt McLain in the fifth.

O'Neil Cruz is rising, find out why Sara is still in and Erik is out.

The Devin Williams injury news creates save opportunities for someone in Milwaukee, are those saves going to Joel Payamps, Abner Uribe or would you be better off drafting someone else entirely?

Love it or Leave it?

Erik shouts out Nick Pollack on his well-deserved Lawr Michaels Award at Tout Wars, and there's no debate about this, everyone agrees Nick rules.

Shelly is very into the new MLB Spring Breakout and all of the prospect love from MLB this spring.

Sara loves that Sammy Sosa returned to Chicago for some Cubs adjacent interviews, which is (hopefully) a first step to Sammy being back in the fold  on the North Side.

Guest: Erik Halterman

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Sara and Shelly are joined by the Senior Manager of Fantasy Content at Rotoworld, D.J. Short to discuss the Tout Wars 15-Team Mixed League draft Shelly and D.J. participated in last week.

Link to the draft board.

Discussions:

Are you a standard draft type of player or do you prefer a salary cap draft/auction league instead?

Two players in this draft used two of their first three picks on pitchers stacking Corbin Burnes and Logan Webb in one instance and Gerrit Cole and Tarik Skubal in another. Late injury news aside, we discuss pocket aces as a strategy this draft season.

Would you rather start big power or a mix of power and speed? We discuss D.J.'s Aaron Judge/Pete Alonso start

How early are you taking closers this season? We discuss Devin Williams, Adbert Alzolay, José Alvarado and more.

How early are we drafting Kyle Schwarber in an OBP league?

Catcher strategy in 15-teamers, how early do you want two guys?

Love it or Leave it?

Jackson Merrill makes the Padres roster and is heading to Korea for the early season opener.

We are all over pitching injuries this week.

Joey Votto returns to Canada on a minor league deal with the Blue Jays and this is just good for baseball.

Guest: D.J. Short

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Shelly is off for her Tout Wars draft but Sara is joined by Justin Mason and Paul Sporer to make the cases for some of our favorite players this draft season.

Discussions:

Ronald Acuña Jr. had his surgically repaired knee evaluated for an irritated meniscus, is he still the 1.1?

Battle of the Reds 1B options, do you want Spencer Steer or Jeimer Candelario 100 picks later?

Are we drafting Corey Seager where he goes despite the injury risk?

Why are we into (or out on) Christopher Morel?

Was the Ke'Bryan Hayes breakout real and is there another level?

Is Yu Darvish a good value in 2024?

As you fuel up for your drafts are pancakes or waffles the undisputed king of breakfast/brunch?

Love it or Leave it?

Jason Benetti joins the Tigers as their play-by-play guy and that might be the move of the offseason

Matt Chapman signs in San Francisco

Tarik Skubal absolutely dazzles against the Red Sox

Guests: Justin Mason & Paul Sporer

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Sara and Shelly are joined by Chris Towers to recap the DARF draft through a  series of debatable moments, moves and strategies during the draft.

Link to draft board

Discussions:

Alternate Categories: this league uses OBP instead of batting average, innings pitched instead of wins and saves+holds instead of saves. Do we love all the categories, some of them or do you just adapt to the draft in front of you?

How does a livestreamed/public draft impact decision-making and is it preferable to drafting online in a more private setting?

ADP is a useful tool but in an alternate categories draft players like Willson Contreras, Nick Pivetta and Seiya Suzuki went earlier than anticipated. How much should ADP inform your draft

Starting pitchers flew off the board with the league changing from 12-teams to 15-teams is it better to go with safe bets like Martín Pérez or upside plays like Edward Cabrera late?

Reliever strategy: how late can you wait in a saves+holds league?

Sara took Spencer Strider at number two overall, is that brilliant or mad?

Decision points: Sara was picking second and Chris was picking third which led to the following back-to-back picks: Francisco Lindor v. Corey Seager, Justin Steele v. Max Fried & Josh Jung v. Noelvi Marte. We break it all down.

Love it or leave it? We wrap up with the baseball news we're most into or out on each week.

Games are back and we are stoked!

Shelly & Chris are live drafting their LABR teams in Florida this weekend.

Cody Bellinger returns to the Cubs, we break down the deal and the Boras stare down with the league.

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Sara and Shelly are joined by Randy Haines to recap the DARF draft through a  series of debatable moments, moves and strategies during the draft.

Discussions:

Elly De La Cruz in the third: the cost remains high, is his incredible upside worth the draft pick?

Corey Seager in the third: he's a proven fantasy contributor but will he be healthy for Opening Day? Does taking him have trickle down effects in your drafts?

Are you prioritizing hitting or pitching in a draft? Does the individual draft change that answer?

Slow drafts vs. fast drafts

How are we dealing with unsigned players this late into the offseason? Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell and more.

Shelly was drafting right after Randy, and you know where this is going: snipes! Bobby Miller, Bryce Miller, Jarren Duran and William Contreras were among the biggest snipes in this draft

Love it or leave it? We wrap up with the baseball news we're most into or out on each week.

We discuss the possibility of condensing the free agent window and expansion. 

We're into Terry Francona and Joe Maddon narrating a watch party of Game 7 of the 2016 World Series on Thursday night on MLB Network

We are out on the new MLB uniforms (and so are most of the players).

Guest: Randy Haines

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

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Sara and Shelly are joined by the Director of Podcasts at Pitcher List, Adam Howe to recap the GLARF draft through a series of debatable moments, moves and strategies in the episode.

Discussions:

Pitcher Run in the 4th Round: When there is a run do you change your strategy or stay the course? Is Tarik Skubal an SP1 and should you pivot if you're not in love with one of your earliest picks?

We've all been sniped and this time it was Adam Howe in the 13th round with Christopher Morel, leading Sara to take Tommy Edman and then snipe him right back with Nolan Gorman. How  do you react to players you love going right ahead of you with a fast clock?

Paul Skenes has thrown 6.2 innings of minor league ball and while the Pirates seem to be accelerating his development is he really a 17th round pick? How long can you stash him? Wouldn't you rather have Nestor Cortes instead?

Catcher strategy in two catcher leagues: Do you need two studs? If you find yourself somewhere after Alejandro Kirk and Shea Langeliers can late round darts on guys like Yan Gomes and Iván Herrera make up the gap?

Drafting prospects in the middle rounds Jackson Chourio went 12.12. Wyatt Langford went 13.15 and Jackson Holliday went 14.5. Are you drafting prospects with all that major league talent still on the board?

Closers are like catchers, do you need two studs and if you don't have them, how do you make it up later? Is Adbert Alzolay a stud? How secure does anyone feel about José Alvarado in the 12th round given the way the Phillies mix and match at the end of games?

How much does ADP influence a draft in the early rounds and should it?

Love it or leave it? We wrap up with the baseball news we're most into or out on each week.

Jenny Cavnar will be the A’s primary play-by-play announcer. First woman in MLB history to serve as a club’s primary, regular play-by-play voice.

Thrilled to see players like Vlad Guerrero Jr  winning their arbitration cases, but I’m over the whole process and bad blood it causes

Justin Steele shouting out Shōta Imanaga pitches and buying his cards

Guest: Adam Howe

Hosts: Sara Sanchez | Shelly Verougstraete

Join: PL+ | PL Pro

Proud member of the Pitcher List Podcast Network