This Week In Fantasy Baseball - John Ke (@thejohnke) and Patrick Fitzgerald (@PFitzgerald_99) catch you up on everything in "This Week in Fantasy Baseball"!

There's been a lot of movement and trades this offseason. John and Patrick pick up where they left off in December and recap all the important free-agent signings and trades in the past month and how they might impact your upcoming drafts!

Timestamps:

3:23 - Adolis Garcia

6:09 - Shane Baz

8:13 - Brandon Lowe

11:19 - Ryan O'Hearn

13:40 - Pete Fairbanks

16:17 - Tatsuya Imai

18:54 - Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami

22:00 - Edward Cabrera

25:14 - Brendan Donovan

27:43 - Alex Bregman

30:55 - Ranger Suarez

34:04 - Ryan Weathers

37:07 - Kyle Tucker

40:37 - Bo Bichette

43:39 - Cody Bellinger

46:31 - Freddy Peralta

49:47 - MacKenzie Gore

52:24 - Eugenio Suarez

55:51 - Framber Valdez

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The Craft

Nick Pollack and Eno Sarris record a live episode of The Craft discussing rankings differences in their SP rankings.

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On The Corner

Nick Pollack and Eric Samulski discuss Eric's Top 100 SP.

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The Approach Angle

Nate Schwartz and Kyle Bland discuss 2026’s newest metrics that matter and where analytics stand heading into the season.

They talk about how players are adapting to all the information they have and what information they want next. Then, they break down bat-tracking metrics, highlight the importance of similarity scores, and share what non-competitive rate means for pitchers. 

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Brett and Scott dive in discussing the depth of this year's talent pool, debunking the myth of positional scarcity and examining the in-draft decision-making process of when to draft safe against when to take a shot on upside. Later on in the episode, Scott drops some names that have moved up his ranks over the course of the offseason and some bats that he's avoiding at cost early in draft season.

Hosts: Brett Ford | Scott Chu

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On The Wire - Adam Howe and Kevin Hasting kick off their 2026 fantasy baseball category previews by breaking down power (HR & RBI) and why it has quietly become harder to replace later in drafts. They discuss draft targets, late-round power bats, platoon plays, and roster construction strategies to hit modern home run benchmarks.

0:00–8:30 — Episode Intro & Why Power Matters More in 2026

Category-preview format explanation

Impact of PitchCon and offseason prep

Why managers are falling behind in HR/RBI

Establishing modern power targets (24–25 HR per hitter)

8:30–20:00 — Power vs Speed Tradeoffs in Early Drafts

Players discussed:
Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., Jackson Chourio, Trea Turner

How few true 35+ HR bats exist

Why early speed-first picks create downstream power pressure

Corner infield power vs middle-infield scarcity

20:00–30:30 — Power Benchmarks & Draft Math

Targeting ~350 HR and ~1,100 RBI in 15-team leagues

Why “15 HR + speed” profiles create long-term problems

Emphasizing lineup quality over RBI projections

30:30–44:00 — Corner Infield Power Targets

Players discussed:
Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Paul Goldschmidt, Bryce Eldridge, Chase DeLauter, Josh Bell, Tristan Casas

Arenado vs Gorman risk profiles

Playing-time certainty vs batting average damage

Eldridge stash upside vs prospect risk

Josh Bell as a boring but reliable power source

44:00–57:00 — Middle Infield Power Options

Players discussed:
Jake Cronenworth, Anthony Volpe, José Caballero, Brooks Lee

Cronenworth as a “glue guy” with sneaky volume power

Volpe’s rebound potential and ADP window

Multi-position flexibility as power insurance

Minnesota infield playing-time outlook

57:00–1:11:00 — Outfield Power Targets

Players discussed:
Jesus Sanchez, Andrew Benintendi, Austin Hays, Cody Clemens

Sanchez as a platoon-friendly power bat in Houston

Benintendi’s power resurgence vs lineup quality

Hays as a free-agent ADP value play

Clemens as a flexible, low-cost power streamer

1:11:00–1:18:00 — Power Streamers & Rate-Based Targets

Players discussed:
Jemai Jones, Dominic Canzone, Tyler O’Neill, Matt Wallner, Zach Dezenzo, Colby Thomas, Christopher Morel, Joey Wiemer, David Schneider

HR per 600 PA as a late-draft tool

Short-side platoon exploitation

Streaming power via matchups and schedules

1:18:00–1:21:00 — Catchers & Utility-Only Power

Players discussed:
Carson Kelly, Marcell Ozuna, Jonathan India

Kelly as a streaming catcher with pop

Ozuna’s ADP volatility if he signs

India benefiting from KC fence changes and lineup role

1:21:00–1:23:00 — Final Thoughts & Power Draft Takeaways

Don’t underestimate power scarcity

Late-round power always carries risk — embrace flexibility

Trust your draft instincts and plan for in-season maintenance

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Wins Above Fantasy – Van Burnett (@Van_Verified) and Steve Gesuele (@stav8818) examine where projection systems diverge and how those gaps can create draft value, highlighting key hitting and pitching targets and fades.

• Intro
• Projection gaps = draft value
• ATC strong for power, RBIs, Ks
• ZiPS leads stolen bases
• OOPSY highlights ERA/WHIP edges
• Playing time assumptions matter

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In The Pen

Rick Graham (@IAmRickGraham) and Jake Crumpler (@jakecrumpler) rank every MLB bullpen, 1-30.

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On The Corner

Nick Pollack and Eric Samulski look at starting pitcher ADP starting with round 6 and pick their favorite options based on ADP data.

Nerd out about pitching and fantasy baseball weekly with Pitcher List's Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) and NBC Sports' Eric Samulski (@SamskiNYC). 

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Pitching is dope.

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Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad Young (@chadyoung) just finished up a keeper league draft with 10 listeners and take some time to go through interesting picks and keeps.

4:13 - Chad and Pete pick 1-2 and the first tough calls of the draft came because Pete was "stuck" with a util-only bat at 1.1.

10:44 - Right off the start, you get guys being taken over ADP - even in the first round. But because of keepers, team structure and more, it's less a reach and more a pick that makes sense.

20:01 - Did Matt Heckman jump too early on Wyatt Langford? And how do we feel about a second round keeper price on Cal Raleigh?

23:11 - Third and fourth round keepers are high priced but generally make sense once you have context.

27:34 - George Springer is a great example of old guy value and he comes with real upside even at a high cost.

30:04 - We move into the fifth and sixth rounds, and Chad jumps into a mini-closer run, because he was committed to chasing saves because he kept a first closer.

37:40 - Eugenio Suárez is a solid pick with real upside and a deflated ADP because we don't know where he will land.

39:28 - Moving into the seventh round, we start to see teams reach for big upside and long-term keepers for the first time - and it might be happening earlier this year than last.

52:12 - Onto the ninth and tenth rounds where the draft swung back to old boring guys, but there are still a few names - even among the old guys! - with keeper upside.

59:05 - We move into the 11th and 12th rounds, and we're all reaching now, plus maybe we over-drafted closers early?

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