Early 2026 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Rankings (Ep. 1140)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in everybody to Fantasy Pros MLB. This is the
Fantasy Baseball podcast. That's right, We're back baby in the
off season. It's me Joey Pajo. Pi's appear with me
of course is my boy the Welsh. And today we're
gonna take a look at dynasty rankings. Where is the
top one hundred right now, who's rising, who's falling? A
hard look at the top twelve two in the assets
that you need because we know this is the time

(00:26):
of year where a lot of dynasty startups are beginning,
and of course a lot of dynasty team evaluations are happening.
So why should I going to do a deep dive
on that top one hundred players, give you some takes
of some guys that we think are noteworthy and Welsh,
I know we're in the thick already preparing for the
twenty twenty six MLB season. Make sure everybody should subscribe
here to the Fantasy Pros MLB YouTube channel, and of

(00:49):
course wherever you get your podcast, to the podcast feed
as well. I'm writing Black Book. You're writing Black Book
that should be out December fifteenth on the Amazon. So
that's a nice Christmas slash holiday present to everyone who
loves baseball out there and I'm writing up the pictures,
you're writing up all the prospects, and this is prospects season, right,
You're out there in the AFL. You're seeing some of
these guys too that we're going to talk about today.

(01:10):
So this is a great opportunity to kind of take
a step back and kind of look at the big
picture when it comes to dynasty leagues.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, that's exactly right, because you know, when you're looking
at like whether it's a startup or you know you've
got a long term one, a lot of like the
redraft to maybe even top one hundred. The things that
are close, the biggest, most dramatic differences usually have to
do with age, and it has to do with like
a super young player or super old player. So us
doing this kind of risers followers or the dynasty adjustments

(01:39):
are going to be Where do some of these incredibly
amazingly talented players that are older end up going on
the ranks. Where do some of these young guys who
just had big performances. How far can they jump? How
far can Junior Camen or Nick Kourgz jump? And then
I think probably the most difficult thing for people in Dynasty.
And we're going to hit a couple of these. Where

(02:00):
do some of the top prospects in baseball rank?

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Here?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Kevin McGonagall, who's out here in the AFL that I'm seeing,
he's a guy that's close, where does he fall in?
Or how about Connor Griffin, who I think is kind
of not universally but seen as like the top prospect.
Where does he fall into this valuation when he hasn't
played a game and he is still really far away.
So those are the things that we're going to be
talking about in this And you're going to be able

(02:25):
to see an updated Dynasty ranks right around when this
show airs over on Fantasy pros. If you guys want
to go and check out, you can find my Fantasy
Baseball Dynasty ranks. It should be I usually do a
top one hundred and top one fifty on Fantasy pro
so be on the lookout for that. And this is
a lot of what we're going to be referencing in
this episode.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
All right, let's take a look at the leaderboard here
the top twelve. Shoviotani at the top. No surprise there,
obviously coming off one of the greatest postseason single performances
in the history of baseball or any sport. Strike it
out ten guys hitting three home runs. Unbelievable performance for him, Bobby,
when it comes in at number two here on Welsh's
list than Corbyn Carol three, with Wan Sota at four. Now, look,

(03:02):
I understand, you know the love for Corman Carrol. He's
deals bases, he hits home runs. But sodaes Juan Soto
and with only a couple of years really ahead of
him in terms of age, Wan Soda coming off back
to back forty one hundred seasons a year where you
just still thirty eight bases. I know it's an outlier
in his career, but physically speaking too, I just feel
like physically Juan Soda would hold up better over the

(03:23):
next couple of years than maybe a Corbyn Carroll would
just physically. Coming up next at number five Ellie de
la Cruz on Welsh's list than Ronald Acunya. Ronald Couna
coming off that knee surgery. Obviously some good and bad
last year. He did have that one really hot streak
upon his return. But going forward, I mean, do you
see I guess projectability that Ronald Acunya, who's still, you know,
in that twenty seven to twenty eight range, overtaking Ellie

(03:44):
in this who is kind of coming off a slightly
disappointing year based upon expectations.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
I didn't think it's a possibility. Like so when I
look at this real quick, I'm not going to argue
with you on the one soda thing, because I think
Wan Soto deservedly could be two. But I think it's
a core four. I think the top four is the core,
whatever order you want. I think Otani kind of he's
cemented at one.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
But he's one and two and then like then it's
everybody else in baseball.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, but if you want to have Sodo it too,
I think it's justifiable if you believe the stolen bases
are going to continue. Carrol's a little bit younger, you know,
with some monster like that's the course. So then things
start to open up a little bit, and then there's
some interpretation. I agree Ellen did have kind of an
underwhelming season after being such a dominant bass dealer. The
problem for me with a guy like Akunya is his
age comes up a little bit. Is there are perpetual

(04:30):
injuries the stolen bases kind of going away, So I
think he just belongs in this discussion. I'm not gonna
argue if you thought Akunyu was gonna end up being better,
that's not a big argument here. But I think these
guys are close, and I think the next couple of
players create this. Again, Tany's kind of his own tier.
Then I think it's like with Carol Soto, and then
I think there's this tier that opens up of another

(04:51):
like four or five players. So I'm not in big arguments,
but like, Akunya's got some stuff that makes me.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Worry a little bit. Well, I understand. I mean, double
D surgery ACLS can make you worry if the stoleebase
has ever come back or not. Let's hope that they do.
But again, he's if he was in his thirties, I'm
with you, but he's still in you know, the late twenties.
There Julia Rodriguez, the epic slow starter, coming in at
number seven, Jackson Cheerio at number eight, and then Junior Camonero,

(05:17):
followed by Fernando Tattista at ten, Paul Skins at eleven,
the only pitcher in the top twelve, and Nick Kurtz
at twelve. I love seeing this Welsh because I have
got Kurtz, Tatis, Camonaro, Ronald Acunya, and that is all
part of one squad here with Elie de la Cruz
that I have in my home league, in my home
keeper league. So I've acquired those guys over the years.

(05:40):
So the fact that I've got five of the top
twelve on your list makes me feel really great. And
Junior Camonaro is the guy I want to highlight first
here forty five homers, one hundred and ten RBI, seven
stolen bases. Last year he had two sixty four with
an ops of eight forty six. He also scored ninety
three runs last year. You know it's funny, I remember
mid season I was talking about Camonaro. It's like, well,

(06:00):
we think he could finish kind of like in that
machadoish range. Well he blew with those expectations out of
the water and he was just unbelievable. Junior Camanaro in
terms of age, in terms of everything lining up her position,
looks like he is going to be one of these
guys from years to come. I could even argue, to
be honest with you, Welsh that in some ways he
might be a safer version of an investment than maybe

(06:23):
in Acunya or even an Elie de la Cruz potentially
based on what you saw last season. But let's talk
about what your thoughts are on Kamanaro as he breaks
the top ten on your list.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, that's why it's kind of like it's open tier.
And again, remember I put those two guys in that tier,
so if you wanted to have Camonaro, that what Kamonaro
first has his age. He has age over all of
these guys. I think it's the youngest player inside the
top twelve or probably inside that up twenty five that
I have in Dynasty. The thing that is like the
slight and the gate is you look in a lot
of these guys, what's the common denominator. There's a lot

(06:52):
of stolen bases. He does not have the stolen bases.
But he proved to be was an absolutely elite power
hitter forty five homers as a twenty two two year old.
You love the batting average to be a little bit up,
but he lowered his k percentage to under twenty percent.
He had a fifty one percent hard hit rate this year.
I believe had number one or number two and bat speed,
and that is something to me. With that type of

(07:15):
bat speed and low k rate, that's kind of like
a floor to a player that looks like he's going
to hit at the low maybe thirty five homers in
a season. The expected home runs on Baseball Savant had
him down at thirty nine. Still, this is an elite,
elite power hitter who has years and years to come,
and if there was a k if there was like
a k rate issue, I might care more about the

(07:36):
batting average and stuff. It's not. So he just had
to come to terms with he's a top ten fantasy guy.
If you want elite power, it might be justifiable to
make him a top five. You know, he might be
at five, but he's in this general range. I got
him in as a top ten here and Junior Cameronaro
stands out as somebody that there might be a difficulty
in translating redraft to dynasty that it's like, yes, you

(07:58):
do want him over Aaron j Yes, you do want
him over Jose Ramirez because he's got ten to eleven
years of extra time in front of him. So Camonaro
absolutely balled out this year and he's a top ten Dynasty.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Player now, Nick Kurtz, I don't know if that name
surprises some people that he made the top twelve. It
doesn't surprise me. An incredible April in Tripaa there where
he hit three twenty one with a ten to forty ops,
seven homers and twenty four RBI, came up to the
big leagues. He didn't miss a little bit of time
there at one point, but still of our one hundred
and seventeen games, thirty six homers, eighty six riviees, he

(08:32):
had an ops over one thousand. He hit two ninety
with a three eighty three on base percent in just
six nineteen slugging. The guy was absolutely spectacular. That ballpark
certainly helps to They're gonna be playing there for the
foreseeable future, so I guess that's the only thing you
can say, you know, long term, Okay, what does the
eventual landing spot of home ballpark effect look like? But

(08:52):
you know what, I really don't care for the next
couple of years. Nick Kurtz looks like the real deal.
And this is one of the many, many meteoric rises
of that twenty twenty four draft class that we've talked
about being the best since maybe even the nineteen eighty
six draft class. Right, we're talking about like some great
draft classes historically, this looks like one of the great
rookie classes we've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, and I did struggle with him just a tiny
bit because I had this debate like the half second
half of the season of like Vladimir Gero junior versus
a Nick Kurtz. There's kind of that debate. And then
also like I feel the confidence level in Junior Camenaro
in the top ten being over those guys I mentioned,
like Jose Ramirez and Aaron Judge. I'm super confident with

(09:31):
Nick Kurtz. I want to feel confident with. But the
one thing that stands out unlike Junior Camenaro really high
K percentage, almost thirty one percent K percentage, but everything
else was elite. It's like, you know, bat's by a
barrel eighteen percent barrel, fifty one percent hard hit rate.
It's a really good ballpark. The guy pulls the ball
in the air like he does everything that you want,
and he hit for way better batting average, but he

(09:52):
didn't expected batting average around two fifty five. So there's
a little bit of a concern if if that starts
to creep in, maybe he does have the floor, especially
if you're if you're in a win now mode and
you're passing up Aaron Judge and Jose Ramirez, who you
could still probably get three, four, maybe even five really
good years of production out of It's just Nick Kurts
as a twenty two year old and if the things

(10:13):
continue in this rate, this is a thirty five to
forty five home run a hitter with really good average,
And this is why he's being about evaluated in this range.
But it is it makes me feel a little bit
uncomfortable based on like him over Kyle Tucker, Olver Vlad
over Jose Ramirez. But you know, this is the dynasty thing.
You follow a player that can carry your team for many,
many years to come. And I don't really remember a

(10:34):
year where you had like two players not in this
range just vaulted into the top twelve in Nick Kurtz
and Junior Camenaro.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
I think they're very deserving, real quick, before we move
on to the next group. Thing I want to touch
based on for Nado Tatis for a second, a player
who you know hasn't driven in ninety runs since twenty
twenty one. Obviously you have where he hits in the
batting order has something to do with that too at times.
But he did have a career high in stoonlee base
the last year with thirty two. But he's player that
can carry your fantasy team for a couple of weeks
at a time and then other times kind of drag

(11:04):
it down. Does anything about the the flux of players
like him or Juli Rodriguez enter into your sphere when
you're looking at this top twelve evaluation overall too, because
they can be very streaky players, both Tatis and even
Julio to a certain degree. We know the talent, we
know the power speed, but I mean, just for you
know context too, Tatisa is twenty six years old, same

(11:25):
age as Won Sodo.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah, one hundred percent does. But it's it's mixed between
and this is where age gives a little bit of
of a boost here, It's mixed between these players that
are like thirty years old or thirty two years old.
You know, it's like, yes, Tatusa has got some diceiness.
He has a really still great profile. You know, he
lowered his k percentage to the lowest of his career
eighteen point seven, while walking more than ever that got

(11:49):
him into like the mid twenties and Homers over thirty
stolen bases. They have kind of a new regime change
coming in, but he is streaky, but that is versus
like a twenty six year old or going for a
player that's eight years older or six years older. So
I do think there's the streak that's the question. But
the age was an extra vault over guys like Kyle

(12:09):
Tucker or again coming back to Aaron Judge, just because
it's like you still might have eight to nine years
of really good production versus some of the players that
they're based around. But he is riskier. I preferred Julio
over him, but we are starting into a risky range.
And then just to throw this in, like if you
play in a league that's a little bit more formatted
to pitching, like Paul Skins would move up and Trike

(12:30):
Schouble would move up, I guess you could. I would
be scared to make an investment in a starting pitcher
with Tommy Johns how they are inside the top ten,
But I could see people passing on a guy like
Tatis because of some of the volatility for a player
like Paul Skins or even Trek Scooble.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
All right, the next grouping here starting at number thirteen overall,
Kyle Tucker, followed by Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge at fifteen,
and send the age of Judge two and some of
the physical ailments he's had. But obviously, if you want
to put Aaron Judge everyone in your top ten, it's
hard to argue against it. Trek Scooble at sixteen. We'll
see what this offseason brings in terms of potential trades.

(13:08):
We know that the Tigers right now are kicking the
tires on a few of those deals. Not worried, ok,
not sure if they are going to be able to
sign Schooble to a long term contract. Jose Ramirez at seventeen,
then Roman Anthony at eighteen. Let's stop there and take
a pause. Roman Anthony obviously was the number one prospect
in baseball, and we had to wait a little bit
for him to get going. June was kind of rough

(13:30):
there for him, just one homer he had two ten.
Then the batting average came around in July Get three,
twenty nine, but again only one home run. August. On
the other hand, things really took for him. He had
three to h four and six homers, drove in thirteen,
stole two bases at a nine to nine OPS. So
things really started to tick up for Roman Anthony eventually,
and we saw nothing, then we saw the batting average,

(13:52):
then we saw the power in the batting average. And
it's safe to say that going forward, not only is
a great ballpark, great situation for Roman Anthony, but this
is a player that the Red Sox plan to build
their franchise around and one that you could probably build
your fantasy franchise around for the next five to ten years.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and I think he is the first start. If
I look at the top twenty five of who we're
talking with here, he's the only one that I think
has the like not stats pushing him up that could
make some question marks, Like I think he might be
the questionable one for people, because you know, he ended
up only having eight homers four stolen bases, relatively half

(14:28):
of a season's production. So if you'd like to extrapolate,
you would look and you'd be like, Okay, well, you know,
he might be a sixteen, maybe eighteen homer guy. Maybe
he's ten stolen bases. That's not a top two round player.
But the profile to me is what stands out, and
he just started to get going. He had a sixty
percent hard hit rate, which is ridiculous. Doesn't qualify a
lot of his metrics, like they didn't qualify because of it, Pats.

(14:50):
He doesn't chase. Yes, he had a high k percentage
of twenty seven percent, but he doesn't chase crazy. Hard
hit percentage, walk rate was good, great hard hit numbers
is average was ninety four point five. But also they
immediately thrust him into the top of the lineup whether
he's leading off hitting two three, and I think he
is the unrealized dynasty asset right now that I want

(15:13):
to buy into. That's why him as a top twenty guy.
I think he's like, you know, he's the counting statless
Nick Kurtz. I would not be shocked next year if
he is thirty plus homers, ten plus stolen bases, tons
of runs in RBI. So this is the guy that
of all this list in the top I mean, there's
a couple of guys you could say like they underperformed.
I know we'll talk about James Wood, but like he

(15:33):
doesn't have he has done, doesn't have the stats behind
him to justify that. But go to age twenty one
years old, I forgot top twenty five. He's the youngest player,
even younger than junior Cameronio. This will be the breakout
year coming up for him. So I firmly believe he
is a top twenty dynasty player.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
And he's a left They can hit lefties two two
seventy eight banting average against left handed pitching last year
the big league level. That's important, you know, because a
lot of young left handed bats can struggle sometimes and
sometimes they never find a footing with left handed pitching
at the big leagues. At nineteen, vlad Guerrero Junior. Then
we come into Garak Crochet at twenty. That's the top twenty.
They're twenty one, your Nolvarez, followed by Pete Crow Armstrong.
Let's hit another pause button here on Pete Crow because

(16:14):
first half was spectacular. Let's let's you know, make no
bones about it. He might have won you your league
in the first half. I mean, the guy was absolutely brilliant.
Twenty five homers, twenty seven steals before the break. After
the break was a different story. He had just six homers,
twenty four RBI, only eight steals. The batting average dropped
off from two sixty five to two sixteen, the OBP
dropped from three hundred to two sixty two, and then

(16:35):
the slugging went from five forty four to three seventy two. Also,
you talked about guys before we were discussing about the
players who struggled hit left handed pitching. Well, that was
my whole thing at the All Star break of when
we did shows on leading off, talking about, you know,
you should investigate maybe seeing what you can get for
Pete Crow, Armstrong and season long Rodal because you've gotten
so much already. Maybe somebody overpays and if you made

(16:57):
that trading, you got something pretty good back, if you've
got a tattisp or something like that. Look first left
handed pitching last year a buck eighty eight, batting average
of five to ninety four ops to me, he is
a player that still has a lot of question marks.
Despite a glorious first half. The league found him out.
They exposed him a little bit, especially left handed pitching
really did. So, how does that equate here on your

(17:19):
list based upon guys like I know Devers is yet
to come, and even cal Raley coming off a sixty
homer season as a.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Catcher, he is I'm gonna tell you this, I might
have him too low. I might have him too high.
With pet Crow Armstrom, he is an enigma. Actually, I
would say him and James Wood, I think are the
two most difficult players in this range. Both huge, counting
stat talented players, both ages on their side. But you know,

(17:48):
just on James Wood for a second, you know, he
ended up absolutely just becoming a strikeout monster. That might
be way too high of where I have him. But
just loud homers, loud stolen bases, also can hit both
sides of the plate. That I can feel that can change.
Pete Crow is so much more difficult. Actually I would.
I would. I could easily just be like, you know what,
let's just put James Wood down in the bottom forty

(18:09):
or fifty because he strikes out a whole lot.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
Pete Crow.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
It's like it was an ungodly first half, absolutely ridiculous.
Expected slug was right around five hundred. He barreled the
ball up, which you love to see hit the ball
way harder than he's ever done before. And he's not
a big strikeout necessarily monster, but as you said, absolutely
fell off in the second half, cannot hit lefties. Which
version of this are we going to see? I don't know,

(18:34):
but he's twenty three years old. He fell just short
of one hundred runs, thirty one homers, thirty five stolen bases.
There's a lot more to come. But yes, there's a
big major question of like if he's a two because
what did he hit? He had two forty seven expected
batting average actually better, by the way, if he's a
two forty fifty hitter, can he be a top twenty guy.

(18:57):
I don't know. But if he can be more of
that version that he was in the first half, and
he could be a two sixty two seventy guy. We
know he's going to be a thirty thirty plus player,
so you know the thirty thirty guys tend to be
guys that are in the first round. There are so
many question marks with Pete Crow, so this is just
kind of like there's a little bit of a hands up,
like I don't know, he's super young. He put up

(19:18):
monster stats, but there are a couple major red flags.
So this is where you know whether it's evaluations of trading.
If if you're risk averse, he might be a player
you want to trade out of if you're in a
new redraft or a new dynasty draft coming up, if
you're risk at verse, you might want to let somebody
else take him. And there are you know, older Ish
players that are falling a little bit that you can

(19:39):
take much safer Rafield Devers you mentioned just much safer
player now and I've got him at twenty five. So
I'm I'm very torn on where I'm at with Pete
Rahms from that's a big way to say it. I've
either got him way too high or got him way
too low.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
I will say this, I will bank my money here
on too high. And it's because of the exposure in
the second half that the league made it adjustments to him,
and he really didn't adjust back. And it's not the
first time we've seen this too, right, if you go
back two years ago, he struggled mightily in the beginning,
and then he made a couple of adjustments and things
did go better for him, and then it carried over

(20:12):
and that's why his ADP was so low last year
and he was such a league winner. I would rather
in a dynasty league, take a guy that hasn't gotten
exposed yet. I know this might sound crazy, but the
guy we're going to talk about next a guy like
Connor Griffin. I'd rather be earlier on Connor Griffin then
too early on Pete Crow Armstrong as a player who
may have already flashed the best he could possibly give
us and might not be able to ever hold back

(20:34):
to that first half standard. I think that's a real
possibility with Pete Crow.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
And I don't disagree with that. The thing I would
also say is, like I do think in season adjustments
can be really hard for some players. Some players do
it really well, some don't. So something to watch again
would be can Pete Crow adjust in this offseason into
the next half, and can those adjustments be to the
level where the league isn't going to readjust again? And
that's what I think is interesting about him, because it's like,

(21:00):
you know, he hit the ball harder, he barreled up
the ball more, he had a twenty degree launch angle.
You know, he's pulling the ball thirty percent pulled air
percentage dramatically different, and he doesn't have a big strike
up problem. So can the adjustments that he makes in
the offseason be ones that are sticky enough that the
league isn't going to then readjust and he completely falls apart.

(21:21):
I don't know. That's why it's kind of hands up
with Pete Crow. You got to You've got to take
your stance. You gotta be like, hey, listen, if he
does readjust, this could be a forty to forty guy.
I love what he did in the first half. He's
a monster. Or you gotta be like it is way
too risky. I'll let anybody else do it. It's just
he's a super young young guy in that dynasty's built around.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think that the other side of that coin would
be potentially the empty batting average twenty five twenty guy,
you know. Like I was just kind of like, well,
you know, and you can find that. You can find
that in a lot of spots.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Trevor Stor Trevor story was like, I was at the
top two hundred, and he's older and he was a
twenty twenty guy, So yeah, I definitely don't disagree.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
He also has a career two o eight batting average
against lefties, too, so this is nothing new. He really
hasn't made the adjustment yet at the big league level
and the minor league too. That was one of the
knocks on him. He was in the Mets system too.
Let's move on to Connor Griffin, who's coming in at
thirty four on our list here. Obviously a terrific minor
league debut for him over a high A in Double
A combined one hundred and twenty two games, he had

(22:18):
twenty one homers, drove in ninety four runs, stole sixty
five bases, Welsh hit three thirty three with a nine
to forty one ops. Just stunning numbers. My guess is
that he'll start the year again in Double A for
April because it's the Pirates and they're going to slow
play everybody because it's the Pirates, and there's labor issues
looming in twenty twenty seven potentially for MLB, so I

(22:41):
think it'll be a slow burn. I don't know when
we're going to see him, but I do think he
restarts again in Double A. Do you think he goes
right to Triple A out of the.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Gate, No, I don't think so. I mean, he's a
nineteen year old kid and we're now moving out of
this area where we're giving you like the top twenty
five numerically, and we're kind of going in these blocks
and tiers and this tier of this twenty six through
fifty range where we're going to talk about a couple players.
Connor Griffin was the number one standard that we had
to talk about because, like I said before, I think
he is one of the most difficult players for people

(23:11):
to understand the ranking evaluation because, like we said, Kevin
McGonagall could come out the gates and break camp with
the team. They almost brought him up this year. Connor
Griffin is not. He's going to go back to Double A.
That would be again, that's my assumption. He moves three levels.
This past year. He had twenty one games at Double A,
so that to me screams he goes back to Double A,
plays a decent amount of the season, goes to Triple A.

(23:33):
Could there be a call up? Yes, no idea. How
teams are going to treat the pending strike that's going
to happen, the looming strike. Are they going to be
more aggressive in bringing players up knowing that they're not
going to relent and they're going to buy down time.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
I don't know what's going to happen. So I don't
know how aggressive, but we do know the Pirates don't
win games and they're not hyper aggressive with prospects in general.
This would be a guy that you want. So all
of that aside here taking that out, the reason that
Conor Griffin goes so high when he could have zero
production for you this coming year is because he's an
absolute freak. Twenty one homer, sixty five stolen bases, He

(24:08):
had a three four six I believe slash three point
thirty three with a four to fifteen OBP. The stolen
base is a ridiculous already back working. To me, it
is a discussion between him and McGonagall. Is the number
one prospect. It is Connor Griffin by a country mile.
He's a big dude. I was hoping we'd see him
here in the Fall League. And even though the team

(24:28):
context you can maybe argue about like hitting prospects with
the Pirates, I think he is like a unicorn type
of prospect. So because of the age, because he could
be he could be a guy at twenty years old
in the majors. He could easily be the next Roman
Anthony with bigger, louder stats. Here, and unlike the guys
that we put at the top that are super young,
like Nick Kurtz and Junior Camenero, there is stolen base

(24:50):
potential through the wazoo here. So I think he is special.
There's not strikeout problems. He kind of does everything. He's
epitome of a five tool player. You could argue that
this is too low. If if you were a team
that is rebuilding, I would view Connor and you're in
an already established dynasty, I would view Connor Griffin as
a top twenty player. If you are starting up a
new dynasty, sometimes you take stances if you're a team

(25:13):
that's like, you know what, because I always suggest maybe
go like win now. But if you're a team that's
like I want to be youth or I'm going to
play for the next year, that's what people do. Connor
Griffin should be ranked higher. He should go in the
top twenty. That would be the evaluation of him. But
I've got him. As you said, on this twenty six
through fifty board, he is thirty fourth on my dynasty ranks.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
All right. On thirty nine, we have Kyle Schwarber coming
off a huge season. Obviously, fifty six home runs. It's
coming to Philadelphia. He has hit thirty eight or more
home runs in every season. He is driven in ninety
four or more runs at every season. The batting average
is always going to be in the two thirty ish
two forty range. We know that, we know who he is,
and he is going to be thirty three years old.
So obviously coming off a massive season for Kyle Schwarber,

(25:54):
but in Dynasty, the player who is now on the
other side of thirty So do you think I guess
here's the question is, like, do you feel comfortable here
with this ranking that you've got him in? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (26:04):
So this this so like how difficult Connor Griffin is.
Koshwarb's is difficult because of everything they're said. Also like
he's probably going to be like util only and he's
thirty two years old and he and all of this
stuff that's out there. Also where he's going to play
is kind of looming. The problem is is he just
hit fifty six homers. He also stole ten bases, He
hit two forty and he's going to dh and he

(26:28):
could do that for quite a long period of time.
I have a valuation of my ranks of like three
year windows roughly. So if I think a player can
still produce at a really high level for three more years,
regardless of their age, I'm probably going to rank them
relatively high. I mean, self judge is like, you know,
like a top fifteen guy. Short's kind of the same thing.
I think he's kind of under heralded. He easily could

(26:50):
have four to five more very very productive years, and
he's getting better. He's aging like fine wine. So it
does make me feel uncomfortable because of the position stuff.
But again, at the two years old, he just hit
fifty six homers install ten pass so I think the
floor is something like a two forty hitter with forty
homers on a year and a year out basis. So
that's why he's got to be ranked this high. And

(27:11):
I'll throw this out to you, maybe not from a
batting average standpoint, but players like Kyle Schwarber who fall
in Dynasty ranks, Freddy Freeman is going to fall. Those
are the type of players that allow you the ability
to take shots on guys like Pete Crow. If you
want to take that shot on Pete Crow knowing you
could get a I know we're not talking about him,
but if Freddy Freeman three four rounds later, that can
protect the batting average and give you three or four

(27:32):
more years. That's why you can do some of these things.
And Kyle Schwarber is is kind of one of those
players as well. Except you can't do Schwarber and Otani though.
That's the little cavet.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Because I'm more I'm more comfortable to take shwarverer than
i am Freddy Freeman at the stage too. Just I
think Freddy Freeman's body's breaking down on him. This seems
like the last couple of years, whereas where Schwarber, because
he doesn't play the field, I think he might last
little longer. I think that, you know, U til is
a negative in some ways, you know, because it kind
of prohibits you a little bit in terms of flexibility.
But we saw with David Ortiz, right, he played well

(28:03):
into his late thirties and was extremely productive.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
So I'm like, well, everyone falling nice with him, and
it never happened really.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Right, never game. I think we just never came. Even
Nelson Cruz there were some years too were like is
this it? This is it? This is kept going. Kevin McGonagall,
the next guy on this list at number forty is
worth talking about too. This is another big riser of
the Detroit system. A guy between single A, High A
and double A. Last year A combined eighty eight games
for him, nineteen homers, eighty RBI, that coveted three four

(28:30):
five slash hit three hundred and had a four hundred
ozen base percentage and a five eighty three slugging hit
a nine to ninety one ops. Now, he did steal
ten bases, but he did get caught seven times, so
you don't love that. Maybe this dome base skills need
a little bit more work. But McGonagall a guy in
prospect circles, even the Arizona Fall League having a good
Fall league right now, getting a lot of buzz.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yeah, and he's out here. I've seen him quite a
few times. Mcgonagall's interesting in the real prospect world. I
think it's a discussion between McGonagall and Griffin. I don't
really think it is in fantasy. I will say I'm
not seeing a lot of the power approach out here
in the AFL. I'd acknowledge it's been a long year.
He had a home run robbed just the other day
by Enrique Bridfield, I think McGonagall is going to be
a heavy doubles hitter. I think he's a quintessential number

(29:11):
two hitter. I think he could steal quite a bit
more at the end of the day. I do think
we might he might be capped around being like a
twenty twenty guy. The thing is is it could come
with a really good batting average. He's got a solid approach.
He's getting attacked a little bit out here as still
a younger prospect. He's getting attacked out here by some
more advanced pitching like relief wise, that I think is

(29:31):
actually going to help him long term. But it looks
like he could come up pretty soon. I've got him
at forty, so I've got Griffin ahead of him. You
have a little bit of proximity in his favor, But
I think at the end of the day, you're going
to see higher homers, probably even runs and stolen bases
from a guy like Connor Griffin. McGonagall pinning where he
ends up being in the lineup is going to be
a high batting average guy. I think is going to

(29:52):
be close to twenty twenties. But I don't want to
discount that he could be a little bit more. But
that's the valuation of the top two prospects in Dynasty.
It's right around the top forty overall players.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
Zach Neto at forty four is interesting Welsh because as
a shortstop back to back twenty home run seasons he
had twenty six last year, he only played one hundred
and twenty eight games as well. Now the OBP is
always going to be a little underwhelming. He did raise
the batting average, though, from two forty nine to two
fifty seven year over year. The ops went up as well.
And Neto, I think people forget is only twenty five

(30:24):
years old.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah, and I think I actually might not be the
highest ranker on him. I think there's some people that
got him inside the top twenty five. There's a little
bit of miss time that comes into effect on like
how big the counting stats can be. But he had
a twenty six twenty six seis, twenty six homers, twenty
six stolen bases, eighty two runs, a two fifty seven
batting average that was supported by an expected batting average

(30:45):
that was higher. He had a better hard hit rate
this past year. Average EXI velocity went up over two
miles per hour and he barreled the ball a whole bunch,
so like kind of a monster. You just wish he
hit for a higher batting average, but you know, in
a full season with a little bit more like you know,
positive production, he's an easy thirty thirty guy. And again,
what did we say, thirty thirty guys tend to be

(31:06):
the players in the first round. He was only twenty
four years old. Hopefully the injury stuff goes away and
hopefully the Angels at some point bring some other players
around them, which they never do. But you know Netto's
hitting profile, he's an offensive first, high profile, pull the ball,
hit the ball relatively hard, and steal based type of guy.
This is what you want. This is like, you know,

(31:26):
like Josh Chisholm gets really pushed up in a lot
of like dynasty circles like into like the top twenty five,
Like Netto's in that same range. I might have him
a little bit lower than I should. Zach Nedo at
forty four, I think he could easily be inside the
top twenty five.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
All right, let's move on to the next grouping of
players here on this list, because we have from fifty
one to seventy five A couple players. We like to
highlight threes pitchers, specifically at fifty four Brian Wu, at
fifty five Jacob Mezowski, and at seventy four Bubba Chandler,
the one that everybody was waiting on and eventually we
did get. I want to start with Brian Wu because
last year in the Black Book, this was one of

(32:00):
my all right, if everything, If he could just hold
on to everything that he did well in twenty twenty four,
increase that strikeout rate a little bit, he's gonna be unbelievable.
And he was. He was a quality start machine last
year twenty one, tied for second in the major leagues
twenty five consecutive starts of at least six innings pitched
with two or fewer walks. That is the secret sauce.
The XDRA was three ten, the FIP was three forty seven,

(32:22):
the x FIP was three thirty three, the ERA was
two ninety four. Everything you could have asked for he
gave you, I know, the you know the Unfortunately the
postseason didn't go his way so far in terms of
how you'd like to perform. But overall, I mean, this
is a guy that has made a huge leap, and
I think that that is you know, the building blocks
here of the Seattle Mariners is the pitching staff, right,

(32:43):
this is what they've built on. The Kirby, the Gilberts
and the Woos and Wu. To me, I think doesn't
get enough credit for how good he was last year
and how consistent he was last year.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yeah, and this is open to like this could even
be lower than some people want. Dynasty ranks always kind
of difficult with pitchers and how your evaluation is. But
at the end of the day, like he made massive improvements.
You know, his walk rate's super low, he struck out
a ton more. His expected era was three to eleven
right around his two nine four era, So I mean
you love all of that. Like his stuff just got better.
It's a phenomenal pitching environment, and you know, he kind

(33:14):
of thrust himself into being like the most fantasy relevant
pitcher of all these guys. I like Kirby, but I
think you know, Wu is past Kirby. I think Gilbert
still at the top of this list. But I think
at the end of the day, you know, like it
is is obviously an advantage to spend on a guy
like Scoobal or schemes or crochet. I'd put them in
like a little bucket. But you know, if you can
get people that don't have an evaluation of a top

(33:35):
fifty on Brian Wu, that's I think. What's really interesting
about him is I don't think he has the stigma
of a top fifty player, but I think he has
the production. So I've got him right outside of it
at fifty four. He's right there.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
And it's so interesting because you have Misrowski at fifty
five and then Chandler at seventy four, but even going
into next year, I actually have Chandler ahead of Miserowski,
which is a really interesting debate I think for us
to have because it's a pretty big gap between these
two guys. Look, Misroowski, obviously, the strikeout rate is incredible.
He was dominating a triple A two to twenty seven
e raver thirteen games, eighty strikeouts and sixty three innings.

(34:06):
He had eleven k per nine at the big league level,
but a four walk per nine, and those walks really
killed him at three forty four ERA over his first
ay games, but then that ERA ballooned to five point
fifty two over the last seven, so I'm also concerned
that Misroowski is a Tommy John surgery waiting to happen
because of the v low, whereas Bubba Chandler. I know,
like we waited a long time for Bubba Chandler. I
know it was kind of frustrating at times, and the

(34:28):
pirates are going to be frustrating because run support it's
not going to be there. I don't know what happened
to him in that mid section where we were waiting
for him to come up and then he didn't, and
I don't know if he was pouting or frustrate or whatever
it was, but eventually he did get called to the show.
Thirty one innings, thirty one strikeouts, four walks, And I
think the control for Chandler is a little bit more
tantalizing to me over the electric fastball of Miserrowski. But

(34:50):
you obviously see things differently here. So I want to
get your take on these two.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
Yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't. I don't feel
that it's that much bigger, but it is, like numerically,
it's obviously it's.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Like twenty spot twenty difference.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
But I will say, like you're in a bucket, you're
kind of in like baseball ranks, you start to get
into these buckets where it's like it's a big grouping here.
There's positive and negatives on both of these guys. Like
Bubba came out at the major leagues and had a
really low walk rate that wasn't necessarily the minor league thing. Also,
he was only affected by one game, which was the Brewers. Ironically,
we give up niner and runs. Everything else is pretty good.

(35:23):
They kind of slowed him into coming in after openers
and then he got a few starts in. I thought
there was so much to be positive about. His fastball
looks so good at the end of the year, and
this is a guy that had evaluation as like the
number one fastball shape in baseball. Misarowski kind of has similarities,
just he was thrust more into that starting role. He
can have some walk issues, but he has absolutely electric stuff.

(35:46):
This is a risk versus reward thing. I do think
there is a path where Bubba Chandler is the more
valuable player. But I don't want to be dismissive because
I don't think the Brewers anytime sooner going to put
Miserowski in the bullpen or anything like that. I think
they're going to have a full, long stretch out for him.
I think these guys are actually close, though my ranks
don't quite have it. I might even make a little
bit of adjustment right now it's a little bit more Mizerowski,

(36:08):
but I think Bubba Chandler is like flying back up
the boards after what he was able to do in
his major league start.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
Andy Pajis at number seventy, I love I gotta tell
you this was a player last year going to the
year I was very high on. I loved what I
saw him last year in the postseason. Two. He's just
he's an aggressive player. I like that two seventy two
batting average him last year, twenty seven homers, eighty six
ribies for him. He also stole fourteen bases, and he
played one hundred and fifty six games, more than I
think a lot of people would have expected. Polis I

(36:37):
think is a guy that when we get here next year,
is going to be in that top fifty potentially.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
Your thoughts, yeah, underrated. I think some people already have
him in the top fifty. Something. I'd love to see
hitting with the Dodgers. They're one of the best. Like
right handed hit right handed, hitting pull ballparks. That's why
Mookie Bets has always really done well. He actually lowered
his pull percentage. I'd love to see him do a
little bit, and his hard hit rate went down while

(37:02):
his launch angle went down, so like I want to
see the other end. I want to see him pull
the ball in the air a little bit more. Regardless
of all that, he still hit twenty seven homers and
stole almost fifteen bases with a two to seventy average.
Like underrated is one hundred percent. He's kind of like
the Brian Wu I think of hitters where I don't
know if people like feel where the valuation is of him,
I would be trying to buy him for anybody that

(37:22):
views him outside the top one hundred. You could argue
that my rank is maybe even like still a tiny
bit lower. Like right at seventy, I definitely think he
could easily vault himself into the top fifty with a
few changes. I just don't know if that's in his ballgame,
but it's no doubt a top seventy five dynasty guy.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
All right, next grouping here real quick, seventy to seventy six,
excuse me to one hundred. Mason Miller obviously a guy
that you know we're looking at with a live arm, but.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
Well, yeah, there's a caveat the only reason I wanted
to put him on here before anything, because I didn't
put this as a note for you. The reason I
have him here too, I think, I know, oh yeah,
is that I legitimately think the Padres, who the new
management is and everything, they might consider stretching him out
as a starter, even if not if he's with the
Padres and he is the closer, having closers as a

(38:09):
top one hundred dynasty valuation is kind of tough. But
he's this unique unicorn because like, if he stretches out
and it works with that type of fastball, like he
could be a top fIF you're gonna break top Miss
Rouse getting.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Year of a guy who qualifies at RP and you
could put him in those megs exactly these spotsible.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
So he's like a special, unique situation.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
No, absolutely, and I'm glad we did touch on him.
Kyle Stowers at eighty four an interesting one too. It's
funny Jacob Marci had a nice little year for the Marlins,
and Kyle Stowers had a year that I don't think
anybody saw coming there. So he is at his twenty
seven year season, twenty five homers, seventy three RBI, hit
two eighty eight with a nine to twelve OPS. I
guess the question is can Stowers repeat those numbers next year? Well?

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Also, I want to point out he did that in
under four hundred of bats, three hundred and ninety nine
bats which he put up twenty five homers. Can he
repeat you know who knows on that level? Can he
pace out to be a thirty five to forty home
run guy? I don't know, But what I like is
he had a fifty two percent hard hit rate, which
was elite, a nineteen percent barrel rate, which is elite.
His expected batting average at two seventy eight supports him

(39:14):
hitting at two eighty eight. I'd like to see his
strikeouts come down, but they came down eight percent year
over year, So if he drops that again while walking
while hitting the ball hard, yes, Coyle Stauers another massively underrated.
We're talking about dynasty risers. Sometimes they're obvious, sometimes they're questionable,
debates of like Kyle Conor Griffin versus Kyles Schwarber, and

(39:36):
then sometimes they're players that people just might not be
up on. Andy Pajus, maybe Cole Stowers. I affirmatively think
people just don't conceptualize what his value is. And I
think this is a thirty plus home run hitter that
you can get Marlins.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
Again, we're competitive last year, sure, you know, especially on
the stretch, just.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
As the Marci and Xavier Edwards hitting in front. By
the way, those are guys that are stealing bases, getting
on base ors RBI opportunities.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yeah, Marcie was an player last year. I picked him
up in a couple of leagues at the end there.
Heraldo Perdomo also another guy eighty seven that I think
might be flying under some radars there for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He's gonna be twenty six years old, coming off a
year where he had twenty homers and one hundred r
BEHI and sold twenty seven bases, two ninety batting average. Look,
here's the thing, Welsh, this is a guy in ninety

(40:19):
eight games the previous season hit three home runs. Now
he's jumped to twenty. So I think a lot of
people will go, oh, well, that's interesting. Do you think
that that will keep player? People away from him, thinking
this is just not something to chase, or are those
people going to miss out on a guy in Perdomo
who might have figured out something really new in a
different level and benchmark of his productivity.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
I think they might miss out and like I want
to be a buyer on him. This is kind of
like in the Peak Crow, but this is different, herodo.
Perdomo was so good all the time that it's like
I could be too low or too high because this
is all based around like do you believe is this
going to be? You know, so many guys have that
outlier season where it's like they never do it again.
Is that for Perdomo? The reason I lean like that

(41:00):
it's not is, first off, like the protection around. If
you have Katel and Carol hitting in front or behind him,
it creates incredible run RBI opportunities. For him to be
able to repeat ninety eight runs over one hundred RBI
is ridiculous. He doesn't strike out, he walks a ton,
he gets the ball in the air, he upped his
hard hit percentage. Like there's such a great floor that

(41:21):
you could maybe just be like, oh well, the numbers
are just not going to repeat but he had twenty seven.
If he's a fifteen to twenty five guy with close
to ninety plus runs and RBI like right outside the
top one hundred, makes a ton of sense. And he's
a huge supportive player for your batting average. What you
dreamed out of luis a Rise for all the years
is what Perdomo is. You always are like, well, I

(41:42):
would always say this, like why doesn't Arise hit more homers?
Why doesn't he ever steal bases? Well, Perdoma does and
he doesn't strike out. He's a great points League player.
I think eighty seven might be too low, but I
think it's the right combination of the risk of him
not having a history of doing this stuff and building
in some of what he did last season being super valuable.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
Speaking of super valuable, how about thirty seven home runs
off the waiver wire, because that's basically what Jodell was
last year. Jo Adell player who has been enigmatic, to
say the least ironically, you know, twenty six turning twenty seven,
same age again as Juan Soto. Everybody just from perspective
of how great Wan Soto is, I just want to
put that out there once again. But the strikeouts are
always gonna be a problem. The stolen bases kind of disappeared,

(42:25):
but the power became monstrous. This is another guy too
who kind of sneaks into this top one hundred here
at eighty nine. And I gotta be honest with you.
I get I get the reasons why, because he's young enough,
we've waited so long. I mean, he's a post post
post hype sleeper at this point. So what's your evaluation
of Joadell and Dynasty now going forward? Can we expect
him to come back and hit thirty home runs? And

(42:47):
will it be worth it if he ends up hitting
two ten or two fifteen.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
So I think he is a thirty home run hitter.
I think that's just what it is. I mean, you
and I had lots of debates in the redraft season
this year of jo Adell, and like, I interviewed Jodell
multi years ago, and I loved his take on power
that you know he understood his ability to hit for power.
He didn't give me some chalking answer. He was like,
I know I can hit for power. I know how
to tap into it, and I know the spots where
I want to do it. It was just everything else

(43:12):
in between didn't work this year kind of did. He
hit thirty seven homers while hitting only two thirty six,
So could it all fall apart? Definitely? He has been streaky,
but I think enough years of pass where you're seeing
some things that you like. He lowered his K percentage,
second lowest of his career. That's a huge key marker
here with the lowered K percentage. Yes, the batting average

(43:33):
struggled that he had a two thirty six average a
two seventy three expected batting average. So even if you
give me two fifty with Joe Adell, I'm guaranteeing that's
thirty homers, seventeen percent barrel rate elite, fifty percent hard
hit rate elite. He didn't even need to pull the
air of the ball as much because he's got pure
raw power if he can get that batting average up,

(43:54):
which the expected numbers are telling. So he underperformed by
thirty batting average points against breaking pitches, He underperformed by
fifty batting average points against fastballs. If that comes back up,
this is a thirty plus homerun hitter who's kind of
actually going into the prime of his career. It doesn't
feel like it because you said we're in like post
post post hype sleeper for Jo Adell. But I will

(44:15):
tell you there are people that have him easily inside
the top fifty because they believe this is another like
we're building in the risk of Joeydell falling apart versus
who he is. He's the top one hundred guy. Some
might see him as a top fifty.

Speaker 1 (44:28):
Ah, fifty I think is pushing the envelope. But what
do you think? Where do you see Joe Adell and
some of these other guys. Drop your comments below. It's
great to be talking baseball again. Subscribe to the Fantasy
Bros MLB YouTube channel and of course the podcast feeds
wherever you get your podcasts from, and go check out
Welsh's dynasty rankings for MLB up on Fantasypros dot com.
Right now. That'll do it for us, but the story

(44:48):
of the game goes on for the Welsh. I'm Joey P.
We'll see you next time. Kids.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball podcast.
If you love the show, the best freeway to support
us is by.

Speaker 1 (44:59):
Leaving a pose a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
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