2261 - Fantasy Discussion of AL Central Prospects - Part 1

Tim McLeod talks to Rich Wilson about the White Sox, Guardians and Tigers minor league systems

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
And greedy societations everyone to George Weel's Look at the

(00:23):
Fantasy Baseball Live are just prospect Podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Today we are talking the American League Center with the
great Tim McCloud. Tim, how are you? How is the
weather up in Canada? It is frigid here.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, it's a little on the coold's ice below zero,
but uh yeah, we're into the middle of November now
pretty much.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
And.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah it's to be expected. There's a little dusting of
snow on the ground that's probably gonna stay and five
months from now will be celebrating spring.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I saw it was a really popular in social media
last night down here in North Carolina, people were able
with a lapse photography on their phone to be able
to get pictures of the Northern Lights, which I thought
it was remarkable.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, I it's something that in
my neck of the woods we lived with all the time.
I didn't even book my head out the door. But
apparently it was rather it was rather brilliant, especially across
the Northern States. But hey, when what's that? How does

(01:38):
that go? Familiarity? Breach contempt with you know, it's not contempt.
But it's just so common here it's not that much
of a big deal. But when you start seeing it
in your neck of the woods, that's a different story.
They are spectacular, they really are.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
So they were shown on social media and Lord goes, God,
see if you can see it. I went out, mall.
I can't say anything. And then it's like, well, you
got to set your your your phone to this setting
and take a picture and then you can see it.
I'm like, all right, is that really seeing it? I'm
not sure.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, yeah, No. I spend a lot of my working
days driving home from adda cocain in the dark. Okay,
at least six months of the year, because it was
always a long day, and I can remember countless times.
You know, you just look up into the horizon and
everything's dancing. It's it's pretty spectacular. But yeah, I've never

(02:32):
had to play around with my cellphone to just have
to focus a little bit with the old eyes.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
You talk about familiarity, it's the same thing here with
the ocean. I mean, you know, it's literally at our
back door and you just take it for granted. I mean,
and you find that you haven't been on the beach
for a few days or a week, and like, what
am I doing? Like, you know, this is spectacular? Let
me go do that, and it's you just get used
to it. It's just very familiar.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, And you know what, we're always searching for something
in life we don't have, And exactly like I look
at where I particularly live, and we're looking to escape
all the time into the city for two three days, right, okay,

(03:20):
get out of our rural environment, and all summer we
have thousands upon thousands of Americans from the Midwest that
are coming our way, trying to escape the city and
enjoy the fishing and the outdoors that we take for granted.
So I think as a populace, we're always searching for

(03:41):
something we don't have. We're looking for something different. And
I just found it rather humorous. They're getting out of
the city, we're trying to get into them, and vice versa.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
Tim.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Ever, the wise person appreciate what you have everyone, So Tim,
speaking of appreciating what we have, I have some knowledge
about prospects, and you're gonna ask me a bunch of questions.
I will say the American League Central is not as
exciting as the National League Central. There are no Pittsburgh Pirates,
there is no Milwaukee Brewers, not even a Saint Louis

(04:15):
Cardinals system. But it's still fun. It's always good to
talk about prospects. We're going to try to get through two,
maybe three of the teams today and then we'll finish
the other two up before our podcast on Sunday. So ten,
without further ado, I'm gonna turn it over to you.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Well, I'm my voice is feeling a little raspy this morning,
so I'm just breaking into a package of holes. I'll
just be half a second here.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, what flavored halls? Are they cherry flavored? That's my
go to?

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Hey, we have a bingo. Bingo has been called by the.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Way, you know, I sometimes what is the other one? Ricola?
Is that the other three?

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah? The guy in the big horn blowing on the commercial,
That dude.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
Not nearly as good.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
I gotta go hardcore hals to cut any kind of
cough down.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, we got a thing up here called Fisherman's Friend.
I don't know if you've got them in the States
as well, but I don't know any fishermen that would
call them friendly. Now, vile, vile, tasting thing you get
ever chew on. Hey, hey, maybe it's good for the cough,
but uh yeah, when you gotta you gotta eat them

(05:29):
and hold your nose at the same time. Now that's
a pass for me.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, and do you every once in a while you'll
swallow one of those holes, right, because you at least
you've told us just swallowing, which I think is pretty funny.
So well, yeah, as long as you don't choke the death,
it's funny.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yes. The reason that we have a mute button on
our headset is for holes, definitely.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
For sure.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
And and with that, let's let's get started with the
White Sox and one of the fourteen Montgomeryes. Okay that
is currently a part of their roster. Let's look at
Braden seventy grade raw power with a dash of speed.
We got a lot of future potential sitting there, don't we.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, but I think that the potential is the key word,
because he hasn't he really hasn't put it together. Hold
over a second to me. The dogs are barking. Let me, uh,
let me see what is going on. Sorry about that, Tim, Tim,
I'm embarrassed. Heard me getting tough with the dogs. Telling
him we can't have this for the next hour.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
So yeah, my first thought was, who let the dogs out?

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, Frankie just they love it here because anything that
moves outside, they're all over it. And most of the
time we let them go because we live at the
end of the street and there's not a ton of activity.
So when they see something, that's usually something exciting. But
not this morning. So going to Montgomery, I think the

(06:53):
key word there for me that you use is potential.
If I'm being totally honest, it was disappointing last season.
I was expecting a little bit more. I love the
Red Sox taking him. Obviously, they moved him in the
Garrett Crochet trade. He was the lead player going back,
and I don't think the power has totally emerged yet.

(07:15):
There's more. I'm worried about the speed because he broke
his ankle rat at when he was being drafted his
last junior year in college. Some of the speed has
come back. I don't know if the speed is going
to be a blowout. So I like the player a lot.
I do think we'llvin should be twenty five home runs,
and I think he's going to hit with a little
bit of speed, but it's been slow to come together.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah. I think you mentioned it was either last week
or the week before sometime in the past couple of
weeks that some of the holes received for the players
they've traded really haven't jumped out as of yet, and
Montgomery falls into that category. I'm assuming.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, I think if you use the White Sox as
a proxy for what when you trade all of your
players away, sometimes you just don't win those trades. A
lot of times it's the players. It's the Tatist Junior.
Remember Tatist Junior for James Shields and he was a
seventeen year old kid. I think he was still in

(08:20):
the Dominican Summer League. And those are the guys that pop.
Sometimes it's the famous guys that you get back that
seem to disappoint a little bit. So so we'll see.
But they just haven't popped, and their system should be
fantastic because of all the guys they traded away. It's
good but not great, and I think that's an indictment
of the players they've just gotten back.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Well. Yeah, and moving on to number two on your list,
Noah Schulz, he fits that pretty much to the g
to quote you if you're invested, buckle up. This one
may take time to sort itself out.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, it's it's interesting because first he was drafted, he
was and trade it but it's he was, you know,
he dropped in my eyes, and I'm gonna get the
reason why, because there's huge platoon splits. Now, if you
take a look at the overall stats, they're great. I'm
not great, They're they're fine, right, I mean it's uh.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
I mean it's a.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Decent ear a and the strikeouts are there. But if
you take a look against right handed batters bringing to
batters hitting three twenty with a four to sixty three
slug and it, it was that's ugly Tim. So he
needs he needs to find a better change up or
something to go out and get and get those right

(09:39):
handed hitters out. Otherwise I think you got a downgrade.
And now he's still young. It's a great arm, he's
a lefty. There's a lot of things to like. I
know he's made it all the way up to triple A.
But be careful everybody now NFC draft and whold formatic
kind of leagues thinking hey, this guy is going to
be a stud next year. I think we're in for

(10:00):
a bit of a longer way before he figures things out.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Well, yeah, that that fastball is fairly straight, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (10:06):
It is.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, so it's a straight fac But look, lefties that
can get up to ninety seven, they're not a dime
a dozen, So you got to keep that in mind.
He is athletic. I think the control will come around.
But look, he's walking nearly six per nine. I mean,
we got we got a ways.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
To go yet.

Speaker 3 (10:24):
Yeah, that's that's a big number.

Speaker 4 (10:26):
It is.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
I'll tell you where I have him ranked, and I've
dropped him a little bit. I mean he's still I
still have to think a lot of him. He's at
forty two, so I mean some of him is a
top fifty prospect. But you know it's he's a guy
that I'm a little worried about.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens in the
first half of this year and how that affects your rankings.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
I mean, I'm doing I'm doing a Tim McCloud here
on the ceiling. I'm sitting on the fence. When I
put wide variants top of the rotation to bulpit on,
I mean, I don't know where it's all going to
end up. I love the arm I love the the athleticism,
but you know, to he throws strikes and gets and
can get right handed hitters out. I'm a little leery

(11:12):
here at the moment.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yeah, well, and that's I think that's a fair evaluation.
Moving on at number three, we got Billy Carlson number
ten off the board last year. Is it fair to
say he could be better in the real game than ours?

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, I got him at one twenty three ranks, so
he's outside of my top one hundred. And again, the
White Sox shually have more than two top one hundred players.
Just to kind of go back to your original point,
but yeah, it's basketball skills. It's great defensive value, but
I'm not sure how much power he's going to have.
And you know, it's it's like Jacob oh, Jacob Gonzales

(11:49):
that they took a few years ago, feels a lot
like that good player in that Jacob Wilson type of world.
I know, Jacob Wilson came in third in the Rookie
of the Year and he's player, but I don't know
from a fantasy standpoint, if he's going to have those
fantasy friendly tools that are going to excite everybody.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
If hey, if it, if it doesn't, there's he's got
the arm. Any any chance that he.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Ends up pitching, well, I mean he did have a fastball,
he did pitch before, so then I don't think so
to him. I think he's a good enough positional player
that I think he's I think he'll be a major
league I think he'll be a good player, but I
I just don't know from from the fantasy game standpoint,
I don't know if he's an elite guy. And what

(12:40):
was he He was drafted tenth. I don't have him
as the tenth overall pick going into my first year
player drafts.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
So okay, you read my mind. That was going to
be my my, my closing question. Fair enough. Moving on
at number four, we have Tanner mcdougle. After last week,
my thoughts pretty well, know what say you, my friend?

Speaker 4 (13:02):
I look, he's on the rise.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
I think there's a non zero chance he is better
than Noah Schultz. H So yeah, anybody that can touch
one hundred miles an hour. Now he needs to find
better control. But it's all sitting there. It's a Tommy
John surgery survivor, I think that's the right way to
put it.

Speaker 4 (13:22):
Or maybe surviving.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
He's throwing one hundred miles an hour right now, so
he survived. Yep.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, six foot five, one hundred mile an hour fastball. Yeah,
it doesn't always know where it's coming, excuse me, where
it's going. But if he can find a little bit
better control, this is the guy I think you want
to invest in. So to me, he is the upside
guy in this top five, and Noah Schultz is going
the other way. He's going down, and Tanner McDougall is

(13:52):
going up.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
Fair enough at number five.

Speaker 4 (13:56):
And I'm assuming do you agree wellheartedly?

Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yes, I most certainly do. I like the upside there,
I really do. I I think I think there's there's
a a better than fifty percent chance we see him
in the second half of twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Well, there'll be an opportunity, as you know, so I
think you could be right. And I think we see
no Schultz by the way as well. It'll be interesting
to see how he makes that. But Tanna McDougall, look,
nobody is sleeping on Noah Schultz. People are sleeping on
Tanna McDougal.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
There's an opportunity there, and I like opportunities.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Rich, Absolutely, it is all about uh value, right, And no,
Schultz has still got more value because of the pedigree
and the you know, the physicality and the lefty and
et cetera, et cetera. But between the two, I'd be
more interested in McDougall.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
Okay, we're on the same page. I remember we have
another soth bought in Hagen Smith. You're feeling a bit
better about Hagen Smith after his Fall League season, Rich,
if you looked at the I've got the numbers, handy.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
But there's so a lot of walks.

Speaker 3 (15:17):
Six walks in fourteen innings, seven hits, twenty one k's
held the opposition to a one forty three average.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
Yeah, stuff's great. I think there's some concern about arm
issues in terms of Tommy John Surgery had it in
high school. He spent some time on the il with
you know, barking forearms, so there's a little bit concern
about that. But it's it's the walks, it's the control,
and it almost reminds me a little bit of Lighter

(15:47):
with Texas, a guy that's has good stuff. In fact,
Lighter's got great stuff. Haigin Smith. Smith has got great stuff,
but it's been the control that's been the bugaboo for
Jack Lighter, and I'm afraid that's gonna be the same
thing with Hagen Smith. Now in full disclosure, humble brag,
I do have Hagen Smith on a couple of Dynasty

(16:08):
League teams because I was in the back of the
first round picking and he was the best of the lot.
So I've been watching his last season fairly closely because
I have a vested interests, and I have not been
happy with what I've seen. But the fact that he's
a lefty, the fact that he's got good stuff, I'm
still fairly bullish. Though I have downgraded him a little bit.

(16:31):
He's in the one fifty kind of range from a
prospect standpoint. So to answer your question, yeah, I feel
better about the Fall League, but it is the Fall
League and he still is walking too many guys.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
Yep. That hasn't changed. No, no, no, definitely not. At
number six. We've got Callum Bonemer plus raw power, speed potential.
It's all about whether he's going to be able to
hit enough. Right.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Yeah, I like him, though I saw I got a
chance that Sam Andy was in low A early in
the season, and I kind of like what I saw.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
I like the bat. The swing was good.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's really levered, so that's why you strike out a lot.
But I think there's gonna be big boy power there,
and I've backed off a little bit on my disdain
to rostering guys that can't hit. If you've got speed
and power, you know, the Spencer Joneses of the world,

(17:30):
I'm going to have some of you on my roster.
I'm not going to have an entire minor league roster
made of Caleb Bonnombers and guys like that. But as
long as you're not Johinsky Noel, which I don't think
we'll ever hit. If you've got speed and power and
a good swing, maybe it's a little levered, and somebody
can get it to get that swing toned down, I'm interested,

(17:53):
and therefore I'm interested in Caleb Bonnamer because of that.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
Fair enough, at number seven we have Drell Perez, another
former Dodger, attempting to make his mark with the White Sox.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Huh, yeah, it's interesting. Your good buddy and mine, Bob
king High. I think Bob was sending me. I think
it was early twenty twenty four when Durel Perez broke
out and the with the Dodgers. He had that really
good month of April. I think I got the month right,
And Bob said there was another publication that was just

(18:27):
lauding how great Daral Perez was going to be, and
I'm like, I don't know if I liked the swing, Bob,
And pretty much soon as I said that, as luck
would happen, Drel Perez kind of tank the rest of
the season and the Dodgers moved on from him. But
you know, Bob might be right, because he had a
much better twenty twenty five season, and he started to

(18:48):
find his stroke in that May June timeframe, started to
show a little bit more power, started to hit better,
and he's added some loft. There's a little bit more power,
he's hitting the ball a little bit hard. So I've
kind of come full circle with Jewel Perez. I think
there could be something there. Again, I don't see a star,
maybe not even an impact player. But if you tell
me it's eighteen to twenty ho run's handful of stolen

(19:10):
bases in at two to sixty batting average, I wouldn't
be surprised.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
Well, they have this Sosia kid that's an every day
regular and that's his claim to fame. Right.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, Now, again, the White Sox need more than Lenyon
and Durell Perez to be a winning baseball team. They
need Bray Montgomery and some big guys to step forward.
These are complimentary players. These are complicent Lenyon Sosa is
a complimentary fantasy player, as Jerrol Perez would be. But
he's definitely worth rostering because he's going to be in

(19:43):
Double A next season. There's a chance we see him
at the end of the year, probably more likely in
twenty twenty seven. Attim, that's the great setup.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, well, hey, who knows, if Andrew Vaughn comes around,
things could change in Chicago, couldn't they.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah, you know, it's it's yeah, it's funny. I mean,
Andrew Vaughan, I'm still not sure about him, but I
mean you got to give him all the credit in
the world. I mean, that guy really turned turned around
his career once he got traded.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
Uh. Yeah, leaving leaving the White Sox was definitely, uh,
definitely a boom not being that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
As we talked to when we talked about the cours, right,
that's where he is Milwaukee. Yeah, and we talked about him.
I mean, I think you and I were both a
little leary going into next season, not totally buying what
he did. But the fact that he's got his career
back on track, I mean, kudos to him.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Yeah, very much. So at number eight we have Jayden.
I'm gonna go with Fosk.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
I'm gonna go with Fosk as well.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Oh Okay went off the board last year at forty four,
first pick in the second round. Uh. They paid a
good price for him, did they to keep them away
from LSU.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, so a couple Here's a thought here's a thought
stream for you, Tim. So, back in the day before
Scott Barris was really famous, a good drafting strategy and
dynasty league was Dynasty leagues were to draft Scott Bar's clients.
Now everybody does that, and you do that because Scott

(21:25):
bar Scott bars can have the pick of the litter.
He can pick anybody that he wants. Everybody or most
everybody wants him to represent them.

Speaker 4 (21:34):
So you know.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
He's going and he's got I know, I know some
of them. His scouts are fantastic. I mean they're former
major league guys. They're better than me, and I mean
they're they're very, very good. So you know the guys
are bringing in our top notch. The same thing is
true with LSU. LSU's college program is so much better.

(21:58):
It's it's at a tier by itself off particularly the pitching.
And I know this firsthand. They've got a pitching lab
they call it, where it's as good as drive line,
where they've got all kinds of technology in there, and
they are analyzing and trying to figure out the best
way to develop these guys. And it's now filtering down

(22:20):
to positional players. So if you see someone who's being
bought out of going to LSU, it should have your attention.
And Jade Fosk is one of those guys. And why
I write he's a strong third round target forty fourth
pick at overall, he's going to be ignored to the

(22:40):
large extent and first year player drafts. If I'm picking
late in the second round, early in the third round,
it's a guy that I'm definitely interested in.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
Perfect that's exactly where I was going. Would you move
him up? And the answer is an obvious yes, thank you.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Right in the tool summary if laws added, he's a
power speed sleeper. In first year player drafts, Paddy loft
to a swing is one of the more simpler things
to do. Yes, it took mckel garcia three years to
figure it out.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
But he finally did.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
We never said he was fast, Yeah, I mean, yeah, these.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
Guys gonna be stubborn as well. But and so I
love the setup here with us. It might not work,
but I love the setup.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Cool. At number nine we have iro erie Arte right
handed picture. I sighed when I read this, But there
was always skepticism about his ability to be a starter,
and twenty twenty five did nothing but confirm those concerns.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah, but I think he has a chance to be
a pretty good closer because I think Grant Taylor is
going to I think they're going to finally move him
to the rotation, which is the right thing to do.
So you know it is, you know, the the and
the White Tucks are pretty bold with Grant Taylor. They
brought him up and I think we two he was
the closer.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
Could the same thing happen with it? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Could the same thing happened there? Are te I mean
it could so, I bet you he makes a waiver
war of yours.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
I won't take that bet.

Speaker 4 (24:23):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah, No, I think I think that's that's a losing bet.
It's it's a wide open competition, I think in Chicago,
and let's face it, argue he's he's got the stuff
that can make it work.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
It's got a great arm.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yeah, yep, yep. So definitely in drafting holes after forty five,
depending on what's sitting there, he could be somebody you'd
be targeting.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, I think i've I've As we get through the
end of this, I think I put forty players that
should be selected after after round forty five though, So
I got there's a lot to choose from.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
The options are plentiful.

Speaker 4 (25:04):
Are the options are plentiful? So?

Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yeah, yes, at number ten we have Jacob Gonzalez. Right,
the ceiling remains modest, but the real world value could
keep him on the field lop high enough to at
some point in time make one of my waiver wearers.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
Right, I mean, I think he's I think he's that guy.
I think I'll have a decent career. He'll be uh,
you know, ten ten kind of guy. Maybe fifteen home
runs one year for stolen eight stolen basis something like,
it'll hit a little bit, he'll be a fine baseball player.
He'll be a guy that you lose your shortstop for
six weeks and he'll be on the waiver wire. You'll

(25:44):
grab him and he'll be just fine. But it's not
somebody you're going to be really excited about to put
on your fantasy team, or if you're in a dynasty
league you're looking at, going, hey, this is going to
be my shortstop for the next fifteen years. I just
don't see that he's.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Going to be your short stop until the guy that
you normally have there comes off.

Speaker 4 (26:05):
The al Yeah, yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (26:10):
Can I add an eleventh pick here because I I'm
still struggling a little bit with Brian Ramos. I really
had high hopes for the kid, and they've gone from
high hopes to no hopes.

Speaker 4 (26:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
I still like the player, but he's blocked, which seems
kind of weird. But I mean, look as I don't
think the colest Montgomery what he did well, maybe it
is real. I think there's huge power and very little speed.
I don't think he's going to hit. I think that's
who the player is. I think I'll be a better
third basement than he is. A shortstop. Chase me drawf

(26:50):
is played, okay.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
But he's blocked.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
So until they give him a shot, I don't know
what to think. So I put in my my fantasy
manager to treat Ramos as a stash and watch candidate.
So again, forty five plus in a in a draft
and whole league, Yeah, he should be. I think I
drafted him last year in my drafted whole league and

(27:15):
it didn't work out for me. But I think he's
still got ability. He just needs a shot and guys
do get injured, and you know, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Right, Okay, we've now covered the top eleven. Who else
would you like to bring up as a topic of
discussion from the White Tawk.

Speaker 4 (27:33):
You brought up number eleven.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
If everybody wants the other nine, you got to go
to Patreons, p A t R e O and dot
com forward slash Prospect three sixty one.

Speaker 4 (27:45):
Mean, let's take a break and come back.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
I think it's easy, oh the easy whale.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Just to remind everybody, Prospect three sixty one dot com
is out ad free. There's one ad on it and
it's to join the Patreon site. So if you appreciate that,
you appreciate all the writing I do and everything Tim contributes,
join us out over there Patreon dot com, Forward slash
Prospect three sixty one. So Tim, and by the way,
I got rid of the ads partially because you you

(28:22):
were telling me people I think on the Facebook page
were complaining about some ads that were, you know, downloading
and taking over their machine. And I finally saw one
of those ads and said, this isn't this isn't any good, right,
And it's just the ad engine that everybody uses. I
use the same AD engine everybody else uses. I just

(28:42):
hated it, and I couldn't. I didn't have any any
influence on don't show these things that speed up your computer,
and all of a sudden you got crap getting downloaded
to your computer. And I just said, enough of this nonsense.

Speaker 4 (28:55):
I just got rid of it.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
All good good for you, and I am sure the
people reading your articles appreciate it too.

Speaker 4 (29:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
I mean it's it's it's just like, if you're gonna
put the one ad out there, just click this song
for a Patriots. The joint is at the Patreon site.

Speaker 3 (29:13):
So yeah, nice, nice, and simple and cut into the chase,
which is, hey, what we all want?

Speaker 4 (29:19):
Very good? All right?

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Tunning it back over to you, the Cleveland Guards.

Speaker 3 (29:24):
Yes, the Guardians. I was sort of surprised with your
number one pick. Uh, but you know I'm angel angel,
you know, shortstop, highest level double A. I again, I'm
gonna start with one of your quotes, fantasy managers, you
should treat you Noah as an impact prospect with a

(29:45):
chance to climb. Why, simple question.

Speaker 4 (29:52):
I I think he's got speed.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
I think he mays gay contact, and I think we're
waiting for the power to come, and he just needs
to get stronger.

Speaker 4 (30:02):
Again.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
I don't I belaevor it, but Mi cal Garcia was
a It was a really good example of a similar
type of player that you just have to wait on
these young kids to add that strength. Again, is he
going to be Kyle Schwarber?

Speaker 3 (30:16):
No?

Speaker 2 (30:17):
But is he going to hit fifteen home runs? I
think it's totally possible to go along with a twenty
plus stolen bases and a guy can hit, it's a
good that's a good baseball player.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
Tim.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Now, there are a lot of guys that the Cleveland
Guardians developed that look like Angel Genoa.

Speaker 3 (30:35):
So that's yeah, that's yeah. They have a thing, don't they.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
They have a thing, and quite frankly, you know, they
haven't all worked out, and we can look down their
roster now and see those guys, and but I think
Angel Genoa is a little bit better player. I do
want to address your you're you're a little surprised about
why it was number one. If we go back and

(31:00):
take a look at the tearing, I got genoah one
that actually the AI engine has GENOAH one chased the
louder two, which you think is interesting. You know, he
made the playoff roster, which was actually kind of cool.
He never played in a regular season game, but he
didn't make the playoff roster. Ralphie Velasquez, which one of
our Patreon members told me, I was all wet for

(31:21):
having the ranked number ten, which I think he's right.
Probably should have rethought that my AI hasn't had M three.
But Travis Mazana was all the way down on four,
so so I know Bazan is the you know, the
probably in every other publication, I'm assuming Bizana would be
number one because he's famous number number one.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
Overall, it was a.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Terrible season, Timmy, it was a terrible debut in twenty
twenty four. I mean, he just there is a kid
that was supposed to be able to hit, and the
strikeout and swing decisions that he's making is not good. Now,
could he come in a re born player in twenty
twenty six, Yeah, but I mean at some point, you know,

(32:05):
he walks a lot. There's never been a ton of
speed and power. But if he's going to post a
two fifty batting average two sixty, you know, yuck, You're
expecting a three hundred hitter from this guy.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
Well, well, yeah, looking at Bizen, I can remember very
clearly looking oh about about a year plus a few
months looking at Bizenna as potentially a midseason call up
last year. Yeah, maya, How things have changed in a hurry,
haven't they.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
I drafted in my draft, drafted holdly I think in
the thirties. Yeah, yeah, and I guessed wrong. And it's like,
you know, as as April rolled around, it was he
was slow coming down when when may Hitton was still
doing the same thing, and then he'd watch his games
and it was just he was so patient at the plate.
He was just letting strike one strike, two go through,

(32:58):
and no matter how good of a hitter you are,
you get you're down to two to one and two
you're you're gonna get out.

Speaker 3 (33:03):
So well, yeah, pitchers are gonna throw you junk for
a couple of bitches, and every once in a while,
you're gonna you're gonna swing at the march. You.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, you have to protect the plate. So I think
the approach needs some work. Again, I never thought he'd
have a ton of speed and power, So from a
fantasy standpoint, I was a little a little concerned about,
you know, the pick and going one one overall. But
I said, if he hits two eighty to three hundred, okay,
I'll get it with highland base percentage, I'll take that.

(33:33):
But if he's not gonna hit, a down shifted on him.
So that's why he's too. Chase the latter is not
in front of him, because Chase the Latter gets hurt
all the.

Speaker 4 (33:44):
Time, all the time. Yeah, I think.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
He could be number one. I really like the player,
but I mean, what's the chance of him playing you
for getting four to five hundred bats in Cleveland next season?
I think I'm most zero because he's gonna get hurt,
so I couldn't put number one. Well, then Francesca had
an off season. I just didn't know who to put
number one.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, it's plugged up with
question marks. Right then, when when you look at Bizanna
last year, and I was on the same page as you,
I was wrong as well. I would have had him
somewhere if I was doing drafting hole leagues and in
the thirties. Now, what do you do this year in
a drafting whole league with Travis Bizin.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
I mean, you probably take him because I think for
sure he's gotta come up, right, I mean, this is
the one one overall guy, and you know he's in
Tripus and Triple A for most of the season. Last night,
I think it got to bring him up so he
will get a shot. But I think I don't think
he's going to cost in the thirties. I don't Again,
I don't know where exactly the number I picked them up,

(34:47):
but I think you can get them a lot later
because his pedigree.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
Has dropped, right, maybe bump them up a little bit
in O weep leagues.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, so that's okay, But I mean, ok,
I still like the player.

Speaker 4 (35:02):
But I think we need to begin to.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
Question if the Guardians are going about their strategy correctly.
You know, their draft strategy, their acquisi.

Speaker 3 (35:17):
How man, how many Stephen Kwans do you need on
a team?

Speaker 2 (35:22):
Yeah, he's got to be a limit, right, I mean,
at some point, Jose Ramirez is going to get old.
And once he gets old and is not no longer
Jose Ramirez, Yeah, Stephen Kwan, Travis Bizana, Chase the Louder,
these are not impact bats, and they're good players, but

(35:45):
I mean, at some point you have somebody that, Okay,
Jose Ramirez is coming on, coming up.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
We got a chance.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
None of these other guys is like Okay, Chase the
Louder is coming up.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (35:57):
I'm a fan of feeling really good about that.

Speaker 4 (35:59):
I'm not.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
No, no, and yeah, it's it's it's a miracle that
Jose Ramirez doesn't walk more or than he does. Okay,
I take the bat out of his hands. In Cleveland.
It's a different team, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
That's one of the best. He's one of the best
players in this era. I mean, there's gonna be strong
Hall of Fame consideration for him. Speed and power and
just a great baseball player. Never never strikes out. I mean,
he's great, he's a great player.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
But if you take him on that team.

Speaker 3 (36:39):
Well, exactly, Yeah, and I guess we covered pretty well.
Chased the Latder You've got at number three.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
Yeah, Chase the Ladder. I like Chase the latter a lot.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
I mean, it's he rarely swings at bad pitches. He's
in the upper quartile of end zone contacts. Chase rates
are great. He's not gonna be a huge power guy.
It's going to be more high batting average island base
percentage with eighteen to twenty kind of home run pop.
He's going to be a very good baseball player, but

(37:10):
it's not going to be you know, it's not gonna
be a you know, a high impact fantasy player because
there's not a ton of speed. And if you're the
Cleveland Guardians, you're gonna you're gonna tell this guy to run.
He gets hurt every time.

Speaker 3 (37:22):
Well, I was going to say, would be nice to
see like maybe two hundred and fifty at bats.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
Well, I think he's he's going to have a chance, though,
he's gonna have a chance to get six hundred plate appearances.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
Whether he's healthy or not? Who knows?

Speaker 3 (37:38):
Yeah, exactly, big question marks uh wellman Francisco at number four.

Speaker 4 (37:47):
I think it's Franciscan.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
Francisco se yes, sorry, yes, A two twenty nine batting
average with a seventy seventeen percent stracover rate and twelve
percent walk right.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
This is a guy who never hit below three hundred
in any level, and he got off the night poorly
in low A and he just never recovered. And you're right,
you make really good contact. There's two things that are
and you hit two twenty nine. What do you say
two twenty nine? There's one of two things going on

(38:19):
or both. His batting average of balls and play is low,
which it was, and related to that is the fact
that he doesn't hit the ball as hard. So if
you don't hit the ball very hard, what we have
learned through advanced analytics is you generally have a low
batting average of balls and play, which then low is
your batting average, So they're all related together. I do

(38:42):
think that Francesca, that could be just my over love
for him, that he's going to be just fine. I
think there's going to be a ten to twelve home
run pop. He's not going to be Kyle Schwarber by
any stretch. I still like the player a lot. I
think it's twelve home runs, eighteen stolen bases, and the
guy that hits he's a very good baseball player. But

(39:02):
again it's it's this is a guardian player, not an
impact not an impact guy, a nice player, but a
complimentary type of player.

Speaker 3 (39:13):
Yeah, it just when I see the bat speed's good, right,
and he doesn't hit the ball hard, He's not swarring
it up. What's what's the problem, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (39:23):
Just not very strong at bat speed. It's it's funny
because bat speed and arm strength for pitchers, you think
it all has to do with size, but it really doesn't.
It's just, you know, it's it's how fast you're swinging,
how fast your arm is moving, and those get into
the biometrics of your body type strength and bat speed

(39:45):
of excuse me, And an ex velossity comes through a
lot of just country raw and which you know, the
great players, the Hose, the Houlyard Rodriguez is they've lad
junior who marry bat speed together with incredible strength. Or
the guy that hit forty home runs.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
M okay, no, that's that. That makes sense. At number five,
we have Cooper Cooper Ingle. If you missed out on
the recent group of young catchers enjoying success, is there
a possibility that Ingle could be part of that next group?

Speaker 4 (40:21):
I think so.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
I got him as a top fifteen catcher. I kind
of like the like the player. Again, most guardians can hit.
He can hit. He's not gonna have a tremendous amount
of power, but fifteen home run pop. So you know,
one year he hits twenty two home runs in bats
two seventy, he's a top ten catcher. So, I mean
he's he's got that kind of potential. Is it going

(40:44):
to be, in my humble opinion, year in and year out,
that type of production. I don't think so. But I
think he's gonna hit, and I think there's gonna be
enough power to make you interested in it. Again, get
a catcher that can hit, you're double dipping.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Yeah. I was gonna saying bow Naylor should be looking
over his shoulder. Is that fair?

Speaker 4 (41:04):
Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (41:05):
Bo Naila had a better season by the way last year,
but he still hit two ten or something like that.

Speaker 4 (41:10):
I mean he still didn't.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
Yeah, No, his season was saved by a strong September. Yeah, yeah,
he finished up well, but yeah, across the board, it
was far from being a banner type campaign for sure.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
I don't know if that was a lucky September or
trending in the right direction. I guess we'll find out
come twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Yes, At number six, we have one Brito. Twenty twenty
five was a lost season due to injury. But if
you're looking at a is he another one of these
players you're looking at as a late pick in drafting holes,
I don't.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
I don't.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
Maybe, I mean, there's so many of these guys. I
definitely think Travis Bizon is going to get the shot
before Brito, and they're both kind of second base, third
base type of prospects. So I guess at Bizana doesn't
work out, which seems impossible that he would at least

(42:14):
be a solid major league player that would seem to
block one Brito, and the fact that he didn't play
much at all in twenty twenty five with you know,
with the injuries, so that's why I would think he's
going to be the second guy that gets the chance.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
Okay, fair enough. At number seven, we have Parker Music.
You know, for a pitcher that allowed forty six hits
over thirty nine and two thirds innings last year, is
it fair to describe the year a results at two
seventy two surprising.

Speaker 4 (42:48):
Look.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
I obviously he's number seven based on what he did
in the major leagues. He should be a lot higher,
let's face it. So I think it's fair criticism for
somebody to go, hey, what are you thinking here, Wilson?
And what I'm thinking is I'm kind of where Tim
was alluding to him not buying it. It's a great
change up, and guys that come in with great changes,
particularly lefties, can really have some early success. But he

(43:12):
gave up a lot of hits. There's always been control issues.
He doesn't have top of the rotation stuff. It's a
number four kind of upside guy that is going to
be better because he's a guardian. I get that, but
I just don't know if the strikeouts are going to
be there. I don't know if the wins are going
to be there because of the team that he plays on.

(43:33):
So that's why I have him a little bit lower.

Speaker 3 (43:37):
Yeah, I believe he's going to be overdrafted come this spring.
That's my thoughts.

Speaker 4 (43:44):
I would guess he would be too.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
Okay, At number eight we have Jason Churio. U five
was a major step back. What would you do if
you have him rostered?

Speaker 2 (43:58):
If I have leagues, I'm going to a league too,
and I'm holding on. But he'll probably make it through
our supplemental drafts. But if he's still doing what he
did last year by June, he's going to be on
the chopping block. It was a tough, tough year, so

(44:21):
I right, fantasy managers should treat Cherio as a cautionary hold.
So that's what I believe that hold on to him.
But man, it was a bad season last year. The
game sped up on him a lot. Again, this is
Jackson Cheerio's little brother, and that's why I drafted him,
acquired him. I'm sure that's the reason many people acquired him.

(44:43):
And he looked great in low way, but hya he
really really struggled. So let's see what happens when he
comes in. Maybe it's gonna be a little bit more
physically mature, maybe making better swing decisions. But it was
a bad season to Tim, no question about it.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Okay, proceeed with caution. At number nine, we have kel
Steven part of the Shane Bieber deadline deal.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
And.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
He's starting to move fairly quickly last year along with
another Jase pitcher, Trey you Savage. I'm intrigued with his potential.
How's that?

Speaker 2 (45:22):
I am as well? Fastball change up guy pitching for
the Guardians. You gotta like the setup there, so yeah,
I mean, and it's a pitch data guy. Right, He's
got big He's got big spin on all of his pitches,
particularly his fastball. So yeah, I right, he's a he's
a rising arm. Dynasty league formats. You need to think

(45:43):
about rostering him.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
Cool Braylan Dodie, right handed pitcher. He's a long ways away,
but being only nineteen, there's definitely some potential sitting there,
isn't there.

Speaker 4 (45:59):
I wish you were.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
He's only six feet tall, but he's not, and I
don't think he's I think there's going to be a
growth spurt here. But I look, this is a this
is going to be a Guardian picture.

Speaker 4 (46:10):
Right.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
They're going to get they're going to get the most
out of this guy. His stuff is size all points
to number fourst type of starter. I bet you he's
he's going to be a mid rotation guy and be
a pretty good pitcher. I think he's going to have
really good control. So don't kind of ignore the stat
lines for now, Timmy, and just just look at the

(46:31):
setup here. A guy that's got really good stuff, good control,
pitching in the right organization.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
Sounds good. Definitely somebody I'm going to be watching, especially
early on in the season. Uh, you know, he's not
going to be rostered in a lot of dynasty leagues
right now, I don't believe, But I think that's got
the potential to change in a hurry.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yeah, I've got him in a couple of leagues, but
he's not he's not taking in all leagues I'm in.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
So yeah, Okay, there's our top ten, and for the
sake of discussion, I'd like to add number eleven myself
and go with your number eleven, Raalthy Velasquez.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
Yeah, I think I missed here.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
I mean again, I heard it from a really I
think a really astute Patreon memory just said what the hell, like,
you know, what are you thinking here? And the more
I thought about it, particularly when I take a look
at my AI assistant had him ranked third and I
got him down at eleven, I think I just made
a mistake. I think he should be higher. I think
there's power. I think he's going to strike out a lot.

(47:39):
And I have him as a Reese Hoskins cop, and
I cop a lot of guys to Reee Hoskins. Big power,
big swing of miss in his game. And Reese Hoskin's
a pretty good baseball player. And I think Ralphie Velesa
is gonna be pretty good baseball player. Could he pop
thirty home runs and hit two forty and that could
be kind of who he is at first base? Yeah,
but I think that works. So I think you should

(48:00):
definitely be in front of some of these guys and
you're probably going to ask, do we see him in
twenty twenty six? Is a possibility. But I think they're
going to give Chase the Louder and uh oh, the
guy at first base now came up a couple of
years ago. Anyway, I think they're they're going to give
all these guys, I think a chance to play before

(48:22):
Velaska's gets a shot.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
Yeah, you're probably thinking of Kyle Menzarta, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Coyle Mazarto, Yeah, I think comments art has been designated
to designated it or but I think he can play
first base as well, and I wouldn't be surprised at
the Louder. They moved the Louder to first base just
to try to you know, Dons had so many like
leg problems that you know, they probably just need to
get him off his feet as much as possible.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
Yeah. Yeah, and they got CJ. Kafas sitting there too,
CJ Cathas.

Speaker 4 (48:54):
Yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
All these guys, Manzarto, the Louder, they're all kind of similar.
Mansart have sold out for power and is what he
hit two thirty or something last season, which is a
little disappointing.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
CJ.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Cafis can really hit kind of reduced power. Same is
true with Chase Ralphie Alaskas can hit thirty home runs.
So that's a guy is a little unique to what
the Guardians have in their lineup.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
Yeah, that's what I was just gonna say. They need
another bat that can hit home runs, that can be
a threat to drive the ball out of the park,
and other than Jose Ramirez and Manzarto. It's something that
they don't have in their everyday lineup, is it.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
Yeah, And it's something I just didn't think through it properly,
and it I think it's patently obvious when we talk
about it again, I want to thank or patron member
for bringing it up to me. Yeah, I mean, it's
probably got too caught up in the fact that you know,
he's he's not going to hit a ton, but so

(49:58):
wide he's gonna hit thirty home runs, and that's hard.
It's becoming harder to find in fantasy baseball, particularly at
first base. So I like raffi Velt.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
Even harder in even harder in Cleveland.

Speaker 4 (50:09):
Right, Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
Since my top five hundred has not been released yet,
I have the chance that at least correct it there.
If I didn't, if I got it wrong in the
UH you know, the individual rankings, I'll have a chance
to move him up. So he's at two or four now,
we'd be surprised to see him in the one twenty
five range.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
So okay, is there anybody else you'd like to discuss?
From the Guardian's list of prospects?

Speaker 2 (50:35):
Same same applies. Join the patreons. I get the other.
There's twenty four guardians. I get the rest of the UH.
The other the other thirteen. Tell me, let's take a break,
come back, and fifth, we have fifteen minutes to fix
to finish up the Detroit Tigers, who obviously is one
of the more fun systems in this division. Definitely three

(51:07):
of the best prospects in the game in this system.
Kevin McGonagall is playing extremely well in the Fall League. Timmy,
I'm sure you got lots of questions for me.

Speaker 4 (51:18):
Let's let's take it.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
Okay, Well, let's let's get out of the gates strong
with Max Clerk, and let's get rolling with the important
stuff right away. At bat's, home runs, stolen bases baobp.

Speaker 2 (51:34):
Of Max Clark, Yep, I think it's going to be
less than two hundred. Okay, So you know, let's say
I think I think he's a twenty twenty guy eventually,
maybe a twenty thirty guy. I said, maybe five or
six home run, four or five home runs, seven to
ten stolen bases, and yeah, I don't know what. He's

(51:57):
probably not gonna hit all that much in two hundred bats.
So yeah, I think he's a guy.

Speaker 3 (52:03):
Then that's a key number. Yeah, that's a key number.

Speaker 4 (52:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
I look, there's an opportunity for him. He probably should
start in TRIPLEA, but they've they've been very, very careful
with Max Clark, and Max Clark has just been Okay,
it's not like he's he's he's had a kind of
Griffin type of season out there. He's been good. But

(52:27):
what I know of fourteen home runs, nineteen stolen basis
that's really really good tim But it hasn't been a
blowout season for him yet, and I think that's what
the Tigers would really like to see him coming in
and by you know, May fifteenth, have ten home runs
and start to feel really good that this guy's starting
to put some things together.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
Yeah, just take charge and and own those lofty expectations,
right and then make the move.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
It's all there. He's a great defender, he's got he's athletic,
he's a sixty five seventy runner. There's going to be
enough power there to project fifteen to twenty home He's
got it all.

Speaker 4 (53:07):
He can hit.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
It's all there. He just needs to kind of put
it all.

Speaker 3 (53:11):
Together, including the fact that the Tigers aren't deep in
the outfield.

Speaker 4 (53:16):
That is correct.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
Yeah, okay. At number two, Kevin McGonagall a four to
sixty two OBP over one hundred and forty five at
bats at high eight, impressive earned him a promotion to
double A in August. I'm I'm sorry in August, let's

(53:38):
repeat the Max Claric exercise, said bats Omer in Stolen
Bases ba obp.

Speaker 2 (53:42):
I think McGonagall is a four hundred plus at bat guy.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
Maybe more he might. I don't know. If we'll start
the season.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
In Detroit. I think he gets caught up very soon.
I think he comes up before Max Clark. I think
he's more ready. I think this kid has to hit.
Is he going to hit out of the shoot?

Speaker 4 (54:02):
I mean, who knows?

Speaker 2 (54:04):
But could he do a Jacob Wilson on his tim
I think so.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
Jacob Wilson was hitting three fifty for a while. I
think he could do something like that and show more power,
you know, be uh, you know, four hundred and fifty
at bats, do fifteen to eighteen home runs and two
eighty plus batting average. I mean, there's not a ton
of speed, So let's call it, you know, five to
eight stolen bases and compete for Rookie of the Year.

(54:31):
He's got that kind of upside and think of a
better version, maybe a louder version of Jacob Wilson.

Speaker 3 (54:39):
Okay, so you in a redraft formatt you're drafting him
as a middle dfielder and then backfilling the position to
allow for time for him to arrive. That sort of scenario,
I would it.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Would be a risky move, but you know, I think
he's gonna stick when he comes up. The fact that
they have in the Fall League, and again he part
of the reasons of the Fall League, and Mark Max
Clark isn't because he was hurt, so they're trying to
get him extra at bats. But he was good last season.
He's really good in the Fall League. He looks he

(55:12):
looks like he's ready versus Max Clark doesn't quite look.

Speaker 4 (55:17):
Like he's ready yet.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
Yeah, from some of the people I've talked to about
the Arizona Fall League, Yeah, he was definitely the standout
bat there.

Speaker 4 (55:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
No, he was at a level all of his all
upon himself.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
I've seen I've seen all three of these guys playing
double A, and I'll continue to say that Kevin McGonagall
looks the most ready. Max Clark's got the highest upside,
and I just love Osway Brassino. I just think that
guy is gonna That guy's gonna hit thirty home runs.

Speaker 4 (55:49):
It's just it's just a.

Speaker 3 (55:50):
Monster, yeah, which which leads us to exactly your number
three pick and quote you whether he catches or not.
The power and approach give him a path to impact
in all formats. The obvious question will he catch?

Speaker 2 (56:07):
He's catching for the Tigers. Let's take a look at
Fortunately we have all these cheat sheets here known as
roster resource, and this, uh yeah, catchers Dylan and Jake Rogers.

Speaker 3 (56:23):
Jake Rogers, he's still thirty years old. He's still plugging away. Yeah.
I hope the power there never materialized.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
I mean, the problem gets into Spencer toorkles And you know,
we talked last last Sunday about the even odd you know,
so it could be an off year for Spencer Torkleson.
But I mean, sincer Torklesen is a cheap three hundred
excuse me, cheap thirty home run guy. Is hoswing Barsina
going to push him out now? So I think it's

(56:53):
it's it's going to be a struggle for Brisina to
work his way into that lineup, but I think he does.
There's going to be twenty five thirty home runs. I'm
guessing it's going to be at first base slash DH,
maybe even right field.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
Maybe backup catcher DH.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
He could, he could be a third catcher. I mean,
I think you see this in a lot a lot.
You know, it's Moys's Bellisterio's kind of thing, where Okay,
if everybody's hurt, we can throw you in there. So
at least for the first couple of years we'll see yeah.

Speaker 3 (57:28):
Okay, at number four, we have Bryce Rayner. Time to
cross our fingers and hope that shoulder injury and subsequent
surgery doesn't derail what was a great start to his career.

Speaker 4 (57:41):
Ruh, it was a great start.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
I mean, he really looked like one of the stars
coming out of that Florida State League and that's a
tough league to play, and there's a big ballparks that's
you know, all the teams are playing in their spring
training facilities for the major league club, so it's tough,
and he was extreme good. There's big boy power. There
a lot of comps to Corey Seeger. Everybody gets comped

(58:05):
to Corey Sieger is great hitter, forty hor run potential. Uh,
no one's ever gonna few we're going to live up
to that comp But that's who we're talking about with
Bryce Rainer. He just got hurt in June and he'll
probably start back in low A and probably see hi
A by the end of the season.

Speaker 3 (58:24):
Okay. At number five we have Jade and Ham. He
throws some pretty serious cheese, isn't he If you like
him and cheese?

Speaker 2 (58:33):
Yeah, Jaane Ham really came to my attention in twenty
twenty four as one of the breakout players to sixty
four ear A. Wasn't as good last season, just a
four to seventy ear a, but it's it's good stuff.
He has a really good delivery, very simple delivery, and
I see a number three starter here. I think we

(58:57):
see him sometime next season, definitely in twenty twenty seven.
And he's a kid that doesn't have the pedigree and
the famousness that a lot of pitchers and players around
the league doesn't do. And I think Hams could be
a guy that may be stolen some waiver wires.

Speaker 3 (59:17):
Yeah. I wasn't familiar with him at all, and not
that that means a whole lot. I just wasn't a
lot familiar and I like what I'm reading there. Rich.
At number six, we have do you have a ten
ten button. At number six, we have how You Lee
second baseman. He may not become a star, but the

(59:38):
profile fits everyday value in deeper formats, especially at second base.

Speaker 4 (59:43):
Well, I wrote that that sounded very good.

Speaker 3 (59:46):
Yeah, yeah, Dave, that's why I accorded you. I was
well done.

Speaker 2 (59:50):
Yes, I think you know, it's just one of these
guys that everybody gets all excited about. Kevin McGonagall and
Max Clark you should, they're gonna be really really good
baseball players. And then how You Lee is sitting there
going I got a little speed, I got a little power,
I can hit, And I think he's all of them.
I think he's all of that, and he's in You've

(01:00:11):
spent a good part of last season in triple A.
And you know, again we're getting all excited about Kevin
mcgonagallor Hoy You Lee might say I deserve to be
the first guy called up to play the infield. You
could see either mcgonaghill or how You Lee moved to
the outfield.

Speaker 4 (01:00:29):
That might be one of the smart news.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
Yeah, because it's unfortunate that jav your Bias is still
kicking around. He's gonna gum up the works for some
of these young kids and hopefully I mean, look, have
your bias had a resurgence last year? He still wasn't
that good. I think there's I know the Tiger's front

(01:00:53):
office a little bit. I actually know him fairly well.
I don't think they are going into the season going, hey,
the ninety percent of the old Hobvier bias is back.
I don't think they're in that spot. They know what
they've got, uh, and know that at any moment it'll
be time to move on from Hoavi or Bias.

Speaker 3 (01:01:13):
Yeah, he bounced back to mediocre.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Yeah, which again, which is good because he bounced back
from literally the worst player in baseball to mediocre. So
I mean give him a little bit of credit, So.

Speaker 3 (01:01:26):
Right, exactly, A little bit, yes, a little bit. At
number seven, we have they run Lorenzo I, catcher for
the former Dodger. Certain that cheese just didn't he even
twenty four home runs in a ball in twenty three

(01:01:49):
and over the past two years, he's twelve, he's eleven.
He's still only twenty two. But wouldn't it be nice
to see a return to say, any home run potential.

Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
Yeah, he had that one excellent season in Low Way
where he looked like he had a chance to be
a star. And that's it me that that he just
has never recovered. I've been making excuses. Oh, he moved
to when he got traded. He moved to the Upper
Midwest and you know that cold weather. And he'll be
a lot better when he moves to the Texas or wherever,

(01:02:22):
Southern League, wherever their double A facility. And he was
a little better, but he still wasn't very good. He
just has not after that tease in low way, he
has just not done much.

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
Yeah, he hasn't. He hasn't repeated that level of play
let alone, built on it, built on it, and I'm
still a little disappointing.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
Indeed, And uh, I think that's just what we have.
And you know, is he going to be able to
turn her around? I hope so.

Speaker 3 (01:02:52):
Okay, at number eight we have fran yeerber Mantilla. Uh hey,
it's all about the speed. Let's hope that torn acl
doesn't diminish that component of his game.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Hold a second tim uhh, I I'd love friend Herbert Mattia. Yeah,
it's uh, it's disappointing with the injury, but I you know, look,
there's there's there's a switch hitter, which you like. I
know there was some splits there, but I think he's
I've got him in a bunch of dynasty leagues, so
I'm still pretty bullish on him.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
Okay, cool. At number nine, we have Max Anderson.

Speaker 4 (01:03:33):
Uh having a great Fall league six O.

Speaker 3 (01:03:37):
Nine OVP and an eight O nine slug. That's pretty
darn good, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:42):
Yeah, he's uh, yeah, you're talking. You're reading the fall
league stats.

Speaker 3 (01:03:48):
Yeah, it's a fall fall league numbers.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
Yeah, you know. Look, I think it's more of a
contact guy. I think it's more fifteen ish type of
home runs. There's not a ton of speed. Again, another
second basement the you know, that's one of the issues
here with the uh with the Tigers. I don't think
mcgonagall's going to set the world on fire at short base.
Uh excuse me, it's short short pace, shortstop.

Speaker 3 (01:04:13):
Hi.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
You Lee is not gonna be a play shortstop, Max Clark,
Max Anderson definitely can't play shortstop. So so you got
a lot of second basement coming up and this maxic.

Speaker 3 (01:04:23):
For them for them to be exact in the top nine, Yeah,
it's it's crowded.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
Yeah, so is Max Clark gets squeezed out, he could
and maybe that's the guy that they eventually move. Just speculating,
but uh, I mean he's a good player, don't don't
get me wrong.

Speaker 4 (01:04:39):
Good player.

Speaker 3 (01:04:41):
Okay. At number ten, we have Chris Rodriguez. He signed
with the Tigers last January for a record breaking three
point one mill and quickly showed why with an impressive
uh Dominican season.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Chris Roger Rodriguez. He I read about him a lot
in the Daily Notes. He just was pounding the ball
all season long. Three point two million dollars signed. As
you said, he's a big physical toolsy kid. Is he
going to hit enough? That's it's a big swing, it's
a long swing. So there is some concern about you know,

(01:05:24):
it could come with a you know, two thirty batting
average and he could become a three true come outcome player.
But I'd be shocked if it's not twenty twenty five
home run. So it's a really interesting guy and a
player that I ranked pretty high that people should be
rostering him. And let's see where I have him ranked overall.

(01:05:46):
Let's see it's to the Detroit I'd be rostering him
in the most Dynasty leagues at the moment, and he
is coming in at three forty four, so I saw
him pretty pretty low. But it's a guy that's on
the com.

Speaker 3 (01:06:00):
How old is he rich? Uh?

Speaker 4 (01:06:03):
Eighteen?

Speaker 3 (01:06:05):
He's six four and two hundred pounds at eighteen years
of age.

Speaker 4 (01:06:10):
That's a big boy.

Speaker 3 (01:06:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:12):
If you tell me six six next year, that I
mean there's still a chance for growth and height as well.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
So he's gonna Yeah, he's gonna be big.

Speaker 2 (01:06:20):
So you get the six five sixty six, then you
really start to worry that that swing is really going
to get long. But hopefully you won't come in that
much bigger, but it's gonna be a big boy power
there for sure.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
Yeah, definitely. Okay, there's our top ten from the Tigers system.
What say you about adding a player or two? Any interest?

Speaker 2 (01:06:44):
See, gosh, it's some it's I'm going to give either,
I give one. I'm gonna go Nick dumbsnill Um.

Speaker 3 (01:06:53):
When I was reading Joomas.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
Snill he was two forty nine, Uh, taking the two
hundred and forty ninth pick last year. So the two
forty nine, so that puts him nine eight eighth ninth
something like that. Yeah, I say he's a deep, deep
league flyer with athletic apps upside the bat speed and pruise.

(01:07:17):
There's power returns. He could grow into speed power contributors.
So he's a guy that no one's going to be
thinking about in first year player drafts. You get to
the seventh, eighth round and you're looking for somebody. That's
the guy that might be interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:07:33):
Yeah, that's what caught my attention was number two forty nine.
It's unusual to see a player coming out of the
prior draft as an eighth nines round player. It's just
unusual to see him rank that high in a system
that is fairly deep, right.

Speaker 4 (01:07:49):
Yep, for sure? For sure?

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
Yeah cool, Well that is a wrap to me to
take a final break it back, and let's just tell
me a player that picked your interest. Great jobs and
went through thirty three prospects out of all those, maybe

(01:08:15):
the guy that we didn't talk about that after doing
the research, reading my stuff, I'm sure reading a lot
of other things, is a guy that maybe weren't as
high on before coming into the discussion, but now you've
piqued your interest.

Speaker 3 (01:08:30):
Well yeah, I hey, out of the White Sox, I
as system, Tanner McDougall. My attention was already before today,
but uh, I like, I like Tanner mcdog coming out
of Cleveland. Cooper Ingle, I missed. I missed all the
young catchers, okay in my dynasty leagues, so I'm going

(01:08:52):
to be looking for catchers, uh come this spring and
Cooper Ingle. Really, the more I looked at Cooper Ingle,
the more I like the potential as an ad in
my particular situations. And he was not on my radar
at all. And I gotta go. I gotta go with

(01:09:12):
Ham in Detroit. Okay, as much as I should say,
A you Lee, I uh that ninety five mile an
hour fastball a situation where the Tigers are gonna eat pitching. Uh,
Ham really impresses me and somebody that I'm gonna be

(01:09:32):
looking to add in as many leagues as I can. Rich.

Speaker 2 (01:09:35):
It's just sort of by catchers.

Speaker 4 (01:09:38):
And yeah, Cooper Engle is one two.

Speaker 3 (01:09:42):
Nine.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
He's the ninth highest rated catcher I have. He's ranked
at one hundred, so he's a top one HUNDERD prospect
right at the right at the line. But uh, yeah,
I mean Jeffson quarro, Ethan Sallas, Harry Ford, all those
guys are taking probably even Gardo Teit is gone, Carter
Jensen's probably gone, Cooper ingram might might be available, and

(01:10:04):
then it starts to drop off pretty substantially after that. So, uh, yeah,
I think I think you're Yeah, I think you're onto something.

Speaker 3 (01:10:13):
Yeah. I was really bullish on Drake Baldwin, and congratulations
to Drake Baldwin for winning Rookie of the Year. But
as bullish as I was on Baldwin h heading into
this year, I guess how many shares I have rich?

Speaker 4 (01:10:28):
Yeah, I know that's the case. Yeah, the case every time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
Yeah, it's funny because I did the the Atlanta Braves
dropped on Friday out of the podcast yesterday or the
day before. You know my comment when I because Drake
Baldwin had just been announced as the Rookie of the Year.

Speaker 4 (01:10:46):
I think he was unanimous, right, I believe.

Speaker 3 (01:10:50):
So. The one that shocked me there was Augustin Ramirez
two fourth place votes, Like come on, yeah, like, I know,
Miami's Miami, but man, he got pardon me, he got
screwed as far as i'm because Augustin Ramirez deserved a
better fate than two fourth place votes.

Speaker 4 (01:11:07):
I think so.

Speaker 2 (01:11:08):
But but it's like with the Braves, you know, they
every time you look at their minor league system, you go,
it's not very good. They got some good pictures, but
you take a look at that roster and it is
filled with guys that were developed internally and have made
it up. And particularly that pitching staff is just loaded
with guys you know, that were developed and drafted or

(01:11:31):
internationally signed and have made it up. So look, all
you need is one or one guy every year to
kind of come and make an impact and you're doing
the right thing. And it seems like that's what the
Braves have done. I mean, they they're not loaded, you know,
with guys throughout, but man, they get one or two
guys on their on their minor league roster that have

(01:11:51):
a chance to make and it just seems to work.

Speaker 3 (01:11:54):
Alexanthopolis has done a great job with the Braves organization.

Speaker 4 (01:11:58):
He really has, yeah, you know, and kudos to them.

Speaker 2 (01:12:01):
And again I'm looking at as I went through the list,
I'm looking at it and there's some guys that I like,
But there's still a bottom ten minor league system for sure.
But yet you just know that some of these guys
are going to make it every year nobody makes it.

Speaker 3 (01:12:17):
Yeah, I was going to say, are you going to
bet against somebody being in everyday regular that you didn't anticipate?
You know, I think that'd be a tough bet to take,
wasn't it. With the level of success they've had over
the past five years.

Speaker 2 (01:12:29):
I mean, at some point you are what your record is,
and that what Bill Parcell said so back in the day,
so and that could be good and bad, and I
think in the Braves standpoint, it's good. It's an indictment
of maybe they don't have the depth, but they still
make it work.

Speaker 3 (01:12:47):
Yes, that they do, Timmy, that is a wrap.

Speaker 2 (01:12:51):
We were back on Sunday, everybody, tim again, thanks for
doing this and Sunday where I gotta write the note yet,
but they're probably going to be the National League East
Fantasy questions about the National Leagueese so excited about that.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
Yeah, and we got Kansas City and Minnesota, some very
talented prospects to run through. Again, gotta thank you. I
enjoy these shows immensely rich, a lot of fun, and
I think a lot of shared knowledge with our listeners.
So until Sunday, my friend, be safety well and have
a good balance of the week,