2282 - Fantasy Discussion of AL East Prospects - Part 1

Tim interviews Rich about the Orioles and Red Sox systems.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Greene Society Tation. It's everyone to church twelves and walking
to Fantasy Baseball Live. Today is Tuesday, the twenty third.
Happy festivals for everyone. It's about eight thirty in the morning.
I'm here as always with my good buddy mister Tim McCleod. Tim.
Two days until Christmas year? You're ready? Tim? Earth to Tim.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I guess I should take the mute off. Eh.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Oh, there there you go. Wow, Tim, are you ready
for Christmas? And I guess that.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
No. I'm still poe about the news yesterday that came
out of absolutely nowhere that Ronnie and Rigez is gonna
miss miss the season.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Oh, I didn't hear that. What happened.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
There? The only thing that was announced is he's having
Tommy John and he's gonna miss all of twenty six.
That was just but I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Starting to throw and uh yeah, this this is what
happens to me. You take a couple of months off,
they start to throw and then stuff happens.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, and I would have to say his off season
training regimen it was not as he was expecting. How
is that?

Speaker 1 (01:41):
That's a bummer? Yet to missing entire twenty twenty six
after elbow surgery. So he's already had the surgery. Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well yeah, it was like, oh, okay, it's the last
I looked. It's December, right, Like you expect that sort
of news coming out of New where, maybe in the spring,
but it just sort of caught me really off guard.
And I like Ronnie Henriguez, you know, big strikeout numbers.
He was sitting in a situation where saves were pretty

(02:10):
well a walk I figured ending in the next year.
So did you draft?

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Did you draft him in your draft?

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Uh? No, he was he was a target.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
But uh well, sometimes the best place I don't the
best prayer you draft is the one you don't.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Mm hm exactly. Yeah, the fantasy gods decided to cut
me some slack on that one. But do have him
in d L five, and I don't know what we'll
do with that. Well either, I don't relief pictures. I
have a hard time keeping for an extended period of
time simply because of the volatility of the position and

(02:48):
there's so much change that occurs on a month to
month basis. Uh, they're a little harder to keep on
your eye.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
L I think I agree with you. I've never been
able to play the Closer of the future game either.
I mean, it's similar kind of process where you're trying
to guess which, which of the ten arms that could
throw one hundred miles an hour is going to be
the closer of the future. So it's just that they
all look so similar. They threw one hundred miles an hour,
I have no idea where the ball is going.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, and five of them are in triple as starters right.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Now, exactly exactly exactly what. That's a bummer to hear about,
Ronnie here Enriquez, But that's the way it goes. So.
But we are here two days before Christmas talking prospects.
We are up to the American League East. Always a fun,
fun division to go to, and I know a lot

(03:40):
about it because I'm up here in the Northeast in
the summertime. I see a lot of the teams. I
know the Oriole system very well, under the Yankee system
well on the Red Sox. Those are the three that
we are doing. So I'm going to turn it over
to you and let you let you guide the discussion.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, I guess when you look at Baltimore, the first
thing I saw twenty six games. Wow. But then again, Uh,
you mentioned you you were very very knowledgeable about the
the Aole East prospects and their systems. What about the Yeah,
Miami Marlin system. How up to date are you on them? Rich?

(04:22):
And obviously you know why I'm asking.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, I know the Marlin system quite well. So what
do you want? What? No, I don't know why you're asking.
Except for a lot of Yankees go to the Marlins.
There seems to be a trade route there.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Oh sorry, I I I met the ras, I met
the race. Sorry, right state, wrong team. Yeah, that was quite.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
It's not easy being the host, Tim.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
No, it's not. It can really jump up invite you
in the arts.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
That's right, because you actually have to make a cogent
question and then the asshole on the other side me
can sit there going, what are you talking about? Mccleoll.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, what plane are you living on this money? I'm
living on the planet where I've only had one coffee
so far today.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Rich, That's okay. Yeah, so big trade Shane bos We
talked about it on Sunday and look, I love the
trade for the Orioles. You know they have prospectable to
give away as they traded a lot of guys and
got a lot of talent in at the trade deadline,
and they gave away four good ones. But when you
can get the talent of Shane bos and a few

(05:32):
years of team control, I mean you do that every
day of the week. I think I.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Think you do as well. They had no choice. They're
playing a five by zero fantasy game. Okay, and that's
that's very funny. That's not gonna work, it really isn't.
But anyhow, I guess we'll review those players as we
get to them, because there's a whole slew of them
in your top ten, like about half. But starting up top,

(05:59):
we got slamming Sami Basellough Is that is that his nickname? Yeah?
Well it's just say it sounds good. So I just
used it. What can I say? Uh? How how concerned
are you both short and long term about the ped
Alonzo signing and its relationship to potentially Bisalo?

Speaker 1 (06:27):
So so I mean short term, I'm concerned, all right.
I mean, because let's face it, pedalalons is going to
play first base, but he's really a DH. I mean
he is. He's a terrible first baseman, so eventually he's
going to be a d H. Is that this year.
I don't know, but I mean, does Sambasaiyah turned into
ped Alonzo, you know, kind of a hulking first baseman,

(06:49):
you know, in his twenties and eventually becomes a DH.
He could, but uh, I mean, look, the the Orioles
clearly need power, and Sambasaya has it in spades, as
does Pete Alonzo, as does Taylor Ward. So you know,
I think they're going to play Mesiah. I think you
can maintain catch your eligibility, but look, it's a bit

(07:13):
of a bummer if you've got them on a Dynasty
League or if you're thinking about drafting, I think you've
got a you know, with Adleie Ritchman still there. I mean,
if somebody's gonna get squeezed out at Sambasaiyah.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, it just, at least to me, seems a shame
that you've got a kid in his early twenties who's
pegged into being a part time catcher in a full
time DH. That's awful young to be slapping somebody into
a DH type profile. At least those are my thoughts. Anyways,
I'm concerned a bit.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
But I guess, does Pete Alonzo do the Orioles to say,
you know, Pete, you're gonna play part time first base
and part time DH, and by twenty twenty seven you're
a full time DH. You're a paying a lot of money,
so we get to dictate where you play.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, and Besa becomes a three quarters player.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Uh yeah, I look, I think if he comes out
and hits it, hits for power, he's I think he
holds all the cards here. He's been signed, so they're
paying him money. If he comes in Timmy and hits
two forty with thirty home runs, I think the Orioles
are gonna say thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yes, because we know Alonso is gonna hit thirty five. Right.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah. I mean, and now you got power from the
left side with Alano with with the Sion, you got
power from the right side with Alonso. I mean that's
a that's a that's a big team. I mean, that
team's gonna score a lot of runs. Is hit the
ball long way.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
That is a fact. Okay, we've covered that situation. Let's
move on to number two. Ike Irish Gotta love that name.
Eh Ike Irish uh drafted ninth date over all last
year and brings a reputation as one of the uh
better hitters from the college ranks last year. Are you

(09:10):
excited about this draft pickreach?

Speaker 1 (09:11):
I am. But before we talk about ike Irish, can
we go back to Sam will beside? I mean, what
what do you think?

Speaker 2 (09:20):
I think things will be fine from a Dynasty perspective.
I think they're gonna be a little bit messy this year.
So in redraft leagues, I'm down shifting a little bit,
not a lot.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Of That's where my head is too. I think messy
is the right word. I didn't say that, but mhm,
I think he I think three quarters time, I think
that's that's what it becomes.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
So, yeah, that's that's what I'm anticipating this year. And
for Dynasty. I'm not concerned at all about Dynasty leagues.
I think the kid's gonna the kid's gonna be a
thirty home run bat. It's just gonna this year is
gonna be a little bit of trial by until the
Oriols get things straightened out. And you're right, they could

(10:03):
very easily say, okay, guess what, beat, we're paying you
all this money, we want your bat in the lineup.
We don't care about the glove, you don't care about
the glove or you'd be better with the glove. Okay,
so you're our full time DH, and that's the way
the game's going to be played.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, I mean Adlie Rutchman is the wild card there.
I mean, he's just so much better of a catcher
than Samuel Basia. Though Samuel Basailla is defensive metrics don't
look terrible, right, I mean, he's got a good arm
and the blocking metrics are pretty good on him. So
maybe I'm not giving him enough credit for being a
quality catcher. But I think we'll know a lot if

(10:43):
Adlie Rutchman gets traded or starts the season at catcher
with the Organs, and that'll tell us how much playing
time sam Uelbasaia is going to get. But it's it's tricky,
and I guess part of the argument is, so what
if sam Uebasia plays DH this season? Is that so bad?

Speaker 2 (11:03):
It's not going to hurt the Orioles defense much? Is
it might even help it?

Speaker 1 (11:11):
For me? I think it's three quarters time. I think
he gets four hundred bats, maybe a little bit more,
and I think he plays twenty thirty games behind the plate,
twenty thirty games at first pay base and seventy eighty
games at DH something like that would be my guess.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, if I had to put to assemble a guess.
Right now, I'm thinking along the same lines.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
He's got a hit, He's got the hit.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, yeah, his future is held by it's in his hands.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yep, yep, Okay. I just wanted to circle back before
we got too far down. Irish, what's your question on
Mike Irish?

Speaker 2 (11:51):
My question is that that's looking like a nice pick
with their number ten pick, move moving on to Florida.
I'll leave it. I'll leave it at a state just
to cover my butt here. Yeah, Ike Irish, kid, get hit, Kenny.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Look. I like Ike Irish. I love the pick there.
I'm shocked that he lasted to nineteen. He was one
of the so this past draft, everybody needs to realize
that the July draft very unusual, that it had so
many high end high school players and was really light
on positional college bats. Twenty twenty six is going to

(12:36):
be much different. It's going to be back to more
like it was in twenty twenty four, which turned out
to be from a fantasy standpoint, particularly twenty twenty four
to twenty five, twenty five to twenty twenty twenty four
to twenty five fantasy season as a huge win because
we've seen Nick Kurtz and guys like that come up
and contribute. We're not going to see that this season

(12:59):
with the twenty five class. Right, it's just very very young.
Irish is one of the guys that I think could
move the fastest. He's a hit, he's got some power.
I put him a similar trajectory to Tyler Soderstrom, who
did take a while to get through the minor league system.
But I think it could be a nice kind of

(13:21):
transition for you know, for Adlie Rutchman. As Adli Rutchman
is either moved or they keep them for another couple
of years before he's a free agent, and then I
think you see Iris kind of move into that role.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, it sort of sets them up for the future,
especially if Irish is going to be on the fast track.
That gives them options very short term. You know, hey,
the numbers we discussed on Besiah catching could increase very
very quickly, couldn't they Depending on how Irish Irish is.

(13:57):
You know, how he does this year, right.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
So Irish should start the season in high A if
he doesn't you figure he's in high A by June.
If not, something has gone sideways with him, So that
means he should finish the season in double A. So
double A, a little bit of double A in twenty six,
mostly in twenty seven, and then you start to say, hey,

(14:21):
the end of the season in twenty seven, he comes
up or he's he's here in twenty eight, which is
the time when Natalie Rutchman is moving on, So I
think the time he works well there.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, I totally agree. At number three, we have got
we wa alloy what's his name, we awa wewah ALOI. Yeah,
it's fun today, tim Okay, I'm chuckling again. The price

(14:53):
one pays for sitting in the opposite chair. Number thirty
went off the board last year. Uh, Golden Spikes winner.
That sounds intriguing, doesn't it.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, Charlie Condon was a Golden Spikes winner. So what's
your point? I mean, right, you know what I mean.
Charlie Condon looks We talked about him on Sunday thirty
seven runs four thirty four batting average and then ye
stinks of as a minor league or so.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Okay, oh yeah, it looks good. It looks good on
both their mantle.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
How was that exactly? It can't take it away from Look.
I mean he had a great season, twenty one home runs,
three fifty batting average. I think there's gonna be power.
I think he's gonna hit and you know, can he
stay at shortstop? I think so? And look at the
Oriole's going to recite Gunner Henderson. Ah, it's gonna be tough, right,

(15:47):
Gunner Henderson if he bounces back, which I think he will,
could be you know, a five six hundred million dollar player.
And I just I don't know if the Orioles are
going to go there. So you could see Weyawa Outoy
being the successor to Gunder Henderson.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Okay, At number four we have Nate George.
It's looking like the above slide bonus is paying off
right out of the gate for the Oriols, isn't it. So?

Speaker 1 (16:16):
I saw Nate George play this season and it was
one of my favorite guys to play Timmy. He you
would love him, and he just plays with his hair
on fire. He's out there. He's got some Brett Laurie
in him. You know, he's just he's just he's out there, man,
he's he runs hard, he swings really hard, it's crazy batspeed.

(16:36):
He's he's got a better hit tool than anybody thought.
And I just think this guy has a chance to
be special. And I so I goosed him way up
ahead of Dylan Beaver's and some other guys. I'm all in.
I'm all in on Nate George.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, it sounds like he's got the attitude part of
the game down pad.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Eh, what's what's how he doesn't flame out like Brett Laurie.
But I that was the first Yeah, Brett Gardner. All
guys named Brett, you know, kind of that guy where
very intense out there, and and but a guy that's
got the tools there as well. Now once it gets
a double A, is he going to hit? I think
time will tell. But there's a lot to like there.

(17:17):
Three twenty five four to a four sixty nine across
three levels last season. That's pretty impressive.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah, player, Yeah, it most certainly is. At number five,
we have Dylan Beaver's my question for the day. He'spenciled
into the every day lineup heading into twenty six, will
he still be in the every day lineup at the
all star Break.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Look, his entire minor league career, he has shown severe
platoon splits. I think he's really good against right right
handed pitching, and I think he'll he'll be very effective.
But I think he's the platoon guy, and that's why
I ding him a little bit. Look, he could he
hit twenty home runs and steal ten bases as a
platoon guy. Sure, I think there's that possibility, but just

(18:05):
everybody needs to know your parameters. He has never hit
left handed pitching ever.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Ever, is a long time, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
Yeah? I mean, did I write and how many? So
forty four minor league home runs, two have come off
of south paws. He hasn't hit against that left handed
pitcher since twenty twenty three. So, I mean, I don't
know what to say.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
He's consistent.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
We always talked about Evan Carter's left handed woes, and
so I bring his knee up now. Hopefully Beaver's will
be better than Evan Carter. I don't know what happened
Evan Carter. I mean, he was a top prospect and
then it just it just blew up on him. So
but I think, I mean, look, I'm not suggesting people

(18:53):
not draft, Dylan Beavers. I'm just suggesting, when you put
your little spreadsheet together, put four hundred and twenty five
at bats in, not six hundred at bats.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah. I think that makes total sense. Agreed, Okay, agreed,
And I know when I do my ofield rankings, you'll
be ranked a little lower than probably the norm, simply
because of the question marks as to whether or not
use a full time You don't use a full time bat, yep.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
And look, the Orioles are in it to win it,
I mean, and they're not. They're not a dumb organization.
They understand exactly what the data is saying. In fact,
that's their That is what they're really good at. They
were all the analytics guys came from Houston, and Houston
kind of was the trendsetter and all that. They know
exactly stuff we're looking at now. They also might know

(19:40):
of some things that are encouraging that he's going to
eventually hit left handed pitching. They also might know that,
so so let's see what he can do come spring
training early in the season. But he's never hit a.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
Lefty Okay, moving on to number six, we have Austin
over and first full says he moved up to dem
double A at the beginning of August and onto the
Rays in the offseason. Sixty four to seventy two on
the base pass. That's impressive.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Look, this guy is really really touled up. The big
question is he going to hit? And it does not
surprise me that the Rays grabbed him, because this is
Carson Williams. This is one of these guys that has
crazy tools and pressive tools. The question is he going
to hit it off? And the Rays, Timmy, they just

(20:32):
seem to love these kind of players, all tooled up,
looking for stars, and I guess if they bring ten
of them in, maybe they hope one of them turns
into a superstar. And that very well could. But there's
some real questions about of vern. But from a fantasy standpoint,
since we're talking fantasy baseball, tim it's seventy speed, it

(20:53):
could be sixty maybe seventy power. I mean, this is
a dude.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Yeah, there's a lot to like, we just have to
see how it shakes down right.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yep, and and again it kind of you shake, you
nod your head when the race took him, Like, yeah,
figures that would be a guy that they would grab
now it hasn't worked for the Rays. I mean, we'll
see if Carson Williams can turn it around this season.
But a lot of these really tooled up players have
not performed for the race.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
Well. Simpson is the exception. His resume is not very
long either, is it.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, but he doesn't have any power, so I think
he's a bit of an They also like guys that
are just speed guys. Right, So then thet have Xavier
Edwards for a while. I think I can't remember. They
think he's played on every team, but yeah, but yeah,
and then.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
We move on to their number seven, the number seven
player who has also moved on to Florida and Slay
Bernie's the same player, isn't he.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
I think he's going to hit I look, I'm I'm
all in on Slater to Bruin. I thought, in fact,
I thought about putting him up there with Nate George.
I think there's something here with this kid. Unfortunately he
didn't play once he got signed, just because he was
so young. But there's a lot of Corbyn Carrol in him.
Seventy speed, more pop than you think, not a big guy,

(22:18):
so even right in the Corbyn Carroll type, of compin here,
so to me, I mean, look, he might not make it.
He's never played a bad of professional ball, but everything
that the Orioles have told me about this kid and
the eyes I put on him on video when he
was in high school, it's pretty impressive to him. He's

(22:40):
going to be a dynamic player. I wish you would
have stayed with the Orioles because I'm not sure the
Rays are going to develop him as well as the
Orioles would have.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
Okay, number eight we have Enriqui Bradfield. Is he next
up in the event of injury or Dylan Beaver's.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, I mean it's not a very good defensive outfield.
Colton Cowser is a nice player, but I think they've
got en penciled into center field. He's not a centerfielder.
Enriqui Bradfield is a Gold Glove caliber outfielder. He has
no power, so it's a lot of Chandler Simpson in
him as well. But you could put Taylor Ward in

(23:23):
one corner and Colton Kowser in another corner and put
Enriqui Bradfield in centerfield. Have a pretty good defensive outfielder.
He'll just cover all the ground a little bit like
Lewis Roberts did for a while in Chicago with the
White Sox.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
Yeah, exactly exactly.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
So you can take guys that have cement shoes and
you can put Enriqui Bradfield and say, look, you gotta
you gotta cover every you gotta cover everybody's spot, right,
and he'll do that. The problem is Timmy. I mean,
he's going to hit one home run a year, and
that's because he's gonna close his eyes and swing as
hard as he can and it's going to go over
the fence.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
He is not.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah, it's true, it's it's not. You know, it's funny.
He's not a small guy. Neither's Chandler Simpson. But it's
just a ground ball approach. It's a slot, slappy hitter.
I had hope, I know the Orioles had hope that
eventually he would develop a little bit of pop. It
just hasn't happened yet. But he looked good in the
Fall League. He looked good last season. He was injured

(24:27):
a little bit, but I think we know who this
guy is. And the question is is he going to
be a fourth outfield or a full time regular I
don't know what the Orioles quite frankly.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, at number nine we have Luis de Leone, the
first pitching prospect in the Orioles system. Is it no
wonder that maybe they're having to trade to develop their
pitching at the big league level When a guy like
de Leone is number nine in the list, I'm going

(25:01):
to I.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
Know where you're going. So, yes, they need to trade
for pitching. But I like, like Trey Gibson is a
very interesting guy from you a little bit later, Esteban
Mahea also in the top Michael Ford who got moved.
I mean, those are guys you'rn, wats Brown, j JWB.
Those are all guys that have a chance to be

(25:23):
like a Dean Kramer kind of guy, maybe a little
bit more in some cases. And Dean Kramer is a
kind of a strong number four guy, right, I mean,
that's a that's a guy you don't feel terrible about
throwing out every every fifth day and thinking he's going
to keep you in the game with a four to
twenty five year a So I like Louis de Leon

(25:44):
the best of all of them. Okay, he's a lefty,
he's got swinging his stuff. He looked really good in
the Fall League. Also with his two seamer, he gets
a lot of ground balls. I think there's a lot
to like there with Louis de Leon. I think Michael
Forrett and Trey Gibson are a little bit closer to
making their big league debut. But if you tell me

(26:05):
de Leon we see him at some point because of injury,
I wouldn't be surprised.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
Well, and I guess too. The other thing you can
look at is the caliber of the players at the
offensive players is such that it just drives the pitching down. Yeah, yeah,
that's say, well, when you've got a top end that's
stacked stacked on offense, it could you could be looking
at it. You could look at it and say, well, hey,

(26:32):
that's just the way it is. Your systems strong.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
All right. So I know the I know the I
know a lot of people in the Orioles organization. I
know the guy that runs their pitching lab, and he's
super smart, super engaging guy. I mean, and you talk
to him and he got damn this guy knows what
he's doing. And then you look at the result and
go like, where are the results? And I know we're

(26:57):
in a results oriented world, right, And it's like what
you done for me lately, that's a a I just
I just have to believe at some point they're going
to develop some pictures. Now they're gonna you know, I
guess you give them kudos for for uh Taylor Rogers.
I think you got to give them credit there because

(27:18):
they helped them get better. Yes, so, but they just
haven't developed anybody. And it's one of those things to
me that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. To me,
I see the quality of tools and and education and
so forth that they're doing, and then I see the
result and I don't get it. So that either means

(27:38):
that they're doing something that I'm not seeing that's wrong,
or it's about to.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
Come yeah, or there's lady, look.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah that could be could be lady, but it's yeah.
It's like it's like your kid. You get the report
card from you know, your parent teacher conference, and you
know your kids shows your kids really already just doesn't
do well in his test. You know, it's like.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
What yeah, yeah, game. Moving on to number ten. Is
it wrong that I think of the Beverly Hill.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
Throw bodein, Yeah, Yeah, that's.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
The first thing that crossed my mind as soon as
I saw number ten, the Beverly Hill belies three. This
is number three from the top ten that is moving
on just Honey, Florida.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
And for it it's like number fourteen or something, number thirteen.
So it's yeah, yeah, they got four good ones at least,
I think. I look at bodein was there were four
first round picks they got last season at in the draft,
and Bodyne was one of them. Probably the with Irish,
the more advanced hitter in the group. He's probably going

(28:54):
to be a decent catcher. He doesn't have a ton
of power, makes really good contact. I think if the
I think the Orioles were right here. I think they
did have it a little bit of excess of catching prospects.
And you know, from a fantasy standpoint, we kind of
treat catchers different than major league baseball teams. Catchers are

(29:15):
kind of like, eh, he's a catcher. I can always
find somebody better than him. Major League teams hold on
to catchers right because the defense is so important for them,
and they take so long to develop, they get hurt
so easily that you know, trading them, you don't typically
see a lot of these guys get traded, but I
think bo Dines has a chance to it could be

(29:37):
a top twenty catcher. I don't think he's going to
hit enough or have enough power to say, hey, he's
going to make a top ten for Tim McCleod. But
if you tell me he's this fine second catcher, I
think that's about where he sits.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Well. And you know, you look at every offseason, rich
and all of the guys on my catcher list from
thirty to fifty, Okay, they have a any defensive chops
they're getting signed. Yeah, every off season you see number
two number three type catchers being signed into organizations for
the depth knowing that the risk, the health risk is

(30:15):
so high and the fact that defense counts.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yeah, and usually backup catchers there. They have good like
team skills, right, So a lot of them are team
leaders and and there are other reasons that they have
these ten twelve year careers managers just like having them around.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yep, that they do. Okay, we have a total of
sixteen names to choose from. Probably about three are still
in the organization. So I'll let you expand and go
for the bonus piic coming out of both.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
I'm going to do two. We'll do Michael for it
just because they got traded, will do all four of them.
I like Michael Ford really had a turnaround season in
twenty twenty five. Do I completely buy it, I don't know.
I mean he did, he is thrown a little bit harder.
I do think the Orioles sould a little high on him.

(31:17):
I think it's a number four kind of starter. Maybe
there's a little bit more in there. But improved his
secondary so there was a lot of good stuff he
did in twenty twenty five. Will we see him next season?
Maybe he'll probably get slowed down by the Rays. The
one thing that I will say about the Tampa Bay Rays,

(31:39):
and if you take a look at we talked about results,
it's done a terrible The results coming out somebody not
named Junior Camenaro coming out of the minor league systems
has been really spotty. But their pitching is fantastic. The
thing with the Rays is they get these guys to
throw strikes and they get better command of their pitches, right,

(32:01):
so they throw quality strikes and just look up and down.
You know, their their minor league system. Once we get
into the race, you're gonna see guys that just throw strikes.
And I think Michael Fort will become a better pitcher
there and might take him to twenty twenty seven. I
think Trey Gibson.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
And yeah, and you know with with pitching, you can't
pull atune them, right.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, that's true, not anymore. Tray Gibson. Trey Gibson, I
like it's got, he's got. This is like size velocity.
Up to ninety seven, he did have some strange reverse
platoon splits, which usually as just noise and we'll get
it'll all get worked out. But size velocity, good secondary pitches.

(32:46):
It's all set up for him already in Triple A. Yeah,
I think be at least a number four starter for
the Orioles, either next season or down the road. So
in one of those draft and whole leagues, I might
grab Trey Gibson at the end of the draft.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
Yeah. The other thing I know is with Baltimore and
they're young prospects. They got the name thing down pat
they got a war On a Griff, a boston An,
Aron Wilfrey, and a Zach all come and all all
coming through their system. They got the first names. They're
in a league of their own in that category.

Speaker 1 (33:22):
Absolutely, it's a it's a really good system as well.
Oh my gosh, Tom, we're already at thirty minutes, So
let's take a break and then let's do the red
sox if we if we have chance. I talk way

(33:46):
too much. You tell me when you got to leave
this second?

Speaker 2 (33:49):
I did I ever mention that one of my strong
suits is not controlling the flow.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, there's another system that doesn't have a lot of
players anymore left. They've all got moved.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yeah. I was gonna say that there's a couple in there,
but there's also some players up at the top that
aren't going anywhere, at least not in a hurry. In
my opinion, I think your tool summary on the number
one prospect, franklin Arius Prewell says it, oh, explosive bat

(34:25):
speed plus power, projection and early breakout signs. What is
the difference between very good bat speed and explosive bat speed?

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Probably very good bat speed would be somebody on Baseball
Savants bat speed that regularly that comes in at midpoint.
Explosive would be seventy above something like that.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
It's it's a control. Is it controllable?

Speaker 1 (34:54):
I think with him it is because he rarely strikes out.
So you know, again, it's one of these kids that
has not shown it on paper yet. In the box scores,
he didn't have much power and much power and speed
last season. The previous season showed a lot more speed.
But I think it's all sitting there now. Maybe it

(35:17):
never comes up. Maybe once we get the data, we
find out he's jamming everything in the ground. He's just
a line drive hitter, has no loft in a swing.
It is going to be a five to ten home
run guy as opposed to a twenty home run guy,
and will become a light hitting middle infielder. But everybody
talked to that I've spoken with about the Red Sox system,
it's Franklin Rise. Everybody loves this.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
Kid, Okay, and he's still only nineteen.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's right, and already in double A.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah. That's uh.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
He struck got. He struck got nine percent of the time.
That's Lewis a Rise like.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, you know, when I think of explosive batspeed, I
think of Bryce Harper when I saw him in the
Arizona five fall. That might even be violent, bad speed, but.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
That's probably that I don't think a Rise has that
level of bat speed. Yeah, I would agree with that,
But I also wrote that he has forty six percent
ground ball rate, so we're already starting to see that
he has no leverage in his swing. So I think
once he starts to add leverage, you could see MIKEL.
Garcia kind of breakout where all of a sudden he
does start to show some pop.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
Okay, number two, we're moving right into the pitching in
a soth paw and Peyton totally second round picking twenty four.
I'm I'm not really sure where to start. There's so
much to like here. I'm gonna take the easy way out,
and I'm just gonna turn it over to you to
expand on Peyton.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
You made the comment before we started the Red Sox
organization that there's a bunch of keepers in here. I
think everybody's for sale for the Red Sox. I think
they're in it to win it. I love Peyton Totley,
I love Franklin a Rise, but if you tell me,
you told me that they're involved in a trade tomorrow,
wouldn't surprise me. Totally came up pitched okay, early, pitched

(37:06):
better than him, but it's big stuff from the left side,
six foot six, two hundred and fifty pound. He was
a former positional player, so it turned to be full
time pitcher. So he's still learning how to pitch, still
learning to get his control there. But it's it's a
it's an impressive arm and an impressive dude. Do we

(37:30):
see him really take the next step in twenty twenty six,
I don't know, Timmy. It's I think he's still got
some more maturing to do in the minor league, some
more development to do in the minor leagues, but it's
all there. In dynasty leagues, this guy could be a
top of the rotation kid.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
How many starts would you beg him for next year?

Speaker 1 (37:49):
Rich, You know if I would think maybe ten to twelve.
I think we see him at some point after midseason,
and pitching is so violt. People are going to get hurt.
It's just the way it is, and totally could get hurt.
But I mean it's I think you'll see him picking
up some starts of people who got injured.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
Okay, a number three, we got another, so bye and
Connolly early. We're going to see him. We're going to
see him before totally, are.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
We that's what the NFBC drafters think, right, I'm looking
at their They've got Garret Crouchet, Sonny Gray, Brian Bellow,
Cutter Crawford, and Patrick Sandoval, so they're booked up at
least from a roster resource standpoint. I mean, I mean

(38:38):
Cutter Crawford has been so volatile. I mean, I.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Stand of all doesn't fill me with confidence either. The
top three do. After that, it's a bit of a
crapshoot for me.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
Yeah. The nice thing about Sandoval he is a lefty
and obviously Early and Totally are both lefties, which you
don't typically see two high end lefty pitch in an organization.
But that's that's what we have with the Red Sox.
He's just more polished himmy, he's more ready. The stuff
is not as loud as it is with Peyton totally,

(39:09):
so I think he's more of a number three four
kind of starter. I think totally has a chance to
pitch at the top of the rotation. But it's it's
it's kind of ceiling versus floor. The floors is higher
with Conde Connley Early because if there's more strikes.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
Right right and I'll get him there quick or won't.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
It it will it's it's disappointing if you're a dynasty
league owner and you got some nice starts out of
Connley early, expecting thirty starts in twenty twenty six at
least out of the shoot, Timmy, doesn't look like that's
going to be the case.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
Okay, Okay, at number four we have.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
I'm assuming you agree with that or Disagreeah, he's going to.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
Get yeah, no, yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, I think
we're going to see more of early this year. Yeah,
and yeah, totally's he's still got some things to work through.
But when you look at the at the long term
potential of the two, yeah, I think you've got them
ranked ranked right. Yeah, I have no problems at all

(40:11):
of it.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
By the way, kudos to you. I gave you kudos
on Sunday. He giving you kudos. I'd love it when
you're wrong. But I did my short stop. I released
my shortstop draft targets, and I working through last night,
went through gory detail the outfield. Damn, Timmy, you got
to get one of the outfielders early.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Man.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
You're always looking for gyms, and there's there are gyms
in the outfield. Later on, but damn, there's there's some
concern after the first couple of rounds. So that's right,
be careful with outfield.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
There are I appreciate the show on that when you yeah,
once you get after after about the first twenty twenty five, okay,
and we need seventy five and fifty, everybody comes with
a question mark he could be this, if he could
be this, if you know you could, you could keep
spewing that for the whole exercise after about twenty five,

(41:07):
can't you.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
So I have this rich I have this very complicated
scoring system that seems to work pretty well. So and
you always find guys later on that have a four
or five five as the highest score you can get,
and it's like, oh, those are your sleepers, right, because
those are the guys that core skills set looks like
they're outperforming where they're going to dress. But it just

(41:29):
wasn't that way an outfield. It just it just wasn't.
There was a lot of twos and ones after pick
like forty, and it just like, eh, like in there,
it's a lot of yuck, and it's like, I mean,
I get the llure of Bobby wit Junior and so forth,
in the first round. I mean, I mean, if you
get a chance to take him, you got.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
To do it.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
But man, if you get to the third round, I
haven't grabbed a outfielder yet. I don't know, man, I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (41:58):
Yeah, you can only have so many one two upsides
and making it to make it work, right, It'd be
interesting to see how it shakes down. But again I
appreciate the shout out. At number four, we have a
Pittsburgh pirated. Somebody has dugged him password I sort of
like scrabble. Either one works, but you realize he has

(42:19):
eleven consonants in his first and second name combined. I
didn't yeah that yeah, yeah, that's he's got the full
alphabet in there. I'm going with scrabble.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
The move to the Pirates, obviously it's an increase in
his value in twenty said how much of an increase, right.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
I don't know. It's not Jake Mandicum gets traded there,
Brandon Lowe, who you know, there's some thought that he
might actually move to the outfield as well. And once
they bring up Connor Griffin throw them at shortstop. Maybe
Nick and Zales moves to second base and all of
a sudden. It got messy all of a sudden with Pittsburgh,

(43:01):
and that looks like Joe the Password is going to
start the season in triple A, which is a bit
of a bummer.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Yeah, I you know, it looked so good for so short,
if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
Yeah, but Garcia's got your Tenson. That's how you say
his first name. But everybody goes to the password or scrabble.
He's got huge power and he can hit a little bit.
I don't think the speed's gonna last, but it feels
like a thirty home run corner bat when he's twenty
six twenty seven years old. Is the guy he's going
to develop into. So I would just if I had him,

(43:40):
I would just be patient. I think there's something there.
He had a really nice step up season last last year,
and I still liked the player.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Okay, good stuff. At number five, we have Kyson Witherspoon.
I am number fifteen off the board in the draft
last year. I yeah, he didn't pitch the Red Sox
rest of him. But am I going to be writing
at some point in time in the second half of

(44:11):
the season. Am I going to be writing Kyson Witherspoon?
Potentially into a waiverwear article.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
Maybe. I mean he's he's pretty advanced, but I I don't.
I think it's more. I think it's more twenty twenty seven. Okay, So,
but I mean we saw Peyton totally start off in
low way and make it all the way up to
the major league. So anything responsible. He is pretty advanced,
fastballs up to ninety eight, throw strikes. I like the

(44:42):
player a lot, and you know, be a guy that
I would be targeting in a first year player draft.
But does he come up in twenty twenty six? Maybe?
But I went and put it likely.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
Okay, Yeah, I was just you look at all the numbers.
He was dominant in college, wasn't he. Oh yeah, great,
everything's there, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
I was surprised. Again, it was a weird draft because
of all the potential high upside young shortstops that are
coming out of high school. So some of the pitchers
dropped as well. But I think the Red Sox did
well here.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Okay, at number six, we have Brandon Clerk high upside
now with the.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
Cardinals, by the way, so he got traded.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
Yeah, I was just going to say the sunny great trade.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
Yes, he interesting, you know, he got off to a
really fast start and everybody was picking him up off
the waiver waiver wars I did as well, and then
he just kind of hit a wall mid season. But
the stuff looks like it's all there. It's a big fastball,
good slider, good frame, all that kind of stuff. Fastball

(45:55):
up to ninety eight. So it's all that kind of
stuff that you like in a player. So I look,
I think the Cardinals desperately need guys like Brandon Clark.
They just need an infusion in their minor league system.
And I think what they're doing is smart, getting rid
of a lot of the aging veterans that haven't done anything.
It's a little bit like what the Mets have done.

(46:17):
And I know here living in the New York market,
people are really upset about the Mets moving on from
all their guys Jeff McNeil this week, But it's a
team that missed the playoffs, Timmy, that had a lot
of fan favorites, but they were very good. Well.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, at the the end of the day, the goal
is to win a title, and if you can't do
it with what you currently have, it's time to do
something about that. Not everybody wants to be the Pirates
or Rockies, right.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
Yeah, And I think the Cardinals kind of got to
the same mold. I mean, they had really nice players,
they were good players, they just didn't have enough guys
that they could throw out there that could make a
huge difference. And I think Brandon Clark could pitch at
the top of the rotation, and I think getting him
for one year of Sonny Gray, I think it was
a great move.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Yeah, it makes sense for both parties. It really does
at the current stage where they're at or should be
at in their development. Yeah. No, I agree. At number seven,
we have Dorian Soto, seventeen year old kid the Red
Sox most significant international, saying last year bat the ball
skills are looking really good, aren't they for a seventeen

(47:33):
year old?

Speaker 1 (47:33):
Love Dori and Soto of the Red Sox love this
guy as well. Performed extremely well on the DSL, as
you said, fifteen percent strikeout, nine percent walk away. That's
the one thing you want to look at in the
guys in the DSL. If they're striking out twenty twenty
five percent of the time, it's concerning you should be
making elite contact in the DSL because pitchers have no

(47:58):
idea where the ball is going right, and the fact
that we've seen this with Soto and we now we
take a look at the swing and can kind of
see the power potential there. It's a very interesting guy
and the guy that will probably get moved by the way.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
Yeah, it would, it would make sense based on where
Boston is at in there. You know. As far as
the overall situation, Hey, hey, the Jays are playing for it.
The Yankees are always playing you know what I mean, Hey,
you got to step it up. If you're in that
division or else, you're gonna be fighting. You're gonna be

(48:34):
fighting for fourth fifth with a fairly good record at
that that is correct. Yes, at number eight, we have
one Valera right hand pitcher at nineteen. He's already touching
triple digits. It's with the heater, isn't he.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Yeah, we can talk about Volaro, your Dan manager, who's
one of my favorite guys. That just came down with
Tommy John Surgery, Lewis Parrales who got moved to the Nationals,
which I love that move for the Nationals. Totally loved
the forgot who the Red Sox traded for. But it
was more of a back of the rotation guy. So
Paralysi is the guy with the big arm coming back

(49:11):
from Tommy John surgery. Looked really good in the Fall
League and his time back, So that's a guy that
could see the big leagues with Washington at some point
this coming season. But Valara kind of had the combination
of youth, the fact that he's already seen Hia only
at nineteen years old. There is some concern about his elbow,

(49:33):
but you know, guys that throw that hard just have
elbow surgery. So but lining these three guys up, I
put Volaro in front of Manegro. Manegro would have been
in front of all of them if he would have
stayed healthy, but unfortunately he didn't. He's probably going to
miss the entire season. But that's kind of how I
look at those three guys. Valara being the kid that

(49:54):
could really pitch at the top of the rotation, maybe
a closer back up if Manegar come back healthy, could
be kind of that number three starter that might even
be better than anybody. Thanks, and Paralas is also really
good to another guy that could be a closer as well.

Speaker 2 (50:12):
Yeah, I was gonna say all three of them featured
big fastballs, didn't he.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
Yep, yep, so three okay.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
Yeah, but that brings us through to our top ten. Uh,
what say you about any additional names you want to
chat about.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
I'm trying to go with the Geophrie Rodriguez because I
got one of our comments and for our Patreon members said,
is the reason I've dropped Geophree down was does he
not have the high upside anymore? And I wrote, I
believe the reality is that his upside isn't what I
initially thought it would be. The ex velocity is more

(50:52):
average from what I hear, his bats meeat his average
as well, therefore projecting above average powers difficult. At the
stage he was that was traded for Quinn Priestro. I
really liked the trade because I love Yofree Rodriguez when
he was with the Brewers, But as I said, he
just didn't show the bat speed and the power that
it looked like he was going to have in the

(51:13):
lower levels of the minor leagues as he got the
boss and so you know, I just think I over
evaluated this kid, and I think he's still a good prospect,
but I don't think he has a chance to be
an impact player anymore unless the bat speed increases.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
Well, you know, you start looking at kids and you're
trying to evaluate them at seventeen eighteen nineteen. A lot
of them haven't finished growing yet at seventeen eighteen nineteen,
and a lot can change in a very very short
period of time. So I don't think i'd beat up
on yourself too much for you know, maybe over emphasizing

(51:49):
what Rodriguez could be, and he could still turn into
what you think he could be, you know, I mean
he's so young.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
I think he can hit, which means he's going to
get a shot, right, because if you can hit, you're
going to had a shot that whether you can be
Fantasy relevant or not, that's what we have to determine.
But uh, I mean he could in the end, he
could be a light hitting outfielder, which you know, ten
ten to twelve kind of home run power, a little
bit of speed, and the guy that hits you know.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
Which which will be rostered in a you know, in
only leagues, yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Or deeper or deeper fantasy leagues kind of thing. So
so I haven't given up on him, but I thought
he'd be a lot more and good on the on
the Brewers for kind of trading from depth and getting
the Quintn. Priester, who I always did like. Uh, and
I think the Red Sox made a mistake there.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
So okay, fair enough, And with that, I think we
should head to break and you.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
Want to call it, you want to tend to break
and come back and call it a day because you've
got somewhere to be and the Yankee system is long.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
Yeah, I was going to say, I I think that's
probably the best plan because looking at the Yankee system,
we could still be here tomorrow if we had that
in So how about we Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:10):
What the Yankee system? We get back, we'll talk only
about they're Uh, Spencer Jiggins.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
I've got the perfect Spencer James question.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
I mean, I love the Yankee system is so interesting
because of all the arms they have, and then Spencer
Jones is we could talk forever about him, but let's
just spend a little bit of time as we close
out our podcast. You asked me a couple of questions
about Spencer Jones.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
Okay, Well here's a doozy okay, and one that I
know you'll really appreciate. In twenty twenty seven, Spencer Jones
will be blank.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
Twenty seven, Spencer Jones would be blank. What are you
looking for? Like playing in Asia? Playing? Yeah, pick one,
full time regular kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
Yeah, yeah, what is Spencer Jones not in twenty twenty
six but twenty twenty seven. Let's look, let's look over
a couple of years.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
Oh, that's a damn good question, because it yeah, it
could be all over the place.

Speaker 2 (54:24):
Well, sure, it's that's why I said, I know you,
I know you'll like this question.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
I don't like this question because I I don't. My
head is spinning if I were to guess he is
still he's an up and down player who's lost prospect
eligibility because he's played enough in the major leagues and
he has yet to establish himself, and I think he
will probably lose a lot of Fantasy baseball luster because

(54:52):
of it. I just don't think he's going to hit enough,
and and I've seen him play so much. He gets
into these streaks though, where we saw last year in
TRIPAA where he was literally hitting the home run every
other game and people were like, why isn't Spencer Jones up?
And then he didn't hit the last month of the season.

(55:14):
Where he struck out fifty percent of the time. I mean,
it's just it's a frightening strikeout rate. And that's why
I just I just worry that it's it is. Is
he gonna be? Is he gonna be Joe Hinsky? Noel?
I hope not. But you know that's that's what you
worry about, you know, And it's it's I He is

(55:38):
a confounding prospect for me. I have seen him play
a lot. I don't think he's going to hit enough.
It is the longest swing I think I've ever seen.
But when he hits the ball, timmy, it makes loud contact.
He's more athletic, He's a big guy. He's more athletic
than you think. He can really run. He's a decent
defender in the outfield. There's a lot of stuff to

(56:00):
like about it. But then you see that swing and
it's like, dude, like, can't you shorten up just a
little bit on it?

Speaker 2 (56:06):
It's like, yeah, bring it, bring it back to the
real world sor of the thing.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
I don't know why. And the Yankees are really good
at player development. I don't know why they why they
haven't done anything with it. And maybe he needs to
change of scenery. And it's weird saying that because he's
done nothing that. You know, if you take a look
at his like core statline, he's great. You know, it's like, well,
he hasn't done anything to to like warrant. Hey, you

(56:34):
really need to rework your swing. Maybe twenty twenty four
when he struck out two hundred times. But I don't know, man,
that's I'm just I'm flummoxed by this guy.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Okay, what do you think? What do you think I'm avoiding.
I'm avoiding. I have no shares in dynasty leagues, and
I'm not interested in acquiring anything. It's just the range
of outcomes, potential outcomes is so wide. Okay, No, don't

(57:08):
want Eventually, ultimately those strikeout rights will dictate a good
chunk of his future. And it is what it is.
They're extreme. I I don't want to play that game.
I'm just avoiding totally. Spencer Jones, Hey, if he turns
into something I don't that. I don't believe he will

(57:29):
at this point in time. Hey, good on whoever has
him in my leagues, you're stuck with him, or you
trade you did whatever, but not for me.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
No, I mean O'Neil Cruz is a different player, but
it could be similar outcome where he hits the ball
so hard that he's able to sport a pretty high
babbitt which props his batting average up, and so there's
a little statistical games going on, and he's able to
carve out a two forty career and be okay for

(57:59):
four or five years. But I know everybody has has
comped him to Aaron Judge just because it's easy, because
he's similar size. It is not the same guy. Aaron
Judge is a Hall of Fame player. I do not
see that with Spencer Jones. I just don't. And Aaron
Judge is much shorter to the ball than Spencer Jones's.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
Yeah, ask me how many shares of him Neil Cruz,
I have or or have had.

Speaker 1 (58:26):
I'm assuming zero.

Speaker 2 (58:28):
So yeah, exactly. Yeah, he's not. He's not what I'm
looking for. Okay, Yeah, I'm looking I'm looking for guyasic
fighter way you get to first base.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
I think the I think the Yankees screwed up. I
think they should have traded Spencer Jones after that twenty
twenty three spring training where he looked people were clamoring
for him to he'd only played in High A, and
they were clamoring for him to get called up out
of spring training because it looks so good.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
And Jordan Walker comes to mind, I know, yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
Yeah, And it's if they would none, that would have
been a disaster because he lost all his value because
he wouldn't have hit and et cetera. But I mean, look,
we can talk, and I want to most people I've
never seen him play. It's it is a crazy looking swing.
I I can't explain. It almost looks like he's swinging
in slow motion. It's because I've studied the swing and

(59:23):
I'm like, I'm like try when he's like swings, I
try not to blink because I'm afraid you know that
it's just storting it. And I just watched the swing
and holy crap, that's a long swing.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
So yeah. Uh. In closing, I just have did my
email yesterday bring with it a chuckle, where I announced
that oh, oh, calder Canario is going to be on
my twenty twenty seven sleeper lists. Are you're not surprised

(59:55):
what that news? Are you?

Speaker 1 (59:57):
Look? I mean, I think that's where you were trying
to get me to go, it's er Jones. And if
you tell me Spencer Jones in twenty twenty eight is
in Asia somewhere that would surprise me, would disappoint me,
but not surprising. It happens, right, these guys that are
really tooled up, that just can't hit enough, they go
over to Asia and maybe they fix a swing team.

(01:00:19):
It's happened.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
So yeah, no, it most certainly has. And with that,
I think I should probably get Mosy in on my way.
I get a couple hundred miles to drive today and
the weather has been a little spotty, so I'm going
to be taking my time. But again, I thank you
for the opportunity to discuss the two Bees and some

(01:00:41):
of the not two Bees today and maybe in our
next show sometime in the next week and a half
two weeks, if we get a chance we can finish
up the Yankees, Ras and Jays.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
We will let that. Timmy, thank you so much. Everybody,
have a good weekend. Merry Christmas to everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
Yes, Merry Christmas, and we'll be talking to you soon.
Have a joyous day all