Al Melchior shows and pays his respects and pays tribute to Lawr Michaels that recently passed away. Al also talks about the signing of Michael Brantley to the Astros and shared that Houston is also interested in getting J.T. Realmuto. Al also makes mention of other free agent signings in the league. Al also discussed the MLB Winter Meetings that he attended and shared of other possible trades and signings that involve big names. Lastly, Al makes mention of players with new playing destinations. #fntsy #fntsysportsradio #fantasybaseballhour #wintermeetings #freeagentsignings #jtrealmuto #michealbrantley #signyourplayer
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Fantasy Sports Radio Network. Ladies and gentlemen,
to the Fantasy Baseball with Welcome everybody. This is the
(00:26):
Fantasy Baseball Our under posing Al Milker. Thanks so much
for listening. This is the first UH installment of the
show since uh, since the Winter Meetings, and yes, UH
no show last week because I was actually at the
Winter Meetings first time ever. So there's a lot to
catch up on. Not the busiest of Winter meetings, but
(00:48):
nonetheless because I have been on the air here for
a couple of weeks, Uh, there there is much much
to catch up on. UM, but all that is going
to wait a bit. UH. Starting the show, UH, talking
about something I really was hoping I wouldn't have to
(01:08):
talk about today, But a good friend of the fantasy community,
somebody I am very very honored uh to call a friend. Uh,
Laura Michael's uh co host of the Fantasy or the
Tout Wars Hour here on Fantasy Sports Radio. He passed
away just earlier today Wednesday, UM, and it's just incredibly
(01:35):
sad times for for everyone in the fantasy community. Excuse me,
I know a lot of you listening have read Laure's
work over the years with the Creative Sports. He was
the founder of Creative Sports back in the mid nineties. Um,
some of you I think, no, Laura personally, Uh, he
was somebody who was everywhere in the fantasy community. Uh,
(01:59):
somebody who was friendly and open with everybody. Uh. And
like I said, I was very honored to be able
to to call him a friend and a colleague in
the in the community. And the last couple of years
that I've been on f F T S Y, I've
had the honor of actually co hosting as a guest
(02:22):
for for Justin Mason when he was unable to do
the show. Uh. And and Laura asked me several times
to co host the show with him. And possibly the
most fun I've ever had uh doing anything on air,
because Laura's just he was just a fun guy and
and not just knowledgeable about baseball, but love music, had
(02:45):
his own own band, was a very good guitarist. Um,
and so you know, we talked about music, we talked
about sports. Uh, and he was just just an awesome
human being. So, Laura Michaels, you are going to be
tremendously missed, And um, fancy baseball is just just not
(03:07):
going to be the same without you, So uh it's
hard to uh to move on really uh after after that.
But there is much to talk about in uh in
baseball and fantasy baseball, and UH, like I said, I
will get to a discussion of the winter meetings. But
(03:28):
almost a week has elapsed since then, and there have
been some, uh, some moves of note that we will
take note of here. The biggest one, probably in the
last few days is the Astros going and signing Michael
Brantley to a two year deal. We're thirty two million
dollars Brantley having I guess you could call it a
(03:49):
comeback season last year, although in uh Brantley uh performed
to think above expectations, but still, you know, coming back,
uh from from shoulder surgery and uh it was it
was quite a lengthy comeback process for Brantley, but we
saw it in fall in teen hit, three oh nine homeward,
(04:11):
seventeen times, twelve steals, really pretty much the full package
that you had come to expect from from Michael Brantley,
one of the game's premiere contact hitters. But he's not
just that. UM, you know, there are there are a
handful of players that you can reliably expect you're gonna
strike out in the neighborhood of maybe ten percent of
(04:32):
the time jose Al today, Rington Simmons, but but Brantley,
as you know, somebody who again really can give you
well rounded production. And so now it's gonna be part
of uh uh what looks to be at a terrific
Astro's lineup, also creating even more of a log jam there.
(04:54):
And uh, I think that some previous shows I've talked
about the pitching log jam, but U you know, now
there's really a log jam offensively and particularly in the outfield.
There have been some reports that maybe Josh Reddick will
be on the move, um, Kyle Tucker. Perhaps I'm gonna
talk about that in just a moment. So Astros are
(05:14):
are just stacked at the major league level, they're stacked
in the miners, uh, and they could be making more moves.
And in fact, um they are reportedly in the mix
to uh to to be dealing for JT. Real Muto.
So they had some interest earlier in the off season
(05:36):
and then acquired Robinson Urinos and we're presumed to be
out of the real Muto discussions. But after this signing
of Michael Brantley. I mean it really, it makes all
the sense in the world because they've got outfield surplus,
and so the aforementioned Kyle Tucker, he could be dangled
as uh someone that could go to the Marlins. Perhaps uh,
(06:01):
certain Marlins would be interested in Kyle Tucker. There are
still a number of other teams that are interested in
Jtail real Muto from Joe Frazzaro, who also was first
to report the astros resurgent interest in real Muto Frezaro
of MLB dot com For those who are not familiar, uh,
(06:22):
he also notes that the Padres, Dodgers, and Rays are
among the teams that are also interested in talking to
the Marlins. So uh, there's you know, nothing imminent on
this front, but it certainly makes a world of sense
that the Astros and the Marlins would be talking here. Uh.
Marlins still you know, looking to uh fill in talent
(06:43):
at at really at all levels. And Astros, you know,
certainly they have a viable catcher now Insurinos, but you
would pass up the opportunity Dad real Muto to that roster.
And you know, Trios could either be a backup or
you know, somebody who may be gets, you know, traded,
either whether it's part of real Muto deal or some
(07:04):
other deal. You know, they've just got all kinds of
options with the surpluses that they have, So that'll be
an ongoing story. I don't know for how much longer.
But among the stories that you add with Bryce Harper
still being a free agent and and Manny Machado, somebody
who's no longer a free agent is Wilson Ramos. So
(07:25):
the Mets will who actually were during the winter meetings.
In fact, Mets were one of the big stories in
terms of their pursuit of JT. Real Muto, and at
one point it sounded like the Mets, Yankees, and Marlins
were working towards a deal three way deal that of
course never materialized, and maybe because of that, or at
(07:46):
least in part because of that, Mets did go out
and they signed Ramas to a two year deal worth
nineteen million dollars that also includes a twenty one team option.
Ramos had a very nice season, also coming back from injury,
uh mostly with the Rays, but also a little bit
towards the end of the season with the Phillies hitting
(08:07):
three or six with fifteen home runs. I think he
only hit one home run with the Phillies. It was
sort of an odd tenure for him because the Phillies
were sort of being a little cautious with his playing time,
perhaps at a point when they were still looking at
maybe being in the in the postseason and making sure
Ramos was healthy. But in any event, a great season
(08:30):
overall for for Wilson Ramos, who uh will certainly go
well behind real Muto. I would think in drafts coming
up before you know it, starting probably in about two
months or so, two two and a half months. Uh,
and and I think you know where I'm seeing him
go in early drafts. He's a bargain, I would say. Now, yeah,
(08:53):
he comes with all sorts of risks. I would say
most uh, primarily as a health risk because Rons has
missed time over the year with the over the years
with a variety of ailments. He uh, you know, I
mentioned the fact that didn't hit for much power with
the Phillies, hit a lot of groundballs. And for somebody
who does profile mostly as a power hitter, he can
(09:16):
certainly hit for average like he did this past season,
but offensively, I think his key contribution is as a
power hitter. He does have quite a few grounders, so
you know, sort of I guess maybe in that Eric
Cosmer territory, or maybe if you want to include Christian
Yellich that you know, like if Christian Yellich were to
go back to being a six groundball hit or yeah,
(09:36):
he'd lose a lot of his power that we saw
this year with the Brewers. Uh. You know, I think
Ramos he he's a little bit risky in the same way.
But like I said before, I think as uh, someone
who will go considerably later than Real Muto, and I
would think also probably considerably later than Gary Sanchez. I
think he's could could be quite the bargain the White
(09:59):
Sox have traded for Yonder Alonso. They sent minor league
outfielder Alex call two Uh back to Cleveland. Alonso a
little bit of a downturn this season after that breakout
year that was mostly with the the A's, a little
bit also with the Mariners. But in Alonso hit two
(10:20):
fifty twenty three home runs. He did not regress in
terms of the launch angle tendencies that he Alonzo was
one of the big stories in I'd say, along with
Ryan Zimmerman, as poster children for the launch angle revolution
so called. Uh, and let's get a little bit of
(10:42):
a decline in power and batting average. But you know,
I think it's sort of an underrated story about Alonso
that he didn't regress much and he did retain that
batted ball profile that he uh dramatically changed into twenties seventeen.
So going to the White Sox, this is this is
(11:04):
kind of a nice deal for Yonder Alonso because that's
a good power hitting ballpark. Uh. Definitely an upgrade from Cleveland,
from Seattle, from Oakland. So you might be a little
little sneaky sneaky late round value Yonder Alonso. Uh. Now
it's been speculated and understandably so that the White Sox
(11:26):
interested Yonder Alonso steps the from the fact that he
just happens to be Manny Machado's brother in law, and
the White Sox are involved in talks with the Bacado
so that certainly doesn't doesn't hurt them. By the way,
call the player going the other way to Cleveland. Uh.
He hit to split the season between the Cal Carolina
(11:48):
and Southern leagues, so advanced Class A and then promote
double a hit too forty eight with twelve home runs,
So not a not a huge prospect there, but that
that's the player going the other way. Uh, Matt Harvey
just with the last twenty four hour. So so he
agreed to a deal with the Angels, a one year
deal worth eleven million dollars and serve an interesting story
(12:11):
from last year. Did not pitch well at all for
the Mets in the early part of the season, got
dealt to the Reds and showed some improvement, perhaps most
notably that his velocity, which had been way down early
in the season, bounced back. Uh. Once he got traded
to to Cincinnati. His his control, as measured by his
(12:35):
own percentage percentage pitches located in the strike zone, also
improved dramatically with the Reds, and so he improved a
lot in terms of his walk rate. But you know,
if you're looking for a bounce back from Matt Harvey,
that's nice and everything, but you certainly would have liked
to have seen it in terms of strikeouts and swings
and misses. And while there was some improvement improvement there,
(12:58):
it wasn't i would say dramatic, certainly, just a shadow
of the Matt Harvey of his best years with the Mets.
And in terms of a negative another, you know, a
true negative for Matt Harvey. Last season, he allowed a
lot of hard contact. He had one of the highest
average exit velocities onliners and fly balls in the major
(13:20):
leagues and that was not a great combination once he
got to Cincinnati. So certainly that's going to be a
continued weakness for Matt Harvey. That Angel Stadium is a
great place to mask that weakness, but obviously for him
to really be fantasy viable, need to see the strikeouts
come back. And you know, perhaps perhaps we do see that.
(13:44):
I mean, you know, it's maybe a little bit forgotten,
uh that he you know, he did have the thoracic
outlet syndrome and that it could take a while to
come back from that. And I mean, there's no guarantee
that he will call come all the way back. But
I do think that there is still some upside with
(14:04):
with Matt Harvey that definitely should not be be underrated.
A few uh minor moves here, relatively minor moves. Ian
Kindler signed with the Padres for two years eight million dollars.
Not a very good season for Kindler, who was one
of my sleeper picks going into the year because he
had to have a down season, but one of those
(14:26):
down seasons that wasn't really backed up by the peripheral stats.
So even though he's very firmly in the decline phase
of his career, I thought, well, Kinds are coming off
of a down season and with the you know sort
of ages tendencies that a lot of us have in fantasy,
thought he might be a good value. Didn't turn out
(14:47):
that way at all, especially by the time he got
traded to the Red Sox. During his time, they're really
not much production at all, especially a lack of power production.
So I'm far less, far less bullish on Ian Kindler.
Maybe there is some some bounce back potential, but you
certainly won't have to spend uh, you know, much of
anything to get Kindler and to look for that. But yeah,
(15:10):
I'll be moving on from him as a even as
a late round sleeper. Jerry Mercer signed a one year
deal with the Tigers for five point to five million.
That's not too notable for Mercer himself or for the Tigers.
They did have now found his uh, they've now found
their Jose Gleasias replacement. The bigger impact is really on
(15:33):
the Pittsburgh side, where the Pirates did not resign Mercer,
and that opens the door probably at least the beginning
of the season for either Eric Gonzalez or Kevin Newman.
Of those two, I'd personally be rooting for Newman a
little bit. I think Gonzalez maybe has some potential batting
average upside, but Newman, Uh, you certainly like the Steel's
(15:56):
potential there from Kevin Newman. And also somebody who's a
good cond tech hitter could hit for average for the
Pirates um and then maybe a little further down on
the org chart would be col Tucker, So that that's
kind of a wide open situation there for the Pirates.
In shortstop, James McCann he's moved on from the Tigers.
(16:17):
He signed with the White Sox for a year at
two and a half million, and then in a subsequent
report from the Detroit News, Grayson Grinder, not John Hicks,
Grayson Grinder is expected to serve as the Tigers primary
catcher and keep a little bit is a little bit
(16:39):
of a surprise to me, and my initial reaction to that,
if one is to have a reaction about who's going
to be the Tigers primary catcher. It was a little
bit of a disappointment because my immediate assumption is, Wow,
more playing time for John Hicks. And you know, between
being insurance for for Miguel Cabrera and now more playing
time behind the plate, this is great news for Hicks,
(16:59):
who who can hit for legitimate power. But taking a
closer look at Grayson Grinder, he's got a little bit
of popped and show up in his stat line from
his first season with the Tigers, but a decent hard
contact rate, some decent power in the minor leagues in
the last year or two, and really some on base
(17:21):
on base potential for Grinder. So if you're in an
ob P league, uh, he's somebody and paraly maybe o
b P two catcher league, and yeah, maybe that's narrowing
the field a bit, but you know I'm in those
and in in that kind of format, I think Grinder
somebody now that he will apparently have the playing time
coming to him. That is somebody to tuck away in
(17:43):
the later rounds or for for dollar days if it's
an auction. Last year limited playing time. Just over at
the hundred plate appearances, he had a four teen point
seven percent walk rate. He had double digit double digit
walk rates in the minor leagues. Certainly needs to hit
for average a little better to really make that payoff,
(18:04):
but he could be a little sneaky, could be decent
for on base percentage, maybe even a little better than decent,
and maybe more power then last season stat line would
lead us to believe. So the McCann move definitely more
impactful for for Grinder because mccan would almost certainly serve
in a backup role uh to Wellington Castillo with the
(18:27):
White Sox. Jenna descalso signing for two years five million
dollars with the Cubs in a utility role there could
you know, could find a good amount of playing time.
And he too last couple of seasons has gone fly
ball happy and has improved his power production as a result.
So somebody who might be a little bit underrated overlooked
(18:50):
in fifteen teamers, and I think he will be able
to help in those formats as a super utility type.
Matt Adams going back to the Nationals, uh sorts exagging
between the Nationals and the Cardinals. It's the national Stern
now signed for one year four million dollars, had a
very nice partial season with the Nationals last year, and
(19:13):
with somebody who could fill in for Ryan Zimmerman. With
Zimmerman's pretty much perennial health issues there, there's certainly a
potential there for Adams to get some playing time. This
one's probably not that fantasy impactful, but really kind of
fun and cool to consider, which is that the Royals
brought back Tared Score on a one year major league deal.
(19:37):
Uh So Gore briefly with the Cubs, but a long
time outfielder in the Royal system. I probably should say
outfielder slash pinch runner, or maybe put the pinch runner first,
pitch runner slash outfielder. So now already you've got Billy
Hamilton's there, talk about that in a little bit. Uh
You've got Adalberto Mondescy, so you've got a lot speed
(20:00):
on that Royals team. That should be a fun, fun
team to watch. And Jerry's familiar going back to the Mets.
Seems like we've got quite a few signings here that
bring that brings players back to teams they were with previously.
Familiar returned to the Mets a three year deal worth
thirty million dollars. Uh and he will certainly be in
(20:21):
a set up role for Edwin Diaz. So that's a
good eighth ninth inning a combination there for the Mets,
but not that it certainly doesn't do too much for
a familiars fantasy value. So that's really what's happened in
the past week or so, maybe past six days. But
let's go a little bit further back to the Winter meetings.
And I realized that this is at this point kind
(20:42):
of sort of old news. But I've talked about it
here and there are you know, some some things to
take a closer look at. So first of all, the
big news that the word of meetings happened pretty much
at the very end. It was slow. It was definitely
a slow, slowish winter meetings, a lot of anticipation, a
lot of rumors of deals that never happened, like the
(21:04):
real Muto deal that never happened. But the big deal
that did happen, uh, towards the very very end of
the meetings was the three team deal with the Indians
Mariners and raise uh. With the big player involved there,
Edwin air Canassion going from the Indians to the Mariners.
And then there were reports that looked like the Mariners
(21:25):
gonna flip and Carrossi into the Rays. That did not happen,
or at least has not happened as of yet. I think,
you know, we all have to rightly assume at some
point at Curassio will get flipped. Uh and you know
there are another aspect of this deal was that it
was made by Jerry Depoto from his hospital bed. Just
(21:47):
kind of crazy story, but at karassion so for the
time being a Mariner. And uh so also the Mariners
getting cash from Tampa Bay. Now that's not you know,
their manager Kevin cash, that's just actual cash dollars going
to Seattle from Tampa Bay. Uh. Tampa Bay also sent
(22:07):
Jake Bowers to Cleveland, and Cleveland then also got Carl Santana,
who already got flipped. So Santana came to the Mariners
from the Phillies of the Jean Sigura deal and then
pretty promptly flipped to the Indians as a part of
this deal. And then finally, just to close up the loop,
here a couple of players going from the Indians to
(22:29):
the Raise, most notably Yandi Diaz going to the Raised.
He has never really got that much of an opportunity
to play for the Indians, probably best known for his
lack of launch angle, but still a lot of a
lot of batting average potential there for Diaz and also
um right handed relief prospect Cole Sulser also going from
(22:53):
the Indians to the Raise. So Jake Bowers would seem
especially now is uh I mentioned earlier in the show.
With Yonder Alonzo out of the picture, Jake Bowers stands
to get regular playing time with the with the Indians, uh,
Carlos Santana likewise, not that that was ever really going
(23:14):
to be a question for them, And so you get
a really the I guess the big uh sort of
wild cards still is where is Incarnacio and actually going
to be on opening day? I would think probably not Seattle.
And what sort of role as Yondi Diaz going to
have for the Raise. So those TVD will check back
(23:35):
in on those. Some other deals from the winter meetings
and actually this one just finalized within the last twenty
four hours or so, Andrew McCutcheon signed by the Phillies
on a three year deal worth fifty million dollars. That
probably doesn't bode well for some Phillies outfielder whether it
be Nick Williams or a double Herrera. What we do
(23:55):
know is that UM and of course when we knew
this with the trading away of Carlos Santana, that Reese
Hoskins will move over to first base and that clears
an outfield spot, but that that spot is now clearly
being filled by Andrew Cutchen, who gets a much better
park to hit in. UH. I mean, not compared to
(24:17):
Yankee Stadium, where where he finished up last year, but
compared to UH Pittsburgh and San Francisco and Becautchen did
hit for for some good power in his short time
with the Yankees, so something a little bit encouraging there
in terms of park factor. UH. Park factor probably not
gonna work in the favor of Jay Happy he's going
back to the Yankees. I'm a two year deal or
(24:37):
thirty four million dollars that also includes an option for one.
It was a good meetings for thirty something UH starting
pictures to sign multi year deals. Charlie Morton signing up
with the Rays on a two year, thirty million dollar deal,
so that's a nice edition. And he becomes one of
(24:57):
three UH definite starters for the race along with Blake
Snell and Tyler Glass. Now uh, some Morton slides into
that rotation and then you've got your your two presumably
opener days for the Rays. Now they've got Morton, and
Morton then no longer in the Houston picture. And unfortunately
(25:19):
can't attribute to this report. With this report was because
I didn't write it down and I don't remember it.
But I do call reading somewhere around the time of
Morton signing with the Rays that the plan is for
colomic you to rejoin the Astros rotation. And by the way,
and they just concluded picture list mock. I had the
second to last pick in the whole draft and I
(25:39):
took Columic you there. So it's just one mock draft.
But if that's any indication, and maybe his stock changes
now with with this report, but perhaps colmic you available
very very late in drafts. He was dominant as a leader,
as a reliever, has had some some good uh seasons
with the Astros as a member of the rotation. Should
(26:02):
so that's that's part of that development as well. Lance
Lynn catching on with the Texas Rangers for three years
at thirty million dollars. He had a nice little surge
with the Yankees as well. I actually dug into that
a little bit, so if you want to read up
on that a little bit, I did write a piece
in the last week or so for Rhotographs on lance
(26:22):
Len's late season were surgence with the Yankees, and the
short version of it is that it did look sort
of flukey. So and he's going to a park that's
better than Yankee Stadium but not great. So, um, I'm
not gonna be looking at lance Lynn as a sleeper
this year. Tanner rur Ark, this is an interesting one.
(26:44):
I think going to the Reds in a Tanner for
Tanner swap. Tanner Rainey going back to the Nationals relief
prospect throws really hard, has some control issues, uh, Tanner
Rourke going to the Reds untill slide right their rotation.
The most notable thing I think about Tanna ro Ark
(27:05):
is that he is very, very consistently good season to
season to season out limiting hard contact. And this is
the thing. It's a stat that I cite quite a bit,
but it's not always something that carries over to year
to year. Why I think he's proven beyond a doubt,
Tanna Rourke has proven that he's just good at that,
and he's gonna need that skill in Cincinnati and that
(27:27):
band box of a ballpark. Now, he's pitched a very
very limited number of innings there, just twenty two innings
in his career at Great American Ballpark, but those initial
results really good. Um, he's held hitters to a collective
to six seven whoba, So that's that's superb. And his
homeworking fly ball ratio there eight point seven very good.
(27:51):
So this is gonna be an interesting test to see
how well that skill of limiting hard contact, how well
that's gonna serve him a ballpark that's really going to
test his ability to limit home runs. Uh So, I
don't know if people maybe will sour on Tanner Rock
a little bit because of the change of venue, but
(28:12):
could be surprisingly good there. The Tigers signed Tyson Ross
for one year at five point seven five million dollars
um semi bounds back season with the Padres and then
late in the year with the Cardinals. Actually didn't really
pitch that well with the Cardinals at all. Started off
looking like it could be a good rebound season, but
(28:32):
really not a not a great season overall in for
Tyson Ross. But he'll be there for the Tigers, and
probably not there for long if he does pitch well,
given that they are in full rebuild mode. The White
Sox making a move for pitching, getting a von Nova
from the Pirates and sending to Pittsburgh nineteen year old
right hander. You already, Rosario, Uh, this is you're talking
(28:56):
about park factors now, this is this is no Tanner
Roark s that you A Shan Nova is not known
for keeping the ball in the park. It's not known
for limiting hard contact. Earlier in his career he was
pretty good groundball picture. He's not been that for years. Uh.
Pretty much a pitch to contact guy with really good control.
But that's not necessarily a great profile now that he's
(29:18):
going to the White Sox, who have a pretty tough
park for pictures. And here's the split that I find
really really sort of discouraging for von Nova as a
in his two and a half years as a Pittsburgh Pirate,
he was really good at p NC Park. He made
the most of that very picture friendly venue with a
(29:38):
two eight one e r A at home away from
Pittsburgh as a pirate five oh six e r A.
And now he's going to a really tough park. So yeah,
big red flag for von Nova I mentioned earlier in
the show. Royals have signed Billy Hamilton's signed him to
a one year deal worth five point five million dollars.
(29:59):
And contrary to what I was reading in a lot
of places um when he was non tendered by the
Reds that he would land somewhere as a fourth outfielder, Nope,
as it stands right now, he would get a lot
of playing time. He'd be an everyday starter for the
Royals unless they make some other move, and I as
far as I've read, that's the plan for Billy Hamilton's
(30:21):
to be pretty much an every day outfielder there. So
Royals historically Ned Yost has liked to be aggressive with
the running game. They're certainly structured their roster to make
use of that. So even though Billy Hamilton's has proven
over the course of several seasons now that he doesn't
hit for average, doesn't get on base very often, that
(30:44):
even despite those things, if you let him run, he
could steal your sixty plus bases. So maybe a bit
of a resurgence there for Billy Hamiltons, at least in
that one category where he can't help you. Just to
bore signed with the Angels for one year for two
and a half million. Uh. Looks like his main function
there is probably to keep the seat warm for showing
(31:07):
Otani until he's ready to come back as a d
H and and just generally be insurance for Otani and
Albert Pools. And then uh, finally Troy to Lewitsky. Uh.
He was released by the Blue Jays and on Tuesday
did a workout in front of representatives from at least
(31:29):
eleven different teams. So a lot of interest there for
Troy to Lwitsky. Some of the reports on him from
that practice session, we're really positive. I know one report
that I saw said that he looked like he was
fully healthy again. So um, not clear though how much
he would play wherever he goes. The Giants I know
(31:50):
have expressed some interest, but you know, we just can't
assume at this point. You know, we can't assume sustained health,
We can't assume necessarily an everyday role for to Lou.
It's key, but that's why to keep an eye on
if he isn't in fact healthy and if in fact
he can find a place to play where he's got
the opportunity to be a regular or close to it.
I think it's maybe a little bit interesting for for
(32:13):
Troy to Lewitski. So uh, that's that's a wrap up
of the major deals that went down at winter meetings.
And that's a that's a wrap up for me. So
UH look forward to uh big here again next week.
So thanks again for for joining me, and UH enjoy
(32:34):
the Stoves Sea Hot Stoves season as it continues on.
So have a good one everybody, take care,
You're listening to the Fantasy Sports Radio Network. Ladies and gentlemen,
to the Fantasy Baseball with Welcome everybody. This is the
(00:26):
Fantasy Baseball Our under posing Al Milker. Thanks so much
for listening. This is the first UH installment of the
show since uh, since the Winter Meetings, and yes, UH
no show last week because I was actually at the
Winter Meetings first time ever. So there's a lot to
catch up on. Not the busiest of Winter meetings, but
(00:48):
nonetheless because I have been on the air here for
a couple of weeks, Uh, there there is much much
to catch up on. UM, but all that is going
to wait a bit. UH. Starting the show, UH, talking
about something I really was hoping I wouldn't have to
(01:08):
talk about today, But a good friend of the fantasy community,
somebody I am very very honored uh to call a friend. Uh,
Laura Michael's uh co host of the Fantasy or the
Tout Wars Hour here on Fantasy Sports Radio. He passed
away just earlier today Wednesday, UM, and it's just incredibly
(01:35):
sad times for for everyone in the fantasy community. Excuse me,
I know a lot of you listening have read Laure's
work over the years with the Creative Sports. He was
the founder of Creative Sports back in the mid nineties. Um,
some of you I think, no, Laura personally, Uh, he
was somebody who was everywhere in the fantasy community. Uh,
(01:59):
somebody who was friendly and open with everybody. Uh. And
like I said, I was very honored to be able
to to call him a friend and a colleague in
the in the community. And the last couple of years
that I've been on f F T S Y, I've
had the honor of actually co hosting as a guest
(02:22):
for for Justin Mason when he was unable to do
the show. Uh. And and Laura asked me several times
to co host the show with him. And possibly the
most fun I've ever had uh doing anything on air,
because Laura's just he was just a fun guy and
and not just knowledgeable about baseball, but love music, had
(02:45):
his own own band, was a very good guitarist. Um,
and so you know, we talked about music, we talked
about sports. Uh, and he was just just an awesome
human being. So, Laura Michaels, you are going to be
tremendously missed, And um, fancy baseball is just just not
(03:07):
going to be the same without you, So uh it's
hard to uh to move on really uh after after that.
But there is much to talk about in uh in
baseball and fantasy baseball, and UH, like I said, I
will get to a discussion of the winter meetings. But
(03:28):
almost a week has elapsed since then, and there have
been some, uh, some moves of note that we will
take note of here. The biggest one, probably in the
last few days is the Astros going and signing Michael
Brantley to a two year deal. We're thirty two million
dollars Brantley having I guess you could call it a
(03:49):
comeback season last year, although in uh Brantley uh performed
to think above expectations, but still, you know, coming back,
uh from from shoulder surgery and uh it was it
was quite a lengthy comeback process for Brantley, but we
saw it in fall in teen hit, three oh nine homeward,
(04:11):
seventeen times, twelve steals, really pretty much the full package
that you had come to expect from from Michael Brantley,
one of the game's premiere contact hitters. But he's not
just that. UM, you know, there are there are a
handful of players that you can reliably expect you're gonna
strike out in the neighborhood of maybe ten percent of
(04:32):
the time jose Al today, Rington Simmons, but but Brantley,
as you know, somebody who again really can give you
well rounded production. And so now it's gonna be part
of uh uh what looks to be at a terrific
Astro's lineup, also creating even more of a log jam there.
(04:54):
And uh, I think that some previous shows I've talked
about the pitching log jam, but U you know, now
there's really a log jam offensively and particularly in the outfield.
There have been some reports that maybe Josh Reddick will
be on the move, um, Kyle Tucker. Perhaps I'm gonna
talk about that in just a moment. So Astros are
(05:14):
are just stacked at the major league level, they're stacked
in the miners, uh, and they could be making more moves.
And in fact, um they are reportedly in the mix
to uh to to be dealing for JT. Real Muto.
So they had some interest earlier in the off season
(05:36):
and then acquired Robinson Urinos and we're presumed to be
out of the real Muto discussions. But after this signing
of Michael Brantley. I mean it really, it makes all
the sense in the world because they've got outfield surplus,
and so the aforementioned Kyle Tucker, he could be dangled
as uh someone that could go to the Marlins. Perhaps uh,
(06:01):
certain Marlins would be interested in Kyle Tucker. There are
still a number of other teams that are interested in
Jtail real Muto from Joe Frazzaro, who also was first
to report the astros resurgent interest in real Muto Frezaro
of MLB dot com For those who are not familiar, uh,
(06:22):
he also notes that the Padres, Dodgers, and Rays are
among the teams that are also interested in talking to
the Marlins. So uh, there's you know, nothing imminent on
this front, but it certainly makes a world of sense
that the Astros and the Marlins would be talking here. Uh.
Marlins still you know, looking to uh fill in talent
(06:43):
at at really at all levels. And Astros, you know,
certainly they have a viable catcher now Insurinos, but you
would pass up the opportunity Dad real Muto to that roster.
And you know, Trios could either be a backup or
you know, somebody who may be gets, you know, traded,
either whether it's part of real Muto deal or some
(07:04):
other deal. You know, they've just got all kinds of
options with the surpluses that they have, So that'll be
an ongoing story. I don't know for how much longer.
But among the stories that you add with Bryce Harper
still being a free agent and and Manny Machado, somebody
who's no longer a free agent is Wilson Ramos. So
(07:25):
the Mets will who actually were during the winter meetings.
In fact, Mets were one of the big stories in
terms of their pursuit of JT. Real Muto, and at
one point it sounded like the Mets, Yankees, and Marlins
were working towards a deal three way deal that of
course never materialized, and maybe because of that, or at
(07:46):
least in part because of that, Mets did go out
and they signed Ramas to a two year deal worth
nineteen million dollars that also includes a twenty one team option.
Ramos had a very nice season, also coming back from injury,
uh mostly with the Rays, but also a little bit
towards the end of the season with the Phillies hitting
(08:07):
three or six with fifteen home runs. I think he
only hit one home run with the Phillies. It was
sort of an odd tenure for him because the Phillies
were sort of being a little cautious with his playing time,
perhaps at a point when they were still looking at
maybe being in the in the postseason and making sure
Ramos was healthy. But in any event, a great season
(08:30):
overall for for Wilson Ramos, who uh will certainly go
well behind real Muto. I would think in drafts coming
up before you know it, starting probably in about two
months or so, two two and a half months. Uh,
and and I think you know where I'm seeing him
go in early drafts. He's a bargain, I would say. Now, yeah,
(08:53):
he comes with all sorts of risks. I would say
most uh, primarily as a health risk because Rons has
missed time over the year with the over the years
with a variety of ailments. He uh, you know, I
mentioned the fact that didn't hit for much power with
the Phillies, hit a lot of groundballs. And for somebody
who does profile mostly as a power hitter, he can
(09:16):
certainly hit for average like he did this past season,
but offensively, I think his key contribution is as a
power hitter. He does have quite a few grounders, so
you know, sort of I guess maybe in that Eric
Cosmer territory, or maybe if you want to include Christian
Yellich that you know, like if Christian Yellich were to
go back to being a six groundball hit or yeah,
(09:36):
he'd lose a lot of his power that we saw
this year with the Brewers. Uh. You know, I think
Ramos he he's a little bit risky in the same way.
But like I said before, I think as uh, someone
who will go considerably later than Real Muto, and I
would think also probably considerably later than Gary Sanchez. I
think he's could could be quite the bargain the White
(09:59):
Sox have traded for Yonder Alonso. They sent minor league
outfielder Alex call two Uh back to Cleveland. Alonso a
little bit of a downturn this season after that breakout
year that was mostly with the the A's, a little
bit also with the Mariners. But in Alonso hit two
(10:20):
fifty twenty three home runs. He did not regress in
terms of the launch angle tendencies that he Alonzo was
one of the big stories in I'd say, along with
Ryan Zimmerman, as poster children for the launch angle revolution
so called. Uh, and let's get a little bit of
(10:42):
a decline in power and batting average. But you know,
I think it's sort of an underrated story about Alonso
that he didn't regress much and he did retain that
batted ball profile that he uh dramatically changed into twenties seventeen.
So going to the White Sox, this is this is
(11:04):
kind of a nice deal for Yonder Alonso because that's
a good power hitting ballpark. Uh. Definitely an upgrade from Cleveland,
from Seattle, from Oakland. So you might be a little
little sneaky sneaky late round value Yonder Alonso. Uh. Now
it's been speculated and understandably so that the White Sox
(11:26):
interested Yonder Alonso steps the from the fact that he
just happens to be Manny Machado's brother in law, and
the White Sox are involved in talks with the Bacado
so that certainly doesn't doesn't hurt them. By the way,
call the player going the other way to Cleveland. Uh.
He hit to split the season between the Cal Carolina
(11:48):
and Southern leagues, so advanced Class A and then promote
double a hit too forty eight with twelve home runs,
So not a not a huge prospect there, but that
that's the player going the other way. Uh, Matt Harvey
just with the last twenty four hour. So so he
agreed to a deal with the Angels, a one year
deal worth eleven million dollars and serve an interesting story
(12:11):
from last year. Did not pitch well at all for
the Mets in the early part of the season, got
dealt to the Reds and showed some improvement, perhaps most
notably that his velocity, which had been way down early
in the season, bounced back. Uh. Once he got traded
to to Cincinnati. His his control, as measured by his
(12:35):
own percentage percentage pitches located in the strike zone, also
improved dramatically with the Reds, and so he improved a
lot in terms of his walk rate. But you know,
if you're looking for a bounce back from Matt Harvey,
that's nice and everything, but you certainly would have liked
to have seen it in terms of strikeouts and swings
and misses. And while there was some improvement improvement there,
(12:58):
it wasn't i would say dramatic, certainly, just a shadow
of the Matt Harvey of his best years with the Mets.
And in terms of a negative another, you know, a
true negative for Matt Harvey. Last season, he allowed a
lot of hard contact. He had one of the highest
average exit velocities onliners and fly balls in the major
(13:20):
leagues and that was not a great combination once he
got to Cincinnati. So certainly that's going to be a
continued weakness for Matt Harvey. That Angel Stadium is a
great place to mask that weakness, but obviously for him
to really be fantasy viable, need to see the strikeouts
come back. And you know, perhaps perhaps we do see that.
(13:44):
I mean, you know, it's maybe a little bit forgotten,
uh that he you know, he did have the thoracic
outlet syndrome and that it could take a while to
come back from that. And I mean, there's no guarantee
that he will call come all the way back. But
I do think that there is still some upside with
(14:04):
with Matt Harvey that definitely should not be be underrated.
A few uh minor moves here, relatively minor moves. Ian
Kindler signed with the Padres for two years eight million dollars.
Not a very good season for Kindler, who was one
of my sleeper picks going into the year because he
had to have a down season, but one of those
(14:26):
down seasons that wasn't really backed up by the peripheral stats.
So even though he's very firmly in the decline phase
of his career, I thought, well, Kinds are coming off
of a down season and with the you know sort
of ages tendencies that a lot of us have in fantasy,
thought he might be a good value. Didn't turn out
(14:47):
that way at all, especially by the time he got
traded to the Red Sox. During his time, they're really
not much production at all, especially a lack of power production.
So I'm far less, far less bullish on Ian Kindler.
Maybe there is some some bounce back potential, but you
certainly won't have to spend uh, you know, much of
anything to get Kindler and to look for that. But yeah,
(15:10):
I'll be moving on from him as a even as
a late round sleeper. Jerry Mercer signed a one year
deal with the Tigers for five point to five million.
That's not too notable for Mercer himself or for the Tigers.
They did have now found his uh, they've now found
their Jose Gleasias replacement. The bigger impact is really on
(15:33):
the Pittsburgh side, where the Pirates did not resign Mercer,
and that opens the door probably at least the beginning
of the season for either Eric Gonzalez or Kevin Newman.
Of those two, I'd personally be rooting for Newman a
little bit. I think Gonzalez maybe has some potential batting
average upside, but Newman, Uh, you certainly like the Steel's
(15:56):
potential there from Kevin Newman. And also somebody who's a
good cond tech hitter could hit for average for the
Pirates um and then maybe a little further down on
the org chart would be col Tucker, So that that's
kind of a wide open situation there for the Pirates.
In shortstop, James McCann he's moved on from the Tigers.
(16:17):
He signed with the White Sox for a year at
two and a half million, and then in a subsequent
report from the Detroit News, Grayson Grinder, not John Hicks,
Grayson Grinder is expected to serve as the Tigers primary
catcher and keep a little bit is a little bit
(16:39):
of a surprise to me, and my initial reaction to that,
if one is to have a reaction about who's going
to be the Tigers primary catcher. It was a little
bit of a disappointment because my immediate assumption is, Wow,
more playing time for John Hicks. And you know, between
being insurance for for Miguel Cabrera and now more playing
time behind the plate, this is great news for Hicks,
(16:59):
who who can hit for legitimate power. But taking a
closer look at Grayson Grinder, he's got a little bit
of popped and show up in his stat line from
his first season with the Tigers, but a decent hard
contact rate, some decent power in the minor leagues in
the last year or two, and really some on base
(17:21):
on base potential for Grinder. So if you're in an
ob P league, uh, he's somebody and paraly maybe o
b P two catcher league, and yeah, maybe that's narrowing
the field a bit, but you know I'm in those
and in in that kind of format, I think Grinder
somebody now that he will apparently have the playing time
coming to him. That is somebody to tuck away in
(17:43):
the later rounds or for for dollar days if it's
an auction. Last year limited playing time. Just over at
the hundred plate appearances, he had a four teen point
seven percent walk rate. He had double digit double digit
walk rates in the minor leagues. Certainly needs to hit
for average a little better to really make that payoff,
(18:04):
but he could be a little sneaky, could be decent
for on base percentage, maybe even a little better than decent,
and maybe more power then last season stat line would
lead us to believe. So the McCann move definitely more
impactful for for Grinder because mccan would almost certainly serve
in a backup role uh to Wellington Castillo with the
(18:27):
White Sox. Jenna descalso signing for two years five million
dollars with the Cubs in a utility role there could
you know, could find a good amount of playing time.
And he too last couple of seasons has gone fly
ball happy and has improved his power production as a result.
So somebody who might be a little bit underrated overlooked
(18:50):
in fifteen teamers, and I think he will be able
to help in those formats as a super utility type.
Matt Adams going back to the Nationals, uh sorts exagging
between the Nationals and the Cardinals. It's the national Stern
now signed for one year four million dollars, had a
very nice partial season with the Nationals last year, and
(19:13):
with somebody who could fill in for Ryan Zimmerman. With
Zimmerman's pretty much perennial health issues there, there's certainly a
potential there for Adams to get some playing time. This
one's probably not that fantasy impactful, but really kind of
fun and cool to consider, which is that the Royals
brought back Tared Score on a one year major league deal.
(19:37):
Uh So Gore briefly with the Cubs, but a long
time outfielder in the Royal system. I probably should say
outfielder slash pinch runner, or maybe put the pinch runner first,
pitch runner slash outfielder. So now already you've got Billy
Hamilton's there, talk about that in a little bit. Uh
You've got Adalberto Mondescy, so you've got a lot speed
(20:00):
on that Royals team. That should be a fun, fun
team to watch. And Jerry's familiar going back to the Mets.
Seems like we've got quite a few signings here that
bring that brings players back to teams they were with previously.
Familiar returned to the Mets a three year deal worth
thirty million dollars. Uh and he will certainly be in
(20:21):
a set up role for Edwin Diaz. So that's a
good eighth ninth inning a combination there for the Mets,
but not that it certainly doesn't do too much for
a familiars fantasy value. So that's really what's happened in
the past week or so, maybe past six days. But
let's go a little bit further back to the Winter meetings.
And I realized that this is at this point kind
(20:42):
of sort of old news. But I've talked about it
here and there are you know, some some things to
take a closer look at. So first of all, the
big news that the word of meetings happened pretty much
at the very end. It was slow. It was definitely
a slow, slowish winter meetings, a lot of anticipation, a
lot of rumors of deals that never happened, like the
(21:04):
real Muto deal that never happened. But the big deal
that did happen, uh, towards the very very end of
the meetings was the three team deal with the Indians
Mariners and raise uh. With the big player involved there,
Edwin air Canassion going from the Indians to the Mariners.
And then there were reports that looked like the Mariners
(21:25):
gonna flip and Carrossi into the Rays. That did not happen,
or at least has not happened as of yet. I think,
you know, we all have to rightly assume at some
point at Curassio will get flipped. Uh and you know
there are another aspect of this deal was that it
was made by Jerry Depoto from his hospital bed. Just
(21:47):
kind of crazy story, but at karassion so for the
time being a Mariner. And uh so also the Mariners
getting cash from Tampa Bay. Now that's not you know,
their manager Kevin cash, that's just actual cash dollars going
to Seattle from Tampa Bay. Uh. Tampa Bay also sent
(22:07):
Jake Bowers to Cleveland, and Cleveland then also got Carl Santana,
who already got flipped. So Santana came to the Mariners
from the Phillies of the Jean Sigura deal and then
pretty promptly flipped to the Indians as a part of
this deal. And then finally, just to close up the loop,
here a couple of players going from the Indians to
(22:29):
the Raise, most notably Yandi Diaz going to the Raised.
He has never really got that much of an opportunity
to play for the Indians, probably best known for his
lack of launch angle, but still a lot of a
lot of batting average potential there for Diaz and also
um right handed relief prospect Cole Sulser also going from
(22:53):
the Indians to the Raise. So Jake Bowers would seem
especially now is uh I mentioned earlier in the show.
With Yonder Alonzo out of the picture, Jake Bowers stands
to get regular playing time with the with the Indians, uh,
Carlos Santana likewise, not that that was ever really going
(23:14):
to be a question for them, And so you get
a really the I guess the big uh sort of
wild cards still is where is Incarnacio and actually going
to be on opening day? I would think probably not Seattle.
And what sort of role as Yondi Diaz going to
have for the Raise. So those TVD will check back
(23:35):
in on those. Some other deals from the winter meetings
and actually this one just finalized within the last twenty
four hours or so, Andrew McCutcheon signed by the Phillies
on a three year deal worth fifty million dollars. That
probably doesn't bode well for some Phillies outfielder whether it
be Nick Williams or a double Herrera. What we do
(23:55):
know is that UM and of course when we knew
this with the trading away of Carlos Santana, that Reese
Hoskins will move over to first base and that clears
an outfield spot, but that that spot is now clearly
being filled by Andrew Cutchen, who gets a much better
park to hit in. UH. I mean, not compared to
(24:17):
Yankee Stadium, where where he finished up last year, but
compared to UH Pittsburgh and San Francisco and Becautchen did
hit for for some good power in his short time
with the Yankees, so something a little bit encouraging there
in terms of park factor. UH. Park factor probably not
gonna work in the favor of Jay Happy he's going
back to the Yankees. I'm a two year deal or
(24:37):
thirty four million dollars that also includes an option for one.
It was a good meetings for thirty something UH starting
pictures to sign multi year deals. Charlie Morton signing up
with the Rays on a two year, thirty million dollar deal,
so that's a nice edition. And he becomes one of
(24:57):
three UH definite starters for the race along with Blake
Snell and Tyler Glass. Now uh, some Morton slides into
that rotation and then you've got your your two presumably
opener days for the Rays. Now they've got Morton, and
Morton then no longer in the Houston picture. And unfortunately
(25:19):
can't attribute to this report. With this report was because
I didn't write it down and I don't remember it.
But I do call reading somewhere around the time of
Morton signing with the Rays that the plan is for
colomic you to rejoin the Astros rotation. And by the way,
and they just concluded picture list mock. I had the
second to last pick in the whole draft and I
(25:39):
took Columic you there. So it's just one mock draft.
But if that's any indication, and maybe his stock changes
now with with this report, but perhaps colmic you available
very very late in drafts. He was dominant as a leader,
as a reliever, has had some some good uh seasons
with the Astros as a member of the rotation. Should
(26:02):
so that's that's part of that development as well. Lance
Lynn catching on with the Texas Rangers for three years
at thirty million dollars. He had a nice little surge
with the Yankees as well. I actually dug into that
a little bit, so if you want to read up
on that a little bit, I did write a piece
in the last week or so for Rhotographs on lance
(26:22):
Len's late season were surgence with the Yankees, and the
short version of it is that it did look sort
of flukey. So and he's going to a park that's
better than Yankee Stadium but not great. So, um, I'm
not gonna be looking at lance Lynn as a sleeper
this year. Tanner rur Ark, this is an interesting one.
(26:44):
I think going to the Reds in a Tanner for
Tanner swap. Tanner Rainey going back to the Nationals relief
prospect throws really hard, has some control issues, uh, Tanner
Rourke going to the Reds untill slide right their rotation.
The most notable thing I think about Tanna ro Ark
(27:05):
is that he is very, very consistently good season to
season to season out limiting hard contact. And this is
the thing. It's a stat that I cite quite a bit,
but it's not always something that carries over to year
to year. Why I think he's proven beyond a doubt,
Tanna Rourke has proven that he's just good at that,
and he's gonna need that skill in Cincinnati and that
(27:27):
band box of a ballpark. Now, he's pitched a very
very limited number of innings there, just twenty two innings
in his career at Great American Ballpark, but those initial
results really good. Um, he's held hitters to a collective
to six seven whoba, So that's that's superb. And his
homeworking fly ball ratio there eight point seven very good.
(27:51):
So this is gonna be an interesting test to see
how well that skill of limiting hard contact, how well
that's gonna serve him a ballpark that's really going to
test his ability to limit home runs. Uh So, I
don't know if people maybe will sour on Tanner Rock
a little bit because of the change of venue, but
(28:12):
could be surprisingly good there. The Tigers signed Tyson Ross
for one year at five point seven five million dollars
um semi bounds back season with the Padres and then
late in the year with the Cardinals. Actually didn't really
pitch that well with the Cardinals at all. Started off
looking like it could be a good rebound season, but
(28:32):
really not a not a great season overall in for
Tyson Ross. But he'll be there for the Tigers, and
probably not there for long if he does pitch well,
given that they are in full rebuild mode. The White
Sox making a move for pitching, getting a von Nova
from the Pirates and sending to Pittsburgh nineteen year old
right hander. You already, Rosario, Uh, this is you're talking
(28:56):
about park factors now, this is this is no Tanner
Roark s that you A Shan Nova is not known
for keeping the ball in the park. It's not known
for limiting hard contact. Earlier in his career he was
pretty good groundball picture. He's not been that for years. Uh.
Pretty much a pitch to contact guy with really good control.
But that's not necessarily a great profile now that he's
(29:18):
going to the White Sox, who have a pretty tough
park for pictures. And here's the split that I find
really really sort of discouraging for von Nova as a
in his two and a half years as a Pittsburgh Pirate,
he was really good at p NC Park. He made
the most of that very picture friendly venue with a
(29:38):
two eight one e r A at home away from
Pittsburgh as a pirate five oh six e r A.
And now he's going to a really tough park. So yeah,
big red flag for von Nova I mentioned earlier in
the show. Royals have signed Billy Hamilton's signed him to
a one year deal worth five point five million dollars.
(29:59):
And contrary to what I was reading in a lot
of places um when he was non tendered by the
Reds that he would land somewhere as a fourth outfielder, Nope,
as it stands right now, he would get a lot
of playing time. He'd be an everyday starter for the
Royals unless they make some other move, and I as
far as I've read, that's the plan for Billy Hamilton's
(30:21):
to be pretty much an every day outfielder there. So
Royals historically Ned Yost has liked to be aggressive with
the running game. They're certainly structured their roster to make
use of that. So even though Billy Hamilton's has proven
over the course of several seasons now that he doesn't
hit for average, doesn't get on base very often, that
(30:44):
even despite those things, if you let him run, he
could steal your sixty plus bases. So maybe a bit
of a resurgence there for Billy Hamiltons, at least in
that one category where he can't help you. Just to
bore signed with the Angels for one year for two
and a half million. Uh. Looks like his main function
there is probably to keep the seat warm for showing
(31:07):
Otani until he's ready to come back as a d
H and and just generally be insurance for Otani and
Albert Pools. And then uh, finally Troy to Lewitsky. Uh.
He was released by the Blue Jays and on Tuesday
did a workout in front of representatives from at least
(31:29):
eleven different teams. So a lot of interest there for
Troy to Lwitsky. Some of the reports on him from
that practice session, we're really positive. I know one report
that I saw said that he looked like he was
fully healthy again. So um, not clear though how much
he would play wherever he goes. The Giants I know
(31:50):
have expressed some interest, but you know, we just can't
assume at this point. You know, we can't assume sustained health,
We can't assume necessarily an everyday role for to Lou.
It's key, but that's why to keep an eye on
if he isn't in fact healthy and if in fact
he can find a place to play where he's got
the opportunity to be a regular or close to it.
I think it's maybe a little bit interesting for for
(32:13):
Troy to Lewitski. So uh, that's that's a wrap up
of the major deals that went down at winter meetings.
And that's a that's a wrap up for me. So
UH look forward to uh big here again next week.
So thanks again for for joining me, and UH enjoy
(32:34):
the Stoves Sea Hot Stoves season as it continues on.
So have a good one everybody, take care,
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