Episode 63: 2025 Shortstop Prospect and Dynasty Rankings: Crowded at the Top

It's Week 2 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru!
Chris and Drew preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for shortstops and give their take on some of the risers, fallers, and once again, Drew fails to surprise Chris with his Sneaky Deep Prospect of the Week. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com
And back by popular demand, the RIOT contest. This week there are two Randomly Inserted Obscure Song Titles that have something in common. Be the first one to identify both titles and the link between them and we'll get you a free pass into the TDG Discord!

Timestamps:
4:00 Carson Williams
4:50 Jordan Lawlar
6:50 Sebastian Walcott
7:10 Kristian Campbell
10:24 Leodalis De Vries
14:20 JJ Wetherholt
17:25 Kevin McGonigle
20:32 Konnor Griffin
21:31 Colt Emerson
25:50 Marcelo Mayer
28:00 Jacob Wilson
30:35 Angel Genao
34:20 Jett Williams
38:10 Brandon Winokur
39:26 Daiber De Los Santos
42:40 Boston Baro
45:12 Bobby Witt Jr, Gunnar Henderson
47:15 Trea Turner
48:30 C.J. Abrams
53:30 Carlos Correa
56:05 Masyn Winn
58:30 Jeremy Pena

Find us on BlueSky:
Drew: @drewgotigers.bsky.social
Chris: @notnotcknock.bsky.social
JoinTheRanks: @jointheranks.bsky.social
Intro and Outro Voiceover provided by Coleson Probst [e-mail]
Intro Music: One Fine Day by Keep Calm and Podcast On (Podcast.co)
Thanks for tuning in!

Find us on BlueSky and X:Drew: @drewgotigers.bsky.social/ @aok_fan (X)
Chris: @notnotcknock.bsky.social/ @notnotcknock (X)
JoinTheRanks: @jointheranks.bsky.social/ @JoinTheRanksTDG (X)Intro and Outro Voiceover provided by Coleson Probst [e-mail]
Intro Music: One Fine Day by Keep Calm and Podcast On (Podcast.co) 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time for Join the Ranks, a prospect focused podcast
of the Dynasty Grew Network helping Dynasty managers win your
league's one player at the time. So settle in for
an hour of conversation and insightful analysis with your hosts,
Dynasty Grew senior writers Drew Klein and Chris Knock.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome back to another week of Joined the Ranks. I'm
Drew Klein, a senior writer at The Dynasty Guru, and
with me is Chris Knock, another senior writer at TDG.
We're happy to be here and talk about shortstops this week.
We'll be debuting a number of articles two articles a
day the rest of the week on the TDG website
on our shortstop rankings, and the full rankings will be

(00:39):
there as well. Quick reminder what we're talking about our
three year dynasty rankings. Some of our rankers emphasize year one,
others long term. It's an exact but generally a three
year impact on the Dynasty roster, and we're talking about
prospects even a little more variety there. Some of them
are just may not have an impact in three years,
where somebody just needs to be ranked highly because they're

(01:01):
going to be an impact or you know, a trados
asset going forward, the other rankers going to look at
proximity a little bit more, and I think that kind
of puts a little fun into the conversations. Also makes
our ranking strong because we're looking at as a competent ranking.
We've got about eleven rankers working on our overall rankings,
five of us working on the prospect. So when you
put it all together, I think we get a really

(01:21):
good comprehensive look at what's going on. So last week
I must have stumped everybody or I caught you off guard.
There were some riots included not one, not two, but
three randomly inserted song titles. I included I Won't Back
Down by Tom Petty my Man, and a little bonus
New Kid in Town by the Eagles, and Chris. I

(01:42):
don't know if you did an on purpose or not,
but you threw in one trick Pony, the title track
from Paul Simon's eighth solo album, So.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
The truly randomly inserted I'm sco speriord of it.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
So other than being a random Chris, how are you doing?
What's going on?

Speaker 4 (01:58):
You know I'm doing well? Thank you?

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Although going out of town here next weekend, and obviously,
because it's winter, my little wrap scallion children brought home
some colds. So hoping this gets I shake this off
in the next couple hours before I hit.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
The road speed recovery.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
So I apologize in advance to put your editing skills
to the test here with my coughs and sneezes, and
hopefully not too much of them.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Help them up for the challenge. So and you plenty
of hot too with Lemon, and I hope you still
get into very vacation too.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Oh, I'm sure I will. I can ignore this with
the best.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Of them, all right, Denial, that's just wherever I need you,
all right, So hey, let's jump in. We're going to
start like we did last week talking about our prospect rankings,
and what I'm gonna do is read our top two tiers,
which will cover our top twelve shortstops prospects. And then

(02:57):
I got some news highlighted. Chris, I'm sure you do too.
Let'skind of talk about some reactions about who's hot who's
not in that group. But Tier one we have Christian Campbell,
the Adolars, de Rise, Sebastian Walcott, Jordan Lawler and Carson Williams.
And in Tier two Kevin McGonagall, Connor Griffin, JJ weatherholeus

(03:19):
My Day and Neil Morales filming Celestin and Colt Emerson.
So again, Tier one Campbell, de Brise, Walcott, Lawler and
Williams Chris first impressions.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
I mean, that's the best offensive prospect grouping typically shortstop
is and I would say that this year is no
you know, this is no different than the usual. These
are top notch fantasy. Uh. They have top notch fantasy expectations,
all five of them.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
You might.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
I think that we had a debate internally about whether
Carson Whalen Williams part of me should be uh Tier
one or Tier two. And I can listen to that argument.
I was in the Tier one camp, which is where
he ended up at. But it's a it's a pretty
stout grouping there, with hopes and dreams all sorts of

(04:17):
clustered all over them here.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
And I think with this group in particular, I think
they're gonna play short stuff. You know. The one who
may or may not stick at the position is Christian Campbell,
probably because the Red Sox has so many players are
bringing up and trying to sort it out. So I
could see him finding time at second base, but I
think he'd maintained of eligibility as well, and the others

(04:42):
seemed to be firmly in trench there. Again, they probably
said that about Jackson Merrily a year ago, so I
don't know, but well, i'd say.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Also Lawler, he was down in the Dominicans Winter League
and he was playing third base there and maybe second
base or maybe I've just heard rumblings of him getting
a turn at the keystone, not because of his poor
shortstop defense, but more just trying to get his bat

(05:12):
when healthy into the major league lineup.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Makes some sense with that roster, they're they're pretty again,
pretty packed, and gotta find places. I've been kind of
looking at his health a little bit, but I haven't
seen that about the position in this winner.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
So well, it's interesting because third base, you know, you,
Honey Suarez. I mean, I'm obviously fast forwarding a week,
but in our conversations, but you know, he was a
terrible first half last.

Speaker 4 (05:39):
Year and then turned it on.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
And I think there was like discussions when Lawler was
recovering about hey, maybe he'll come back and play third
base because Suarez is not, you know, up to snuff.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
Well, then Suarez turned it on and Lawler got hurt
again and.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
That kind of fizzled. The second base is surprising because
of Kettle Marte and he's firmly entrenched there and there's
no slouch at second base. So I shortstop seems to
be the place for Lawlor in that lineup if you
ask me. Currently, Perdomo, who I don't know if we
were planning on talking about him, seems to be more

(06:18):
easily bumped off the out of the starting lineup if
you ask me, I don't know. But so all that's
to say he might move off of shortstop, but I
think I would still be surprised if he does ultimately.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
And then so a couple of us had Sebastian Walcott
number one. I think more of us had Christian Campbell
at number one. I for this year anyway, did have
Walcott higher. And I really like his power potential with
slightly above average speed. But you and others are ready
to anno Christian Campbell, who really had his breakout you

(06:57):
know last year he wasn't off the rate of the
year before, but but it wasn't you know, he here's
the here's the portrait of your my favorite quote of yours.
That progression is nonlinear. You know, he's skyrocketed last year. So, uh,
can you talk to me a little bit about those two?
And what is she about Campbell that says to you, hey,

(07:18):
number one? And I'm not arguing it hard. I'm just saying, yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
I mean, yeah, that hit first.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Uh, that hit first tool that he came out of
college with. Uh, he was able to unlock the power,
or at least Boston development was able to unlock the power.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
He's got wheels.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
It all just clicked and clicked really quickly and consistently.
I mean, I would actually argue that his development was linear.
It was just almost a straight line up. So yeah,
it's it's just it seems like the only thing stopping
Christian Campbell is that the season hasn't started yet.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
You're probably not wrong, and he are better contact rates
than Walcott. I just yeah, again, I like the still
looking at scouting grades even though we do have a
lot of performance to go on, and just that the
coming into the power and speed. I went back and
forth and back and forth and decided that, yeah, I'll
pull this out there and see it. It's a conversation.

(08:19):
It triggers.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah, and I actually had Walcott third, and that is
tough because I am a big fan of his. I
think he still gets a bad rap for some of
his contact concerns that were first noticed that at the

(08:43):
end of twenty twenty three. But last year as a
what was he an eighteen No, no, I'm sorry, Yeah,
he was eighteen basically all of last year. He'll be
nineteen all of this year, which is crazy to think about,
but he was in He made it all the way
from to double A last year as an eighteen year old,

(09:05):
So I think the age the level has to be
somewhat taken into context there. But he was still north
of seventy percent contact rates, and you know there's gonna
be a learning curve when you're that much younger. He's
got the quote unquote long levers. He's still kind of
you almost would say he's rail thin, still six ' four,

(09:26):
not even two hundred pounds, So there's I I think
I expect Sebastian Walcott to continue to progress. I don't
think he's going to be the type that will just
set the league each level on fire that he will
have a learning curve, but he's.

Speaker 4 (09:43):
Showing work ethic.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
And I mean the tools are just those are They're
exactly what I look for.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
And if you develop value proximity, which a number of
us do Campbell, if you listened to Boston media fantasy
people Bull Boston fans, he'll be up this year. But
none of us are the general managers. We don't know
for sure, but Ice bets see Campbell and Family Park
this year and Walcott probably not right away. The the
rise I think, is it deed?

Speaker 4 (10:14):
You know, I'm sorry I always say uh de riz
as well?

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Okay, IV, all right? I had him for the group,
had him too, You had him too, obviously I'll think
highly of him. Uh have we seen enough of him?
You talk about somebody? He's you know, twelve now eighteen
seventeen last year'll be eighteen this year. So yeah, you're

(10:38):
behind Walcott in terms of age put up. You know,
good numbers at eight level and obviously was the high
UH signee out of the international pool the year before.
And he is still hype helium keeping him up there
or you know, what is it you see? You like
putting them as high as you did, just like Walcott.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
You know, he was uber young for the level as
a seven eventeen year old last year throughout the year
and making it up from complex in Lowa. I mean,
he just he just keeps hitting. I mean he then
he went to the AFL and kept hitting. He's a
toolbox of a kid. He's not quite as hulking, you know,
he's not quite as tall as Walcott, but he definitely

(11:19):
has the glove to stick at short stop. It'll be
you know, he's his contact rates are in the mid
to upper seventies, or at least they were.

Speaker 4 (11:27):
I'm trying to find him here.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Speak specifically seventy three point eight percent, so mid mid
seventies in Lowa last year as a seventeen year old.
He again is just that same thing. This is I
love shortstop prospects, and you know, we talk about fashioning
our when you're when we talk about fashioning your dynasty roster.

(11:51):
I don't typically target positions with my prospects, you know,
I'm like, oh, I need an outfielder on here or whatever.
But I do target shortstops. Anyone who's playing shortstops in
the minors has multiple defensive tiers. They can move down
as they as their bat perhaps carries them up through
the development ladder, And so I just try and stock

(12:15):
my dynasty rosters full of shortstops. This upper echelon of
the shortstop prospects are they're all likely going to stick,
as we've talked about. But he's I'm just I guess
explaining why I love and I try and target all
as many shortstops as possible.

Speaker 4 (12:33):
And he's exactly that same type.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Great head tool, great all five tools, potentially more so
even than Walcott. I would say Walcott might just end
up being like a FOURD tool without the batting average.
But LDV can potentially be h you know, he will
not be batting average SAP potentially.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, I agree. And then Tier two we're looking at McGonagall, Griffin,
the whole Moday, more Els, Celestine and Emerson strong group.
What's the jump from Tier one to Tier two for
you there? How big a drop off?

Speaker 4 (13:10):
You know, it's not that far.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
A lot of those same drool worthy type tools in
these guys. You might be talking a little bit further
down the development you know, kind of Griffin hasn't played
a single lack of professional baseball yet. Weather Holt was
just drafted moday is going to be a complex stateside

(13:37):
this year.

Speaker 4 (13:38):
Same with Morales. Felman was only I think in low.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
A this year, so we're talking further away, but a
lot of these guys keep following that same archetype I
guess of bringing close to five tools, fantasy route straw,
fantasy relevance, and a decent likelihood of reaching.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
Some of that those lofty goals.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
I agree. I think it's a pretty pretty strong group.
Probably we'll talk later, probably more of a drop off
from from two to three, but you know, I wouldn't
be unhappy with any of these guys sitting on a
roster depending on you know, goop size and Ruster size
and everything. I did want to talk to in this
group a little bit about JJ Weatherholt, who you know,

(14:27):
I really liked in the FYPD. I had him ranked
with my number three hitter when I was doing my
FYPD rankings and was a little bit kind of biting
my tongue a little bit in some of our conversations
where you know, people kind of punishing him a little
bit for that appearance and at a ball, but you know,
he was in twenty nine games. You know, this year

(14:48):
after being drafted and didn't do that badly. I mean
his slash time was two ninety five four or five
four hundred and as contact rate was eighty four percent.
So for you know, twenty two year old, I have
to you know, going into a ball twenty one last year,
so you know, ahe to level is appropriate. It wasn't
like he was a seventeen or eighteen year old at

(15:09):
that level. But you know, I can't really change my
projection of him too much based on that. You know,
really high in terms of what the you know, what
he what he showed coming out of West Virginia sixty
great future hits tool from the scouts about average speed,
but you know, slightly above average power. But I really

(15:30):
like his bald bat skill and I think he deserves
the ranking that that I have for him. You know,
what do you remember from the conversations and you know,
do you agree that he was overmatched in any ball
this year or is it a small sample size?

Speaker 3 (15:45):
I think that's my biggest concern with him. I had
him at number ten overall. You know, a college bat
being solid at low A in their debut season, it's
not a red flag, but it's it's not a vote
of confidence for me in what I expe in what

(16:09):
is the ceiling of this potential player. I don't think
he was overmatched. I mean, he still had a one
thirty seven WRC plus at the level over a month's
worth of games, so he definitely was solid and above
average at the level. But he's also a twenty was
a college ballplayer, and he was twenty one years old

(16:31):
almost twenty two years old during that time, so he
should be better than average, thirty seven percent better than
the average ballplayer there if you ask me, so, I
question what his ultimate ceiling is. I'm surprised that the
Cardinals didn't maybe try him at high A, which is
more of the norm for successful college bats in their

(16:54):
draft season. But maybe there was something he was they
were trying to work on with him.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (16:58):
I can't speak to that. So he's He's the kind
of where I'm waiting to.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
Really buy into, uh until I start seeing numbers that
match the expected or the you know, the the hopes
and dreams of his outcomes fantasy.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
And then another player in this group that I'm really
excited about and a lot of people are, and I
think our listeners are going to have heard this name
because it's all over you know, all the all the
articles of Twitter that the blue Sky last year is
Kevin McGonagall, you know, with with the Tigers, and you know,
I look at his statue last year. It really wasn't
a breakout year really because at a ball the year

(17:39):
before he put up a three fifteen two four eleven
slash and past year it was three o nine four
two And he's been performing at that level this past year.
Is contact rate went higher from about eighty three percent
to eighty and a half percent. So, uh, he did
put the bat on the ball boy this year. And

(18:00):
I think that, you know, with the Tiger's system actually
being fairly strong and you know, being drafted as a
you know, a high school back coming out and he'll
be paid a whole lot of attention to him in
twenty three and he just caught a lot of eyes
last year. I think he's going to continue to do that.
I think I don't think it's a I don't know,
a flash in the pain or anything like that. I
think there's going to be a continual climb for him.

(18:24):
And excited, excited as a fan, but also yeah, he
plays with my team, but I'm excited to see see
where he's going to go, especially some of the you know, three, two,
maybe three of the players in the in the first year.
You know, we're going to graduate this year, and you know,
see kind of how high we were talking about McGonagall
next year, So it'll be a big year for him.
He'll be moving up into the double A where they

(18:45):
start seeing I think, significantly better pitching. I understand why
he was the surprise he was last year, but then
when I look back, well kind of saw it coming.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yeah, you know, I'm glad you mentioned him because I
wanted to.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
I was hoping we talk about him. He's still one
that I don't like.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
Fully, I'm not all drooling over him like I do
with others, but he's definitely the kind where you look
back and you're like, you know, we should have seen
this guy being becoming what he is. I see a
lot of Jeremy Penya type outcomes with him, maybe a
better average, but Penya, you know, you can put the
bat on the ball too, but you know that kind

(19:24):
of upper teens homer, upper teen stolen bases. But I
think McGonagall might out might surprise me with some steals.
Perhaps as he keeps progressing. He's that fifteen team or
that guy who where you're like, you love to have
him in your middle infield potentially, and you're okay with
him as a as a lower tier shortstop on your roster,

(19:47):
but you love to have him in your middle infield.
So yeah, he's consistently done well. I think he might
be a good opportunity to try and acquire right now.
He had that handmate injury and sometimes in the summer,
and I remember that just kind of all discussion about.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
Him stopped, And.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
I think that could present a good buying opportunity for
someone who's looking to looking to stash away a couple
of prospects that might not be as expensive as some
of the others in this tier.

Speaker 5 (20:18):
Looking at him my day, anybody else that's here you
want to talk about. I mean McGonagall was the one
I was going to bring up, So I mean I
talked about Connor Griffin. I talked about him in our FYPD.
He's the kind of guy that I'm taking in an
FYPD in the top you know, three four, five spots

(20:40):
depending on the league set up.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
Perhaps what I talked about for those who didn't listen
to our FYPD episode. This guy is built like Walcott
and has the speed of Lawlor and potentially the you know,
the defensive versatility of Chris Campbell.

Speaker 4 (21:01):
So the question is his it is his hit tool.

Speaker 3 (21:06):
He's a high school player. He's the first high schooler
drafted this year out of Mississippi. So suppose you know
he's gonna be.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
A little rough.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
There's been, you know, some more hype videos. He hasn't
played any professional baseball yet, so there's no in game footage.
It's all hype videos for the most part. Supposedly he's
reworking to swing. I trust the pirates development here. I'm
all aboard the counter Griffin trains.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
So is cold Emerson being lost in the noise of
the other prospects on this list.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
Well, he's another injury guy, right, he got hurt last year.
And then this is all me purely going off of
memory as I pull up everything.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
But you know, he had that debut.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
Season in twenty three where he just rock him, sock
him and outperformed every anyone's expectations. He was kind of
that hit first type as well.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Well, I think with yeah, he did this some time
for injury last year. And I think he's properly ranked
right now. And I also think that he could shoot
up or he could just like this is where I am, this,
this is who I am. You know, he's got those
kind of middling not middling, but you know, average slightly
above average kind of grades and everything. But we saw it,

(22:24):
did see a lot in twenty twenty three. So that's
just one. It's going to be fun to watch kind
of where where he goes. And I wonder if we're
gonna look back a year from now and go, huh,
how we forgot about him? And you know he's in
our second tier. We didn't forget about him totally. But yeah,
he's one that I just look at and go, ah, boy,
I want him to be higher. And I look at

(22:45):
the names of ahead, I'm like, I don't know who
I put him the head of though, so and then
you had him a little bit higher than than I
did the group kid, but they're not by a whole
lot either, right.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
I think he's suffering from injury, out of side, out
of mind, And I'll be honest. Also, the maritors tend
to have this low a hype train. If you ask
me where they get a lot of their prospects in
low A tend to perform very well well part of

(23:14):
me and gain a lot of Fantasy Dynasty momentum, but
slow down in their development as they progress. That could
just be an observational bias on my on my part.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
But uh but.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
Anyway, yeah, so just my so he could I'm I
guess all I'm coming to with that is saying I
can still see what you're talking about of if he
does fade off into the sunset, it would probably just
be another example of the the many other examples that
are in my head that maybe.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
I think we talked about all. Yeah, I think we
talked about Seattle a bit last year overall being slow,
you know, with how they developed their prospects and bringing
them up. So you know, some of the superstars moved
through fairly quickly, Julio Rodriguez, but other ones, When is
this guy going to the next level and they you know,
they let the marinate before they bring him up sometimes.

(24:14):
So I'm almos gonna say prospect fatigue, but you know,
he's only been in the pros two years, so you know,
I don't think we slapped that tag on him yet,
but just and I think it goes to how strong
the position is. And you know, there's a lot of
really eye catching names deservingly so uh you know in
this group, So let me let me jump to uh
tier three, uh lit Marcella Meyer, Aiden Miller joined the

(24:38):
Vargas on how Janeo Colson, Montgomery, Jacob Wilson, Jet Williams,
Cole Young, Alex Freeland, Bryce Rain, Year, Run Demala, and
Brandon Winnaker. So, Premiams, I want to talk about here,
but I'll let you go first. Who you know? Who
do you circle in this group?

Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yeah, I mean it's a much broad a range as
far as it's hard to lump them all into one.
You got some proximity plays with Meyer and Montgomery, who
may not be the most sexy fantasy assets when they
when they get into the majors, and then you have
more toolsy, deeper guys like Winnaker is the first one

(25:19):
that pops out.

Speaker 6 (25:19):
To me there.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
So I mean it's these are the ones I think
where you buy it, and these are the types where
kind of and I don't like always equating fantasy prospects
to like stocks, but you know, we are trying to
get in early on a lot of these players, and
you know, I hope that they develop as actual baseball

(25:42):
players well enough to uh fill in our major league
great roster, and sometimes they kind of stagnate, right, And
I think Marcelo Mayor he's just kind of unfortunately been
in that lull because he was an early high school

(26:02):
draft pick and what was that twenty one perhaps, and
I think he's was that type that was seen as
likely a better actual baseball player than a real fantasy
but the fantasy world kind of bought into him as
potentially reaching you know, twenty twenty type fantasy outcomes and

(26:26):
that still might be possible, but it might be possible,
and it's not definite at this point. And when you
have Campbell at shortstop potentially h story for sure. You know,
there's there's some roadblocks that I think keep prevent Meyer
from moving on up and being in those upper tiers.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, there are. And when the Red Sox drafted him,
I believe it was fourth overall, and people were excited
he fell that far, you know that raft, like, oh
what the Red Sox just got lucky. Look what they got,
both from you know, non field perspective as well as
its antasy perspective, and he went really high in FIPD
drafts that year and then took a couple of years
before he could just get the bat on the ball

(27:07):
with any consistency, and I think people really gave up
on him, and you know, I am among those who
are just having a hard time coming around again. I
mean I had him thirteenth, but you know a lot
of people would have predicted if you weren't in the
majors by now, he'd be a top five prospect. And
I don't think he's going to be that player. But
like you said, I think he's going to be a

(27:27):
serviceable major league player, and I think he's going to
put up some decent number as a potential to put
up some decent numbers from from time to time. So
he's not a he's not a dump. But if there's
a Red Sox fan in your league and you can
move him, I would Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
Yeah, I think he has more if you're in deep
leagues and you roster him. I'm talking you know, twenty
thirty teamers. I think there's more value there for that
servile so serviceable aspect, but.

Speaker 4 (27:56):
Another not tool as a player.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
I wanted to make and as Jacob Wilson, he was
drafted in twenty three and drafted as a proximity bat
uh in real life, and he is a he is
a bat toball guru. And he did that at every
level since his draft season. With strikeout rates, I'm still

(28:24):
pulling them up low single digits, I mean five percent,
six percent in Double A last year. So he doesn't
miss he doesn't miss the ball too often. And oh,
I'm sorry those are his walk rates. But that's the
other concept I was gonna say is that he doesn't
take walks and he doesn't have power. And last year

(28:45):
in Triple A, what I'm trying to get at slowly here,
after I gave some wrong numbers last year in Triple A,
he actually started flashing some power.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
He had four home runs in twenty games in Triple
A last year. I think there was a at that
point to go grab him, thinking, oh boy, he might
actually have a little bit of thunder in there. I
think that was more of a product of the Pacific
Coast League. And of course, if you hit the ball
so many times, you are going to hit home runs.
I would not expect him to be more than a

(29:16):
dozen home run kind of bat. He is definitely deep
league territory only, but he is going to play. So
that is another name that won't cost much if you're
trying to fill out your roster. But I would not
have any big dreams of a lot of statistical fantasy impact.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
Not a lot. But his in zone contact rates are
off the chart high and he was ninety three point
five in his stint in the majors last year. So
that's approaching like Luisa Riah's territory. And if we are
correct in our hope jections that are the Athletics are

(29:58):
going to be an offensive an improved offensive team. He'll
be on base, you know, for you know, Rooker and
the other guys, or they'll be on the base when
he comes up and he'll move guys around. So some
of the counting stats are are going to be there.
We don't know yet what playing in Sacramento's going to do.

(30:18):
If he's still on the team when they moved to Vegas,
you know what that's going to do, So there may
be there may be some bumps there. So I think, yeah,
I think he'd be a bit of a steal right now.
And I also think a lot of people are high
on them, so they're not a guaranteed steal. I had
an interesting feeling when we were doing the rankings and

(30:39):
was doing the research and I was reading about on
Hell Janeo or janew Place for Cleveland. I really didn't
see much of this guy last year and some falling
out with ranking and put him in number twenty two,
and like this, I'm gonna be the high guy on
him and people know she's true. What do you know
about him? And I'm lower than you, I'm lower than

(31:00):
the group. The group had him at sixteen, so that
a little bit behind the curve, not ahead of it.
I don't know that I'd be as aggressive as as sixteen,
but I really like you know what I see and
what he's done. Now you know last year over two
levels three thirty seventy nine, ninety nine slash, double digit

(31:20):
home lands, twenty five stolen bases, so a little pop
and some stolen bases, and the on base percentage is there.
Contact rates are are average. So forrob let me checked
probably the day I did a very high babbot that
was in the three seventies, so probably not sustainable, especially
with a forty eight fifty percent ground ball rate. So

(31:42):
you know, I'm not ready to anoint him the next
superstar yet by any means, but I think he's a
really interesting prospect in somebody who you know, I'm trying
to stash where I can with hopes of that takes off,
or if the hype takes off, you know, he'll be
somebody who can move in the trade and have something
actor as well. Obviously there is our group more notice

(32:05):
there than I thought. So had you known about him
before the ranking season or is he somebody you kind
of looked into this winner as well?

Speaker 4 (32:12):
Yeah, I was aware of him.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
I you make it think like I was that much
higher or that you were that much lower than me.
I had one spot ahead of you at twenty one,
so I'm not super high on him either, and that's
probably a bit knee jerk. So yeah, I was twenty one,
so not that much lower than what you did or

(32:35):
higher than what you did.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Drew, give me a little bit of card here. I am.
I'm aware of him, you know, I'm I have.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
An intrinsic now learned bias. I see I keep talking
about biases. I like this against the Cleveland Indians and
there what I like to term the their middle indfield
hit tool first factory. Brian Rochio was one of the
first ones that I thought was gonna be tools galore,

(33:04):
and wasn't then I had, you know, And it seems
like every year he's the first one that comes to
mind for me. But it seems like year after year
they have another one that's like, oh, this guy could
be the one that's gonna start hitting the ball in
the air and it's gonna actually, you know, be what
Lindor was before we let a walk or before we
traded him, I should say. And it's just the same

(33:27):
thing on repeat to me in my opinion.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
So, yeah, he can hit the ball.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
He might be very well, could be a viable middle
infielder in the major league, someone on our fantasy rosters.
But I'm just not jumping aboard his train. He hits
the ball fine, as he said, his batting his babbic
was a little elevated, but he's got enough speed that
that kind of makes sense. I'm just not jumping on him.

(33:56):
I'll leave him in the twenties.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
I like it there, Okay, yeah, yeah, I mean I
think he's appropriately ranked. Angel Martinez is another of that
kept from the same clock in Cleveland. Who and I
like the way he puts the bat and the ball,
but that's where it's staying. So and of course Stephen
Kwant is the post boy. What are we doing with
with Jet Williams? You and I had him higher than

(34:21):
the group group had him down in the nineteen so
I'm looking you had him eleven. I had him at fourteen,
so must most people had him from a lot lower.
Our colleague saying it's time to give up on him
looks like he that looks like I know he was
injured for a while last year. It was, you know,
sprained ankle, so it's something that's gonna come back. I
don't think it's going to hurt him in the long line.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
Well, at first there was his arrest though he had
a broken rest I believe it was at the beginning
of the year right right, and really sapped his season.
He started off poorly and never recovered from that. And
I think you know, the Mets were testing him. They
when he came back, they threw him up into Triple

(35:03):
A at the end of the year, even for a bit,
so they obviously believe in him. I think there's a
lot of hype around Jet Williams, mostly focused around his
speed and his defense because he can play shortstop, but
he also plays. They started playing him more in the outfield.

(35:24):
I'm chalking up last year's statistical outcome to injuries and
the pressure to perform as a twenty year old. While
you know, basically, oh man, they believe in me.

Speaker 4 (35:37):
I gotta do my best.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
I gotta, I gotta, I gotta press, press press. Relying
on the scouting grades and all these sort of eyeball
tests that also come up with Jet Williams, and that
he has the ability to play major League.

Speaker 4 (35:54):
Baseball and be a fantasy asset. I will I will say.

Speaker 3 (35:58):
One of the discussion points is his height, and I
don't you know, I talked about the eyeball testing. He
is listed at five foot six. Some people might even
say that's generous. I'm terrible at Judgie Knights. I would
making bad Carnie where you have to guess their height.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Bay.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
But and some of the discussion we had also said,
because he's short. It's not that I'm knocking him that
he's short, but because he's short, I want him to
start performing and hitting the ball with authority and then
I'll start ranking him higher. And I respect that, but
at the same time, I don't agree with it.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
I guess so.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
I think the Wan Soto signing, you know, doesn't necessarily
it might slow down his time, his timeline, you know.
I think there was some expectations that Jet Williams was
going to be on the Met's roster last year before
the injuries, So I think maybe, you know, he might
spend all of twenty five. It wouldn't surprise if he

(37:00):
repeats Double A, and I don't think that's any sort
of knock on him. He's still only going to be
twenty one until our twenty Oh no, he's twenty one.
He's he'll be twenty one all year and in Double A,
that's great. But if they send him to Triple A,
A okay, that also is fine. But I think it'll
be another minor league year for him. We'll probably be

(37:20):
discussing him as a prospect still, and hopefully we'll have
a full season's worth of data to sway one side
of this argument.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Yeah, I like to see that he was hitting the
ball in the air last year, so if the strength
does come or does come back, you know, the home
runs and the pot may maybe well return as well,
so you know, the the falloff is probably do we
probably you know, it's that injury more than you know,
hitting the ball on the ground or anything else. So yeah,
I was still pretty high on Do you have anybody

(37:50):
else on the list that you want to talk about
before we may move over to sneaky beeps? Oh? Man,
not really.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
I think we've touched on a lot of the guys
recently and today, so I think pretty good.

Speaker 4 (38:07):
I'm pretty well covered here.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
I think I don't want to say real quick that
Brandon Winnaker is eligible at shortstop, but we talked to
him about outfielder. Great article today from Brian Laboud on
our Prospect spotlight on brandon't Winnaker, So if you want
to learn more about him, you know, quick plug for
the TDG website and look at the Prospect out spotlight

(38:29):
that that he wrote that published it this afternoon.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
I can't I didn't read that article, but I can't
imagine it's anything negative because the Buds were high on
Winnaker a year ago and this past season was pretty
much as expected I think for him.

Speaker 4 (38:50):
So I'll have to check that article out.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Thank you. Yeah, if you're not high on en after
you read that article, you will be. So I've got
I've got one, and to our listeners, my last week
sneaky deep. I found out later my good friend Chris
here has on a whole bunch of rosters, So I
didn't really sneak that one past him, nor can I

(39:14):
pick him up. And the leagues we're in together, but
I'll find him someplace where him in some league. But
this week at shortstop, I'm looking at an eighteen year
old in the Minnesota system, a young man named Daiber
Delos Santos who was signing the Amateur draft of the
Dominican Republic in January of twenty four and he's, you know,

(39:36):
in the Twin system so far putting together some really
nice numbers. Now he's seventeen in the DSL last year,
so recognized, small sample, take with a grain of salt,
a lot of development yet to come. But what I see,
you know, five home runs and seventeen stolen bases in
the two hundred and three plate appearances the three oh
one to three four four sixty slash line. Not sure

(39:58):
that on the lidity of some of the other statistics
you get, you know, from that league. So it's his
contact rate is you know, around fifty percent. That can't
be accurate, or he's a very very very free swinger
because it's you know, there's not a you know, thirty
one percent strike up rates is high, so he probably
is a free Swingerbody else says walk great anyhow, potential

(40:20):
for power, speed or early signs of back to ball skills,
so very deep deepest the leagues to throw him on
a watch list, but in an effort to go uh,
deeper than deeper than you normally go. Kriss. That went
really far for this one, And partly because at so
many levels where I normally find these guys, you're already

(40:41):
known and shortstop is just a position that people know, right,
So it's hard to surprise somebody with a shortstop. So
don't again take that one with the green of salt
as well. But but I do like what I see
and that you know, didn't pull it at random.

Speaker 3 (40:56):
Yeah, he I do roster him in one of my
thirty teamers. I think, No, yeah, I think anyway, Yeah,
he is a free swinger, but he's toolsy as heck.
That strikeout rate is kind of concerning, No doubt about that,
but it'll be interesting, he'll be He's definitely a sneaky

(41:19):
deep He's a good one, and I would definitely start
watching listing him in all leagues probably just that way
you can be quick to jump one of the With
these international players who go who are in the DSL,
who likely might go to Complex this year, the hesitation

(41:40):
I have with some of them at this time in
the fantasy baseball world is just that Complex doesn't start
to well, I guess it starts May, now, doesn't it. Yeah, Okay,
well there goes part of my argument I was gonna
say is that having to wait till June, you want
to sit on some of these names and you're like, Okay,
this guy could pop, but.

Speaker 4 (42:00):
He doesn't start playing for another two months. So having
him start in May.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
Complex balls start in May, that is a definite boost.
So less time where you have to sit on there
and wait to see what happens, but you still have
to you know, the full season balls already started by then,
and so there is some twiddling and you got to
really believe in these guys sometimes. So that's why I'd
say watch list in the non deepest.

Speaker 4 (42:26):
Of leagues for sure.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
What you got.

Speaker 3 (42:30):
I went with I was actually almost anticipating you for
some reason. We're going to take him to Boston Barrow.

Speaker 4 (42:38):
With the New York.

Speaker 3 (42:39):
Mets, he played shortstop. He's listed in fan tracks a shortstop.
He probably won't end up in shortstop, so he's kind
of a cheat. But he was a draftee in twenty
twenty three, a third round.

Speaker 4 (43:00):
I think it was overslot by the Mets.

Speaker 3 (43:03):
Last year was his first year full year of pro ball.
You know, he played shorts up. Like I said, he
can play all over the dirt. He'll probably end up
being like a utility kind of guy. He's hit first, supposedly,
the guy's kind of skinny. The kid's kind of skinny.
He could definitely put on some weight. He reminds me
a little bit though, I guess of the scouting report

(43:24):
wise of James Treanto's at the Cubs or hit first.
But he's got some sneaky speed and potentially could bring
in some power. Trianto's hasn't really brought as much power
as I thought, and he ended up with more speed.

Speaker 4 (43:38):
Than I thought.

Speaker 3 (43:40):
But I see this kind of, you know, not slappy approach.
But he's definitely not a pole heavy guy right now,
and if he starts unlocking that a little bit, and
he's six foot, one hundred and seventy pounds is what
he's listed, and he kind of looks like that, so
he definitely has room from muscle too. Like I said,

(44:02):
I don't think he'll stick it short. If he los
a third, he'll be an interesting profile. But if he
losed a second, I think that would be worth more
vout fantasy value would be. But yeah, Boston Barrow is
my sneaky.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
Deep, good good calling a great name.

Speaker 3 (44:20):
Yeah, that is a really cool name.

Speaker 4 (44:21):
That is a that is a baseball name.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Let's move over to our dynasty rankings, the overall rankings
and talk about the Let's start with the top ten again,
which makes much more sense. In the bottom ten, Drew
So jumping right in, Bobby Witch, Junior Gunner Henderson, Ellie
De la Cruz, Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts, Corey Seger, Trey Turner,

(44:45):
c j Abrams, Willia Domas, and o'neio Cruz. Pretty similar
to to last year's. Last year we had Jackson, Holiday
and Bobachette in the top ten. They've fallen out. Jackson
position low down the seventeen, and I think our newcomers
include c J. Abrams, Willia Domas. CJ was eleven last year,

(45:07):
A Damas is eighteen, so they moved up. And so anyhow,
again consistency lobby with Junior. Is he making it easy
for us in new startup drafts? Is he guaranteed one one?

Speaker 3 (45:20):
I would say yes or hope that you're drafting with
whoever puts together the MLB dot Com shredder list.

Speaker 4 (45:30):
No, I think Gunner is a viable argument. I'll be honest.

Speaker 3 (45:35):
I would prefer Wit personally, and I would take what personally.
But Gunner is a darn awesome shortstop. And if you
quote unquote lose and get Gunner, you're still winning overall,
in my opinion, has a more complete fantasy game than Gunner.

(45:55):
Gunner might not also maintain shortstop eligibility right now now
they keep playing him there. I think Boris has a
lot of poll somehow, it seems like with that, but
I think that so anyway, we'll have more stolen bases
for you and get you more complete. Their offense might
not be quite as strong all around the Royals versus

(46:18):
the Orioles, but I don't think that the Royals is
too bad myself. So it's like A one, A one C.
I don't know, like not like super close neck and neck,
but they're darn They're darn close.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, I think so too, And I think, what's going
to get you the stolen bases more, I'm not that
worried about. He's at the top of the Royals lineup,
and you know, they've got good bats around him up there,
so he might not get the RBI opportunities from the
bottom half of the line up being a base when
he comes up, but he still manages to get a

(46:55):
good number of RBIs as well, So you know, I
think for in the future he's a he's a one,
and that's okay who he is, and it's fun to
be able to watch him. I'll play right now again,
kind of like the outfield are very strong. Top ten.
Nobody would really argue with how long are we keeping
Trade Turner in the top ten or do we think

(47:17):
this might be his last? Let's go with that.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
I'm not done with Trey Turner personally.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
This was what his second full year in Philadelphia, so
I guess.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
I don't really have the argument of post contract your
signing down, but you know it is approof It is
the fantasy type that you know, does speed oriented, will
your wheels run away from you faster than when you age?

(47:51):
So it's it could be the end of his dominance.
At shortstop. He's still bad and close to three he
still hit twenty plus homers. So I mean, if he's
maintaining this and it's a slow decrease, I could still
see him sticking around the top ten because some of

(48:12):
these names that you've already read off O'Neil Cruz likely
will not be on there next year. C. J Abrams.
I want to love him, and for the first three
or four months of the year.

Speaker 4 (48:30):
You know, he was even higher value.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
But that that late night gambling thing then where he
got demoted for the last week of the year or
something that's that hasn't left the back of my.

Speaker 4 (48:43):
Mind as far as his desire.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
And maybe that's you know, not fair. It very well
could be not fair.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
So I don't it's not like overruling everything, but it's.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
It wouldn't surprise me if he's our faller next year,
a big follower C.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
J Abrams.

Speaker 3 (49:02):
So time will tell there, But yeah, so Trey Turner.
I am not giving up on him yet.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
You know, it's going to talk about Abrams, but you know,
with Turner, first of all, what I think. I don't
think the stolen bases are going to come back with
Turner and whether it's you know, age thirty two is
not terribly old, but it is when stats starts to decline.
And also from a health perspective, he just may not
run as much, but he's got great bat skills. I

(49:32):
think the powers still there. You get the twenty home runs,
but without that elite stolen base number you get from him.
I just don't know how long he stays in the
top ten because that's kind of you know, what he
brought with that power speed combo and then just as
he's turnering that corner you know, in life. I think

(49:54):
he's I like the old guys on fantasy rosters. I
think he's a really good player to have on a run.
I just think that, you know, this might be the
last year we're talking about him, you know, in the
top ten. And yeah, I hope I'm wrong. I really
like the guy, and I don't know, I like I
like watching the Phillies too well. They're an exciting team,
so so I root for him, but I just I

(50:16):
just see some science that can go. I'm not quite
sure what we really valued about him are going to
be there.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
I will say though, he sorry, he still was in
the ninety six percentile for sprint speed last year. Opportunities. Yeah,
maybe they're turning off the green light. Perhaps that's what
it is. But I think he's still can run. So sorry,
I just wanted to try and share that pit.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
I like.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
I like how we're on a on an older player.
I like how we're you know, a nice little juxtaposition
from our usual takes.

Speaker 4 (50:47):
I dig it.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
Yeah, and I actually had Abram's page up as well
to talk about him. You know, he's got all this
potential that we've we've talked about. I will say the
people I have as well. Well, it's not twenty home
runs thirty so and bases twenty thirty is not bad,
but the LBP of three fourteen is not good. He's
you know, kind of a a bit of a spring

(51:08):
free swinger. Would want to see better contact skills. This
may be who he is, you know. I think the
concept of the of the potential, uh, you know, the
eighty great speed is one thing, but the hits tool
isn't living up to what scouts projected for him. And
he's been in the majors for three years, and granted

(51:30):
he was young but still twenty when we got called up,
but young, but that part of his game hasn't progressed
as much as I kind of thought it would. So
I think, for a lot of reasons, including possibly on
the maturity level that you were talking about, this is
going to be a big year for him. I'm not
going to argue with you when you say he's potential

(51:51):
to be the big one we're talking about sliding next year,
because that that could very well be him.

Speaker 4 (51:57):
I will say, though, yeah, grade speed.

Speaker 3 (52:01):
Since I had stack cast up right away, I looked
at his because I remember Abrams was, yeah, like an
eighty hit tool in an or a seventy hit tool
and an eighty grade speed guy coming through if I
remember right. And his sprint speed was only in the
eighty first percentile, which is not even that doesn't even
align with the the you know, the scout's assessment of

(52:24):
his speed, So you know, he may have been an
over a scout estimation, but at the same time, a
twenty thirty line on a non full season. That's not
too shabby. Is it top ten worthy? That's debatable depending
on what we're looking at long you know what his

(52:44):
competition is. But if he repeats last year, I think
he's got to stick in the top ten. It's more
or less does he maintain in my opinion, do you.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
Move on to the next level.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
I'm always ready, all right.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
We had starting at eleven, Matt McClay, Anthony Volpi, zach Neto,
Christian Campbell, Mason Wynn, Carlos Korea, Bobashet, the Dallas Debrees,
Sebastian Walcott, and Ezekiel Tovar, so a few of the
names you talked about in a minute ago. With the prospects,
I think it's fund to see Campbell that high how

(53:17):
I had him overall, but the group really was ready
to annoint him that high. So well, we talked about
him for a long time, so wen't really talk about that.
I speaking of old guys. Can we talk for a
minute about Carlos Carrea? And you need to tell me
if I'm having ridiculous thoughts here and or is there
something there? But he's he's not yet thirty, Chris, I

(53:44):
know he's had some injury issues, but the pantrofasciotis that
shortened the season last year is something great, painful when
you have it, but something that is fixable. And he
put up some great numbers when he was healthy last year.
His slash line was three ten, three eighty eight, five seventeen.

(54:04):
That's over three hundred and sixty seven played appearances. So
in more than half a season with the fourteen home months,
you get no stolen base or something, but you never did.
And he seems to be happy in Minnesota for what
that's worth. And big increase from twenty twenty three where
you put up the two thirty three twelve teen ninety nine.

(54:26):
So I think he's back. I think he's going to
be a real fantasy stud for some teams. You're picking
him up. We're in a fifteen team league and he's
your short step one, I think you're still okay. Gosh,
if you're in league where noboy's paying attention to him,
he's your middle infielder and one of these other guys
is a shortstop, then you're really really doing okay in

(54:47):
my opinion. The group didn't agree as far as the ranking.
The rankings reveal rankings veal that you would have some
questions about that as well. So what are your thoughts here?

Speaker 3 (54:57):
Well, actually, I am somewhat surprised looking at his games
played that he was in the one thirties or above
three out of the last four years.

Speaker 4 (55:07):
I would have in my head.

Speaker 3 (55:09):
Thought that would have been not as consistently high. Right,
So that that is I'll agree with you there. Yeah,
he's you know, he's the vanilla of shortstops. He'll get
your twenty when healthy, he get your twenty mid twenties homers.
He'll get your runs and RBIs, but he won't get

(55:29):
you any stolen bases. And he's you know, a lunchbox
type I guess in that regard as long as he's
going to as long as he's showing up to work
that day. So yeah, he's not flashy fifteen teamer. Yeah
he's got value, but as you said, he's not a
number one target for me. And he's he's that kind

(55:52):
that you don't mind rostering when you have the Christian
Campbell's or the Jordan Lawlers or you know, ready to
sell been at any moment, hopefully.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
Anybody in that group you want to spot out about
You know, I.

Speaker 3 (56:06):
Like Mason will win, probably more after putting together the
ranks than I did. I remember when he was coming through,
he was a you know, a he was fast, and
I don't think quite you know the eighty grade that
we were talking about with Abros.

Speaker 4 (56:23):
But darn close to it.

Speaker 3 (56:25):
He was a converted pitcher, so he's gonna he's got
like a missile of an arm so he can stay
at shortstop there. But I was pleasantly surprised with his
power output last year of fifteen homers. I don't think
that will increase, but his eleven stolen base as will.
I think Mason is kind of like a CJ. Abrams

(56:46):
light current state CJ. Abrams Light, you know where Abrams
was a twenty and thirty guy. You know, we're talking
to fifteen and thirty guy. I think with Mason win
and I think I actually also just remember reading something
where Wynn was talking about he wanted to be more
aggressive on the base paths this year. So yeah, we

(57:07):
had win at fifteen, but he could he could be
a creeper next year, I think, and pop him up
a bit.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
Yeah, I'm not I have trouble buying in to win him,
and you know, early on, I just had the feeling
that he was just going to be, you know, an
average major league shortstop, which is something, but wasn't really
going to be a huge fantasy asset. And he's overperformed
what my early expectations were for him. I never would

(57:35):
have predicted, you know, the fifteen whole months he had
last year. I think, you know, would have been surprised
by double digits. Going back to twenty one, twenty two,
and then twenty three in the minors, he started showing
some pop and more so last year as well. I
just you know, if he's you know, has a good
contact race, So if he keeps putting the bat on
the ball and that power is there and develops a

(57:55):
little bit more, yeah, he probably deserves to be even
higher in my life at least, and probably higher on
our list as well. I think that we got potential
to climb. If you're in the leagues like me, you
might be attainable. I know I've picked him up this
offseason for you know, I don't recall giving up that
much to get him. I think a lot of people

(58:17):
do look past him, but it's he's an interesting player
to evaluate, particularly from a fantasy perspective, because I think
he always will be a little bit more valuable on
the field. But I think he's going to surprise some people.
But he brings the fantasy rosters as well. You mentioned
Jeremy Payya before, who I really like, and I hope

(58:38):
his rookie year wasn't his career year. I know we
talked about adulas last year and that can get his
career year again. I don't think we've seen Jeremy Payne's
career year, but maybe we have. You know, took year
he had the twenty two home runs. This year he
had fifteen, got back over over twenty stolen bases, career

(58:58):
high in stolen bases this year year low OVP doesn't
doesn't walk ever a three twenty percent walk creators about
as though as you're going to see it doesn't strike
don a lot either as well. So I don't know
what's going on with with the lineup he's in, But
you know, I don't know. Just as I look over this,
I probably get, you know, again sect into what he did.

(59:21):
Is his rookie year overvalued that? But you have we
seen the best at jeram opinion or do you think
there's there's going to be more to them.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
That might be his career year, but I don't think
it's not. I think it's repeatable, you know, more of
a plateau type than a peak type career year.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
How's that Okay?

Speaker 4 (59:43):
Yeah, he's kind of the jack of all, master of
none type.

Speaker 3 (59:50):
He's one of those again that he's gonna keep playing
and you're fine to roster him. But he's not your
your dream middle infielder. But if you got him as
a rookie as a prospect, heck, yeah, you're super happy
because you got him dirt cheap because he was ignored
on all lists almost or you know, deep on most lists,

(01:00:11):
and so.

Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
And he's and he's played well.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
You know, twenty three was kind of the admiration I
think more than Yeah. I think that's a good way
of putting it. Twenty three was the outlier more so
than twenty two.

Speaker 4 (01:00:24):
How's that?

Speaker 3 (01:00:25):
His sophomore season? I think it was the worst, will
be his career low. So yeah, I don't have huge
expectations of Jeremy Penya if I was a roster him,
but I'm not upset if he If I walk away
from a draft and he's my shortstop, good.

Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
Thing up you want to talk about, you know.

Speaker 4 (01:00:55):
Zach Netto.

Speaker 3 (01:00:56):
I think got kind of ignored a lot for or
maybe I shouldn't say getting ignored. I think people are
really downplaying his delayed starts here. He just went twenty
twenty without twenty thirty part of me, without playing any

(01:01:16):
games in the minor leagues, essentially, and this is his
third year, second year in the pros, in the majors.

Speaker 4 (01:01:24):
So I think he's another one that it was a
surprising twenty thirty season. Hopefully he can recover from it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
And you know, the thirty I think was the surprising part,
not the twenty home runs. Twenty three home runs. So
it's a shoulder surgery he's recovering from. He will likely
have a delayed start to the year, but I don't
think that, you know, it's going to be too impactful
to his overall season or his you know, his dynasty outlook.
So that's someone where I think if your league mate

(01:01:58):
is shopping him around, I think he's a good opportunity
right now.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
So I wanted to mention that though, yeah, I'm glad
you did. I know I'm one of the lower ones
on him and probably for a lot of reasons that
you mentioned him mentioned, but I also know a lot
of a lot of people at TG are very high
on him and and you know, argue very strongly when
I when I ask the questions, you know what you

(01:02:24):
guys seeing that I'm not. So I think there's a
you know, the the picture you just painted is very
you know, pretty accurate, and I think he's somebody who
And you're right, it's like less than fifty games in
the minors total, so you know, the angel is going
to Angel is more than just a joke. They really
do move these guys up and up quickly, and I

(01:02:46):
think that's going to lead to slow starts for some
of them. And I think that fantasy owners are notoriously impatient,
and so yeah, you're You're right. I think he's going
to be attainable looking for him in the right league.
All right, good talk, Yeah, Yeah, I think that about

(01:03:07):
wraps it up on short stop. I think we could
talk for hours and hours on a position. It's a
strong position, in a deep position, and a lot of
names that are really well known. But hopefully we'll be
able to share some insights that are everybody. So Chris
and the final words, No, sir. Hopefully next time we talk,
I will be.

Speaker 4 (01:03:28):
Free of this cold.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
Yeah, I come back healthy and refreshed. Hopefully have a
great week. And to everybody listening, hope you have a
great week as well. Thank you for your time. I
know your time is valuable, and we thank you for
spending some of us some of it with us. So
thank you for being here. And again, don't keep all
this good stuff to yourself. Tell your friends that we're

(01:03:52):
here and we'll look forward to bringing you more great
information next week. Take care. Everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
Join the Ranks is produced and edited I Drew Klein.
Content research by Chris Knock and Drew Klein. The executive
director of the Dynasty Guru is Taylor Case Intro and out.
Your voiceovers provided by Coulson Probst unless otherwise noted. The
host's rankings and opinions are their own, and, as is
painfully obvious, Chris and Drew do not share their player
lists prior to recording.

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