Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / Episode 53 Part I Feat. Owen Hurd - Post MLB Trade Deadlne, Twins Firesale, MLB Draft Analysis

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Episode 53 Part I Feat. Owen Hurd - Post MLB Trade Deadlne, Twins Firesale, MLB Draft Analysis · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

0:26
Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
0:28
Twisted podcast. We have a guest in here who
0:30
who's who has his expertise in talking some debt from Scout
0:35
stat line, Owen heard. Welcome to the show.
0:39
Just let everybody else know what you do and everything else.
0:43
Yeah, thanks. Thank you all for having me,
0:45
guys. First and foremost, looking
0:46
forward to this episode. Yeah, I'm with got the stat line
0:50
mostly. A lot of my work in this space
0:53
now is hosting fantasy baseball and prospect advice prospect
0:57
rankings on X. You can find me there at Owen
1:00
under score FBB. If you give me a follow, that'd
1:02
be greatly appreciated. And yeah, that's that's what I'm
1:04
up to right now. Great.
1:07
Thanks for joining us. We're looking forward to this
1:09
episode and we're excited to be talking about everything
1:13
baseball. It's been an interesting season,
1:15
interesting trade deadline, lots of prospects shifting hands and
1:19
me and Rocky are both fantasy players, man.
1:22
So we're we're we're definitely down for that angle too.
1:24
So thanks for joining us, man. Yeah, absolutely.
1:27
Thank you all for having me. All right, so the trade deadline
1:32
was one wild day on on deadline day.
1:36
And to me, I think in my opinion is one of the most historic
1:40
trade deadlines in my lifetime. And the reason why I say that is
1:44
because there's so many prospects that were dealt as so
1:47
many big names, especially the closer than the market was
1:49
inflated. No one is.
1:50
The first question I want to ask you is who had the biggest
1:57
return in the trade deadline and how do you how do you look at it
2:02
and what team you would you say benefited the most?
2:07
Yeah, so I, I was, I was looking at this more as kind of on on
2:10
the buyer side when I was kind of decided these just these are
2:13
the guys you can kind of see those kind of immediate returns
2:15
where prospects, you know, we, we know, we know kind of how
2:18
they're ranked, how they're, how they might be valued, whether
2:21
publicly or kind of buy outlets. But so for me, two that have
2:26
stood out to me initially were the Padres and the Yankees.
2:29
Padres more aggressive than any other team, improved more in any
2:32
other area, in my opinion. Loriano and Ryan O'hearn
2:35
addressed outfield holes for them, obviously a big splash
2:38
with Mason Miller sending top five near top five.
2:42
Consensus prospect Leo Devries back the other way.
2:46
And the Yankees to me were another one I really liked.
2:48
Early returns from the bullpen haven't looked so good, but I
2:51
think to get 3 controllable back end relievers with David Bednar,
2:55
Camila Duvall, and Jake Bird without diving into top
2:58
prospects or young controllable MLB pieces was really good
3:01
business by them. Also upgraded third base with
3:04
Ron McMahon and got a nice bench bat and Jose Caballero.
3:07
So those were two teams to me that I thought did went really
3:10
well on the return side for the deadline.
3:13
So let me mention about two other teams and and you know,
3:16
they're both from the and Elisa. It seems like it was a boxing
3:19
match when they made deals back-to-back.
3:22
Who do you think benefited more in that trade other because it
3:24
seems like they had similar needs they had to address in
3:27
similar players. They were targeted the Mets and
3:31
the Phillies, right? You saw what the Phillies had to
3:34
go give up to go get a guy like Joanne Duran.
3:37
And then a lot of people were surprised about the Mets package
3:42
deal for Tyler Rogers from the San Francisco Giants.
3:45
And, and they also on top of that, they was also responded
3:48
getting Ryan Helsley. And so how did you look at those
3:52
teams? Who do you think benefited the
3:53
most and who has a better advantage within those two
3:57
teams? Yeah, no, I, I, I lean the
4:00
Phillies right now really just because of how big of a glaring
4:04
issue the bullpen has been for them this season.
4:07
They're bullpen ERA 4.44. That's bottom 10 in the league.
4:11
They've kind of shuffled closers.
4:12
They haven't really had an established guy of Joan Duran's
4:17
caliber or that kind of dominant shutdown guy that you can turn
4:20
to in the 9th inning with confidence.
4:21
So I thought really just from a whole perspective and in terms
4:25
of looking, I think you could argue the Mets did more to
4:29
improve their bullpen. But I think when looking at the
4:32
much bigger hole that it was for the Phillies, I would give them
4:35
the edge and getting Joan Duran over the Mets and getting
4:37
Housley and Tyler Rogers. So there was a lot of
4:42
underwhelming factors to this deadline too.
4:46
Which teams would you say had the most underwhelming deadline
4:49
from their perspectives? Yeah, I mean, the three that
4:53
really disappointed me were the Braves, Red Sox and Angels.
4:57
Looking at the Braves, the the rotation has been ravaged by
5:01
injuries this year. This Simply put, was not going
5:04
to be their year. And I think there was no reason
5:07
to hold pat on racial Iglesias, especially given the market for
5:11
believers, as we kind of saw with some of those other names
5:13
being moved as well as Marcel Ozuna.
5:15
I know he did have 10-5 rights, but I think those were two
5:19
pieces right there. They kind of went the, you know,
5:22
a complete 180 of what the Orioles did and kind of
5:25
capitalizing on those kind of expiring rental deals and
5:28
looking towards the future. So the Braves were one.
5:30
I think this was not a deadline at which they had any reason to
5:33
stand pat. The Red Sox were another one
5:36
extremely disappointing. This is a team that should have
5:39
been much bigger buyers than they were.
5:41
Steven Matz is fine Added added a needed left-handed option to
5:45
the bullpen, but the rotation needed more than a Dustin May,
5:50
who I, I, I think is, you know, in that same tier of a, you
5:54
know, Kyle Harrison, Richard Fitz type, who they already had
5:58
in the system. So I think a true number two,
6:00
number three was what they really needed.
6:02
And then the Angels were another one.
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I, I, I really did not understand their approach at
6:08
all. This is not they're not a
6:09
playoff team. In my opinion.
6:11
I don't think it made any sense to not really look to capitalize
6:14
on Kenley Jansen and Taylor Ward, to name a couple who could
6:18
have brought back solid returns that could have maybe given them
6:22
a better chance next year. But I just don't think that the
6:25
buying route with adding, I believe it was Luis Garcia and
6:29
Andrew Chaffin is going to be that is going to be that move
6:32
that gets him into a wild card spot.
6:35
Do you think the Cubs did enough?
6:37
Because we knew that they were in a dire need for starting
6:41
pitcher and they they got Soroka, but I think he's injured
6:44
again, unfortunately. And you know, there was rumors
6:48
about Owen Casey being in a deal for for a certain amount of
6:52
pictures that were available that did not get dealt.
6:56
Do you think the Cubs had a good trade outline or do you think
6:58
they had an underwhelming trade outline?
7:01
Definitely on the underwhelming side for me.
7:04
I think to their defense, they are in kind of a tough spot with
7:08
and having Ian and I'll Tucker both both free agents in the
7:12
near future. And you know, Casey is kind of,
7:14
you know, if you trade him, who's going to be that kind of
7:17
death or that kind of contingency plan should they
7:19
both kind of price themselves out in free agency.
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But I do think they were far too stingy with some of their
7:24
prospects. It was reported that Boises by a
7:26
stereos was off the table. I do think at some point there
7:29
is a balance between protecting those prospects who you view as
7:33
those potential future MLB contributors to team and being
7:37
able to push the chips and get aggressive.
7:39
We don't know what the future is like for Kyle Tucker.
7:41
This was the year to go all in and they Simply put, didn't do
7:44
that. Willie Castro was a fine ad
7:46
utility player who can play all over the place.
7:49
But I think definitely agree on the pitching side that they
7:52
really did not do enough. Michael Sorka had some fine had
7:55
had some interesting under the radar numbers, the expected
7:59
stash, the peripherals were a lot better than the performance
8:01
so far. The last few starts, though the
8:04
Velo hasn't been there. He hasn't shown an ability to go
8:07
deep into starts. I do think that, you know, this
8:10
was really the deadline and which I, I, I think they needed
8:13
to go all in and I think they were far too stingy with some of
8:16
their top prospects even looking outside of ONKC.
8:19
Did you think? Well, well, the bigger question
8:21
is who had the most surprising trade?
8:24
Because there was a whole bunch of trades that I did not expect
8:28
to happen. But in your eyes, you could say
8:31
multiple trades if you want, But what was the most surprising
8:34
trade? If you had to, if you had to say
8:37
the, the, the one that's like, Oh my God, that, that trade, I
8:41
was like, who expected that? And and if whether other teams
8:45
were willing to do that deal or or even mentioned the players
8:48
that were surprisingly traded. Yeah, I mean, I, I, I think the
8:53
really the only answer to this one for me is Mason Miller to
8:55
San Diego. That one just kind of floored
8:57
me. We've heard his name kind of
9:00
thrown around and trade rumors the past couple years.
9:02
But I think I kind of found it hard to believe personally that
9:06
an elite reliever with 4 1/2 seasons of club control would
9:09
get dealt for the package that it would cost and that a team
9:12
would pony that up. And, you know, I, I, I mean,
9:15
it's, it's almost, it's very AJ Preler like to deal a top five
9:20
consensus potential superstar shortstop in Leo Devries.
9:24
You know, Braden, that's a really interesting arm as well.
9:27
Henry Baez is another solid pitching prospect to move that
9:30
kind of package for Mason Miller.
9:32
That 1 was definitely one of the very surprising moves for me.
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And that, you know, you just we just don't kind of see, you
9:38
know, elite closers with that much control remaining get dealt
9:41
with the trade deadline. So that was definitely one that
9:44
really stood out to me. And I think this has both both
9:48
some very interesting long term implications for the Padres.
9:50
Do they stretch out Mason Miller?
9:52
What is the plan for him? And then I think this is a
9:55
potentially franchise altering return for the A's.
9:57
And no, I would not have passed up on this if I were them.
10:01
What were your thoughts on on the Louis Varlen trade?
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Because to me that was surprising also moving a guy
10:07
with six years of control, including this year, another
10:10
five years, a top fit pre ARP guy and a lot of Twins fans you
10:15
notice were were quite upset about that deal.
10:17
So what were your thoughts on that trade?
10:20
Yeah, I mean, I, I thought that was a really good trade, really
10:23
good, really good trade for the Blue Jays to get a reliever of
10:27
Arlen's caliber for the back end of that pen.
10:29
I mean, the the fastball's good. Keeps the ball on the ground,
10:34
not really dominant from a strikeout with perspective, but
10:38
you know, he he limits the damage and he gets the job done.
10:40
I think, you know, getting between Vorland and Sir Anthony
10:43
Dominguez, those were two really good ads for that bullpen that
10:46
kind of needed needed some needed those kind of established
10:49
7th 8th inning guys in front of Jeff Hoffman.
10:52
So really solid get I like to deal a lot.
10:55
I mean, I think, you know, to part with to part with, you
10:59
know, a top 100 ish prospect in Kendry Rojas and a solid
11:02
outfielder and Allen Roden. It's I mean, I think compared to
11:06
some of the other reliever costs, that's fairly minimal
11:10
compared to what some of the other packages were getting
11:12
back. So I think it was a great, great
11:15
opportunity to capitalize by the Blue Jays there get get, you
11:18
know, Louis Varland. It was two more years of pre R,
11:20
but you know, a league minimum salary and you don't really just
11:23
kind of kind of question what the Twins are thinking there to
11:26
move somebody who is going to be that cheap for them for the next
11:30
two seasons. So what was your what, what
11:32
would you say was your most favorite trade in?
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In a deadline that had so many great prospects move so many
11:40
great players, what was your favorite trade?
11:44
Yes, I'm going to go to a bit one that I think is kind of
11:47
flown under the radar bit and that was the Royals getting 2
11:51
controllable starters and Ryan Burgett and Steven Kolek for
11:54
Freddie for Mean. I think that was a sneaky under
11:56
the radar trade that could pay big dividends for them.
11:59
Both Burgett and Kolek fit mol to pitchers they've done
12:01
extremely well with at the price, but defensive first
12:04
catcher with, you know, a well below league average baton for
12:08
mean. So I I I think that was a very
12:11
good get for the Royals. You know, we've seen what we've
12:13
seen what kind of starting pitchers, even even kind of back
12:17
end starters with control can do on the trade market, especially
12:20
as a late. So I think that was a really
12:22
good get for them. Also potentially opens a spot
12:24
for top catching prospect Carter Jensen.
12:26
So I thought that was a really good move by them to deal from
12:30
an organizational position of strength and add a couple arms
12:33
that you know, I think could really click with their pitching
12:36
development. Do you think the Royals did
12:38
enough to say because they made moves that they look like
12:42
they're they were in it to win it?
12:44
Like do you think with those players acquisitions they they
12:48
made, they made quite a quite, quite a bit of shift there?
12:51
So you think the Royals could be a contender these next two
12:55
months? I don't, I, I think this was
12:59
more kind of a trade of opportunity rather than a push
13:02
the chips and kind of trade. They're 500 right now, nine
13:05
games back in a very weak AL Central.
13:10
I just don't, I, I, I don't see them even getting kind of a
13:13
third wild card spot. You know, definitely, I'll
13:17
definitely sure, you know, Cole Reagan's is going to be back
13:20
eventually. That could definitely change
13:22
that. But I just don't yeah, I, I
13:24
don't think this is a team that's going to get into that
13:26
wild card spot this year. So I thought, I didn't think it
13:29
was more of a trade as you know, oh, we're going to push our
13:31
chips and I think it was more of a, you know, we've got a top
13:34
catching prospect coming who are going to need to make room for
13:36
eventually. We've had some injuries to our
13:38
pitching staff this year and I think those are a very, very
13:41
good trade of opportunity there. The next question is probably
13:46
was the topic of the town and that was the Minnesota Twins
13:50
going on a fire sale. I said earlier in the season
13:54
that I didn't predict the Twins potentially going on a sale
13:57
because of their whole ownership and their financial depth and
14:00
all, but not this. Like when you look at the
14:04
players they're traded was 40% of the roster. 10 players was
14:08
traded at the Twins for the Twins at this trade deadline.
14:12
And man, it was unbelievable. And looking at where they're at,
14:17
where they stand and the way they got in return, like like
14:21
what is going on? Like what is what was on your
14:23
mind and the floor is yours. Because I know this was a big
14:25
conversation for a lot of people overall.
14:32
Yeah, no, I mean, I think it this, this was definitely one
14:36
that, you know, I, I think a lot, I think going in, I was
14:39
like, yeah, I think the twins could really sell, but
14:42
definitely to the extent that they did definitely surprised me
14:45
quite a bit. I mean, I, I I to me, I just
14:49
don't like I I don't really see I I see more value in just I I
14:53
don't really see the value in paying Carlos Correa over 30
14:56
billion to leave and, you know, getting a no name prospect back.
15:00
You know, this was definitely definitely very financially
15:03
motivated. The John Duran return was
15:05
interesting. I like Eduardo Tait a good bit.
15:07
He's just outside my top 50 overall potential thirty home
15:10
run backstops, Really, really elite power at a young age while
15:15
playing against more advanced pitching in high a right now.
15:18
So I thought that return was good.
15:20
I mean, I Taj Bradley was an interesting get for Griffin
15:23
Jacks, but you know, I think the the the Varlins Korea trades
15:27
were two that I couldn't really kind of get my head around just
15:30
terms of, you know, why would you do that for the value that
15:33
you got back? Would you say that those were
15:37
the two trades that surprised you the most?
15:40
Their other deadline fire sale? I would say yeah, I would say
15:46
the the Varlands one definitely surprised me.
15:49
The you know, the the Duran Jacks, I kind of was leaning
15:52
more yes than no. Just given given the market for
15:55
relievers that the deadline and you know, with with that, with
15:59
the kind of the the ownership flux coming up, it kind of made
16:02
made sense in my opinion. But I do think definitely
16:06
Harrison Bader was another one. He was very unsurprising, pretty
16:09
much a New York lock in my opinion to get traded.
16:11
But yeah, I would say that I would say the Korea one, maybe
16:14
not so much in Korea getting dealt, but I guess just in, you
16:18
know, I, I guess in kind of the, the fashion that they did it.
16:21
I mean, he's not, you know, he's not the, the Carlos Correa that
16:24
they signed out of free agency originally.
16:28
But you know, I, I, I, I just don't really see the value in
16:31
getting a, you know, non top 30 prospect from one of the weakest
16:35
farm systems in baseball while also having to pay him 30 +
16:38
1,000,000 to get out the door. So what do you think this
16:42
direction goes with them? Do they continue to tear it down
16:45
completely because they still have Byron Buxton sign for
16:49
another like another few more years I believe right?
16:52
And I think he stated in the in the All Star game saying that he
16:57
he has a no trade clause and he's happy with the twins.
17:00
But looking at this now, like, do you think they're going to
17:03
have a conversation where they need to have a talk to?
17:07
Think like where you do you want to stay with the twins, retire
17:10
with the twins, or go on another direction and consider about
17:13
playing for another organization And then the twins have to go on
17:16
a complete terror. Yeah.
17:19
No, I mean, I do think that the direction is more long term
17:23
focused right now just in terms of both the kind of young upside
17:26
prospects that they targeted and kind of, you know, MLB ready
17:30
controllable pieces and Mick, Mick Abel and Taj Bradley being
17:34
a couple. A part of me also wonders and
17:36
kind of going after controllable young MLB ready starting
17:40
pitching. Kendry Rojas is another one
17:42
could be a rotation option for them as soon as late the season
17:46
early next season. I kind of wonder if this was
17:49
kind of a contingency for potential Joe Ryan trade this
17:52
offseason. We'll see.
17:54
But I, I, I would not, I would not expect the the the kind of
17:58
big, big ticket trades to be done in Minnesota.
18:01
But I think Byron, Byron Buxton is an interesting one because he
18:05
does have no trade clause. He stated that he stated that he
18:09
doesn't want to be traded. I think like looking at looking
18:12
at it his like salary wise, I mean, it's fine in my opinion
18:15
for, you know, accounting for his injury history and when he's
18:20
on the field and that, you know, I, I, I, I think it's really
18:24
going to come down to, you know, his, I think his salary is
18:27
pretty modest for his talent, even considering you're getting
18:30
maybe 100 games out of him on a good season.
18:33
But yeah, I, I, I do kind of wonder whether it will get to
18:38
that point with kind of, you know, what they, what we've seen
18:41
so far in the trades, they've made trading Sean Duran and
18:44
Griffin Jacks over slight bumps and arbitration, if it will come
18:47
to that with Byron Buxton, where they're talking with him and
18:51
they're like, you know, we have no intention of, we have no
18:54
intention of paying your salary and trying to convince him to
18:57
waive that no trade clause. So I'm riding back from from an
19:02
appointment on on trade deadline morning and Rocky calls me on
19:05
the phone and he's like, we got to run a space on Twitter.
19:09
The Blue Jays are about to trade for Bieber.
19:12
And so and I see you tweet, you tweeted about this.
19:17
So I wanted to ask you about what you thought about.
19:21
And he was good in his first rehab start with the Jays.
19:23
So I wanted to ask you about what you thought about this
19:27
trade overall from not only the Blue Jays perspective, but from
19:31
a Guardians perspective, and how do you think that it could
19:34
impact the Blue Jays down the stretch?
19:38
Yeah, I mean, I I would originally I didn't love the
19:41
deal for Toronto. I've kind of come around a
19:43
little bit especially I I, I think Steven for me would have
19:48
been better served going after a more controllable rotation
19:51
option. But I think Bieber could be an X
19:54
Factor down the stretch for them.
19:55
He does have does have a year and a half left.
19:58
So I think it is kind of worth the risk that, you know, maybe
20:01
he's not 100% coming off the injury down the stretch this
20:03
year, but you know, a full you can get a full season of them
20:06
next year. The view.
20:08
Looked good in his latest rehab start.
20:09
He's up to 95, but the fastball, which was super encouraging to
20:12
see believe that's the highest he's been since 2020.
20:15
So that was super I, I would be super encouraged about that.
20:19
I think now I've kind of I'm kind of at you know, it was I I
20:22
like it for both sides. You know, I think in from the,
20:26
the guardians perspective, you know, getting, getting, you
20:30
know, a prospect of Stevens caliber, who is in my opinion, a
20:33
back end top 100 guy for what could be a, a rental starter is
20:37
fine, fine value for them. I don't, I, I kind of understand
20:41
it in that, you know, he was, he was going to make I, I believe
20:45
it was, I believe he has like a, a $16,000,000 player option
20:49
after next season. You know, I think it kind of got
20:52
to that point where it just got expensive for them.
20:54
And so I think it, I think it was a good bit of business for
20:56
both teams. So which seller had an impactful
21:03
trade deadline or sellers itself?
21:04
Because you saw that it was a seller's market and you saw what
21:08
the return is for a bunch of team.
21:10
You know, the one team that surprised me the most was the
21:13
Giants end up being sellers. Because thinking that and and
21:16
knowing that when you get a guy like Rafael Devers and he was
21:20
traded in mid June and that that blew, blew up social media and
21:24
the MOB world, getting a guy like him, I was like, OK, we're
21:28
going to be in that divisional race with the Dodgers and the
21:30
Padres, but they ended up being sellers.
21:32
But overall, who would you think benefited the the most?
21:38
And you could say more than one team as a seller.
21:42
Yeah, I mean, I think the a lot of them are kind of mixed in my
21:46
opinion. The Giants, who you brought up
21:48
did really well on the title Rogers deal, in my opinion.
21:51
Camila Duvall was a really questionable sell for them at
21:54
the return that they got. So I think the one that really
21:58
stands out for me as who did the best among sellers right there
22:02
with that, right there with the A's is the Orioles.
22:04
They capitalized on their rentals and Ryan O'hearn and
22:07
Ramon Laureano added to farm system death and, you know, kept
22:10
their controllable pieces in their young core intact.
22:13
They'll need to be more aggressive on the starting
22:14
pitcher market this offseason. We've seen kind of last year
22:18
going going out, going to kind of cheaper out and signing these
22:21
kind of these cheap low cost veteran options is not the
22:24
answer to that rotation, especially while they still have
22:28
that that core of kind of gunner holiday badly.
22:33
Now we've seen kind of we've seen Kobe Mayo get some flashes.
22:36
Jordan Westberg. I think I don't have a ton of
22:38
questions about the line up, but I do think that this offseason
22:41
will be very telling for them. But they got some good pieces
22:44
back. I really Tyson neighbors is
22:47
really good get. He's someone who could who could
22:50
contribute, who could contribute to that bullpen.
22:52
You know, as soon as late this season early next season.
22:56
Boston Bateman was he was somebody who is trending close
23:00
to top 100 status for me, so also a really good piece to get
23:04
back for them. So yeah, I think the Orioles
23:06
were definitely one when looking at kind of the full picture of
23:10
the seller side, they were definitely the the seller that
23:12
impressed me the most in their return.
23:17
So shifting to the 2025 draft a little bit and it, it was a
23:23
pretty deep, deep draft class in my opinion, with the top 8 picks
23:27
pretty much being interchangeable.
23:28
You know, you didn't really know what was going to happen.
23:31
So what were some of your favorite draft picks in that
23:34
class? Yeah, I mean, definitely,
23:38
immediately. Kate Anderson falling to #3 with
23:40
the Mariners is kind of a dream scenario.
23:43
He was, in my opinion, the best college arm in the class and
23:46
somebody that I had picked to go 11.
23:48
So I think to get him a #3 also get him under slot, he's got 3/3
23:52
plus pitches as a lefty. He's somebody who can move
23:55
quickly. And you know, the Mariners track
23:58
record when it comes to pitching really speaks for itself.
24:00
So that was one really loved that fit.
24:04
JoJo Parker with the Blue Jays was another one I really liked.
24:07
I really like to kind of hit power combo from a prep bat
24:11
still, still kind of a ways away, but he's somebody for me
24:15
really likes kind of that the route they did with that pick.
24:18
Kyson Witherspoon with the Red Sox was another one I really
24:20
liked. I believe, I want to say 15
24:24
overall. He's I thought was one of the
24:27
more kind of underrated kind of college owners in the class.
24:31
He is kind of a kind of an interesting, interesting
24:33
delivery, but I like the stuff, especially the secondaries.
24:36
Charles Davalon with LA, he was another one I liked.
24:40
I think that the hit tool was one of the best in the class.
24:42
Believed like his own contact rate was 93% if I'm getting that
24:46
right. He's not a big guy, 58170, but
24:49
he's got some pop. I think he can hit 15 to 18 home
24:52
runs and he's got some good speed too.
24:54
So especially for fantasy, Charles Davilan is somebody that
24:57
I'd be targeting maybe with a round two FYPD pick, but he's
25:01
somebody I really like. Quentin Young as well with the
25:04
Twins in the second round, he's got some big time power for 3rd
25:07
baseman. He's got the arm to stick 1/3.
25:10
The hit tool is definitely questioned, but he put up E VS I
25:13
want to say as high as 1/19 at the combine.
25:15
So I think it's seventy grade at least raw power with a good arm
25:20
at third. I think it's it's a profile I
25:22
like from 1/3 baseman and a prep bat.
25:25
So we'll see. We'll see how much that we'll
25:27
see if the hit tool can be average.
25:29
And that's definitely going to be key to kind of what kind of
25:31
big leaguer he is. But really liked that pick.
25:34
And then Mitch Voigt with the Mets was another one that I
25:37
really liked. I think he, he kind of reminds
25:41
me he, he, to me, I think he could be a reverse Nolan McLean,
25:46
if that makes sense. He was focused on kind of
25:49
pitching and hitting in 2024, underwent arm surgery.
25:52
Then he's just focusing on hitting.
25:53
He cut the he cut the strikeout rate by nearly 10%, down from
25:57
22.7 to 13%. The walk rate nearly doubled up
26:00
to over 15 percent, 346-470-1668.
26:04
So I think that's really impressive to me for you see
26:08
that and you kind of wonder, OK, now if he's exclusively focused
26:12
on hitting now with that being just kind of his first season
26:15
being exclusively focused on hitting, what are we looking at
26:17
down the road? So I think it's a really good
26:19
developmental fit with the Mets. And you know Mitch Boyd is
26:23
somebody really interests me as well and I think somebody that I
26:26
would consider as early as top 25 overall back end of that and
26:30
then FYPD. I know that you mentioned about
26:33
Kate Anderson being, being one of your favorite picks.
26:36
Were you surprised that the Nationals and Angels to go where
26:41
they selected? I know they selected a lot.
26:43
Eli Willits, who is a 17 year old high school kid, and Tyler
26:48
Bremner, I think he's a Canadian, by the way, He was
26:50
projected to go in the late first round, but he ended up
26:53
with #2 it could be a slot thing, right?
26:54
Like, were you surprised with those picks?
26:58
Yeah, Willits moderately. I had kind of heard the buzz
27:02
about that. It made sense given the slot
27:05
values for that year at the top of the class and without really
27:08
a clear 11 in my opinion. I mean, I think even some of the
27:13
one ones in that class would have been, you know, maybe like,
27:17
you know, maybe #5 in like a deeper class like 2023, for
27:22
example. So it, it kind of made sense for
27:24
me. The angels taking Bremner
27:26
though, really shocked me. Did not really remotely see that
27:29
coming. I'm admittedly not a big Tyler
27:31
Bringer guy. Yeah, I think yeah, I don't
27:35
really see more than, you know, a #4 starter in the majors and
27:38
that's just not really a profile I want from a number two overall
27:42
plant if I'm a team even, you know, even considering, yeah,
27:45
even accounting for I don't don't have the signing bonus off
27:48
the top of my head, but even accounting for the money there,
27:51
I think there were other options there they could have under
27:53
slotted that I would have liked a little better.
27:55
Like a Liam Doyle was one that I had flirted with a lot just
28:01
given his given his ability to move quickly.
28:03
They potentially even pitch out of a bullpen as early as, you
28:07
know, down the stretch this year late early next season.
28:10
So yeah, the the Bremner one really shocked me a bit.
28:12
And then I get some of the kind of day, some of the later picks
28:16
they also liked. I really like Nick Becker with
28:18
Seattle. You know, Mariners really put
28:21
together a good class, but I think Becker might have the
28:23
highest upside of any of their 2025 draftees. well-rounded,
28:26
projectable prep shortstop, good strikes and awareness.
28:29
He's not much of A power threat, but got good bad speed from the
28:32
right side. There's room to grow into his
28:34
frame. I he's got good athleticism,
28:37
average arm. I think the instincts are good
28:39
at shortstop. I think there's a chance he
28:40
sticks there. He's plus runner.
28:43
I think might be a bit of an early Corey Seeger.
28:48
You know that definitely a lot kind of of projections left on
28:51
the power and that's kind of going to be the question mark
28:53
of, you know, what kind of big leaguer is he?
28:55
But I think there's a good basis here for a prep shortstop and
28:59
really, really like Becker. Anthony Ionson was another one I
29:02
liked with the Red Sox third round or so and ended Day 2.
29:07
You know, I think when you talk about the LSU rotation, the, you
29:11
know, we talked about Kate Anderson, but Anthony Ionson
29:13
was, you know, you know, right there and making that kind of
29:17
dominant 1-2 punch. He had a 3.0 ERA, 2.49 fifth
29:21
over 12 strikeouts for nine and three walks for 9 and 108 inning
29:25
pitch. I mean, I the fastball doesn't
29:27
really wow me all that much, mostly sits in the lower to mid
29:30
90s. I think you'll need to add a
29:32
couple ticks to that for it to be, you know, a solid big league
29:36
pitch. But the secondaries are in my
29:38
opinion, really special. The the slide has elite with
29:41
ability. The curveball is good break the
29:44
the change up is kind of developing.
29:46
Doesn't really command it as well as his other stuff, but I
29:48
think it's great developmental fit with the Red Sox and there's
29:51
kind of secondary heavy focus in the minor leagues.
29:54
And then one more, I'll go with his Briggs McKenzie 4th rounder
29:56
to the Braves. He was that they bought on kind
30:01
of all of their day one picks. Yeah, Briggs McKenzie was
30:05
another one I really liked. They went under slot.
30:07
Braves went under slot on all of their kind of day one picks.
30:11
Take Sue's the Scene, Alex Lodis and Kobe Miller Mackenzie was a
30:14
really, really great get for them away from his LSU
30:17
commitment. He's kind of a he's a type that
30:20
I really like in a left-handed pitcher.
30:22
Super projectile with a lot of physical projection left moves
30:25
well, athletic, good delivery from a three quarters arm slot.
30:29
Doesn't really get a ton of extension.
30:30
But I mean there's good good Velo, good stuff.
30:34
Fastball sits in the lower 90s hits 95.
30:36
I think there. I think, you know, there's
30:37
potential that this is a, you know, upper 90s offering once
30:40
he's fully developed. It showed good bat missing
30:43
ability. I you know, the curveball is is
30:46
plus, in my opinion, really good spin on it.
30:48
The change up has taken some big strides.
30:50
Looks like a serviceable third pitch.
30:52
I think he was a top two round talent entering the draft.
30:55
And you know, I think this is really fun to fit with the
30:57
Braves, who've had really good success in the recent years on
31:00
the prep side with AJ Smith, Schauber, Owen Murphy, Drew
31:03
Hackenberg Jr. Ritchie.
31:05
So Briggs Mackenzie is someone you know, I'd I'd look his way
31:09
as early as late Round 2, early round 3 and FY PDS.
31:15
Next question I want to talk about is some of the pitching
31:18
prospects that called, got called up earlier this year.
31:22
And you look at the the talent that's been around, it's
31:25
astonishing. For example, Jacob Mesorovsky
31:27
got called up for Milwaukee and he's taking off on until that
31:31
unfortunate injury Chase Burns, he's as advertised the third
31:34
pick of last year drafted and he's been electric all together.
31:38
You could you could mention about any of those guys if
31:40
there's any other names pitching prospect wise has been called up
31:45
and and has wowed. You just mentioned some names
31:48
and what what do you think about those guys?
31:51
Yeah, I mean, Miss is the big one.
31:54
Well, we've known, we've known just the the quality of his
31:56
stuff for a while now. He's kind of somebody super
32:00
polarizing for me coming up. I've kind of flirted with him
32:04
going in so previous seasons to 2024 flirted with him as high as
32:08
kind of the top 30 ish overall. The commands kind of got a was
32:13
super erratic at times, popped him off entirely down the
32:15
stretch. Then this season, you know this
32:19
stuff is we saw the stuff still, still what it was in AAA.
32:23
The command had improved. He cut his walks for 9 down over
32:26
1. He was was dominating.
32:29
Now we we saw him carry carry that same stretch over to the
32:31
major leagues before he got hurt, got an All Star nod.
32:35
You know, he Jacob Isurowski is I mean, I think on stuff alone
32:40
he has the upside to be a top five starter in the majors.
32:43
I think I do have, I do have some kind of questions about, I
32:48
kind of wonder, you know, is this is he more of a Tyler
32:52
Glasnow type? I kind of question, is he
32:54
someone who can handle A170180 innings?
32:57
He's not, he's not a big starter, 6-7, a 195, hasn't
33:02
thrown, hasn't thrown more than 97.1 innings as a pro.
33:08
So I do kind of, he has that kind of whippy, whippy arm
33:12
action, violent, high effort delivery.
33:14
So I do have some kind of questions long term, but I think
33:17
he's someone where like Tyler Glass now, even if he's somebody
33:20
who's going to give you more A130140 innings pitch, like he's
33:24
going to be nasty, you know, he's going to be somebody who is
33:27
a kind of top of the rotation arm with his stuff.
33:30
So yeah, I mean, definitely great to see him stand out in
33:33
his first two bigly starts so far, and I think there's a
33:35
bright building feature ahead for him.
33:38
Kate Horton's another guy that got called up for the Cubs.
33:41
And you know, I understand that the unfortunate injury of Justin
33:45
Steele being out and I think in Menaga just just came back a
33:48
little bit over a month ago. But what do you what do you
33:51
profile as Kate Horton as a player?
33:53
And there's another one. It's Carson Withenhorn who just
33:55
got called up, I think a few days ago.
33:57
Talk about those two. And what do you think about
33:59
those guys? Yeah, I mean, I've, I've kind
34:03
of, I've gotten some flak from, I've gotten some Flack from Cubs
34:07
fans in the past for kind of being notoriously low on Kate
34:12
Horton and, and their words. I mean, I, I think he's going
34:15
to, I think he's, I think he's a solid pitcher.
34:18
I have him I, I believe as a prospect, I want to say he was
34:23
in the kind of low, low 70s, low 80s range for me, Not I, I think
34:29
he could be a good #3 in the majors.
34:32
Yeah. He's been been really good this
34:33
year as a rookie. But I mean the, the strikeouts
34:37
haven't kind of translated over. That was one thing I was kind of
34:39
watching in AAA is, you know, we haven't, he has, he hasn't
34:44
unlike kind of, you know, mids and Burns.
34:46
He hasn't kind of shown the dominant, you know, K stuff that
34:48
he did in the lower levels in the upper levels.
34:51
I mean, the commanders look good, but yeah, I mean, the, the
34:55
the peripherals definitely tell a different story than the
34:57
performance so far, the expected ERA 4.64 to a 3.4 actual 4.12
35:03
fit 4.49 F tech sip. I don't think Kate Horton's a
35:06
bad pitcher. I just don't I, I, I had a lot
35:09
of people's like, you know, Kate Horton's going to be an ace and
35:11
I'm like, I I don't see it. I think he's more of a I think
35:14
he's more of a #3 low end #2 if everything clicks.
35:18
So I my opinion kind of still remains the same on Kate Horton.
35:21
Not bad at all for a rookie, but that's kind of where I'm at on
35:24
Kate Horton wizard high. I kind of wonder what there
35:28
isn't what there is to the arsenal beyond the change up.
35:31
The change up is, in my opinion, the eighty grade.
35:33
It's the best in the minor leagues, you know.
35:36
But I, I think outside of that, I kind of wonder just, you know,
35:41
I, I think maybe the change up alone with his average fastball
35:45
can be enough for him to be a back end starter in the majors.
35:47
But I think I would really like to see him in a relief role.
35:51
Honestly, I think that's a role, especially with the Giants
35:54
bullpen looking a lot different than it did pre deadline.
35:57
I think he could really thrive in a high leverage role just
35:59
with that, with that change up alone.
36:01
So it's going to be interesting to see.
36:03
I'm sure they want to develop him as a starter.
36:05
I'm just not sure outside the change up the arsenal was there
36:08
to be anything more than a #5. There's another name I wanted to
36:12
ask you about. What we're on the topic of
36:14
pitchers is is Jake Jacob Mesorowski's teammate Logan
36:18
Henderson. He's 3 and O, 1.78 ERA, 33 KS
36:23
and 25 innings up .99 WHIP. What are your thoughts on him as
36:27
a starter going forward? Yeah, I mean, honestly, I'm, I'm
36:30
not a big Logan Henderson guy. I mean, the Brewers pitching lab
36:33
has proved me wrong before. Maybe they do again in this
36:35
case. But I, I'm, I'm very, I'm very
36:39
skeptical and admittedly more of a, you know, I'll, I'll take my
36:44
kind of being late to the party when it comes to two pitch
36:46
starters, but it's not really a profile on starters that gets me
36:49
overly enthusiastic. So yes, I mean, the results have
36:53
been great so far. You know, definitely, definitely
36:57
kind of blown away what my expectations were starting off
36:59
originally. But yeah, I, I do, I would like
37:02
to see him kind of develop a third pitch before kind of my
37:05
outlook is kind of he can keep this up to an extent long term,
37:09
maybe be a number two, number three in that rotation.
37:14
Well, since we've talked about a lot of the pitching prospects
37:17
that were called up, let's shift to the position player side of
37:20
things with guys like Colt Colson, Colton Montgomery,
37:24
Colson Montgomery and Roman Anthony.
37:27
Kyle Teal called us Augusta Ramirez this year.
37:30
There's just so many names, Nick Kurtz.
37:33
So tell us about some of the guys that have been called up
37:35
this year, some of your favorite?
37:39
Yeah, I mean, Kurtz definitely was one of my big time
37:42
favorites. Just the power paired with, you
37:46
know, the contacts and on base skills for me made him one.
37:50
As, you know, he was definitely one in my mind, a profile that
37:54
can kind of hit the ground running at the MLB level and
37:56
he's done just that. Rookie of the your favorite
37:59
arguably so far. Made history not too long ago
38:01
with a four Homer game. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Nick
38:06
Kurtz. I think, I think it's, I think
38:09
you can safely call him right now the number one dynasty first
38:12
baseman, even above somebody like Vladimir Guerrero Junior.
38:15
That's just how good that he's been.
38:18
Colson Montgomery, I've gotten a lot of Flack in the past for
38:22
kind of my hesitancy with him. It's not really a profile that
38:25
excites me all that much and he's had a great start to his
38:29
big league career. But I mean, I the same kind of
38:32
concerns that I had coming up with Colson Montgomery, I have
38:34
now. The contact skills are not good.
38:36
The zone contact rate is just over 78%.
38:39
The contact is just over 67.5%, near 18% swing strike rate
38:44
chasing at a near 32% clip. I think the, the power just
38:49
hasn't been, hasn't been what it once was.
38:53
I mean, the E VS the E VS have kind of been down in the majors
38:59
compared maybe though maybe that's kind of a a by product of
39:02
kind of, you know, facing more advanced pitching.
39:04
But I I'm just not. I mean the the hard, the hard
39:07
hit rates, OK, the parametric, the launch ankles are good,
39:09
which kind of salvages the power a little bit, but the speed
39:11
hasn't been what it was once thought it could be.
39:14
I don't think he's a guy's going to steal double digit bases.
39:17
I think to me this is like this is a, a Matt McLean type profile
39:22
without the speed and that just doesn't excite me all that much
39:24
long term. So I've I've definitely heard my
39:27
fair share of Flack for that. But Colson Montgomery is just
39:30
not really my type of profile. So he's somebody that, you know,
39:34
I would advise selling high right now.
39:37
You know, definitely been burned by some of those guys in the
39:39
past. But you know, I think it's, for
39:42
me, it's just too it's, it's, it's a strictly power dependent
39:44
profile, which from a shortstop doesn't really excite me all
39:48
that much. What about Jacob Marcy, who was
39:52
the guy that got called up? He was part of the rise deal and
39:55
he was a he's off to a decent start to up.
39:57
That's another name that's been talked to.
39:59
And Robert Hassle the third, like he was talked about so much
40:03
because I think he was part of the Juan Soto deal as well.
40:06
He just got called up again and and could you see those two be
40:10
anything down the road? Yeah, I mean, Marcy is Marcy is
40:17
an interesting player. Like he has good on base skills.
40:19
He can take his take his fair share of walks.
40:23
He's got good speed. I, I don't, I kind of question,
40:27
you know, being in a corner outfield spot, there's
40:29
definitely a lot of pressure on the power.
40:31
I kind of go back and forth on whether he's kind of going to be
40:35
more of like 1/4 outfielder type for me or kind of regular in the
40:38
corner. But he's had, he's had a really
40:40
good start so far. I mean, my kind of my skepticism
40:44
is, you know, the, the, the EVs aren't all that great.
40:48
The power is not all that great. I just don't know if the contact
40:51
is elite enough to kind of and the on base skills are elite
40:54
enough to kind of salvage for that the the contacts will look
40:58
really good So far in million small sample.
41:00
It's actually been up in the majors than it has in the
41:02
minors. So that's something I'll
41:04
definitely be watching going forward.
41:06
But yeah, I kind of I'm kind of split.
41:08
I'm kind of at a wait and see on Jacob Marcy right now.
41:14
Robert Hassle is, you know, he definitely not the definitely
41:18
not really the caliber player. My outlook has kind of changed
41:21
on him a lot over the past couple seasons.
41:24
We haven't really haven't really seen the haven't really seen,
41:27
you know, remotely any on base skills transferred to the MLB
41:29
yet. There's still some time for
41:31
that. I mean, the the power, the power
41:34
is power is interested and power is good does hit the ball on the
41:38
ground a lot. That's definitely something that
41:40
at his stage and his his development being in the upper
41:43
minors. I'm a bit concerned about the
41:44
contact skills aren't great. So I do have some questions, but
41:49
I do I do think hassle at some at at some point we'll be just
41:54
maybe more of a boring regular, not really a star and the
41:57
outfielder, but trying to think of a good player comp here,
42:04
maybe like a maybe like an E in half that's good.
42:08
Nemo type would be like an upper end outcome for hassle right
42:11
now. Still super young, you know,
42:15
still definitely not a piece to write off at all.
42:18
Just. I do think he'll definitely need
42:20
some more time in AAA though for the better before we see him
42:23
back in the majors.