Latest / Cards & Categories / Ep. 156 : The Fumbling First Round With Grey Albright

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Ep. 156 : The Fumbling First Round With Grey Albright · Cards & Categories

• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome everybody to episode 156 of cards and
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: categories i am mike coulard and i am joined by
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the fantasy master lethario himself mr rasball himself gray albright
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: how you doing tonight buddy.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Good man i'm good i just uh i just got
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: back from the doctor um and uh he told me
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: uh he was like uh how much fish are you eating?
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: And I was like, I don't know, like maybe four
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: times a week. And he was like, you're going to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: be 100% mercury in like five years. I'm like, dude, what?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: I'm like, what? Wait, what? He's like, yeah, man. He's like,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: you shouldn't be eating so much fish. I'm like, last
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: year you told me not to eat the beef and
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: to eat the fish. What are you doing, man? What
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: are you doing to me, bro? This is the, this
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: is a story about getting old.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: A little bit like that. Yeah.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I'm going to start calling you gray, the thermometer Albright
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: from here on out.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: You've got to call me gray hair. I know. Seriously.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Like last year he was like, Oh yeah. He's like,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I was like, he was like, how much beef you eat?
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know. A couple, a couple
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: of times a week. And he's like, you shouldn't eat
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: beef that much. I'm like, okay. And so then this
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: time he's like, don't eat fish. I'm like, dude, what
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: do you want? Do you want me to eat tofu?
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Because it ain't going to happen, bro. I'm sorry. It
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: ain't happening. What do you want me to eat?
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: Beans, baby.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: It's all I need. Beans. You know what I will do?
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Not Eat Ever Again 2 is a terrible first-round draft pick.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? That's what they call that
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: in the segway in the biz. In the biz, they
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: call that.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Yep, yep, you got that all locked in right there.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: That is what we're going to talk about. It is
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the last week of September here, so there's not much
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: that's really going to impact you from a fantasy perspective because...
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: You've either won or lost your league at this point
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: and have the pieces that you have. So good luck
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: over the weekend. But I figured as you're filling in
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: for Brew here, we would talk about just how miserable
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the 2026 first round was and what we're going to
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: do about it going into 2027. So if you've been
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: listening to this pod over the past few weeks, last
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: week we did do a 2027 mock first round draft.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: So I'll have you analyze that to see if there
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: was anything that you might do different compared to what
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: we did in our Pod last time on episode 155.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: And then, yeah, it's been a while since you've been on.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Episode 20 was the last time that you were on
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: way back in the day. So great to have you
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: back on. Great to have you feeling back in. And
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: let's talk this miserable first round. Because if you're not
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: aware of it, maybe, you know, if you go to
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the Ras Ball Player Raider, you might think, oh, yeah,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: all these dudes were probably highly projected.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: They were not.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Because let's line it up against the NFBC data from 2026.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: march i was using draft champions if you really want
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to go back and audit my work but he was
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: roughly the top 12 i'm going to focus on top
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: 12 because uh the last three of the top 15
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: we could get into but i think most people play
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: in 12 teamers out there and we're following this first
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: pick shohei otani and i'm going to give you the
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: player raider ranking right now for the end of the
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: year obviously this could shuffle a little bit but unless
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: you're going to go off and have a rafael devers
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: week you're probably not going to change these rankings too much.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Shohei Otani, currently 38th on the Player Rater. Aaron Judge,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: second overall. 368 on the Player Rater.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Bobby Witt Jr.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: third overall, 29th on the Player Rater. Juan Soto, fourth overall,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: 113th overall in the Player Rater.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Ronald Acuna Jr., fifth overall, 127th in the Player Rater.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Jose Ramirez, sixth overall, 124th in the Player Raider. There's
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: going to be a lot of dudes hanging out in
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  Speaker 1: that tier in the hundreds. Turk Skubel, 7th overall, 48th
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: in the Player Raider. Paul Skeens, 8th overall, 102nd in
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the Player Raider. Julio Rodriguez, 9th overall, 101st in the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Player Raider. Right next, bumped up right next to Paul Skeens,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: side by side, just the way they've always been all year.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: LA De La Cruz, 10th overall, 12th in the Player Raider.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Garrett Crochet, 11th overall, 662nd in the Player Raider. Kyle Tucker,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: 12th overall, 120th in the player winner. There's a lot
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: of triple digits that I just listed off there. So
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: some of it certainly is injuries. We've had Otani, Judge, Witt, Soto, Acuna, Ramirez, Scooble, Rodriguez, Crochet,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: all be injured this year. You might have had some
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: injuries for Skeens and Tucker that they were covering up.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Eligio Cruz has been the patron saint. And Bobby Witt Jr.,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: even with that small hamstring injury, still clocking in. you know,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: solid value. I don't think you're too mad with where
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: you took him. What are you learning from this year's
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: 2026 first round class? Were there landmines within those players
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: that we should have foreseen coming into this year? Or
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: is this a situation where a lot of these dudes
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: were also over 30? Maybe we're, we're leaning back into,
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: we've got to start chasing youth in the first round again.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: So, yeah. So I think with, so Otani is, I
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: think Otani had 38 overall on the Play Raider, returning
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: that value. I want to say he was more of
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: a push than a total bust because, and I'll say that,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: I'll say that to a certain extent, no, actually I
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: won't say that for him. So I will say that,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: I'll say that for Bobby Witt Jr. and L.A. De
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: La Cruz. Otani is, So go back to Otani for
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: a second. So I think with Otani, the fact that
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: he ends up in like, you know, he'll end up
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: like in the top 35 overall. That is also, I'm
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: assuming that is just hitting, right? Yes. Yeah.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: I'm looking at just the DH value.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Right. So you have some pitching value from him in
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: the first half. And also you have, you know, basically like,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Not that you're going to get everything that he produces
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: from a waiver wire guy, but you have him going
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: to the IL at certain points, and you're able to
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: pick up someone. So you fill in a little bit.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: I won't say you're going to get the same amount
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: of value, but you get a little something. So you
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: assume all that together, the pitching value... The waiver wire
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: pickup value and his actual value of 38 overall as
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: of right this second. So that's kind of like top
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: 30 value, probably. Maybe top 25 even once you put
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: in the pitching. Because you also have to figure, you
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: pitch him, you're not hitting him. So you're going to
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: lose a little bit of the hitting value when you
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: pitch him. But you're also getting that pitching value. So,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: you know, it depends, obviously, if it's a weekly versus
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: a daily league, of course. But, you know, you would
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: assume you're getting a little bit of value for Otani
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: from pitching. So, with that said, I feel like he's
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: a push. You know, like I said, Bobby Witt Jr.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: 's a push. Elie De La Cruz, remarkably, came back
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: with the most value for the top 12. Which, I
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: don't think anyone... really would have expected that even like
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: three months ago. Like I think at the all-star break,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: people were like, Oh, you know, I mean, it's an,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: you know, it's an okay year. And, you know, he
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: usually falls off a little bit in the second half. And,
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: you know, if he tails off a little bit, it's
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: going to be another disappointing year from Ellie. And it
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: was not that at all. No, I mean, he, he
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: returned the most value from all the guys you mentioned. So,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: that Elie de la Cruz was the top value getter
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: for the top 12 overall. It's pretty surprising.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: Considering the batting average floor there too. Like he could
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: have like really sunk it with that strikeout rate, but yeah.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: And he's messed around enough that like he might finish
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: second or third in the NL MVP. Like it's a
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: amazing year from Elie de la Cruz.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. No, totally.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: No, he's going to, uh, he's going to solidly have a, uh,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: A 30-30, 285, good runs, solid RBIs. Yeah, no, it's
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: a good year. And also, you know, the strikeouts, well,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: up a little bit from last year. The strikeouts are,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: you know, fine. 27% for a guy who hits the
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: ball at what? 55? 51. Okay, so still, yeah. 49.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: He's hitting it at like 50% hard hit. Um, still,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's, you know, obviously he's, that's what his
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: bread and butter is hitting the ball hard. And so
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: at a 27% strikeout rate that, you know, that's fine. Um,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: so Ellie, so those three guys, we'll put those aside. Um,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: and then, you know, the first guy, Aaron judge, what
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: a mess.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: I just got an alert. while we started. He thinks
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: that he's going to play in the wildcard round. It's like, dude,
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: just give up the ghost.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: I know, man. Let Helio Ramos drop the lazy line
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: drive to him in center or whatever. Let someone else hit.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: 220 in the playoffs I mean it's fine man just
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: rest what you know the problem I have too with
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Aaron Judge unfortunately I think it's going to be a
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: problem going forward is I mean he's a big guy
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: and you know big guys don't really age very well
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: and no he's uh he's gonna be he's gonna be
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: 35 in April of next year. I mean, I, I think,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know if people realize how old he is,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: like 35 for, you know, for a seven foot 12 inch.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: What is he? He's really tall. He's six, seven. So
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: for a six, seven, 280 pound guy, 35 years, I mean,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: it's not going to be, you know, it's not just
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: going to be his calf. That's giving out like, look at,
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: look at Giancarlo. I mean, you know, Bless my sweet boy,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Giancarlo Stan. I mean, look at him, man. Like, you know, like,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: you looked at him in his 20s, and he did
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: not look like a guy who was going to break
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: down every, you know, two weeks with another injury. Like,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: he looked like a specimen, bro. But, like, you look at, like,
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: Aaron Judge, and you're like, yeah, I mean, you know.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: he'll be fine for another year or two. I don't know, man.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: I honestly, I don't know about that. I'm, I'd be
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: pretty concerned that this is, you know, the beginning of
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: the end because like, you know, and even if it's not,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: even if it's like, you know, one of those years
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: we would get from like an aging slugger, uh, where
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: they'd play like 120 games, like say like Giancarlo year of, like,
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: you know, three or four years ago. Even if you
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: get a Judge year of.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: Like, 35, 40 homers, 100 runs, 110 RBIs, 310, it's good.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: It's solid. Do you want really? Is that really what
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: you're hoping for, though, from Aaron Judge? I don't think so. Like,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: I think the years of, like, You know, could it
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: be 60 homers? Maybe. But it's definitely going to be 50.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: I don't know if we're seeing that again. Honestly, I'd
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: be a little bit concerned, like in a keeper or
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: a dynasty league for sure. But, you know, I wouldn't
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: be surprised if he, you know, if he could coach
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: for a couple more years and maybe gets to, you know,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: 500 homers. He's at 388 right now. You know, maybe
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: he gets a couple more years of 35 homers. But
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: if I had to guess, if I had to bet on, like,
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: 50 homers or less than 20, like he did this year,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I would bet the less than 20 before I would
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: bet the 50 at this point in Aaron Judge's career. So, yeah,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: so that's a concern.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just a slight one.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: So it sounds like even the sixth-round pick that Brew
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: used on him in our mock draft for 2027– You're
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: not going to go sixth overall probably for Aaron Judge
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: in 2027.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that actually sounds like it.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Sixth overall or sixth round?
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Sixth overall, yeah.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Sixth overall? Oh, no. Yeah, no. I thought you said
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: sixth round. No, I don't think he's going to be
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: that loud. Don't get me wrong. But I was like,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: sixth round, that sounds like great value. I'm in, baby.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I'm in. Yeah. I would be in for a sixth round. No,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, okay, no, seriously, though, if you think about it, like,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Vlad Jr., who's, like, who's burrowed himself into my brain.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Vlad Jr., coming into this year was probably a good
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: bet for a year. Like I just said from Aaron judge.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: So like, you know, a hundred runs, a hundred RBIs,
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: 30 homers, 300 average. That's probably what you expected from
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Vlad jr. And he was going at like 20, 20, 20,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: between 20 and 25 overall. So it's not higher.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: Like he was starting to go around like first round
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: turns a lot.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay. Yeah, I mean, maybe Vlad. I mean, right
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: now I have Vlad at, it looks like, an 18. So, yeah. Yeah,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: so you're right. He was going as high as 8 overall.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: He was, on average, he was going at 18 overall. So,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: say 18 overall for a guy who is giving that
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: stat line. That stat line is kind of close to
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: what I'm saying for Aaron Judge. Now, obviously, Judge has
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: higher potential for power. But also, I mean, the injuries
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: could start creeping in every year here. So, you know,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: maybe 35. I could see him being projected for 35
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: to 40 homers with a 300 average and the runs
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: and RBI as it goes with that. So, yeah, maybe
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: like 10 overall for Aaron Judge, 10 to 12 overall.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, but you're betting on a bounce back. And
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you're necessarily going to get one. So. Yeah,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: I feel like six might be high for Aaron Judge
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: for next year. Anyway, so that's Aaron Judge. So then
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: next up is Juan Soto. Juan Soto, man. He was brutal.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: He was brutal. Brutal year.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Cavs again. Those Cavs are– what are they doing in
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: New York? Is it all the walking in Manhattan, all
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the hard services?
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It is a hard-to-hard surface. Why doesn't Mondani carpet
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: the sidewalks, huh?
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: What are these socialists taking from us?
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: The carpeted sidewalks. So, yeah, you know, Juan Soto... I
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: want to say Juan Soto is still so young that
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I'm betting on a bounce back here. You know, like,
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: a lot of... So a lot of his value... or
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: his lack of value, runs in RBIs. As of the
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: recording of this, he has 59 runs and 66 RBIs.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: You bump those up to 85-85 in a normal year with,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: you know, he's healthy and a normal year for the, well,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know if the Mets are ever normal. But, yeah,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, you figure a normal year, he's sitting at
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: like 85-85. for a last place team. At worst, I mean,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: at worst, he's 85-85. That's, right there alone, gives you probably,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: I want to say, four to five dollars in value.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: So that bumps him up to in like, you know,
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: the 70s overall. It doesn't make him a top 12
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: guy as of this year, but Yeah, I mean, I'm
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: betting on it. I feel like the bounce back's there
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: for him because, like, you know, I mean, he's still
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: in the prime of his career. The Mets, you know,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: the Mets are going to do what the Mets are
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: going to do. But even if he bounces back, you know, to, like,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: 35 homers, which would be even down from where he was,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: you know, as of last year, if he goes down
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: to 35 homers and up to 12 steals, But 35-12, 285,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: with the runs and RBIs that comes with that, that
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: sounds fine to me. I mean, it's not, you know.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: And then there's always the outliers that he could do. Like,
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: you feel like he's capable of a 50-homer season. You
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: feel like, you know, if he stole 38 bags one year.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: there's no saying why, why can't he steal, you know,
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: 30 again? Like I doubt he does. Like I'm not
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: saying I wouldn't project them for it, but I mean,
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: it's obviously in the possibilities, the range of possibilities. So,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: you know, there's a range of possibilities for Juan Soto
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: that are, you know, uh, very good. So yeah, I,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: I'm fine. You know, I'm kind of okay with Juan
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Soto was terrible this year. I feel like a bounce
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: back is very possible for him. Um, So, okay. So
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: then we have Acuna. Yeah.
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: I was going to say here, here we go.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: This is maybe, there's another couple of fun ones at
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the end of this first round, but like Brew was
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: talking to me when we were doing our mock first
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: round towards the 12th, the last pick of that draft.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Cause he had that pick. He was actually, he said
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: he was thinking about Acuna. He took Jackson Churio there,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: but I was like, I don't even know if I'm
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: in on Acuna, like above the, third round possibly like
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: we've seen a real lack of production from him you
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: know for multiple years on multiple years the double knee
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: injuries i think have really taken a wear and tear
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: on his lower half that like he's always pulling up
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: lame with hamstrings and calves and other injuries uh he's
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: not impacting the ball as hard as he used to
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: i i'm.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: Just not sure.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: How far away is Ronald Acuna really from like going
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: down that Luis Robert, like slippery slope. I don't know
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: if he's that terribly far for me that like, uh,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: it's a lot of risk. Uh, so where are you
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: at on Acuna going into 2027?
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Uh, man, you know, because like okay so when you
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: were saying that stuff about Ronald Acuna Jr. like I
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: was thinking like would you go uh Ronald Acuna Jr.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: or Jackson Merrill and for me it's pretty obviously Jackson
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Merrill because like right ditto right and Jackson Merrill had
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: a top You know, he had, like, a top 30
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: season this year. And I can't imagine Jackson Merrill anywhere
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: near the top 12 next year. So it's like, what?
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Ronald Acuna Jr. is not in... He's not in that
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: conversation at all. You know, unfortunately, I think... Like, Ronald
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Acuna Jr., like, his bounce back, like, for next year,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: to me, is, like, the best-case scenario is, like, a four...
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: this is a very good case scenario, by the way,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: but like a 40 homer, 20 steal, 300 average, which
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: would be amazing. I mean, that's top five overall, but
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: that's where he has to go for his value to
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: really bounce back is to get back to the power
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: output of like 40 plus homers because the steals are
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: never coming back. Like the fact that we got 20
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: steals this year, feels like a huge win. I didn't
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: think we'd even get 20 this year. But I can't
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: imagine if he actually... And those 20 steals, I think,
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: came with a little bit of a... They came because
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: he wasn't doing anything else. So I think he sort
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: of felt like he had to. So I think if
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: the power came back in a big way and he
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: got back to, like, 40 homer power, I don't think
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: the steals would be there anymore.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: So.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Or at least not there to this extent. So I
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: feel like, realistically, if he had a 40-homer season, I
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: think we'd get 10 steals. And if he gets, like,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: you know, but then, I mean, those 40 homers feel like,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, it really feels like from a time past. Like,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: it does not feel like a realistic deal. realistic projection
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: at all for Acuna at this point. Mike Gianella was
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: texting with me the other day about Ronald Acuna Jr.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: and he was saying is Ronald Acuna Jr. even in
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: the conversation for the Hall of Fame anymore after these
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: last couple years? Because he seemed like a surefire bet
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: At 25, it seemed like when he went 40-70, it
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: was like that was a culmination of a few good
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: years there. And now we're three years away from that.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: And it's just like this year, like if he's doing 20-20, 255,
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, I hate to bring out the Grady Sizemore comparison,
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: but like, you know... I mean, he's not getting younger.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: I don't think he's going to age into getting more
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: steals because his knees, like you said, his knees are bad.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I don't know, man. Honestly, I feel like for next year,
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: not only am I out on Acuna, I might be
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: the low man on him as far as other people
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: go when it comes to rankings because I just don't
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: see myself. Like we already said, the Jackson Merrill comparison,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: Jackson Merrill's not getting– he's not going to be ranked
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: or drafted before Acuna Jr., I wouldn't think. But I
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: would absolutely take him and rank him before Acuna Jr.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's like– it feels like a no-brainer even because, like,
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Jackson Merrill had a great– had a solid season, like
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: we said. I mean, top 30 season, and Acuna Jr.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: is sitting at 127 overall. I don't know, man. Unfortunately,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: it's absolutely kind of gut-wrenching to say it because I
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: really like Ronald Acuna Jr. I think he's one of
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: the more exciting players, and it's a shame to see
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: we're on the other side of potentially his career peak,
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: but I don't see it coming back. I don't know.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I do either.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: You can also compare it a little bit to Eric
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Davis back in the 80s where, like, You know, Davis
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: didn't even have to deal with the double knee injuries,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: but he pretty much was dried up by 28. That
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: like the wear and tear of stealing as many bases
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: as Acuna did in the 73 stolen base season. You
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: do wonder if he paid for it in the long
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: run the way that Eric Davis did when he stole
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: those 80 bases back in 1986. The other thing here
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: is that in the too early meatball draft that happened
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: that was run by Rob DiPietro with some other folks.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: at large in the industry of writing about fantasy baseball.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: Merrill did go before Acuna.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: He was the outfielder that went right before Acuna.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: I guess the question... That makes sense.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: The next one that went off the board was O'Neal Cruz.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Would you rather have O'Neal Cruz or Ronald Acuna in 2027?
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: Can I say neither? Okay.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: The next one, this was like a desert of outfielders.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: So that was like almost 10 rounds or 10 picks apart.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Then about eight picks later, you get Andy Pahas would
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: be the next outfielder off the board.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Andy Pahas feels underrated at this point because like, you know,
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, he had an injury, but it was a
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: it was a fluky injury and he was headed, he
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: was headed for another top 20 season. Like he's, he
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: seems really undervalued at this point. Like, and I was,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: I was one of the, I was definitely the last
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: man to get on the Andy Pahez boat. Like I
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: was not, I was not interested this year. And, you know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: to the detriment of my team, because he looks great. Yeah. Uh, yeah.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: So I was looking up, uh, Eric Davis's, uh, stats
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: because you mentioned him. Wow. He really fell off. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, playing on the turf in Cincinnati back in
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: the eighties did not help his body at all, but like, yeah,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: that 80 steel season ate up his body.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: You can just kind of tell it started.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Obviously there was like the cancer stint later in his, uh, career,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: but like in between there, I think it was hamstrings
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: and other stuff.
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: Um, so yeah, it was, Not exactly.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, I would actually, I would take like his
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: numbers from like his age 29 through like 39 seasons.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: I would take some of those years for a clue.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, he had one year where he, Eric Davis,
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: it is. He had one year where he went 26,
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: 23 and hit 287. And he had another year where
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: he went 28, seven and hit three 27 at 36
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: years old. So, yeah, I mean, I would take some
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: of those years for sure. But, yeah, I don't.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Know, man.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: That's not a great comp either. I mean, it is
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: a good comp. It's not one you want to hear, though.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: No, no, in terms of falling out.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting. So I haven't really. So I'd
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: say Ron Acuna Jr. is probably. Then he's. You know,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: because it threw me off a little bit when you
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: were saying that Brew was thinking about taking him at
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: 12 or whatever, because that made me think he was
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: going to be a little bit too overrated. But if
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: he's going after Merrill, then he's probably priced about right.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, at 25-ish, around 20 to 25 around Acuna Jr.,
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: is that where he went?
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: Let me try to count it out. It was 32nd.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: He was 32nd.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Okay. Yeah. I mean, that sounds, that sounds fair.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: I mean, that sounds like a fair price.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: I personally wouldn't be involved in that, in him at
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: that price, but that does sound like a pretty fair price.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: So moving along, Jose Ramirez.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: Here's another.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Oh man. He's like, he, Like he did have the
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Hammett bone thing and he is so like, he is a,
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: he's like a pit bull with like, not the singer,
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: but like, uh, it was like getting his like steals.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Like he's still, he, he refuses to slow down, man.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: It's a, it's really good for fantasy, right?
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, except for what he gave you after the injury.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: Cause guess how many barrels he hit since returning on
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: July 22nd through today.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: More or less than Chandler Simpson on the year.
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: I don't know how many Chandler Simpson has.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: On the year. Chandler Simpson has zero barrels for the year.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: It is above the Chandler Simpson line.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's good. I don't know. How many barrels in
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: the second half?
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Two out of 168 attempts with a 31% hard hit.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: But honestly, he came back way too fast from the handmate.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Right. I mean, that's what I mean. I guess, I
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: don't know if Pitbull is the correct, well, you know,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: it's like his determination to get on the field and
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: play hard It's really admirable, but I think it might
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: have been at the detriment of his power a little
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: bit this year. I would not be shocked to see
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: him bounce back because every time he's been healthy, maybe
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: not 35 plus homers, but I wouldn't be shocked to
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: see him hit you know, 27 plus homers and steal
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: 30 bags again because that's what he does. He always
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: does it. I would not count out Jose Ramirez. I wouldn't.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I just, you know, I think a
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: good offseason might help him a lot with, you know,
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: rest and recoup. So, I don't know. It depends on...
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: It depends on the price, but I wouldn't be shocked
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: to see the price being decent for Jose Ramirez in 2027.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: I could see being in on him.
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, for context, in the too early meatball draft,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: he went 14th. When Brew and I did our mock
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: draft last week, we both considered him as our last
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: pick in the first round at 11 and 12.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: And we were also talking, especially.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: If you're in a 12-teamer with a snake draft, we
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: both loved the idea of taking a younger player power-speed
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: combo in the first round, like Jackson Churio, C.J. Abrams,
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Fernando Tetis Jr., and then when you're coming around on
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: the turn in the second round, locking in Jose Ramirez
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: as your third baseman, I don't think you can go
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: wrong with that strategy, because as you said, this guy posts, and.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: The other good thing, he's out of handmates. He got
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: both of them out.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: So it's a handmate-free world for Jose Ramirez.
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: Nothing can slow him down, Mr. Worldwide.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Ham it, Hametsectomy? Hametsectomy? Yeah, something like that. Yeah, I
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: like Jose Ramirez. I think it's kind of interesting to have, say,
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Churio at 12, and then turn around and take... Or
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: Abrams at 12, and turn around and take Jose Ramirez.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: Or something like that. Or Tatis at 10... Three picks later,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: turn around and take Jose Ramirez. It's kind of interesting. Yeah.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And it gives you a good little mix of
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: like ceiling and floor.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: Cause I think that is maybe the one factor for
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Jose Ramirez is you're probably have already seen the ceiling.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: So you're counting a little bit more on floor, but
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: also third base is a disaster going to 2027. So
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: you're going to want to attack it early.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: So then Tariq Scooble, who actually, I mean, It's not
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: a bad year, right? Like he had a, he had
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: a pretty good year for considering he was out for,
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: you know, what'd he.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: Miss like two months and a half, a month and.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: A half, two months. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's a
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: pretty good year. I know like he had, uh, he
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: had some, uh, financial motivation to get back on the
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: field quickly. Um, and, uh, yeah, just a dick. And I,
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised if, uh, he has some motivation
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: to actually, you know, throw, you know, do a Jack
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: Morris in the playoffs or something like he feels really motivated. So,
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not a pitcher early guy, but I mean,
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: if I'm, you know, John Q public and I'm looking
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: at Tariq Scooble, I probably at, you know, it's the second,
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: pitcher off the board i mean it's meseroski right for
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: sure um yeah i think so yeah meseroski um which
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: you know i mean i'm not drafting him but i
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: mean i i can understand why he'd be number one
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: off the board then i guess scuba right i mean
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: who uh you.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Know um sanchez and schlittler will be in the discussion
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: but schlittler i.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: Mean schlittler is interesting but i think I think Scooble or... Yeah,
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: I think Scooble still is probably my number two. I
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: don't know. I mean, Scooble or Schlittler or... I don't
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: think Sanchez.
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he hasn't been as great down the stretch.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: Right, he kind of fell off a little bit, right? So, Messorowski...
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I don't think Yamamoto gets above Scooble.
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: No, not quite enough strikeouts.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Seas definitely doesn't, especially... being shut down with the shoulder
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: thing or whatever at the end of the year here.
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: He's not getting, he's not getting up there. So yeah,
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: I think it's probably Scooble. So, you know, Meseroski, Scooble
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: in the, and Scooble's in the top 20 ish area.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not drafting him, but I mean, if you're,
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: you know, if you're just doing a blind ranking, that's
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: probably where Scooble is going to end up somewhere in
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: that range, which is, I mean, it's fine. I, I
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: wouldn't draft him. I think he's totally a fine pick though. Yeah.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think he will be in the conversation
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: for people to take towards the end of the first
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: round with Jacob Missy Rowski, but I'm in the same
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: boat as you that like, it's too rich of a,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: of a price. And I mean, these next two pictures
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: we're going to talk about, this is exactly why you
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: don't take a picture in the first round between Paul
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Skeens and Garrett Crochet.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: Cause you don't know.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Right. And with Scooble too, like, I mean, he rushed
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: back because of, you know, was it the bone spurs
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: he had removed? I mean, he rushed back, and you really, like,
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: you don't really know how he is at this point. Like,
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: everything seems fine, and it's like, okay, you know, he
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: got that out of the way, so he's going to
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: be able to pitch, you know, 200 innings next year, like,
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: I don't know, man. Pitching is so fickle as it is.
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, I will probably be ranking Scooble as the
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: second pitcher of the board, but that does not mean
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: I'm interested in drafting him.
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: Yep, exactly. Yeah.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: It's going to be the only place I end up
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: with Scooble will be in an auction draft where, you know,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: you can allocate your dollars and stuff. But yeah, when
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: it comes to a snake, those first few picks are
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: too important. You cannot be falling behind in offensive categories
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: by going after pitchers.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: You can't be falling behind with early picks like Aaron Judge,
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr., Jose Ramirez, Julio Rodriguez, everyone
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: we're talking about.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: On this show.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: But I do agree. I mean, the pitchers also failed
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: in the top 20.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Because Skeens is the next one that came off the
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: board at eighth overall. What are you doing with Skeens?
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Because let me see.
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: He went so late in this meatball draft. He is
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: in the fifth round behind.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: Right around where I'm drafting him, I think.
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he got sandwiched.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: I'm in, man. I mean, call me a huckleberry. Call
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: me a moron. I don't care. You know, Paul Skeens
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: is sitting there looking at me in the fifth round.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: I'm drafting him because I think. Like, his numbers overall,
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: they don't really look that bad. I mean, you know,
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: take the ERA. ERA, obviously, take the ERA off the board.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: He said he wasn't happy with coming out of the WBC.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: He felt like the WBC set him back a little bit.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: I'll buy the narrative. You know what? If he's out
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: there at 50, yeah, man. I'm drafting Paul Skeets for
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: the bounce back. And then I probably won't roster him
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: again for another five years because then he'll be good again. So, yeah,
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: I'm in, man. I think it's a great opportunity. It
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: was kind of like how I was in for Yamamoto
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: going into 2025 because he had a bit of a
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: down year. In his first year, and then it was like, yeah,
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you're going to give him to me at,
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: you know, 50, 60 overall, I'll take it. I don't care. Yeah. So, yeah.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: Paul Skeen's in the bounce back? Absolutely. I'm in.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because in the too early meatball draft, like, I mean,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: he went behind, like, Uri Perez, Gavin Williams, Logan Gilbert,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Drew Rasmussen, Peyton Tolley. I can get behind Peyton Tolley there, but, like,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: the rest of those.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: Logan Gilbert's like, that's madness. That's the kind of thing
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: where it's like, I feel like a flag should go
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: up and people should be like, hold on. Someone should
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: call a timeout and be like, you're taking Logan Gilbert
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: before Paul Skeens and I'm kind of worried about you.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: I'm interested. I'm interested that we should have an intervention
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: because that's a little crazy.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because, yeah, I mean, the one thing that Skeens
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: will give you is volume. I mean, I do think
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: He's probably not been 100% healthy, but if he was
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: at all dealing with something that was like a Tommy
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: John level surgery, I think he would have been shut
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: down already. I think maybe he has to do an
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: elbow cleanup to get a few loose bodies out or
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: something small.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised if it's just like a reset, right?
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: Just like an off-season reset.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: He goes home. He steps away from the diamond for
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: like two months. He goes back and like walks into
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: driveline in like December, has like a little bit of
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: a sit down with those guys, comes back and I
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: feel like he can be just totally fine.
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: And so I think that that's, it's way too low
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: of a price that like, yeah, I think when we're,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: when we're talking draft season next year, he probably does
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: rise somewhere into the third round that I don't know
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: if there was some weird, uh, voodoo or mojo or
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: whatever in this draft room, but yeah, that does feel
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: too low.
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: What about Julio?
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: It's also like, I don't know when they did that draft,
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: but sometimes when you're doing it in mid-season. Mid-August. When
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: you're doing a mid-season or even mid-August draft, you're drafting
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: right after I don't know what the exact specifics were,
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: but if Paul Skeens gave up five earned Like the
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: day before, it's like, you look like a moron for
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: drafting him because it's like, he looks awful. What are
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: you doing? Are you stupid? Like, you know, and you're
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: only doing it. for people to look at your name.
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: It's not like you're, you're not playing that team out.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: You're just, the only reason to do it is to
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: look good at it, you know, and you're not looking
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: good if you're taking a guy who just gave up runs.
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: So I don't know. I'm just making up stories, but.
• 40:45
  Speaker 3: That's a good point.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Cause he could given up like 1700 runs over 23
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: and two thirds innings over like a five start span there.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: So I think that's a, that's a good point that like, yeah, you, you,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: we saw some, bad performance from schemes and people just
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: got real weirded out.
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: Right. And it's not even like, and they might not
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: even like, they might not even really been, uh, scared
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: by it. They might've just been like, I don't want
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: my name associated with it. Cause this is only PR.
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: Why am I doing PR and making myself look stupid?
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: So maybe, maybe that's what was going on. You never,
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: you never know with, uh, when the, the purts get
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: together and start drafting.
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I'm glad that you found.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Julio Rodriguez.
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: That's it. So Julio Rodriguez to me feels like... I mean,
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: you could say to me next year this time, Julio
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: Rodriguez just did 35-35, 280, or he did another 20-20,
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: 250 season. Like, I don't know. I don't know. I
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: don't know. Julio Rodriguez never turned it on this year.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: He never... He didn't come out of the break... being
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: the Julio Rodriguez that we've all grown to love. At
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: least the second half Julio Rodriguez. So I don't know, man.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: He's going to be really difficult. Like, Julio Rodriguez, or
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: back to those other names, Julio Rodriguez or Jackson Merrill?
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: I kind of go Jackson Merrill.
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: I would go Julio.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think it's wrong, necessarily, but... I mean,
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: it's so hard to go Julio Rodriguez at this point
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: with any sort of confidence when you know he's not
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: going to start off. He's not going to be good
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: in April and May. You know that. So you're just like, well,
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: he'll turn it on in June. And then June comes
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: and nothing happens. And then you're like, oh, man, I
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: got one of his 2020 years, didn't I? So I
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: don't know, man. It's so hard. I mean, it's so
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: hard because he is so, so, so sexy and so
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: much upside. It's so, I want to draft him. Like,
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: I want to, I want to love Julio Rodriguez. And I,
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: like I said before, like if you, if you said
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: to me this time next year, he went 40-40, I'd
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: be like, yeah, I mean, he had it in him.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: He always had a 40-40 season in him. I, you know,
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: it's just like banking on it is so tough.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't think he's going to fall
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: much past like 20th overall in most drafts just because
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: that upside is so tremendous. And we're also talking about like,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: once you start getting into the territory, we compare like
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: Jordan Alvarez and Julio Rodriguez in a 2027 draft. Like
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: that's when people, your eyes will light up. You could
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: not get away from that. So I don't think he's
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: going to fall terribly far because like that ceiling for
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: Julio is really crazy high. And even this year, like,
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: he still gave you a decent amount of value and
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: battled some injuries. He had like the, the concussion where
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: he got beamed in the back of the head, running
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: the bases and stuff. But yeah, I agree that like,
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: he's probably just going to slip out of the, the
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: first round going into next year, but maybe even into that, what,
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: where Fernando Tatis slipped into like this year where like
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: people were like, I don't know if I really want Tatis.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: And certainly the first half, like showed that, that they
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: were right. But when it all settled, like, Tatis Jr.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: ended up doing what he does by the end of
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: the year.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I mean that, I mean, I think that
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: was what everyone expected with Julio Rodriguez this year. Like
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: everyone's just like, well, at a certain point he's going
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: to turn it on. I mean, he has to, right.
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: And it never really got turned on. So I don't know.
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're, You're absolutely, Julio Rodriguez for you is
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: absolutely above Acuna Jr. and Jackson Merrill.
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: But like, I think just above, like that would be
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: the order for me would be like, well, let's see
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: in this draft to Jordan Walker point pretty early. So
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: maybe Jordan Walker's a little bit like down with Merrill
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: and Acuna, but like, yeah, Julio Rodriguez, Corbin Carroll, like
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: it's right there for me in terms of like that
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: kind of group of guys that I think people, as
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: we get into draft season, will have their favorite amongst Acuna, Merrill,
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Julio Rodriguez, and Carroll. But mine goes Carroll, Julio, Merrill,
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: Acuna for me right now.
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: Right. Yeah, I mean, I... Yeah, I guess Corbin Carroll
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: must have just missed this top 12.
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: From last year, yes.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he would have been just after the first 12.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: So him and Julio were kind of at that 13
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: through 16, I believe.
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: And he was.
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, he was a bit of a mess, but
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: not as bad as these guys, right? Or was he? Yeah,
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: he had.
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: That injury for a little bit, too.
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: He ended up where on the player radar?
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: 63rd. Right.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: So above these guys. Right. So, yeah, I mean, I think,
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: you know, and not just because he's above these guys
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: this year, but I think he's still, for me, above.
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: them next year like he's i i don't see i
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: don't foresee like uh julio rodriguez or acuna moving above
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: corbin carroll but i i feel like i'm i'm feel
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: like the high person on jackson merrill but i'm like
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: jackson merrill or corbin carroll is is the is the
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: question in my mind versus you know julio or carroll
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: which is i think sounds like the question in your
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: mind um but they're all close. I mean, they're all
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: going to be like, it's going to be like one
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: is like 17 overall. One's 19 overall. One's 21 overall.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: And one's like 24 overall or something in that, like
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: they're going to, they're all going to be in that
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: sort of same range. I, yeah, I, I think I
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: want to say, For me, it's probably Corbin Carroll, Jackson Merrill,
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: Julio Rodriguez, then Acuna.
• 47:11
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: But yeah, don't hold me to it. So Garrett Crochet
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: was our worst top 12 guy, which.
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: By far.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, by far. 662 overall. And while you were While
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: you were talking about Cora McCarroll, I cheated a little bit,
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: and I looked at Garrett Crochet's most recent news, and
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: I didn't have time to read it all because there's
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: a lot. There's a lot of... It's basically like, how
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: good is your insurance policy, Garrett Crochet, because you got
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: some issues. I.
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, is it Blue Cross? I don't know what's going
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: on here. Garrett Crochet has, I mean, there was a
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: shoulder thing, so that immediately takes him off the board
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: for me. I'm not, even if Paul Skeens comes out
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: and says in November he did have elbow or shoulder issues,
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: then I take back what I was saying about drafting
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: my 50 overall.
• 48:23
  Speaker 3: I'll give you that.
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I will U-turn that whole declarative statement of being
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: in on Paul Skeens. But Garrett Crochet, he's off the
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: board for me. I can't. A pitcher who has a
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: shoulder issue for this long, yeah, I'm not in, man.
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: I'm not. It shows even his rehab kind of shows, like,
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: one of my bigger issues, like not that mentioned, like,
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: you know, like pitching is already tough enough, but then
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: you throw in like an injury. So then when he's rehabbing,
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: like maybe he's favoring something. And then, so he, during
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: his rehab, he hurt his lat. So it's like, yeah,
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the problem. Like, and that knocked him
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: out for another six weeks. He might be really good
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: value in the drafts, but I don't know. I don't
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: think I can get in on it. At the end
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: of the day, it might come down to price, but
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think he's probably going to
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: be priced out for me. What's your thoughts on Garrett Crochet?
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: I think I'm probably there too.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: I mean, certainly this all changes if we see him
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: in the playoffs and he looks okay or some semblance
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: of himself. Because they are certainly trying to get him
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: back for this playoff run in Boston, but that's the
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: other factor is they haven't been able to get him back.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: So this was certainly an issue when he was with
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: the Sox in terms of ramping up and staying healthy
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: and he rattled off a couple of pretty big major
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: seasons in terms of innings pitched, but that might be
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: all that's in that arm.
• 50:09
  Speaker 3: It was always a high risk arm.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: There was a reason why the White Sox were considering,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: like they were on the fence when he was coming
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: through the system, whether or not he'd be a starter
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: or a reliever and what role they would use them in.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: Cause they were worried about just the overall ability for
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: it to stay on the field. And so, yeah, I'm
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: there too, that like he went pretty late in that
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: meatball draft that I'm referencing. Eighth round went right next
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: to Reed Detmers and Joe Ryan. But I mean, I'd
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: rather have both of those guys over Garrett Crochet going
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: to 2027. Essentially, if you've got to take Crochet, you're
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: up a creek already in your draft for 2027 because
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: you've already opened up the possibility you're taking a zero.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: The possibility that he gets ramped up in spring and
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: starts going and the shoulder totally goes out again are
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: pretty high, I think, at this point compared to so
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: many other pitchers. there's just no reason to want to
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: take that risk level unless he's dropping fall enough where
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: it's not going to hurt you.
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, exactly.
• 51:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: That's, I mean, that's really the, the, the issue is like,
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: you know, it's kind of like, it reminds me kind
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: of like Spencer Strider coming into the year. And now like,
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: you know, at this point people are like Spencer who,
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: but I mean, going into this year, it was like, okay,
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: you know, he's, he's healthy. It's like, things are going right. We're,
• 51:36
  Speaker 2: we're good. And it's like, I mean, you never really,
• 51:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's, it's sad to say, but you don't
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: really come back that easily from these, uh, these injuries.
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: Like if you're a pitcher, at least like, it's a
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: long road, man, you know? Um, so yeah, I don't know.
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to be in though. I, I, he'll
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: be off the board probably for me. Um, I, even at, even,
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: Even in the eighth round, he's off the board. Okay,
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: so finally, Kyle Tucker. Speaking of off the board.
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, man. What a mess, right?
• 52:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm in Los Angeles. I watch a decent
• 52:21
  Speaker 2: amount of Dodgers. He looks terrible. I've never seen a
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: guy look so bad.
• 52:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 52:28
  Speaker 2: For the entire season. Like he just, he doesn't look
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: good at all. Like, I don't know. I don't know
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: if it's an injury. I want to say it's more like,
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: like he just aged fast. He got old, you know,
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: he does not look right at all. Like, you know,
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: a lot of like awful contact. That's just like, I
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: don't know. I mean, it's sad. I, i don't i
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: for the outfielders that we were talking about with the
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: whole jackson merrill kunya corbin carroll um julio rodriguez guys
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: like he's not even in he's not even in the
• 53:08
  Speaker 2: conversation no he's.
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: Not even close for me.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: No i mean i i would start being like you
• 53:17
  Speaker 2: know like i i don't even know if he's at
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: like 70 overall for me. Like he is like, he
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: feels like a guy who like someone's going to, someone's
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: going to draft him before I do. That's for sure.
• 53:31
  Speaker 2: But like, I, you know, like it's like say a
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: Suzuki or Kyle Tucker. I mean, say has been pretty
• 53:39
  Speaker 2: good the last couple of years.
• 53:40
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's kind of like, you know, so it's
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: like Kyle. Okay. So Kyle Tucker or Joe Adele. I mean,
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Joe Adele's got upside. I mean, you know,
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: like Kyle Tucker or, you know, I think he's in
• 53:58
  Speaker 2: like the Kyle Stowers sort of, you know, back end outfield,
• 54:04
  Speaker 2: like the back end of like the third outfielder, maybe
• 54:09
  Speaker 2: second or third outfielder. Third, probably. Yeah. Like third outfielder.
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's nowhere near. I don't think he's anywhere
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: near the top 25 or top 50 even. At top 75,
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: it feels generous even. I don't know. I'm out on
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker. How are you feeling?
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's about where he went in the meatball draft
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: was 75th, but I'm there too. After him, they had
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: Wyatt Langford, Michael Harris, Roman Anthony. I'm not even a
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: big Roman Anthony guy. How is Kyle Tucker any better
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: than Roman Anthony right now? I think the bigger question
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: will actually be like, for me, it's like Kyle Tucker
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: or Mike Trout. Like that's where it starts becoming more
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: of a question where you're in like the hundred ish range.
• 54:54
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: And like you're in triple digits and you're like, okay,
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: name value does.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: Probably like this is going to sound crazy, but I
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: could probably make a case for Mickey Moniac over Kyle Tucker.
• 55:06
  Speaker 3: Possibly. Yeah.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of different, I mean, I'm certainly going
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: Jake McCarthy over Kyle Tucker going into 2027.
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Like same amount of power, 25 plus steals and
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: a decent average.
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, man.
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: Cause it's like, yeah, you just, like you said, like
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: there's nothing redeeming in the Kyle Tucker profile right now.
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: Like the savant page doesn't look great. You watch the
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: baseball games. He looks totally lost, man. It's like, worse
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: than the bottoming out of cody bellinger like i don't
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the confidence is totally sapped and i don't.
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: Even know like kyle tucker is one of those uh
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: one of those picks now at this point where in
• 55:49
  Speaker 2: retrospect i don't even know what people are thinking putting
• 55:52
  Speaker 2: him at 12 and i probably was one of the
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: people putting him at 12 i don't even know what
• 55:57
  Speaker 2: i was thinking like it's like you look at him
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: and you're like how is this guy drafted at the
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: top 30. Like, how is he even, even a year ago?
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: Like we know, you know, guys go in and out
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: of slumps and stuff, but you look at him and
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: you're like, how is this guy even anywhere close to
• 56:16
  Speaker 2: the top 20, let alone top 30 or 40? Like what?
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: And yet he was in the top 12. So it's like, okay.
• 56:26
  Speaker 3: Yes, exactly.
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know, man. It's bad news now.
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, 2026 first round was rough. 2027, the mock first
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: round that Brew and I did last week. I mean,
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: you saw carryovers like Bobby Witt Jr., Shohei Otani, L.A.
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: De La Cruz, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr.,
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: who was just on the outside of the top 12 there,
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: as well as like Yordan was just outside. Junior Caminero
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: was a little bit outside, but They're certainly, I think,
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: in the first round for 2027. The biggest jumpers are
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: certainly Pete Corarmstrong, PCA, and James Wood to where, I mean,
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: there's obviously, I think, an argument for PCA to go
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: first next year. I don't know if I'm quite in
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: the camp of getting him over Bobby Witt Jr. and
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: Shohei Otani for me, but I think it is going
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: to be a coin flip for lots of folks that
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: like that 3-4-5, who you go with between PCA, Elie
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: De La Cruz, and James Wood when you're sitting third is,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: are you okay with all of them? Or is there
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: a preferred of that trio that you might like more
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: than the rest?
• 57:32
  Speaker 2: Um, out of the, uh, PCA, James Wood and who?
• 57:36
  Speaker 3: LA Dilla Cruz.
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: LA Dilla Cruz. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, at this point,
• 57:41
  Speaker 2: I'm sold on Pete Crow Armstrong. I'm not, like, I
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: can't fight City Hall. Pete Crow Armstrong is City Hall
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: at this point. I'm done fighting it. So I would
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: have to go Pete Crow Armstrong. It's also, like, you
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: look at PCA. Like, he did hit 31 homers and
• 57:57
  Speaker 2: steal 35 bags last year. So it's like he had
• 58:00
  Speaker 2: a 30-30 season last year. It was like, the thing
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: that was really weighing on us all was, like, his
• 58:11
  Speaker 2: second half was so bad. And why, you know, I even...
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: I accidentally draft them in one league because like I,
• 58:20
  Speaker 2: and I only bid $ 21 in a, a mixed league.
• 58:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know.
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: It was like the most insane steal because even to
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: the point where I didn't want them and no, like
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: it was one of those things where I still remember
• 58:34
  Speaker 2: it very distinctly. Cause I, I jumped the price because
• 58:37
  Speaker 2: on my sheet, he was listed for, I think 25.
• 58:40
  Speaker 2: So I jumped at the 21, assuming someone would go
• 58:43
  Speaker 2: to 22 and, And no one went, and I was like, oh, okay.
• 58:47
  Speaker 2: I guess I got Pete Crow Armstrong. And I think,
• 58:52
  Speaker 2: you know, last year's second half was bad, but I
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: think we all put a little too much emphasis on it. And,
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: you know, in retrospect, no one knew. I also put
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: too much emphasis on it. But now, I mean, it
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: was 30-31 year. 40-40 another year. It's like, I'm still
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: with you with Bobby Witt and Otani, but then I
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: think Pete Crew Armstrong, yeah.
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I'm there too, where I do think
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: that it's actually, that is the first tier. It's actually
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: Witt-Otani-PCA for me, that that's actually a tier above, like,
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: the L.E.
• 59:29
  Speaker 3: And james wood there so like i.
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: Don't think you can go wrong if you're drafting fourth
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: or fifth but i don't think you're gonna find many
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: if any draft rooms where you're gonna get otani wit
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: or pca dropping to you just because the nice thing
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: with pca like you mentioned the floor is there now
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: like i think that was the concern coming into this
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: year is like where's the floor at and I think
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: the floor was actually last year.
• 59:54
  Speaker 3: The floor is like that last.
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: Year, 30, 30 season with a decent batting average that
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: wouldn't didn't kill you. Like that's going to yield plenty
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: of value every time.
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 2: So yeah, no, totally. And he's young enough where I
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 2: feel like even if the power were to bottom out
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 2: a little bit and he hits like say 20 homers,
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 2: I still think he's going to get 30 steals at least.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 3: So yeah.
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 2: No, I mean, it's not, that isn't, obviously that's not ideal,
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: but if, You know, if the worst-case scenario is 20, 30, 250, okay,
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: you know.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think there's even a scenario where, like,
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: if the power does dip, he's playing center field every day,
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: he's hitting leadoff with Cubs on a good team. If
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: he's not hitting as many homers, I think he'll run more.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: And you might even see him push 50, 60 stolen
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: bases if he's not trotting around the bases every time
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: he hits the ball, you know what I mean? If
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: he's still getting on base, walking and hitting singles every
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: The problem that– the reason he doesn't have more steals
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: is because he's hitting too many homers.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 3: So it's like there's that factor as well.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I mean, I wish I had him in
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 2: more leagues in retrospect. But, like, he– I mean, the
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 2: people who drafted him aggressively this year, I got to
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 2: give them credit because, like, coming off of that second
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 2: half in 2025– I was scared. I mean, I think
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: a lot of people were. And the fact that people saw, like,
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 2: him going at, like, you know, I think he went at, like,
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 2: 25 overall. Like, he wasn't even discounted as much as
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 2: I thought, considering his second half. Like, I thought he
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: was overrated, to be honest. Like, I thought he should
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 2: have been going even later. But the fact that he
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 2: was going... You know, at like 30. It looks like
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: his ADP was 30 overall. So, I mean, 30, it
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 2: felt high for me. It was. But, you know, props
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: to the people who drafted him. It wasn't me. In
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 2: most leagues, obviously. I got him in that one, which
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 2: was an auction. Which was an accident. I did not
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 2: mean to draft him. I wanted... I wanted someone else
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 2: to draft. So, but I ended up with them and
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: you know, whatever.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 3: I think you've got to go back into that league
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 3: again this year and do that. Try to end them.
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 3: Like just absolutely flip out when you don't give them
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 3: for $ 21. Be like, wow. Yeah, I know.
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Seriously. I, yeah, that's, that is a league. Actually.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 2: Did I win last year? No, I, I don't know.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 2: Maybe I did. I, It's labor. I won maybe the
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 2: year before last. I don't know. Anyway, that league is,
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 2: you know, it's a 12-team mixed league, and usually people, like,
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 2: go stars and scrubs. So the fact that Pete Crow
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: Armstrong fell to me at $ 21, it's like, it shows you, like,
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 2: it wasn't just me who was out on it. People
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 2: were scared of his second half. And yeah, I mean,
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 2: no one, no one was bidding and people were bidding
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 2: everyone in that league up. And Pete Cromstrung did not
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 2: get a second bid. I mean, I opened it with
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 2: 21 and it was like crickets. I was like, okay. Yes.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 3: That's nuts.
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: Maybe one final question to wrap this up for the
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: 2027 mock first round that Brew and I did last year.
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: So I'll rattle off the names real fast. We had
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: in order Bobby Witt Jr., Shohei Otani, PCA, Ellie, James Wood,
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Jordan Alvarez, Jr. Caminero, Fernando Tatis Jr.,
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: CJ Abrams, and Jackson Churrio as our top 12. Any
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: of those that you would have kicked out of the
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: first round and you would have taken in the first
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: 12 picks for 2027? Anybody that you really like that
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: stands out that you say, Hey, this guy, I have
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: faith in him rising into the first round by the
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: time we get deeper into draft season or after we
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: see some performances in the playoffs that Mike and Brew,
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: you guys are idiots.
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 3: You missed out on this name. What is that name?
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 2: You know, a guy who I feel like it's hard
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 2: to get rid of anyone. I don't think your top
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 2: 12 is bad at all. It's hard to... really knock
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 2: it in any way. But, you know, I think a
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 2: guy who at this point deserves probably the bottom, maybe,
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 2: maybe it's between 12 and 15 overall, but he's somewhere.
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 2: I think he's at a point now where I think
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 2: Pete Alonzo is, he's like, I mean, he's that back
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 2: end of the top 12 to 15 overall. Like where
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 2: Matt Olsen sat for a little bit, like he's, I
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 2: feel like he's made that sort of, you know, at
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 2: this point, because he's like, I mean, every year it's
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 2: like the power's there. The average isn't even that bad anymore.
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 2: The runs and RBIs are there. I mean, there's not
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 2: going to be steals, but, you know, you don't really get,
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 2: steals from, like, you know, Junior Caminero. Like, as of, like,
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 2: right this second, like, Pete Alonso is actually above Caminero
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 2: on the player radar. And, you know, I mean, I
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 2: don't mind, I don't dislike Junior Caminero, but it's like,
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 2: it's just an upside play when Pete Alonso has just
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 2: been doing it for year after year after year. So,
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 2: I don't know. But it's like, it's kind of nitpicky
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 2: a little bit because... it's like, it's splitting hairs because
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 2: I do think your top 12 is pretty right on.
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: So if I, I guess Pete Alonzo would be one name,
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 2: I guess, potentially. I could see Sal Stewart possibly sneaking
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 2: into the top 12. Like he's, he's top 15 overall
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 2: as of right now on the player radar as a rookie.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's no reason why Jackson Churio has been really...
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 2: Jackson Churio feels like a guy who is hinted at
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 2: being a top 12 guy, but has he actually been
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 2: a top 12 guy? I don't know. It's hard because
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 2: I do like Jackson Churio. I don't want to knock
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 2: him too hard because I do feel like his talent
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: is through the roof where you could see a 30,
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 2: 30 Jackson cheerio year with like, you know, hitting 300
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 2: with the runs and RBIs and just having, having the
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 2: year you wanted from like Julio Rodriguez or whatever. So
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 2: maybe Sal Stewart in for Jackson cheerio, maybe Pete Alonzo
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 2: in for junior Cameron arrow. But I mean, it's, I
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 2: like your top 12. I I'm not going to knock
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 2: it too much.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate that. But yeah, those, I think those
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 3: are good names to mention.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: Especially with Alonzo that Baltimore offense wasn't firing in all cylinders.
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: Maybe he puts up a bonkers RBI total next year.
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: And then Sal Stewart, great home park. You can't, you
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: can't discount that home park. Ellie takes advantage of it too.
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: So I think those are solid names to keep in mind.
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: If you're getting into way too early mock drafts as
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: I think some of us probably will be over the
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: next week, especially once the regular season dries up, I
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: go through a little bit of like a withdrawal period,
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: which I should probably, let right out and let my
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: system reset.
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 3: But you know what? All baseball all the time around here, baby.
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 3: So great.
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: Let people know where they can reach you on socials
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: and anything else you might want to shout out.
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 2: Ras ball. You can find me at Ras ball. Just
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 2: search Ras ball and your favorite social media platform and
• 1:08:06
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• 1:08:08
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: You have the king of blue sky right here. I
• 1:08:11
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• 1:08:14
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• 1:08:17
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• 1:08:19
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• 1:08:21
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• 1:08:25
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• 1:08:29
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• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: ball with the related posts and those subscriptions for 2027.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 3: They'll be up.
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, sooner rather than later, as we get into
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: the off season and, But obviously, they're probably not going
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: to do you too much good for 2026. Sorry to
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: denigrate the subscriptions for one week, but maybe it won't
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: pay off for you. But certainly, if you're looking for
• 1:08:51
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• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: the Hittertron, the Streamerinator, everything like that, that'll help you
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: throughout draft season with the War Room.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 3: Check out Razzball. The subscription will not take you wrong.
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: So thanks everybody for checking us out and we'll be
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: back roughly same time, same place next week.
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 2: Thanks.