WEBVTT

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[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to the Toolshed, a podcast covering all levels of professional baseball to help give you the edge in your dynasty leagues.

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[SPEAKER_01]: From the MLB draft, all the way to the show, the Toolshed podcast has you covered with rankings, player analysis, and in-depth discussion.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And now, here's your host, Eric Cross.

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[SPEAKER_00]: What's up, everyone?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome into another episode of the Toolshed Podcast brought to you by Roto Baller.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is episode 427.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining me.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Eric Cross.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You can find me on Twitter at Eric Cross MLB.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And the show is at Toolshed Pod.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Continuing my dynasty and prospect ranking series.

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[SPEAKER_00]: series with dynasty catcher rankings and I have a great guest in the toolshed with me this episode to break it all down.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He is the lead prospect analyst and senior baseball editor at Roto Wire.

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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the best in the business, Mr. James Anderson at RealJR Anderson on Twitter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: James has gone, but it's going great, Eric.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Thanks very much.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, always enjoy, you know, bottom with you.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I know we between my pot and your pot and even, you know, well, she's pot, we always, you know, several times a year, we find her way, you know, in the same podcast room.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And today we're going over a dynasty catcher.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And then what you and I were just talking before we hit record about how this position is, you know, for each of us, kind of fun.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And they went over a more favorite position to talk about.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think many people say that, you know, obviously catcher, I mean, I'll feel a picture or short stop of those are the three really super sexy ones, but catchers, you know, on the rise and has a good, a lot of good young talent, both the party debut and

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, in the minor leagues as well, and we'll kind of break it all down today.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll be going through our top 30 each, talking some players, some debates and many players that we might differ on a little bit, you know, give us some good players to buy.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So a good mix of stuff going on in this episode, we'll start right with our top 10, each at this catcher spot.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So James, we got in your top 10.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, my top 10 is number one, Cal Raleigh, two William Contrarys, three Shae Langleears, four Drake Baldwin, five Ben Rice, six Sam Lobasayo, seven Raneel Rodriguez, eight Augustin Ramirez, nine hundred good men, 10 Will Smith.

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[SPEAKER_00]: All right, I also have Cal Raleigh Wandemina.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's a pretty solid one for everybody.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I go, I have been rice too and everyone knows I'm a huge pen rice guy.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I go, William Contreras III, Samuel Bessail IV, Augustine Ramirez V, Drake Baldwin VI, 100 Goodman VII, Shay Lingalier's 8, Wilson Smith 9, and Adley Richmond at 10.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean,

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[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, I think everyone knows that CalRoll is number one.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's pretty clear the number one, you know, he's still on the young ish side.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he'll be 29 next season, so he's not like he's over 30 yet.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But clear number one, I feel he's been doing less couple years, especially in 2025.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But James, I feel after Raleigh,

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[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like it really opens up in this kind of like a pretty sizable tier where you can make a case for, you know, really five, six, maybe even seven of these guys as the number two and I've seen a wide range of rankings, you know, two through seven or two through eight or so, and I ended up on Ben Rice and you on William Contreras so.

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[SPEAKER_00]: how close are all these guys for you and really what puts a William Pancharis ahead of you know, the Langoliers, the Baldwin's, etc.

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[SPEAKER_00]: of the world?

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so for me, it was really close between contraris and Langoliers at number two, like I I really feel strongly about

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[SPEAKER_02]: that being my top three, like Browley, and then Contreras Langalliers and some order.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I'm really, you know, obviously looking for skills with these guys, but I think the biggest separator at the catcher position is playing time.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And so,

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[SPEAKER_02]: you know, if you're kind of just looking at who are projected to have the most played appearances at the catcher position, that's kind of almost close to what my rankings are going to look like, and the big difference is like Ben Rice, valuing him because I don't think he's going to have catcher eligibility after this year necessarily like he might, but

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[SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of like I'm valuing Ben Rice a little bit differently from the other guys in the top five where I think there's a very strong possibility that he's a first baseman only next year and so

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's a very unique case among these guys.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think Baldwin is just, you know, he's like my favorite of the guys who are just entering their crimes, but contraris and lingo leaders, health permitting are going to be right up.

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[SPEAKER_02]: There was self-pres and Cal Raleigh among plate appearances for these guys.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think contraris and lingo leaders are also

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[SPEAKER_02]: pretty close to five category catches at this point, you know, stealing like six bases basically at the catch position is a big deal.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And so, I think contraris along with Raleigh, along with Langeliers, all our guys that are going to steal over five bases, and the improvement

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like if I were to pick one of these guys in the top five to just jump to like another stratosphere this year, I think Langeliers would be the pick, but I also think contraris is just the safest and like I think he's got a high ceiling, he's finished his catcher one, his recently as a year ago, but I also think he's got the high score that the nine rather guys.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I would definitely agree with that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, when you're looking at contraris in a downier, still had 89 runs, 17 home runs, 60 else hit 263, 355 OBP, and so that's a pretty good metrics under the hood.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it wasn't 2024, you know, when he finished as the C1, like you mentioned, but yeah, I think contraris is very, very safe with, he might have the best blend, you know, I said a brawl, like you said, of, you know, upside and floor.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Languilliers, he's one where I feel like I'm always too low on him.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm even thinking that right now, where and I have him like 7th at this position.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you look at the improvements he made with the contact, I was always the issue, but like both in zone and overall have gone up every single year.

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[SPEAKER_00]: from being downright terrible, it's a bad to all right to actually now both above average, you know, by about, you know, one and a half to, you know, half a percent of better than league average.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, I'm kind of wondering if I'm valuing linglers too low still.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I look at those averages from,

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[SPEAKER_00]: pretty twenty twenty five and now he was like you know two twenty with a sub three hundred B.P.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I mean the powers could the lineup context is pretty good that athletics line I'm so really good.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Got the K rate by seven and a half percent.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think I move a move a month.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm talking myself into a regular number higher.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's why I love doing these.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, in the past, you know, you know, Kleg and I would always like kind of every episode.

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[SPEAKER_00]: One of us are both would be as we talked through it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: would be like, oh, maybe I want to write this guy higher or sometimes lower too.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So I love doing this and getting at different people on and different looking at different rankings and kind of talking it through because I kind of make some adjustments on the fly.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I think I think I'm under valuing Shale Anglers and he's still 2028.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of the like there,

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[SPEAKER_00]: wish with Shayla and Galators, but like I said, Ben Rice, I do share that, you know, concern like is he catcher eligible beyond this year?

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[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a few of these guys, and we'll talk about it in a little bit, that you know, you kind of have that concern of how on do they have that sea, you know, eligibility next to their name, but man, if he even for this year, he can finish as maybe even the C2 this year or push Cal Raleigh with, if he gets a full year worth of

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[SPEAKER_00]: But he ends.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's to be phenomenal if he can get 650 plate appearances.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But that probably means he loses catcher eligibility.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But you know fingers crossed he can get at least 20 starts in there behind.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Behind Austin Wells to keep eligibility for at least one right year.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We shall see, but yeah, those are just a few guys are in that number two mix.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if you know said that your number two was Drake Baldwin, I wouldn't have any issue with it, or even, you know, people love 100 good men.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We'll Smith kind of live them in the older side now.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's the old man of this group, but he was number two and that discussion for a long time and you got, you know, Pesayo.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So,

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[SPEAKER_00]: a lot of fun catchers in this kind of top couple of tiers that are all fairly young, I'll kind of like 24 to 28 for the most part.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So I think submission is in a really, really good spot.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But one here, one guy here in your top 10, I want to get your thoughts on I already discussed him in my,

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[SPEAKER_00]: prospect version of this position, but you have reigning a Rodriguez at number seven.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm assuming since you have a guy that there's just in, you know, low A 18, maybe 18 or 19 years old, already in the top 10.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You must be, you know, maybe all in isn't the rest, best term, but you must be obviously pretty darn high on reigning a Rodriguez.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think he's, um,

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like if you just remove stolen bases, I think you could rank him as like a top five prospect for fantasy, like he's capped as like a four category guy but there's not really anyone, his age, who I feel is strongly about the hit and power combination as I do, Raniale and I'm hoping like got in the, the spots where I've got him.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I'm hoping they move him off a catcher and, you know, he comes up and maybe he's still catcher eligible when he debuts, but like I'd love for Rainy Elders being every day to age, maybe play a little first base, maybe even catch a little bit, but like it's all about the bat and I think catcher, I picked to come on this episode just because I love talking

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[SPEAKER_02]: Catcher dynasty strategy is just so wide-ranging because you and I are both playing different formats where like the 16th or 17th or 25th rank catcher has vastly different values from league to league, depending on how many catchers each team's starting,

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[SPEAKER_02]: And then some of these other guys, you get more and kind of format dependent, like, oh, I only think this guy's like the 14th best catcher at his peak.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So what does that even matter?

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[SPEAKER_02]: And like a shallow league, like with Rainy L, if it's a shallow league, he could end up being the catcher once someday.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And obviously in a deep league, like I've got him wrecked as a easy top, 15 prospect on my next update.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So I got love in that situation too.

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[SPEAKER_02]: But just, you know, potential plus hit, 70 power really, really exciting.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's coming up a year, 276, 399 and 555 slash line, 22 doubles, 20 home runs, 54 walks to 65 strikeouts between complex and low A and then you got a cup of coffee.

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[SPEAKER_00]: in high A and to the season again as an 18 year old and he'll turn 19 in a couple of weeks here so he'll play all of next year age 19 and maybe even at double night and say I definitely very very exciting future for regular regas yeah yeah he's another one like this a lot of guys that use cut a question will they be catchers long term because

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, with him, St. Louis has so many good catchers.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They say, Louis loves catchers.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that's why you want her era.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the one that you question how long he has catcher eligibility and I think he has actually already lost it in some of those leagues where the threshold is on the higher end, but then you got Jimmy Crooks.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He got Leonardo Bernal, you know, they just have so many good catchers coming up through.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, you can't play them all at catcher, obviously.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So,

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm very high on Rodriguez as well.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I have him as a top 25 prospect right now, but yeah, I love seeing that you had him that high in your dynasty rankings because they kind of shows like you know the it's really tough for me and I'm sure James, you can maybe echo this that's doing is we both do dynasty and prospect rankings and prospects.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think it a little bit easier.

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[SPEAKER_00]: When you don't see you have to kind of compare how aggressive do I rank the young prospects like a ring or regas who are still you know a year or two away against the you know the veterans like or even the 26 year olds that are already there so that's a really how how tough is that for you sometimes to figure out like where are you slot a guy like that's 18 19 or even like a wall caught are these guys like that he's just money against like a you know Drake Baldwin or

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[SPEAKER_00]: a hundred good men like how tough is that for you when you go through your process.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It's very hard.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, doing like I love doing the prospect rankings, but I, the dynasty rankings are much more of a like obligation.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like I, I just don't think it's really possible to put together like a perfect set of dynasty rankings just because it's so,

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[SPEAKER_02]: dependent on league, to league, format, to format, and even just manager to manager, like, what a, like, how much do you want to trust in the 18 year old shortstop?

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[SPEAKER_02]: How much do you trust your ability to just continue to get prospects and continue to turn them in the big leagueers and win that way?

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, there's just so many different ways to win in dynasty.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So making the rankings, it's just really hard.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I just, I kind of try to,

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[SPEAKER_02]: just think of, put myself in my own shoes and kind of in a generic league and I'm more likely to prefer this player or that player, but you know it's it's so challenging and like you know the reneal example, if like I'm extremely confident in this player's

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[SPEAKER_02]: um, invest in it, uh, confidently, but if you're just someone who kind of looks at rankings, but like, it doesn't trust prospects that much, like he's a caching prospect or that kind of effect is ability to develop as a hit or that type of thing.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, there's nothing wrong with just skipping to the next guy on my list.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I think that's, that's the key with using dynasty rankings

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[SPEAKER_02]: Just using them as like one tool in your toolbox along with your own work along maybe multiple sets of dinosaur and things that type of thing I mean it's just it's such an exact science and they're they're just not going to be super super sticky like you really kind of got to use them but not like really really lean on them to a great extent.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, that is very spot on and a lot of the issues I've dealt with too with my own rankings and another rinkle is you know the contending manager versus the rebuilding manager.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So like you know Rodriguez obviously is a lot more valuable to a rebuilding manager or maybe a contending you know win now team might not you know be as interested in any of the you know 18 year olds or something like that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, definitely you have right top.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I just wanted to get kind of your thoughts as

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[SPEAKER_00]: kind of how you weighed that because that's always something that, you know, really, it tugs at me.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Every time I'm up there in my rank, things just very, very hard to balance that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, we've talked about some of these guys that, you know, might move off and let's kind of dig in that a little bit more here before we head to the next set of part of our rankings here.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And there's wrote the several guys in these rankings that you can

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[SPEAKER_00]: say, there's some level of concern, whether it's like, you know, 25% or 85% of them losing eligibility, you know, whether it be this upcoming year or on the next two or three years, I think the four bigger names are Ivan Herrera, who again already maybe has lost it, depending on the game's play threshold and your league, send me a besio and Baltimore, obviously,

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[SPEAKER_00]: with Adley there and Augusti Ramirez and Miami defense with him not the greatest and then Ben Rice as well.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, any of these guys that you're maybe confident in not losing at James, like you think any of these guys maintain it, you know, three, four, five years on the road or are you pretty concerned that all of these guys and maybe even none of the name I didn't mention are going to be losing that catcher eligibility here in the next year or two.

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[SPEAKER_02]: No, I, so I think, um, races, races just the big one, like, I think it's just completely possible that Rice doesn't even catch it all this year.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, maybe he does, maybe he even gets to 20 games caught by the All Star Break, like you never know.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, he's the one where I would not be surprised at all if he's just not even close to qualifying at catcher next year.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think Carrera, Bessai over Amir as our catcher eligible next year.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Carrera, you know, is a great point about the Cardinals and their catching prospect depth.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It's probably the best, like, you want to go five deep on your like organizational catcher depth chart.

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[SPEAKER_02]: They probably have the best catching depth chart.

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[SPEAKER_02]: in the majors, but I still think just from a roster management standpoint, like they would have to trade a lot of their guys to just find room for her rare to play mostly at the age.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So I just think they're going to have to play in that catcher enough for him to qualify, and he's not a bad defensive catcher, like he's definitely a hit first catcher, but

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[SPEAKER_02]: I'm kind of operating under the assumption Herrera is going to be catch eligible for the foreseeable future after this year.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And then Bessaio and Ramirez, I think are kind of similar in that I expect them to both lose catch eligibility eventually, but not for 2027.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I would say maybe 2028, 2029.

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[SPEAKER_02]: You'll see Ramirez and Bessaio lose it, but I think they catch enough in 2026 to keep it for at least another year.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Ramirez is the one that's going to get a hone in on because I do think that the catcher of the future in Miami is Joe Mack and I do think that Ramirez is more of like a first-based slash DH type long-term.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I would absolutely love to keep him a catcher.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think you know, I got it.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, potentially, you know, legit has the skills to go like 25, 15, which is, you know, you have to steal some catcher or super rare and even to get a guy with five is rare these days, but when you get like these, you know, I don't want to use unicorn, but kind of isn't in a way where you don't have these double digit steel catches that often.

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[SPEAKER_02]: No, I think he is a, like he is kind of a unicorn right now.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like it's, it's, it's, it's always fluctuating like what the sort of top of the mark is for for steals a catcher.

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[SPEAKER_02]: But like I, I think Grimirez, like his ceiling this year is just so high for a rodeo, like he could play every day, like he could play like 150 plus games and go like 30, 20 at catcher.

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[SPEAKER_02]: That would not surprise me at all from a guest in America.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, he's got easy plus juice, loves to run.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's pretty good at it.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And he's going to be like, as long as he's hitting.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like, if he's the, if you're aggressive at all as a hitter or is just kind of about as good as he was last year, he's probably not going to play every single day.

20:30.486 --> 20:33.089
[SPEAKER_02]: But he could be better as a hitter than he was last year.

20:33.149 --> 20:35.571
[SPEAKER_02]: And they, he's like, they're clean up hitter.

20:35.591 --> 20:36.853
[SPEAKER_02]: They can't take about to line up.

20:37.393 --> 20:40.296
[SPEAKER_02]: And he's just rackin' up these homers and steal.

20:40.765 --> 21:06.132
[SPEAKER_02]: I think he is kind of a unicorn as long as he keeps the catcher eligibility and as long as there aren't other catchers emerging as these like 15 steel threats, but I just I agree with you about Mac and I just I think at their heart this Marlins org is really kind of a defense first org and so once they start kind of getting serious about winning they're going to stop playing

21:07.782 --> 21:10.747
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and obviously, you know, Matt, because you guys are going to be sticking behind that play.

21:10.767 --> 21:20.243
[SPEAKER_00]: Like zero question about him sticking behind the play, and I'm not one of the better, you know, cat just catchers out there in the minor leagues, but yeah, Ramirez, I've always been a big Ramirez guy.

21:20.263 --> 21:31.562
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I thought when I saw him come through AA, you know, when he's back, still back with the Yankees organization a few years ago, seeing him that that series I saw him, I was like, man, like, I was just immediately enamored with the bat, like everything

21:32.470 --> 22:02.038
[SPEAKER_00]: he was hitting even the outs were hard and that's really continue to translate you know that you mentioned the juice and even even though you only hit 230 I mean the context course are not bad at all I mean 86% zone and right around 74 75% overall so I think you can definitely see the average tick up so yeah at 30 to 120 season with a 260 average I think is you know that's a lot for a catcher but that's the fact that it's at least a possibility with with Ramirez and not

22:02.288 --> 22:04.090
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, totally crazy to say that.

22:04.536 --> 22:05.548
[SPEAKER_00]: I just shows like the upside.

22:06.018 --> 22:10.402
[SPEAKER_00]: But he might have the second highest upside among catchers, just given the added steel.

22:10.422 --> 22:12.744
[SPEAKER_00]: If he's getting the 20 steel, he had 16 last year.

22:13.325 --> 22:14.526
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, 21, 16 is a rookie.

22:14.566 --> 22:15.647
[SPEAKER_00]: So why not?

22:15.667 --> 22:21.292
[SPEAKER_00]: 25, 30 home runs in 18, 20 seals in a second year, adding this to definitely possible.

22:21.952 --> 22:27.437
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, all of these guys, I do agree, Rice is probably the most likely out of these four to lose it.

22:27.778 --> 22:30.120
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm kind of similar on Herrera and Romeras.

22:31.121 --> 22:36.025
[SPEAKER_00]: They're kind of in a similar range of me in terms of like percent to lose it.

22:36.005 --> 22:50.264
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm the most confident in him keeping it, but I feel he's more 50-50, so none of these guys I'm super confident in keeping it past the next year or two, but I do agree, I don't think any I was set up maybe a rise to lose it after this year.

22:50.284 --> 22:57.333
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the other three keep it at least into 2027, but it's always fun always fun to speculate on that for sure.

22:57.894 --> 23:04.122
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's move into the next set of our rankings here, we'll go 11 through 20, so James here do you got in those spots?

23:05.890 --> 23:26.515
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been here at 11, Kyle Teele at 12, Carter, Johnson at 13, Gabrielle, Marino at 14, Alejandro Kirk at 15, at the Richmond at 16, Yannard Diaz at 17, Salvador Perez at 18, Dalton rushing at 19, and Moises by Stairos at 20.

23:28.638 --> 23:32.323
[SPEAKER_00]: So we actually start and end the section of our rankings with the exact same player.

23:32.964 --> 23:38.332
[SPEAKER_00]: I have Ivan Herrera 11, Alejandro Kirk 12, Josie Percenio 13.

23:38.673 --> 23:42.979
[SPEAKER_00]: He's another guy that might lose catcher eligibility eventually by the love Percenio, so freaking much.

23:43.620 --> 23:55.658
[SPEAKER_00]: Carter Jensen 14, Einer Diaz 15, and then 16 through 20, I've Kyle Teele, Reignal Rodriguez, Dalton Rushing, Francisco Alvarez, and Moizis Ballesteros.

23:56.465 --> 23:57.266
[SPEAKER_00]: They're at 20.

23:57.326 --> 24:21.156
[SPEAKER_00]: So starting with Riera going to buy a styros, but a guy that's, you know, I had in my top 10 and you had at 16, you know, probably want to still one of the biggest names at this position to give in, you know, former number one overall pick, former, you know, number one prospect overall in many places are at least in the lead prospect and all the hype that came along with it, but Adley Richmond.

24:21.136 --> 24:51.143
[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of, you know, has, you know, that star has lost a good bit of its luster over the last couple of years where he's been, uh, I think lackluster is the best way to kind of describe it in 2024 to 5318 391 slash line sub 19 bombs though last year limited to 365 plate appearances, nine home runs slash line 220 307 366, but you know, he's still only 27 years old.

24:51.123 --> 24:59.276
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, so that's some good metrics under the hood, so that's a good, you know, line up around him and bolt to more that just got even better with the addition of Peter Lanzo.

24:59.296 --> 25:02.681
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a really maybe one of the better lineups one through nine and all of baseball.

25:02.701 --> 25:03.983
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's still some positives here.

25:04.564 --> 25:10.794
[SPEAKER_00]: So James, would you be, you know, looking to maybe buy low on Adley in the Dyson league right now.

25:10.874 --> 25:12.777
[SPEAKER_00]: If you were looking to maybe upgrade at the catcher spot.

25:15.052 --> 25:32.875
[SPEAKER_02]: No, I mean, obviously, if I'm breaking them at 16 among catchers, I'm probably not looking to buy, you know, he's just he's basically been worse every year in the big leagues.

25:33.968 --> 25:54.398
[SPEAKER_02]: I just, I don't really see like anything under the hood where I'm just like, oh man, like he was just really unlucky last year or like he's doing this one thing really well and like he could really surprise people next year.

25:54.498 --> 26:01.528
[SPEAKER_02]: Like it just kind of feels like a blind bet on his pedigree.

26:01.913 --> 26:20.530
[SPEAKER_02]: which I would be much more open to, if it seemed like he had a clear path to getting up to, like, you know, in 2023, he had six hundred and eighty seven plate appearances, and then he had six hundred and thirty eight plate appearances in 2024.

26:20.645 --> 26:22.266
[SPEAKER_02]: I just don't see any way.

26:22.306 --> 26:23.628
[SPEAKER_02]: It's anywhere close to that.

26:25.349 --> 26:36.659
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think he's, his skillset, he has to be kind of one of those compilers where he's just playing so much, like a William Contreras type where he's just playing so much, he's rackin' up all these counting stats.

26:37.200 --> 26:50.652
[SPEAKER_02]: But if you got a silo there and you got the DH spot and first base all like spoken for, I just, I think the name value, like he's not bad at all,

26:50.632 --> 26:54.555
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the upsides kept and I think the floor as he showed last year's pre-low.

26:55.936 --> 26:57.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, it definitely is low.

26:58.318 --> 27:04.604
[SPEAKER_00]: The one thing though, I'm holding on to is the metrics haven't really, those haven't really gone down.

27:04.664 --> 27:09.948
[SPEAKER_00]: The surface production absolutely has, but he still makes a plenty of contacts, well above average contact guy.

27:10.449 --> 27:13.011
[SPEAKER_00]: The power is kind of middle of the road.

27:14.092 --> 27:20.217
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's ran around league average in barrel, average EV, and hard hit race.

27:20.197 --> 27:33.819
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, maybe he never gets back to being top five catcher and I don't think he will just give him When all the, you know, talent names that we've already discussed that I like a lot more than Adley, but, you know, I said there's some decent metrics there.

27:33.839 --> 27:34.780
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why I'm so important.

27:34.800 --> 27:38.907
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that maybe he can still flirt with top 10, you know, value at this position.

27:39.127 --> 27:41.271
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he did have a lot more ground ball this last year.

27:41.291 --> 27:45.698
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot less pulled fly balls that kind of, you know, factored into it a bit.

27:45.678 --> 27:54.514
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Adley definitely has lost a lot of that luster and if they want to keep getting, you know, he presides it back in the lineup and you maybe he starts playing some more catcher.

27:54.534 --> 27:59.122
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe maybe he's the Adley yet not be that 600 plus played per own sky anymore.

27:59.202 --> 28:00.404
[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of you were mentioning.

28:00.465 --> 28:03.290
[SPEAKER_00]: So definitely spot on and 100% great on that.

28:03.310 --> 28:06.876
[SPEAKER_00]: But if I was looking for catcher and be before him, I guess I'm not

28:07.548 --> 28:13.937
[SPEAKER_00]: 100% opposed to buying load, depending on what the price is, but I'm not like super enamored with Adlyad.

28:13.977 --> 28:16.781
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not like running out like, oh, I gotta go get Adlyad's great value.

28:16.941 --> 28:26.395
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's not, and you make a good point, like it's not like the hard hit data is like, steadily gotten worse.

28:28.117 --> 28:35.648
[SPEAKER_02]: It's really about just the playing time output that would, and when I was first new to this value,

28:35.965 --> 28:46.802
[SPEAKER_02]: If his owner just wants to be out of the Adley Ruchman business and makes that pretty clear, then I might buy low because he might just be selling way too low.

28:46.902 --> 28:53.873
[SPEAKER_02]: But I'm, you know, I assume his manager is not gonna want to sell him as like the 15th or 16th best catcher.

28:55.591 --> 28:56.252
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, probably not.

28:56.272 --> 28:57.674
[SPEAKER_00]: The price to hold onto that name value.

28:58.155 --> 29:04.705
[SPEAKER_00]: That name value is still a place a big part in trade, obviously, in Dynastee leagues and really all kind of fantasy leagues.

29:04.765 --> 29:23.775
[SPEAKER_00]: But a couple of ALC central young catchers here that both debuted in 2025 Carter Jensen with the Royals and Kyle Teele with the Chicago wife socks and both performed pretty

29:23.958 --> 29:37.453
[SPEAKER_00]: slash 275, that should be 273, 375, we'll be pay 411 slug with eight home runs, three steels in 297 plate appearances, Jensen didn't get as much playing time.

29:37.633 --> 29:47.324
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still cross-recalligible, but 69 plate appearances, 391, 550 with three home runs and a lot of red on that's a font page.

29:47.365 --> 29:51.349
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think we both have them in fairly

29:51.430 --> 29:54.034
[SPEAKER_00]: police, similar spots in our ranking, shame.

29:54.074 --> 29:59.323
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you have TL 12, Gentson 13, so back to back and not that far off in the top 10.

29:59.924 --> 30:06.816
[SPEAKER_00]: And I have them, see, I have Gentson was in 14 and TL 16.

30:06.896 --> 30:17.353
[SPEAKER_00]: So both pretty close for both of us, you know, do you think, you know, looking, when you look at the profiles of these two guys and then it's given the names ahead of them and they have to have the leap frog to do this,

30:17.333 --> 30:26.142
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you think either of them have the ability to take that next step and become just annual top 10, which is at this position?

30:27.564 --> 30:33.090
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they will both be top 10 options of the position eventually.

30:33.970 --> 30:45.923
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Kyle Teele, they're just almost like kind of opposite to me.

30:46.055 --> 30:58.227
[SPEAKER_02]: So safe to have like that kind of a debut rookie season as a catcher, like, I think you just killed it, and I think there's room for growth.

31:00.769 --> 31:14.442
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't really see Kyle Teele ever being drafted kind of where we're taking like William Contrera, Shail English years, Ben Rice, I don't think Kyle Teele ever gets in that range.

31:15.333 --> 31:23.323
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think he could be a top 10 catcher by 80P for like five straight years, but he's probably gonna be going in that like six to 10 range.

31:24.568 --> 31:26.997
[SPEAKER_02]: Whereas, Jensen,

31:27.061 --> 31:33.509
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, like he could be, I think he could be a top three catcher someday, but I also think it's possible.

31:34.310 --> 31:37.774
[SPEAKER_02]: He's like not even a top 15 catcher some years.

31:37.855 --> 31:40.318
[SPEAKER_02]: Like he's more kind of a fluid profile.

31:40.999 --> 31:42.560
[SPEAKER_02]: Teal I think is just so safe.

31:42.661 --> 31:45.484
[SPEAKER_02]: Like I'm I'm valuing how reliable.

31:45.504 --> 31:47.367
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Teal is going to be over the next five years.

31:48.268 --> 31:51.752
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think Jensen, like the power data that he

31:52.323 --> 31:58.491
[SPEAKER_02]: was putting up, especially over like last couple of months, just really insane.

31:58.551 --> 32:03.397
[SPEAKER_02]: And he was, he didn't even hit a skit in the majors.

32:03.457 --> 32:08.944
[SPEAKER_02]: Like you would expect him to just kind of hit a wall.

32:09.965 --> 32:10.966
[SPEAKER_02]: But he didn't.

32:10.986 --> 32:21.199
[SPEAKER_02]: And I love the Royals lack of position player talent as it pertains to Jensen's playing time,

32:22.090 --> 32:27.296
[SPEAKER_02]: good hitters to keep them out of line up even with a fully healthy sourced.

32:27.316 --> 32:38.289
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, that's a great point where there are line up as almost like the stars and scrub is like, oh, you got some, you know, like four or five pretty good guys, and then the other half of the line up is just like, what is going on?

32:38.329 --> 32:43.094
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you're still starting to like jump in India and Michael Massey in Kyle Isbell.

32:43.675 --> 32:49.802
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just really, then you got like, you know, Michael Garcia and Bobby Whitt and Vinnie Pee and maybe Jack Heckley on come

32:50.002 --> 32:57.110
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think Carter Jensen definitely has that, you know, right now, they don't, they haven't penciled in as the backup catcher on a roster resource.

32:57.170 --> 32:58.232
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that's the case.

32:58.652 --> 33:01.095
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he'll get enough playing time between catcher and DH.

33:01.115 --> 33:07.362
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, throughout the India, A is not that good anymore, and B, obviously has durability, major durability issues.

33:07.402 --> 33:11.267
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think between catcher and D, if you'll see Jensen play enough, but yet.

33:12.530 --> 33:41.895
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel, you know, if either of these two were going to take that big jump, I do agree that's going to be Jensen and he's one of those guys where every time I either write about him, talk about him, you know, look at my rankings, you know, I think I just keep liking him more and more at the point where, you know, I'm probably even even more but for my next update because, you know, the hard, hard hit, hard hit data is just like so damn good in the context feels aren't that bad either the pretty solid context

33:41.875 --> 33:48.886
[SPEAKER_02]: I also think Jensen and Teal are both these like five to ten steel catchers, which I just love.

33:48.906 --> 33:55.978
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, just just the spring, like they're not necessarily double-digit steel guys, but just they're not going to be like one or two steel.

33:56.919 --> 33:57.761
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, absolutely.

33:57.781 --> 34:00.866
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've always thought, I like getting my steel is like a little bit from everywhere.

34:00.906 --> 34:08.338
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I don't like putting my eggs in the Chandler Simpson basket, you know, even though he's he's fun, but I don't usually like to go with those hips like, oh,

34:08.470 --> 34:12.441
[SPEAKER_00]: eyes because if they get hurt and then you're kind of, you know, screwed in that category.

34:12.461 --> 34:17.715
[SPEAKER_00]: So anywhere you can get steals, even if you have, it's a little bit five to five, six, seven steals from catcher.

34:17.755 --> 34:19.580
[SPEAKER_00]: That that all adds up in the end.

34:19.640 --> 34:19.881
[SPEAKER_00]: So.

34:20.182 --> 34:29.000
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, both of these guys showed that they, you know, the willingness to run in the minor leagues, which is a part of the stolen base equation, but yeah, I like both.

34:29.020 --> 34:41.025
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a little bit higher on on Jensen, especially on I've talking about upside, I feel like Tio can kind of stay in like that, you know, for me that 10 to 15 range, maybe back in top 10 and I think Jensen go a bit higher than that maybe.

34:41.478 --> 34:42.820
[SPEAKER_00]: in that six to eight range.

34:43.321 --> 34:46.746
[SPEAKER_00]: It made me never get to that top five, but I think he can get pretty darn close.

34:46.787 --> 34:51.735
[SPEAKER_00]: Especially if they contact skills, we saw from him last year, kind of stick to go with that elite power.

34:52.295 --> 34:58.165
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, it was a leap, both in AAA and in the majors, we're talking about 58% hard hit rate, really in both areas.

34:58.586 --> 35:02.592
[SPEAKER_00]: Super high bail rate, you know, just below 20% AAA, just above it.

35:02.572 --> 35:03.354
[SPEAKER_00]: in the majors.

35:03.876 --> 35:07.967
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I'm loving the bat more and more with Carter Jensen every time.

35:08.569 --> 35:12.059
[SPEAKER_00]: I kind of look at him, but yeah, I think both of these guys are a pretty good buys right now.

35:13.784 --> 35:17.374
[SPEAKER_00]: In Dynastee leagues, two other names here, you know,

35:17.995 --> 35:33.473
[SPEAKER_00]: two, you know, one is, you know, I should think, but not the one that are prospects anymore, but Dalton rushing and moly just by a steros, you know, guys that are, you know, I've been, you know, high end catching prospects over the last handful of years, you know,

35:33.453 --> 35:37.237
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that I have to start to go to get that playing time in the major leagues.

35:37.257 --> 35:48.651
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, by the way, it was a triple A for the massive, you know, vast majority of 2025 rushing was actually up a lot, but just not playing more than like once a week or like twice every two weeks or three weeks.

35:48.671 --> 36:02.987
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was just really sporadic playing time to the point where I think rushing graduated due to service time, like a month and a half before he actually cut over on the on a batch, which is a massive gap between those two.

36:02.967 --> 36:06.996
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, we'll start with a still there, you know, in, in Los Angeles.

36:07.036 --> 36:21.550
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, are you, are you still, like, looking to invest in, and these two long term, and I'll obviously very much format dependent, but, you know, do you still think these guys will, you know, find that playing time, you know, whether it's in their.

36:21.530 --> 36:33.942
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, with the Dodgers and Cubs respectively or if you may be of the Dodgers and trading rushing in the deal at some point, but are you still in on these two guys and the point where that you think they'll get playing time at some point here in the future?

36:36.124 --> 36:37.245
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I am.

36:37.746 --> 36:51.199
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and I've, I've been getting higher on by a stereo,

36:51.618 --> 36:58.546
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, because I'd always sort of dis, uh, I'd always kind of discounted by a status because I was pretty confident.

36:58.606 --> 36:59.827
[SPEAKER_02]: He wouldn't stick a catcher.

36:59.868 --> 37:01.549
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm still pretty confident.

37:01.569 --> 37:02.511
[SPEAKER_02]: He wants to catcher.

37:02.531 --> 37:10.720
[SPEAKER_02]: We, you know, we're talking about him here, but he's, he is UT only and, um, I think there's a chance he pulls a Ben Rice and gets it back.

37:11.481 --> 37:21.152
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think that's, you got to just view that as like, you know, um, just a bonus, like you shouldn't be banking on by a

37:21.318 --> 37:34.390
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just over the moon for his bat, like, maybe he's just a strong type of tune guy here and you're one, especially with the Austin signing that they just made.

37:34.450 --> 37:40.256
[SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, at least against Rides, by Starris is going to hit for a really high average.

37:40.276 --> 37:41.557
[SPEAKER_02]: He's going to do a ton of damage.

37:42.598 --> 37:44.180
[SPEAKER_02]: He can hit really good pitching.

37:44.700 --> 37:48.844
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I think he's a playoff caliber, like number five hitter down the road.

37:49.145 --> 37:56.438
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so he's tough because I do think he will be UT only for the bulk of his prime, but

37:56.857 --> 38:21.058
[SPEAKER_02]: I think if someone's just kind of soured unbiased arrows because these UT only because they don't think they can count on them anymore as they're catcher the future and if you've got you're in a league where you can use a UT only guy who's going to be hitting like above 275 with 20 plus homers and if you try to find a way to get biased arrows rushing is kind of been trending down obviously for everyone you know

38:21.933 --> 38:47.552
[SPEAKER_02]: But he's still 24 and the only negative data point in his profile really is his big league sample and it's you know it's tough to get a real rhythm going when you're playing that and frequently and you probably feel like you need to hit a home run to get another start

38:47.836 --> 38:56.597
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think he is a prime by low from just a the way the season played out standpoint, but

38:56.932 --> 39:00.377
[SPEAKER_02]: He does need a trade to be like a usable piece.

39:00.678 --> 39:13.236
[SPEAKER_02]: You're still kind of, he's no longer prospect eligible, but you want to be able to treat Dalton rushing, it's just a pure spec on your dynasty roster where you're not relying on him for production, especially early in 2026.

39:13.276 --> 39:20.427
[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, rushing had gotten traded to the nationals, like instead of Harry Ford.

39:21.248 --> 39:24.373
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it would just be such a party,

39:24.691 --> 39:35.808
[SPEAKER_02]: like rushing I think would be someone we would have talked about a lot sooner on this pod, but yeah as it stands and he's just basically a guy you got to stash and just hope that he finds his way and to playing times somehow.

39:37.951 --> 39:52.774
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah I mean you much to forward like forward and rushing where the two guys that has been hoping for you know a true trade you know guys obviously the very much block that the major like level and one of them got that trade and I'm hoping that rushing it's the

39:53.733 --> 40:01.264
[SPEAKER_00]: As long as Will Smith's healthy and for the most part, I mean, he did miss some time last year, but for the most part, Will Smith has been, you know, got that, you know, does catch a good amount of game.

40:01.364 --> 40:06.933
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, without him getting injured, I just don't see where rushing, you know, gets that playing time.

40:07.013 --> 40:15.025
[SPEAKER_00]: I did hear some reports who knows how much validity there was to them that the Dodgers want to or trying to get rushing in there more.

40:15.646 --> 40:16.607
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't see it.

40:16.627 --> 40:19.532
[SPEAKER_00]: So obviously, you're not going to play him over Smith if Smith is doing his thing.

40:19.952 --> 40:22.997
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, DH is kind of clogged with that due name show,

40:23.551 --> 40:31.503
[SPEAKER_00]: Pony, so you can get them there, you know, they kind of tried rushing a little bit in like first base and outfield, but even those spots are, you know, first base.

40:31.543 --> 40:34.969
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously it's pretty freeman, outfield, Tiosker, Edmund Pahez.

40:35.349 --> 40:41.699
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's not really any, let's see if you can figure out second base and obviously high song cam, I mean, obviously it's unhappening.

40:41.799 --> 40:44.183
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I feel like there's a trade that's needed.

40:44.263 --> 40:50.773
[SPEAKER_00]: But I, I still think that, you know, rushing is a really good by low.

40:51.479 --> 40:53.302
[SPEAKER_00]: dipping for the last couple of years now.

40:53.863 --> 40:58.950
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, that he gets price tag is not that high, whatsoever for the most part.

40:58.991 --> 41:01.615
[SPEAKER_00]: And I still think there's a really good player in there.

41:01.735 --> 41:11.209
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think you hit it right on the head, where you kind of mentioned that when you're not playing that off, and you have to kind of really press and kind of get outside of your comfort zone to try to do something when you start.

41:11.269 --> 41:14.314
[SPEAKER_00]: Because this, you get his, just look at the strike out the walk rate.

41:14.294 --> 41:30.396
[SPEAKER_00]: with rushing in the major leagues 37 and a half percent strike out at six and a half percent walk rate that is not who he was in the minor leagues and I I am not one to think that you're going to see that drastic of an approach shift in you know 155 play appearances.

41:30.376 --> 41:31.137
[SPEAKER_00]: the major league.

41:31.177 --> 41:38.389
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that's just instantly shows that he was just kind of pushing and trying to do more than he probably should have.

41:38.509 --> 41:41.895
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I'm still very much in on him and I like by Sarah's a good bit as well.

41:41.995 --> 41:43.437
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we're pretty close in our rankings.

41:43.477 --> 41:46.202
[SPEAKER_00]: You have him 19, 20, I have them 18 and 20.

41:46.643 --> 41:48.065
[SPEAKER_00]: So very similar rankings there.

41:48.145 --> 41:53.093
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, two guys, I think they're still pretty

41:53.545 --> 42:08.772
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a last that a 10 here 21 through 30, so these are where guys that's maybe have some upside to jump up into being C1, you know, one catcher league type guys or obviously if you play in two catcher leagues, you know, these guys are, you know, obviously pretty good C2 options.

42:08.812 --> 42:13.140
[SPEAKER_00]: So James, who do you got 21 through 30 in your rankings?

42:15.044 --> 42:36.242
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so 21, just way per say new, 22, Joe Mack, 23 Francisco Albrez, 24 Austin Wells, 25 Dylan Dingler, 26 low and a hoppy, 27 Ryan Jeffers, 28 Edgar Carrot, 29 Carl Starbiz, and 30 Alfredo Duna.

42:37.724 --> 43:07.410
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm glad that you have Carlson advice where you do because I had so many people that when I you know post my rankings that said I was like way too low on him and I think I have them I don't he's not even in my top 30 is he I don't know he is my top 30 but yeah I think we're pretty close on that too but they're like oh you should have him top 15 and I'm like I don't only see it even as a red sucks fan I don't really see it but you know he was a fall player I'm sure that I'm sure it was it was both a red sucks fan that we're pushing oh probably which is funny

43:07.390 --> 43:10.654
[SPEAKER_00]: Talks of it as people know and that's what I'm like he's he's fine.

43:10.734 --> 43:15.820
[SPEAKER_00]: He's decent little player But I'm not putting him like where I have like kind of teal or or something like that.

43:15.900 --> 43:33.482
[SPEAKER_00]: So But my 21 through 30 I have Austin Wells Logan or Hoppy Gabriel Moreno Alfredo Duno and Tyler Stevenson that 25 Dylan Dingler and Raquero Ike Iris for good love that guy Carl Survias at 29 and Jake

43:33.462 --> 43:40.653
[SPEAKER_00]: TV real mutual old man real mutual at 30 maybe I should keep going for them down even further than that, but how the mighty have fallen.

43:40.994 --> 43:53.293
[SPEAKER_00]: This feels weird, breaking like self-res and JTV of mutual 29 and 30, but when you're 34, 35 year old catcher, you know, kind of as a kind of the business right now, but yeah, the one guy really wanted to

43:53.543 --> 44:02.339
[SPEAKER_00]: talk about in this section of the rankings, but I think it's still a really good talking point and there are still many people out there that are very high on him.

44:02.359 --> 44:08.229
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like you see a wide range of rankings on this guy and that's Francisco Alvarez with the Metz.

44:08.971 --> 44:13.138
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he came up back in 2022 and since then it's been just

44:13.642 --> 44:33.287
[SPEAKER_00]: a massive mix bag, if that's any five games, it's 22, but it's 2023, you know, it's 25 home runs and just 423 player appearances, you've got to love that, but he hit 209, since then, 237, 307, 403 slash in 2024 with 11 dingers, 100 games.

44:33.267 --> 44:44.883
[SPEAKER_00]: last year, also 11 dingers in 76 games, 256, 339, 4, 47, slash line, and under the hood, you know, pretty all over the place, some good, some bad.

44:45.444 --> 44:50.871
[SPEAKER_00]: And so where are you at at this point on, you know, Francisco Alvarez, long German.

44:50.891 --> 44:53.875
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, you know, you have him ranked, you know, outside of your top 20.

44:53.855 --> 45:11.545
[SPEAKER_00]: at this position overall, but, you know, do you think, you know, A, it's a good time to buy Alvarez and B, assuming the answer is yes, so that you think he can kind of get back to maybe being a, you know, a starting caliber fantasy catcher in single catcher.

45:11.585 --> 45:17.736
[SPEAKER_00]: So up to that top 12 to 15 range, do you think there's still that outcome for a Francisco Alvarez?

45:19.960 --> 45:28.874
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you know, I think, honestly, the answer to all those questions is, I don't know, he's, he's just tough to figure out.

45:31.437 --> 45:40.912
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the injuries and the fact that he's such a small, like a stature-sized catcher.

45:40.932 --> 45:48.904
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's potentially taking a toll on his body and

45:49.745 --> 46:01.408
[SPEAKER_02]: Like I said at the beginning of the show, like William Contreras and Shalinga Lears were battling for like my number two spot in large part because of how many played appearances I expect them both to get.

46:01.895 --> 46:09.404
[SPEAKER_02]: I just don't have any trust in Francisco Alberas to get over like 400 plate appearances.

46:11.848 --> 46:23.262
[SPEAKER_02]: So he could, if he gets 500 plate appearances or even 550, he's gonna have a big time power year.

46:24.524 --> 46:27.848
[SPEAKER_02]: I just, you know, I know the Met's value catcher defense.

46:28.349 --> 46:40.924
[SPEAKER_02]: I know nobody gives a crap about Luis Torrens, but I know the Met's are gonna play Luis Torrens more than Francis Grover as his fantasy managers would like.

46:42.045 --> 46:54.480
[SPEAKER_02]: And Alver as I think to certain types of pictures, just given his stature and given his bat speed,

46:54.629 --> 47:05.135
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, pitches that are kind of, you know, built, built up high, but I just think good pictures can get him out, especially good righties.

47:06.880 --> 47:09.887
[SPEAKER_02]: I can get him out with spin and.

47:10.306 --> 47:14.613
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so I just, I don't really know what to do with him.

47:14.633 --> 47:19.300
[SPEAKER_02]: I, I like the, the raw talent, but I've, I've never liked the body.

47:19.320 --> 47:23.626
[SPEAKER_02]: I've always kind of, when he was a prospect, I was, was kind of the lower one on.

47:23.646 --> 47:26.070
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just because I thought the body was going to age really poorly.

47:26.110 --> 47:27.412
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

47:29.556 --> 47:31.118
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's just, he's, he's a tough one.

47:31.498 --> 47:35.505
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I, I see the per plate appearance upside.

47:35.545 --> 47:39.030
[SPEAKER_02]: I think he, he's a great guy to have him like a daily move's league.

47:39.702 --> 47:42.547
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, but yeah, obviously that's on my top twenty.

47:43.969 --> 47:46.112
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's always been a tough one for me.

47:46.253 --> 48:01.658
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think I was kind of right there with you back when he was, you know, maybe at the peak of his prospect hype and, you know, I always, I always had a rank to like, you know, well, I didn't have them like super low, but I feel like I was lower than probably the average ranking on Alvarez.

48:01.718 --> 48:03.060
[SPEAKER_00]: And next at there's still some

48:03.547 --> 48:04.108
[SPEAKER_00]: Good there.

48:04.128 --> 48:10.078
[SPEAKER_00]: He still has, you know, hits the ball really hard 54% hard hit rate, you know 12% barrel rate, it's all really good.

48:10.098 --> 48:11.460
[SPEAKER_00]: So walk to that decent clip.

48:12.041 --> 48:18.332
[SPEAKER_00]: And the context skills have been pretty fluctuating, but that's one of the reasons why, you know, I'm not super in on him.

48:18.392 --> 48:25.484
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's some bounce back potential to some degree, but 74% zone and 65% overall contact rate.

48:25.604 --> 48:26.365
[SPEAKER_00]: Those are.

48:26.345 --> 48:36.255
[SPEAKER_00]: Pretty concerning, and yet to your point, you know, with Luis Torres, I mean, it shows wonderers to how valuable a guy is defensively.

48:36.815 --> 48:53.331
[SPEAKER_00]: When a guy that had a 79 WRC plus and a 629 OPS got nearly 300 plate appearances last year, this speaks wonders to what he brings on the other side of the ball defensively, and at the point where they

48:53.311 --> 48:55.514
[SPEAKER_00]: basically a near zero offensively.

48:56.275 --> 49:10.517
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like maybe if you combine Alvarez and Torrance together that would be a pretty darn good overall catcher, but yeah, I feel like Alvarez, maybe he gets 400 plate appearances, but 500, no, I just don't, don't see that, and again, those context skills are pretty concerning.

49:10.617 --> 49:22.235
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I think he maybe gets up in like the mid-teens range some years, and maybe even push just top 10 and others, but consistently, I just don't see it with Alvarez.

49:22.275 --> 49:22.575
[SPEAKER_00]: So

49:23.568 --> 49:25.010
[SPEAKER_00]: What a good lot of bad in the profiles.

49:25.030 --> 49:27.232
[SPEAKER_00]: He's always a difficult one for me to rank.

49:28.173 --> 49:31.877
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we get out of here, James, we talked a lot of guys here, but we'll talk one more each.

49:33.098 --> 49:38.004
[SPEAKER_00]: For a guys that we haven't talked about, or maybe it's another guy, we already have talked about that you want to dig into more.

49:38.564 --> 49:43.170
[SPEAKER_00]: Who is in your opinion, are really good by at this position?

49:43.310 --> 49:48.415
[SPEAKER_00]: For whatever reason, maybe it's a by-low, or by that you think they're going to break out.

49:48.816 --> 49:52.680
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's it got that you're really targeting at this ketchup position heading in the 2026?

49:55.478 --> 50:18.651
[SPEAKER_02]: So if I was in a like a league that really is deep at catcher where like everyone's you know we're 30 30 plus catchers are getting started I'd be going after like Dylan Dingler Edgar Carotip guys like I think Dingler and Carot could both be ranked like five to 10 spots higher

50:19.306 --> 50:19.947
[SPEAKER_02]: in a year.

50:20.428 --> 50:23.673
[SPEAKER_02]: But in shallow leagues, those guys are on the wave wire.

50:23.893 --> 50:41.822
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to say shale angle years just because I think I would be wanting to trade for him in all formats and it's completely possible that his owner has no interest in trading him and that's that's the end of the discussion.

50:41.882 --> 50:42.343
[SPEAKER_02]: But

50:43.167 --> 50:49.153
[SPEAKER_02]: Like I've got him ranked three and he's he's closer to the two than he is to like six for me.

50:49.293 --> 51:03.608
[SPEAKER_02]: So if his owner just thinks like this is kind of like a top top 10 top 7-ish catcher, then I would try to give an offer that kind of bulls him over and gets me Langoliers for the next five years.

51:05.870 --> 51:07.632
[SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, I mean, I love catchers.

51:07.732 --> 51:10.575
[SPEAKER_02]: I could throw out like five more names that

51:11.129 --> 51:15.795
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and because actually a lot of good values for for one reason or another at this catcher spot.

51:16.496 --> 51:17.918
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think Ding was a good one.

51:17.938 --> 51:31.297
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think what did he, I mean, taking a photo pro quick, because given what he brings defensively too, while being so, you know, a solid offensive player, he ranked like super high in an F4 this year.

51:31.317 --> 51:35.923
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he might have been like two or three at this catcher spots.

51:36.464 --> 51:37.525
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's see.

51:37.505 --> 51:53.573
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he was, I guess that he dropped the qualified plate appearances, he was the fourth at this catcher spot in F4 this past year, tied for third actually with a will Smith at 4.1, then Kirk was 4.7 and Broly 9.

51:54.532 --> 52:15.578
[SPEAKER_00]: 21, but yeah, he didn't think what I think is a really solid guy 13 home runs to 78 average pretty pretty decent low player there and Detroit and I'm going to go with guy that I feel, you know, it's still, you saw, you know, I think ranked fairly high, but has lost a little bit of lost a year or so given what happened this past year.

52:16.992 --> 52:20.096
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the interdias with the Houston Astros.

52:20.116 --> 52:25.985
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, average dipped, nearly 40 points from the previous year.

52:26.005 --> 52:32.874
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, OPP dip below 300, we have a low 300, OPP dip to 417.

52:32.914 --> 52:36.239
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was like, it was the worst slash line of his career.

52:36.279 --> 52:39.203
[SPEAKER_00]: Still popped $20, but only if it $56 runs.

52:39.183 --> 52:54.289
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's one where obviously the very, very hyperaggressive approach and the, you know, super high chase rate are going to cause a lot of peaks and valleys and you see it, you know, sit on around Fiela, another great example of that where they'll look like, you know,

52:54.269 --> 53:12.497
[SPEAKER_00]: fantasy top 50 player overall at times and then at the times you're not even wanting to start them for a few weeks So, but overall, you know, context skills are still above average both in zone and overall so good, you know, solid quality contact as well at nine and a half percent barrel

53:13.878 --> 53:19.651
[SPEAKER_00]: 42% hard hit keeps K rate below 20% just does not want to walk, but usually he puts about on the ball.

53:21.034 --> 53:31.397
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you see a nice bounce back in those in the average and this in the slug that's flash blind could tick back up and I think he so has his hands to being a top 10 catcher, but he'll be to be maddening.

53:31.377 --> 53:35.842
[SPEAKER_00]: to roster given the inconsistencies, but still a good player with good metrics under the hoods.

53:35.882 --> 53:36.983
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's just a decent value.

53:37.804 --> 53:45.912
[SPEAKER_00]: Target right now in Dianciligs, but Serapas up, James, again, thank you so much for coming on always a pleasure talking to you.

53:46.433 --> 53:49.476
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything you want to plug here going on over at a road of ball before we get out of here?

53:52.699 --> 53:55.242
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, thanks for having me, Eric.

53:55.357 --> 54:04.251
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm actually doing a surprise update to my dynasty ranking next week as a Christmas present since I'm not doing a podcast next week.

54:04.331 --> 54:13.585
[SPEAKER_02]: So check that out, roadwire.com, and follow me on social media at RealJR, Anderson, and all of Twitter, everything up.

54:14.982 --> 54:15.363
[SPEAKER_00]: Awesome.

54:15.383 --> 54:15.483
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

54:15.583 --> 54:16.044
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

54:16.064 --> 54:16.424
[SPEAKER_00]: Check it out.

54:16.605 --> 54:19.249
[SPEAKER_00]: James is one of the best in the business for many reasons.

54:19.389 --> 54:20.471
[SPEAKER_00]: But thank you.

54:20.611 --> 54:20.972
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again.

54:21.012 --> 54:21.813
[SPEAKER_00]: James are coming on.

54:22.134 --> 54:23.135
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks everyone for listening.

54:23.155 --> 54:23.916
[SPEAKER_00]: Hope you enjoyed it.

54:24.397 --> 54:28.644
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be back again next week with first base prospects and first base dynasty.

54:28.664 --> 54:29.926
[SPEAKER_00]: Could a couple of guests lined up for those.

54:30.467 --> 54:32.350
[SPEAKER_00]: But until then, everyone take care.

