Welcome in everybody to Fantasy pros MLB. This is the Fantasy Baseball podcast. It is me, Joey p Joe Pi's with me is the Welsh. We've got real baseball happening in less than twelve hours from now. Of us recording is incredibly important, perhaps some might say even the most important show of the season. That's right, it's the all sleeper team. We're gonna talk about this and Welsh. This feels right. We're talking about sleepers baseball. That counts as back.
Royce Lewis is hurt. It feels like we're in the thick of the season.
Everything is normal. You're one hundred percent right about that. Someone had a friend texts me like, oh man, it's March and Royce Lewis gets hurt. It's baseball season. I'm like, yeah, he gets hurt in March, April, May, June, July. It all seems about the same. But you're one hundred percent rights. People are watching this. We should have our first game just like we all love it, our first game on
the West Coast being played at three thirty am. The great reasons why ESPN, you know, really fought hard to re up that deal. With MLB, but yes it is actual baseball. Royce Lewis is hurt. All is kind of right in the world.
I saw an amazing stat this morning when I got up, I was going to the gym and I heard I heard this come through there where it was twenty four games I think combined, where Carlos Corea, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis were all on the field at the same time last year for the Twins. By the way, kids, the Twins are still at the top of the board for that division. I don't understand why the Cleveland Guardians eighty two and a half is the win total last
year they won ninety three games. Are they ten games worse than last year? I don't think so. Smash that over. It's still plus. That's from Uncle Joey. Let's get into the all sleeper team here. Where we got the catcher, we got the infield, we got three outfielders, a couple starting pitchers, and of course a relief pitcher. We're going to go through these names on our list, but we love to hear from you too, so make sure you
give us your favorite sleepers. Drop them into comments below, and while you do it, subscribe to the channel, because we're trying to get to twenty five thousand before opening day and we're getting real close, and we could do it with your help. And remember there's cool stuff too. We're giving away a John Smoltz signed Braves Jersey. That's right. We're giving this away courtesy of our good friends at
Pristine Auction dot com. And all you have to do to enter is subscribe to Fantasy prosw YouTube channel Welsh. That seems super easy. You drop a comment below that also seems easy. It seems like I just said all that, and we're gonna be announcing the winner right here on the channel. So if you're the lucky person who wins, well ring those notifications bells right till it goes ding, and then we'll alert you if you're the big winner of this amazing Hall of fame John Smoltz Jersey. That's
pretty good, is right? Well? You know Jerry? Yeah.
Also, thinking about this last year on this show that we did, we ha's some pretty great names and if you think back to the you know, the names and the values we had. Jaron Duran was on this as Jackson Merrill, I believe was on my sleeper list at that time, so you know, we didn't hit all of them. Of course, I probably had the all bust team of Logan Gill, which is lol sleeper.
But we got some.
We got some good ones today and I just want to let everybody know I'm going to go deeper on this. I've kind of bounced around with sleepers. I think the term sleeper is always kind of goofy because you know, there's so much information out there, there's so many people curating that it's like everybody kind of knows everybody. But I don't think the term sleeper has to just be
post four hundred or three hundred players. So I've kind of bounced around just to let everybody know some guys that are even in, like you know, the one fifties that I think are still being slept on. But today I went with a deeper list. I think I've got only one player. I think technically it's two that are inside the top two fifty, but one is like right there. Otherwise we're talking threes and four hundred. This is the deep all Welsh sleeper team for me.
I think I go one sub two hundred ADP guy. Everybody else's twos and threes. So let's get after it. Let's get after the names, and let's start at the catcher position. Here, we're going to go around the dime in here, Wels, who is your sleeper catcher for twenty twenty five.
Well, there's a lot of names I like to draft. I think your name is probably the top guy in the sleeper market. The guy I'm drafting the most and the All Welsh team is Austin Wells. Wilson Gatres. Austin Wells, who I've talked about. Your guy is probably the top of the sleeper list. But I got one more for you in two catcher leagues that I was trying to take in a lot of spots, and this is a
deeper name. ADP almost in the three hundreds at two ninety, probably being held up a little bit by like NFBC. But I'm going with Joey Bart throwback Joey Bart with Pittsburgh Pirates, who looks like he's kind of locked in to be the catcher this year. Obviously they've got Henry Davis. Henry Davis also can kind of move around play outfield positionally, But Joey Bart's having a great spring. He's hitting three
point fifty seven. We're seeing a bunch of power three homers so far this spring and a six to eight walk to strikeout ratio, So I mean, you're just seeing really, really good contact numbers. He's going to be the primary catcher. He had a pretty good run at the end of last season as well, in totally had thirteen homers with the two sixty five average in like two hundred and fifty at bats last season as a whole, so I'm
really feeling good about that. He ended the season with a two eighty average post All Star, breaking around just under two hundred at bats, he had seven homers, two eighty three p forty OVP. He's carrying a good season, a good second half of the season over into a really good spring on a Pirates team that I think is kind of sneaky, you know, pending where they end up putting him. There's some prime RBI opportunities with guys
like Brian Reynolds and Onnell Cruz. I really like the prospects of Joey Bart potentially being able to push to be a top twelve catcher, if.
Not in two catcher leagues. He is my sleeper catcher.
I like this one. And I love the post type guys too. We heard about Joey Bart for so many years, and sometimes it doesn't work out. You know, it's funny. I think for a lot of hitters too, getting out of San Francisco tends to be a good thing. I always wondered what Brandon Belt would have looked like if he played somewhere else back in the day, Right, remember Brandon when he.
Was young enough, because he went and played. I think it was like Toronto and I just did no.
I mean, like like in his prime, like early days, before all the injuries and stuff. I was like, man, we can just get this guy out of San Francisco. What would he look like? Yeah, the Toronto days by Yeah, he was a beat up old man.
I can't do the neck thing. He had the biggest nets, like a giraffe.
Not as much as Mike Glennon, but you know, I digress. My catcher is Ivan Herrera. No surprise here from the Saint Louis Cardinals. Talk about a good spring. He's having one, hitting three forty eight with a four to eighty four OBP twelve twenty three ops. He's got a homer in about thirty one played appearances as of recording this look. Last year he hit three hundred three to seventy two OBP. It's not a joke, it's not a fluke. He was a two eighty hitter in the minor leagues, a three
ninety two OBP. And I think he could do a lot worse. Is he gonna have enormous power? No, it's not gonna be his game. But especially in roatle leagues where you're trying to make up some ground and batting average, what a great opportunity to do it from the catcher spot, you know. I mean, you can find some guys that will hit your twenty home runs at catcher. Finding a guy who's gonna get three hundred it's a little bit
tougher to find. And now that Hivan Herrera is going to be the main guy over there, I think he is a tremendous selection here.
Well we hope that's what we hope. The only thing that the Cardinals get funky sometime. Pedro Pejas is kind of floating around there. But like Herrera is the guy. And as I mentioned, this is a guy that I would have picked for this had you not, because I think like his underlying bad skills are going to be able to hold off Pedro Payos from being like any any type of the main guy. Well, they need also just not come.
In more of the Cardinals later in the show. We'll talk about that my first basement. And I know we you know some leagues he's DH, but I'm going to bend the rules a little bit here. The man child, Kyle Manzardo. We've been waiting for this guy, you know, came up through the Tampa system. We talk about, you know, spring training doesn't mean anything except for the players that means everything to and I think Kyle Manzarro is one
where it means something. You know, last year he was really kind of getting his feet wet here with the Cleveland Guardians. This year, he's going to be hitting right after Jose Ramirez. He's going to have a lot of opportunities to drive in runs. Huan's ahead of him as well in this lineup. This is a good spot here for Manzardo and soar the spring. The adjustments that he's made this offseason, He's talked at length about them. I've
seen a few interviews with Manzarro. They're working hit in three sixty eight with a ten to seventy three ops currently three homers and seven RBI. Now he's going to strike out a little bit, but Welsh, you know, if you're looking for some power at the corner spots here or utility spots depending on your league rules, I think Manzardo is a guy that can give that to you. I could see a path for him to hit twenty five thirty homers this year. I love the spot in
the batting order that matters. Who matters to you as a sleeper. Potentially, Manzarto is the thirty seventh first basement off the board three forty seven overall. Who is your first baseman? Because he is even deeper than mine.
Yeah, this is the deepest play. I've talked a lot about him. I would have picked common Zarto too. I think that was a good one. But the guy I've been talking a lot about qualifies it's potential in some places, maybe just outfield, he also does qualify in first base in some spots. It's Arizona Diamondbacks Peven Smith, and this has been one I've been pretty vocal about. He has got an a four fifty nine. This is eightyp's I pulled up I don't remember if this is rank or ADPs,
but it's post four hundred either way. And I've again I've talked at length about, you know, the spot where he gets to be the strong side platoon guy. He's their new Jock Peterson, and he played like Jock Peterson. Great contact numbers, high contact rate, good fiftieth percentile evs of over one hundred versus Righty's, which is the strong side platoon he'll go against.
Last year, he.
Hit two point eighty two, crushed eight homers in just over one hundred at bats. He also played appearances. He also hit two seventy two in the second half last season. And as long as they make the commitment to keeping him in the strong side platoon, which they've pretty much done, then you know, if he gets four hundred and fifty plate appearances, you might see twenty plus homers out of him. He's super cheap, he's absolutely free. He might have multi
position qualifications. And the only worry that's out there is you've got Randall Gritchick, who's going to play the small side platoon. And then if they try to mess around and if they just say, well you want lords to come out of the you know, the outfield, and maybe DH maybe that takes a few at bats, but it does seem like they're pretty committed to it. And he's had a good spring as well. He's hitting two seventy three, He's got a couple homers, walks and strikeouts are there.
It's just a very solid spring that I think they feel comfortable with it.
He is three.
Ninety nine, and if he does what Jock Peterson did last season, we're I mean, we're talking about more than doubling his fantasy values.
So he is my deep sleeper at first base this year.
Let's continue on the diamond second base. Welsh, who do you have all.
Right over at second base?
Scrolling back to it, I was actually shocked that you didn't pick this guy. I am going with Thiro Estrada, thiro Strada with the Colorado Rockies. I'm glad that you left him for me, because you know, picking like deeper names are not quite there.
Obviously, speaking of guy's right.
You want to get out of San Francisco and see what they could do in a place like Colorado. I mean that's pretty fun. Wasn't stampfl wasn't this one of his guys? On the U. I want to say, what's in Fantasy Fest? Right?
Yeah, exactly.
He was in my mix. I felt like, well, Frank talked about him. I don't want to talk about I'm glad you talked about him because I was gonna pick him. But in case you missed it, any of the Fantasy Fest, you can go back and watch it on the YouTube channel.
We've got all the channel up there now, the playlist rather yeah, so that's all available so you can get if you haven't done any research, you haven't done any work, you can go watch that for two hours, three hours and just get like ready to go for all of your drafts. Got a great group of guests on there. But well, let's get back to estrata, because I know what Frank was talking about was, Hey, this was a guy who was really consistent last year, was very injured.
Now he finds himself in Colorado and all of a sudden with a lot more upside and zero cost.
Well, you talk about previous consistency, so let's throw out twenty twenty four, which it's a little bit revisionist, but whatever, he was injured the previous two seasons he had hit fourteen homers. In each of those seasons and stolen more than twenty bases in both of those seasons. Now go put him in the friendliest hitting ballpark in all of baseball. That's a really good sign. This spring also really great.
He's hitting four hundred so far this spring. Solid the stolen base He's got a couple stolen bases in there, and based on that lineup, yeah, he could hit lower in it, but there's opportunities where they could pop him up higher. I think he's gonna be aggressive on the base paths. He's got an opportunity to be in that lineup, and if I can get even ten twenty, or if he plays out how he used to be, you could be looking at fifteen twenty five at an ADP that
is outside the top three hundred. He's the thirty second second baseman. It is outside three nineteen. So far, he's free, and I think he's a great, great bet. We're not really chasing stolen bases quite like we used to before, but second base can get a little eh, it can get a little bit questionable when you get deeper. This is a guy with a full opportunity power potential could come up in Colorado and there's no reason they're not
going to steal. You saw Brenton Doyle do it. I think you'll see thyro Astrata do it as well.
My second basement is actually not gonna be playing much second base this year. He's moving to first base for the Detroit Tigers, and he's being drafted currently very late at two thirty nine overall the twenty third second baseman going off the board Cold Keith. So he's moving to first base, knocking Spencer Toorkles and out of that shot
and into now the DH spot. And I just want to say, you know, the Tigers over the years have invested a lot of time, energy and money in Spencer Toarkles in so if Cold Keith is bouncing him from his everyday position, they guess what y'all should be paying attention to this.
I'm shocked at Charcolson, by the way, has not been traded to because they're talking about lah Henry mLOY playing's backup at first like he's done, he's cook cooked.
Well, we shall see. But right now, Cold Keith's slayd to hit fifth right now in that Tiger's lineup, which is actually pretty decent because he's going to have this Riley Green, Glaber, Torres, Kerry Carpenter mix ahead of him. Lineup placements really good for him. Again, I'm a big guy about lineup placement when it comes to productivity in fantasy. I think it's something that is under discussed a little bit. And Cold Keith is out an accid. He's sitting three
hundred this spring. If you go back minor league record here, three hundred hitter in two hundred and thirty nine games of the minor leagues, A three eighty two OVP, A five twelve slugging. That, my friends, is elite. We're talking almost a nine hundred ops right there for Cold Keith. So this guy can hit. He is still very young. There's still maybe more of a plateau with the power.
He's got some pop in that bat too. So at twenty two, soon to be twenty three years old, Cold Keith to me makes a lot of sense as a sleeper this year. And he gives you a little position flexibility, right you know, little first base, little second base injuries are gonna happen, So I love him as a second baseman, as your middle infield kind of situation there as you're looking in those formats, but look, just as a bench bat,
even very valuable potential player, you could util you can first. Second, we'll see how the season goes for him. Next on my list at third base, Luis Ranguifo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now Ranguifo all of a sudden is getting some good medicals, and that's what we want here. That's the I think most important thing is the health because we all know if you're not healthy, well you got nothing. So that is what we're striving for here.
And this is a guy who also qualifies in some leagues at multiple positions, qualifies the second, qualifies at third. He was dealing with the hamstring issue, but he's going to be on track for opening day. Last year, in seventy eight games, he stole twenty four bases, did it six home runs? If he can give you, let's say, thirty five steals and a dozen home runs this year, and I'm not trying to extrapol eight even ten home runs,
that would be great. But he also at three hundred, find me guys with batting average with a little bit of pop and thirty steel upside, and I'm very happy. I think he is a great guy to slide in. And it's funny we wash because I'm starting to come around to some of these cheaper guys on the Angels, like Netto, like Rangifo late in drafts because they're productive hitters. The Angels are going to score some runs this year.
Even though we don't like the Angels to win a ton of games, it doesn't mean they're not useful in fantasy, and they are dirt cheap at third base. Who made your all sleeper team, Welsh?
Yeah, I like Luis string Guifa. I think that's a really good pick.
We just wanted him to be healthy and get out there and frankly, you know now that you just sparked it for me sleeper that I'll just throw out there for people. Is a guy that could push Luise Ringifo off a third base, so he's playing other spots. Could be Christian Moore. If Christian Moore breaks, sure, he's just kind of free at this.
Christian Moore and Cam Smith, those are the two guys at the hot corner too, especially that if they want Cam Smith to start taking some balls in the outfield. But he qualifies at the third base, like you know, those guys are going to enter this season at some point and maybe than you think to.
Be frank like cam Smith belongs to Joe and Christian Moore to me like that, like of what we've told her about those actually would have been really good sleepers to have here.
So just well we mentioned that on the show, so officially they are like the alternate third baseman, but I wanted to give somebody that, you know, I think it was a little more practical. But if you're shooting the moon here and you're in deeper leagues or those drafted holes, whatever, and you got to be rostering these guys.
Yeah, and the guy that I'm picking with the Brewers is Joey Ortiz. Joey Ortiz also probably not going to be playing third base, though they're talking about all these different like combinations of maybe Orties a short, maybe ad second, they can move around, but he's a third baseman from last season. And Joy Artiz is my pick has had again not to like pick necessarily on springs and focus on springs, but we're also not looking at players that came out of nowhere.
Last year.
He had eleven homers, eleven stolen bases and kind of really spattered playing time. He was really bad at the back half of the season or the what was it, July and August, we're rough, hitting under two hundred, but then he picked it back up and hit like two sixty or two fifty in September. He's having a great spring, hitting three forty five tons of extra base hits. He has ten hits in spring. Six of those are extra bases, two doubles, two triples, two homers. He's also been aggressive
on the bass paths. He's stolen three so far, and the walk to strikeout ratios right there. He's really showing off just a little bit more power, great plate discipline, and.
He will be playing all this season. And that's like the.
Really big key not to do it all the time where it's like twenty twenty, twenty twenty, but it's like, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that it goes one way or the other. Maybe he's a seventeen homer, fifteen stolen base guy. He could move up and down the lineup. He's got position flexibility which he might add into this season. Listen, third base also gets pretty gross. As you start to move down you're looking for like a corner infielder who's also gonna have
multiple spots. Joey Ortiz, I think is a sneaky guy who could put in I really think the power could be the sneaky thing. The more that if you asked me, is he gonna steal more hit more homers? I wouldn't be shocked if he's a twenty fifteen guy this season. If you have a couple of big power months and he's putting in some RBIs so. Joey Ortiz is my sleeper third baseman.
I picked him up my home league last year, and he was very useful for me. You know, he had some moments for sure, and I was waiting for Junior Cavanaro most of the season last year, so I needed to fill some holes at the third base spot. Moving on to the shortstop position, Well, should you have over there that you think could be of value?
Yeah, again, like I could play around and try to like create some as you get later, but this guy just keeps pop up and out. And I guess apologies because we've talked about him in a lot of spots. There's a little bit of an injury thing which maybe took a little bit of the flavor off the top of everybody getting excited. But I'm going with Trevor story at two fifty nine, So we're post two point fifty
with Trevor's story. The injuries are still in our face, and him having that little scare the other day kind of I think re reminds everybody like, hey, at any time, this can go away. But the thing to also remember is the huge offensive potential upside. Again, looking at spring so far, because he's missed so much time. As of recent he's hitting over four hundred. We're seeing homers get out of the ballpark and they've already told us. Alex Corus said that he's going to hit inside the top
five of that lineup. So again you've got Jaron Duran, Rafael Devers, Tristan Cassis, and Alex Bregman all hitting in that spot and he's going to be hitting at five most likely huge RBI opportunity. We'll see if the stolen bases come back a little bit. But as far as the offensive potential, there is real five categories that are in play. The homers are still there, he can still run some RBI in runs. This team is gonna score
a bunch and if that batting average gets back. He hit two fifty five and very little last year, but prior to that he had hit.
Under two forty.
If he's a two sixty guy this season with all that offensive protection, two fifty is gonna look silly, but it's built in like that way because he has missed so much time. The injuries are still out there and the average is kind of sunk. But he is a real twenty twenty potential guy and not just a ton of those that like, we can really pretend and be like if this worked out and this worked out and blah blah blah, they could get this way. Trevor Story
is like, he just needs to play games. If he plays games, he's gonna be close to a twenty twenty guy. And that's reality. So post two to fifty, Trevor Story is my sleeper pick.
All right for me? At short stop, we're going back to San Francisco, let's go with Tyler Fitzgerald. Now, Fitzgerald last season pretty good work. Hit two eighty seventeen steels, fifteen homers, played ninety six games. In terms of where he hits in the lineup a little trickier, he does qualify at second base as well. But we're in a spot where you're looking at the future here, right, So with Jung Huli, who is going for an MRI on the back now, who knows, maybe Fitzgerald ends up playing
some outfield. Maybe they starts shuffling some guys around too again, and all of a sudden, maybe Fitzgerald finds himself not hitting out of the nine hole, but somewhere else. And I think that would be very intriguing for me. Another player with a good track record in the minor leagues. That's very important to me. Eight twenty three ops, two sixty five hitter. He's a guy that definitely has some speed,
so we can help you out late. And I think when you're trying to make up some ground with someone bases later on, because now you really do have to load up. You know, you can't just have that one guy and be good at steals now because everybody's stealing bases. With the rules changes, you got to continue to pile upon.
If you go back and watch the Ladies Mock Draft Show, you'll see me just continuing to pile on steals, pile on steals because I could, and guys like Fitzgerald are going to go a long way for that, so I'm really curious to see. I'm rooting for Jung Houley. He was originally on this team that I put together, but now the injury again has me concerned, so he's still in that back burner for me, but Fitzgerald could be
a guy that benefits from that. Now we're gonna get to the outfielders on our all sleeper team for twenty twenty five. Before we do, I want to talk to you about our draft simulator. Now, right now, you can do your mock drafts and get ready for your drafts, just like you saw us use the other day on the Draft Show, or the million times you see us use it on the Draft Show. Go to fantasypros dot com slash mock that's the place to go, or just download Draft Wizard for MLB wherever you get your apps.
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let's go to the outfield Welsh. Give me your three outfielders, where they're being drafted and why they made your sleeper list.
All right, We've got two that are outside the two fifty, and I got one outside the four hundred range. Number one Jake McCarthy. The reason that you can wait on stolen bases is there your stolen bases plentiful later in drafts. Victor Revlis has been a very popular name I've talked about, but he's inside the top two hundred now, but Jake McCarthy McCarthy is not. He is at two forty seven, so he's like right there at that two point fifty marker.
The thing I love about him too, no bad lefty splits. He can hit Bert versus both. He's got really good contact numbers. He's aggressive on the base paths. The thing that could maybe halt out is you know what this team wants to do with that. They just still have a heavy outfield rotation. They didn't trade Alec Thomas, they still got a lot of guys. But McCarthy has just proven to be a guy that's going to be out
there all the time. And the stolen base is the ten to thirty potential you can get out of him with great, great defense, He's just not going to come off the field a bunch so cheap stolen bases. I love the prospects of getting Jake McCarthy number two. Garrett Mitchell, who I've talked about a bunch. Garrett Mitchell comes in at two sixty four on this he's the sixty ninth outfielder.
Jake McCarthy was the sixty second, so we're really down there and Garrett Mitchell, this is a true twenty potential guy. If you want to extrapolate last season, eight homers, eleven stolen bases.
He hit two fifty.
Five just under two hundred at bats, So if you were to extrapolate that, you're looking at twenty four homers in over thirty stolen bases. So at twenty thirty season, obviously, that's going to be hard to put together. He has bad strikeout numbers, and I can be honest with these. Again, he's having a great spring. You're seeing the power go, you're seeing aggressive bass pass. He's out there, he's healthy,
but he's still striking out a bunch. So if that had come down, I think we would be talking about Sky's the limit.
Type of stuff. But it's still over thirty percent.
Strikeout rate, but he walks double digit percentage of the time, good barrel numbers, and I think he's going to carry that over into the season. If he can stay healthy, you're gonna get stolen bases, You're gonna get power. He's probably the best combination, and I think he is just a free play. And then finally, my deep outfield play here at outside four hundred, outside the top one hundred outfielders. When you look over on Fantasy pros, Victor Scott the second,
My boy, Victor Scott. You're talking post hype sleeper. As everybody he loved Victor Scott. Last year it was kind of a big failure. And this season, taking it into spring, he's hitting three seventy one. He's showing off his power, thirteen hits, five extra base hits, two homers, triple couple doubles. OBP is almost five hundred, and he's attempted seven stolen bases. In forty two plate appearances, he's stolen five. Ali Marmarle has talked about how awesome his transition into this offseason
has been. He was working on gaining muscle this past season. He's trying to hit consistently, and the guys behind him, like Mike Siani, stunk, so obviously the Cardinals could do something weird. But Victor Scott looks like he is primed to take that spot at in center field for the Cardinals. Now, he might hit lower in the lineup, but he's one of the most aggressive base stealers in all of baseball.
If he plays the whole season and he hits for average, you're probably looking at a guy that's going to steal forty to fifty bases, and I might be underselling him. It's just all going to be about being consistent, and he's showing that this spring. I love the prospects Victor Scott again, another guy that you can get cheap stolen bases from, and he looks primed to take that spot
unless the Cardinals ruin it. So again I am going with Jake McCarthy, Garrett Mitchell, and Victor Scott as my three sleeper outfielders.
Well, we asked me he had a overlap there because I had Garrett Mitchell on my list too, so I think he was also another guy that we talked about on the Sleeper Show too, So you know, I'm not going to reiterate. I'm with Welsh everything he said. All the good reasonings there, and you can go back and watch Fantasy Fest too, because I want to say, was he on Towers list? He was on somebody else's no.
I Bubba really liked. Oh you know, it's funny about this too.
I just want to point out we really tried to not have the same guys. Now you I put the next guy you're gonna say on my list and then went, oh crap, you had it. I didn't even see Garrett Mitchell. Garrett Mitchell's a crew play. The next guy in your list is a crew play as well. I took him off because you had him.
Yeah. Well, look, I got two other outfielders. One is Matt Waalner at two sixty six, right around Garrett Mitchell, and he's again platoon wise on the correct side of that applatoon for more at bats, but at the same time hitting leadoff here for the Twin teams. That's important. It's a lot of runs score potentially. He does have some power again, more of a bat that you're looking later in the drafts is more of a util bat because you want those outfielders to play every day like
Garrett Mitchell. I would take because I think he's gonna be every day player as Wellner. I'm not exactly sure yet, although as the Twins' injuries will continue to mount, because that's what happens with the Minnesota Twins every single damn season. Maybe there will be some more at bats for him. Either way, it's a good scenario. And the third guy in there is Alec Burlson, who is a guy that last year off the waiver wire. I don't know how
many times we did waiver wire bits. I did waiver wire videos and Perlson was in it, and people just weren't picking them up. He ended last year playing one hundred and fifty two games right twenty one homer, seventy at RBI, scored seventy runs, had nine steals for good measure, hit two sixty nine. This year, he's gonna primary DH, but he's Dell. Qualifies at outfield, qualifies at first base, so he qualifies everywhere. And again I think he is
just a very nice player to have. I likened him last year statistically, not compwise physically, but statistically to Ben Zobrist. Ben Zobrist every year was going to give you fifteen home runs, seventy five to seventy five, maybe just fall shy of ten stolen bases or somewhere in that range. Hit about two sixty five to seventy five, maybe a
two to eighty on a good year. But he was just gonna be there and be productive and probably qualify at a bunch of different spots, little outfield, little infield. Those guys are really useful, and Burlson could be one of those guys. But the real trick here is figuring out what the Cardinals plan is. And that brings us
to our Microsoft Chasing Challenges segment for today. And just like the athletes to push boundaries and redefine what's possible in business, decision makers and businesses today are turning challenges into opportunities, and Microsoft meets you with the tools and guidance to help you make an impact with safe, secure AI solutions. So whatever your challenge is that you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with the expertise to say bring it on.
And today we're going to highlight the challenges of the Saint Louis Cardinals because they've got a bit of an identity crisis. They've been one of the most steady organizations in baseball since well since I was certainly around. I remember the Cardinals of the eighties being a team that I absolutely hated. Why because they were incredibly annoying. All they did was slap the ball, round steel bases, play little ball, never hit home runs, and beat the crap
out of you. That's what they did. And then the Cardinals evolved to the Albert Poohols years as well, where they were perennially in the playoffs, the great Mark Maguire years even before that. Right, this is a team that has taken veterans in the past like Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds and made them part of these teams that
went on playoff runs. And even recently it seemed like they were doing the same thing Paul Goldschman, Nolan aronaut Or, Right, the Cardinals were the best at saying, hey, we can take your superstars and remake them and continue to build from within. But last year, last year the wheels came off the pitching staff meeting age I think was fifty seven years old, and Sonny Gray, although great at the top of this rotation, were waiting for Quinn Matthews to
show up. And I don't see a whole lot in between to get excited about this lineup and used to not have a lot of star power in it. There's questions when Nolan Aeronauta was going to get traded, and if he's going to get traded, and if he is anything close to the player that he once was, we're in a bad spot here in Saint Louis. The Cardinals are looking at a losing season potentially coming up here again. And that's not something Saint Louis is useful or use too,
I should say. And that's going to be a big problem and a reset unless the Jordan Walkers of the world and some other guys like Mason, Wynn and Herrera and some of the guys Welsh was talking about as well start to step forward. Cardinals might find themselves kind of spit in their wheels in this division, but the challenge is going to be how quickly they can dig themselves out. And remember Microsoft AI solutions and power you to take bold steps and create new ideas to help
drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft dot com Slash Challenges for more. That's Microsoft dot com Slash Challengers for more. All right, Welsh, let's get to the pitchers on our list. Give me three starter and a reliever for a good measure on our All Sleeper team for twenty twenty five.
All right, starting with Walker Buehler, who has got a two twenty six rank here SP sixty nine on the list, way down there. Obviously, last season in the regular season with what he got over five ERA did not look good in seventy five innings. He definitely bounced back during
the playoffs, which I think is a big key. And then if you take the innings he had last year with the playoff innings, I think it really pushes him in a really good direction to be able to get significant innings this year on a Red Sox team that I think is gonna win a lot, and I think Walker Buehler, as much as I'm in on Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler is going to be a piece of that. He's had a couple starts in spring. He's looked good. Two starts, five innings, he struck out seven, he's only
walked one. He's given up four hits and one earned run. The stuff is there, the fastballs back. I just think it's a really like I am hyper focused on Garrett Crochet clearly, but like he's a really good bet and he's a really good bet for a source of wins as well and a lot of run support, and I think outside the top two hundred we're still sleeping on him. Number two Tom Tomo, Yuki Sugano with the Baltimore Orioles.
Easy for me to say, I've been doing really good.
We got we got Sigano. There, Sigano. It's been pretty simple. He's just been striking everybody out in spring. He really hasn't been hit. He's an older pitcher, I believe thirty five years old. The league is not caught up to him. These guys usually, especially coming over coming over from like Japan and whatnot, you'll see these guys have some early success.
Until the league catches up.
But I'm kind of optimistic with where the strikeout numbers are and how he's hiding the ball that you know we might get a season long run. Looks like they're going to push innings. They need him because Grayson's out. So Sigano, with a rank out almost outside the three hundreds at two ninety seven SP eighty eight is my number two starting pitcher, and number three is with the Atlanta Braids, Grant Home, who is three h seven pitcher ninety three is being converted into a starting pitcher and
from a relief pitcher. And the thing that's working really well is he's upticked his change up and his changeup has put up some really great different stuff. Plus metrics have graded out that that change up to be really high. And it was like a pitchy through one percent of the time last year. So far in spring it looks like it's around like eight percent. And what's so great about that is with his slider and curveball, those had
forty percent with rates last season. Now you throw a change up there that's going to get high WIF rates. His fastball sitting ninety four ninety five, he's got three punch out pitches. He's walking a little bit, but he is free right now and he might stack some wins with Atlanta, and we might see some strikeouts pile up as well. So I'm going to go with a deep play in Grant Homes and then finally my relief pitcher.
We're going deep here for a guy that does not have a solidified closer role, but I truly think he can. It is aj Puck at two seventy four on the overall thirty two as far as relief pitchers go, and I've just been pretty steadfast, regardless of seeing Justin Martinez throw n you know, one hundred and three or whatever in every single game. At the end of the day, AJ Puck has been phenomenal this spring, and I think he's going to be their fireman. So there will be
some times where he's not gonna get some saves. They might even just list out Justin Martinez as the guy, but he can get a little erratic. I think AJ Puck is going to walk out of this team being the leader in saves. I would not be shocked to see over twenty. I'm not putting my expectations in that he's gonna lead the league, but he's going after all
of the big guys. He's towards the end of your draft, and if you've already gotten two established closers, I think AJ Puck is a great bet on a guy that's either a gonna take the job or b be a guy that's gonna get a decent amount of saves and really help your ratios with big strikeouts. So AJ Puck is my reliever and my starters again. Walker Buehler, Tomo Yuki Sagano and Grant Holmes.
By the way, just a reminder, Grant Holmes qualifies at RP in a lot of spots too, So if you're trying to game the system, Larbit, don't forget for those mandatory RP leagues. You could also play Holmes. There. Nick Pollock on our Pitching Guide Ultimate Pitching Guide number two that we did, he went on a nice little die tribe about Grant Holmes two and he really liked him. So you can check out what Nick said on the show here again, so on the YouTube channel, you can
go find it there, just click on the videos. I love the Puck one too, because I'm with you one hundred percent. He's another one of my favorite lake closers, you know me. Joey p loves the lake closer give me the light class. Oh and Walker Buller's another one too. I just took Walker Buehler in the rat Slam too, and they draft in Hold again. It's all upside and he's looking pretty good in this spring all right. So for me, here are my starting pitchers at two twenty
five overall. Gavin Williams of the Cleveland Guardians. I know every expert. It feels like he's talking about Gavin Williams and you know what, it's still not enough. I was in a draft last night and Gavin Williams are far too late and guess who took him? This guy And right now, if you're looking at what he's doing this spring, it's not good. It's dominant eight innings so far, giving up US five hits. He has sixteen strikeouts and two walks. Welsh,
Oh my, Gavin Williams is ready. And the fact that you've got Gavin Williams and Bobby at the top of this rotation. Eventually you hope at some point Bieber comes back. But they don't have to all be seven hitting pitchers. You know, these guys can be six hitting pitchers and turn it over that's that incredible bullpen and still be very successful this year. There's still a lot of bridge to win. Even if Williams is babied a little bit.
Nick Lodolo at two thirty, overall, lefties take a little bit longer in the pressure cooker, just historically speaking, when you look at it, and Lodolo I think is on that precipice of being a guy that you could really see taking a big step forward he cost you very little to find out. He pitches on a very young, exciting team, also having a decent spring and Lodolo I think is another one of these pictures that I'm looking to take a step forward this year. And if he doesn't,
you cut him, it's not a big deal. But I think he has real sleep or potential. We saw the strikeout of building the minor leagues and it is high. Max Meyer of the Miami Marlins one of our favorites on the show historically three overall. Talk about free maybe he's free fifty two. That's what he is. He is another one who's going to be limitated, like is he gonna get to one hundred and fifty innings? Maybe? But can he give me one hundred and twenty quality ones?
I think the answer is yes, and he will to that.
Lance Brasdowski from the Fantasy Fest checkout the breakout.
I watched dance. Lance talked about Max. I watched, so that's ann to push.
Even I watched the channel. I mean, come on, even if I'm not on, I'm watching the shows because I want to hear it. Lance. Lance was terrific. That was another mussy one, But Max Meyer another one where we've been waiting and he was so electric a couple of years ago, then the injuries, then the mismanagement last year. I think we're finally done with all of that and
he's gonna have this rotation spot locked up. So Max, Meyra, Lodolo, Gavin Williams, those are my starters, and Jordan Romano at two seventeen my closer, and I think Vermano is just being forgotten, a very steady closer, very solid for the Blue Jays for years again health issues. Now find himself with the Phillies in a spot where he's gonna get plenty of opportunities for saves because that pitching staff is
great one through five, potentially really good. And now you're talking about handing over a lot of leads, and I think the Phillies are gonna win that division, and that's a met fan saying it. I think the Braves will still continue to get guys back, they might get hot late, but I think this is the Phillies division to lose. So give me Jordan Romano. So here are the names
on my all sleeper team for twenty twenty five. Ivan Herrera at ketcher, Kyle Manzarto at first base, Cold Keith at second, Luis Rengifo at third, then at short, Tyler Fitzgerald of the San Francisco Giants. My outfield Alec Burlson, Garrett Mitchell, Matt Wallner, the pitchers Gavin Williams, Niic Lodolo, Max Meyer and Jordan Romano closing Welsh's all sleeper team for twenty twenty five. Joey Bart at ketcher, Peven Smith at first, Estrada, Tario Estrada at second, Joey Ortiz at third,
Trevor Story at short. The outfielders Jake McCarthy, Garrett Mitchell as well. Victor Scott loved that one for the steals. And then the pitchers Walker Bueller, Sagano, Grant Holmes and Ajpocket closing things out. But those are our names. Who are yours? Drop your comments below. It just might win you a John Smaltz jersey if you do, and don't forget, don't just give us the sleepers. Give us the ring on the click to subscribe and give us the follow
at Fantasy pros MLB. That's Fantasy pros MLB, the place for Fantasy baseball leading off live on Twitch here every day on the YouTube channel as well. We are blowing up. Baby. It's because of you. Help us get to twenty five thousand subscribers by opening day. I think we can do it. That'll do it for us, but the story of the game goes on for the while. Sham Joey p. We'll see you next time. Kids. Thanks for listening to the
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