Welcome in everybody to Fantasy Pros. This is the Fantasy Baseball Podcast. Its met Joey b Joe Pusia, and today it's time for the Ultimate Infield Guy. That's right, there's no other guide as ultimate as this one. The Welsh and I are gonna take you through all the infield positions first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and even some catchers. We're gonna talk about the top twenty guys or so at each position, talk about the tiers, talk
about our favorite values, our favorite premium guys. Well, you're always my favorite premium guy. I just want you to know that. And speaking of premium, don't forget to go premium this year. With all of our Fantasy Pros tools for Fantasy Baseball season and for free, sink your leagues today. Did you hear that? For free sink your leagues? Make sure you're utilizing all of the amazing tools for our draft software here at Fantasy Pros. And also don't forget
about the d season tools as well. We have the best suite of tools. It will help you manage all of your leagues, set all your lineups from one app on Fantasy Pros. It's about as good as it gets. And remember, our draft kit is live now Fantasy bros dot Com slash Draft Kit. So is our mock draft draft Wizard Fantasy bros dot Com slash mock. Go ahead and run a million simulations in about what like I don't know, I mean, how many drafts have can you
do in an hour? I think I mean only do thirty in an hour?
A million would be a lot. Oh, I don't know. You know we should do that.
How many drafts can we do in an hour?
But like, actually you have to do our picks. We should do shul almost like simultaneously. Be like, I like that, we could go I like that.
What I mean cheat sheets?
I mean if it was five minutes in theory, would be twelve drafts?
Too much? I guess though, that's that's too much. Well not if I had multiple devices. Ah see what I did? Loan, All right, let's get to the infield. Let's start at first base here and obviously a place we're looking for power, we're looking for run potential. RBIs all of the above.
Let's start here with the expert consensus rankings. Freddie Freeman is at the top of the first base board, follow by Matt Olsen, Bryce Harper, who last year came off the injury obviously maybe a little too soon, as we were saying back in the summertime, but he's such a gamer, that dude, Vlad Guerrero Junior looking for a bounce back, and Pete Alonzo at number five Welsh to me, this is the definitive tier of the top first baseman, because after this we dropped to Cody Bell and Drew West
to repeat a very strong season Chicago, where still as a recording is don't know where he is going to play in twenty twenty four and Goldschmid and some others. I think it's Freeman, Olsen, Harper, Vlad pe Alonzo. Your thoughts on this upper tier. Somebody want to move in, somebody want to move out of the top tier first basement.
Okay, so for our well, I am going to argue it. Yes, you're right, except I do think we can split these and I think you could look at this if you want to like be a little bit more you know, uh analytical or find tooth fine cone.
What's the what's the jack?
I can't sass him at the top of the show, a fun.
Is it the fine fine tooth comb.
What did you say a tooth fine comb?
I don't, but what does that even mean? What is a tooth?
It means, well, you're asking the bald guy about the fine tooth comb. What it is is you know when you're kind of looking for something, you know, like when the kid gets lice in the class and they're trying to pull it like the little tiny.
No, no, I know the analogy, but like the fine tooth comb.
I don't know if you do.
But if you, I know a version of it. There's something in my brain. It's called the Welshism. So this, yes, it is like a five tier, but I think you can break it apart. And the top three are almost in there.
And this is how I view tears. This is how I've always took tears.
Is like there's no way I would move the guy below above. So I agree that, like definitively, these five are the core first basemen that you want bogin.
And I did this. Look at you take like Roto.
And you take what championship teams look like and what starters and we took that. What did all the starters at first base cumulatively get? And the common first baseman. The type of first baseman you want is a guy that hits I think around twenty eight stolen bases, around two seventy basis, I'm sorry, twenty eight home runs, really no stolen bases, and then high RBI and high run.
So who are the guys that do that? All these guys do that.
But there isn't a scenario where I'm gonna put Vlad Guerrero as much as I'm into him this year above Bryce Harper right now, so I would break the Freeman Olsen Harper as probably one A, Vlad and Alonzo one B. And then here's the big thing, though it's a pretty stark drop off on all these guys, but these are the core guys, all giving you big homers everything you need. The only difference is number one who actually can get you great out of position stolen bases in Freddie Freeman.
But I agree with this tier by the way, this is.
How I tier them out.
Not everybody has it, because some like Harper over Olsen, some like Alonzo over Vlad Guerrero. But this is actually my definitive first base.
Run Matt Olsen coming off a year with fifty four bombs by the way. I mean, come on, now, I'm with you. I would even argue, I mean further because I'm Italian, because I like to argue Freeman Olsen their own tier. Harper probably in that grouping as well, but maybe he's his own little you know, maybe there's one A, one B and then one C being Alonzo Guerrero. Again, I just want to see Harper kind of bounce back completely, although you know, end of the year he certainly looked
more like himself. They hit two ninety three last year, twenty one bombs. But I mean, I do agree with what you're saying. There's an elite tier where there's a super elite tier within there. So if you want to call them the A tier and then the S tier, the S tier is freedom A team.
Can we call them the A team?
We can be a baracas, mister t all of those guys I love, who doesn't draft mat For those of you who are too young for the A Team. The end of every episode, they basically had a van or some sort of you know, vehicle that they found and turned it into a tank and then took on bad guys. Was that much the show?
That's like a great day, just like every day, just turning something into a tank.
I will tell you that turned something into a tank.
Well, these two are tanks. Vlad and Pede Alonso the one B tier. What's interesting about them is they are the positive side. Like Alonzo put up huge, massive homers last year with bad batting average. Vlad really had a mediocre year. They are both big boosted players. I think it's the expected batting average to come back up for
Alonzo with forty plus homers. And if you're looking at Vlad Carrero, he is probably the biggest projection monster because big all like everything was like relatively sustainable across the board. He just had poor results, better launch angle. He's projected to have almost ten more homers this year, big run
in RBI, So that one BE tier. Maybe there's some queasiness that's a little bit involved, and that's why they're one be But they are heavily projected because projections are waiting over the last three years.
But they're great. But then we're about to take a big old step off of the first base ladder.
Yeah, Cody Bellinger again, great season last year, twenty twenty season. Can he repeat it? We'll see the batting average bounced way back from where it had been in previous seasons. Paul gold Schmidt, I know the power dipped a little bit so of the average, but I think the Cardinals just overall were just a team that just struggled last see, and so I think gold Schmid has another thirty home run season in him. Christian Walker in this grouping as well,
back to back thirty home run seasons for him. I feel good about him. Tristan Cassis comes in at number ten on this list, twenty four bombs for him last year. I know a lot of people are very high on him. I'm very high on Nolan Jones also in this tier, and then Spencer Torklssen in this grouping as well, who
was one of our favorite bilos last year. If you recall, there were videos we did about Spencer Togletzen leading off episodes we did about hey, now's the time in Dynasty and redrafted by this guy because it hit rock bottom and then the second half was great thirty one home runs, ninety five rubies. Last year he hit just two thirty four. But for me, it's gold Schmidt ahead of Bellinger. I
would even take Christian Walker possibly ahead of Bellinger. To be honest with you, Nolan Jones and Bellinger, we could have that conversation than Cassis and Torkosen, I think are close to each other. What are your thoughts here in this grouping? Do you think you would move the tier or adjust it slightly?
Yeah, so I'm not super big into Bellinger, but I'm open to the possibility whatever he changed is the new thing. But he changed was completely lowered to strikeouts, but he stopped hitting the ball hard barely everything that went down hard hit percentage like absolutely plummeted. Those aren't great things for like long term sustainable power, But it doesn't mean he's just not going to just be a really good contact hitter with pure raw power that doesn't strike out.
But I think there's more variance with him, and he's shown it, so I'm not super excited about him.
I love Goldie.
This year, you look at Goldie's profile, He's another one of those guys underperforming.
But to what degree?
It just looked like he had a little bit less exit velocity, launch angle kind of dropped across all pitches as well.
I put that up to.
Bat speed and guess what drive line this year he spent the offseason, specifically working on bat speed a drive line. So I really like Goldie in this front. Nolan Jones, you and I have gone back and forth with I think this is I think it's some version of Bellinger, Goldie, Nolan Jones, Christian Walker, and I would say Cassis Cossus is the one I would jump in here because I think I just did a social short talking about players that are going to boost their power. Cosis is one
of those guys. I think that is going to do that. He's going to take a big step up this year. Big hard hit numbers, good barreling, he does everything right, it's just more games and he's projected at almost thirty home runs.
So I think that is kind of a rough tier.
So I did Bellie, I said, Bellinger, Goldie, Nolan Jones, Walker, and Cossas's kind of I guess that's two, right, Yeah, we're doing one A, one B and then two.
That's fairly something to that effect.
Number all three.
Spencer Steer another guy who's hovering around this grouping. In fact, if you look over fantasypros dot com for the MOB rankings right now, you can see that Steer is put himself into this number twelve overall conversation right now, do you think of him in the same group of like, Okay, if you're in a twelve te mixed league, that's about where you're starting first basement? Are I know Josh Nail or Yondi Diaz are also kind of on that bubble.
Do you have a preference of Steer Diaz a Nailor in terms of ranking?
So I'm actually like a really big Josh Naylor guy this year, Josh Naylor, We're okay, we're starting to get in to the territory in my eyes where boy, these are high plus r P fee corner infielders like corner, Like if you get these guys in the corner infield, you're doing awesome. But in fifteen team, it's not what you can do. So if you missed out on first base. Josh Naylor specifically is somebody that I love because it's
really high batting average, great hard hit numbers. Power is a little bit in question, But big RBIs he put up because he hits in the middle of the order. Steer is kind of in this same range. But I have a hard time and maybe it's just more clerical about it, Like I have a hard time viewing him as the first baseman. He's gonna play in the outfield. There's a lot of potential tuning in this roster still, but he still puts up stats. He's kind of a twenty twenty guy. So I like Josh Naylor a lot.
I would then go to Spencer Steer for the stolen bases, and Yandy Diaz is kind of a little bit of the grown up version of Naylor, but I think Naylor's upside is higher. So those guys do belong in a tier. But YONDI and Naylor a little bit closer, Steer is a different animal. Love him as a corner infielder though.
All right, so we've got basically our top twelve ish, maybe even at fifteen. Again, if you're in those deeper leagues, I agree with one hundred percent on Nailor, by the way, looking at the fancy pros projections to twenty two homers, eighty five rbi, eight steals, two eighty batting average. That's pretty solid numbers wise. After that grouping, we're gonna get into this next group here, which involves guys like Santander
coming off another season. Again, you know, we could talk about who gets squeezed out maybe in Baltimore at some point, but he had twenty eight homers last year ninety five RBI.
You got guys like Vinnie Pascuentino, Christian Strand, who qualifies there, Reee Hoskins coming off the injury signing with Milwaukee, Alec Bohm, Nathaniel Lowe, Like, there's a lot of guys here that kind of are in this mix in the corner infield from the first base perspective spot, is there one guy or two guys that stand out to you as players that you feel like, yeah, this is a really good value or a guy that could really outperform as adp Reece Hoskins.
Reee Hoskins is absolutely that guy going to Milwaukee. You do worry if they like completely deplete the team. But you know, the last big run we saw with him, it was still good hard hit numbers. It was still solid double digit barrel percentage. I think he's going to just kind of jump right back into the fold of who he was before, and who he was before was a dude that put up twenty seven homers in twenty
twenty one, thirty homers in twenty twenty two. I think we can get back to that spot in Milwaukee's a good, good hitting environment. He would be one of my choices if I was chasing batting average. Pasquentino probably. I don't know if the power is going to get there, but that team is going to be a little bit more aggressive this year. They got guys that can run at the top in Michael Garcia and Bobby wit Junior, so Paspuentino and Reese Hoskins would be the later guys.
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to one hundred dollars that's ten free dinger drafts. And that promo code is fp MLB. And join the Underdog today and get drafting in the upcoming MLB season. And now back to the action. All right, let's move on to the second base grouping here, and no surprise at the top, you're gonna find Mookie Betts, as you should. Ozzie Albi's our favorite guy last year, who we just said, I mean, it was just crazy. The value on Albi's
last year was so good. And you know what, I'm willing to pay the premium this year because I don't love second base this year at all, coming off a year where he had thirty three bombs one hundred and nine. Ribi's ninety six runs, score hit two eighty also stole thirteen bases. So if you can't get Moogie Betts in the top five picks a year, draft Alice Albi's is a really nice consolation prize. After that, we move on
to Marcus Simeon. I think this is where the tier stops because after this we're jumping to al Tuove and just too many injuries at this point. For Altuove, the last few years, the missing, the amount of time. I still think he is a great player, but he does have a lot of tread on the tire. So for me personally, I'm gonna knock him down. Maybe it's another like one a scenario for people. But Bets Albis Simeon to me is the elite tier. Do you agree or disagree?
Betts is the elite tier. He is his own oh tier.
Sometimes these guys like O Kunya kun We'll do an episode we're talking about overall, Kunya gets his own tier. Bets, in my mind, gets his own tier, then Albi's and Simeon, they occupy that next tier, that second round pick. I love Albi's, love the stolen bases. I love Atlanta's offense, I love the power. There's no doubt about it. Marcus Simeon is consistent. Of course, secret misses some time we'll
see and he can get into some bad slumps. Here's the only thing that happens with me because I disagree with you. I actually like second base. I think there's a lot of good later second base values. And here's what has happened to me multiple times in drafts. I pull the trigger Albi's or Mookie bets I've done and then I get this like, ooh, what's going on in the sixth round. I'm like, Glabor Torres is still here, could tell Marte ends up falling, and get I get
this sense of like, ah, man, I screwed up. I should have taken another position, or with Mooki Bets, I move them to the outfield, and I still draft draft Labor Torres. So I actually think there are quite a few second base options in general. It shouldn't necessarily take away from the good value of those top guys. But what I will say is those are the elite, and I think the tier differences the gap isn't as big
as some other positions. That gap in my mind between who the Alonso and Bellinger, that's like that's a huge gap. My gap between Simeon to like Altuve Maclain it's not that big. And then the tier difference going down to Glaber and like could tell Mary from those guys, it's
not massive. So I actually kind of like the position, but it is Mooki, and then it is Albi's and Simeon, and then you know you're not having these big tear drops when we start moving to who I have Matt McClain and al tuv and I think the ranks also show that.
All right. So after Albi's and Simeon, Altuove comes in at four on Fantasy Pros, the Matt McLain, Nico Horner, Glaber, Torres, hass Young, Kim Mikhtel Marte. So let's talk about this grouping here as we get from five to ten at Bryson Stoppi and guy number ten is they're a favorite of yours in this grouping. I know, Nico Horner you've expressed to me, you know when you're doing the Black Book write ups for Infield, which Welch wrote all those up there. You can go check it out on Amazon
right now. When you were doing those, you had some concerns about Nico Horner being able to repeat his season. Kim was a guy who stole a lot of basses last year. So who do you like to target here? As we get to more of that next tier, that next grouping at second base.
Yeah, you nailed that.
I'm I'm not into Nico Horner, like that's not I'm also I kind of want to be into has Sun Kim, but there's a couple guys like they felt like they just did everything right and they just got the right bounce in some spots, And all I'm saying is like, I'm not sure has Sun Kim is a high teens to twenty home run hitter. He might be a lower and if the stolen bases ticked down a little bit. Same thing with Nikohrner. Niicohner is not a double digit power guy. He is lifted up by what we should
acknowledge elite runs and batting average. But I'm just not sure. I'm sorry stolen base and uh, batting average and runs kind of, but I just don't think the stolen bases are going to be completely repeatable and it's a dip and I don't like paying that price for those stolen bases.
There.
I love Glabor Torres. Glaber Torres expected numbers across the board up, he stole more bases, he was closing in on thirty homers. I think we can get there this year. Glabor Torres is a major target for me, and I think Homer is a aside like I like kateell Marte because he's going to hit high in the Diamondbacks lineup between Christian Walker, Lordus Guriel, and Corbyn Carroll, and he goes late.
He just consistently goes late. And he's not a big stolen base guy.
But twenty two twenty five Homers, big runs, big rbuys, he'd get moved into the three spots sometimes. So those labor Tories and cautel Marte are kind of some of my favorites. I pass on Nico, I pass on has Sun Kim and that's kind of my grouping.
Torres was my guy too. He actually had a ten point higher xbau two eighty three, as most was two seventy three. Average. Also roses OBP up to three forty seven, which to me tells me he started to take a better approach at the plate, getting on baseball, you know, starting that evolution. You know Torres been waiting a long time for him to really find this, you know, really strong productivity lower.
He lowered a strikeout rate right so almost to the level of what of what Bellinger did, but while still being a significant power hitter, and he stopped chasing sliders, which was his big deal. He really cut down on how he chased sliders. It made him such a better hitter. And he's going to carry that in, by the way, with a healthy judge and Juan Soto.
So look, it's his best year since twenty nineteen Torres, and I think if he can get back to being that player here consistently at this juncture in his career, we're all going to be very very pleased with that. ADP The next grouping here, when you're looking at outside the top ten, Andre Semeniz and gel Off from Oakland, you have Spencer Steer, Luisa Raie. So I know Welsh has feelings about Luisa Rise Again, he is a batting average player. You say it all the time, Estrada, Nolan Gorman,
Edmund My Boy, Edward Julian Jonathan India. You're not a fan of Brandon Drury at twenty and then it's the Parades and the Polancos of the world who are outside this top twenty, maybe Brandon Lau Here. Here's my question to you, Welsh, this is why I don't love second base, which is why I'm looking to you know, if I don't get Ozzie Albi's glamor, Torres is a good fallback.
I don't mind Marte, but the rest of this grouping when it gets a little deeper here, especially in leagues when you're playing middle infielders, I don't love this grouping. I don't feel really warm and fuzzy about them. Who are some of the guys in this ten through twenty range that are targets of yours this draft season.
So one of the things we found when we were doing the what do you need out of your positions when you're trying to accumulate? And obviously it's like a roto conversation, but it can be a applied to categories. Maybe not so much points that you need. You need like premium stolen bases where you can unless you're going to make up for it significantly somewhere else at second base and at shortstop.
So Andrasimenez is actually a player that I really like.
Where everybody is reaching for the sky for Nico Horner because he hit you know, two ninety and had the forty something stolen bases, you can probably get thirty out of Andres Himenez with more power and not a big major dip in batting average, I mean different from Nico, but not one that's going to like completely deplete your team. So I don't mind andras him in, especially from a little bit.
Of a speed deficienty.
It's ten less homer. I mean it's had ten less deals and twice as many homers potentially as what you're looking.
At it, and it's like it's probably like fifty sixty spots lower on the overall. I'm not looking what is Jimenez overall? He's one well over Horner sixty four. It's almost it's almost half the costs. So you don't want to do this exercise all the time. It was good, but you know what, Jimenez has more power, almost as
many stolen bases. You're gonna score some runs maybe RB Like I think Kamenez is a great fallback, especially if you got maybe like you know, Judge er Lely, or you got Matt Olson and you don't have big significant stolen bases. I love Jimenez. I love getting him there. I'm kind of down with Bryson Scott. You mentioned the Arise thing. The only thing I'll say is like he is fine, but I can't fathom the ooing and the aweing.
We do over a guy that literally.
Does one category. He's okay in runs, but that's a one and a half player. Now he's the best player at that one spot, but he doesn't get the treatment of Estuary Ruiz and but everyone like he's a better real life player than he is a fantasy player. He's better in points, he's an elite fantasy player in points, he's not in head to head categories. Rodo, so I don't have as much interest in him. But this is
also why that position is not the worst. You could suffice with Luisa Rise on your team as your starting second basement, and he's a fourteenth.
Off the board, I would just suggest against it.
Fair enough, Let's move on to the third base position. Jose Ramirez at the top, again, coming off slightly down year from what we're you know, used to with him. Usually we're well above the one hundred RBI total, just eighty last year. But again we can look at that Guardians offense and poke holes all day, because it really
just did not do a whole lot. In fact, it feels like that meme where they're poking it with a stick and they're like, come on do something, but hopefully nailer and nailer and maybe there's a third dam like you get a third nailer in Cleveland?
Actually is there is John Wait, there is Boe Nailor, and there is another nailor, Miles Naylor who plays for the Oakland As who just got drafted.
But Jose Ramirez to me, Whilsh's still just above everybody because the soul base potential, even Austin Riley back to back thirty five home run plus if you want to say, it's Riley, Devers and Ramirez at the top and they're all one group. I still have Ramirez slightly above those guys in my own tier because I do think, you know, this year, maybe we get back to that super elite first round level guy. Do you agree or disagree? Yeah?
Now I agree with you. Like again, tell everybody what's my what's my deal with tears? Would I take Austin Riley over Jose Ramirez, No it would not. Would I take Raphael Devers over Ramirez?
No it would not.
I'm not as speed hungry as some or even as I've been in the past.
It's just because there's a lot to go around now.
I do think you should always focus on when you can get an elite and when you can step ahead of everybody else. But getting a guy that steals like twenty five bases, I don't think that makes them no.
Look, of those three guys, Ramirez is the only potential thirty thirty guy that's it. At the end of the day, he has hundred guy And I think that's that potential alone, because he's the only guy really at this position who can give you that. I think it's or at least that we were counting on giving us that potentially. In twenty twenty four, he's his own tier. Gunner Henderson at number four, a guy that last year had a miserable
first half but was so good of the second. He still scored one hundred runs, still drove in eighty two, stole ten bags, hit two fifty five with twenty eight bombs. Then after Gunner Henderson, you have Elie de la Cruz, Many Machado, Royce Lewis, and then of course Alex Bregman at eight. Now I'm gonna stop there and pump the brakes here because I think this is where big time conversations can happen. Henderson, Dela Cruz, Machado, Royce, Lewis Bregman.
What's the Welsh order of these guys, because I feel like it's going to be very different potentially of what it is right now in FP okay.
And now there's one caveat I want to do to this because I didn't get to say it. I think that Raphael Devers real quick might be one of the most underrated players. And I have seen instances n n FBC specifically where Ellie De la Cruz and Gunner Henderson go ahead of him, and I think Devers is as great of a plan B to Missing Riley or Jose Ramirez as there is with those elite hard hit numbers, highest of his career fifty five point one, second highest barrel percentage.
I mean, he is just a monster. He's just a thirty.
Plus hundred hundred guy with high batting average that you love. So now you go from like the safest dude, Austin Riley and Raphael Devers are like the safest of safe third basemen. You know you're getting awesome four categories they're all going to play. Then you start coming down to like Elie de la Cruz and Gunner Henderson.
So you asked me, how do I have these guys set up?
I've gone back and forth on the Gunner and the Ellie, and I will tell you I continuously do that. I flip those two quite a bit. And I know some people are gonna have Ellie out at this moment. I am prioritizing Ellie over Gunner Henderson. And I know I'm critical.
About Ellie Delac you are, I'm surprised.
But one of the things, especially when you pay attention to projections, and a lot of people have talked about one of the deficiencies of Elie de la Cruz built in is playing time, and a lot.
Of people talk about that. Yet you still see big numbers.
You see like almost twenty forty out of a lot of projection systems, and his cost isn't.
As big in a lot of leagues.
Everybody here is playing, like if you play FBC, is gonna be like a top twenty player, top twenty two player. But that doesn't happen in probably seventy five percent of most leagues because there is fear strikeout problems. If he does struggle, could he be sent down. They've got a plethora of great players that they could throw in there at any time, so it's not unfeasible that he could not be on this roster.
But he also puts up absolutely top.
Percentile hard hit numbers, top percentile speed numbers, and I think he's gonna just continuously hit at the top of the lineup until the wheels fall off. So the reason he is down for a lot of these people saying he's overrated is because they are projecting lower playing time because it might fall apart. I'm gonna not I'm gonna take a chance. In ten team, you can take bigger chances. In twelve team, you can take it. Fifteen's a little
bit diceier. I'll go Ellie with those monster stats, even though Gunner is pretty solid and then many Manny and Royce is the next kind of tier of this position. Manny also, by the way, looking like he is going to start the season at least being able to DH is a great sign, so he should come up.
We had this conversation a month ago. It was like, this whole concern about Machado is completely overblown. If his ADP and early drafts and Best Ball or stuff like that, it's floating around there, just take advantage of it. Even if it was a week or two in April, who cares. I mean, it's gonna be fine socially with the DH in the National League last couple of years. Lewis is the guy that I'm targeting in this group. To me,
he's the best ROI. He gives you sole base potential, which is something Bregman going right around that same spot won't give you. He gives you batting average, which could be higher than Bregman as well. So I'm fine with Alex. Bregman is kind of like that. That's like a line I'm kind of drawing. I mean, if you want to talk about Nolan Aeronaudo, a guy's been very steady throughout his career, I feel like Bregman and Aeronaudo are kind
of I'm fine with them. Like third base to me, is one of the deeper positions where I'm very comfortable looking late for these guys. If I end up with a Bregman, If I end up with an Aeronado, that's fine. But Lewis is the guy that I want to target because he gives me the upside for the batting average and the upside for the stone bases and I think power wise, he's gonna be in that twenty five is range as well, just like those guys. But he's gonna
give me a little something extra. It's healthy, but that's a big right now.
I think he's in his I think he's in the above tier.
I you like Bregman a little bit more than me, and maybe that is also some of the points that sits in your head.
Like I don't really like him, iron infect his floor, and I think often we get so wrapped up in he gets so wrapped up in the potential of the led other cruise of the world, who I also love just like you. I mean, gosh, it was like the
unofficial mascot of the show last year. But at the same time, especially if we're talking about salary cap drafts, right, if you're telling me it's going to cost me an extra fifteen dollars for that player, I'll take Bregman, I'll take Aeronauto, I'll take you know, we're even ten dollars, you know, potentially difference between him and Royce Lewis. Okay, I'll save the ten bucks and I'll take Royce Lewis.
Well, I think that's important, Like Eronado, is someone I target because he just keeps falling like Bregman kind of falls. Ernado is the last of all of those, and I took him in my first DC I did, and I will target him because I think you can get back in, especially if this team kicks back, you can get back into a twenty five to thirty one hundred hundred decent batting average player. I think he is massively underrated. I
just don't believe Bregman has the power upside anymore. And he does have a floor, but I think like Aeronaudo's floor to his ceiling just feels better than what Bregman provides. So like I'm just more down I guess on Bregman overall. But I do agree with you on Aeronado and in salary cap you're doing anything like that, Yeah, you do pay attention to the dollar month.
That is important.
There's a huge difference of you getting Aeronautu at seven dollars and having to pay fifty five for Ellie.
Sure, I would say it converts also to you know, the same concept of rounds, like if you want to get that extra pitcher and slide him in there in those you know, mid early rounds. There you go, which Ani round, which I tend to also because that's the range where I like the pitchers so much in that ADP. So to me, it makes a little bit more sense to wait potentially on that outside of this top ten.
Now you're going to Josh Young, Spencer Steeer coming off a great season, qualifies everywhere, which is good because you figure get him in the lineup. Max Munsey, who I don't care how many home runs yet I'm not touching with a ten foot pole. Jake Berger coming off a surprisingly fun season boom noelve, Marte Yandy Diaz, Cabrian Hayes, who I just I don't know why we're still chasing that. And then Perettis Nolan Gorman. I know some of our
friends in the industry. Still hio on Nolan Gorman two twenty seven bombs still strikes out a lot for me. But that's see that. This is the thing. It's like, I like third base. Let me rephrase, I love third base. When we get about ten deep after that, I don't like it as much. I think this is where the drop off gets very steep. Your thoughts, Yeah, I.
Think versus starters, like when you look and you're like, oh, mid mid tier third baseman, I got Nolan Ernado or Lewis, and then the lower on a fifteen team is like, you know, they're like I'm starting Alec Boom.
You know, Like it's not that.
I don't think Marte can be a great player. I do. I think noelve, Marti has a lot to offer. I think Diaz is a player. You know, we saw the best of Daz last year, a career high twenty two home runs, hit three thirty. Big fan of his as well, you know, but he's you know, plays one hundred and thirty seven games every year, so it's like, you know, I'd like to get a guy he was playing one hundred and fifty five.
Yeah, well a lot of these guys.
What's weird is like Boom I think is good batting average but low power. Yanda Diez can be the same thing, really good batting average on base skills, but the power doesn't really go key. Brian Hayes, he started hitting the ball harder, tapping into those expected stats, but he steals bases, doesn't have big power. So it's like, you know, you want the consistent, big power bats, you've got to go a little bit higher. I know you hate it. I like Max Max Munsey. Still I'm still gonna take him.
I do think you have to pay attention to the build because the batting average could be a problem. But he had a two thirty five expected batting average, where if he's hitting two thirty two forty you can live. He had one of the you had a top ten percentile expected slug this past year.
He huge walk still big.
Power numbers when the batting average struggled, and it's the fricking Dodgers, like that team is ridiculous, and current roster resources got him around four or five in that lineup. So RBIs are going to go over a hundred. He hit over one hundred RBIs while hitting garbage last year. So if you see an improvement, Max Munsey might be a really great, big power bet that you can't get in later rounds. But you do got to pay attention to,
like what's the rest of your bill. You don't want like the lees, or you don't want like super low batting average, or you're gonna end up punting the position. But Max Munsey is probably a target for me. But again I will say I little want to cheat a little bit like I love these guys just my corner infielders. I love the idea of Max Mounsey as a corner infielder for the flexibility and not as a starter. So
I am prioritizing getting a higher third baseman. Nolan Aernado's kind of my cutoff of what I want at third base. If i'm you know, if I have the choice. Sometimes you don't deep fifteen teen leagues, you're screwed.
But in ten and.
Twelve team leagues, I don't want to let the position fall off because I'd rather take the elite guys and then depth I can play at the corner, the corner spot.
Max Munsey had a great April and a great July, and everything else outside of that was ah, we're talking. He hit one eleven in June, he hit one eighty six in May. I mean two seventeen in July to twenty six in September. If the power starts to drop off at all, it's going to be a dangerous, dangerous slope. I'm just saying, let's get to shortstop because that's a lot more fun. Bobby Wood Junior at the top, Trey Turner at number two, Corey Seger at number three. Francisco
Lindor another guy. Last year we talked about why is Lindor being faded so much in drafts? It was stupid because he had a thirty thirty season. I know he hit two fifty four, but I don't care ninety eight RBI, one hundred and eight run scored. He is an elite fantasy player still, folks, even if the Mets are far from an elite team. That to me is the grouping those four guys. I assume you want to put Bobby Wit on a pedestal above them, though, yes.
Yep, I'm putting the win on a pedestal for sure, and then Turner, Seger, and Lindor are their own.
Yeah, And I think that makes a ton of sense. I think I feel very comfortable with that. Lindor, once again, if you're talking about salary cap leagues, maybe the best value, because he probably will become the cheapest of them most likely. The Turner cost is going to be interesting this year because you know, at the end of the day, you step back and you look at what happened, and I know, you know, people were just bringing their hands most of the season, but at the end of the day still
was a twenty five Homer thirty steel guy. As we talked about many times here on the show so far this year, the evolution or re evolution and reinvention of the game with stolen bases being so much easier to find, is Trey Turner still in your mind and asset people should be chasing or you better off I don't know, kind of sitting back and waiting if you don't get Bobby Witt and maybe going with some other names we're going to talk about on this list that are going to come at a cheaper cost.
Man, I wish you didn't ask it like that, because it's a great question. I kind of think I'm not into Trey Turner, like to what you're saying, he doesn't provide elite stolen bases. Power definitely upticked. It was a little bit streakul like he's a great player. But like you mentioned, Corey Seeger, Corey Seeger is going to be a value this year because of that hernia surgery, which the expectation is he's going to be ready for the
opening day because he's just gonna ramp up. Wasn't going to play a whole bunch and he can DH for the team and he could end up being a value. So here's the problem. Can Trey Turner still return his value? Yes, of course I think that's a possibility. But when you start to look at the returns in other spots, Corey Seger now going from where he was in the high teens to in a twelve team league, an instance is going in the third round. I'd rather have that same
thing with lind Or. Lindor between a second and third round player, I think the return is better for the big bats we've talked about that you can take instead of Turner, and then you go down the list, they're definitely is value. I mean shortstop nine to short stop I mean shortstop twelve on this list is my have
to draft every single team this year player. So yes, I think without the big hardcore eliteness, he's just a totally fine player that to me gets lost in the wind a little bit, and I don't prioritize him anymore because he's not like fifty sixty stolen bases.
So Gunnar Henderson I have five over on Fantasy Pros than Bob Baschett, whose stolen bases have been cut in half. Two consecutive seasons, by the way, So that's a guy the real blue Stone base hasn't gone down the right direction. Yeah, so that's over. Elie Dela Cruz CJ Abrams, a guy who we talked about last year on the show being one of those great values that is gonna cost you nothing to find out and guess what forty seven stone bases later. I know he's a divisive figure. We'll talk
about him in a second. Matt McClain at ten, Nico Horner at eleven, and then O'Neil Cruz at twelve. I agree with you. If you're gonna take a shot in the dark here as you get later, why not O'Neil Cruz.
Yeah, And I've said it like a good jillion times over. It's so annoying.
Someone tweeted me, I think like as we were doing this about about like there's gonna.
Bead I should have.
I don't blame I don't blame them again.
By the way, they tweeted Welsh just twenty year burners one of if I can you know cheat again. I love the idea of O'Neill as my middle infielder. It's unfair to others. That's what I love about it. If you do it, you might be taken away for another spot,
So it just might not be ideal. But he is the player I want to draft on every even if I have a shortstop, because there's obviously some injury worries, so if I have the ability, I think I've said this on one of the episodes we did, Bobaschett and O'Neal, Cruise might be an incredible pairing O'Neill or Bobaschet. High batting average, You're gonna have good run, good RBI totals,
if the power comes back, he doesn't steal. You could pair him with a Cruise that might have a deficiency in batting average, but he's going to hit for power, he's going to have stolen bases. I more aggressive than any other position, trying to get too top twelve to two top fifteen shortstops, one to start and one in my middle infield, and it's usually not Bobachet. Unfortunately, it's
usually not Abrams because of the high cost. It is something more like I took an Elite one and then I take O'Neal Cruise later, and if that doesn't happen, the other pairing.
I love.
He's a player we haven't talked about yet. I would go O'Neal cruise in Sandra Bogart.
Oh yeah, stole it from me, you jerk, all right, So Kim at thirteen, Bogart's was the guy that I was all hyped up to talk about. You can still be here to do it. That's not the same now, but he look in nineteen nineteen season twenty twenty basically last year, you remember wash, I was like, he's being overdrafted last year and here's the perfect example. Like it's not that I hate the player. I hated the ADP last year and he drove in just fifty eight runs.
He did it too, eighty five. He was fine, But you know, we got to get those RBI back up. We got to, you know, get that working a little bit. But to me, Bogarts is that perfect guy where if I'm gonna wait on short stop, Bogarts is the dude for me. I think we have our new.
I think we have our first shirt of twenty twenty four.
Don't hate the player, hate the eighty ADP instead of the game. I think that's our first Fantasy Pro shirt.
Let's doing other things I'm full of a lot of stuff. Xander bogarts at fourteen, Dansby Swanson comes in at fifteen. Uh, not surprised with the drop off. There another guy too where the rules change and he stole less basis, so go figure. The batting average went back down to the two forties after being at two seventy seven, So you know, look, Swanson, you maybe adjustment to Chicago. Whatever it is, the power
was still there. He's also fine. William Damas another guy who you know, I think we all look at in kind of this. These guys feel like a clump to me that I'm okay with. And that's the thing. It's like short stop for me. It's like if I don't get Bobby witt or Lindor at a good price, I'm in a bargain shop here for Xander Boguards, even Swanson. I look, I've watched a lot Anthony Volpie in person, and I know he's a much better player than when he showed last year. And I would not be surprised.
You know, even with all his struggles, he was still a twenty twenty player last year. His batting average is gonna be much better this season. I'm telling you he's just a much better player. I think he's just he just pressed so hard last year. He is a very Dustin Pedroia esque sort of guy in terms of makeup and in terms of game. I know, other side of the plate, but still like when I watched him, that's
the kind of player he reminded me of. And I think he is another one that I'm circling Layton drafts and I'm gonna take another shot at Oolpy.
Listen, dude, you if I screw up this O'Neil cruiz thing and it gets too high, Anthony Volpi might bolby that version. Yeah, it could be an easy twenty five to twenty five guy. He has proven to hit for average in the past, and he is overcombatting average issues in a hit or friendly environment.
I don't think it is.
Ridiculous to say that Volpi, if you look at value at this point, might be one of the best values on the counting stats.
That you can get.
So again, go take a safe one, get yourself as Xander Bogart's if you missed out, or you go super high and get a Corey Seeger come back later middle infield, get Anthony Volpi.
I I love Volger. Yeah, Bogart's ball good. It's Harry Palta. What's your Patrones Yeah, yours is yours is Rico program.
I'll show you.
But seriously, I like that the Volpi is the secondary guy. With Bolger, you're only your go Bogarts has that floor again, which we need to respect the floor a little bit more. I think it's just something that in fantasy baseball some sort of get too locked into projectability and not enough about well, you know, the Alex Bregman's of the world, but the Xander Brograts of the world. Those guys are just gonna win you leagues because they're coming at really
solid ADPs. And it's natural progression because the youth of Major League Baseball the last two to three seasons has been off the charts good. So there's that anticipation of wanting to be ahead of the curve all the time. We sort of neglect the proven assets and it's something I think that this season, the way the ADP structures out totally like that. Let's talk about the catchers. We'll get these guys in your Adley Rutchman, he is the
one the catcher. No debate about that yes, uh yeah, absolutely, Okay, Now you're putting him in a tier, or you're gonna put Real Muto, will Smith Contreras with.
Him adly is in his own tier, and then the next tier is empty because I wouldn't take them, and then the next tier after that, the third tier is where we'll start to consider some players.
So where does that start for you? So it's Real Muto, Will Smith, Contreras, stop me when you want to start drafting somebody.
Now it's really oh that I want to start drafting somebody. Oh okay, so start over, because.
This is like the game on the price is right with the little yodeler guy has he continues to go op.
So start at the very tippy start at the very tippy top, and I will I'll yodel when I'll take a guy.
Okay, perfect, even though we're going down the hill, it's the metaphors still.
Yeah, they got so.
Rutchman, we love him. After that, Real Muto will Smith number four, Contreras number five, Diaz number six, cal Rawley seven, Salparez, Yo, you're really going here? Sean Murphy at eight, Wilson Contreras, Francisco. Yeah, let's go Francisco Alvarez. Let's talk about him. He can't finished last year with twenty five bombs. I know he hit just two o eight, but again, a better hitter in the minor leagues that we saw in the major league level. This is another player that we already seen
the power. Now we just got to put the rest of the game together. And I always think it's tough for rookie catchers. Young catchers, they're managing pitching staffs, they got a lot in their mind. Offense tends to come a little later for these guys. So why do you like Alvarez so much?
Yeah, he's gotten into incredible shape this past offseason that he has spent the entire offseason working through trimming down, which is going to just improve more bat speed. You had power last year, you have small sample size too. Improvement into a sophomore year, I think he's going to take a big, big step forward. He is an offensive first catcher, he always has been. So the point of this, I actually was yodling at Wilson Contreras, but Alvarez was the same thing.
I want Lake catchers.
If I had I thought you I was gonna expense, but it was I kind of was actually going like, do I want to do this Alvarez to contraraers. I want both of those guys, and actually Alvarez is a dramatic target, but I want Moreno, I want Alvarez and I want.
Contrerasts because they're going to go near the bottom.
And I think the difference between them and what you're getting at the top is minute. I don't think it is big enough to pay a top one hundred cost. Now, last thing, real quick. The cost is inflated because of NFBC. I say this all the time. So the rankings of catchers look weird, and it screws up ADPs because they are two catcher leagues building them up. There's one catcher in the top ten I probably reach for in a single and it's Yon your Diaz because of the big
numbers with the Astros. But Alvarez, Contreras, Mario, Ohapi, Garver, those are my targets fifteen team teams later. Two catcher leagues are different.
Of course, I'm surprised you put Marina on that conversation with Contreras and Alvarez just because the best batting average hit well, I guess that's the whole thing. It's the batting average, you know, give up there.
Power is gonna come.
I believe early.
I think I think you're gonna get to You're gonna get seventeen to twenty this year. He gets high batting average, he might even hit three for this team whilst they did it in the World Series, and they did in the playoffs. And if he gets back into that spot, you're gonna have RBI numbers come up.
They love marine.
If he hits three hundred or two eighty five with seventeen homers, he's going to be the number three catcher on this list of them, and it is.
Possible all of all the catchers on this I think he is the most likely to be one of those tippy top guys.
Plus he can steal a little bit. Moreno is an incredible athlete.
So him's a twelve. Then o'hapi, who you mentioned. That's a guy that I like to target late too. In fact, in single catcher leagues, give me Ohape, give me Alvarez. Moreno's fine towo, especially in points because I do like the batting average and head to head points leagues. After that, you're going with ruiz Bow Naylor, Mitch Garver, Campusano, Stevenson Kirk, and then Diaz in Colorado at twenty Danny Jansen just
outside the top twenty. But in two catcher leagues, for those of you who are still playing them, Welsh, what your approach you're just trying to hammer that middle or do you want to just you know, kind of take one steady guy, maybe one reach and then one you know, star scrub kind of thing.
So my two DC's one of them I took, like, excuse me, I took like a middle guy.
I'm trying to remember who. I think it was Sean Murphy.
Who fell, and then I ended up taking a later got Mitch Garver, I think it was. And then in my other one, I waited really late and I took Luis Campusano, and I ended up before you signed. It took Gary Sanchez, and Gary Sanchez signed.
To be the backup in Milwaukee.
But don't look now, because you're not going to pay him what they did for him to not play games.
He might catch.
The contres has played in the outfield before I could see them switching it around. So the bottom line is, in two catcher leagues, I'm not gonna pay up for two. I will be fine for paying for one, but I'm probably hitting one of the middle tier guys, targetingy on Ere or Murphy or Salvi or like we said, the contraras Alvarez. And then I'm gonna push a little bit down. Give me a Mitch Garver who's gonna DH for the Mariners, or Luis Campusano who's gonna start for the Padres.
That's my two catcher strategy.
Well, there you have it, folks, that's our rundown of the ultimate infield guy. But who are your favorites of each position? We want to hear from? You? Drop your comments below in the YouTube comments there. Subscribe to Fantasy Pros MLB Channel two and make sure you ring the bell for notifications so you know every time a piece of content drops here on the channel. We've got the top ten list, we got the top twelve list, we
got the short form videos. If you have no attention span, like well, sometimes who drifts off in the middle of anything I'm saying, which I don't blame him most of the time. Also, all the podcasts, all the mock drafts, everything's gonna be here on the channel, including leading off starting I believe in April, maybe March. I don't know. We'll see how things go here, but we'll be live every single day here on the channel for you, talking fantasy,
talking wagering, talking baseball, every single day. Beautiful time to be alive. That'll do it for us, But the story of the game goes on for the Welsh. I'm Joey P. We'll see you next time, kids. Joey
