FantasyPros - Fantasy Baseball Podcast

Jim Sannes of numberFire joins us to name bounce-back candidates ahead of the season. Are Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen worth their draft price? How about Chris Archer and King Felix? We’re going down the rankings as well as discussing common draft mistakes to avoid.

Pitchers and catchers have reported and spring training is officially starting. Joining us today is Al Melchior (@almelchiorBB) to discuss recent news including Alex Reyes and the impact his injury has on Cardinals, as well as Jose Peraza's promotion. We're also talking about two big name players whose injury pasts should be concerning heading into drafts and what to expect from a few members of that stacked Cubs lineup.

Spring training kicks off in days and we're analyzing the top ranked players with Scott White of CBS Sports. Get all your fantasy questions answered about the first two rounds including whether Mike Trout is the undoubted No. 1 pick (4:20), if it's crazy to take Trea Turner in the top 3 (5:01), whether Clayton Kershaw is worth the risk (13:12), and which players are the safe bets as you decide on your second player to take off the board.

With pitchers and catchers reporting in just a couple weeks, we're taking a look at the expert consensus rankings and reviewing relievers and catchers with Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne). Starting with the big names up top (4:07), through the wide-ranging second tier (7:05), and the sleepers down low (16:43), hear our arguments for 20 closers that'll surely be on your list of players to consider drafting. The catcher position is a mess, but we're tackling over 10 names from the position beginning with Kyle Schwarber (23:46) and Buster Posey (25:50).

We're back with our early season review of rankings at each position and in this episode, host Bobby Sylvester is joined by Jamie Calandro of Fantasy Team Advice to tackle starting pitchers. They go tier-by-tier beginning with Clayton Kershaw (6:53), who is in a league of his own, followed by guys further down the list in Rick Porcello and Michael Fulmer (21:04). There is no shortage of players covered, and you'll also get Bobby and Jamie's analysis on who they expect to perform, and who they expect to fall flat.

Who doesn't love to talk about fantasy baseball prospects? In this episode, Bobby Sylvester is joined by Mike Rosenbaum of MLB Pipeline to discuss all up and comers for the season. Starting with a few impact bats, they're looking at the fantasy value of Andrew Benintendi (2:03), Dansby Swanson (3:06), Yoan Moncada (6:13), Yulieski Gurriel (7:07), Aaron Judge (10:40), Manuel Margot (11:58), Ozzie Albies (12:18) and a couple power hitters in Dan Vogelbach (13:35) and Peter O'Brien (15:03). There are plenty more names including the likes of Franklin Barreto (15:31) and Austin Meadows (17:00) before switching over to the pitching prospects. It wouldn't be a discussion if the future aces weren't talked about - Alex Reyes (25:00), Tyler Glasnow (26:52), Jose De Leon (28:49) and Lucas Giolito (30:02). Like the hitters, there are no shortage of pitchers that are covered with Brent Honeywell leading the conversation (35:14), followed by Robert Stephenson (36:18), and Josh Hader (37:51). Be sure to listen all the way through as Bobby and Mike discuss a few names that are a ways off, but could develop into top 5 prospects down the line.

Host Bobby Sylvester is back and is joined by none other than the founder of Baseball HQ, Ron Shandler. They're looking at the sophomore class heading into 2017 and open the show discussing players who blew away expectations last season (2:10) beginning with Trea Turner (3:17), David Dahl (4:53) and Gary Sanchez (5:08). Before switching over to pitchers, they converse on other names that shouldn't be lost on anyone's radar - Tyler Naquin (6:18), Nomar Mazara (7:02), Byron Buxton (7:43), Tim Anderson (8:35), Jose Peraza (8:35), Corey Seager (9:11), Yulieski Gurriel (10:36) and Aledmys Diaz (11:54). They also dive into a three players for deeper leagues (14:03) before switching to pitchers starting with Michael Fulmer (14:03), Kyle Barraclough, and Hector Neris (19:18). The episode is packed full of discussion on upside pitchers (20:32) before closing out the show with how to use Ron's Broad Assessment Balance Sheet (BABS) to help you in fantasy.

In the third offseason episode, Jim Sannes of numberFire and host, Bobby Sylvester discuss the latest offseason news including the deal for Adam Eaton (1:32), Dexter Fowler's new home with St. Louis (5:41) and what Aroldis Chapman's signing means for Dellin Betances and the Yankees' bullpen (9:31). There are still a few big name free agents that have yet to sign and they're breaking down what Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion's value may look like should they move (13:49). After covering the news, they break down the shortstop position beginning with Trevor Story (16:59), Xander Boegarts (20:05), Carlos Correa (21:07), Corey Seager (23:07), and Jean Segura (25:26). They then look at some players at the position who could be picked up a bit later in Troy Tulowitzki (27:55), Addison Russell (30:02), Aledmys Diaz (32:16), Dansby Swanson (33:54), and Brad Miller (35:59). Before they cover second base, they name their sleepers at the position (38:28) and two overpriced players (40:51). The discussion of second basemen begins with Robinson Cano (44:43), Rougned Odor (45:25), Dee Gordon (46:46), and Matt Carpenter (48:08). The show wraps up with a look at the second tier of players at the position - D.J. LeMahieu (52:31), and Javier Baez (53:43), before closing with Bobby and Jim's sleepers (54:49).

We're joined by FantasyPros Correspondent Dan Marcus this week to recap the latest movement happening during the Winter Meetings starting with four big names in Chris Sale (0:55), Mark Melancon (5:07), Matt Holiday (6:43), and Carlos Beltran (7:34). Bobby discusses how potent the Astros lineup is with the trade, and gives possibly his biggest hot take of the year (8:28). We take a look at third base beginning with the top targets at the position (10:21) followed by some players Bobby and Dan expect to disappoint such as Jonathan Villar (12:42), Ryan Healy (14:42), Todd Frazier (16:51), and Miguel Sano (18:30). We then shift the focus to Jung-ho Kang (20:16), Matt Carpenter (20:46), and Nick Castellanos (23:19) who could have a solid 2017. Before getting into the first basemen, Bobby and Dan discuss a few infield prospects they're high on -- Joey Gallo (24:56), Javier Baez (28:25), and Jake Lamb (30:00). Changing over the the other side of the infield, first basemen had a down fantasy year in 2016 (30:55) and we're discussing how valuable Freddie Freeman is (31:25), how the studs at the position should bounce-back (33:05), we're naming some buy-low candidates (35:05) as well as some players who could be in store for a down year (39:55).

We're joined by baseball writer and guru, Al Melchior (@almelchiorBB), as we dive into the offseason happenings and our first consensus rankings of the year. Bobby and Al start with discussing the recent trade of Jean Segura and Taijuan Walker (1:16), other potential trade candidates in Michael Wacha and Andrew McCutchen (6:20), before they begin getting into what to expect from the top OFs from 2016 (9:13). They break down Bryce Harper's prospects (9:59) and what kind of potential J.D. Martinez could bring to the table (10:49), followed by discussing guy's who had breakout years in Mark Trumbo, George Springer, Jackie Bradley, and Ian Desmond (14:08). Keeping the outfield discussion going, questions about Miguel Sano, Justin Upton, Yasiel Puig, A.J. Pollock and Michael Brantley (19:09) carry the episode up until Bobby and Al discuss why Joc Pederson and Nomar Mazara should be on your radar. They don't miss a thing as they also answer the question of whether you should believe in prospects Andrew Benintendi and Byron Buxton (26:46) before dissecting the rankings with their thoughts on Trea Turner, Starling Marte and Ryan Braun. Don't skip a minute in this episode as Bobby and Al give a hot take on one player they both would prefer keeping to themselves.

In our first offseason episode, our good friend and FantasyPros correspondent, Dan Harris, joins Bobby Sylvester to recap the postseason run of the Cubs (0:33), the impressive play of the Indians (5:33), and what the Cubs need to do to make another World Series run (11:41). Then we switch gears and start looking into free agency starting with the big name bat, Yoenis Cespedes (17:17). We then look into the closer market and chat about Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, Mark Melancon and Greg Holland (21:25) before we start diving into the mid-tier free agents such as Carlos Gomez, Jeremy Hellickson, Ian Desmond, and Sean Rodriguez (28:23). To close out our discussion, we dive into the potential trades that could take place this offseason that could very well include big name pitchers such as Chris Sale, Sonny Gray, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Leake and Zack Greinke (35:05), as well as a few big name hitters including A.J. Pollock, J.D. Martinez, Andrew McCutchen, and Ryan Braun (42:21).

The last regular season episode of the season features guest, Jared Kwart of FantasyCrunchers joining Bobby Sylvester to discuss the life and career of Jose Fernandez (0:55), hand out MLB awards (6:07), fantasy awards (26:01), make some playoff predictions (34:03), and look into the off-season with some bold predictions (45:58) including Chris Sale being traded, the biggest and best off-season contracts and 2017 World Series predictions.

FantasyPros correspondent Dan Harris joins us to answer questions from the listener mailbag about the playoffs (8:54), which rookies have the brightest future (23:06) and some fantasy playoff strategy (18:10). We chat about Bryce Harper's potential shoulder injury (5:20) and Ender Inciarte's spectacular game winning catch (0:33). We also break down a few of the top waiver wire pickups for the week (29:18): Sean Rodriguez, Ryon Healy, Ariel Miranda and Taijuan Walker.

Today, host Bobby Sylvester chats with FantasyPros Corespondent, Dan Marcus about News of the Week (0:34), questions from the Listener Mailbag (6:18), Waiver Wire pickups (26:05) and players for Friday's DFS slate (31:13). In the news section, Bobby and Dan talk about Jose Ramirez (0:35), Jose Altuve (1:14), the AL playoff race, and the NL playoff race. Then in the Listener Mailbag, the duo touches on 2017's home run leaders (6:25) where they discuss Nolan Arenado, Jose Abreu and Yoenis Cespedes among some others. Next, they dive into some underrated players for dynasty leagues (9:59), which include Bryce Harper, Byron Buxton and a few others. They close out the section by talking about 2017 and 2018 free agent classes (17:24) and fantasy playoff strategy (23:26). The Waiver Wire section discusses Yulieski Gurriel (26:08), Terance Gore (27:37), Clayton Richard and Jharel Cotton (28:26). Their DFS plays of the day (31:13) are Max Scherzer, Chris Archer, Nolan Arenado and Joey Votto.

We welcome Jared Kwart (@jaredsgotmoxy) of moxyball.com to the pod to discuss news of the week, hot waiver wire pickups, and DFS plays for Friday night's slate. We begin with an attempt to put Brian Dozier's incredible second half in perspective (1:49), Tim Tebow signing with the Mets (5:41) and Stephen Strasburg's latest injury (8:10). We move on to the listener mailbag and answer questions about Rich Hill's success in 2016 (9:10), Albert Pujols' historic career (13:37), and which New York team has a better chance of making the playoffs (17:08). Next we take a look at the waiver wire and talk about whether you should pick up Byron Buxton (21:31), Yasiel Puig (23:19) and Jose De Leon (24:30). We finish by looking at Friday night's DFS slate and Jared gives us his favorite GPP pitchers (26.49), favorite value plays (30:52) and hitters worth their high price tag (32:04).