Author Archive

Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – January 21st, 2026

Thanks for coming out!

1:03

Paul Sporer: Hey y’all, thanks for coming out Mini-update on the SP rankings just went live, too – https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/starting-pitcher-2026-fantasy-rankings

1:03

Paul Sporer: I’ll have another update this weekend as long as the icestorm doesn’t take out my power!

1:04

Frank: In a keeper forever, would you rather have Hunter Brown OR Logan Webb and Trey Yesavage?

1:04

Paul Sporer: As much as I love Hunter Brown, I’ve gotta take the 2 shots w/Webb & Trey

1:05

Greg: Who are some guys you would bump up your rankings in a points league that heavily weighs IP, K and W?

1:08

Paul Sporer: The guys with better volume track records. I still know it’s not guaranteed as any arm can get hurt, but the guys with several 30+ start seasons under their belt are gonna get the tiebreaker v. those per-inning monsters in a points format. I won’t completely shy away from a Glasnow/Snell type as I can still supplement their missed innings off the wire, but I’m not going to load my rotation up w/those types and have to spend most of my season replacing 2-3 arms via the wire. That’s already a risk any year bc pitchers break, but inviting it w/several guys who’ve max at 120 IP should only be done if you like playing waivers for arms and are in a league with a rich enough pool to make it worthwhile

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1464 – 2026 First Base Preview Pt. 2

1/16/26

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2026 FIRST BASE PREVIEW Pt. 2

Tier 6

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1463 – 2026 First Base Preview Pt. 1

1/15/26

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2026 FIRST BASE PREVIEW

Tier 1

Tier 2

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – January 14th, 2026

Thanks for coming out!

1:22

Paul Sporer: Hello everyone! Sorry I’m late, I have to add my chat back to my Reminders app. I was just going through the day as if it were Tuesday

1:25

clydethedog: NL only 4 x 4 (no runs, no k’s) Keeper League

I have Emilio Pagan and Bryce Eldridge at incredibly cheap, would you try to package them together for another cheap keeper like James Wood or Jackson Chourio?

1:26

Paul Sporer: If you can do that, absolutely. I benefitted from Pagan’s huge year but I’m cashing the hell out. No chance I’m running it back. If he beats the HRs again (1.3 in ’25), I’ll tip my cap and eat the L

1:26

Deep in Draft Prep: Who is the one player (can be any position) you’re planting your flag on who is currently being drafted outside of the top 150 who will finish the season in the the top 75?

1:30

Paul Sporer: Addison Barger (190 ADP) is someone I really like. A bit raw, but smacks the absolute piss outta the ball. I don’t think he’d need to make a huge leap to go .260/30 – think Brandon Lowe from last year.

1:30

Davio: Sox get Ranger. Who do you prefer over Tolle or Early? I’d bet on of them goes in a deal.

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The Early 2026 Starting Pitcher Market

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

As many of you know, the fantasy baseball season never stops for a dedicated contingent that not only plays through the fall and winter but sometimes even does their first draft for the following season during the current one! But I don’t need to explain the concept of “diehards” to y’all, you’re already here. Over at the NFBC there have been 70 Draft Champions drafts completed (15-team, 50-round Draft & Hold leagues), but I’m going to focus on a tighter recent sample of 11 drafts since Christmas since it will give us more recent player movement better accounted for in the data. You can find the ADP data here and use the calendar feature to chop it up as you see fit.

I wanted to get a better feel for the ebbs of flows of where starters are going so this will be a tour through the SP market in the top 300. I’m not explicitly outlining the biggest risers and fallers in this piece. You can track the movement in the SP market (and all positions) in Justin’s reports. I’m going to look at some overall volume counts and then look at them through the prism of some category thresholds.

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1461 – 2026 Catcher Preview Pt. 2

1/9/26

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PATREON

CATCHER PREVIEW Pt. 2

Tier 4

Tier 5

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1460 – 2026 Catcher Preview Pt. 1

1/8/26

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PATREON

CATCHER PREVIEW

Tier 1

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – January 7th, 2026

First chat of the year!!

It was a blast, thanks for coming out!

1:06

Paul Sporer: Hello everyone, Happy New Year and thanks for coming out!!!

1:06

Greg: I have one of the best teams in my league that’s pretty even based on hitting and pitching quality keepers. 12 team points league. Who would you pick as my last three keepers: Samuel Basallo (9th round), Kevin McGonigle (25th), Zach Neto (3rd), Trey Yesavage (25th), Alex Bregman (25th).

1:06

Greg: That’s for a keep forever league – sorry meant to add that.

1:11

Paul Sporer: I feel like I wanna run the 3 round 25ers (presumably the other 2 would be 23rd/24th which is still good) buuutttt push come to shove I’d go Neto over Yesavage. Yes, he’s high priced, but he has 20/30 and 25/25 seasons the last 2 years at SS. So ya, Neto-Breg-McGonigle for me

1:14

Dave: Facing a few contract extensions in my NL only league.  Would you extend any of the following; H. Ramos, Vientos and I. Herrera?  Future playing time and position eligibility are concerns with each of them

1:21

Paul Sporer: Yes very valid concerns. Herrera can absolutely rake, but he’s DH-only and unlikely to even earn in-season C this year. — POST-CHAT ADD: Thanks to commenter TheBabbo for this info on Herrera getting time at C this year as I had missed it: “Cards are planning to use him as a catcher this season: https://www.mlb.com/news/ivan-herrera-could-reach-his-potential-in-2026 — I still might take a shot extending him in NL only though bc the bat is so good. How long are the extensions? Vientos is someone I like as a player but my fantasy brain keeps me at arms length distance. In other words, I understand his flaws so my fandom doesn’t cloud my judgment. I hooope he fixes his K issues, but I doubt he will. I think Ramos is SF fixture for the next year or two as long as he doesn’t melt w/the bat so he could be extendable, too.

Herrera – yes (if it’s not TOO many yrs)
Ramos – maybe, leaning yes
Vientos – no, but would redraft at a cheaper price bc I love the power, just not the plate skills

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Hot Stove Happenings – November 22nd, 2025

Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports

In between putting together pitching profiles for our forthcoming rankings, I’m going to do some quick-hitter roundups of recent moves and their fantasy impact as I see it. This will be focused more on mid-tier moves with fantasy relevance.

Notable Non-Tendies

Let’s start with Friday’s non-tenders, guys who weren’t offered a contract and now become free agents instead of going on waivers. Plenty of these will likely land back with their club on a different deal, but others will remain FAs and find new homes. Here are some who stood out to me:

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1456 – High Volume Busts + Yordan

11/14/25

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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HIGH VOLUME BUST + ALVAREZ

9 players (min. 350 PA; avg. 470) + Alvarez

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