Brad Johnson Baseball Chat – March 27, 2017

Brad Johnson: Hello everyone, I’m going to take the next couple minutes to finally renew my MLB.tv, then we’ll get started

Dave: How worried should the Mets be about Steven Matz long term? I understand he is young and sometimes these guys just all of a sudden stay healthy for 3,4,5 years but this is becoming very troubling.

Brad Johnson: Pitcher health is always a pain for us fantasy owners. Everybody is a long term concern. That said, Matz certainly isn’t winning the “health as a skill” championship

Brad Johnson: I think it’s time to treat him like a Francisco Liriano – promising when everything is clicking, but so frequently out of sorts

Mike Milligan: Thanks for the bonus chat! 4th pick in a 12 team draft today. Kershaw Betts Altuve Bryant. Please rank assuming some are available

Brad Johnson: So…these are the types of questions I don’t like 🙂

Brad Johnson: And I’ll explain why, a lot of effort is put into the first round. Unless you’re trying to be clever by picking Harper before Trout, these picks really don’t matter.

Brad Johnson: any of them is a GREAT foundation for a team, it’s up to you to decide which profile you manage best

Brad Johnson: Some owners are best suited to having elite rotation anchors, others prefer to go offense heavy and secure early draft steals, still others want their steals late and power early

Brad Johnson: if you don’t know which method fits your management style best, pick whoever you think will be the most fun to manage

What’s that Odor: Are you high on Hunter Renfroe? He had a great short stint last season and having is having a good spring. Like him better than someone like a (healthy) Michael Brantley?

Brad Johnson: A healthy Michael Brantley is a real treat to watch. And a top 50 talent. Not sure we can call Renfroe anything like that. That said, I’d probably flip a coin between this uncertain version of Brantley and Renfroe. I do like Renfroe’s bat.

English Bob: Who do you like better in fantasy this season: Renfroe, Mazara or Bird? (I have a UTIL Spot to fill, so not so worried about position).

Brad Johnson: Bird, Mazara, Renfroe

Brad Johnson: last two very close

Marc: Over/Under 47 steals for Villar this year?

Brad Johnson: I’m taking the under. I think he’s established himself and will now work on buffing his power output.

Joe Nello: Who has the best hand-eye coordination in the MLB?

Brad Johnson: I’ll need to wander off a moment for this one…

Brad Johnson: Interestingly, my gut reaction was Javier Baez because of the tags. However you’d think good hand/eye would also correlate to a low K rate

Brad Johnson: Andrelton Simmons has to be up there…I bet Joe Panik and Jose Altuve are too

Brad Johnson: Not sure how to handicap catchers in this discussion

Brad Johnson: Yadi, Lucroy, Posey, etc

Edwin: How do you see Mike Montgomery fitting in with the Cubs staff? Do you think it’ll take an injury to get him into the rotation? For Fantasy purposes, are his innings/rate stats as a reliever worthy enough to start him now?

Brad Johnson: He’ll get 17 starts or so, they talked about this plan in the offseason. Cubs don’t think Anderson or Monty can handle a full workload so they want them to split. Other injuries may force more than an even split.

Gene: How long will McCarthy stick in Dodgers rotation? Is he just a placeholder?

Brad Johnson: He’ll start with a short leash. If he looks like he did the last time he was healthy, that leash will extend quickly.

Brad Johnson: If he looks like he did in 2016, then he’ll be cut by June

Sean: If Polanco starts the year off on the DL, does Meadows play while he’s out? How does it affect the Pirates plans this year if he performs well enough to force their hand and keep him up?

Brad Johnson: I don’t think there’s anything he can do to oust Polanco or Marte when they’re healthy. I wasn’t under the impression Polanco would miss much time though.

Brad Johnson: McCutchen is the weak link in that a hot Meadows could accelerate trade talks. Even then, the cadence of in-season trade negotiation will force that into June or July

Joaquín Quinoa: This winter, the GM for my daily changes league team (me) fired the manager (also me) for relying too much on BvP stats when setting lineups. The new manager (me again), excited to take the reins, just noticed that in the season opening series Matt Carpenter faces Lester (4 for 24 lifetime) and Arrieta (0 for 25) … Should he send Carp to the bench despite the fate of his predecessor?

Brad Johnson: I miss the days when all my DFS opponents relied on BvP. I raked by simply ignoring it. Now everybody else knows to ignore it too.

Brad Johnson: Here’s my take on BvP: Yes, there are absolutely matchups that strongly favor the pitcher or hitter. Just looking at the results of 25 PA aren’t going to help you find those.

Brad Johnson: What you really need to do is apply analysis of the hitter and pitcher. Here’s an extreme example, let’s say you have a low ball masher like Jake Lamb. He’s facing a weird Sean Doolittle start. Doolittle is a fellow lefty who lives high in the strike zone. Lamb is probably a hot mess in that scenario.

Brad Johnson: As for Carpenter/Arrieta/Lester, I’m not aware of any reason why Carpenter would be a must-sit

Stuck in a Slump: If Peraza ends up hitting enough to earn the leadoff spot for the Reds, how much do you expect him to beat his projections?

Brad Johnson: Projected Fantasy Slash per Depth Charts: 63/7/53/31/.281

Brad Johnson: in 595 PA

Brad Johnson: Peraza the leadoff man is a 650 PA guy with 100 runs. The rest of the projection is roughly on par

Brad Johnson: maybe as many as 40 SB

Duane: Could 2017 finally be a full season of AB’s for Baez and a possible breakout? Or are we in for another what if season?

Brad Johnson: The Cubs would need a couple injuries to open up full time reps for Baez

Brad Johnson: he still has to share 2B with Ben Zobrist because the OF is too crowded and Zobrist sure ain’t sitting often

Brad Johnson: One of these years, he’ll probably take a step forward at the plate. Not sure he’ll ever be a superstar up there

English Bob: Does the fact that Logan Forsythe is leading off for LAD now, raise his stock very much over last season?

Brad Johnson: Not really, he had a great lineup role in TB too

Brad Johnson: Though I do think his ADP/auction cost is lower than it should be

JT: Does Swihart have a future as some MLB team’s catcher?

Brad Johnson: He’ll probably be the regular catcher for the Sox by midseason

Brad Johnson: I’m not among BABIP Leon’s believers. Especially since he turned pumpkin right in front of us

Brad Johnson: Vazquez is a fine backup

Brad Johnson: That leaves plenty of room for Swihart to seize the job

Dan: Auction draft tonight; Goldy / Rizzo / Miggy–I want safest best

Brad Johnson: Goldy

Brad Johnson: he’ll cost the most though

Evil Goatee Brad: The first pick in our draft autodrafted and ended up with three second basemen and three shortstops and just a pair of bullpen arms. Would any of the other managers who need a middle infielder be better off trying to swing a deal pre-season or waiting until this manager inexplicably has to drop a middle infielder or two?

Brad Johnson: Interesting scenario. I think you have to test the trade market before counting on a cut. It’s important to keep negotiating channels open when possible

Brad Johnson: you never know when the “I must make a move” feeling will work in your favor

Brad Johnson: don’t force the issue though

The Cincinnati Kid: Eno makes a compelling case that Alonso has changed…are you in? What kind of HR and slash do you see for 2017?

Brad Johnson: I’m…curious

Brad Johnson: I’d take a flier in the right setting, but I’m not ready to project anything beyond mediocrity

E: Does Eric Thames take over the world this year? Or is he just OK

Brad Johnson: Probably just ok

Brad Johnson: I watched that video of all his home runs. There are a lot of upper-80s, center cut fastballs on that highlight reel

Brad Johnson: i.e. a pitch that doesn’t exist in the majors

Brad Johnson: I think he’ll get his 30 bops. I also think he’ll need some time to adjust to velocity

Frank: Can Blake Swihart be the kind of hitting catcher we all thought he would be? .280 with 20 home runs in a great lineup?

Brad Johnson: Can he? Yea. Bank on 12-15 HR instead.

Jack: The only “ace” in my 10 team dynasty available in the draft is Stras. I have a solid/cheap middle rotation. How much of my ~35 allocation for pitching would you spend to make sure I get him if I’m missing an “ace”?

Brad Johnson: This is a difficult scenario for me to advise. Lot of missing information. You shouldn’t feel as though you must have an ace, although it’s obviously a lot easier to win pitching categories with them. If you already have a decent staff, consider going all in on Strasburg. Or else invest in top relievers to make up for missing rates

Hoser: What do you pay for Thames in an auction?

Brad Johnson: $1-5 in most standard settings

Brad Johnson: obviously, the deeper the league, the more you pay

Brian: I bid up Ryon Healy yesterday late, now Im nauseous.

Brad Johnson: Happened in the ottoneu league FG Staff 1 too. Surprisingly, nobody picked him up last season, then he cost over $10

Brad Johnson: I like him as a poor man’s Lamb

Brad Johnson: should be $2-7

E: Is Matt Moore worth a flier?

Brad Johnson: Probably more than a flier unless you’re in a 8 team league

Brad Johnson: Gotta love his new home park

RAGS: OBP league, need steals. Who do you like better for their price, Billy Hamilton or Dee Gordon?

Brad Johnson: So, I’ve seen em both go between $1 and $30

Brad Johnson: I have no idea how add the “for their price” component. I do prefer Hamilton, all else equal. By a very small margin.

Brad Johnson: My take on speed-only guys for fantasy – they should be frequently used bench bats rather than starters

Frank: Are you the high or low guy on Aaron Nola? How excited should Phillies fans be?

Brad Johnson: I’m towards the high end. If the arm holds up, I think he’ll be in the Gerrit Cole/Jose Quintana asset class

Sean: Hello, what is your realistic stat prediction for Trea Turner this year? I’m thinking .290 ba, 15 hrs, 100 runs, 70 rbis, and 50 steals.

Brad Johnson: That’s not unreasonable

Brad Johnson: I’d probably count on 10-15% less across the board

Brad Johnson: rookie and sophomores are always tricky

Brad Johnson: The brand name rookies, anyway… You have to pay for them like they’re established to win them, but the bust risk is much higher than with a Jose Altuve

Brad Johnson: so a mean projection typically isn’t anything like the modes

Brad Johnson: Turner will probably out or under perform that projection by a wide margin

E: How much does Jean Segura’s new park impact his offense this year?

Brad Johnson: Isolating just the park? Minus 2.5 HR. Regression accounts for another minus 4 HR.

Dr. Met: is there a catcher past the top tier worth bidding up for?

Brad Johnson: Grandal is my favorite outside the top 3.5 (Schwarber’s the .5)

Stuck in a Slump: Am I insane for seeing Urias as having the potential to become a Kershaw-lite?

Brad Johnson: well, yea

Brad Johnson: depending on your definition of “lite”

Brad Johnson: It’s crazy to see Max Scherzer or Thor as Kershaw lite in my opinion

Player: I have 4 top starters (Stras/Kluber/Verlander/Darvish) any need for more starters(QS/Ks) or just load up on relievers instead for ratios?

Brad Johnson: I’d try to take a few cheap fliers

Brad Johnson: but I don’t think you need to invest any more dollars/early picks

CJ: 16 team 55man roster h2h auction dynstey.. I’ve been around the block with deep leagues but it’s my first h2h venture. Am I ok with a loaded pen, a million meh SPs and a stacked lineup? Not sure how the h2h dynamic changes things here

Brad Johnson: Everybody has their theories. Mine is that elite SP is the key to victory. But at the end of the day, it’s all about category management

Brad Johnson: sounds like you’ll be giving away ERA and WHIP to chase volume K, Ws and SVs. Sometimes the relievers will keep you in the ERA/WHIP game too

Nick G: Matt Joyce continuing his OBP dominance from last year in spring training. Actually did okay against lefties last year. In a 10-team OBP league, would you rather roster Joyce or Domingo Santana?

Brad Johnson: Joyce is perhaps my favorite true sleeper

Brad Johnson: really interested in his season

Mike P: Hamilton, Gordon, or Peraza??

Brad Johnson: :eggplant:, :grinning umbrella:, :soft pretzel:, :soup can:

Brad Johnson: So… if you’re following my advice and using them as bench players, I like Peraza’s eligibilities most

Brad Johnson: Hamilton and Gordon are better bets as starters

coach: Would you take any of Stanton, Springer, Marte or Villar ahead of Yu, Bummy or Max? 12-team roto. 1st 3 picks were Mookie, Rizz, Story. thanks!

Brad Johnson: Before you mentioned your picks, I would have taken them all ahead of pitchers. I’d still grab Villar before Max

Brad Johnson: otherwise, snag Scherzer for a 4th round ace

Polo: Who is a AAA starting pitcher without a top pedigree who you like to make a difference this year, if any?

Paul: I have Turner in a keeper league…who is a mid/late round ss with upside I may target until turner qualifies at SS?

Brad Johnson: Didn’t mean to put two up at once…

Brad Johnson: Paul, Chris Owings comes to mind as a should-be-free, upside play

Brad Johnson: Zack Cozart’s a more boring option

Brad Johnson: Polo, I don’t have any great options for you yet. Maybe Chase De Jong if the Dodgers need a 34th SP

Duane: Do you think Robert Gsellman could be the best rookie pitcher this year?

Brad Johnson: Definitely could be

Marc: Re: Peraza.. acceptable starting option in a 12 teamer or nah?

Brad Johnson: Yea, acceptable

Brad Johnson: especially standard deep rosters (i.e. 5 OF, MI, etc)

Brad Johnson: not so much in shallow roster leagues

Sean: What would the floor be for Trea Turner next year?

Brad Johnson: cratered AVG, frustration at the plate spiking his Ks, no power

Brad Johnson: something like 65/6/55/30/.250

Brad Johnson: seems very unlikely to me

Ronnie: Thoughts on Jon Gray?

Brad Johnson: Like him a lot, even with Coors

Brad Johnson: obviously that hurts his fantasy ceiling a lot

Brad Johnson: very few starters have remained fantasy relevant for more than a couple years in Colorado

Moltar: Once Rodon goes on my DL, do I try to pick up Wacha or Folty? Shallow-ish league so there’s usually some talent on the wire.

Brad Johnson: Folty or someone else entirely

Brad Johnson: Gsellman maybe

Joe Nello: Arizona badly needed a catcher with some framing ability. Why didn’t they target Zunino in the Segura/Walker trade?

Brad Johnson: They might have

Brad Johnson: very hard to put a value on a guy with Zunino’s ability and lack of consistency

Brad Johnson: Ask 30 teams to put a dollar value on him and you probably get a very wide range

JC at the Bat: Who is a better prospect – Bellinger vs Meadows – both Short Term and Long Term

Brad Johnson: Meadows and Meadows

Brad Johnson: I like Bellinger too

#thegameisbeauty: Hey, Brad! Is it reasonable to take a strategic risk on injured studs like David Price and J.D. Martinez this early in the year? And if so, any advice for calculating the ROI?

Brad Johnson: yea, especially in the right setting

Brad Johnson: I paid $24 for Price in ottoneu last night

Brad Johnson: if he comes back fine in May, he’s a $30+ pitcher this season with big keeper value

Brad Johnson: if his elbow explodes, I get $12 back for in-season moves

Brad Johnson: in more normal settings, you’ll want to be a little more restrained with the final price

Brad Johnson: I’m not as concerned about JDM

HappyFunBall: Carrasco, Hill, and McCullers … is that too much pitcher injury risk to take on a single staff? I fear I’m a bit blinded by upside…

Brad Johnson: You’ll want/need to continue bolstering that unit to mitigate the risks

Brad Johnson: but yes, the upside is brilliant

Stuck in a Slump: Deep keeper rotation set with John Gray, Julio Urias, Daniel Norris, and Tyler Skaggs: strong young core poised to take the next step forward, or lacking enough stability from reliable veterans to be a weapon?

Brad Johnson: Reminds me of numerous real world prospect groups. Remember when the Braves had Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino set to dominate the NL East for years to come?

Brad Johnson: You’ll probably get something out of that group, but you shouldn’t rest on your laurels

Brad Johnson: keep digging for more treasure

Buzz Lightyear: Are you avoiding Jeurys Familia this year?

Brad Johnson: Yep. I’m the high man on Addi Reed

Dinger-Dongs: If Villar repeats his 2016 is he not Altuve 2.0?

Brad Johnson: well, there’s more swing and miss in his game. But he’d be a no brainer 1st round pick in 2018

Dr. Met: Re: h2h, pay attention to your streaming rules. If streaming is allowed then it devalues SPs

Brad Johnson: This is a common misconception.

Brad Johnson: Streaming devalues VOLUME SPs like Bartolo or Hellickson

Brad Johnson: it increases the value of the top end SP like Kershaw

Brad Johnson: the ideal strategy is to couple Kershaw, Schezer, and Sale with a slew of waiver adds, you get the volume AND the ratios

Ben: Thanks for th chat! Hope you’re having a morning beer with it. Finnegan or Musgrove as flier SP in 15-team league?

Brad Johnson: I like Musgrove a little more talent wise. Finnegan has the better opportunity.

SK: Keon Broxton – breakout or flameout?

Brad Johnson: I didn’t believe in Broxton as recently as last August. Couldn’t figure out why he was on the roste

Brad Johnson: now I’m on the hype train

Brad Johnson: could be the Villar of 2017, except much more visible entering the season

Jerry: J. Abreu or G. Polanco – who would you rather have this season?

Brad Johnson: Polanco, assuming he doesn’t require a DL stint to start the year

Eric: Do you like Finnegan as a back-end starter in a 12-team league?

Brad Johnson: That may be a tad to shallow for using Finnegan. If he was a Giant or Padre, I might say otherwise. GABP is such a terrible place to be a pitcher

Billy Haywood: $1-$5 SP with the greatest ROI this year are?

Brad Johnson: I shall examine my rosters 🙂

Brad Johnson: Corbin, Morton, Nova, Liriano, Tyler Anderson, Smyly

Moltar: 12tm h2h points, Kershaw is my only top-30 starter. After him I have a solid collection of guys like Keuchel, McCullers, Fulmer, Rodon, Snell and Urias, and there’s some half decent starters on the wire. Should I trust that I can compete with what I have, or try to package some guys for a better #2 behind Kershaw?

Brad Johnson: If the wire has decent guys, it’s always advisable to shoot for some 2-for-1 upgrades

Harry Karay: How much to expect Arrieta to decline in 2017? Seems he is going outside of top tier SPs.

Brad Johnson: More of 2016 probably. Command isn’t what it was in 2015 but the stuff is still plus

Frenchy: Think Zimmer breaks camp with the Indians and Naquin becomes their 4th OF?

Brad Johnson: No, not really. That’s a huge jump for a guy with contact problems

Nelson: Will Adam Frazier have enough at-bats this year to have multi-position value?

Brad Johnson: Not all season. Just when there are injuries.

Cool guy: In a points league with custom scoring values what are the essential things one should do to properly rank players and find the differences from roto rankings?

Brad Johnson: Well, at a minimum, you have to look at past performance with those scoring settings

Brad Johnson: ideally, you convert custom projections for everybody into your scoring system

Brad Johnson: I didn’t even use projections this year, so I appreciate that not everybody is going to take that step

Mike: Someone in my ottoneu auction this weekend put up Marcus Thames (rather than Eric Thames) for auction, and someone else proceeded to put up Vlad Guerrero (rather than Vlad Guerrero Jr). I found this amazingly hilarious.

Brad Johnson: Nelson Cruz the reliever is also in the pool

Brad Johnson: As are Yordano, Fernandez, and Nick Adenhart. Sad face 🙁

Joe Nello: @Polo Chance Adams!!!

Brad Johnson: Some advice for a previous question about off-the-radarSP targets

Sonny: Roster limits kick in Sunday in my dynasty and due to offseason pick stashing I have to drop 6 guys (or 4 with 2 guys going to DL) how do you handle this normally? Slide prospects back to FA pool and hope they’re still there when you want them? Start sending wild 3-1 trade offers to guys with roster space?

Brad Johnson: Dynasty is all about managing your assets. I usually discard the boring vets like Jayson Werth

Brad Johnson: the volume prospects like Gavin Cecchini are also expendable

Brad Johnson: ideally, you want your roster condensed in young, established MLBers and other youngin’s with big upside

LarryA: I drafted Marcus Thames by accident last week. Any hope he unretires and hits 25 HRs?

Brad Johnson: *ahem*

YouthBerry: I have Jose De Leon on my bench in standard 5×5 dynasty. Robert Gsellmen is sitting in FA and I’m considering dropping De Leon for Gsellmen. Thoughts?

Brad Johnson: I might do that. Have you kicked around any trades for De Leon first? 2-for-1s?

Dr. Met: Believer in the return of the Panda to something resembling 2014 numbers?

Brad Johnson: I believe in him as a streaming eligible player with some upside

Bruce: Gsellman or Nova?

Brad Johnson: Gsellman

James: Yu or Bum this year?

Brad Johnson: …

Brad Johnson: I’m supposed to say Bum, but I love Yu so much

Lunch Angle: Zunino has his K-rate down to 24% this spring and is mashing the ball on contact as usual. If he can cut his strikeouts under 30% this year do you think he can be a top-10 catcher?

Brad Johnson: It’s not a high bar to clear. He’s shown these temporary non-heinous strikeout blips before. Then the league adjusts and he’s back above 30%

Brad Johnson: Tells me that Zunino CAN adjust, but not quickly

randy: OBP league…trade my odor for his gordon? thoughts?

Brad Johnson: I can’t imagine a Gordon for which this makes much sense

Brad Johnson: and I’m down on Odor

Brad Johnson: I kinda like Villar’s category production the most

Brad Johnson: ADPs don’t support my opinion, but I still think Villar should be going around picks 13 to 15

Joey: From this list: Seager, Bogaerts, Villar, Stanton, Braun, C.Gonzalez; Who would you pair with Encarnacion (I assume Seager; who might be next choice?) and who would you pair with Correa? Thanks!

Brad Johnson: I must have misclicked…last comment was for this

Brad Johnson: I kinda like Villar’s category production the most
ADPs don’t support my opinion, but I still think Villar should be going around picks 13 to 15

Brad Johnson: Probably Villar in both cases for me

Tim: My closers are terrible. You okay flipping Taijuan for Ryan Madson? It’s about all I can get

Brad Johnson: Yea that’s fine. And if you have room, snag Doolittle off waivers to handcuff. I think he’ll have the job by May

TP for my Byung-Ho: Think Jose Ramirez gets a few starts at 2B?

Brad Johnson: Seems plausible with Kipnis out

Matthew: What sort of additional value would you give to players with multi-position eligibility in leagues with very shallow benches and FAABs?

Brad Johnson: the importance definitely increases, but I’m not convinced you should pay more

Brad Johnson: it helps to lock up a few multi-position guys early – i.e. Carpenter and Villar before everybody goes nuts overbidding Peraza-types

BobbyOx: What do you make of the Rockies Catcher situation? Does Wolters and/or Murphy – when he returns – have any value?

Brad Johnson: Coors Field adds insta-value to anybody

Brad Johnson: Wolters hits just enough to be 12-team relevant when at home

bl27: +/- 99.5 AB for Kang this season ?

Brad Johnson: Plus

Mike: Bold prediction question – which player that should be traded by July 31 this year won’t actually be traded?

Brad Johnson: David Robertson? Todd Frazier? Nate Jones?

Brad Johnson: A White Sock

Brad Johnson: Reason: it’s actually difficult to trade that many quality big leaguers for prospects. The 40-man fills VERY fast

Hakeem: Thoughts of Drew Smyly for this year? Possible breakout season?

Brad Johnson: with the increased velo, definitely

Brad Johnson: Last 10 minutes folks

Rudy L: In a deep league, I have Cris Carter, Cron and Duda at 1B. Need to drop one to get either Freese (3B/1B) or more pitching. Dropping Carter’s HR potential seems risky. Thoughts?

Brad Johnson: Not sure I see Carter getting much time

Brad Johnson: Bird is the future, Holliday is a better hitter

Kobe: What might a JD Martinez season look like when he returns from injury?

Brad Johnson: solid average, ton of power, run production

Brad Johnson: kinda like last season

Biff: 10 team H2H points league. Which pitcher to roster for my last spot – Bundy, E. Rodriguez, A. Cobb, Liriano, or Z. Davies? My other pitchers are Yu, Stras, Keuchel, Salazar, J. Gray, Stroman, Shoe, and McHugh.

Brad Johnson: Liriano for highest mean, Davies or Bundy for highest ceiling

Apples: Which former stud-prospect has a better chance to make up for last year, Sano or Franco?

Brad Johnson: Franco was never actually a stud prospect

Brad Johnson: he was a top prospect in a very bad Phillies farm system

Brad Johnson: but scouts always doubted he could hit in the upper minors, right up until he did. In any case, I like em both this year as upside plays.

Ship: Status on Watson and Madson as closers?

Brad Johnson: they’re still closers. Watson is a better bet to hold the job in my opinion

(not that) James: H2H points league. I’ve got the second pick, and after keepers, my best options will be Betts, Donaldson, Rizzo, Sale, Kluber. My keepers are Trout and Correa. Betts is the obvious choice, right?

Brad Johnson: yep, and he won’t be there at 2nd

jamarcus: can we look forward to your wit and wisdom again on a daily basis with the daily grind?

Brad Johnson: Yes! Though the format is changing slightly to cater to only DFS

Brad Johnson: Sadly, fewer and fewer users were coming for the streaming content

Brad Johnson: even though that’s the origin of the column

Joe: Do you think giving up an $8 Domingo Santana for an $11 Javier Baez worth it from a pure production standpoint assuming both will be starters.

Brad Johnson: sure, even assuming Baez will only get 450 PA

Nationals closer: who closes? do you expect Robertson deal to happen?

Brad Johnson: No to a deal. Sounds like they want to get cute and use Glover

Brad Johnson: I think it’s a mistake

Brad Johnson: even if you want Kelley in a flexible role, tell him that he’s eventually going to transition to that and use him as the closer

Brad Johnson: let Glover establish himself in an easier role

Brad Johnson: he was only ok last year as a MR

mtsw: I end up overpaying for elite closers and base stealers intentionally because I’m too lazy to spend the season desperately chasing bargains in those categories. Am I doing it right or wrong?

Brad Johnson: Excellent adaptation to your personal playing style

Matt: Dynasty league with thin FA auction, and a good amount of money floating around. Many have 2-3 areas of need, whereas I only have one real one (that’s realistically fillable). Is it in my benefit to blow my budget on top guy and fill in dollar guys, since they’ll need to distribute a bit more, or should I battle on two top level acquisitions?

Brad Johnson: Sounds like the type of scenario when I’d go all out for my top target

Brad Johnson: and if I happen to have enough left for a second one, I’d do that too

Matt: Can Duffy/Nola/Stroman/Cotton/Manaea provide enough pitching production to help me be successful with a strong offense?

Brad Johnson: Could. If you finish 12th in pitching, you’ll know why. Big risk

Jung-Ho Kang’s Knowing Stare: what can you tell us about Jae-Gyun Hwang?

Brad Johnson: Well…he was great in Korea and he’s hitting fine this spring.

marcus banks?: who is the best picher in new york city

Brad Johnson: Aroldis

Brad Johnson: followed by some combination of Betances, Reed, and Thor

Evan: What are the Dodgers going to do if McCarthy, Wood, Ryu and Kazmir (though looking less likely) end up ready for the starting rotation? Who is the long relief or trade candidate?

Brad Johnson: phantom DL, 6 man rotation, weird bullpen

Joenello: How did Villar get to the brewers? I feel like he wasn’t well regarded in Houston, but I find it hard to believe that they cut him.

Brad Johnson: traded for a bag of balls

Brad Johnson: Houston didn’t really have a 25-man spot for him

Brad Johnson: and they’ve been very fair about letting players walk to pursue better roles, i.e. JDM

Brad Johnson: ok folks that’s all, I’ll scroll back and do a rapid fire round

Stuck in a Slump: Do you think Gsellman earns the 5th spot in the Mets’ rotation, and keeps it? If so, how many IP can we expect out of him?

Brad Johnson: He’s already got the 4th spot with Matz out

Mike: Joc Pederson or Keon Broxton in a 12 team OBP keeper? Can pick him up off waivers. Peraza Betts Yelich my top 3 for SB. Bryant, Carpenter Cabrera my top 3 bats (non-SB)

Brad Johnson: Broxton

Evil Goatee Brad: Would you rather have a player with all 20-grade tools and Mike Trout’s aptitude, or a player with all 80-grade tools and a two year shelf life?

Brad Johnson: 80-grade