Paul Sporer Baseball Chat – July 26th, 2019

Paul Sporer: Welcome to my weekly chat! Let’s talk some baseball!!!

Kiley: will you really wait in line with me for Franklin’s

Paul Sporer: When we doin it?

zzxzx: I need to activate Wheeler. Who do I drop: Pagan, Eovaldi, C Martin or Bummer. I have a tenuous grasp on 1st place and there’s a cluster of teams with similar Saves as me. Thank you!

Paul Sporer: I’d probably get rid of Martin

Kiley: don’t tease me bro

Paul Sporer: I’ve never done the stand-in-line thing, I’m down

Balked: Do you think Taylor Rogers will be Minnesota’s closer after the trade deadline?

Paul Sporer: I’m like 52% on that

Balked: Would you deal Correa for Flaherty if you already have Torres and Tatis to fill SS?

Paul Sporer: I’d aim for a bit better arm, but it’s not terrible

Guest: Is Danny Santana an every day 2B now.  Is he a consistent better option than Robbie Cano now?

Paul Sporer: I’m OK using him over Cano

Evan: 5×5 Dynasty League, Keep Forever w/ $2 salary inflation each year.  My team was completely derailed by injuries so I decided to build for the future.  Traded my $63 Altuve, $16 Hader, and $4 Luke Jackson for his $3 Fernando Tatis Jr., $3 Brendan McKay, and $2 Byron Buxton.  How’d I do?

Paul Sporer: I love that for you!!!

Matt: Ya boy Reynaldo Lopez recently brought his curveball back after ditching it since 2017, have we talked about this being a reason for his recent success?

Paul Sporer: Talked about it a bit on a recent Fireside. You know I love him!

Mez: If the Bucs do start selling, who do you think will go? Would they part w Polanco or even Marte?

Paul Sporer: I doubt they do a full sell off. I could see maybe ONE of the OFs, but not both

Tom: What do you think of Will Smith, Dodgers version ROS?…would picking him up entice you to trade Realmuto for needs?

Paul Sporer: I don’t generally mess with rookie Cs. I wouldn’t want to rely too much on him

CT: Paul, thanks as always. I’m trying to get keepers in order before the deadline and final stretch. In a 12-tm mixed roto, $260 budget, could you rank the following for next year: J. Soto – $20, W. Buehler – $20, L. Castillo – $20, M. Chapman – $12, B. McKay – $10, B. Woodruff – $10, A. Meadows – $9, J. Bell – $6

Paul Sporer: Bell, Chapman, Soto, Buehler/Castillo are my faves

Big Tuna: I have to drop somebody to activate Wheeler. Should I still hold Dyson as a potential SV option in SF or is Smith gonna stay? (Can also drop Mikolas)

Paul Sporer: Those idiots are gonna add so just cut Dyson lol

Mike: Is Fried worth a pick up and hold with the fantasy playoffs slowly approaching? Feel like he has to be coming up on an innings caps within the next 2-3 starts

Paul Sporer: I think you just play it start-to-start w/him instead of mapping out any long-term expectations

Mike: Sitting pretty in 1st in a shallow h2h OPS league- but have Mondesi Gallo and now Snell hitting the IL for extended periods. Are you holding all of them? Sounds like they are all out for significant lengths of time…only to come back around the fantasy playoffs and shake the rust off. What do you think?

Paul Sporer: In a redraft, I’m open to cutting Gallo, tbh

OddBall Herrera: Does the addition of Tyler White put the kibosh on our Gavin Lux dreams, barring an injury.

Paul Sporer: I thought it was always a slight chance anyway

Cito’s Mustache: Stroman’s fantasy value, as an extreme GB pitcher, would get the biggest boost by a trade to: ________.

Paul Sporer: San Francisco, lol

Mike: is it a coin flip for playing time as to what the brewers plan to do with shaw and hiura?

Paul Sporer: Shaw can also play 1B & 3B so I don’t think he’ll completely cut Hiura’s playing time

vcoheda: the trade deadline is very close. almost no trades of interest hasve occurred. does it pass quietly or is there a flurry of big trades. if the latter, which big names get moved?

Paul Sporer: I’m more and more concerned that we’re getting a dud. We did discuss a group of SPs and where they might go on the latest pod: https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/the-sleeper-and-the-bust-episode-720-dea…

seth r: Altuve or Harper ROS?

Paul Sporer: Harper

Cito’s Mustache: Should I start Wheeler tonight in shallow leagues with a cap on pitcher starts? Just worried about some rust/pitch count but it is the Pirates…

Paul Sporer: I’m running him out there!

Kyle: 14 team H2H w/ 5 keepers. Freeman and Gallo for Ray, Clevinger and Flaherty. Who says no?

Paul Sporer: Probably the Freeman/Gallo person

Brendan: I am thinking of moving on from James McCann in a 12 team 6×6 OBP league… someone just dropped Travis d’Arnaud and the Dodgers just called up Will Smith… out of all those options, which guy is your man going forward? As always, thank you for the chats!

Paul Sporer: I’d lean TdA between those 3

Catcher in the Why?: Rank these catcher 2s ROS:  Mejia, Jansen, Will Smith

Paul Sporer: I’m just not someone who really trusts rookie Cs, so I’m going Jansen, Mejia, Smith

Mike: do you have any optimism for Alex Wood contributing in a meaningful way ROS?

Paul Sporer: I’m willing to take a shot in 12-teams and higher

JVL: I’m sure I’m the 1000th to ask, but what on Earth are we to do with Tanaka

Paul Sporer: I mean, you already ate the disaster. I have a hard time just outright cutting him now. I doubt he’ll let up 12 ER again this year lol

Sosh: Fletcher was safe last night, right?

Paul Sporer: That was SUUUCH a tough call. I kinda saw it both ways after seeing all the replays

Bobby Pseudonym: have we had enough of Griffin Canning yet? I don’t mind a late shot in 2020 drafts but after last night it’s getting uuugly

Paul Sporer: Ya I’m OK moving away from him the rest of this year

Deathclaw: Do you believe that next year  Frankie Montas will pick up where he left off?

Paul Sporer: For the most part, yes. I don’t think PEDs were WHY he got good

Spotted cow: Is foltynewicz worth anything the rest of this season?

Paul Sporer: Nah

Mez: What do the Bucs do w Vazquez?

Paul Sporer: They’re entertaining trades so I imagine if they get the right deal, they’ll ship him

Glenn Spankman: Why is Alex Dickerson not playing regularly for the Giants? I can get platooning but he doesn’t even start regularly against RHP’s

Paul Sporer: Ya I don’t know what the deal is with that. Did he suffer a minor injury or anything?

Ron: Any potential call-ups that could provide some SB help?

Paul Sporer: Jorge Mateo, OAK

Hype Train Derailer: Do think Luis Urias will figure out the majors in time to have an impact this year?  How would you compare him to Cesar Hernandez ROS?

Paul Sporer: I love Urias long term, but I’m not certain he gets on track this year. I’d lean toward Hernandez for the rest of ’19

Kyle: Do you expect Benintendi to rebound in the second half?

Paul Sporer: His power profile just doesn’t look like he’s going to surge so while he could flip on a dime, I wouldn’t bank on it. I think his R & AVG could be strong rest of season

gcarter: Do you currently or did you ever collect baseball cards?

Paul Sporer: I did as a kid, but not anymore. I collect virtual cards on MLB The Show, lol

Paul Sporer: My dad and I collected the 1987 Topps set via packs. That’s always gonna be my favorite.

Every-10-day McKay: Is this how TB plans to limit his innings the whole season?  Just send him down for 10 then start and back down?

Paul Sporer: Ya, at least for now, but I think they’ll stick with him in late-August or early-September. They’ll need him every fifth day down the stretch

Taylor: Is Wade Davis’ job safe now? Ok to drop Oberg?

Paul Sporer: Hmmm I’m not sure it’s 10000% safe, but I could drop Oberg in a shallow league

J in Round Rock: Have you seen the new plans for the Perfect Game facility in Hutto? Do you think it’s going to bring more interesting baseball content to the Austin Area?

Paul Sporer: I did and I do! I think it’s really cool!!

Sean: Is Winker worth keeping at $8 in Ottoneu points league next season?  Having trouble giving up on that ceiling.

Paul Sporer: I can keep him at that price. I still think there’s more to his game going forward

Roger: So Sonny Gray is just murdering guys now. At home at GAB, on the road in Coors or Miller Park, It doesn’t matter. Gonna be a big mover in your next rankings?

Paul Sporer: Ya for sure

Don Juan: In a standard 12 teamer, is it reasonable to drop Conforto if you have other needs? Just feels bad to actually drop him…

Paul Sporer: Surely you can cut someone else, no? I can’t get rid of him

father padre: Should I keep the faith and hang on to Andres Munoz?

Paul Sporer: In hopes that he closes or just for the Ks? I’m not sure Yates gets moved so I wouldn’t bank on Munoz for anything but good Ks

Dave Kingman: Just lost Gallo until who knows when. How do you feel about Calhoon as his replacement? Will be get ample playing time?

Paul Sporer: I love Calhoun so I’m down with this move. He should play quite a bit

Bartolo: In an AL-Only, if you could stash NL players in advance of the deadline, who would be your top 3 guys to stash?

Paul Sporer: Thor, Ray, Bum

Cito’s Mustache: Carson Kelly or D’Arnaud a better stop-gap for Sanchez?

Paul Sporer: I’d probably see who has the most scheduled lefties in the near future and go for him as they both crush lefties and flop v. righties

Guest: Do the Yankees shut down German? If not, do they shorten his outings to a max of 5 IP or use him as a bulk RP after the opener? He’s within a couple innings of last year’s IP.

Paul Sporer: I think they’ll control his innings for sure, I could see it happening by way of the bullpen

Nicholas: Should I buy low on Bryce Harper in my dynasty league? Is he still a building block?

Paul Sporer: If you can get him on a real discount, do it!!

Bert: Thoughts on Kieboom as a dynasty asset?

Paul Sporer: He’s still pretty intriguing, I’d buy

Jeremy: Odor or Gennett’s production for the ROS?

Paul Sporer: Gennett for me

north siders: Is Yu Darvish for real or does the clock strike midnight soon?

Paul Sporer: I think it’s pretty real, but in fairness I’ve always been a Darvish believer

Logan: In year 3 of a 16 team points dynasty rebuild, I have a legit shot at a championship for the first time.

With that in mind, do I need to keep running Trevor Richards out there or can I drop him for Deivi Garcia?

Paul Sporer: Don’t necessarily have to keep running Richards out, but I’m not THAT keen on Garcia for 2019 at least

iimd: Dickerson was struggling with back tightness that he says is chronic, over the years.

Paul Sporer: Re: Alex Dickerson earlier … that would explain why he wasn’t playing regularly despite them facing lefties

Richard: Do you think the A’s will build Montas back up in case they need him that last week of the season, or will they shut him down?

Paul Sporer: I mean, they might need some innings out of him to get to the playoffs so I could see it… might be extended RP stints instead of starts, though

Mooshi: How desperately do the Rays need a big bat? V Robles and his .315 OBP hitting at the bottom of the Nats order has more runs scored than Tommy Pham (.370 OPB) hitting 2nd for the Rays. Yikes

Paul Sporer: Yiiiiiikes

Matt: I cut Sonny Gray after like his 8th start. Since then,he’s halved his ERA, but his WHIP, increased his K%…

Paul Sporer: I cut German Marquez in late-June last year lol

Stefani Germanotta: Could you and me write a bad romance?

Paul Sporer: Ra-ra-ah-ah-ah, Roma Roma-ma

Fangraph’s lurker: Gallo droppable now in a 10 team nonkeeper?

Paul Sporer: Sadly 🙁

Chas: Vlad Sedler says Will Smith is a top-10 catcher now with the call up . Your thoughts? I’ve been streaming with guys like Jansen, Brian McCann, whatever.

Paul Sporer: Like I said, I’m reluctant to dive in on rookie Cs, but I understand the interest in Smith. I’d stick with Jansen, tbh

Ryan: Is Scooter still good at baseball?

Paul Sporer: 50 PA certainly isn’t enough for me to say he isn’t

Paul Sporer: OK y’all, I gotta get going. Thanks so much for coming out! Follow me on Twitter (@sporer), Twitch (sporer), and Instagram (p_sporer). I’ll be streaming on Twitch later today and you can definitely come by and ask questions about fantasy there. Have a great weekend!