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00:00Welcome back to Newswire. For those of you who don't watch us on the weekend, you're
00:05missing some really good Saturday and Sunday morning programming. In fact, every Saturday
00:09morning, George Kurtz and I host Fantasy Baseball, Saturday mornings, 8 to 10 a.m. Eastern, and
00:15then Sundays, you got Joe Pizzeppia and Matt Stryker, and it is baseball season, so they're
00:19talking fantasy baseball as well. We thought we would bring in Joe Pizzeppia, of course,
00:22of Fantasy Pros. He's got the Fantasy Black Book as well, the Lemonade Stand right outside
00:27in New Jersey. I mean, he's very busy, but he's made some time for us here on the show
00:30as well. Great to have you, Joe. Thanks for coming on.
00:33Well, I just made it back in time for my tax appointment with my accountant, so I can tell
00:37you the Lemonade Stand, we're going to have to keep expanding. So we're going to go to
00:41the next block, maybe open another one in front of the shop, right? We'll see how that
00:44goes. But now, as well, and it's great to see you as always, and nobody was happier
00:49than my colleague Matt Stryker to turn the page to baseball. He's a big baseball guy
00:54on Sunday. We started that, started looking at all the team previews, and very excited
00:58for this baseball season. More excited than I have been even in a long time, I would say.
01:02Yeah, look, I mean, the pitch clock really saved a lot of us, I think. I mean, the games
01:06are fun again now to watch, and you know, look, fantasy baseball dynamics have changed.
01:12A lot of folks are into daily fantasy and sports betting. There are still a lot of hardcore
01:17people, though, who do play the season-long format in fantasy baseball, which is close
01:21to my heart and yours through the years. So we thought we would take a look at just sort
01:24of how drafts are going early on, and to get a more expanded discussion on this. Again,
01:28Saturday morning, Sunday morning is where our exclusive programming here is at SportsGrid.
01:32So outside of, like, the easy picks, Joe, because I think that most people know what
01:36they're doing, and you know, clicking those buttons through the first, like, two, three
01:39rounds, it always gets interesting after that. So I'm going to let you throw the first pitch
01:44here with a few players that you think that could hold some value outside of those easy
01:50ones inside the first four or five rounds.
01:52Well, look, everybody within the top 100, everybody pretty much knows how that's going
01:56to go, right? That's going to be the first eight to 12 rounds of your draft, depending
02:00on how many teams you have in your league. But there's some guys right now going outside
02:04of the top 100. I think, really, people should be paying attention to the value that's there.
02:08And I don't expect most of these guys to be outside the top 100 by the time we turn the
02:12page to the season starting. And the first one is Luis Robert. And look, nobody harps
02:17on line of protection more than I do. And I know he doesn't have much of it there. But
02:21if you're talking about Luis Robert, you're talking about a player who is capable of a
02:2530-20 season, capable of even a 40-20 season. He had 30 at homers just two years ago. And
02:31I understand the difficulty of investing in a player that hasn't stayed healthy, but you're
02:36getting such a discount on this play right now at the 113 ADP. I think it's a little
02:41crazy right now. You're talking about guys like Ian Happ going ahead of him, and Ian
02:45Happ has never had quite a season like Luis Robert had two years ago. So although there's
02:49some restrictions with the White Sox and some things you're going to be concerned with,
02:53I just think it's too much of a value on a player who has the ability to go 30-20 or
02:57even 25-25 outside the top 100. And I don't think Luis Robert, probably you agree, will
03:04finish as a White Sox this year, too. So if he gets off to a good start, teams will be
03:08knocking on that door, and he'll end up on a contender. And then you'll wish you had
03:12taken that discount on him in drafts. Yeah, I think all of those things are certainly
03:16fair. And by the way, really good numbers. I mean, OPS, not so good. But all things considered,
03:2127 home runs on one of the worst teams that we've seen in baseball in 20 years. I mean,
03:26you make a good point. I mean, he knows he's got to be playing for another team. I would
03:29expect a big year, too. So the Boston situation is a little bit complicated here, and they
03:34are not going to sit Tristan Kassas. I understand that. Like, he has got to play. He is their
03:39probably second-best hitter or third-best hitter on the team, maybe the first. He had
03:4328 home runs last season. But this whole Devers thing is very confusing here, because I would
03:48assume Cooler Heads will prevail. Maybe Big Poppy has dinner with Devers and says, hey,
03:53man, like, you just got to move. But if he does, I mean, I don't think he's going to
03:59be the full-time first baseman. But would that mean Kassas goes to DH or somewhere else?
04:04I don't know. It's a little confusing here. I don't like confusion in my February fantasy
04:10I saw a good tweet from Scott White from CBS who said it was a Game of Thrones meme out
04:16there, which is, if you have to say you're the third baseman, then you're not the third
04:19baseman, which is the old Game of Thrones adage. If you have to say you're the king,
04:23then you're not the king, right? So that's a little problematic. But Kassas is, I think,
04:28now in a situation where he really has to get off to a good start. You have to look
04:31for that incredible left-handed power that that guy's got. Get it in the lineup. As you
04:35said, he did not play a full season last year. People were very excited about Tristan Kassas
04:39as they should be. The guy has enormous power and slugging potential here. And what you
04:43want to do is you want to get him in a situation where, you know, last year he only played
04:4763 games. He hit 13 homers. And you think that the upside here, if you look at projections,
04:53is probably somewhere around a 25 to 30 home run guy. And now that you have Bregman in
04:57that lineup, too, it lengthens that lineup. And that's a very important thing for these
05:00young players to have that line of protection. There's more young players coming here for
05:04the Red Sox, too. Christian Campbell, Roman Anthony. So there's a lot of prospects still
05:08to come for the Boston Red Sox. But at the same time, Kassas, I'm with you, has to play,
05:12has to play every day. I'd be surprised if they shifted him to DH. I think it's more
05:16likely that Devor should be a DH at some point in his career sooner than later, because he
05:20is not a plus defender. And you're wasting gold glove potential third baseman at second
05:25base in Alex Bregman, where you could put Christian Campbell there and really make your
05:29entire lineup better. And more importantly, your defense better for the pitching. So I
05:33think it might be a little bit of massaging, a little bit of discussions, as you said.
05:38But Tristan Kassas, a guy right now going outside the top 100. And if you're looking
05:40for slugging first baseman, how far off is he going to be from some of those guys like
05:45the Pete Alonzo's of the world at the end of the day in terms of home run potential?
05:49I don't think very. And you're getting an enormous discount. You're talking about a
05:52guy who's going, you know, 60 plus spots later than a guy like Alonzo or Josh Naylor. So
05:57in my opinion, Kassas becomes a value at second base. Another guy kind of like that going
06:0275 to 100 picks later than.
06:09All right, we lost Joe there for a minute there. He was in some really good conversation
06:13there. Unfortunately, we did lose him. But let's look at those projections. OK, he's
06:17back. Sorry about that, Joe. We lost you right there. Go ahead. You can finish up.
06:21Oh, yeah. I was going to say Luis Garcia, a guy who has basically the same kind of season
06:27Jose Altuve had last year, projected to have a very similar season this year, going 75
06:31to 100 picks later. You got to look for that. You got to look for those statistical guys
06:36that are good comps, but are the cheaper versions, the Wish.com Teemu versions, perhaps you're
06:43going to save some money in your draft capital. And I think Garcia is one of those guys. Kassas
06:47is one of those guys. And if you look at the expectations for a guy like Jose Altuve, well,
06:52it's hitting 280 with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Well, guess what? I can get
06:56that out of Garcia out of a really good Nationals lineup to this year.
06:59Yeah, definitely. Teemu not sponsoring our show anymore. All right. So now let's go over to the
07:05New York Mets, where they have a stacked lineup. You talked about protection. Mark Vientos came
07:10into his own last season, without a doubt. Juan Soto is now there. Pete Alonso is back.
07:15I would assume he's going to be in a good spot no matter where he hits this lineup, Joe.
07:20I really like Mark Vientos. And you know me, I'm like the biggest Met loathing, self-hating
07:25fan that there possibly is. So when I am in on a Mets guy, you should definitely understand that
07:30it's past all good logic and all good recognition skills. Mark Vientos last year, from spring
07:37training on, was a rock star. And, you know, people forget how good he was last spring. He
07:41didn't get the job at the DH spot. They ended up signing Jadie Martinez. He took it personally,
07:46took it to the minor leagues, took it to minor league pitching, came up and raked for the Mets,
07:51and then had some enormous moments in the postseason. And now you're putting Juan Soto
07:54in that lineup, who's going to get on base at a 400-plus clip, and you're lengthening this lineup
07:59again. That's really important. And Vientos, I think, has a chance, not just at 30 home runs,
08:03but maybe even more. I think he's a lock to drive in 100. And right now, he is a huge value on draft
08:08day. I can't stress enough how much I like Vientos, potentially, this season, because I think
08:12he's going to deliver so much power and so many runs scored in RBI. And if you look, he's going
08:19after guys like Junior Cabanero and Alex Bregman, and I think he's going to have better years than
08:23both those guys. All right, fair enough. Let's close it out. Give me one pitcher outside the top
08:28100 that you think is going too low. Well, he's a big fantasy football guy, and he's actually been
08:34on our show. But personal like aside, Justin Steele is the real deal. And I don't think he
08:40gets enough credit. You know, Imanaga came on strong last year, but Justin Steele, if you look
08:45at all the metrics here, a guy with a high strikeout rate, low walk rate, good strikeout-to-walk ratio,
08:50I think the Cubs, with that Kyle Tucker move, have really pushed their chips in.
08:54They think this division is winnable. The Brewers are a little weak right now. They moved on from
08:58Adams. They've moved on from Devin Williams. I think they're vulnerable. Cardinals aren't going
09:03to be any good. Cincinnati's still kind of trying to figure itself out. Why not the Cubs? And with
09:07Imanaga and Steele at the top, that is a lot of pitching. Steele just has to make 30 starts, and
09:11I think he can this year. All right, fair enough, Joe. Great to catch you. We'll see you Sunday
09:15morning with Matt Stryker. Thanks again for making some time. All right, welcome back to Newswire
09:19here on SportsGrid. Always great to check in with my buddy who I'll be seeing in spring training
09:25real soon in Jupiter. The Marlins and Cardinals share a facility. Mike Claiborne from the Cardinals
09:30Radio Network, also a Missouri Hall of Famer, by the way, I should mention. He's got a new digital
09:35show coming up, too. We're going to talk about that, but first let's get into some Cardinals
09:38baseball. Claibs, it is great to catch up with you, my friend, and thank you for spending some
09:43time with me, making some time. It's always good to see you, Matt. You know, I love your work,
09:48and we've been great friends for so many years, and I can't wait to see you in person,
09:52and congratulations on your new outlet here. Well, thank you so much. I'll see you next week,
09:57definitely there. All right, so look, for the first time since you've been, I mean, I don't
10:02want to say it's like 30, 40 years, but it kind of feels like maybe the last jockey or something.
10:08I don't ever remember the Cardinals going into a season with sub-playoff expectations like ever.
10:14It's weird. Well, I don't know if I'd say that. I think they feel like they can contend within
10:20their division. The division is a little bit more balanced, but obviously the one thing that I think
10:26is missing is the marquee name, and we go back to McGuire and Pujols and Yachty and Ueno and
10:32Goldschmidt and Arnauto, and Arnauto's still here, but when you look back at the history,
10:38the Cardinals have always had a marquee nationally known player. Right now, we're going through a
10:42transition on figuring out who's that going to be next, aside from Nolan Arnauto.
10:47So it's a little bit of a different setup. There's no doubt about it. I think, though,
10:51the one thing that comes into play is that as they elevate these other players and get a real
10:56good look at them, many of these guys have big league experience, whether it's one year or two
11:01years, in some cases three years. It's not like this is their first rodeo, and I think that gives
11:06them just a little bit more of a plus, along with playing for the same manager for those amount of
11:11years, and Oliver Marmell and his staff really hasn't changed very much. We've had a couple of
11:15subtractions with some additions that came with it, but it's a pretty familiar environment,
11:21if I can say. Yeah, I think that's fair, and also I think people forget with sort of the talk about
11:26the Cardinals and what they have or haven't done, they still ended up winning more games than the
11:30Reds and the Pirates last year, even with this sort of transition year that's coming, if that's
11:35what it is. And look, in the end, the word transition is used, but you know, Klaibs,
11:42that word was used about Nolan Arenado as well. I mean, Arenado is the ultimate professional,
11:48so he is going to come in and he's going to have a great season, whether he's with the Cardinals
11:52or he's with somewhere else. I've seen these situations play out before, Klaibs. I've talked
11:57on this show before, and my prediction was they trade him like the night before opening day,
12:01something happens, and that's it. But I'm glad to see that he came in. I'm not surprised to see
12:06him saying all the right things a couple days ago. Me neither. He's been a consummate professional
12:12from his days, even in Colorado, when you and I both got to know him then. And he came in,
12:17he looks good, but you know what, Craig, what guy doesn't look good coming in a spring training? I
12:21mean, nobody's running in the outfield in a rubber suit or anything like that, trying to play
12:25themselves in shape. But you know, his attitude was a positive one, and I'm like you, I think he
12:30can have a monster year. You know, there comes a question of protection around him in the order,
12:36but you know what, the Cardinals have some guys who can get on base. Now the problem was once they
12:40got on base, they couldn't score. And if they can score just a little bit this year, this is going
12:46to be a very interesting ball club. I know you guys were talking about Chicago earlier, and I
12:50certainly agree. I think that they have some real top-end pitching that's going to make them
12:54competitive. Their lineup is going to be solid, but I think overall the Cardinals are in a division
12:59that's very winnable for them if they stay healthy, and if they do a few other things the
13:03right way. Because they can't pitch. Yeah, and that's the thing, we're going to go over the
13:07pitching here, and then I want to end on this Wilson Contreras sort of experiment. I guess
13:13it's permanent, but I want to say sort of experiment. You mentioned the pitching, so look,
13:17these are a couple of names that maybe the average fan is not all that familiar with, and Palante and
13:21McGreevy, who I know are going to get a legit shot. Myles Michaelis is back in the rotation again,
13:26the most prideful give-me-seven-eight-innings guy you're ever going to meet in Major League
13:29Baseball. This guy wants to go as deep as he possibly can and prides himself on that,
13:34and Sonny Gray is back again. And so, yeah, I mean, this on paper as compared again to the division,
13:40the Reds and the Pirates outside of Paul Skeen. You know, we understand he's a superstar, and even
13:44the Cubs to a degree. Why can't the Cardinals throw these five out there at the start of the
13:49season and succeed? Yeah, no, I agree, and I mean, you know, when they stay healthy, they're pretty
13:55deep as far as other guys when they can run out there, especially in the bullpen. But I'll tell
14:00you, the X-factor guy, I think, is going to be Michael McGreevy, who is a groundball machine,
14:05and the Cardinals can play some good defense behind him. He can really prosper from being on this
14:10ballclub. He and Palante are two guys, and remember, Palante was a guy that came out of
14:15the bullpen last year. They sent him out to Memphis. He worked on some things, and he probably
14:20ended up being the best pitcher in the second half of the season for the Cardinals, and I
14:24think they're looking for big things from him. He's thought about what he needs to do to be more
14:29consistent, so I'm anxious to see what he does, and McGreevy, the two times we saw him last year,
14:34was beyond solid, and I think he's built on that as well. So it's going to be a very interesting
14:39pitching staff that can expand to Steven Matz, who has big league experience. There's some other
14:45guys that they're taking a longer look at. The bullpen is going to be stacked. You know, you
14:49have a guy who has 48 saves last year in Ryan Helsley, so that's going to be a situation that I
14:55think we're going to take a longer look at, and who's going to back him up as well. Real quick,
15:00you know, the story claims of all of spring training is position movement. I never remember
15:04a spring training like this. We got Altuve going to left, and Devers doesn't want to play anywhere
15:08else, and Wilson Cotreras is going to first base, and Trout is going to right field. I mean, what's
15:13going on in spring training this year? Go ahead. What's going on? You know, have love, will travel,
15:21and you know, I think it's amazing to see how these guys can make this in-flight adjustment
15:26in moving to a position that, in most cases, they've never played before, but it just shows
15:30you the commitment that guys have and the confidence their organizations have of them
15:34being athletes who could end up being baseball players. Let's end with this. It claims you've
15:40been on radio for decades, and certainly you've been doing this, you know, longer than just about
15:44anybody in St. Louis. I don't want to say how long, but too long. You've launched a new digital format
15:49where people can hear you and certainly follow all the work that you do in St. Louis. Tell us more
15:53about that. Sports Hub STL, and you can check it out. We have an all-star lineup in St. Louis, and
15:59we do podcasts on a regular basis on a variety of sports in the St. Louis area and the surrounding
16:04area, and I would invite people to just tune in and check it out, and I think they'll have a lot
16:08of fun with it because we have some other things that come with it that I think they'll certainly
16:12appreciate. It's new in St. Louis, and we think it's going to grow immensely here in the next
16:16few decades. Yeah, well, we have you to listen to. That's all we really need on that network
16:21to just start off with. We keep trying to fool them, man. Once we get over here, it's impossible.
16:26We always do, every year somehow. I love it. All right, so I'll see you next week. I look
16:30forward to that big hug as usual, and have a great weekend. Looking forward to it, my friend.
16:34Take care and good luck.