• 15 hours ago
Transcript
00:00Well, look, there's two pitchers coming back from Tommy John that I have just been very
00:04aggressive on, and it's because one of them won a Cy Young a couple years ago, and the
00:10other one was right in that Cy Young conversation for two straight years before getting hurt.
00:13So that one is Shane McClanahan, who's already been cleared, who's already been well past
00:18his Tommy John window of return because he had his surgery even earlier than the next
00:23guy we're going to talk about.
00:25But Shane McClanahan is on track and ready to go, and when Shane McClanahan is at his
00:28best, this left-handed pitcher is an absolute stud, he's an absolute ace.
00:32So the question is, what's the investment on Shane McClanahan this year?
00:36And it's a pretty good one, to be honest with you.
00:39At 123, the similar pitchers going around there, Justin Steele, okay, Justin Steele,
00:44a pitcher we already talked about in hour one, still a very big fan of his, but the
00:48other guys going around here, still Grayson Rodriguez, who's dealing with arm issues,
00:52so I'd rather take the guy with a repaired arm than a guy dealing with issues.
00:56Adolis Garcia, a nice player, but certainly one that has warts.
01:00Right, exactly, Spencer Strider, a guy who's still coming back, but he's going to miss
01:06a couple months.
01:07So explain this to me, like, I'm looking at Spencer Strider missing, again, what, April,
01:15at least, you know, and that's barring any setbacks, right, or any issues.
01:19McClanahan has a much bigger window of recovery, and yeah, he doesn't pitch on the Braves,
01:24I get that, but this guy is going to take the ball opening day, he's going to be the
01:27opening day starter already.
01:29So Shane McClanahan, for me, I understand why people are hesitant, and sometimes guys
01:34come back from Tommy John and struggle a little bit with some of their location, but for me,
01:39I look at Shane McClanahan as a really good investment, and for somebody who is looking
01:44to draft offense early and often, I'll go take a Blake Snell in the fourth round, then
01:49turn around a little later and take a Shane McClanahan, and I think that's a great way
01:53to have some upside in your rotation.
01:56And the other guy is Sandy Alcantara.
01:58Now Sandy Alcantara already declared the opening day starter, now he's got more than a year
02:02left on his deal, too.
02:03So this is a piece that's going to be very attractive to some teams out there who might
02:09be missing somebody at the top of the rotation, oh, Yankees, oh, oh, oh, excuse me, I got
02:15something in my throat there, sorry, I think I'm better now, but Sandy Alcantara, one of
02:20the best pitchers in baseball when he is right, and also through his Tommy John recovery window,
02:27looks very sharp this spring, you know, you'll watch those spring starts and you understand
02:31like, hey, this is going really well.
02:33So Shane McClanahan and Sandy Alcantara, two guys that have ace potential who are going
02:38outside of the top 100 picks, and Sandy Alcantara is going even further than Shane McClanahan.
02:45He is even cheaper, he is all the way at pick 140 overall.
02:49That's kind of crazy to me, because he's already shown he's healthy, there's a good
02:52chance he doesn't finish the season on the Marlins, because some contenders are going
02:56to come knocking and want Sandy Alcantara.
02:58So who would you rather have, Sandy Alcantara or Shane McClanahan at their respective values?
03:03McClanahan's a little bit more expensive, but a little bit further removed.
03:07I want them both, but Matt, where do you stand with these two guys?
03:10I'm going to talk to you in real time here as a fantasy manager that's just did a few
03:15drafts, even though I know it seems silly, McClanahan has fallen into my lap more times
03:20than not.
03:21And I often had to reach for him once or twice, just because I felt that pitching was moving.
03:25Yeah, I like McClanahan, I remember, see, that's the thing, I remember what McClanahan
03:30was before he went down.
03:31I remember what Jeffrey Springs was, now he's over in Oakland or Sacramento, whatever you
03:34want to call it.
03:35The thing is, is you have to have a memory in baseball, especially with wagering and
03:39playing fantasy.
03:40You can't just go with what the 2025 projections are.
03:44They're still human beings, they're still athletes, they still have a body of work,
03:47they still have contributed.
03:48With Alcantara, I'm with you, I think people stay off because of the offensive ecosystem.
03:52I mean, there really is nothing to root for in Miami, sadly, but if all of a sudden Alcantara
03:57is a, I'm making it up, a Yankee or a Met, that's a far different Sandy Alcantara.
04:03Well, I think the other thing to keep in mind with these guys is that, what is the ADP next
04:09year for them, right?
04:10Do you think these guys are both in the top 50?
04:13If the answer is yes, then you need to be far more aggressive than the rest of the board
04:17is and ADP is polling, ADP is a group think, it is a suggestion, it's not the rule.
04:24We talked about Gavin Williams going outside the top 200, that's absurd, right?
04:28So you take this and you look for the holes, you look for the gems, you look for the guys
04:32that aren't being drafted where they should be and you start to think about what does
04:36the 2026 board look like when I'm going to draft it?
04:39What's the consensus then, and I think Sandy Alcantara and Shane McClanahan are probably
04:44going to be in that top 50 discussion and at which case their extreme values this season.

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