Welcome back beautiful people. We have a special episode of Mountain Visit today. Kenji and I are going to be drafting for the next five years our ideal teams.
Now there is a catch because we can only draft one player from every single team. We're going to get more into the rules as we go.
But we did want to touch on a couple of newsworthy items. Kenji has a very strong opinion about who's on the cover of the show.
I'm very happy about the cover of the show. Mack Scherzer is a Blue Jay. We're going to briefly touch on that. But the main point of this episode we're going to be drafting are all next five year teams.
However we want to say that. For the next five years these are our teams. First and foremost Kenji how's my co-host doing?
Wonderful. You know why? Because I am so excited about what we're about to do.
I'm excited for this. I mean.
It's going to be a blast.
We can be candid with the people. We did not really know what we wanted to record today. There was some mild newsworthy items.
But nothing super interesting or three weeks out from spring training games. It's kind of this lull.
And so we wanted something interesting. We're really excited about this idea because I think we're going to have some fun with it.
So then yeah Kenji I'll tee you up. The cover of MLB The Show 25 is Paul Skeen's, Ellie De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson.
I don't know if they'll be on separate covers. I don't know much about the game. I play MLB The Show a lot. I don't know much about this year's game.
But I'm very excited who's on the cover. I know you felt like there was somebody who should have been.
No I'm just going to assume that Bobby Wood Jr. declined to be on the cover of the show.
Which is why they went with their second and third best option. Ellie De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson at their respective positions. That's all I'm going to say.
I'm not going to get into this debate. Gunnar is awesome. I love him. He is great. I love him. I love him. It's a great cover.
I hope it's a good game. He's going to play on Team USA next year. I hope it's a good game. That's all I say.
Max Scherzer goes to the Blue Jays. That's another small piece of news. Kind of washed up. I think it's his 17th.
What a place to retire in Canada. I know it's a one year's 15 and a half million if my memory serves me correctly.
There's a Blue Jays. He'll help out some of the young pitchers on that staff. They don't have too many young guys there.
I'll be in Toronto for opening day so I'll get to watch him pitch against my O's.
I don't think he's going to pitch. I think he's number four on the...
That's a four game set. I'll see him.
Oh it's a four game set? Okay. Unless he was about to... was it Hayden Francis? No I hate him Francis.
Bowden. Bowden? Bowden Francis? Yeah.
So I mean that kind of suffices the news. Reds almost traded for Luis Robert. The Reds ended up signing Austin Hayes.
They signed Wade Miley. So the Reds have been really busy. That's kind of... I mean that's the extent of it.
Is there anything else that stood out to you before we jump right in this draft?
Good job Reds. If you can't get Luba probably... honestly has the most potential at center field in the entire league.
Like he could be the best center field in the league because he can hit and actually play defense.
Which not a lot of players in center field can do. But Austin Hayes is definitely going to do the trick. Yeah.
I like Austin Hayes. He's a former All-Star starter. I like Austin Hayes. Let him eat. Let him cook.
Let him cook? Okay. Uh huh. Uh huh.
Alright. Well this is... I'm very excited for this. So Kenji and I are going to draft 15 players each.
Let me walk you through how the rosters are going to lay out. Three starting pitchers.
Two relief pitchers that can be closers or middle relief. Doesn't matter.
And then a full lineup including a DH and a utility player.
The catch is we just listed 15 roster spots for each person. So Kenji is going to draft 15. I'm going to draft 15.
But we can only take one player from each team. So that's the nuance when you're trying to take the Marlins best player, the Rockies best player.
You don't want to get hung up with somebody horrible because you are going to get stuck with somebody bad if you don't go to the right place.
So we're going to see how this goes. Kenji because you're shorter and you're wearing glasses right now. You're going to have the first pick.
Wow. Okay. And we're just going to go back and forth. We're not going to be funny and try to snake this or anything.
I'm going to let Kenji have the first pick and then we're just going to run with it. And we're going to see where this takes us.
I think people have to also understand that we have no prep into going into this.
That's the best part. That's the best part is we're going to roll with this because we think it's a fun idea.
And we have much better ideas once spring training kicks off. We have some really fun drafts.
Some other things that we're going to touch on once the season gets going. But we wanted to come up with something fun.
And so so here you go. Put this episode on one and a half speed while you're folding your laundry and listen to us draft some teams.
Kenji the floor is yours. You're on the clock. Who are you going to take with the first pick?
Give me Shohei Otani. Yeah. All right.
Are you? Hold on. Now you got to put him in one spot. He's DHing for you. Okay.
I want to show my DH. Okay. All right. Not even I didn't even doubt it. I just went for it.
I'm going to take Paul Skeens. Okay. Pittsburgh Pirates are off the board.
For me, we're still doing next five years, right? If I remember correctly.
Yeah. Next five years. All right. Well, then I'll take Bobby. Take Bobby.
I like that. I like that. I mean, I'm kind of being biased here, but
You're going to take. Huh? I'm going to take.
This is tough because you already have a shortstop. I have a shortstop on DH.
And now the rule for utility, you have a DH, which I don't know if I would have filled up DH first, but
It's Shohei Otani. So utility, you have, it's essentially somebody who can play more than one position.
So like we said, Gunnar Henderson could fit there because he can play short and third.
We could put who else? A Ha Song Kim there because he can play all over the place.
You know, like Tommy Edmund would have been a perfect fit. Yes. You know, you can't anymore.
Jazz Chisholm, I would count as utility because he plays second to play the outfield, that sort of thing.
So if there's any ambiguity for utility spot, that's what it is.
With my second pick, do I load up on pitching or do I go for scarcity?
I don't know. It's up to you. Pitching, I feel like is pretty easy to find.
Yeah, there's a lot of good pitchers out there. Indeed there is.
Indeed there is. But there are only a few top guides in the league.
I know. We have a sheet here. You guys can't see. We have a sheet full of like the best players in the sport by position.
And so I'm just I'm scouring the sheet as I try to make my decision here.
I'm going to take, I'm going to take Aaron Judge.
Okay. And I'm going to put him in right field. Right field. Okay.
Maybe he's off the board. I'm going to Tarik Scoobel.
Detroit? Yeah, I'm going to Tarik.
Okay. Why is that? I mean, we're going to fly through this episode otherwise.
Lefty pitcher. Lefty best pitcher in the league.
I mean, his first year healthy, he won the Cy Young and I'm pretty sure he's going to be like the best lefty pitcher in the league for the next five years.
He's great. He's phenomenal. He's fantastic.
So you have pitcher, shortstop and DH.
So I can wait on a shortstop because I'm still going to get one of two guys that I like.
That's right. You can.
Now, now I got to play my game. Who do I think you want?
I already know my next picks. You better hurry up. Geez, man. You're killing me here.
I'm going to take Vlad Guerrero Jr.
Good pick. Vlad, I'm taking the Blue Jays off the board and you needed a first baseman.
There's still a lot of really good first baseman here.
I'm just trying to think how big of an a-hole do I want to be?
I mean, this is entertainment. This is entertainment. People will listen to this entertainment.
Third base is a great position, but the guys that I'm looking at third base both play shortstop at the moment.
But they both can't play shortstop. You can't do that. They have to go utility.
You can't take those guys and put them in third. Really? You can't do that.
That's crazy. You can't do that. No, dude. You can't do that.
You're telling me I can't move LA or Gunnar to third? No, no, you can't.
Look at the third. There are a lot of good third baseman in the league.
Yeah, but I would much rather have 70 stolen bases from LA Villa Cruz.
You can take one of them and put them at utility. I'll let you do that, but you can't put them at third.
They're not primary third base. That's lame. That's lame.
I'm not being lame. I'm just calling it how it is. It's fine. I'm not upset.
Guess I'll take Ronald Acuna right field. I thought about that. Good pick.
I thought about that. Still very young. So the Braves are off the board, but I already have first base, so it's okay. I'm not mad.
I'm taking LA Villa Cruz here. A shortstop? Really? Actually, no. No, I'm not. You're right.
Yeah, you're making me feel guilty. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to go Juan Soto and put him in left.
Wow. Good defense.
I'm loading up on the outfield, and I have to reserve the right to move Soto to DH later if I want.
Okay. All right. Whatever you say, mister. Let's see. This is hard. It's about...
How do you handcuff the other guy? How do you handcuff the other guy?
Outfield is such a good position. Oh, man, dude. Who do I go with?
This is tough.
Give me a... Oh, man. This sucks. I can't do this. You know what? Give me LA Villa Cruz.
And you're putting him in utility? Ooh. He wants those stolen bags.
I do. I do. Okay. I was hoping you would take him or anybody else, honestly, because I am going to take Mookie Betts and put him in my utility spot.
You can't. He's on Dodgers already. Oh, no, you're right. I can't do that. Damn.
Dang it, dude. You took Shohei.
Balls. All right. Well, I was getting excited. Now I'm going to wrench in my plans.
Give me Brent Rooker. Brent Rooker. Thank you. Give me Brent Rooker. That's a lot of power.
Don't sleep on Brent Rooker. I'm not. I'm not. I see you get a lot of power. Okay. Because now I'm realizing we have to start thinking about positions.
Yes. Like...
First base, for example, is very limited to what can be drafted.
And because of that, I think...
Oh, man. This is rough.
I'm going to go Jaren Duran on left field.
Okay. All right. All right. All right. I'm a big Duran fan.
Yeah, Kenji is tennis racket. Tennis racket.
Yeah, beautiful.
I'm going to take Zach Wheeler.
Dang. He just screwed me with that one.
That was intentional. And Bryce Harper is off the board.
Tristan Costas is off the board.
First base is...
First base isn't looking too hot anymore. I got to be honest with you.
You can't take a brave because he took a Cunha.
Oh, man. This is bad. First base isn't looking so hot.
Can I pick someone who might play that position this year?
What are you talking about? No.
Who?
Mark Vientos.
No, you can't take him.
Just because he's been rumored that they want him doing first base drills doesn't mean you can't.
Absolutely not. And you can't take him anyway because I took Soto.
Gosh dang. He's on the Mets.
Man, you're going to be stuck with Spencer. Oh, no. You can't even take Spencer Steer or Vinnie Pascuentino or Alec Bohm.
This is bad. This is bad. We're not going to focus on that.
And then we're just going to go for a pitcher here.
I think I'm going to go Logan Gilbert. Give me Logan Gilbert.
Really? Okay. Yes. I love his stuff.
And that's about all I can get. Yes, but there's like, well, what about the strategy though? You're not going to...
Well, then I blocked the chance of you getting Julio Rodriguez in centerfield.
That's true. That's true.
I don't want him in centerfield. So now you're up.
I am.
Who do I want to block you from? That's my next question.
Who can I block you from?
I'm going to take Josh Hader.
Off the Astros? He's one of my relievers, yep.
Okay.
As of this recording, Pita Lonzo has not chosen the team.
So Kenji, I guess you could take Pita Lonzo as a free agent.
Five years? Yeah, I'm okay.
I'm okay.
If Cody was still in the Cubs, man, it would help so much.
But he's freaking not, you know?
Okay.
Yeah, let's do this. Let's call Jordan Westberg at second base.
Ooh.
Let's take every second base opportunity away from you.
And all these guys, you know, like, Cattell Marte, Jose Altuve, going to be kind of older.
Marcus Simm, going to be older in five years.
So playing the long game here, expecting Jordan Westberg to become the best second baseman in baseball in a couple of years.
It's a hot take.
He's got potential.
Before you try to handcuff me more with that bad position, I'm going to take Cattell Marte.
Okay.
Cross out all the Dbacks on the list.
See, this is when it gets a little bit harder.
At this point in the drive is when it gets harder because now we've had, like, what, 12 teams picked and now it kind of gets to the bottom half of the league.
Give me Emmanuel Closet.
You can have a guardian, sure.
I don't think guardian I would ever take.
You can have a guardian.
I'm not upset at that at all.
Okay, so for those listening and keeping track at home, which is probably none of you, Tengie has taken so far Tarek Schubel and Logan Gilbert.
He's taken Emmanuel Closet as a relief pitcher, Jordan Westberg at second base, Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop, Jaren Duran in left field, Ronald Acuna Jr. in right field, Shohei as his DH, and Elie De La Cruz as his utility.
I have taken Paul Skeens and Zach Wheeler as two of my starting pitchers.
We both each have one spot left.
I take it Josh Hader for my bullpen, Vlad Jr. at first, Katel Marte at second, Juan Soto in left, Aaron Judge in right, and Brent Rooker as a DH.
Who else you got?
It's a good question.
It's a great question.
Give me William Contreras of the Milwaukee Brewers.
I thought about taking them.
Have you looked at that catching spot, Kenj? Have you looked at it?
I have. I have.
But I honestly thought you would take Adley a little bit earlier.
You took Westberg.
I know.
I don't mind, dude. I like William more than Adley, if I'm being honest.
That's right. Now I don't have to worry about catcher for a while.
I would worry about catcher though.
There's one guy I can think of. It's fine.
I got my eye on...
Give me Luis Robert of Centerfield.
The White Sox.
The only White Sox player that I'm sniffing.
Wow. Okay.
I agree with your strategy here because you're trying to go now for best available.
I'm trying to handcuff you. Everything I'm doing, I'm trying to handcuff you.
If you think about it, you're really handcuffing yourself to your leg because your players can't run to save their lives.
Because holy cow, do you have one of the worst base running...
But I can hit.
You can hit, but you can't run the bases.
All you guys can do... Yeah, but you guys can run all you want.
I got Shohei Otani, Ronald Lacuna, Luis Robert, and Bobby White.
Y'all can run all you want.
I'll hit you for 30 home runs next year.
Yeah, alright.
I'd watch out.
You got about 400 stolen bases coming off of my team next year.
Watch out.
This is tough.
But if we're going next five years...
On Junior Caminero.
Dang it, dude. I was going to take him.
I was going to take him.
Slot him right in at third, baby.
I should have taken him earlier.
Yes, you should have.
I don't think you've looked at catcher at first base yet, Kenji, but you're in dire straits there, my friend.
Yeah, catcher, I have one guy that I might take a chance on.
After that, it's a pretty tough list left.
It's a tough group there.
It's pretty bad.
Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it.
But I guess in that aspect...
I mean, you can hold off catcher though, because now you can be tied up.
I'm going to take Luis Araya as at first base.
Just to get on base for me.
I don't need him to steal the base.
I just need him to get on.
I just need him to get on base.
And my guys will hit him in.
That's the only move I think that I have left.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, you had to.
I mean, you guys can't see our sheet here, but Luis Araya is like the 15th furthest down at all first base.
We have Vlad, Bryce, Freddie, Matt, Pete, Josh, Nailer, Steer, Pascuantino, Bone, Walker, Casas, Cody Bellinger, Yandy Diaz, Paul Koltchment, then Luis Araya.
Yep.
He's two spots above Spencer Torkelson, by the way.
Yeah, if we were doing this last year, I would have taken Torkelson.
Yeah, because of that great...
Actually, you know what?
What are you going to do here?
I'm going to take Luis Araya.
I'm going to take Colt Keith.
He hasn't played first base yet.
He's playing first base this year.
He's the same thing.
Same thing with the Vientos, bro.
No, no, he is the starting first baseman.
Whatever.
Okay, fine.
I'll let you switch one time.
Oh, wait, I already took school.
I can't.
Gosh dang it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Oh, dude, you're screwed, man.
You're in trouble.
He's got to sit with Luis Araya.
Listen, I love Jordan Westberg, but Araya Westberg and Witt against Vlad Jr., Cattel,
and Kamenero right now is not in your favor.
I'll be honest.
I don't know about that.
At least you can run.
At least my guys can run.
I don't know.
My team is pretty good.
I don't know what we're talking about.
All right, who else you got?
Now, I think I know who you're looking at for catcher.
Who's that?
Logan Ohapi.
He's probably the only decent catcher left in the league.
And for that reason, I'm going to take Ben Joyce as my last reliever.
You are the worst.
Well, listen, Ben Joyce over the next five years, I'll take it.
And you got to sit with like, you know, I'm going Patrick Bailey.
Give me Patrick Bailey.
Switching catcher, best catcher defensively in the league.
Give me Patrick Bailey.
Yeah. My pictures are going to love him.
We'll take a little bit of a downgrade at hitting.
It's fine. It's fine.
He's the next buster posy.
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. Give me Patrick Bailey.
Now you taking a rise hurts because I was looking at Tati's.
Yeah.
I took like the worst Padre possible.
You did.
I did.
There's a lot of good Padres.
You took the worst one.
So who's already been.
What teams are we? Are we, are we still missing?
Cause we're missing.
I think you should take a Rocky.
No, cause I think I know who I want is a Rocky.
Brenton Doyle.
I do like Brenton Doyle.
He's probably center field and he's a gold glove.
I think he's a gold glove.
Do you have more easy to bar?
But he's not a good shortstop. So I wouldn't take him.
And he strikes out a lot.
I want Wyatt Langford.
Center field.
Center. Wow. Your, your.
I'll put judge in center then dude. Who cares?
Judge and center. I'm sorry.
He has the least amount of range of any outfield or in the league.
Yeah.
Bobby wit, Elliot Cruz, Ronald Acuna.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's okay. We'll be just trotting around the bases.
It's fine.
Uh-huh. Yeah. We'll see against my, my, my insane.
Wyatt Langford taking the Rangers off the board.
Okay.
All right.
I think a third base.
It's a big risk and I'm not a big fan of him.
Cause I have a hurt how hurt he is.
I think Royce Lewis. I knew it.
I was thinking about him.
I was thinking about the only twin that I really want to touch.
Dang it.
Yeah.
That's a good pick. That's a good pick.
If he can stay healthy, you know.
So I have starting pitcher left. I have shortstop left and utility.
I have shortstop left and utility.
Because you could really hurt me if I don't take him now.
Hmm.
Yeah. I'm going to take CJ Abrams as my shortstop.
Wow.
Do you know he doesn't know how to play defense?
Are you aware of that?
You can hit and he can run.
I can't even take.
My boy.
The rest of the shortstops were bad, man.
It was like Mason.
When.
Hassan Kim.
I can't even take.
Is great.
Okay. So we have the teams are down to it's like Marlins,
Rockies.
Cardinals.
And who else.
Cause we should have about one, two.
Four teams left.
So we have the teams.
Cardinals.
Blue Jays.
And who's the one that you said.
No, we have the blue Jays.
That's like Vlad.
Oh, that's right.
What are we missing?
Oh, oh, the cubs.
Yeah.
The cubs are missing.
We are missing the cubs.
And you know what?
Speaking of the cubs.
I'm going to take, I'm going to take, I'm going to take show time.
I knew it.
I can show frigging Naga.
Slurps off.
I'm not taking for the next five years.
You didn't get shelves for the next five years.
He is not the guy that I want.
Oh, hold on.
Let's put the, let's put the names.
This is, this is hard.
We got Rockies.
Yeah.
Hubs.
Yep.
Say them again.
Who's next.
Marlins and who else?
Cardinals.
Rockies, cubs, Marlins, Cardinals.
Four picks left.
Oh my gosh.
To get an SP and an RP.
Well, then just give me Ryan Helsley.
Give me Ryan Helsley.
Cool.
I'm totally fine with that.
Because you know who I wanted?
Who do you want?
Sandy Alcantara.
Yeah.
Yes.
Now that leads me down to taking a cubs pitcher or taking the cubs starter or a Rockies starter.
Who's going to be, are you taking Nolan Jones or Brenton Doyle?
I can take either.
I can do whatever I want from either team.
I'm totally fine.
Wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
I'm going to take Justin Steele then.
I like him over long-term.
I'm a bigger fan of Steele than you.
You think Steele's going to like.
How old is Steele?
Hold on.
Let me check on that.
Steele's not young.
I'll tell you that.
Let me look.
He's 29.
How old is Shota?
He's 31.
The hard part is Shota isn't a two-pitch pitcher.
But you don't want a Rockies pitcher?
I can't say that I can name you a Rockies starting pitcher right now at the moment.
Actually, yeah.
Give me Shota.
Yeah.
He has more stuff.
Next five years.
All right.
And then I will take Brenton Doyle.
Okay.
Doyle or Tolvar.
I'm happy with either one.
Okay.
So, I mean, do you want to put together your lineup here?
Yeah.
I'll put together my lineup here.
Okay.
So, my three starting pitchers, I got Tarek Scoobel, Logan Gilbert, Shota Imonaga.
We got two lefties.
Tarek Scoobel, obvious best lefty in the league.
Logan Gilbert, an uprising and probably one of the better pitchers in the league.
Top 10 without a doubt.
Shota Imonaga should have been Rookie of the Year, was the best pitcher for a full season.
Paul Skeens, where are you at?
No, didn't see you pitch a full season.
Wow.
Yeah.
I'm just kidding.
Paul Skeens is better.
But Shota Imonaga definitely did not get the credit that he should have gotten last year.
I got Klause and Ryan Helsley, I think, who combined for like 80 saves last year.
So, my bullpen's top notch.
Then when we talk about my defense, the first two positions aren't the most, what's the word?
It's not going to blow you away.
Oh, you're just going to wait.
You know, the rest of the team is great.
We got Patrick Bailey.
He's strictly there for defense, you know.
He's going to be great with our pitchers.
We need a solid catcher back there.
And like I said, he's the best catcher in the league defensively, in my opinion.
So, we got him back there and he's got the best coach.
Coach, you know, Buster Posey.
First base, we got Luis Arias.
Yeah, he's going to bat lead off, I think, or second, or maybe fourth.
Who knows?
He'll just hit little dinkers and bring it on.
Luis over the next five years, mind you.
Everybody keep that in mind.
The next five years of Luis Arias.
As long as he hits over 300 and just dinks and dunks, my guys will run.
Okay.
He can dunk and he will run.
All right.
You dink and dunk, my guys will run.
There you go.
But this is where he gets great.
We got Jordan Westberg, who I think could be the best second baseman in the next couple of years.
The reason I say that is because the competition level is really not that high.
When you think of who's getting up there in age at second base.
Fair.
I think Albies is really his only competition for the next five years.
Albies is getting old too.
Is he in his 30s?
Yeah.
I thought he was younger.
I don't know.
Maybe you can put up Matt McClain, but I think I'd take Jordan Westberg.
Go Westberg, baby.
And then we got the best player.
Well, could have been the best player.
Royce Lewis could have been the best player if he knew how to stay healthy.
But we're going to keep him healthy.
We're actually going to play him at DH quite often.
When Shoay's pitching.
Shoay's actually doesn't work.
Doesn't work.
Never mind.
It's fine.
We'll figure it out.
He will take days off with Ellie.
We'll switch off every day.
And then we got Bobby Witt playing every day, shortstop.
Best player in the league, if you ask me.
That isn't from Japan.
Then we got lefty, we got Jaren Duran.
Love what he brings to the team.
Brings some heart.
He plays ball the right way.
Tennis racket.
Then we got Luis Robert Jr.
Probably got the most potential in the league, I'd say.
Flash a little bit last year.
But he doesn't want to be there.
He doesn't want to be there.
He wants to be here.
And if he sucks, we're going to put Ellie L.A. Cruz out in center field.
So we're going to be fine.
We're going to be fine.
And then we got Ronald LeCunha Jr. Jr.
You know, not a crazy defender.
Great cannon.
Great hitter.
He doesn't have to do too much.
You know, he doesn't do too much.
And then we got Shoay Otani at DH spot.
Just going to go for another 50-50 season.
Doesn't have to pitch on my team.
So we're going to be fine.
Like I said, Ellie L.A. Cruz is a utility.
This team, we're going to steal, like I said, 400 bases a year.
We're all going to hit for over above average.
Our OPS is going to be off the chart.
Or we are going to be living rent free in every pitcher's mind.
Sure.
We are going to steal, steal, and take extra bags.
Give me that World Series.
I mean, it's a good thing I got three pitchers that hold runners on extremely well as my three starters.
So listen, I had some time to prepare my pitch.
So I'm going to start with this.
Genji's team has some flash.
They got some wheels.
But whatever.
Can they hit?
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter how well they play defense.
If we're just trotting around the bases because the ball is 50 feet over the wall.
And let me tell you, this lineup, the ball will be 50 feet over the wall.
We're going to score a ton of runs and we're not going to allow very many.
Because let's be brutally honest.
I love Jordan Westberg.
He's no Katel Marte.
I love Luisa Rice.
He's not Vlad Jr.
Now let me walk you through this.
Now listen, I'll walk you through position by position.
I'll tell you why I'm better than Kenji.
OK.
Paul Skines.
Listen, him and Tarek Skubal are essentially like the same.
I'm not going to pitch Skines better than Skubal.
They're great.
They're fantastic.
Zach Wheeler, Logan Gilbert, both phenomenal starting pitchers.
I took Zach Wheeler because I didn't want Kenji to get any Phillies guys.
So I love Zach Wheeler.
He's a great postseason starter.
I'm a big fan of him on my team.
Sandy Alcantara.
Coming off Tommy John.
But I mean, Shohei is coming off Tommy John.
Royce Lewis can't stay healthy.
I mean, Shota is 31 years old.
Who are we to say like he can't come back and pitch well after Tommy John?
He's like the only good player on the Marlins.
Sorry, Xavier Edwards.
I thought about taking you.
Sandy's great.
I love Sandy Alcantara.
Josh Hader is one of my relievers.
You had to do lefty righty.
I had to have a lefty.
I had to have a righty.
Kenji just doubled up on right handed pitching.
But whatever.
I have Josh Hader.
Josh Hader from the left side.
Ben Joyce from the right side.
Flamethrowers on both ends.
Really good wipeout sliders.
I'm really proud of my bullpen.
Now I'll get to the lineup.
Now let me remind you.
Kenji took Patrick Bailey as a starting catcher.
I took William Contreras.
First MLB first team all-pro.
William Contreras.
OK?
Yeah.
Right next to him, I have Vlad Junior playing first base for me.
That guy, one of the best hit tools in the game.
Wicked pop.
If he goes to free agency, he's going to make 400, 500 mil.
Easy.
Vlad Junior.
Awesome.
Ketel Marte at second base.
Holding it down.
Really good defense.
Switch hitter.
Hitting right in that two hole.
Love having Ketel Marte in there.
Junior Caminero.
Haven't seen much of him at the Major League level.
But he's going to be an all-pro.
I mean, we know what kind of tool he has.
He's a 30-30 guy.
He's going to hit third for the race.
He's great.
We just saw him toss a bat a zillion feet in the air in the Lidum championship.
Sick flip.
Love Junior Caminero.
Super stoked to take him in fantasy ahead of you, by the way.
Love Junior Caminero.
CJ Abrams was playing shortstop.
And now listen, this is the one weakness on my team is CJ Abrams.
And let me remind you, CJ Abrams is a very, very good baseball player.
CJ had a phenomenal year last year.
Did get caught gambling.
But I mean, nobody's perfect.
Pobedy's nerfect.
CJ Abrams is a great player.
Great player.
And I love having him as short.
Does he have some defensive woes occasionally?
Sure.
But I mean, is Bobby Webb perfect defensively?
Is Royce Lewis perfect defensively?
I don't know about that.
Ellie Day-the-Crew sure isn't.
Now, speaking of unsure in the outfield, no, I'm moving this around.
Yeah, speak about defense.
I'm moving this around.
Nope.
Bretton Doyle is going to be my center fielder.
I'm going to have Bretton Doyle in center.
I mean, he's phenomenal, phenomenal defense.
He's a really good hitter.
Again, he's got the cores effect, but Bretton Doyle is a really good hitter.
Love having him on my team.
In left field, I'm going to put Wyatt Langford.
Really good player.
I love Wyatt Langford.
He's going to hit in the middle of that Rangers lineup this year.
He's young.
I will help you take note.
Most of my team is generally younger.
I've got more potential throughout my lineup than Kenji does.
I'll just say that.
I don't know.
Shohei is going to be 31.
Shota is going to be 32.
Louise is like ancient.
I'm just saying.
I'm just pointing this out.
I'm merely pointing this out.
It's all love.
Whatever.
So Wyatt Langford in left.
Big fan of having him in left.
And so then Wyatt in left, Doyle in center, Aaron Judge is in right field.
You can't sleep on Aaron Judge, man.
He might not be able to catch a ball in game five of the World Series.
He might not be able to hit a ball in the playoffs, but he's Aaron Judge.
He broke the home run record.
He's an amazing player.
Aaron Judge is in right field.
I have Brent Rooker as my DH.
Had to get DAs.
I didn't want Kenji to get Mason Miller.
I like Brent Rooker a lot.
Had a great season.
Got his extension.
He's going to hit a lot of homers in Sacramento.
Big fan of Brent Rooker.
And then Juan Soto is my UTIL.
And I'll move them around a little bit so I make sure that Soto gets every day at bats
because he has to get every day at bats.
How does that work?
What's that going to look like on your team?
How's Soto going to play every day if he's a utility guy?
Yeah, I mean, listen, I'll keep it a buck.
You might request a trade because of playing time right now if you look at the roster.
I'll keep it a buck.
I'll play Soto over Rooker.
I'll be real.
I'll put Soto over Rooker.
I like Rooker a lot, but Soto is better than Brent.
Brent would agree with that.
He's active on Twitter.
I'll tweet at Brent and say, hey, would you move to the side if Soto was going to take your position?
I don't know.
So that's my team.
Listen, Kenji's got a good squad.
His guys can run, but like they're injury prone.
OK, OK.
They can run. They're injury prone.
They can play fine defense.
My guys hit the ball over the wall and they have a lot of fun doing it.
So I'll digress.
We'll send these lineups to our group chat and we'll have the group chat vote on it.
You guys can comment as well if we have more than two listeners for this.
But I rest my case.
That's the end of my closing argument.
I'm done. Kenji, do you want any any remarks?
No, see, this is this is why I don't win in fantasy is because I take players like this who just like stealing bases.
I'm all about small ball in fantasy.
They don't win your game, but in real life, they win you games.
So Japan plays baseball, baby.
Defense and speed, small ball.
Oh, I did listen.
I Japan World Baseball champ WBC World Champion, baby.
They were listed, but I mean, if the if the United States had anybody besides Lance Lynn pitching for them last last time they played, they might have had a better outcome.
But Lance Lynn and Merrill Kelly were their best guys.
So I don't know, man.
I think there's a lot of good pitchers in the U.S.
Maybe we'll see him one day.
Probably not.
So Japan's going to keep winning.
But but those are the teams we kept this like it was pretty quick.
We're going to keep it nice and short for the people.
We're going to come back with some more content as the season gets closer and closer.
Twenty one days until spring training games and this is being recorded.
A lot to be excited about seasons coming up.
Alex Bregman still a free agent.
Pete Alonso still a free agent.
Moves left to be made.
Any make some moves.
It's got Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso on there.
Please anybody make some moves.
We're desperate.
We're like we're like we have a tin can and we're holding it out over this tree asking for tips.
Please somebody make a move please.
Jeff Jeff Pesan.
What he said about like they're passing.
What he said about like they're being like a trade trade deadline or like a free agent deadline.
I agree.
It would be such a good idea.
It would get these people off their butts and be like you know what I got to make some moves.
Yeah I agree wholeheartedly.
I agree again for the people for the we are for the people we are.
But those are all my thoughts.
Can you do anything else you want to talk about.
I think I'm good.
All right.
So thanks for thanks for watching it.
Listen and everybody we're going to get you video when the season starts.
Believe that.
But thanks for listening everybody.
We'll catch you guys on the next episode of Mount visit.
Thanks for listening.