Effectively Wild Episode 2422: The 2026 Minor League Free Agent Draft

Summary

Effectively Wild Episode 2422: The 2026 Minor League Free Agent Draft

Date: January 3, 2026
Hosts: Ben Lindbergh (The Ringer), Meg Rowley (FanGraphs), Ben Clemens (FanGraphs)
Podcast: Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the 13th annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft—the trio’s quirky, celebratory, and delightfully deep-dive tradition for baseballheads. Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Ben Clemens gather (along with the audience's energy for the new baseball year) to select their teams of 10 minor league free agents each. Their goal: to predict which players will accumulate the most combined MLB plate appearances and batters faced in the 2026 season—a contest more about humor, humility, and remembering some guys than scouting genius.

Before diving into the draft, the hosts also dissect the first noteworthy MLB signing of the new year: Tatsuya Imai to the Astros. The episode blends statistical speculation, self-effacing banter, nostalgia for past picks, and impeccable roster trivia.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Last Year / This Year” Baseball Semantics (00:45–03:13)

• Lighthearted banter kicks off the episode about whether, on January 1, to refer to the most recently completed baseball season as “last year.”
• Quote: “My most constant edit is… confusion between which year you mean when you say ‘last year’. But now, everything’s gravy.” – Meg (01:54)

2. Breaking Down Tatsuya Imai’s MLB Deal (03:27–18:21)

Contract Analysis

• Astros sign Japanese RHP Tatsuya Imai to a 3-year, $54 million MLB deal, with opt-outs after each of the first two years.
• The contract comes in under nearly all public projections (FanGraphs crowdsource: $73 million; industry sources: $100–$150 million).

Why So Modest?

• Ben Clemens: Reflected on why projections overshot these deals, echoing past misreads on Murakami. “Maybe we got too anchored to the idea that the top NPB players each offseason get gigantic deals—it depends on the class.” (09:18)

• Ben Lindbergh: Noted similarities to Kikuchi’s recent Astros stint and mused the Astros’ familiarity with international signings (14:20).

• Notable Quote:
  “Have you reflected at all on your own predictions for Murakami, whom you had at $154 million, and you missed slightly, but who didn’t really? So what’s happening here?” – Ben Lindbergh to Ben Clemens (05:31)

Broader Implications

• The hosts agree this potentially signals teams aren't simply "paying for NPB performance" anymore.
• Imai and Murakami’s willingness to choose shorter, higher-AAV deals with opt-outs points to a strategic bet on their own MLB success (08:25).
• They compare Imai’s “probable MLB mid-rotation starter” projections to what the league pays for a league-average arm.
• Meg quips: “I’d particularly be happy if I’m Houston, because 150 innings of reasonable baseball... That sounds good. They’ve been thin on the ground in Houston.” (16:22)

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3. 13th Annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft (18:16–81:55)

The Rules Refresher (18:22–23:04)

• Each host drafts 10 minor league free agents, tracking their cumulative 2026 MLB playing time.
• Eligibility = on the official Baseball America MLB minor league free agent list.
• Scoring combines plate appearances and total batters faced. Purely for bragging rights—“which is pretty important” (A, 18:24).
• Most successful picks in history: Dylan Moore, John Berti, Scott Barlow, Craig Stammen (now a MLB manager).

2026 Minor League Free Agent Class: “Light and Weak”

• All three hosts agree: This year’s class is unusually thin, with fewer high-upside or overlooked veterans (23:04–25:04).
• Quote: “This seems bad. I don’t think many of these players are that good. Whereas in many previous years I’ve been spoiled for choice.” – Ben Clemens (24:42)

Draft Strategy Banter & Stats

• Ben Clemens: Historically favors “ceiling”—more high-upside, higher-risk picks, leading to the lowest hit rate (50%).
• Meg: The highest “hit” rate (65%)—more steady, “safe” picks.
• Ben Lindbergh: Winner last year with a “miracle” 10-for-10 hit rate; this time admits he may be “courting disaster” with lots of unsigned picks.

Draft Highlights: Key Selections and Rationale

Selections with notable player notes and/or memorable moments:

First Round:

• Yoel Piamps (Braves, RHP RP) – Clemens: “He’s a good major league player. Signed a $2.25M deal. That’s not a contract you sign to play in the minors.” (28:44)
• Ty Adcock (Padres, RHP RP) – Meg: “I know, embarrassment of riches, but this group is a little more unsettled… first arm to come up if not break camp.” (31:31)
• Dyson Acosta (Padres, RHP RP) – Lindbergh: “Competing for time with Ty Adcock. Good stuff, struck out 72 in 52 innings.” (32:04)

Later Notables:

• Chas McCormick (unsigned, OF) – Lindbergh: “Still plays center, was a big league regular. Has to get a shot somewhere, right?” (38:55)
• Kevin Newman (Royals, INF) – Lindbergh: “Not exciting… but solid, dependable playing time guy. Royals do their Royals thing—you can’t hit, but we need a utility guy.” (45:40)
• Sean Boyle (Padres, RHP S/RP) – Clemens: “Basically a regular starter in AAA… Padres always need innings.” (47:30)
• Matt Mervis (Nationals, 1B) – Meg: “He got some run with the Marlins, now with the Nats… they don’t really have an actual first baseman.” (75:30)
• Janser Lara (no contract, RHP) – Meg: “He’s got a crazy fastball… came back to affiliated ball last year, cool trajectory. I’m taking a flyer.” (80:37)
• John Brebbia (Rockies, RHP RP) – Clemens: “Actually think at his peak he was a good, difference-making reliever. Delightful, easy to root for.” (62:42)

Frequent rationale: signings by thin teams (Marlins, Rockies, Nationals), major league contracts (for safety), catchers (“someone’s gotta catch for [bad team]!”), utility men who always seem to play, and relievers who have flashed stuff or simply have a “live arm.”

Draft Banter & Notable Moments

• Roster-building metaphors abound (Meg: “Do you want to be in the Garret Stubbs booby milk business? No, you’re not...” 50:23).

• Ongoing jokes about the unpronounceable or forgettable names.
  “Braxton Fulford really sounds like: Make up a name on the spot and don’t think.” — Ben Lindbergh (71:12)

• “Sometimes when we’re explaining who these picks are, it’s like in Can’t Hardly Wait where they’re looking for Preston... ‘Well, he’s kind of tall... his hair is kind of brown...’” – Lindbergh (60:06)

• Multiple host soul-searching as picks near the bottom of the board: “Oh god, it’s me again. How many of these do we do?” – Meg (58:36)

• Brief panic after Ben Lindbergh selects Akil Baddoo, who may be a minor league FA, but isn’t on the official list. (68:02–68:50)

• All agree: the Marlins, Rockies, and Nationals are the best organizations to target for playing time due to lack of depth.

Closing Out the Draft (81:54–92:00)

• Each host shares their “close but not quite” picks—more bench infielders, quad-A outfielders, and fungible middle relievers.
• The random “control group” team, selected by Patreon supporter Thomas, features Jonah Bride (Rangers) and a cast of deeply marginal players—the true spirit of the exercise.
• “It would be very funny if, after going 10-for-10 last year, none of your guys get big-league time this year.” – Meg, to Ben L. (78:22)

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4. Stat Blast and Listener Follow-Ups (92:00–105:41)

• Stathead Query Fun
  • Bailey Ober’s “dial 7-7-7-7” line (7 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 7 K) — done only four times in MLB history (93:38).
• Obscure Nickname Etymologies
  • “Boob and Gink” traced to old comic strips (Gink and Boob, Mutt and Jeff).
• Listener Questions & Corrections
  • Percentage of a season’s losses to a single opponent (1928 A’s, 29% to Yankees).
  • Details on the Royals’ first 30 HR / 100 RBI teammate pairings.
• Random baseball brick mishap
  • “Replacement” fan brick inscribed verbatim with the fan’s uncertain memory.
• Tribute to the randomness of the task
  • “No one is especially good at this. That’s what makes it fun.” – Ben L. (78:58)

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Maybe we just got too anchored to the idea that the top NPB players each offseason get gigantic deals—it depends on the class.” – Ben Lindbergh (09:18)
• “The Astros have managed to get a potential mid-rotation starter and still stay under the competitive balance tax threshold, which seems important to them.” – Ben Lindbergh (11:03)
• “This seems bad. I don’t think many of these players are that good. Previous years, I’ve been spoiled for choice.” – Ben Clemens (24:42)
• “We just take turns. Maybe it’s more entertaining this way… it’s Effectively Wild tradition.” – Ben Lindbergh (44:00)
• “If you’re a catcher and you play for the Mariners, you’re probably not going to see big league time.” – Meg Rowley (43:15)
• “Oh god, it’s me again. How many of these do we do? No, I know the answer to that. I love this draft. It’s so dumb.” – Meg Rowley (58:36)
• “Sometimes when we’re explaining who these picks are, it’s like in Can’t Hardly Wait where they’re trying to describe Preston… ‘He’s kind of tall… sometimes he wears t-shirts…’” – Ben Lindbergh (60:06)
• “It would be very funny, and I’m not wishing for this because I’m magnanimous, but… if none of your guys saw big league time [after last year’s perfection].” – Meg Rowley to Ben Lindbergh (78:22)

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Key Draft Segment Timestamps

• Tatsuya Imai contract discussion: 03:27–18:21
• Draft rules and historical context: 18:22–23:04
• First picks: 28:44–32:04
• Mid-draft ruminations: 40:55–62:41
• Host self-awareness and humor spikes: 58:36–60:47
• Draft wrap-up and honorable mentions: 81:54–92:00

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Tone & Style Highlights

• Playful, nerdy, irreverent: “What are you going to do, be in the Garret Stubbs booby milk business? No, you’re not. You’re going to have respect for yourself, Philadelphia.” – Meg (50:23)
• Community-driven: Repeated appreciation for Patreon supporters who keep stats, track picks, and suggest clever questions.
• Self-referential, tradition-bound: Hosts relishing their own baseball-nerd lore and inviting listeners into a “legendary list for ball knowers.”
• Inclusive of errors and second-guessing: Part of the fun is not knowing, and yet earnestly trying.

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For Those Who Haven’t Listened...

This episode is a goldmine of deep baseball esoterica and an affectionate send-up of stathead culture. You’ll get a sense for how teams fill out rosters, why some recognizable names drop off the big league radar, and how baseball’s roster churn can be a source of both pathos and fascination. It’s a true “remember some guys” experience, focused on the edge of every team’s 40-man roster, and a celebration of the unpredictability and humor of the sport.

For further detail, including links to referenced articles and transactions, see the episode show page and EWStats.com.

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Happy New Year, Effectively Wild listeners!

Transcript

[A]

Podcast listen our emails that blast romantic baseball trap every weekday. Break down your favorite pastime. Sit down, relax and unwind as we learn our t wor.

[B]

Hello and welcome to episode 2422 of Effectively Wild, a Fangrass baseball podcast, brought to you by our Patreon supporters. I'm Meg Elio, Fangraphs and I am joined by Ben Limberg of the Ringer. Ben, how are you doing?

[A]

Very well, thank you.

[B]

And I am also joined by Ben Clements of Fan Graphs. Ben, how are you?

[C]

I'm doing great.

[A]

Happy New Year to you both.

[B]

Yeah, Happy New Year.

[A]

Happy New Year. Since we started recording, we already said this off air just to ruin the illusion that we don't talk at all before we press record. But Happy New Year to everyone listening as well. And actually the first email of the year that we received to podcastangraft.com was from Patreon supporter Dean Simmer, who said, happy New Year, friends. Pleased to report that my 9 year old just woke up and his first question was in referring to the 2025 baseball season, should we say last year now?

[B]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[A]

You're raising that young man, right, Dean? I'm surprised that that would be the first thought on a nine year old's mind on New Year's Day, but I appreciate it. It sounds like he has been podcast pilled. So than you're raising another young Patreon supporter in the future.

[B]

It's interesting because it's not, it's not an issue in October. In October everyone says this year because, you know, the World Series hasn't concluded, I guess, although the regular season is done.

[A]

Yeah. So the season isn't over. So you, you can say this season.

[B]

Yeah, but people are good in October and then November 1st hits and everybody gets amnesia and all of a sudden my most cons constant edit is we have confusion between which year you mean when you say last year. But now everything's gravy. And to pull the curtain back even further, you know, over the course of the holiday break, I was in process on editing the Seattle Mariners list which ran today, January 2nd. And I'm in conversation with Brendan Galaski. This is not a knock on Brendan, but Brendan was one of the many staff writers we have who's making this mistake. And then he said, aha, this is running on the second though. So I can say last year everyone will know what, what I mean. I was like, that's right, Brendan, that's right.

[A]

Ah, well, no one else cares about.

[B]

This, but I care so much as.

[A]

You posted on Blue Sky. Our brief annual nightmare is over. It's over and just in time because we will probably be referring to last season quite often on this episode. And if anyone's wondering, why is other Ben here? Well, other Ben's here a lot. He is our second most frequent podcast guest. You are just one appearance behind Longenhagen.

[C]

Really.

[A]

We're moving up quickly, jockeying for first. Yes. But Ben is here because we are ringing in the new year with the 13th annual effectively wild Minor League Free Agent Draft.

[B]

It's time.

[A]

Yeah, it's exciting. It's always this time of year. Sometimes it's late in a year, sometimes it's early in a year. But we always got to get it done. I always look forward to it. Hopefully our listeners do too. We have done our preparation and we'll talk about that in just a second after we get to one noteworthy signing of the new year. Yeah, the Houston Astros have signed Tatsuya Imai. We knew he was going to go somewhere because that was when the posting window was up. But this is in the vein of Munetaka Murakami in that the top Japanese pitcher available, like the top Japanese position player, did not sign for nearly the kind of contract that was predicted. And Ben, when you did the top 50 free agent ranking at FanCrafts, you had him at 100 million. And others were more bullish than that. MLB trade rumors had him at 150 million. And I guess. Yeah. And Meg, we. We must have thought that sounded about right because neither of us. No, neither of us drafted. Neither of us took the under.

[C]

Yeah. ESPN had him at 135. The Athletic had him up in the 1 30s.

[A]

Yeah, that was kind of the consensus. Yeah, you were, you were low. Yeah. To their credit, the FanGraphs crowd came kind of close to nailing it because the crowdsourced consensus was a mean of 73 million and a median of 64. And actually 73 is, I think, the maximum that this contract could be. But It's a guaranteed three year, $54 million deal with opt outs after each of the first two seasons. Yeah. And then there are escalators. And if he triggered every threshold and somehow didn't opt out, which would be weird, then I think it would take it to something like 73. But yeah, this was way under what he was projected to get. Given that people seem to think he's a credible mid rotation ish guy and he's 27 years old.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he's the best pitcher coming over from Asia this Winter. And yet he settles for a lot less than expected. So what's happening here, Ben? Have you reflected at all on your own predictions for Murakami, whom you had at 154 million and you missed slightly, but who didn't really? So what's happening here?

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I feel like I'm learning to override my model less because I feel like this one is another one of them. But like in my. I would say that if you just used a spreadsheet to guess how much he would get, it wouldn't be that far off from here. But then I like read all the scouting reports and listened to what people were saying. And same with murder comedy.

[A]

Yeah, listen to Longenhagen. That's where you went wrong.

[C]

Well, certainly not that, but like listening to the whole world, like, you know, people were really high on these guys and a lot of the comparisons for Murakam or for Imai were like, this guy's like a number two starter in the majors. And I don't think that the translations would say that.

[A]

No.

[C]

When I initially model everything and just do that off of a like kind of a rule based thing, I had them lower. And yeah, I think that essentially it feels like this is not a crazy payday, but I feel like people were talking as though the last few deals for NPB stars coming over had gone so well that it was just going up and up. And yeah, I'm guessing that I'm going to miss on Okamoto too.

[A]

Right? I was going to say we'll find out in a day or two. By the time we record again, Kazuma Okamoto will have signed somewhere.

[C]

I had him and Imai at the same deal and then I was like, man, I'm like way lower than the market on Imai. I am not thinking about this. Right. I need to read more stuff about him. I mean, like, I had Amai, I think both of them down for 418, which is what I have Okamoto down for. Maybe I'll be right on that. But given how everyone has been coming up short, I'm guessing that he'll go for even less.

[B]

I don't know because I think that, you know, he's older than Murakami, but I think the hit tool is viewed to be more stable. Right. Like, there is a lot lower bust potential for Okamoto, it seems, is the consensus.

[A]

But yeah.

[C]

Although lower than Am I?

[B]

Well, right. Yeah. I don't. I don't quite know how to make sense of that piece unless You're. Well I, I guess really worried about the. The stature. Right. He is a smaller guy relative to your typical big league starter. I think he's listed at like 511 and he is I guess pretty secondary dependent in terms of his best pitches. Right. It's his breaking so maybe worry about the ball. This is an original thought but yeah, I was surprised. I was surprised that he was able to secure the opt outs but also that there was such necessity for that to happen.

[C]

It is worth mentioning that both he and Murakami signed deals as if they were saying man, major league teams are not paying for NPB performance so let's hit free agency again soon.

[A]

Yes. Right. Yeah. And it was reported, I think Mark Feinstein reported that Imai did get longer term deals for lower AAV and he should chose the shorter term higher AAV with opt outs. I think the same was reported about Murakami that he could have had a higher guaranteed number if he had wanted to. But I like what you're saying Ben, about maybe we just got anchored to the idea that the top NPP players of each offseason will just get gigantic deals assuming they're not so young like Ohtani and Sasaki that they don't even have to. But it's. You know, just because Yamamoto got a massive contract and Imai is now the number one pitcher coming over from Japan this offseason doesn't mean that Imai equals Yamamoto.

[C]

Right?

[A]

So. Or even Sasaki in terms of stuff and upside and youth and everything. Of course you didn't have to break the bank to get to Saki, but his first season over here was kind of a cautionary tale too. So yeah, maybe it's that. Maybe we've all just kind of gotten too used to the idea that the top NPB free agent of each offseason gets X. And that's not necessarily true. It depends on the class. I. I did wonder. Just, you know, for anyone who needs a brief refresher, we did have Eric on at the beginning of the off season to preview the class of Asian free agents and he told us about Imai. But his little blurb, or at least the the co authored piece that he and James Fagan did at the start of the off season for fan crafts scouting the Japanese and Korean players. The Blurb was the 27 year old Imai has steadily improved as a strike thrower and innings eater each of the last three years and his fastball was still sitting in the mid-90s at the end of 2025 even though he had worked 160 plus innings for the second consecutive season. I think he is the hardest throwing starter in Japan. It's just he isn't as hard a thrower as Darvish and Yamamoto and Ohtani were. But Imai's delivery arguably doesn't take full advantage of his special athleticism and flexibility and he might find another gear in mlb. He has the stuff of a good mid rotation starter and is in his prime. And Eric did a full breakdown of the deal, but the evaluation wasn't too different from that brief preview. And if that's true, if that's who he is, if he's a mid rotation starter who's fairly durable and yes, maybe the command is kind of shaky or it will regress but then again maybe they could unlock even more and he could get better. So there's still upside and, and youth because that's the thing with him and Murakami. They're so young.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That I, I just really would have obviously taken the over on the deals that they got. So it perplexes me a little and I can't help but think that these guys are maybe going to be bargains a bit. So I guess good job Astros. They've managed to get a potential mid rotation starter and still stay under the competitive balance tax threshold by 4 million or so, which seems important to them. Yeah.

[C]

I mean one nice thing is that for Imai is that he's not going to be that much of a bargain. If he has, he'll just leave.

[A]

Yes. Right.

[C]

And same deal with Murakami. Like man, the White Sox might get an awesome deal for three years, but he's. Yeah, he's gonna be gone pretty quickly if he's great.

[A]

Well, assuming that this takes the Esters out of the from BER Valdez market, if they were ever in it, then it's a, it's a credible contending rotation. There's Hunter Brown at the top and then Imai and Christian Javier and then Mike Burrows, the guy they got from the Pirates in the recent three team trade. And then there's Ryan Weiss, another returnee from Asia who they just signed and then there's just a bunch of guys kind of in mix. Lance McCullers or the idea of Lance McCullers. The theoretical possibility of Lance McCullers, Spencer Etty, Jason Alexander, et cetera. You know you could find a fifth starter in, in that group somewhere. So it's good enough. You could imagine them making a run with that rotation. Assuming that people more or less stay healthy and mi Is is decent. So I like the signing for them. The only other possibility I considered like could this have something to do with teams wanting to pay the NPB team less? Is that possible? Because the. The deal with the posting system now is that the team that posts the player gets like 20% of the first 25 million and then 17.5% of the next 25 million and 15% of anything over 50 million. And so the Cebu Lions aren't going to get all that much for posting Imai here and then same deal with Murakami. I don't know the incentive, like it's not as if the player really has an incentive to take less so that their old team gets screwed. So I don't see really why they would settle.

[C]

Yeah, they're definitely not going to do that. But you could imagine it affecting teams desire to like move down the time versus AAV spectrum. They might be more interested in staying at the highish AAV fewer years. I mean the thing is that these deals aren't high average annual values. They're just not anything. They're just like pretty good deals. So I don't know that it's that particularly.

[B]

I feel like it kind of operates in the same way that the qualifying offer does. Where doesn't matter for the no doubt like star dudes. Like you're just gonna. You're just gonna sign Yamamoto, right? You don't care what the. I mean, I guess you care somewhat what the posting fee is, but that is an understood sort of cost and being able to retain his services. But you get a Yamamoto, so you're kind of indifferent to that. Whereas if there's a perception that a guy is a more marginal talent, then like maybe it does factor to some degree. But also those guys are just going to get less money anyway.

[A]

So I don't know. Yeah. And this is the first player signed out of NPB ever by the Astros, I believe. They had not signed a Japanese free agent. I read at the Athletics since Kazmatsui way back in 2008. And that had been after he had been in the big leagues for several years. Yeah. And they did however trade for Yusei Kikikuchi, remember in 2024, which I cannot call last year anymore. And they seemingly did a good job with him and he had a really good stint with them that he then parlayed into a nice deal with the Angels. And that seems to have resonated a bit because Kikuchi is also represented by Scott Boris who represented Imai. And I think Boris praised the Astros for helping Kikuchi improve during his brief time in Houston, so that could have helped them as well. But, yeah, I just. I'm somewhat flummoxed, somewhat perplexed, and wish I had taken the under, because that would have gotten me back in the running. After you took the under on Murakami.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It's all gonna. It's all gonna come down to Tucker. For you, though, I really think it's all gonna be about Kyle T. Ben, what.

[C]

What do you have on Kyle Tucker and off what initial?

[A]

I had the under on 400, I.

[C]

Think, which I like your side of.

[A]

It, I guess, but I'm not feeling great about it. It might be under 400, but it's.

[C]

Let me put it this way. Tucker and Imai and Murakami are the three guys where I put my thumb on the scale most to move up my projections for them. So having. Having been wrong with my first two, so that increases my conviction that my third one was also wrong.

[A]

Okay. All right. Any other thoughts on Imai or the Astros or remaining free agents? Before we get down to business, I.

[C]

Have a question for you guys. Sure. If you knew that Amai was going to hit his steamer projections, which are.

[A]

I don't even know.

[C]

Which is like a 4.3era and 150innings.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Would you be happy or sad about this deal?

[A]

I'd be happy. I think I'd be happy.

[B]

I think I'd particularly be happy if I'm Houston, because 150 innings of, like, reasonable baseball. That sounds good. They've been thin on the ground in Houston, you know, 150 innings from one guy.

[C]

So it's like. I mean, it's a bad era. Right?

[B]

Like, it's not a great era.

[A]

That's the thing. Yeah. We do have to adjust a little bit. We're not sure dead ball era like NPB is, but sure, the league average MLB average starting pitcher last year had a 4.21 ERA, so that would actually not be that great. But.

[C]

But it's essentially like average.

[A]

Ish.

[C]

League average, ish production, you get terrible.

[A]

Yeah, not at all. Right. I mean, you get 18 million a year for a league average starter, and I guess maybe some escalators could kick in potentially, and then it might be a bit more.

[C]

Yeah, I haven't really. Like, I know that the deal maxes out higher, but trying to figure out the exacts of that is beyond what I feel like doing.

[A]

On January 2nd, I guess he gets 18 million, but then, yeah, if he. Let's see. Escalates his 2027 salary by 2 million apiece if he reaches 80, 90 and 100 innings next year. And then it also escalates his 2028 salary. But he probably wouldn't even trigger those escalators because he would just stop out. Even if he's an average starter, I would think he'd probably opt out, so.

[B]

So you're really looking at a one year, $20 million deal for a league average starter?

[A]

Yeah, I'd be pretty happy with that.

[C]

You know what this would look a lot like? You say Kikuchi's deal with the Los angeles angels.

[A]

Yes. Yeah.

[C]

360, 363. And he threw 180 kind of meh. Innings.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So, I mean, hey, I assume the Angels are very happy with that deal so far, so.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, sure. That's 2.5 Fangraph swore this season. That's. That's a solid rate of return.

[B]

Good night's sleep, if you will.

[A]

Yes, I'm sure he will. Okay, so the minor league for agent draft.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

13Th time we've done this. So unless you are a recent listener and in which case welcome aboard, then you probably know the drill. But the drill is that we draft minor league free agents 10 apiece and we try to target players we think will get major league playing time in 2026. They don't have to be good. They don't have to be productive. It helps if they are because that will earn them playing time. But we go purely by plate appearances and total batters faced. And it's just the sum of the plate appearances plus total batters faced of the ten guys we drafted. And it's just for bragging rights. But sometimes there's a lot of bragging, so that's pretty important. I can speak from personal experience fairly easy.

[B]

We can all speak from personal experience.

[A]

Being the receiving end of said bragging. Yeah, that's the thing. It's like, where do I go from here, really? I just. Okay, wait a minute.

[B]

This is not an. This is not an invitation for another acceptance speech.

[A]

I mean, it seems like an appropriate time to take one last. No lap, bow, curtsy, just, you know, I mean, we did our recap of last year's results, but I just. I feel like I've seen the mountaintop and I don't really know where to go from here. So I. I feel some sort of malaise because I feel like I prob I can't top my performance from last year. And it's just. It's all downhill from here and if we didn't just need to continue to do the podcast and if I didn't enjoy this draft so much, oh my God, just call it a career.

[B]

Frankly, thunking you on the head if he were with you in person right now. Enough, enough.

[A]

Just walk away, you know, on a high note. But, but I won't. I'll continue because, you know, I could always, I guess, repeat perfection. So that's something to aim for, consecutive years of going 10 for 10. But you know, that's, that's the standards that I set that, that we all aim for. And what we do is we take a list of minor league free agents that is put out by MLB and published by Baseball America, and there are 574 minor league free agents who declared shortly after the conclusion of the World Series this year. And as a brief refresher, it's always difficult to explain what a minor league free agent is because a minor league contract is not synonymous with a minor league free agent. You can sign a minor league deal and not have been a minor league free agent, which is kind of confusing. But as Baseball America said, these players minor league contract terms expired typically after the six renewal seasons of their uniform player contract were exercise. The uniform player contract, that's just when you get into pro ball, into affiliated ball, you sign the generic uniform player contract and it gives you several years of team control or it gives your team several years of control over you. And then when that expires, then you get to be a free agent if you're still stuck in the minors. And as Baseball America said, many minor league free agents this off season signed initial UPCs for the 2019 season and had their contracts renewed for six seasons after that, covering the 2020 through 2025 seasons. So it's just a release valve. It's a mechanism for anyone who's just been stuck in a certain team system, maybe blocked by someone at the major league level. This is their out. This is how they get to become a free agent and hopefully find greener pastures. And then there are also some weird ones, like guys who've been in the big leagues, but they get outrighted to the minors and they end the season in the minors and then they become minor league free agents. So it's a odd amalgamation of names every year, which is part of the charm, I think. In fact, I saw the MLB Trade Rumors post about this back from November when Baseball America published its list and I looked at the comments on the MLB Trade Rumors post and here are a quotes Such a bizarre group of players, guys I had no idea were still around or trying to be. That looks like the majority of the 2019 MLB Top 100 Prospects list. Wow, that's a lot of once was, never wass and reclamation projects. And finally, this is a legendary list for ball knowers. And hopefully we're ball knowers and we know a lot of these names though so far from all of them, that's for sure. So we have put together our draft boards and we will do our best to throw some darts and hit big leaguers in 2026. Any thoughts on preparation on the draft class? Anything else?

[B]

I thought this was kind of a light bunch. A poor group relative to the average. Yeah, which isn't to say that there aren't some guys who will be worthwhile and might might play big league roles, perhaps meaningful big league roles. But it did feel light where I was like, oh, is it. Is it fewer guys than usual? And I was like, no, it's just fewer good guys than usual maybe.

[A]

So yeah, it is the same kind of quantity. But I also had that sense of not the same quality because I went back and I looked on on my miracle draft of 2025, the draft board that I had last year.

[B]

Terrible.

[A]

Unbearable. That's 48.

[B]

I. I smoked you in the contract over Underdraft last year. It was not close. It was frankly embarrassing for you. And I have said so little about it. And here other Ben. This is embarrassing Ben. We bring other Ben into our podcast home and you, you are doing this in front of a guest. Embarrassing.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Yes, I am. And I make no apologies. Not many apologies at least. But yeah, I had the same feeling because I had 48 names on my draft board last year and this year I have 32 that I even bothered writing down, which is like the minimum. I mean, I have to have at least 30 in case we all have identical pref lists and I need to draft the 10 guys you didn't, but just not a lot. I don't know if that's because I just didn't bother writing down guys I'm realistically not going to draft or this.

[C]

Has to be a bad class. I don't have a consistent method. I do something new every year. But I was looking through this and I was like, this seems bad. I don't think many of these players are that good. Whereas I feel like in many previous years I've been spoiled for choice.

[B]

Right to the point that it's almost.

[C]

A problem and making bad decisions because there's too many players that I Like and this time it's too few.

[A]

Yeah, I bolded barely over 10 like guys I really want as opposed to. Yeah, I could live with that guy I guess. But yeah, actual top tart targets. It's not many more than just a full roster and I will not get all of them, unfortunately. I don't know why that would be. It's just I guess fluctuation from year to year. But yeah, it did stand out. I wonder maybe at the end of the year we could get someone to stat blast that and find out whether there actually was like less talent available in this draft class or, or not. But yeah, we'll see. We'll do our best despite the difficult circumstances. And shout out to Patreon supporter Evan, who every year diligently updates what he calls the minor league free agent draft dynasty tracker, which is a record of, of all of the picks that we've all made over the years, including past participants Sam and Jeff. And he tracks them over time and, and tracks them as if we were drafting in a dynasty league, basically just like if we were drafting for talent and production. And so he tracks the war produced career by everyone. So like the best pick ever by fan graphs, WAR in the minor league free agent draft is Dylan Moore, whom Sam selected in 2019 and has accumulated 8.4 WAR. So that's tops. And by baseball reference, WAR, it's John Bertie who I took in 2019 and he's at 8.6 WAR. So yeah, the, like the names that we've hung in the rafters in the minor league for agent draft in terms of war, Dylan Moore, John Birdie, Scott Barlow, Craig Stammon, who's now a major league manager. That's how long we've been doing this. And you know that kind of name. So. But we don't care if they're good. I mean again it helps but that's not the main goal here. He also has our hit rates over time and like how well we've done in, in WAR per year and total WAR accumulated and everything. And what this tells me is that Ben, you have sort of a different strategy which is I think you employed this last year where you kind of go like all or nothing a little bit. You tend to, to be a little risky.

[C]

I like picking guys who could have a good year.

[A]

Yes, right. You, you go for ceiling sort of. And so your overall hit rate I think as a result is the worst. But, but when you do hit. So you're, you have hit on 50%. Exactly. Of your picks. 50% have made the majors in the year following the draft, whereas Meg is at 65. Meg has the highest hit rate, 65%, but I guess plays it somewhat safer, whereas I and. And Sam and Jeff tend to cluster around 60%. So Ben has, at least in the past, I think, had more of a, like, drafting for ceiling in terms of playing time, as opposed to just sort of taking the guy you think is pretty much a lock for some playing time, but probably won't actually get much playing time. You're just. You're rolling the dice. So I'll be curious to see whether you remain true to form this year.

[C]

I guess we'll see. Yeah.

[A]

And I have forgotten who has the first. Oh, I guess it's Ben Clement, because you're. Your all or nothing strategy didn't work out that well last year, so as a result, you have the number one pick. So take it away.

[C]

Here's the good news. There's only one player I wanted to draft this year.

[A]

Oh, wow. Well, you get him.

[C]

I got him. I'm going to take Joel Pyamps.

[A]

Yeah, that's a really.

[C]

Presumably that was the top of everybody's board in that. There's not much of a board aside from him.

[A]

I think it's pronounced Yoel Pioms. I think Yoel Pioms.

[C]

All right.

[A]

I prepped on the pronunciation, hoping that I would have to say it when I selected him, but sadly.

[C]

Yeah, well, he's a good major league player. Yeah. Who is signed to a $2.25 million deal.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, he wasn't good last year.

[B]

He was not good last year.

[C]

He has been good, but, you know, like, he's a. He's a good reliever. He's just a totally normal, good reliever. He got kind of jammed in the Brewers. Our team is too good. Crunch. He had a 4.3fip when the Brewers DFA'd him, but a 7.23 ERA. And they just said, eh, let's not try to keep going with this. Our bullpen's really good. We're trying to move the miz there. In fact, that is basically what happened. He was designated for assignment on September 20th, so that's why he's a minor league free agent because of the weird machinations at the end of the season. So I'm just gonna take him. He already signed, like I said, a $2.25 million contract with the Braves. That's not a contract you signed to go play in the minors, so.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. No, it's. It's a good pick. I think he was probably the clear number one again, you know, reliever. So there's a, a ceiling there in terms of total batters faced. I guess like the, the best picks tend to be starters who can get even more playing time. Like who did you take last year? Adrian Hauser? Meg? Yep. Yeah. So that was your number one pick and you got 518 total betters.

[C]

Face if you hit on a starter that goes like really far or you hit on a, a like an everyday player. But that's super unlikely.

[A]

Yeah, but yeah, that's about as safe a bet to be a big leaguer all year and, and maybe actually be decent. So good pick. All right Meg, you're up.

[B]

I'm also going to take a guy who has a one year deal, although I think this is probably a split contract. I'm going to take Ty Adcock who's a right handed reliever. He signed a deal with the Padres. He was the Mets very briefly in 25 and 24 at the major league level. He pitched well in like three innings in the majors last year. But I know that there is something of an embarrassment of riches in San Diego from a, from a reliever perspective. But I do think this group is like a little more unsettled than it necessarily gets credit for. Maybe they will make Major Mason Miller a starter. Maybe one of these guys will get hurt, you know. So I think that there's good possibility that he will be like one of the first arms that comes up if he doesn't break camp with the big league club. So I'm taking Adcock.

[A]

That's a good one. And I'm thinking about whether I want to just go head to head with you. You know, I do. I'm going to get a guy who will be competing for pitching time with Ty Adcock and that is Dyson Acosta who was also signed by the Padres and also got an MLB deal. He was in the national system. He has not yet made his major league debut but he is just 27 years old.

[B]

Just 27.

[A]

Yeah. He has an option remaining which that can be kind of a double edged sword because sometimes when a guy doesn't have an option remaining that's extra incentive to, to keep him on the major league roster. And that's good because someone else might get sent down instead. But also sometimes it's incentive to just cut them because they're maybe not quite good enough to keep around to break camp with the big club and, and there's just no room on the roster for them and Then they go. So that could work out either way. Maybe Acosta just, you know, makes the, the team out of spring training or maybe he doesn't, but comes up sometime later in the season and he's got good stuff. He, he pitched well. He, he had kind of a like a helium season for the Nationals. He, I guess he had been in the upper levels of the minors previously, but he pitched in a ball. He pitched in double A. He pitched in AAA and kind of split time between double A and AAA mostly and overall was quite effective and struck out 72 in 52 innings. Not too shabby. So hopefully he'll be doing that in the big leagues with San Diego this year.

[C]

And you got all the way down to W for Washington and looking for these minor league free agents. That's to the victor go to spoils.

[A]

You just stopped scrolling at a certain point. Just didn't.

[C]

I ran out of time, really.

[A]

Okay, well, yeah, the, the Baseball America list this year actually had. I don't remember this, but they had a breakdown by team and everything because it really varies whether teams had a lot of minor league free agents or not. And you know, some of them have roster crunch and some of them don't. So like the Nationals had the most minor league free agents. They had 34 minor league free agents.

[C]

I was wondering whether that's. They brought in the new front office and they're like, who are these guys?

[A]

Yeah. Whereas the Orioles had eight. So there's a real range there in terms of how many each team has. And then by level, they broke it down by level to 356 of the 574 were at AAA, I guess most recently. And then it goes all the way down to like five guys who were in the Dominican Summer League. So it just again runs the gamut of minor league levels. And then they broke it down by position too. So 268 of them, by far the most were. Oh, that's right handed relievers, okay. Or. No, that's just right hand pitchers, I think. Thought they had broken it down. Starter, reliever. Sometimes it's tough to make that distinction with players of, of this caliber. So It's. Yeah, it's just 268 righty pitchers, 68 lefty pitchers and then 66 outfielders, 59 catchers, 41 short stops, 36 third basemen, 18 second basemen and, and 18 first basemen. So there's a little bit of everything. Okay, so we're all on the board here. We all have our first rounders and now it's back to bed.

[C]

I'm actually going to take another reliever. I don't really know if that's a great choice, but this is a guy that I think is actually probably a major leaguer. Zach Pop.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Zach Pop.

[C]

Yeah. I just think that guy's pretty good.

[B]

He signed a big league deal.

[C]

Did he? I just signed deal, perhaps big league. So that's good.

[A]

I can confirm it's a big league deal and he's out of options. So. Yeah, you know, again, I mean, he.

[C]

Might get cut, but he has like real major league baseball stuff. Stuff, so that seems good. And yeah, if he starts in the majors. Cool. Then maybe he'll do well.

[A]

He was with the Mets most recently. He's now with the Phillies. And that Philly pen could be pretty good. So I don't, I don't know how much room there will be, but I kind of, I root for him because I believe he was the first player we ever featured on our Meet a Major Leaguer segment.

[B]

Is that right?

[C]

Yes.

[A]

And so I. Game, I've always remembered. Yeah. Zach Pop. It. It pops in my mind. So, yeah, he was with the Marwin's back then and then he was with the Blue Jays and most recently with the Mets and also the Mariners. He was very briefly with the Mariners as well this past season. So he's bounced around a bit. But yeah, he did get a big league deal. I was sort of surprised that he got a big league deal, I guess, but. But he did. So, yeah, there's always a run on the major league contract guys at the beginning of these drafts. For those who are just joining us for the first of these, that's just a, a little extra security that someone either like, commanded enough desire from teams that they could go where they wanted and thought they would get playing time or, you know, sometimes it's like you're on the 40, man. You, you know, actually have, have an inside track.

[C]

We are picking the best minor league free agents, but the difference between the average guy who signs a minor league deal and the average guy who signs a major league deal is huge.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because like, yeah, major league guys make the majority on average.

[A]

All right, Mick.

[B]

Okay, I'm going to take a guy who doesn't have a big league deal, but I think we'll get a big league opportunity. And that's Eddie Yin. Eddie Yin. Eddie Yin was, was with the Pirates last year. He signed a minor league deal with the Nationals. And guess what the Nationals are going to do? They're going to cycle through a bunch of guys and see if any of them are good. And he carried a three ERA at AAA last year, so. So does he strike many guys out? I'm here to tell you he does not. But I think that the combination of upper level performance with the team that again is going to be keen to see if they can like kind of make something out of post prospect guys might give him a chance to to break camp with the club. So Eddie Yin plus is fun to say.

[A]

It is. Yeah. There are some good names in this draft.

[C]

He's a former top prospect. Right. Right. I don't know where former prospect of.

[B]

Some note, he was definitely a ranked guy. Where did Eddie. Let's remind ourselves he was like a 35 plus in his final year.

[A]

Yeah, he.

[B]

He peaked as a 40 plus so he was a prospect. But he was.

[C]

I recognize the name pretty well. I don't know why. I guess he was on four different prospect lists so that helps. Yes.

[A]

Baseball reference claims that it's actually Eddie Jean. Oh.

[B]

Oh really?

[A]

Does that. Does that change whether you still want to select him or perhaps opens up.

[B]

A whole new world of jokes?

[A]

I guess so. Yeah. Huh. That's a good one. I'll see if I can confirm the pronunciation as we're doing this.

[C]

But are his relief appearances Jean shorts then?

[A]

Good one.

[C]

That's all I got.

[A]

Other sources claim it is Yin. I hope it's Yin. Yin's fun. Okay, I will select another guy who I believe does not have a deal currently, but seems like he should. Chaz McCormick.

[B]

Yeah. What's up with Chas McCormick not having a deal? He was on my list too.

[A]

Yeah, has. Has been a big league regular at times. Too distant. Yeah, he's coming off not very good year or two years for that matter. So you know, I see why he is a minor league free agent and doesn't have a deal as of yet. Now there's always the risk of course when you select someone who has not yet been signed that they might sign in Korea or Japan or something and we do not get credit for that. It's only MLB playing time and we've all been burned by those cases in the past. But yeah, there were several guys as I was doing my draft prep where I thought, ooh, this is a good one. I like this guy. And then I was just about ready to write him on my board and then oh, he signed with NPD or something. But good to know. I guess that they were seeing the same thing I was. Anyway, as long as I avoid drafting someone who has already signed with a Japanese or Korean team, which I have done in the past. And then you're, you know, down a pick before the season even starts, so hoping to avoid that. But as far as I know, Chaz McCormick, still free agent and just, you know, seems like he'll get a shot somewhere. Right. You know, he's, he's.

[B]

Here's on my list.

[A]

Yeah, he still plays center regularly. I mean, you know, as much as he plays anything, he played more center than left or right, but he can play it all. And he's only like a couple years removed from being legitimately good and actually like hitting well, I guess is still kind of a platoon guy, but, you know, good. Like in 2022, he was, he was a really good player. He's like a three plus WAR player.

[C]

Yeah, he's the best peak player on this list. I think there's some guys who were pretty good a while ago, but yeah.

[A]

He'S only 30, so someone will give him a shot. Hopefully not a team in Japan or Korea, but we'll find out. Okay.

[C]

That's actually the end of my targets list. I had four players on it. We've picked them all.

[A]

Wow. Your strategy for this year is not prepping at all. It's like. Which is valid.

[C]

No, I read them all, but I just didn't think any of them were that good.

[A]

I see.

[C]

I have some begrudging targets. Yeah, I'm going to go with Valente Bello because I've seen him pitch. He's a Marlins kind of swing man.

[A]

Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

You know, is he good? He's. He's not. I, I said that. I watched him pitch and I watched the Mets absolutely unload on him. Just absolutely destroy him for like two or three innings before the Marlins went to some bad relievers. He made six starts and pitched 80 innings in the majors last year, and then he elected free agency and he's not signed by anybody. But I'm hoping that he will get a deal because he was good enough to pitch in the majors.

[B]

I love this. It's a very interesting approach. I wonder how it'll go.

[C]

I don't think this one is going to be good, but it might be. And he's only 25.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I mean, 25. Yeah. Okay, so it's my turn now. I'm going to take Blake Hunt.

[C]

Oh, no, that was the other guy on my arguable list.

[B]

Oh, well, sorry.

[C]

Come on.

[B]

I'm taking Blake Hunt. For those who do not know, Blake Hunt is a Catcher. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres. He spent all of last season AAA for Seattle where, you know, if you're a catcher and you play for the Mariners, you're probably not going to see big league time. But he had like a one away WRC plus in AAA mostly. I think that their catching situation, at least from a backup perspective is pretty in flux because you know, they have, they traded for Freddy for Mean, so they have him and he'll be the starter, but you know, it's just never worked out for Campy. You know, Luis Campesan has just never been a great option and he's the backup on the roster right now. And then when you look at sort of aaa, it's Hunt and then Rodolpho Duran. So I think there's a real change chance that, you know, particularly if they like move on from Campy, that Hunt is in the mix there. He's had big league time. I think he's like a right, he's had big league time, right? No, actually not. Sure, not had big league time, but a lot of AAA time. Sorry. That's right. He hasn't debuted. So I, I, I'm taking Blake Hunt. Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

He's like a real prospect, right?

[B]

Not for a while. He was, he peaked out of 40 plus in.

[C]

But like if he weren't in the Mariners, he would have had big league time. I, well, I think that there's a team specific like yeah, Harry Ford being the other dude, like just makes it even tougher.

[B]

Yeah, they, they have familiarity with him. He was a Padre to begin with and then Array and then maybe an Oriel. Yeah, an ORIEL Briefly in 24, but, but yeah.

[C]

Anyway, BL traded for Mike Bowman.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was in the big Mike Bowman trade and also the Snell deal originally.

[C]

Indeed.

[A]

Okay. All right. That Blake Will Hunt. I like it. All right. You have, you've both selected players who were not on my board, which does not mean anything bad about the, the picks. It might mean something bad about my board, but I like that there's enough variety in our strategies here that we're coming to even if we can all agree on Yoel Pioms or, you know, Chaz McCormick or someone. You know, we're all kind of employing our own separate strategies here, so that's, that's good. Okay. For my third pick, we always flirt. I always, I considered should I suggest snaking, doing a snake draft? And then we never do. It's just, it's effectively wild tradition that we just take Turns maybe it's. Yeah, it's, it's probably more entertaining this way. We just, you know, no one has back to back picks. Okay, I will take Kevin Newman. I'm taking Kevin Newman. You know, it's, it's not exciting. Yeah, it's, it's standard. Like you always go for it. Do I take the guy who like, might actually be pretty good and is like by the standards of the minor league free agent draft, sort of a prospect, kind of like Blake Hunt, but has not been in the big leagues before? Or do you take the guy who has already peaked, you know, to the extent that he's going to, but is pretty solid, dependable playing time guy, and that's Kevin Newman. At least. You know, past results don't predict future performance necessarily, but he has been a big league staple. He's played in 50 plus big league games. You know, pandemic season aside, every year since 2019. He's been in the big leagues every year since 2018 and probably doesn't bode well that he kind of washed out with the Angels this past season. He just, he can't hit. I mean, you know, he's Kevin Newman, but other than that one year, I guess like his first full season with the Pirates where he had kind of, I guess a fluky bab appear and hit.300 and was a little bit better than a league average hitter back in 2019. Now he's 32. You know, he's a former first rounder, but he's, he's hung around and now he's with the Royals. So he was with the Tigers most recently. He was with the Angels mostly last year and he sort of stunk at the plate, but played every infield spot and then did okay in AAA with Detroit at the end the season. And he just has gotten playing time every year and one of these years that will not be true. And it very well may be the year coming off of the year when he sort of stunk with the Angels. But I'm banking on at least one more season of Kevin Newman somehow finding his way to playing time. And he's had like, you know, he qualified for the batting title once, twice in fact. And he's a couple years removed from getting 300 plus plate appearances. So that's what I'm hoping, you know, that the Royals just do their Royals thing and are like, sure, yeah, whatever. It doesn't, you can't hit, but we need a utility guy. So seems like a decent landing spot for him.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, I feel like he has got to be the first round pick who most mistakenly gives off, like, scrappy 25th round pick energy. Because you said that.

[A]

And I was like, what? Yeah, I know, it's surprising. Yeah, 19th overall draft pick of the Pirates back in 2015. How about that?

[C]

I'm hoping that I will now be picking guys who you've at least heard of because we're pretty much off the board. I'm going to take Sean Boyle.

[A]

I wrote something about Sean Boyle once because.

[C]

Amazing.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, why.

[B]

I mean, sorry, but why?

[A]

It was because his dad developed the pitch grader app that.

[B]

Oh, that's right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. And so he tried my snark then.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I wasn't really writing so much about Sean Boyle. About. Yeah, like, player development in college and. And, yeah, like tools that teams were using in college to develop players, et cetera. But. But he. Yeah, he would. He was like a regular starter in AAA this past year. Right.

[C]

So, yeah, basically he was a regular starter in aaa. And as I look through the roster for the Padres for their starting rotation, it's got a lot of guys where I'm like, no, like, I don't know. You can't be counting on Randy Vasquez. You can't be counting on JP Sears. You. Darvish is injured and, like, I know it's internal brace, so, like, maybe he'll be back for the second half of this year, but, like, I'm not looking at their rotation and going, these guys are deep. They have a lot of players who are famously hurt a lot.

[A]

You missed Matt Waldron. This'll be the year. He'll just be a staple in that Padre.

[C]

He's. He is definitely one of the guys battling Boyle for playing time. And to be clear, like, boil is not as. Is not that good. You know, he has some command. And we graded four different pitchers, four different pitches of his the last time that we made him a prospect, but we gave them all kind of bad grades. Yeah, he's like a. A command and not throwing that hard kind of guy. The slider's okay. You know, it might work. The Padres, they always need innings. They always are doing weird stuff. Maybe he'll make 15 seconds starts and be like, okay, and then get traded because that's how they work.

[A]

Eddie Y pronounced Yin. I have confirmed. Yeah. Okay, good. All right. Sean Bole. Okay. Yeah. Good pick. He probably. He must have, like, been among the minor league leaders in innings pitch. Probably.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He threw a lot of innings, but still. Yeah. Okay. All right, Meg.

[B]

Oh, where do I Want to go next? Okay, I'm gonna. I don't feel good about this from a strategy perspective already, but I'm gonna. Because one of my other options is to take a pick purely despite Ben. And I'm not going to do that. I am going to take. Oh, am I going to say this last name correctly? Mark Coler. He's a catcher. He signed with the Phillies. He signed a minor league deal with the Phillies. And guess what the Phillies need. They need catching. And sure is. Are they likely to fill that catching need with JT Real Muto? Yeah, I would think probably. I would think probably. But somebody's got to back him up. What are you going to do? Be in the Garret Stubbs booby milk business? No, you're not. You're going to have respect for yourself, Philadelphia. You're going to have respect for yourself as adults.

[A]

Of all the players who should be nicknamed Boob Garrett Stubbs is up there. Probably. No.

[B]

Terrible. So, yeah, I just. This is. This is purely a potential roster fit sort of circumstance. He did get limited big league run. Am I remembering this right? Yeah, he was. He was up with Baltimore a couple of years ago for like one game. He's had a cup of coffee and 10 with Cincinnati. But you know, he had a. He had a, A, A decent batting line for the Red Sox last year in aaa. So I, I don't know. We'll see if he gets any. See if he gets some time. You know, he got an invitation to spring training. I might have to learn how to say his name.

[A]

Always nice to be invited to things. That's good. Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

All right.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Yeah. Sean Bole, by the way, 33rd in the minors in innings pitch. So I exaggerated a little bit, but still. All right, then I am. I think I'll also take a Philly. How about that? You took a Padre before. I took a Padre. I'm going to take a. A Philly after. You took a Philly. And I'm going to take Leo Pagaro.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who was signed by the Phillies and was most recently with the Pirates. He's. He's been with the Pirates for a bit. He's been in the big leagues each of the past four seasons. Debuted in 2022. Can't hit, but he can play a bunch of positions. And he's young. He is 25, which is pretty good as. As minor league free agents go. It's not quite like major league free agents, I guess. There are plenty of youngish minor league free agents who, you know, were drafted out of high school or something. And, and they're still fairly young, but. Or internationally, which would be the case for Pagero. But he's signed by the Phillies and that gives me pause because that seems, you know, like they are actually a pretty good team and the Pirates weren't. And so that helped Pagaro get some playing time with the Pirates. He maxed out at 213 plate appearances in any season with the pirates and got only 88 in this past year. And I will reiterate, he cannot hit, so that is an impediment to major league playing time. But he can and play shortstop and he is young and he's a former top prospect. He came to the Pirates in the Starling Marte trade. So I will hope that somehow he finds his way to playing time with the Phillies or that they let him go and he ends up in some more auspicious situation. Okay, back to other Ben.

[C]

Brian Navarretto.

[A]

Okay, tell us about him because I know nothing.

[C]

Yeah, well, I, I already spelled his name wrong. The double letters are tough. He was a Brewers catcher.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He has all these former Marlins.

[C]

Well, current Marlin too. And then he went to the Marlins late in 2025 and racked up some, some minor league playing time and then some major league playing time. Fifteen plate appearances of being a backup catcher. He hit like preposterously well in the. Is 15 plate appearances, which doesn't matter, but I looked at the Marlins depth chart and we just like don't have a backup catcher listed for them even though we list them as platooning, like I guess Aro Hernandez, but he's not a catcher. And so the Marlins also, like Liam Hicks is not that good as your starting catcher. I think that they are in a situation where they are going to be using a lot of catchers just to have a guy behind the plate. And Brian Navarretto is a 31 year old who, who has caught for them without them hating him. So yeah, I think that's a, that's a pretty good way to get playing time. I don't know if it'll work, but I, If I get 100 pa here, then I'm gonna feel good.

[A]

Okay. Boy, you're so uninspired by the talent available here.

[B]

That's not the best talent available here. I'm gonna take Bradley Hanner. Bradley Hanner, who's a pitcher, signed a minor league contract with the Yankees and he's a, he's a right handed pitcher who signed a minor league deal with New York. And I, I am Intrigued. Here he was with Cleveland. He had an era like in the Force last year. But also here's a question for you and here's a question for the Yankees to sorta in spring training. Is he better than Cade Winquest? Because, because Cade Winquest was a Rule 5 pick from St. Louis by the Yankees. He also throws right handed so you think of them as like the two guys who are sort of hang potentially competing at the, at the bottom of that roster. And so I wonder, I wonder, you know, I wonder if he's better. I think we're going to find out. So that's the thing we're going to do. You know, that's the thing about.

[A]

That's hyped enough for 2026 already. We will finally get the answer to that question that has been just plaguing us all.

[B]

We're wondering about that question and I, I wonder, I wonder if they will be able to answer it. Now here's the thing that I will say which is Bradley Hannah's not on the 40 man right now. So is that working against him? I mean like. Yeah it is. If we're, if we're going to be honest about the circumstances we'd say that that's working against him. But also so is Cade Winquest. Good. Did you know who Cade Winquest was before you read the Rule 5 scouting reports? I didn't know until I edited them. I didn't have any notion of Cade winquest. Still don't really don't know that I have any notion of Bradley Hanner either, but here we are.

[A]

Okay, well I'm tempted to do something similar to what I did with my Kevin Newman pick. Yeah, I'll do it. What the heck. Heck, I will select effectively Wild meme Aaron Judge bestie Tyler Wade. Not to be confused with Taylor Ward, but Tyler Wade, 31 year old utility player, has been with the Padres for a couple seasons and has now signed a minor league deal with the Rangers. This is again a guy who cannot hit, who has played in 506 major league games, almost a thousand career plate appearances, has a 62 OPS plus and has been about 60 the last couple years too. And yet somehow While maintaining his 60ish OPS, he has racked up well over 100 plate appearances in each of the past two seasons. Basically he does that every year and he's done it with a bunch of different teams. Yankees, Angels, A's, Padres. Now he's with the Rangers who, you know, I could see them maybe having a place for him. They, they got rid Of Adoles Garcia. They traded Marcus Semius and. And they got Brendan Emo, of course. But you know, he gives you depth in a lot of different places and his name sounds like Taylor Ward and he can play outfield and infield and somehow he always seems to find his way to playing time. So this is kind of a classic low ceiling. Just betting on extending the streak of being a big leaguer. Improbably cool. Back to Ben.

[C]

I'm gonna take a huge check. Chad Stevens, who's a 6 foot 3 middle infielder. I mean that's.

[B]

You're gonna do Chadwick Tromp.

[C]

No, that's on my board. I'm actually not sure if I'd consider him a huge Chad because I feel like he's normal catcher sized. But this guy's big for a middle infielder. And baseball America even listed him at a shortstop, which I don't agree with. So he was signed by the Rockies to a minor league contract.

[A]

That's always good.

[C]

So I like that.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

He even briefly played in the majors last year year for the Angels. I was not aware of that. That's cool to know. I'm learning this right now live with you guys. But he also batted a lot in the minors. 528 times at AAA and had an above average batting line. So you know, is he the best player on the Rockies? Like actually maybe so. I like that. No, he's a. A middle infielder who plays for Colorado. So I'm hoping he'll get a lot of playing time.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Solid rationale. Okay, back to back.

[B]

Oh. Oh God, it's me again. How many of these do we do? No, I know the answer to that. I'm going to take. I love this draft. It's so dumb. What a dumb exercise we do.

[A]

We're official episode sometime of just a super cute of draft sounds draft noises.

[B]

But I'm not panicked. Have you noted. Have you noted the lack of panic that's present here?

[A]

Wealth of options.

[B]

You're just sitting here going like, you know what? We're making noises. We're picking guys. We're remembering some dudes we're getting to know. Others you know, we don't. We didn't know them and now maybe we do. So you know, okay, I'm going to take Colin Snyder.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Colin Snyder was Mariner. He's been a royal. He's pitched like meaningful in terms of volume. Big league innings. He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs. He's a good slider. He commands it you know, he's Colin Snyder. You, you, you telling me you think everyone in that Cubs bullpen is coming out healthy at the end? I'm. I'd submit that they would not submit that they won't because that's not how bullpens go and theirs in particular. So Colin Snider.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. Colin Snider.

[B]

I'm going really pitcher heavy. I don't, I don't know. I don't know about it, but that's.

[A]

What we're doing sometimes when we're explaining who these pics are. It's, it's like in. Can't Hardly Wait where they're looking for, for Preston and they're like talking to like a couple of stoners to ask where Preston is and just describing Preston and it's like he's, he's kind of tall. You know, his hair is kind of, I don't know, brown. It's not really brown. Oh, he's tall. Well, he's kind of tall. Sort of tall. Yeah. He's always like wearing T shirts sometimes.

[B]

I mean, Colin Snyder's 6 4, so he's actually tall.

[A]

Like, I mean, he's Preston. He's Preston, you know, I like that guy. Yeah. So he's Colin Snyder though.

[B]

Colin Snider had a sub two ERA for the Mariners like two years ago. You know, he, his FIP was in the, the, the mid threes last year for, for the Mariners. They almost made the World Series, you know. So. Okay, what do you want from me other than to draft Colin Snider?

[A]

64? Yeah. All right. Okay, my next pick, I'm going to take a cue from Ben Clemons two years ago and I'm going to select Joe Ross. Joe Ross was Ben Clemens first round pick in 2024 and that paid off. That was a great pick. Got a lot of playing time. And this past season he still got some playing time. He wasn't very good, but he was on a good team. He was on the Phillies, I mean Phillies rotation. Best rotation in baseball maybe, or second best or something. And somehow he was on that team. I guess he wasn't actually starting in the rot, except for one time he was mostly relieving and he also wasn't very good. But he did pitch 51 innings for a really good team. And the year before that when Ben had him, he pitched 74 innings for the Brewers.

[C]

So yeah, before getting hurt, he could have pitched even more. Like he might be good. I agree.

[A]

Maybe so. He has not signed, I believe. And so again, there Is that risk that he could go abroad and I could miss out. But he does seem like someone who should sign somewhere and get some playing time if he's healthy. He. Once the Phillies got rid of him, he signed with the Cubs in September. And so he was most recently with the Cubs just at the tail end. Had a, a couple outings for them, I think.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And yeah, still, still twisting in the wind right now. But hopefully he will find somewhere to play and hopefully that place is the United States of America for a major league team. Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Back to Ben.

[C]

All right. You might see a bit of a theme in my picks emerging. I'm going to take John Brebia.

[A]

No. How dare you take.

[B]

This was my spite pick. I thought about it. I was like, wait, who did you.

[C]

Think he was going to annoy? Other Ben or me?

[B]

Okay, so Ben Lindberg's. If we're ranking the loves of Ben's life, we will put his wife first because that's both true and, you know, polite Otani second.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then it's a, it's a real toss up then between John Brebia and Joey Menesis and I mean I like.

[C]

Both of those guys a lot too.

[A]

Joey Menesis is also available. He's a minor.

[B]

I know he's a man of diverse tastes, I think is what we're learning.

[A]

I'm a big brephead in Brep. I love him. He's been on the podcast and yeah, he's delightful.

[C]

Sweet guy.

[A]

I would have taken him. So I'm mad, but it's okay.

[C]

Yeah, he's on the Rockies.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, that's. I mean I actually, actually think at his peak he was a good difference making major league reliever. I don't think he is probably that anymore. But like he's delightful.

[A]

Easy to root for. Yeah.

[C]

Of the, you know, in the. You can be bad or be a jerk. Choose one rule. He's never going to be both. Like, like people always like him. So I'm hoping he'll get some innings out of that and being on the.

[A]

Rockies, I would think so. Yeah. And he was with the Tigers at the start of last season. Did not pitch well. Then he was with Atlanta. Did pitch well in aaa. Right. But then he only got into three games the big leagues. But yeah, you know, he's, he's 35. He's been in the big leagues every season since 2017. Except for he missed the pandemic year because he was hurt, I think. But yeah, it's another. He's like the at this stage, I guess kind of the Kevin Newman sl Tyler Wade of. Of relievers in that it's proven track record of being a big leaguer. And also, yeah, he has the Rockies thing going for him. So.

[C]

Yeah, I would say meaningfully better than those guys in that.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Most years he's actually been a pretty. Pretty good big leader. Yeah. Maybe less. Boy, I just looked at his last two years of numbers.

[A]

They were not great. Yeah, they were not good at all. But that's why he signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. But that's a sub replacement level pen in 2025. So even if he's a sub replacement level pitcher, he might fit right in. He might be right at home. So good, good pick. Good guy. All right, back to Meg.

[B]

Oh, God. Okay.

[A]

It seems to catch you unprepared every time it's your turn. They're only three.

[B]

I have a lot of guys on this list and I'm trying to like anticipate which of them might actually be picked by one of you because we all know how I reacted when you took Chrismat and then my entire board got blown up that one year and I spiraled and Clemens's strategy is totally inscrutable to me and so I'm just flailing.

[A]

Yeah. Chaos agent in this draft for sure.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, no, it's good because what this draft is normally is so stable and so we need more. No, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to. I'm going to pick my own cannot hit guy. I'm going to take Kristen Pasha because who signed a minor league deal with the Mets and the Mets are a good baseball team and Pasha cannot not hit really at all. It's sort of been his problem for much of his career, but he can still play center field. And I would submit that the Mets are currently light on guys who can really do that. And as we all know from listening to old Meg on this podcast, I am center fulfilled. Defense build. Center field, defense build. That was harder to say than I anticipated for how important it is to me. I could imagine him sort of rising amongst and percolating up among the other NRIs and being in a position to either be a bench guy for them or maybe audition for somebody else. But taking posh.

[A]

Yeah, I considered it. I didn't have him on my board because I kind of figured, well, Tyrone Taylor is already like a slightly less poor man's Christian pace probably, but then Tyron Taylor could get hurt or, you know, he's not actually good. So.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And assuming they don't sign someone or acquire someone. Which they still could.

[B]

They still could.

[A]

Yeah. But it's true. It's not a will they. It's an area of need. It's not a position of depth for them. So there is an opportunity. Can Pache seize it? I don't know. But.

[B]

I don't know either. But we're going to find out. I mean, that is on the list of things that we will also find out. I mean, remember when they had like a load bearing Jose Siri? That was a rude choice, you know?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Strange.

[A]

All right. Yeah. Shane, you can just cut all of that. Just cut all the bado banter much bado about nothing.

[C]

Oh, keep it in.

[A]

Keep the whole thing just. Just to make the joke is come out.

[B]

I was on the. That was on the top of the dome.

[C]

That was very good. That's the best trick of the recording so far.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

You okay? We have to preserve the pun somehow. So what just happened is that I selected AEL Badu.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Because I thought he was a minor league free agent. And then there was a whole bunch of boring discussion of whether he was in fact a minor league free agent. And we all suspect that he was.

[B]

He. I think he was.

[A]

And I thought he was, but he's not on the Baseball America list for whatever reason. And that, that's. That's what we go by. So the list. Yes. And maybe it's an oversight on BA's part and maybe he should be eligible. But even if he was a minor league free agent, you two weren't considering him because he wasn't on the list. So it's, it's unfair, I think of me to select someone who's not on the list. Like, you know, we don't. We don't say we. It's always just who's on the list is.

[B]

We just go by the list.

[A]

That's the talent pool. So, yes, I will be upset if he was a minor league free agent and if he gets major league playing time in 2026. But. But yeah, we're just registering that I selected him and Meg made a great pun and now I will actually select someone else who is. You know what? All right. I think, I think I'm going to select Cal Quantrell. Yeah. What the heck. Cal Quantrell, who's on my list? Yeah, he's. He's again, he's been a big leaguer for a while now. He's been a big leaguer every year. 2019, to 20, 25. He pitched 117 and 23 innings in the majors this very year, mostly for the Marlins and a little bit for the Braves. And he's only 30. He was, I think most recently with the Rangers because he was bouncing around last year and the Rangers picked him up and he finished with two strong starts for AAA Round Rock, and that was that. And he has not been signed. I. I believe leave. So again, I'm. I'm risking. This is. You know, I. I've picked up a few unsigned guys here, so I'm flirting with disaster. Yes. I am gambling here that he doesn't go overseas somewhere. Seems like a candidate, too, but could also be someone who just signs and plays in the majors, you know, I.

[C]

Mean, he's gotta be one of the top 10 most likely names on this list to pitch a hundred innings in the majors this year. So that seems good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that's why I'm selecting him. Cal Quantrella Diss. Okay.

[C]

All right. I'm going to continue a theme. I'm going to take Brett Sullivan, a catcher who signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. Yeah. Relevant qualifications here that he's a catcher and he signed a deal with the Rockies. I don't know, like, he's fine. They have Hunter Goodman and then like nothing.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So it. Honestly, like, I was looking at their players and they all sound like create a player names like not. I've just never heard of any of these other catchers. And I'm a professional baseball writer. I don't actually think Brett Sullivan is likely one of the best few catchers in baseball. But, you know, he's fine. And that in and of itself is a lot on the Rockies, who are otherwise choosing between Bryant Betancourt and Braxton Fulford as their partner for. For Hunter Goodman. So that. That's kind of a tough mix.

[A]

Rex and Fulford. Braxton Fulford really sounds like. Make up a name on the spot and don't think.

[B]

Great name.

[A]

Braxton Fulford. Fulford's not a name. Oh, no. But it actually is, I guess. Okay. All right, back to Meg.

[B]

Okay, I'm going to take. I have three picks left, Right? Okay.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

I'm going to take Gerardo Carillo.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Who had like a 369 ERA last year, which, like. Okay, fine. Most obviously he signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks. And I don't know how much time you spent watching their bullpen last year, but it was bad. And it isn't much reinforced relative to last year. So it's a roster fit selection for me and feel fine.

[A]

Yep, that's a good one. I considered Kirillo as well. Okay. I. All right. So I've gotten with a lot of low ceiling proven veterans of the minor league free agent draft pool and, and I feel the need to just try to spot a prospect here and, and buy low on someone cuz all these other guys, I'm just kind of hoping they haven't passed their expiration date. This is someone I'm. I'm hoping is just entering their prime and that's.

[B]

I'm so nervous.

[A]

Gavin Collier.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. It wasn't who you were nervous about, I guess. Yeah. So Gavin Collier is. He was most recently with the Rangers and he remains with the Rangers. He resigned with them, signed another minor league deal with them. He is 24, so he's a real youngin. He was a 12th rounder in 2019 and this past year he, he rose a couple levels. He, he made it to AAA and he pitched well, at least in Double A and overall he struck out 86 in 61 and a third. He did however, walk 46, so that wasn't so great.

[B]

But that's a lot.

[A]

Yeah. Struck out 12.6 per 9, but walked about half as many. However, he's got good stuff. He was pitching in high leverage roles as a reliever in those bullpens. He picked up some safety waves and he led the Miners in Baseball America's stuff plus model. So Baseball America has its own proprietary stuff plus model which I was not even aware of. We've got so many stuff based models. Everyone has a stuff based model. It's a lot to keep track of. So I don't know whose is better or how they're even different, but he led all minor league pitchers in Stuff plus according to Baseball America, so that seems good. And you know, he's, he's rising. He made it to AAA and I'm hoping that he will rise one more level this year with the Rangers. It seems like there are opportunities in that organization. So Gavin Collier or Collier, but probably Collier. Yeah, I'm. I'm betting on the upside here.

[C]

Wow. I did not realize they had a stuff model. That's.

[A]

Neither did I. Yeah, I know.

[C]

I am going to, to go with what I've been doing a lot of this and I'm going to take Evan McKendry who is a, a pitcher who signed with the Marlins.

[B]

You and the Marlins, you're very in love.

[A]

You're in.

[C]

I feel like they seem like A team that might play a lot of these guys.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So I will tell you this. Evan McKendry has a, a comp to Kyle Hendricks. Ooh, that's good.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

From 2019, when he was a low level prospect. That's less good. He also, like, doesn't really break 90 that frequently, but he, he threw 87 innings with a boy, a five and a half ERA. That's, you know, not ideal for the White Sox and, but Brewers. He was on the brewers somehow. Yeah. I am going to take him and hope that the Marlins use him for a lot of bulk innings because he, like, doesn't walk anybody and, and seems like he can throw a lot of innings. That's like a nice, nice fifth starter archetype. So let's hope that one of him or my boy Valente gets that job.

[B]

I'm going to take Matt Mervis.

[A]

Oh, yeah. I strongly considered that.

[B]

Yeah, I'm going to take Matt Mervis. Matt Mervis was, I mean, can Matt Mervis hit?

[C]

Bye. I was going to say we're sticking with the players who can't hit.

[B]

I think if we were to ask those questions, like in earshot of Matt Mervis, mom, she might be like, hey, that's my boy. What are you talking about? I'm like that. And you know, sorry, Matt Murvis's mom, but he got a little bit of run with the Marlins last year. The Marlins. But has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals. I think he was most recently in the Diamondback system if we're, if we're going through it. And again, sort of similar to some of my other justifications in this draft, like they're going to cycle through some of these dudes and see what they can find. Who do they have? Who do we have? Is that where we have Garcia? Yeah. So we have like Luis Garcia Jr. At first base, per roster Resource.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think Garcia is fine, but I also think that, like, there's some, just some squishiness on that, on that roster.

[C]

Yeah, he's not a first baseman either. So they easily move on and make an utility guy.

[A]

Again, Nathaniel Lowe's gone and Josh Bell's gone and he. Yeah, that was why I was tempted by Mervis. They just, they don't really have a first baseman, so they don't really have.

[B]

An actual first baseman.

[A]

So.

[B]

Yeah. And I, I, I feel like I'm maybe a little overexposed from a reliever perspective. So hopefully I hit on Mervis and he gives me some actual bulk.

[A]

Good pick. Okay, well, I'm risking it again and going with yet another unsigned pitcher. Wow. Hopefully unsigned. I think so. Austin Gomorrah, who was the return other than salary savings in the Nolan Arnado trade, went to the Rockies, got released by the Rockies last year, which does not bode well. However, he was then picked up by the Cubs and he pitched well for them in a few outings in the minors in. In AAA. Finished the season strong, pitched 19 innings for the Cubs in triple AAA AAA with a 0.47er, struck out a better printing and walked only two. So I like how he finished that. He is 32 and baseball reference says his nickname is Big G. Big G. So I've just. I've accumulated just a bunch of, like, guys who've gotten a lot of major league playing time, just Joe Ross and Austin Gomber and, and Cal Quantrill. And I'm just hoping that someone, a major league organization signs them and. And Chaz McCormick is in the same boat. I. I could end up with, like, a significant percentage of my team not even being eligible to accumulate playing time this year.

[B]

It would be very funny, and I'm not wishing for this because I'm magnanimous, but it would be very funny if after going 10 for 10 with your guys, guys, if none of them saw big league time. That would be.

[A]

That would be funny.

[C]

That would be funny. I don't think it's likely, but it'd be hilarious.

[B]

I don't think it's likely either. I mean, I think at least some of these guys are. And the fact that McCormick's unsigned is sort of a head scratcher to me. But.

[A]

Yeah, because as. As much as I have gloated and. And may continue to gloat about that performance, I don't expect ever to replicate it and don't think I'm. I'm actually especially great at this.

[B]

I don't know that anyone is especially great at this. I think that's.

[A]

Which is what made it all the more special for me because it was just a. A bunch of, you know, just long shots coming in for me. Okay. Yeah. Please, people sign say stay in the. The warm, welcoming United States. Want to be here. So, you know, just please don't. Don't go out. Sounds great. Yeah. Okay. All right.

[C]

All right, Ben, you're my last pick.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Okay. I have to decide between two. Two ones that both made me go. Huh?

[B]

Your draft is great.

[C]

All right, I'm going to do this one. I'm going to take Tyler Burch.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Here is the Reason that I am aware of his name because the Mets signed him to a two year contract.

[A]

Oh, okay. Is he hurt or something?

[C]

He missed all of 2025 rehabbing from Tommy John. He is expected to debut at a reasonable time in 2026.

[A]

I'm okay.

[C]

Very unclear why they. Why they signed him to a two year deal. He's never made the majors.

[A]

Maybe there was just so much demand.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Like almost had to give him the second year.

[C]

My guess is that they preferred to give him the second year because they think he might be good and then they have another year of him at a cheap price. But then I'm kind of confused because seems like they could. I don't know. In any case, I'm taking Tyler Burch because. Because he's the only person on here to sign a multi year deal.

[A]

Yeah, that's good, I guess. Okay. Of course you don't get credit for what he does in the second year.

[C]

But still no one's ever drafted a guy with a multi year deal before, so.

[A]

Yeah, that's fun. All right. Still. Still doing new things. Thirteen years in. All right, Meg, you're up. Last pick.

[B]

I'm going to take Janser Lara.

[C]

Ooh.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Who was last with the Rangers. And. And Janser has had a really fascinating trajectory. Last year was his first year back in affiliated ball in a while. He had been a prospect with the Royals and then sort of fallen off the map and was pitching in the Nicaraguan Winter League. He actually hit the IL right before our Rangers list went live last year. And he doesn't have a particularly good slider, but he's built quite well. And he's been pitching in. In Lidom. And he's. His fastball is wild. He's getting like. He's got like crazy extension and it's got all this vertical movement and he looks great. He looks great. He doesn't have a contract yet, but I don't know, I just feel. And he's thrown so hard. So I just. I'm taking a. I'm taking a flyer with my last pick on y. On Yanser Laura because he's got a cool. It's cool. You know?

[A]

It's cool. Okay. H. All right. Well, there are a bunch of ways I could go with this, but I guess I will take Oliver Dunn.

[B]

Okay, sure.

[A]

Oliver Dunn was with the brewers most recently. He is 28. He's an infielder, and he signed a minor league deal with the White Sox. And the White Sox, they're getting better, but I think it's still not the worst thing in the world to sign a minor league deal with the White Sox. So, yeah, Oliver Dunn, I don't know. He's. He's been in the big leagues for the past two years with a good team, and now he's going to a less good team. Didn't get a ton of playing time with the brewers, but he got some with the best team in baseball by regular season record last year. So what an accomplishment. And, you know, didn't actually hit very well in Nashville for them in aaa, so that's not great. But he does play a bunch of positions. He played every infield position. He played plenty of short, so he can handle your utility role if you need him to. And we talked about Lennin Sosa last time. I don't know if Lenny Sosa, whether he'll block Oliver Dunn or someone else will. But, yeah, going to bank on a Brewer, going to a less good team and hopefully finding a place to play. All right, we have done it once again. I also have a control group which was once again sent to us by Patreon supporter Thomas Burton. He has done this in the past and he just randomly selects guys from the draft board here so that we can test ourselves against a pure random dart three throwing. And his team, his computer selected team is Jonah Bride, who actually I. Oh.

[C]

I almost picked him.

[A]

Me too. So the computer's already making me sweat here because I kind of wanted Jonah Bride. Jonah Bride, he. He's like, he was with the Twins. Now he's with the Rangers and he was at Marwan before and he's now reunited with Skip schumacher. He's only 30, he's an infielder. And they've had some disappointing corner infielder. So, yeah, good pick by the computer also. So Jake Christensen, Angel Felipe, Carl Kaufman, Christian Hernandez, Josh Bro D R E A U X Garrett Davila, Dylan File, Jack Lopez and Tyrone Uli. So those are the names to beat for us this year. Anyone want to shout out anyone else they were considering? I guess we. We exhausted players you actually wanted after like four picks, Ben. So I don't know if there's like the one that got away for you here in the this draft, but if.

[C]

This kept going and I had to pick more people, I would have picked perhaps Nick Marevis.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Who had good minor league numbers in 2025. John Rooney, who signed with the Rays and is a reliever. I like that. Or Ben Gammell, who I've heard of before.

[A]

Ben Gamble's still around. How about that. Wow.

[C]

He has that, that classic Braves outfielder role where like sometimes the Braves are just like, I don't know, man, play 500 play to play appearances, this guy.

[B]

For reasons we can't explain, I mentioned Chadwick Trump. He had big league time last year.

[A]

Yeah, he's back with the Braves. They've. They've had him before.

[C]

If he hadn't signed with the Braves, I would have taken him. They have too many catchers.

[A]

Well, he's the only guy I think in the organization other than Baldwin or Murphy with MLB experience, I think, which for sure maybe bodes well because. Yeah, you know, like Murphy was heard and you never know, but yeah, okay.

[B]

And Randy, do you know. And Sean Jelly because he's tall.

[A]

Oh yeah.

[B]

Joe Laso, who signed with a minor league deal with Pittsburgh. Drew Rome, I guess. And, but like he, you know, he signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee, so that seems unlikely. Although sometimes they're just like, come on down. Remember the year that we all drafted like all brewers and then like, oh.

[C]

Speaking of, I almost picked an 11 paredes.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

Oh yeah. Yeah.

[B]

What could have been, I guess Nick Anderson still floating around.

[A]

I had Nick Anderson on my board. He's with the A's now and got a minor league deal that would pay him a million if he makes the majors.

[C]

Hamer, Candelario. I.

[A]

It's Jamer, weirdly, which I, I always want to say. I know I always want to say Heimer or something, but that's rude of.

[C]

Me, but I always have that wrong.

[A]

Yeah, I considered Candelario, except he's also unsigned and I just, I had to ultimately only so much risk tolerance for unsigned guys. But yeah, like the Red signed him to that big deal which was ill advised. And, and he was with the Yankees most recently in the minors. But yeah, considered him. Who else in the names you might know category? Spencer Turnbull, I thought about. He's also unsigned. Michael Grove is a mar agent. Yeah. And he missed all of 2025 because he had labrum surgery in March. Like shoulder labrum. Bad labrum for a pitcher. And, and I assume we'll be back at some point this season, but I just didn't want to risk that. And Jose Miranda, remember Jose Miranda from the Twins? He's. He's only 27. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres. Can't hit or run or really field. And those are kind of like all the things. But he has done those in the past. At least one of them maybe. But I don't know how he fits in on that roster. They signed Song and yeah, I'm not sure but Jose Azakar I considered formerly of the Mets. He's with the Braves. He's just another one of those Braves outfielder. Maybe he's kind of like a sixth outfielder. Joe Maniple has been a big leaguer also unsigned but pitched pretty well in AAA for Toronto at the end of last year. Antoine Kelly I thought about who was a second round pick by the brewers in 2019 and was like kind of a prospect. He was in the 2022 Futures Game, had thoracic outlet surgery and came back from that and he was with the Rockies most recently but the Dodgers signed him. So I was kind of going to go for a. Maybe the Dodgers can fix a Rocky. But I didn't. Carlos Rodriguez, But I didn't. Carlos Rodriguez, the 25 year old outfielder who is with the Padres now I believe thought about him. Lucan Baker, who was most recent with the Cardinals, first baseman, 28. He's with the Diamondbacks now. When you signed some 6, 4 guy, I wanted to top you and take an even bigger guy. So I almost took Ernesto Martinez Jr. Who is. He was with the brewers also utility guy, 26.

[C]

He's jelly. Was on the board. That guy's like seven feet tall.

[B]

Very tall. Yeah, very tall.

[A]

Yeah. Ernesto Martinez is six, six. He is. Yeah. He's a. He's a Cuban player. Position player. And Vinnie Capra, who was with The White Sox, 29 year old infielder, signed with the Red Sox.

[C]

Also a former Brewer, perhaps?

[A]

It sounds right.

[B]

I think that's right. Vinnie Capra. Yeah.

[A]

And then Buddy Kennedy was on my board. He's a 27 year old infielder who's. I think. I don't. It hasn't been reported, but I think he might be with the Giants now. But he was most recently with the Blue Jays and he was one of. He was in that fun situation where he played for both the Blue Jays and DOD pretty forgettably for both of them last year. So he was guaranteed a World Series ring. So. So I could have had a World Series champion, Buddy Kennedy, but again I didn't. So. Oh, and. And John Curtis, I considered who's, you know, another reliever I think resigned with the Diamondbacks.

[C]

But yeah, I almost took this guy, Matt Turner. Okay, here's what's interesting about him. The Yankees signed him to a minor league deal on December 5, which is five days before the minor league rule five draft where the Mets took him from the Yankees. This guy is so unremarkable that the picture of him on Google is Matt Turner, U.S. men's National Team goalie. So in the end I just didn't think he was good enough to pick. But I loved, you know, he chose who to sign for and he picked the Yankees and literally the Mets drafted him five days later. I thought that was.

[A]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, those Mets and Yankees, they're just fighting over relievers these days, it seems like. All right, well we have filled out our rosters and Chris Handle and company, the EW Stats tracking team, I'm sure will get them up on ewstats.com sometime soonish and they'll be on the effectively Wild wiki. And we'll link to this in case anyone wants to review our drafts or figure out how to spell some of the guys we mentioned. And I'll link to it on the show page [e-mail] before the season starts even they have been having the projected playing time according to the fan graphs, depth charts and Jason Martinez and Becker, they've had that playing time also before their actual results. So that we can see heading into the season who projects to win this thing though I think that ended up not being telling last year. I think I, I think Meg had the best projected team. But yeah, but there's a lot of variability when you know, talking about guys like this who are going to be on the bubble obviously. But we did it. Once again thanks Ben. Thirteen of these things in the books and no better way to start the year. So happy New Year to everyone. Thanks for following us to another page on the calendar. Okay, bunch of follow ups and other odds and ends for you. Meant to mention that it is refreshing to have some top Japanese free agents sign with non do Dodgers teams, non west coast teams, even the White Sox, the Astros little variety. Now maybe that's because the Dodgers sort of sat out these negotiations, not because they got outbid, but nonetheless at least the talent is getting spread around a bit. And of course Imai in November endeared himself to Dodgers haters when he said of course I'd enjoy playing alongside Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki, but winning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life life. If anything, I'd rather take them down. Now he'll have a chance to two stat blasts or stat blast like substances, both of which can be answered with a simple stat head query. So we'll stick them here rather than give them their own segment. Patreon supporter Evan the Same Evan who keeps those copious stats on past minor league free agent drafts. He wrote a little late for the stories missed in 2025 podcasts, but perhaps this is something that can be covered on a future stat. Last I don't think this was mentioned on the show, but in a June 23rd game against the Mariners in Minnesota, Minnesota, Bailey Ober had an interesting final line, pitching seven innings, allowing seven hits, seven earn runs and striking out seven batters. I don't know if this is unique, but if it has happened, I would guess it's been a long time. You especially wouldn't expect to see a pitcher who gave up that many runs last that long in the game in 2025. How many other times has an innings pitched equals earned runs equals hits, equals strikeout stat line happened? I'm sure 1111 has happened hundreds if not thousands of times for levers and 2222 has probably happened a lot lot too. But what about beyond that? Has anyone done this with an 8888 or even 9999 stat line? And the answer is no. 7777 is the record. God, you know what this is reminding me of? In New York, there are two competing car services, Carmel and Dial 7. And Carmel has a phone number that's all sixes with a jingle that gets stuck into your head. It goes like this. And don't even get me started on the four Sixes Ranch from the fictional works and also real life real estate holdings of Taylor Sheridan. And then of course there's dial 7 and you'll never guess what their number is. If you're looking for the best ride, pick up the lines.

[C]

Aisle 777777.

[A]

Yes, exactly. So a pitcher has picked up the line and dialed 7777 four times in ALNL history. Bailey Ober did it last year. Prior to that, the last guy to do it was Wade Miley for the Diamondbacks on May 31, 2013. And then Billy Pierce for the White Sox on May 3, 1956. And the first guy to do it, Fred for the Buffalo Blues of the Federal League, June 16, 1915. I like a little club like that. Something that's been done only four times in MLB history, but those four instances are spread out over 110 years. That's fun because you might think that games like that, lines like that might be clustered in a certain period in baseball history. Nah, not really. There have been 12 dial six games. 6666 Mark of the Beast plus one that was most recently accomplished by Griffin Canning of The Angels on July 30, 2024. I'll link this the stat head query if you're interested. This was not meant to be a 67 thing, by the way. I'd be happy to leave that meme in 2025. Great, now I've got those car service jingles stuck in my head. It's like when we were talking about the dong bong of the Orioles, the homer hose, the hydration station, and Meg said that hydration station had a nice little lilt to it. And then that made me think of Conjunction Junction, the song from Schoolhouse Rock. Hydration Station, Conjunction Junction. Same sort of meter. I was not the only person to make that connection. I saw someone else say it in the Discovery Discord Group. Brains are strange. Conjunction Junction. How's that function? The other question came from listener Joshua in our Patreon Discord group who wrote so the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA have five losses, but three are to the Spurs. That's 60%. Can anyone tell me the highest percentage of losses ever in an MLB season to one team? So the answer came from Patreon supporter Sir Parsifal via Stathead, who wrote filtering out 2020. It appears to be the 1928 athletics who went 98 and 55 but had 16 losses to the Yankees. That's a full 29.1% of their losses. And it would make sense that it would be a long time ago when there weren't as many teams and you were playing the same teams over and over in the divisional era. Though again excluding 2020, the answer is Cleveland. In 2013, that team won 92 games, but went 4 and 15 against Detroit. So that's 21.4% of their losses. Good one. I will link to both stat head queries. Last update probably on Boob Fowler and his nicknames. I cited two articles that explained why he was called Boo. Short answer he was called that early in his career because of his lack of experience. He was green. He didn't know what he was doing, just seemed or looked dunderheaded at that early stage of his career, and the nickname stuck. Listener Ben Zimmer notes that there was also a comic strip started by rube Goldberg in 1915 called Boob McNutt. Yes, I know, which was about a buffoonish character. A later player, Eric Boob McNair, may have gotten his nickname from Boob McNutt. I suppose that could have contributed to Boob Fowler's nickname, but he may have just been called a Boob for the same reason that the comic character was called a boob. However, why was Boob Fowler also nicknamed Gink? We didn't get to the bottom of that one. Well, Ben reports that starting in 1911, Walt McDougall had a comic strip called, wait for it, Gink and Boob. So if a guy was nicknamed Boob, you might as well call him Gink too. And in the comic strip, one of the characters was tall, one was short. Gink was the tall one. It was kind of like another strip, Mutt and Jeff, with a short and tall character. So maybe Boob Fowler was called Boob just because of his perceived foolishness, but he got called Gink because of his height. He was only 5 11, but that was fairly tall. Back in those days, we talked about prediction markets. Kalshi, Poly Market, et cetera. One thing I meant to mention is that these prediction markets are really thriving in this regulatory environment, by which I mean deregulatory environment. The Trump administration has been quite kind to them. As Bloomberg wrote, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the agency that oversees derivatives markets, had long frowned upon such a offerings. But with Trump returning to the White House, the exchanges decided to see whether they could get a pass. It was a smart hunch. Donald Trump Jr. Is an advisor to Polymarket, by the way. And Meng mentioned the concern about election integrity. Forget about sports integrity. These prediction markets also have major media partners now. Kalshi has partnered with CNN and cnbc. Polymarket has partnered with Yahoo Finance, et cetera. So it is not even close to being solely a sports issue. Follow ups to the stories we missed until we didn't because we talked about them Last week I said that Lenny so was the longest tenured player on the White Sox and well, take it away, Obi Wan. So what I told you was true. From a certain point of view, Sosa is, I believe, the longest tenured player in the White Sox organization. However, Luis Robert Jr. Is the longest tenured member of the White Sox in the majors. Robert debuted for the White Sox in the big leagues in 2020. Sosa not until 2022. And Robert actually debuted in the minors a few days before Sosa back in 2017. However, Sosa was signed in 2016, whereas Robert wasn't signed until 2017. So Robert has been a big leaguer longer. But from a certain point of view, Sosa has seniority. And you know you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. I was talking about how unimpressive it seems that the Royals finally had a pair of teammates who each hit 30 homers and had 100 RBI. And as Patreon supporter Wiki keeper Raymond confirmed, it really wasn't that impressive. It's only impressive that it took them so long. They are the last team to have its first pair of 30 and 100 teammates. There is actually a sporkle quiz about it. The twins were the 29th team to reach that milestone. They got there in 2019 peak homer year. Every team has done it in the 2000s except for the Reds who last accomplished it in 1977 and the Pirates in 1990. However, at 56 seasons for the Royals to do it, they aren't the team that took the longest to get there. The Cardinals took 117 years to 1998. Trying to remember any notable Cardinals who hit a lot of homers in 1998. Nothing really coming to mind. But of course as Raymond notes, that first decade was in the American association and early baseball was a totally different game from today's Lots of dead ball era in there. We talked about the Bucko brick scandal. There were customized bricks that were dismantled and discarded in a construction project and the Pirates apologized for that. People's loved ones commemorated on the bricks. The bridge bricks just tossed out like garbage. Anyway, saw this tweet on January 1st from Colin Dunlap, a radio talker for KDKA in Pittsburgh who says I have no idea who is right and who is wrong or what the email form said, but I just received perhaps the most hilarious texts I have ever received in my life and the message is so you remember the infamous Pittsburgh Pirates bricks? My partner had one made for his grandfather 20 plus years ago and it was destroyed. The Pirates sent him an email asking him to remember what it said so they could look up in the their files to replicate the brick for him. His response was unsure, but it had William Bradford's name on it. This is the brick he got in the mail on Tuesday. And yes, wouldn't you know it, the new replacement brick says unsure. But it had William Bradford's name on it so they took that extremely literally. And yes, this does appear to be real. There's an unboxing pic and everything. I will link to this. I guess it's the thought that counts, even if it was pretty pretty thoughtless. We talked about Dalen Lyle's season for the Nationals and Patreon supporter Richie writes in to say your discussion just focused on him being relatively unknown before appearing in the big leagues and having great success as a hitter. But Dalen Lyle was involved in a much more fun story. He won NL Rookie of the Month for September and a big part was the number of triples he hit. Despite only playing in 91 games, Lyle tied the Nets franchise record for triples in a season with 11, including seven in September alone. On September 19, Lyle did an AMA on the baseball subreddit and was asked whether if he had a chance for an inside the park home run, he would take it or go for setting the triples record. And its answer was I rarely hit homers, so if I have the option, I'm going all the way. And as Richie writes the next day, that's exactly what Dalen Lyle would do against the Mets with an inside the park home run in the 11th inning. He did have the opportunity to stop get that triples record. But no, he kept running and he scored a man of his Word Patreon Supporter Satellite 15 in the Discord group said Missed the call for stories, but my Cardinals one would be pitching Health Only one reliever went on the IL during the season, John King. No starters aside from a couple sixth man or double header starts and a bullpen game to close the season, it was the same five starters all year, disrupted only by the Eric fetty trade. Michael McGreevey filled that spot without getting injured, though this was not good because we suck and the plan was for young arms, which we had been lacking for years, to finally push the healthy fiveish error rays out. It was moot however, as we pulled the exact inverse feet down in the Miners where every single one of them got hurt. That and having a half dozen catchers about sums up the season. And that's true. That's pretty impressive. Zach Thompson started the season on the il, I think with a torn left lat. He got hurt in spring training and then yeah, there was John King with an oblique strain and that's about it. But then yes, in the minors, Tink Hence and many others got hurt. And yet look where it got them. The Cardinals pitching staff was 20th in Fangraph's war, so they kind of were a test case for something we talk about sometimes. Where, I wonder, well, would it behoove some team to try just acquiring durable starters, just collect a bunch of soft tossers. Not that the Cardinals were all soft tossers, but they mostly weren't hard throwing strikeout guys. In fact, they had the second lowest strikeout rate in the majors, ahead of only the Rockies. So sometimes, as a thought experiment, we'll say, well what if you did just get a bunch of soft tossers? Or don't go for strikeouts, pitch to contact, don't throw too hard, pace yourself and yeah, you won't be as good good, but you'll be healthy and you won't have to dip down your depth chart for replacement pitchers. And so it'll benefit you because you won't have the top end arms, but at least the arms you do have will be healthy. And maybe that's a market inefficiency. Well, probably not, because even if the Cardinals health and stability was repeatable, you wouldn't really want to repeat it because again, they weren't good and they are under high bloom trying to get guys with nastier stuff. So clearly they don't want to keep doing what they're doing. But I guess that'll be my go to example for what a staff like that might actually look like. Not great. No wonder everyone wants hard throwers who miss bats and finally, when we talked about the Mariners signing Rob Ref Snyder and I remarked that he was old to be signing his most lucrative contract. Not a record or anything, but I wondered who else might fit that. Bill Listener Chris wrote in to say, when you were talking about the Ref Snyder signing and wondering about the record contract, age wise, I was yelling Jamie Wright into the void. He signed for 1.8 million in 2014 at the age of 30. It was his first big league deal since 2005. Jamie Wright we had a Ben and another Ben on this episode. Why don't I quote old Ben one more time? Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time. You can support Effectively Wild on Patreon by going to patreon.com effectively wild and signing up to pledge some monthly or yearly amount to help keep the podcast. Go and help us stay ad free and get yourself access to to some perks as have the following five listeners JS Nick Blagan, Michael, Brett Knight and Philip Tapley. Thanks to all of you, Patreon perks include access to the Effectively Wild Discord group for patrons only, monthly bonus episodes, playoff live streams, prioritized email answers, personalized messages, shout outs at the end of episodes, discounts on merch and ad free Fangraphs memberships and so much more. Check out all the [e-mail] effectivelywild if you are a Patreon supporter you can message us through the Patreon Patreon site. If not, you can contact us via email, send your questions, comments, intro and outro themes to podcastangraphs.com you can rate, review and subscribe to Effectively Wild on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Music, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. You can join our facebook [e-mail] group effectively wild. You can find the Effectively Wild subreddit at R Effectivelywild. You can check the show notes in the podcast posted fan graphs for links to the stories and stats recited today. They're also in the episode description in your podcast app of choice. Thanks to Shane McKeon for his editing and production assistance. That will do it for today and for this week. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. We will talk to you next week and once again we wish you a happy New Year.

[C]

Where do you go in a world.

[B]

Of bad tastes for the good takes.

[A]

On baseball and life With a ballad.

[B]

Of analytics and humor Philosophical music.

[A]

Effectively wild. Effectively wild effectively wild.