Our 2025 Left Fielders Tier List (with Jolly Olive)

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Patrick Show – "Our 2025 Left Fielders Tier List (with Jolly Olive)"

Episode Information:

• Title: Our 2025 Left Fielders Tier List (with Jolly Olive)
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network
• Release Date: February 26, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Dan Patrick Show, hosts Jake Storiale and Jolly Olive delve into their comprehensive tier list for left fielders in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 2025 season. The discussion is enriched with statistical analysis, player performances, and insightful commentary, aiming to rank left fielders based on their current form and future potential.

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S Tier: Elite Left Fielders

1. Riley Green (Detroit Tigers)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Achieved 5 WAR in the previous season.
  • Recorded 24 home runs with an OPS of .837.
  • Transitioned from center field to left field, enhancing his offensive output.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (04:29): "Riley Green has it all—gloves, speed, contact, and power."
  • Jolly Olive (06:23): "Riley Green, 5.5 WAR last year, is in his prime and ready for a 30 home run season."

2. Jaren Duran (Boston Red Sox)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Posted an impressive 8.7 WAR, placing him eighth in MVP voting.
  • Led the American League in stolen bases with 34.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (09:05): "Jaren Duran fully deserves to be in the S tier."
  • Jolly Olive (10:18): "Red Sox fans could push to put Jaren Duran alone in the S tier."

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A Tier: Outstanding Performers

1. Stephen Kwan (Cleveland Guardians)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Consistently strong defensive skills with consecutive Gold Gloves.
  • Balanced offensive contributions with 20+ home runs and solid batting averages.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (17:36): "Stephen Kwan has been the same great player for the past three years."

2. Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Four WAR over the last three seasons.
  • Switch hitter with no significant weaknesses on either side of the plate.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (17:36): "Ian Happ is a switch hitter that's undervalued in baseball."

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B Tier: Solid Contributors with Potential

1. Tyler O'Neill (Baltimore Orioles)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Achieved 6 WAR in 2021 with 31 home runs.
  • Struggles with injuries have limited his consistency.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (36:10): "If he plays 150 games and maintains his performance, he's worthy of moving up."

2. Elliot Ramos (San Francisco Giants)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Showed breakout potential with a 1.2 OPS against lefties.
  • Young player with room to develop further.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (42:09): "Ramos is the biggest wild card on the list for me."

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C Tier: Underperforming or Inconsistent Players

1. Brandon Nimmo (New York Yankees)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Known for strong offensive seasons with 20+ home runs.
  • Defensive performance has been mediocre, impacting his overall value.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (45:47): "Nimmo had a 5 WAR season but struggled defensively last year."

2. Michael Conforto (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Transitioned to a platoon hitter, which may limit his offensive upside.
  • Defensive liabilities in left field.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (57:27): "Conforto’s power is undeniable, but his defensive skills are lacking."

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D Tier: Struggling or Underutilized Players

1. Jose Altuve (Houston Astros)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Transitioned from second base to left field at age 35.
  • Offensive decline observable with a .790 OPS in the previous season.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (27:08): "Altuve has never played left field before, making his placement in this tier controversial."

2. Connor Joe & Jason Hayward (Various Teams)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Both players have shown inconsistency and underperformance.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (53:32): "These players just don't fit well in the left field tier."

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Lower Tiers: Developmental or Replacement-Level Players

1. Wyatt Langford (Texas Rangers)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Impressive 4 WAR as a 22-year-old, indicating high potential.
  • Significant improvement observed in the latter part of the season.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (48:22): "Langford has a very promising sophomore campaign ahead."

2. James Wood (Washington Nationals)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Exceptional athleticism and potential for high offensive output.
  • Needs to overcome challenges with hitting breaking pitches.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (50:20): "James Wood has the freak athleticism and potential to be very special."

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Controversial Placements & Future Considerations

1. Anthony Santander (Toronto Blue Jays)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Achieved 44 home runs over three seasons, showcasing immense power.
  • Defensive expectations are mixed, raising questions about his tier placement.

• Key Insights:

  • Jake Storiale (24:15): "Santander has the best home run potential on this list."

2. Jason Dominguez (Cincinnati Reds)

• Performance Highlights:

  • Emerging talent with potential to rise in tiers based on upcoming performances.

• Key Insights:

  • Jolly Olive (64:53): "Dominguez is placed in the 2027 S tier, needing time to prove himself."

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Additional Discussions

• Defensive Versatility:

  • The importance of being able to play multiple outfield positions was emphasized, especially for players like Stephen Kwan and Riley Green.

• Impact of Team Dynamics:

  • The conversation touched upon how team strategies and lineup construction, such as the Red Sox's infield dynamics or the Guardians' emphasis on run prevention, influence player performances and tier placements.

• Future Projections:

  • Hosts speculated on the future trajectories of young talents like Wyatt Langford and James Wood, considering their current performance metrics and potential for growth.

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Notable Quotes

• Jake Storiale (04:29): "Riley Green has it all—gloves, speed, contact, and power."
• Jolly Olive (10:18): "Red Sox fans could push to put Jaren Duran alone in the S tier."
• Jake Storiale (24:15): "Santander has the best home run potential on this list."
• Jolly Olive (64:53): "Dominguez is placed in the 2027 S tier, needing time to prove himself."

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Conclusion

Jake Storiale and Jolly Olive provided a thorough analysis of left fielders in MLB for the 2025 season, categorizing players based on their offensive and defensive capabilities, consistency, and potential for future growth. While elite performers like Riley Green and Jaren Duran dominate the top tiers, the discussion also highlighted promising young talents and areas where veteran players may be faltering. The tier list serves as an insightful tool for fans and analysts alike to gauge the current landscape of left field positions in baseball.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content sections from the transcript have been excluded to maintain focus on the primary discussion about the left fielders tier list.

Transcript

[Jake Storiale]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible cleaning items from Tide, Downey, Charmin and Dawn, or dinner essentials from Hidden Valley, Healthy Choice or Pillsbury plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Gabe Leonars]

What would you do if mysterious drones appeared over your hometown? I started asking questions. What do you remember happening on that night of December 16th?

[Jake Storiale]

It actually rotated around our house, looking as if it was peering in each window of our home.

[Gabe Leonars]

I'm Gabe Lehners from Imagine I Heart Podcasts and Leonard's Entertainment. Listen to Obscurum Invasion of the Drones wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. This season explores women from the 19th century to now, women who were murderers and scammers, but also women who were photojournalists, lawyers, writers and more. This podcast tells more than just the brutal, gory details of horrific acts I delve into the good, the bad, the difficult and all the nuance I can find. Because these are the stories that we need to know to understand the intersection of society, justice and the fascinating workings of the human psyche. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains, or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jolly Olive]

Hello and welcome to Wake and Jake. It's tearless season and we're going out to the left coast left field. I like the left field position. There was more quality than I thought the top's a little ugly, but there's a lot of beef and a lot of potential. Speaking of both of those words, Jolly, Olive is here. How are you, Jolly?

[Jake Storiale]

I'm good, Jake.

[Jolly Olive]

It's been a minute.

[Jake Storiale]

We've been gabbing today though.

[Jolly Olive]

We have been gabbing, talking baseball. We pre recorded a couple tier lists. So it's been a minute since we've actually been in the lab. So I'm excited to grind it out with you and King Biebs today. And as our tier list, we like to start off with some tears. And I think we've done good.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, I think we did really well today.

[Jolly Olive]

I think we've done well so far. And thank you to everyone that's been tuning in and listening. People like the tier list, man.

[Jake Storiale]

Hell yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

How about that? And everyone said they like Karabas more than you. I don't know what that's about.

[BBD]

That's better be. If the tier list did bring you here, might as well subscribe. Thanks.

[Jake Storiale]

Sorry.

[Jolly Olive]

It's okay. At the top of the tier list, we currently have moving staged left. It doesn't feel like an S tier, but I don't know what that even means. Ran out of hands. Been there. Is that about carrying groceries? Can you play left field? Interesting. Third tier for the position. Thank you, sir. May I have another 20? 26s tiers, young studs. It feels like what's left in the tank might have been a jolly one. And then at the bottom I put this may be the bottom because I think it's going to be the bottom. We'll see if we need to separate those guys anymore. Happy Grape. We discussed the top of the list and I think there's two names that are unequivocally on top of the left field position.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, we came to a pretty mutual agreement pretty, pretty quick on the two names that we thought should be up here. And it's interesting because you think of the S tiers and some of our other tier lists and they're names of the game faces of franchises type thing. But you look at these two guys in the AL and they are very, very clearly at the pinnacle of left field play right now. And left field's a funky position. We're going to get into it, but there is no real funk when it comes to Riley Green, who was just absolutely fantastic, very clearly the best position player on the Detroit Tigers, a team that was one win away from the ALCS last year. He fully broke out. The former fifth overall pick with a five WAR year, 24 home runs, was playing a lot of center field last year. Looks like he's going to be the primary left fielder even though he was the primary left fielder last year. So that WAR number may tick up, but I'm expecting big things. He's only going to be 24 years old. The future is very bright in Detroit with him and Tarik Skuble. And yeah, when you look across the field in terms of guys that bring everything to the table in terms of gloves, speed, contact, power. Riley Green has it all going for him.

[Jolly Olive]

Riley Green, five and a half B wore last year, 24 years old. It seems like the light bulb is on. I this is a dumb little thing. You don't see a lot of baseball references that are just like an upward trajectory. Yeah, he came up as a 21 year old, played 93 games, 682 ops. He then as a 22 year old he played 99 games, 796 ops. That's really good. Last year 137. It all comes together. 827. It feels like there's more to that trajectory and like you said, shifting over to left field. It's a big outfield there.

[Jake Storiale]

Oh yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

People forget that Riley Green is prime. I don't know, 30 homer season and good defense. Is that enough to be an S tier left fielder? I think so.

[Jake Storiale]

I think it is too. And I mean you can look at his month by month and a lot of his down months were when Parker Meadows wasn't really in the picture for the Tigers. Cause he got sent down, had to fix his approach a little bit. And when Parker Meadows was down, Riley Green was playing more center field. Meadows comes up, he's the center fielder because he's a great defender. Green moves to left and I think that might have had a positive impact on his offense because he finished the year really strong with an.837 OPS. In September when they were winning basically every day, the Tigers were so that extrapolated over a full season. I'm pretty excited for riley green in 2025.

[Jolly Olive]

Extrapolate that. Okay. Riley Green really bad numbers as a DH last year. So Tigers don't do that. That's my advice. He also the numbers were a little they fell right under a.700 OPS versus lefties. He is in the position that he plays every day and the best way to get better at that is see more of it. So let's see his evolution there. And then there's an easy guy that joins him. I will introduce him because he plays for my favorite team of course, Jaren Duran had an insane season last year that got overshadowed by three. Four other freak seasons in the AL last year. Bobby Witt, Gunner Judgy and Soto. Jaren Duran put up an 8.7 B war. That's some years. That's MVP level. He ended up eighth in the MVP. Cora called him out a little bit before the season. We need you to be our leadoff hitter. We need you to be a guy on this team. And he did. He led the American League and I think all of baseball and played appearances at bats, doubles and triples. 34 stolen bases and eight. 34 OPS with that kind of speed. Another guy that's wrestled a little bit of center. It feels like the Sox are going to try to have him settle in left field. And I, I will say with all these outfield lists and I saw some of the comments when we did right field. Outfield gets a little tricky. We got a lot of guys hopping around these days, who's going to be here, who's going to be there. So we're doing our best.

[BBD]

People, you know, getting ahead of the future controversy. Trout moved to right field after we did that one, so he might just not end up on on tier list this year.

[Jolly Olive]

I like that for him. That's the current state of Mike Trout.

[Jake Storiale]

No pressure.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

Jaren Duran, eighth in MVP voting, which is nuts. I mean, I think it's like you have to compete with Vladi and Juan Soto and Judge and Bobby Witt and Gunner. It's like you lose this in the cards of what was a terrific season. Something about this might just be me being a nerd. I love seeing the number seven in plate appearances. When it gets to that 700, that.

[Jolly Olive]

Means you played a lot of.

[Jake Storiale]

Means you were out there every day. And like I love that you bring up the core thing whenever we talk about him because I do think that had a, a pretty decent effect on Duran, kind of stepping into the player he became at age 27, the former seventh round pick, a little different than the fifth overall pick for Rally Green, Jaren Duran. I'm. He makes me excited for the Red Sox, man. I mean he, he starts that engine a little bit. Everyone's talking about the infield right now with Bregman coming in and where's Devers gonna play? You forget that this is a pretty talented outfield unit. And the headliner is Jaren Duran, who's coming off one of the better seasons of the 2000s. Just overall, it's tough when you compete in that Al east division with a ton of talented outfielders. But Jaren Duran fully deserving to be in that S tier.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah. In 2023. Well this is bet Jiren Duran was incredible last year, 2024 he had the fifth best war. It it was Shohei, it was Judge Whit Gunner in the al and then Shohei was the only one in the nl. So it was the fifth best WAR on all of baseball which is pretty nuts. And I just to try to make the scope a little better, it would have been the second best in 2023. Only Shohei would have beaten him.

[Jake Storiale]

God damn.

[Jolly Olive]

So I mean Red Sox fans, if they really wanted they could even make a push to put Jaren Duran alone on the S tier. If Riley Green outplays Jaren Duran this year, I don't think anyone be would be surprised Jaren Duran has a little more help from his ballpark. Oh yeah, and his lineup which I know some people still don't believe in that but I I think it's a nice topping for these two. Moving stage left. Let's put center field in our rear view. Let's go out to left, let's make the plays and let's hit a lot. Duran sets the tone for that lineup. And if I was corny I would say the Tigers go as far as Riley Green takes them. But it's probably the five basically rookies they're starting.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

And if they're good or not. So that's for your that's for talking Tigers. Please don't apply for that job position after them. Jolly. I guess who's if you got one name next. Because I actually this is a pairing so I don't know in the ran out of hands category. Oh I well no, I will I will start over. You get one name. I say Jaren Duran. Riley Green. Okay. Whatever your team needs. You need speed. You need power. Do you believe in Riley Green going to the next step? You could debate that all you want the next guy for left field?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible snacks from Doritos, Cheez Its and Pringles or sweet treats from Haagen Dazs, Kinder Bueno and Reese's plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Gabe Leonars]

Have you ever looked into the night sky and wondered who or what was flying around up there? We've seen planes, helicopters, hot air balloons, and birds. But what if there's something else, something much more ominous that appears under the COVID of night? Silent, unseen, watching. They may be right above your car late one night as you cruise down the road. Or look like mysterious lights hovering above your home. Drones. Or are they?

[Jolly Olive]

We used the word drone because it was comfortable to other people. One minute was there and one minute it wasn't.

[Jake Storiale]

Oh, that is beyond creepy.

[Gabe Leonars]

Do you feel like this drone was targeting you specifically?

[Jolly Olive]

Yes, Absolutely.

[Gabe Leonars]

Listen to Obscurum Invasion of the Drones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains, or often somewhere in between. Listen to the Greatest true crime stories Ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jolly Olive]

When I smoke weed, I get lost in the music. I like to isolate each instrument.

[Jake Storiale]

The rhythmic bass, the harmonies on the piano. Sticky melody.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Careful, babe. There's someone crossing the street.

[Jake Storiale]

Sorry, I. I didn't see him there. If you feel different, you drive different. Don't drive high. It's dangerous and illegal everywhere. A message from Nitsa and the Ad.

[Jolly Olive]

Council, Cuz I don't know if you believe in it.

[Jake Storiale]

My number three left fielder is what you're asking me. I think it's Stephen Quan, I think. But I'm. I'm torn because Quan does a lot. And he's also kind of my favorite kind of baseball player to watch. I really like watching contact hitters.

[Jolly Olive]

I. I just think you see him at spring training.

[Jake Storiale]

I saw him. I didn't get to chat with him. Rosie kind of hogged him a little bit.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

I didn't want to say anything because he was like a kid in a candy store at Guardians camp, but he did hog Quan a little bit. Me and Will Brennan are tight. It's fine. Four WAR season last year, three straight Gold Gloves to start his career good, which might be the first time that ever happened. I don't know. Made it up, that stat.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

Whether or not you believe it, that's up to you. The slug was up last year, which has me excited moving forward. He had 11 home runs going into the area hit 14 last year.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

Which is pretty neat. So if he's adding that dimension to his game, there's a very distinct possibility that Quan even nudges his way to the top tier.

[Jolly Olive]

Also, if I tuned you out, my apologies. But four war in 122 games, which.

[Jake Storiale]

Puts him on six war or which.

[Jolly Olive]

That was essentially his rookie year.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah. That's like. Yeah, real good. That's Riley Green. Jaren Duran.

[Jolly Olive]

Right.

[Jake Storiale]

Psychiatry. Which by. Yeah, he did that his rookie season. So the reason I put Quan 3 and the other guy, who I'll let you talk about four is because I think we don't exactly know how good it can get for Stephen Quan. Which by the way, Cleveland Guardians extend the man like now because you just got a bunch of money off your books. Lock him sadly.

[Jolly Olive]

Already a Yankee. I can't believe you missed you.

[Jake Storiale]

And you. You don't even believe that. You don't believe.

[Jolly Olive]

I want to in your mouth.

[Jake Storiale]

Sure. Quan, he's just a really fun player to watch. I'm a little bit biased towards him for sure, but I think he. Among left fielders. I would put him in my top three.

[Jolly Olive]

Seeing Quan's rookie year and seeing that he did miss action last year, it raises the eyebrow a little bit. I mean, it's also. It's a high risk. I know he upped his power numbers, but offensively he's banking on being a contact bat, which is very hard in modern baseball. But he has the tool and I. Some of his numbers are so sick. Seeing his strikeout to walk numbers are insane. I mean, kind of. Kind of a dream leadoff hitter. I know baseball's gotten away from that a little bit, but I. Obviously, you want the show. Hayes or Judge or whoever. I'd like to see those guys with Stephen Kwan in front of them. Right.

[Jake Storiale]

This is the arc.

[Jolly Olive]

Get a hit, get on base.

[Jake Storiale]

I mean, you mentioned the walk to strikeout rate. Two of his three years more walks than strikeouts. Career 185 walks to 186 strikeouts. That's just nice. They don't go and Gold Glove defense on top of all that.

[Jolly Olive]

And like, we probably. If the Guardians didn't value run prevention over everything, like, for a lot of teams, Stephen Kwan probably would have been their center fielder.

[Jake Storiale]

Right.

[Jolly Olive]

And we'd be talking about. Is he one of the best center fielders in baseball? So I'm glad Stephen Kwan's up here. I was wondering if I would have any question marks that popped up with him. I do not. I love the way he plays Excited to see him on the Yankees. I do want to pair him with. If you go look at the Gold Glove winners for left field for the past three years. Quan. Quan. Quan Hap. Hap. Hap. Are we too close to the situation? I don't think so because I'm getting a switch hitting left fielder. Three straight gold gloves. His past three years are a 118 OPS plus. It is technically slightly ticked up each year. 117, 118, 120. Ian Happ will be 30 this year. And man, hey, for everything we said about Riley Green being in the S tier, like, can he get to 30 homers and play that elite defense? Ian Hap is switch hitting. He hit 25 homers last year. And man, switch hitting is still undervalued in baseball.

[Jake Storiale]

Yes.

[Jolly Olive]

And it just doesn't happen a lot that Ian Hap jolly. We play a lot of out of the park baseball.

[Jake Storiale]

We do.

[Jolly Olive]

I think if we came up to a Quan Ian Hap draft pick selection. Quan's a little younger. Maybe. Maybe that's it. It's also depending how you want to build your team. These guys are so set it and forget it on any team. And I think that's why they ended up on this tier above a couple other names we really like. But I think if you're being honest, if everything's neutral, these guys are better all around ball players.

[Jake Storiale]

I mean, a big barometer we use for tier list is the last three years. It's last year and then the last three. And the Gold Glove thing kind of fell into our lap, which is why we named it right out of hands. Ran out of hands for your Gold Gloves. Hap in a different way to Quan where I said like, how good can Quan get? We know how good Hap is because he's been literally the same dude for the past three years. He's been a four war player. He plays 150 games, hits 20 home runs. And he's a switch hitter that is good on both sides. Like, switch hitters are fairly uncommon in the game right now. What's even less common is a switcher that's actually like a true switch hitter.

[Jolly Olive]

Right.

[Jake Storiale]

That like doesn't have a weakness on one side. Happ is one of those guys. I think his contract is one of the best in baseball. Cubs did a great job locking him up to that number. And you just know exactly what you're going to get. It's exactly what you said before in terms of like, what can you set in your lineup and just kind of forget About Hap's been that way for a very long time now. I just think he gets discredited a little bit because even at Haps best Riley Green and Jaron Duran have outdone him like in their most recent season. Which I think that's what we're banking on with the S tier. It's like who. Who's the truly elite of this category. Not saying that Hap can't be an elite player, but I do think that like you probably know more or less what you're gonna get with Ian Hap at this point.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah, I guess if, if we were. If we did rude tier lists which is not our brand. It's coming up next three nice guys here. That's not really a John Boy media thing stand out. That's one of our company's inside things. Not about the actual body. I. I guess for me if we were rude happened Quan kind of have a ceiling.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

Cap. Cap. That was them. No mind Quan. Offensively I mean I hope, I hope I'm wrong and we're talking about him hitting 380 or something like that. But the power is just not going to be there in Hap. As much as I very much like the guy, it doesn't feel like there's a 40 homer season in the tank or something like that. That Riley Green and different stadium. I think we'd be talking about that and Jaren Duran, the whole nine war thing. You don't see a lot of players with his speed be able to play baseball that good. So I like where it landed and I think it did open up the next tier of can you play left field? Which jolly. I'm gonna expose you a little bit. My favorite thing to do. Of course when we were initially talking about how do we think this sorts out, what names are you thinking of? You throw. One of my favorite players. One of my mom's favorite players as you mentioned, Anthony Santander.

[Jake Storiale]

I did.

[Jolly Olive]

As we talk about 40 homer potential. Throw potential out. Did it I guess for him. He's never racked up a big WAR season because his defense is lacking and this is a guy he feels like he's on a track towards dh.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

That. Can you play left field? I'm very interested to see how the Blue Jays handle it. The team that's valued outfield defense the most the past few years. This was their big free agent splash. Santander. It's an interesting offensive profile too. It's not perfect.

[Jake Storiale]

Right?

[Jolly Olive]

It's. It's very good. I don't know what he can do in left field.

[Jake Storiale]

So he's been a primary right fielder for most of his career. I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't know the park factors of corner outfields in Camden and Toronto. I don't have that in my book. I apologize. What I do know is that 40 homers as a switch hitter is sick. Like, that's really valuable. And I. I said it earlier in the off season that I feel like so many people said that Santander was an overrated free agent, that I feel like by proxy he became an underrated free agent. I still think that he's going to have really heavy.

[Jolly Olive]

Have you been saying by proxy a lot?

[Jake Storiale]

I feel like I'm on like a. A dictionary kick today. I feel like I'm whipping out a lot of new terms. I had two coffees today. I'm jazzed up.

[Jolly Olive]

Nice.

[Jake Storiale]

With Sanson D. It is a little bit of like, how is your team constructed? And like, if Santander is in an outfield with a lesser defensive center fielder that can't pick up some of the slack or shift over and help, then like, yeah, you view it a little bit differently. In the same way, he has the best home run potential of anyone on this list. I think that's a pretty fair statement. I don't think anybody else is sniffing, you know, the 44 mark that he set last year. He said 100 over the last three years, which is pretty bonkers when you think about it. So I don't know. Is the switch to left field gonna.

[Jolly Olive]

Kick things into gear for 100 over the last three?

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, it's my math right there. Let's see.

[BBD]

I think so.

[Jake Storiale]

105 babes.

[Jolly Olive]

Can you give me the hundred over three list? Oh, just of all of baseball.

[BBD]

Just baseball players over 100 home runs.

[Jolly Olive]

Last Jotani, shout out, stathood, probably. So Soto, we'll see who else.

[Jake Storiale]

But don't you say probably.

[Jolly Olive]

And I think it is. I'm not great with this home. I know. I lost track.

[Jake Storiale]

I'm sure you don't. I'm sure you didn't look at his page every day. Next year. All right. Point is, Santander gets a little bit discounted because WAR doesn't love him as much because of the defense. Right. But that is why this tier is named this. Can you play left field? Because if you can and maintain that same level approach hitting, then, yeah, things are going to tick up for you in a big way. Entering his age 30 season, for a lot of guys, that's a good thing for Some guys, it's not such a good thing. We will see. He's one of the more intriguing free agents going into this free first season of a new deal for me.

[Jolly Olive]

Well, I've got something more intriguing because this was a, a late ad that we didn't know if was going to be on this list. I mean even this morning I was like, I, I don't know if we.

[BBD]

I, I felt good about my insight on should he be there but like I was nervous that it was just going to be a whole thing.

[Jolly Olive]

Cause there was no way the Houston Astros are going to move Jose Altuve to left field, right, question mark.

[Jake Storiale]

Why is he here?

[Jolly Olive]

But it seems like they are. He gave his infield glove to a kid. That was the tweet this morning. Which that feels a little over the top. Either way, you might need like I'm.

[BBD]

Pretty sure he's gonna play some second base.

[Jolly Olive]

Still feels like you'd want to keep that glove. I don't know.

[Jake Storiale]

Anthony Santander, one of nine hitters with 100 home runs.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay.

[Jake Storiale]

Three years. Juan Soto on the list.

[Jolly Olive]

103 be it was closer than the experts.

[Jake Storiale]

Not on the list.

[BBD]

Nine players have hit a 100 homers over the last three seasons.

[Jolly Olive]

Aaron Judge.

[BBD]

Aaron Judge is number one.

[Jolly Olive]

You don't joke about that. Jolly. It's not a place for jokes. Any surprises on the list?

[Jake Storiale]

I was surprised by you look dainty. None of these names. None of these names.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay. Most surprising name on the list.

[Jake Storiale]

I'll try again. Kyle Schwarber. I guess. I don't know.

[BBD]

Santander.

[Jolly Olive]

Maybe that was the whole conversation in order.

[BBD]

Judge, Shohei Schwarber, Alonzo Maddelson, Santander, Alvarez, Soto, Ozuna.

[Jake Storiale]

Kind of makes sense.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah. Okay. Ozuna. I mean I know, I know he's great last year, but. Okay. Can you play left field? Jose Altuve will join him. I was very nervous to click on Jose Altuve's page because I was like, wait, does he have 900 ops potential in him? Because in 22 and 23 he did. I was interested to see where the stats landed last year. 295. 350, a 790 OPS. He won the Silver Slugger at second base.

[Jake Storiale]

He did.

[Jolly Olive]

At age 34. Yeah. This is just a little bit of a wild card, man. It's the tidiest left field to play along with fenway park for Mr. Duran and Mr. Altuve. Weird. I just started talking like that. Yeah, I just, I little bit of a hands up situation here.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, man. I mean I wasn't mentally prepared to talk about Altuve and left field until like 15 minutes ago when we found out it was actually happening. It makes sense because the Astros outfield is kind of in a really weird spot. I mean, that I love the guy, but Ben Gammell was the opening day left fielder for them. It was a great met last year, but it was shocking to see that. Okay, now Altuve is in left field. I think Dubon's gonna play second. And this is kind of a. It's a. It's a giving respect to L2 they kind of thing because I think the second best tier list, he's going to be near the top. It makes sense that he's kind of near the top here because I just kind of believe that Altuve, the baseball guy will be able to do this really well. And maybe that's, that's unfounded because we've literally never seen it, but he's just kind of good at everything he does and he's one of the most fun players in baseball to watch. Even at the age of 35 going into this year, I still have all the expectation that he'll be A plus offensive player and be able to man left fields because they've stuck out a bunch of guys out there. I mean they stick your down out there for 81 games every year and it seems to go just fine. So I don't see why Altuve won't be able to do it. It'll be an adjustment period for sure. I'm sure the first month we'll get some highlights or something and people will be talking about it and then I'll settle in and he'll be Jose Altuve. But I don't know if you can put him any higher because he's never played the position. And I do think there is some conversation of should some guys go over him and Santander potentially who can do both sides of the ball.

[Jolly Olive]

Well, yeah, and I, you know, Altuve did landed at a 3.4 last year. I think he might have got actually dinged defensively. He did, but I don't expect him. I don't expect him to be a plus defensively like I, I don't think.

[Jake Storiale]

The Astros do either.

[Jolly Olive]

How. How many guys turn 35, move to the outfield and start to thrive like I. That might be a zero.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[BBD]

And I don't know how to search that.

[Jolly Olive]

I think a lot of people know how my body is structured do that. You don't see a lot of guys built like us that are playing the outfield at a very high level.

[Jake Storiale]

Not really.

[Jolly Olive]

At age 35.

[Jake Storiale]

Are you saying that you and Altuve are built the same way?

[Jolly Olive]

In a way it's built different and that's kind of the whole thing. Okay. That yeah, I, I, I guess I was very nervous that it was going to be like, okay, here come the Houston comments. How is L2VE not higher? I think this is a fair for him to be placed with Anthony Santander. I think that's, I think this is more than fair.

[BBD]

It might change on the defensive end. Hasn't played this in real games yet and offensively like Last year at 34 is a step down from still MVP level. So I think it's, I think he's landed in the right place here.

[Jolly Olive]

Does anyone deserve to be with these.

[Jake Storiale]

Cats by the name of the tier? No.

[Jolly Olive]

Right. Which is always adjustable.

[Jake Storiale]

The, the question I have more so is will this tier move down, which we have to talk about.

[Jolly Olive]

Whoa.

[Jake Storiale]

Potentially. Because let's talk about there's a lot of guys who had good to great years last year who definitely can do it on both sides of the ball, some with deeper resumes than others, some with injury concerns that I think warrant a conversation and that kind of leads into our next tier. Thank you, sir. Can I have another? Now I'm viewing this tier as any of the guys that land here had a great year at some point recently, whether it was 2024 or the year before that.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points look for in store tags to earn on eligible snacks from Doritos, Cheez Its and Pringles or sweet treats from Haagen, Dazs, Kinder, Bueno and Reese's, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Gabe Leonars]

Have you ever looked into the night sky and wondered who or what was flying around up there? We've seen planes, helicopters, hot air balloons and birds. But what if there's something else, something much more ominous that appears under the COVID of night? Silent, unseen, watching. They may be right above your car late one night as you cruise down the road. Or look like mysterious lights hovering above your home. Drones. Or are they?

[Jolly Olive]

We used the word drone because it was comfortable to other people. One minute was there and one minute it wasn't.

[Jake Storiale]

Oh, that is beyond creepy.

[Gabe Leonars]

Do you feel like this drone was targeting you specifically?

[Jolly Olive]

Yes, Absolutely.

[Gabe Leonars]

Listen to Obscurum Invasion of the Drones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jolly Olive]

Some people won't give you the real talk on drugs, but it's time we know the facts. Fentanyl is often laced into illicit drugs and used to make fake versions of prescription pills. You can't see it, taste it or smell it. Suppliers mix fentanyl into their products because it's potent and cheap and the dealer might not even know. Keep yourself and others safe by knowing the real deal on fentanyl. Get the facts. Go to realdealonfentanyl.com this message is brought to you by the Ad Council.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jake Storiale]

Because we see Goodyear down year all the time.

[Jolly Olive]

Sure.

[Jake Storiale]

I think the easiest layup for this conversation is Jerks and Profar who was after a ten year odyssey, former top prospect in the game, came to San Diego in a one million dollar deal and started the All Star game and was the answer in the outfield for them. Out of four WAR season, 24 home runs, incredible basis. He was incredible. He just got a new deal with the Braves. I like that fit a lot from start to finish.

[Jolly Olive]

He was one of the best outfielders in the National League last year and.

[Jake Storiale]

We talk about we like switch hitters and like he's another example of that. Profar is interesting because how much can you Trust it? Age 31, breakout season doesn't happen very often, especially after 10 years in the league where everyone kind of thought they knew what you were. So what exactly is Jerks in Profile? We're going to find this out in a pretty deep Braves lineup where he gets protected whether you believe in that or not. But he is the textbook definition of profile. Can we see it again? Because that was really fun to watch.

[Jolly Olive]

Profar is a weird mental exercise for a lot of reasons. I'm as the list currently looks, I'm okay with it because in my, in my heart of hearts because this isn't supposed to be building a dynasty like we're gonna get to some of the young studs coming up like James Wood. And if you do, who would you rather have on your team? Like, well, yeah, give me James Wood over Jerks and Profar for the 2025 season. As I look at Santander, Altuve and Jerks and Profar, I'm Santander and El Tuve. I. Yeah, like, you know, I. Profar was better than them last year, but also, if Jerson Profar has, like, a one war season this year, I'm not gonna be shocked at all.

[Jake Storiale]

I'd be disappointed, but I'd be like, well, yeah, that kind of makes sense. That's who he was for 10 years.

[Jolly Olive]

And then you'd start crafting up that video so quickly.

[Jake Storiale]

I made a positive profile video this year.

[Jolly Olive]

What if I told you I sung his praises? Savant page looks real. All of it was very real.

[Jake Storiale]

Like, when AA gives a guy money, it's like, oh, he knows something.

[Jolly Olive]

It's jerks. And Profar was very much the. If he signed with team you don't believe in, be like, oh, that's gonna be ugly. Yeah, sign with the Braves. And everyone's like, shoot, the Rockies brought him back.

[Jake Storiale]

I was like, let's hear Pirates. 40 million. Yeah, Pirates is what I thought for a little bit, too.

[Jolly Olive]

If he's good, the Pirates. Never mind.

[Jake Storiale]

They should be ashamed.

[Jolly Olive]

Never mind. Yes. Thank you, sir. Can I have another? That's easily Jerks and Profar. Jolly. I'm. I don't know this list inside out. I think the man with the second most homers on this list is Tyler O'Neal, who hit 31 last year in 113 games.

[Jake Storiale]

Didn't he, like, take over in April, by the way?

[Jolly Olive]

Got more money than Profarm. He did the Orioles, it was kind of their, like, move. They brought him in to replace Santander, essentially. Yeah. It's a weird baseball reference. Has a six WAR season in the bag. What would we have been saying in 2021 when Tyler O'Neill, at age 26, had six war? He's dealt with injuries his whole career. He has two Gold Gloves. One's 2028 counts. That's in his does count. That's crazy.

[Jake Storiale]

The 2020 Gold Glove list is nasty, by the way. Look at it. It's just. It's just nasty.

[Jolly Olive]

That. Yeah, Tyler O'Neill might may surprise people. I guess if you're a Sox fan and you got to watch his games last year, it doesn't. But that was a massive season. But I. He has more not massive seasons under his resume than good ones.

[Jake Storiale]

First of all, 2020 alcohol glove winner. IKF wants your attention. Second of all, third baseman. Yes.

[Jolly Olive]

Yep.

[Jake Storiale]

Do you want to expand on that.

[Jolly Olive]

Or it's a very different position.

[Jake Storiale]

I've heard that conversation many times, but.

[Jolly Olive]

Yankees didn't play him at third base until was it late September?

[BBD]

Some like he got like four games.

[Jolly Olive]

His Gold Glove position got them going.

[Jake Storiale]

Yes. Leave a comment down below if you wanted.

[Jolly Olive]

One point jolly.

[Jake Storiale]

Tyler O'Neal is interesting because I mean the 1.127 OPS in April last year was pretty neat. Nine home runs in the first month. I thought, oh, 2021, O'Neal is back. Dealt with some injuries, dealt with some ups and downs. And that's kind of a little bit of the story with Tyler O'Neill. Can you keep him healthy? The Orioles took a pretty big bet. You know, dubbing, hey, we're losing a switch hitter who gave us 44 home runs last year. We're going to pay you 16.5 mil a year to replace him in value. And the biggest way he can do that is playing a full season, which he has only done once in his seven year career, which was 2021. And that was 138 games.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

So by some metrics it's not even a full season. So that's the biggest thing for O'Neill. I, I think if he plays 150 games and is the same guy that he is, you're talking about a guy that moves up into the second tier because he is athletic, he's fast, he can hit you 30 home runs. He is that caliber of player. He's worth the money if you can just keep him healthy. But like profar how we kind of counted him out a little bit because of career resume. The same way we're counting out O'Neal because of injury history and stuff like that. And each of the guys in this category I think is going to have some sort of caveat with that. So O'Neal is, is. He's kind of a head scratcher to me because I really thought 2021 was the beginning of an ascension. I mean, you know, a former top prospect in the Cardinal system, one of the outfielders they kept because they let a lot of outfielders go to other teams. Adoles, Garcia, Randy Rosarena. We'll see. O'Neill and Baltimore, they're moving the wall back in for their pole hitter. Kind of like that makes playing defense in left field easier too. There's a lot of things going his way. Can you just say on the field?

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah, I. The only, the only other caveat which hey, this may be some player player hater ball stuff is I'm. I don't fully know who he is as a hitter. Fenway. This again. Maybe this could be a jolly Allah video. I think there's. There's a history that almost like clockwork Boston has a right handed hitter play out of their dome almost every year. Which Fenway park. Obviously Adam Duvall did it all. 2022. If I click on 2021. Let's see who comes up. Bogarts used to just be really good. Hunter Renfro, Katie Martinez, Kevin Plucki.

[Jake Storiale]

Stop.

[Jolly Olive]

I'm gonna stop. I'm gonna stop. They. Yeah. I just. The exact opposite is Baltimore.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

So I'm. I'm interested to see where that lands Power isn't the problem with him. Go check out the Instagram.

[Jake Storiale]

Beefy kind of. That's.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

That's too much beef.

[Jolly Olive]

There's a discussion for another day.

[Jake Storiale]

I'm just like ball players look a certain way.

[Jolly Olive]

I think his dad was like Mr. Canada or something.

[Jake Storiale]

Sure. My dad was Hulk Hogan. So I think they fought at some point.

[Jolly Olive]

Jerks in Profar. Tyler O'Neill share the stage. I'm. I'm gonna throw out a guy that gets me kind of jazzed that we're looking for another and maybe we're treating this guy wrong altogether. But Elliot Ramos. Yeah. He's interesting because he does have the credentials. He is a top first round pick. He got his first full season of play. He did good. I also we went to the all star game last year and guys were hitting. Don't want to be old school scout. Bat sounded different.

[Jake Storiale]

Was just different with this game.

[Jolly Olive]

It sounded different that I don't know if this guy wasn't tucked away in the bay and we didn't hate hate on the Giants for being the Giants the past couple years. Would we be talking about him differently?

[Jake Storiale]

I found something crazy.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay.

[Jake Storiale]

Wow. I've never seen a split this large. OPS against lefties. Elliot Ramos 1.2, 1.189 OPS against righties.656.73. That's a near 600 point difference. I don't love it either. I really don't love it.

[Jolly Olive]

Flipped.

[Jake Storiale]

There's no. I mean there's no secret. For a month span he really. He took over for the Giants and he really got them back on the conversation in the wild card race in June. 304 average.946 OPS. Everything else was kind of okay around that month. Which you know, you shouldn't discredit. One good Month as nothing. That's really hard.

[Jolly Olive]

Guys need one big month, so I'm saying.

[Jake Storiale]

So with Ramos, he's the biggest wild card on the list for me, to be honest. Age 25, season, fully broke out at age 24. Former high draft pick. Like the Giants were expecting this out of him, but a long road to get here. 2017 draft. I like guys that spent a lot of time in the minors and like got that seasoning because I do think that they just. They usually pan out better unless they're these generational talents that come up at 21 or whatever. So Ramos, I would not be surprised if he comes out and does it again this year. And I think the Giants are expecting that of him. He's supposed to be a big part of their lineup. So I think I'm okay with the placing. It feels a little weird because O'Neill's got an MVP votes. Profar was MVP vote getter last year. Is Ramos quite at their caliber yet? I don't know that.

[Jolly Olive]

Right.

[Jake Storiale]

But we could revisit this conversation in a year's time and think why Was there any question to not put him in this tier?

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah, I'm on the savant right now. There's. There's a lot of red, There's a bit of blue. God, this feels like a guy that. If he played in Cincinnati, we'd be.

[Jake Storiale]

Like, oh, yeah, excited.

[Jolly Olive]

What is he gonna do this year? And that. That feels unfair to a degree. Oh, actually, I. I always forget they have that. That's available on this page. So he hit 22 homers last year. It said he would have hit 19 in Kansas City. So we don't like that. It said he would have hit 33 in Cincinnati.

[Jake Storiale]

There you go.

[Jolly Olive]

How crazy is that?

[Jake Storiale]

I feel. Yeah, Cincy was the highest number, right? Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

That's a different ball player. But yeah, I. Giants fans, you often let us know. But please, is. Is this guy the truth? Are we going to. We're going to find out this year. Yeah. Because he's roped up. He's kind of. His body kind of reminds me of Adoles Garcia a little bit.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

Again, baseball happens fast.

[Jake Storiale]

511, 180.

[Jolly Olive]

Both wrong.

[Jake Storiale]

I think five.

[Jolly Olive]

He's way. He weighs 20.

[Jake Storiale]

I think he's bigger.

[Jolly Olive]

He was like Diesel.

[Jake Storiale]

I need a full body.

[BBD]

The muscles heavy.

[Jake Storiale]

Let's see that. Hang on. Oh, you're a big boy.

[Jolly Olive]

Right?

[Jake Storiale]

He's giving me a little Sandoval.

[Jolly Olive]

Hey, hey.

[BBD]

Careful.

[Jake Storiale]

I'm well. And not saying about Red Sox. I'm not gonna say Giants.

[Jolly Olive]

I mean that's still not.

[Jake Storiale]

Come on. You don't see that at all. I see it a little bit. Comment down below.

[Jolly Olive]

He joins the list. Anyone else you would like to see another that you think talent wise deserves to be here?

[Jake Storiale]

You're going to make me say it.

[Jolly Olive]

Jason Dominguez.

[Jake Storiale]

I think Brandon Nimmo deserves a conversation in here.

[Jolly Olive]

I'll talk about him.

[Jake Storiale]

Nemo didn't have a good year last year. I'll be the first one to say it. Very streaky, very up and down. Often looked very lost at the plate even when the team was going. But we are talking about a guy that the prior two years was a five WAR and four WAR center fielder.

[Jolly Olive]

Right.

[Jake Storiale]

So I do still feel like that player is in the tank for Brandon Nemo. Still hit 20 homers last year, set a career high and stolen bases. The slug was decent. I think with him it was the plate discipline fell off a little bit because a lot was asked of him as the cleanup hitter a lot last year. And I do think the Juan Soto factor does equate into this dynamic of I think he's going to lift up everybody in that lineup and Nimmo I think can be a benefactor of that. So in the same way that we're putting Ramos in this tier despite not having the career resume right. I almost want to put Nemo in this year because he has the career resume even though he was definitely a lesser player than all these guys last year.

[Jolly Olive]

How's his defense? How does it feel fan wise?

[Jake Storiale]

It's much better. So he had a great defensive year in center field in 22, took a massive step back in 23. So they moved him. And then last year it was league average and everyone knows about Brandon Nemo's arm. It's not good. So yeah, there is liability when it comes to Nimmo as a defender.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay. Yeah, no, I, I have no qualms with it. I. You watched a lot more Nimmo than me last year. I mean Nimmos. Nimmos. 2020-2023 is.

[Jake Storiale]

It's a nice butter knife.

[Jolly Olive]

Very impressive. And it. The conversation would deserve to be much higher on the list that yeah, I, I can't fully ding him for last year. I just think it's. Nemo gets interesting because yeah, there's him.

[Jake Storiale]

And like a Rosarena. They feel like a similar conversation.

[BBD]

That's the next guy. I was gonna say like it like.

[Jake Storiale]

Feels like they should be a pair or something.

[BBD]

Judged similarly based on resume and I want to.

[Jolly Olive]

I, I think we found our hiccup that I want to check boxes that we can check and come back because I think we're gonna have to add a tier. I think something. So let's do 20, 26s tiers because this is going to be the most fun. This is easy. Wyatt Langford. I can't believe where the stats landed last year. Massive final month, fourth overall pick in the draft. Felt like the light bulb went on and I, I didn't think it was a good season and it was for war that we could very easily. Anything we've said about Riley Green could be said about him soon. That he could be dominating this. Anything there.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, I mean he, he caught me off guard. I had a conversation with Dalton Feely a couple weeks ago about this exact list about who we think might be at the top. He mentioned Langford. I kind of did like a little scoff because I was thinking of his first half stats right where I stopped checking in on the Rangers altogether. Then I took a look and I said, oh my God.

[Jolly Olive]

Right?

[Jake Storiale]

He's a four war 22 year old dude. That doesn't, that doesn't happen.

[Jolly Olive]

No.

[Jake Storiale]

Very often. So with him and a collective Rangers bounce back, we're going to get a shot at seeing White Lankford in a much bigger spotlight in 2025, which is pretty exciting. And it was so funny because the whole story of the Rangers postseason run for a while was the kids sensation of Evan Carter who came up, played 10 games and then was just a dog on their postseason run. I think if you ask a Rangers fan, the guy they're much more excited about is Wyatt Langford now. And I think they expect things from both of them.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

But Langford has entered a different conversation in terms of doing it over a full season. And again people hyped up for what's going to be a very interesting sophomore campaign.

[Jolly Olive]

The other guy links to Juan Soto. Your guy big James Wood, man, he came up and he mauled 122 OPS plus, nine homers, 14 stolen bases, eight caught stealings. Having fun in the capital. 79 games. So half a season. So I think the interesting part, defensively he graded out very poorly.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

So what does that look like and feel like for a 67 guy? Do we need to make alternate James Wood plans coming up? I think we'll find out about that. The offensive profile. If big men are taking over baseball. God damn it. Just one more thing for them. James Wood has the potential to be very special. His breakout Season, whenever that comes. Could be silly numbers.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, I'm. As an nle Sky, I'm. I'm prepping for this potential takeover. There's a couple things that stand out to me about James Wood. One is the freak athleticism. Six seven. He's like 80th percentile. Sprints 85th. So he's six, seven. He's lightning fast. His field hitting numbers are nuts. They're even across the board. He was 32 pole, 36 straight 31 oppo. So he's a pure hitter. Hit it hard and he hits it hard. And he hits the fastball at a young age of what, 21, 21 years old, he was raking against fastballs. This big thing was hitting the breaking pitch. So once he gets over that hump, which I'm sure he will because he was a top prospect and they expect him to, he's going to be very, very dangerous. So while he doesn't have the that full season catalog that Langford put together, these two guys, I would not be shocked at all if we come back next year and they are the maybe the best two players on this list.

[Jolly Olive]

Does anyone deserve to be with them? I'm trying to be honest with myself because I think there's only one maybe. I think it's my guy Dominguez. And I, I truly, I truly don't. Does he. In my head, I think there could be a James Wood conversation with Dominguez. That I think that would be fair. I think Wyatt Langford, he's. He's shown me a season.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

That. That feels a little unfair. It feels like. It feels like James Wood is equidistant. Wyatt Langford over here. Here's James Wood. Here's Dominguez.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

That. It's fine to pair him with him. It's fine to pair Wood with Dominguez. I don't think you can. Well, maybe my Yankees showing.

[Jake Storiale]

You gave me your de facto rating there kind of by accident. You were honest with me. You gave him a 1, 2, 3. Don't like that at all. Getting a little too jazzed up. I wish the 2023 sample was more than eight games because he came up and he hit Merlander and it was like, oh, he's here.

[Jolly Olive]

Highlighted the best to ever do it.

[Jake Storiale]

So last year, what do we all remember about Dominguez the most? You can't catch a fly ball. That's not great for the left field tier list.

[Jolly Olive]

Wrecked.

[Jake Storiale]

And it should. I think sample works against him a little bit.

[BBD]

So you want him and can you play left field?

[Jake Storiale]

There's a conversation for that. Can you play left field? Derogatory.

[Jolly Olive]

The mean version.

[BBD]

And that's him in James Wood.

[Jake Storiale]

I. I would vote no. But there is three of us. So bbd, do you want to be our tiebreaker and then you guys can fend off the comments when they come.

[BBD]

I think for this moment I would put him there and be very open to adjusting as we clear out this list and see what feels.

[Jake Storiale]

Because he feels more like a pairing with someone like MJ Melendez, in my opinion, who has been to put it bluntly, bad. But people expect to be better. Yeah, I guess for different equations.

[Jolly Olive]

For me that's tough because Melendez it's like bad.

[Jake Storiale]

How bad did it get?

[Jolly Olive]

Linda's has not been good.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, no, I get bad. There's a lot of sample too.

[Jolly Olive]

Where Jason Dominguez. Yeah, I. I'm leaving Dominguez off the board for now. Let's check off the bottom of the list. There's a cursed picture of Connor Joe and Jason Hayward Face mash. I think that was BBD's lovemaking. Who are. Who are the A's there? Is that Seth Brown?

[BBD]

Seth Brown and Miguel Anduhar.

[Jolly Olive]

I can't look at that ever again. We can bottom both set that on fire.

[Jake Storiale]

That's fine.

[Jolly Olive]

Ben and Tendies.

[BBD]

I'd. I'd probably left in the tank him just because on another team.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah, I'd like to see him on another team.

[Jake Storiale]

I think we could left him.

[Jolly Olive]

Whatever marlin that is is on the bottom. It's just. Who is that?

[BBD]

This one and I totally know this marlin is Kyle Stowers.

[Jolly Olive]

Stowers.

[BBD]

At least it's supposed to be the.

[Jake Storiale]

Flowy hair was that potential?

[BBD]

I've gotten tricked by the ESPN PNGs before.

[Jolly Olive]

Stowers. You're down there. Melendez is on the bottom. I'm sorry.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, I think so.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay, so I've got my guy, Chris Morrell. I. I have some belief that also.

[Jake Storiale]

Got pretty ugly last year too. But he's also like raised machine. They might just fix him.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah, I mean the power put him.

[BBD]

In the right places.

[Jake Storiale]

I mean he came over to the raise and got worse was the thing. Strikeout numbers are really bad.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah. I don't know. Let's leave it for now. Let's do left in the tank. I do think Benny. I was shocked. He hit 20 homers last year.

[Jake Storiale]

I think Benny.

[BBD]

I think he had like a legit good second half.

[Jolly Olive]

Like if. If Benny got traded to the Phillies this off season, how many times would you hear like, kind of like Benny there.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

Slap it around, catch some balls. It's gotten ugly. And maybe he doesn't deserve this credit, but the White Sox also deserve so much bad credit.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, 8.

[BBD]

30 ops in the second half from him. Like he, he put together a good half.

[Jake Storiale]

Like, I don't know. I feel like it's just hard to have a good season when you're in that situation for anyone. Like, no matter who you are. Why don't we talk about the guy that did go to the Phillies? I feel like Max Kepler kind of fixed their fix.

[Jolly Olive]

It's there too, for left in the tank.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah. Replacement level player last year. 682 OPS the year before. 120 OPS plus 24 homers. But ever since the end of the 2010s, it's been kind of a similar story for Kepler. Whereas, you know, if you put him in this situation in the Phillies lineup or maybe the vibes are a little higher. Different environment for the first time in 10 years.

[Jolly Olive]

Right.

[Jake Storiale]

What's left in the tank? I don't know.

[Jolly Olive]

How many platoon guys do we have here? Like when I, when I see Hayes kind of Kepler, Nolan Jones. I don't know.

[Jake Storiale]

I don't know what to do with.

[Jolly Olive]

I don't know what you do with that. Felix out there to play defense. Morel. Who are you? Larnac?

[BBD]

Don't, don't.

[Jolly Olive]

Look at what he did. It's every twins hitter ever. Somehow they have a 115.

[BBD]

Why, why don't. Doesn't that team work?

[Jake Storiale]

Like maybe.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay, Matt Wal, Kepler.

[BBD]

Better Vers lefties. It's crazy.

[Jake Storiale]

This pissed me off too.

[Jolly Olive]

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to add a row below 20, 26s tier and I think I'm going to call it every twins player ever. Because Trevor Larnac is every twins player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

You're putting Kepler there too?

[Jolly Olive]

Kepler is every twins player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

Was Austin Hayes.

[Jolly Olive]

Austin Hayes is every twins player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

Okay.

[Jolly Olive]

It's Conforto. Brendan Donovan. Is that who that is?

[BBD]

Yes. He's penciled in for left.

[Jolly Olive]

He's every twins player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

Okay, I'm starting to see the vision a little bit.

[Jolly Olive]

Like some they kind of hit and you're like, what was that?

[BBD]

Yeah, like this can't be what the problem is.

[Jolly Olive]

But Nolan Jones, sure, he had a freak season.

[BBD]

Yeah, he's. He's a twin.

[Jolly Olive]

Every twin player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

You had a really good year.

[Jolly Olive]

Morel's freaking Me out right now.

[Jake Storiale]

He's. I think he's bottom for me.

[Jolly Olive]

South Freelick's throwing me up. We could put Morel on the bottom. He's got to prove it.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

He hasn't had a position.

[BBD]

No position. He's left field because they just had to put him somewhere. And his offense is basically all just hitting homers, which is cool. There's one thing to do.

[Jolly Olive]

I'm still. I'm gonna root for Chris Morrell, but I'm okay with him being in the bottom. And he doesn't. He doesn't give me twin vibes.

[Jake Storiale]

No, he doesn't at all.

[Jolly Olive]

Which is kind of hurting him right now a little bit. Self relics. Every Twins player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[BBD]

Fine with that. And for the people watching, I know you can see Ellie and Jordan. They're on a future DH list.

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah, they.

[BBD]

They just don't worry about that. They're down there.

[Jake Storiale]

Don't even sweat it.

[Jolly Olive]

That I think. Lourdes, Guerril, Conforto, Randy Ward, Nemo. I'm trying to think. I'm trying to genuinely think, like who I'd rather have, I guess Nimmo and Conforto I don't have strong opinions on.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, right. Because I think. Thank you, sir. Can I have another? It really should be the guys that did well last year. And Nemo, he didn't.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay, so we need another row.

[BBD]

I think it's a row between those.

[Jake Storiale]

Five are a tier. And it's like the 20, 21 all star team or something.

[Jolly Olive]

Okay, so row after that is. Okay, so. Thank you, sir. Can I have another profile? O'Neill and Ramos, you guys were great last year. Need to replicate it right. Ramos, you can maybe even be better. Nimmo, Conforto, Guerriel and Randy, because they.

[Jake Storiale]

Were all N. Ward, because they were all kind of. And two WAR players that, you know, can play the position and hit above league average. But like they've been better players before and you suspect that they can still be that player.

[Jolly Olive]

I mean, Michael Conforto just got 17mil from the Dodgers to be on that team and play, and he's going to.

[Jake Storiale]

Be a platoon hitter, which means his numbers are probably way up.

[BBD]

Is there like a report card type comment that's like. Like there's more in there.

[Jolly Olive]

Trying to think. Trying to think what the teachers would tell me. Like, not achieving is kind and helpful.

[Jake Storiale]

To everyone in the classroom.

[Jolly Olive]

Underachieving seeks new challenges. Did those guys underachieve last year?

[Jake Storiale]

Kinda collectively. Is it mean to call it just underachievers?

[Jolly Olive]

Because that kind of underachieve but believe.

[BBD]

Needs improvement, needs work.

[Jolly Olive]

That's. Yeah, that's a good report card lingo. Horrible flashbacks right now.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, really tough.

[Jolly Olive]

My God. Oh, you like that noise?

[Jake Storiale]

I didn't know you had that in your book.

[Jolly Olive]

Underachieve.

[Jake Storiale]

But believe and underachievers is too long of a word so it splits into two rows and I hate that.

[Jolly Olive]

So we can achievers.

[Jake Storiale]

Believe they achieve. Believe they can achieve.

[BBD]

Want more, but this is fine.

[Jake Storiale]

Oh, I kind of like want more but this is fine. Because it is fine. Like I'm not like if you have.

[BBD]

This level of production or better is kind of where you're like. Because all cool where like the guys below could be. You could end up in a bad place.

[Jake Storiale]

Besides Ward, all these guys were on winning teams and they weren't the best player on their team, but they were still contributors.

[Jolly Olive]

Just like amazing six hole hitters.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[Jolly Olive]

You have one of these guys in your. The two ideas that ran through my head were that or. And again, I know we've already hammered this, but like would be amazing on the reds.

[Jake Storiale]

Oh, can we. Can we do White Sox best player?

[Jolly Olive]

Yeah.

[Jake Storiale]

White Sox best player.

[Jolly Olive]

I mean easily. Yeah, right.

[Jake Storiale]

There you go.

[Jolly Olive]

Easily.

[Jake Storiale]

White Sox best player.

[Jolly Olive]

White Sox best player. People might not like that.

[Jake Storiale]

So mean.

[Jolly Olive]

That's okay.

[Jake Storiale]

I love it. It's great. Okay.

[Jolly Olive]

Do we like Benny on a row on his own?

[Jake Storiale]

I don't. I think.

[Jolly Olive]

I think maybe just put him in. Every Twins player ever.

[Jake Storiale]

That's. That's fine with me. Even if he doesn't quite fit.

[Jolly Olive]

There's part of me that liked a part of me that didn't. Okay, let's do a run through, see where we're at. See where we have to juggle. At the top. Moving stage left, your S tier it is. Riley Green is Jaren Duran. Ran out of hands. Three time consecutive Gold Glove winner. Stephen Kwan and Ian Hap. Can you play left field? Important for left field. Some might say Santander and Altuve. Thank you, sir. Can I have another profile? Who's. Who's my beefy guy? Tyler. Tyler O'Neill, Elliot Ramos. Name fart there. White Sox best player. Taylor Ward, Randy Rosarena, Lourdes Guerrill, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Confuco. Queens 2026s tears, Lankford and Wood. I think that's Cage. Well, sometimes I don't feel great about that. Every Twins player ever. We have Benny Larnac, Kepler Hayes, Donovan Jones and Freelick.

[Jake Storiale]

Every Twins player ever is so funny.

[Jolly Olive]

Really? Are this is maybe the bottom. I've got two face mashes for your A's and your Padres. A Marlins player who I know and MJ Melendez and Chris Morell.

[Jake Storiale]

So that leaves Jason Dominguez. Does Jason Dominguez get his own tier, like right above the bottom?

[Jolly Olive]

What if he's good?

[BBD]

Because you'd rather. I feel like you'd rather take your chance on Dominguez than all those twins, Right?

[Jolly Olive]

Ask a question.

[Jake Storiale]

Sure. Oh, God.

[Jolly Olive]

What if Dominguez is good?

[Jake Storiale]

Right? What if he's good? What if he's bad?

[BBD]

What if it's how many good players.

[Jolly Olive]

Come out of the Dominican Republic and how many get the nickname the Martian?

[BBD]

What if it's. He's in S tier and I finagle the graphic for it to be like a gap between him and Wood?

[Jolly Olive]

What if I'm interested in the.

[Jake Storiale]

Hear me out.

[Jolly Olive]

I'm interested in the gap.

[Jake Storiale]

A tier below 2026 S tier is 2026 B tier. And it's Dominguez.

[Jolly Olive]

You're so mid.

[BBD]

2027 S tier.

[Jake Storiale]

2027.

[Jolly Olive]

Yes. That's the answer.

[Jake Storiale]

That's the answer.

[Jolly Olive]

That's the answer. Below 2026 S tier is 2027 S tier with Jason Dominguez.

[Jake Storiale]

Because I think he needs time. It's not going to happen in his first full season.

[Jolly Olive]

Things I feel uncomfortable with.

[Jake Storiale]

Okay.

[Jolly Olive]

But I don't think there's changes.

[Jake Storiale]

Sex ed.

[Jolly Olive]

For some reason. I think Max Kepler is going to be really good. I think Philly's that ballpark.

[Jake Storiale]

Is he the best player on the White Sox?

[Jolly Olive]

Where did his numbers land, though? Because unfortunately he was a replacement level player.

[Jake Storiale]

He was 1.0 war better versus lefties.

[BBD]

Than righties, which is weird.

[Jake Storiale]

I hate that.

[Jolly Olive]

I'm good on that.

[BBD]

He's a twin.

[Jake Storiale]

I believe he's got Twins hat on. Jack.

[Jolly Olive]

He's got. He's every Twins player ever. Okay. I just. It's. This is just instinct. I think he's gonna be good.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah.

[BBD]

Do I get Plou's headshot? Just on there.

[Jolly Olive]

Put Ploof in there.

[Jake Storiale]

I think that's a good idea.

[Jolly Olive]

I don't think. I think Chris Morrell's good at baseball. That I think this could end up looking weird. But I don't even know if he's a left fielder, so I feel okay with that.

[Jake Storiale]

They're gonna play him everywhere.

[Jolly Olive]

If Sal Freelick hits at an average level, he's gonna fly up this list next year. Otherwise, I'm okay.

[Jake Storiale]

Yeah, I think I'm okay too, Benny. I feel a little funny about. But I don't think you can put him any higher. I mean we could put him in White Sox best player because he is their best.

[Jolly Olive]

If any. If anything, I think Benny's supposed to go down. He's been pretty bad, I think. I think we gave him the benefit of knowing his name. Pretty good. Yeah, it was pretty bad last year.

[BBD]

Good last two months and he'll play defense.

[Jolly Olive]

Traded somewhere, get traded somewhere.

[BBD]

Repeat that in the first half and you can get flipped to somewhere fun.

[Jolly Olive]

Right? Okay, that was our left field tier list. That was Jolly Olive. That was bbd. Let us know what we did wrong, what we did right. Thank you for watching. Thank you for subscribing. We will see you next week.

[BBD]

Wicked Jerk is production of Dan Patrick Productions, Jumbo Media and Workhouse Media.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's Stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags. Turn on eligible snacks from Doritos, Cheez Its and Pringles, or sweet treats from Haagen, Dazs, Kinder Bueno and Reese's, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Gabe Leonars]

What would you do if mysterious drones appeared over your hometown? I started asking questions. What do you remember happening on that night of December 16th?

[Jake Storiale]

It actually rotated around our house, looking as if it was peering in each window of our home.

[Gabe Leonars]

I'm Gabe Leonars from Imagine I Heart Podcasts and Leonard's Entertainment. Listen to Obscurum, Invasion of the Drones wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[Jolly Olive]

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends Mark and Craig Kilberger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelo, Mel Robbins, Martin.

[Jake Storiale]

Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My legacy on the iHeartRadio.

[Ryan Seacrest]

App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jake Storiale]

This is my Legacy.

[Mary Kay McBrayer]

I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. This season explores women from the 19th century to now, women who were murderers and scammers, but also women who were photojournalists, lawyers, writers and more. This podcast tells more than just the brutal, gory details of horrific acts. I delve into the good, the bad the difficult and all the nuance I can find because these are the stories that we need to know to understand the intersection of society, justice and the fascinating workings of the human psyche. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains, or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.