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Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut
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Nicklaus Gaut
11:01
Morning y'all!
I'm back from getting children's passports and ready to roll
my children, to clarify ; )
LetsPlayTwo
11:01
Love these chats and your emails thank you!!
Nicklaus Gaut
11:01
Thank you!
KC
11:01
What's your take on Freddy Fermin, and why did KC  go and sign Austin Nola? Do they have no faith in Fermin as Sal's backup?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:02
I’d love to say that Fermin is obviously a more than capable backup to Sal and that Nola was just signed as a break-glass-in-emergency type…But we’re talking about the Royals, so…
gbs42
11:02
Nicklaus, I'm in an 8-team, NL-only, 5x5 3-year keeper league. I can keep TJ Friedl this year and next for $1. Worth keeping for the cheap, solid production despite the upcoming missed time?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:02
Yeah, the injury isn’t ideal but you have to keep him at that price in NL-only
Bob
11:02
How Early should I consider drafting Cole or Devin Williams?  Or should I even do it
Nicklaus Gaut
11:02
I’m not touching either - Cole has “precursor to something bigger” written all over it and while Williams “could” be back soon enough to get double-digit Saves, that’s assuming an immediate return to form and no lingering/reoccurring issues with a notoriously tricky injury.
Framber vs Nestor
11:03
So the baseball gods have spoken and Framber Valdez and Nestor Cortes are their teams opening-day starters. Framber is 30, Nestor is 29. They've both had great years and crappy ones. Who do you trust more for this year?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:03
It’s hard for me to pick against my guy Nestor but give me Framber, all day, in the trust department.
11:04
He’s on four of my five teams currently and I expect I’ll probably pick up a few more shares. Not spectacular in any one area but is solid, at minimum, in every category and is one of the few guys you can actually count on for a pile of innings. Plus, you can generally get a good draft price on him as he’s typically going after that big second-tier of SPs going in the top-50. Great foundational piece
But also, Nestor’s price is wa-aay too low - shoulder injuries are always concerning but by all accounts he’s healthy and an Opening Day start buoys that confidence.
Oscar Gamble
11:04
What are the main differences when playing in a head to head league (yahoo 14 teams OBP) than standard roto? It'll be my first time playing head to head. Thanks you!
Nicklaus Gaut
11:04
I don’t change the raw valuation of players (how much their total stats are worth according to calculated dollar values) but think the biggest difference is in your roster construction. Moreso than in roto, I value consistency more in H2H and will try to avoid carrying too many players prone to streakiness. IE steady turtles over upside rabbits.
Vinnie
11:05
Pundits seem to love Vinnie Pasquantino, but he's  had fewer than 500 MLB at bats. Is he just a power play? Are pitchers going to figure him out? He hit .247 last year, and he's down to .226 in 31 spring training ABs (granted, a small sample size). In 2022, he was only KC's 4th best hitting prospect after Witt (who panned out), Melendez and Pratto—both pretty much busts. Is Vinnie the next Pratto?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:05
I’m trusting the hit tool and discipline to give him a really high floor, even if the fantasy numbers aren’t currently terrific. If he had last year’s price, it’d be a different story but he’s being drafted around the top-100 hitters, which is about right. Being on the Royals will rarely help your R+RBI but I’d still be happy to have Italian Breakfast at my CI
Dan Grant
11:05
Hey man, thanks for the chat! I've just joined a long running points league. Only 1 C, 12 teams. 10 keepers, keep forever. Would you protect a veteran elite catcher like Realmuto in this format? I realize that depends on quality of my keepers, but he's fringey -- up against the likes of Freddy Peralta, Ha-Seong Kim and Zach Gelof.
Nicklaus Gaut
11:06
Caveats - it really depends on your scoring (Realmuto will be most helped in leagues with a strikeout penalty and/or getting 2 pts (or more) per SB, as opposed to the 1 pt in many league). But in general, especially in the current catching climate, I’d be hesitant to keep a catcher in a 1-C league unless his scoring profile puts him in his own tier of excellence.
With that said, if Peralta/Kim/Gelof are your best substitutes, I'd rather have Realmuto.
Prospects
11:06
My league allows us to keep a 6-man farm system. This year, I have five picks, because I feel  it's a bumber crop. I like hit/speed guys. What's your sense about these three hitters whose speed tool is ranked 70 or 80: Max Clark (Det), Enrique Bradford (Bal), and Chandler Simpson (TB)? Who's going to hit enough to use their speed? Who's the next Billy Hamilton?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:07
I don’t think there is much Hamilton(!) risk in any of the three - contact skills are all good enough, if not more so, to keep them out of his range.
Clark has the best chance to be special - burner speed with excellent contact skills coming from the left side. That's the recipe for an excellent BABIP (and the OBP that tends to follow).
Bradfield’s contact isn’t quite as good but he’s faster and his defense will get him up sooner than later.
11:08
I guess you could hang some Billy H on Chandler given the absolute dearth of power but he’ll hit enough to get on base. And when he does….whoosh!! Dudes gonna steal 100 in the minors again.
Big Mo
11:08
Will KC's rookie utilityman Nick Loftin play enough to become KC's next Whit Merrifield? Equally important, will he hit enough to be like Whit?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:08
I’m pretty high on Loftin - have him in my 20-team OBP dynasty - but aren’t counting on much in 2024. He can definitely hit like Whit (with more power) but think 15 SB is a more likely ceiling than the 20+ that Merrifield usually brought.
RobertJ
11:08
With the Astros out, my spidey sense says Snell to SF. 35, 30, 28 with opt outs. Who are the top 2 teams? What do you anticipate happening?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:09
The Giants have to remain the monster favorites. I mean, have you seen that rotation??? But I’m not still not convinced the Yankees are out of the running, no matter what they’re currently chirping - please, tell me more about how your Cole-less rotation will be just fine if you sign Michae Lorenzen lol
But me and Ockham think it'll still end up being SFG - 3 years with a whole mess of opt-outs
Shane Halter
11:09
What players who may start the year on the DL are good stashes at bargain prices for an auction draft?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:10
Guasuman is the best big name - have gotten him twice at some pretty big discounts. For others:
Vaughn Grissom, TJ Friedl and Tommy Edman (granted, need a big bargain - I hate wrist injuries), Emmet Sheehan, Nathaniel Lowe (price has dropped too far).
Question Mark
11:10
Is Pittsburgh SP Jared Jones worth holding onto?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:12
He’s a fine stash - as long as you bake in the 8ish Win ceiling that Pirates tend to have
RAGBRAI
11:12
NL only 5x5 11 teams 260 cap. Reynolds at 25 (with a thin list of OF available) and Darvish at 28 retainable?
Nicklaus Gaut
11:12
That’s actually a really good price for Reynolds in NL-only, even if the pool wasn’t thin at OF.
That is too much for Darvish imo unless your league is just paying out the nose for SPs. Even then, I’d be hesitant going over $22ish.
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