Flags Fly Forever Fantasy Baseball

Mike Gianella and Zach Steinhorn break down the Manny Machado trade (2:40), the Brad Hand trade (10:20), and dump trades (30:20)

Bret Sayre and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus banter about recent developments in their expert leagues (4:00) and discuss how they approach and execute mid-season trades (30:00).

Bret Sayre and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus break down the freshly updated BP Top 300 fantasy rankings. 

George Bissell, Mark Barry, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus return from an extended break to host a special edition NFL Draft-style podcast in which they select the most compelling storylines in fantasy baseball over the remainder of the season.Ronald Acuna (4:30)Josh Hader (11:00)Kyle Schwarber (18:30)Ozzie Albies (25:00)Xander Bogaerts (34:00)Byron Buxton (37:30)Christian Villanueva (41:30)Gerrit Cole (47:00)Charlie Morton (50:00)Luis Castillo & Jon Gray (52:00)Mike Trout & Mookie Betts (1:00:00)Ian Desmond (1:04:30)Aaron Judge (1:07:00)Javier Baez (1:11:00)Sean Manaea (1:12:30)Franchy Cordero & Mac Williamson (1:13:00)Audio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus discuss the importance of avoiding confirmation bias, overreacting to small samples or drawing significant conclusions from early season results (5:00), a trio of players they’ve been targeting in Hunter Strickland (15:00), Jordan Hicks (18:00) and Matt Moore (21:00), and finally banter about several situations they’re monitoring including Kenley Jansen (24:00), Kevin Gausman (31:00), Rhys Hoskins (38:30), Justin Smoak (40:00), Gerrit Cole (42:00), Chris Davis (44:30) and Blake Snell (47:00).Audio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus discuss critical spring training takeaways and developments including Dan Vogelbach (8:00), Scott Kingery (11:00) and Ryan McMahon (17:00), a league-wide shift in closer and elite multi-inning reliever usage (22:00), the value of newly-minted closers Brad Boxberger (28:00), Dominic Leone (32:00), Blake Parker (35:00), Jeurys Familia (37:00), and unsettled situations in Chicago, San Francisco and Texas (38:00), the impact of injuries to Salvador Perez (40:30), Madison Bumgarner (43:00), Greg Bird and Dinelson Lamet (47:00), and finally close out by highlighting notable spring training performances from Byron Buxton (48:00), Billy Hamilton (50:30), Amed Rosario (54:00), Luke Weaver and Jack Flaherty (57:00), Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber (59:00), Yonder Alonso (1:00:00), Delino DeShields and Joey Gallo (1:01:00), Tyler Glasnow (1:03:00) and Yonny Chirinos (1:05:00).Audio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

Justin Mason of FanGraphs and Fantasy Alarm joins George Bissell and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus to discuss the fantasy fallout from Justin Turner’s fractured wrist (8:30), the recent signings of free agent pitchers Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn (15:00), the demotion of top prospect Ronald Acuna (21:00), spring training storylines including Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Lucas Giolito and Dan Vogelbach (23:30), and finally recap their Tout Wars Head-to-Head (31:00) and Tout Wars National League (50:00) auctions from New York City last weekend.Link to Tout Wars Draft GridsAudio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus host their annual auction strategy podcast. They discuss the importance of establishing bid limits (4:00), being aware of league-specific contextual factors (8:00), focusing exclusively on value and extracting as much as possible (11:30), category scarcity and being prepared to make sacrifices (16:00), how to approach power and starting pitching in the current fantasy landscape (19:00), being flexible and adapting to your environment on the fly (30:00), avoiding narratives and confirmation bias (37:00), knowing when to embrace risk with high-upside talent (43:00), building a roster beyond Opening Day (48:00) and forgetting about positions and focusing solely on talent (53:00).Finally, they close out the show by breaking down each of their The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational snake drafts (55:00).#TGFBI Draft GridsBret Sayre, League EightMike Gianella, League FiveGeorge Bissell, League SixAudio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Aud

USA Today Sports Senior Fantasy Editor Steve Gardner joins George Bissell and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus for their annual recap of the LABR NL-Only (4:00) and AL-Only (30:00) auctions held in Arizona last weekend.Audio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus are joined by 2016 NFBC Main Event champion Rob Silver to discuss their strategic approach to constructing a fantasy rotation (5:00), how the league-wide decline in starter workloads has reshaped the landscape (12:00) and break down the following starting pitchers in-depth: Stephen Strasburg and Carlos Carrasco (15:00), Madison Bumgarner (24:00), Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom (27:00), Zack Greinke (30:00), Shohei Ohtani (34:00), James Paxton (36:00), Chris Archer, Yu Darvish and Carlos Martinez (39:00), Robbie Ray (41:00), Aaron Nola and Masahiro Tanaka (44:30), Jeff Samardzija (50:00), Charlie Morton (51:30), Jameson Taillon versus Alex Wood (53:00), Luis Castillo (55:00), Luke Weaver (1:01:00), Garrett Richards (1:06:00), Aaron Sanchez (1:11:30), J.A. Happ (1:13:00), Dinelson Lamet (1:15:00), Cole Hamels (1:17:00), Michael Fulmer (1:18:00), Marco Estrada (1:20:00), Rick Porcello (1:23:00), Tyler Glasnow (1:29:00), Seth Lugo and Matt Harvey (1:34:00

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus survey the fantasy landscape at outfield. They divulge their strategic approaches at the position (4:00) and discuss the following players in-depth: Giancarlo Stanton (9:00), J.D. Martinez (13:00), Billy Hamilton and Byron Buxton (17:30), Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger (24:00), Rhys Hoskins (27:30), Christian Yelich (30:00), Justin Upton (31:30), Tommy Pham (33:00), Yoenis Cespedes (37:00), George Springer (38:00), Lorenzo Cain (40:00), A.J. Pollock (43:00), Adam Eaton (46:30), Kyle Schwarber (48:00), Ian Desmond (49:30), Mitch Haniger, Adam Jones and Jose Martinez (51:00), Ryan Braun, Aaron Hicks and Kevin Kiermaier (54:00), Brett Gardner, Michael Brantley and Lewis Brinson  (57:00), Joc Pederson, Michael Conforto, Avisail Garcia and Willie Calhoun (1:00:00), David Dahl, Lonnie Chisenhall and Victor Robles (1:05:00).Audio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus recap the 2018 LABR Mixed draft (2:00). They discuss Bret’s selection of Bryce Harper in the first round (22:00), Francisco Lindor and Alex Bregman in the second and third rounds (28:30), Billy Hamilton in the fourth round and the increased value of stolen bases in fantasy (36:00), Jose Quintana, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Gray, Felix Hernandez and Bret’s general pitching strategy (41:00), Andrew McCutchen and Chris Taylor in the sixth and seventh rounds (51:00), and finally Bret’s aggressive approach towards non-elite closers (54:00).Link to the full LABR Mixed draft board: https://rtsports.com/labr-mixed-draftAudio Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Audio Interstitial One: Silent Partner, “Big Screen”Audio Interstitial Two: Young The Giant, “My Body”Audio Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell, Mike Gianella, Bret Sayre and Zach Steinhorn of Baseball Prospectus break down the fantasy landscape at shortstop. They discuss the newfound depth at the position and its impact on their strategic approaches on draft day (3:00) before analyzing the following hitters in-depth: Trea Turner (7:00), Carlos Correa (10:30), Francisco Lindor (13:00), Alex Bregman (17:30), Corey Seager (27:00), Jean Segura and Elvis Andrus (33:00), Xander Bogaerts (37:00), Zack Cozart (39:00), Tim Anderson (41:00), Didi Gregorius (44:00), Javier Baez (45:30), Trevor Story, Paul DeJong and Jose Peraza (46:30), Marwin Gonzalez (47:30), Asdrubal Cabrera (49:00), Freddy Galvis (50:00), Gleyber Torres (51:00), Jorge Polanco (52:00), Ketel Marte (54:00) and Amed Rosario (56:00).

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus break down the fantasy landscape at third base. They discuss the gap between the handful of upper-echelon performers and the glut of power-oriented lower-tier options at the hot corner (5:00) and analyze the following players in-depth: Kris Bryant (11:00), Josh Donaldson (13:00), Anthony Rendon (15:00), Justin Turner (18:30), Manny Machado (20:00), Miguel Sano, Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas (26:00), Rafael Devers (29:00), Nick Castellanos, Adrian Beltre and Evan Longoria (30:00), Joey Gallo (37:00), Kyle Seager (45:00), Ryon Healy (47:00), Jeimer Candelario (48:30), Wilmer Flores (51:00), Jedd Gyorko (54:00), Brian Anderson (55:00), Cory Spangenberg (59:00), Nick Senzel (1:01:00) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1:02:00).

Rudy Gamble of Razzball joins George Bissell and Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus to survey the fantasy landscape at second base. They divulge their strategic approaches at the keystone (8:00) and discuss the following players in-depth: Jose Altuve (15:00), Dee Gordon (22:00), Jose Ramirez (28:00), Brian Dozier and Daniel Murphy (31:00), Whit Merrifield and Chris Taylor (34:00), Rougned Odor (48:30), DJ LeMahieu (53:00), Robinson Cano (54:30), Yoan Moncada (59:00), Ozzie Albies (1:06:00), Jonathan Villar (1:10:00), Ian Happ (1:11:30), Josh Harrison (1:12:30), Joe Panik (1:15:00), Raul Mondesi (1:18:00) and Scott Kingery (1:24:00). Plus, a special bonus segment featuring Willie Calhoun (1:31:30).

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus banter about the various fantasy implications of the Gerrit Cole (2:00) and Andrew McCutchen (12:00) trades before analyzing the fantasy landscape at first base (17:00). Players discussed in-depth include: Paul Goldschmidt (23:00), Anthony Rizzo (25:00), Freddie Freeman (26:00), Joey Votto (29:00), Jose Abreu (30:30) Nelson Cruz and Edwin Encarnacion (32:00), Wil Myers (34:00), Justin Smoak (35:30), Miguel Cabrera (40:30), Matt Olson (44:30), Ryan Zimmerman (51:00), Yuli Gurriel (52:30), Josh Bell (55:00), Ryan McMahon (56:30), Kendrys Morales (59:00), Lucas Duda (1:01:00), Joe Mauer (1:03:30) and Chris Davis (1:05:00).

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus kick off the 2018 position preview series with a comprehensive breakdown of fantasy catchers. They discuss the elite options Gary Sanchez (7:00), Willson Contreras (14:00) and Buster Posey (18:30) before divulging their draft strategy and general approach towards the position (23:00). They also take a deep dive into lower tier options including: Mike Zunino (32:00), Evan Gattis (34:00), J.T. Realmuto (36:00), Yadier Molina (38:00), Salvador Perez (41:30), Tyler Flowers (44:00), Francisco Mejia (45:00), Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes (49:00), Jonathan Lucroy (56:00) and finally reveal their one-star speculative picks and potential impact prospects (57:00).

George Bissell, Mike Gianella and Mark Barry discuss the fantasy implications of Shohei Ohtani signing with the Angels (5:00), Giancarlo Stanton traded to the Yankees (22:00) and Dee Gordon shipped to Seattle (40:00).Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

Rotowire lead prospect analyst James Anderson joins the pod to discuss a plethora of prospects fantasy owners need to have on their radar for the 2018 season and beyond.Ronald Acuna (4:00)Michael Kopech (11:00)Eloy Jimenez (14:00)Monte Harrison (17:00)Brent Honeywell (20:00)Taylor Trammell (22:00)Jon Duplantier (23:00)Leody Taveras (25:00)Bo Bichette (27:00)Michel Baez (30:00)Akil Baddoo (32:00)Nick Senzel (33:30)Victor Robles (36:00)Lewis Brinson (43:00)Alex Reyes (47:00)Gleyber Torres (50:30)Fernando Tatis Jr. (52:30)Scott Kingery (57:00)Dustin Fowler (58:00)Willie Calhoun (1:00:00)Austin Hays (1:03:00)Luis Urias (1:08:00)Intro: That Fleeting World, “The Alchemist”Outro: Silent Partner, “Chances”

George Bissell, Mark Barry, and Mike Gianella take a stab at explaining the correct way to view (and practical applications) for BP’s retrospective player valuations (8:30), and analyze notable performances in the AL and NL-only landscapes including: Jose Altuve (14:00), Jose Ramirez (17:00), Elvis Andrus (20:00), Whit Merrifield (24:00), Corey Kluber (25:30), James Paxton (28:00), Chad Green (32:00), Joey Votto (34:00), Dee Gordon (36:00), Trea Turner (39:00), Tommy Pham (42:30), Javier Baez (45:00), J.D. Martinez (48:30), Clayton Kershaw (50:00), Robbie Ray (54:30), Chase Anderson (56:00), Dinelson Lamet (1:00:00), and Alex Wood (1:04:00).