OTW 268 - Final FAAB; September 20, 2026

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2:05Sink your contacts into the address book. Get detailed accounting insights. And get notified the moment your certified mail is delivered. All from my desk? All from your desk. Join the four million businesses using Stamps.com right now with Code Podcast and get your free welcome gift. Stamps.com Code Podcast. Texas and Feast Apply. How's it going and welcome to episode 268 of On The Wire? Crowd number of the pictures is podcast network. I am Adam Howe. Join as always. And for the final time of the 2026 fab season. Kevin Hastings. Thank you all for listening and watching. Please visit on this site, the site, where you are and if you made it this far, because thank you extra just for that. As I mentioned, this is the final fab run of the 2026 season. Hopefully you saved some money. Kevin, I know I did a really, we were talking about it on the air,

3:07I did really a job of saving the smallest amount of money I felt like I needed to or I could. Because I know that there's been previous seasons where I've had leagues I still had like triple digits on like the final week. And I'm like, like I'm going to spend it all. It's just going to look ridiculous when I spend $98 for a guy that's going to play just the weekend in my corner in field. Tommy fam. Yeah. All right. Yeah. That's how field. Yeah. That's what we're going to do. But how are you feeling about this going into this final week? Yeah. That's awesome. Having a blast watching games, checking out lineups. And yeah, you mentioned it. Those that are listening, if you're listening to us this Sunday morning, rather than trying to set lineups for another sport, you probably have some sweats going on this week. And good luck. Let's take it home. Yeah. Yeah, regardless if you are finishing up your head-to-head playoffs, if you already have finished it up,

4:08or you're just, again, your knee deep in your leg and or overall standings trying to figure out, could I gain more in stolen bases, or can I gain more in home runs, or can I gain more in strikeouts, or I can't kill my ratios, et cetera, et cetera. Man, it's hard not to be in that situation, right? Unless you're completely at the bottom of your leg, there's absolutely no chance of getting into the cash, wherever your leg sets up. But it's really hard not to feel like, hey, there's got to be something I can do to not either finish last, to make sure I finish in third or climb my way up from fifth to third, from third to first, whatever your goal is, you should be trying to reach those goals. All right, well, I think we've joked about it before we start going on. There's usually our shortest episode of the year, because there's so much less actionable things to do.

5:11It's just like get guys in your line of that are going to do something. So there are some news and notes that did happen throughout the course of the week that you should be aware of. If you haven't been aware about about him, here's your chance to catch yourself up. Again, if you've been living under a rock, Aaron, Aaron judge did hit the IL again with a cast train this time, not all the words that he's been saying. He's hopeful to come back for the playoffs, which tells me he will not be back for the end of the regular season after even if it is a minimum stay, Yankees of all, they've clinched their playoff spot. The raise are really close to clinching that the division. They still haven't done it yet as of this recording, but they got that much closer today by winning their game against my socks. So I don't think that there's really much for the Yankees to play for. So there's not going to be any reason to kind of push them in the regular season. You can safely drop Aaron judge for this for this week. Have you been holding on to him?

6:12Yeah, I think so. Almost definitely. And the biggest thing I'm looking at is Spencer Jones also missed Saturday's game. So that probably could affect the lineup a little more here. It's only been about a week and a half since we saw judge come back. So we know what they were doing, but with Jones out that this seems like it might be the one of the only ways our guy Jose Cabo Aero is going to get some playing time down the stretch here. They haven't been playing them as much. Anthony Wolpe performing well and getting those starts at second base with George Lombard Jr. The shortstop every day. Shortstop now in New York. So Cabo Aero is the one I'm watching. If Spencer Jones ends up missing more time. But other than that, we've seen this for a while with the Yankees without judge. Ever since, man, it's basically the trade deadline, but really since the upgrade of Lombard coming up as well, Cabo Aero

7:13has just been getting the short end of the stick and then all of a sudden, jazz goes down and you're like, oh, obviously Cabo Aero is going to make up. They bring up Volpe and he goes off on his first like first series come as he came up. Even McMahon's getting he's sitting a lot more as well. And Cabo's still going to be the first. He was the first guy to kick Cabo Aero out of time, right? When McMahon came off the ILE started, but he he shifted over to shortstop because Lombard had a three or four day injury. And then once Lombard came back, Cabo Aero has been very, very sparse playing time. Yeah, it's been disappointing. I've either benched them or dropped them in pretty much. He was my most roster player almost the entirety of the year until about a week and a half ago. Baltimore saw a lot of moves in the last. Pretty much 48 hours. First Jackson holiday hit the ILE efficient effectively ending his season, his 2026 season.

8:16They sent Heston Kierstead down along with Kate Povitch. By the way, Cabo Vitch came up to the spot start and then they send them right back down pretty much the next day. But the the name of note here is that Felix Batista was activated on Saturday as we were recording this earlier today. Into the game, but he's the results of his rehab outings have been pre positive. If you look under the hood though, his velocity had been down. Rick Ram was very critical of a lot of the stuff he saw. If you're in the PL discord under the relievers relief pitcher channel, Rick's always in there talking about how he's seeing guys do under the hood. And Batista didn't look that great, but he's back up. He again, did not make the appearance. I asked the question in the discord, where are the chances that especially with Rico Garcia getting blown up the other day that they just throw Batista

9:17right into the fire and put him in a safe situation. Somebody jokingly said is about 4%. And I'm like, I'll take it. Because I've been I sat in one league where I have like 10 IEL spots. I picked up Batista like months ago and I just stood up and I stuck them there. And we have an ad limit every week. So getting somebody off the IEL is like a free ad. And so I'm like, if I get one inning out of him and it just happens to be a save great, but it doesn't have to be just one inning one strike out, no runs. I'm happy it's a free pick up. Well, it hasn't happened yet. We'll see if it happens on Sunday. But I mean, if you're desperate for saves, you still got to at least be throwing some cash at Batista in fab this Sunday, right? Yeah, guys like Batista. Of course, we have a situation in Miami again with Fairbanks going back to the IEL immediately after coming off of it. It seems like once again that he does that a lot.

10:21And so we have a couple of situations like that. Vlad Sedler, I saw I made a great point in his article this week. Yeah, rather than using, you know, we talk about guys for ratios help all season long. And lots of times their relievers set up guys with immaculate ratios and we're hoping to stumble into a save or a win. Vlad Sedler saying this is the week to really emphasize that because some of the starting pictures might get, you know, baby, the little bit. They might teams are going to lean on their relievers a little more. Get guys like one of his examples was Avenue, you're in your lineup. You might get a save. You might get a win. These guys might be coming into the game a little earlier. So yeah, like all these guys and yeah, Rick Graham had Rico Garcia and Andrew Kitchridge is the main two guys in Baltimore. But in the lineup, Ryan Hilsley or Felix Batista returned with shaped things up. And so now we're seeing that. So yeah, absolutely got to put a dollar on him, I think. Rico Garcia was definitely the guy, right?

11:23He had been given, he got like three of the last four saves or something like that. And he looked great until he didn't. And I mean, it's just one outing not to say that he won't get the next day of opportunity to be honest. But you know, Batista is the guy in Baltimore and always has been. And so we'll have to see how they use him over the course of the next week. Obviously, you know, Jackson holiday has some Kierstad in Povitch pending any other injury. Povitch won't come back up for the rest of the season either. So all three of the. Jeremiah Jackson is started every day at second base in holiday spot and doing the same thing he did in April, right? In April, he had those four home runs in five games. He's got three in the last six games since he came back. So he's trying to have a little hot street to really give us a boost again right here at the end of the season, definitely in play. Yeah. And if I'm not mistaken, I think he was he was leading off today.

12:25He let off today against the lefty as well. So I mean, we'll see if that continues. That is definitely something new. But you know, you know, you need the one sample size to make some kind of crazy decision. There you go. That's what you need. Somebody else losing the rest of their season will be Logan Webb. He hits the I L for San Francisco, ending his season as well. So you can feel comfortable dropping him in whatever bid you're going to be making on Sunday as well. And then as you mentioned, Pete Fairbanks back to the I L and is having or had surgery to fix his thoracic outlook syndrome, which we'll have to see what that timeline looks like for going into 2027. But they've got some options down in Miami's or anybody in particular that you're you're more apt to speculate on. I typically lean foul Shay right away, but Rick Graham, he

13:26leans a little heavier towards Daniel Peterson gives him a 40% chance of saves and foul Shay with a 30% going forward. So yeah, Peterson may be the guy there instead of foul Shay, this time around. Yeah, I mean, if you got the wiggle room, go ahead and grab them both, but you probably exactly. But if that's what you're if that's what you need, that's what you need doesn't matter. Speaking of closures, this one is coming back just whether or not he gets right into the closer role or not, it will be the question that is Edwin Diaz. He comes back to join the Dodgers bullpen along with Rocky Sasaki expected to be activated for this Sunday. As you're recording as as you're listening to this, Dave Roberts mentioned that he will be pitching on Sunday in some kind of multi inning role to not say if he would be starting the game or if he'd be coming in as a bulk reliever. If he doesn't start speculation would be that Robleski might

14:27start as an opener just because he only through what 30 pitches are so on Thursday. Or maybe they'll pick you back in the opposite direction. Interest in either one of these guys for the sake that you mentioned earlier where you know, we're considering bringing guys that are going doesn't matter if they're starting if they're closing, whatever, they're just you know they're going to get some innings and you're just crossing your fingers that they're positive ones. Yeah, I think so Robleski is already on the radar for probably getting multiple innings next weekend when we I doubt I'm almost positive we won't see Yamamoto next Sunday. Highly doubt we see Scoobal next Saturday as well, probably maybe a couple innings for Scoobal because that probably get his normal rest in before he's needed there. It's because they're going to have a buy. But I still don't think they give Yamamoto much maybe an inning on Sunday. So I think we'll see Robleski get three or four next weekend.

15:29If he could happen to get some earlier in the week, that would be great, but maybe they use him Sunday with Sasaki. But it does appear he probably gets to start the game next Sunday. So definitely Robleski Sasaki, I'm really only interested in if he is coming out of the bullpen. That's when he performs well, but he doesn't fit well with our lineups for that speculation at this point. I don't think. Yeah. Some other speculation out there that there's a possibility that Blake Stell gets put on the IL retroactively. He'll be available for that first by the time the Dodgers actually have to play it in a playoff game. And if they did that, they could bring up Emmett Shehan, who was just sent down recently or land in NAC for that matter, but probably like as he pitched more recently. And that could just continue to be how they eat up innings. They got Chris Boobak in this bullpen now as well. And Boobak just came back.

16:29Yeah. They do. So they've got some guys that are willing to throw two to three or four innings at a time and not worry about their starting rotation, taking any extra load. You jokingly mentioned his name earlier, but we'll say Tommy Fam is back once again. He does this every year. He plays for like three or four different teams. He doesn't mind taking a minor lead contract because apparently he has very good negotiating skills. And that's the story that was shared on how he made how he got called up to the White Sox this week, where he basically did an out and not not figuratively literally gave an elevator pitch to get himself called up. He did. And he homer'd in that game that in his first ad bat, I believe, in that game as well. But assuming he stays active with the White Sox, especially Peter's being injured right now as well, any interest in Tommy

17:32Fam to close out your 2026 season? Possibly. Possibly in the deep leagues, the 15th. So he has played versus every lefty that they have faced since he has been a member of the White Sox and been healthy. He started. That's three times is all it's occurred. But it was three games in a row and they were this week. The White Sox fades three lefties this coming week. We think we know all kinds of pitching matchups are going to change this week. We can't count on anything. That's something else we want to be careful about. Don't really count on getting your your cartoon matchups. But if the White Sox do face those three this week, two of them come over the weekend and two out of three games next weekend, Tommy Fam may be a guy if you're really desperate for it, it would probably be power. You're going to see likes to run into him this time of year. We talk about this every year, Adam.

18:34I think Tommy Fam probably gets recommended as a fab pickup for the final week of the season every season. You can set your clock to it. Yeah, it's nuts. Some others minor leagueer guys that we are one maybe interested in maybe one definitely not anymore. Kaelin Cole Pepper was placed on the IEL by the twins just like Jackson Holiday just basically ending his regular season or season as well. So you can gladly drop him if you had been putting him in your line-ups over the last couple of weeks. But any any change in opportunity in Minnesota with Cole Pepper out of the way. Yeah, Ben Ross has gotten three of the four starts. You got called up and started the first three games at shortstop in the nine hole. Not somebody with a ton of fantasy value probably, but in the minor leagues of

19:40the sherry was a 2020 guy. He's a 2020 70 70 with a 273 average. If minor league stats counted that'd be a great all-round line. I think that we probably, I mean if you need a guy at middle infield he's going to get the playing time and with those minor league stats there's a little bit of a track record there. He's only got 14 played appearances so far. Not done anything with him as far as counting stats, but he's going to have the playing time. So probably at the bottom of middle infield waterfalls in 15 team leagues I would say for Ross. Yeah, as long as you feel like he's going to get the playing time he's at least got to be on there, right? Yeah. Especially when you can make moves halfway through and we talked about we talked about this before going there or we talked about it every year. You can make moves on the hitting side.

20:41So your bench is going to be full of hitters for the most part across across the board. And so just make sure those waterfall bids are filled up so that you know you have, if you've got that seven man bench probably six of them at least are going to be hitters just so you can make those adjustments as needed or even in preparation as you mentioned, you don't know you don't always know who the pitchers are. I picked up Johnny Deluca last last week in an elite just because he was scheduled to face four lefties straight between that Thursday game and then every single starting pitcher for the Red Sox was a lefty, which is not a shocker. They have a lot of them. But of course now then they pulled Peyton Toli today so he didn't pitch today. We don't we still don't know who's pitching tomorrow. It was supposed to be Patrick Sandeval, but they pulled his name off the board and put it at TBD. It still says CBD. So you know things can change on that end as well as far as like oh, this is great. He's lined up

21:44for four lefties. Now it's two out of four made possible. So getting screwed there. But yeah, what we'll see. But so good to have all those backups on your bench so that you can make those adjustments on Friday if things start spinning in the opposite direction. Yeah, there are very few games on Monday. So I typically do anyway, but especially with most lineups not locking till Tuesday, I will keep a tenth pitcher on on my rosters. Just in case a guy ends up being injured for the week and I can make that replacement before things lock on Tuesday. But yeah, absolutely. Everybody else should be a hitter that you anticipate you would use over the weekend. You know who you're going to start, right? Maybe one hitter just like the pitcher since many lineups don't lock till Tuesday. But then you still have four other hitters that you want to have a spot. You would use them over the weekend if necessary. Last piece of news that I noticed worth mentioning. Just because

22:45it's just interesting finally making his well, assuming he's making his Washington debut commonly early as expected to start in Washington next Saturday. Because they took the the effort to make this announcement a week in advance, I'm thinking this is pretty much locked in. This is like one of those very against Washington Nationals. They're not fighting for a playoff spot by any means. Just want to get their new acquisition who has been pitching well in his rehab starts as well. In front of their fans, kind of drum of interest, all that. But is there anything about this situation that's got you, you know, is it's going to be that tenth man for you that you could see rostering for this final weekend start? First of all, not. However, there there may be some isolated situations where somebody is really

23:48trying to protect ratios. And they think the two, three, four innings that he will pitch next Saturday could help protect those. And I doubt he is in the game long enough to qualify for a win. Last, it's been Thursday. He pitched a 35 pitch. Any. That was his rehab start. So he might be up 56 pitches because he by next Saturday, he'll have another minor league start in there this probably Sunday or Monday. So yeah, I could see three or four innings and using him as a ratio stabilizer. But I'm not counting on qualifying for a win. Yeah, unless he comes in following somebody else, but they said start. And they said he was going to start. He did say start. Yeah. So there's that small little things here there just to keep in case again, you didn't notice it. Luis Castillo was officially placed in the Chicago White Sox bullpen. He will not be starting anymore games throughout the rest of the regular season. Maybe that's a good

24:49thing, but it doesn't seem to matter where they the White Sox use him. He has not been very useful for anybody since coming over at the trade deadline. So do with that what you will. Jose Herkidi was claimed off of waivers for the Phillies. Obviously they can't use him in the playoffs, but he will be able to be he will continue to be used by them throughout the last week of the regular season to eat up innings as well. And I don't have his line in front of me, but I believe he came in and threw some bulk innings like right away and they were positive innings. So, you know, again, just a name to throw out there. If you're just looking for innings, just for the same reason the Phillies are Jose Herkidi is going to be out there and he'll be pitching. And then just keep an eye on all of the playoff all the playoff teams and how they are lining themselves up. What matchups they're going to have if they're going to be in the wild card if they're going to be in

25:52that in that divisional if they're going to get that by. So you got the brewers. You got the Dodgers that have all but kind of locked up those spots in the national league. The raise. I guess I mean, it's just the raise that have really kind of locked that position. The central in the in the West in the in the American League are kind of neck and neck as far as who's going to get that second by. So, Astros, Rangers and then White Sox, Guardians, any one of them could end up with a buy and have a worse record than all the wild card teams. Never mind the third division winner, which is wild. Yeah, it is what it is. And that's really what we're paying attention to for the most part. This last week is that American League. The national league is pretty much set. Philly's fallen behind the Braves. I think it's four, four and a half games at this point. So yeah, next weekend, you know, Christopher Sanchez and Zach Wheeler, we're lined up

26:59to pitch for the Philly's. We're not going to see them go deep into the game if we see them at all. Right. So and unfortunately, those are probably bullpen days. There's probably not a guy we can pick to try to go out there and get a win for us, but on some of these teams that their spot is locked up. Yeah, especially for the teams that are lined up to play in the wild card game like right away, right? Yeah. And they got to, we talked about Peyton Toli being skipped and you can push around the Red Sox are doing everything they can to make sure that it is a well-rested sunny gray Rainier Suarez and Peyton Toli as their 123 punch. And it's going to and Peyton Toli's got like 150 innings or so under his belt for the year. He only pitched 118 last year. And so there's always that concern as well, especially when it comes to young pictures that have

27:59not put in the work as they have or they did this year much more so than they have in the years past. So you know, here I am crossing my fingers that Peyton Toli pitches a lot more throughout the course of the season because the Red Sox go deep into the playoffs. But that is definitely going to take his a toll on Toli trying to force the the pun in there a little bit. So all you know, just as to say the Dodgers Milwaukee, yeah, they're going to watch their innings on their star, like Mizorowski and Scoobal and what have you. But they're not going to skip them. Like they don't have to like rework their rotation. They've got extra time to, you know, make sure that they're still even if they pitch on Saturday, they're still going to be on, you know, proper rest by the time the divisional round. Um, it's around. And if anything, they want to make sure that they're not too rested. Obviously they can do bullpen's and they can do anything off off field. But there's nothing quite like a game action to, um, I got one for you, Adam. I got one that's bugging me.

29:03Um, and not not available in fab, but are we going to, are we going to start Jared Jones this week? He lines up for a two step, uh, and versus Saint Louis and at Detroit. Great matchups. But I, I'm a little worried after not pitching it all in 2025. He's up to about 115 innings this season. So I really question how long we see him next weekend. And I'm wondering if you'll, the Indians may even be limited on the Tuesday start as well. What do you think about Jared Jones? I think I wouldn't be surprised if his innings are limited in bull starts. But I, yeah, that's what I mean, the prize that they skip them. Like I think they would, they would cut them short before they would just skip one of them. Um, if they do skip one of them, it's wins that you're chasing. Are you using Jared Jones? And what? Oh, yeah, it's wins that you're chasing. I almost think you have to. There wouldn't be a better option, but I don't know that he even

30:07gets an opportunity. It's a tough one. Because he gets bull starts, like they're still, I don't know. Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a valid concern. Uh, yeah, I probably, I can't, I probably wouldn't be able to pull my pull them out of my lineup. I probably wouldn't be able to do that. I don't have many wears. So I don't have to make that decision. That would just caught my eye as one of the, the questionable ones for a team that's not going to make the postseason. Yeah, I mean, do you use Jared Jones or do you use somebody like Aaron Aspie or somebody who's coming out of the open? Who got another save, by the way? Yeah. Oh, what was it? Oh, uh, uh, Sandy Elkentara got to save, uh, this week. And what would I forgot the number that it was, but it was like the 150th, uh, save of the year. I always think of you because you always bring that up. Like, how many people have gotten saves in the season, like 150 different pictures have gotten the

31:10save this year. That's cool. Yeah. That's, that's, um, I heard somebody say they think that, uh, your red socks might rest Chapman a little bit this week and maybe, uh, Whitlock would be, uh, an up in play. That is, I'm glad you brought that up. We didn't miss that out of the notes. Uh, he did report a Lat injury, um, earlier this week and is now been pretty much said, old, but in stone, that he will not pitch this weekend. Um, he is, he's said that he's hoping he'll be able to pitch on their next home stand, uh, later on next week or this coming week. Um, and it would, which would make sense. Um, obviously you want to make sure he's, you know, he's going to get out through a timer too. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, that's, uh, Whitlock got a save, uh, Miller got a save, over the, over the last couple days, um, they were not in the safe situation today, uh, as the, the raise walked them off in the bottom of the ninth. Um, but yeah, I wouldn't expect to see Chapman

32:12out there at least until mid to, you know, late next week as well. So, um, all the, our, our closer topic for at the end that we, we usually try to avoid. We're talking all closures here this week. Right. All right. Well, we do have to talk about some players that we're going to spend what little fab money we have left, uh, cause again, you can't take it with you. So let's get into those and we're going to do that after this break. Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason with SUVs made to move with your rhythm. The versatile equinox tackles your entire day. The spacious traverse fits your crew and your whole weekend and tracks bring style with value you can count on. All infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right cord. Let's do the heartbeat. Adventure awaits in a new Chevy. Right now get $500 bonus cash on select Chevy tracks models. Plus get 2.9% financing on

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35:23The whole youngest match on us. Only 599 is cold senior. A bill for a limited time of participating restaurants. Tax not included. Not valid for use within a combo or in combination with any other offer or discount. All right, Kevin. We still we're we're going to save the rest of the closer talk for the actual end of the episode. We might be done with closer talk. Yeah. Maybe we should reverse it. We'll start from the bottom. The last episode of the year when I could switch things up. Just because you go right through it. Let's see. We need power chasing the counting stats of power, home runs, RBI, in the in the final week. Who's out there and who's going to get enough playing time for us in opportunity to hit us some dogs. My favorite power play this week is Mark Vintoso. The New York Metz. He is available almost everywhere. He like 13% rostered in main events and 12% in 12

36:25team online championships. But the Metz set to face forward left these this week. Of course, was as we keep talking that could change, but it does appear to line up nicely to where we can use him all week to start versus lefties in the first half of the week and two starts over the weekend as well. So with all of that availability, yeah, Mark Vintoso and those matchups would be my top power play in and in every league as long as he's available. Nice. Nice. Yeah, alongside just like I talked about before picking up Johnny DeLuca for that reason. Vintoso is such a difficult name to grab just because he's I spent a lot of money on him early on in the season. Somebody dropped him. You were suffering the lack of playing time when Jared was starting to take it. Yeah, I remember that now. Yeah. Brett Beatty's been looking pretty good. I wasn't sure

37:31what kind of playing time they would be fighting against each other. Brady, Beatty, excuse me, 70% roster in the main event. So he's out there as well. Whether or not they fight each other for playing time, but Beatty was hurt a little bit and then he came back and he's he's been playing somewhat regularly ever since as well. So could be an option there in New York as in addition. But yeah, somebody that we know is going to get the playing time and approximately 50% rostered in both 15s and 12s. We missed this in the news. Dan's be swanson was back on Friday and has hit a home run on Saturday. So he's available in about half the leagues out there and he was having kind of a down here, but he's been known to hit three or four home runs in a stretch of a short number of games. So I definitely take a shot there as well over some of the guys that were depending on matchups that we may not end up getting. All right, well, we're done with

38:33we're done with power and we need to move on to chase some stolen bases or some runs in your shallower leagues, Jonah Cox could still be available and he will be my top target for the week. 98% roster in the main event, but it's got a little bit more availability in your 12 teamers. We talked about him, I think last week or the week before, but he's continuing to lead off for the Giants and he's got 50 stolen base history in the minors as well. So he's doing a little bit of everything across the board. So not just scoring runs and stealing bases, he's hitting the ball on a regular basis, not hitting a lot of home runs, but that's not what you're looking for here. So Jonah Cox in your shallower formats should have some multi position eligibility for you as well. Anybody else looking to steal some bases for you, Kevin? Yeah, Michael Garcia is

39:33back in Kansas City. He wasn't stealing as many bases this season, even attempting as many as we've seen out of him in the past, but he's always that threat, especially for a team that's out of it. So I'll get out there and run a little bit and give the fans something to cheer about. Carlos Jorge in Cincinnati has played very sporadically since being called up at the beginning of the month, but he has started versus every right handed starting pitcher they have faced. And three of the last four right handings starters, they have faced, he has led off and he's another one of those guys with big stolen base numbers in the minor leagues. So Carlos Jorge is another one I like for the for the week. They faced five out of six righties since natty. I guess that that needs to be thrown in there. Maybe fits more an opportunity, but he's got a little bit of speed on him as well in multi position all ability, but have the air sonoja still has 25% availability in your 12

40:35teamers. He's been great all around. Yeah, exactly across the board for Miami. And you can pretty much put him anywhere. So if he's still available in your 12 teamers, definitely add him in there for your in your in your waterfalls. But as I mentioned, might fit better in the opportunity section. In the last week of the season, only two teams, there's only three games on Monday. And there's only two teams that have seven games throughout the course of the week. First, but they don't play Monday and they don't play. Yeah, the Yankees and Tampa Bay have a double header on Tuesday giving them as still having the four games in the first half of the week and three over the weekend, giving you seven total, which is nice because the rosters don't lock until Tuesday for four, even even for having those four games. Nobody has five games. Think God, and everybody plays on the final day of the season, which I feel like is a rule now? I think there

41:37might be a rule where every team has to play on the last day of the season. There's like no more like one like random team. And there's no game 163. There's enough tie breakers to make everything as complicated as possible. So there's no way a tie will actually result in a tie breaker game. So just know that as well. I remember that happened what a decade ago or like a little less than a decade ago, and where everybody's trying to figure out whether or not that 163 was going to count in the road. I think it did, right? Didn't 163 counted because it was still a regular season game and it threw everybody off, obviously. I think I've talked about this before. My home league, keeper league, a long time that's based out of Abelene, Texas 163 counts in that. And the Texas Rangers played game 163 against Tampa Bay. It was David Price. It was his amazing season. He was

42:41pitching game 163 and it mattered of who was going to win our home league. And I was at the game. And that was just so much fun watching watching the game live at the game. That's a game 163. And it was determining the winner of our fantasy. That was really cool. So you weren't in the game. You weren't in the matchup. That was in the fact me. No, everybody everybody nearly the ones that were in the matchup where they just texting you. Like what's happening? What's going on? What's going on? Absolutely. Well, the guy, the guy that also a weird rule was you couldn't change your lineup. So your game 163 lineups were set from the previous week. Okay. And the guy that is a huge Texas Rangers fan didn't need a pitcher in his lineup, but he had David Price. But the ratios were close enough that price got blown up. So he's a big ranger span. Game 163, rooting for the Rangers, but he needs David Price. The pitch well for his championship and ended up he got the stolen basing needed. So that didn't matter anymore. As soon as he got his stolen base, he started cheering

43:46for the Rangers big time. I found myself doing that today with the Red Sox in raise. I really needed a Brian Baker save way more than I needed a Red Sox win. He didn't get the save today. He got the win instead because like I said, they walked off in the bottom of the ninth, which I'll take. That's fine. But it is one of the worst and it's one of the worst feelings as a baseball fan to be like sitting there watching a game and like either vocally or non vocally just rooting for your fantasy outlook over your actual teams results. And then just crossing your fingers kind of somehow it works out in both in both directions is for your buddy. Obviously it did. So that's nice. That's nice to hear. Sooner or later, the Red Sox will clinch their playoff spot and it'll be all for not. So like they won't matter to me at the app to that point. But the we still have some hitter-friendly

44:53matchups to consider. As we mentioned last week, Colorado is at home all week. Now they get to split the end of their season with three at home in Colorado against Arizona. And then they finish off the regular season with three at the White Sox. So only three games to end the course field season to start the week. Since the NADD will be away from Great America Smallpark all week long though, they are all done as of Sunday with their home games. They will be traveling to Atlanta for three and then over the border to Toronto for three. And the athletics will close out their home stand with a home stand hosting the Angels 4-2 and the Houston Astros for four two close outs. So if you've got any Houston Astros hitters, you know consider, consider throwing them in there at least for the weekend. It's just things that the Angels only have the two.

45:56But with all that Kevin, anything else you want to consider? Who has a good opportunity ahead of themselves to again add to our waterfall bids and throw in our lineups even if it is just for half the week? Yeah, Donovan Walton out for in West Sacramento for the athletics. Big zero everyday shortstop has been for a while now. We've talked about it multiple times. He's not a huge fantasy threat. But a couple of weeks ago, he had the two home run week in a pretty hot week. And I think we probably talked about him last week because of that. He's had a really slow week this week. But he the athletics based five out of six righties and he is there everyday shortstop. So Walton will get those opportunities and he has gone on a little hot streak and hit a couple home runs in a short period of time fairly recently. So he would be an option. And then you're red socks. They face five lefties this week. If everything stays as we see it right now. And Jamy Jones hits near the top of the lineup. He would let off her Detroit before he came over the red socks. He's been hitting

46:59second for them when they face a lefty. So I expect Jamy Jones to to get some playing time. He's got a little bit of pop once in a while more of a stolen base threat. But he can not go now and run into one here and there. Yeah. And I would expect the red socks going to be one of those teams that starts to give their starters. I'm both the pitching side and the hitting side a little bit of rest. Even if they don't play the whole game. Adley Rushman didn't play the whole game today. And he's been playing a lot more lately since getting his core zone shot to fix his hyper extended elbow. And so I would expect Anthony to get a breather. I would expect pretty much while they're going to get a breather as well. Trevor Story. I would expect these guys to get at least one if not multiple days off throughout the course of the week. So Jones should have plenty of opportunity to get in there with the hand in this or not. All right. Well,

48:02a lot of other hitters out there. You got to check your wire to see who's available, who's been dropped, all that good stuff. And just make sure those waterfall bids are plenty deep. And then you can start thinking about how you're going to clip how you're going to fill out your nine pictures for the week. And we're going to talk about those categories right after this break. What's better than watching college football watching it on your own terms with sling. Sling lets you watch your favorite college teams on ESPN your way starting at just 499. Whether you want a quick day pass for 24 hours of non-stop action, a three day or seven day pass or a monthly plan or a full season pass, sling gives you total control over how you watch. Watch college ball your way. Sling lets you do that. Learn more at sling.com. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's my driver's have enjoyed progressive's name your price tool for years now. With the name your price tool, you tell them what you want to pay

49:03and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit progressive.com, find a rate that works for you with the name your price tool, progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, price and coverage match limited by your separate company business. Your dedication opens doors for students every day. Now open new possibilities for your financial future with Fidelity. Get support through your employee benefits with free tools and resources to help you tackle

50:06debt, save, and invest with confidence. Learn more at Fidelity.com slash study guide. Fidelity brokerage services LLC, member NYSESIPZ. Fall is here, making it the perfect time to refresh your denim collection. This world Navy comes in with great qualities starting at just $22. The low rise loose features a relaxed fit through the waist and thighs, a touch of stretch for added comfort that's perfect for everyday wear. The low rise baggy also has a relaxed fit through the waist and thighs. Shop old Navy jeans now at old navy dot com or visit your nearest old Navy store. All right, Kevin. A lot of questions revolving around chasing ways. We talked about Jones, our red-jerry Jones. We talked about currently early. These guys question marks whether or not they're going to go long enough or whatever. Maybe you want to be looking for the guys that you think have a good shot at being the bulk guy instead of being the starter because they might go short.

51:09You never know who's going to be the reliever that comes in after a short end ace start. But if it is more of a bulk guy, those are going to be better targets. Who else who's out there readily available? If you're chasing wins and strikeouts. I think my favorite and this is somebody we've talked about multiple times throughout the season. He's had some really good stretches. He's also been available to us at many times when he's had these stretches coming up. And that's Anthony K of the white socks. I think you brought him up just last week or the week before as well. It appears he's lined up for a two step. The white socks are in a very tight race with Cleveland for a division title, possibly a buy like you were saying with a worse record than wild card teams. They could easily just easily miss the playoffs completely.

52:11So unless that is determined before Nick Sunday, I do expect Anthony K to get both of these starts and the matchups couldn't be much better than at Kansas City who has struggled mightily and then Rocky Road for the weekend. So he's about 70% rostered in 15, 30% in 12s. And I would, he's my top ad in 12s as well, I think with those, but due to those matchups and I think he will pitch. Yeah, I mean, that's the key. You just, you will pitch that's end there. That's the value. If you are trying to clean up your ratios or just stay or keep them where they are though Kevin, is there even somebody you can really target at this in the final week? Well, another starter because he's been on the aisle and coming back, he has availability and he's been up and down, but Jack Flarety should be back this week to face Pittsburgh.

53:15Maybe he gets five and the Pittsburgh's been really bad. So you know, that's another possibility. But yeah, ratios like we said earlier, we're looking at some of these guys. That we are probably going to get a little more run than they typically would at other points in the season as teams let their starters hit the showers a little early in some of these games. And so we're looking at a lot of the usual suspects in this category. But then guys like Brian Zepherjohn and Chicago, Brian Hudson. And that's one big one that Rick Graham brought up. He's actually got, I think, gotten the last couple of save opportunities until Grant Taylor got the one for the White Sox last night. So he's in the mix and people probably be after him for some saves.

54:19There's just these type of guys, Tyler Holtman and Detroit has always been a good one in this spot for us. Nate Pearson in Kansas City has gotten a saver to over Steven Cruz. If you want to grab a Royals reliever that's been going pretty well. But yeah, I think this this waterfall in some of my leagues where I only have, you know, five or six starters that I'm really comfortable with. This this waterfall will be about 20 pictures long. And then it will be copied three times with a different guy I'm dropping at each time and get three or four of these guys to square on my pitching staff this weekend. Third next week. Right. All right. Well, I think we like you said, we might have milked all the possible closer talk here to get saves, foche and Miami or Pearson. Whoever you might like in that in that bullpen at when Diaz coming back for the Dodgers,

55:24I don't know that he'll get a save before the end. He could get a save by the end of the regular season just to prove himself. Yeah. Taken him a while. I think Hudson was the one I just mentioned that we didn't mention earlier in Chicago. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, any other any other bullpen's out there really where we can steal something or I mean, the Boston bullpen, I mean, if if any of those guys Miller or or Whitlock is still is out there, Whitlock was picked up a bunch of places, especially closer to the trade deadline, but then once chapter wasn't moved and the Red Sikes started doing well, probably was dropped in a lot of places as well. So Whitlock could be available worth throwing that out there because again, I don't think I see we see Chapman until the end of the week if at all. So Whitlock probably the number one choice there. The only reason he didn't get back to back save opportunities because he had just pitched. So in my eyes, we'll just give Miller get Miller in there and eat up some endings so

56:28that it's not putting it all on Whitlock. Maybe Jeff Hopman and Minnesota, Indra's Gomez isn't going as well as he was. But yeah, that's it. I think these are some will have to consider some of these guys in a spot or two. Unfortunately. Yeah. Man, I keep every week and every weekend like I'm trying to avoid some like my saves aren't bad, but they're so there. There's between where the very bunch. And that in five rankings above me is like one or two. So it's like, ah, do I really have to throw three closers in my in my pitching staff because I can make up the most ground I could jump to a standing spots. If I can jump all four of those people in front of me just in that one category. And that's the decisions you have to make like where what's the easiest path to

57:33success and it might just be in one category. And it might come at the risk of other categories. Sure, but it's one week. It's like this is your last chance. Now one more situation I'll bring up is San Francisco because Rick Rams right up for San Francisco is hilarious to me. He's got Dylan Smith and Trent Harris both listed at 40% for save chances. And then his right up is the giant's closer role has turned into Trent Harris versus Dylan Smith and honestly, who really cares. This team is really bad. So don't expect more than one or two save chances to rest of the way. But if you need those one or two save chances that either or of those guys, the one you feel more comfortable with the one you lean to put them in your waterfall and then put the other one at the bottom. You have to. You don't have a choice whether you think you do or not. You don't. If you're in that situation, Kevin, is there anything that fits into a wild card or have

58:36we pretty much touched on a little bit? No, I probably would have put Tommy fam there, but there was no way we were getting through the news without talking about Tommy fam. I could see the spot for him next weekend on some deep 15 team leaks. Yeah, I mean, there's always a spot for him somewhere. It's got to be your team, but it's good. There's going to be a spot from somewhere. All right. Well, maybe on my teams that are out of it. There you go. There you go. Just get him in there. The teams that are out of it. Just bring Tommy fam and just don't invite him to join your fantasy football league. Exactly. Just a known rule. I think he's the one in charge of those invitations. Yeah, right. He doesn't accept other invitations. Right. The invitations. Yeah. Well, like I said, it's the start of the episode.

59:39This is typically one of our shortest episodes because it's, oh, man, it's like where did the whole season go? Clothes is outman with one last piece of advice. Yeah. And this is part of the reason this is one of our shortest episodes is our listeners. No, no, what we're going to say or it's reminders, right? But this is the week that all of the little things add up to a big thing. You can't skip anything. Make sure you're, you know, you're loading up on hitters, dumping your pitchers. You keep one, especially since they're all not starting till Tuesday. Really, I, I, I highly suggest spending more time on setting your lineup on Friday that you typically do, which means spend a little more time on fab on Sunday. You want every player on your bench, having a good opportunity to, to get playing time and nice matchups next weekend.

1:00:40I would really focus on that to maximize what you can get in this last week. As like we said last week, they all count the same as they did in April, but they're much more significant now. Absolutely. Um, and if we didn't say it enough in the last couple of weeks, it means more, even more now names don't matter. Absolutely. Names, that's a big matter. Uh, okay, how much you like a certain player if he doesn't have a good opportunity to use Carlos Jorge, he might get you a couple stolen bases. Exactly. Um, well, with all that, Kevin, good luck in the final week, anywhere where you need it. Yeah. And along with that, I want to shout out our listener league, the players towards the top of our listener leagues, uh, right now. And I had those pulled up. Where did they go? I got it real quick here, Adam. Um, so in, I think in one of these 15 teamers, we are both in the league.

1:01:49You were performing, uh, quite a bit better than I am. Um, I think you're in third place and a bit of a long shot to, to, to get to second, it is possible. Uh, yeah, Brian, Comprude, uh, and Ryan Beck, uh, leading that league, he's got about a four and a half point lead and that increased by two points just today. So that leads me to believe, uh, that, that that is, uh, a little tighter than it appears at the moment. And, uh, Ryan and Brian probably going to be battling it out this week. And then in our other thing, I think Mike Gavin's on top last time I looked, um, and yeah, he's got a nine point lead. So fairly comfortable, although a couple of years ago for our overall, we prematurely, he crowned up KC Bubba as a champion in Yancy eating and tying him. Yeah. So he's still one, he's still one, uh, he had the share of the club.

1:02:51Yeah. Exactly. But, uh, yeah, looks like Mike Gavin's got our second one wrapped up. I'm at the very bottom of that second one, by the way. Well, I can't, I don't know why I chose to bring that up. Until he can't hold me. What's better than watching college football, watching it on your own terms with sling. Slang lets you watch your favorite college teams on ESPN your way, starting at just 499. Whether you want a quick day pass for 24 hours of non-stop action, a three day or seven day pass or a monthly plan or a full season pass, slang gives you total control over how you watch. Watch college ball your way. Nothing lets you do that. Learn more at sling.com. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube Premium. It has offline downloads, so you can watch without Wi-Fi, background play, so you can lock your phone and it still plays, baby. Oh, and it is completely ad free.

1:03:52Yes, I said it, ad free. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. How eligibility varies? Terms apply. Cancel anytime. Your dedication opens doors for students every day. Now open new possibilities for your financial future with fidelity. Get support through your employee benefits with free tools and resources to help you tackle debt, save and invest with confidence. Learn more at fidelity.com slash study guide. Fidelity brokerage services LLC. Remember NYS CSIPZ. Looking to refresh your denim lineup without breaking the bank? That's where Old Navy comes in. Their denim collection has styles for everyone with great quality starting at just $22. The arc jean features a modern silhouette with a relaxed attitude. The extra high rise wide leg defines the waist, visually elongates the legs and creates an effortlessly chic look. Shop Old Navy jeans now at OldNavy.com or visit your nearest Old Navy store.

1:04:53This is Angus Maximus. This partner has one pound of a pound of hot. She'll see cooked to water Angus feet. It's more face than a quarter pounder. The burger of clothes. And for only $5.99 even regular juice can afford it. Like that guy. Give me that big old burger. Yeah. The whole Angus Maximus only $5.99 is cold senior. A bill for a limited time of participating restaurants tax not included. And the dollar for use within a combo or in combination with any other offer or discount. Well, yeah, well, prematurely congratulations to whoever wins each one of those leagues and thank everybody all 30 of you, including you Kevin twice for playing in those in those leagues. Those are always a ton of fun and we'll make sure we get those going for next year as well. This year it took a couple of really strong will participants to remind me to set those up.

1:05:54So please don't be afraid to do so as well next time. Probably keep the same kind of format. You know, this is a fab fab show. So we're going to do a fab of fab leagues. Maybe we'll get back to a couple 15s and a couple 12s. I did enjoy that. I don't know if we'll ever get to the 10 plus each again, but who knows we'll see. We'll see how long the offseason ends up being. The more ANC we're going to be to just keep drafting. Exactly. Oh, man. Yeah, good luck to everybody this last week in these leagues and all the others out there. I don't want to jinx him, but I am going to bring up and to kind of rooting for him in the main event. He's at the top currently, but it's been tight with a week to go. Not that I'm rooting against anybody else, but I'd like to see him pull that out. There you go.

1:06:55Yeah, if whether you're fighting for an overall contest or a single league or maybe just again trying not to finish last, go for it and good luck on all of that. And we hope you guys all get exactly what you wanted to get out of your fantasy season. And go into 2027 learning a little bit more about how you handle 2026, making those adjustments going into next year. So we're not going anywhere. We're going to be we'll be right back. Not not promising. We'll be back for next week, but we'll definitely be back on a regular basis. We got a we need a topic for next week, Kevin, because we have. I got one more piece of advice. And it's probably my biggest piece of advice all season, whether you win your league, cash in your leagues or not. After the season is over, buy some nice things for your significant other.

1:07:58Even if you don't win, you can still you don't have to tell them that you didn't win any money. You can say, Hey, fantasy season is over. Thank you for putting it up with my the time I spent on it. But that that is key to being able to continue to play this game that we love. Probably the best advice you've given all season, Kevin. Exactly. It's the most applicable to most of us. All right. Well, Kevin, I know we were stalling, but I think that's going to do it for close enough to an hour. So, two sixty, episode two sixty eight, Kevin, we're going to a, a musical across the 300 mark rate, probably right at the beginning of the season. It would play our card right. So that would be a nice little milestone for this to kick off 2027. But for now, that's going to end 2026 for on the wire. After all that, I am out of power on behalf of Kevin Hastin. Thanks for listening. Can we bid you? Good bye.

1:09:02Pro football is back. Trager predictions on Calci, America's number one prediction market platform. Andy is currently trading at 28% to upset Kansas City, meaning a $100 trade pays out $350 if they win. Download Calci, use cofal to get $25 when you trade $25. KALSHI, Calci, trade on anything. 18 plus only, restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. The then contract trading of those risk and being up-issuitable for all investors. Calci products are not available in all jurisdictions. This is values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see Calci.com slash regulatory. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's my driver's have enjoyed Progressives name your price tool for years now. With the name your price tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit progressive.com, find a rate that works for you with the name your price tool, Progressive

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