Baseball Prospectus - Chat with Mark Barry

Chat: Mark Barry

Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Wednesday December 19, 2018 1:00 PM ET chat session with Mark Barry.

Mark is a staff writer on the Baseball Prospectus fantasy team.

Mark Barry: Let's do a chat.

Dusty (Colorado): Any thoughts on Wander Javier and his rebound year? What's his FANTASY upside?

Mark Barry: Guess we'll start with the defending champ. In all seriousness, it depends on the shoulder and how he rebounds. As far as fantasy, his upside is everything we can dream about in our hearts and souls.

Johnny (Cowboy Capital of the World): Dynasty 7x7 roto keeper league (standard stats + QS, Hlds, XBH, OBP), keep as many as I want. If cost was same (& relatively low), which one would you keep M. Semien, K. Marte, C. Taylor, or None of the Above? I have a good team and they'd basically be a bench bat/flyer.

Mark Barry: I kinda like all of those guys to a degree, but if it's for a bench bat role, I'll take Taylor for his positional flexibility.

Mr. Tibbs (Philly): Poncedeleon looked good late last year. His minor league numbers are eye-catching. What do you expect from him going forward?

Mark Barry: I was impressed. He was actually a little better as a starter than a reliever, and struck out more than a batter per inning in the rotation. DRA has him slightly worse that his 2.73 ERA, but not terribly higher. I think the only problem is that the Cardinals have so many dudes for that rotation, he might not get many looks. He's probably #7 or 8 on their depth chart, which is nuts.

Vic (Baltimore): Always draft too many prospects. Simply can't help myself. I can only keep for 4 years and only want to target those who will help in the majors for 2 + years of those 4 years. Pick 3 of the following please: Adell, Lux, Lewis, Kirilloff, Franco, Luzardo.

Mark Barry: When those are your prospects, it's not a bad problem to have. They're all studs, but if we're doing the 2+ years of MLB time context, I'd go with Lewis (assuming Royce), Kirilloff and Luzardo.

Cubbie Bear (Chi-Town): Crystal ball time...if the White Sox sign Machado i would presume it’s to play 3b. How would you see this impacting Yoan Moncada and the development of Nick Madrigal? Madrigal appears that he could move up quickly and eventually will settle at 2b. Thanks.

Mark Barry: I'm not sold on Machado at 3B. Feels like he still fancies himself as a SS, so I'd imagine that would be a big piece of the free agency pitch. Tim Anderson was a lot better defensively last season, but was sort of a disaster in 2016-17, so I don't think he has that spot on lock. Let's say Moncada at 3B, Madrigal at 2B, Anderson in CF and Machado at the six.

marco polo (Italy): 16 team Dynasty league with 25 keepers, what order would you keep the following please: Isan Diaz, Corey Ray, Estavan Florial, Brendan Rodgers, Kopech, Peter Lambert & Widener. Thanks!

Mark Barry: Rodgers, Kopech, Florial, Ray, Diaz, Lambert and Widener for me.

Mark (Arlington): Name your top 5 prospects at the start of next season

Mark Barry: Vladito, Eloy Jimenez, Royce Lewis, Victor Robles and Fernando Tatis Jr

Gary Mack (in the back): Who are some of your potential breakout pitchers for 2019 that you are targeting in trades/draft?

Mark Barry: I've been going all out trying to get German Marquez, even though targeting a dude that makes half his starts in Colorado makes me a little queasy. I like Josh James a lot in Houston, and think 2019 could be the year Jack Flaherty and Mike Clevinger become stars. Also, it's become a running joke, but I think Kevin Gausman could finally put it together with a full season in a new spot.

Cubbie Bear (Chi-Town): How do you see Julio Urius fitting in the Dodgers plans? What did last season’s late season audition tell you about the effectiveness of his repertoire at the major league level?

Mark Barry: I don't think he'll start the season in the rotation, but health permitting, he'll end up there. He's a stud. If we could get 125ish big-league innings from Urias, it would be cool.

Mr. Tibbs (Philly): Mark, Is Richie Martin the answer for the Orioles at SS for the long haul or is he just a stop-gap? What do you see for him in 2019? Was he the best choice for first pick of the Rule 5 draft? Thanks!

Mark Barry: I don't know enough to say if he was the best choice for #1, but Martin has been a name in prospect circles for awhile, so it will be fun to see him get a chance to play. He could be a sneaky good end game option for speed too, and if his contact rates transfer, he'll be a nice piece.

tallahassee (Chatham, NJ): I'm in a Roto league with H+BB instead of BA, which can throw a wrinkle in the published rankings. Does that wrinkle drastically change where you have Joey Gallo? And 2nd, where would you put Joey Wendle on your team: 2B, SS, MI, or Bench.

Mark Barry: Yes that format would drastically change my ranking on Gallo. He's a borderline top 2-3 round option at that point. For Wendle, I think he'll play a lot, so he's going to be a nice piece. It depends on your team context, but I think 2B is probably going to be the weakest spot this season.

Jordan (South Dakota): Who wins this trade in a Dynasty. Stanton or Grandal/Belt?

Mark Barry: Stanton.

zeeksam (Halifax, Canada): Hey Mark, I have a 12 Team keeper league where we only keep three players. I am keeping Freeman and Degrom, but I am torn between dropping either Alex Bregman or Acuna. What are your thoughts? Bregman has been outstanding but do you think he will match or better Acuna’s stats. Thank you Ps I will have 8th pick.

Mark Barry: Wow, that's a brutal decision. I'll lean Acuna, because I think Bregman is pretty close to his peak (and it's awesome), but Acuna can still reach another level *gulp* or two.

Gary Mack (in the back): If you have Vladito on your roster, what is an acceptable level of trash talk one should produce in the off season?

Mark Barry: I think an acceptable level would be roughly ALL of it. Talk ALL the trash.

tallahassee (Chatham, NJ): Thanks. It's also an auction league. I've got Wendle for $10, but I was considering chasing Peraza in a trade for slighlty more. Are they peers or is one superior? Would you be comfortable playing both of them?

Mark Barry: I guess it depends on what you need. I like Wendle slightly more as an overall player, but Peraza will obviously rack up more steals. If you have power elsewhere on your roster, I'd totally be comfortable putting both into the lineup.

Mark Barry: Just a quick one today. Thanks everyone for hanging out! Happy holidays to all, and to all, well, you know.