Join The Ranks: dynasty fantasy baseball advice

Chris Knock and Drew Klein switch their "too early" hot-start hot-takes to pitchers at all levels, even though only one of us got that memo.
Then, the two guys with microphones tell major league general managers which 2025 draftee minor league assignments were too high, too low, or just right.

After you listen, we'd love to know what you think! Send us a strongly worded letter, find us on the socials, or in our Discord, and let us know.

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
7:20 Review of hitter's hot starts
13:40...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein ask the annual question: Is it ever too early to look at hot starts? Our answer is, in the world of prospects, heck no! Listen in and hear which hitters we think are shaking off the prospect fatigue and who we think are just teasing us again.
 
After you listen, we'd love to know what you think! Find us on the socials or in our Discord and let us know.

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
3:10 Charlie Condon
6:35 Blaze Jordan
10:15 Abimelic Ortiz
12:15 LuJames G...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein predict which deep list prospects will climb up the rankings this season and why fantasy managers should be paying attention to them now.
We throw in a few bold predictions about the ABS system, Alec Manoah, and Mark DeRosa.
We also let you know what to expect from The Dynasty Guru this season.
After you listen, we'd love to know what you think! Find us on the socials or in our Discord and let us know.
Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!
Timestamps:
2:30 This year at TDG
8:00...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein play a game of Would You Rather with players from The Dynasty Guru Top 200 Prospect Ranks. Beyond the rankings, what role do proximity to the majors, injury history, organization development reputation, and just plain gut feelings play when we have to make a forced choice?
After you listen, we'd love to know what you think! Find us on the socials or in our discord and let us know.
Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
1:30 Top 20 Prospects
4:30 Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle
8:15 Sebastian Walcott, Walker Jenkins
12:45 Sal...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the next tiers of the TDG 2026 Preseason pitching prospect rankings. Listen in for plenty of opinions on who might be the next big thing, and who you might want to avoid. Also, a look at the back end of the overall rankings, who are the SP3 and SP4 pitchers that will put your fantasy teams over the top?

Checkout our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
5:00 Brody Hopkins
8:30 Jaxon Wiggins
14:00 Hagen Smith
20:00 Kyson...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the top two tiers of The Dynasty Guru's 2026 Preseason pitching prospect rankings. Don't blink, some of these college pitchers are moving up and graduating off the list before we have a chance to talk about them, looking at you Chase Burns. Also including the Great Logan Henderson Profile vs Results Debate and Chris anoints the 2027 #1 Pitching Prospect.

Checkout our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
6:15 Prospects Tier 1
6:45 Chase Burns
11:35 Trey Yesavage
16:15 Bubba Chandler<...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the TDG 2026 Preseason catcher rankings, including both the prospect rankings and the overall rankings, and it's an exciting group!
We get philosophical, Drew invokes Dante, and Chris's 2025 Sneaky Deep Catcher is neither Sneaky nor Deep in 2026...

Checkout our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
4:00 Philosophy
6:50 Bryan Ramos and the GM Discord
8:30 Early injuries
9:45 Prospects Tier 1
10:30 Carter Jensen
14:15 Prospects Tier 2
15:00 Raniel Rodriguez
18:15 Alfredo Duno
20:15 Eduardo Tait
25:40 Prospects...

Chris and Drew celebrate their 50th episode recording together!
And what better way to celebrate than with some Happy Talk about our number one first base prospect and a "Future Focused" overall top 10?
And whoever out there is fading Jac Caglionone, and we know you're out there somewhere, you're wrong!
Check out our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
3:10 Recent Transactions
22:41 Prospects Tier 1
23:30 Samuel Basallo
29:10 Bryce Eldridge
33:15 Prospects Tier 2
33:40 Ralphy Velasquez
38:45 Charlie Condon
42:00 CJ Kayfus

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the TDG 2026 Preseason second base rankings, including both the prospect rankings and the overall rankings.

Aside from the usual banter and ranking conversations, we realize Cole Young quietly graduated from prospect status while Jordan Lawler refuses to take that last class he needs to graduate, and Z-scores make an appearance.

And I guess we like Brice Turang.

Checkout our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
5:40 Recent Transactions
26:30 Prospects Tier 1
27:40 Travis...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the TDG 2026 Preseason third base rankings, including both the prospect rankings and the overall rankings. To sum up, they're fine. 

Is third base the new catcher? Will Drew ever appreciate Noelvi Marte? And is Parks a safe Harber?  Listen and find out answers to these questions and more!

Checkout our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
9:30 Transaction Updates
14:45 Prospects Tier 1
15:15 Sal Stewart
16:45 Jordan Reimer
20:15 Caleb Bonemer
22:45 Prospects Tier 2
23:20 Ju...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the TDG 2026 Preseason Shortstop rankings, including both the prospect rankings and the overall rankings.

But first, Drew awards the Join the Ranks Player Named Carolina of the Week Award to Rayshelon Carolina. 

There are a lot of great prospects to discuss and many of them will be fantasy relevant very soon.  As always, fun with Sneaky Deeps including a look back at our 2025 Sneaky Deeps (spoiler, we went 0 for 2).

Checkout our nascent YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDynastyGuru

Join the Global Sensation that is JT...

Chris Knock and Drew Klein break down the TDG 2026 Preseason Outfield rankings, including both the prospect rankings and the overall rankings.  Before they share this year's Sneaky Deep Outfield Prospects, they take a quick look at how last year's fared. Spoiler alert one of them is in this year's top 50.

And this will make more sense after you've listened, but we've since learned that Rayshelon Carolina played professional baseball in the Netherlands for five years.

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
7:30 Walker Jenkins, Max Clark, Josue de Paula, Lazaro Montes
11:00 Z...

Even though there are a few big names still on the MLB free agent market (more on that later), there have been a good number of major league players and minor league prospects who have moved to new organizations for 2026. Chris and Drew take some time to look at moves that may or may not have an impact on their dynasty fantasy league value. 

That's followed by an analysis of several fantasy trades that we've recently been a part of, been asked about in the Discord, or have seen discussed on social media. 

And once again, th...

In this episode we learn who won the Rule 5 prediction contest and why Drew blames the White Sox for losing. More importantly, we discuss twelve players who haven't yet been living up to their prospect hype but who we believe will improve significantly and are worth picking up in a trade or draft this off-season. 
One quick correction from last episode, this is the 44th episode hosted by Chris and Drew. Fun fact from baseball history, 44 was worn by Al Downing, the pitcher who surrendered Hank Aaron's 715th home run.  By the way, Hammerin' Hank also wore number 44.

Welcome to another dynasty baseball ranking season and another year of Chris Knock and Drew Klein hosting Join the Ranks!

To kick off the year, we're going deeper than ever on the Rule 5 draft, taking a hard look at a good, not great, FYPD class, and setting the stage for another great ranking season at The Dynasty Guru.

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
5:30 2025 Rule 5 Rundown
14:00 Peter Heubeck
17:10 Yordanny Monegro
20:00 Cooper Kinney
22:00 Jared Karros
23:45 Peyton Pallette
25:40 Kala'i Rosario
27:40 Sammy Natera Jr.
29:30 Yondrei Rojas<...

Time for the July update of the JTR30, a list of the most overlooked prospects in each organization. Chris and Drew split up the leagues and find players who are rostered on less than 20% of Fantrax Leagues but should be rostered more than that.

Listen and find out who's in, who's out, who's off the hot seat, who's on the hot seat and who did Drew just compare to Jackson Merrill???

NOTE: We recorded this early on Tuesday before the Yankees called up JTR30 2025 Player of the Year frontrunner Cam Schlittler and also before...

We figured it was a good time to update our current Top 20 in light of recent graduations and 2025 performance.
Also, Esmerlyn a magician? what's going on with the Twins? Is Gabriel Gonzalez good? Will we Wei-En on Lin? We ask and answer, to our best abilities, these questions and more.

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
Opening Recent Graduations
5:45 Drake Baldwin
9:05 Chris's Top Ten:
   Roman Anthony
   Sebastian Walcott
   Konnor Griffin
   Josue De Paula
   Samuel Basallo
   Jac Caglianone
   Chase Burns
   Jacob Misiorowski
   Leo DeVries
 ...

Time for the June update of the JTR30, a list of the most overlooked prospects in each organization.

Chris and Drew split up the leagues and find players who are rostered on less than 20% of Fantrax Leagues but should be rostered more than that.

This update is like a book club about prospects, with sushi, and we find out who's on the hot seat, who's stable at the table, and wonder if humility is a fantasy asset.

Feel free to comment or make your own suggestions here or find us on BlueSky.

...

Sanditon is an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, subsequently completed by different authors over the years.
Also included, "V is for Victory Lap," Knockstradamus predicts Shay Whitcomb's first at-bat with amazing precision, and warm fuzzy feelings.
Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
Opening Recent Transactions
11:10 Jacob Misiorowski, Chase Burns, Trais Sykora, Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz
15:00 Konnor Griffin
16:45 Jac Caglianone
18:00 Shay Whitcomb
20:50 Thomas White
24:00 Tekoah Roby
25:00 Jaison Chourio
27:00 Ethan Salas, Brock Wilken
33:00 Shay Whitcomb gets called up
35:00 Carson Benge
37:50 Michael Arroyo
40:00 Luis...

Time for the May update of the JTR30, a list of the most overlooked prospects in each organization.

Chris and Drew split up the leagues and find players who are rostered on less than 20% of Fantrax Leagues but should be rostered more than that. In this update, Drew shares how to use the Max (Clark) Factor to determine how many Fantrax leagues are dynasty leagues, Chris introduces the Hot Seat category, and they both use cringe-worthy segues.

Find us on BlueSky to comment or make your own suggestions

Timestamps:
6:00    Didier Fuentes
8:40    Nestor Germ...

Chris and Drew discuss the players moving up our Prospect Rankings with a couple of "Would You Rather" just for fun.  

Quick note: LuJames Groover may still be listed as Gino Groover on some platforms.  

And we think it's a crime that Crooks isn't getting more love.

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR!

Timestamps:
3:00 Casey Mize
5:00 Drake Baldwin
10:20 Roki Sasaki
11:45 Chase Meidroth
12:50 Jace Jung
14:00 Nick Yorke
15:30 Lazaro Montes
17:30 Coby Mayo
20:00 Josue De Paula
22:00 Colby Thomas
24:25 Nick Kurtz
26:00 Alex Freeland

It's back!  Our most popular feature, the JTR30, a list of the most overlooked prospects in each organization. Chris and Drew split up the leagues and find players who are rostered on less than 20% of Fantrax Leagues but should be rostered more than that. 
Feel free to comment or make your own suggestions, find us on BlueSky (links below). For the full list, check out the companion article on The Dynasty Guru website. 

Timestamps:
4:00    Dider Fuentes
6:16    Luis Cova
7:30    Boston Baro
9:40    Matt Allan
11:20    Carson DeMartini
13:05    Angel Feliz
14:20    Nestor German
17:00    Jedixson Paez
18:10    C...

Chris and Drew take a look at The Dynasty Guru's 2025 Pre-Season Top 200 Prospects!

Listen here to hear who made the top 50 with some deep dives and commentaries along the way.

Come listen to the fastest growing podcast in Sweden! [Ed. note: we can't confirm this]

For the full list, check out the companion article on The Dynasty Guru website. 

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR! Come back next week for the JTR30 v2.0, the most overlooked prospect in each organization. 

Timestamps:
5:30 2024 Top 10
7:00 2025 Top 10
7:20 Dylan Crews
11:00 An...

Maruḩabaa! It's Week 8 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru and it's time to start talking about pitchers!

Chris and Drew split the episode beginning with a review of the TDG's Top 50 Dynasty Pitchers, then pick up where we left off with the Pitching Prospects. Also included is the rest of the Kyle Clemente (K.C.) Hunt back story and a discussion of the comparative value of Ty Johnson and Josh Ekness in a "you can only add prosepcts" best ball dynasty.

Two points of clarification: we finished recording this a couple hours before th...

Maruḩabaa! It's Week 7 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru and it's time to start talking about pitchers!

Chris and Drew kick it off with a look the the TDG's Top 50 Pitching Prospects. In addition to a discussion of how injury histories and organization factors influence our rankings, there's mention of archipelagos, the Pirates' playoff rotation and the Peter Principle. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com

Join the Global Sensation that is JTR! 

Timestamps:
4:00 The Injury Factor
18:00 The Top Ten
19:40 Hagen Smith
21:30 Cha...

It's Week 6 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru and we're ranking the catchers!

Who might keep catcher eligibility, what are the Diamondbacks doing, and who forgot Joe Mack?

Chris and Drew  preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for first base, giving their take on some of the risers, fallers, and possible bounce back candidates. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com

And back by popular demand and still waiting for this year's first entry, the RIOT contest. If you're the first to correctly identify the Randomly I...

It's Week 5of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru and we're ranking the first basemen!

Chris and Drew get together for morning coffee and preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for first base, giving their take on some of the risers, fallers, and possible bounce back candidates. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com

And back by popular demand and still waiting for this year's first entry, the RIOT contest. If you're the first to correctly identify the Randomly Inserted Obscure song Title, we'll give you a free pass...

It's Week 4 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru and we're ranking the second basemen!

Chris and Drew preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for second base and give their take on some of the risers, fallers, and possible bounce back candidates. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com

And back by popular demand and still waiting for this year's first entry, the RIOT contest. If you're the first to correctly identify the Randomly Inserted Obscure song Title, we'll give you a free pass into the TDG Discord!  And i...

It's Week 3 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru so we thought we'd rank the third basemen!
Chris and Drew preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for third base and give their take on some of the risers, fallers, and once again, Chris reveals how he ranks players in parallel universes. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com
And back by popular demand, the RIOT contest. This week there 's on, it's easy, you'll find it, and if you are first one to identify it we'll get you a free pass...

It's Week 2 of the Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru!
Chris and Drew preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for shortstops and give their take on some of the risers, fallers, and once again, Drew fails to surprise Chris with his Sneaky Deep Prospect of the Week. Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com
And back by popular demand, the RIOT contest. This week there are two Randomly Inserted Obscure Song Titles that have something in common. Be the first one to identify both titles and the link between them and we'll...

It's Officially Ranking Season at The Dynasty Guru!

Chris and Drew preview the TDG Prospect and Dynasty Rankings for outfielders and give their take on some of the risers, fallers, and suprisingly competent Sneaky Deeps.  Be sure to check the full lists this week on TheDynastyGuru.com 

And back by popular demand, the RIOT contest. This week there's not one, not two, but three, count 'em three Randomly Inserted Obscure Song Titles (hint: Chris slipped one in). Be the first one to identify all three and we'll get you a free pass into the TDG Discord!

Drew Klein and Chris Knock look at the 11th through 50th picks in the School of Hard Knocks FYPD draft and discuss notable names, players who were drafted earlier than projected, and players who were still on the board later than expected. 

And, if you're in Elmhurst, Illinois, swing by Doc's Tavern and tell 'em Chris sent you.  

Timestamps:
2:20    Cam Smith
4:15    Ryan Waldschmidt
6:10    Trey Yesavage
8:43    Braylon Payne
10:28    Kellon Lindsey
12:35    Tomoyuki Sugano
14:34    Jurrangelo Cijntje
16:21    Ryan Sloan
19:10    Seaver King
21:15    Slade Caldwell
23:27    Cam Caminiti
24:42    Blake Burke
26:57    Tyson Lewis
28:30    Van...

Drew Klein and Chris Knock are back and kicking off the 2025 pre-season with a look at the FYPD drafts.  We just finished a 250 player FYPD draft for The School of Hard Knocks League, which Chris describes briefly here and more in depth on thedynastyguru.com.  Learn about the new "DK+" pitching scouting tool. 

1:30      FYPD Musings
11:24    School of Hard Knocks Overview
17:53    Overview of Drew's FYPD ranking process
19:57    DK+ Score
20:30    Roki Sasaki
25:05    Travis Bazzana
27:12    J.J. Wetherholt
29:31    Charlie Condon
32:23    Konnor Griffin
36:21    Braden Montgomery
38:33    Jac Caglianone
40:40    Hagen Smith & Chase Burns
45:35    Nick Kurtz

Drew Klein (@aok_fan) and Chris Knock (@notnotcknock) play "would you rather" with some rookies who had less-than-stellar debuts in 2024 but probably shouldn't be faded just yet. 

2:30      Victor Scott II or Noelvi Marte
11:10    Kyle Manzardo or Curtis Mead
17:45    Jonatan Clase or Tyler Black
22:33    Evan Carter or Parker Meadows
30:00    Ben Rice or Hunter Goodman
36:00    Graham Pauley / Tyler Locklear / Zach Dezenzo
43:10    Nacho Alvarez / Adael Amador / Brooks Lee
50:10    Angel Martinez
52:15    Jace Jung

Find us on BlueSky and X:Drew: @drewgotigers.bsky.social/ @aok_fan (X)
Chris: @notnotcknock.bsky.social/ @notnotcknock (X)
JoinTheRanks...

Hosts Drew Klein (@aok_fan) and Chris Knock (@notnotcknock) update the JTR30, the most overlooked prospect in each organization with 12 new names.  Drew invents a word, and Chris uses it twice.  

Timestamps:

3:20    Charles McAdoo
7:35    Cameron Weston
12:30    Cooper Kinney
15:50    Cayden Wallace
18:45    Drake Baldwin
23:15    Nestor Lorant
26:20    Rayne Doncon
32:50    Doug Nikhazy
38:25    Alejandro Rosario
42:20    Brandyn Garcia
44:40    Gino Groover
47:50    Jack Choate

JTR30 Intro and Outro: “Scouts of the Diamond” (Created with Udio)

Find us on BlueSky and X:Drew: @drewgotigers.bsky.social/ @aok_fan (X)
Chris: @notnotcknock.bsky.socia...

Hosts Chris Knock (@notnotcknock) and Drew Klein (@aok_fan) are back and taking a look at some of the interesting trade deadline moves and how they may or may not impact the fantasy relevance of some prospects.  Also, Drew forgets the Angels aren't the same as the Dodgers, and the RIOT song title contest continues.

Players discussed:

3:20     Matthew Lugo
8:10     Jonatan Clase
13:05    Robby Snelling
15:20    Thayron Liranzo
18:10    Yujanyer Herrera
20"55    Jake Bloss
22:07    Augustin Ramirez
26:29    Nick Yorke
31:00    Mac Horvath, Matthew Etzel, Aidan Smith
36:38    Deyvision De Los Santos, Andres Chaparro
40:29    George Klassen, Alex Clemmey

Chris (@notnotcknock) and Drew (@aok_fan) each make a couple of updates to the JTR30, an overlooked prospect in each organization, and take a minute to brag about a couple of names already on the list.  

2:10    Matthew Etzel
5:50    Jeremy Rodriguez
9:40    Aidan Smith
13:22    Javier Sanoja
16:15    Carter Jensen
18:25    Andres Chaparro

Intro and Outro, "Scouts of the Diamond" (Created with Udio)

Find us on BlueSky and X:Drew: @drewgotigers.bsky.social/ @aok_fan (X)
Chris: @notnotcknock.bsky.social/ @notnotcknock (X)
JoinTheRanks: @jointheranks.bsky.social/ @JoinTheRanksTDG (X)
Intro and Outro Voiceover prov...

Chris (@notnotcknock) and Drew (@aok_fan) discuss the TDG top ranked pitchers, overall and prospects, and talk about a few pitchers who are poised to Join the Ranks.  
We're not discouraged by the drop-off in participation in the RIOT contest, there's still time to find the Randomly Inserted Obscure Song Title and join the contest.  Bonus point if you can guess which cover version of this week's song in my favorite.
Chris dives into Gil, and Drew admits he might have been wrong about Tink. 

11:05    Gerritt Cole, Spencer Strider
12:50    Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes
14:39    Tanner Houck, Tyl...

Chris (@notnotcknock) and Drew (@aok_fan) are back and looking at catchers and outfielders.  Which performances will merit a rise, or fall, in our rankings, and which ones are we not yet buying. 

Don't forget to find the RIOT (Randomly Inserted Obscure Song Title), and I don't think this one will be playing in my local grocery store.  

4:45    William Contreras
8:03    Logan O'Hoppe, Yanier Diaz
11:45    Ryan Jeffers, Patrick Bailey, Danny Jansen
17:30    Top Catcher Prospects
21:00    Agustin Ramirez
23:00    Adrian Del Castillo
25:50    Drew Romo
27:50    Henry Davis
31:20    Tyler Soderstrom
34:50    Eduardo Tait
36:40    Ricardo Olivar
38:50...

Chris (@notnotcknock) and Drew (@aok_fan) make 4 changes to the JTR30 - one overlooked prospect from each organization.
And debut a new Intro and Outro, "Scouts of the Diamond" (Created with Udio).  Be sure to listen to the Outro for the full song and tell us what you think!

TImestamps:     
1:52    Jacob Melton
2:40    Zach Cole Jr.
5:51    Zack Showalter
7:20    Mitch Jebb
7:45    Hunter Barco
8:58    Wilderd Patino
9:17    Andres Chapparo
12:09    Zebby Matthews
13:43    Nikau Pouaka-Grego

Quick note, we recorded this early in the week a couple of days before Deyvison de los Santos was promoted to...