Keep or Kut

5:16 - Chad steals Pete's head-to-head hero, going with Evan Carter.

15:26 - Pete's advising you to think about cutting his head-t0-head hero, Willy Adames.

25:17 - In the Keep or Kut Listener H2H League on FanTrax, starting with Chad acquiring Oneil Cruz and Jasson Dominguez for Chris Sale and Chase Meidroth.

35:39 - Trading away Mike Trout and Jose Altuve for Justin Steele and Gleyber Torres.

40:55 - The first place team ships out a 12th round Kristian Campbell for 22nd round Brice Turang.

47:24 - Looking at trades in Ottoneu League 13...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) keep up the buy or sell nature of Episode 169, but this time they look at pitchers.

1:31 - Chad’s Head-to-Head Hero was Adley Rutschman, while Pete went with Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

18:11 - We start talking about pitchers who are performing at a level higher than we anticipated back during the draft season. Hunter Brown and Carlos Rodón lead things off.

34:07 - Chad is not a Kris Bubic believer, he doesn’t pass the sniff test!

44:32 - Daniel Palencia seems to be the Cub...

Timestamps

Ep 169

2:45 - Our head-t0-head heroes starts with a discussion on Jeremy Pena's breakout season.

13:33 - Pete's Hero, Zack Littell, is an interesting example of player whose value is based on format as much as anything.

21:05 - Is James Wood a top 20 player moving forward?

31:00 - Are we just as high on PCA?

39:30- How should we view Kyle Stowers and Andy Pages - and who do we like more?

52:48- Taking a look at 3B where Alex Bregman and Junior Caminero are - fo...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) go through an extended Head-to-Head Heroes segment and breakdown a couple of Chad's recent deals by providing insightful analysis on quite a few names.

5:25 - Head to head heroes of the week: Merrill Kelly and Will Benson.

16:07 - Is this a Josh Jung breakout or a fluke?

26:21 -  Pete Crow-Armstrong is having a monster season. Will he be able to sustain the power and batting average that he is putting forward?

42:24 - Chad made a big trade in one of his leagues. He...

Timestamps

Ep 167

4:40 - Our jersey number 67 discussion leads us to take a closer look at Seth Lugo and what the Royals have been doing with pitching.

10:41 - Head-to-Head Heroes takes us to the Jhoan Duran in the Twins bullpen and a bit of a "season appreciation award" for Wilyer Abreu.

23:26 - What stats are we looking to for info on players at this point in the season?

31:52 -  Is Nolan Jones a buy low?

45:28 - Why aren't people talking about MacKenzie Gore?

54:18 - Lightning Round! I...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) break down a few of the amazing first-month performers of the season, particularly names that you wouldn't have expected back before the season started.

Team Kaia
At the top of the show, we told you about eight-year old Kaia, who is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. Kaia has been diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia. We are doing everything we can to help her family find a genetically matched donor. Please, if you are between the ages of 18 and 40, text ‘TeamKaia’ to 61474 or visit https://my.bethem...

Timestamps

Ep 165

3:09 - Head to Head Heroes: Noelvi Marte and Zach Neto

13:37 - Chad's team in Ottoneu league one has been a disaster and while Juan Soto isn't doing what he hoped, the real concern is the pitching - and Chad wants to know what to make of Jared Jones, Spencer Arrighetti, and Sandy Alcantara

30:30 - Pete's struggling in the Keep or Kut listener Ottoneu league, and needs to figure out his path on HR/9, especially with some early bullpen disasters, but Marcus Semien is where he's losing sleep.

43:58...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) haven't been able to link up for an episode in a few weeks, so they have some news to get through. After the news, they take a look at some players who are overperforming their xwOBAs.

Timestamps

6:25 - Head-to-Head Heroes is back! Chad goes with Bryce Harper for Week 1. Pete chose Pete Crow-Armstrong.

19:05 - News begins! We start by discussing the Spencer Strider debut.

24:30 - Triston Casas is starting to hit the ball a lot harder, but the results still aren't following. Wh...

Timestamps

Ep 161

1:29 - .220: the combined batting average of players with ADP between 13 and 24 (second round) on NFBC.

18:32 - 1.64 mph: Nolan Arenado's increase in average bat speed, plus some other bat speed gainers and losers.

28:48 - 2: The number of games at Coors Field so far this year and why you shouldn't be scared to stream at Coors.

35:32 - 47.1%: Christian Yelich's Hard-Hit rate.

41:43 - .219: the combined batting average of all 1B so far this season.

49:23 - .319: xwOBA for Mookie Betts.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) break down some of the hot starts in the opening days of baseball, particularly players who have been hitting the ball hard.

Timestamps

3:04 - Are homers up around baseball?

10:22 - Going over some of the hardest-hit balls of the (very) young season so far. We start off with Jordan Walker.

18:08 - Corbin Carroll has a new max EV. Not much to do here, but worth noting.

20:15 - Eugenio Suárez had a monster season last year. Was it a mirage or...

Timestamps

Ep 161

7:42 - Looking at guys we have to make decisions to stash or cut, starting with Gerrit Cole

14:33 - Three pitchers waiting on diagnoses - Shane McClanahan, Ryan Weathers, Jared Jones

24:09 - Chad making calls on Jones, Parker Meadows, Francisco Alvarez, and Kyle Manzardo

34:17 - What pickups are you interested in  for OF, with options like Jake McCarthy, Jesus Sanchez, Jacob Young, Brandon Marsh, Jesse Winker, Lars Nootbaar, etc. available.

37:42 - Top bats being widely cut in Ottoneu: Noelvi Marte, Jace Jung, Thairo Estrada, Sean Murphy, G...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) discuss auction strategy and respond to listener questions.

Timestamps

2:20 - Jersey #60! Dallas Keuchel it is.

3:53 - Chad breaks down his preparation for his upcoming auction. This comprehensive overview includes how Chad approaches things such as position scarcity, where he thinks his opponents will spend their money, why he felt like he had to commit an almost unlimited amount of money to Juan Soto, and all of the potential category combinations he could shoot for to be strong in based on what is available.

...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) are getting into draft season and have found some interesting trends in their early drafts. They take a look at some of what happened in the Keep or Kut Listener Leagues, as well as the FanGraphs Staff Ottoneu League,

Timestamps

5:11 - Guys you can get even after the auction is over.

11:26 - Marcus Semien wasn’t as bad as you think.

17:25 - Roki Sasaki and other high-priced pitchers in the Keep or Kut Listener 4x4: Zac Gallen, Gerrit Cole, Corbin Burnes, Luis Cas...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) examine some keeper league and Ottoneu trades that have taken place this offseason.

Timestamps

7:55 - 28th Round Jared Jones for 28th Round Byron Buxton

11:45 - 7th Round Pick for a 28th Round Josh Lowe and an 11th Round Pick. Lowe or Tyler O’Neill? Lowe or Parker Meadows?

22:55 - 24th Round Vinnie Pasquantino, 28th Round Hunter Brown, 28th Round Parker Meadows for 9th Round Mason Miller and 20th Round Anthony Santander. This dovetails into a conversation about potentially keeping Isaac Paredes for a 7t...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) take a look at ADP and find players whose draft cost makes them already look like potential keepers for next year. We're not talking the rookies or injured players you expect, but players who we think the market is simply undervaluing and whose ADP will be much earlier in 2026. 

Timestamps

5:35 - Pitchers whose new homes have impacted our thinking, including Garrett Crochet to Fenway and Corbin Burnes to the desert

16:17 - Same, but for hitters, this time talking Josh Naylor, Teoscar Hernandez, and a ta...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) discuss some of the signings that have taken place as well as their wishes for some of the other available free agents. 

5:45 - Are the Blue Jays actually strugglign to lure free agents?

8:25 - Willy Adames to the Giants

20:32 - Yankees and Red Sox are in on Max Fried

31:29 - The Guardians are bringing back Shane Bieber

37:40 - Tyler O’Neill to the Orioles, so where does Anthony Santander end up?

44:35 - Corbin Burnes will be the top fre...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) break down some of their keeper league settings decisions, such as IL slots and the costs associated with keeping players added via FAAB. Chad also explains the different strategies he uses to make difficult keeper decisions.

7:05 - What are the pros and cons of having your keeper league’s prospect draft before the draft/auction?

18:00 - What is the appropriate number of IL spots for a keeper league?

27:08 - Should a keeper league limit the amount of FAAB-pickups that can be kept?

31:26...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) participated in the Pitcher List Podcast Network mock draft and he and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) will use the results of that draft to identify some interesting keeper targets for 2025 drafts. Then we take a look at a co-managed dynasty team that needs some cuts to get legal.  we dive into arbitration for the Keep or Kut listener league.

Timestamps

5:38 - Using the Pitcher List Podcast Network draft to identify interesting keeper targets for 2025.

8:34 - Targets from the first four rounds include 4th round Wyatt Langford and Brent Rooker, t...

Timestamps

10:44 - H2H Heroes for the Postseason, starting with Pete’s pick, Tommy Edman

15:26 - Chad talks through the post-season performance of a few Guardians before getting to his pick.

22:25 - It's not just the post-season; Fernando Tatis Jr. has looked great since returning from the leg injury.

27:27 - Why parity matters in fantasy sports and how to make sure you have it in keeper leagues

41:57 - Looking at arbitration in the Keep or Kut listener league

52:27 - Chad does arbitration on Pete’s team

57...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) take a look at a slew of hitters who followed solid 2023s up with terrible (or, in some cases, just not-as-great) 2024s.

7:42 - Chad's Head-to-Head Hero is Wyatt Langford to close out the season. Pete went with Jonathan Aranda.

20:15 - Ronald Acuña Jr., Jose Altuve, Matt Olson, Freddie Freeman, and Corey Seager are all studs who technically took a statistical step back. Any concerns here?

22:45 - Some veterans that fell from being good in 2023 to bad in 2024 were Marcus Semien, Ozzie Albies, JD Ma...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) celebrate 150 episodes of Keep or Kut by breaking down 21 starting pitchers in simple terms: buy high or sell high? All 21 pitchers have a better P/IP than they did last year, or debuted this year.

2:40 - Chad chooses teammates H2H Heroes: Matt Olson and Michael Harris II; while Pete can't decide between Corbin Carroll and Julio Rodriguez.

7:07 - We go through 29 hitters (yes, Chad said 30, but it was 29) who made big gains this year

9:42 - We start with the stud rookies: Jackson Merrill, J...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) and Pete (@PeteBBaseball) celebrate 150 episodes of Keep or Kut by breaking down 21 starting pitchers in simple terms: buy high or sell high? All 21 pitchers have a better P/IP than they did last year, or debuted this year.

4:17 - Chad chooses a Cleveland starter as his H2H Hero

8:57 - Tyler O’Neill is Pete’s H2H Hero

16:00 - Pete is buying high on Paul Skenes… not a tough call!

18:37 - What about a $40 Yoshinobu Yamamoto? Buy high or sell high?

21:15 - Garret...

Keep or Kut - Chad (@chadyoung) looks at some high priced players on his roster and asks Pete (@PeteBBaseball): Can I cut this star? Who is an obvious cut in the off-season, but maybe needs to be held for now? Who can you give up, even if it means someone else gets him half price?

5:33 - Pete goes a little less obvious with his H2H hero: Pablo Lopez. And Chad just made a series of trades involving Lopez.

14:09 - Chad picks Lawrence Butler as his H2H hero, leading us to wonder, for 2025...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) breakdown some of their difficult upcoming keeper decisions.

5:00 -Head-to-Head Heroes! Chad is excited that Spencer Torkelson is back and hitting. Pete went with a catcher, Yainer Diaz.

23:19 - Pete is in an odd spot. He is going to keep an 18th round Gunnar Henderson, but what combo should he pair with Henderson? An 8th round Jose Altuve with a 9th round Jarren Duran, or should he just pay 1st and 2nd round picks to keep Fernando Tatis Jr. and Yordan Alvarez? 

38:25 - Is a $49 T...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) dive into a set of players whose 2024 seasons have left us with questions about their keeper values. Have some of these players reached "must-keep" status because they have outplayed their value? Or should you trade them? Have some of them stumbled so badly that we are just moving on?

1:34 - H2H Heroes - The spectacular (if a bit of a boring pick) Juan Soto, and the resurgent Jake Burger

5:42 - What are we thinking about Gerrit Cole’s keeper value?

12:35 - Rank these th...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) provide short term and long term thoughts on the big moves that took place during this year's MLB Trade Deadline.

5:43 - Head-to-Head Heroes! Chad goes with Spencer Schwellenbach, Pete tabs Jazz Chisholm Jr.

15:45 - Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers

21:10 - Tanner Scott to the Padres

23:25 - Jorge Soler is going back to the Braves

27:42 - Yusei Kikuchi to the Astros

34:38 - Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham to the Cardinals, Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech to the Dodgers, Miguel...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) review the early deadline trades and spin up some ideas of trades they would like to see, with an eye towards positive impact for keeper leagues.

2:30 - H2H Heroes: Colton Cowser and Ezequiel Tovar

10:23 - AJ Puk heads west and Deyvison De Los Santos gets a clearer path

22:24 - Randy Arozarena has a new home for the next couple of years

29:46 - Austin Hays may have gained value

36:10 - Chad almost forgets about James Paxton to Boston

39:43...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) take questions from the listeners

5:05 - Question from Jeff, is it time to give up on Matt Olson?

17:00 - Is Pete Alonso a cut at this point for a non-contending team?

25:04 - Should Freddie Freeman be viewed as a rental at this point if his price is around $50?

31:17 - When do you decide to sell as a middle of the road squad?

37:45 - How do you balance projections versus what you see with your own eyes?

49:15...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) debate some keeper league trades and glance back to debate some players who had surprising first halves. Should Chad trade away Juan Soto? What do yu do with Pablo Lopez? What's up with Fernando Tatis Jr.?

Timestamps:

7:14 - H2H Heroes: Alec Burleson and Blake Snell

14:17 - What kind of return should Chad be looking for a $60 Juan Soto? Covering Coby Mayo, Jace Jung, Christian Encarnacion-Stand, Jackson Jobe, Marcelo Mayer, and more.

27:07 - what’s up with Fernando Tatis Jr. and his lo...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) follow up their previous episode by finishing the activity of examining what players at each position have maybe entered top 10 consideration for 2025 drafts. This time around they look at OF, SP, and RP.

4:30 - Pete’s Head-to-Head Hero: hopefully…(?) Nolan Jones! Chad’s? Reynaldo López. We recorded BEFORE this week, so hopefully we were right!

10:25 - Pete thinks Jarren Duran may now be a top-10 outfielder - he is doing everything well!

18:17 - Chad loves Riley Greene. He has consistently improved and is having...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) kick off a two-parter, looking at players who have jumped into the top ten at their position for keeper leagues. This week they cover catcher, corner infield and middle infield. Plus a discussion of Elly De La Cruz leads to a deep dive on the 1.1 for 2025.

6:43 - Our H2H Heroes - Mark Vientos and Elly De La Cruz, with a long tangent on candidates to go first overall in 2025

29:18 - Looking at players who have moved into the top ten at their position starting with...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) discuss nine players who, whether for injuries, a lack of performance, or both, are potentially worth dropping and replacing. 

9:35 - Pete and Chad pick their Player of the Week! Chad went with Hunter Brown, and at 17:12 Pete went with Francisco Alvarez.

22:57 - Mike Trout, George Springer, and Cedric Mullins are not giving us a lot of hope. Are they droppable? How do they stack up to Chas McCormick rest of season? Long term? 

45:24 - Injuries and a lack of good performance from Justin Verlander an...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) are deep into trade season and spend an hour breaking down some of their recent trades: who are they moving, who are they adding, and why? Plus a new tradition on the Keep or Kut Podcast: Players of the Week!

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Timestamps

7:09 - Our new tradition, Players of the Week, featuring Fernando Tatis Jr. and Heliot Ramos, with a detour into Chad’s tough ch...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) examine hitters who have seen significant shifts in the K% from 2023 to 2024. They also take an early look at who their keepers might be in the Keep or Kut Fantrax Listener Leagues. 

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Timestamps

6:02 - Ronald Acuna Jr’s strikeout rate is way up compared to his 2023 mark, but really in line with the rest of his career. What should we expect going forward?

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) are really intrigued by the new Statcast bat tracking data. They aren't sure there are a ton of takeaways yet, but that won't stop them from diving in. Plus, debating a couple of intriguing trade offers.

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Timestamps

3:50 - The new bat tracking data is another reminder that Giancarlo Stanton is utterly unique, but does it really tell us much right now?

14:38...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) compare players who had early ADPs but are disappointing to players of the same position who had late ADPs and are crushing it. Pete apologizes for his mic in this episode!

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Timestamps

4:05 - Xander Bogaerts or Ezequiel Tovar?

12:05 - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Alec Bohm?

23:36 - Shota Imanaga or Kevin Gausman?

35:05 - Yainer Diaz or Jonah Heim?<...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) take questions from our great listeners about struggling stars, relievers to target, and so much more!

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Timestamps

2:36 - Drop Wyatt Langford?

9:35 - Mason Miller has been unbelievable but his injury history is what it is. Sell high?

15:27 - How do fantasy managers adjust to all the injuries and account for the increased rate of pitching injuries?

26:13...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) is back! He and Chad (@chadyoung) are looking at some slow starts to the season and debating who they are going to keep and who they are going to kut. They're looking at pitcher whose FIP is well-above their projected FIP and hitters whose wOBA is well-below their projected wOBA.

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Timestamps

4:25 - Pitchers whose FIP is worse than their projected FIP so far

7:37...

Keep or Kut - With Pete (@PeteBBaseball) away, Chad (@chadyoung) is joined by Raymond Atherton (@raymondatherton), co-host of the Fantasy Aceball podcast, to talk about his move into keeper leagues, playing Ottoneu, and to break down a few players who are carrying or crushing his teams so far this year.

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Timestamps

2:08 - Raymond’s shift from redraft to keeper and looking at some unique rules in his leagues

16:56 - The ch...

Keep or Kut - Pete (@PeteBBaseball) and Chad (@chadyoung) are tired of talking about broken pitchers. It's time for some good news and good vibes on Keep or Kut. We're looking at seven players off to great starts and discussing what's working, what might continue to work, and who we are getting excited about.

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Timestamps

5:12 - Is CJ Abrams taking another step?

14:58 - Is Jesse Winker back?

26:20...