Flags Fly Forever Fantasy Baseball

We are back to being a fantasy baseball podcast! Mike and Jon discuss the fallout from the 2026 trade deadline, looking at the general shift that the additional wild cards have made to the timing if deal-making, as well as the specific weirdness of a Monday deadline when many leagues run their waivers on Sunday night. Then we talk players. So many players.We keep our starting pitching conversations limited to a few guys of interest (Foster Griffin, Freddie Peralta, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes), and we dip into a brief discussion of relievers who were moved, mainly touching on the Pirates bullpen situation with their addition of Luke Weaver.For hitters, the rundown is as follows: Catchers (Hicks, Rutschman)OF bats (Ramos, Ward, Adell, Varsho, Nootbaar)IF bats (Garcia, Arraez, N.Lowe)New (possible) regular jobs (H.Rodríguez, Basabe)And, why Matt Chapman should start his offseason now.Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

This one's for the old heads. We have good friend and erstwhile producer Sam(uel) Hale on to chat about the beautiful game. Sam, as executive producer and host for FC Dallas Radio, talks about his up-close World Cup experience in Dallas, what it's like talking soccer on TV, and why you should never look down when you're in a green-screen room. Mike also talks about his World Cup experience going to two games at the Linc, the good vibes even in Philadelphia, and why soccer doesn't assault its fans with constant sensory stimuli the way baseball does. As the only one of us with a team still in the competition, Mike also gives us some thoughts on the Argentina squad.Inevitably, we talk a bit of politics, mostly how FIFA and Donald Trump cannot ruin the beautiful game, try as they might. We also have a VAR chat, and conclude that it's probably worse than baseball replay and ABS.Finally, because Sam has been checked out of MLB for awhile, we play a few rounds of "where does this former Ranger currrently play?"If you're here for fantasy baseball advice and discussion, this probably isn't for you. But if you're here for three friends shooting the shit, we got you covered.Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

We're back for a discussion of one single category: yes, the famously tricky...batting average (though Jon thinks you should switch to OBP like a modern person of taste and intellect).We talk about AVG vs. OBP, how to approach a team that is last in the category, and we go through a little exercise in thinking about the type of player you might add to strengthen your performance across the remaining four offensive categories. Hey, it's a short podcast because Jon had to go pick up his kid, who was caught outside in a raging thunderstorm.Read Mike's article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/107461/help-my-batting-average-is-terrible/Also, I give a shout out to BP's wonderful Injured List Ledger, a helpful and visually pleasing tool to track both current players on the IL and the history of injuries for a player and/or team. Check it out here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/baseball-prospectus-injured-list-ledger/. Thank you to Derek Rhoads for developing this great resource.Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

After sitting out April, your fearless Flags duo return to check in on the State of Things in early May.We largely cover two topics, each based on a recent piece by Mike at Baseball Prospectus.The saves landscape: is it different in 2026? or just variations on a theme that has been with us for the last decade? (Read the article: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/106614/why-saves/)Help! My best player stinks! You drafted an early bat who is underperforming--what should you do? what can you do? First of all, don't freak out, but second of all, you will need to look at all of your categories closely. (Read the article: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/article/106937/help-my-best-player-stinks/)Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

Alas, the real baseball is here! We chat about the misfire of Netflix's opening night before going through some topics related to both the draft season that has just ended and the real season just underway. Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

If you looked at the Tout Wars Mixed Draft, which took place on Tuesday, March 3rd, you may have noticed that your friendly neighborhood co-host avoided starting pitchers like they were germ-ridden toddlers, in effect conceding two of the ten roto categories. Why did he do this? What were his goals? Did he accomplish the plan to satisfaction? The first half of the pod covers these questions.Then, rather than try to exhaustively discuss the massive pool of starting pitchers, we look at how you might approach a draft in terms of planning an overall strategy for starting pitching. We do not really do any deep dives on individual players, but we have a lively discussion about how to game out your pitching selections within a draft. (Bonus break music for all of you 1970s ABC sitcom aficionados.)](Double bonus: Listen to the very end to find out which one of us is, according to their spouse, giving "sexy grandpa.") Tout Wars draft results can be found here: https://www.fantrax.com/fantasy/league/rjolevt3mm4e0sv0/draft-resultsFlags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

You think life is long, with endless opportunities that can always be postponed to a later date. And then you feel the cold breath of mortality on your neck and you find yourself drafting Dom Canzone as your third outfielder. Carpe diem, friends!Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

Rather than go through the tiers of relief pitchers (yawn), we offer you a little intermezzo within our positional previews. We talk about the first 8 rounds of an NFBC Draft Champions league they are co-managing, highlighting the decisions they've made from the 15 spot (the notorious "wheel"). Then, we offer some more general, macro-level thoughts on drafting closers in an extremely volatile pool for 2026. Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

We talk about the top-heavy talent pool at the six this week. If you don't grab one of the top six shortstops, you're probably OK. But if you wait until after pick 200, there's not nearly the depth that there is at second base. So be careful out there!Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.  

Tricky draft pool at third base this year. Beyond your obvious superstars (Ramírez, Caminero) it gets dicey, but there are a surprising number of players that give you more than just power. But, if it's power you want, we are both big Eugenio Suarez fans, particularly since he is going back to Cincinnati. Hopefully all that Skyline chili can keep him powered up! Flags Fly Forever is a Baseball Prospectus podcast. For more fantasy baseball information, visit baseballprospectus.com and click on "Fantasy."You can find Flags Fly Forever on Bluesky (@flagsflyforever.bsky.social). The hosts of Flags Fly Forever are Mike Gianella(@mikegianella.bsky.social) and Jon Hegglund(@jonhegglund.bsky.social). The producer of Flags Fly Forever is Jon Hegglund. Special thanks to the awesome and generous Petite League for permission to use their track "Mets" for the intro and break music. Find their sweet lo-fi indie-pop sounds at petiteleague.com.