If you missed today’s show on SiriusXM, you missed a good one as we unveiled a new game show segment that we’ll be playing every Wednesday moving forward. It’s called Fantasy Shark Tank and if you’re a fan of the real version, you’ll dig this too. The concept is pretty much the same but instead of pitching inventions to would-be investors, you’re pitching players to me. If you win, you’ll receive some Fantasy Alarm swag in the form of hats and t-shirts, but you will also have the chance to win free months of the DFS Playbook Pro.

For today’s episode, we had three callers who were given an opportunity to pitch me a player to use for tonight’s MLB DFS slate. The only stipulation was that it couldn’t be a chalk player and you couldn’t go with someone who was playing at Chase Field. The criteria will change from game to game and we’ll also be doing episodes where you’re pitching players for seasonal leagues as well. We’ll do waiver wire targets, trade targets, buy-low/sell-high targets, you name it. We’ll find a way to hit every fantasy angle we can.

We’re also contemplating a format adjustment in an effort to bring in more contestants and have more opportunities to win prizes. We turned away some callers as we decided to keep it to three people competing against each other for the best player/pitch combo, but we just might adapt to something closer to the real game where we just bring in as many guests as time will allow and dole out prizes to multiple people. It’s a work in progress, but if future games are as fun as today’s was, we’re going to be in for some crazy Wednesday’s moving forward.

So who were the pitches and who won today…?

Meet Mike from Long Island. When he’s not dousing himself in Drakkar Noir and cruising down Main Street in Huntington in his blacked out Monte Carlo SS, he’s getting all sorts of excited about Yan Gomes against Francisco Liriano. The Cleveland backstop has been on a nice, little tear here in the month of May and Mike was looking to ride that wave in hitter-friendly Toronto. Liriano is a gas can waiting to be lit, so the suggestion made sense. But would it be enough to take home first prize?

Meet Baker from Chicago. He spends an inordinate amount of time listening to SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and is a regular caller to almost every show. His enthusiasm is unparalleled and every time he dials us up, it’s a great question and a great time. Baker was looking to feast on Wade Miley tonight, something all of us have been anxiously awaiting since the first day of the regular season. His choice of Anthony Rendon made perfect sense if you believed that tonight was the night Miley remembered that he’s Wade Freakin’ Miley! Rendon was on a six-game hit streak, though he’s been just 2-for-9 with no extra-base hits for the series against the Orioles. You know I love hating on Miley, but would the Rendon pitch work?

Meet Dan from Pennsylvania. We didn’t get a hometown from Dan, but his love for Jose Osuna and his clamoring for some sort of a spark for his Pirates tells me he’s living somewhere in the western part of the state. Dan had more wishful thinking than an actual pitch backed by statistical data, but I liked his spirit and his offering of a 2-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base prediction. And who doesn’t love a guy who sits at the minimum price anyway? You needed that if you were looking to use Yu Darvish, Chris Archer or Stephen Strasburg. But would he sell me on Osuna enough for me to play.

As I deliberated, I told the crew that as an added bonus, if I picked their player and pitch as the winner and that player went off tonight, I would double their prize to two free months of the DFS Playbook and throw in a matching hat to wear with the t-shirt. Not a bad way to spend your afternoon or drive home from work, right? So the pitches were in, the prizes were out there for the taking and it was time to announce the first ever Fantasy Alarm Shark Tank winner.

I went to Dan first and tried to let him down easy. The pitch was filled with emotion and I can respect his fandom, but Osuna just wasn’t a guy who had you brimming with confidence. The play has been spotty and the work at the plate has been suspect at best. I can get down with the need for a spark, but that doesn’t usually come from a guy you’ve plopped down in the six-hole for a night against Kenta Maeda. It was a great try, but I just couldn’t go with Osuna in my lineup.

Oh yeah…did I mention that I have to use the player who wins? Yeah. Part of the fun.

In any event, it was coming down to Gomes vs Rendon and both pitches were strong. Baker had even mentioned that he was using Rendon in his lineups as well. Unfortunately, though, while my hatred for Miley runs deep, my superstition runs deeper and every time I’ve stacked against the miserable southpaw this season, I’ve been bitten in the ass. Had the stats dictated a must-start, I would have bitten the bullet on the superstition and gone with it, but there has been nothing in Rendon’s recent play that had be all amped up.

That meant Mike’s pitch for Yan Gomes was the inaugural winner of Fantasy Shark Tank. He did make some nice points about Gomes himself, but this decision really came down to using Indians against Francisco Liriano. Their numbers against lefties weren’t looking so hot, but again, this is no ordinary lefty. This was a gas can running around begging for a match to be lit. I was planning on using Darvish for my main cash lineup, so the cheap price on FanDuel made Gomes that much more appealing.

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

While the game was a rousing success, alas, Gomes was a bit of a letdown. He was 1-for-2 with a double but then left with an illness and left me and my lineup twisting in the wind. Not a complete disaster, but I think we can all agree that his batting line could hardly be classified as “going off” and contestant Mike would not be awarded any bonus months or extra swag.

Another interesting aspect of the game to now watch is whether I made the right choice in my investment. As of writing this, Rendon finished the night 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored, but the Pirates/Dodgers game is just underway and Osuna has yet to step into the batter’s box. I suppose we’ll just have to wait until the late game is over, but so far, from a FanDuel points standpoint, Gomes is in second place, production-wise.

Thanks again to everyone who took part and I hope to have many of you join us for more Fantasy Shark Tank next week and every Wednesday thereafter!

Good luck and I’ll see you all in the money this year!