Latest / Foul Territory / Robert Murray’s MLB offseason preview, Stubbs breaks CBA battle silence, Red Sox ignore Pedro & Papi?

Transcript

Robert Murray’s MLB offseason preview, Stubbs breaks CBA battle silence, Red Sox ignore Pedro & Papi? · Foul Territory

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Robert Murray is here, fan-sided insider, FT insider joining us.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Happy off-season to you. You set the tempo for us.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: What are you most paying attention to right now? What
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: are you excited about in the market, whether it's free agency, trade,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: and how are you doing?
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: I'm doing great.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: It's good to be here.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: It's been a bit, boys, but we're back and the
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: off-season is here. And I can't wait to see exactly
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: how this free agent market goes because it's been a
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: bit of a Based on my conversations with people, it
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: sounds like it could end up being an absolute frenzy
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: at some point, probably closer to when the lockout is
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: eventually going to start on December 1st. And we ended
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: up seeing that the last time there was a lockout
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: where there was just a flurry of activity. Some of
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: these big names came off the board. And I have
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: the same exact feeling that it's going to be that
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: exact case this year. But we could also see a
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: bunch of more movement on the trade front here because
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: the free agent class is relatively weak, but I'm expecting
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: just an absolute bonanza of moves. And I think a
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: lot of that groundwork is going to be laid out
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: at the GM meetings next week when we even could
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: end up seeing some moves there. But I wouldn't expect
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: anything too, too much there for sure.
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: Robert, who are we kidding? Tarek Scouble market. How fast
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: is this going to just bubble up? Or is this,
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: in your opinion, something that we have to wait and
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: see to see what happens?
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I would expect as of this point, his market to
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: move probably before the lockout ends, because I think it
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: would really behoove Scott Boris's agent to try to get
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: some clarity before this lockout happens, because we don't know
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: what's going to end up happening after this next CBA.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Is there going to be a salary cap? Which my
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: answer is firmly in the no category there. I do
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: not expect a salary cap to be in place after
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: the CBA, but you're going to want to have some
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: certainty there. And we ended up seeing last time around,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: what ended up happening with a Boris client, a big-name
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Boris client, who ended up waiting until after the lockout
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: and kind of panicked, signed in Chris Bryant with the
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Colorado Rockies, and it never panned out. And he made
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: some comments afterwards saying that he wished he ended up
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: doing more research going into that. So I think that
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: was a learning experience for a lot of these guys,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: but especially the big-name players. So I think it would
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: really make a lot of sense for Scooble to try
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: to get something done. As long as it makes sense
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: before the lockout, you can look at teams– Obviously, like
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: the Los Angeles Dodgers, I think they make a ton
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: of sense here. The New York Mets, they have Steve Cohen,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: and it sounds like he'll end up being motivated to
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: add some more starting pitching. And he always likes big names,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: so you'd expect Scooble to be in the mix there.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: But I was talking to somebody about his market pretty recently,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: and he asked me, besides those two teams, who can
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: end up being in the mix here for Scooble? And
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: we didn't have a good answer at that point, but
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: I think the Chicago Cubs are definitely a team that
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: would make sense for a Gallic school. They need starting pitching,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: probably plural, as far as starting pitchers go. And I
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: also think the San Diego Padres could make a lot
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: of sense because their new owner is very motivated to
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: compete with the Dodgers. They have a clear need in
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: the rotation. So I think it would definitely make sense
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: for San Diego to explore that. And A.J. Prowler loves
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: a big move as much as anybody. But I think
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, it's probably the two
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: teams that we're going to be focused on the most
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: are going to probably be the Dodgers and the Mets
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: and Maybe another team can swoop in and steal him
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: away from one of those two.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: It's always said you just need two because if you
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: only have one team, you can't negotiate against yourself. Does Scooble,
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: because of the size of his contract, need more than
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: just the– I'll give you three teams. Even though you
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: mentioned four, does he need more than the three teams
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: to really make this be record-breaking type of contract?
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know if he's going to need more than
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: those three or four teams there because we saw what
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: happened with Kyle Tucker last year where he ended up
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: having the Dodgers the Mets and the Blue Jays bidding
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: for him and he ended up signing for four years
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: for four for 240 million so 60 million per season
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: he was able to do just fine there and I
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: would imagine a guy like Scooble in particular he's going
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: to be looking at a longer term contract than a
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: guy like Tucker was so And when it's ultimately all
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: said and done, I would firmly expect Scooble to sign
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: one of, if not the biggest contracts ever for a
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: starting pitcher in baseball history. He's deserving. Like you can
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: see his numbers there and what he did in Detroit
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: and then in L.A. after a midseason trade. It speaks
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: for itself. He's definitely one of the best pitchers in baseball.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: He's top two, top three, somewhere in that mix there
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: for sure. So I, and also as far as the
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Dodgers go, like him, them acquiring Scooble, obviously it made
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: a ton of sense in the moment, but it gave
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: them a three month stretch here to pitch Scooble and
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: show them exactly what it's like being in that organization.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: And I think it was, somebody said it on the,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: on the show here. It may have been Max Muncy
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: where the Dodgers have a player's only flight that they have.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: And that's not something that he's previously had. So like
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: it's among, it's those things. I was going to say
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: little things, but that's a big thing. that I can
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: think can help sway a free agent. And I don't
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: know if that's going to be what sways Scooble. I
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: think the dollar signs are going to speak more, but
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: it's definitely added perk here for sure that they got
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: the pitch.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Robert, who's the next, who's the other big name? I
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: know everyone's going to be focused on Scooble. Is it
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: a Freddie Peralta? Is it a Jazz Chisholm? Is it a,
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: I don't know, I'm throwing random free agent names out there.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Who's the next big name free agent that you'll be
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: looking for besides Tarek Scooble?
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be Freddy Peralta. And if I
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: would have said that a few months ago, I think
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: you guys would have probably turned your heads and been like, huh?
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: But the way that he ended up rebuilding his free
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: agent value when he got traded to Tampa Bay and
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: then how he pitched in the postseason here as well,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: he's going to have a very long list of suitors.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: And like we mentioned, three or four teams for Scooble.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Peralta is going to be much more affordable for some
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: of these teams here. And that could allow some of
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: these other teams that can end up being in the mix.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: So he's going to have a very– robust market. It's
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: going to be very active here too. And I would
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: firmly at this point expect his contract to be over
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: a hundred million. I don't know how much further it goes.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: I've heard estimates from people ranging 125 to 150, 175,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: but he's going to be a very, very rich man.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: And I would expect his market is going to be
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: between his performance and then like kratzy here can back
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: this up he's regarded as one of the best clubhouse
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: guys in all of baseball like there's not a person
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: you'll talk to who does not love freddie peralta like
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: he is just universally loved and praised and um i
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: think that's going to be a guy a lot of
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: teams are gunning for here for sure based on my
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: early signals from from talking.
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: To people with freddie p saying oh how much he
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: wants to stay in tampa before we move on to
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: other players does tampa make a significant move in this
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: free agent market. We've heard stories. I know they offered
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: Freddie Freeman. I know they offered DJ LeMayhew back in
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: the day. I know they made offers. Is this their,
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: is this their season because of their deep run? If
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: there ever was a season.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I sure hope so, because this is, we should be
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: talking about them making a big move, but I'm not,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: I'm not necessarily getting my hopes up here and we're,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: There's a bunch of different directions we can talk about
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: here with Tampa. Like Peralta, they should try to keep
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: him because that was a big deadline priority for them
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: was getting Freddy Peralta, and they got him, and they
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: got to see the results here. But they're going to be–
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: they have Nick Martinez, who's a free agent. Peralta's going
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: to be a free agent. And there's also some questions
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: about Drew Rasmussen, too, and his trade situation there, and
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: if he could be moved this offseason. But to me,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: they're a team that– Getting to the World Series should
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: not just be enough. Their goal should absolutely be to
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: go out and win this thing. And the best way
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: for them to go out and do it is to
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: throw more money into this roster. And it's keeping some
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: of those starting pitchers. It's maybe giving Junior Caminero a
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: new contract extension where it's probably going to be over
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: $ 400 million when it's all said and done. Or it's
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: signing a Luis Arias who they had significant interest in
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: at the deadline. There's a bunch of different ways for
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: them to go out and do it. um but it's
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: you got to you got to see an order to
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: believe it and they just have not been a team
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: that's historically gone out and done that in free agency
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: maybe this is the year i don't know but um
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: i'm not getting my hopes up there at this point.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Robert would they trade rasmussen i mean like you said
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: they just lost in the world series he's their guy
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: i mean nick martinez free agent i'm sure they'd love
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: to bring him back he was huge in the clubhouse
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: much like freddie peralta but Would they really trade a
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: Drew Rasmussen and try to get two or three guys
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: that could potentially help them in the long term? I
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: know the new owners, they want to do a sustainable
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: winning thing. They're trying to get the new ballpark in
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Tampa done. But to me, you mentioned the Rays. This
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: seems like the year to strike because of the CBA,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: there are some guys you might be able to get
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: just a little bit cheaper than And you also have
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: the promise of, hey, if you sign a four- or
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: five-year deal, you'll get to see the new ballpark instead
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: of having to play in the trough. So would they
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: really trade a Drew Rasmussen to get, I mean, I
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: don't know, seventh-best prospect, eighth-best prospect, ninth-best prospect out of
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: some team's farm system?
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if I was them, I wouldn't do it because
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: what's the best way to fill up the stands when
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: you have a new ballpark? It's to have a really
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: great roster. And they have a really good team. And Rasmussen,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: they got to see it in the regular season. when
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: he stayed healthy and then also in the postseason, especially
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: against the New York Yankees when he was just flat
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: out awesome, he's an impact starting pitcher. And when he's healthy,
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: he can end up being a number one guy. And
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: you want to keep guys like that. But when you
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: talk to people who are around Tampa or when you
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: talk to people around Milwaukee, your franchises that operate like that,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: they always point back to what's the best way for
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: them to sustain success. And it's to move on from
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: some of these guys when they get to this level
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: of contract, but also like, to when it comes time
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: to pay them that big deal, they're not gonna be
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: in a position to go out and do that. So
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: they need to maximize their value in the best way possible.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: And that's why a lot of people across baseball are
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: talking about him being a trade candidate here. And he's
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: making $ 20 million in 2027. He's a really good pitcher.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: But if there's a team that ends up missing out
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: on a Scooble type or even a Peralta type, and
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: they deem those guys too expensive, Rasmussen can end up
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: being a really good alternative here because we saw even
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: what the Marlins got last year for Edward Cabrera. And
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: they got Owen Casey from the Chicago Cubs, and he
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: was one of their top guys. And they're very happy
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: about that, and Cabrera did not do well in Chicago.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: So there's definitely logic behind it, but again, when you're
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: that close, I just wouldn't do it. But this can
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: end up being the time of the year where these teams,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: where they see how weak this free agent class is,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: they try to take advantage of it with some of
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: these assets, like a guy like Rasmussen, and you can
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: end up really getting even more value than you previously
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: would in previous years.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: A team that has not had success has been the Angels.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: They have two guys that, to me, are very intriguing.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: After getting rid of Soriano at the trade deadline last
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: year to the Jays, they have Zagnetto and Reid Detmers.
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: Does this market for them dictate on what happens with
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: the free agents? Because those guys obviously would be trades.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is definitely going to be... whoever ends up
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: getting hired in Anaheim is going to have a very
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: interesting one on their hands here because at the deadline,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: both of those guys received massive interest. Like Detmers had
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: interest from over half the league. And there was teams
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: that I was told, I didn't even get the names
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: of them, but I was told that there was teams
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: that would surprise us that were involved in Detmers. And, Again,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: I didn't figure out who. I guess it's my job
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: after this or after I hang up today to try
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: to go and figure that out. But between him and
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: then you have Zach Netto, who had interest from teams
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: ranging from Tampa Bay to Philadelphia to, I mean, a
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: bunch of different contending teams. There's going to be a
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: long list of teams that are going to be after
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: these guys, and there's going to be even more teams
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: we're going to be able to pursue them now because
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: you have more financial flexibility in the offseason to go
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: out and do something like this. So I definitely could
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: see a scenario where one of them is traded, but
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: it's just too early to say at this point that
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: it's likely just because we don't know who's going to
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: be running that front office there. But I would definitely
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: expect them to be in the mix for another starting pitcher.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: That was kind of the signal from them after they
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: traded Jose Soriano at the deadline was that they can
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: use some of the money saved there to go out
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: and sign somebody in for agency. So I would look
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: for that, but they need to be, they need to
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: be smart about this. I love what they did at
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: the deadline. I thought John, John Mosaic did a tremendous
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: job in maximizing the value and most of these guys here,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: but there's plenty of work to be done, but give
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: it two or three years. And that team can, there's
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: a very clear idea or vision for them to be
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: in contention. And, and one other thing that I wanted
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: to mention about the angels on this show is that
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: job in league circles is viewed as so attractive from
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: all these different executives because you have a team that's
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: in a big market. You have an owner who's now
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: willing to spend and probably will not meddle, especially to
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: the degree that Artie Moreno ended up doing. So it's
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: just a super attractive job. And I think we're finally
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: going to see the Angels be a team, be the
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: team that they're supposed to be, but it's just going
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: to take some time.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: Robert, you know who we haven't even mentioned yet? Your
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: favorite team.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Is it the Pirates?
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: No, the Brewers. Your favorite team, the Brewers. We haven't
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: even talked about them. What are they going to do?
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: I mean, Jake Bauer's free agent. Are they going to
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: trade McGill, right, and just slide someone else into Rebay
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: or Ashby into the closers? Do they bring back Brandon Woodruff, right?
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of questions on this Brewers team. What
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: are the Brewers going to do? I mean, listen, we
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: know what the Pirates are going to do. They're going
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: to say, we tried last year. It didn't work out.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: The Brewers won. What are the Brewers going to do?
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: I love the question here because the Brewers, how about that,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: by the way, them winning the World Series? The state
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: of Wisconsin is absolutely buzzing about it. And the fact
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: that they got to do it and celebrate Bob Euchre
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: and doing it for Euchre, that was incredible. But they're
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: offseason now. They got to be answering themselves a bunch
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: of different questions here. And it starts with William Contreras
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: because if you look at it in their past, they
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: moved on from guys like Corbin Burns, Josh Hader, Freddie Peralta,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: Devin Williams, when it's been in a very similar contract situation.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: But there was one instance where they kept a player
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: in that case, and it was Willie Adamas. And they
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: deemed him too valuable both on the field and off
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: the field for them to move on. And I think
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: this can end up being a similar case here with
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: William Contreras, because what he ended up doing in the
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: World Series and just the postseason as a whole, Even
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Pat Murphy said it. They would not be in that
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: position without him. And if you go out and win
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: it and then you end up losing, William Contreras or
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: trading him, what kind of signal does that send to
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: the clubhouse? So to me, I can see this being
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: a case where they listen and they just need to
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: be beyond the words blown away to move on from him.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: But the likely scenario here is that Contreras stays in
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Milwaukee and that would be a tremendous thing here for
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: the Brewers. And the rest of it, Trevor McGill, I
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: think there's a real chance he's going to be moved.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: And there has been Talks in the past about him
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: going elsewhere. Nothing ended up materializing there, but there's been
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: league-wide interest here for sure. A team like, I think,
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: San Francisco would make a lot of sense for Trevor McGill.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Just look at their bullpen, and they could definitely use
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: an established guy in the ninth inning. So I think McGill,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: a real chance he's going to be moved. And as
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: far as Brandon Woodruff goes, you talk to him about
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: the Brewers, and he's a Milwaukee Brewer through and through.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: He came up with the organization. He's been there for
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: about a decade at this point. And the fact that
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: he's gotten to win a world series in Milwaukee and
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: pitching that pitch in the world series, that's one of
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: the coolest things ever. And like, I got to talk
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: to him about it before they ended up leaving for
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Tampa and just how much it meant to him. And, um,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: there was a real thought in his head that he
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: was going to end up being maybe never throwing a
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: pitch again. So to go from that to this, uh,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: incredible story and obviously money speaks, but I have a
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: very hard time seeing Brandon Woodruff page elsewhere. There's been
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: scenarios in the past where that's been a real reality.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: But after everything he's gone through and the fact that
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: they won it, I just don't see it happening. So somehow, someway,
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: I expect Woodruff to be back in Milwaukee. And the
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: last guy you asked about here is Jake Bowers. To me,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: maybe the most interesting qualifying offer candidate here. I think
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: the Brewers should offer to him. And I think if
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: he is offered it, there's going to be some real
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: discussions about whether to accept it or not. But ultimately,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: he's probably going to decline it and then figure out
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: exactly where to go from there. Because after his season
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: this year, to go from Basically informed, actually not even basically,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: he informed his agent at some point recently, or at
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: some point within like the last year or two, that
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: he was going to be retiring from baseball. And then
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: the fact that he went from that to having this
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: kind of a year, and we're looking at a multi-year
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: deal here, that's probably going to be around 20 plus
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: million per year. Just a tremendous story overall. Maybe you
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: can return to Milwaukee. He said to Pat Murphy to
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: to not push him out the door. I can't remember
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: exactly the phrasing there, but there's going to be a
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: lot of interest in Bowers, and especially in a weak
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: hitting market, he could take advantage of it for sure.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: Do you think it changes the value of the players
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: because of players just in general on the open market
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: because of how the Brewers built their team? I don't
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: think you can do it overnight, but clearly teams are
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: lagging behind what the Brewers, and even to a sense,
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: what the Rays did, even though the Rays were more
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: of like a three headed monster heavy lineup.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Like one thing I've always learned is that the sports,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: whether it's baseball, football, or whatever, it's a copycat league
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: and people are going to want a piece of what
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: ended up happening with a team that was either in
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: the world series or just won it all, won it
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: all overall. And people are going to see what, what
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Jake Bowers did in Milwaukee. And they're going to want
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: to figure out what's going on in Milwaukee, but also
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: the player there offensively, just a tremendous guy can play
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: in multiple positions and, And he is somebody who was
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: a vital part of that clubhouse culture there in Milwaukee.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: So there's always going to be a place for that.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: I don't know how much the Milwaukee factor is going
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: to end up bolstering his contract.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of it.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: Is just the fact that he's just a really good
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: ball player and also just a really good dude overall.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: So it's a beautiful mix of a player going to
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: the right situation and getting a manager who believed in
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: him and got the most out of him. And Murph,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: he's one of one, man. You were around him for
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: a few years in Milwaukee with me. His way of
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: maximizing players' talents and getting the most out of them,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: but also giving them some flack behind the scenes, it's
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: a really cool thing. I think Bauer's just really strongly
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: benefited from that.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: I have one more based off what Kratz was asking.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Do you think some other teams will feel the heat more,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: specifically their GMs, for what just transpired? You have Milwaukee
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: as the smallest TV market. You have the Rays, who certainly...
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: are a small team in terms of what they spend.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: They have proven this year that there are other ways
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: to win. And I think a lot of attention was
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: given to the staff that they have, whether it's pro
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: scouting or whether it's international scouting. So two part question here.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: One is, do you think other teams will beef up
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: that part of their organization that weren't doing it in
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: the past? Like the twins, for example, having like a
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: third of the staff of these teams. That's one. Number
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: two is, do you think there will be more poaching?
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Do you think that Teams will look at, and I
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: know it's been going on for a while, but teams
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: will look at the Rays and be like, how did
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: the Rays turn Freddy Peralta from a five ERA to
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: the best starter in September and one of the best
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: in October in five minutes? Do you think that there
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: will be a boost in staff and poaching?
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think there's definitely going to be poaching that, like,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: with this, because teams that have been looking for front
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: office guys have always consistently been looking in Tampa. They've
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: been looking in Milwaukee, and Matt Klein was a finalist
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: for that job in Houston, and it was a surprise
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: to me that he did not get it. For whatever reason,
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: they ended up going in a different direction there and
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: hired Randy Flores, but You see it there from guys
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: in Milwaukee, like Klein's getting interest, and they've also got
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: some different guys there, like Thad Levine has been part
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: of that front office. Billy Upler has been part of
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: that front office. And we've even seen guys like Mike Krutman,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: who have been in Milwaukee, then gone to Boston, who's
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: gotten GM interviews here in the past. And I would
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: definitely expect that to end up being the case here
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: for Milwaukee and Tampa Bay going forward, because they've all
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: got just a tremendous staff there. But it also... It
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: makes it hard for these teams to replicate it because
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: the Brewers are so deep in what they have. They
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: have so many people in the scouting staff. They have
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: people in analytics. They have people in every facet of
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: their organization. And I know a big thing that I've
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: heard in Milwaukee, especially on the pitching side, is they
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: have so many talented people who help their pitchers on
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: a day-to-day basis. Chris Hook is tremendous in what he does,
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: but there's a lot of people who are around him, too.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: that help get the most out of these guys. And
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: we've even seen a guy like David Stearns, who was
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: just incredible in Milwaukee, have some ups and downs in
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Queens there with the Mets. And it's a lot easier
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: said than done to try to replicate that. And there
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: is pressure on some of these GMs to, for other teams,
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I should say, after seeing these two teams maximize the
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: value there on the margins to try to replicate that.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: But it's, it's a tough road. It's difficult, but Yeah,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: I think that's going to be something we hear plenty
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: about this offseason because the Brewers and Rays were able
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: to do it, and I don't think there was a
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: world where many people thought that was going to be
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: a reality when I think myself and a lot of
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: others thought it might be the Dodgers, the Yankees, or
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: teams along those lines.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the owners are going to be like, hey, you
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: need to be like that.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: What a nice way to say David Stearns wasn't very good. Yeah,
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: he struggled with some things. Yeah, he struggled, all right, Robert.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: He sure did. With winning. He struggled with winning. Yeah.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, shoot, like when you have like, that's something I, he,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: I think he underestimated, he definitely underestimated here is losing
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: all of those leaders that they had and then replacing
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: them with different guys and putting people in different positions there.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: That's hard.
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: It's really hard.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: And you can't just do that in one off season.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: There's no analytical number that can end up detecting like
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: what the leadership aspect is like in the clubhouse. And
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I think based on what I've heard, Stearns has really
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: learned from that and he's surrounded himself with some really
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: good people. And I, I would not be surprised if
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: we had more people that join the Mets front office
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: that give him some different perspectives. I think that's something
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: we should definitely be watching here. In addition to Derek Falvey,
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: I should say. That's something to watch here for sure.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the Freddie Peralta situation alone would drive me nuts.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I know I mentioned a lot in the past month,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: but that's because he gets traded there. He thrives. They
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: make it to the World Series. He was a big
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: part of that. If I'm the Mets, I'm like, how
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the heck? Did this just happen, right? We traded for
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: this guy. We took on most of his money for
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: this one season. We traded away prospects, and then the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Rays get to reap the benefits of it. So, yeah,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: that's definitely a realization there. He's under a lot of heat.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: He's got one offseason to try and get this team
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: back into playoff contention. So it'll be interesting. Robert, we'll
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: be talking, man. There's going to be a lot of
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: action this month, so we'll probably be hitting you weekly.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Get ready for it.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Let's get weird, baby.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you, boys, and I'll talk to you soon.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: But thank you so much.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Same here. Talk to you soon, bud.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: All right. Sounds good.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what he said.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: That's what he said.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: That's what he said.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: That's what he said. Yeah, that's what he said. A
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: couple topics. So we'll start with Garrett Stubbs. And Kratz,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: you know him well. Very outspoken. I mean, he was
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: a guy who, in a clubhouse full of Phillies players
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: who could be looked at as leaders, would stand out sometimes, right?
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've got guys like Harper and Schwarber there,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: but Garrett Stubbs was definitely the guy that you'd often
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: see people hanging around with. And he also is... a
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: team rep with the Players Association. So he was asked
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: about what's going on with CBA talks. And here was
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: one of the quotes here from him. He said, watching
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem sit on the other side
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: of the table and go over the proposals that he
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: goes over with the salary cap attached to every single proposal.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: And obviously they know our stance on the salary cap.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: It is the biggest waste of time. It's a charade
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: and it's exhausting sitting there watching him. I'm like, does
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: he even believe some of the things that are coming
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: out of his mouth. Well, that's good. That means that
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: two sides are really ready to break bread and have
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: a great time. That's a good sign. Also, actually, his
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: teammate Harper, did you see his little TikTok replies over
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the weekend? He was like, yeah, I'm going to be
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: chilling for a while.
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he said he enjoys the offseason more than the season, too.
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: So there's some there's some Reading through the tea leaves
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: of that, it was more of a, he enjoys his
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: time with his family, but that's a whole other discussion.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Don't call Anthony Rendon on me.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that, whoa, whoa, whoa. He came from the Nats,
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: not quite the same guy. Harper's locked in.
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: But Stubby was just, I was texting with him after
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: he said this, and he's like, look, like, I feel
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: like people need to understand. And some people are going
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: to say, why are the players so entrenched in their
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: thought process? Like, They're both entrenched in the thought process. Why,
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: if you would come to a negotiation table, would you
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: come with the one thing that the other side says,
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: I'm sorry, this is a non-starter for us. I hear
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: what you're saying. But we're still coming with this salary cap.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: Did you not hear? I mean, yes, you did not
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: hear us last time. And it's a prime example of
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: somebody who's sitting at the table saying, why do you
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: keep starting with that? We're not going to discuss that.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: Why do you start with that?
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: There's been a non-starter on the league side for decades,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: and that's a salary floor or even a soft floor
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: because we have a soft cap. So let's not act
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: like both sides don't have their things that they stick to.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: And also, I will say this. Sometimes I think that
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the animosity is so bad that we can't make progress
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: on anything else. I think that's one of the main
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: points here is Stubbs is going, Hey, this guy can't
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: get off anything. So we can't even go over other topics, right?
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Everything is attached to something that is a non-starter. I'll
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: give you the other side of the perspective here, AJ.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: For players, there's been a battle so long with the
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: league that I think sometimes they were blocking things that
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: had to do with bettering the game, pitch clock, you know,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: I don't think ABS challenge system was as much of
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: a block, but pitch clock I know was for a
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: long time. And I never really felt like it was
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: players against it as much as the players in the
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: league not getting along. So that's the point here is
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: that sometimes it's so bad that we can't make progress
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: on anything else.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Agreed. And also, by the way, there was a lot.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: I'm glad someone came out and said this and whether
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: it's Garrett Stubbs or whoever it is. There was a
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: long thought thing that people didn't want to be the
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: player rep because they always thought if they came out
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: and said anything, it would be held against them. And
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: so to hear someone say this is gigantic because finally,
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: what have we been asking for forever? Players and the
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: PA to come out and talk. And now someone finally
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: does it. And good for you, Stubby, because it took
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: a lot of guts to do this. So, you know,
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: it just shows you what happens behind the scenes is
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: not always what you hear in the newspaper and also online.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: in the media because there's three ties three sides right
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: to every story your side their side and what really
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: happened so hopefully we can get what really happened we
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: can get this done it's not going to happen we're
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: going to miss time it's going to suck but at
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: least somebody's talking about it at least we know they're
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: somewhat negotiating even though they're not really negotiating.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: No they're not going to negotiate until next year in
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: real terms.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: Right why though i don't understand why we have to why.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Why because lawyers get paid by the hour aj I
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: say it in jest, but not totally.
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: Why can't we just sit down and get this done?
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: I don't understand. Everyone knows like, get it done, figure
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: it out.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, right now, the main reason why we can't
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: figure it out is that there's one push and you
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: can't cover any other topic until they decide on the
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: one push that hasn't been pushed since we missed time
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: in the nineties. That's just the facts, right? Everything that's
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: brought up comes with a stipulation to it that the
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: other side's not going to agree to. So that's where
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: we stand. And that's why we can't make progress.
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: Owners don't have to squeeze the entire players association. They
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: have to squeeze the group that will end up making
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: the whole group cave.
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: That's what they're.
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: So that's why they're waiting. Whether it's all right, fine.
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: I'm just so annoyed with this, whatever you guys want.
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: I just want to play.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: Then they win.
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: Whether they agree with the, the collective bargaining agreement or not.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: And they win. That's it.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: So good, candid quotes there. And, of course, we'll cover
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: this a lot more next month. I want to have
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: some fun with free agency while we can and trades
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: before the sport shuts down on December 1st. We won't
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: be shutting down. We'll be chatting and covering everything. But
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: let's get to the next one here on That's What
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: He Said. This plays to a topic we covered last
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: week that might have gotten buried a little bit because
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: the World Series is more important. Jorge Posada was vocal
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: about not feeling welcome with the Yankees anymore. He ain't
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: the only one that either doesn't feel welcome or in
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: this case just isn't super involved. So from the Boston Globe,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: this was put out there. Pedro and David Ortiz weren't
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: consulted for their baseball opinions during the season and only
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: had brief stays at spring training in 26. This is
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: despite the Sox still listing. both Hall of Famers as
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: special assistants. And the Boston Globe says teams are wary
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: of retired players espousing traditional sensibilities that don't line up
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: with data-based instruction. And Yankees legend Posada recently told the
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: Post he doesn't feel welcome. So there's the full tweet
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: from Matthew Corey who took it from the Globe. And AJ,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: this is what we were talking about. I used the
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: angels as an example with a team that actually had
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: some former players kind of come in and change things up.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: And many people thought it was for the worst, but the,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: the battle that you have with former players wanting to
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: make a stamp. Now I know Pedro pretty well. I
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: worked with him a lot. I know that he's helped
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: many pitchers and still does. So I think you got
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: to be careful there. Like, in my opinion, Pedro knows
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: what he's talking about and he knows modern pitching still.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: It's not like he's just sitting there going, oh yeah,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: bring over Sonny Gray. Let me just tell him to
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: hit everyone. Pedro knows what he's talking about.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a line, right? And as a former player,
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: you have to understand that if you're brought in and
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: you're brought in in this role, your job is to
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: give experiences and give thoughts of How you felt in
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: the batter's box, what your approach was. Now, listen, there's
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: analytic guys and there's former players that are heavy analytics.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: And I get it. I understand. I mean, I don't
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: understand all the analytics, but I know enough to kind
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: of understand what most of it is that they're talking about.
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: and how it helps and how it doesn't help. But
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: as a former player, if a team called me and said, hey,
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: we need to come to spring training, you know what
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: I'm there to do? Give any experience that I can,
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: tell stories, enjoy my time around the players, and help
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: them if they have a question. I'm not going to
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: go out of my way and say, you have to
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: do this, you have to do that. And if you're
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: doing that, teams aren't probably going to bring you around.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: But if you're there and you're saying, hey, if a
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: player comes up to you and says, hey, what do
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: you think about my swing? And then you can have
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: a conversation, but you also have to include the hitting
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: coach or the pitching coach in that conversation. so that
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: the organization is a part of it. The reason why
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of players are having this feeling
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: is a lot of the people who didn't play in
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: these organizations don't want guys around to play because then
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: they will say something that contradicts what they've been telling
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: these players. And it doesn't have to be this way.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: We can all just get along. It just has to
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: be done in a way that everyone understands what we're
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: talking about and how we're doing it. It just It
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: doesn't have to be this contentious. It can just be, hey,
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: I'm coming to spring training for a week. Let me
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: hang around the players and be nice and have fun,
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: and that's it.
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: AJ, you used to be one of these special assistants
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: for the White Sox, and my question to you, did
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: you want to see the White Sox succeed? Yes, and
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: by the way, I was never a special assistant. I
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: was a fan ambassador. I was only there for the fans.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: The White Sox have never asked me in any capacity
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: to talk to any player or talk to any person
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: in the organization ever. So let's get that out there.
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: I would love to. I'd love the opportunity to sit
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: down with Kyle Teal and talk to him or Edgar
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: Kiro or whatever catcher they have, or even anybody that
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: plays or pitches. I'd love to, but I was just
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: there for the fans to sign autographs and remember when
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: the White Sox used to be good, even though they
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: took down all our photos because they want to turn
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: the page and move on to a new chapter.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: Okay. Well, okay.
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: So you were fan experience, ambassador of fan experience. If
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: you had been offered that role, you would have, you
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: would wanted the team to do well. I think when
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: the Pedro's and the David Ortiz and the Jorge Posadas
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: of the world take those roles, do they want the cash?
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: Do they want to hang around? Yes, but they want
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: what's best for the players. And I think if anybody
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: feels intimidated by an ex player being around their current
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: players that they're coaching, you're missing out on the value
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: that that can bring. You're missing out just like a
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: former player. If a former player is... If Daniel Vogelbach,
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: the hitting coach for the Brewers, says, I don't want
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: any of these analyst guys around me, he's missing out
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: on value. Just like an analyst who's coaching a Red
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: Sox hitter doesn't want Big Papi around because... And for
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: whatever reason, I can't say what it is, you're missing
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: out on value for that player to get the Red Sox,
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: the Yankees, whatever team we're talking about, the best that
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: they can be in each situation throughout the season. And
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: if that means having A.J. Pruszynski come in for a
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: weekend and talk to Teal Caro or any left-handed hitter,
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: he'll pay you back in full, like fourfold, whatever it
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: costs you to get him to come to talk to
• 34:23
  Speaker 4: your players.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: I'm with you.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: I think I can't speak to Poppy as much. I
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: just don't know, but I know, I don't know him
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: David wants the Red Sox to be good. David wants
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: the Red Sox hitters to hit. He wants Pedro one.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: Like if the White Sox offered me to come back
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: and help them, I want the White Sox to do well. What,
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: am I going to go over there and try and
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: sabotage the organization? Like, come on. I mean, grow up.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: These are legends in your organization that not only do
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: the people want to see the fans, the players know them.
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: All these kids playing now, they've heard legends of David Ortiz.
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: They've heard legends. They see David Ortiz on Fox. They've
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: heard legends of Pedro Martinez. They see him on TBS.
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: These aren't people that they don't know about. These are
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: people that most players have heard about, and they know
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: what they did. And if you can give one kid
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: one little bit of information that helps them win you
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: a game, then it's all worth it. I'm sorry.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, just to cap this off, I think
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: the primary concern from teams is that they're going to
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: have a different philosophy. Not that they don't want to win.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: But let me give you the example. The philosophy can
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: be different.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: I know, but, like, you know, there are many organizations.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Pull fly ball contact. That's the only way to win.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: And then the Brewers just stomp on all of that.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: But they're like, well, this person's not teaching that, right?
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: As if Big Papi didn't have– I mean, Big Papi
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: gave you a quality A-B. He wasn't just swinging out
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: of his pants. He came up with the twins.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: That's one of the reasons he ended up on the
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: Red Sox was because he wanted to do pull fly balls.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: And they were like, no, we want you to hit
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: singles the other way. I was there. I know what happened.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: They're like, hey, we want you to hit– you know,
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: he's like, I'm a home run guy. Let me hit.
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: And then he went to Boston. They freed him up.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: But he still could go the other way when he
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: needed to. Look at some of David's biggest hits. They
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: were the other way. It's not a philosophy thing. It's
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: a I'm not confident in the job I'm doing thing,
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: and I don't want someone else that can come around
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: that might have a voice that gives someone a thought
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: that isn't mine, and I can't rubber stamp everybody. Not
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: everybody hits the same. It's baseball. Not everybody pitches the same.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: Not everybody hits the same. I'm sorry. Analytics are great.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: I get the analytic side of it, but we're not robots.
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: Not everyone thinks. And how many times, Scratch, you have
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: a hitting coach that would say something to you and
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: you're like, oh yeah, he said the same thing that
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: nine other guys said to you, but he said it
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: in a different way and it clicks with you. And
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: you're like, oh, you know, like, oh, get it out front,
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: get it out front. All right, well, how about I
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: let the ball travel a little bit and then that
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: makes me stay on my backside. Whatever it is, like
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: there's a million different things, a different drill, whatever it is,
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: it's all about whatever makes the player get the most
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: out of his ability and And there's a million different
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: ways to be told the same thing. It's just the
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: way brains work. And sometimes some things click and some
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: things don't. 100%. You clip it. Clip it. That's it.
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: Clip it. Because there's not one way to hit. And
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: hitting is hard.
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: And it's not like AJ got a coach that was like, hey,
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: you should do this.
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: And I never got that coach.
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: And that's why he had 2,000 hits and I barely
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: had 2,000 innings caught. That's not where it's at. You
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: have to find the hitting coach that gets the most
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: out of each person. You have to find a pitching
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: coach that gets the most out of each person. And
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: on the other side of this, the analyst side or
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: the team side, if you have a player that comes
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: in and is a cancer and is constantly being like.
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, you guys shouldn't do that. Yeah, get
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: them out of there.
• 37:52
  Speaker 4: But there's a reason that ex-players are being hired at
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: businesses to be part of teams. It's because they know
• 38:00
  Speaker 4: how to work in a team. They know how to
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: get the most out of other people that are around.
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: And so why would you not have that around and
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: consult that? I'm not asking you to be here every day.
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: If you were, you'd be on our staff, but there's
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: some kind of value that they add.
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: Hey, we just saw Robin Young following around the Brewers
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: and it was awesome. Even just for the historical component too.