Latest / Foul Territory / MLB’s interesting team payrolls for final 4 + Tigers prospect Zyhir Hope on being part of Skubal trade

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MLB’s interesting team payrolls for final 4 + Tigers prospect Zyhir Hope on being part of Skubal trade · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is a fun one.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Steven Nesbitt wrote about the MLB Final Four in The Athletic.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: He said it's the sport's biggest spender and three budget-savvy rivals.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: So we'll run through some costs, including what the lineups cost,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: what the rotations cost, what the bullpens cost.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: There is the story.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Do you remember how pissed off everyone was when the
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: team signed Kyle Tucker and then he had a brutal year?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: I know he's been one of their better players in
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: the postseason. What about when they added icing on the
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: cake and signed Tanner Scott. And then last year he
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: was not kicking it on the playoff roster about Edwin Diaz,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: who had pretty much a lost season.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: What's up?
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: I was going to say Edwin Diaz hasn't done anything
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: all year. I mean, he's been all right in the postseason,
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: but he can't get in a game because they're losing
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: by the time it's time for him to pitch.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Hey, and before we go through the cost for each team,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: because three of these teams are very similar, right?
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Many owners will be.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Like, oh, I'm jealous of the Brewers and the Guardians
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: in the Midwest. How did they develop so much good pitching?
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: And it was the Rays before all of them, right? Well,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: at least in the last 20 years, there were many
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: front offices that were jealous of what the Rays did.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Some others have caught up. So I want to start
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: this way. We haven't brought this up yet. This all
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: does relate to competitive balance. I couldn't watch a baseball
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: game this year without a commercial telling me the game sucks.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: It's not competitive.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: We already know who's going to win, and you just
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: have to slice the top 10 to 15 payrolls, and
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: then that's how you figure out what the regular season,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: the playoffs, and the World Series looks like. So Rob
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Manfred and company have to sign off on those ads.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: How do you think Rob feels right now when he
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: looks at three of the four teams that are in
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: the Final Four this year heading into an offseason that
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: will Save the discourse for we'll have plenty of time
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: for that.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: But isn't it a hard leg to stand on?
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: Just proves that if you do it right, you can
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: figure out a way to get it done. I mean,
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: that's kind of what it means. It means if you
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: find the right people to develop guys in your organization,
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: if you draft right, if you have the right people
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: coaching and running your team, you can figure out a way.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: And look at two of the four teams remaining, and
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: both teams have leads in the LCS. What do their
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: managers have in common? They've won back-to-back managers of the years,
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: both of them, two times in a row, right? So
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: they know what they're doing. They have coaches that know
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: what they're doing. And they run the team the way
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: that they believe a baseball team should be run with
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: the players that they have. They're adaptable. They can do
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: whatever they need to do to get the team. And
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: I think one thing that the Brewers have learned over
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: the years, and you see it in their way they're
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: going about it this year, is they've made changes to
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: what they did. They've lost, they've lost, they've lost. This
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: year is a little bit different. They made some changes.
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: They're subtle changes. The way they throw out their pitching,
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: the way they handle their pitching, the way they play
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: on defense, the way they play on offense, they've made
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: subtle changes that have now gotten them a 2-0 lead
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: on the Dodgers. I'm not saying they're going to win
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: the series, but they got a 2-0 lead on the Dodgers,
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: and they're in pretty good shape. I played for three
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: of the four of these organizations, and the one commonality
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: from what I've heard about the Dodgers, it's the exact
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: same way. They brought in people. And then they brought
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: in talent. I say that not just talking about the roster,
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: talking about the people in different places throughout the organization.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: They're looking for good people. They'll find them a spot
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: to coach, to be an assistant to the front office,
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: be in something. And then all of that trickles down
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: through the organization. Yes, the Dodgers have a lot of talent,
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: but the other three teams that I played for, I
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: can guarantee you, you know who, what the hierarchy is,
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: but there is the least amount of infighting of any
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: organization that I was ever at. And they just push
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: that out of there. And so these are values that me,
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: in my opinion, mean they're pushing all in to win
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: the way that they know how. And would they like
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: to spend more money? Absolutely. But I don't think I
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: don't think it would change how they built their organization.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Well, let's look at costs now.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: That's David Stearns though. He did Milwaukee and they were good.
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: And then he went to New York and it was
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: been a disaster for a couple of years. So it
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: takes time. It takes time. To me, it takes time.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: You get there for David Stearns. You sound like every
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: other GM. Give me five years. Oh, darn it. That
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: wasn't my manager. Give me five more years. This is
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: where I agree. Except Uncle Stevie says, I have money
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: for you to spend. You've got to go spend it.
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: So you're going to buy frivolous things sometimes.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: That's fair.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: But if I say you have money to spend, you
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: better buy me some damn long-term starting pitching. I mean,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: that's the one thing where you can really get an edge.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: To me, that's, of course, where the edge was last
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: year for the Dodgers. Their offense, like AJ mentioned earlier
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: in the show, was not on fire all of 2026
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: or 2025, I should say, when they won. Let's look
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: at the rotation portion of the conversation. So on the
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: right side, you see the Dodgers spending $ 86. 1 million on
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: their four starters in the playoffs right now.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Yamamoto, Schugel, Snell, and Glasnow. The Brewers are.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Spending $ 5. 6 million. So it's a little bit less on Mizorowski,
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Logan Henderson, Dustin May, and Robert Gasser.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: The Rays, if you combine.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: It's just such a... Just because, I mean, they developed Mizorowski.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: They developed Logan Henderson, right? Gasser was a trade. They
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: made a good trade.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: So.
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: It's not really fair. I mean, I get it. I
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: get the point, but I get the point. Gavin Williams developed,
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: Messick developed, Foster Griffin traded for, Bybee developed. But it's
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: all about the point they are in their career. If
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: you took Jacob Mizorowski, Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, and you
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: put them at the same time in their career where
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: the Dodgers are, or the same thing with the Guardians,
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: they'd be worth a lot more money. It's just that
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: they're younger. So it's kind of like, eh, they just
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: can't miss. The teams other than Dodgers, they can't miss
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: as much.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: And then let's just rack through the others. Bullpen. Dodgers
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: have spent on that bullpen lately.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: Part of the reason is they don't want to trade
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: away a lot of capital during the deadline, but you
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: can't predict relievers.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Sometimes you can, often you can't.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz and Tanner Scott at the top of that list,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: spending over $ 40 million on their relief core. Evan Phillips
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: is there. Roeke's not making a ton. It's really the
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: top two guys on that list compared to the Brewers,
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: the Rays, and the Guardians.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: By the way, their best relievers have been the homegrown guys.
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: Tanner Scott was better this year. Last year, not good.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: Edwin Diaz wasn't good this year. But, I mean, a
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: lot of those guys are guys that they signed and developed.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: Brock Stewart, I guess, was a trade, too. So, sorry,
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: I take that back.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: And then lineups? Crats?
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: I think teams go in ebbs and flows. The Rays
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: were second in all of these and now you go,
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: or in the other two categories, and you go to
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: the lineup now and there wasn't a single free agent
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: on that list. So they're spending less on hitting because
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: they've been, but they've spent a little more in the
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: pitching department. So I think it's a case of each
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: of these looks different, but I think each of them
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: can learn from each other. The Dodgers, it's crazy. It's
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: crazy that even with all those names, Kyle Tucker's a
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: third of that. That's just the bananas amount of money
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: to be put into one guy. But all that to say,
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: I think the Guardians could look at the Brewers and go,
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: we need to lock more guys up. I think the
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: Rays have been, obviously, because of what happened to one person,
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: a little bit resident to lock guys up. And so
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: I think there's things that they can win in each,
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: or they can, they can look to each other to
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: figure out how to maybe keep these lineups together for
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: a longer amount of time.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Good point. I think that's one of the keys.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: Yelich and Contreras are making most of that money for
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: the Brewers. I mean, Yelich is making, Yelich and Contreras
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: are making most of that money. So that's, Again, I mean,
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: it's all relative, but if they got it, they'll spend it. Well,
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: some owners, that's not true, but the Dodgers are one
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: of the few organizations that are making so much more
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: than everyone else, and they're spending it back into their players.
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: The Brewers spend, I think, what they can. The Guardians spend,
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: you know, a lot of the Guardians is in Jose Ramirez.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: I mean, until they made some trades. I mean, if
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: we would have done this at the beginning of the year,
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: it would have been different numbers.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: That's true.
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Adele's making a little bit of coin, but.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Point is, there's a huge difference here, and yet it
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: feels very even in the LCS.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Good article if you want to check it out.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: Hey, everybody. It's the best time of the year for
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: sports right now. You got the NFL. You got the
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: NBA about to start. You got college football. You got
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: hockey going on here. And the best part of all?
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: you got the MLB playoffs. So if you want great
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: seats to the LCS and then the World Series, wherever
• 9:40
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• 9:43
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• 9:46
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• 9:48
  Speaker 4: you out there, use SeatGeek for any playoff needs that
• 9:51
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• 9:52
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• 9:55
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• 10:20
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• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Gracias, SeatGeek.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: All right, we're excited to connect with Zyre Hope. He
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: is a now Tigers prospect. It might feel weird to
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: hear that over the last few months. He used to
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: be a Dodgers prospect, was part of the big Derek
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Scooble trade and he's crushing it in the Arizona fall
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: league as well as this season. He's playing for Scottsdale
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: out there right now. So you're great to have you
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: on the show. Thanks for the time, man. You having
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: fun out in Arizona?
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I appreciate y'all for having me. Thank y'all.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: How's it going out there? I mean, you had a
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: great season.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: It was a fun and interesting little turn at some
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: point where you find out you're ending up with the
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: Tigers and you had been developed really well by the Dodgers.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: So how do you sum up this year and what
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: you're doing now?
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: Man, it's been amazing. I'm truly blessed with the opportunity.
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying?
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, opportunities. Opportunities, man. I'm ready to play some ball.
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: Zaire, I got to ask you this. Do your teammates say, hey,
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: you're the guy traded for Tarek Skubal. Is there pressure
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: on you now, your teammates? Because every report we've heard
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: is the reason that the Dodgers made the deal is
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: because they threw in you. So is there pressure on you?
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: Are your teammates like, oh, man, that's the dude traded
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: for Tarek Skubal right there?
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: No, it's no pressure for me. I'm going to continue
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: to play ball and be myself, man. And, you know,
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: it's opportunities, man, opportunities. I'm going to keep saying that. And,
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: you know, I'm grateful for this opportunity. But, yeah, it's
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: no pressure, man. I'm going to continue to play my
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: ball and just enjoy myself.
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: I got traded like 100 times in my career. This
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: was a big trade for you. How long did it
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: take you once you were over? And I think you
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: went to Erie, right? Yeah, you went to Erie from
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: Tulsa that you were like, Like I'm a tiger now
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: because as a player, I always envisioned myself finishing my
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: career exactly where I was. And I was wrong every
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: single time. How long did it take you to make
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: that transition? And fortunately you didn't have to play in
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: Erie when it was cold. So you got traded in
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: the summer. So I know you heard stories about it
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: freezing up there.
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: I heard it get cold.
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: I mean, I was in Midland, Michigan last year with
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: a high team with LA. So yeah, I know how
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: I get up there. I'm already knowing, but the transition,
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: I mean, like, it's the same, man. It's the same
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: for real. I mean, you just got to pack everything
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: up and just get up and go. But for me,
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: it feels like, it's like travel ball.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying?
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: You get up and go, you see new places and stuff.
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: And that's why I love it, man.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: It's fun.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: Zaire, did you have any idea you were getting traded? Did, like,
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: Andrew Friedman pick up the phone and say, hey, by
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: the way, we're talking about trading you? Were you on
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: a golf course? Were you on an off day? Were
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: you out water skiing? Were you surfing? Like, what were
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: you doing when you found out you were traded? I
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: need to know the– I need the tea, man. Give
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: me the tea how this trade went down.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: No, seriously, I didn't know I was getting traded.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: I was about to play a game on that Saturday night,
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: And then I was scratched from the game, the lineup
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: and stuff. And then, yeah, I just waited in the
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: clubhouse for the whole game because I knew it was
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: a possibility I could get traded. And then, yeah, it
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: didn't happen during the game. It happened after the game.
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: And then, yeah, I drove back to the clubhouse and
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: then packed everything up and stuff like that, said bye
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: to everybody and stuff.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: You weren't even allowed to sit in the dugout, right?
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: Because they used to tell us, like, hey, you could
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: get hurt so you can't be out in the dugout.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: Did you literally sit in the clubhouse during the game?
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: So was it tough for you? Because I'm sure I
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: didn't look at how many games you played this year,
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: but I'm assuming you didn't sit out many. Was that
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: tough to actually sit out a game and then the
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: whole time people are texting you, what's going on? What's
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: up with this?
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: Man, it's a business, man. I'm grateful for this opportunity.
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: I'm in the moment. I'm not looking too far ahead.
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: I'm not looking too far back. I'm just– I'm in
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: the moment, man. I'm delivering right in this moment. So,
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: I knew something could happen. So, I'm just right here
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: and waiting to see what's going on.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: When you were sitting in the clubhouse, were you thinking
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: in the back of your mind, am I getting traded
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: or am I getting called up? Because did they tell you?
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: Did they tell you what was going on? Like, why
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: are you not playing? Did they– who was your manager?
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: I don't know who your manager was. I'm sorry. I
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: don't really follow that.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: So, it's Eric Wage. Eric Wage.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: Eric Wage?
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: The old big league guy? The old big league manager?
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: I played against that guy forever. He was a son
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: of a gun to play against. I like him, though,
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: a lot. But did he call you in and say, hey,
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: this is what's going down? You're not playing because you're
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: getting traded? Or did he just say, hey, you know what, Zaire?
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: Let's just take the day off. But you're not allowed
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: to get dressed, and you're not allowed to go outside
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: that door.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: So he brought me to his office, and then I
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: got a phone call from the farm director saying, There's
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: no need to play. You could get traded, so no
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: need to play. Yes, I was waiting the whole game.
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: Was your teammates asking you, like, what's going on? Was everyone, like,
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: in between innings, they're running in there? Zaire, where'd you go?
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: Who'd you get traded for, man? Did I go too? Like,
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: what were they all doing? Because I know I've been
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: around this before, and everyone's like, between every inning, they're
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: running in. Hey, man, did you get traded? Oh, did
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: you get traded? Oh, where are you going? Who'd you
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: get traded for? Tell me, tell me.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, yeah.
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: It was like, yeah, teammates would come in, back and
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: forth and stuff, like every inning. But, yeah, we just, yeah,
• 15:50
  Speaker 5: sitting down, I was relaxing, and, yeah, had my ring on.
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: And then whatever happened, happened, man.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: Ain't no cell phones in the clubhouse.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: Is there something that they– you come over, you're touted,
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: everybody knows, yeah, this is the dude they traded for
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: Terrence Google. You know, he's good. Look at the numbers
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: that he put up. Is there something that the Tigers–
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: right away got to you and were like, just do
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: what you do? Or is there something that they're like, okay,
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: this is how we want you to improve?
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: I mean, it was, like you said, it was just
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: kind of go out there and have fun, man. Go
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: out there and be yourself. Don't change too much, man.
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: Just kind of just be you, be free, man.
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: All right, so do you hit with Dodger bats still?
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: Do you have Zaire Hope Dodger bats that you kept
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: hitting with? And when did you switch over to Tiger bats?
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: That's my first part of the question.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: What do you mean by, like, Tiger bats? I don't know.
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: It says Zaire Hope Los Angeles Dodgers on it. Or
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: do your bats just say Zaire Hope?
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: It just says Zaire Hope on them.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: But those are Dodger bats. The Dodgers, you were a
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: Dodger when you got those bats. Did you have to
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: switch over to Tiger bats?
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: I got bats with Chandler bats, and then I'm using
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: the same bats I've been using.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: Okay. All right. I'm just saying maybe they both have
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: bats in them. But sometimes you got to get rid
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: of all the bats that the other team got you
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: because when I was in the big leagues, you can't
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: be going to the Brewers with Giants bats. You can't
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: be going to the Giants with Rays bats.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: Hey, if they got hits in them, Zaire, use whatever
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: bat you want. It don't matter what they say on them.
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: Take some Sharpie. Take some Sharpie and just color it in. Like,
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: whatever color, just cross it out. Like, put a big
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: X in it. Whatever it takes. But this wasn't the
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: first time you got traded, right? You got traded from
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: the Cubs to the Dodgers, right? What is it? People
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: not like you? You seem like a likable fella. Like,
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: why do you keep getting traded?
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: It's a business, man. You can't control anything. It's just,
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: you know, I'm grateful. I'm forever grateful for this opportunity, man. But, yeah,
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: I was with the Cubs, and then I was with
• 18:07
  Speaker 5: them for about four months. Got traded in January. But, yeah,
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: I mean, yeah, it's a business, man. You can't control anything.
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: You know, I've been blessed to be in amazing orders.
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying? But for me, I'm going
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: to continue to be myself, man, and just keep playing ball.
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: Hey, and F.K. and the Foul Territory Network, we have
• 18:26
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• 18:29
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• 18:32
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• 18:34
  Speaker 4: work in plumbing, if you work in construction, you work
• 18:37
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• 18:40
  Speaker 4: bill paying easy. It's all right there in Housecall Pro.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, AJ, you can have a plumbing business, electrical, HVAC.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Housecall Pro will help keep you organized. Estimates, invoices, the
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: next lead. So you can do the job, focus on
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: the task at hand, but still keep the business cranking.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: And on average, pros using Housecall Pro save more than
• 18:58
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• 19:09
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• 19:13
  Speaker 2: off base plans for their first three months when you
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: head to HousecallPro.com slash foul. That's HousecallPro.com slash foul for 50% off.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: After you sign up, they'll ask you where you.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Heard about them. Please support our show and let them
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: know we sent you.
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: I'm going to give you three guys that played in
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: the Fall League the last two years. Drake Baldwin, Rookie
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: of the Year. Nick Kurtz, Rookie of the Year. Kevin
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: McGonigal last year, Rookie of the Year. What does this league,
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: when you get invited there, what is your expectation and
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: has this league built up or met your expectation of
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: what you thought it was going to be when you
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: got there?
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's amazing talent. You know what I'm saying?
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's everywhere, though.
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: Talent's everywhere, man. But yeah, this league is amazing for baseball.
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: I mean, Arizona, Arizona's a good baseball state.
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying? Being out here for spring training,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: ball flies and stuff like that.
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: But yeah, man, just being out here and kind of
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: just meeting everybody, And it's playing against everybody and just enjoying.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: It, enjoying it.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: Hey, by the way, I know you love Arizona, but
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: just wait until you get to Florida. Wait until you
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: get to Lakeland next year. It's right down the street
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: from where I live. Scott will have you over to
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: my house. He'll cook you dinner. I'm not inviting you,
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: but Scott will invite you to my house because Scott
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: thinks he lives here. It's not far from Lakeland, okay?
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: But if you think Arizona is nice, wait until you
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: go to Lakeland and you get to go to Cracker
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: Barrel and Hooters every day. You're going to love Lakeland.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: And Disney fireworks. Don't forget that.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: Well, that's not in Lakeland.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: No, I know, but you said he can come over.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: No, I didn't say that. I said you were going
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: to invite him over. I never said that he could
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: come over. I just said you're going to invite him over.
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: Because no one's come over yet.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a hop and a skip away.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: But I hope you like Cracker Barrel, Hooters, and what's
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: the chicken place? Chick-fil-A. They got them three down in Lakeland,
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: I promise you. And Publix, too. If you haven't been
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: to Publix, they got a lot of Publix because you're
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: playing at Publix Field. Maybe you get free Pub Subs
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: in Lakeland.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Appreciate it.
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: Scott? I thought Scott was like, oh. Yeah, exactly. Thank you, Zaire.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: I like Publix. Publix is good. I like their subs
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: and stuff. Their subs is real good.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: What's your favorite sub? What's your favorite pub sub?
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: Oh, I haven't been in a minute since high school.
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: I'm a big Italian dude, like spicy Italian type of subs.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I like those.
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: I like those. Yeah. If you would have said chicken
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: tender sub, I would have been mad at you because
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: chicken tenders are good but then when you put the
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: chicken tenders with the mayonnaise and the breading and then
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: the bread you get like this much bread and this
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: much chicken and i'm like what if i just want
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: to eat a bunch of bread i'll just get a
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: big loaf of bread and just stuff my face but
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: i mean get like this much chicken i don't know
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: people love the chicken tender sub so i'm glad i'm
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: glad you said italian that made me happy yes sir
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: one of the things that they started implementing was the
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: whole outfield. I don't even know what to call it.
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: The no outfield shift. You got to play straight up.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: Have you seen how it's implemented in the sense of like,
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: what does it look like? Is it necessary? Do you
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: think it's something that they should continue to implement? Or
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: are you like, what are we doing?
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: I know they talked about it like in the beginning
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: of the fall league and stuff, but it hasn't been
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: a game. like where it's done at and stuff. But
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: I mean, I don't, for me, it's like, let's try
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: it out.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying?
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: I'm not really, I ain't got nothing to say too
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: much about it. I don't know too much about it really.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: But it's like, yeah, I mean, go out and see
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: how it is. I can't control anything.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: It's like, I'm out there. All right, let's see how
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: it is.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, I've got one more on this topic.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Is there anything that you've seen change-wise in the game
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: that you really like, right? The game has had a
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: pitch clock implemented lately. I mean, if you go back
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: in the last 10 years for me, I was dying
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: when we didn't have limits on timeouts, mound visits and
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: all of that.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: And you'd get these playoff games and the catcher would
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: go have a chat with the pitcher. Every other pitch,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: certain catchers would not AJ, but other catchers would not crats,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: but any certain rule changes lately that you've really liked
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: because you've been through some of them in the minor leagues.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: That's a good question. I mean, the pitch clock is cool.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: Pitch clock is cool. I can't lie.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: It is bad sometimes, but I mean, for me, it's
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: still finding a way to not change who you is
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: as a person and a player depending on the rules
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: and stuff, if that makes sense. So, I mean, continue
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: to not be rushed still. You know what I'm saying?
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: I mean, for me, I don't really care about anything.
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: I'm kind of just enjoying it and kind of just
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: going with the flow, so whatever rules added and stuff,
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: I'm going to try to, you know, see how I
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: can and, you know, try to embrace it all and
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: stuff like that.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: Hey, what's your, what's your ABS percentage? What's your ABS
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: tap in your helmet? Are you good or bad? Are
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: you good at it or you suck at it?
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: Oh, I did it once and it's the last time
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: I did it.
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: You only did it once in your whole career? You've
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: only done it once?
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: I did it once, yeah. I'm, for me, it's just like,
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: I love the game so much, man. And I got nothing.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: I'm just, it was a strike. It's a strike.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: They're going to make you use it in the major
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: leagues though.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: If you put those numbers.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Up in the major leagues, like you're doing in the
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: minor leagues, they're going to say Zaire when it's two strikes,
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: eighth inning and you get squeezed on a pitch and
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: we've got one to use.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I need you. You're you got the smile. You're humble
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: as can be, but you're too good, dude. You got
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: to make sure they rack that back.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Thank you.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: But, but we'll save it. Once you get to the bigs, they'll,
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: if they ask you to do it, I'm sure you will.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: So it's, it's worth it at that point. Well, good
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: getting to know you, man. Really appreciate the time. Have
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: fun out there in Arizona, the rest of the way.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: And hopefully we'll catch you in spring training.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: Thank y'all so much. I appreciate y'all. Thank y'all.