Latest / Chuck in the Morning / 11-11 H3: Crystal Ball (Mariners Offseason), OPQ & CFP Rankings

Transcript

11-11 H3: Crystal Ball (Mariners Offseason), OPQ & CFP Rankings · Chuck in the Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 0:00
  Speaker 2: No, I don't want to see it coming. I just
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: want to be able to battle it. You want to
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: be surprised. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, if I told
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: you your entire future, if I had the ability, would
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: you even want to know it? Because I guarantee you'd
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: start living your life differently, and then it would screw
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: up the future that I predicted. Yeah, I probably wouldn't,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: to be completely honest. But since this future isn't my future,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: it's the Mariner's future, I'm all in for it. Let's go. Well,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: number one, the Mariner's baby son will live to be president. Oh,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: wait a minute. I might be screwing up. Wrong one! Oops!
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Your crystal ball forecast and their crystal ball. All right. Well,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: every year I do this little forecast of what the
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Mariners might do in the offseason, and this is going
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: to be a crappy offseason. At the very least, we're
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: going to have some of the hot stove love stripped
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: from us. Maybe we'll see a little bit of activity,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: a little bit of deadline kind of activity before the
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: 2nd of December when the lockout's likely going to occur.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: And then I don't think we'll be seeing any activity
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: until a fevered spring training or maybe summer training. I
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: hope it's not fall training. That would be so weird.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: But it's going to be a rough offseason. There's no
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: question about it for all of us baseball fans. But
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: the difference between my crystal ball and a lot of
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: other forecasts that you're seeing is a lot of those
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: other forecasts that people put together are kind of wish lists.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: And they're adding $ 35 million players, which I've been around
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: for too long, this Mariners organization, to ever think that
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: they're going to operate next year at a $ 250 million
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: budget just because you want them to. So I try
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: to keep, not only do I try to keep it
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: within reason, I try to keep myself to the same
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: budget that they finished last season. And by the way,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: we have The reason we're going to have this lockout
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: is to try to create a salary cap going forward,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: which certainly could change the spending habits of every team
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: in the national football. Not only could, will change the
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: spending habits of every team in Major League Baseball. And
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: so that's another part of this offseason that's kind of
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: wonky to try and predict. But nonetheless, we're going to
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: give this a shot. Let's do it. That means, by
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: the way, now that I've explained my process... No, we
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: won't be getting Bobby Witt Jr. Jeez.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Question for you. Before we get started, does this mean
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the Mariners are not getting Shohei Ohtani? We're not trading
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: for Shohei?
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Right. Okay. We did a little exercise at 6.30. I said,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: who would make you happy? Because I'm not sure any
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: free agent would make you happy not named Shohei Ohtani.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: And the first two names that we got on the
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: text line were Bobby Witt Jr. Yeah. Would you... Please
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: operate in reality. There is no chance that Bobby Witt Jr.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: is going to be traded by the Kansas City Royals.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: They've locked him up for his entire life. And guess what?
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: They haven't soured on him. No, I would believe they
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: have not, Chuck Powell. All right, so it's a realistic look.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: It's kind of a combination of wish list plus what
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: I think they might do. I don't really even know, Anders,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: which side I lean toward, if this is a wish
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: list or if it really is what I... predict that
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: they're going to do. It's kind of a combination of
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the two for sure. And it tries to remain realistic
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: because I am operating with a $ 164 million budget, which
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: is what they ended with last season. Um, therefore, uh,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: they are starting right now with a projected one 43.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: I don't have a lot of money to spend. I
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: don't have a lot of money to spend at this point.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Here's what we're going to do first. That's how the
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: off season is going to begin. The Seattle Mariners do
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: trade one of their starting pitchers that we've gotten to
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: know and really thought was going to be a part
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: of a really bright future, but we've not won that
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: world series. We've not gotten to that world series. And
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: now all of a sudden some guys are coming up
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: to expiration of their Affordable years. Logan Gilbert's going to
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: expire after this season. George Kirby is going to be
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: gone after next season, at least off of his current deal.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: I have said for years, Anders knows this on our
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Stove podcast, that I think George Kirby is the guy
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: that's going to be traded, and he's going to be
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: traded this offseason. So surprise, surprise. I have George Kirby.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Anders going to the St. Louis Cardinals with Luke Raley.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: and catching prospect Luke Stevenson in exchange for Yvonne Herrera,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: right-handed hitting catcher, Cardinals top prospect Joshua Baez, who's Major
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: League ready. He played this past year, made quite a splash. Yes,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: he did. And left-handed reliever, and I'm sorry if I've
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: got your name mispronounced, but it certainly looks like herpy
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: to me. Cooper Herpe. H-J-E-R-P-E. Maybe it's... Help, help. I
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: don't know. Yerpy or something? Yerpy, maybe? I have no idea.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: I'm going with Herpe. Okay, it's easier to read. That's
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: the thing. If you acquire Cooper Herpe, you're stuck with
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: him for life. Everybody knows that. So just keep that
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: in mind. But that's my big blockbuster move, getting two
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: right-handed bats that can be added to this lineup. I
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: was home in St. Louis just a week ago and
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: saw my buddies who I grew up with, and they're
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: all Cardinal fans. And I threw out to them, I said,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: all right, George Kirby, you interested? They're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: They're really good baseball. They're really bright, intelligent baseball guys.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: And they're like, yeah, yeah. What do you want? I go,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: I want a Von Herrera. And they're like, okay, okay.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: We can live with that. We like him, but we
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: can live with that. And I said, and I want
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Josh Baez as well. And they're like, no, no, Josh.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: So they're really convinced that this guy's going to be special.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: But in a market where right-handed hitting is at such
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: a premium, if he could dangle the George Kirby and
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: have to give up a top prospect. He's not a
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: top 100 prospect, but this Luke Stevenson looks like he's
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: going to be the real deal. And the Cardinals have
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: been trying to replace an all-around defensive catcher who can
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: also hit a little bit since they let go of
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Yadier Molina. All they've done is just send out 350-pound
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: catchers year after year that are the slowest human beings
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: on the face of the earth and are very limited
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: in many ways. I think if you add Herrera, who
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: has some catching background and could catch in a pinch
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: for you, and then you have Boston Smith also in
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the organization, and Cal, obviously, we are counting on. playing
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: catcher for most of the contract that he signed, that
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: suddenly that makes Stevenson a little expendable. And so I'll
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: give up the eighth prospect in our organization and the
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: prospect of George Kirby is young enough to still live
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: up to ace potential. And I'm going to bank on
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals need a starting
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: pitcher more than they need the hitting that they presently have,
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: considering their number one guy is Michael McGreevey. who had
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: 110 strikeouts and 168 innings last year, and that's your ace? Yeah.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: So this is the move I'm going to make. George Kirby,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Luke Stevenson, and Luke Raley, who St. Louis will love. Yeah,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: they will. And he will love St. Louis for Yvonne Herrera,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Joshua Baez, and Cooper Herpe. Yeah. What do you think?
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know much about Cooper Herpe. Besides, once you
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: get it, you can't lose it.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: So that's just something we're going to have to live
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: with here as Mariner fans.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: We can get some Valtrex in the deal.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: For sure. I know Joshua Baez is extremely highly regarded.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: And as your story that you told with your St.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Louis Cardinals fan friends back in St.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: Louis, I....
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Don't know exactly what his prospect profile looks like. I
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: can just look at his numbers in 108 plate appearances
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: last year. He strikes out a lot and he does
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: not walk, but he hits the ball hard. And he
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: is a right-handed guy.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: That's it. That's it.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: He's going to destroy left-handed pitching. And it looks like
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: defensively he's, Fine. Not amazing, but fine in left field.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: So he immediately goes to replace Randy Rosarena, supposedly in
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: that position. I know how highly he is regarded and
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: he's only had 108 plate appearances last year. He's 23
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: years old. So I would love that. I've always loved
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Yvonne Herrera, by the way.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: I think he's a really good. fit for this team's needs.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Yes, and he would be probably mostly DH more often
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: than not. As you said, he can catch if you
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: need him to, but I don't think you're bringing him
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: in to be even your backup catcher. He's coming into DH.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: He's coming into DH. It's the Mitch Garver experiment part two.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Hopefully this time it works.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but a guy who.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Is not on the tail end of his career. He's
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: only 26. Right. He's the older guy in the trade.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: But his last three years, a down-ish year last year
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: at a 735 OPS. Year before in 837 and the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: year before 800. So this guy can hit. And he's
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: kind of almost the opposite.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: And can walk. You like your walks.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I do. I was about to say. Almost the opposite
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: of Joshua Baez where he gets on base. Maybe isn't
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: as ball fly off the bat sort of type of
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: guy as Joshua Baez is.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: But... If you get a professional at-bat somewhere in your lineup,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: I would like this trade. It wouldn't like, oh my God,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: the Mariners are instantly the best team in Major League Baseball,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: but this improves your team for sure. Herrera's under contract
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: through 2030. Baez, you've got through 2033. Herrera will make
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: a $ 5. 5 million salary. That's the projection for him in 2027,
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: but you're giving up a $ 10 million salary, 9.8 projection
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: for George Kirby in his second arbitration year, and Luke
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Raley at 3.1. So we're actually making $ 6. 5 million on
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: this deal as well. And getting better. And, yeah, I think,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: you know, at least filling out the holes and trading
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: from strength. And so now suddenly we've got $ 27. 5 million
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: to spend. So let's get into free agency. What Jerry
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: said yesterday flies in the face of this signing. But
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: I like Alec Boehm as a potential. To me, he's, what,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: 27 years old, 28 years old, but he's also got
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: one of those bodies that's like 6'6. Big dude. long-limbed,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: that power ages better than anything else in this sport.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: And he's a contact guy. Like Herrera, he hits the
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: heck out of lefties. Not so well against righties. He's
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: not coming off a very good year, which is a
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: good thing because that means the salary goes down. You
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: don't have to commit to him long-term. He's probably going
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: to want to sign a one-year deal with uh, for,
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: so that he can prove himself. But this is somebody
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: that we've seen in the home run Derby, just launch missiles.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: It's just so easy for him to hit home runs
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: and Philadelphia just couldn't figure out why he couldn't hit
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: home runs, why he couldn't find his power. Maybe he
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: unlocks it here, but you get a good contact hitter
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: with immense power upside. And I think you could get them.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: I mean, the projections right now are one year, 12
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: and a half million dollars. I go two years, 25.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: I want a team option. for signing you, not a
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: mutual option. I want a team option so that I
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: can lock you down for two years if I want.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: So one year with the team option is what you're saying?
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: One year with the team option. That's what I would
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: want to do. I don't know if Alec Boehm would
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: want to do that. He can play third base. He
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: can back up Josh Naylor at first where he played
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: more first base this year. He is not a great
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: defensive player, which is what I meant by that might
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: fly in the face of what Jerry said yesterday. But
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: to me, I think he's coachable. He seemed likable on
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: that Phillies roster. And I think he's worth a gamble.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: And I think he certainly improves third base as it
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: exists right now.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I've always liked him as a player. I think he
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: kind of on that Phillies team that has a lot
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: of stars and high paid players. He kind of flew
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: under the radar for the last couple of years, like
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: you said, down near last year. But he ended the
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: season pretty hot and including the playoffs where he was
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: one of their better hitters throughout their short run. There
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: are some flags about this, which is why, like you said,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: you're getting him at a somewhat of a discount compared
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: to what he would have been if he hit free
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: agency after last year.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: So this is one of those things where I have
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: been clamoring for a guy that plays third base. I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: don't really even care that much if he's that an
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: elite defensive of a player, but getting a guy that
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: has played third base and is a third baseman instead
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: of trying to figure out, move the pieces everywhere and everything.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: And Ace Reese is coming. Ace Reese is the third
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: baseman of the future. Yes, he is.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: And this is a perfect kind of stopgap in between.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I agree with you on the upside. He doesn't strike out.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: So a lot of guys like that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Only what, 16, 14 percent strikeout rate last year. He
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: puts the ball in play. So that adds to that.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: I think there is some element of untapped potential on
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: the power side.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: I like Alec Boehm a lot. And so what does
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: that mean for Brendan Donovan? Well, I think the Mariners
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: are going to do this. They're going to make him
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: a super utility player again for his final year next
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: season under his existing contract. And considering the injuries that
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: he's had the last couple of years, that might be
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: the only role he can play. I don't think I
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: trust him as an everyday third baseman or an everyday player, period.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: But I think he could be a sensational weapon as
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: a super utility player. And we'll get to more of
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: that in a moment. All right. So That's 12.5 I've spent.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Now I'm going to go ahead and spend 12.5 per
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: year more on Kaima Taira, the 5'8, 500-pound relief pitcher,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: starting pitcher from Japan. he's actually 5'8, 225. I mean,
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: he is a... Short king, as they say. Oh, he is.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: He's a polywog. I mean, he is short and stout.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: He does not look like a professional athlete, I will
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: tell you that. But his numbers, his last couple of
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: years are actually on par with Yoshi Yamamoto's his last
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: two years. Now, Can he come over to the major
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: leagues and have the same level of success? There's some
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: people that believe he's going to be a starting pitcher
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: and he's going to hold out for starting pitcher money.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: There are other people who believe that, no, I'm sorry.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: There's no one who's going to trust you to be
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: a starting pitcher with that body type. You're going to
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: have to be some sort of specialty role. I think
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: the specialty role he could play is not only be
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: a quality reliever, he might be like a multi-inning guy,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: like a throwback, a goose-gossage type that could throw for
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: you two innings, maybe three innings in a game, and
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: maybe not every day, but what kind of a weapon
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: could you get if this could be Tyra for you?
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: So the projections, Jim Bowden says three years, 30. I
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: saw three years, 45 for him. I split the difference,
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: and I went three years... $ 37. 5 million, which again puts
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: him right there with Alec Boehm, $ 12. 5 million to give
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: yourself a right-handed pitching relief weapon unlike maybe anybody else
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: has in Major League Baseball. At least that's my feeling.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: You saw the Brewers, one of the things that they
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: kind of jumped off the page with. The way they
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: do things differently, at least with their pitching, is they
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: had multiple– guys go multiple innings. Aaron Ashby did it
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: a couple times, right? It's absolutely a weapon, and it's
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: something the Mariners have not had. They've had guys go
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: multiple innings, but.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: It's like– They let Gabe Spire go one pitch and
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: then decide, oh, not enough. He had to sit down. Yeah.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: They've had guys that like– Maybe try and stretch for
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: a five-out save or something like that. But guys that
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: you know can, every single time they come up in pitch,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: go multiple innings, is an absolute weapon.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: I like this deal. All right. Finally, the thing I'm
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: going to mention, and there are some other small things.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Logan Gilbert. I'm going to sign him to an extension.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: And if he's wanting $ 40 million a year or $ 45
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: million a year because Frambois Valdez... signed for $ 40 million
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: a year, and Logan's better and more likable than Framber
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: at this stage in his career, then I don't think
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: the Mariners are going to sign him. But if he
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: would take a five-year $ 150 million deal that we could
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: backload until we can figure out the CBA, and so
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: next year he plays at, I got $ 2. 6 million left
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: to spend, right, of what I said my budget was.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: if he could pay, he's projected to make 15.4 in arbitration.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: I'm going to give him 2.6 more. If he can
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: play at 18 million in the first year, and then
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: I can backload it a little bit once we figure
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: out the new CBA and whether or not we're going
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: to have a salary cap, I'd offer him that. That's
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: a really good deal. He could get a better one.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: But he's a loyal guy. He loves Cal. He loves
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: his teammates. He loves his pitching staff. He loves his
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: pitching coach. Maybe that's something that you could seduce him with.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to extend Logan Gilbert. I don't think
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: it's out of the question. It's a foregone conclusion that
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: the Mariners are at least....
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Going to extend one of George Kirby or Logan Gilbert.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: And between those two, if nothing else, I.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Agree with you.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I like Logan more as a pitcher. He has higher upside.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: He's given you a little bit more consistency throughout his
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: career than George Kirby has. And the thing that really
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: pushes me over the edge in terms of trading Kirby
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and signing Logan. is the fact that George Kirby will
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: get you more in return because of his extra year
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: of control. So that's why I'm with you on signing
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Logan instead of signing Kirby.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: All right, so here's my lineup I have right now.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: And that's it. That sounds simple, right? That doesn't sound
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: too convoluted. And yet, look at the lineup I've now
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: created for you. And if you didn't catch a theme,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: I added three right-handed bats to this team. I am
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: sick to death of not having right-handed hitters that can hit.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: I've got now Cole Young as my leadoff guy. Now,
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: you may do a different lineup, but I think he's
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: going to take another jump forward. Julio hitting second. Cal
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: hitting third. Yvonne Herrera, DH, hitting fourth. Josh Naylor from
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: the left side at first base hitting fifth. Josh Baez
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: hitting sixth. Dom Canzone hitting seventh. He was in third
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: for us last year. Seventh in right field. Alec Boehm
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: hitting eighth. in this lineup and Colt Emerson hitting ninth
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: in this lineup. Tell me that that's not a lineup
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: that can win a lot of games this upcoming season.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Then I have a bench of Johnny Parada because I'm
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: going to go with the three catcher system. Laz Montez,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Michael Arroyo, Brendan Donovan, and then Rivas and Rodden, one
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: of the two. So what I want is I got Montez,
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: scary dude that I'm going to play a lot. Oh, yeah.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: And I got Parada as the catching insurance. And then
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: I want three utility guys. I don't want to get like, well,
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: we need a backup shortstop. We need a backup corner infielder. No, no, no.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have three utility guys that can play
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: everywhere and can replace anyone at any given time. How
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: exciting is that? And I'm not going to have some traditional,
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: you start 150 games, you start 10. No, no, no.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: I'm going to mix and match all season long with
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Arroyo and Montez and Donovan and And so Alec Boehm's
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: not going to play 160 games for me. He's probably
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: going to play 135. That's how I would treat it
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: with that dynamic and versatile of a bench. Yeah.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: And that's the thing about that lineup and that bench
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: is that feels different to me than last year, even
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: the bye. couple of years, the guys are in the spots.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: They should be. Don can zone should not be your
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: third hitter. He should be your sixth or seventh hitter, right?
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Brock Ron should not be relied to play every day
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: at shortstop.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Right. He should be the end of the bench guy.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Same with Leo Rivas. Yeah. One or the other, not both.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: One of the other. Yeah. Yeah. What?
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: Um las montes you can't rely on him to come
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: in and play 150 games and just save your offense
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: right but him.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: But if he does i'm gonna ride.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Him exactly yeah being that op but you have something
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: else if you don't so i i like the way
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: it's constructed for that reason more than anything else is
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: that you have guys and roles they should be playing
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: not expecting them to be more than they are And.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Then I've got a starting rotation still, even without Kirby,
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: of Gilbert, Wu, Anderson, Hancock, and Miller. I've got Logan Evans,
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: who's gotten forgotten about as some pitching depth from a
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: starting pitching perspective. And then I've got the ultimate Ryan Sloan.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: When's he going to be ready? When are we going
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: to piggyback again?
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Even after trading George Kirby, we're still talking about it.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: And now I got a bullpen of Munoz, Closer, Brash, Spire, Tyra, Ferrer, Dominguez, Bazzardo,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: and Herpy.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: By the way, I did some Herpy. I like the
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: kind of funky left-hander sort of thing that he brings.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: And that's keeping Vargas, Mattson, the recent acquirement, and Criswell.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: I still got them in the minors because they couldn't
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: make my team coming out of spring training right now.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: That gives you a lot more depth in your bullpen
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: than what you left spring training with a year ago
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: and gives you a little more injury insurance than what
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: you had a year ago so that's that's my team
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: for this year and man i got uh mike petriello
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: saying the mariners already have the third best roster in
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: the entire sport heading into the offseason i think i
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: just made it better.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah and obviously other teams are going to make their
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: rosters better too but i think this in terms of
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: what the mariners need is going to be would be
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: something that would really get at least me excited because
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: like i said more than anything else you have guys
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: playing the roles that they are supposed to and i
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: think that's that's what they need to do all right um.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Well we're not done talking about the crystal ball but
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: uh there is your presentation here on this wednesday coming
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: up next we will talk about fernando on kjr when
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: are we doing opq yeah yeah right now exactly he's
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: down with opq he's down with opq yeah i know
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: you Yeah, other people's quarterbacks were fascinated with him, and
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: suddenly we are facing, the Seahawks facing the Las Vegas
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Raiders with a different quarterback. Midweek change at quarterback because
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: of the NFL trading deadline, and here comes Fernando Mendoza
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: getting ready to make his NFL debut with the Raiders
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: against the Seahawks. Exactly how I think Fernando would have
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: drawn it up. Against Mike McDonald and the Seahawks, the
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: world champions. Perfect soft landing spot.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Not the easiest situation for Fernando to walk into.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: Mid-season, too. He doesn't even get the benefit of facing
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: them on opening day where they might not have everything
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: in order. No, mid-season.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: An underperforming, pissed-off Seahawks team.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: Right. Yeah. Yeah. It's not going to be easy, but
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: it wasn't going to be easy for Kirk Cousins. And frankly,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: the devil I know, Kirk Cousins, I don't think was
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: going to have any success against the Seahawks either. At
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: least I would say from the Raiders perspective and Fernando's
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: perspective is he's still an unknown at this level. And yeah,
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Mike McDonald has been able to study his college tape,
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: but he has nothing really else to go on. I'm
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: sure that he's going to throw the kitchen sink at him.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: He's going to take a rookie making his debut in
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: the middle of a season, and he's going to confuse
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: him with looks he's never seen before in his entire life,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: like only Mike McDonald can do. But there's no doubt
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: this guy's a special talent and a special competitor. I mean,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: he took some hits down the stretch last season and
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: got up and played better after having taken the hits.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: He's a bit of a leader. He's kind of an oddball,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: but for whatever reason, that oddball character character of his
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: works with his teammates. At least it did at Indiana,
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: and we've not heard that it doesn't work with the
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Las Vegas Raiders. So, yeah, I think that, yes, the Seahawks' chances,
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: which were already good to beat the Raiders, improved slightly
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: with this move. But I don't think dramatically. And I
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: do think Mendoza introduces an element that we didn't have
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: to contend with before. And that is a really physically
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: blessed quarterback, which Kirk Cousins has never been. Right. Right.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: And, you know, there is a most likely... what'll happen
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: is he'll come in and struggle, right? I think more
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: likely than not, I will expect that to happen. Probably
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: struggle more than Kirk Cousins would have, but there is
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: an element of, okay, there's a reality out there somewhere,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: some universe where he comes in and he's on fire
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: to start his NFL career. There's a reason he was
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the number one overall pick. There was a reason he
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: was the Heisman winner. There was a reason he won
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: the national championship, right? So yes, this is a step up.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: It's much faster as Greg talked about earlier in the show,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: but it's, Uh, and I do expect him to, you know,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: not come out of the gates firing.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: At all cylinders, but there's a reality where that happens. Well,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: could happen. I, yeah, I mean, I think there's a,
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: I think there's a distinct reality that the Raiders are
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: better off at quarterback and really pulled off a bit
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: of a, I wouldn't call it a coup, but a
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: really clever, uh, way to manage this quarterback situation. We've
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: got the number one pick. We're going to take advantage
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: of that. We're going to get the clear number one guy.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Then we're going to sign a veteran. Hopefully we can
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: have that veteran be our starting quarterback. We would like
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: to Mahomes this thing with Mendoza. He's a little bit
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: of an odd duck anyway. It probably would help him
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: to just learn from Cousins for a full year. But
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: when the opportunity presented itself to get a third round
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: pick for a guy that was not going to be
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: a part of their future, and I mean the moment
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: that they were ready to try to, you know, enter
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: the future, it was going to be with Fernando Mendoza
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: as their starting quarterback. And I think they played the
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: game really well and they ended up with a third
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: round pick, but I don't rule out the fact that
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: they're going to be better the rest of the season
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: with Fernando Mendoza. A lot of quarterbacks do struggle. Most
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: of them do in their very first year in the
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: national football league, their very first taste of the national
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: football league. But Jaden Daniels didn't. Jaden Daniels was really
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: good and almost instantly. So it can happen. Yeah.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: And even if he does struggle, like, would you rather
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: have him struggle in this situation where you're four and
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: five and you're still like, OK, it's not this year.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: It's really the next couple of years. I'd rather go
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: through that phase now versus when you're in a contending window.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: So perfect move for the Raiders, in my opinion. But
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: I still think, like you said, in terms of the
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Seahawks game this weekend, we should feel pretty good.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: I heard Mike Greenberg mention this while I was brushing
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: my teeth this morning, and I nearly wet myself with surprise.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Not with excitement, with surprise. Okay, good to know. Almost
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: lost control of my bowels because I was so shocked
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: that anyone in that position would say this. He said
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: the addition of Kirk Cousins makes the Minnesota Vikings the
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: favorite to win the Super Bowl. Did you just wet
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: yourself a little bit, too? I did. Out of just
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: sheer disagreement? No comment. I mean, yeah, it makes them better, right? Oh, yeah,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: it makes them better. I think it makes them better
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: than the Kyler Murray Vikings. It certainly makes them better
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: than the Carson Wentz Vikings. But I still will lean
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: back on our conversation we had yesterday. I still don't
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: know if they're going to even make the playoffs, even
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: with Kirk Cousins. I think that changes it a little
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: bit from our conversation yesterday, but not a lot. I mean,
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: let's not forget, going back to the offseason, Kirk Cousins
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: was considered completely washed. And the Raiders picked him up,
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: and he's done an okay job. It's not like he's
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: lit the world on fire. He's done an okay job
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: considering his circumstances, but I don't think that he's going
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: to make them so dramatically better that I can even
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: envision them winning their division, much less the Super Bowl.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: I think they're the fourth best team in their division.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: I agree. I still believe that. Yeah. Even with the— Yes.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: I don't disagree that they added him.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Of course.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: They had to do something, and he was the best
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: guy available on the market, so I give them credit
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: for that. But I don't think he changes their stars. No,
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: I don't think so either. I mean, he has the
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: relationship with Justin Jefferson. They have the stats that he— J.J.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: have some of the best stats with them two as
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: a duo in recent years. And he has familiarity, obviously,
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: in this offense with Kevin O'Connell. So we'll see if
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: it kind of proves to be anything. But I just
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: don't think they're better than the Bears, Packers, or Lions
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: at this point. I don't think so either. I mean,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: we just had a conversation yesterday about, I'm not even
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: sure they're going to make the playoffs. Even with their
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: 6-0 start, they've lost two straight games. It's not like
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Carson Wentz was the only problem with that offense. They
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: don't have a reliable running back, and the offensive line
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: wasn't doing Wentz any favors the other night either. So
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: I just think they've got a bad offensive team and
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: a great defensive team. How that washes out, we shall see.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: But I think it was worth picking him up. I
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: think he will make them better, and who knows who
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: else he improves on. along that offense just by being
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: slightly better himself. Yeah. All right. Coming up next, we
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: got Cam Cleland at the top nine o'clock. We haven't
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: talked about these college football playoff rankings all show long,
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: and we should. Sports Radio 93.3 KGN. to do the
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: old switcheroo. Is that it today? Omaha! Audible. We're audibling
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: at the line. Nice work. Cam Cleland's going to join
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: us at 9.30 today, not 9. Apparently he's got a
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: scheduling snafu. And Al Kaniski, then, who normally joins us
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: at 9.30 on Thursdays, will join us from Helsinki, Finland.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: I guess we're interrupting his dinner. More reindeer. I'm sure
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: that he's consuming there.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. As a Canadian, I would expect a lot of
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: meat to be Probably. Consumed. But at least he's going
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: to be able to enjoy the fish. Mike Benton.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah. What's finished for poutine? You got any poutine back there?
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: You got a finished version of poutine? For Big Al?
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: Big Al. You can call me Big Al if you'd like. Yeah.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: So Al's going to join us at 9 o'clock here today.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit about the college football playoff rankings.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: What an interesting case study for rankings. I mean, man...
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, the obvious thing, Anders, to all of this is, what?
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: Alabama is third? They have two losses. They lost by
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: 16 to Tennessee, who has the same record, and they're
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: ranked eighth. They have two losses, and they're ahead of
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: an undefeated Big Ten team? Who's number four? UCLA? What?
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: How did Indiana be ranked fourth a week ago, not play,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: and drop to ninth? Like, yes, on the surface, none
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: of that makes sense. No. But I actually kind of
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: like it. And not for Alabama's sake or for Notre
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: Dame's or Texas' sake or anybody else's sake. I really
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: don't think that at the end of the day we
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: have a committee just to look at everybody's records. And say, well,
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: undefeated teams have to go to the front of the line,
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: and then one-loss teams, then they line up on the
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: one-loss track, and then the two-loss teams, and then we'll
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: rank the two-loss teams. I mean, the idea behind it,
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: because anybody can do that. A child can do that.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: And then you could put the head-to-head guys against each other,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: and whoever won those put head, right?
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Right. But then what if somebody else beat them head-to-head?
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: So if you want to line them up on the tracks,
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: like a monkey could do that. The idea behind a
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: committee is, no, no, no, no, no. What does the
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: whole entire resume say? And if UCLA has not faced
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: anyone and Alabama's faced the number one schedule in America,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: maybe there is an argument for a two-loss Alabama's resume
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: with their, I think, four top 25 wins so far
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: this year is more impressive than UCLA's one top 25
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: win over Oregon. Maybe there is an argument for that.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Maybe there is an argument for, okay, I know it
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: looks weird that number four, Indiana falls to number nine
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: without playing, but we are talking, we never said this.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: This was a final, the first college football playoff ranking show,
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: which is really just to piss us off. Yeah. Nobody
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: said that was the official final thing. Resumes change. If anything,
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: it might say there was a whisker separation between four
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: through nine. And Indiana wasn't able to improve its resume
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: where Tennessee did with a huge win over Kentucky. Notre Dame.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: Notre Dame did with a huge win over Miami. And
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: those teams jumped. Indiana. Maybe there is some validity to that.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: We're always going to have some conjecture to any kind
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: of committee ranking system. unless you do just want to
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: line them up on a track based off of how
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: many losses that they had that year. I kind of
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: prefer it this way. I mean, a lot of things
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: are head scratching to me. I don't think Alabama should
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: be three. I don't think Indiana should have dropped five spots.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: I don't think Miami should have gone from one to seven.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: There are a lot of things that I just disagree
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: with on the surface, but from a philosophy standpoint, isn't
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: this what the committee's for? It's to take your entire
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: resume into consideration. And even if you are a two
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: loss team versus a one loss team, maybe if they
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: would have played your schedule, they'd have four losses. You know,
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: I think that that's what the committee, that's what a
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: committee is for is to hash out those situations. Yeah.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: And I think that that definitely is part of why
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: they have a committee is because it's not like the
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: NFL where it's just, okay, you win your division.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: You're in.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: You have the best record. There's a specific cut and dry,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: yes or no. No one else is choosing that. And
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: maybe that's one of the things that turns some people
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: off of college football.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, it does. Yeah. I mean, we've been arguing about
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: this for 100 years.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: Of course.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: How to rank teams.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: And what should happen. It's just like you said. Shouldn't
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: Tennessee be ahead of Alabama? Well, yeah. But no. Because
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: Tennessee's losses... It's actually flattery to Tennessee. Losing to Tennessee
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: might not be as embarrassing or might not be as
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: bad of a loss as Tennessee losing to, I forget
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: who they've even lost to, Vanderbilt, let's say. South Carolina,
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: so they lost to them. South Carolina. So does that
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: change it? Yeah, Alabama lost head-to-head to Tennessee, but a
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: loss to Tennessee is now looking like that's not that
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: embarrassing of a thing. Of course. Where if Tennessee lost
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: to South Carolina, they lost somebody else. They lost to Texas.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: And Texas, you know, maybe the combined... And I'm not
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: saying that Alabama should be there. I'm just saying from...
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: The thought process. The thought process, exactly. That maybe Notre
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Dame should have been rated No. 11 because they haven't
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: really faced anyone. You know, so... To me, it's just never.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Since I was a kid, I was fascinated by rankings
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: and polls, and I would always do my own. And
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: you do realize, okay, well, you can't just boil it
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: down to two-loss team versus two-loss team. They beat them,
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: so they should be higher. No, it's not that cut
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: and dry. And I think that this particular Tuesday announcement
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: really does kind of hammer that home. I honestly want
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: them to stick with this philosophy. I don't want them
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: to get to the end of the year, and just
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: from a PR perspective, because they don't want to suffer criticism,
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: we're going to put all the undefeated teams first and
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: all the one-loss teams next, and then the two-loss teams
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: will rank them and put them in order. Because I
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: don't see the point of having a committee if that's
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: the way you're going to do it. All right, coming
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: up next, a little switcheroo. Al Koniski will join us
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: from Finland on KJR.