Latest / Foul Territory / Offseason Buzz w/Robert Murray: BIG names remaining, Plans for NY teams, Fake Belli $400mil report?

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Offseason Buzz w/Robert Murray: BIG names remaining, Plans for NY teams, Fake Belli $400mil report? · Foul Territory

0:10
Speaker 1: Now it's an official segment title. It's the Robert Report.
0:13
Speaker 1: Here is Robert Murray, Fansided and FT Insider joining us
0:18
Speaker 1: right now during a super hot time. It's almost like
0:20
Speaker 1: the Winter meetings continue. Robert, good to see you, and
0:24
Speaker 1: we'll get to some moves and signings that were just made.
0:27
Speaker 1: But I do want to start with some of the
0:29
Speaker 1: heavy hitters. We are heading into the holidays. Sometimes teams
0:32
Speaker 1: take a break in agencies and players and all of that,
0:34
Speaker 1: and sometimes they don't. So we've got Alex Bregman's name
0:38
Speaker 1: floating around, We've got Bobachett's name floating around, Kyle Tucker.
0:41
Speaker 1: Many of the free agent starters, most of the top
0:44
Speaker 1: ten are still unsigned. Do you think any of them
0:47
Speaker 1: are close? Do you feel like we have any contenders
0:50
Speaker 1: that are on a short list at this point for
0:52
Speaker 1: any of the players I just mentioned.
0:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, First of all, good to be here with you boys.
0:56
Speaker 2: I like that intro and Todd. I also totally agree
0:58
Speaker 2: with what you were saying how we don't value what's
1:01
Speaker 2: inside for the players as much as we used to.
1:03
Speaker 2: So I think that was a really good point by you.
1:06
Speaker 2: But as far as the big names go here, I
1:07
Speaker 2: would not rule out one of these guys coming off
1:10
Speaker 2: the board here between now and the holiday, it seems
1:13
Speaker 2: like things are pretty active around the league, and there's
1:16
Speaker 2: teams that are that are still trying to bolster their
1:19
Speaker 2: rosters as they should considering the level of talent that's
1:22
Speaker 2: out there, And a guy like Alex Bregman is getting
1:24
Speaker 2: a whole lot of public attention now. Obviously he's been
1:27
Speaker 2: connected to the Cubs, where I reported that he had
1:29
Speaker 2: a zoom meeting with them. The Arizona Diamondbacks are assioner
1:32
Speaker 2: in this, the Boston Red Sox, now the Toronto Blue Jays.
1:36
Speaker 2: The interest there has definitely picked up. I don't know
1:39
Speaker 2: if he's gonna end up being the guy to sign
1:40
Speaker 2: between now in the holiday, but the fact that we're
1:43
Speaker 2: getting this much buzz definitely seems to indicate that teams
1:46
Speaker 2: are becoming more serious about about signing these kind of players.
1:50
Speaker 2: And I think Mir Comedy coming off of the market
1:52
Speaker 2: to kind of add some clarity there as well. Cody Bellinger,
1:55
Speaker 2: to me, makes a whole lot of sense for teams.
1:56
Speaker 2: And should we saw Will Salmon drop the New York
1:59
Speaker 2: Mets as a possibility, or at least I think he speculated
2:02
Speaker 2: them as an option, but to me, a fit with
2:04
Speaker 2: the New York Yankees makes the most sense for Bellinger there,
2:08
Speaker 2: and then Bobashett. He feels kind of like a guy
2:12
Speaker 2: who's somehow flying under the radar somehow, which he's such
2:15
Speaker 2: a talented player where that doesn't feel like it should
2:17
Speaker 2: be possible. But if you look at him, he makes
2:20
Speaker 2: sense for so many of these different teams. Obviously, a
2:22
Speaker 2: reunion with Toronto makes sense. I still think the Boston
2:25
Speaker 2: Red Sox make a whole lot of sense there, and
2:28
Speaker 2: I still feel like they're sniffing around that market.
2:30
Speaker 3: But there's gonna be other.
2:31
Speaker 2: Teams involved in Bishett as well, and I've seen the
2:33
Speaker 2: buzz about him, teams being interested in him outside of
2:37
Speaker 2: second base. I don't know why we're in such a
2:39
Speaker 2: hurry to move him away from shortstop. He's still a
2:41
Speaker 2: really good shortstop. He's only twenty eight years old. He's
2:45
Speaker 2: just such a talented guy that I feel like we're
2:48
Speaker 2: getting too cute with him, and he should be a
2:50
Speaker 2: shortstop now. Maybe moves to a different position in the future,
2:53
Speaker 2: for sure, but right now he should be a shortstop,
2:56
Speaker 2: and I don't think there should be a debate there.
2:58
Speaker 3: Robert, you want to know why that's what you're hearing
3:00
Speaker 3: from around the industry, because who gets paid more second
3:04
Speaker 3: basements are shortstops. It's the industry trying to squash his value.
3:09
Speaker 3: So you're exactly right, he is a short stop till
3:12
Speaker 3: you move him off. You pay him like he's a shortstop.
3:16
Speaker 3: The one person you didn't mention in that whole diatrage
3:19
Speaker 3: you just said, Kyle Tucker. Why is Kyle Tucker's name
3:23
Speaker 3: not out there? Are people afraid of him waiting and
3:28
Speaker 3: waiting and driving up the price for the other players
3:31
Speaker 3: that you just mentioned that could sign sooner and then
3:35
Speaker 3: then they're out on the Kyle Tucker. What's what's the
3:39
Speaker 3: latest for Tucker?
3:41
Speaker 2: I wouldn't interpret the lack of buzz with Tucker for
3:44
Speaker 2: a lack of interest. I think there's a really good
3:47
Speaker 2: amount of interest, probably from the majority of the big
3:50
Speaker 2: market teams for Tucker. I mean, if you look at him,
3:53
Speaker 2: he's a five tool player. I know Scott Boris said
3:57
Speaker 2: at the GM meetings that there's only one five tool
3:59
Speaker 2: outfielder offseason, and is Cody Bellinger. Maybe he forgot about
4:02
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker. I don't know. But Tucker to me is
4:06
Speaker 2: by far and away the most talented guy in the market.
4:08
Speaker 2: He can hit, he can play defense, hes a good
4:10
Speaker 2: locker room guy, and last year he fought through a
4:14
Speaker 2: finger injury for the most of the second half of
4:16
Speaker 2: the season, still put up some really good numbers there.
4:18
Speaker 2: I don't know what his eventual contract looks like, whether
4:21
Speaker 2: it's three million, four hundred million or whatever, but he's
4:24
Speaker 2: drawing a good amount of interest. As a reported, he
4:27
Speaker 2: ended up visiting the Toronto Blue Jays facility there in Dunedin.
4:31
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up doing similar
4:33
Speaker 2: visits with teams as well, or if he's already done them.
4:36
Speaker 2: I don't know, just because if he did the research
4:40
Speaker 2: or did his homework with Toronto, it's likely he's going
4:43
Speaker 2: to end up doing the same thing with other suitors
4:45
Speaker 2: here as well. But I don't think he's holding up
4:47
Speaker 2: the market by any means. I think he's just taking
4:50
Speaker 2: his time. It's doing his due diligence and is not
4:52
Speaker 2: trying to rush a decision where he's getting to play
4:54
Speaker 2: in the majority of his career. It takes time, but
4:56
Speaker 2: I can confidently say there is plenty of interest in
4:59
Speaker 2: Kyle talk.
5:01
Speaker 3: All right, you mentioned the Jay, so I'll go to
5:02
Speaker 3: the Jays. They're looking for a bat. They're the most
5:06
Speaker 3: exciting team in the playoffs for sure. I know they
5:09
Speaker 3: didn't win, but they've been the most exciting team in
5:11
Speaker 3: the offseason. Where do you feel like that big bat
5:15
Speaker 3: is going to matriculate for them? Is it making an
5:19
Speaker 3: offer at somebody besides Bow and then falling back to Bo?
5:23
Speaker 3: Is it now we're out on bo. How do you
5:25
Speaker 3: feel like this offseason is trending for them to get
5:29
Speaker 3: that big bat.
5:32
Speaker 2: I think there's a better chance in them adding a
5:34
Speaker 2: big bat now than there has been in previous off
5:36
Speaker 2: seasons for them, And that's a really exciting thing. Like
5:39
Speaker 2: people are excited about Toronto. You talk to two agents,
5:42
Speaker 2: you talk to players, you talk to I mean whoever
5:44
Speaker 2: else around the league. Being in Toronto is viewed as
5:47
Speaker 2: a as a really good thing. You have a winning
5:49
Speaker 2: ball club. It's a great city for baseball, and they're
5:52
Speaker 2: considering all sorts of different options here, whether as you mentioned,
5:56
Speaker 2: Bobashett and a Bashette reunion is very much on the
5:59
Speaker 2: table with them. It's something that they would like. He
6:03
Speaker 2: is obviously a homegrown player there, someone that they know
6:05
Speaker 2: inside and out. I mean, to me, I think that
6:08
Speaker 2: fit makes a whole lot of sense for them. Tucker
6:10
Speaker 2: is also a player who is of interest. There heard
6:13
Speaker 2: some different rumblings. Can't exactly figure out what's real and
6:16
Speaker 2: what's not, but I can confidently say that they are
6:19
Speaker 2: interested in him, as they should, because if you end
6:21
Speaker 2: up adding either one of those two and shoot, I'm
6:24
Speaker 2: even seeing some buzz from some of the other insiders
6:26
Speaker 2: saying that they could possibly add both, that to me
6:29
Speaker 2: feels pretty That seems like a lot. I don't know
6:32
Speaker 2: if they can end up pulling something off quite like that,
6:35
Speaker 2: but if you can add either one of those guys
6:37
Speaker 2: and Bregman, like we're starting to see their name connected
6:41
Speaker 2: to Bregman, now, I mean, it makes sense. But part
6:43
Speaker 2: of me wonders, Okay, maybe that is real, or maybe
6:47
Speaker 2: that's trying to pressure a guy like Bashett into seeing
6:50
Speaker 2: that and being like, oh, oh crap, maybe I have
6:52
Speaker 2: to take their offer. Now, I don't know, but that's
6:56
Speaker 2: something that I've kind of considered with that one.
6:59
Speaker 1: Hey, Robert, I'll take some moves that have been made
7:01
Speaker 1: over the past few days and try and spin them
7:03
Speaker 1: forward with you. At the same time, let's go to Pittsburgh.
7:07
Speaker 1: We're going to talk to Brandon law on this show soon.
7:10
Speaker 1: That's a team that could have trouble recruiting based on
7:13
Speaker 1: the success of the franchise or the lack of success
7:16
Speaker 1: of the franchise and the lack of commitment by ownership
7:19
Speaker 1: for a long time. That's no secret. We've talked about
7:21
Speaker 1: that plenty. Do you think this continues to be a
7:23
Speaker 1: viable route for Pittsburgh versus attacking the free agent market
7:27
Speaker 1: or just showing some seriousness here in acquiring an impact
7:32
Speaker 1: bat like Brandon Lao help them in the recruiting process.
7:35
Speaker 1: It sounds like the Pirates still have one or two
7:38
Speaker 1: moves up their sleeves, and they did improve the offense
7:41
Speaker 1: pretty significantly.
7:42
Speaker 4: In my mind.
7:42
Speaker 1: We didn't have a ton of time to talk about
7:44
Speaker 1: it the other day, but Brandon Lao could bring you
7:46
Speaker 1: thirty homers from second base. Connor Griffin is the top
7:49
Speaker 1: prospect in baseball according to Baseball America. That could be
7:51
Speaker 1: your double play combo this coming season and immediately give
7:55
Speaker 1: them a massive boost from what was there at those
7:57
Speaker 1: two spots. So what do you think is next for Pittsburgh.
8:01
Speaker 2: To me, I'm looking at the free agent market for them,
8:03
Speaker 2: and I think you're spot on. You see them address
8:06
Speaker 2: this offense through trade and getting Brandon Law, which I
8:09
Speaker 2: thought was a really strong move, and people I talked
8:11
Speaker 2: to around the league really praise at as a very
8:15
Speaker 2: strong move for Pittsburgh. Kind of a no brainer for
8:17
Speaker 2: them adding three players while only giving up Mike Burrows.
8:20
Speaker 2: I thought that was really smart by that front office there.
8:23
Speaker 2: And now you can look at it from a couple
8:26
Speaker 2: of different ways here through free agency. Do you spend
8:29
Speaker 2: on Akamoto, do you go after Ryan O'Hearn, or do
8:33
Speaker 2: you spend and try to get a guy like Marcelo Zuna.
8:36
Speaker 2: To me, all three of those guys are on the
8:37
Speaker 2: table in Pittsburgh, but I'll look at a guy like
8:39
Speaker 2: Ryan and harten he is. I think he'd be a
8:42
Speaker 2: really strong fit in that locker room. You talk to
8:45
Speaker 2: people around Baltimore, and you talk to people around the
8:47
Speaker 2: Padres and they all say the same thing. It's a
8:49
Speaker 2: great clubhouse guy. He's obviously an emerging player offensively. Ever
8:55
Speaker 2: since you got traded from Kansas City, you really broke
8:57
Speaker 2: out in Baltimore and was more of the more highly
8:59
Speaker 2: coveted as of the deadline. So if you can get him,
9:02
Speaker 2: or if you can get a guy that go Zuna,
9:03
Speaker 2: who's a tremendous power hitter. He's put up better numbers
9:07
Speaker 2: in the majors, and all three of those guys or
9:10
Speaker 2: all the other two guys, I should say to me
9:12
Speaker 2: that that makes either one of those guys makes a
9:14
Speaker 2: whole lot of sense. I don't know the likelihood that
9:16
Speaker 2: they had either one of those three, but I definitely
9:19
Speaker 2: think it's very possible they do so. And if you
9:23
Speaker 2: can end up adding to that offense and combine that
9:25
Speaker 2: with that pitching staff, which which is among the best
9:27
Speaker 2: in baseball. I said it on a previous show. I
9:30
Speaker 2: got absolutely clown for it, but I'm gonna say it again.
9:33
Speaker 2: If you get the Pirates back to the postseason, come on, baby,
9:36
Speaker 2: like that, that's good for ball.
9:40
Speaker 4: Stop it.
9:41
Speaker 3: I'm saying.
9:46
Speaker 4: They haven't made it in a long time. They haven't
9:48
Speaker 4: played playoff baseball in a decade.
9:50
Speaker 2: Get me the Pirates of the postseason.
9:52
Speaker 5: Listen, I'm not mad at what you said. I've just
9:55
Speaker 5: been there. I've been with the Pirates, and understandably for
9:59
Speaker 5: the the players. Yeah, Yeah, for the players. Great, that's
10:05
Speaker 5: so funny. I lost my train of thought, but now
10:07
Speaker 5: I got it back. New York Mets, Yankees. They got
10:11
Speaker 5: all these big names out there. Have there been any
10:13
Speaker 5: talks with these teams, you know, fighting to get a
10:15
Speaker 5: big name going back over that? I feel like they've
10:18
Speaker 5: just been kind of cruising here a little bit. The
10:19
Speaker 5: holidays are coming quick.
10:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely been been cruising here. And I'll start
10:25
Speaker 2: with the Yankees here. I mean, they're making these small signings,
10:28
Speaker 2: they're losing all these guys the to the Mets, and
10:31
Speaker 2: it's got Twitter kind of in a in a frenzy.
10:33
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's the right word or not,
10:35
Speaker 2: but to me, the most obvious move for the Yankees
10:37
Speaker 2: to make is resigning Cody Bellinger. Like yeah, maybe, like
10:40
Speaker 2: maybe Trent Grisham taking the qualifying offer kind of throw
10:42
Speaker 2: a wrench in their plans a little bit. But Bellinger
10:45
Speaker 2: is sitting out there. He's not seeking that four hundred
10:48
Speaker 2: million that was reported the other day. I don't know
10:50
Speaker 2: how that ended up getting out there, but his ask,
10:53
Speaker 2: I don't whatever it is is much more reasonable than that.
10:56
Speaker 2: But if you can end up getting Cody Bellinger back
10:58
Speaker 2: add him to that outfield. To me, that just changes
11:01
Speaker 2: the entire narrative about your offseason. Maybe you go out
11:04
Speaker 2: and get another reliever, although I don't necessarily think at
11:07
Speaker 2: this point it's gonna end up being anybody too big.
11:09
Speaker 2: I mean, to be fair, there's not really that many
11:12
Speaker 2: high priced guys out there besides Pete Fairbanks. But for me,
11:16
Speaker 2: that's the obvious move with the Yankees. With the Mets,
11:20
Speaker 2: they have to do something, whether it's a Kyle Tucker,
11:23
Speaker 2: whether it's even a Bellinger type or one of these
11:26
Speaker 2: other high price for agents. To me, that's something that
11:29
Speaker 2: they got to go out and go out and do
11:31
Speaker 2: because if you're Steve Cohen and you're seeing exactly how
11:35
Speaker 2: the media the fan base is talking about your team,
11:37
Speaker 2: and he cares about that team more than anybody. If
11:41
Speaker 2: you're seeing that, you got to be frustrated and you're
11:44
Speaker 2: going to be inclined to make a big move. David
11:46
Speaker 2: Stearns is one of the more He thinks his stuff
11:50
Speaker 2: out like, he's very well spoken, he's very process oriented,
11:53
Speaker 2: so he's not going to panic by any means, but
11:56
Speaker 2: he's got to do something. I expect him to do
11:58
Speaker 2: something and usually with Stearns is not necessarily the move
12:01
Speaker 2: that you would expect. But I'm confident that he's gonna
12:05
Speaker 2: en up getting it right. It's just taken a lot
12:07
Speaker 2: longer than these people would like.
12:10
Speaker 1: Hey, Robert, I just want to go back to one
12:12
Speaker 1: point you made within this, the report about the four
12:16
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars for Bellinger, and that stuffs all out
12:19
Speaker 1: there in public. Barry Bloom is the writer for Sportico.
12:21
Speaker 1: It's not someone that's usually breaking news like that. And
12:24
Speaker 1: then he actually came out and made a story out
12:26
Speaker 1: of a story when he retracted it, which is good.
12:28
Speaker 1: That's what you're supposed to do if you feel like
12:30
Speaker 1: it was wrong. He gets someone like Scott Boris coming
12:33
Speaker 1: out and being like, that's not a thing. I don't
12:35
Speaker 1: know where you're getting that from. But the story even
12:37
Speaker 1: continued when you know he's got I want to get
12:40
Speaker 1: your insight because you deal with this stuff all the time.
12:42
Speaker 1: Fans are obviously going after this guy, and they're like,
12:45
Speaker 1: credit to you for holding yourself accountable, but you really,
12:48
Speaker 1: as a reporter, need to do your due diligence before reporting,
12:50
Speaker 1: you know, false reports. Blah blah blah, credibility should matter,
12:54
Speaker 1: He replied and said it's a highly credible source versus
12:58
Speaker 1: Scott Boris giving his side of this, He said, I'm
13:00
Speaker 1: giving both sides of the story. The source obviously wanted
13:04
Speaker 1: to figure out there, Scott didn't. This is due diligence.
13:08
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot you can unpack just with
13:10
Speaker 1: that answer alone. But how do you navigate that because
13:14
Speaker 1: in my mind, yes, the other person he's going through
13:17
Speaker 1: could be a credible source, but he could be throwing
13:19
Speaker 1: out BS numbers. When I saw that initially pop up,
13:22
Speaker 1: I'm like, four hundred million dollars for Cody Bellinger is
13:25
Speaker 1: way above what he's going to land, right. I think
13:28
Speaker 1: we feel like maybe two hundred million whatever. Four hundred
13:30
Speaker 1: million is not even close. So I am siding with
13:33
Speaker 1: the player and the player rep on that case. And
13:36
Speaker 1: it almost made me think, is somebody trying to push
13:39
Speaker 1: the market forward on the team or executive side by
13:42
Speaker 1: throwing some crazy number out there and clearing the deck.
13:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's crazy and something. It's hard to navigate something
13:49
Speaker 2: quite like that because if you hear something from a
13:51
Speaker 2: highly credible source, like the first thing that you would
13:54
Speaker 2: think is okay, yeah, you got to run that by
13:56
Speaker 2: the player, the rep or someone close to that situation,
14:00
Speaker 2: wish and who they can end up giving a different
14:02
Speaker 2: perspective on it. And I mean, I'm not I don't
14:04
Speaker 2: want to speak anything bad about Barry. I mean he
14:07
Speaker 2: did it. I give him credit for backtracking it and
14:11
Speaker 2: saying what Boris said, because that's that's not an easy
14:13
Speaker 2: position to be in by any means. But it's it's
14:16
Speaker 2: one of the more difficult parts of the off season
14:18
Speaker 2: that I'm starting to learn how to navigate because like,
14:20
Speaker 2: different things come your way and you always wonder like
14:23
Speaker 2: if there's is there a motive behind this? Is there?
14:25
Speaker 2: Not like what exactly is, but it's I'll tell you,
14:27
Speaker 2: it's one of the many layers of this job that
14:29
Speaker 2: is really really difficult. But that being said, Bellinger is
14:33
Speaker 2: going to do very well in fre agency. Maybe it's
14:35
Speaker 2: a long term contract. I would imagine it could be
14:37
Speaker 2: a long term contract for a galle like Bellinger. Maybe
14:39
Speaker 2: like a five or six year deal to me would
14:41
Speaker 2: make the most sense for him, maybe longer, who knows,
14:45
Speaker 2: but yeah, his market I don't know Yankees like, but
14:48
Speaker 2: who else is going to who else is involved in this?
14:50
Speaker 2: Could the Giants be involved. To me, they could use
14:53
Speaker 2: another big bat, and I think Bellinger would make a
14:55
Speaker 2: lot of sense. He's from the Arizona area, could have
14:57
Speaker 2: a spring training in Scottsdale. I mean, who knows, but yeah,
15:01
Speaker 2: I'm curious to see what is exactly his market looks
15:03
Speaker 2: like besides the Yankees.
15:05
Speaker 4: I'm with you. I just looked. I was like, four
15:07
Speaker 4: hundred million, Where are you going?
15:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, I saw it.
15:10
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, I.
15:13
Speaker 4: Mean that's why.
15:13
Speaker 1: I was just like, if you get that from someone
15:15
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe you're double even triple checking that
15:18
Speaker 1: with others to make sure that that's real. That's just
15:20
Speaker 1: a big ass number to throw out there and feel confident, you.
15:24
Speaker 4: Know what I'm saying, just knowing how the industry numbers look.
15:27
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, no, totally. And like the thing for me
15:29
Speaker 2: is whenever I want to whenever I put something out,
15:32
Speaker 2: I always got to make sure it's a one hundred
15:34
Speaker 2: percent because the one thing and I give credit to
15:37
Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal for teaching me this when I was at
15:39
Speaker 2: the Athletic. He told me that you can be right
15:43
Speaker 2: ninety nine times, but people will always remember the one
15:45
Speaker 2: time that you're wrong. And there's been a time where
15:48
Speaker 2: I've been wrong before and it's a really bad, sinking feeling.
15:51
Speaker 2: So always making sure you're one hundred percent is a
15:54
Speaker 2: really important thing because credibility, at the end of the day,
15:57
Speaker 2: is what matters the most. And I want people to
15:59
Speaker 2: see my off and be like, Okay, yeah, that's right,
16:02
Speaker 2: because I just don't want to be known as a
16:04
Speaker 2: guy that gets something wrong, because that's a bad feeling.
16:07
Speaker 4: I'm with you, That's why people love you.
16:08
Speaker 1: Okay, let's get to the rest of the American League East.
16:12
Speaker 1: How do you dissect the plans for Boston and for
16:15
Speaker 1: Baltimore the rest of the way. I know we started
16:16
Speaker 1: touching on the mark the Bragman market already. But they
16:20
Speaker 1: picked up Wilson Contreras. It's not huge money for them.
16:24
Speaker 1: They even got the Cardinals to eat a little bit
16:25
Speaker 1: of the money. Most of their work has been via trade, right,
16:29
Speaker 1: So they pick up Sonny Gray, they pick up Ovi Eedo.
16:32
Speaker 1: These are all great moves, and Sonny Gray's not cheap.
16:34
Speaker 1: But my point is they're not committing hundreds of millions
16:37
Speaker 1: of dollars to future contracts. Does it seem like they
16:40
Speaker 1: are setting up this lane to try and win the
16:42
Speaker 1: bid for Alex Bregman or someone else. And then on
16:45
Speaker 1: the Baltimore side, they spent big money on pet A Lonzo,
16:48
Speaker 1: who we just had on the show, but they traded
16:51
Speaker 1: for Shane Boas, who could be a number two or
16:52
Speaker 1: three starter for them and cost a few million bucks
16:54
Speaker 1: next season.
16:55
Speaker 4: I'm saying both of these things in a good way.
16:57
Speaker 1: Is it seems like they've created lanes where they can
16:59
Speaker 1: still in a big way.
17:02
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's what that division is doing right now.
17:05
Speaker 2: It's awesome. Like all these teams are trying to compete
17:07
Speaker 2: like the Rays. I mean they obviously they've traded off
17:09
Speaker 2: the major league roster, but still like there's always a
17:11
Speaker 2: plane at Tampa Bay and they some I'll always find
17:13
Speaker 2: a way to exceed expectations. And it's also part of
17:16
Speaker 2: the reason why I want the Yankees to go out
17:17
Speaker 2: and spend and go get a guy like Cody Bellinger.
17:20
Speaker 2: But if you're looking at Boston, They're big priority of
17:23
Speaker 2: this offseason was addressing the pitching staff, and they wanted
17:26
Speaker 2: to add a middle of the order, impact bat and
17:29
Speaker 2: they ended up adding an impact guy in Wilson Contreras.
17:32
Speaker 2: And they still they got him, but there's still flexibility
17:36
Speaker 2: for them to go out and do more, and a
17:38
Speaker 2: guy like Bregman is absolutely on the table there. I
17:41
Speaker 2: still think Baschett's in play there as well. So if
17:44
Speaker 2: you can add either one of those two guys and shoot,
17:47
Speaker 2: let's say you go out and get Bashett, that makes
17:49
Speaker 2: your team a whole lot better. You had a guy
17:50
Speaker 2: who's still twenty eight, but it also weakens a division
17:53
Speaker 2: rival that to me would be a really intriguing thing
17:56
Speaker 2: if I'm Boston. But the indications that I got yesterday
18:00
Speaker 2: was that even after getting Contraras, they're still gonna be
18:03
Speaker 2: going after another bat. And that's awesome because we've talked
18:06
Speaker 2: about the Red Sox and previous offseasons where they're just
18:08
Speaker 2: not willing to go out and spend and this offseason too,
18:11
Speaker 2: they've even come up short with some offers or just
18:13
Speaker 2: in talks for some other guys too. Schwarber was a
18:16
Speaker 2: player that I heard that Boston loved and they just
18:18
Speaker 2: were not anywhere close to doing so there. So I
18:21
Speaker 2: hope they change your mind and go out and try
18:23
Speaker 2: to spend big on either Bregman or Baschett. I hope,
18:26
Speaker 2: Like again, I hope they do we'll see. But as
18:28
Speaker 2: far as the Baltimore Orioles go, pitching scenes like the
18:32
Speaker 2: next priority for them are still the same priority. Because
18:35
Speaker 2: they've already added to the rotation twice. I would think
18:39
Speaker 2: now that they still go out and get Maybe I
18:43
Speaker 2: don't know, maybe it's not like a a high level guy.
18:46
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe it could be. This isn't somebody I've
18:49
Speaker 2: heard as far as the Orioles go, but just talking
18:51
Speaker 2: to market in general, I feel like a guy like
18:53
Speaker 2: Walker Buehler's kind of been forgotten about. If you can
18:56
Speaker 2: add him on a one year flyer, He's obviously has
18:59
Speaker 2: a tremendous hit true with the Los Angeles Dodgers, struggled
19:02
Speaker 2: last year with Boston, but as soon as he went
19:04
Speaker 2: to Philly. I know it was only a few starts,
19:06
Speaker 2: but he showed something there. His numbers were a lot
19:08
Speaker 2: better in Philly. I wonder if you can end up
19:11
Speaker 2: getting something more out of Walker Bueller and that could
19:13
Speaker 2: be like a low risk, high reward type signing for
19:16
Speaker 2: Baltimore or just any other team. But going like going
19:19
Speaker 2: circling it back to Baltimore, I would expect them to
19:21
Speaker 2: add another starting pitcher at some point.
19:23
Speaker 3: Here doesn't it have to be somebody on a longer
19:27
Speaker 3: term deal for Baltimore. Didn't they play? Didn't they play
19:30
Speaker 3: in the Walker Bueller water last year, signing Chicano missing
19:34
Speaker 3: out on Sonny Gray saying yes, I'll accept a trade
19:38
Speaker 3: like I get it. They got Shane bat they got
19:41
Speaker 3: Shane bos and they have they have Bradish back who
19:44
Speaker 3: should be the should be the guy in that rotation?
19:48
Speaker 3: And Tyler Rodgers did what he did? Isn't this the time?
19:52
Speaker 3: What did I say, Tyler Rodgers? I always do just.
19:54
Speaker 1: Making sure just driver and also more in last year
19:57
Speaker 1: Kratz is a good point. They played in the more
19:59
Speaker 1: in Chicano.
20:00
Speaker 3: Good call, Chicano, Morton, Walker Buehller, I get it. Cool story,
20:06
Speaker 3: But in my opinion, isn't this or I'm asking your
20:09
Speaker 3: opinion where this position player core is. You essentially have
20:13
Speaker 3: three years to get this thing done and they punted
20:18
Speaker 3: on it last year because they didn't feel like they
20:20
Speaker 3: had Bradish and Grayson and Arriguez didn't come back. You
20:23
Speaker 3: can't miss again. And to me, the floor should be
20:27
Speaker 3: for the Orioles. The floor should be a Ranger Suarez
20:31
Speaker 3: and then from there you know you're in the Zach Gallen,
20:34
Speaker 3: you're in the Fraanbervaldez if you're gonna go higher, or
20:38
Speaker 3: you're you're in that big trade market, and that isn't
20:41
Speaker 3: isn't this the time to do that? And Walker Bueller
20:44
Speaker 3: is just to and also right now.
20:47
Speaker 2: No, I don't like that's a really good point by you,
20:49
Speaker 2: And that's something that they're probably talking about internally there
20:53
Speaker 2: as maybe this is the time now, or you go
20:56
Speaker 2: out and spend big, and they view that offensively as
20:59
Speaker 2: something that they were needed to do. They made that
21:02
Speaker 2: very competitive offer for Kyle Schwarber. There was a lot
21:05
Speaker 2: of people who are really bummed out with that team
21:07
Speaker 2: when they ended up not getting him, but they immediately
21:09
Speaker 2: pivoted Pete Alonzo and they added that impact guy and you,
21:13
Speaker 2: as you said, they have that young core on offense
21:16
Speaker 2: that signed pretty cheap. I mean, obviously with the exception
21:19
Speaker 2: of Taylor Award and Pete Alonzo, but still like their
21:22
Speaker 2: payroll is not among the highest in the league. If
21:24
Speaker 2: you can go out and get a Ranger Suarez type
21:26
Speaker 2: who you mentioned in a name that I heard connected
21:29
Speaker 2: with them very early on in the offseason, to me,
21:32
Speaker 2: that that makes so much sense rather than just the
21:36
Speaker 2: band aid type, a guy like Walker Bueler. If you
21:38
Speaker 2: can add Ranger Suarez to that rotation or anyone along
21:41
Speaker 2: those lines. To me, like you're talking about a World
21:44
Speaker 2: Series caliber team. At least winning that division would certainly
21:47
Speaker 2: be possible, but the upside there would be treumented. So
21:51
Speaker 2: I will admit maybe I was wrong, maybe I was
21:53
Speaker 2: a little short sighted, So I'll give Eric some credit there.
21:55
Speaker 2: That was a good shot by you.
21:57
Speaker 5: I like that, no doubt about it. The White Sox
22:01
Speaker 5: sign a mirror coami there. A lot of people thought
22:04
Speaker 5: he should have got a lot more money, a little
22:06
Speaker 5: bit on the table there. Do you see the White Sox,
22:10
Speaker 5: you know, after this spending a little bit more on
22:12
Speaker 5: other players to come, you know, to Chicago.
22:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say it adds to their excitement for
22:21
Speaker 2: this year and even going forward. And if you can
22:23
Speaker 2: end up getting that into maybe another starting pitcher. Another
22:26
Speaker 2: player that I heard connected with them was Ryan or
22:28
Speaker 2: Hearan throughout the offseason. I don't know if that's going
22:30
Speaker 2: to necessarily be a fit after they get a gaal
22:33
Speaker 2: like Muir comedy, but for a first big spend by
22:36
Speaker 2: Chris Getz, I don't think he could have done much
22:38
Speaker 2: better here in getting Mura Comedy for two years for
22:40
Speaker 2: thirty four million, which was well below the estimates for
22:43
Speaker 2: what people had him getting this offseason. And I think
22:46
Speaker 2: it makes sense for both the team and the player.
22:48
Speaker 2: From the player's perspective, you can you have two years
22:51
Speaker 2: here to really kind of eliminate any doubts that people
22:53
Speaker 2: would have about your swing, a misrate, or is how
22:56
Speaker 2: he's going to translate to Major League Baseball. From the
22:58
Speaker 2: White Sox perspective, two year deal pretty low risk for them.
23:04
Speaker 2: I think it's so smart of them, And if he
23:06
Speaker 2: ends up panning out, you have two years of high
23:09
Speaker 2: level performance for a guy who's gonna be in his prime.
23:12
Speaker 2: If it doesn't work out, then it's only two years.
23:14
Speaker 2: I think it's such a smart move by the player,
23:17
Speaker 2: the agent, and the team, and I hope it works out.
23:21
Speaker 2: Because they have such a young, talented roster or nucleus,
23:26
Speaker 2: they still have a long ways to go, Like there's
23:28
Speaker 2: no doubt about it. But I remember I was talking
23:29
Speaker 2: to Chris Gatz of the GM meetings and I asked
23:32
Speaker 2: him about that return for Garrett Crochet and how excited
23:35
Speaker 2: he was about it, and he made it very clear
23:38
Speaker 2: that he was extremely excited about it when he made
23:40
Speaker 2: that trade, and he's aware of what Crochet did in
23:42
Speaker 2: Boston for sure, but he's even more excited about it
23:45
Speaker 2: now than he was back then and thinks it could
23:47
Speaker 2: be like a franchise altering Hall. So to me, I
23:50
Speaker 2: like what they're doing, but they still have a long
23:52
Speaker 2: ways to go, which is kind of why I think
23:54
Speaker 2: we should manage expectations for him this offseason. But in
23:57
Speaker 2: future off seasons then maybe we can talk about the
23:59
Speaker 2: Wex White Sox spending a little bit more.
24:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, this guy is clearly risky. Murricami, based
24:05
Speaker 1: on the industry is evaluating him perfect risk for Chicago
24:09
Speaker 1: to take on, even the defense, right, perfect risk. Right
24:12
Speaker 1: if he doesn't end up working out as a defender
24:14
Speaker 1: at first base, it's a risk that they can take,
24:16
Speaker 1: I think, easier than other teams. We're looking at Wilson Contraris.
24:21
Speaker 1: If you're Boston Akamoto, it sounds like if you're Pittsburgh
24:23
Speaker 1: or someone else, the Mets going for Polanco whatever.
24:26
Speaker 4: Right, Like those are guys.
24:28
Speaker 1: I think all of them will be serviceable enough, not
24:31
Speaker 1: only offensively, but even defensively. I know Planco is a
24:33
Speaker 1: little more of a question mark based on not playing
24:36
Speaker 1: first base in the past.
24:37
Speaker 4: But like this Murakami guy.
24:38
Speaker 1: Could end up being a DH only it's just hard
24:40
Speaker 1: to tell how his great his defense is going to
24:43
Speaker 1: grade out. White Sox have been terrible the last few years.
24:46
Speaker 1: They can take that risk, So Robert good stuff man, great, Yeah,
24:50
Speaker 1: go ahead.
24:51
Speaker 4: I just think like white they can. They can kind
24:53
Speaker 4: of go there. You know.
24:55
Speaker 2: It also gives people reason to go onto that end
24:57
Speaker 2: of the stands there and to go watch him, because
24:59
Speaker 2: like if you add a player of that Calgary turns
25:01
Speaker 2: out to be something like that gives something like people
25:04
Speaker 2: something to be excited about. I have a White Sox
25:06
Speaker 2: buddy of mine who lives here in Arizona, and he'd
25:08
Speaker 2: never text me about the White Sox unless it's something
25:10
Speaker 2: like really bad. But he was so excited after that signing,
25:14
Speaker 2: was like, I can't believe you got them, and and
25:16
Speaker 2: I'm like, you gotta imagine that entire city's feeling like that.
25:19
Speaker 2: So I think that's really cool. So shout out to
25:20
Speaker 2: Chris Gatz for doing that. Because the White Sox spending
25:23
Speaker 2: are just these other teams spending. I say it a lot.
25:26
Speaker 2: I'll say it again, it's good for baseball. It's it's awesome.
25:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's good to spread the wealth too.
25:31
Speaker 1: Just in terms of Japanese talent ending up in other places,
25:34
Speaker 1: the Dodgers have dominated that marketplace. They're not going to
25:36
Speaker 1: pick up all of these guys, especially on the position
25:38
Speaker 1: player side. They don't have room for them even if
25:40
Speaker 1: they did want them. So Robert, good stuff, man, Good
25:42
Speaker 1: to see you. Enjoy the holiday. Keep hustling. I'm sure
25:45
Speaker 1: there will be more news going on over the next
25:48
Speaker 1: several days, but we'll talk when FT is back live
25:51
Speaker 1: right in twenty twenty six to start the year, let's.
25:55
Speaker 2: Make it happen. I appreciate you boys. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas,
25:58
Speaker 2: and hopefully we can get some scoops between now and
26:00
Speaker 2: no Christmas.
26:01
Speaker 1: So fingers crossing, yes, same here, dude. Thank you, you're
26:04
Speaker 1: on it. We appreciate you. Heading into twenty twenty six,
26:07
Speaker 1: Bud Talk, singer
26:08
Speaker 3: All, I appreciate you.