Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal joins Pinstripe Territory: Latest Yankees Buzz

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Ken Rosenthal joins Pinstripe Territory: Latest Yankees Buzz · Foul Territory

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome you.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: It's been a quiet winter for Yankees fans, but today
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: we are firing up the hot stove with legendary baseball
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: reporter Ken Rosenthal. We're going to talk about the Yankees'
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: quest for pitching, perhaps even Freddie Peralta. We're going to
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: talk about the stalemate that exists between the Yankees and
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Cody Bellinger. Coming up next, this is Pinstripe Territory.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Wanted to talk at Zoel.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: That's kind of going all right, Welcome back, everybody, and
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: welcome to my friend and friend of the show and
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: friend of the network, host of Fair Territory, and legendary
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: baseball writer Ken Rosenthal. Ken, how's your winter going?
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's going just grand Derek, How are you doing well?
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what. There are worse jobs to have.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I could be tarring a road. But it's a tough
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: winter to be a Yankees' podcaster because there's not a
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: lot to talk about. It's been kind of slow. I
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: think fans are getting frustrated, but it hasn't just been
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: the Yankees that have been slow. All of baseball seems
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: to be kind of moving at a galacial pace right now.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: What do you make of this.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure what to make of it, actually, Derek,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and it seems we have this issue every couple of
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: off seasons, or so maybe really every off season if
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: you think about it. But I looked up the other
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: day and the Athletic has a big board of the
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: top fifty free agents. Top three are still unsigned, Tucker, Bregman, Bischett,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: six of the nine are still unsigned, twenty of the
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: top fifty. So there's no question there is still a
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: lot of unfinished business in the sport. And then the
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: question becomes, well, why is this? And there are probably
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: a combination of reasons why. I wrote today about how
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the luxury tax might be slowing down some teams at
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the top, the ones that would get penalized the most.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: But honestly, I don't think that is the main reason.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: And I don't think the lockout is the main reason either,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the potential for a lockout at the end of this season,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: because one, we don't know that that lockout is actually
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: going to happen in terms of missing the lockout is
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: going to happen. There will be a lockout December first,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: you can bank on that. The question then becomes, though,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: will they actually eat into the schedule, and I don't
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: know that that's the case. And even if they do,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: is it a month that they miss or is it
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: a whole season. I seriously doubt this sport is going
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: to take a full step back and miss a whole
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: season when right now it has momentum for the first
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: time in quite a while. So I'm not exactly sure.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: But it's just the nature of the baseball calendar. There
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: are no signing deadlines, there are no trade deadlines in
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: the winter, and teams and agents stare each other down.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Teams and other teams stare each other down and wait
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: for the best possible deals, and we get these endless delays.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: So just a quick opinion, do you think baseball would
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: benefit for more of like a signing period, kind of
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: like to have other sports. I think that would be
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: super fun.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: I do too. And the Union's position on this, Derek
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: has always been, we don't want any restriction on the
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: open market, so we don't want a date where free
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: agents have to sign by because we think the clubs
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: will manipulate that. Okay, I can see the argument, even
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: if I don't necessarily agree with it, But how about
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: a trade deadline at the end of the winter meetings.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: So then you have an actual exciting winter meetings for sure,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: not just a couple of signings here or there and
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: a couple of trades. You have a frenzy, and then
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: at that point the free agent market remains open and
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: you have at least some things that have gotten done.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know why anyone would oppose that. Baseball has
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: not adopted it. And the problem we get in collective
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: bargaining negotiations, Derek, is that both sides are so focused
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: on the financial end of things they don't get to
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: these kinds of things which are actually important. So I
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: don't know. I think the sport would benefit from that
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: kind of deadline. Even if the Union is opposed to
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: a free agent signing deadline, at least put something in
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: there about aids and how you can only make trades
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: until whatever December fifteenth.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: That would be fun. I want to talk about the
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Yankees quiet Winter. This is a Yankee show, after all,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: and you know I've been watching the Yankees since roughly
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two religiously. You know, I've maybe missed a
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: handful of games, and I stay dialed in all winter.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: I'm one of these people that stays up till midnight
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: during the winter meetings or one o'clock in the morning,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: waiting for news to break, waiting for that tweet from
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal. But this has been kind of a slow winter.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: I got to go see Marty Supremes three hours long,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: and I didn't worry at all about missing any Yankees news.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: So what do you make of kind of how cautious
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: the Yankees seem to be, you know, approaching this winter,
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: And do you make anything of sort of the the
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: comments from hal Steinbrenner about maybe, you know, profit versus revenue,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Are they having any kind of financial troubles or could
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: they go out and sign somebody if they wanted to.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: I am sure they are not having financial troubles now
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: are they having financial restrictions imposed by the That could
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: be the case. And certainly they are not done yet.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: And anyone who thinks they're done is kidding themselves. And
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: while the pace obviously is frustrating, not just for Yankee fans,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: but for cub fans, for a lot of teams that
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: are still not really doing much at the same time,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: none of this can be judged until the winter is over,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: and really until opening day until we see what the
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: rosters look like. So I still expect the Yankees to
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: be focused on Bellinger as they have been all winter,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and right now it's a staring match with Boris the
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: agent and Cody himself, and we'll see how that goes. Now,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: my question is, and I think I raised this on
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: one of the shows recently, Fair or Foul Territory, what
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: happens if Bellinger signs elsewhere? Then, in my opinion, you
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: have a problem if you're not interested in signing Kyle
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Tucker and giving him a massive contract. So that's a
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: problem that is yet to really arise, because the Bellinger
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: thing is ongoing, and their search for a starting pitcher
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: that continues as well. And again, who has been traded
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: of consequence so far that the Yankees have wanted. I'm
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: not sure any of the pictures who have been traded
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: are guys the Yankees really focused on. It's more of
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: an industry wide thing than a Yankee thing, in my opinion.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: But it's certainly fair to be concerned, and it's certainly
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: fair to judge later. I just don't know that we
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: can judge them right now. Now. One other thing on
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: this whole Yankee subject. Aaron Judge is turning thirty four soon,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: thirty four years old. Now, Aaron Judge is coming off
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: an amazing season. He's had several amazing seasons, but at
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: some point he's not going to be this version of
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Aaron Judge, and it's probably coming, I don't know, within
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the next two or three seasons where the dip starts.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: They need to take advantage of Aaron Judge while he
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: is still in his prime. Yankee fans know this. I'm
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: not telling them something that they don't know, but it
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: kind of is the backdrop to this whole thing, and
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: it gives one pause when looking at them and thinking, okay,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: are things really going to be okay? Well they better
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: be okay, because not only is Judge aging, Garrett Cole
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: is aging. He's coming off Tommy John. You've got a
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: lot of questions here and they need to provide answers.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: I was concerned with re signing Garrett Cole after he
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: opted out. I thought this is the perfect get out
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: of jail free card. Even though he's a great pitcher,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: he had just missed half the season with an injury,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: and you're thinking, at some point, this guy's elbow is
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: going to go. I mean, how many guys throw one
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: hundred miles an hour forever? And unfortunately that was the
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: first thing that happened last spring, was that he broke.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: But hopefully he returns strong this year. I want to
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: visit the Cody Bellinger situation because the Yankees are obviously interested.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: We've heard rumors that they are making him their top priority.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: I don't blame them. He gives them versatility. He was
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: excellent last year. What are their main competitors right now?
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Is Toronto interested? Are there other sleepers that you put
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: out there in the mix? Or is this basically just
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: the staring contest between Bellinger and his agent and the Yankees.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: In a general sense, Derek, I would never say that
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: the Yankees are the only team in the mix. Now.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Do I know exactly who else is in No, but
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the Mets certainly seem to be a player here. There
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: has been talk of the Dodgers maybe on a shorter deal,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: and the Blue Jays seem more focused on Tucker. But
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know that they can be ruled out of
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: any player right now the way they're proceeding, So I
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: am quite certain there's competition for Bellinger. I don't know
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: that any team wants Bellinger more than the Yankees do
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: and see him as more of a priority. So free
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: agency is always difficult for even the reporters who cover
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: it to read because things are going on that we
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: don't know about. And I always kind of caution people
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: that we're getting I don't know ten twenty thirty percent
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: of what actually is happening, and it's really tough to judge.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: And I always tell people too, Hey, things come out
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: of nowhere. You might see something happen today or tomorrow
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: or the next day that no one has talked about.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: In fact, most of these moves fall into that category.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Okamoto was not going to Toronto. Until he was going
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: to Toronto, no one had heard about that. So you
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: don't know what's going on exactly. You don't know where
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the Yankees competition might be. But the only thing I
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: will say is I am quite certain that there is competition.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I just don't know who and to what extent.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: I always caution people the same thing that you're saying.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: No one saw Aaron Boone tearing his knee up and
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: a Rod getting traded to the Yankees. That happened in
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: a period of just a couple of weeks, and it
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: was well into the winter. I believe it was February
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: before that trade was commenced. So things can unfold and
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: take shape that can throw things in radically different directions.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: One name we have heard is Edward Cabrera of the
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Miami Marlins. Now, he's a guy who has electric stuff.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: I don't think anybody would argue with that, But the
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: injury hit has been kind of a concern. He's had
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: some issues with locating the fastball. He's gotten hit hard
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: from time to time. Who do you see as the
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: major players in the market for Cabrera. I would think
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: a lot of teams are in on him.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Yes, there are a lot of teams in on him,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: and he's a guy with a couple of more years
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: of control. That makes him appealing. Yes, the injury history
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: is real. It cannot be denied. The Oils were in
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: on him early, and I'm not convinced they're out even
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: after adding Shane bas and Zach Efflin. The other teams
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: in the mix, I'm not exactly sure about. But we've
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: heard the Mets, we've heard the Cubs, all the usual suspects,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: all the teams that are in need of starting pitching.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: I'm sure are in touch with the Marlins about Cabrera,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: and my understanding, at least earlier in the week, was
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: that this was going to happen with some team, whether
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: it was the Yankees or someone else, that there just
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: seemed to be a desire on the Marlins part to
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: get this done. Now that said, it doesn't mean that
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: it will get done if they don't get their price.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: They've been pretty disciplined about what they want in different
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: trade talks. So I can see this happening for the Yankees,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: and I cannot see it happening for the Yankees. And
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I don't mean to be wishy washy, but it's just
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: difficult to read right now with exactly what the Marlins
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: are looking for and exactly who is in the mix.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I've heard the Marlins fans are anxious to get some
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: offense because they need a bopper down there. We had
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: somebody suggest John Carlos Stanton, and I was like, man,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: that would be wild, but I don't see that happening.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about Freddy Peralta. This is a
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: guy that if I had a wish list, you know
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: that I was making for the Yankees. He's at the
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: top of my list. This guy is durable. He pitches
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: thirty starts a year, as you see the number seventeen
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: and six ass here with a two point seven to
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: zero more than a strikeout perating. I mean, he's a
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: frequent guest on foul territory. This guy is an absolute stud.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I'd imagine there's a lot of teams in on him too.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: What is the Brewers' motivation to move him? Is it
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: just that they don't think they can resign him for
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: the kind of market value he provides with this kind
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: of resume.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: There are a lot of teams in on him, and
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: I've heard everyone from the Dodgers to the Mets, to
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox to the Braves and small market teams
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: as well, because his salary for the season is eight
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: million dollars and that is a relative pittance for a
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: starting pitcher of his quality. Now, what is the Brewers' motivation?
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: It's a good question, but this might be hard for
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Yankees fans to understand or grasp. But there are teams
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: like the Brewers that can't operate the way the Yankees
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: and Mets and big market teams do when they have
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: a player who is eligible for free agency at the
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: end of a season, when he has only one year
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: of club control left, they're going to at least listen
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: to offers for him, and they don't expect that they
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: can sign him to an extension. The Rays operate this way,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: the Guardians operate this way, the Athletics, and any number
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: of small market teams. So when you don't expect you're
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: going to be able to sign a guy like this
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: to an extension, you're of course going to listen. And
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the question is will anyone meet the Brewers price, which
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: is going to be significant, because there is a draft
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: pick on the end of this thing if you make
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Freddy paroltla qualifying offer and he rejects it. So that's
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: part of the calculus here. You're not just getting this
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: outstanding pitcher, You're getting a draft pick at the end
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: of it. So there's a lot going on here. I
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: do expect, and I said this on Foul Territory the
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: other day, I do expect he's going to be moved.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I just believe that the Brewers are going to get
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: pushed to the point where they say, Okay, this is
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: a good enough trade, we'll do it. They did it
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: with Corbyn Burns two years ago. It was the exact
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: same scenario. One you're left of club control and Peralta
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: in some ways is more desirable because he's making eight
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: million and Corbyn Burns was above fifteen.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Nice well, Ken, thanks for joining. I know that you're
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: super busy with all the news that's going on and
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: all the stuff that's about to break, because at some
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: point the DAN will break and I'm expecting a flurry
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: of news and reports. Check out Ken on Fair Territory
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: is a frequent guest on Foul Territory obviously the Athletic
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: and all your great work. Thanks Ken once again for
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: joining and giving us your time.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Derek, thank you.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: If you enjoyed this content, please hit that like button
• 14:13
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• 14:17
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• 14:21
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• 14:24
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• 14:27
  Speaker 2: come back again soon. We'll see you next time.