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TABLE TALK: MLB Offseason Storylines · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. It's Jeff here.
0:02
Speaker 2: I wanted to let you know we've recorded this podcast
0:04
Speaker 2: episode on Monday, November twenty fifth, twenty twenty four. By
0:08
Speaker 2: the time you hear this, some things may have changed
0:10
Speaker 2: here or there, but we hope you enjoy the show.
0:33
Speaker 2: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:35
Speaker 2: podcast show, the longest running weekly pilly sports podcast show.
0:39
Speaker 1: In the world, eleven and a half years strong.
0:42
Speaker 2: We've got a great discussion coming your way on Table
0:44
Speaker 2: Talk this week. The Major League Baseball off season is
0:48
Speaker 2: something that we're keeping tabs on here on this podcast
0:50
Speaker 2: platform here at PST, and we're gonna get into a
0:54
Speaker 2: great discussion about you know, what's happening with Juan Soto,
0:57
Speaker 2: you know robo umpires. Is it really going to be
1:00
Speaker 2: a thing of the future. There's a lot of different
1:03
Speaker 2: MLB storylines that we're gonna be getting into during our discussion,
1:08
Speaker 2: So let's get to it right now.
1:10
Speaker 1: Joining us this week from.
1:11
Speaker 2: The Great podcast a pod of their own. She and
1:15
Speaker 2: her co host do such a great job. I love
1:17
Speaker 2: having her on to talk about the NL East, major
1:20
Speaker 2: League Baseball in general. We've got the one and only
1:23
Speaker 2: Maggie Wig and Maggie, how you doing.
1:25
Speaker 3: I'm well, duh, thanks for having me on.
1:27
Speaker 1: It's great to have you on.
1:28
Speaker 2: I appreciate your patience as this was about our two
1:30
Speaker 2: hundredth take of me doing the intro here.
1:34
Speaker 1: But I do have to say, folks, Maggie is a.
1:36
Speaker 2: Great, great follow on the social media sites out there,
1:39
Speaker 2: as is a pod of their own. Maggie, you're on Twitter,
1:42
Speaker 2: slash x at Maggie one six two. You're also on
1:45
Speaker 2: blue Sky correct.
1:47
Speaker 3: Yes, we at the pod. We are trying to like
1:50
Speaker 3: as much as possible. Take spend more time on Blue
1:53
Speaker 3: Sky where there's a lot more conversation about sports happening
1:56
Speaker 3: exactly exactly.
1:57
Speaker 2: You could also follow a pod of their own on Twitter,
2:00
Speaker 2: slash x and also on blue Sky as well, so
2:04
Speaker 2: check out everything they are doing over there.
2:06
Speaker 1: And I gotta say, I gotta say Juan Soto, I don't.
2:09
Speaker 2: Think he's gonna be coming to the Philadelphia Phillies, but
2:12
Speaker 2: I want to say that we need to we need
2:14
Speaker 2: to get into Wan Soda sweepstakes right off the bat here,
2:17
Speaker 2: because he and his agent, Scott Boris, you know, they've
2:20
Speaker 2: been meeting with a number of teams already this off season,
2:23
Speaker 2: and it really appears like the Mets are the leading
2:26
Speaker 2: to contenders to land Soto. It's being reported that it
2:29
Speaker 2: could potentially be a fourteen year, seven hundred million dollar contract,
2:34
Speaker 2: and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm like, it amazes
2:37
Speaker 2: me the numbers that we're at right now here in
2:39
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, as we're looking at twenty twenty five.
2:43
Speaker 1: Anyway, we know that.
2:44
Speaker 2: The that the Yankees they also want Sodo back in
2:46
Speaker 2: a big way too. It's the biggest story of this
2:49
Speaker 2: off season. It's the biggest storyline for sure.
2:52
Speaker 1: Maggie.
2:52
Speaker 2: How do you think the Dominoes are gonna fall within
2:56
Speaker 2: the wan Soto sweepstakes here?
2:59
Speaker 3: Well, certainly, I was very I was very excited to
3:02
Speaker 3: see some headlines floating around this morning that the Mets
3:04
Speaker 3: were among were like the favorite to land Wansoto until
3:08
Speaker 3: I realized it was based on reporting from Bob Nightingale.
3:10
Speaker 3: So you know, I guess, congratulations Red Sox or whatever.
3:14
Speaker 2: Right.
3:15
Speaker 3: I mean, Here's the thing is that it's hard to
3:19
Speaker 3: imagine any other team besides the Yankees, being able to
3:25
Speaker 3: match what the Mets offer. And it's very easy to
3:28
Speaker 3: look at the last several years in the Bronx and say, well,
3:31
Speaker 3: the Yankees aren't you know, aren't the spenders they used
3:34
Speaker 3: to be or whatever? And I mean, and that could
3:37
Speaker 3: be right, and dang it, I sure hope it is right.
3:39
Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, I think you'd
3:41
Speaker 3: be very hard pressed to find an example of a
3:44
Speaker 3: recent time when the Yankees didn't get their guy right.
3:47
Speaker 3: I feel like they're not the like free spending team
3:51
Speaker 3: that they used to be, but when they have a guy,
3:52
Speaker 3: they get that guy they got. I mean, did Judge
3:55
Speaker 3: even meet with other teams? Like this may just be
3:58
Speaker 3: like a little you know, amnesia, but I know you
4:01
Speaker 3: remember him meeting with other teams.
4:02
Speaker 1: I don't think you did. I don't think you did.
4:03
Speaker 3: And Goal and like Cole sign really fast too when
4:06
Speaker 3: they were when they were pursuing him. So I feel like,
4:09
Speaker 3: as much as it is very tempting to kind of
4:11
Speaker 3: look at the buzz and think about, you know, the
4:13
Speaker 3: fact that Soto himself said that it's going to come
4:15
Speaker 3: down to money and if the that's anything, it's a
4:18
Speaker 3: lot of money. Yeah, But I also I feel like
4:22
Speaker 3: when it comes to the Yankees guy, you can't go
4:25
Speaker 3: rope betting on them. So do you think that's.
4:27
Speaker 2: Part of the Pinstripes though, I mean, do you think
4:28
Speaker 2: it's part of like the Yankees or the Yankees? And
4:31
Speaker 2: I hate framing it like that because I'm because I'm
4:33
Speaker 2: not a fan of the Yankees by any stretch. But
4:35
Speaker 2: there is the there is the notion that the Yankees
4:39
Speaker 2: are who they are, you know, they're quote coveted history
4:42
Speaker 2: and where certain players have come from to be a
4:46
Speaker 2: part of that organization, to be a part of that
4:49
Speaker 2: team and what they've done for major League Baseball over
4:52
Speaker 2: the years. Whether you agree with certain things or not,
4:54
Speaker 2: whatever the case is, it's still the pin stripes. And
4:56
Speaker 2: I wonder if that carries maybe a little bit more
4:59
Speaker 2: weight and terms of the degree of which players may
5:02
Speaker 2: go there to sign simply because of that. Yeah, it's
5:04
Speaker 2: about the money, but might also be about the pinstripes too.
5:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think it's there. That's definitely always
5:12
Speaker 3: a factor that they do have this history and this respectability,
5:16
Speaker 3: this history of winning and all that is really important.
5:20
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I do think I played a
5:22
Speaker 3: huge part in why Aaron does went back there and
5:24
Speaker 3: never really seriously consider going anywhere else. But I also
5:28
Speaker 3: don't necessarily get the sense that Juan Soto himself is
5:34
Speaker 3: as drawn by that as other players, you know, both
5:38
Speaker 3: similar into it. He does seem I mean, first of all,
5:41
Speaker 3: he's he's younger, and so he's part of this more
5:44
Speaker 3: kind of like savvy generation of players who are maybe
5:48
Speaker 3: a little less latched onto this idea of history, right,
5:54
Speaker 3: you know, So I don't get me. Like I said,
5:57
Speaker 3: you can't go wrong backing out the hikees, but I
6:00
Speaker 3: do think that one Soto feels a little bit more
6:05
Speaker 3: like the guy who would just take the higher paycheck,
6:10
Speaker 3: you know, at the end of the day, I think
6:11
Speaker 3: if the Mets and Yankees are very very close, probably
6:14
Speaker 3: he chooses the Yankees. But I also I also think
6:18
Speaker 3: that Steve Cohen is really tired of getting out bid
6:22
Speaker 3: on people, and I think he is pretty pretty determined
6:26
Speaker 3: that this will not be the time that that happens.
6:28
Speaker 3: And really he can pick a better guy, because the
6:31
Speaker 3: thing is, Soto is twenty six years old, yes, and
6:35
Speaker 3: if they're going if anybody and the Yankees, Shurno is too,
6:38
Speaker 3: and if anybody is going to be paying somebody close
6:41
Speaker 3: to a billion dollars to play baseball for them for
6:43
Speaker 3: a decade and a half. You really want that person
6:46
Speaker 3: to be twenty six years old if at all possible.
6:48
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, absolutely, I do believe that the Mets are
6:53
Speaker 2: the favorites at this point.
6:54
Speaker 1: It's just a gut feeling that I have. And look
6:58
Speaker 1: as we talk about one.
6:59
Speaker 2: So and even like what he means to potentially whatever team,
7:03
Speaker 2: whether it's the Mets or the Yankees. I mean, as
7:05
Speaker 2: a Phillies fan, I knew what it meant for the
7:07
Speaker 2: Phillies when they signed Bryce Harper and free agency years ago.
7:11
Speaker 2: But I also knew it wasn't gonna, like guarantee one
7:14
Speaker 2: hundred percent that this team was gonna get a World
7:16
Speaker 2: Series where they gonna have a better shot at postseason success. Yes,
7:21
Speaker 2: but it wasn't gonna guarantee that championship. And I wonder, Maggie,
7:25
Speaker 2: if Juan Soto does sign a long term deal with
7:27
Speaker 2: the Mets, do you think the Mets are strapped in
7:31
Speaker 2: any other areas of the team that really need to
7:34
Speaker 2: be addressed in the future. And this is the league
7:36
Speaker 2: we know where spending big money means you're just doing it,
7:40
Speaker 2: and us as a fan base, you know We're like,
7:42
Speaker 2: who cares, Who cares, it's not our money. We want
7:44
Speaker 2: we want you to spend money on talent so that
7:46
Speaker 2: we can get the possibility of these championships. But there
7:50
Speaker 2: is a reality that some teams, and based on how
7:53
Speaker 2: much you're already spending, could potentially be strapped in other areas.
7:56
Speaker 2: Do you think do you think that's possible for the
7:58
Speaker 2: Mets here? And is that a concern?
8:01
Speaker 3: I think I think this is one of the areas
8:03
Speaker 3: where the Mets not just because of Steve Cohen's wallet,
8:06
Speaker 3: but because they are dropping almost two hundred thousand dollars
8:10
Speaker 3: two hundred million dollars in payroll this offseason. You know,
8:13
Speaker 3: they are shedding Verlander money and sures Er money, and
8:19
Speaker 3: I mean lots of names you have not heard in
8:21
Speaker 3: a long time. Right, So it is actually of all
8:23
Speaker 3: the times for the Mets to be spending big, now,
8:26
Speaker 3: is it. And you know the other thing is I
8:28
Speaker 3: think it's part of the reason why the one Soto
8:31
Speaker 3: list is so short is because it's one thing to
8:35
Speaker 3: like overspend on a three hundred million dollar player and
8:38
Speaker 3: then kind of be stuck. Nobody who could potentially be
8:43
Speaker 3: stuck is going to be spending seven hundred million dollars
8:46
Speaker 3: on anybody, I feel like it's it's such an extreme
8:49
Speaker 3: that it really does just narrow that market. And I
8:53
Speaker 3: think almost anybody who's still competing for Soto at this point,
8:57
Speaker 3: part of their pitch has to be the ability to
9:00
Speaker 3: field a team around him, because certainly, you know Wan Sodo,
9:05
Speaker 3: if he is if he's going to be picky about
9:07
Speaker 3: anything other than the money, I think he wants to win.
9:10
Speaker 3: And that is, of course another area where the Mets
9:13
Speaker 3: can offer more than maybe we would have expected. So
9:18
Speaker 3: you know, it's just all to say that, like, I
9:19
Speaker 3: don't think if the Mets bring one Sodo, I don't
9:21
Speaker 3: think they're going to be strapped. I think they also
9:23
Speaker 3: that This is also where you have the bear, the
9:27
Speaker 3: David Stearns factor, who you know, he ran these great
9:30
Speaker 3: teams out of Milwaukee for years on small budgets and
9:33
Speaker 3: he's obviously not doing that now. But it does mean
9:36
Speaker 3: that he has the ability, if he needs to pinch
9:39
Speaker 3: pennies here and there, that he can give you a
9:42
Speaker 3: really solid roster for two hundred and ten million dollars. Yeah,
9:47
Speaker 3: let's just sell. Yeah, now you're paying onan so doo seventy.
9:51
Speaker 3: You're up to two hundred and eighty million dollars. That's a
9:53
Speaker 3: normal payroll. So it's again, I feel like they have
9:57
Speaker 3: the ability to. I mean, they have much much more
10:01
Speaker 3: peril flexibility than maybe they ever will again just because
10:04
Speaker 3: of the timing of how this works out. And then
10:07
Speaker 3: also they have the brains working for them that are
10:11
Speaker 3: used to being creative when they have to.
10:13
Speaker 2: It's gonna be interesting to see how these dominoes fall,
10:16
Speaker 2: for sure, and I do it's I mean, it's going
10:18
Speaker 2: to come down to Yankees or Mets at this point
10:21
Speaker 2: with regard to Juan Soto. But as we're moving along
10:24
Speaker 2: with a conversation here Maggie talking about some off season storylines.
10:29
Speaker 2: Last week on our podcast platform and the show here,
10:31
Speaker 2: we talked about the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
10:35
Speaker 1: This year.
10:35
Speaker 2: We're kind of going through some guys, folks who we
10:38
Speaker 2: liked and folks who we think should be in the
10:41
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame, and I wanted to get your thoughts
10:44
Speaker 2: on some of the possible inductees and just how former
10:48
Speaker 2: players are selected, because, like we're starting to get into
10:52
Speaker 2: on our podcast platform as us guys are getting a
10:55
Speaker 2: little older here. We're starting to become the you know,
10:58
Speaker 2: get off my lawn type of messaging as it comes
11:02
Speaker 2: and pertains to this because I just hate these baseball writers.
11:06
Speaker 2: I swear to God, I hate them how they try
11:10
Speaker 2: to create their own relevance for themselves through this Hall
11:15
Speaker 2: of Fame ballot process. So I want to I want
11:18
Speaker 2: to get your thoughts one, you know, on who you
11:20
Speaker 2: potentially like to get into the Hall of Fame, but
11:22
Speaker 2: your thoughts on the selection process, because I just think
11:25
Speaker 2: it's so ridiculous that guys have contributed to the story
11:30
Speaker 2: of the game of baseball sometimes have to wait five, eight,
11:34
Speaker 2: even ten years to get in when there are certain
11:36
Speaker 2: guys that should be in right off the bat.
11:38
Speaker 1: I don't know. I wanted to get your thoughts on this.
11:41
Speaker 1: First off, who do you like?
11:42
Speaker 2: And secondly, what do you think of the way guys
11:44
Speaker 2: are selected to get into the Hall of Fame.
11:46
Speaker 3: Well, come right out and say, I want Wagner in
11:49
Speaker 3: that Hall of Fame. He was so good at what
11:52
Speaker 3: he did. Yeah, but the youths don't appreciate it. They
11:59
Speaker 3: never go understand and what it was like to have
12:03
Speaker 3: a Liliputian lama farmer show up on the mountains every
12:08
Speaker 3: day to just destroy everybody. So I mean, that's and
12:12
Speaker 3: it's his last year, and I feel like that's one
12:15
Speaker 3: of those situations where there's no good reason and he
12:20
Speaker 3: should be in it, and that should be that you
12:22
Speaker 3: know the other you know, I feel like I love
12:25
Speaker 3: Carlos Feltron. I think I don't. I can't imagine that
12:28
Speaker 3: he is going to be held accountable for the like
12:33
Speaker 3: Astro's garbage can business to the extent of keeping him
12:37
Speaker 3: out of the hall, so that I hope will will
12:41
Speaker 3: resolve sooner rather than later. You know, last year, David
12:44
Speaker 3: Wright hit the ballot and I was like, just give
12:46
Speaker 3: me one more year with David Wright, right ballot, and
12:48
Speaker 3: he did that. So I feel like, all right, that's
12:50
Speaker 3: my that's my w on David Wright. But when it
12:53
Speaker 3: comes to the overall selection process, I mean, I think
12:56
Speaker 3: part of the problem is that if you look at
12:59
Speaker 3: the actual pool of voters, I mean, a lot of
13:02
Speaker 3: them haven't written about baseball in years.
13:04
Speaker 1: That's true.
13:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a really it's and and not only that
13:08
Speaker 3: the pool is it's not only are you not clearing
13:11
Speaker 3: out these old folks from the pool who like bless
13:14
Speaker 3: their hearts, are not on the cutting edge of like
13:17
Speaker 3: understanding the game and who is prominent in it and
13:21
Speaker 3: why you know they're they shouldn't be voting on it.
13:25
Speaker 3: But then you also have the problem of tons of
13:28
Speaker 3: tons of young writers who are part of that conversation
13:32
Speaker 3: and who are really getting to like witness now and
13:36
Speaker 3: over the past several years, like who has been great?
13:38
Speaker 3: And so it's you've got the two problems that we
13:41
Speaker 3: need to get those guys out of that voting pool,
13:43
Speaker 3: and we need to get the younger ones into the
13:44
Speaker 3: voting pool. I think that's really important because what you
13:47
Speaker 3: just end up with are a lot of these folks
13:50
Speaker 3: who are not really thoughtful about the process. They're voting
13:54
Speaker 3: for their guys, the guys that they picked forty years
13:56
Speaker 3: ago when they last wrote about basebook. Yes, so to me,
14:00
Speaker 3: I feel like what I think the larger process does
14:05
Speaker 3: need to be broadened, I'll say, but the biggest problem
14:09
Speaker 3: with the process from the writer's perspective is not getting
14:12
Speaker 3: appropriate turnover in that voting pool. But there should be more.
14:17
Speaker 3: There should be more ways to get into the Hall
14:19
Speaker 3: of Fame than baseball writers liking you personally, absolutely essentially
14:23
Speaker 3: what it comes down to right now, absolutely, and like
14:27
Speaker 3: does it work out correctly ninety five percent of the time, Yeah,
14:31
Speaker 3: it does. But it also creates all of this nonsense,
14:34
Speaker 3: like this idea of like, oh, he's not a first
14:36
Speaker 3: ballot Hall of Famer. It's like, I'm sorry, there's no
14:39
Speaker 3: hall of first balloders. It's the Hall of Fame. And
14:42
Speaker 3: if you think they belong in the Hall of Fame,
14:44
Speaker 3: then just put them in there and stop playing these
14:46
Speaker 3: silly games.
14:48
Speaker 1: That's what it is.
14:48
Speaker 3: And yeah, and of course also part of the problem.
14:51
Speaker 3: And I know a lot of the a lot of
14:53
Speaker 3: the old schoolers will hate to hear this, but I
14:55
Speaker 3: don't think there should be a cap on the number
14:56
Speaker 3: of players you can vote for. But that's also part
14:59
Speaker 3: of why you end up with with writers playing games,
15:04
Speaker 3: because if they, like, if they think eleven players are
15:07
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame worthy, then one of them is always
15:11
Speaker 3: going to get bumped and he's probably going to be
15:13
Speaker 3: the guy that everyone else is going to vote for
15:16
Speaker 3: and then like, oh, well, why was he unonymous? It's like, well,
15:19
Speaker 3: because writers are being forced to use their votes to
15:22
Speaker 3: keep deserving players on the ballot ye instead of using
15:26
Speaker 3: their votes to elect deserving players into the Hall exactly
15:30
Speaker 3: all of these Like it's there's no like one problem
15:34
Speaker 3: with the Hall of Fame voting. It's a lot of
15:36
Speaker 3: like little things, which in theory should make it easier
15:39
Speaker 3: to fix. But we'll see about that.
15:41
Speaker 2: It's very much a reflection of baseball in general. And
15:46
Speaker 2: I know we're gonna get We're gonna get to a topic,
15:48
Speaker 2: you know, to close us out with our discussion about
15:51
Speaker 2: where the game is gone in recent years.
15:54
Speaker 1: But that's part of the problem.
15:56
Speaker 2: I mean, there's this just there's this dichotomy between the
15:59
Speaker 2: old school traditionalist baseball mentality and where the sport needs
16:04
Speaker 2: to go, who's leading it, what the ideas are. And
16:08
Speaker 2: I think that's a huge part of the equation too.
16:10
Speaker 2: I mean, the selection process. It's a reflection of baseball
16:13
Speaker 2: in general. And oh my gosh, we could get into
16:16
Speaker 2: an hour discussion on that, but we won't do that now.
16:19
Speaker 1: But I wanted to move.
16:21
Speaker 2: Along to a topic basically about robo umpires, which I
16:26
Speaker 2: found pretty fascinating. Read a recent article on how Major
16:30
Speaker 2: League Baseball is going to be testing robo umpires in
16:33
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. Where did you get your thoughts on
16:36
Speaker 2: some of these possible or this possible changing, I mean
16:42
Speaker 2: complete changing of what Major League Baseball mate at might
16:46
Speaker 2: actually go through here, Maggie, I mean, what this is
16:49
Speaker 2: going to entail is a computer generated strike zone through
16:52
Speaker 2: a challenge system that'll be incorporated in thirteen spring training
16:56
Speaker 2: facilities that host nineteen teams. Rob Manfred has said that
17:00
Speaker 2: if all goes well, this could actually be incorporated in
17:03
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty six Major League Baseball season. What are
17:06
Speaker 2: your thoughts on this direction, because again we're talking about
17:10
Speaker 2: traditionalist versus you know, coming to grips with where the
17:13
Speaker 2: world is at right now in terms of the sport
17:15
Speaker 2: of baseball. What are your thoughts on possibly going in
17:18
Speaker 2: this direction where you got some robo umpires and refereeing
17:22
Speaker 2: officials out there.
17:25
Speaker 3: I mean, I I am in general, I'm in favor
17:30
Speaker 3: of a computer at generated strike zone. Yeah, I am
17:33
Speaker 3: opposed to everything related to the existing challenge system. It sucks.
17:39
Speaker 3: It is a bad system does It is bad for fans,
17:42
Speaker 3: it's bad for teams. Why do you even have a
17:46
Speaker 3: computer generated strike zone if it's not giving you the
17:50
Speaker 3: real time ball and strikes?
17:51
Speaker 1: Right?
17:51
Speaker 3: Like, once again, I feel like the problem with baseball
17:55
Speaker 3: is that it's one big game and they keep trying
17:58
Speaker 3: to invent all these tiny little stupid games. I don't
18:02
Speaker 3: want my team playing a tiny, little stupid game about
18:04
Speaker 3: whether all they should challenge a ball call in the
18:06
Speaker 3: third day, Like no, that's I want them thinking about,
18:09
Speaker 3: like who's gonna be up to that? Like that's the
18:11
Speaker 3: fun part. Take the challenge out, get the call right first.
18:15
Speaker 3: Just again, like why are we playing these games? Why
18:18
Speaker 3: are you wasting my time and everybody's time with the
18:21
Speaker 3: challenge system?
18:22
Speaker 1: Yeah.
18:23
Speaker 3: So, but other than that, I mean, I think it's
18:25
Speaker 3: I think it is a good thing. I think it's
18:26
Speaker 3: really hard, as you know, as technology improves and this
18:30
Speaker 3: goes for everything, it's just really hard to not make
18:35
Speaker 3: changes to get things right. Like that's the at the
18:38
Speaker 3: end of the day. When you know humans are humans,
18:42
Speaker 3: and when you have this technology that now allows us
18:44
Speaker 3: to see their failures in real time, you know, there's
18:49
Speaker 3: only so long you can kind of get away with that.
18:51
Speaker 3: You really do have to do something about it. And
18:53
Speaker 3: they have the technology, and I think that's great. I
18:55
Speaker 3: want to get rid of the challenge system for sure.
18:58
Speaker 3: And I am also I'm very worried about Francisco Alvarez's
19:03
Speaker 3: defense office.
19:06
Speaker 1: Framing.
19:06
Speaker 3: I think to waste.
19:08
Speaker 1: Oh that's great, that's great.
19:09
Speaker 2: I agree with you, you know, as as much as
19:12
Speaker 2: you know I have respect for people who are the
19:14
Speaker 2: traditionalists when it comes to the game of baseball.
19:17
Speaker 1: We're here in the twenty first century. We can keep
19:19
Speaker 1: certain traditions. We can do that.
19:22
Speaker 2: While also embracing what's right in front of us too.
19:24
Speaker 2: I think that's really important. So again, folks, we're talking
19:27
Speaker 2: to Maggie Wiggin at Maggie one six ' two on
19:31
Speaker 2: Twitter slash x and follow her on Blue Sky as
19:34
Speaker 2: well as a pod of their own.
19:37
Speaker 1: She and her co hosts.
19:38
Speaker 2: They do a fantastic job talking about the New York
19:41
Speaker 2: Mets and the world of baseball. So as we're moving
19:45
Speaker 2: along here with this conversation, I wanted to dive into
19:49
Speaker 2: something that my buddies and I we talk about every
19:52
Speaker 2: now and again, because not all my friends are or
19:55
Speaker 2: Philly sports fans. Some are New York fans. Quite frankly,
19:59
Speaker 2: some are fans, but I'm amazed at teams in Major
20:03
Speaker 2: League Baseball.
20:03
Speaker 3: Right I'm sorry, No Braves fans.
20:06
Speaker 1: No Braves fans. I wouldn't be friends with them. No,
20:09
Speaker 1: I couldn't. I couldn't do it.
20:10
Speaker 3: I had to check.
20:11
Speaker 1: Yes, no Braves fans, none, none at all.
20:14
Speaker 2: But like I mean, I got a good body of
20:16
Speaker 2: mine who's a Pirates fan, and like I just get
20:19
Speaker 2: so i'd like feel bad at times for my friends
20:23
Speaker 2: who are are are are watching their teams and these
20:27
Speaker 2: organizations that are refusing to invest in their teams, and
20:31
Speaker 2: how that lack of investment just trickles down to the.
20:34
Speaker 1: Fan base and their enthusiasm.
20:36
Speaker 2: Again talking about the Pirates, the A's, the Marlins, Maggie,
20:40
Speaker 2: what are your thoughts on teams like the Pirates, you
20:42
Speaker 2: know who just they refuse to spend money on their
20:45
Speaker 2: teams during the off season to land the big names,
20:48
Speaker 2: to land the talent, and who just continue to falter
20:51
Speaker 2: year after year. Like, I don't think it's good for
20:53
Speaker 2: baseball quite frankly, but I wanted to get your thoughts
20:56
Speaker 2: on what do you think of.
20:58
Speaker 1: These teams and organizations that cantinue to do this.
21:02
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's terrible for baseball. It's a waste
21:04
Speaker 3: of everyone's time, it's a waste of action of talent.
21:07
Speaker 3: These are even the worst teams are filled with some
21:10
Speaker 3: of the best players on the planet, and how insulting
21:14
Speaker 3: to them that you're paying them to play bad baseball
21:19
Speaker 3: in front of empty stadiums, Like it is so disrespectful
21:22
Speaker 3: to every single person who cares about baseball. And I
21:25
Speaker 3: you know, I say that as like I was one
21:29
Speaker 3: of them. I mean, in many ways, the Mets were
21:31
Speaker 3: did live that through the Willponds, and the Willpons had
21:34
Speaker 3: this way of like of fielding the cheapest team possible
21:37
Speaker 3: and then just overpaying for an obvious miss but then
21:44
Speaker 3: it would at least make the payroll look good. But
21:46
Speaker 3: then the guy couldn't throw any would you know, play anyway.
21:48
Speaker 3: So it was always It's always how it It seemed
21:52
Speaker 3: like it was always how it went down. But you know,
21:54
Speaker 3: I think it's it's tough because you know, as a
21:57
Speaker 3: Mets fan through that whole time, like, yeah, you think
22:01
Speaker 3: about it, You're like, well, what are my options? And
22:03
Speaker 3: like rooting for another team it sounds so difficult and depressing,
22:08
Speaker 3: like you know, and you go out, you find your
22:10
Speaker 3: and and you know, you find your b team like
22:13
Speaker 3: that is not unusual, but you know, I mean I
22:17
Speaker 3: think it is. It's really hard for fans, and I
22:20
Speaker 3: think and that is not to under I mean not
22:24
Speaker 3: not to undermine at all at the opposite, but like
22:26
Speaker 3: especially the fans who are going out there every day.
22:28
Speaker 3: I went to forty one baseball games in twenty fourteen
22:32
Speaker 3: or twenty thirteen. It was even worse. So like you know,
22:36
Speaker 3: you just I just finished grad school. I didn't have
22:38
Speaker 3: a lot going on, you know, because that's I don't yeah,
22:42
Speaker 3: what do you do? Like, what do you that's your team?
22:44
Speaker 1: You've got all.
22:46
Speaker 3: The clothes already. I mean, it's it's tough. But I also,
22:49
Speaker 3: you know, and every time every time someone brings up
22:53
Speaker 3: the phrase salary cap in baseball, I'm like, where's the floor?
22:59
Speaker 2: Will?
23:00
Speaker 3: But even I would do a salary cap right now
23:02
Speaker 3: for a floor. And I'll tell you what. The Players
23:04
Speaker 3: Association would they absolutely do that too, yes, Because that's
23:08
Speaker 3: the when people talk about the inequity between baseball teams
23:11
Speaker 3: and they're like, oh, well, you know, it's not fair
23:13
Speaker 3: that the Dodgers win all these games because they spend
23:14
Speaker 3: all this money, and like, you're right, it isn't fair.
23:19
Speaker 3: It isn't fair that the billionaire owners of all of
23:23
Speaker 3: these baseball teams bought them as I guess like distractions
23:29
Speaker 3: or like profit generators or whatever the heck they bought
23:33
Speaker 3: them for. But they didn't buy it because they care
23:35
Speaker 3: about baseball, right, And at the end of the day,
23:38
Speaker 3: like that's going to be the kind of thing. The
23:40
Speaker 3: more people who have decision making power over baseball who
23:43
Speaker 3: don't care about baseball, that's going to be the thing
23:46
Speaker 3: that hurts the sport. That's going to be the thing
23:48
Speaker 3: that breaks it down.
23:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, go ahead, I'm sorry.
23:52
Speaker 3: No, it's just you end up with a worse product.
23:54
Speaker 3: You end up with a lot of drama. I mean
23:57
Speaker 3: a lot of like like upset and people and you know,
24:01
Speaker 3: stadiums and this and that and all these other things
24:03
Speaker 3: going on, just because like just just have a one
24:06
Speaker 3: hundred and seventy five million dollar payroll. This is not
24:09
Speaker 3: like it's not a wild expectation for a major League
24:12
Speaker 3: baseball team in the year twenty twenty four. Just like
24:15
Speaker 3: pay your players, pay good ones, bring in new guys exactly.
24:18
Speaker 2: And if you don't pay them and you don't want
24:20
Speaker 2: to do it, your rich as hell, sell the team.
24:24
Speaker 1: Sell the team.
24:25
Speaker 2: I just I mean it's easy for us to say,
24:27
Speaker 2: but still like a guy like Bob nutting out in Pittsburgh.
24:29
Speaker 1: My gosh.
24:30
Speaker 2: I mean, they have everything they need out there in
24:33
Speaker 2: terms of stadium location, a fan base that is desperate
24:37
Speaker 2: for some type of positive momentum, and he just refuses
24:41
Speaker 2: to give it to them by just completely strapping where
24:45
Speaker 2: he is going.
24:46
Speaker 3: To spend the Pirates, and the A's also letting those
24:49
Speaker 3: franchises rott. Yeah, is is just unforgivable I MLB. And
24:54
Speaker 3: that's the kind of thing that like, you know, you
24:56
Speaker 3: hear people talk and I want to like, you know,
24:59
Speaker 3: spoil any like, but you hear people talk about like, oh,
25:01
Speaker 3: baseball is dying, Baseball is dying, and it's like, well, no,
25:04
Speaker 3: these people are killing it, right, And that sounds really melodramatic,
25:08
Speaker 3: but it's not. I mean they're actively making choices that
25:13
Speaker 3: drive fans away from the game. Yeah, and like I
25:19
Speaker 3: why should we let them nationalize the Pirates? Is what
25:22
Speaker 3: I have to there, you go, I love it.
25:23
Speaker 1: I love it.
25:25
Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting because it's a really good segue, Maggie
25:27
Speaker 2: into our last topic that I wanted to get into,
25:30
Speaker 2: because yeah, like these owners are helping to kill baseball
25:35
Speaker 2: in various ways. But I also I also think it's
25:38
Speaker 2: interesting where Baseball's brand is currently at, and I wanted
25:42
Speaker 2: to get your thoughts on it because, of course, so
25:45
Speaker 2: many of us we love how the pitch clock has
25:47
Speaker 2: really helped the game overall, and one can argue that
25:51
Speaker 2: it is allowed for more interest I think, in the
25:54
Speaker 2: game overall, since people don't have to wait around for
25:57
Speaker 2: you know, four and a half hours for a game
25:59
Speaker 2: to end.
26:00
Speaker 1: And conclude, how do you.
26:02
Speaker 2: Think Major League Baseball has done over the years, like
26:06
Speaker 2: in terms of like more our contemporary history of branding
26:10
Speaker 2: to various audiences. Have they done a better job in
26:13
Speaker 2: your opinion? There's still a long way to go. I
26:15
Speaker 2: think I think they've done a better job, especially with
26:18
Speaker 2: regard to the pitchclock. Like I just mentioned, there's certainly
26:20
Speaker 2: some other areas which they're trying to work on and enhance.
26:23
Speaker 2: But what are your thoughts here on this particular topic.
26:27
Speaker 3: I do think there's more interest in the idea of
26:30
Speaker 3: like a fan experience than there had been in the past.
26:32
Speaker 2: Now.
26:33
Speaker 3: I think the biggest problem that with MLB in terms
26:37
Speaker 3: of branding is that they've spent so many years just
26:39
Speaker 3: not doing it because they had this they had this
26:42
Speaker 3: audience of like, you know, twenty to sixty year old
26:45
Speaker 3: people and then just like watch that audience get older
26:48
Speaker 3: and older and older until they realize, like, oh no,
26:51
Speaker 3: somebody under the age of fifty might want to watch baseball.
26:54
Speaker 3: So I feel like that's at the end of the day,
26:57
Speaker 3: they've done so little a really like like actually uh,
27:03
Speaker 3: strategizing around who is not watching baseball and why? You know,
27:08
Speaker 3: I think about like my generation and like, I'm an
27:10
Speaker 3: elder millennial, and you know, we all came, we all
27:15
Speaker 3: like grew up in the cable era and love love
27:18
Speaker 3: watching baseball. But most of us record cutters and are
27:24
Speaker 3: largely unable to watch baseball on the internet in any way, right,
27:28
Speaker 3: And that's and that's a big loss. And we're and
27:32
Speaker 3: like the generations behind us are not going to be
27:34
Speaker 3: better about that, so you know, get ready. But you know,
27:38
Speaker 3: the other thing I had been thinking about, I think
27:40
Speaker 3: it actually also kind of ties in a little to
27:41
Speaker 3: some other things we were talking about is I feel
27:44
Speaker 3: like one of the things that is structurally difficult for
27:47
Speaker 3: baseball in terms of its branding is the fact that
27:52
Speaker 3: players move fairly readily between teams, And ultimately that's a
27:55
Speaker 3: good thing. You know, getting out of the reserve law
27:57
Speaker 3: is like in favor of that, but you no longer
28:02
Speaker 3: have quite as many lifelong Mets or lifelong Phillies or
28:06
Speaker 3: you know, so you're always kind of having to build
28:11
Speaker 3: new faces of your franchise. And this is where you know,
28:13
Speaker 3: the Phillies are very lucky. They have a Bryce Harper
28:16
Speaker 3: who can who can be that guy? And the Mets
28:19
Speaker 3: have Lindor who can be that guy? And the Dodgers
28:23
Speaker 3: have every single person on the Dodgers.
28:25
Speaker 1: Exactly to be that guy.
28:28
Speaker 3: But most teams don't. And there's not a lot of
28:32
Speaker 3: indication that the current system around free agency is going
28:35
Speaker 3: to change that. Now, a salary floor might change that, right, Like,
28:39
Speaker 3: you know, physically forcing teams to sign checks to their
28:43
Speaker 3: players might actually be the thing that helps that, because
28:46
Speaker 3: if if teams are incentivized to keep around their young stars,
28:50
Speaker 3: you know, then that's then that's great because that's a
28:54
Speaker 3: lot easier to brand. But I do think that is
28:57
Speaker 3: one of the harder one of the harder things about
28:59
Speaker 3: baseball and jack general, is being able to like pick
29:02
Speaker 3: that guy who's going to be on all the ads.
29:05
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, well, this is why they need to put
29:08
Speaker 2: in charge of all of this a pot of their
29:10
Speaker 2: own and the Philadelphia Sports Table.
29:12
Speaker 1: That's what they need.
29:13
Speaker 3: Anybody, anyone who I would replace Rob Manfred with my
29:20
Speaker 3: seven year old because you know what, she really likes baseball.
29:23
Speaker 1: I love it. Yes, let's do it.
29:25
Speaker 2: Get the petition started, folks, Get it started again, folks.
29:29
Speaker 2: Maggie Wig and from the a pod of their own podcast.
29:33
Speaker 2: Subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on
29:37
Speaker 2: at Maggie one six y two on the Twitter slash
29:40
Speaker 2: x and also over a Blue Sky follow up pot
29:43
Speaker 2: of their own as well on Twitter x and Blue
29:46
Speaker 2: Sky as well. My friend, it was great talking to you, seriously,
29:49
Speaker 2: what a great conversation.
29:51
Speaker 1: I miss baseball.
29:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, I miss baseball, and uh come back join us
29:55
Speaker 2: down the road. We'll talk more l East, We'll talk
29:57
Speaker 2: more baseball, Mets. I'd love to have you back on,
29:59
Speaker 2: my friend.
30:00
Speaker 3: We'll celebrate one Soto signing.
30:03
Speaker 1: All right, there we go. I like it.
30:05
Speaker 2: That's gonna do it for us here on Table Talk
30:07
Speaker 2: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
30:10
Speaker 2: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
30:13
Speaker 2: in general. We thank you our listeners for being part
30:17
Speaker 2: of this online community with us and within this space.
30:21
Speaker 2: Please make sure to check out our website, Philadelphia Sportstable
30:24
Speaker 2: dot com for all of our podcasts, and follow us
30:27
Speaker 2: on our social sites over on Twitter at Philadelphia pst,
30:32
Speaker 2: threads at Philadelphia Sports Table, and over on Instagram as well.
30:36
Speaker 1: Take care and we'll catch you next time.