Latest / The 3-0 Take / Holiday Hot Stove

Transcript

Holiday Hot Stove · The 3-0 Take

0:00
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take, where we talk
0:04
all things Major League Baseball.
0:07
Here's Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes.
0:11
It all starts right now. Oh.
0:15
Welcome back to the Three O Take presented by Sea Geek.
0:17
This is episode 499. I'll be your host Kyle Koran.
0:20
I'm here with my Co host Nate Reyes.
0:25
Nate. What's up, Diggity dog?
0:28
I see what you did there. Oh, I didn't even do that on
0:32
purpose, actually. See what you did there?
0:34
Didn't do it on purpose, but that's all right.
0:37
You're. Looking at the newest dog owner.
0:40
I do have a new family member. What's it like?
0:45
It is awesome. It is a lot.
0:51
It is overwhelming to say the least.
0:55
We were talking about before we got on my my ecosystem has been
0:59
definitely disturbed and messed with.
1:02
But for those watching online, I don't know how that looks.
1:07
There she is. She's a sweetie.
1:10
She's one. Her name's Gracie and she's peed
1:14
on the carpet twice so far, so we're doing good.
1:18
More accidents on the carpet than years on the earth?
1:21
How about? That, that.
1:22
Yep. And I don't see that trend
1:24
changing at all. I think we're still on the up.
1:28
So yeah, it's good. I don't get a full night's sleep
1:32
anymore. I think those days are just
1:34
gone. I don't like, I'm not a, we're
1:36
not dads. So I'm not going to sit here and
1:41
make the perfect analogy that it is like a precursor raising a
1:45
child. But I've had parents say that it
1:49
does give you some, some it works those muscles, gives you a
1:54
little bit of an idea of some of the, you know, you're now coming
2:00
in last place. You are no longer first place.
2:05
It built, yeah, exactly. It builds that selflessness a
2:08
little bit, 'cause you're like, well, whether I want to do this
2:11
task or not, got to do it, 'cause this, this being is
2:16
relying upon me for this. So.
2:18
Yeah, yeah. Welcome to the dog world.
2:21
It's cool, man. I've never owned a dog.
2:23
I don't know if we've talked about that.
2:24
I've never owned it. Like I've never growing up
2:26
didn't own a dog. Like I love dogs, I love
2:30
animals. There's not really any animals I
2:32
don't like but just never owned a dog so.
2:36
It'll change your life. Yeah, it's in more ways than
2:40
one, apparently. Change your life.
2:44
What a time. It's first of all, Merry
2:47
Christmas Eve Eve, episode 499 on the cusp of five hundo TBD on
2:58
on the date for that episode, but it's going to be a fun one.
3:01
It's going to be a fun one. Definitely in January.
3:04
Definitely in January. Yeah.
3:05
Oh, great point. Yeah, this will be the last
3:08
episode. We usually share these details
3:10
at the end of episodes, but figured right off the top, this
3:13
will be the last episode of 2024.
3:17
More to come in 2025, starting with the aforementioned episode
3:20
500. So that'll be fun.
3:23
Looking forward to that. But not to mention, you know,
3:26
it's like I said, Merry Christmas Eve, Eve.
3:31
But in addition to that good news, my wish came true.
3:35
What did I say? What did I say last episode?
3:38
I said just give me a couple more moves, give me a couple
3:42
more move, a couple more splashes before Christmas and
3:47
then we can just we'll just bang it until 2025.
3:50
We I don't need anything post Christmas to everybody,
3:54
everybody reporters, GM's, player, just take take Christmas
4:00
to New Year's off. We can all let's just all agree
4:03
to take that off. Yeah, yeah.
4:05
I like that. This was good.
4:06
This was enough. This was this, this gave you
4:10
this gave you a little bit of of what you needed.
4:12
You gave you a little bit of your baseball fix for the
4:14
remainder of the year and now we can just coast to 2025 and then
4:18
we pick back up in 2025 S my wish came true.
4:22
Very thrilled about that, but let's start because there is
4:29
admittedly, I asked for like a couple and there was like an
4:32
entire laundry list of moves that happened in the last three
4:35
days. So it's.
4:36
Awesome, let's talk about it. I'd rather have this than the
4:39
than the opposite, you know what I mean?
4:41
Couldn't agree more. Let's talk about it.
4:42
Christian Walker and the Houston Astros have agreed to a
4:46
three-year, $60 million contract.
4:50
This Look, no disrespect to Christian Walker here, but I
4:55
think the the take away here is that this is the end of end of
5:01
the Bregman era in Houston. Yeah.
5:05
Yeah, I think that secures it 'cause there was there was a
5:08
little speculation like when they moved to get Esock for 80s,
5:13
like can he play first? And you bring Brat, do you bring
5:17
back Bregman? Tough bring back Bregman and
5:22
this again, just kind of puts a nail into that.
5:25
Now obviously there can be a rotating DH situation, but it
5:31
just it feels like it's kind of an end of an era for for Bregman
5:36
over there. So I like the move.
5:41
I mean, I was, I was looking up a little bit of Christian
5:44
Walker. I mean, I think of the last
5:47
three years, last year was a little bit of like a somewhat of
5:53
a down year just power wise. But you're getting an extremely
6:00
good first baseman. You're getting a guy who I'd
6:05
like to say peaked a little late in his career.
6:08
So maybe you're getting some of that, that, that upside there.
6:12
I'm, I'm not going to sit here and say all three years are
6:15
going to be solid. I think it's smart that they
6:17
didn't commit more. I think 3 years is about right.
6:21
He's 33. He'll turn 34 next year.
6:23
So yeah, I mean, it's it's it's a solid, solid move.
6:29
They've been needing a first baseman for what seems like four
6:32
or five years now. It's been a little bit of a
6:34
merry go round with the Astros in their their slew of first
6:38
baseman Jose Abreu. That was a three-year deal,
6:43
right? That they saw him too and that
6:44
that was like, that was on paper, like you like that move.
6:49
You know what I mean? On paper, you're like, that's, I
6:51
think that's the right decision. I think they got burned a little
6:54
bit. But overall, I, I do like this
6:58
Christian Walker move. Diamondbacks fans here kind of
7:02
go back and forth on them. I think there's times where they
7:06
get a little frustrated with him.
7:08
What are the strikeout numbers look like speaking to look like
7:13
if you're watching, If you're not watching online, online.
7:18
What am I-90 If you're not? If you're not watching on social
7:21
media. You're not watching.
7:22
If you're not viewing this program on the interwebs, you're
7:26
missing out. Go to WWW dot.
7:29
Forward slash forward slash. Yeah, 130 strikeouts last year.
7:37
So you're getting an an above average bat and definitely above
7:42
average defence. So there may be, it may be a
7:45
little streaky, but. That's OK.
7:48
This was one of those guys, though, that as as the the
7:51
weather grew colder, if you will, it was it there was an
7:55
apparent shift in the narrative surrounding him like you I and
8:01
maybe it's just certainly it's a topic that is brought to
8:08
people's attention more in the offseason because these deals
8:10
have to be made. So like you look at things like
8:12
age certainly, but for some reason, I just, I really didn't
8:17
hear much talk about Christian Walker's age until probably
8:21
about a month ago. And then you just really see
8:24
this, you see this, this narrative start to shift where
8:27
it's like, well, is, is he really, is he really worth
8:30
acquiring to, to, to plug the hole for your team at first
8:34
base? And it's like we've been doing
8:38
nothing but praising this guy for months now, and then all of
8:43
a sudden the offseason hits and it's like, and, and Arenado's
8:46
another one of those guys and, and that's a completely
8:48
different situation. Lot of Slater.
8:51
Different career there, but I'm like, I have, I I'm hearing
8:53
people being like, yeah, I, I just simply do not want Nolan
8:57
Arenado on my team and I'm like, I'll take a.
9:00
Gets a lot worse. I'll take like a 40% Nolan
9:05
Arenado in, in certain situations over fill in the
9:09
blank for whatever team you're talking about.
9:11
So there's just been some narrative shifts taking place
9:15
over the last, call it, month or two that Christian Walker's
9:19
included in. So just interesting to see how
9:21
it panned out. But good for him.
9:23
Like I said, three-year, $60 million, Quite a nice payday for
9:28
Mr. Walker. Bregman, I mean, give me quick
9:33
three team. I I for me, it's still, I think
9:36
the Yankees are out. I'm going to go ahead and just,
9:38
I'm going to say they're out like monetarily, they I don't
9:42
think they're in the Bregman camp.
9:43
Well, you have to think that they're going to end up with
9:47
what, Bregman or Nolan, right? I kind of have.
9:50
To We'll get into it. I think the Goldie conversation
9:54
changes the Nolan conversation. But yeah, I mean, I I think it's
10:00
coming via trade. I don't think there's going to
10:01
be another free agent signing from the Yankees.
10:04
So Boston just, it makes a lot of sense it.
10:08
Really does I'm I've I've already mentally prepared true,
10:11
I've already mentally prepared myself for him to end up in
10:13
Boston and I'm full transparency, I'm OK with it now
10:17
like I'm at I'm at a. Point it's a more natural fit
10:20
clubhouse wise like yeah and there's some clashing in the
10:23
Yankees that. Oh, sure, Yeah, no doubt, no
10:27
doubt. But you know, we've talked about
10:29
it and I've said this, I've said this many, many times.
10:36
I I do, I do, I respect, I appreciate what Bregman was a
10:41
part of back in back in, you know, the the scandal days.
10:44
Absolutely not everybody knows this.
10:46
Most people agree. What I do respect about Bregman,
10:50
though, is he wore it. He was while other guys on that
10:53
team, namely Carlos Correa and maybe one or two other guys
10:59
where they were, you know, trying to skirt it, trying to
11:01
dance around any sort of repercussions or, or, or
11:05
blowback. Bregman wore it.
11:06
He's if he gets, if he takes one between the numbers on the back,
11:11
he wore it. He's not going, he's not going
11:13
to run his mouth. He understands.
11:15
That's. True, he understands the
11:16
ramifications. Yeah, he understands the
11:18
ramifications of of what happened and, and his team's
11:23
actions. And you know, like I said, I
11:25
don't appreciate what they did, but I appreciate the way he
11:27
responded as a result. So like I said, I'm I'm fully
11:32
prepared mentally. I'm OK with it if he ends up in
11:36
Boston. Speaking of trades, you
11:39
mentioned trades. The Guardians traded their first
11:43
baseman, talking about first baseman Josh Naylor to the D
11:47
backs. Was Josh Naylor being traded on
11:56
on many people's radars? I don't know.
11:59
I mean, it's look, I got to be honest, I think majority of
12:03
baseball followers are like struggle to put a real knowledge
12:11
or prediction with the Cleveland Guardian.
12:15
Like they just they just operate differently.
12:17
I don't know if it's just me, I feel like they just do things
12:20
that are, I'm not saying they're bad or good.
12:23
I I think they just do things differently And, and to be fair,
12:26
I think it's a team that a lot of people forget about, but I
12:31
understand it. I think he was in a walk here
12:34
and it just doesn't seem like that was going to, you know, an
12:39
extension was going to come get what you can for it.
12:43
You know, this is like a, we can't expect the guardians to
12:47
act differently just because they seem seemingly make it to
12:50
the ALDS or ALCS every year. You know, they're going to
12:52
continue to operate the way they operate.
12:55
And this is, this is absolutely, you know, par for the course for
12:58
them. So I, I like I, I got to be
13:02
like, I don't think I've ever hit it.
13:04
I'm not a nailer guy. He he bugs the hell out of me,
13:08
but I can respect that He's got some pop and he plays with and,
13:14
you know, tenacity and excitement and he's a clubhouse
13:18
spark and you, it's probably a guy that you hate to play
13:23
against but love to play with. So I like this move.
13:28
This is this is a pretty solid move for the D backs.
13:31
You know, I don't know if they were even in the Christian
13:33
Walker, you know, conversation. I'm assuming not, so that this
13:37
is a pretty solid replacement in my mind.
13:40
Yeah, I mean, I like the fit, you know, career high 31 home
13:45
runs last year joining a team that I believe LED all of
13:49
baseball and runs scored. So the the offense certainly
13:52
plays in line with their approach offensively.
13:58
But you mentioned am I? Crazy 'cause we're going to get
14:00
to him here in a minute, but like, am I crazy?
14:02
Jock was there last year, right? Yeah.
14:06
See that that to me is like a it's like a combination of
14:09
getting a Christian Walker and jock replacement.
14:12
So you know, play first base sometimes, DH sometimes.
14:16
But anyway, keep going. No, no, I was yeah.
14:19
I mean, that's that's a good point there.
14:20
I don't think it was a coincidence that these that
14:23
these moves happened the way they did.
14:26
Like this was an aggressive pivot.
14:29
And, you know, they're taking advantage of of what's out there
14:33
on the market. And if, if you're going to be
14:35
priced out of a guy like Christian Walker, OK, well, then
14:38
look to look, look to make a move for a guy that can slot in
14:42
there and still provide you some, some pop, which Naylor, as
14:45
I mentioned, obviously can do 30.
14:48
Jacks last year. Career high 30 career high 31108
14:54
RB is so yeah, I like the fit and you mentioned tenacity.
15:00
I the D backs have proven to be they're going to they're going
15:03
to scrap and claw and you know, with call it a chip on his
15:08
shoulder a little bit with with him bringing that to the desert.
15:13
I think it I think it'll play. I think it'll play.
15:16
I don't know if it was as good of a fit in that specifically.
15:20
I don't know if that was as good of a fit in Cleveland
15:22
necessarily because they were just, you know, sort of like the
15:24
island of misfit toys at times. But the the D back seem to have
15:32
you know, the the foundation there that I think that'll play
15:36
in so. It's a very odd stat line.
15:39
Like when you look at 31 home runs, 108 RB is only a 776 OPS.
15:46
So you're like all right, he must strike out a lot.
15:49
Nothing crazy is 105 KS, which nowadays is I think league
15:54
average. So it seems like he puts the
15:56
ball and play a lot but doesn't have a very good on base
16:00
percent. It's strange, but hey, you know,
16:07
you do you, man, you do you. I don't know how the defense
16:10
plays. I I think it's I would guess
16:13
league average or. Something, yeah, yeah, it's not,
16:16
certainly not above league average.
16:18
So that's interesting. You know, that's an interesting
16:20
change, change of pace considering, you know, you do
16:24
have a fairly athletic but a fairly young infield.
16:27
So, you know, not having Christian Walker there.
16:30
What does that do to your defense?
16:32
And we're talking about a team who, like, they kind of pride
16:35
themselves on being fundamentally solid.
16:37
So I wonder how often he DHS and how often he plays first.
16:46
Speaking of the Guardians, they brought back Carlos Santana for
16:49
what, the third time? That's crazy because he started
16:56
there as a catcher. Yeah, back in the day for for us
17:00
oldies. Third time back in back in
17:03
Cleveland. What was the deal for one year?
17:10
Deal, right? Wasn't it like over?
17:15
Am I crazy? Wasn't it like 10 million or
17:17
something? I see.
17:22
Yeah, it was one year deal. Sorry I didn't see a lot.
17:28
No, it's all right. I usually, I should know this.
17:31
I usually have have this information on deck.
17:33
He's getting paid more than last year, 12 million I believe.
17:39
Yeah, I I bet there's there were some suitors out there that
17:44
probably low balled that number a little bit.
17:46
So I, I have a feeling this is a slight overpay for Cleveland,
17:51
but you're talking about a fan favorite.
17:52
You're talking about a great vet dude.
17:54
And he just doesn't seem to stop hitting like he just keeps
17:59
hitting. And I'm correct me if I'm wrong,
18:03
I'm not looking at his his reference page, but I'm pretty
18:06
sure he plays a ton so. He won a Gold Glove last year.
18:10
We talked about this. Remember, it was his first
18:12
career old glove. This ain't a bad get dude.
18:14
This really isn't a bad get. I think it's a slight overpay
18:17
but nothing crazy. I I heard rumors of like 8 to 9
18:22
and I think this was a backup plan for a lot of teams.
18:27
And first base is just, it's weird year for first base, man,
18:31
because I think there's a lot of mids, no offense to these guys,
18:34
but I think there's a lot of mids.
18:35
Well, not just that, but it it there for a while, it was sort
18:39
of at a standstill. Like I mean, you, you talk about
18:42
the Soto deal sort of holding up the rest of free agency, but
18:45
then you you sort of shifted gears to looking at what the
18:49
third base market was going to be able to give you.
18:52
And then I think people sort of just forgot about the first base
18:54
mark a little bit there because like you said, it, it none of
18:57
the none of these names or anything to necessarily write
19:00
home about. I mean, even Christian Walker,
19:02
like I said, for some reason the narrative sort of took a turn
19:06
for the worst with him. It's hard to peg him as the top
19:09
10 free agent, and that's what he was this year.
19:11
Yeah. So it's I, I think for as much
19:16
of call it a sand sill that the first big first baseman market
19:19
was at, you know, the floodgates seemingly have opened and like I
19:23
said, hopefully it'll get some some more moves in the in the
19:27
new year, but. Then one thing to note here that
19:30
let's be real, there's a lot of these teams are going to want to
19:35
be in the Vladimir Guerrero junior conversation next year.
19:39
Which is what I was going to say.
19:41
You know, like you said, I, I would agree, I think this is a
19:44
good get. But if, if you have no interest
19:48
in in locking down Naylor long term, you sort of kick the can
19:52
down the road just another year. Because I, I, I would venture to
19:57
say that Carlos Santana is getting nothing but one year
20:00
deals for the remainder of his career, however long that is.
20:02
I mean, he's 38. I don't even know when he turns
20:04
39, but he could be 60. He could be 60.
20:08
I mean that do things a little differently down there I guess,
20:11
but. You you kick the can.
20:15
Like if if they are interested in the Vladdy junior
20:17
sweepstakes, hard to hard to imagine the Guardians being able
20:20
to to to flex that kind of money.
20:23
But. And not to mention, like
20:24
Commonzardo is like it's a it's a part of the plan.
20:27
You know what I mean? Like they traded for him from
20:30
the Rays, right? So like they're trying to see
20:33
what that kid can do. You got a ton of pop like
20:35
they're, they're. I think this is a smart move
20:39
because of the fact that you can give him a chance.
20:42
If he's not fully ready, you're ready.
20:44
You're falling back on a very solid veteran.
20:49
You get a guy like this on a one year deal, nobody's going to say
20:52
Boo. I mean, don't sense sensible
20:54
people like it is what it is. Like this is not your your plan
20:58
for the future, obviously, but you know, kick the can down,
21:03
kick the can down the road for another year with a guy that you
21:06
can a reliable guy that you can fall back on who we got next
21:11
year. Sean Maniah.
21:14
Why does it take so long to do? Let's get out of the first
21:17
baseman conversation for a little bit, huh?
21:20
You know, it maybe took a little bit longer than we would have we
21:23
would have liked for old Sean Maniah, but I'm I'm I'm
21:26
thrilled. I'm thrilled for Sean Maniah.
21:29
I think this was, this is, you have to guess, this is what he
21:34
wanted. I'm not talking in terms of the,
21:36
the contract itself, but destination.
21:39
I you'd have to think this is where he would want to end up.
21:41
If this is where you go to figure things out and you do and
21:45
you see that you, you put up the, the sort of season date the
21:48
last year. Why then would you want to, you
21:52
know, divert away from that, stay there, continue to to hone
21:56
that and, and build upon that and.
21:59
Let's. Let's not kid ourselves here.
22:01
The Mets are Mets are a little bit of a talk of the town right
22:08
now. So why would you?
22:09
Why would then would you want to?
22:10
I mean, unless it was you were getting a massive overpay
22:13
elsewhere, which if it took this long, hard to say that you know
22:16
that there was a major market for Sean, but I'm sure he
22:21
definitely had suitors. But if it was all comparable in
22:24
terms of the offers, why not stay put in Queens?
22:27
Yeah, Speaking of which, talk numbers to me.
22:30
Three years, $75 million and this is after going 12 and 6
22:36
putting up a an ERA with a of a clip of 347 when 181 2/3
22:44
striking out 184. Yeah, 180 we talked about this
22:48
before 1180 is the new 200 and that's that's impressive is to
22:53
reinvent yourself re emerge as as dominant and like he don't
23:00
let's not be crazy here. Like the A's days there was
23:03
dominant conversations. He is absolutely looked really
23:06
good throughout his career. So to like change and and you
23:10
know, slot down a little bit lower, change the arm angle and
23:13
find great success. You're right.
23:15
Like it it worked. Like the conversations you're
23:18
having with the Mets organization, with coaches and
23:21
then the things you're working on, like go build on that.
23:23
Go, go, continue that. That's why I'm like, I, I don't
23:27
know why this deal took so long. I, it's probably the numbers.
23:30
I bet he got low balled for a while from the Mets and just
23:34
kind of watching how the pitching market has has panned
23:40
out a little bit. I think that I think the Mets
23:43
played this OK. I I, I think that they were
23:46
probably looking in other areas to see where they could upgrade
23:50
and this was somewhat of a fall back plan.
23:52
And you know, it took a little while to get the numbers there.
23:55
But if you're Manaya and and and agent and camp and friends, you
24:01
played this perfectly. You played this perfectly.
24:05
This is this, it's where he should be.
24:10
I don't. Is fall back the right way to
24:13
describe this? Considering some of the other
24:16
names, I'm going to say yes. Like when you're talking Snell,
24:20
Freed Burns. Right.
24:21
But those Sasaki, those are like bona fide front end guys.
24:27
But with Manaya, if you're playing all along is to and and
24:32
who's to say they still don't get one of the one of the arms
24:35
that's maybe floating around out there?
24:38
Maybe the plan all along is to slot him, drop him down into
24:44
rotation a little bit. Maybe, you know, spot or two
24:46
based on who you bring in. Maybe this was the plan all
24:49
along and they were just spending this time ironing out
24:51
numbers 'cause if you're the Mets, why, how would you not
24:55
like rotation from like from Anaya?
24:57
We talked about this last time. It's it's not they they need
25:01
some. Great.
25:02
Yeah, they definitely need to keep batting.
25:05
Let's see here now they brought Manaya back.
25:08
You're looking at Manaya, Sanga Montas.
25:12
Peterson, Holmes. Question marks.
25:16
Yeah, question marks, especially around a Frankie Montas,
25:21
especially around a a potentially converted starter
25:25
from Clay Holmes. You have no idea what that's
25:26
going to be. It's not a bad idea.
25:30
They've they've just kind of surprised me a little bit with
25:33
how they're acting. I didn't think that their lineup
25:36
needed a ton after Juan Soto. So it's like, why?
25:42
Why aren't you being really aggressive with either Pete
25:45
Alonzo or the starting the starting market?
25:52
So I got nothing against Manaya. I I don't see him as anything
25:56
higher than a number three in the rotation, probably ends up
26:03
as like a borderline four or five guy by the end of this
26:07
contract. Well, if they don't go out and
26:08
get anybody, he could be like a, he could be your #2.
26:12
That's not good. That's not good enough.
26:15
That's not good enough. That's.
26:20
What happens when you spend nearly a billion dollars on Juan
26:23
soda? You kind of forget, kind of
26:26
forget about the rest of your time.
26:27
They've been sitting a little. They've been quiet, huh?
26:30
They've made more moves than some.
26:33
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
26:34
I think there's nine what, 9 teams that have not done
26:37
anything as far as signing a free agent, something like that.
26:41
Seven, nine teams. I saw a tweet earlier that was
26:44
like, that's crazy. Anyway I.
26:46
Wouldn't be surprised, like you, you kind of forget about those
26:48
teams. You're like, all right, if
26:49
you're if you're going to be childish, we're going to pay
26:51
attention to teams that are actually willing to improve
26:53
themselves. And I think the Mets have shown
26:55
that they're willing to do that. So props to the Mets.
26:58
Let's talk the aforementioned jock.
27:00
Peterson and the Texas Rangers have agreed on A2 year $37
27:05
million contract. Has an opt out after the first
27:09
year. As we mentioned, spent the last
27:12
year exclusively as ADH in Arizona.
27:15
He is 32 years old and put up 2023 homers with 64.
27:21
RB is last year. I mean, yeah, that's what he is.
27:28
You know what I mean? Like good clubhouse guy,
27:32
bonafide 20 home runs. Chalk it up.
27:37
You know you can almost ride it in permanent marker.
27:43
And let's just get it, well, I mean, unless you have other
27:47
thoughts on chalk, I figure we just get it out of the way.
27:50
Nathaniel Lowe being shipped out sort of in response to bring it
27:55
in. Well, certainly in response to
27:57
bringing Jake Berger in earlier this offseason.
28:00
But as it stands right now, I mean, you're looking at, you
28:04
could certainly play around with a little bit.
28:06
You're looking at Sammy and Seager, Langford, Peterson,
28:08
Garcia, Young, Carter, Berger, Heim.
28:15
I don't hate that line up. I don't hate it either.
28:20
Especially when when you have a jock.
28:23
I mean, same thing with with Burger, by the way.
28:25
I don't think he gets enough love.
28:26
That guy's a a walking 25 home runs too.
28:29
And he was doing that in Miami. You know, just wait till he gets
28:34
to Texas. You're going to see that number
28:35
jump. So when you're talking about
28:38
guys like that hitting 6-7, maybe even 8 in your lineup, OK.
28:45
34 homers in 20/23/29 in 2024. Burger that is.
28:51
Yeah. How do you feel about Low in
28:54
Washington? Change of scenery?
28:59
See what? See if we can get back to what
29:00
you were doing. Yeah, I mean, the Nationals and
29:03
nationals are are good at doing that.
29:05
Like they'll identify a guy and it's probably not the best
29:08
comparison, but a guy that comes to mind for me is like Kyle
29:11
Schwarber. You go out and get a guy like
29:12
Kyle Schwarber. Again, not putting those two in
29:16
the same camp, but. Like you turn it into.
29:18
You milk it for what it's worth. You get the value you you ship
29:23
them, you have if you're really interested, you re sign them,
29:26
sign the guy. But it's that that was a pretty
29:29
low, low risk move, I guess. Is that was it Woods Wood?
29:37
Yeah. Which one?
29:38
James. James Wood.
29:41
Just just Wood. Yeah.
29:43
No S right. You're telling me he's not going
29:45
to be a first baseman moving forward?
29:49
I mean homies, what like I mean that it's you want to talk about
29:52
an imposing target over there at first 6-7.
29:56
It's huge. Listed at 6-7, hard to say.
30:01
Hard to say. Do you think the mock turtleneck
30:03
goes to DC on Nathaniel Lowe? I sure hope so.
30:07
I I agree, got to keep that going.
30:10
I mean, if, if you're only going to have a few mock turtlenecks
30:13
floating around the league like you got to do, you got to just
30:15
take it with you. You can't just because you move
30:17
cities, you can't just drop it. Because then if that's the case,
30:20
we're going to be looking at a very, very dangerous situation
30:26
in the very near future where we haven't serial mock turtlenecks
30:28
in baseball. And that's just a trap.
30:30
That's a tragedy. It is.
30:32
Keep that going. That's a trap.
30:33
That would be a tragedy. Hold it down, hold it down for
30:35
that camp. The Red Sox Speaking of
30:40
tragedies, I think we can safely say Red Sox have avoided 2025
30:47
being a tragedy. You know, they're they're
30:49
bolstering the rotation. They signed Walker Buehler
30:52
today, one year, $21.05 million contract and then they also
31:00
added Patrick Sandoval, who will be out until the second-half.
31:07
But you know, I like the guys in the mix and and people are going
31:11
to say, well, how is Walker Buehler any better than, you
31:14
know, another guy that you could make the argument is possibly
31:19
washed. It's because at least this year,
31:26
heading into 2025, the Red Sox are if if you want to call
31:30
Walker Buehler a reclamation project.
31:33
At least we're dealing with with higher ceilings, better
31:36
potential, better proven track records that I'm OK, like, if
31:41
this is what we're going to experiment with just a bunch of
31:44
very ultra short term deals like like G Alito, like like Walker
31:51
Bueller. If, if that's what we're going
31:53
to do, then I like her chances of being able to maximize what's
31:58
there a little bit better than than, you know, just some home
32:02
grown sort of, I don't want to say no names, but for lack of a
32:06
better term, just sort of no names that you don't necessarily
32:08
know what you're going to get and you just hope for the best.
32:11
That was that's that's been the worst part of the the Red Sox
32:15
fan experience the last handful of years.
32:17
It's, it's just been a bunch of like, well, we're going to
32:20
really put our faith and trust in these guys and we're just
32:22
going to really hope for the best.
32:23
And you knew that there was probably an 8590% chance that
32:27
you weren't going to get the best out of those guys either
32:29
because they're not very good or they were going to get hurt.
32:32
But with these guys, sure, they may get hurt.
32:35
They, some of these guys have track records of getting hurt
32:38
fairly frequently. But again, going back to the
32:41
potential, going back to the track record, going back to the
32:43
ceiling, like it's I'm just, I'm we, we just, we have names.
32:47
Ultimately that's that's that's the biggest take away here is
32:50
we're dealing with names. We're not, we're not dealing
32:53
with with hypotheticals. We're not dealing with for a
32:55
guys, we're dealing with guys who at times have had their
33:00
moments. And you just hope that you can
33:02
you can catch lightning in a bottle and put it all together
33:05
and take advantage of these short term deals while you still
33:08
got these guys on them. So.
33:10
I'd be stoked if I'm, if I'm a Red Sox fan, I'd be really
33:16
stoked with walking into the 2025 season with this rotation,
33:20
like Crochet leading it. And then you have Hauck or Baio
33:24
at two or three. I mean, like there's so there's
33:29
such a high ceiling. And yeah, Walker Bueller had a
33:32
bad regular season, but look what he did in the postseason.
33:35
Then you got to assume that there's maybe something that he
33:38
can carry over with that. I you're talking about extremely
33:44
nasty stuff and. And dude's got an edge to him.
33:48
You're going to tell me he's not going to try to take 20, use
33:51
2025 as sort of like a, you know, giving a finger to the
33:54
rest of the league being like 100%?
33:56
Let's not write me off just yet. I'm, I'm, I'm actually a little
33:59
jealous because I, I wanted the Yankees to go get Walker
34:01
Buehler. Not to be fair, some of the
34:03
other moves I didn't know were going to happen, but I, I like
34:06
Walker Buehler. I figured he would have gone a
34:08
lot quicker, a lot sooner. I don't think there's anything
34:13
to complain about coming from where they came from.
34:16
And now looking at this rotation, the offense is going
34:20
to offense, you know what I'm saying?
34:21
Like the they're going to hit. They always hit and especially
34:25
in that ballpark. Now you talk about just figuring
34:28
out how to lock down defensively and just have a little bit more
34:34
swing and miss in in that line or excuse me, in that rotation.
34:39
I mean, walks are killer in Fenway.
34:42
That's like the ultimate thing because you're that you're never
34:45
out of a game. Anyone that's you know, watched
34:48
ale baseball enough and seen their team play there.
34:51
Things can change on a dime. So if you can get a rotation
34:54
that just limits the walks, you get a defense specifically in
34:58
the infield that can hold it down consistently.
35:02
I I'm nervous for the Reds. I I'm genuine.
35:06
I think other AL fan bases should be nervous about the Red
35:09
Sox because the AL is up for grabs and these are solid moves.
35:15
There is nothing to complain about.
35:17
So anybody that's not in the Walker Buehler camp, relax
35:21
because you've sat through motionlessness for the last few
35:26
years. This is at least taking steps
35:28
and at least pulling the trigger on certain things.
35:31
It's got to be a positive thing. Even if it doesn't pan out, at
35:34
least they tried. Go get Bregman, move Rafi to the
35:41
DH spot. Done.
35:43
Sure. Up that defense.
35:44
Go get a reliever. They have a ton of money dude.
35:48
And let's roll. There's no reason why they can't
35:50
get Bregman and Tanner Scott. There's no reason.
35:53
Speaking of Speaking of money, the Yankees found their first
35:57
baseman of the future, Paul Goldschmidt, bringing them in on
36:01
a one year, 12 and a half, $1,000,000 contract.
36:10
Rinse, repeat. What I said about teams being in
36:13
the Vladdy camp and and in the conversation for next year,
36:17
that's what this is, the veteran.
36:20
Hold on, hold on, hold on. I think that's legit.
36:24
You think Vladdy has any interest in going to New York I.
36:27
Do I actually do? I think that's legit.
36:29
I think he doesn't. I think the whole I, that was a
36:32
front back at the deadline, that was a front.
36:35
We talked about this. That was a business move.
36:37
He said. Oh I'd, I'd, I'd, I would, I
36:39
would love to play in the pinstripe.
36:41
I think that conversation changes now.
36:43
I think he is that. Think of a bigger middle finger
36:46
to the Blue Jays for low balling you for the last few years.
36:50
I did see that quote. Did you see that quote that came
36:53
out today? They're not even close.
36:54
Or recently he's like, yeah, that wasn't even close to what
36:57
I'm what I'm looking for this. Is what I'm saying, dude, like
36:59
Can you imagine a bigger FU to the Blue Jays than going
37:04
somewhere that he's talked noise on the entire career so far?
37:08
So I I do think that that's a part of the conversation either
37:10
way, that you can't count yourself out, you can't go get
37:14
somebody. And I think that's why they
37:15
didn't necessarily that, amongst other reasons, financially to
37:20
commit to, you know, a Pete Alonzo or a Christian Walker.
37:26
I don't love this move. I don't hate this move.
37:30
I think it's OK. I like that they're shifting
37:35
their attention to defense. And a lot of people are like,
37:39
well, then why not just bring back Rizzo?
37:42
Look how many games Polly Goldsmith has played.
37:45
That dude is a walking 150 game year every year.
37:50
They're not going to need that from him this year.
37:53
He's not going to continue to do that.
37:56
You mix in Ben Rice a little bit, you maybe there's maybe a
38:00
little bit of eyewash around DJ Lemahieu.
38:02
But even like as Waldo Cabrera is kind of a Swiss Army knife,
38:04
he's probably going to play first base a little bit.
38:06
So if you drop that down to 125, what does that do to his
38:10
offensive numbers? I you're so right.
38:14
I don't think I realized he plays everyday.
38:18
This guy pose dude, I told you. OK, so let's look at this super
38:23
quick. So 2011 gets called up only
38:25
plays 48 games. 2012 starting from 2012 onwards 145 games, 160
38:32
games, 109 games. But wasn't also oh this was this
38:36
was 2013 was the the beginning of a six year All Star run. 2013
38:43
hundred and 6000 and 900 and 5900 and 5800 and 5500 and 5800
38:47
and 6158 games of the 60 game COVID season. 100 and 5800 and
38:53
5100 and 54154. And they haven't had that good.
39:00
For good for Polly. They haven't had that.
39:03
Rizzo cannot stay healthy. DJ Lemahieu, I think, is in
39:07
baseball jail at the moment, so. Well, let's hope.
39:10
Let's hope Goldschmidt doesn't get around, doesn't hang around
39:14
that Yankees training staff too long, 'cause I'm sure.
39:16
That's true. We never know.
39:18
You never know. But I do think that this, again,
39:22
can help with the Nolan Arenado conversation.
39:26
We already saw Nolan veto a trade to Houston.
39:28
Maybe there's more familiarity. Maybe there's more comfort
39:32
knowing that a Paul Goldschmidt is over there.
39:34
And again, I've said this before, the Yankees, I think
39:39
were they're noticing, they're aware that they were embarrassed
39:44
on the biggest stage and they've really shifted their mentality.
39:50
And yeah, if you guys want to sit here and and kind of talk
39:54
noise about this is what you do to replace Soto.
39:57
We already talked about how many holes they had to fill and it
40:00
wasn't just a bat. A lot of problems.
40:06
On this team and they've turned they've turned it into I'm I'm
40:10
happy with this offseason. I am.
40:14
Are they better than last year? I don't know.
40:15
I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say that you're better
40:17
after losing 1 Soto, But I am going to sit here and say that
40:21
those holes were kind of in a blind spot to a lot of people
40:26
and a lot of fans because of what judge and Soto were able to
40:29
do. And then it showed up in the
40:32
biggest stage and you're like, this is what I've been telling
40:34
you. So what Yankee fans has been
40:36
telling you to do. So it's it's it's a smart move.
40:41
And this means it kind of solidifies Bellinger being in
40:44
centre. So, and it's nothing.
40:46
It's one year, whatever. Who cares?
40:48
This is this is a Carlos Santana deal.
40:52
Big deal. If it doesn't work out, you know
40:54
you can still look elsewhere at the deadline.
40:56
Yankee legend Paul Goldschmidt. This is going to be one of
41:00
those, yeah, one of those names where you're like, when you
41:03
their career ends and you're like looking at their their
41:05
entire reference page, you're like, oh, he was in New York for
41:09
a bit. Now let's just hope it's not as
41:12
bad as Randy Johnson because he does give me that, that kind of,
41:18
he goes to work, man. And you don't, you don't hear
41:20
him in the spotlight very often. So it's going to be interesting.
41:23
Well, you could take that one of two way.
41:26
You could take that multiple ways, yeah.
41:28
But before we move on, queue it up, buddy.
41:32
Oh. Whose quote was this?
41:40
Whose corpuses? Who said it?
41:44
Whether it is like milk, Whether it is like wine?
41:47
We have to find out who's who. Was it Cow our name?
41:57
Was it Cow Our name? Was it Cow our name?
42:02
Whose quote was this? Whose?
42:08
Quote was this lay it on me? The reason I'm bringing this up
42:11
is, look, this ends the strange, weird little era in Saint Louis.
42:17
So I love that their superstars have been around the block.
42:23
You know what I'm saying? I think Tommy Edmond is going to
42:26
be a superstar. I don't think he's there yet,
42:28
though. But when you're talking about
42:29
Nolan and Goldie, they've been around the block.
42:33
I don't know how many All Stars combined, plenty of Gold Gloves
42:36
combined, probably some Silver Sluggers mixed in right, and
42:39
multiple MVP conversations between the both of them.
42:42
So it's just this perfect storm that's been brewing over in
42:45
Saint Louis. I don't know where their
42:47
shortages are. Give me the give me the info of
42:54
that of that quote. This is episode 290, June 20th
42:59
of 2022. That's a that's a that's a Nate
43:09
quote. Yes, Sir, that's a Nate quote.
43:12
Yeah, yeah, Play it. Yeah.
43:15
That that sounds like a when when in your eyes, when all the
43:20
pieces sort of fall into place. That's that's very much like an
43:24
optimistic. Yeah.
43:26
Sounding I don't. Know if I'm that way anymore?
43:29
Yeah, I don't. I don't know.
43:32
Times have changed. But look, I mean like Paulie
43:35
being gone, Tommy had been being gone, potentially Nolan Arenado
43:38
being gone. Nolan Arenado is gone.
43:40
This is just this is chalked up as like a a pretty big failure
43:45
of an era in Saint Louis. Disappointment for sure.
43:49
This is rough and such a good fan base.
43:53
So I mean, it's just it sucks to see and I'm curious on where
43:59
they go from here if they do move on.
44:05
Speaking of wondering where a team is going to go, I I was
44:08
sort of wondering there for a minute at the Phillies, We're
44:11
going to go anywhere, do anything this offseason of note.
44:15
And quite honestly, I don't know if this move necessarily
44:18
scratches that itch for me. Little bit, little bit for sure.
44:23
But this offseason has not given me the Davey D vibes that I
44:30
think we were hoping for. Don't know if they're asleep at
44:34
the wheel, what's going on, but the Phillies acquire Jesus
44:38
Lizardo from the Marlins. I, I know I said all that to, I
44:46
said all that just to simply say that I at a certain point, I
44:51
think when the Lizardo trade rumors were starting to build, I
44:55
kind of wanted him in Boston, if I'm being honest with you.
44:58
I want him in New York, so I get it.
45:00
But not to talk out of both sides of my mouth here.
45:05
But this just isn't a move that I like.
45:08
I'm I'm, I'm sort of reading the room with Phillies fans and
45:11
they're like, OK, sick. What else, What else we got?
45:15
Like the what have we, what have we really done?
45:17
What have we really done? And the answers, essentially,
45:24
when you think about what Dave Dombrowski is capable of doing,
45:26
the answer is essentially nothing.
45:29
But you know, the ad, you know, you talk stealing, you talk
45:34
potential like we were earlier. This is a, this is a good ad
45:37
that I'm not going to, not going to knock him for this.
45:39
Like I said, I wanted him in Boston.
45:41
So good. Good for the Phillies, for for
45:46
the very least, doing something. Well, I mean, we, we've gone
45:50
through this extensively. They, they've really backed
45:53
themselves into a corner. And again, when, when you don't
45:56
have a ring during this chapter and the names and contracts
45:59
you're committed to, you get desperate.
46:01
And then when you're, you know, tied one hand behind your back
46:07
because of salary, it's like there's only so much you can do.
46:10
There's only so much you can go get and there's only so much you
46:14
can offer when it comes to trades.
46:17
Luckily they do have a good rotation to where he's not a
46:20
make it or break it kind of guy and it is a buy low situation.
46:24
It's just crazy to see like how things have changed with Miami.
46:30
I think they really kind of pooped the bed here of not
46:33
getting rid of him in the hype of 2023 at the deadline.
46:39
That was the time to maximize and they didn't.
46:43
And now you're getting what was it at #4 prospect and a number
46:47
23 prospect or something like you were, you were asking for
46:52
two. This is just continues the trend
46:54
of mismanagement in Miami. But they were over asking at the
46:58
deadline. They decided to not make a move.
47:01
And you know, then he comes out last year and only makes 12
47:04
starts. It it's again, it is a buy low
47:09
situation. We've seen good things from him
47:13
overall. He's only made to be fair.
47:18
He wasn't a starter full time until looks like 2021.
47:29
So I mean, he made 18 starts in 20/21/18, again in 2022, again
47:35
that 2023 year he maximized it with 32 and then only 12 starts
47:40
last year. So you're getting a guy that
47:45
will likely not be around the whole year.
47:48
It wasn't around the end of last year when I need him in fantasy
47:51
didn't fortunately, it didn't really matter.
47:53
I still still ended up winning the league.
47:55
But you know, I was not pleased with Jesus Lizardo just, you
47:58
know, kicking, kicking the cane around.
48:02
Oh, is he going to come back? Is he not?
48:04
And then ultimately I think what missed the miss the rest of the
48:09
year, if I'm not mistaken, but not not happy with him, but it's
48:14
if at when he's healthy. I'm sick of asking that, or I'm
48:18
sick of. But that is.
48:20
Claimer but. But it is a part of the equation
48:22
like it he has to be healthy and and the stuff is there.
48:25
But again, just a botched job from Miami, not maximizing, you
48:32
know, the timing and not recognizing properly on when to
48:37
move on from a guy. Speaking of moving on, the
48:43
Athletics have moved on to a team it seems that is is
48:49
inclined to spending a little bit of money.
48:51
Whether it's whether or not it's because they have to to avoid
48:54
grievance, that's not for me to they do decide it is.
49:01
Yeah, absolutely. But they have added Gio Urshela
49:04
on a one year $2.15 million contract.
49:08
You know, I'm really going to call me out on this.
49:12
If you ever see me misspeak about a contract number like
49:15
that. If it's like a 2 in this
49:18
example, if it's a 215 and I'm just like a $2,000,000 deal,
49:21
call me out on it because you get, you really got to stop and
49:25
think it may not sound like much.
49:30
That's like 12 million to them. No, but I'm saying would you,
49:35
would you be pleased or would you be happy if somebody walked
49:37
up and said I'll give you .15 million dollars?
49:40
Absolutely. Yeah, I think you'd be, I think
49:43
you'd be thrilled. So I'm not, I don't want to
49:46
shortchange these guys. So call me out on that if if you
49:50
see me shortchanging these guys, because point one $5,000,000 is
49:54
I, I would, I would gladly take point one $5,000,000.
49:57
Yeah. But yeah, the A's have added yet
50:00
another name. Do you know more about this guy
50:04
than I would at Is this just a warm body situation?
50:10
Kinda defensively it's it's pretty solid, but the guys got
50:14
bad legs, doesn't run well really.
50:19
It's like lost any kind of pop that he has.
50:21
He does a good job of playing Pepper with the right side, but
50:24
watching him run is is almost as painful as Stan.
50:28
Just a lot of heels, man, but we'll play.
50:31
But look, he'll make a play that defensively at third base that
50:35
are just going to be like potentially play of the year.
50:38
Every year he does something like that.
50:41
But just that the swing plane it, it just, it doesn't really
50:45
get me too fired up offensively. So, but yeah, I mean, if you
50:50
want him to, you know, 80 to 90 games and playing above average
50:56
defense, sure, for that cheap, why not got to keep going.
51:02
Pretty sure they still have like 40 or $50 million to go to
51:06
qualify for. Their revenue share.
51:08
Yeah, you got to get to 100. It's like, what is it, 105 I
51:12
think? They're at like just under 60.
51:15
I think maybe this pushed them I.
51:17
Definitely thought they were higher, but you're probably
51:19
right. They got to keep going.
51:20
Like what are you waiting? Like that's what like that you
51:24
got to start taking any. If you're trying to roster dump
51:28
any team around the league, look to the A's.
51:32
If you need a roster dump and like just shed some weight
51:35
financially and just send a veteran, the A's like basically
51:39
have to do it. So I'm sure it's coming.
51:45
Not that this really fits that bill, but it reminded me because
51:48
I, I and I don't, I don't have this individual on the on the
51:51
list because it happened, I guess not too long ago, earlier
51:54
today, Andrew McCutchen back to Pittsburgh on a one year deal.
52:02
Lives are high. I'm struggling to continue to
52:06
raise it. I'm really, I know it's Andrew.
52:14
Mccutchen back. Back where he belongs.
52:22
In the words of Jeff Passan, Andrew McCutchen says exactly
52:27
where he belongs. That's really all I got on
52:32
Andrew McCutchen. Yep.
52:37
You know, that's the deal that happened.
52:41
It's something. And we move on to another deal
52:43
that happened. Eloy Jimenez going to the Rays,
52:51
Well they agreed on a minor league deal technically.
52:54
Real talk here, technically aren't all Rays deals at the
52:59
moment a minor league deal? What makes you say that?
53:06
Are they playing at a big league ballpark this year?
53:09
Oh, fair enough, fair enough. Same goes for the A's if we're
53:14
if we're putting all the chips on the table.
53:17
It's true, Yeah, whatever. I I'm struggling to see why this
53:25
guy continues to get chances to be honest with you.
53:27
Dude, how old? How old do you think Eloy
53:30
Jimenez is? He's either way young or way
53:33
old. How?
53:35
Old do you think he is? Probably like 27.
53:38
Dude, he's 28. Jeez.
53:41
There's no way. Falling off.
53:43
This is the last shot. No, no, no, no.
53:46
We're not even talking about last chances.
53:47
We need to talk for a second on this age thing.
53:51
There's no way, you know, going back to like the Soto being
53:55
whatever age he at 26 or whatever.
53:58
Now how old is 26? 20, yeah, 25, yeah, going to be
54:04
26 during the year, I think. Yeah, you know, he, he turned
54:08
out 26 October. This whole like age discrepancy
54:12
thing. I mean, they start with Eloy
54:14
Jimenez. There's no way.
54:16
You cannot tell me he's 20. What did I say, 28?
54:19
No shot. Yeah, I know.
54:21
But yeah, you're right. I don't know.
54:22
I don't. I don't know why this continues
54:24
to what are. We doing you're telling me there
54:26
isn't someone in your organization that can like you
54:29
want to give a shot to what are the rate?
54:33
The rays are just so confusing. I'm I'm basic, I'm I'm pretty
54:39
much just putting him at the bottom of the at least I'm over
54:43
it. I know they're getting arms back
54:45
from injuries for like whatever. I.
54:47
Yeah, not to hint at our Hot Takes episode for the start of
54:51
the 2025 season, but I this might be one of the first years.
54:55
It's insane that we're around the corner from that, by the
54:57
way. Insane.
55:00
Truly. Well, no, no, we usually get,
55:02
we'll do those like the week before opening day.
55:04
So I mean, we, we still got it. It's two months, you know, three
55:07
months. Till opening day, yeah, we have
55:11
at least almost January. We have 3 full months.
55:14
Yeah, that's, that's fast, man. That goes by real fast.
55:21
Well, that's a great transition. Speaking of fast, let's let's,
55:28
let's talk a little Ricky Henderson here.
55:30
Yeah, truly, truly. And I, I know it's it's so easy
55:36
to say this when, when a guy like this or, or like one of the
55:41
game's greats passed away, like I just didn't see it coming.
55:44
But truly, with a guy like Ricky Henderson, who was so involved
55:49
with the A's organization, he's only 65, You know, with the,
55:55
with the whole sort of farewell tour for, for the franchise this
56:01
year, knowing that this was going to be it at the Coliseum
56:04
was very much a part of the picture, a part of the mix
56:07
there. And for all intents and
56:10
purposes, everything he seemed, seemed to be in good shape,
56:14
seemed to be, you know, in, in, in good health.
56:18
I think I saw it. Was it pneumonia?
56:21
I think that that it was, don't quote me on that.
56:24
I, I, I think that's what I saw, but man.
56:30
And then another, another crazy part of it too, is there was a,
56:34
there was a moment there where, well, I hadn't even considered
56:38
it, but I had a couple people reach out to me and they're
56:41
like, are you seeing this from any sort of any official source?
56:45
And then you start to wonder like, oh man, is this one of
56:47
those one of those hoax things? And I'm like there and I looked
56:52
it up and I'm like, he's 65. There's no way.
56:54
There's no way we can be losing another, another great like
56:57
this. And sure enough, Ricky Henderson
56:59
at the age of 65 is no, has passed away, is no longer with
57:03
us. But truly, when when you talk
57:06
about one of the game's greatest ever, not just like of an era of
57:12
a decade of the of his peers, we're literally talking about
57:17
one of the greatest to ever do it.
57:20
Yeah, yeah, there's so many really big names that you can
57:27
ask and and you've seen quotes on saying that he is the best
57:31
player they were played with or against.
57:33
And I get it, like if if you're a listener and you're around our
57:37
age, he's slightly before our generation, we caught the tail
57:41
end of it. But like, it's one of those
57:45
names where, you know, it's just the crazy stats that you can
57:49
read off with, like a Hank Aaron or a Ted Williams or just
57:54
insane. Like you could take all this
57:56
away and he still has this. Like you can steal a bag every
58:00
day for the rest of your life and for 10 years and still not
58:03
get to his numbers. Well, that I mean.
58:05
That favorite one that I, I post to our account from time to time
58:08
just to like keep it in circulation because it's just,
58:11
it's one of those things that you, you can see it, you can
58:14
read it a million times and it's still, you're not going to be
58:18
able to wrap your head around it.
58:20
If a player stole 50 bases a season, 50 bases a season, you
58:25
saw, we celebrate now we celebrate and you saw, you saw
58:29
the, the fanfare that can't. And I know different
58:32
circumstances with Shohei's situation, but like you saw like
58:36
50 bases of 50 bags. That's a lot for Ricky
58:40
Henderson. If a player stole 50 bases a
58:42
season for 28 years, 28 years, nobody's playing for 28 years.
58:52
And if they did, they're certainly not stealing 50 bags.
58:55
If you stole 50 bags for 28 years, Ricky Henderson would
58:58
still have more. That's that's insanity.
59:01
It's ridiculous. What did I just say?
59:04
Like, what am I? What am I reading?
59:06
That doesn't even that doesn't even compute.
59:10
And not to mention he was. He was, which is another one of
59:13
my favorite Ricky Henderson sets.
59:14
He was the all time leader in steals for more of his career
59:22
than not. Does that make sense?
59:26
Like for more of his. Career he spent.
59:29
More years of his career as the all time leader in steals than
59:32
not that's in. That's just crazy.
59:38
One of one of the best and then you, I mean you look at.
59:42
That stole over 100 bags three times in his career.
59:48
Well, he was thirty, 100 plus. Yeah, he had 119, eighty, 130
59:54
and 82 and 108 and 83. But then, oh, let's not forget
59:59
at age 39, with the A's, stole 66 bags, LED all of baseball at
1:00:04
age 39. And then went on to the
1:00:07
following two years at age 40 and 41 respectively, to steal 37
1:00:11
and 36 bags. And almost almost a 300 home run
1:00:19
guy too, which is crazy. Only 66 triples.
1:00:24
It's almost like I feel like he didn't want to get triples so he
1:00:27
could. Steal it you.
1:00:28
Know what I mean? Like I'm going to shut it down
1:00:31
that second so I can swipe third.
1:00:35
He it's just one of the all time greats.
1:00:39
Like you said, super, super sad to that, that sometimes we he
1:00:45
kind of falls out of the conversation of of dominance
1:00:48
when we run through the legends. But we got to remember that he
1:00:55
it's it's not going to happen again.
1:00:56
You can change all the rules you want.
1:00:59
You can give baserunners all the advantage you want.
1:01:02
They're not doing Ricky numbers. It's not going to happen.
1:01:05
Just absolutely incredible. I was sad.
1:01:08
I was very surprised to see it come through my my
1:01:11
notifications. Just a big name, man.
1:01:17
And and absolutely the when we talk about like showmanship a
1:01:23
little bit, we talk about like bat flipping and like that guy
1:01:27
pimped everything and absolutely had the Jersey pop after he
1:01:32
went. Yeah, yeah.
1:01:33
Like that guy was unbelievable. And unfortunately I think we're
1:01:38
just a little removed from understanding that.
1:01:41
Like there's always been swag in this game and he is the
1:01:46
definition of it. One of the catalysts, if I mean,
1:01:51
maybe some would argue the catalyst for swagger in
1:01:55
baseball, you know, in not to sound like an old head here, but
1:02:01
like I, I, I think that there's probably an era or generation of
1:02:06
players that's in even in the game now that that I think
1:02:10
forgets that they're not the ones who started this whole let
1:02:15
the kids play thing. Like, sure, it's, it's become
1:02:18
more of a widespread, a widely accepted movement across the
1:02:23
sport and, and fewer and fewer people with every year that
1:02:26
passes with every year that, that, that, you know, passes
1:02:33
that it's becoming more accepted.
1:02:38
But that didn't mean that it wasn't it.
1:02:40
It like it was still happening like it was still happening
1:02:44
years and years ago. Just been removed from it.
1:02:47
It was just met with a lot more criticism, a lot more heat, but
1:02:50
like, it did not change the fact that Ricky Henderson was going
1:02:53
to do what he what he did and that was played.
1:02:55
Also, but also he earned it, you know what I mean?
1:02:58
There's a lot of guys we see that play today that like, you
1:03:01
know, they haven't done that. They haven't done it enough.
1:03:04
They haven't been consistent enough to act the way they act.
1:03:08
He was, He did. It's crazy.
1:03:12
He was able to do whatever he wants and the whole talking and
1:03:15
3rd person thing that he did was wild, just a wild, awesome
1:03:21
amaze. Like I'm so, yeah, I'm so sad,
1:03:24
man. That's such a such an impactful
1:03:26
name, such a great baseball player.
1:03:30
And I don't know much about him as a guy, but teammates seem to
1:03:36
love him, seem to be happy with family at home.
1:03:39
So yeah. Rest in peace.
1:03:42
So one of the greatest ever. Do it.
1:03:44
Ricky Henderson. I did have one last thing here.
1:03:49
If you got if you got some time you want to run through, you
1:03:54
know, it is a holiday season. Yeah.
1:03:57
Tis the season. Tis the season, it's, as I
1:03:59
mentioned, Christmas Eve, Eve and we also are on the cusp of
1:04:04
New Year's, as I mentioned earlier.
1:04:06
So I text you today wanted to bring it back because I, I
1:04:12
thought back on last year and I don't, I think we got away from
1:04:15
doing it last year, but we did it the year prior.
1:04:17
And I think it's just something that like, for as long as we do
1:04:20
this, I want to make sure we get this in there little bit of like
1:04:23
a New Year's resolution thing. And I know we haven't even hit
1:04:25
Christmas yet. So like, if you want to call
1:04:28
this like a Christmas wish list for next year, whatever,
1:04:32
whatever Christmas twist you want to put on it, whatever.
1:04:35
But it's we're, you know, as I mentioned last episode for us of
1:04:39
2024. So sort of putting a bow on it,
1:04:42
looking ahead to what 2025 hopefully has in store for us.
1:04:46
You got you got some things you're hoping yes happens 2025.
1:04:52
I got some things I if. For those who don't know, the
1:05:00
wife greenlit a second TV in the living room.
1:05:04
Oh. So I do have two TV's up in the
1:05:07
living room now. Breaking news.
1:05:10
It's nice 2. TV's in the living room.
1:05:14
It's real nice. So you did.
1:05:19
You did send me the picture. It looks pretty solid.
1:05:21
It's clean. That's a.
1:05:23
That's a clean setup. It's clean.
1:05:24
I actually had to build like the the entertainment center after
1:05:27
we're done here. But I mean, there's no excuse
1:05:31
now. I'm going to genuinely watch
1:05:34
more baseball games than I ever have in my entire life.
1:05:38
Dude. I will keep track if you want me
1:05:40
to. We are OK, This is This is fun
1:05:43
number one on my list more games in a year than any year before.
1:05:53
How that's going to happen? Could it be watching?
1:05:56
Could it be going That's still due to be decided still to be
1:06:03
determined, but I'm with you on that.
1:06:05
Let's you know, let's let's put a pin in that.
1:06:07
Let's come back to that in 2025. Track it like a like a weekly or
1:06:12
monthly thing and see where our numbers are at.
1:06:15
Let's put it yeah, let's revisit that.
1:06:17
That's fun. I mean, there's there's no
1:06:19
reason why I can't have games rolling on that thing and it's
1:06:25
look like it. I love it for for those who
1:06:28
maybe are looking to have this conversation with their wife and
1:06:32
you know, you need a little ammo, say look, babe, like we
1:06:36
can watch whatever you want. I got I gave my wife the new TV
1:06:40
and she has the sound. So the left TV is the old TV
1:06:44
always on mute, always have a game on.
1:06:48
It's been fantastic. It's ended a lot of size.
1:06:53
It's ended a lot of of lot of backlash.
1:06:56
It's just a part of it. Now.
1:07:00
You got to sacrifice some things.
1:07:01
So be willing to make that offer.
1:07:04
Be willing to make that trade. Good luck.
1:07:07
Let me know if you need pictures.
1:07:10
Let me know if you need a if you need somebody to hang them.
1:07:13
Your boy is a handyman. Now.
1:07:17
I've nailed it. It's perfect.
1:07:22
I believe it. I believe it.
1:07:23
Anyway, I got, I got the TV up on the wall like a few weeks
1:07:27
back, but I didn't do the whole like super clean mounting.
1:07:30
Like there's two cables that kind of drop, but from from the
1:07:35
T from the bottom of the TV to the entertainment center, it's
1:07:37
maybe like a foot. So I'm like, I'm not, I'm not
1:07:41
ripping up. This is that like stripping?
1:07:43
Like yeah, I'm cable stripping thing.
1:07:45
Not I, I have. I'm lucky that the wall has like
1:07:48
a little channel that I can feed the cords through.
1:07:50
Sure, sure. And.
1:07:51
It'll pop down lower so lucked out.
1:07:55
This one I've already mentioned, but I wanted to get it in I
1:08:00
wanted to put it out there in an official capacity so I can hold
1:08:04
myself accountable and you, you and the the listeners can hold
1:08:07
me accountable. Learning to keep book in 2025
1:08:12
and we got something a little little little fun, something
1:08:16
planned for for next year. We do that.
1:08:17
So I'm, we do, I'm genuine like I don't, it's, it's rare for me
1:08:23
to say that I'm genuinely looking forward to something.
1:08:26
But this little thing we got planned for that, I am genuinely
1:08:30
looking forward to that. I think that that's going to be,
1:08:32
we're going to we're going to have fun with that.
1:08:34
We're going to make it perfect. We're going to make that a nice
1:08:36
little little, little project, little campaign.
1:08:40
I like that. I like that.
1:08:41
Forward to that, What do you got?
1:08:42
Simple, super simple. You can, You can hate on it if
1:08:46
you want, but I'm going for realistic here.
1:08:48
I just want to see a new ballpark.
1:08:51
Just want to go to a new ballpark.
1:08:54
Nice. I don't know where that's going
1:08:56
to be. I don't know how that's how
1:08:58
that's going to look, but maybe take the wife, go see something,
1:09:03
go do a little something. Well, little, little let's, I
1:09:08
mean, let's run through real quick.
1:09:09
What get? First of all, give me your short
1:09:11
list of parks that you have yet to see that you want to see.
1:09:17
I mean, no offense, I have no desire to go to San Francisco,
1:09:22
but it's a ballpark that's unmatched.
1:09:27
So maybe that's something I just got to deal with.
1:09:32
Seattle for sure up there. You got to, I feel like you got
1:09:36
to catch it during the summertime though, and I'd
1:09:42
probably say Philly. But again, like this, it's going
1:09:45
to fall back on potentially like a postseason plan.
1:09:48
You know, maybe we run that back.
1:09:50
We didn't do it this year. Maybe it's every other year for
1:09:53
us. We are going to to truest.
1:09:55
But I've been there. Just not a new one.
1:09:59
But yeah, I just I need to see a new park man.
1:10:01
I didn't get out. I did.
1:10:02
I went to a couple games. I went to Dang, dude, I only go
1:10:11
to one game this year. Yeah, to one game.
1:10:14
I I'm probably close to that. Like I went to a few more than a
1:10:20
few, but a depressing amount for as much as I claim to love going
1:10:24
to baseball games. So that's sort of why I added
1:10:27
that this year. I was like, I need, we need to
1:10:29
just totally flip this on its head and get to more than we've
1:10:32
ever been to. Maybe, like I, I hate to say it,
1:10:34
a lot of my decisions are wrapped around food in the plan.
1:10:38
Maybe I get out to Kansas City, get some real bad ass BBQ, see a
1:10:45
see a pretty decent park. Beautiful.
1:10:47
Park, see a friend of the pod. You know, sit out of the pod,
1:10:52
sit out by the fountains. I think that might have to be in
1:10:56
play. I like it.
1:11:03
Are we both too deep on the on our list?
1:11:07
Too deep. Did didn't you start the list or
1:11:13
did I start the? List.
1:11:13
Oh, you haven't said your second.
1:11:15
I'm sorry. Yeah, learn to keep up.
1:11:17
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:11:18
All right. Hit me with three.
1:11:19
Oh wait, so that was your third one?
1:11:21
That was my second. OK, my third one.
1:11:25
This is interesting and I I will admit, I think it it pairs very
1:11:30
well with my first resolution for 2025 of going to more games
1:11:36
or, you know, watching going to more games in a year that I
1:11:39
still need to clarify that I need.
1:11:41
I need to figure out which which route I want to take for that or
1:11:44
if we're going to combined route watching, attending my number,
1:11:49
my number 3IN no particular order, but my third resolution
1:11:53
for 2025 is make a non baseball fan a baseball fan.
1:12:00
That's great you like that one. I I was proud of.
1:12:03
That one. I was, I was proud of you.
1:12:07
So I'm, I'm going to have to identify, I'm going to have to
1:12:10
identify somebody in my circle or maybe even, you know, go
1:12:14
outside of my circle a little bit and, and branch out, maybe
1:12:17
make a new connection there and say, hey, let's bond over this.
1:12:20
Let me tell, let me show you all the good things that you're that
1:12:23
you're missing out on. Perfect.
1:12:25
And I challenge, you know what? I challenge people watching,
1:12:28
people listening to do the same, like let you know if if
1:12:31
everyone, if every baseball fan picks somebody in their life
1:12:37
who's not a baseball fan and made them a baseball fan, just
1:12:40
think of how great things would be.
1:12:42
Yeah, I like it. I like it.
1:12:46
Mine's more of like a a physical accomplishment.
1:12:52
Swing a bat or field a ground ball at some point this year.
1:12:55
Dude, let's go get my fat ass out.
1:12:58
Let's go on the field and just try to do something.
1:13:03
Dude. Let's do somewhat athletic.
1:13:05
Let's do something I don't know what.
1:13:07
It would be I can't do a men's league.
1:13:08
I'm out that's done that, that first.
1:13:10
My life is fully, fully out. I've no interest in softball
1:13:15
either so. Agreed.
1:13:16
Yeah, I'm with you on that. I don't want to play softball.
1:13:18
Baseball I might have. To just.
1:13:20
I might have to just get AT and and and let Paige just whack at
1:13:24
some ground balls dude. See what I still got?
1:13:27
I've had Meredith hit me ground balls before and you would have
1:13:30
thought that it was coming off the bat of like, Albert Pujols,
1:13:33
like the way that I was getting to balls so slowly.
1:13:36
It was embarrassing, but no, what I was saying is let's I
1:13:43
don't know what it would be or what we'd do, but if we're going
1:13:45
to this All Star game in Atlanta, let's let's like, I
1:13:49
mean, we're going to have plenty of time on our hands because
1:13:51
we'll be down there for. It's find a field takes.
1:13:53
Many days find a field we'll I don't.
1:13:57
Maybe there'll be other people down there we can link up with
1:13:59
and just spend a day at the. Old that's a good idea field if
1:14:02
we have any like listeners or fans like are going to be in
1:14:05
Atlanta for the All Star game slash Holman Derby, maybe we
1:14:09
link up. I don't I don't really want to
1:14:12
buy a bucket of balls. I mean, maybe we could maybe we
1:14:14
buy a bucket of balls and like donate it to a high school or
1:14:16
something. Yeah, that's a good idea and
1:14:19
then just take some G BS down there.
1:14:21
I'm not flying with spikes, though.
1:14:23
I don't have spikes anymore. Do you?
1:14:25
I got spikes from the Sunday league I was in not too long
1:14:28
ago, but I can't, I mean, I I probably always will have a pair
1:14:32
of spikes until I'm probably 60 because like you just never
1:14:35
know. I used to admit the Thanksgiving
1:14:37
Turkey Bowl for our church this this past Thanksgiving.
1:14:40
So you got to you got to have a set of spikes on hand at least.
1:14:45
But all right, that was good. I like that solid right Got got
1:14:48
a. Resolution.
1:14:49
These are actual realistic goals.
1:14:52
These are very obtainable. I'm I'm a fan.
1:14:56
I'm I'm glad we did this. I'm glad we got it out there in
1:14:59
an official capacity and I'm looking forward to seeing these
1:15:03
boxes get checked. That brings us to the end of our
1:15:06
episode. Nate, everyone listening, have a
1:15:09
Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, whatever you're
1:15:14
doing out there this week, and have a happy new year again.
1:15:18
To reiterate, this will be our last episode of the 2024 year.
1:15:23
It's been fun. We thank you all for for
1:15:26
listening, for watching, for supporting, for tagging along.
1:15:32
We got some exciting things in store again, starting with
1:15:35
episode 500 to kick off the year and got a little bit of an
1:15:40
announcement that sort of partners with that that will be
1:15:43
launching at the start of the year.
1:15:47
Most likely a little little TBD on that, but keep your eyes
1:15:51
peeled. But ultimately thank you all for
1:15:55
for another year in the books debate.
1:15:58
The official season ended couple months ago, but we like we like
1:16:02
to sort of wrap the calendar year as well because now we can
1:16:05
officially look forward to the new year, the new season and all
1:16:10
that that will entail. So we are looking forward to it.
1:16:13
Good speech, Poppy. Oh, Merry Christmas.
1:16:17
Happy Christmas to any Brits out there.
1:16:19
That's I think that's what they say over there across the pond.
1:16:24
And happy anniversary, pal. Hey, thank you.
1:16:28
Yeah, yeah. Five years, man, it goes fast.
1:16:32
That's insane. That's crazy.
1:16:33
Actually, five years. That's actually crazy.
1:16:36
Wow, wow, wow. New Year's Eve.
1:16:40
Crazy. I love it.
1:16:42
Well, you guys know the drill. Doesn't matter if it's this year
1:16:47
or next year. Don't go chasing curveballs.
1:16:49
We love you all as always. Looking forward to talking more
1:16:51
baseball with you guys soon. Until next time, stay filthy.