Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal’s weekend update: Scherzer’s Jays journey, M’s add back Polanco. Giants plans, Lynn for closer?

Transcript

Ken Rosenthal’s weekend update: Scherzer’s Jays journey, M’s add back Polanco. Giants plans, Lynn for closer? · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Here they are. They want to trade Stroman, and if
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: they trade Stroman, that could open up some things. But
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I don't expect if they do anything Scott for it
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to be something big.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: It's the inside scoop with FT senior insider Ken Rosenthal
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Kenneth's Friday, We're a little loopy, so I'm gonna give
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: you an option. We're going to ask you about both
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: of them. But would you like to start with Max
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Scherzer or her Heye Polanko the two big signings of
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: the past twenty four hours. I would say Max Scherzer boom,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: all right, let's do it your thoughts.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: He's going to the Blue Jays. He is. And what's
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: interesting about Max is that he's still going right at
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the age of forty forty one. And remember last off
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: season he had back surgery, so he didn't have a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: full off season. This offseason, he's healthy and in a
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: position where he could work out and do his normal regimen.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And I know he's excited about that, about the mere
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: fact that he is having a full off season. This
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: is one of the most competitive people I've ever met
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: inside or outside the game, and I would never bet
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: against him. I know Obviously he's had a series of
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: injuries in the last few years, but I'm eager to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: see him pitch again in twenty five.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Obviously, this is a different offseason. If we had heard
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: anything about Max Scherzer before, it would have been like, well,
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Max shus is going here. Things have changed with the
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: back surgery and kind of the season that it is.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Were there other teams that were in the mix? And
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: I say that because of the fact that I don't
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: feel like fifteen and a half million is that much
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: for what he brings. That just that aura that kids
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: talk about all the time, that competitiveness to a pitching staff,
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: which I think is a huge, huge bonus for this
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: team that already has a lot of really competitive pitchers.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Well, the injuries certainly played a role in the salary.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: He's had a number of issues in the past several years.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: You can't count on him the way you once did.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Remember when the Mets paid him forty or so. It's
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: not happening anymore. So that's real and why he didn't
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: get huge money. It was quite interesting, as Chandler Roam
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: of one of our podcasts pointed out that he got
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: five hundred thousand more than Verlander. Those two guys have
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: been in competition their entire careers, and I'm sure that
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: was not an accident. So I don't know exactly Eric,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: where the other interest was coming from, how much interest
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: he might have had. But he's going to a team
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: that you guys were just talking about wants to be competitive.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not totally convinced yet they're there, but they've done
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: a lot this offseason. Now I still wonder, Okay, even
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: if they're good in twenty five, what happens in twenty
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: six and beyond, especially if they don't resign Vlad Junior?
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: But are they going to be an interesting team on
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the field. Yes, they will be, and Max makes them
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: that much more interesting.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: Ken, Speaking of teams that are really going for this offseason,
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: the Seattle Mariners went and got Hora Palonco. What is
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: your reaction re signing him? How did this thing come about?
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: We heard about the Astros, but the Mariners end up
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: snagging him and bringing them back Trevor.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: They've been looking for infield help the entire winter, and
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Polanco is a guy that they had last year they liked.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: He had knee surgery in the offseason. This offseason, and
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: he's now feeling better. Apparently that had bothered him for
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: several years and really compromised him last year. So he
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: is healthy one hundred percent. We wrote this about a
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: week ago, and that alone encouraged the Mariners, the Astros,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and perhaps other teams to take a longer look at him. Now.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: He got one year seven point seventy five million, didn't
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: break the bank by baseball standards, but the Mariners clearly
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: are in a situation this offseason where they don't have
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: much room to work with. So he's a guy that
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: fits for them. He's going to play third base for them,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: and that's an area where they had a hole. They've
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: got a number of options at second, They've got JP
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Crawford at short. They're going to be okay, I guess,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: but it's not what they should be in terms of
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: this is the team we talked about. If you remember
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: at the start of the offseason, an obvious fit for Alonzo,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: for Christian Walker, any of the big first baseman, and
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: of course none of that is happening.
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: Talking about the Mariners. Can they have the pitching as
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: we know, they just picked up Polanco. That's really good.
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: Couple things here are they done right now. I mean,
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: you think about Jerry Depoto, man, this is a big
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: year for him coming up. At the end of the day,
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: he's got it. I feel like, in my opinion, it's
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: to make it or break it year. He's been doing
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: it for a while. We don't know that necessarily, nor
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: do I, but I feel like this year, since the
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: pitching they got, and you know, hitters should be hitting
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: a little more. I mean Ted Simms when I talked
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: to him, they said he could have been a World
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: Series team last year if they just had the hitting.
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: Of course I believe that as well. But is this
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: to make it break a year for him? And do
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: you see the Mariners doing a little bit more?
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Todd, I'm not sure the answer to that question. And
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: you can argue that, yes, it should be a make
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: or break year for to Poto, But at the same time,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: it's ownership dictating their strategy. Ownership's budget that is dictating
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: their strategy. Now they've signed Donovan Solano and they've signed
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: now Polanco. It's not great. We all know that it's
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: not the impact that they need. Those two guys are
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: good players. They should help, Don't get me wrong, but
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: this is a team that needs bigger than that now
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: in terms of the future, ownership has repeatedlypacked Jerry Depoto
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: and given him additional chances to keep going. I don't
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: expect that to be any different. I expect them to
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: be reasonably competitive, and ownership has to know we've only
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: given to Poto this much. So listen, you know how
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the sport works. You guys all know that things change
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: and ownerships get frustrated, and gms get fired, managers get fired.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: It can happen. But the way the ownership of the
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Mariners has acted toward de Poto, I don't expect it
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to happen or why it would happen, just based on
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the fact that they've supported him for so long. And
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: also I should say they've built an amazing pitching program
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: and that's the photos responsibility too.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Ye yeah, he built that and it's awesome, Like you said, amazing.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Let's go back over to the East coast. We commend
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: teams that sign guys early and go for who they want.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Did the Orioles maybe overpay a little bit for Tyler
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: O'Neil based on how the rest of the market has gone.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Eric I wrote about this yesterday with Will Salmon in
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: the Athletic and I just sort of raised the question.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know that you can make a judgment yet
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: because none of this has played out right. But Tyler
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: O'Neal is a guy who got three years forty nine
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: point five million with an opt out after one. He's
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: a guy who's been hurt a lot the last few years.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Profar who is a guy who is flawed in his
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: own way because really he has not succeeded outside of
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: San Diego, and last year was the outlier. He was amazing,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: He was great last year. But he gets three years
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: forty two from Atlanta. That's a good amount lesson that's
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: a month later. And then Tondair he got the big number,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: the ninety two point five, but with deferrals it's more
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: like seventy. So his AAV is fourteen. Tyler O'Neil's is
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: sixteen and a half. You could make the case, well,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: maybe the Oils should have waited this out. My question
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: is more the choice and whether O'Neill proves to be
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: finally a healthy player and one who is really productive
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: over I don't know, one hundred and thirty, one hundred
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: and forty games He's a guy with immense talent. We
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: all know that, and he's the right handed bat they
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: need to replace Santander. And keep in mind they gained
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: a draft pick by losing Santander after making him a
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: qualifying offer. But I just want to see how it
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: all kind of evolves this season. And I just thought
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: in the column it was fair to raise the question. Okay,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: did as you asked, did they jump too early? I'm
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: not sure the answer is yes. I'm not sure the
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: answer is no. But it's something that I'll be checking
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: and will be following on the whole year.
• 7:58
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• 9:00
  Speaker 4: Speaking of other interesting things that you've mentioned recently, lance
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Lynn drawing some interest as a closer, which piques my
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: interest as well. But I am interested to hear your thoughts.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: We all know about the mentality, but what else about
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: lance Lynn would make him a great closer in your opinion.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: I'm on board, and he seems interested. But you know
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: where this seems a little bit kind of out there
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: for the current news right here in February.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Remember I heard it too. I thought it was out
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: there as well, and I talked to Lance and he said, yeah,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: teams have been calling about this, and they're noticing and
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: seeing just what you just described. He is one of
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: the most competitive guys in the game. He is absolutely unafraid.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: We know he relies on his fastball and it's here
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: it is hit it. So could he be a Manuel
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Classe I don't think so. But at the same time,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: he had a pretty good year last year, and he's
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: had a pretty good career in general as a starter,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: so I see no reason why he couldn't succeed in
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: the ninethe inning. He certainly would not be afraid. Now
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: if this all comes to pass and he ends up
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: signing as a closer, that remains to be seen because
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: he is still, of course drawing interest as a starter
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: as well. But here he is, and you asked about him,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: and physically where he's at, Well, look how thin he
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: is compared to where he was. He told me that
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: he was a two to eighty and he's down to
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: about two fifty two fifty five. He just at his
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: training regimen because he was frustrated last year that he
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: spent time on the injured list with that knee problem.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: So again, is this guy going to be Mariotto? No?
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: But could he close. I have no doubt he could
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: close and probably be pretty good at it in a
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: relative sense. He's not going to be one of the
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: top guys, but could he get the job done. I
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: don't see why not.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Kain I want to take us to the Yankees. We
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: haven't talked about them in a minute. They did a
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: lot of their damage earlier this offseason, but some fans
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: are asking specifically about their infield. Do you think they're
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: comfortable with the infield the way it is, or do
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: they perhaps make a late move to try and shore
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: up third base with Jazz at second I.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Don't believe they are comfortable. The question is how much
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: you're going to be able to spend, and hal Stein
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Brenner has been pretty clear that maybe the line has
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: been drawn now, or at least they're not going to
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: go too much above where they are, so here they are.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: They want to trade Stroman, and if they trade Stroman,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: that could open up some things. But I don't expect
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: if they do anything Scott for it to be something big.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: I don't expect it to be Bregman. I don't expect
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: it to be Arnado, though that is less expensive than
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Bregman would be at least in terms of the dollars
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: and the commitment you're taking on. If they do something
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: at third base, obviously Jazz play second. If not, well
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: it looks like Jazz plays second. Anyway, they go with Lemeyu,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: some combination of him, Parazza and Cabrera. I don't know
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: how that's going to work out, but they're incomplete right now.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: They need not just another infielder, but a left handed reliever,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: and they could bring back Tim Hill. But those are
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: two pieces that if they do address them, and them
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: in a good way, I would expect that they would
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: be considered going into the season the favorites to win
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: and repeat as American League champions.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: We never really understand all that the race. They signed
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: a colossal Rays contract with Hassn Kim, who's not going
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: to start, but they also had Junior Kim Anaro, who
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: is obviously making highlights all over the Dominican Winner League championships.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: It felt a little weird for me. I get the
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: value add that they're getting Hassan Kim, but is it
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: telling you what they really think of Junior.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Junior's a third baseman, so that's not really in question.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: He's going to play third base for them and Hashan Kim.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I know this confused a lot of people. Why would
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the Rays go out and sign an injured player to
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: the salary that they did when they could lose him
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: after one year. But that's how good they think Hashan
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Kim can be for them, and we all know that
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: he is a really good player. Obviously, he's coming off
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the shoulder surgery. He will not be ready until May
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: if that, and it's a risk, but at times they
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: have to take risks to get the players they want.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: They clearly are trying to upgrade their offense as best
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: they can. It's going to be naturally upgraded by moving
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: from Tropicana Field to Steinbrenner Field, so that's going to
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: help them. It won't help their pitching as much, but
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: that's more of an offensive environment in Tampa than they
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: experienced in Saint Pete. So I expect that this move
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: is going to be pretty good for them. And ultimately, yes,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: if he opts out, Okay, it was one year and
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: it didn't go exactly the way they want it. But
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: if he opts out, it's because he had a good year.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: So we'll see how this plays out. But I love
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Hashan Cammon. Who knows, guys, maybe he always dreamed of
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: playing at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees minor league complex or
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: training complex.
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: That's great.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: And he's like always wanted to be a Yankee and
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: they're like, oh, you can't be a Yankee yet their mind.
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: Okay, Junior Kemena are actually coming on Monday next week.
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: That that's pretty cool. We'll get to talk to him.
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: We saw you look down on your phone there. I
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: had a question, but is somebody just signed right now?
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: Are we all right?
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: No, I'm just getting a call. Oh okay, person him
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: right back.
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: You could, you could take it on the show like that's.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Never been It's not going to happen, Todd.
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: Anyway. You know, I want to get on Peter a
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: Lonzo here a little bit. You know, we've been talking
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: about him a lot and understanding you know, if he
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: has leverage, if he has what team wants him, and
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: the Reds actually were a team that you know, was
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: in talks. And now for me, I'm like, all right,
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: well this is getting a little more interesting. Is there
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: anything to that or is it the Mets to the
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: only team pretty much right now to you know, finalize
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: this deal. To get this done.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: My understanding is that there's nothing to that, and the
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Reds are not in a financial position to do it.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Lonzo would require draft of compensation. I just don't see
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: that happening. It seems like it's the Mets. The Blue
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Jays are bust. The blue Jays definitely I have been
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: in and that would be an interesting move that would
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: take their offseason to another level from where it is
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: right now. I don't know that he wants that though,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: and my yes and you would know probably better than me, Todd,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: is that he wants to be back with the New
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: York Mets. I think of course he does. It's a
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: homegrown guy. He succeeded there. He wants to play there.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Problem is, the Mets aren't giving him what he wants.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: So this thing could drag a bit longer. Maybe not.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Maybe they come to some compromise at some point, but
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: it's not going to necessarily end the way Pete Alonso
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: envisioned when he became a free agent, or even in
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the years before that. Remember he had that offer for
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: seven years one fifty eight, which included his final arbitration year,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: so it was effectively six years about one thirty eight
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: in new money, and that was with his previous agent.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: He switched to Scott Bors, and I'm sure when he switched,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: he envisioned an even bigger deal. Hasn't happened, probably almost
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: certainly isn't going to happen. And now he's going to
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: have to see what he can end up with with
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: either the Mets, the Blue Jays, or maybe some other team,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: but I would not expect it to be the Reds.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I'm going to take us to the Giants for a moment.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Ken also a team that did most of its work
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: earlier this offseason, but they did just trade away a
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: pretty expensive reliever. So I'm gonna ask this question from cool.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: He said, can you ask Ken, what does the Giants
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: salary dump really mean of Taylor Rogers? They literally have
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: one lefty on their roster and none in their system.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: And I just want to spend it more to where
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: are we at with the Giants? Do we feel like
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Fuster Posey really made a mark this offseason for them
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: to be competitive?
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: They signed the Damis, that was their big move, and
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: I don't know where we're at. And I thought I
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: saw a report yesterday saying that they were basically done.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: This is what they expect to take into spring training.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: It should be a competitive team, there's no doubt about that.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: But are they going to be the team that they
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: want to be in the National League West? I'm in
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Backs have added Corbet Brown, the Dodgers have added everybody
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: under the sun. It seems like it's still going to
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: be an uphill fight for them. So that's where they
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: are right now. It's okay. Obviously a Damas is a
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: good player who's good really help them. They've done some
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: other things around the edges. But besides a Damas in Verlander,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: that's really it. And I expect Orlander will help them.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: But it's not a situation right now where I see
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: them as anything better than a third place team in
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: that division, and maybe, depending upon what San Diego does
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: or doesn't do, a fourth place team.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: All right, one more on this, because Buster Posey is
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: new to the party taking over this job. I was
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: listening to, you know, Jim Bowden's Front office show the
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: other day and he had Dave Fleming on the Giants
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: broadcaster and he was mentioning that it sounds as if
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Buster Posey is not into giving opt outs and that
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: might have helped them back from some free agency this year,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: and that's something they want to do going forward, because
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: they said it's not advantageous for them. They want go
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: to be there longer term. Do you think a strategy
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: like that could really work if they want to sign
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: the big boys, because generally, if you want to do that,
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: you've got to include those or you have to overpay.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: First off, Buster Posey is right, opt outs are only
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: favorable to the player. So from that perspective, I understand
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: where he's coming from. But is it a standard industry
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: practice at this point? Pretty much. I don't believe The
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Braves do it, and they get players obviously, but for
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: the most part, most teams do do it, and they
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: take the risk of a player opting out and only
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: getting that one or two good years out of him
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: before he leaves. It happened to the Giants last year
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: with Snell right they had him, but he opted out
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: after having a big second half. Matt Chapman had the
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: leverage over them with the opt out, he signed and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: re signed with them. That was a big move obviously
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: for them. But I can see where Buster Posey doesn't
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: like it. I don't know how practically it would be
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: to simply never do that, never have that option available
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: to you the way teams view it, opt outs, deferrals
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: for that matter. It's a tool to have in negotiations
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: that you can use or not use, but if it's
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: something that gets a deal done, you probably have to
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: consider using it.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you there, right If you're trying to
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: get the player, you gotta do what you gotta do
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: and worry about tomorrow tomorrow, Ken, thank you so much,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: appreciate the time. We'll catch you next week on Fair Territory.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Thanks guys.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: I actually have a question because we asked Ken rosadaal
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: about this. But let's just go around the room for
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: quick hitters. Lance Lynn as a closer, I personally love it.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: Sign me up, you love it?
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: Agreed?
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: Okay, agreed.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: What I mean if somebody can do it, he can
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: do it.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Well, it's your problem. What are you worried about?
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: I am worried that it doesn't work. And then you've
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: signed him up to be your closer, and then you're
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: gonna say, hey, go back to starting. How about we
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: start him because he's working up to be a starter
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: right now. Okay, And the reason he lost weight was
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: to get some of that you know, crankiness out of
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: his knee. There might be no more. Mass doesn't equal gas.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: He's not a ve Lo guy. I just feel like
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: lance Lynn wears guys down throwing strikes at the end
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: of the game. Trevor can attest to this more. Maybe
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: I'm way off. At the end of the game, dudes
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: are coming out swinging. He's gonna have to throw some
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: more balls, which is tough for him. He doesn't throw
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: a lot. He throws a ton of strikes, which is
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: a good problem to have. Not always as a closer.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Throwing balls could be his celebration as the closer. Well,
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: touching his balls, yeah, probably thirty seconds. But Trevor, yes,
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: or no closer.
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: I agree with Cratzy here start him as a starter.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: He's an anthing's eaters. He's talked in a nauseum about that,
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: about how he throws eighty five percent fastballs because he
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: wants guys to put the ball. He wants to get
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: off the field in three pitches. He said that to
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: me before, like that mindset. Yes, he's a competitor. I
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: think he could adjust, but you gotta have a wipeout pitch.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: You gotta be able to get a strikeout. I think
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: that's not something he has done or thought about much
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: in his career, and it would be a big shift
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: for him, But I think he could do it. I
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: just think that that's the way. That's the what you
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: need the closer now you need to you need to
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: wipe out pitch. They can go get a strikeout when
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: you need it. And he's a throw a lout of
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: fastballs guy, but he won't give up and he's not
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: going to shy away. So that's something that at least
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: you'll have right away. But I think you make the adjustment.
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: But maybe we start with what he's done well and
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: then transition in there if if that's what you need
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: to do.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: And I know the industry is shifted where they're valuing
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: quality often over quantity, but do need to eat some innings?
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: It is very valuable. How many times have we talked
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: towards the end of the season like this team's got
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: to find innings somewhere, So it does matter