Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Padres sign Nick Castellanos, Zac Gallen is back in Arizona, Harper vs Dombrowski?

Transcript

Fair Territory: Padres sign Nick Castellanos, Zac Gallen is back in Arizona, Harper vs Dombrowski? · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal. Interesting weekend for a couple of reasons. Well,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: one because we saw two teams in the NL West
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: not acting like they're conceding to the Dodgers, acting like
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: they're actually trying. And these are two teams I'm talking about,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks that generally do try,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: at least in recent times, the last four or five
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: years or so, maybe Arizona going back even further. Their
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: owner Ken Kendrick has repeatedly shown an interest in raising
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: payroll when he deems it necessary, and the Padres, starting
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: under their late owner Peter Sidler, have also been aggressive.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: But let's start with the Padres because they're in a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: little bit of a different situation now with the team
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: for sale, with new ownership coming in and the current
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: ownership not spending the way the previous owner Peter Sidler did,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: and the Padres under general manager Aj Preller, were in
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: something of a financial bind the entire offseason. They signed
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Michael Kingting to a three years, seventy five million dollar
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: free agent contract. This is after losing Dylan Cease after
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: losing you Darvish to injury. They knew that their rotation
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: was thin, and then in a twenty four hour or
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: so period over the weekend starting Friday, kind of going
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: into Saturday, they signed Nick Castillanos to a deal that
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: will pay him only the minimum salary. At least from
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the Padres perspective, the Phillies will pick up the rest.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: And then they added Griffin Canning and they added Hermann Marquez,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: two accomplished pitchers at times in their careers. Marquez, of course,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: from twenty seventeen to twenty one, was really good for
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: the Colorado Rockies. So where did the Padres stand. I'm
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: not sure exactly. I don't know if they're going to
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: be quite as good because even with the additions of
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Miguel Andrew Harr and now Castillanos, their offense that should
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: be okay. I don't have a much of a problem
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: with the offense and where it's going to be. I
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: do still worry about the pitching. We've got Joe Musgrove
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: coming off Tommy John surgery. This will be his first
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: year back. We've got Griffin Canning coming off on a
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: ruptured achilles tendon. He had surgery We don't know if
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: he'll be ready for opening day. Herman, as I said,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: has not been good since twenty one. Last year was
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: his first year back from Tommy John. His stuff was diminished.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Tristan McKenzie, they picked him up on a minor league deal.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: He was dfa'd by the Guardians last year. And Marco
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Gonzalez did not pitch last season after undergoing flexers tendon
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: surgery at the end of twenty twenty four. So let's
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: take a look at their additions and their subtractions and
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: we can kind of gauge where the padres are right now.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: It's an interesting series of moves, no question about it.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: As I said, they resigned Michael King. You can see
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: their additions right there, and you can see who they lost.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: They lost some pretty big pieces. Dylan Cees, Robert Suarez.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: They'll still have a terrific bullpen without him, Luisa Rayes,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Ryan O'Hearn, who was good after they acquired him at
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the deadline, Elios Diaz and Tyler. Now, the interesting part
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of the Castianas edition is, of course, what happened at
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the end of his tenure in Philadelphia. It was not pretty,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and it was not pretty going back to that incident
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: in Miami when he brought a beer into the dugout
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and of course had words with manager Rob Thompson. That
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: lingered the entire season. It festered the entire season. His
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: teammates turned on him, the coaches turned on him, and
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: ultimately the front office turned on him. He gets a
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: new start. And the one thing about the Padres, they
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: are a team that welcomes any and all into their clubhouse.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: They are a team of players with different personalities, and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: they have always encouraged their players, for better and at
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: times for worse, to display their personalities, to be themselves.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: So I would expect that Castianas would be a good
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: addition for the Padres in terms of the clubhouse. I
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: don't know that that's going to be a problem. What
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: is a question is whether he is again going to hit.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Below average offensive player last year, never a good defender.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: So that's the question I have with casting on us.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I like Andrew har he is going to hit, but
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the Padres much different mix. They have a lot of
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: options in the rotation. They don't need to hit on
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: all of them. If one of two of those guys
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: that I mentioned pitches, well, they should be in decent shape. Remember,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: they've got King Pavetta and Musgrove at the top of
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: the rotation. Randy Vasquez proved a decent back of the
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: rotation option last year. So here they go trying to
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: do what they can in the NL West. And as
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: I mentioned at the top of the show, the Arizona
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Diamondbacks are also trying to do what they can in
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the NL West. They were the fallback position for one
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: of their own, Zach Gollan, who was a free agent,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: rejected a qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks and then signed
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: back with the Diamondbacks when he couldn't get the multi
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: year deal he wanted. Took the qualifying offer in terms
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: of guaranteed money twenty two point zero two to five million,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: but because some of that has deferred, the present value
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: is about eighteen point seven million, so he actually got
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: less than he turned down. Not a great outcome for Gallon,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: but for the Diamondbacks it's a really good outcome because
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: they have in their rotation right now. They have, of
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: course Gallon, they have at the top of the rotation
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: as well, Merrill Kelly. He'll be their opening day starter.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Brendan fought Edward Rodriguez and Ryan Nelson, as well as
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Michael Soroka, who they re signed as a free agent
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, signed as a free agent back in December.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: I believe it was He can now supplement the bullpen
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: if that is the route they choose to go with him,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: if they stay healthy through spring training. As I wrote
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: in The Athletic on Sunday, he has incentives in both
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: starting and relief appearances, so he can go either way
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: and still earn more money than the seven point five
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: million he was offered. The Diamondbacks also have the strong
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: possibility of three important pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: sometime this season. I'm talking, of course, about Corbyn Burns
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: and about the two relievers, Justin Martinez and AJ Puck.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: They're gonna be okay, I would think from a pitching perspective,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: especially now with the return of Gallon on top of
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the return of Kelly, the question probably will be more offensive.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: And they've signed Noan Arnatto actually they traded for him,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: signed for first base Carlos Santana. They have some questions
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: still about what exactly is going to be, especially without
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Corby and Carroll to start their season with their offense.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: But the Diamondbacks two like the Padres, as I mentioned earlier,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: they're trying and that's what you want to see from
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: your teams, even the teams that aren't as wealthy as
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers. And you saw the interesting comments from Bryce
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Harper and Manny Machado on Sunday about the Dodgers. Both
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: endorsed what the Dodgers are doing, said it was good
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: for the games that more owners should do what they're doing. Well,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of course, their players, we get it. They want the
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: current system to remain intact. They want all teams to spend.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: But there is a segment of the fan base nationally
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: internationally that feels kind of the same way. So that's
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: a topic for another day. We'll discuss that at length
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: as we go on. Finally, in this first segment, I
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: want to get to the Orioles because the Orioles made
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: a move late last week as well, signing Chris Bassett,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: free agent right hander, to a one year, eighteen point
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: five million dollar deal. This sort of caps off their
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: off season from a pitching perspective, a starting pitching perspective.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: They've added Shane bas They've added Zach Efflin brought him back,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: and they've added Bassett to a group that already included
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Trevor Rodgers, Kyle Bradish and Dean Kramer. They've got Kade Povich,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: They've got Tyler Wells. They should have sufficient depth. The
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: question that is going to follow the Orioles all season,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and it's the question that I still have about them.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Did they do enough with that rotation. They certainly brought
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: in some new people and people that should help. But
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: we entered the off season saying what did they need?
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: A bona fide number one. Bradish is in his first
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: full season coming off the tim John Trevor Rodgers never
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: thrown more than one hundred and thirty three innings in
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: a season. These are guys who are top of the
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: rotation potential pitchers and if times in their careers have
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: shown that. But are they proven top of the rotation guys?
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Not quite now. The Oils were in the mix for Sis,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: for Valdez, for Rangers Suarez, but they ultimately did not
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: come away with any of them. They did not trade
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: for Freddie Peralta. So this is going to be the
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: question with the Orioles. They should have a really good
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: offense with the additions of Pete Alnzo and Taylor Ward,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: they could even trade, as I wrote on Sunday, either
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Kobe Mayo or Ryan Mountcastle. That's how deep they are
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: in right handed corner infielders. But at the same time,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: they're gonna have to pitch, and that's going to be
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the key thing for them. They're gonna have to do
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: it both from a rotation perspective and a bullpen perspective.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: They've got Kittridge back, They've signed Ryan Helsley. They are
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: what looks like on paper to be a formidable team
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: in the Al East. But as with every team, as
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: with the Padres, as we discussed earlier, their pitching is
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: kind of on a precipice. So I like where the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Oriols are. I would love it if they had landed
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: one of the top of the rotation guys. But remember
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: as well, each of those pitchers Valdez, Sies and Suarez
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: had questions about them. So nothing is a sure thing
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: in this game. And at least the Orioles did not
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: compromise their future too much by what they did in
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: trading for Baz and signing the free agents that they did.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: All right, that is it for the first segment. We've
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: got another one coming up, and then another one after that.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Stay with us, all right. We got the Warby Parkers.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: I got the Raiders, but one thing I upgraded to Polarized.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Sorry about it.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, these are good not only for wearing, but also
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: out in the sun. When I become that baseball coach
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: I always want to be with my kids. I got
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: the Hatchers. They're darker, a little bit wider for my face.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: They fit perfect, They're comfortable, easy process to order, these
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: really really cool glasses.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: I am a diehard Warby Parker fan. I do have
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: prescription glasses and I wear Warby Parker every day for
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: many years. I'm excited about this one. Give it a shot.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: Warby Parker gives you quality and better looking prescription I
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: wear at a fraction of the going price. Our listeners
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: get fifteen percent off plus free shipping when they buy
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: two or more pairs of prescription glasses at Warbyparker dot
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: com slash foul. That's fifteen percent off when you buy
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: two pairs of glasses at wa r By Parker dot
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: com slash foul. After you purchase, they will ask you
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: where you heard about them. Please support our show and
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: tell them Foul Territory sent you. Where were.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Time now for the inside Dish, the part of the
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: show where I talk about maybe a story I've written,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: maybe a trend in the game, maybe something else entirely.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: And today I want to kind of combine two of
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: those things, something I've written along with something that has
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: been baited in the game for quite some time now,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: and the question is the value of chemistry. Last week
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I wrote a story about Alex Bregman and his impact
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: so far on the Cubs, even though it is so
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: early in spring training. It's the same kind of impact
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: he made off the field with the Houston Astros and
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: last season with the Boston Red Sox. And I noticed
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: in the comments section of the article, and I hear
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: this from fans too from time to time they ask, well,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: what is the value of this? What about all these
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: things he's supposed to have done and supposedly does What
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: is it really? How much does it matter? Fair questions?
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: And in this age of analytics in baseball, it seems
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: to me that fans have grown so accustomed to everything
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: being quantified that when something can't be quantified, such as
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the impact of an Alex Bregman. It's difficult for them
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: to grasp, and it's also difficult for the people running
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: the teams to grasp, and at times, in my opinion,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: they underrat it. Now with Bregman, people might say, well, Ken,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: if you ask a bunch of the new players on
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the Cubs or the old players on the Cubs if
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: he's having an impact, of course they're going to say yes, yes.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: But if you read the article, yes, read the article,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: you will see I talked to players about concrete things
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: that Bregman is already doing and has done in the past.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: We saw stories like this when he was with Houston.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: He helped pitchers as well as hitters there. We saw
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: it last season with Boston. The young players swore by
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Alex Bregman and what he meant to that clubhouse, and
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: so did some of the veteran players as well. With him,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: he's bilingual. It's English speaking players, it's Spanish speaking players,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: it's hitters, it's pitchers. He's almost like another coach on
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the team. And of course none of this will matter
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: as much as what Bregman will be bringing to the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Cubs from a playing standpoint. His offensive value, his defensive value.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: But you can't tell me that there is no value
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: to this. In fact, the Cubs wanted him in part
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: for this very reason, and other teams did too, and
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: we will see the impact that he has over the
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: course of his five year contract. Five years, one hundred
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: and seventy five million is what he received in free agency.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: So that is one element and one example of chemistry
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: and what it might mean to a team. And I'm
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: going to talk about two others, Los Angeles Dodgers, two
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: time World Series champions. We talk all the time about
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: how much money they spend, about what they've done in
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: free agency. We talk a little bit about how good
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: they are player development. We don't talk often enough, in
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: my opinion, about that clubhouse and what they stand for
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: and how they go about it. That is a group
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: that holds each other accountable. It's a veteran group, to
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: be sure. Max Munsey, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, mcgil Rojas,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: all of these veterans that they have, and I'm sure
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: I'm missing a few of course, Taskar Hernandez being another
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: one in that group. When they have a problem with
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: someone on the team, they confront that player, but they
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: don't do it in a way that is necessarily negative.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: With them, the players seem to understand that it's all
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: about winning, that everything that they talk about, everything that
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: they do, is geared toward one thing, and that is
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: winning a World Series championship. So comments and observations by
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: players to their teammates that might cause problems in other
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: clubhouses don't seem to cause problems with the Dodgers. That's
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: good chemistry. On the other end of the spectrum, the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: twenty and twenty five New York Mets, now, some of
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: their fans have objected to the chemistry conversation the entire offseason. Basically,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: their point is, and it's a valid point, that the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Mets problem was that their starting rotation collapsed, and if
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: their starting rotation had not collapsed, we would not have
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: ever started talking about their chemistry. That is an entirely
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: fair point. However, President of Baseball Operations David's Stearns, with
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: the way he conducted this offseason, told you everything you
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: needed to know about what he thought of the team's chemistry. Now,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Stearns is an analytical guy, as analytical as anybody in
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: the game, but he obviously saw that their clubhouse wasn't
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: quite right. Now we've read all about the Lindor Soto riff.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Both players kind of denied it over the weekends that
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: everything was fine. It just seems to me that they're
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: kind of different types. I don't know that it's a
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: huge rift between them, but certainly by purging Nimo and
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: allowing Alonzo to walk and then getting rid of Jeff McNeil,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna exclude Edwin Diaz from this conversation. He's a closer,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: He's not considered a problem in any stretch. But by
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: doing what Stearns did again, that was a message that
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: was I want a different vibe, I want different players,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I want a different look here. Who do they bring in?
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Jorge Polanco been part of playoff teams, Boba Schett part
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: of playoff teams, Luis Robert jor know. But in many
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: of the examples that I will refer to there, in
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: many of the cases where they looked for new players,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Marcus Simeon is another one. They looked for players who
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: had good reputations for chemistry and who also are guys
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: that have been part of winning teams. The complaint, I
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: don't know how fair it is, but the complaint some
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: fans had with Alonso, Nimo and McNeil, and the complaint
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the front office seemed to have with Alonzo, McNeil and
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Nimo to some degree, was we haven't won with these guys,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: So we haven't won with these guys. Let's try something else.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: So again, to wrap this up, I can't tell you
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the value of chemistry. I can't tell you if Alex
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Regman will mean two or three more wins to the
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Cubs this year, simply because of who he is on
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the club, because of what he might impart to teammates
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: such as Pete Crow Armstrong to a tip he might
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: give a pitcher at some point. You don't know what
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: that is. But people who know the game, people who
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: are involved in the game, they know it's something. The
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: people who are involved with the Dodgers, they know it's something.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: The people who are involved with the Mets, they know
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: it's something. We're not making this up, folks. Chemistry is
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: a real thing. We'll be back with Grill and Ken
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: right after this bet.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: I'm jam account holders today. How about in any sport
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: parlay boost token you can score a bigger payout if
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: your wager with that token hits. Tokens can be used
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: on parlays and on same game parlays. Gambling problem or concerned,
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: there's help called one eight hundred Gambler.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Time now for Grill and Kenton, the part of the
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: show where I answer your questions. Let's get right to them.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: First question comes, Well, it's coming from somewhere, but it is.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Will Dave Dombrowski's comments about Bryce Harper galvanized or splinter
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: the Phillies. I don't expect the comments by Dombrowski about Harper,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: whether he's elite or simply a good player. He's going
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: to galvanized, excuse me, the Phillies. It's going to galvanized,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: and I believe has galvanized Bryce Harper, which is probably
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: exactly what Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations for the Phillies,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: intended when he had those comments at the end of
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: the season. You remember that I referred to them. He
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: basically said, well, Bryce has been an elite guy, but
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: last year he was only a good player, and it's
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: up to him whether he becomes elite again. Harper addressed
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: those comments Sunday to reporters. He said they were kind
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: of wild, you didn't expect something like that to surface publicly.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: And I don't know that it's going to give Bryce
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Harper any more motivation. Bryce Harper is not a guy
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: who needs motivation. We've seen him. He's one of the
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: most fiery players in the game without his president of
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: base Operations making any comments about him whatsoever. But if
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: it does galvanize Harper to use the word in the question,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: well even better. And in my opinion, Dombrowski when he
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: said that, that's exactly what he wanted to do. He
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: wanted to get under Harper's skin. He wanted to maybe
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: give him a little bit more incentive, motivation, whatever you
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: want to call it. Now Again, Bryce Harper doesn't need that.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: But when you've got something to prove, a little extra
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: to prove never hurts when you're a major league player,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: even for a superstar. So that was the point of
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Dave Dombrowski's comments. I don't know that I would have
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: done it that way. I don't know that I need
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Bryce Harper any more motivated than he already is. But
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: that was where Dombrowski seemed to be coming from. And
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: to hear Harper on Sunday, you certainly know that those
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: comments irked him a little bit. All right, next question,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: this one is are there signs of competitiveness emerging in Colorado?
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: I actually wrote about this in my Notes column over
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the weekend, and I quoted Michael Lorenzen as saying that
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: the pitching group they've put together, the group of coaches
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: that they've put together, to him, is a big sign,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: a big reason why he signed there, and a big
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: possibility for the Rockies going forward. It's a group of
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: pitchers and coaches that came from other teams, and under
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: now President Baseball Operations Paul de Podesta and general manager
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Josh Burns, they're going to take a little bit of
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: a different approach, and I'm sure it's going to be
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: a more advanced approach than Colorado has taken in the past.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: They were not known as being one of the most
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: analytically driven teams, and beyond that, they're playing in the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: most difficult pitching environment in the Major League, So you
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: need to try something different. And Lorenzo's point to me was,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: these guys are capable of doing it. They're creative in
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: their thinking, and from that perspective alone, yes, there are
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: signs of life in Colorado good signs, and I expect
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Deep Podesta and Burns to do well there now. Well,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: as a relative term, it means in their case, better
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: than they were last year, and then better than next
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: year after that. But they've got nowhere to go but up,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: and I expect with these two guys running the team,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: they will do exactly that. Next question, this one is
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: how would you describe this quote from Red Sox president
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Sam Kennedy about Alex Bregman. The quote was, if Alex
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Bregman wanted to be here, ultimately, he'd be here.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: How would I describe that quote? I would describe that
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: quote as rather interested as in Sam Kennedy, what are
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: you trying to say there? If you offered Alex Bregman
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: the most money, he'd probably be in Boston. If you
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: offered Alex Bregman the not trade clause that he clearly
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: decided desired that the Cubs were ruling to give him,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: he'd probably be in Boston. When you get beat out
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: for a free agent, you get beat out because you
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: didn't offer enough in one form or another. So it's
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: not necessarily up to Bregman to decide whether he wants
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: to be in Boston. It's up to the Red Sox,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: as it was with Mookie Betts, to impress him enough,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: impress upon him enough that he is wanted to persuade
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: him to stay in Boston. So this is not on
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: our Alex Bregman. Unless he turned down thirty million more
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: from the Red Sox, then it's a fair point to
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: make if you're Sam Kennedy. But Sam Kennedy did not
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: say that that is what happened. He only said if
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: he wanted to be here, he'd be here. Well, yes,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: no kidding. But in free agency, anything goes. The Cubs
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: made them the best offer. The Cubs got the player.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: The Red Sox need to be quiet about what they
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: might have done for Alex Bregman unless they're willing to
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: show their hand completely. And hmm, I just don't think
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: they are all right. One more question before we go
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: this one? Ooh, I like this one. What's next for
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Max Scherzer. Now? I spoke with Max Scherzer about I
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: don't know a month ago, and he said that he
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: is willing to sign with the right team right now.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: He's ready to go, he's healthy, he's good, but he's
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: not going to sign with just any team who makes
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: him an offer. He wants the right team. There are
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: certain teams that he has in mind, and if he
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: doesn't hear a good enough offer from one one of
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: those teams, then he is willing to wait until after
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: this season begins. So once the injuries start to mount,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: and they already are starting to mount, I would expect
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: at that point Scherzer to make a move. And you
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: see his former team, the Toronto Blue Jays, his last team,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: a team that he loved pitching for. They've got some
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: issues with pitchers getting hurt already. Boden Francis out for
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: the season. Shane Bieber, we knew when he accepted the
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: qualifying I'm sorry when he opted in on his deal,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: it exercised his player option. You almost knew something was up.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: It's one year, sixteen million. If he was healthy, he
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: could have gotten more in free agency, but no, he
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: exercised the option. So they've got some physical concerns and
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: I'm sure at some point, if it gets more acute
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: for them, they'll be more interested in Max Scherzer. He's
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: certainly have been willing to spend more money his Orus Sanchez.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: They bring him in this week six point eight million
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: or so, and they're already over the highest threshold. They
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: took him and took all of his money and had
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: no problem doing it. So the Blue Jays could be
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: one possibility for Scherzer, and I'm sure there are others
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: as well, but he is in a position where he
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: can wait because guys are going to go down, and
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: then once the season starts, not only are injuries going
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to occur, in effectiveness is going to occur for certain
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: pictures as well. And when you have all these combinations
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: of things happening, then openings arise and teams get more
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: desperate perhaps than they are now. All Right with that,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: we're gonna wrap up today's show. Thank you for watching
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: for listening. Foul Territory coming up at one o'clock et
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Buck Show Walter joins aj Eric Kratz and Scott Braun.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: We'll be back Thursday, usual time slot twelve thirty Eastern
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: with Alana Rizzo. Have a great week everyone, We'll talk
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: to you soon.