Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal's Inside Scoop: Extension szn, Cubs finances, Juan Soto’s host fam, LA/SD dominance

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Ken Rosenthal's Inside Scoop: Extension szn, Cubs finances, Juan Soto’s host fam, LA/SD dominance · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's third. As you mentioned in Revenues twelfth in payroll,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: that's a disparity that has fans kind of wondering what
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the heck is going on, and rightly so.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Let's hit the homage inside Scoop with FT senior insider
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal to feel Good Friday. So let's start with
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: your story on Juan Soto. I'll let you elaborate on
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: how it came together and give us a little taste
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: of Soto's past.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Actually, this story came together because another writer not from
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the Athletic actually gave me the number of the man
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: who was the head of the host family when Jan
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Soda was in Hagerstown in twenty eighteen. This writer had
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with this story. He covers a team
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: that has no relation to Wan Soto. So he was
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: gracious enough and kind enough to pass along the number.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And then I called Brian Campbell, who is the guy
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: right there, second from the left, and he's the one
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: who was the head of that family. Those were his
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: three sons, and he was married at the time, and
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: they had Soto and other players in their home for
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: span up about three years, not all at the same time,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: of course, and Soto was only there for about three weeks.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: But the gist of the story is that while Soto
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: was only in Low A for three weeks, then he
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: went to High A, Double A to the majors in
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: less than a month that season. In twenty eighteen, that
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: family formed a bond with him, and he formed a
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: bond with them, and to this day they communicate and
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: it's just kind of a really cool thing to see
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: a host family like that still in touch with the player. Now.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I should mention that with the new Minor League CBA,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: there are no host families anymore. Players get guaranteed housing,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: they got higher salaries, so Major League Baseball and Minor
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: League Baseball and the players Union determined there's really no need.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: But there was a value to host families in helping
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: these players, some from the United States, but a number
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: of them from Latin America get acclimated to the culture
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: here just to being a professional. And from that perspective,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: it was a different kind of story to do. It
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: was cool and Sodo was really engaged and excited to
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: talk about his days, even though it was only three
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: weeks with that family.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: Did he give any specific things that he remembered about
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: having a host family. While it was just for three weeks,
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: I had a host family when I first went in
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: a rookie ball in medicine Hat Alberta in two thousand
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: and two. The Harpals to the point where they had
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: just had a baby, and now that baby is twenty
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: five years old. So there's connections when you have a
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: host family. But he say anything that like really stuck
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: out to him.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Most of the details came from Brian Campbell, the guy
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: who was the head of the family, and then I
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: would confirm them with one. I asked one about a
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: number of them, including when he first got the Hagers down,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: he said to Brian Campbell, hey, can we go find
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: a game stop. I need to take care of my PlayStation.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: When I told that to Soto, he just burst out
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: laughing because he remembered, and he remembered a lot of
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: these things, and what he came back most specifically was
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: they had a group of players in the house. I
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: think there were four at the time, and other players
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: would come over after games and they would go into
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the Campbell's basement. Soto said they would do karaoke, they
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: would play video games, they would play cards, and that
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: was what Soda remembered most, those nights in the basement
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: when they all kind of just got together and bonded.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: He was only nineteen then, he was a kid, so
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: it was a very important time for him in becoming
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: a professional. And yet to hear the Campbells tell it,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: to hear Brian Campbell tell it, I should say he
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: was pretty much all the way there.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and listen, at the end of the day, these
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: host families, they become like your second family.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Some of them.
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: I still have two that I still talk to. I
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: talked to a lot. I mean the Gallops in the
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: Cape Cod League. I played there twice. I remember the
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: daughter Kate used to do you know, ten thousand piece
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: puzzles and like She's like, come on and help me.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: And I would try and help and get frustrated. And
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: Lynn and Lauren, the paul Letts and Billings Montana. I
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: mean stories on stories that you know, these host families,
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: they become your family, and you got to treat them
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: my goal, and they treat you like gold back. And
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: most of the time you don't have to pay rent
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: at some of these family's houses.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's amazing, and again it's something of the past,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: and in a way that's a good thing because minor
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: league players, their conditions have improved with the new CBA,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: the fact that they're getting higher salaries and guaranteed housing.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: This is something that was needed for a long time.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: But there is something to the host family experience as well.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Todd and Eric, you guys just mentioned it. You still remember,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: So something's lost, something gained. I would say the gain
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: is greater than the loss here, even though I think
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: certain players may miss the idea or the experience of
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: having host families. But those playing conditions need to improve.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: And in the story, I remember asking Brian Campbell what
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: his reaction was when he I heard Soto got seven
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five million, and he said, hell yeah,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I saw what these guys went through. I saw the
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: impoverished conditions essentially that they were in. Let them get
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: all the money they can.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: Love that love that. Talk about losses, the Dodgers and
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: the Padres have no idea what that is. Which team's
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: gonna lose first? Maybe neither?
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Right? No, only kidding, I don't know. Eric. The Dodgers
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: are in Philadelphia. That's where I am this weekend with AJ.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: By the way, We have the game on FS one tomorrow,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: so that's a tough opponent clearly, but both teams are
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: quite good. It seems the Dodgers we knew would be good.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know that there was as much certainty about
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the Padres. They didn't do much this offseason. They were
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: kind of trying to stave off making trades and just
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: keeping their team together, and they did so. I like
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: obviously what I'm seeing from them, not just from the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: sheer performance, but the style of play. They're really excelling
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: at situational hitting. They're also running a lot, and it
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: just seems that they're kind of clicking on all cylinders. Now,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers are the Dodgers, They're going to do the
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: same kind of thing. But the way the Padres are playing,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: it's even maybe a step beyond where they were at
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: the end of twenty four. And that's saying something.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: Now on the contraria, you look at the Braves, they
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: haven't won a game yet. Now, Listen, they played the
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: Padres and they played the Dodgers. Four with the Padres,
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: three with the Dodgers. In some of those games, talk
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: a little bit about like where are these guys right
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: now a couple injuries aren't helping. It just looks like, listen,
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: they played some good teams. They got the Marlins coming up.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: I think they'll bounce back, but ultimately this doesn't seem
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: like they're clicking right now in all cylinders.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: You're right, Todd. And one thing I want to point out,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: there's been a lot of talk, well, no and seventeen
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: has ever made the postseason. Well, guess what, they're twelve
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: teams in the postseason. Now, it's easier than ever make
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the postseason. I don't preclude the Braves or expect that
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: they will not make the postseason simply because they've started badly. Now,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: the questions you raise are fair questions. They've already lost
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: profar Rinaldo Lopez for an extended period of time. Their
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: bullpen has gone through some changes already. It wasn't put
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: together all that well, it seems, and they're gonna need
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: to kind of keep scrambling to find the right pieces.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: So there are some causes for concern. The offense has
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: not performed, we all know that, but I would attribute
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: that more to good pitching and maybe some slow starts
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: by some of the players. This offense is going to
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: be good. Two years ago it was breaking records. Acuna
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: is going to come back, Sean Murphy's gonna come back
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: even before that, and then ultimately with the pitching staff,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: you're gonna get Strider back. Their rotation is thinner now
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: without Lopez, there's no doubt about it. But I still
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: see them as a formidable team, maybe even a wildcard team.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Remember last year how poorly the Astros started the Mets started.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: The lesson that I learned yet again in watching those
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: teams was it's a long season and things will play
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: out the way they're supposed to.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're saying that, spoken like somebody who picked the
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: Braves to make it to the World Series. We got it, Ken,
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: we got it.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: You're just trying. Don't know who you're talking about.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Eric, make sure make sure you're an AJ's pick. Just
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: stay stay afloat. I want to go back to the
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: Padres though. Actually, and Jackson Merrill's extension that he got,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: does this put this team because you said, oh, this
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: team was trying to stay afloat in the offseason, and
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: now all of a sudden they came up with one
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: hundred and thirty million dollars and I know some money's
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: coming off the books, but this was the same team
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: that was looking to get rid of possibly a Dylan cease,
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: possibly a Luis A rise because of the ten million
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: dollars they were making.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Well, Jackson Merril's not getting all one thirty five at once.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: It's over a period of time. And actually this deal
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: is considered by most people in the industry to be
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: rather team friendly. So in locking this guy up and
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: he seems to be someone who is going to be
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: not just a star, but maybe a superstar in the game,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: they did it in a way that really is kind
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: of financially logical for them and quite feasible. So as
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: opposed to some of their other deals, which looked inflated
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: at the time. Tatists maybe not, As it turns out,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: they should be fine with this deal, and ultimately, once
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: their ownership thing resolves, and I don't know how it's
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: going to resolve, it's kind of a mess. But they're
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: drawing three million plus, their town is alive, and I
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: would expect while maybe they spent beyond their means a
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: little bit or maybe even a lot, they'll figure it
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: out as they go along. In these contracts, some of
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: them Machado, I guess would be one. Once they get
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: into the latter years, like all of these big contracts,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: then they become perhaps problematic, but at the same time
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: they've got it going right now and it's actually an
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: example of how you can spend money to make money
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: and investing in your team and how it can reap
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: dividends for the franchise in general.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Ken, how do you look at some of these recent
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: extensions in terms of it being good or bad for
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: the game and even individuals. You know, it's hard you
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: look at, you know, a fan perspective and say, great,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: you've got this player locked in here for a while.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Of course, industry perspectives sometimes, like even for me this
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: week talking to some players and agents, they're like, oh,
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: they left so much money on the table, you know,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Merrill Campbell as well. And I asked them to elaborate,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: and you know, some of the responses have to do
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: with the age. That's what you hear a lot about, right,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: because that's what you always have to consider with free agencies.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Guys like Laddie Junior hitting free agency early, so too,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: et cetera, at this young age. They pointed to I
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: think both Campbell and Merrill would be free agents if
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: the options get picked up at around thirty two. And
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: I was kind of told that's the sweet spot where teams,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of hit the brakes on position player
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: deals that are going to be long term, Like they're
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: not going to sign a ten year deal at that point.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: So what do you think about the way that it's
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: being carved to get them to that certain number where
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: front offices are like, you're going to be on your
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: way down now.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: A couple of things here, Scott one. Merrill could have
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: been a free agent in twenty six. So there is
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: some talk that he left I don't know, one hundred
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: and fifty million on the table, two hundred million on
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the table, and yet he was adamant about he wants
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: not necessarily all the money. He wants his team to
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: build around them, and that's putting a lot of faith
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: in ownership to do that. But that's the position he took.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: And as I said on Fair Territory yesterday, with the extensions,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: it's always a little bit tricky because it's two sides
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: to every story. And while in Merrill's case, he had
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: what you would think was a valid reason for wanting
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: to take the deal he did. He said, hey, I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: don't need all the money. I want my team to
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: be strong. You can make the argument, certainly that he's
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: hurting other players by taking a deal like that, So
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: the teams can use that as kind of a tool
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: against their own players when those negotiations are taking place
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: with Christian Campbell, with any young player. A lot of
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: times when someone or a team throws a big number
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: in front of them and go back to Acuna, even
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: with one hundred million, and that was the deal, obviously
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: that was undervalued, these players can think, and their parents
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: can think, well, all right, mister agent, how are you
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: gonna guarantee me that my guy's ever gonna make that
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: much money, that my son is ever going to make
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: that much money in the game. You can't guarantee it,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: but here it is, it's guaranteed. Now. It's somewhat shortsighted
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, to think that way for position players,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: because if you go year by year, the chances of
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: you getting seriously hurt are not that great, certainly not
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: as great as they are for pitchers, and you ultimately
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: might be selling yourself short. But sometimes there are financial
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: circumstances that come into play. With a family, sometimes there
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: is familiar pressure that comes into play. So it's often
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: difficult to judge from afar and be too critical from afar.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: And I hear all the talk from the agents and
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: people on the player's side as well, and I understand
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: exactly where they're coming from. But in some cases too,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: you have smaller agencies and they're afraid of losing the
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: player to the larger agencies. Well, if that kind of
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: conduct would stop, and it never will, maybe you wouldn't
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: have some of these deals getting struck. But a lot
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: of times smaller agents are afraid to lose in their
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: players because that's what happens all the time in this sport.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: All right, talk about the sport right now. With Aaron Judging,
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: it is Aaron Judge doing thing. And this is hard
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: for me to even ask is he underappreciated for how
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: good he is? Because it's almost like teams are sitting
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: there going, no way he does this again, No way
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: he hits another homer, No way he goes three for four.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: We just struck him out last night, and then there
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: he is again. Wow. Danger.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Even Aaron Boone said last night that sometimes he takes
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Judge for granted, which you would think as his manager
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: would never have him. But if you're seeing it every
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: day and he only gets a double and not a home,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: you're like, hey, hey, why did the bag over the fence.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I don't know that he's underappreciated. Everyone seems to know
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: who Aaron Judge is. He won the MVP last year,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: of course, and the only thing missing with him right
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: now is that postseason dominance, which he has not achieved,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure that is driving him. Obviously he wants
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: to be great in the regular season as well, but
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: that other question is going to linger, and that's the
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: way the game is. Right But in terms of who
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: he is right now and who he has been for
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: I don't know, the better part of his career, you
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: could make the case that he's one of the great
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: right handed hitters in the game's history. Is he the greatest? No,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: I would not say he's the greatest, But if this
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: keeps up a couple more years, he's going to have
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: a case to be at least in that conversation if
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: he doesn't have that case right now. So it's kind
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: of cool to watch him because remember last year, he
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: started slowly and put together a massive season. This season
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: he started much better, and who knows what might be ahead.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: I want to talk a little bit about the Cubs
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: here reading your article with a couple other people as well.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: They are the money making machine, first of all, third
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: highest in revenue. They are absolutely dominating the game in that.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: But my question to you is, why aren't they paying
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: these players to come over here and have one of
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: these kind of La Dodger kind of type teams and
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: go after the National League. That's my biggest concern.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: That's the question we raised in the article, and I
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: wrote it with Patrick Moody and Sahada Sharma, the host
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: of Cubs Territory. I believe in North Side territory, and
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: that is essentially a todd That's what we were posing
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: in there. And other teams are willing to deficit spend,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: They're willing to defer money, they're willing to take on
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: additional partners. The Cubs have not been one of those teams,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: and that is one of the reasons why they perhaps
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: are not spending to the levels that some people might expect. Now,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: granted they own the ballpark, they have to keep the
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: ballpark going and renovate and do all the things you
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: need to do to keep a ballpark running. Operation costs
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: all of that, and there are other expenses associated with
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: running a team as well, So it's not necessarily always
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: an even equation money and money out in terms of
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: major league payroll. But at the same time, it is
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: certainly fair to ask, as we've been asking for quite
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: some time now, why this team is at one level
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: with its revenues and at another level with its payroll.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: It's third, as you mentioned in revenues twelfth in payroll.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: That's a disparity that has fans kind of wondering what
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the heck is going on, and rightly so. And they're
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: gonna face another test case as we mentioned in the
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: story Kyle Tucker. They acquired him with one year to go,
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: like the Yankees with Juan Sota last year. Most likely
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: he goes free agent. Do they keep him after giving
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: up what they gave up for him? And it's an
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: ongoing question with the Cubs. And I don't know that
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: we can expect them to spend like the Dodgers and Yankees,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: but could we expect them to spend more than the Diamondbacks,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: which they aren't doing right now, that's probably a reasonable expectation.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Follow up here, Ken, I mean, I know this has
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: been talked about a little bit. I believe Jed Hoyer
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: is on the last year of his deal. Quite simply,
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: if they don't make the playoffs, do you think that
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: they will look in another direction? Because there's a money
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: factor here, and I encourage everyone to check out the
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: article in the Athletic and then the farm system is
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: definitely starting to churn a little bit more now. But
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: they seem to be in win now mode, especially with
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Tucker for one year and not making the playoffs for
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: the last few years, and not probably having as much
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: homegrown talent, especially pitching wise, as they would have anticipated
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: over the rebuild that they were going through. So what
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: are your thoughts from a front office perspective on where
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: things stand and the heat they're feeling.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Certainly, when any executive, coach, manager, player is in the
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: last year of his contract, there's a different element of perspective.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: And we'll see how this plays out. Jet Hoyer, you
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: can argue, has spent more money than any team in
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: the Central and it really hasn't worked out. This is
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: since he's been head of baseball operations. He of course
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: was working in the geo Epstein during the Great Years
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: as well. Okay, but at the same time there have
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: been handcuffs. That's one of the terms of person that
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: we quoted in the story, used handcuffs put on him.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: They didn't sign Matt Chapman, they didn't sign Alex Bregman.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: I don't expect them to sign Tucker. So while they've
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: done certain things, yes, to spend more money than other clubs,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: and yes, you can argue they shouldn't be a team
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: that in the division with the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Pirates and Saint Louis Cardinals. Ever, has a problem
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: because they still are the most financially robust of those clubs.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: At the same time, they have done some things that
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: frankly are questionable with regard to their payroll. So if
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer is let go, if they don't have a
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: successful season, and there's every chance that every chance I
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: should say that they might every likelihood even that they will.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: But if they don't, yeah, you might be able to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: look at him if your ownership and say we'd like
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: a new voice to head our baseball operations. But if
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: that happens, I am quite certain people not just in
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: the media, but people all over the industry, fans as well,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: we'll look at this and say whoa ownership is the
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: issue here as much as the head of baseball operations.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Well, this weekend you'll have two heavyweights that do spend
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: and have had success. Obviously, the Phillies are looking for
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: a World Series title during this run, but not just
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: enjoy the game. Obviously working on Saturday for Fox. But
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I did not know that until you told us fifteen
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: minutes ago that it's an AJ Ken combos. Maybe he'll
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: take you to dinner or something like that. Good luck
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: to you Ken on the broadcast.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: I just hope I just hope Scott that he lets
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: me on the air once or twice because it's going
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: to be a problem.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, use those elbows. Get in there. You know, J
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: is only I don't know six four, two twenty or
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: whatever he is, but but get in there.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Twenty.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: What is he?
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: I thought it's a big boy. I'm two twenty. AJ's Bill.
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: He's a big dude. Yeah, you see him in person.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Ken knows so he's Nora.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: I can't believe Ken. I can't believe Ken and AJ
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: are in Philadelphia and I was just checking my text messages.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: Nothing, I guess I know nothing. It's okay. It's really far,
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: you know. Forty minutes is so far for me.
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: Nothing cratzy. Feel bad for you, doll.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: It's all right.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Sorry, it's work to be done. Man. I don't know
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: about AJ, but I gotta work.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Ken doesn't have time for your golf games, and the
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: weather still kind of sucks.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Ken.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Thank you have a great call.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Thanks guys,