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Players Under 25 to Bet On in 2025 · The 3-0 Take

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take, where we talk
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all things Major League Baseball.
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Here's Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes.
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It all starts right now. Welcome back to the Three O take
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presented by Sea Geek. This is episode 509.
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I'll be your host Kyle Cordon. I'm here with my Co host Nate
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Reyes. Nate.
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Howdy partner, howdy howdy. I know we got a lot of stuff to
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dive into today, but I needed to point out something that was
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fairly egregious that I wasn't aware of that the learning tube
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of TikTok taught me and it was a side by side comparison of A1.
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Absolutely great career. Someone who just got into the
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Hall of Fame who was one vote shy of being unanimous compared
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to one of one of my childhood favourites, Kenny Lofton.
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Kenny Lofton, for those unfamiliar, did not have the
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required 5% of amount of votes to stay on the ballot in 2013.
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So he was bounced and only spent one year on the ballot.
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Ballot. And yeah, I think he had like 3%
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of votes. And the numbers will shock you
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of how good Kenny Lofton was. And that that bugged me, that
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rubbed me the wrong way. I don't, I don't feel good about
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it. We've already talked about how
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the BBWA is an absolute joke and the Hall of Fame has become a
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joke. This is like 12 years old though
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so I don't know why I'm like just now being caught up and
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brought into the loop, but that one stings.
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It does. It does.
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And no knock against Ichiro. Like I don't like, I hate the
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argument of like, let's tear down this guy to build this guy
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up. I'm never going to be that kind
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of kind of person. But I think it was just
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comparison. Like one guy was one vote shy of
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being unanimous. One guy LED in more categories
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than not and was removed from the ballot for not getting a
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vote. Like this system is broken
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broken. And I think he'll probably get
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into that. Like whatever that later that
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late committee thing is. I think he'll eventually get in,
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but like dude, come on. Not to, not to step on your toes
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here because I know this is sort of your thing, but the amount of
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the amount of boot lickers that I've been interacting with as of
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late defending the BBWAA as if there's some sort of like a
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righteous collection of, of individuals.
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It's that's not it at all. Like I, I've talked about you
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and I both have talked about for for weeks, for months, for
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years, how they just consistently get it wrong.
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And people are saying for with for the Ichiro example, they're
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going, well, he got in. So what difference does it make?
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The fact that like this is in reference to the transparency
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issue that was just made sort of made public yesterday where
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where they released the the ballots and we still don't know
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who who voted for or who The Who the one person was that didn't
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vote for Ichiro. We don't know who it was.
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And people were saying, what difference does it make?
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He got in. It's like the fact that you have
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a collection of people looking at a guy like Heatro and I'm
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not, I've already made, I've, I've made this case multiple
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times already. I'm not going to, I don't want
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to rehash it, but the fact that you have people in that
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organization looking at a guy like Heatro and go, no, I'm
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good. The fact that previously you had
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guys look, you had those individuals looking at guys like
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Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Junior Nah, spare me
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the strategy. I've said it before.
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I said it again, spare me the strategy.
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If the strategy in my mind, if the strategy is to like, hey,
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this guy's going to get in anyway, let me use this vote
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another direction. Do that with like CC CC is
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getting in anyway, correct, but not going to be unanimous.
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He's not close enough to be like, get a guy that's just
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perfectly solid in the middle. He's getting in, but not no
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chance of being unanimous. And use that vote elsewhere.
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Keep the Ichiro vote. I don't get it.
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I don't get it. I don't like it.
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Not about it. Kenny Lofton needs to be a Hall
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of Famer. That's how this starts.
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That's how that's how it gets fixed.
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Probably not just with him solely, but it is big stuff
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today. Yeah.
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Speaking of fixed. Little bit of a theme to today's
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episode. We got to talk players under 25
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to bet on in 2025. We also, if we have time, we get
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to it. We need to talk about this Pat
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Hoberg situation. Yeah, we do.
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Just briefly, a lot of a lot of betting going on in this
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episode, but let's let's just get right right into it here.
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Players under under 25 to bet on in 2025.
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This is something I, I sort of lobbed you earlier today
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because, again, we have nothing going on.
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Yeah. And I had people trying to tell
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me, you know, yeah, this is a great time for baseball fans.
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You know, NAIA baseball is starting.
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I hate to break it to you. The average baseball fan is not
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tuning into NAIA baseball. No, I'm not.
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So that only gets you so far. And then people again still
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trying to convince me that like that we're at a stage and and in
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the baseball offseason where like this is something to be
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look looking forward to. Like I just want spring training
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to get here. So I know that we're that much
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closer to opening day. It's that simple.
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But anyway, let's get into it here.
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Players under 25 to bet on in 2025.
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I'll I'll flip it to you. Let's start us off here.
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We we, we accumulated a list. I said the one stipulation was
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that one of we could only have one of these players finish in a
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top three of an award, the in in 2024.
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So if they finish in top three of rookie of the year, Cy Young
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MVP, you can only, you can only select one because otherwise we
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would just be running wild with, with the easy, the easy softball
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picks. So I wanted to try to stretch it
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out a little bit, make it a little more interesting if we
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could, because let's be honest, baseball is deep in in under 25
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talent right now. And that's a great sign for the
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future of the game. And I think 25 and I and I
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tweeted it out. I said some of the effect of, of
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like 2025 has has an opportunity to, to be 1 of baseball's
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biggest years yet. And I, I truly believe that with
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the state of the game, with the momentum I feel like baseball
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has right now, and hopefully with the performance of some of
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these guys we're about to dive into, I think 2025 is going to
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be huge here for baseball. Yeah, I agree.
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All right. Hope you're rolling.
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First name kind of came to me pretty quick, but I think I
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think it's going to be interesting to watch a Mr. Jason
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Dominguez, a name we've heard rattled around for a few years
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now. And somebody who got like the,
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you know, Mike Trout comparison and kind of similar body type,
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has a lot of pop, can play center field.
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But I'm interested to see how it goes.
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Man looks like he's going to be likely the everyday left
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fielder, which we did see a little bit of some.
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He wasn't the only one, but some difficult plays in left field
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throughout the postseason in September last year.
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But in reality, like he hasn't had much time there.
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So he's going to get a full spring playing fully left field
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and the lineup that definitely could use a solid switch hitter.
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I'd guess he's probably going to hover in like the 678 range in
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the lineup. But at the same time, like the
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Yankees didn't go get a true lead off guy.
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So wouldn't be surprised if you see him eventually lead off.
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But I, I, I, I think it's a chance that like a lot of
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Yankees, young UNS don't get, especially at 21, especially
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that age, like, this isn't something that we've seen in a
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while. The Yankees are horrible with
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how they treat prospects. And so far, all we've really
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seen is like September call ups and then a little bit of last
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year's postseason overall. Like, this is like his first
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real chance to play every day, get written down in the lineup
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every day. And a guy who needs to see ABS
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regularly at the big league level.
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Let him struggle, let him figure it out.
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And he's got to be a part of your future.
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You held on to him. You said no to trades.
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That in, you know, included his name.
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It's time to really just let him figure it out, whether it's a
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good or bad thing. But if you're being compared to
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my child, I'd like to think you're going to be OK.
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But we'll see. Speaking of being OK, the first
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guy on my list and I'll just go ahead.
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I'll I'll get the booze out of the way.
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Now I feel like this pick was almost illegal, but I just I had
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I would have been an idiot not to include this guy in this
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conversation given that we do get one top three award
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finisher. So I was like, if I'm going to
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use it, I'm going to use it on this guy.
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Paul Skeens Look, it is a very short list under 25 or not.
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There is a very short list of players that I'm looking for
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more excited to watch this coming season than Paul Skeens.
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And I think you look at you look at the track records of certain
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guys when they come up in the league, they get up, they, they,
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they either manage the hype or they they even, you know, take
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it up a level and they go and they're making a name for
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themselves in their rookie season.
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Paul Skeens obviously did that Rookie of the year.
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I understand that. I think when you look at those
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cases, a lot of times you'll see guys take a dip.
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Sophomore slump. I think Paul Skeens, and this
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isn't a hot take, but I think Paul Skeens is going to be
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immune to that, even with the amount of attention that he's
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received. This guy, and we talked about it
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when he came up after he had been in the league for a few
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months or a couple months. And you, I think you and I both
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agreed that this, when you look at him, he's just even keel
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across the board. First inning, 7th inning, a no
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hitter on the line debut a random Thursday like it.
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He's just he's here and I think that that plays and the fact
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that he's this young, he's already tasted the success that
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he's he has thus far. The fact that he's acquired that
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skill in addition to his skill set, his the the fastball that
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he brings to the game that the splinker this and that.
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To me, that's one of the most important elements of his game
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is that he's here. And I think that that is going
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to contribute to such an incredible sophomore campaign.
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And again, it's not a hot take to say that Paul Skeans is going
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to find success in 2025. But I I wouldn't be surprised at
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at the end of the year if we're not talking about him as one of
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the top three pitchers in the game.
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Again, under 25 or not, because I mean, for sure, he what he's
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already done. And I think what he's poised to
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do this year. It's one when you bet you get
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you have to you have to sprinkle in some sure fires in there.
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And I think Paul Skeen, just one that we can safely and
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confidently look at and go, he's, he's fine.
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Yeah, dude. And he gives like he gives horse
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vibes. He gives like 200 inning, 200
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and 5300 strikeout type guy on like a rolling regular basis.
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And it just it gives me it gives me chills knowing that that like
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still exists in a game where it's not common.
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I think the way he trains could potentially make sure that he
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stays away from injuries. You know, it's almost like, I
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hate that we have pictures now. We're like, it's not even the
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first one. It's like it's now let's get 2
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TJS out of the way before we can really feel like, OK, this guy's
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off and running, which is terrifying and scary.
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Like I think the way he goes about his business can keep him
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healthy. Dude, I agree with you.
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I agree that he's. I don't think that was a fluke.
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I don't think this is like he's, he's the real deal.
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A, a comparison that as you were, as you were talking about
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that the horse element that he, it's in there, you know it's in
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there and we already saw it last year.
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Like he, he wanted nothing to do with any limits.
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He just wanted to come up and let it eat from start to finish.
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But they obviously had restrictions on them, which I
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understand to some degree, but a comparison that comes to mind
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when I'm thinking about that. And tell me if you agree, cause
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you watched him pitch earlier in, in your baseball watching
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career. Mike Musina, a guy that is very,
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again, going back to this, he's very much here, but he wants to
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let it eat. And I can't help but think of
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that, that clip when he's telling Tori to sit down, he's
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like, no, no, no, I got this. And that that may or not play in
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today's game as much like you, you'd have to have a little bit
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of a career in your back pocket for sure to get to that point
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where you're waving off a manager.
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But I that that it's there and it's it's, it's in his DNA for
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sure. Yeah, I like that.
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I like that comp. I, I when I think, when I see
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him on the bump, I kind of, I feel like there's like this
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fearless intimidation kind of thing.
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And I, I was kind of, I, he gives me like, I'm not going to
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say Nolan Ryan. I don't think anybody's Nolan
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Ryan, but he he scratches that surface a little bit and he's
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and he's in this like this like Randy Johnson, Bob Gibson, like
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kind of territory that you could see him being that way, you know
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what I mean? Like you could see that like
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this may be a guy as a hitter I that I don't want to make eye
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contact with. That's him stepping into the
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box, you know what I mean? Like there's I think there's a
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lot of good players in baseball and then there's a select group
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that are alphas. You know, like Juan Soto's an
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alpha. That guy will look at anybody
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and say, let's go. And I feel like I got to, I got
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to already put Paul Skeens in that, in that conversation, and
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I love it. Are there any Hall of Fame
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pitchers? We didn't we didn't sprinkle in
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there when talking about Paul schemes.
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I love it. I'm excited, dude, I'm too very
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much there. That's one of those guys.
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Not really related what we're talking about here, but that's
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one of those guys who whose jersey I would snag like outside
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outside of my my own team. You can't.
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Go wrong with the Pittsburgh black and yellow, you know what
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I mean? Give me a, give me a schemes uni
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dude. He's yeah, I'm excited.
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Anyway, who you got? Well, I mean, I'm going to drop
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it down a little more under the radar than that.
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I'm going to head over to the West Coast, to the black and
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orange Sam Fran Baseball Giants. Give me Kyle Harrison, 23 years
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old. Saw him get a solid amount of
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innings under his belt last year made 24 starts.
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I'd like to see a little bit of like a a development of a fourth
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pitch that was looking at his pitches, just a fastball slurve
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change up. Guy threw one curveball last
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year 1 and I feel like I'm just going to go ahead and chalk that
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up as like a someone accidentally misfired curveball
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instead of slurve. So I'd like to see him throw a
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fourth pitch in there. But like, I, I love, I love the
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opportunity that young pitchers in big Paul, in big ballparks
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have. And a guy that like doesn't
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necessarily need to be the dude quite yet.
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Like that weight is still being carried by Logan Webb.
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You know, you got Robbie Ray coming back this year.
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They signed Verlander. I feel like Verlander could be
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something we always talk about, like signing those veterans and
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being a presence and what those conversations can be.
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And I don't think people really understand the value of that
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because you can go over any interview with any baseball
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player at any point in their career and you talk and you ask
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that question of like who was the biggest impact?
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More often than not, it was a conversation or a year or an
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opportunity to share a locker next to a guy who has been
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there, done that. So having Verlander in that, in
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that locker room, having, you know, those 24 starts under his
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belt last year, like, I think it's time to like kind of settle
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in. He's got a big ballpark to work
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with, you know, starting the season in San Francisco where
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it's kind of cold and windy and like it's very pitcher friendly.
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I think it allows him to really settle in quickly and, and get
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going. So I, I think he slots like
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right in the middle of that rotation, maybe 4th and he's and
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he's going to get his opportunities.
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So, and I did a little digging into like he had a brief little
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stint in 2023 and then he dropped his arm angle down last
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year. And we see a lot of lefties that
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are starting to do that and just kind of play with that that slot
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and play with that tunneling. So I'm, I'm interested to see
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what he can do. I know it's not like a huge sexy
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pic, but I I do think he's I do think he's really good.
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So we'll see. We shall see.
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Plus Jordan Hicks is there, you know, another another year
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coming out as a starter like that's, that's not a terrible
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rotation. So not a whole lot of spotlight
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on a Kyle Harrison. Well, you mentioned spotlight
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and and then we'll move on to to my second pick.
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But you know, the National League West is going to get a
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lot of attention this year between we can go ahead and
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presume we'll be the top two finishers in that division,
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Dodgers and Padres. But it's possible that you get
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some senior or some senior, you get some, some veteran voices in
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that in that clubhouse, which they already have.
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And it's possible that maybe they play that to their
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advantage a little bit. They say nobody is talking about
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us right now, right? For I mean, understandably so.
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But let's lean into that a little bit.
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And you know, if you get a guy like Kyle Harrison, if you get
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a, a, a bounce back like I talked about a couple episodes
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ago from from Justin Verlander this year in 2025, who's to say
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that they don't maybe make it into the dance at the very
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least, like just something to keep an eye on bringing it back
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out east, swing it back out to the East Coast.
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Why I? Didn't know.
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I didn't know you were about that life.
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I mean, it's on. You're on TikTok.
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That's fair. That's fair.
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That's fair. OK.
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Jello. Is that his name?
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One of the ball brothers. Feel like it's jello?
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It's Jello. I don't know how to pronounce it
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Jello. Is it jello?
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I don't know. I think there's jello, there's
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mellow. It's no, it's jello.
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I know for sure. I just don't.
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Know how to no there's there's also a mellow.
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No, I'm saying it's jello like the person, the guy that does
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the song. Anyway, whatever, my swerve.
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Whoa, my guy #2 James Wood. Good one.
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I like having a guy, I think I've maybe alluded to this
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before, I like having a guy right down the road that I know
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that I can go watch. And this is honestly, it's a
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toss up. You could say really it's a toss
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up for me between James Wood and Dylan Cruz.
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But for the sake of this exercise, I, I decided to go
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with James Wood, even though I'm probably equally as excited to,
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to watch a full season of Dylan Cruz.
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But this guy's just raw power. And I was watching, I was
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watching some, some of his footage earlier.
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His ability to stay on plane is unreal.
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And I think that I think that that combined with his power is
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going to play very well with a full seat for him in a full
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season. Because I think having a little
23:25
it's not the greatest protection, I'll give you that.
23:27
But having who was it? It was Nate Lau, Nate Lowe, I
23:33
can ever and Josh Bell behind you.
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It's again, not the greatest protection, but at least it's a
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little bit to help because right now he's presumably slotted in
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the in the three hole there in the lineup.
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I think having just a little bit of protection to help him get
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his feet off the ground, I think and and bringing, bringing back
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Josh Bell to me is helpful because sort of a sort of a
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similar situation there. We've got you've got some power
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from the left side. He's been there.
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He he, he knows what to expect from that organization and and
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fan base. He can sort of help him out a
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little bit. I think.
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I don't know, man. I he's the the projections
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statistically for him are, are not great like they're, they're
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only they're well, tell me, tell me what you think of these.
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He's projected right now for 18 home runs and an OPS of 726.
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Do you think I mean? I see more juice than that. 66
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RB is. I see more juice I think you
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get. 73 RBI. Excuse me?
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I'd give it. I'd put the line at like 24 1/2
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and I'd probably take the over. I probably would.
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I mean is it insane Crazy pop? Is it insane to project him at A
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at a possible 30 home run season this year?
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I think he'll flirt with it. And excuse me, I was looking at
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Josh Bells. He's projected 18.
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James Wood, not much higher though, 20.
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So even then, yeah, a 30 home run.
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Season, I think he gets over that.
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He's good, man. He's good.
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I don't think a whole lot of people know who he is.
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I think the Nats are coming. I think they're a few years
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around the corner. From and, and that's what I was
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going to say. That's what I was going to say.
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I'm not I'm not terribly thrilled about the state of the
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nationals right now. I know I was really trying to
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push that hard a couple like a year or two ago where I was
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like, just give it time. I don't think they've taken the
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the steps necessarily to getting closer to the finish line per
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SE. But I think a big year out of
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got again, bringing Dylan Cruz into the mix here.
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If you, if you get some, if you get some All Star caliber
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seasons out of those two guys, I think it just pushes the IT, it
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forces the issue a little bit more.
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You're going OK, we got we, we, we've brought in, we, we've
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brought up these these young guys.
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We now need to surround them with, with some, with some help
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here. And I think I think James Wood
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can play a huge role in getting the ball rolling a little bit
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quicker. Yeah, CJ Abrams let him.
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Let him figure out the glove somehow, someway, if not slide
26:27
in a second. Like there's, there's a lot
26:30
going on in DC that I, I want to keep my eye on, you know what I
26:34
mean? Yeah, I would definitely like to
26:36
see Abrams take a little bit bigger of a step in into into
26:41
adopting somewhat of a leadership role, not that he has
26:43
to be the, you know, the veteran voice.
26:46
He banged last year, didn't he? He he got after it a little bit,
26:50
Yeah. He had a big.
26:50
Yeah, but then if you remember he had that wasn't.
26:52
Didn't you have that run in? Am I misremembering?
26:54
Didn't you have that? Weird.
26:56
Yeah, we're like sent down. Yeah, the curfew thing.
27:00
Yeah, like that you just, you know, you just hate to see stuff
27:03
like that. So I'm hoping that he's able to
27:05
take a a step forward in in being a more vocal voice, a more
27:10
sort of lead by example kind of guy this year again, between
27:13
those three that that's setting up some huge potential for the
27:17
Nationals. Beyond. 2025.
27:21
Well, I like this alternating from the East Coast to the West
27:24
Coast thing that we've we've got going on.
27:26
Taking it back out West. I'm taking it back out West.
27:29
You had your you had your big man going first.
27:31
I have my big man going last. And some said that he should
27:37
have been rookie of the year. I'm on the fence about that
27:44
because your guy was pretty Dang good.
27:47
So give me Jackson Merrill with the San Diego Fathers.
27:52
He is 21 years old. Look, man, I mean, just reading
27:57
off some numbers here. First off, he played 156 games
28:01
last year. Love it.
28:03
I freaking love that. I love that.
28:06
Good on the Padres for giving them.
28:08
Give him a chance, letting that play out and look what you got
28:13
out of him. 127 OPS plus an 826 OPS last year at 31 double S.
28:20
He had 52 barrels last year, which ranked 24th in the big
28:26
leagues and then you talk about what he's got with the glove 12
28:31
outs above average last year ranked 8th in the MLB got a
28:37
cannon. Couple things I'd like to see
28:44
you know figured out a little bit I'm not going to critique
28:46
the guy too much. You know what I mean?
28:48
He was huge and electric and quickly has been stepped in as
28:54
as a fan favorite. I'd like to see him walk a
28:58
little bit more. The chase rate is pretty high.
29:01
It's it's it's not great. It 29 walks last year compared
29:08
to 101 strikeouts. So I think it's weird because
29:12
like some of those numbers, like sometimes you can look like back
29:16
to ball skills being pretty good and then sometimes it ends up
29:20
being a lower chase rate because of those good bat the ball
29:24
skills. You know, sometimes he expands
29:26
the zone and you know, doesn't doesn't walk a ton.
29:30
So I'd like to see a little more walk in happening.
29:34
But the things to note here is that a lot of what he did last
29:38
year, majority of the ABS were in the six and seven hole.
29:44
And I wanted to look up what the Padres were looking to do this
29:47
year, and I looked up the projected lineup.
29:50
Both Fan Grafts and Roto Champ have him hitting third this
29:55
year, sandwiched between Tatis and Machado, which that's a big
30:01
jump. That's a big difference.
30:03
That's a whole new conversation. It's one thing to hang out in
30:07
the 678 spot. It's a whole nother thing when
30:12
your responsibility is to protect the Fernando Tatis and
30:17
to get on base for a Manny Machado.
30:20
So I'm curious to see how that how that works out.
30:26
Can you ride the vibes? Can can the can the waves of
30:30
last year's success and hype carry you into that next year?
30:37
I mean, I think so. I like him.
30:39
The guy's confident. He doesn't give me, I'm quietly
30:46
going about my business and getting lucky kind of kind of
30:50
vibe. This dude is like, no, I'm I'm
30:52
here for the spotlight. I'm living it.
30:54
I'm loving it. And I really like the three.
31:00
I really like a lefty splitting up Tatis and Machado.
31:04
So it's crazy to me that he's 21.
31:09
It's crazy the the amount of talent, the amount of names I've
31:13
I could have chosen today. I had so many names to play
31:18
with. That's what I'm saying, man.
31:20
So it's awesome. I think he's going to be really
31:24
good. I think the Padres are going to
31:26
continue to be good. So they've had a disappointing
31:32
offseason, though they did have a rough offseason.
31:35
I don't think, you know, I, you mentioned earlier that you think
31:40
the the Dodgers and the Padres are going to finish in the top
31:43
of that division. I actually think the
31:44
Diamondbacks are going to be better than the Padres this
31:47
year. It's fair.
31:50
Maybe that was more wishful thinking for me because I just
31:52
want that to be like, I just want the Dodgers.
31:55
Everybody wants the Dodgers and Padres to be.
31:57
Something we got it. We.
31:59
We got such a sweet glimpse of that the postseason and I just,
32:01
I need that to continue. I think, I think parts of it
32:04
will, I think they're probably just in a weird place.
32:07
But the future is bright with this kid and I I love seeing big
32:17
pieces that are that young step in and just be a part of the
32:22
plan. It'd be a cornerstone right
32:25
away. And a 21 year old center fielder
32:29
hitting third. Yeah, give me that.
32:34
So. That's all I might have to pop.
32:36
Out there bro it is. Might have to pop out there,
32:39
catch some games, see it live. At least see him in spring
32:43
training I think. Catch my guys, Xander slated to
32:48
be the shortstop this year, by the way, I don't know if you saw
32:50
that. He's also dropped down in the
32:52
order quite a bit. Dropped him down to six.
32:54
Not worried about it. My my last guy, look, he's I
33:01
don't even think he's really he's not projected to to even
33:06
make the opening day roster. It's, it's certainly a
33:08
possibility, but even if even if he doesn't, I, I think it'll be
33:14
just a matter of time. Roman Anthony of the Red Sox,
33:17
the second prospect in all of baseball, could make the
33:23
argument that he's first because does Rokie Sasaki really count?
33:27
I mean, if, if we're being honest, I don't.
33:29
Think so? He's pretty much I hate that he.
33:32
Amassed a pretty much a full career over in Japan before
33:34
getting over here it feels like. But anyway, yes, Roman Anthony
33:43
comps to Christian Yelich Andrew Benintendi types which take that
33:50
how you will. I choose to believe that a comp
33:54
to Christian Yelich is a comp to a Christian Yelich that didn't
34:01
get marred by what was it back injuries.
34:06
So however that in an alternate universe, however that career
34:10
would have panned out is what I like to think that Roman Anthony
34:13
is capable of doing The the power dude, the he's got like
34:19
plus power. He's a first baseman.
34:23
Outfielder. Outfielder.
34:27
This is like I have to choose my words carefully here.
34:32
This is a guy and I hate, I hate doing this to guys that aren't
34:37
even on the squad yet, but this could be a guy that could, I
34:45
think, carry the weight, carry, bear the brunt of a fan base's
34:50
expectations for a team, given the fact that I think Red Sox
34:56
fans should. I mean, we'll see what happens
34:58
with Bregman and, and, and possibly Arnotto, but should he
35:04
come up, should he live up to the hype that that's on his
35:07
shoulders right now, could bear the brunt of the expectations of
35:13
a of a fan base who I think generally speaking is pretty
35:15
disappointed. And yeah, I mean, you know,
35:18
Garrett Crochet and and some other moves.
35:21
I, I still think that they were hoping for more this offseason.
35:24
So Oh my God, it's like, it's just.
35:32
It's some of these numbers. Yeah, dude, it's scary to think
35:36
if we get if we get some of these prospects up, what this
35:40
could look like. And you know, I'm I may have to
35:43
may have to quietly from the back of the room, tip my cap the
35:47
heimbloom for creating what is now officially ranked as the top
35:52
farm system in baseball. Don't know if you saw that
35:54
today, but yeah, he, I think Roman Anthony could, could play
36:00
a huge role should he get up early enough and have enough
36:04
time to make an impact. I think who he's going to be one
36:08
of those guys similar to Jackson Merrill like you talked about,
36:12
who will likely need very limited time to get his feet on
36:17
the ground to get things moving because this guy is just a, he's
36:21
a gamer, He's a ball player. And like I said, the powers
36:24
there, the athleticism is there. Watch out for Roman Anthony.
36:32
Looking at these numbers, it's like it's interesting.
36:40
I mean looks like a double S machine, looks like AI mean,
36:48
looks like a pretty walk in the park 2020 guy. 2020 guy yeah he
36:56
had an 8 OPS 894 across double and AAA last year. 18 bombs,
37:03
3032 double s to your .65 RB is and hit 291 so.
37:10
Walks a lot too. Yeah, yeah, man, for sure.
37:18
Scary, scary stuff. Would love to support that that
37:23
hype with maybe one more move, but we shall see.
37:27
Speaking of moves, Jack Flaherty heading back to Detroit on A2
37:32
year $35 million contract, pretty front loaded 25 in the
37:36
first year and opt out after the first year, 10 million to follow
37:40
in the second year. Could also be worth 20 million
37:48
in the second year if he starts at least 15 games.
37:52
I don't know. I don't know how do you feel?
37:56
Because I think he was looking looking to get or he was
38:01
projected rather for like 5 year 100 plus if I'm not mistaken.
38:08
Yeah, I think he was more so about the length of anything
38:13
else. But yeah, I mean, it's tough,
38:21
dude. It's tough.
38:22
I was a little surprised to see that the market wasn't a little
38:27
hotter for him, but he really has this like he has this like
38:33
up and down inconsistent career path that makes you question
38:37
committing to him long term. And this is kind of what we were
38:42
talking about with like some of these other big free agent names
38:48
is that some of these some of these teams that are a little
38:52
bit slept on can kind of slide in right now.
38:57
And if you can at least scratch the itch on AAV or years, you
39:04
may be able to steal a name that you weren't necessarily in the
39:09
hunt for or in the running for in the beginning of the
39:11
offseason. And I don't think anyone really
39:16
had a reunion with the Tigers on their bingo card for Flaherty,
39:20
but I like it because this is what they needed to do.
39:24
We talked about them running into running into, you know, a
39:30
little bit of like a, I'm not going to say buzz saw, but like
39:36
they ran in, they ran out of steam in the postseason with
39:39
their starting pitching. And you know, like the bullpen
39:44
games were cute, but like, it's not something that is going to
39:47
get you through the entire postseason, especially if you
39:51
have to go through the wild card round.
39:53
So shoring up the rotation is is important.
39:57
And that's what they needed to do when they did it.
39:59
And they've made some interesting moves this this this
40:05
offseason. I think they have a a weird
40:08
amount of infielders that I'm not quite sure what to do with.
40:13
But I keep hearing rumors that, you know, for some reason,
40:17
Spencer Torkelson and Jordan Montgomery.
40:20
Seem to like I feel like that rumor is out there and it's just
40:24
one of those that just makes sense.
40:26
Like do that get get Jordan Montgomery out of out of Phoenix
40:32
dude, because he's clearly not wanted give him a chance.
40:35
But like, I don't know, they I like the move.
40:39
I like that they stepped in and got it done and you're not
40:44
overly committed. You have the money to spend.
40:47
You didn't have to fork over a commitment in the years category
40:51
and you obviously saw success there in a in a pitcher's
40:56
ballpark, so. Do you think if he goes out and
41:00
has a season worth writing home about to sort of keep the, the
41:08
momentum, the snowball rolling, if you will, that started last
41:12
year or this past season, do you think that's enough momentum to
41:18
warrant finally offering some sort of length to him?
41:22
Because I if, if I'm Jack Flaherty, I'm looking at the way
41:26
my market went this offseason, the way that my career's gone.
41:30
And I'm frankly, I'm taking like a three-year deal.
41:35
If somebody's offering it to me like I, it's to me, it's sort of
41:38
risky to, to settle for a one year deal here.
41:43
I'm not, I'm not saying it's a negative risk necessarily, but
41:46
it is an inherent like it objectively, I think it is a
41:49
risk because you're going to be another year older, you're going
41:54
to be on the other side of 30 or yeah, you're going to be on the
41:56
other side of 30. And unless you go out and just
42:02
light it up, I just think it's going to be the market assuming
42:06
he opts out thinking that he can maybe try his luck again.
42:09
I just think the markets going to be more the same and he,
42:12
he's, he's again having that additional year under his belt
42:17
of age, I think is possibly going to play against it.
42:20
So I'm wondering if his market was truly that bad or if maybe
42:24
there was like a three or four year deal out there that he
42:28
simply just didn't want to take because he wanted to, he wanted
42:32
to go back. That's what I'm saying.
42:34
So I'd unless he lights it up, I just don't, I just don't see his
42:38
market really changing year to year unless he goes out and and
42:42
does something that we just haven't seen before.
42:44
Yeah, I mean, I agree. Like, look at what Blake Snell
42:47
had to do. And that's Blake Snell.
42:49
You know what I'm saying? Like, no disrespect to Jack
42:53
Flaherty, he ain't Blake Snell. So this betting on yourself in
42:58
your, in your, you know, early 30s as a pitcher, it's it's
43:03
strange and it's difficult. And I agree, I don't really see
43:09
too much changing outside of like a top five Cy Young
43:14
performance. I think that's what you need if
43:17
you're Jack Flaherty in order to get a three-year deal.
43:21
And it's even then I doubt it's the AAV you're going to be
43:24
looking for. Like I, if I were him, I'd be
43:27
happy with a three-year 60 with an option for the 4th.
43:39
Yeah, you know, like a club option for the 4th.
43:42
Like I'd be thrilled with that. That's just kind of the we're in
43:47
a weird place where like a lot of, I know Ken Rosenthal was on
43:55
a podcast talking about a little bit like we're in a weird place
43:59
where teams are just like really waiting out and, and bleeding
44:05
free agents in a different way that we haven't seen before.
44:08
And I feel like, you know, even agents are like, not totally
44:12
sure how to handle this or what to do.
44:17
So yeah, man, I, I don't know, like, it's, it's a weird place
44:21
to be. But I think he's he's going to a
44:26
place where he's obviously had success and he's familiar.
44:29
And again, you're kind of hiding behind a Tareq school in the one
44:34
spot. But they need, they need, I
44:38
think they need to shore up a little bit more in that
44:40
rotation. You need to do a little bit
44:41
more. And Torkelson seems to be the
44:44
name that a lot of people are shipping out of town for.
44:47
Somebody join Montgomery's out for the taking.
44:52
Just go do that. Yeah, you mentioned agents.
44:58
One of the more well known agents, Scott Boris, the latest
45:01
on one of his clients, Alex Bregman, is that the Astros
45:07
reportedly claim they have lost Bregman.
45:10
So safe to say we can rule out a Bregman to Houston reunion and
45:17
that came from GM Dana Brown, which really leaves him with
45:24
Boston, Detroit and Toronto. I believe for the three teams
45:32
even remotely connected to him or have shown any interest or
45:37
have been linked because they're a good fit.
45:41
It frankly does not seem like Boston wants them at this point.
45:47
They're Speaking of Boston. The the whole Nolan Arenado
45:52
rumor mill seemed to start back up this week, so I'm not sure
45:56
what's happening there. That could be, that could be a
46:00
part of the play too. You know what I'm saying?
46:02
Like if you're the Red Sox and Bregman wants to play there,
46:06
Bregman's camp is like, hey, let's get this done.
46:09
There's nothing. I mean, we see these games being
46:12
played all the time, especially using the media to, you know,
46:16
manufacture certain narratives. And I think it's something that
46:20
like, if if you're the Red Sox, why not?
46:21
Why not just be like, hey, you know what, we're actually pretty
46:25
close with this Arenado thing. And Aronado has been quoted
46:29
saying he'd love to play here. So, you know, it's, it's all,
46:32
you know, a little bit of a game of chess.
46:34
But yeah, I mean, I, I think if you're the Blue Jays, why not
46:41
like you don't really have much to lose.
46:43
You've had a pretty good offseason.
46:44
This would I think this would put you over into an into an A
46:49
category A+ category for for the offseason.
46:52
If you get this done and it just makes sense.
47:00
It just makes sense there. I do think Boston it does make
47:03
sense. Don't get me wrong.
47:08
I don't know, man, like when you look at the numbers and you kind
47:10
of take a deeper dive into Bregman, he's you know, like I
47:15
don't know if this ages well, you know what I mean?
47:18
Like I don't know if. Not the length that he wants, no
47:21
it that would not age well. But I don't think it looks great
47:24
towards the end. The longer this plays out, the
47:26
longer this draws out it it's, it's going to it's just going to
47:33
result in what I think is going to be a repeat of how we viewed
47:40
Boris last year in just not being able to figure some like
47:45
essentially being having his bluff called and not just by one
47:49
team, but by multiple teams. And look, we might want this
47:53
guy, but we're not going to we're not going to jump the gun
47:56
here because we know that the team down the road or across the
47:59
country is not really interested in doing the same.
48:01
So we're just going to wait this out.
48:04
And if it, if he falls into our lap and so be it, But we're not,
48:07
we're not we, we see what he, we hear what he wants.
48:11
We know that it's not going to age well.
48:14
And so we'd like to meet in the middle.
48:16
But if you're not willing to meet there, then good luck
48:19
finding something somewhere else.
48:21
So I I don't know what's going to happen with with either
48:23
Bregman or Onato at this point. Arnato is obviously a different
48:27
scenario. Yeah, I just don't know.
48:30
This is what I'm saying about like a a sneaky team, dude.
48:33
This is the time this we're in, Yeah.
48:35
We're getting into mystery team territory if.
48:37
You're a Seattle Mariners. Like, go get one of the two, go
48:40
get Bregman, go get Pete, one of the 2GO.
48:45
I don't understand what they're doing.
48:47
I don't understand what they're waiting on.
48:54
For these guys to be like $7.00. I guess, man, it's hard to
49:00
watch. I'd be I'd I wouldn't be in a
49:02
great place mentally if I was a Mariners fan.
49:06
How would you feel if you're a Cubs fan because Cubs acquired
49:10
Ryan Brazier from the Dodgers in a trade?
49:13
Nah, This is after the Dodgers DFA Brazier, which is wild,
49:17
really, if you think about it. Because he there for a minute he
49:22
had like a, he had, he went on a run.
49:26
I feel like where he was sitting at like A-15 or something,
49:29
right? I think he'd be a he'd, it'd be
49:34
a solid bullpen piece on any other roster.
49:37
It's just no room to breathe over there in LA, you know?
49:42
He finished with a 354, but there was yeah, he, he had a run
49:45
last year where he was. Yeah.
49:49
He was dotting it up. That's a good deal.
49:56
The Cubs, man, you talk about a can we call it a sneaky
50:02
offseason? I mean, I know they went and got
50:04
Tucker. That's that's a little louder
50:06
than sneaky, but. They sneaking and.
50:12
I don't I don't want to tiptoe into any of our hot takes for
50:16
our pre season predictions episode, but I don't know little
50:21
pieces here and there. Yeah, yeah.
50:24
I'll see, man. We'll see.
50:29
Climbing up the ranks in the central maybe?
50:31
I'm going to go ahead and say that the NL Central is the new
50:34
AL Central. I go ahead and.
50:38
Drop that in what way? I think that I think the AL
50:43
Central has has gotten a lot better than the NL Central.
50:49
I just don't see good ball coming out of there from top to
50:54
bottom. You know, like it's hard to sit
51:01
here and say that the Brewers got that much better.
51:06
You couldn't. When you when you lose the Devin
51:07
Williams, you lose the Willy Adamus and you don't do anything
51:10
else. Sure.
51:12
Like, it's hard to say that team is just going to waltz in and do
51:15
their thing. The Cardinals are lost.
51:18
You hear all this stuff about Jim Edmonds?
51:20
Oh yeah, dude, that like that, that made me actually angry that
51:25
that made me this. Organization is doing.
51:27
Unreal. You're playing games with your
51:30
prospects like I don't, I don't get, I don't get it.
51:34
I don't get it. So the annual Central is like
51:37
the bottom of the barrel for me. You could have made this
51:40
argument coming into last year given how high we were on the
51:44
the Royals. Yeah, yeah, You could say I
51:47
think it's official now. I think it's definitely official
51:50
now, considering none of these teams has really done anything
51:54
in the Cubs. You know, we're at a point where
51:56
they can go, they can go after it a little bit.
52:02
I'd like to see. I'd like to see a little
52:05
something. Give me Rizzo back in Wrigley.
52:11
You know what I mean? Give me a little, give me a
52:13
little spark, give me a little juice.
52:15
Give me a little something. Give me a little late, late
52:18
offseason veteran signing that can provide, provide a little
52:23
something. Give me, just give me something.
52:27
I like what they did with Tucker though.
52:29
Now Cubs are moving, despite some earlier comments this
52:33
offseason about players are expensive, they're they're
52:36
moving in the right direction, at least for this year.
52:39
What happens beyond 2025? It's hard to say because it
52:42
seems like they might be trying to push their chips in for for
52:45
this year and. I don't know.
52:47
I do think. Come up for water next year.
52:49
I don't know me. Saying the Rizzo name, by the
52:50
way, I do think that there is something in an Anthony Rizzo
52:55
that doesn't need to play every day.
52:57
I think there's a lot of something that he can bring to a
52:59
table that when he's not playing everyday or relied on.
53:03
Yeah, yeah. I don't know.
53:07
I think it's time to just close that book for good.
53:09
I think just maybe move. Just keep doing what you're
53:13
doing. It was it was great.
53:15
It was a great chapter in the in the Chicago Cubs book.
53:19
But no need to bring, no need to bring Rizzo back.
53:24
What do you got then? Anything else you feel good
53:27
about that team? They, I mean, they could be, I
53:31
mean, they weren't one of the teams that I I think are
53:34
technically connected to like a Bregman, but could be the the
53:40
the Cubs could be one of those mystery teams that are in on
53:42
Bregman. We don't know.
53:43
And especially talking about about those comments where
53:48
players are expensive, if they're not looking to spend a
53:51
whole lot of money, this thing draws that much longer his his
53:56
price goes down. Maybe they get to a point where
53:58
they're comfortable and they jump on it.
53:59
Who knows? I don't.
54:02
Hate their pitching when I'm looking at it to be honest.
54:04
No Speaking of money though, sort of closing the book here.
54:14
Alluded to it earlier. Pat Hoburg, Major League umpire,
54:17
who is no longer a Major League umpire has been fired a Major
54:25
League Baseball for his association with a known
54:29
gambler. His friend.
54:37
His buddy. Using the Telegraph app, I, I
54:42
guess they had shared logins and and accounts.
54:47
I, I, I swear man, you hear some of these, some of these mishaps.
54:52
Well, they're not really mishaps.
54:54
They're, they're very much intentional.
54:55
They just get these these individuals get caught, but just
54:58
some of the practices that go into or or the lack of thinking
55:03
that goes into some of these decisions that these guys who
55:06
you know you're. Like, are you not making enough
55:08
money? Break the rules.
55:10
No, it's not even the money thing, but it's the way they go
55:13
about it. Like if if you did, if you did
55:16
one extra money, maybe tie up your loose ends a little better
55:21
than having shared accounts and and things like that.
55:24
Like there's there's just got to be a, a better way to go about
55:27
it. Yeah.
55:28
But ultimately the. Pathobergmlb@gmail.com.
55:37
Ultimately, the take away here is that baseball's loose in one
55:40
of its better umpires. He he did.
55:43
He did have the perfect game, quote, UN quote, for as far as
55:48
it goes for umpires back in the what was that, the 2022 World
55:54
Series? Sure, Yeah, had the perfect
55:57
game. So he's, he's one of the better,
55:59
better UPS when it comes to balls and strikes.
56:03
So you hate to see that what seems like a very small pool of
56:08
guys that are capable of calling such things and calling them,
56:11
well, you hate to see one fall by the wayside, but.
56:15
All this and they only netted 35 grand.
56:18
I. Hate to see it.
56:23
And lastly here the spring training hats have dropped.
56:29
Some different, some not. I believe I saw the your Yankees
56:33
were the only team to have a home and a road hat.
56:39
The home one ain't nice. Yeah, home 1 is hideous.
56:42
The Mets one. I saw a lot of of commentary on
56:46
the Mets spring training hat with the baseball wearing
56:49
sunglasses. Why not?
56:55
You know, just get weird with it.
56:58
Who cares, you know, dump them next year anyway.
57:03
Like whatever, I don't mind it get fun.
57:08
Yeah, get weird. There are some ugly ones in
57:11
there, but. It is funny looking at the teams
57:15
that, you know, just can't really get all that weird with
57:18
it because they have to adhere to some degree of tradition like
57:21
the Red Sox. I don't know how many different
57:22
times we're going to alternate between the Red Hat with the
57:26
blue brim and the white letter to the blue hat with the red
57:31
brim and the white letter. Just I'm just like, I, I see
57:35
you, I see where the red tape exists for you, but is there
57:41
nothing else we can do? I don't know.
57:43
It's not a huge deal. Just bring training hats.
57:45
But yeah, check them out if you haven't seen them.
57:47
There are some, there are some pretty fascinating ones.
57:49
So if you're a hat, if you're a hat collector, check them out.
57:54
Blue Jays? What did the Blue Jays do?
57:55
Nothing. They did nothing.
57:57
That's a clean hat though. I'm not even going to knock.
57:59
It's a nice hat, but like, change it up a little bit, do
58:01
something different. Rockies What?
58:08
Do we Rockies? You had a great spring training
58:10
hat with the with the mountains in the background a few years
58:13
ago. Rockies are officially done
58:16
trying. They're just dead dead.
58:19
Speaking of being done, let's get out of here.
58:21
No time for a draft, obviously went a little deeper on the 20,
58:26
the players under 25 to bet on for 20/20/25, 2020, 2020, 2025
58:33
segment. So we'll get back to the draft
58:35
next week. Hopefully we have some some free
58:37
agency updates to cover, some signings to cover.
58:40
Hopefully. You got anything else?
58:46
I'll be at waste management tomorrow, wish me luck.
58:48
Oh. That'll be fun.
58:50
Good luck. Enjoy it, the green, the green
58:52
light going today. Yeah, I'll.
58:54
Be sick. It's gonna be sick for work.
58:59
Sure. Whole lot of food and adult
59:01
beverages there. You go.
59:03
Chocolate to work? Yeah.
59:06
Love you guys. Don't you dare go chasing
59:09
curveballs. Levy on as always, looking
59:11
forward to talking more baseball with you guys soon.
59:13
Until next time, stay filthy.