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Pirates Offseason Free Agency Wishlist and Realistic Bucco Targets · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back, everybody to another episode of Bucco Territory, presented
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Speaker 1: to you by the Foul Territory Network. I'm Noah Hyles
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Speaker 1: and joining me as always for this show is Josh
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Speaker 1: Harrison and Platinum Key aka Mark. We've got a jam
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Speaker 1: packed show for you. Episode two. We're going to start
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Speaker 1: off by talking about some Pirates internal decision making, the
0:23
Speaker 1: extension of Don Kelly, the retention of Ben Charrington, and
0:26
Speaker 1: some new coaching hires as well. And then of course,
0:28
Speaker 1: this show's air date coincides with the beginning of free Agency.
0:32
Speaker 1: The Pirates obviously have a lot of work to do
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Speaker 1: when it comes to roster construction and free agency. We
0:38
Speaker 1: don't know if it will be a part of it,
0:40
Speaker 1: it should be a part of it. So we've got
0:42
Speaker 1: a lot to discuss. First things first, fellas how we
0:44
Speaker 1: do in one episode and how we feeling feeling good.
0:48
Speaker 2: I'm feeling great, appreciate everyone that reached out was excited
0:52
Speaker 2: to listen, just blown away by all the supports, So
0:56
Speaker 2: just got me even more excited somehow.
1:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like, you know, Josh, you know from experience,
1:03
Speaker 1: you know, opening days over Game two. The season's real
1:06
Speaker 1: now right.
1:07
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, we got our feet wet. Now we know
1:10
Speaker 3: what to expect. We can't say this an early season.
1:13
Speaker 3: You know it's early in the season. Now we know
1:15
Speaker 3: what to expect.
1:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, all right, So let's get right into it.
1:19
Speaker 1: Some things that transpired over the past month that we
1:23
Speaker 1: should just give a quick review to, and Josh, I'm
1:25
Speaker 1: really excited to just get your perspective on this as
1:28
Speaker 1: a former Pirate. First things first, the biggest decision I
1:32
Speaker 1: think they made this offseason, uh, Don Kelly extended. He
1:36
Speaker 1: took over as manager in early May May ninth or
1:39
Speaker 1: May eighth. Excuse me, is when he took over, the
1:42
Speaker 1: team hovered around five hundred under him as the manager
1:46
Speaker 1: for most of the season, and then you know they
1:48
Speaker 1: tampered off at the end, but still good enough job
1:51
Speaker 1: that ownership decided that he was the guy. Wanted to
1:55
Speaker 1: ask you, I mean, maybe for your take on Don Kelly,
1:59
Speaker 1: but more specifically, what do you think make what qualities
2:03
Speaker 1: and traits make a good manager? You've played for a
2:06
Speaker 1: handful of them, some of them better than others. I'm
2:09
Speaker 1: sure when you're looking to bring in a manager, what
2:11
Speaker 1: are the traits you're looking for?
2:14
Speaker 4: One? A guy that's gonna hold people accountable.
2:17
Speaker 3: I think in today's game that's something that has lost accountability.
2:20
Speaker 3: And that's not saying, you know, picking on people or whatever,
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Speaker 3: but there has to be a level of ownership that
2:26
Speaker 3: comes with, you know, playing at this level. If somebody's
2:29
Speaker 3: not you know, working hard or running balls out or
2:32
Speaker 3: doing the work that they need to that that that
2:34
Speaker 3: is accountability. And you need to have a manager that's
2:36
Speaker 3: going to come in no matter who's on the roster,
2:40
Speaker 3: hold everybody accountable. And on top of that, you got
2:43
Speaker 3: to be able to relate to players. And I'm not
2:45
Speaker 3: saying be buddy buddy, be best friends, but to be
2:48
Speaker 3: able to coach somebody, you got to understand who the
2:51
Speaker 3: person is. And I think that's what you saw with
2:55
Speaker 3: DK when he took over last year at May. You know,
2:58
Speaker 3: you saw a little bit of energy, guys that you
3:01
Speaker 3: know probably responded to a message a little different, and
3:04
Speaker 3: you saw some guys that you know played hard and
3:07
Speaker 3: you know gave DK this opportunity, you know, to get
3:10
Speaker 3: this extension. And I think that's a testament of being
3:13
Speaker 3: able to reach some of those guys in the clubhouse.
3:15
Speaker 3: And as you said, they tapered off and as somewhat
3:17
Speaker 3: expected when you said as bad as they you know,
3:19
Speaker 3: as bad as they started last year. You know, you
3:21
Speaker 3: can't expect the right to ship right away, but you
3:23
Speaker 3: could see some positives. One DK stepped in.
3:27
Speaker 1: Now, when you're talking about qualities for a manager, do
3:30
Speaker 1: you think small market managers maybe require different qualities than
3:35
Speaker 1: you know, someone who might be managing a team with
3:37
Speaker 1: a higher pay roll. Does the guy who's going to
3:39
Speaker 1: replace Dave Roberts in however many years need to be
3:43
Speaker 1: different than someone who would be managing organization like the Brewers,
3:47
Speaker 1: the Pirates, the Reds, who have different challenges as an organization.
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Speaker 1: Or do you think those qualities for the most part
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Speaker 1: just overlap and you want the same characteristics across the board.
3:59
Speaker 4: I think yes and no.
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Speaker 3: A lot of it's gonna come down to the organization,
4:03
Speaker 3: to the team too, how they like things to be run,
4:06
Speaker 3: because there's gonna be some people that you know, might
4:09
Speaker 3: not necessarily be a fit at other places based off
4:11
Speaker 3: of you know, things that they agree with or disagree with,
4:15
Speaker 3: based off of you know, whether it's a pitcher, or
4:17
Speaker 3: you know, how you handle the minor leagues or just
4:20
Speaker 3: control with certain things. And when I say control, I
4:22
Speaker 3: don't mean like controlling everything. But you know, there are
4:24
Speaker 3: some managers that have a pitching background, some have a
4:27
Speaker 3: hitting background. But at the same time, you need to
4:31
Speaker 3: have a manager that guys know is gonna fight for you.
4:33
Speaker 3: It's gonna have your back, but the other thing that's
4:37
Speaker 3: gonna keep it loose. It's a long season. You got
4:39
Speaker 3: to understand that Game one is no different than Game
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Speaker 3: one sixty two. It's a long it's a long, steady course.
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Speaker 3: And if you can have a manager that understands that,
4:50
Speaker 3: I think that slow heartbeat allows the rest of the
4:52
Speaker 3: team to not have that panic mode. And that's that's
4:55
Speaker 3: something that's big that you see, especially with a lot
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Speaker 3: of young teams, is you know, they can start off hot,
4:59
Speaker 3: but then when things kind of hit the fan a
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Speaker 3: little bit, there's a little bit of panic.
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Speaker 1: Now moving forward, Ben Charrington was also retained. He's coming
5:08
Speaker 1: back for another season. Josh, from your perspective, say you're
5:14
Speaker 1: on this Pirates team and the same general manager who's
5:18
Speaker 1: been here for six years, has produced six losing seasons
5:21
Speaker 1: is retained. How are you reacting to that? Do you
5:25
Speaker 1: think that sends a poor message to the players and
5:27
Speaker 1: what would you be looking to see differently from that
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Speaker 1: general manager this offseason to show that they're not operating
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Speaker 1: the same way that's produced losing results.
5:39
Speaker 3: Well, As a player, your job is to play. I
5:41
Speaker 3: get it, especially in the off season. You know, with
5:45
Speaker 3: trade rumors, free agents, signings, things that can happen. Obviously,
5:49
Speaker 3: Caesar are said and done because you know general manager
5:52
Speaker 3: is making the cause, he's you know, signing people, making trades.
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Speaker 3: So it's hard to sit here and say not to
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Speaker 3: worry about it. But at the same time you're focused
6:00
Speaker 3: on planning and helping your team get better. That's just
6:03
Speaker 3: one thing that you can't worry about because whether you
6:05
Speaker 3: know Band was here or not, there's going to be
6:07
Speaker 3: a general manager manager wherever you play.
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Speaker 4: Some you agree with, some you may not.
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Speaker 3: So for those guys, they just got to understand that
6:15
Speaker 3: bands at the helm and hopefully some words that have
6:19
Speaker 3: been said, some things that have happened over the past year,
6:22
Speaker 3: hopefully steers into a different direction this offseason. That's ultimately
6:27
Speaker 3: what I would say to guys would show up, do
6:28
Speaker 3: your job, stay ready to play. That doesn't mean you
6:31
Speaker 3: can't voice your concerns or opinion, But at the end
6:33
Speaker 3: of the day, you still got to put on a
6:36
Speaker 3: uniform and go strap it up between those white lines.
6:39
Speaker 1: Mark it's time to get you involved. The Pirates hired
6:43
Speaker 1: Bill Murphy as their pitching coach this offseason. He comes
6:47
Speaker 1: over from the Astros organization. Knowing you you've probably read
6:50
Speaker 1: everything about Bill Murphy from articles in the Post Gazette
6:54
Speaker 1: to his birth certificate. If you're able to get access
6:56
Speaker 1: to it. What are your takeaways on the higher and
7:00
Speaker 1: how do you think this could make the team better?
7:02
Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean I love that the pitching staff first
7:06
Speaker 2: and foremost said we were great last year, but we
7:08
Speaker 2: can be even damn better. And I think that kind
7:11
Speaker 2: of drive is what's going to propel this team forward
7:14
Speaker 2: and they need that. So just the expression that they
7:17
Speaker 2: hired a new pitching coach good sign already for me.
7:21
Speaker 2: As far as Murphy goes, I mean, he has a
7:23
Speaker 2: connection to Strom, he worked with them briefly, so I
7:26
Speaker 2: assume he comes under recommendation of him and just the
7:30
Speaker 2: results that the Astros were able to put up with
7:32
Speaker 2: their pitchers. I think Alex STUMPMLB dot Com has a
7:37
Speaker 2: stat that the Astros have had the eighth best era
7:41
Speaker 2: since twenty twenty two when he was under there, top
7:44
Speaker 2: ten in war. So it's they've been consistently good. Obviously
7:48
Speaker 2: they have a lot of talent, but so the Pirates.
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Speaker 2: So it seems like he'll be a great fit for
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Speaker 2: the pitching staff, and I'm optimistic about it.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just in the conversations that I've had,
8:00
Speaker 1: I mean, my opinion is with this regime, they've earned
8:05
Speaker 1: I think the trust when it comes to pitching related
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Speaker 1: decision making, when they when it comes to hires, when
8:11
Speaker 1: it comes to you know, who they draft, how they
8:15
Speaker 1: develop guys, I feel like they're there wins heavily outweigh
8:18
Speaker 1: their losses in that area. Not many other areas, candidly,
8:22
Speaker 1: but this area. And so I'm willing to absolutely give
8:27
Speaker 1: this a run. If I'm a Pirate fan. Looking at this,
8:30
Speaker 1: higher part of me was surprised it wasn't just an
8:35
Speaker 1: internal promotion. When you look at this homegrown farm system
8:39
Speaker 1: that they have through the pitching, a lot of the
8:42
Speaker 1: guys who played a key role in their development. I
8:44
Speaker 1: was expecting maybe a Josh Hopper or Jeremy Blache to
8:47
Speaker 1: get a promotion to guys who played a big role
8:49
Speaker 1: in that. But from just conversations I've had with people,
8:54
Speaker 1: to me, it sounds like this was a move that
8:57
Speaker 1: was player driven, that conversations from the players to Don
9:03
Speaker 1: Kelly like Mark kind of alluded to this group felt
9:06
Speaker 1: like it was capable of achieving more. So, Josh, from
9:10
Speaker 1: a player perspective, when you see this new manager kind
9:15
Speaker 1: of come in and he's taking in your feedback and
9:18
Speaker 1: he makes this first hire, do you feel like this
9:22
Speaker 1: gives a team a spark that you know, obviously your
9:25
Speaker 1: job is to work hard and try to reach a
9:28
Speaker 1: new level every time. But when your recommendations are heard
9:32
Speaker 1: and a new organic higher comes from those recommendations, does
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Speaker 1: that give a spark to an organization, to a clubhouse.
9:40
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, it can definitely give a spark for one.
9:44
Speaker 3: You know, even though you give recommendations or you voice
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Speaker 3: your opinion, doesn't mean that things are going to change,
9:50
Speaker 3: because granted, let's be honest, not all things can be
9:53
Speaker 3: you know, changed right away. But you know, I think
9:56
Speaker 3: it does provide a spark because if you say it's
9:58
Speaker 3: player driven, that means players have you know, not necessarily
10:01
Speaker 3: expressed their concern but said that they could be better
10:04
Speaker 3: as good as they were, and I think that is
10:06
Speaker 3: something that, as I said, being a manager, being a
10:08
Speaker 3: part of that is acknowledging you know where you guys
10:10
Speaker 3: are at, but also being realistic to say, let's give
10:13
Speaker 3: them the best chance to succeed, not only them to succeed,
10:16
Speaker 3: but us as a whole, because we know pitching, I mean,
10:19
Speaker 3: pitching will carry you as long as far as you
10:22
Speaker 3: want to go.
10:23
Speaker 1: Yep. On the note of pitching, like instructional coaches, to you,
10:31
Speaker 1: what makes a good hitting coach in pitching coach, is
10:33
Speaker 1: it someone who can really break down everything you do
10:37
Speaker 1: fundamentally or is it someone who more can just meet
10:40
Speaker 1: you halfway and recognize that, hey, you're working with people
10:44
Speaker 1: outside the org figure out a plan that's probably best
10:48
Speaker 1: individualized for you.
10:51
Speaker 3: That one definitely a little bit of both, because there're
10:54
Speaker 3: gonna be some fixes that could be possible mechanical that
10:57
Speaker 3: you need to set a bye to tell people. Sometimes
11:00
Speaker 3: it could just be a mentality or somebody's like, you
11:03
Speaker 3: know what, state of course, you're not doing anything wrong,
11:04
Speaker 3: because at the end of the day, I've always felt
11:07
Speaker 3: that a hitting coach or pitching coach, they can suggest things,
11:11
Speaker 3: but they can't feel what you feel. So that's why
11:13
Speaker 3: I said, it's a little bit of both meeting halfway.
11:16
Speaker 3: They might suggest something, but if it doesn't match up
11:18
Speaker 3: with what you feel or they see, y'all can go
11:21
Speaker 3: back to the drawing board. But if it's just literally
11:24
Speaker 3: them telling you what to do or vice versa, you know,
11:26
Speaker 3: that's not really any common ground.
11:27
Speaker 4: So it's got to be a little bit of both.
11:30
Speaker 1: All right, Fellas, it is the month of November. When
11:33
Speaker 1: I think of November, to think of two things, I
11:36
Speaker 1: think of Thanksgiving and I think of shopping. And we're
11:39
Speaker 1: going to do some window shopping right now. For the
11:41
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six Pittsburgh Pirates free agency starts today November sixth.
11:47
Speaker 1: Should be a very interesting offseason. There are a lot
11:50
Speaker 1: of intriguing names out there for whatever your shopping budget is.
11:54
Speaker 1: If it's you know, the budget of the Los Angeles Dodgers,
11:58
Speaker 1: I'm sure they're already looking. They're chops and trying to
12:01
Speaker 1: get that third straight championship ring. If you're a team
12:03
Speaker 1: that's looking to rebuild, there are options there. And if
12:07
Speaker 1: you're a team in the middle, team like the Pirates,
12:09
Speaker 1: who's trying to win now but on a budget, there
12:12
Speaker 1: are also options. So as we plan for today's show,
12:16
Speaker 1: I asked everyone to make a shopping list based on
12:20
Speaker 1: four categories. First category is dream big. These are acquisitions
12:28
Speaker 1: that would be at an annual value of twenty million
12:32
Speaker 1: dollars a year. I think it goes without saying that
12:34
Speaker 1: these are not the most likely moves we could see
12:38
Speaker 1: the Pirates make, but we're a podcast, we're talking ball.
12:43
Speaker 1: We're gonna throw a name out there and just have
12:45
Speaker 1: a small conversation on it and we can talk about
12:47
Speaker 1: how those guys could impact the team. The second category
12:51
Speaker 1: is ambitious. These are guys who would sign for an
12:53
Speaker 1: annual value of ten to twenty million a year. Someone's
12:57
Speaker 1: still probably outside of the Pirates price range, but if
12:59
Speaker 1: they wanted to make a statement, these are probably the
13:02
Speaker 1: highest value guys that they could sign. Third category is
13:06
Speaker 1: makes them better. This is a five to ten million
13:09
Speaker 1: dollar acquisition comparisons to the past, would be like in
13:13
Speaker 1: a rold As Chapman someone along those lines. And then
13:17
Speaker 1: the fourth category is a depth piece. This is what
13:20
Speaker 1: we've seen the Pirates kind of sign frequently over the
13:23
Speaker 1: recent years. This are five million dollar or less guys,
13:27
Speaker 1: So four categories. I feel like we can each go
13:30
Speaker 1: along and through each category, throw one name out there.
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Speaker 1: We'll start with We'll start with Mark Mark dream big Baby,
13:38
Speaker 1: start us off.
13:39
Speaker 2: Dreaming way too big here, Boba Schet. It feels a
13:43
Speaker 2: whole shortstop provide slugging. I was hoping that he would
13:49
Speaker 2: kind of maybe not have the year he did this
13:51
Speaker 2: past year, but had a really good year for the
13:53
Speaker 2: most part, bagged over three hundred. He has the connection
13:59
Speaker 2: with Ben Charrington in just from the Blue Jays organization.
14:02
Speaker 2: I think Ben drafted him, if I'm not mistaken.
14:05
Speaker 1: Possibly he was around when that Yeah, yeah.
14:08
Speaker 2: Involved in that process. So you know, maybe there's a
14:12
Speaker 2: willingness to bet on a guy he's familiar with. But
14:15
Speaker 2: that's again pie in the sky. But it would fix
14:17
Speaker 2: a lot of issues in this lineup.
14:20
Speaker 1: Well, where where do you play Connor Griffin when he's ready?
14:24
Speaker 1: They have they have a shortstop that's going to be
14:26
Speaker 1: probably starting by May. Yeah, probably going to be their shortstop.
14:30
Speaker 2: That's very true. And could you move to set the
14:33
Speaker 2: second then could you put Connor in center field for
14:37
Speaker 2: a little bit, move o'neilder right or left? I'm asking you, Yeah,
14:44
Speaker 2: I mean it would be a good problem to have, right,
14:47
Speaker 2: you know, that'd be a great problem to have, and
14:49
Speaker 2: maybe you even have the sheet d H or something.
14:52
Speaker 2: But I that would be my my big signing. But yeah,
14:57
Speaker 2: with Connor Griffin looming in the wings, obviously that's not
15:00
Speaker 2: going to be a position. You want to commit multi
15:03
Speaker 2: years too, which I think that's what would be necessary
15:06
Speaker 2: to sign a guy like Bashak. I don't think he's
15:08
Speaker 2: going for a one year deal.
15:10
Speaker 1: So no, The Athletic Tim Britton of The Athletic wrote
15:14
Speaker 1: an awesome story outlining projections and he has Bashett projected
15:19
Speaker 1: to make four sixty over twelve years.
15:22
Speaker 2: So I want a really big piece of that tie
15:24
Speaker 2: in the sky.
15:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, Jay, Hey what about you? Who's who's your
15:28
Speaker 1: guy you're going after? And why my guy?
15:32
Speaker 4: I told you we need to impact that. I went
15:34
Speaker 4: with Kyle Schwarber.
15:36
Speaker 1: I love it.
15:36
Speaker 3: One familiar, one, familiar with the division. I spend a
15:39
Speaker 3: lot of time with, spend a lot of time with
15:41
Speaker 3: the Cubs. Unfortunately, still hurts a little bit. He hurt
15:45
Speaker 3: us in a wildcard game. So he could kind of
15:47
Speaker 3: right his wrongs in my eyes if he was the
15:49
Speaker 3: signed with the pirates, and I think it just solidifies
15:52
Speaker 3: that lineup, you know, as I said, a blend of
15:55
Speaker 3: speed and power, power something that the team is missing,
15:58
Speaker 3: and that right there is a bet that shows up
15:59
Speaker 3: some power.
16:01
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, and obviously you might be able to
16:04
Speaker 1: speak to this better than me, but from the conversations
16:06
Speaker 1: I've had, it seems like Schwarber is in an elite
16:09
Speaker 1: tier of clubhouse guys, like he is beloved by all
16:13
Speaker 1: teammates that he's had.
16:15
Speaker 3: Well, I mean that's also you see, he's won a
16:18
Speaker 3: World Series, but everywhere he's been, might not be the
16:21
Speaker 3: most vocal leader all the time, but speaks up when
16:23
Speaker 3: he needs to, but plays the game hard, shows.
16:25
Speaker 4: Up every day.
16:26
Speaker 3: And you know, guys that play that way there's a
16:30
Speaker 3: reason why you hear their names and why they're beloved
16:32
Speaker 3: in the clubhouse, and Schwarber is definitely one of those guys.
16:35
Speaker 1: Britain from the Athletic has Schworber projected to sign a
16:38
Speaker 1: six year, one hundred and fifty three million dollar deal
16:40
Speaker 1: that's twenty five and a half million a year, which
16:43
Speaker 1: I mean it sounds like a lot, but if you're
16:45
Speaker 1: if they offload Keller for someone pre orb you're maybe
16:48
Speaker 1: taking on ten million extra in salaries, so it's it's
16:52
Speaker 1: not crazy. But again, to get someone like Powle Schworber,
16:55
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna have to pay more than other teams
16:58
Speaker 1: play to get him into Pittsburgh. My guy that I
17:01
Speaker 1: had circled, I I was along the same lines with you, Josh.
17:07
Speaker 1: I'm looking at slug, I'm also looking at culture and
17:12
Speaker 1: Josh Naylor I think would bring so much to this
17:14
Speaker 1: baseball team. I really enjoy watching him on the field.
17:19
Speaker 1: He seems like a psycho, and I say that in
17:21
Speaker 1: the best of ways. Just his competitive drives someone who's
17:26
Speaker 1: been around the team for quite some time. Sometimes I
17:29
Speaker 1: felt like this team needed a little bit of a
17:31
Speaker 1: kick in the ass, and he is someone who will
17:34
Speaker 1: provide that. And you just see someone I mean it
17:37
Speaker 1: was someone with his size stealing thirty bases, Josh, you
17:40
Speaker 1: talked about in our last episode, approach. I don't know
17:44
Speaker 1: how many baseball players have a better true hitting approach
17:48
Speaker 1: than the Nayler. If you watched his at bats in
17:52
Speaker 1: that marathon game against the Tigers, game five of the
17:54
Speaker 1: alds they were it was poetry. The way he was
17:58
Speaker 1: working counts compared to everyone else kind of going boom
18:02
Speaker 1: or bust in that game and just try to stick
18:05
Speaker 1: to one pitch to hit. He looked like a real
18:07
Speaker 1: hitter there. I think there's a lot of value you
18:09
Speaker 1: get from him on the defensive side. Like you said, Josh,
18:12
Speaker 1: speed and power, a guy who could steal thirty bags,
18:15
Speaker 1: a guy who can put balls in the seats, and
18:17
Speaker 1: a guy who can enforce a winning culture. The athletic
18:21
Speaker 1: hasn't projected to sign five years, one forty. That's a
18:25
Speaker 1: twenty eight or twenty eight million dollar annual value. I personally,
18:29
Speaker 1: I'm a little surprised by that. I think that's a
18:31
Speaker 1: little high, but I think it's worth every dollar. I
18:34
Speaker 1: think Naylor can provide a lot.
18:38
Speaker 4: Not a bad yeah, I'm gonna say not a bad assessment. Play.
18:41
Speaker 3: I played against Josh when I was with the White
18:43
Speaker 3: Sox and he's with Cleveland, and I mean really.
18:47
Speaker 4: Good at bats, as you mentioned, and.
18:50
Speaker 3: It is definitely something that showed up every time he
18:52
Speaker 3: played them, you know, not just their whole team, but
18:56
Speaker 3: he was definitely one that was in the middle of
18:57
Speaker 3: the lineup, that definitely middle lineup you look at as
19:00
Speaker 3: a power bat, but he as you said, gave good
19:02
Speaker 3: at bats. It was a tough at bat, tough out
19:05
Speaker 3: and that's ultimately what you want. And if you can
19:08
Speaker 3: blend that with being a good hitter, it makes it
19:10
Speaker 3: that much tougher.
19:11
Speaker 2: And bringing like a culture change to to the well.
19:14
Speaker 4: I was gonna say, guys, get off of that, yep.
19:15
Speaker 2: Because I mean that's he's just a ball of energy,
19:18
Speaker 2: Like he's fiery, like he's gonna go out there and
19:20
Speaker 2: believe that they can win every game. And I feel
19:23
Speaker 2: like he can give that confidence, can be infectious and
19:26
Speaker 2: that energy and something this team needs.
19:29
Speaker 4: Yep.
19:29
Speaker 1: He's He's played a lot of playoff baseball too, and
19:32
Speaker 1: I think that matters. We get down to the next
19:34
Speaker 1: tier and we'll start with with Josh on this one,
19:38
Speaker 1: the ambitious tier ten to twenty million annual value. Who
19:42
Speaker 1: you look at Jay.
19:44
Speaker 4: So you know, I'm looking for an impact back. So that.
19:49
Speaker 3: I went with Marcelosuna to shore up the DH once again.
19:54
Speaker 4: Play against him.
19:55
Speaker 3: He can make any ballpark look small, and that's in
19:57
Speaker 3: that's that's a hitter in there that's going to give
19:59
Speaker 3: protection to somebody. And with pirates, you know, having multipositional
20:05
Speaker 3: guys that can bounce around.
20:06
Speaker 4: You don't really have to worry about the DH pots
20:08
Speaker 4: sold up.
20:08
Speaker 3: He's gonna hit right, he's and lefties and uh, he's
20:11
Speaker 3: a guy that's been there, done that and can also
20:13
Speaker 3: you know, lead with a little bit of quiet confidence.
20:15
Speaker 4: I played against some.
20:17
Speaker 3: Good teammate from all the guys that I've played against,
20:19
Speaker 3: but I think that's another bat that, you know, I
20:22
Speaker 3: would like to see somebody that can provide some.
20:24
Speaker 4: Some thump in this lineup.
20:27
Speaker 1: I don't hate it, and I wonder what his value
20:31
Speaker 1: would be. I didn't have him on my list, so
20:34
Speaker 1: I'll have to check the story. But Azuna is an
20:37
Speaker 1: interesting case. Obviously. I think that he profiles as someone
20:42
Speaker 1: that this team could absolutely use, like what you mentioned,
20:45
Speaker 1: for the reasons you mentioned, Josh, I also think that
20:47
Speaker 1: like they could probably use a better veteran Latin presence
20:53
Speaker 1: on the hitting side. I looked at them impact.
20:56
Speaker 4: You want to know who my other one was. My
20:57
Speaker 4: other one was for Hey Klanko.
21:00
Speaker 1: Who I was gonna pick?
21:01
Speaker 3: That was my number one switch that those are my two,
21:05
Speaker 3: But I was down to impact straight.
21:07
Speaker 4: We need some thumb we got.
21:09
Speaker 1: I'll just transition. But yes, the Latin side of it
21:14
Speaker 1: is so like I feel like you need someone to
21:18
Speaker 1: unlock O'Neil Cruz, and I feel like a veteran Latin
21:22
Speaker 1: presence maybe can be a connection. It's not to say
21:26
Speaker 1: that O'Neill doesn't have veteran presence. I mean him and
21:29
Speaker 1: Kutch you have a good relationship, but you know, Cutch
21:31
Speaker 1: isn't incredibly fluent in Spanish and there's a language barrier there.
21:36
Speaker 1: I'm sure he would love to try at times, but
21:38
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Like, I just think that
21:41
Speaker 1: a guy like Polanco could come in and he's not
21:44
Speaker 1: super old, and if you're willing to give him, he's
21:47
Speaker 1: probably in a spot where he's not looking for as
21:50
Speaker 1: much length as in Ozuna. I think you could probably
21:53
Speaker 1: get him for a two or three year deal, and
21:55
Speaker 1: if you're the athletic has him at a seventeen and
21:58
Speaker 1: a half million dollar value, I think that's money well spent.
22:03
Speaker 1: He's someone you can play on the right side of
22:05
Speaker 1: your infield, probably at second base now. I think he
22:09
Speaker 1: was a playlus defender this year or at least league average,
22:12
Speaker 1: and then in the future you can move him the
22:15
Speaker 1: first you could h him like Josh mentioned, he's a
22:18
Speaker 1: switch hitter. You don't have to worry about platooning him
22:20
Speaker 1: at all. I just think there's a lot of positives.
22:23
Speaker 1: And then again, this is a guy who's played in
22:24
Speaker 1: a lot of meaningful baseball games in Minnesota and then
22:27
Speaker 1: of course in Seattle. So that was my number one pick.
22:31
Speaker 1: I really like what Jorge Polanco can provide, and I
22:33
Speaker 1: feel like in a sea of big names, he's gonna
22:38
Speaker 1: get lost in a shuffle, But that I think is
22:41
Speaker 1: probably the best realistic acquisition the Pirates can make a
22:43
Speaker 1: free agency mark what says you?
22:46
Speaker 2: Just real quick? The athletic Azunia projected at one year
22:49
Speaker 2: fourteen million, so okay, pretty affordable. Yeah, right in that
22:53
Speaker 2: same range. So for me, I was thinking to get
22:58
Speaker 2: that on base percentage up. A guy who had kind
23:02
Speaker 2: of a down year might sign for one year to
23:05
Speaker 2: get a proven contract before a big one. Uh luise
23:08
Speaker 2: a riats And I think Greg Brown would lose his mind,
23:13
Speaker 2: uh being so happy talking about like all the never
23:15
Speaker 2: strikes out, you know, always has about average hovering around
23:19
Speaker 2: three hundred. And again, that's a veteran, you know, Latin
23:24
Speaker 2: player that you know, maybe that can connect, can play
23:27
Speaker 2: a second base, first base, His defense is problematic.
23:32
Speaker 1: Bad.
23:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's getting worse too. So I mean, do you
23:37
Speaker 2: sacrifice the DH spot for someone like that? Maybe, but
23:42
Speaker 2: just some guy that you can throw in there and
23:44
Speaker 2: rely on to get on base, so that any power
23:47
Speaker 2: that you do bring in that brings the extra slugging
23:50
Speaker 2: can actually have someone to drive in.
23:53
Speaker 1: See my I love Arias for what we talked about
23:56
Speaker 1: in last episode about approach again, talk about approaches. I
24:02
Speaker 1: don't know if you can name ten better in the
24:03
Speaker 1: game than his, right, but when you when you're talking
24:07
Speaker 1: about their list of needs, I think they need a
24:10
Speaker 1: twenty five homer bat more than they need a three
24:12
Speaker 1: hundred hitter personally. And if you're gonna be spending money
24:17
Speaker 1: that could acquire one or the other, I would probably
24:19
Speaker 1: go toward it. Now, if you were to be able
24:22
Speaker 1: to land a trade where you get a twenty five
24:25
Speaker 1: power bat and you get one big free agent signing,
24:29
Speaker 1: I think you could do a lot worse than our rise. Yeah,
24:35
Speaker 1: let's go into the third category. Now makes them better?
24:39
Speaker 1: I'll start off here. I like Mike Yastremski and now,
24:45
Speaker 1: all right, so I got another one though, Okay, good, good, good,
24:49
Speaker 1: Because I have a couple of other ones I could
24:51
Speaker 1: throw your way as well. Ski is a little out
24:54
Speaker 1: of this. The athletic actually hasn't projected to go one
24:57
Speaker 1: year eleven million, however, he does. Profile is that guy
25:01
Speaker 1: who's only gonna get a lot of one year opportunities.
25:04
Speaker 1: To me, if I'm the Pirates, I go to him
25:06
Speaker 1: and say, what about two years twenty rather than one
25:10
Speaker 1: year eleven and maybe try to get him on some length. Obviously, Josh,
25:15
Speaker 1: they haven't signed a multi year free agent since you
25:17
Speaker 1: were still in a Pirate's uniform, So I think there
25:20
Speaker 1: it's time to break that stigma. It's yes, Evonova was
25:24
Speaker 1: the last multi year free agent they've.
25:26
Speaker 2: Had in twenty seventeen.
25:30
Speaker 1: Thank you for there, Thank you for a house.
25:33
Speaker 4: I mean yeah, mm hmm, speachless this time.
25:38
Speaker 2: Yes, it's something.
25:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, you remember you remember Evonova? You remember him?
25:43
Speaker 4: Oh do I We were excited to get a nova.
25:46
Speaker 4: We was tight. But that is wild to think eight
25:49
Speaker 4: years ago, that is Yeah.
25:50
Speaker 1: If I would have went back and told you back then, hey,
25:52
Speaker 1: this is the last one.
25:55
Speaker 4: Hey, I'll probably be broke because I don't get.
26:00
Speaker 1: All right. So but anyway, Yastremsky is a guy that
26:03
Speaker 1: I think, like I said, a lot of his best
26:05
Speaker 1: offers are probably gonna come from good teams on a
26:09
Speaker 1: one year deal, where the pirates can probably say, look,
26:12
Speaker 1: we can give you less value, but we can give
26:13
Speaker 1: you more security. We can give you a two year
26:15
Speaker 1: deal or maybe a one year deal with a mutual
26:18
Speaker 1: option something like that. And there's a lot that I
26:21
Speaker 1: really like about this guy's game that can benefit I
26:23
Speaker 1: think he plays perfectly at PNC Park playing in that
26:26
Speaker 1: right field, playing off that right field wall, or hell,
26:29
Speaker 1: you can even put him in left field. I think
26:31
Speaker 1: he has the range to play that notch perfectly. He
26:35
Speaker 1: has some nice power. He's not exactly you know, the
26:38
Speaker 1: bopper that you're hoping as far as like big name
26:40
Speaker 1: power goes. But he's someone that if he's batting fifth,
26:44
Speaker 1: sixth in your lineup, or maybe even second, sometimes I
26:49
Speaker 1: don't feel like that's bad. I think you could do
26:51
Speaker 1: a lot worse. That's why I like him. There, Josh, way,
26:55
Speaker 1: did you like him? Well?
26:56
Speaker 3: I mean the PNC park is set up similar to
27:00
Speaker 3: know when he was with San Francisco.
27:02
Speaker 4: What's it called now? Uh changed right oracle? Yeah, you
27:07
Speaker 4: know right field with a high wall.
27:10
Speaker 3: You know, center field, left center, very big, but uh,
27:13
Speaker 3: you know I remember playing against him and he made
27:15
Speaker 3: use of you know, that right field wall.
27:17
Speaker 4: He was good left handed hitter. Uh but I thought
27:20
Speaker 4: he was a solid player.
27:21
Speaker 3: So that's why it made sense to me when I
27:23
Speaker 3: saw like, oh, I know he was a free agent.
27:25
Speaker 3: PNC might be a good spot for him. But my
27:28
Speaker 3: other one was Josh Bail.
27:32
Speaker 1: He was on my list and that's why.
27:35
Speaker 3: Uh one, just to reignite he was there for some
27:37
Speaker 3: of those special years and sometimes to reignite that kind
27:42
Speaker 3: of feeling, you might need somebody that's been there.
27:45
Speaker 4: And you know, Josh has bounced around.
27:47
Speaker 3: Since he's left, you know, Pittsburgh, but has had some
27:50
Speaker 3: years here and there. But it might be a good
27:52
Speaker 3: thing for him to come home and be able to,
27:54
Speaker 3: you know, be kind of one of those leaders. When
27:56
Speaker 3: he was first there, you know, he was just a
27:58
Speaker 3: young puff that was kind of you know, just learning
28:01
Speaker 3: about what it meant to win. And now that he
28:03
Speaker 3: got a taste of it and has been around, you know,
28:05
Speaker 3: maybe he can be part of that next wave to
28:08
Speaker 3: you know, bring someone in baseball back to Pittsburgh.
28:12
Speaker 4: Value and a switch hitter and a switch hitter and
28:15
Speaker 4: and some you know.
28:16
Speaker 1: Power valued at eight million dollars per the athletic. I
28:21
Speaker 1: don't hate that one. I'd be curious to see his
28:25
Speaker 1: interest in returning. But I mean, you know, you know
28:27
Speaker 1: what helps interest is this? So yeah, Mark, what is
28:32
Speaker 1: what about you?
28:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm right up at the edge of this with
28:37
Speaker 2: the guy who's projected at one year ten million. But
28:40
Speaker 2: I was thinking Rees Hoskins. It's kind of tough with
28:44
Speaker 2: if you're going to keep Spencer Horwartz at first base.
28:47
Speaker 2: I don't think Hoskins defense is good enough for left
28:50
Speaker 2: field at all, but if you put it, yeah, yeah, exactly.
28:56
Speaker 2: I wasn't even thinking about that. So I love the
29:00
Speaker 2: power that guy that's gonna hover around thirty home runs,
29:03
Speaker 2: so he's going to bring that slugging a budget maybe,
29:08
Speaker 2: And so yeah.
29:11
Speaker 4: I'm not mad at it was.
29:12
Speaker 3: He was on my list to Reese was all the
29:16
Speaker 3: power we can't get.
29:18
Speaker 4: I mean, that's kind of been the game.
29:21
Speaker 3: I was looking for power bats because there's gonna be
29:24
Speaker 3: some athletic guys that can interchange. But I mean, we
29:27
Speaker 3: know what comes with that. But you want somebody to
29:28
Speaker 3: solidify bringing us some runs.
29:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I mean I'm not.
29:34
Speaker 1: I don't hate the idea of going after first base either.
29:38
Speaker 1: I mean, we saw Spencer get some looks at second
29:41
Speaker 1: at the end of the year too, And for me, candidly,
29:45
Speaker 1: there's no one who performed well enough last year as
29:48
Speaker 1: a position player where if we can find an upgrade
29:51
Speaker 1: for you, look, we might get you in the lineup.
29:53
Speaker 1: But none of you were three four War players, so
29:58
Speaker 1: we can move you around if you gave give us
30:00
Speaker 1: a reason to show, hey, you've earned this spot. You
30:03
Speaker 1: might have earned a spot one through nine, But I
30:06
Speaker 1: don't think there's anyone on this team that can definitively
30:08
Speaker 1: say hey, I deserve to be at this position, batting
30:12
Speaker 1: at this spot in the order. When you have the
30:14
Speaker 1: worst offense in baseball, no one's job should be safe.
30:17
Speaker 1: So if it means that Spencer Horowitz moves over to
30:20
Speaker 1: second base and you find a new spot for Nick
30:21
Speaker 1: and Zalez or whatever else, that that works in Hoskins again,
30:27
Speaker 1: similar traits that what we talked about played meaningful baseball
30:30
Speaker 1: has come up with big hits. There's a lot to
30:33
Speaker 1: like there. We'll get into now the final category here,
30:38
Speaker 1: the depth, Josh, We're gonna save you for last, because
30:41
Speaker 1: I feel like I know who you're gonna pick five
30:45
Speaker 1: million dollars or less, probably one year deals? Key, what
30:49
Speaker 1: about Mark? What about you? Who you starting with?
30:54
Speaker 2: We'll go with Max Kepler again, just that I don't
31:02
Speaker 2: know take this one now, one here, I need to
31:04
Speaker 2: let me pull up. Okay, just don't take Mexico.
31:08
Speaker 1: Uh no, Okay, I'll say this. I'm gonna go with
31:13
Speaker 1: Rob Refschneider, a big driving force for me. I don't
31:18
Speaker 1: know if you would even sign for less than five million.
31:21
Speaker 1: I think you probably could. I don't know what his value.
31:23
Speaker 1: He's projected to be less than one win in value,
31:27
Speaker 1: so I'm just going off of that projection. But I
31:30
Speaker 1: like Refschneier for two reasons. One, he crushes left handed pitching.
31:36
Speaker 1: And it felt like on start days where there wasn't
31:41
Speaker 1: alrighty on the bump, when O'Neill was really struggling to
31:45
Speaker 1: bat against left ease, they did not have an answer.
31:49
Speaker 1: So I think he would be a great platoon signing.
31:51
Speaker 1: You can play him in right field, you can d
31:54
Speaker 1: h him, and I've also heard tons of great stuff
31:57
Speaker 1: about him. As far as a clubhouse guy, He's not
32:01
Speaker 1: an expensive acquisition. He's someone again, he's a platoon signing,
32:05
Speaker 1: but he helps your culture. He's probably I've heard that
32:08
Speaker 1: he's just really really good with young players who can
32:12
Speaker 1: get in their own way at times, and they've got
32:15
Speaker 1: young players who probably the game speeds that speeds up
32:19
Speaker 1: on them a bit, and having someone who can be
32:22
Speaker 1: a calming presence and who can also take care of
32:25
Speaker 1: the role that he's assigned to. Now, if you're signing
32:28
Speaker 1: him to be your third hitter and start every day,
32:31
Speaker 1: that's probably not the best acquisition. But if you acquire
32:33
Speaker 1: him for what he's built to do, I think that
32:36
Speaker 1: that could be a very, very valuable piece to a
32:38
Speaker 1: baseball team. So I'm gonna go Reschneider.
32:42
Speaker 4: That's not bad.
32:43
Speaker 3: I even think, I want to say, Rod might even
32:46
Speaker 3: play a little bit of first base too. I've seen
32:49
Speaker 3: my first base. So once again, positional flexibility allows for
32:54
Speaker 3: you know, as you said, to be plugged in and
32:57
Speaker 3: absolutely tear his left handers up.
33:01
Speaker 1: All right, he any additional thoughts on Kepler please?
33:05
Speaker 2: Yeah. So, I'm looking at Kepler's twenty twenty five spray
33:08
Speaker 2: chart right now, and every single one of his home
33:11
Speaker 2: runs was hit over the right field wall. Now whether
33:17
Speaker 2: that could translate well to PNC. I feel like where
33:22
Speaker 2: he's avoiding the notch and the deep left field, and
33:26
Speaker 2: also he brings power at a significant discount. He had
33:31
Speaker 2: a OPS above eight hundred eight sixteen and twenty twenty three,
33:35
Speaker 2: but it's been below seven hundred the past two years.
33:37
Speaker 2: So you have a guy who's shown power. Can he
33:40
Speaker 2: recapture that. Pirates might be a place that he can
33:44
Speaker 2: show that and sign for one year and say I'm
33:47
Speaker 2: thirty two, give me one more big contract after.
33:49
Speaker 1: This, So all right, Jay, close us out?
33:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, wondradition man.
33:56
Speaker 4: This one was tough. I had to do a lot
33:58
Speaker 4: of thinking.
33:59
Speaker 3: But if I had to go on, I mean, why
34:02
Speaker 3: not bring a boy cutchback?
34:04
Speaker 4: You look at the city if you're.
34:06
Speaker 3: Trying, if you I mean, I still don't think his
34:09
Speaker 3: numbers were bad.
34:09
Speaker 4: I think he got.
34:10
Speaker 3: Asked to play a little bit more than probably I
34:13
Speaker 3: won't say that he would like have because let's be honest.
34:16
Speaker 3: Anybody that's in a Major league playing at a professional level,
34:19
Speaker 3: you want to play all the time. But realistically we
34:22
Speaker 3: also know that you know what this would be year
34:25
Speaker 3: eighteen if he decides to play. But you know, I'm
34:29
Speaker 3: talking about a guy that, you know, his first nine years,
34:32
Speaker 3: was a five time All Star MVP. He was there
34:34
Speaker 3: for those incredible playoff runs, has been there the past
34:37
Speaker 3: two years and has seen where Pittsburgh. I want to
34:41
Speaker 3: say it's probably reminiscent of a lot of those years
34:43
Speaker 3: right before we you know, broke that streak, and I
34:47
Speaker 3: think it'd be cool to have somebody like him who's
34:50
Speaker 3: been there, helped reignite the team, everything with the city
34:54
Speaker 3: and just being one that did it, you know, back
34:57
Speaker 3: in twenty thirteen, fourteen and fifteen, and then here we
34:59
Speaker 3: are ten years later, and I think that'd be kind
35:03
Speaker 3: of icing on the cake for him then.
35:06
Speaker 1: He selfish, Yeah, I mean he deserves that ending, right,
35:11
Speaker 1: he deserves he deserves to go out. I don't know
35:14
Speaker 1: if you can expect them to win a championship, but
35:18
Speaker 1: if they could sneak in even like the Reds did
35:21
Speaker 1: this past year, and win eighty three games and let
35:23
Speaker 1: his final game as a Pirate be played either in
35:29
Speaker 1: a situation where they're clinching a postseason berth or in
35:32
Speaker 1: a playoff game at panc Park, I think that's a
35:35
Speaker 1: perfect ending to the Andrew McCutchen story. I'm curious about
35:40
Speaker 1: the fit. I think if you're if you're bringing him
35:44
Speaker 1: back to DH, this is a team that needs a
35:47
Speaker 1: lot of power. I would like to see Cutch be
35:50
Speaker 1: utilized a little differently if it means less DH days
35:53
Speaker 1: to get him in right field, or maybe pick up
35:56
Speaker 1: a first base club. I don't know. I think that
35:59
Speaker 1: he could potentially be a platoon guy at first base
36:02
Speaker 1: if it's just once a week. The DH position is
36:07
Speaker 1: so unique on a team like the Pirates, where it
36:10
Speaker 1: could be utilized so many different ways. We've seen how
36:12
Speaker 1: it's been utilized with Cutsch in the last couple of seasons.
36:16
Speaker 1: Part of me does wonder if it could be utilized differently.
36:19
Speaker 1: But I do think for all the reasons that you
36:21
Speaker 1: just listed, Josh, you can't just overlook them. There is
36:25
Speaker 1: value therein candidly, he wants to play here, and it's
36:30
Speaker 1: going to take a lot less convincing for him compared
36:33
Speaker 1: to other guys, and there's value.
36:35
Speaker 3: And you look around the league with the way baseball
36:37
Speaker 3: and hitting has been set up, it's one thing he's
36:39
Speaker 3: still doing that a lot of people.
36:41
Speaker 4: He's hitting the fastball.
36:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, regardless of the time that he's played. You look
36:46
Speaker 3: at him, he's still putting up serviceable numbers for the
36:48
Speaker 3: time that he's not used to being a not everyday player.
36:50
Speaker 4: But that's also part of, you.
36:52
Speaker 3: Know, the changes that a lot of athletes will go
36:54
Speaker 3: through as they get to the latter part of their career.
36:56
Speaker 3: But if he still wants to play, I don't see
36:58
Speaker 3: why not, because if you're not breaking the bank, this
37:01
Speaker 3: dude is going to put people in the stands and
37:03
Speaker 3: he's also going to be able to continue to do
37:04
Speaker 3: what Touch does, which is going to lead.
37:07
Speaker 1: Mark real quick your thoughts before we wrap it up here.
37:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean bringing Touch back is I'm not gonna
37:13
Speaker 2: say no to that. He still brings value. But again,
37:17
Speaker 2: it is that fit that becomes concerning. But I feel
37:20
Speaker 2: like you can fill in the guy with Couch just
37:22
Speaker 2: for the culture that he brings in the locker room presence.
37:26
Speaker 2: I think having that kind of leadership could go bring
37:30
Speaker 2: this team a lot more wins than just what he
37:33
Speaker 2: can do with his bat.
37:35
Speaker 1: All right, well, episode two in the books Fellas, thank
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