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Tigers Winter Meetings Preview · Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of Tiger Territory, a Detroit
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Tigers podcast part of the Foul Territory Network. I'm Kieren
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Steckley with me as always as a man who almost
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: solely is keeping the reputation of Oklahoma State University intact.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: He is Cody Stavenig. And how you do it.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: It's just me and Kate Cunningham out here. This is
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: a mask.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Come on.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're obviously not going to dive into that, but
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: if you want some fun internet reading, follow that saga
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: with Mike Gundy and his contract situation right before the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: portal and open.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: So great stuff. Okay to Tigers Baseball.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: We last spoke Cody, and we really just kind of
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: reacted to what the listeners gave us, and once again
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: want to say thank you to everybody who submitted ideas, proposals,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: notions like it gave us a good barometer on a
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: lot of things. And I mentioned it briefly, but like
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the putting in the prospects and who you think is
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: good enough to you know, you know, get from your team,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: like very helpful information. I would say, So, if you
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: haven't listened to that, or if you haven't watched it.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: We're on YouTube, please go there subscribe. Where as we
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: try to grow that, you can go back and listen
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and watch that shortly thereafter, because like we and I
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: both agreed that the best like looking trade I guess
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: from what we discussed was the Rooker deal, and it
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: was one like Jay Hamm was involved, Man was involved.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: It felt like a solid move where you get a
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: valuable asset, well giving up valuable assets, like you know,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: like agreeable trade from both sides if you're trying your
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: best to be neutral. We mentioned that the A's you know,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: have no plans to trade Rooker, and I would say,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: shortly after we put the pub cast out, it's became
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: even more clear than they're probably not gonna trade their
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: best player or their best players, I should say, because
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: they signed Larisolverino to a multi year, you know, nice chunk.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Of change deal.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: So I guess it's safe to say the A's are
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: not selling right now. So I guess that dream is dead.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: The A's are a great puzzle. I guess if you
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: can actually afford your stadium in Vegas, maybe it's okay
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: to just a payroll for a little bit. I don't know.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Strange situation there, But it's it's been interesting to see
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: some experts to be like the A's could kind of
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: be a sleeper next year, like they do have some
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: decent players and some decent talent. For as much of
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: a mess as that organization is and for as much
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: of a shan as it is, that they're going to
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: be playing in the Triple A Park, like perhaps to
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: them for spending and signing a solid pitcher in sev Reno.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: You know, it just occurred to me.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: It's kind of wild that two teams that we consider
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: like baseball wise, well run but limited resource wise, like
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the A's and the Rays, are both going to be
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: playing through very different circumstances, are both going to be
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: playing at non major league parks.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Kind of wild, kind of weird shutting that would be.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be mad at that. I would not be
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: mad at that at all. How would the Yankees feel
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: about Steinbrennerfield being like the center of the of the Als. Yes,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: that'd be pretty good. But it is like, you got
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: to keep track of these deals because hey, it tells
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: you what kind of teams are thinking. And you know,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: you learned by do learn, you know, react to them.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: It also is another guy off the market. And we're
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: talking right now on the cusp of winter meetings, and
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: we had talked about this a couple of weeks ago.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: You wrote this in your story quiet like all quite
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: on the Western front. I don't know if, like I
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: want to do like a traditional vibe check here, but
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: I don't know, is there like an inkling check that
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: we can do, Like what are the tigers? Like, what
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: are they got in the chamber right now? Because it
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: seems like everybody's kind of making moves for them, like
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: you know in the speculation, but a lot of them
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: if you follow the team relatively close, don't necessarily mesh
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: with what your understanding of their philosophy is. Like, do
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: we have any inklings of like is.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Something gonna happen this week?
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I kind of hope it does in my backyard, but
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: like it's still gonna happen this week?
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Do we know anything?
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I think league wide there's gonna be some action. I mean,
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: it sounds like mon Soto's gonna sign maybe Sunday, maybe Monday,
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: and then a lot of stuff is gonna start happening
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: after that. But in terms of the Tigers, I still
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: don't know, Like it is a little bit of a
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: great mystery. There haven't really been many leaks out of
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: their front office. I mean there for a little bit,
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: we got kind of some smoke about are Not and
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Kim and then honestly it went back to radio silence.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: So I don't know. I still think the way the
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: pitching market is moving, I haven't heard, but they got
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: to be close to signing a picture I still believe.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: I mean this week, every time my phone buzzes, I'm
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: kind of like, you know, my about to have to
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: work because it just seems like the way this market's moving,
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: Matt Boyd signed, Shane Bieber signed, like ye'se tier of pictures,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: the Tigers are thought to be in on are moving,
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: So I wouldn't be shocked still if that signing happens
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: anytime now. In terms of the big moves, I don't know,
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: is there a big Tigers move? I guess that's kind
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: of still what we're all wondering. I believe they know
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: that they need to improve this lineup. The grand question
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: is like what lane are they going to choose? Do
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: they have any? I mean I do wonder like does
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: it make sense for them to just sit on this
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Alex Bregman sweepstakes and hope his market crashes. Supposed he's
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: asking for about two hundred million a la Carlos Korea
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: a few years ago, and then you can swoop in
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: like it's an interesting idea. And I do think that
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: may take much longer to play out, because even when
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Soto signs and there's gonna be this whole negotiation around
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: Bregman and what if he is asking too much? How
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: long does that drag on? What other opportunities might you
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: miss out on in the interim? Surely they're interested in
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: the trade market. I'm very curious to see if there
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: will be any rumors that kind of trickle out at
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: winter meetings, and if so, will they actually be like
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: substantial rumors. So that's all to say, like, yes, there
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: are still a lot of mysteries, especially around what the
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: Tigers will do in terms of adding hitting. If they're
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: actually interested in a player like Kim like that one
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: could go for a while if it's like a Pillow
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: deal situation. But I think it would be nice to
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: at least leave Dallas with a clear picture of what
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: to expect for the rest of this offseason.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: I've mentioned this before, but we're kind of like I
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: would wager that the front office, obviously led by Scott,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: likes to have their pieces in order sooner rather than
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: later in general, So like you mentioned, like the Bregman deal,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: and there's a lot of speculation right now could change
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: like that. There's a lot of speculation right now that
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: like this is this could be the Harper situation, the
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Bellinger situation, where we're like Boris is gonna take this
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: to you know, to near the finish line slash start line,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: depending on how you look at it.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: And I think he's going to try to avoid guys
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: not signing until end of the season. Again that didn't
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: work out so well for him last year.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, like that's then he's gonna
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: have to swallow a contract most likely maybe not the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: most likely that he probably was not pun banking on
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: like like you know this whole time or selling to
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: you know, the player this whole time.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: So that's I think this off season is going to
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: be a little different. I think there is a more
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: demand and not less supply because less off seasons. Fred
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: and Class kind of sucked. But like there seems to
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: be more demand across the league for this talent. I
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: don't think borst is going to get kind of shut
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: out the way he was less off.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Well, okay, so like the demand thing, is it? What
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: is that like a just like just happens stance this
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: year or is that a some of the results of
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: these changes that the game has undergone, like like uh,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: maybe some less some teams being less patient with prospects.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Maybe like you know, expanded.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Playoffs, there's pushed from ownership to get to get in
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: to get some of that, Like like do you feel
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: like that.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: I think the playoffs have been bad for the game.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: I think it's in and advising teams to do less
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: to compete, to be like the Mariners. I wonder how
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: much of it you can just attribute to the Dodgers.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: These guys are making moves and they're still in on
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: all the big free agents, and I think teams like
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: the Yankees and the Mets are having to face the
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: reality of like, oh, if we want to win, we're
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: gonna have to do that. And when those teams start
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: doing it, maybe some other some teams like the Mariners
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: who haven't really had success with this win fifty six
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: percent of your games. Thing, maybe have to be a
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: little aggressive. These teams like the Blue Jays that don't
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: want to accept the reality of a rebuild that we're
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: still talking maybe less than ten teams. But I think
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: the top you know, the Phillies, like the top six
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: eight teams in the league, seem to be pretty intent
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: on making real additions rather than sitting back and twiddling
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: their thumbs.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: And I want to accuse Harris and company of tooling
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: their thumbs, but I also don't think.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: But they have given us no indict the more I
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: think about they even there's no indication to act like
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: they are anything more than a small to mid market team,
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: which isn't necessarily inspiring for the fan base. But that's
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: seems like the reality of where we're at in the
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: lifespan of the Tigers right now.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And to be honest, like I don't even know
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: if it's I don't know, Like I almost feel like
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Scott would like outside of maybe two or three franchise,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I feel like this is probably who Scott is, you
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: see what I'm saying, Like.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: He probably refers.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: It this way as opposed to just getting into a
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: spending spree like in general, Like like maybe because the
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Yankees or Dodgers, that'd be different, but I just kind
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: of feel like it's him. I don't think it's a
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: organization thing as much as is this is how he
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: wants to operate a team in general.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. I don't think any lack of spending
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: is all a chrysilitch being cheap, like maybe that's part
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: of it, but I also think like it is more
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: the Scott Harris philosophy being pragmatic, trying to find value.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: One interesting thing about his background, it's not just an
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: analytical background. It'skind of went to the London School of economics,
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: like it is an economical background, and the way he
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: views and he seems to view things through the lens
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: of the market, and I guess like an investment broker,
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: like trying to find good value on this market. Now,
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: you could argue in a competitive sport like we just
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: talked about, sometimes push comes to shove and you just
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: got to go in and be aggressive. But I think
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: you're right. I think it's part of the Harris philosophy
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: of being play in this middle ground, the thread, the needle,
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: stuff that people don't like to hear as much as
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: it hasn't been a great example for teams like the Mariners,
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: for the Giants, what Scott Harris used to work for.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: I gus have already made the Playoffs in his tenure,
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: So maybe you know it can work. Can it get
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: you the World Series? That's still the grand question. Now
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: we're going into this weird existential time just nowhere, so
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: maybe maybe let's have a more tangible conversation about well, we'll.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Be able to speak about this tangibly, you know, next week.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: But like, I am curious how he's going to carry himself,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Like I know he did at GM meetings, but like,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: does anybody remember anything from GM meetings? Now it's winter meetings, baby,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: That's that's what That's what it's all about. Uh, Like
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: how he kind of is I'm the president of a
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: team that had this all time run and I'm being
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: my team is being linked to you know, all these
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: free agents and all these like marquee names that like,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: you know, the Bregmant thing would have been a lazy
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: exercise like last year, you know, it would have been
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: just like the fun thing. Now it does feel like
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: it makes sense, even though I don't believe it will
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: come to that it actually does like coincide. Well, I
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: would say, so how he goes about this new life if.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: I were if I were advising him from a media standpoint,
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: and that maybe it was just me being selfish as
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: a reporter wanting to like know more about what's going
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: on and be able to actually write that, I would avide, like,
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: find the right words to convey whether you are actually
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: interested in the Breadman's the Christian Walkers of the world,
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: or if you're not, like, find a way to communicate that. Obviously,
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: he's not going to come out and say like, yeah,
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: we're not spending on anything, like I actually think those
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: guys suck, or even if they are interested, he's probably
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: not the type to come out and say, like we
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: are making a run at the top of the market.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: But like, would it be bad if he came out
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: find found a way to just just get so kind
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: of everybody knows, like I said, what to expect without
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: necessarily like losing any leverage.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: I hope, So, yeah, I hope the ways you could
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: do that is just be like we like start kind
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: of like hyping dudes up by name.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: You know, he can't really talk about specific like free agents.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: No, no, no, I mean like Jace.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Like you said, it's been hard to get a
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: gauge on how they actually feel about Jason, like their
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: indications that they don't feel all that great. If that's
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: not the case, Yeah, yeah, a little bit.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's like everyone, you know, everyone speculates about like
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: where we need to improve our team and we have
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: to improve everywhere. So he'll say that, but it's like,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: but we have a we have a guy that we
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: called up this season and that we really like, we
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: believe there's something here, and you know, just like that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: gives a little indicator, right, but it also leaves you
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: open to because you say he's young and blah blah blah,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: it leaves you open to maybe not the Bregmann type signing,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: but the next tier to where you're speaking the truth
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: but also acknowledging reality, if that makes sense. So, so
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: he's smarter than than I am. He can figured that
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: out out. I just figured that out, So so I
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: would like to I'm very curious how he'll present himself.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: But outside of you know, the obvious like kind of
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Bregmant stuff, the pitching market you mentioned, it's I would say,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: we're getting some shape here. It's it's taking it's taking
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: some shape. You mentioned Matt Boyd. Good for him, like
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: you know, getting getting the multi year deal there, and
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Bieber you mentioned, and Blake Snell and we're not really
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: in the in the way of terror school talk. Shout
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: out terarif school going to the Lions game on Thursday.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: That was cool to see.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: There are still some fascinating names out there. And I
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: am repeating myself again when I say that, like as
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: great as the Flarity move turned out to be, like
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: that was a move where it was like all right,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: you know, cool, you know when when it happened, all right,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: and then the Lorenzen move the year before, it's like, yeah, yeah,
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: there's a tier above that has that you can do
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: similar type deals. And we have on the athletic a
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: you know, sort of like a matchmaker thing that you
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: guys did. And the name that came up makes a
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: lot of sense to me, Walker Buehler. And there's a
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: projected contract of two for forty two with a player
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: opt out. You know, sometimes player opt outs are you know,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: can make front offices a little squeezy because it gives
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: away some leverage, but that seems like a perfect setup
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: for both team and player because again, he'll be able
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: to cash out again if he fulfills his potential in
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: his case, get back to being fully healthy and checks
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: postseason experience. Comes from a smart organization. There's probably some
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: familiarity there with the various people that the Tigers have
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: brought in, and I do believe that that is one
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: of those tier ups that is still a good value
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: if if Scott Harris is looking at it there.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: So I kind of like the Walker Buehler thing.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: We haven't talked about it enough because I think it's
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: kind of chalky, but I but I do like it.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: I do like it. I think one paper, it still
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: makes a lot of sense. The big question I think
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: is what the price tag ends up being. I think
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: we're getting an idea that, like, the possibility that you
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: get Walker Buehler for one fifteen is like probably not happening.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: Sounds like the Mets are interested in them, the Dodgers
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: are still interested, Like this might be a two year deal.
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: Regardless of the years, it's going to be high aav
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: eighteen nineteen twenty more. I don't know what was interesting,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: like because you say it's a tear up and like
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: is it? Where's it just sexy name recognition? Marker Buehler
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: missed the entire twenty twenty three season. He got five
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: to three HADRA. Last year he was not very good. Obviously,
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of talent in his arm. He pitched
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: well in the postseason, which I think did a lot
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: to up his market. Ormind teams like, no, I'm still
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: Walker Bueler. I'm not settling for for nothing. And then
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: how does he play that market because he he has
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: on's still pretty short term or maybe some options and
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: some incentives. This is the picture who maybe in another
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: year or two still commands a very big deal, Like
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: I think I think the obvious talent makes him alluring.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: I think he does. I think there are a lot
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: of pictures who the Tigers could have some insight and
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: try to optimize. It's not just Walker Rebeeler, but he
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: does seem to be the one that has the highest upside.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: And thus why I think, why that wink remains so
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: strong and I like, I can't tell you like internally
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: the Tigers like him a lot. I don't know if
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: you know he's actually their number one like dead set target.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: But you know, how can you not like Walker Bueler.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the postseason play this a couple of months ago
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: did a lot for like my perception of him. You know,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: moving forward sometimes as fool's goal, right, we all know that,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: But at the same time it it is it's the
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: most recent experience he had and your team that's trying
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: to advance through the postseason, I mean, get back to
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: the postseason. In theory, it would it probably would send
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: a loud message to the fan base and honestly, probably
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: to the guys on the team because like, all right, cool,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: we're going for something. Because I'm sure he's well respected
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: amongst amongst players, amongst pitchers and and and all that stuff.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: So like not to say some of these other guys
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: wouldn't get excited and whatever, but it's like, all right,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: we're adding Like for example, last year, rating Maida to
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the rotation, all right, cool, that is you know betteran
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: guy know what's up. Ratting Walker Buehler to the rotation
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: gets a whole lot more of an emotional response, I
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: believe from from the guys in the clubhouse. That's not everything,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: but it is a little bit of something.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: You know, you don't even know whatever. It hasn't been
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: talked about much. Andrew Hey, Oklahoma State's own Andrew Hey,
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: by the way, maybe sexy as Bueller. He's older, going
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: into his age thirty four season. He's pitched for the Angels,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: He's pitched for the Dodgers, He's pitched for the Rangers.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: He's gotten money Texas paid him, He's just never quite
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: met the potential. Seems to love him because he misses
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: a lot of bads. He's capable of striking guys out.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: Strikeout totals have dipped a little bit in two years
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: with Texas, but seems like something that might be a
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: little more affordable might end up. I don't know if
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: it would be a one year to deal one or two. Still,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: I think if they miss out on Bueler, I'd have
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: to dive a little deeper into the numbers, like a
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: full analysis. But that's a name that I'm kind of
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: surprised hasn't been thrown around in the Tigers sphere a
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: little bit more.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'd be down for any I mean, I
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: mean I was watching him pitch in college, you know
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: what I mean. So that's that'd be a little bit
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: of a of a fandom full circle experience for me,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I'd be down for that. And of course
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: strengthening the state of Oklahoma connection to the Tigers that
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: you know, it was never a bad thing for me.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll have some more stuff to kind of
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: discuss there once winter meetings have concluded, and maybe even
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: still just like a little bit of a reshaping of
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: our understanding of the market. I did want to mention
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: real quick tech Schoobl in the news.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: He is now a.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: He is now a vastly important member of the Major
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: League Baseball Players Association. He has been named to the
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: executive subcommittee. That kind of want to get into the
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: weeds of all this stuff, but basically his voice and
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: his vote now carries a lot of weight. It's an
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: example of him being highly respected amongst players. And then
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: also should be noted if you're looking into this stuffs
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: as the years get, as we get closer to new
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: collective bargaining agencies are in play for this all right.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: So like in perceptions thereof I don't want to get
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: too far into it, but it is it is a
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: it is a nice it's a nice thing for Schoobl
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: to be a part of and he's representing the Tigers
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: in that capacity as well.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it shows you how much his profile
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: has grown, not just on the field, but off the
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: field as well, how much, as I've said before, like
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: this guy's just really grown into his own confidence. You know,
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: Casey Mayes was kind of the union guy in the
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: Tigers clubhouse, and real quick Schooble, you know, is now
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: he's the one sitting on the executive subcommittee. He hasn't
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: been afraid to share his opinions on the game, the
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: state of pitching, things like that. So, you know, I
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: think it's good. I think it's good from a leadership perspective.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: You still have Myes in this clubhouse. You have another
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: strong union guy in Schooble. No coincidence that Jack Flaherty
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: and others who are part of the brief coup attempt
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: are now no longer on that subcommittee. So you lose
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: one union guy in Flerity, you get another in school Ble.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Not a whole lot more to expound on, but yeah,
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: I think it's good. I think it's cool for Terrek.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: I think it's good for the Tigers to have that
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: kind of representative from elite wide standpoint.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Have we heard any scuttle butt on Flarity. I feel
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: like I don't really hear him.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: I saw something that was talking about like a five
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: year deal. I don't know. I mean, I was, you know,
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: probably just rumor hearsay. It's been a little bit quiet,
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: But I think Jack's gonna get a lot of money.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Well, he gets five years and a lot of cash.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, got himself a World Series like I mean,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: it's it's a pretty.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: Good yeartty good for Jack Flaherty. I think I don't
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: think he needs the executive subcommittee.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: The real question will be whether when he signs with
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: this next team, whether he played like t ball or
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Little league or whatever with that team so that they
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: can share the I don't know how many teams he
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: played for, you know, I don't know if he's if
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: he's run out already. I don't know if that factors
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: into the decision at all. But different two this this
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: past year doing that. Uh all right, some some broader
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: not necessarily specific to the Tigers, Cody is that we're
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: we're getting it's it's kind of hall of fame. It's
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame time. A little bit here and and
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: you took on like a fascinating story. I don't even
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: want to step on it all too much, but we
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: we we try as a baseball collective to be better
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: about recognizing pioneers in the game and those that weren't
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: given the opportunity to play, you know, major league baseball
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: as we understood it before, and that's obviously negro league players.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And with Baseball Reference recognizing those stats, that's a step
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: in that direction. We've we've done a good job, I
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: would say, of getting a lot of these guys into
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame and letting their stories be told
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: through that. And you have yourself another one here that's
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: quite fascinating.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Donaldson. John Donaldson, I think is the type of
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: name that you can say to a baseball person and
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: they'll kind of nod their head and pretend to know
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: who that is, and then they'll like pull it up
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: on their phone under the table and be like, oh, yeah, yeah,
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: I know it. I mean, oh, I was kind of
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: that guy until like two weeks ago. I knew the name.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: I didn't know much really about him, and most people don't,
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: and I hope that changes. I didn't write this story
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: to advocate for John Donaldson, but after reporting it, I'm
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: pretty firmly in the camp that this guy should be
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: in the Hall of Fame. The interesting thing about John
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Donaldson is that the bulk of his career took place
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: pre the Negro major leagues, pre the formation of the
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: National Negro League. He was mostly a barnstormer for the
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: majority of his career, but he before Jackie Robinson broke
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: the color barrier, John Donaldson was playing one integrated baseball teams.
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: He played across the US, and you look at quotes
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: and the numbers that have been dug up by historians,
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: and many consider him one of the greatest pictures of
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: all time, certainly the greatest segregated picture of all time.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: John McGraw wanted to sign him, like tried to convince
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: the guy to go to Cuba and come back and
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: pose as Cuban, which also incredible personal story. A man
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: of great integrity. He refused to do that because he
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: you know, he said, I take pride in my race
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: and then my color. His father was killed by a
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: police officer in the nineteen twenties, So anyway, most people
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: didn't know anything about like the Negro League's Museum didn't
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: know that much about John Donaldson until a historian in
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: Minnesota named Pete Gordon was writing a chapter on a
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: book and himself got fascinated by this. Gordon and a
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: network of historians scoured local newspapers, local museums, history centers
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: to kind of compile all the box scores of everywhere
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: this guy played. And yes it was not always against
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: good competition, because he didn't have the opportunity to play
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: against the best competition at the time and piece together
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: a portrait of a guy who won more than four
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: hundred games, struck out more than five thousand batters. He
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: was considered a mentor to Satchel Page. He set the
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: tone for black players at the time to make money
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: playing baseball. Did have his brief appearances with the Kansas
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: City Monarchs. There's a lot more to the story, but
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: I hope you guys will check it out on the Athletic.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: You know, if some of you are wondering why I
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: don't have more Tigers articles cranked out all the time,
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: it's because I spend a lot of time doing stuff
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: like this, bigger stories that hopefully matter and have some meaning.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: And this is actually what I most loved doing this
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: was a cool story to learn more about John Donaldson's also,
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: you know, shine some light on the work of Pete
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: Gordon and other historians who have done some really important
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: work bringing this guy back into forefront. The Hall of
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: Fame will announce Sunday night who's getting in from the
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: Classic Era Committee, And I don't know who's going to
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: get in. There's some really interesting candidates, Tommy John, Dave, Parker,
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: Louis till there are more. Like I've looked at all
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: eight of these names, and like, I wouldn't be mad
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: if any of these guys got in. But John Donaldson,
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: I think, certainly has a compelling case, even if you
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: can't quite see it on the surface. Once you learn
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: he seems to check a lot of boxes as an
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: important and unfortunately forgotten figure in baseball history, you.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Know, one of the most profound.
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: Like he did briefly play in Detroit too, He played
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: for the Detroit Stars even before they were affiliated with
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: the major negro leagues.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: I've always thought, you know, like it's a very profound
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: statement that, like, you know, you have two deaths, and
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: you know your your physical death and then the last
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: time somebody speaks your name, and and that's why I
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: like stories like this where you're kind of bringing people
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: back to life, especially people that deserve it and maybe
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: don't get there. They're just due for whatever reason, you know,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: maybe just lost, lost the history or whatever, and stuff
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: like this, and you have to you can't help admire
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: the person who kind of dedicates his life like there's
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: no actual reason to do it, but he does it
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: because he thinks it matters, and I admire him for
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: that too. So fascinating stuff there, Cody. I hope everybody
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: can go read down The Athletic, which of course you
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: can do, and all of Cody's writing and all of
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: the great colleagues over there at the Athletic if you subscribe.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: I would also like to encourage everybody to subscribe to
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: this podcast Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, and
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: of course on YouTube as we try to grow that
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: lean into.
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: The five hundred YouTube subscribers for really trying to push
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: that toward a thousand, So appreciate your help. If you're
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: watching this, hit subscribe yes, and.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Then get that notification bell. You'll be want the first
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: to know whenever we get here. Get on here and
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: also like eventually, like I'll just tease it right now,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: like that thing grows well enough, like we might do
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: live shows. I know, I know, I know we want
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: to so but we but we got to be able
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: to build up to that, and so we appreciate everybody
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: helping us do so. So looking forward to a more
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: tangible conversation Cody next week because I think I think
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: some dominoes about the fall and we're gonna be able
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: to kind of frame this this baseball market a lot better.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: And and uh, another reminder of how short the off
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: season is. Here we are in December and it's like, man,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: spring training not too far away. All right, thank you
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: everybody for listening for Cody Stapenhagen. I am Kieren Steckley. Everybody,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: have a great day.