Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: AL West GM/Manager Lockout Lessons, Japanese FA Posting Window Crunch

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Fair Territory: AL West GM/Manager Lockout Lessons, Japanese FA Posting Window Crunch · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory, and
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: welcome to November. The World Series is over, the 2026
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: season is over, and now the off-season begins, and already
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: there is a lot of action. Now, the free agent
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: market doesn't open until 5 p.m. Eastern today, but when
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I say action, I'm talking about some of the openings
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: that are being filled, some of the jobs that are
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: going to people in the industry, and some of the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: jobs that still are open and remain in question. Start
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: with the Seattle Mariners' managerial position. Now, this is one
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: that could be determined as soon as today. We've written
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: about it in The Athletic. Joe Espada, the former Astros manager,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: and Jason Kanzler, the Cubs' current director of player development,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: are the two presumed finalists. Is it possible there's someone
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: else in the mix? There's always that possibility. But Espada
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: and Kanzler are the names we've heard most frequently. Obviously,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: different kinds of candidates. Espada, of course, has the experience
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: of managing the Houston Astros and serving as Dusty Baker's
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: bench coach before that. And Kanzler is one of these
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: guys who would be kind of a different type of hire.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Blake Butera, remember him going from the Nationals or going
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: from the Rays as farm director to Nationals as manager.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: He kind of worked out pretty well, at least in
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: his first year. So maybe the Mariners envision Kanzler as
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: the same type of candidate. Again, these are much different
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: kinds of guys here. You've got the experienced guy, you've
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: got the inexperienced one, and we'll see exactly which direction
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: the Mariners go in. Again, that could be decided as
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: soon as today. As we reported over the weekend, the
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Mariners already have determined who their hitting coach will be
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: for next season. It's C.J. Gilman, who is a guy
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: that was their minor league hitting coordinator from 2022 to 2025,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: then became the Nationals director of hitting for served in
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: that capacity last season. A lot of fans wonder, hey,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: how can you name a coach before the manager? Sometimes
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: this is something that occurs. And basically, a manager never
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: gets to pick all of his own coaches, not in
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: this day and age. There is some or are some
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: that are the preferences of the front office, perhaps organizational
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: people that the front office wants in place. And I
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: am quite certain that the managerial candidates have been made
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: aware of the fact that the Mariners wanted C.J. Gilman,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: a guy who was in their organization, who had success
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: in their organization with a number of their players, they
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: want him back. So I don't see it as a
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: big deal. And I'm sure whether it's Kanzler or Espada
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: or someone else who gets this job, they will have
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: their say and they will get a certain number of
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: coaches that are their choices as well. Now, as we
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: sit here, we've had the Athletics fill their president of
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: baseball operations role with Taylor Smith. We've had the Orioles
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: hire a general manager under Mike Elias. That's Jared Banner.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: And we are still waiting for the biggest and best
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: job to be filled. And that is the president of
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: baseball operations job for the Los Angeles Angels under the
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: new Kroenke ownership. And why is this considered such a
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: good job? Because a new day is upon that franchise.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Arnie Moreno will no longer be the majority owner. Kroenke,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: who has had success in a variety of sports in
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: a big way, is going to take over. We don't
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: know when that deal is going to close. We don't
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: know when it's going to become official. And perhaps that
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: is why we have not seen just yet real movement
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: on the president of baseball operations slash general manager front
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: with the Angels. Of course, they need to hire a
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: manager as well. Kurt Suzuki will not be back next
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: year as the manager. They've announced that. John Mazalek told
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: the Athletics, Sam Blum, that he will not be back
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: or he will not continue as interim general manager. So
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: they're going to get somebody at some point. And whether
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the lockout or the looming lockout is having some effect
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: on that, It's unclear. It's just unclear exactly what's going on.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: So we will see how this all plays out with
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: the Angels. But it is a job right now that
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: is very much coveted within the industry for the reasons
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: I stated. It's a big market franchise. It's Southern California.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: You've got pieces in place and you've got presumably under
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Kroenke now the financial flexibility to build something better and
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: the direction. to build something better. So that is going
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: to be something to watch in the coming weeks for sure.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Some news yesterday on the posting market. Three Japanese players posted,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: and of course a Korean player as well. Four players
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: in all. And I was reading some of these stories
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: yesterday about the postings, and I saw with the Japanese players,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: it said, hey, 45-day window opens up now. Well, yeah,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: except the lockout begins December 1st. So I wondered if
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: that meant that the 30 days, the first 30 days
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: would go as part of the posting window. And then
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: whenever the lockout ended, at that point, the window would
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: open again and we'd see maybe those signings if they
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: hadn't occurred already. That's what happened with Seiya Suzuki back
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: in 2021-22. He was posted on November 22nd before the
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: lockout began December 2nd. Lockout ended in early March. He
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: signed with the Cubs five years, $ 85 million sometime in
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: later March because they amended the posting agreement that year,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: MLB did with NPB, to accommodate that kind of thing,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to allow for that pause. This year, there is no pause.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: And that's what I learned upon making some calls yesterday.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: So what that means for Teruaki Sato and the other
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Japanese free agents coming over, the two right-handed pitchers, is
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: that they essentially are going to have to sign by
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: December 1st. Now, if no lockout occurs and we have
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: a deal by December 1st, yeah, they'd have until December
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: 15th or so, but no one really expects that to happen.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: We are all anticipating the lockout. So what this means
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: is the window for these players is a little tighter.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: It's different for the Korean player coming over because the
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: window in the posting system for Korean players is only
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: 30 days anyway. So what happens if the player does
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: not sign by December 1st, either the Japanese players or
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: the Korean player, then they have to go back to
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: their former teams in Japan. So what this means in
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the greater picture, in my opinion, is simply that ultimately
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: you're going to have a situation where those guys are
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: going to be part of the signing frenzy that we
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: all anticipate before December 1st. That's what's going to happen here.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Those guys most likely are going to sign. Sato we'll
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: get into. He's an interesting player to be sure. Now,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the Astros. We have talked about them at length. Chandler
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Rome of The Athletic has written about them at length.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: I want to get back to them right here because
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Chandler made an interesting point in his column on Saturday
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: about the hiring of Randy Flores as general manager. Now, remember,
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the Astros made an offer to Milwaukee Brewers assistant GM
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Matt Klein. And then when Klein, for whatever reason, a
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: deal didn't come to fruition, They turn to Randy Flores,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Cardinals farm director. Now, Chandler's point here, and here's the headline,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Astros GM search raises questions and gives Randy Flores little
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: time to establish new era. His point is that the
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Astros season ended, I don't know, almost a month ago now.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: And the Cardinals season was over by then. If Randy
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Flores was their guy, they could have acted a lot quicker.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: But it seems they were waiting on Klein. He made
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a very prominent public appearance. With owner Jim Crane, they
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: made him an offer, and ultimately, they wound up costing
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: themselves time. And time is of the essence, especially this offseason,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: because what happens here? The Astros have to hire a manager.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: They've got 30 days before the lockout begins, and there's
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: a lot that Randy Flores is going to need to tackle.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: So we'll see how it all plays out for the Astros,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: and maybe... He's been thinking about this and preparing for
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: this job for a good month now and thinking, okay,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: once I get there, I'll be good to go, ready
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: to go right away. But at the same time, as
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Chandler made the point, it is a compressed timeline. It's
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: not going to be easy for him to deal with
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: exactly what he's going to have to deal with, all
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: that he's going to have to deal with in the
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: coming days. All right, we will be back with the
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: inside dish right after this. Time now for the Inside Dish,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: the part of the show where I go inside a
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: story I've written, a trend in the game, or something
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: happening as we speak that we need to take a
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: closer look at. And that's what we're going to do
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: this week. Free agency about to start, and a lot
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: of fans are wondering, and understandably so, what it's going
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: to look like, what this next month is going to
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: look like. And we do have something of a template
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: for what the next month might look like, because it's
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: happened before. 2021-22 offseason. We knew the lockout was coming,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: and we knew that teams were going to have to
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: act on players if they wanted them in free agency.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: And we saw quite the flurry of activity before the
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: lockout actually began. That year it was December 2nd. This
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: year the agreement expires December 1st. So what happened the
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: last time, on the final day before the lockout started,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: $ 1. 4 billion was committed by teams to play. and $ 1. 9
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: billion in total over the month of November in the market,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: both free agents and extensions. There were some big free
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: agents signed. There were some big extensions that were signed
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: as well. Now, the difference this time, actually, there are
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: a few big ones. One we're talking, at least from
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the owner's perspective, about the implementation of a salary cap.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: That's what the owners want. That's an entirely different economic
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: system than what they were talking about in 2021-22. Back then,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: it was more tweaking the current system, different luxury tax thresholds,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: all kinds of things that were in play. But to
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: use that phrase, we were talking the same language, or
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: at least both sides were talking the same language at
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: that point. Now they are not. So there is more
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: uncertainty about the landscape, about what the economic system might
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: look like once this all is settled. Now, if there
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: is a cap, obviously it's a much different world. And
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: baseball has proposed so far one set of numbers for
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: a cap and a floor system. For the cap, it's
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: $ 245. 3 million. For the floor, it's $ 154. 1 million. It's a
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: little bit more involved than that, but those are the basics.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: They have not proposed a phase-in. So really, you're looking
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: at this right now. You don't know what you're looking at.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: And yes, there is some uncertainty, although I would expect
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: that if a cap actually comes to pass, we're not
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: going to see the Dodgers forced to cut $ 200 million
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: in one year or whatever it might take. As of now,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: the way MLB has described it, eight clubs would need
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: to reduce payroll by $ 578 million to meet the cap.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: It's a lot to ask in one offseason. It's frankly unrealistic,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and the owners know it. So that's one difference. The
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: other difference between this particular offseason and the one in
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: 2021 and 22 is the free agent class is not
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: as good. And that class in 21-22 was maybe not
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the best class ever, but it was pretty darn good.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: And I want to show you exactly who signed before
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the lockout, and I'll show you who signed after the lockout.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: The lockout went from December 2nd to March 10th. And again,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: we had that flurry. Right before the lockout began, some big,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: big free agent signings. Here were the top ones. Corey Seager,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: 10 years, $ 325 million to Texas. Marcus Simeon, seven years,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: $ 175 million to Texas. Texas also signed John Gray. So
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: they were about $ 550 million in that final month. Javi
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Baez went to the Tigers, six years, $ 140 million. Scherzer,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: don't remember. That was the Mets. Three years, $ 130 million.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Robbie Ray Mariners, five years, $ 115 million. Kevin Gossman in
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: what proved to be a great deal. for the Toronto
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays, five years, 110. So those were the pre-lockout deals.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Those were part of the 1.4 billion spent on that
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: last day. I believe they all went down the last day.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: And certainly they were part of the 1.9 billion spent
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: in total. You also saw some extensions for Sandy Alcantara,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: for Byron Buxton, and others. All right, so then the
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: lockout ended. And of course, there were a number of
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: players who were unsigned at that time. And then we
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: saw these deals come. These were deals that took place
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: or were signed in March. Chris Bryant, seven years, 182
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: million with the Rockies. Freddie Freeman to the Dodgers, six years, 162.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Trevor Story to the Red Sox, six years, 140. Correa
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: to the Twins, three years, 105.3. And Nick Castellanos, Phillies,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: five years, 100 million. So that's what happened the last time. Now,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: this time, what do we have? We have Tarek Skubal
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: at the top of the mountain. We've got an agent,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Scott Boris, who at times in his career has waited
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: and played and played and played out the market as
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: long as possible until he got what he wanted. And
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: at other times, the 2021-22 offseason being a great example,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: he has moved and moved quickly. Corey Seager and Marcus
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Simeon were Scott Boris clients. They got the two biggest
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: deals before the lockout took place that year. Scooble is
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: clearly an interesting case, and Boris, of course, is going
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: to seek a record deal, whether it's an AAV, total value, both,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: who knows? Here's my question. So we know the Dodgers
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: will be involved. We probably expect the Mets will be
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: involved to some level, and maybe another team or two,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: surprise teams. I don't know who thinks they can afford
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Scooble or will want to. But if you're Boris and
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: you know the Angels are going to be a player
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: at some point here, With Kroenke as their owner, do
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: you wait for the end of the lockout and seek
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: to involve them, or do you cut the best deal
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: you can right now? Skubal liked being with the Dodgers.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I'm sure he's open to staying with the Dodgers. But again,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Boris is going to have to weigh all that, as
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: will the agents for all of the other top free
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: agents that are out there. And of course, we just
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: went through one of them, Tarek Akisato. He is going
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: to be one of them. He's a posting player or
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: a guy who's going to be signed most likely by
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: December 1st. And then you have Randy Reyes Arena at
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: the top of the batting market. And you've got some
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: other players, relievers like Adrian Morejon. A number of starting
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: pitchers who are out there. And Freddy Peralta raised his value.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Michael King should do really well. Clay Holmes, Kevin Gossman,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Trevor Rodgers. A number of starting pitchers are out there.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: And it's going to be really interesting to see Just
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: what happens, just how all this plays out. As I've said,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: I believe it's on our last show with Fair Territory,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: owners can look at this two ways. One, we've got
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: this uncertainty. We don't know what the landscape's going to
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: look like. We'll just wait and figure out our rosters
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: once the lockout is over, once we have a new
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: collective bargaining agreement, once we know just exactly what we're
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: looking at. That's one way to do it. And as
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: we referred to last week, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Globe already has proclaimed, in his opinion, that's what the
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Red Sox will do. So they don't have to go
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: hog wild, at least in the early days of free agency.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: The other way to look at it, and the way
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: a lot of teams looked at it last time around,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: as you know, because I just cited those numbers, is
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: to say, hey, all right, the landscape will be what
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: it is, and we'll figure it out when we get there.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Let's get the best players we can right now. There
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: would be more of that kind of pent-up energy if
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the market was full of better players. But for certainly
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: some of the top guys, you're going to see that
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: kind of push as we get toward December 1st. I
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: don't think there's any question about it. Teams want players.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: And not everyone is going to stand down and say,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: you know what? We're not trying this time because we're
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: not sure what it's going to look like. Most teams
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: are well under... the cap or whatever the luxury tax
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: threshold might be. And they'll be able to do some
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: things regardless of what the landscape might look like. Other teams, okay,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: like the Dodgers, maybe they think, yeah, we're in a
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: little bit of a tight spot here, but I still
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: expect that there's going to be a phase in if
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: there is a cap, which I don't expect there will be.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: But if there is one, I expect a phase in.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: And at that point, hey, You know what? You figure
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: it out from there. So that's what we're looking at
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: as free agency opens later today. It's going to be
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: a fascinating month. I expect it to be a hectic month,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: not because of the hiring season that is taking place,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: but also because of the transactions that are expected, which
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: would include, of course, not just free agents, but also trades.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: All right. With that, we have the inside dish closed out.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: We get ready now for grilling Ken. Stay with us.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Time now for Grilling Can, the part of the show
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: where I answer your questions. Let's get right to them.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: First question comes from Kirk Supremacy, who asks, is there
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: a free agency fit that makes more sense than Seiya
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: to the Jays? Seiya Suzuki, of course. Seems like a
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: slam dunk in multiple facets. Certainly, that's a fair question.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Keep in mind that the Jays traded Dalton Varshow, a
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: potential free agent, to the Astros at the deadline. They're
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: losing George Springer to free agency. Presumably, he's not going
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: to be back. And Their outfield ranked 19th in OPS
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: last season. They need more offense. Seiya Suzuki is coming
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: off his best year. He is a quality player. He
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: would fit right in there. On their 40-man roster currently,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: they don't have a whole lot. Addison Barger will be
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: coming off injuries, and there's Brett Bateman, Jonathan Classe, Nathan Lukes,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Johendrik Pignango, Santander, David Schneider, Miles Straw. They need help. So, sure,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: Suzuki would be a strong fit for them, and I
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: would expect that the Jays are going to be at
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: least in the mix for, say, a Suzuki. All right,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: next question. From Gary Thomas, what do you see the
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Orioles doing first, starting pitching or a true center fielder?
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure a center fielder is that high on
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: their list of priorities. And you can make the case
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that it should be. Cows are better off in a corner. Okay.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: But starting pitching, that is the priority. Now, keep in mind,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Chris Bassett, free agent. Trevor Rodgers, free agent. Those are
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: two of their starters from last year. And you see
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: some of the people that are, well, part of the rotation,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Brandon Young, Kyle Braddish, of course, and Trey Gibson, Shane Boz,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Cade Povich. Those are the projected starters. This is the Orioles' position.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: It's been the same position. for a number of years now.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: They need top-of-the-rotation help. Do I expect them to sign
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Skubal or even be in the mix for Skubal? Absolutely not.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: But I would expect that their priority will be in
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: that rotation. They've got some other things to figure out position-wise,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: third base being one of them with Jordan Westberg presumably
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: coming back, but I just think that center field is
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: not going to be a top priority. It's something, yes,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: they could address, but the market in that position is
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: thin as well, so it's not going to be easy.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: All right, next question. Blaze455 asks, the Yankees are losing
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: two left-handed bats with Grisham and Jazz True, both free agents.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Do you think they will pursue Sato and return to
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: the Japanese market? Certainly possible. Now, Sato is a guy
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: that is a third baseman, but there are teams that
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: question whether he'll stay at that position. Maybe he becomes
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: a second baseman. Maybe he becomes an outfielder. First base
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: would be another possibility, although that probably would be the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: last resort. He bears some similarities to Murakami with that
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: question of his position coming over from Japan and also
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: with his high strikeout rate. But he's a guy who
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: also is coming off a triple crown in Japan. He's
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: considered a better pure hitter than Murakami is. So while
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: he has the high strikeout rate, he also had a
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: big season. And let's face it, Murakami, my goodness, he
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: had a great rookie year. 35 homers, 835 OPS. Yeah,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: he struck out a lot. Yeah, he wasn't maybe as
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: good after the injury. He was pretty darn good. So
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: if you're getting 90% of that, if you're getting 110%
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: of that, if you're getting anywhere in that range with Sato,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: you're pretty happy. Now, the Yankees probably could use him
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: most at third base. Ryan McMahon, one more year on
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: his contract and they could easily replace him and maybe
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: send him somewhere else, do something else with him. So yeah,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: he's a fit. I expect the Yankees to be involved
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: in the Sato market. Next question. From Braden Duquette, 30-01,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: could Jed Hoyer sign two of the top five starting pitchers? Well,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: the Cubs, too, are another team in need of rotation help.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Do I expect them to play on school ball? I don't. But,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: as I mentioned before, there are a number of other
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: starting pitchers available. Obviously, Craig Council has familiarity with Freddy Peralta. Obviously,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: the Cubs just had Clay Holmes and Kevin Gossman, and
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: I believe like them both, maybe at certain financial levels
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: that the players might not see as acceptable, but I
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: don't think either had a bad experience there. Gossman was
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: down a little bit. Holmes is an interesting guy, certainly
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: someone who could be a quality starter. So could they
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: sign two from that lesser group? I would expect they're
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: going to. They've got too many injury questions, and they
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: include Steele and Horton and everything else that has gone on.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: I saw this morning they declined their option on Colin Ray.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: So they're opening it up for more flexibility. And they
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: should be, yes, a team that looks very, very seriously
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: at the starting pitching market. I believe we have time
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: for one more. Am I wrong? Yes, here it is. M. Laverde, 25. Also,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: do you have a sense of how aggressive the Mets
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: might be pre-lockout? I would expect the Mets are going
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: to be aggressive. And Beau Bouchette has obviously opted in already.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: That is one big move for them. But... The Mets
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: know they have work to do, work in that rotation,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: work all over the place. And, yeah, I would think
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: that they're not going to sit on their hands. David Stearns,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: president of baseball operations, knows this is a critical offseason
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: for him, and he cannot wait. All right, with that,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone for their questions, everyone for watching,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: for listening, everyone for tuning in always. Foul Territory is
• 23:49
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• 23:55
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• 24:00
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• 24:05
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