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Fair Territory: A’s add GM, M’s unique manager hire, Rangers crossroads, MLB’s Salary Cap “proposal” · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome, everyone, to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with my friend Alana Rizzo. And Alana,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the offseason is on. It really isn't at full throttle yet,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: but by the end of the month, we're going to
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: see a ton of stuff happen. And right now, today,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: we're going to focus on one particular division that is
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: in the news of late.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: And it seems like there's a lot of question marks, Ken,
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: when it comes to the AL West. Let us start,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: of course, with the Rangers and their decisions with an
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: aging roster.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: What do you know?
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Well, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote something
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: this week that was quite interesting. You see it right there.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Change is coming for the Rangers this offseason, and it
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: could start with the team's star players. Who Evan is
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: talking about are three guys. Corey Seager. Jacob deGrom and
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Nathan Evaldi. Now, if you remember, Alana, going back to
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the trade deadline, the Rangers were kind of teetering and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: they were entertaining acting as sellers. And in fact, they
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: attempted to act as sellers. They tried to trade Jacob
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: deGrom to the Atlanta Braves. DeGrom invoked his no trade
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: rights and that deal fell apart. Seager is the most
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: complicated of these three because he's owed the most money.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: All three of the guys that we just mentioned, Seager, DeGrom, Evaldi,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: have no trade clauses, full no trade clauses. There's the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: story I wrote right before the deadline with one more loss,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Rangers could be open for business ahead of the deadline.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: They were. And then, of course, we followed with the
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: DeGrom news that came later about him rejecting that trade. Now, Seager,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: as I was saying, is owed the most money, $ 155
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: million over the next five years. Not oppressive, but Corey
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Seager has had a really hard time staying on the field.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: So if you're a team looking at him, you're definitely saying, well,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I like Corey Seager. Everybody likes Corey Seager. But is
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: he going to play? Is he going to be a
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: guy that we can count on? And that will be
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: a question. Now, can the Rangers pay some of that
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: money down? Let's say make him, I don't know, $ 120
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: million over five years instead of $ 155 million. Sure they could.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: But as they stand, and as Evan wrote, Those three
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: guys that we just mentioned, Seager, DeGrom, Evaldi, they're making
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: $ 92 million combined next year. The Rangers' payroll will be flat,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: according to their president of baseball operations, Chris Young, at
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: $ 190 million. So when you've got those guys making almost
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: half of the salary, those three players, half of the payroll,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: that's not a workable equation, and that's why the Rangers
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: will be looking to do some things. If you remember
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: a few years back, they traded Marcus Simeon, Did that
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: for Brandon Nimmo and it was a financially driven deal. Obviously,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: this will be the same kind of thing if they
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: can even get it done with any of these three
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: guys or one or more of them. Again, the no
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: trade clauses obviously complicate that. They experienced that just last
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: deadline with DeGrom.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: No trade clauses, that's a big thing when you're talking
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: about these particular players, Ken. You said all three of
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: them have those full no trade clauses. Why do you
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: think it was Jacob deGrom's decision to stay in Texas?
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: What was the impetus behind that?
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: He likes it there, and he didn't want to uproot
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: his family, and he signed there to win, and that
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: was his rationale when that all went down. He basically said, listen,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I signed here to win here, and that's what I
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: want to do. Now, I know people... Fans sometimes get
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: down on players when they don't waive their no-trade protection,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: but the players negotiate that right, and hey, they have
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: the right to do whatever they want once they have that. Now,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: keep in mind the Rangers are coming off a disappointing season, too, here.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: 80-82 is how they finished. They probably should have sold
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: more at the trade deadline if they could have, so
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: that's one factor also playing into this whole dynamic.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Ken, they finished one game back in terms of a division,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: a division that wasn't very strong, obviously, in the AL West.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: It didn't seem like anybody really wanted to outright win
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: that darn thing. How far, in your opinion, are they
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: away from contention in the AL West?
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Only because they're in the AL West are they not
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: that far away, but are they close to becoming the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: team they were in 2023 when they won the World Series?
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: They're not even near that. And we should mention Evan
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Carter is hip labrum surgery, so he's not going to
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: be around at least the start of the season. They
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: are not, we've seen this for two years now, they
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: are not a team that can be taken seriously as
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: a World Series contender. Can they get back to that
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: in one year? I tend to doubt it. But Chris Young,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: their president of baseball operations, is a guy who is
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: intensely competitive, who wants to win, and I am sure
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: will do whatever he thinks is necessary to at least
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: get them back to contention again next season.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: All right, staying in the division, let's talk about the
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: athletics of Sacramento of future Las Vegas athletics. They poached
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Cam Castro from the Brewers. Of course, Brewers are riding
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: high coming off their first World Series win in Milwaukee.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: He has extensive experience, Ken, in pitching development. What does
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: this mean for the A's?
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: It's a good hire from that perspective alone because Cam
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Castro is or has been part of the Brewers' great
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: pitching program, which doesn't just involve the major league coaches.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: It involves the minor league pitching coordinators, it involves people
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: in the office, statistical analysts, all kinds of folks contribute
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: to the pitching machine that they've developed, and Cam Castro
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: was a big part of that. So from that perspective alone,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: a franchise that has had trouble, great trouble, developing pitching,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: in part because it's playing in Sacramento right now, they
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: will benefit, it would seem, from a guy like this
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: coming in and joining Taylor Smith. Smith is 31. He's
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the new president of baseball operations. Ken Castro is 36.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: This is going to be a young front office, obviously,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: but they have a lot to look forward to. There's
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: only one more year of the athletics in West Sacramento.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: At least that's the current plan. And that is good,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: because once they get out of that place and get
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: back into a major league environment, it will benefit them
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: in innumerable ways. One being, it should be more pitching friendly.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: I don't know that a Las Vegas ballpark is going
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to be pitching friendly, but it can't be worse than Sacramento.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: And two, just to get the players in a major
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: league environment again. This is the one thing that has
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: really worn on the A's in the last couple of years,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: and they can't talk about it, they can't complain about it,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: because the look selfish and spoiled and all that, but
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: it's reality. They're playing in a minor league ballpark. It's
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: deflating to them. And just as it was to the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Rays when they were playing at Steinbrenner Field, it's not
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: the same. So one more year, they hope, and if
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: that is indeed the case, they get to Las Vegas,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: they're in a better place.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Cam Castro has a pitching mind.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Obviously, that's the majority of his resume, but now he's
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: the general manager of a team And you have to
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: know all things about every side.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Of the ball.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: How do you think that experience parlays into the pitching
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: or the position player side.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: If it does? Well, they have obviously a front office
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: that will include all kinds of viewpoints. And Taylor Smith
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: comes from the Red Sox and the Rays. He's not
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: necessarily one side or the other. He is an analytics guy.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: That's his foundation. So I don't know that because you're
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: hiring Cam Casters, your GM, you're suddenly not paying enough
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: attention to the hitting side. They will cover all aspects.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: But this is a team, Alana. We know this. We've
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: watched them enough. They clearly need to boost their pitching development.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: They've done a terrific job bringing position players to the
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: major leagues, and they've built a quite interesting core of
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: position players led by Nick Kurtz and Soderstrom at the
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: major league level, forgetting Langoliers. But at the same time,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: they've got to get pitching. They've got to figure out
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: whether free agents can come there now Maybe you overpay
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: them a little bit to get them there to Sacramento
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: for one year, knowing they'll be going to Las Vegas.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: And you've got to develop, develop, develop. All of these
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: teams do. Why are the Brewers the Brewers in certain ways? Well,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: two of their starting pitchers, their best starting pitchers, are homegrown,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: and they weren't even first-round picks. Jacob Mizorowski was a second-rounder,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Logan Henderson a sixth-rounder.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: That's crazy that you bring that up in terms of
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: perhaps a free agent kind of stomaching or sacrificing a
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: year in Sacramento, Ken, to be a bigger piece in Vegas.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: If the price is right, do you think a one-year
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: deal on a big free agent, a top free agent rather,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: would be a little bit of an easier thing to sell,
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: kind of money talks, enticement of being a key piece
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: when going to a new ballpark?
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Actually, it would take more than one year, I would think, Alana.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: I don't know that anybody wants to pitch in Sacramento
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: for one year. But if you're talking, and let's just
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: throw this name out there, Clay Holmes. And you say,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: all right, Clay Holmes is a guy who's a little older.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: He might not command the extra year on the open market.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: But as the athletics, we're going to pay him. And
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: we're going to give him an extra year. We're going
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: to give him maybe a higher AAV than he might
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: have gotten otherwise. And you try to entice him that way. Now,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: with all going on that is going on with the
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: labor landscape and the unknowns there, who knows if teams
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: are even going to spend. But we know at least
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: according to MLB's latest proposal, that the cap is not
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: coming into effect next year. So the A's can operate
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: as they should operate and try to add players and
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: certainly a starting pitcher on a longer-term deal that would
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: take that player into Las Vegas, that would be something
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: that they should try for.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Staying within the division, the Seattle Mariners, Ken, have hired
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: a new manager. It's 36-year-old Jason Kanzler. Why is he
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: the right... guy for the.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: M's at this time?
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: It's a fair question, Alana, because they had two managers
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: previously who were first-time managers, Scott Service and Dan Wilson,
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: and it didn't work out too well with that. So
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: you're taking a chance now. with a third first-timer, especially
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: one who has never managed at any level. This guy's
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: been a farm director. He's done some things in the game,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: of course. He was a hitting coach with the Astros,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: but has not managed. That, to me, is a big risk,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: and Jerry DiPoto, as president of baseball operations, under scrutiny
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: as it is, he's taking this chance. Obviously, he feels
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: confident that Kanzler can be the next great manager. There
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: are similarities here to Blake Butera, who became the Nationals
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: manager last year, both former farm directors, and both guys
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: that are young and up and coming. Butera had at
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: least managed in the minor leagues, though not above Class A.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Kanzler will face a challenge here. It's kind of a
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: veteran team, a team that expects to win, and now
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: you're coming into this thing cold. As A.J. Pruszynski said
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: on Foul Territory, learning on the job is not going
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: to be so easy, but clearly... And you can't judge
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: these things until we see it in action. Clearly the
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Mariners see something here. We'll see how it turns out.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, not a question about that, but they're hiring a
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: guy again without experience. They're beholden to the GM.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Is that right, Ken?
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you're a manager that doesn't come with
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: a hefty managerial resume, you're kind of for lack of
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: a better phrase, a puppet in terms of the puppeteering
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: of the front office, where have you seen a hire
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: like this become successful? It seems like that's the trend,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: hire these younger guys that don't have a lot of
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: managerial experience, but I have yet to see, and not
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: to take anything away from Butera in Washington, but I
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: have yet to see this kind of approach really.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Have it, you know, pay dividends and be successful.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Well, Butera had a really good year last year. The Nationals,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: turned it around in many ways. And as for long-term success, well,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: we haven't necessarily seen that yet, but let's see how
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: this plays out. Now, I'm with you, Alana, on the
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: idea that when you hire Jason Kanzler over a Joe Espada,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: you're hiring a guy who is, yes, beholden to the
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: front office because they're giving him this job. Espada would
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: be too if he had been the manager, but the
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: difference is he's already managed. He's got experience. What do
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: experienced managers bring? They bring opinions and things that they
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: believe in that obviously they're going to carry with them.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: And it doesn't matter who the front office is. And
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: there is, in my view, a greater opportunity not for
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: conflict but just for creative tension. What teams want now
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: from their managers is collaboration. And collaboration I often define
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: as control. I know the teams would object to that characterization,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: but that to me is the reality of the situation.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: And when you have a first-time manager or a young manager,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: someone who is not experienced, yes, they're going to be
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: more beholden to the front office because they haven't done
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: the job before. So, again, not to prejudge here because
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe Jason Kanzler is going to be great.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Maybe Blake Butera will be great. He's shown signs of it.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, let's call this what it is.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: And it seems to me it is, or these kinds
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: of moves are, moves toward greater control.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: And I think that's why it's so imperative for these
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: young managers to be surrounded by a bench coach or
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: People in that dugout that do have some more experience
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: that can help them along the line. For more on
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: the Mariners, catch the latest Refuse to Lose Territory. Brady
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Farkas has the M's pulsed down all year long. Subscribe
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts to the
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: entire Fowl Territory Network. It is time now for grill
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: and Ken, get those questions in the chat. Your opportunity
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: to ask Ken a question. First one here, Ken will
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: AJ Ellis's player experience translate to the Mets coaching strategy.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: Obviously AJ, a catcher in this game for a very
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: long time. Clayton Kershaw's personal catcher. What do you think
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: this means for him? And what do you think this
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: means for the Mets?
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: It's a good move for both. And for AJ Ellis,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: he's a guy who interviewed for the manager's job in Seattle.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: And again, He might have had other managerial interviews before,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but he's someone who has a really
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: good mind, former catcher, of course, confidant of Kershaw during
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: his time with the Dodgers, and just someone who is
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: really cerebral about the game. And one thing the Mets
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: have said or indicated is they need more playing experience
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: on their staff, coaching-wise, in their front office, just guys
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: who have more of a feel for the game than
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: maybe they've had before. The hiring of Andy Green as manager,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: permanent manager, was a reflection of that. Andy Green was
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: a player. He's also done virtually every job someone can
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: do in the game, front office-wise, coaching-wise, and managing. So
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: it seems to me that Ellis, who is from the
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: same hometown as Andy Green, I believe they're both from Lexington, Kentucky,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: they know each other, they are the kinds of people
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: the Mets should be hiring. Will they hire those kinds
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: of people exclusively? No, and they shouldn't. But you need
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: some balance and balance. What we've seen from a lot
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: of teams is this struggle to achieve that balance, and
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: certainly that seems to be where the Mets are going.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: AJ Ellis, good guy.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: I had a lot of time covering him in Los Angeles.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: Good baseball mind, certainly. Okay, will the general manager meetings, Ken,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: the GM meetings, play out like winter meetings since because
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: of the impending lockout likely are not going to happen
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: this year? How do you think GM meetings are going
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: to play out?
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Like they usually do, but maybe with a little bit
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: more juice. And what I'm saying there is the GM
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: meetings generally are for laying foundations for transactions. Generally, a
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: few transactions do take place at the meetings, but for
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: the most part, it's setting up the off season and
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: getting ready, not just for the winter meetings, but for
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: everything that will come later in the winter. Now, what's
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: different here, obviously, is we have a deadline. December 1st
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: is when the lockout is going to begin. Everyone in
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: the entire industry knows it. So, yes, there is some
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: impetus toward making moves earlier, and I'm sure we will
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: see some at the GM meetings. But what we saw
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: last time, 2021, when we were on the verge of
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: the lockout, was an eruption of moves in the last
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: two or three days. And that is what I expect
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: to happen here. All the action is going to be
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: at the end. And the end, November 28th, 29th, 30th,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Those are going to be days that might resemble the
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: winter meetings in terms of pace, signings, trades, everything that
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: might be going on. There's a piece of.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: That that's a little exciting, kind of a fervor in
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: terms of signing before this lockout actually happens. Ken, Video
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Game Nation 26 has a question for you. He wants
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: to know what the market will be for Jake Bowers.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: This guy is sealing. You heard Pat Murphy joking with him, obviously,
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: you know, when he's over with the New York. Yeah,
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: I think it was he was talking to Bowers when
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: he was over with.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: The Yankees, perhaps. He just made a ton of money,
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: if you will. What is the market for Bowers in
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: your mind?
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Good question. And first of all, the question is, will
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: he accept the qualifying offer? It's one year, I'm sorry,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: $ 23. 15 million. My guess is no, that he will reject
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: it in 2019. hopes of getting a better multi-year deal
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: somewhere else. Now, the Mets are a team that obviously
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: could use a first baseman. There are other teams as well.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: The Milwaukee Brewers could use a first baseman. I don't
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: know that they want to pay Jake Bowers $ 23. 15 million,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: but maybe you work out a longer deal at a
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: lower average salary. It's going to be interesting to see
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: how he does. He had an amazing year, capped off
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: by being MVP of the NLCS. It seems to me
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: what he has done in breaking out as a hitter
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: is sustainable. He has worked really hard to get to
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: this point. But at the same time, there's going to
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: be questions about age, about sustainability, all these things. He's
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: going to be an interesting case. I expect he will
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: reject the qualifying offer and go for that multi-year deal.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: And Jake Bowers is one of these guys who has
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: had years of struggles and finally now is in position
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: to hit the jackpot, so to speak. And you would
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: hope for him that that is what happens.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, good for him. What a turnaround in terms of
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: his career.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: You had asked Penn to have folks get you a
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: question on the chat, and that's exactly what V Twins
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: 2008 has done. Can the Phillies fix a disastrous left-handed bullpen?
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: How do they assess it?
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Well, of course they can fix it, but it's going
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: to take some work. Now, their pitching staff as a
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: whole is pretty set, but they do have openings, and yes,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: they're going to look for A left-handed reliever who can
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: pitch in the late innings. Who are those people that
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: are out there in free agency? Well, Adrian Morejon is
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: the big one. Alex Vessia is another. Stephen O'Kurt of
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: the Houston Astros, formerly of the Houston Astros, would be
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: a third. And there are others. There are many left-handed
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: relievers available, though those three are the best ones available.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: So I expect the Phillies will seek to address that
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: area of their team. They certainly should. It was a
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: problem last year. And yeah, here we go.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: All right, last question here on Grill and Ken. Should
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: the Pirates bring back Brandon Lau? What do you think
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: about that?
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Well, of course they should. They traded for him. He
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: hit a career-high 35 homers. He's been a really consistent
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: and good offensive player. And in 2026, his defensive metrics
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: improved dramatically as well. He suddenly was an above-average defender
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: by the metrics. So, yes, Brandon Lau is 32, a
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: little older for a free agent. But could the Pirates
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: use him next year? Absolutely they could use him. They
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: need him. Question is price. Now, Keith Law of The
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Athletic predicted Lau would get five years, $ 150 million. That
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: probably is a little high for me. MLBTradeRumors.com predicted three years,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: $ 69 million. That would seem to be closer. Maybe he
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: does better than that. Maybe he gets the fourth year.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, do we expect the Pirates
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: to make that move under whatever economic system is adopted?
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know that we should because we've not seen
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: that kind of thing happen with them.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no question about it.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: I don't see the Pirates spending that kind of money
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: on anybody, really, honestly, which is a shame as far
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: as that is concerned. All right, a question here in
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: regards to the Yankees and Giancarlo Stanton. Referee 583, Ken,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: will the Yankees cut Stanton's contract?
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: Do they buy it out? What do you see them
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: doing with him?
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: I don't see them doing that. And the reason I
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: don't see them doing that is they're going to hope
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: that he gets healthy. They've got to pay him regardless.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: And when he is healthy... He is not only an
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: offensive force, but also kind of a calming influence in
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: that clubhouse. He's an important part of what they do.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: I know we haven't seen much of it at times,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: but he is not Aaron Judge in that clubhouse, but
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: he has his own presence about him. So I don't
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: expect they're just going to let him go and pay
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: the rest of that salary. I expect they're going to
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: give it another whirl.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: All right, some folks thinking that Giancarlo Stanton at this point, Ken,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: is dead weight for the New York Yankees. Thanks, everybody,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: for your questions. We appreciate it very much. We will
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: be back with Dude and Dork of the Week after this.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: I'm the Dude, so that's what you call me. All right.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: It is time for due to the week where we
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: give folks some flowers. Ken, I'll go first on this one.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: Mine is quick.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: You know, we all have something to say about managerial
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: choices and GM choices and those types of things. But
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: my due to the week is Kanzler.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: Why not? He got the job. Good for him. I mean,
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: what do I know about running a team?
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: So congratulations to him. It's an opportunity. He took advantage
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: of it and we can only see what he can
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: do at this point. But there's only 30 jobs in
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: the world and he is one of them. So he
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: is my due to the week.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: Who do you have?
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Nationals president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni. And I'll tell
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: you why. It's not that he did anything this week
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: as far as transactions or anything like that. But he
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: released a letter to his ticket holders, season ticket holders.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: And they published the letter online, Nationals did. And it's
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: a lengthy explanation of where they are. It's a vow
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: to do better. And it's also, and what impressed me
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: most about it, is basically a very humble statement about
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: their season from last year. They made big advances. And
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Taboney notes that. And he makes the point that they
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: went from X wins to Y wins, finishing with 77.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: They were not predicted to get that. And they did
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: a lot of positive things. But he also said, and
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: this is what I liked about it, that it doesn't
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: guarantee success next year. And they've got to keep working
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: and keep trying to figure it out because this doesn't stop.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: What you have to do as a front office is
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: stay on top of everything at all times. And people
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: who follow the game closely, people who are in the
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: game especially, know that this sport is incredibly humbling, that
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: it makes fools of us all, essentially. And Taboney in
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: this is acknowledging that, and he also is being quite
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: transparent with their ticket buyers. And that's a cool thing
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: to do. Obviously he's pretty eloquent, so he can do it.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Maybe others can't, but good for him. It's a cool thing.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: I think that's, I absolutely agree with you.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: I think one thing that people can appreciate, Ken, I
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: know the players do is communication and just have an open,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: you know, an open door.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Where are we headed? What are we doing?
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: And I think the fans can appreciate that. That's exactly
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: what Paul Tavoni said. He said more than anything, I
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: want you to know that we are working tirelessly to
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: get the nationals back to playing in October and and
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: our relentless effort will not slow down. Okay, time now
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: for our dork of the week. Ken, I'm going to
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: go ahead and talk out of both sides of my
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: mouth here. They're kind of dorks, but they're also kind
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: of dudes. MLB Network in terms of at first saying
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: that they were going to discontinue the long running show
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: of intentional talk. Obviously, Chris Rose and Kevin Millar were
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: the staples of that show. And then it has changed,
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: of course, in terms of talent over the course of time.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: You and I have both worked at MLB Network and
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: they had decided that they were going to kind of
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: pull the plug on the show. But they have chosen
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: to change that decision. And Rob Manfred did get involved
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: in the things in terms of the conversations. And they said, well,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: got him. Everybody was a big got him because the
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: show is coming back. And I think so dorks in
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: terms of saying, let's get rid of it. But dudes
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: and saying, you know, we made a mistake. Let's let's
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: get it back. And the dudes more than anything, the
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: behind the scenes folks.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: Right. We all know about that.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: The front of the camera talent, if you will, but
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: it's the producers, it's the editors, it's the directors, it's
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: everybody behind the scenes that worked so hard to put
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: that show together. And it is one of the better
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: shows in terms of our great game on the air.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: So dork and dudes of the week, I guess, but
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: IT is coming back.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: Ken, who do you have?
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: MLB in general, but let me explain and let me
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: preface this by saying, I understand in the labor negotiations,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: early proposals can be taken only so seriously. And that
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: goes for the union's proposals. That goes for management's proposals.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: We're not going where they are initially. Okay. That said,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the proposal this week, delaying the salary cap until 2028,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: to me, this was borderline comical. And I'll tell you why.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: So the idea of implementing a salary cap in 2027
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: was never realistic. It was impossible. You were not going
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: to have teams cut their payroll by hundreds of millions
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: of dollars in a matter of months or even weeks.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: So you're talking about something that's impossible from the start.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: And now you're saying, OK, it's impossible. So we're going
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: to move here. We're going to make a concession and
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: delay it until 2028. Not a concession, not anything, because,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: of course, the union still opposes the salary cap. But
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: that's not what I'm talking about here. What I'm talking
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: about is the idea that, oh, we're going to give
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: something to the union that was impossible to begin with.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: We're going to not do that. And now we'll do
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: something that probably, by the way, is still impossible. I
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: don't know that you can phase it in by 28.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: So again, I get it. It's movement. It's incremental. It's
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: what the negotiations are about. But in a way, this
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: insults people's intelligence. This was never realistic in the first
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: place that the cap was going to be in place
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: for 27. So to say, well, we're going to Account
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: for free agency this year. We're going to make sure
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: everything's okay and just wait another year for the cap.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Come on, man. Wasn't good. Dorks of the week.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: That's the best.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Come on, man. Come on.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: I love it, Ken.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: All right, guys.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: That is going to do it for us here on
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Foul Territory is next. Your
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: normal hosts, all right?
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: Scott Braun, A.J.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Pierzynski, Eric Kratz, guest Jim Duquette, Evan Grant, and Adam Jube. Ken,
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: of course, is back on Monday at 10 a.m.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Eastern.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: Have a great weekend, everybody.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye.
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: BetMGM players will receive an any sport parlay boost token.
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: To use the parlay boost token, add a parlay wager
• 27:36
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• 27:38
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• 27:42
  Speaker 3: Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET.