Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Pirates option Konnor Griffin, Cristopher Sánchez extension, Max Scherzer thumb rehab

Transcript

Fair Territory: Pirates option Konnor Griffin, Cristopher Sánchez extension, Max Scherzer thumb rehab · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with you for the next I don't know,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: twenty six minutes or so. Hope everyone had a great weekend.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: We're coming off a big weekend of NCAA tournament play,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and we're also coming off an exciting weekend in baseball
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: in terms of the anticipation building for the twenty twenty
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: six season. And we also had some news over the
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: weekend and we're going to get through that as well.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: The biggest news, of course, was Chris Sanchez, Christopher Sanchez,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I should say, signing with the Philadelphia Affilies. Whether it's
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: an extension or a contract. The team can't seem to
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: figure out what they call it themselves, but it's something,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: and it guarantees him six years, including this one through
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: two thousand and thirty two, actually seven years, I believe,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: and he was already under control for five years, so
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: he gets two more guaranteed. What happened was they picked
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: up the two club options on this deal and then
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: they added two guaranteed years at thirty million per year,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: so we go from five guarantee to seven. And you
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: might ask, okay, why did the Phillies do this. That's
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: my question. Why did the Phillies do this. They had
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the guy under a good deal. Now, obviously, when you
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: get the two additional years at thirty million per year,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: those will be below market. Assuming Christopher Sanchez remains a
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: really good picture a reasonably safe assumption, but you're also
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: assuming health and with a picture, you can never do that.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: So it seems to me the Phillies were trying to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: get ahead of themselves a little bit, get ahead of
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: the curve with regard to future salaries for a guy
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: who is one of the top five pitchers in the game. Again, though,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: it's not something that they needed to do, and you
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: could take the perspective that the agent for Christopher Sanchez,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Gen Monto, did and saying, hey, this is great and
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: the team didn't have to do this. It shows ownership's commitment.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: That's one perspective. But if you're managing your payroll as
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: efficiently as possible, I'm not sure this was the best plan. Now,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: under the previous deal, including his club option, Sanchez would
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: have earned forty seven million through two thousand and thirty,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: so this obviously gets him sixty more million dollars. You
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: can see why he wanted to do that. And if
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: you're a starting pitcher, even though the market for those
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: players is better than it is for any other position,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: because of the risk of injury, you still want as
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: much guaranteed money as possible. So I can see Sanchez's
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: logic for sure. Even though while this deal helps making
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: the previous deal look better than it was, the previous
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: deal will was not very good. He still is potentially
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: potentially walking away from a certain amount of money that
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: he could have gotten had he not taken this down
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the line, and certainly there was risks for him as well.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: But the Filly is the good news for them as
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: they go forward. Here is their rotation is pretty much set.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: So you have Sanchez now through twenty thirty two, potentially
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: thirty three. I believe there's a conditional option in here
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: as well, and you have his zeus Lozardo. They just
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: signed him to an extension five years, one hundred and
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: thirty five million. He is a pitcher who has had
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: injury problems, and that too was a risky deal. But
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: given the nature of starting pitching, given that the price
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: always rises, you can understand what the Phillies are thinking here.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Zach Wheeler under contract through twenty twenty seven. He, of
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: course is coming off an injury, expected back sometime early
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: in the season. One of the best pitchers in baseball.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: You want that guy. And then Aaron Nola, another Phillies
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: pitcher under a long term deal through two thousand and thirty.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: They've already been questions raised about that contract. And then
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Andrew Painter, the prospect under club control through two thousand
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: and thirty one. So from all of these different perspectives,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the security aspect of it, the Phillies are in good shape.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: The question is, and the element of the team's face
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: is starting pitchers are risky. They're risky if you don't
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: sign them because the price goes up and they're harder
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: to find, and they're risky if you do signed them,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: because of course there is the threat of injury that
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: is always lurking. As much as we hate to talk
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: about it, hate to admit it, it is the reality
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: of the sport. So Christopher Sanchez locked up with the
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Phillies beyond even where he was locked up before, now
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: under control for seven years instead of five elsewhere in
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: the sport. And I wrote about this with my colleague
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Will Salmon at the Athletic On Sunday, Connor Griffin, the
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: great prospect from the Pittsburgh Pirates, optioned to the minor leagues. Now,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: if you remember, Connor Griffin started this spring training the
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Greape Rout League play really hot, a couple home runs early,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: and it looked like, wow, this kid was going to
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: force his way onto the team. He's only nineteen years old,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: turning twenty in April, but he is considered one of
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the top prospects in this sport in quite some time.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: And as we wrote the projection models on him, the
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: teams have and they all have these different models that
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: they play around with and try to figure out which
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: players have the most value, the most surtplus value relative
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: to what they're making. This guy is off the charts. He,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: according to one team, is the player with the most
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: surplus value in baseball the position player and Paul Skeens,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: his Pirates teammate, is the picture with the most surplus
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: value in baseball. Now, the problem is that Connor Griffin
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: did not have a great spring, and he's only played
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: one professional season. He doesn't even have one hundred played
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: appearances above a ball. So, as we wrote, Pirates certainly
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: can make a case that, yeah, he needs some time
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: at TRIPLEA before we call him up and make him
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: our everyday shortstop. You want players to develop as completely
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: as possible. The problem with that is the problem they
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: ran into with Skeens, and they kept Keens in the
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: minor leagues for six weeks at the start of twenty
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: twenty four for different reasons. He was a pitcher and
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: they wanted him to learn certain things and refine certain things.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: I should say as well what happened. What happened was
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the Pirates did not get the extra year of service
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: time because Skeens won Rookie of the Year and under
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: the CVA, he gets a full year of service even
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: though he didn't complete a full year of service by
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: winning that award. And the other aspect is the Pirates,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: by not including him on their roster from opening day
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: or at least the early part of the season, there
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: is a certain leeway time in there. They didn't get
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: the draft pick that is available to them in all
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: teams through the Prospect Promotion Incentive Program. So there was
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: a double amp excuse me, a double whammy that they suffered.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: And by keeping Griffin down unless they promote him by
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: April ninth, that's the date that he has to be
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: in the big leagues by, they're risking again losing the
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: possibility of getting that draft pick. They might contend, Hey, okay,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: the draft pick is valuable, but we believe that development
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: time is more valuable, and that's why we're doing this
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: fair argument. But there's another element as well, and that
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: other element is the possibility of a contract extension. The
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Pirates have been talking to Griffin about an extension, as
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: we reported that others have as well. They've offered him
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: more than one hundred million. Now he hasn't signed the extension,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: and my suspicion is that if he had signed the extension,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: he'd probably be in the big league's opening day. That's
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: kind of how these things work. It's what teams use
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: as leverage. But at the same time, for anyone who
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: might want to cry service time manipulation here, as I
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: just laid out, it's not in the Pirate's interest to
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: keep him down for a long time for all those
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: draft pick reasons and everything else, and it's also not
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: in their interest more importantly, from the standpoint of their
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: team's performance. Here's a guy who, if he is ready
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and as ready as people think he ultimately will be,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: is going to be a difference maker. And this is
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: a team that you remember this offseason, invested more money
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: than they have in the past, were more aggressive than
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: they have in the past. There is an urgency there
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: to win. So I don't know how this is going
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: to resolve, but it's going to resolve at some point,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: and ultimately Connor Griffin is going to be in the
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: major leagues. Some other demotions of note, there were quite
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: a few that were actually notable. Dylan Cruz the Nationals.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Here's a guy number two pick of the twenty twenty
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: three draft behind Skens, had a bad spring, hasn't really
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: taken off at the major league level yet, but still
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: you would think by now twenty twenty six he'd be
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: ready to go. Not yet. Bryce Eldridge, first baseman for
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the San Francisco Giants. This guy is a literal giant.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: He is stuck behind Ralphael Devers. Now they could bring
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: him up, use him as a DH and I expect
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: that they will do that at some point, alternate the
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: two of them. Eldridge endeavors, but while he's improved his defense.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: He's still striking out a lot. The Giants felt, okay,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: he needs more seasoning two the Dodgers heis on. Kim
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: lost out to Alex Freeland in the battle for kind
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: of a utility job with the LA Dodgers second base.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: It's a platoon role with Miguel Rojas, so Kim will
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: stay in the minor leagues. Christian Campbell last year's prospect
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: flavor of the month at this time, a guy who
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: did sign the extension that we're talking about with Connor
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Griffin after opening Day so the Red Sox could retain
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: their rights to a PPI pick. Well, what happened with
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Christian Campbell started off okay, then faded, sent to the miners,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: doesn't even make the Red Sox opening day roster. They're
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: now looking at him as an outfielder. Their outfield obviously
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: is crowded. And finally, Jason Dominguez with the Yankees. Jason
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Dominguez had a good spring. Jason Dimingez should be in
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: the major leagues. Problem is there's no playing time for
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: him in the major leagues. It's similar to Campbell, except
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Dominguez is further along in his development. A better prospect
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: right now they've got Grisham, They've got Judge, of course,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: and they've got Bellinger. They've got John Carlos Stanton as
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: their DH. No room for Jason Dominguez, no room for
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Spencer Jones. These things usually have a way of working
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: themselves out. We've seen John Carlos Stanton get hurt over
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: the years quite a bit, and other players, of course,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: could be susceptible to injury as well. So a lot
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of notable demotions and one notable injury as well. I
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: am kind of high on the Marlins right now. I
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: think they're ready to take another step forward. They won
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: seventy nine games last year. But Kyle Stowers is a
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: big part of what they do, and he has started
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the year on the IL with a straight and hamstring.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: That outfield one's healthy, it's pretty interesting. It's Owen Casey,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: the prospect they acquired from the Cubs for Edward Cabrera.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: It's the center fielder. His name is eluding me right now. Oh,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Jacob Marci of course should not be eluding me. The
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: guy's a rising star in the game, and of course
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: when he's healthy, it's going to be Kyle Stowers. So
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: I still like the Marlins. This is not a long
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: term thing. It does not seem but certainly not great
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: to lose Kyle Stowers to start the season, a season
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: in which you have the pitching and you have the
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: team to maybe make a little bit of a run,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: maybe be a wild card contender. All right, that is
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: it for the first segment. We will be back with
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: the inside dish and an interesting story right after this.
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• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Now for the Inside Dish. And you hear me say
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: this every week. The Inside Dish is about maybe a
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: story I've written, a trend in the game, some other
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: thing that I've pulled out of thin air. This week
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: it is about a story I've written, a story I
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: published today about Max Scherzer, and it's a story I've
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: been waiting to write for almost six months. The story
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: is about how that's crazy even to say this, How
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: Max Scherzer played the piano to resolve his long thumb problem,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: not long thumb problem, problem that took place over a
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: long period of time, two years, and by playing the
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: piano for whatever reason, medically I don't know the answer,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Max doesn't know the answer, but for whatever reason, it
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: strengthened his hand, strengthened his fingers, improved his dexterity, and
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: suddenly his thumbs started feeling better. That's what the story
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: is about and I encourage you to read it. It's
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: kind of crazy. It speaks to Max's level of commitment
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: to getting back to being who he is as a pitcher.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: And we saw that at the end of last season
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: in the postseason when he was really brilliant for the
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Toronto Blue Jays. He came on, and he came on
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: in part because he started playing on the piano about
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: the All Star break, teaching his kids, and suddenly he
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: felt better. He didn't pitch consistently right away, and it
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: took some time still, but he was something close to
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: the Max Scherzer we all know in that postseason, in
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: that October run, that magical run by the Blue Jays.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: So the story behind the story and this is what
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: is I don't know, it's interesting to me. I hope
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: it's interesting to you guys. This goes back to the
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Division Series. Max Scherzer was not on the Blue Jays roster.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: If you remember, he hadn't pitched that well down the stretch.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: They went with some lefties, left hnd and Chris Bassett
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: off the roster for the Division Series, and Max and
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: I was talking in the dugout at Yankee Stadium one
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: day before game, and he explained what had happened, but
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: he said, I don't want you to write this yet.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I want it to be part of a larger story
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: with something else regarding Grips. And I'm like, okay, whatever,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: this is really interesting. I want to write it. But
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I'm in your mercy here. I'll do whatever you want.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: So he's like, okay, we're good. Postseason progresses pitches in
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: the ALCS, has that memorable start in Seattle when he
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: barked at manager John Schneider on the mound, has the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: two starts at the World Series that were good. And
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: during the World Series, I said to Max, I said, hey, man,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: if you win the World Series, if the Blue Jays
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: win the World Series, you've got to let me write
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: the story. Come on, it would be a great story.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: And yeah, it would have been a great story. But
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: what happened, and he agreed, by the way, he agreed
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: to let me do that. But what happened. What happened,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: of course, is that the Blue Jays did not win
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: the World Series. So the story gets put off again.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Then the off season comes and in early November, shortly
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: after free agent market opened, I said to Max again, hey,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: what about it? Why can't we write it now, or
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: why can't I write it now? Why can't we talk
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: about it and maybe go forward with this? Because I thought,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: and I hope you guys agree, it was a really
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: fun and interesting story, and Max said, no. I talked
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: to my agent, Scott Boris. He's not really into it.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: You don't want to bring up the thumb in the
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: middle of free agency. Even though it was resolved. I
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: got it. And it's not just Boris as an agent
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: who acts like this in free agency. There was another
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: situation this offseason where I wanted to write something positive
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: about a prominent free agent and I couldn't even do
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: that because everyone's scared of having anything written during free agency.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Heaven forbid, a team sees something in the fine print
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: or interprets something the wrong way. Agents are just not
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: into that. So okay, I got it. We delay it again.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Then about a week ago, I connect with Max again
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: and he says, Okay, it's time, you can do it now.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: And he had been getting some questions about it from
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: other writers and this is getting out there, and he
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: had promised and he honored his promise, and that doesn't
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: always happen. In life, in baseball and journalism. So number one,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I thank Max for that. And also this story a
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: lot of fun to work on, obviously, even as long
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: as I had to wait. This story, also, as I
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: said earlier, is testament to Scherzer and what he is
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: as a pitcher, who he is as a pitcher, what
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: he has accomplished, why he has accomplished this the Aces
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: in particular, And you can talk about Scherzer, Erlin, Ender,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Kershaw and you're the current guys, Wheeler, Schooble. These guys
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: are borderline obsessive and the borderline obsessive and it makes
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: them great. It's part of what makes them great. So
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: that to me kind of comes through in the story.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: And yes, in the end, for me at least, it
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: was worth the wait. And you can ask, well, Ken,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: why'd you sit on this while I sat on it?
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Because you have to have the player's blessing to go
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: ahead with the story about the player. If he's telling
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: me something and saying you can't write this, I have
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: to honor that as much as I would hope he
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: would honor his commitment to let me publish the story
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: when he believes the time is appropriate. So that's what
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: happened here. It's all good. And again this story. When
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I would tell people friends of mine at the athletic
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: perhaps about this, they didn't even believe it. They were like,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. But it's not ridiculous, and you've got to
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: read it to see what I'm talking about and to
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: see all the details and everything that came about in
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: this process for him. But he played the piano. He's
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: forty one years old, he's back. He had an amazing
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: spring teen and two thirds scoreless innings, and it's all because,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: well maybe not all because, but it's partly because you
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: played the piano. Well back after this.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: This is it Kratz Opening weekend of the season. And
• 18:17
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• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Before we get to brill and can check out foul
• 19:16
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• 19:36
  Speaker 1: All right, here we go with Brillan Can and let's
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: get to your questions. The first one, which pitching matchup
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: are you most intrigued by? This would be for Opening Day.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: I've got a good one, and there are a lot
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: of good ones opening Day pitchers, for goodness sake, they're
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: mostly the best pictures on their respective teams. But Paul
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Skenes versus Freddy Peralta, Pirates versus Mets, that is good
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: in any number of ways. Won Freddy Peralta's Mets debut
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: to Paul Skeen's first start coming off his Cy Young
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Award in the National League, And really for the Pirates,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the hope is that it will be the dawning of
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: a special season, or at least a better season. And
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: the Mets too, in a different context, entirely are hoping
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: that this is going to be a different kind of
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: year than it was last year. That's why they spent
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the entire offseason trying to fix their team and do
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: things dramatically differently. So that's a really intriguing matchup. But
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: I will warn everybody Opening Day is one game out
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: of one hundred and sixty two. We all do this,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: We all fall susceptible to it every year, and we
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: all panic and overreact to Opening Day. Don't overreact. It's
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: one game, all right. Now for the next question, This
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: one is what is your favorite Opening Day memory. I've
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: got a good one, and I want to warn my producer,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Jeremy Meyer in advance that this is going to upset him,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: even though it happened before he was born. Maybe I
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: won't upset them that much. But nineteen eighty nine the Oriols.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: I'm covering for the Baltimore Evening Sun. They are coming
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: off a season in nineteen eighty eight in which they
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: lost their first twenty one games, a record that still
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: stands and I am confident will never be broken. Oh
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: in twenty one and then lost one hundred and seven
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: for the season. My friend Dan Shawn to See, someone
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: who I greatly respect and have admired for years and
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: years and years, wrote a column entering that season with
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox playing in Baltimore and Opening Day predicting
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: predicting a no hitter by Roger Clemens. He predicted that
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Clemens would no hit the Oriols on Opening Day. What happened,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Clemens didn't know hit the Ools cow Ripkins three run homer.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I believe it was the seventh inning Steve Finley, making
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: his major league debut in right field, crashed into a wall,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: went on the injury list for the Oriols. But it
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: was a very dramatic win for the Ools, and it
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: triggered a season that was one of the great surprises
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: in recent baseball history. The Oriols went right down to
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the wire with the Toronto Blue Jays, ultimately did not
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: win the division, fell short, but it was a crazy year.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: It was a great year, and that is my favorite
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Opening Day memory, just because it was so stunning and
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Stan didn't get a no hitter. That was the other thing.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: All right. Another question here, this one is are there
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: executives or managers already on the hot seat? Yes, they're
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: already absolutely executives and managers on the hot seat. And
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I'll start with Houston. Houston is a team that has
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: been perennially good, of course in the last decade or so,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: did not make the playoffs last year for the first
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: time since twenty sixteen. Dana Brown is the general manager,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Joe Spotta is their manager. They've got a good team
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: and mine looks like a good signing. Burrows looks like
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: a good pickup. Both those guys in the rotation they've
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: got offense. We all know that the question is in
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: a division where they're playing against the Seattle Mariners, if
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: what they accomplished, whatever they accomplished, is going to be
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: good enough for their owner, Jim So those are two
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: guys that will definitely be under scrutiny, particularly if that
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: team does not achieve what the owner expects it to achieve.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: The New York managers Aaron Boone and Carlos Mendoza always
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: under scrutiny. Mendoza perhaps a little bit more in the
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: sense that they changed a lot of coaches, and usually
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: that's the prelude to a managerial change if things don't
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: go well. Boone, of course, we've been waiting for the
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Yankees to win their first World Series in two thousand
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and nine forever. He's been the manager for almost a
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: decade now, and they will be heat around him if
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: they fall short again. And I'll give you one more
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thompson. Again, it's the question of
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: expectations versus performance. If the Phillies do not perform to
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: the level of expectations, then perhaps Rob Thompson will be
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: held responsible. A lot of times these things aren't fair.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: I don't know that any of these turnovers, if they happen,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: would be fair considering what might transpire during the course
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: of the season. But those are some managers and executives
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: just to start the year that are on the hot seat.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: And I know Mets fans will say Sterns as well,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: he's not in the hot seat. We'll see what this
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: offseason brought the Mats and we'll see how it fares
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: and how they turn out. But I don't expect David
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Sterns to be in any trouble. So with that, I
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: want to thank everyone for watching and for listening. Foul
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Territory coming up at eleven am Eastern. It's aj Eric
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Kratz and Alana Rizzo, Bob Nightingale and Ruben Tomorrow Junior
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: join as well. We're back Thursday with Alto Rizzo, our
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: usual Thursday show. Have a great week.
• 24:33
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