Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Mets-Rangers Nimmo-Semien trade, Ryan Helsley SP interest, Pirates & Marlins spending?

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Fair Territory: Mets-Rangers Nimmo-Semien trade, Ryan Helsley SP interest, Pirates & Marlins spending? · Foul Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory on
0:04
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving week, and we have, as always in baseball, a
0:08
Speaker 1: lot to talk about. We've got a big trade, we've
0:11
Speaker 1: got a reliever who might become a starter as a
0:14
Speaker 1: free agent, and we've got a story that I wrote
0:16
Speaker 1: today with Evandrelic that I want to dive deeper into.
0:19
Speaker 1: It's about the pirates and the Marlins and there's sudden
0:22
Speaker 1: willingness to spend. But first, the big news from Sunday,
0:26
Speaker 1: the trade. You saw it, you know about it, You've
0:29
Speaker 1: probably debated it in your head right now, and we're
0:31
Speaker 1: going to try to help clarify some things this morning,
0:34
Speaker 1: try to help people understand this trade. We're all trying
0:38
Speaker 1: to understand it ourselves, right. So the trade was this
0:41
Speaker 1: Marcus Semon from the Texas Rangers to the New York
0:44
Speaker 1: Mets for Brandon Nimo. Two big names there, you see,
0:47
Speaker 1: the players involved. Nimo had to wave his no trade
0:51
Speaker 1: clause for this to happen, and that was the final
0:52
Speaker 1: step in this thing. The Mets sent the Rangers five
0:55
Speaker 1: million dollars because the difference in salaries are guaranteed money
0:59
Speaker 1: that they are owed is about thirty million I was
1:01
Speaker 1: surprised that the money was only five million going from
1:04
Speaker 1: the Mets to the Rangers. I thought it'd be more
1:06
Speaker 1: balanced than that. And the Rangers also get Nimo, with
1:10
Speaker 1: Nimo getting from the Mets a one million dollar assignment
1:13
Speaker 1: bonus that was in his contract. Now Nimo has five
1:17
Speaker 1: years left, Simion three, and that's why there is a
1:20
Speaker 1: difference in the amount of money they're getting. The Rangers
1:24
Speaker 1: actually will save money in the first couple of years
1:27
Speaker 1: of this deal because Nimo is making less than Simon is,
1:31
Speaker 1: at least according to the contract. I don't know how
1:33
Speaker 1: the five million is being distributed, but it's not all
1:36
Speaker 1: that consequential. The Rangers save in the first two years,
1:40
Speaker 1: but then of course in third year the salaries are
1:43
Speaker 1: roughly the same, and then in years four and five,
1:45
Speaker 1: Simeon is off the book books for the Mets and
1:48
Speaker 1: Nimo has two more years left at twenty and a
1:51
Speaker 1: half million. So from that perspective alone, it's an interesting deal. Now,
1:57
Speaker 1: these are big names, there's no question about it. Nemo,
2:00
Speaker 1: a career long met Marcus Simeon, signed a huge free
2:04
Speaker 1: agent contract with the Rangers a few years back, helped
2:07
Speaker 1: the Rangers win the twenty twenty three World Series. But
2:11
Speaker 1: I want to show you now a a tweet an
2:14
Speaker 1: ex post from Mike Petriello of MLB dot com, and
2:17
Speaker 1: this is one that I agree with. Mike said, the
2:20
Speaker 1: initial feeling is this trade matters a ton name value
2:24
Speaker 1: and also maybe not all that much twenty twenty six
2:28
Speaker 1: on baseball value. And what Mike is talking about is
2:31
Speaker 1: that these are not two players in the primes of
2:33
Speaker 1: their career. Nimo is still quite productive offensively, not the
2:37
Speaker 1: defender he once was. Simeon has gone backwards in a
2:41
Speaker 1: big way the last two years. Offensively did win a
2:44
Speaker 1: Gold Glove at second base, and as we will discuss,
2:47
Speaker 1: that is a big deal for the Mets. Now let's
2:51
Speaker 1: talk about the Mets a little bit here. This is
2:53
Speaker 1: a team that from the start of the offseason has
2:56
Speaker 1: signaled David Cerns, their president of baseball operations, has signaled
3:01
Speaker 1: they want to improve their run prevention. As I mentioned,
3:05
Speaker 1: Nimo not quite as good in the outfield as he
3:07
Speaker 1: once was. He's still adequate, but he's not a plus defender.
3:11
Speaker 1: Simeon is a plus defender at second base and that
3:15
Speaker 1: will help the Mets undoubtedly as long as he maintains that,
3:19
Speaker 1: and he's thirty five years old. There's no guarantee he's
3:21
Speaker 1: going to be that good at thirty six, thirty seven,
3:24
Speaker 1: and thirty eight. But Marcus Simeon is a guy who
3:27
Speaker 1: keeps himself in amazing shape. He plays all the time,
3:30
Speaker 1: every day, one of the most durable players in the game,
3:33
Speaker 1: so there's a reasonable expectation that defensively he will be good. Now.
3:38
Speaker 1: Nimo was a valuable Met, a guy who was there
3:44
Speaker 1: from the time he was drafted, a former first round pick.
3:46
Speaker 1: And look at his ranks all time among the Mets
3:49
Speaker 1: ninth and home runs fourth, and walks eighth, and on
3:52
Speaker 1: base ninth, in extra base hits sixth, in run scored
3:55
Speaker 1: ninth in played appearances. That's an amazing run with a team.
3:59
Speaker 1: And what this deal shows, as Will Salmon of The
4:03
Speaker 1: Athletic wrote today in a very perceptive column, is that
4:06
Speaker 1: David Stearns, as president of Baseball Operations is not going
4:10
Speaker 1: to be necessarily swayed by sentiment as he redoes this team,
4:15
Speaker 1: and nor should he be. The Mets in Casha missed
4:18
Speaker 1: it had a really disappointing year. They missed the playoffs.
4:22
Speaker 1: They had no business missing the playoffs. They were one
4:24
Speaker 1: of the best teams. Actually, they were the best team
4:27
Speaker 1: in baseball as of about June tenth, and then they
4:30
Speaker 1: fell apart. Their pitching fell apart most notably, but in general,
4:34
Speaker 1: they just collapsed. They were passed by the Cincinnati Reds
4:38
Speaker 1: for the final wildcard spot. And this is a season
4:41
Speaker 1: that was frankly one of their more embarrassing. And they've
4:44
Speaker 1: had some embarrassing seasons in the past. So what are
4:47
Speaker 1: they doing here with Simeon? As we said, they're trying
4:50
Speaker 1: to get better defensively. They're also getting more right handed
4:52
Speaker 1: in their lineup. That's important for them. The question now
4:55
Speaker 1: is what's next. How far does Stearns go Now, if
4:59
Speaker 1: they're not going to be by sentiment, perhaps they'll be
5:02
Speaker 1: more willing to part with Pete Alonzo. Perhaps they'll be
5:04
Speaker 1: more willing to part with Edwin Diaz. Those players are
5:07
Speaker 1: more valuable than Nimo was, as Will points out in
5:10
Speaker 1: his column, So they're a little bit different. They're a
5:14
Speaker 1: different equation. But at the same time, if the price
5:17
Speaker 1: for Diaz gets beyond the Mets comfort level, I would
5:20
Speaker 1: expect he goes and they signed another closer. Alonso is
5:23
Speaker 1: a whole other drama. We saw that last year, and
5:25
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the same kind of drama this year.
5:28
Speaker 1: We'll see who wants to pay him now. From the Rangers' perspective,
5:32
Speaker 1: this deal also is interesting and it kind of has
5:35
Speaker 1: the same overtones. Again, this is a deal born out
5:38
Speaker 1: of frustration by both clubs, the Mets frustrated with what
5:41
Speaker 1: happened last year, the Rangers frustrated by their own failures
5:45
Speaker 1: since the twenty twenty three World Series title. The Rangers
5:49
Speaker 1: are looking to change their mix. They're also cutting payroll.
5:53
Speaker 1: We saw that they non tendered a Dolice Garcia, they
5:55
Speaker 1: non tendered Jonaheim, and now they're purging Simeon. But it's
6:00
Speaker 1: not all about payroll. This is a team that underachieved
6:04
Speaker 1: for what their names were on paper offensively, and this
6:08
Speaker 1: is a team that determined quite obviously that they needed
6:11
Speaker 1: to change up their mix. Nimos should be better offensively
6:14
Speaker 1: for them than Simeon was. They'll figure out second base
6:18
Speaker 1: and they'll go forward here. But this is a clear
6:21
Speaker 1: sign that the Rangers are not sitting on their laurels
6:24
Speaker 1: from twenty twenty three. No, they're not pleased with what
6:27
Speaker 1: has happened here. They've kind of fallen apart too, Maybe
6:31
Speaker 1: not as dramatically as the Mets, but certainly in a
6:34
Speaker 1: big way. So the Rangers changing the mix, getting better offensively,
6:39
Speaker 1: and of course saving a little bit of money, considerable
6:42
Speaker 1: amount of money in the first two years of this deal,
6:44
Speaker 1: on top of the Adulius Garcia and Jonaheim nontenders. That
6:49
Speaker 1: allows them to go forward now in free agency and
6:53
Speaker 1: maybe do some things. Same thing with the Mets. The
6:55
Speaker 1: question is will they be able to do some more
6:57
Speaker 1: things now that Nimo is gone? It opens their roster up, yes,
7:02
Speaker 1: and it makes them more flexible. Does it make them
7:04
Speaker 1: that much more flexible financially? Not years one and two,
7:08
Speaker 1: because Simeon is making more than Nemo was. But we'll
7:10
Speaker 1: see how Steve Cohen handles that, whether Kyle Tucker becomes
7:14
Speaker 1: a factor for the Mets, whether Cody Bellinger becomes a
7:17
Speaker 1: factor as well. All Right, for more on this deal,
7:21
Speaker 1: Mets Up our podcast here on the Fair Territory Network
7:24
Speaker 1: and the Foul Territory Network. Hosts James Ciano and Mark
7:27
Speaker 1: Luino have an emergency show out now. Watch on YouTube
7:30
Speaker 1: and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to Mets
7:34
Speaker 1: Up and the entire foul Territory Network. Sorry, aj I
7:38
Speaker 1: called it the fair Territory Network. I apologize. It's the
7:41
Speaker 1: foul Territory Network, all right. Moving on now, we reported
7:45
Speaker 1: another story yesterday in The Athletic that not nearly as
7:48
Speaker 1: interesting as the Simian Nemo trade, but interesting in its
7:52
Speaker 1: own right. Ryan Helsley, free agent reliever who was with
7:55
Speaker 1: the Mets for the latter part of last season, is
7:58
Speaker 1: getting interest from the Tigers and other teams as a
8:02
Speaker 1: starting pitcher. Hellsley as a starting pitcher. Now, we've seen
8:06
Speaker 1: this play out before, right Seth Lugo, Michael King, Play Holmes.
8:11
Speaker 1: They're among the pitchers just in recent years and only
8:14
Speaker 1: a few who have made the transition from the bullpen
8:18
Speaker 1: to the rotation, and all of them have been actually
8:21
Speaker 1: quite successful at it. Now with Hellsley, what is not
8:25
Speaker 1: known is his desire to actually do this to start.
8:29
Speaker 1: And if he doesn't have that desire and he prefers
8:31
Speaker 1: to be a reliever, thinks he can be more successful
8:33
Speaker 1: that way, then most likely he will choose a relief role.
8:37
Speaker 1: But starters generally get paid more than relievers, and obviously
8:42
Speaker 1: in his first crack at free agency. He's looking for
8:44
Speaker 1: the best deal possible. He wants to put himself and
8:48
Speaker 1: his family in the best position possible. So we'll see
8:51
Speaker 1: how this plays out. Helsley has been a two pitch guy,
8:54
Speaker 1: really slider fastball. He's got a curveball, kind of developed
8:58
Speaker 1: a cutter last year. But the teams are obviously seeing
9:01
Speaker 1: and identifying that those pitches, the cutter, the curve can
9:06
Speaker 1: be assets to him as well, and then he can
9:08
Speaker 1: be a three, four or five pitch guy going forward.
9:12
Speaker 1: That's what's intriguing teams about Hellsley. So the Tigers are
9:15
Speaker 1: in an interesting spot. Remember jack Flaherty opted back in
9:19
Speaker 1: He's back for twenty million. They've got Scooble, They've got
9:22
Speaker 1: Casey Mice, They've got Troy Milton, but they decline the
9:25
Speaker 1: option on Jose Katie. They're going to be without Jackson
9:29
Speaker 1: Job and probably Resulsom for at least for the start
9:32
Speaker 1: of the season because of injuries. So they have an
9:35
Speaker 1: opening still and then rotation, and in Schooble's final year,
9:39
Speaker 1: they're obviously going to want to be as strong as possible.
9:43
Speaker 1: Maybe they see Hellsley as kind of a final piece
9:45
Speaker 1: to that rotation. Don't know the other teams involved here
9:49
Speaker 1: with Ryan Helsley as a starter, But again, if it's
9:52
Speaker 1: one team thinking that way, it's probably not only one team,
9:56
Speaker 1: because teams with the analytics and the numbers that they
9:59
Speaker 1: look at under the hood stuff, they see things that
10:03
Speaker 1: most of us casual observers don't. Some in the baseball
10:06
Speaker 1: media who are technically and analytically savvy do pick up
10:09
Speaker 1: on these things. Inosaras, Mike Petriella, those guys see it sometimes,
10:13
Speaker 1: but ky like me not usually. So the teams are smart,
10:17
Speaker 1: those writers are smart, and we'll see how this plays
10:19
Speaker 1: out for Hellsley in free agency. So with that we
10:24
Speaker 1: go forward, and in case you missed it, Hellsley joined
10:28
Speaker 1: Jim Hayes and Kyle Gibson recently on Cardinal Territory. Catch
10:31
Speaker 1: up on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe
10:35
Speaker 1: and rate five stars to the entire Foul Territory network.
10:38
Speaker 1: AJ presentskop will thank you. We'll be back with the
10:41
Speaker 1: Inside Dish after this.
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Speaker 2: Well well, well, well, well.
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Speaker 1: Time out for the inside Dish, the part of the
11:53
Speaker 1: show where I talk maybe about a story I've written,
11:55
Speaker 1: A trend in the game something else going on. This
11:58
Speaker 1: is the part where we go a little deep. Now.
12:00
Speaker 1: I wrote a lengthy story today with Evan Drelik, and
12:03
Speaker 1: that story is going to be the subject of the
12:05
Speaker 1: Inside Dish today. It was about the Pirates and Marlins
12:10
Speaker 1: and their sudden willingness to spend. Now, I first heard
12:13
Speaker 1: about this at the GM meetings and reported on it
12:16
Speaker 1: at the time, and I said at the time, believe
12:18
Speaker 1: it when you see it. But at the GM meetings,
12:21
Speaker 1: agents player agents were telling me, yeah, they're getting interest
12:25
Speaker 1: in their clients from the Pirates and Marlin's unexpected interest.
12:29
Speaker 1: And this has played out now to some extent. You
12:32
Speaker 1: see the story there, the Pirates and Marlins have a
12:34
Speaker 1: sudden willingness to spend. Here's what could be behind it
12:37
Speaker 1: with Evan Drelik, So, the Pirates expressed interest in Josh
12:41
Speaker 1: Naylor before he signed with the Seattle Mariners five years
12:44
Speaker 1: ninety two point five million, never made an offer because
12:48
Speaker 1: it happened so quickly, they never really got the chance
12:50
Speaker 1: to make an offer. Naylor wanted to go to Seattle.
12:53
Speaker 1: The Pirates also are showing interest in Kyle Schwarber, who
12:56
Speaker 1: would be a perfect fit given that he's left handed.
12:59
Speaker 1: PNC Park plays well for left handed hitters, He's a leader.
13:03
Speaker 1: The Pirates could use that, all of that, but they're
13:06
Speaker 1: also showing interest in Jorge Polanka, Ryan O'Hearn and Kazuma Okamoto,
13:11
Speaker 1: the Japanese slugger, because frankly, those are more realistic options
13:15
Speaker 1: than Schwarber will be. Schwarber is a guy who is
13:17
Speaker 1: going to get interest, and is getting interest from a
13:20
Speaker 1: number of contenders, including his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies.
13:24
Speaker 1: If you have a better option, you're probably not signing
13:27
Speaker 1: with the Pirates or the Marlins. And yet the Marlins
13:31
Speaker 1: too have been active in ways that are unexpected, to
13:35
Speaker 1: say the least. The Marlins are looking at the closers,
13:39
Speaker 1: not Edwin Diaz perhaps, but some on the next tier,
13:42
Speaker 1: Ryan Helsley, Devin Williams, those kinds of guys. And they
13:45
Speaker 1: also have talked with Michael King and are talking with
13:48
Speaker 1: Michael King and other starting pitchers to supplement what they
13:52
Speaker 1: have to double down on the strength of their rotation,
13:54
Speaker 1: not tear it apart by trading Sandy Alcantra and Edward
13:58
Speaker 1: Cabrera or Edward they could do that, but again they
14:02
Speaker 1: are talking to other starting pitchers as well, and they're
14:06
Speaker 1: also considering upgrades at first and third base. All this
14:09
Speaker 1: is in the story. So the obvious question here, the
14:13
Speaker 1: question that a fan should ask, and it's the question
14:16
Speaker 1: we're asking in the story. Why now, Why are these
14:20
Speaker 1: teams suddenly waking up. Both teams are perennially bottom five
14:25
Speaker 1: payroll clubs. There are maybe a couple of years where
14:28
Speaker 1: they jump out to twenty third or twenty second, but
14:31
Speaker 1: they're usually in the bottom five. Both teams have been
14:34
Speaker 1: the subject of grievances from the Players Association in the past,
14:38
Speaker 1: and the Marlins are potentially at risk of prompting another
14:42
Speaker 1: for their lack of spending on major league payroll in
14:44
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. The story details how teams are not
14:49
Speaker 1: required by the CBA, but if they don't reach a
14:52
Speaker 1: certain threshold with their luxury tax payroll, then they open
14:56
Speaker 1: up the chance of a grievance. It's all in the story.
14:58
Speaker 1: It's a little detailed, but we've explained that I've written
15:01
Speaker 1: about this before with regard to the A's they held
15:03
Speaker 1: off this possibility because they increased their payroll, and I
15:06
Speaker 1: wrote about it last spring with the Marlins, and then
15:09
Speaker 1: they had a season in which they hardly spent at
15:11
Speaker 1: all and yet jumped from sixty two to seventy nine wins,
15:15
Speaker 1: which in their minds might say or might be a
15:19
Speaker 1: justification for doing exactly what they've done, building up their
15:23
Speaker 1: infrastructure and not spending as much, at least at this
15:27
Speaker 1: point on major league payroll. But there are other things
15:30
Speaker 1: perhaps at work here as well. And I want to
15:32
Speaker 1: show you a quote that we used in the story
15:34
Speaker 1: from the agent Seth Levins and Seth of the Aces Agency,
15:38
Speaker 1: and what Seth said was kind of interesting, and it's
15:41
Speaker 1: not simply his sentiment. I've heard this from other agents
15:44
Speaker 1: as well. There is a possibility of a fight among
15:47
Speaker 1: clubs over revenue sharing, with the smaller markets seeking a
15:50
Speaker 1: greater contribution. This is what Levinson said. The payer is
15:54
Speaker 1: the large market clubs will argue that insufficient revenue sharing
15:58
Speaker 1: funds are being spent on players acquisition. Hence, it wouldn't
16:02
Speaker 1: be a surprise if the smaller markets compete for talent
16:05
Speaker 1: in the free agent market to convince the payers that
16:08
Speaker 1: they are committed to putting a better product on the field.
16:12
Speaker 1: Why will they want to do that, because if they
16:14
Speaker 1: do that, then maybe they can ask for even more
16:17
Speaker 1: in revenue sharing than they're getting now. The estimates that
16:20
Speaker 1: we've heard over the years for the Pirates not as
16:24
Speaker 1: much as the Marlins and the A's, but the Marlins
16:26
Speaker 1: and A's are two leading teams, and what we've reported
16:29
Speaker 1: is that they've been getting at least seventy million. We've
16:32
Speaker 1: reported that in the past, seventy million a year. Now,
16:35
Speaker 1: if there is and we're playing hypotheticals here, but that's
16:39
Speaker 1: kind of what we do. If there is a salary
16:42
Speaker 1: cap and a salary floor in the next agreement, then
16:44
Speaker 1: revenue sharing changes dramatically, and what Seth Levinson was saying
16:47
Speaker 1: doesn't really apply. So maybe the teams are more focused
16:51
Speaker 1: on that, because of course the owners want the salary
16:53
Speaker 1: cap and maybe the revenue sharing aspect, the desire to
16:58
Speaker 1: prove to the big market teams that hey, we're gonna
17:00
Speaker 1: spend the money as we are supposed to spend it
17:03
Speaker 1: in this CBA. Maybe that's not a big part of it.
17:06
Speaker 1: What the teams will tell you, and what they did
17:09
Speaker 1: tell us for the story, is that this is simply
17:12
Speaker 1: a matter of opportunity. The Pirates, with Paul Skin's remaining
17:16
Speaker 1: for four years under club control. They need to get busy.
17:20
Speaker 1: They've already wasted two years with Skian under club control
17:23
Speaker 1: and he's won Rookie of the Year in the Cy
17:25
Speaker 1: Young Award. Now four more years. If you don't do
17:28
Speaker 1: it now, when are you going to do it? And
17:30
Speaker 1: the Marlins, after under their first season with Clayton McCullough,
17:35
Speaker 1: jumping from sixty two to seventy nine wins, as I mentioned,
17:38
Speaker 1: knocking the Mets out of the playoffs, doing a really
17:40
Speaker 1: good job, especially in the second half, they say, or
17:44
Speaker 1: at least they believe, while now is the time we
17:47
Speaker 1: can go forward and spend a little bit more, Well,
17:51
Speaker 1: will it even happen? That's the question here. Will these
17:54
Speaker 1: teams get these players? They're gonna have to probably overpay
17:57
Speaker 1: to get some of them. They're going to be last
18:00
Speaker 1: options for a number of them, because teams and players, well,
18:05
Speaker 1: when they reach free agent marriages, players who are quality
18:08
Speaker 1: players generally want to go with certain contenders. The Marlins
18:12
Speaker 1: might be close to that. The Pirates can argue that
18:14
Speaker 1: they're that with schemes and their younger starters and with
18:18
Speaker 1: kind of Griffin coming top prospect, but I'm not sure.
18:22
Speaker 1: Kyle Schweber would buy that argument against say the Philadelphia Phillies. Right,
18:26
Speaker 1: So some do doubt that these teams are actually going
18:30
Speaker 1: to spend. And the bigger question, the looming question here.
18:35
Speaker 1: With a cap and floor system possible, and it is
18:38
Speaker 1: possible if the owners want it. I don't believe it's
18:40
Speaker 1: going to happen, and I don't believe it should happen,
18:42
Speaker 1: but it's possible. If that happens and then a floor
18:46
Speaker 1: is implemented, will owners like the Pirates Bob Nutting and
18:49
Speaker 1: the Marlins Bruce Sherman even be able to survive. Will
18:53
Speaker 1: they be able to raise their payroll to the floor,
18:55
Speaker 1: which could be I don't know, one hundred and twenty
18:57
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty million, well beyond where they've been in
19:00
Speaker 1: recent years, or will they have to sell their teams.
19:05
Speaker 1: That's a good question. Now, whatever is compelling these two clubs,
19:09
Speaker 1: whatever's persuading Pirates and Marlins to take this more aggressive
19:15
Speaker 1: approach with regard to their payrolls, with regard to spending,
19:19
Speaker 1: it's a departure. It's something different than what they've done before.
19:22
Speaker 1: And as we conclude this story, this is the issue
19:26
Speaker 1: the future of both franchises It might hinge on the
19:29
Speaker 1: results of what they do. It might depend on how
19:33
Speaker 1: they fare this offseason and how, of course the CBA
19:37
Speaker 1: turns out once this is negotiated. And remember the CBA
19:41
Speaker 1: expires after next season December first, twenty twenty six. So
19:46
Speaker 1: that's the question will the Pirates and Marlin spend and
19:50
Speaker 1: if so, to what end. We'll be back with Grill
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Speaker 1: and Can right after this.
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21:02
Speaker 1: Time Now for Grill and Ken the part of the show, right,
21:04
Speaker 1: I answer your questions, Let's get right to them. First
21:09
Speaker 1: question comes from Tyler Max Smith, who asks which do
21:12
Speaker 1: you think is more likely the Braves start Dubon at
21:15
Speaker 1: shortstop Mauricio Dubon and spend on their DH or will
21:19
Speaker 1: they still pursue another shortstop and have Dubon stay a
21:22
Speaker 1: utility player. Perfect world, they get another shortstop. It's just
21:26
Speaker 1: going to be difficult to do that. As I wrote
21:28
Speaker 1: last week, we talked about this on Fair and Foul Territory.
21:32
Speaker 1: Mauricio Duban is a floor for them. He is at
21:36
Speaker 1: least a guy who can cover the position if they
21:39
Speaker 1: do not get someone else. And the problem is outside
21:42
Speaker 1: of Hashan Kim, that really isn't a quality shortstop available. Yes,
21:47
Speaker 1: Bobashett has played shortstop, but teams generally don't view him
21:50
Speaker 1: as the future at that position. They view his future
21:53
Speaker 1: at more as second base or at third base. So yeah,
21:58
Speaker 1: the Braves will hang around, try to see what happens
22:00
Speaker 1: with Kim, monitor his market, and perhaps jump in if
22:04
Speaker 1: an opportunity arises. But in the end to get more offense. Yes,
22:09
Speaker 1: they might end up spending on the DH spot, more
22:12
Speaker 1: so than the shortstop spot. DH has been occupied for
22:16
Speaker 1: them for the last couple of years by Marcella Zuna.
22:19
Speaker 1: Marcella Zuna is a guy who has been productive, highly
22:22
Speaker 1: productive at times for the Braves, not so productive last year.
22:25
Speaker 1: There are plenty of DH types available, and yet the
22:28
Speaker 1: Braves can certainly swim in those waters. Remember their chairman
22:32
Speaker 1: Terry McGirk has said they have every ability to be
22:36
Speaker 1: a top five payroll team. Again, Well, let's see what
22:39
Speaker 1: happens this offseason, all right. Next question, This one comes
22:43
Speaker 1: from Rarities, who asked, do you see the Rangers going
22:45
Speaker 1: after Bobashett or Arise now that Simeon is traded, or
22:49
Speaker 1: do you see them playing Cody Fraeman, Duran or Josh
22:51
Speaker 1: Smith at second base? Good questions. Now, the Rangers certainly
22:56
Speaker 1: want to improve their offense, so the players you mentioned
23:00
Speaker 1: could be possibilities and Bobaschett would fit for them at
23:03
Speaker 1: either third or second base. Josh Young not certain to
23:06
Speaker 1: return at third. Luisa Rais is a controversial player, of course,
23:11
Speaker 1: in terms of what he does. He is the leading
23:15
Speaker 1: contact man in the sport, but he doesn't it for power.
23:17
Speaker 1: He doesn't play much defense. I'm not sure the Rangers
23:20
Speaker 1: will see him as an answer. They might, but the
23:22
Speaker 1: Rangers also have pitching needs, especially in their bullpens, so
23:26
Speaker 1: they're gonna look to do some things now, I would expect,
23:29
Speaker 1: especially with the savings over the next couple of years
23:32
Speaker 1: on the Semianimeo exchange and the non tenders of Adolis
23:36
Speaker 1: Garcia and jonah Heim. Just remains to be seen what
23:40
Speaker 1: exactly they do, all right, Next question, let's see if
23:46
Speaker 1: we have another one here. This one comes from Jonathan
23:50
Speaker 1: W eighteen twenty one. Do you think that the RNA
23:54
Speaker 1: Blue Jays are gonna make a move soon? I don't
23:57
Speaker 1: know how soon it's gonna be, and it's always difficult
24:00
Speaker 1: than to predict the pace of an off season, and
24:03
Speaker 1: it's also difficult to predict what might happen. The Semi
24:06
Speaker 1: and Demo trade came out of nowhere, as deals and
24:09
Speaker 1: transactions so often do so with Toronto. Their hands are
24:13
Speaker 1: in a lot of things now. I have not heard
24:15
Speaker 1: them as strongly on Kyle Tucker as some others have,
24:18
Speaker 1: as some others have reported. Certainly I have heard them
24:21
Speaker 1: in the starting pitching market and the closer market. They're
24:24
Speaker 1: on all the big time closures, including Edwin Diaz. They're
24:27
Speaker 1: on all the big starting pitchers as well. That is
24:30
Speaker 1: where I expect their focus to be, and I expect
24:33
Speaker 1: them at some point to do some pretty major things.
24:37
Speaker 1: I just don't know how quickly it's all going to happen.
24:41
Speaker 1: Generally speaking, we've got the Thanksgiving holiday in America coming up,
24:45
Speaker 1: and teams will take a couple of days to kind
24:47
Speaker 1: of gather themselves. There could be some movement over the
24:50
Speaker 1: holiday that's happened before and then leading into the winter
24:53
Speaker 1: meetings early in December and during the winter meetings, that's
24:57
Speaker 1: when the action really gets heavy, all right. I want
25:00
Speaker 1: to thank everyone for watching, for listening. Foul Territory is
25:03
Speaker 1: coming up. Jim Bowden, Robert Murray and Marty Caswell joined
25:07
Speaker 1: Todd Fraser, Erik Kratz and Scott Brown. Fair Territory returns
25:11
Speaker 1: Wednesday with Alana Rizzo and myself twelve thirty Eastern Wednesday
25:15
Speaker 1: this week, not on Thanksgiving, twelve thirty Eastern. We'll talk
25:18
Speaker 1: to you then.
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