Latest / Foul Territory / MLB Trade Buzz Update, Twins owner calling fans to apologize, Tampa Bay Rays moving to Orlando?

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MLB Trade Buzz Update, Twins owner calling fans to apologize, Tampa Bay Rays moving to Orlando? · Foul Territory

0:03
Speaker 1: I do look at the comments. I do look at
0:06
Speaker 1: the comments. I just wanted to throw that out there yesterday, Aj,
0:11
Speaker 1: you weren't here, But I don't even know if I
0:13
Speaker 1: brought this up to Kratz. There was a Mets fan
0:16
Speaker 1: in the chat who said f you, but the real
0:20
Speaker 1: words to Kratz, and he's denying it right now today
0:23
Speaker 1: in the chat. But I saw it. I'm not crazy,
0:26
Speaker 1: and I put him in time out twenty four hours
0:29
Speaker 1: and now he's back because he said he wouldn't be silenced,
0:31
Speaker 1: and I said, you will be silenced if you're not nice.
0:33
Speaker 1: We have a very active chat, a great community, and
0:36
Speaker 1: we like to go back and forth. Sometimes AJ does
0:39
Speaker 1: it too. We'll go back and forth, sometimes the little trollish.
0:41
Speaker 1: Sometimes we don't like what you say. Often we love
0:43
Speaker 1: what you say, and we love the questions that you ask.
0:46
Speaker 1: But that's the line for me, just the pure personal
0:49
Speaker 1: attacks is when we do a little time out.
0:52
Speaker 2: Hurt my feelings. And I didn't even know about it,
0:54
Speaker 2: but I want to know what I said. I made
0:57
Speaker 2: he or she so mad?
0:59
Speaker 1: Okay? Well, Aj, it was another day for Kratz to
1:03
Speaker 1: question the Mets rotation and their defense to our yet
1:07
Speaker 1: of the construction of it, which is fine and fair.
1:10
Speaker 1: And I defended you to the death yesterday, not for
1:12
Speaker 1: your comments going forward, but for your comments last year
1:15
Speaker 1: where you ripped the team and you were spot on.
1:17
Speaker 1: The one thing that bothered this particular fan was he
1:20
Speaker 1: said that you had Marcus Simeon's age off by two
1:23
Speaker 1: years yesterday, and he wants you to get the facts straight.
1:27
Speaker 1: I don't remember that part because I was probably too
1:29
Speaker 1: busy in the chat I did.
1:31
Speaker 2: I said his age when he was going to be
1:33
Speaker 2: done with his contract and not his current age. I
1:37
Speaker 2: am sorry, and I'm glad this person is back in
1:39
Speaker 2: the chat because we're ready to get another show going
1:43
Speaker 2: and the Mets still haven't gotten better since yesterday. You're
1:46
Speaker 2: a bad human crats I have won, I have been
1:50
Speaker 2: called worse, and this is why I didn't read the
1:51
Speaker 2: comments when I played, because it really affected me.
1:57
Speaker 1: He said he's going against me, and he is right technically,
2:01
Speaker 1: but we're in the same ballpark here. He said. He
2:04
Speaker 1: didn't say, did you. He just called you a the
2:07
Speaker 1: F word goon, Like I think that's a little much. Goon.
2:12
Speaker 1: Goon is fine, but F word goon.
2:16
Speaker 2: I'll deal with goon, buffoon, bald, terrible player, goof. Oh
2:24
Speaker 2: I love the word good yeah, big goof.
2:29
Speaker 1: We just want to get along, that's all. We can
2:32
Speaker 1: disagree all day, but we'd like to get along nicely.
2:36
Speaker 2: What did I I mean? Steven A.
2:38
Speaker 3: Smith the other day went on on a rant about
2:41
Speaker 3: how the defensive coordinator and he wasn't even the defensive coordinator.
2:45
Speaker 2: He was he was he had prostate cancer all year.
2:47
Speaker 2: He just came out and said, see, I was right.
2:49
Speaker 2: I knew.
2:49
Speaker 3: The difference between knowing and saying it right is different,
2:53
Speaker 3: So chras just go with that defense. Just say you
2:55
Speaker 3: know what I knew. But I knew, but I just
2:57
Speaker 3: didn't say it properly. So I'm fine.
2:59
Speaker 2: I won't. I will definitely say when I made a mistake.
3:02
Speaker 2: So welcome back, chat. Let's get it today exactly.
3:07
Speaker 1: Thank you. Stephen A watched some sports, not baseball. He
3:10
Speaker 1: doesn't really talk about baseball, so we won't make fun
3:12
Speaker 1: of him too much. Only three times a year when
3:15
Speaker 1: he does bring up our sport. Let's charge.
3:19
Speaker 2: Let's charge about.
3:22
Speaker 1: Today. We're going to spend some time going over potential
3:25
Speaker 1: trade candidates between now and opening day, So Jim Boden
3:29
Speaker 1: put out his list of the top seven in terms
3:31
Speaker 1: of talent. It doesn't mean that they're going to get traded.
3:35
Speaker 1: In fact, we might not see any of these players
3:37
Speaker 1: get traded. But he listed Scoogle, kud Tell, Marte, Jaron Duran,
3:41
Speaker 1: CJ Abrams, Sandy al Contra, Brendan Donovan, and Louis Severino
3:46
Speaker 1: on there. Again, not that they're necessarily going to get traded.
3:50
Speaker 1: We know that the Diamondbacks came out publicly AJ and
3:53
Speaker 1: said we're not trading. To tell Marte, JB doesn't quite
3:56
Speaker 1: believe them. He thinks that the asking price wasn't met.
3:59
Speaker 1: And I suddenly there's a spring training injury or some
4:02
Speaker 1: type of issue for a team, they might call them
4:04
Speaker 1: back and try to make it happen. I don't want
4:06
Speaker 1: to make this just about Cantell, but your overall thoughts
4:08
Speaker 1: on the list, and do you think anyone on there
4:10
Speaker 1: actually could get dealt between now and call it March first?
4:19
Speaker 3: C J Abrams would have been the one for me,
4:21
Speaker 3: but then they just ask and they got rebuke because
4:24
Speaker 3: they asked for too much. Scooble after talking to him
4:27
Speaker 3: at the BBWAA on Saturday and talking to Hinch and
4:30
Speaker 3: everybody else involved. He's not getting traded unless something crazy
4:33
Speaker 3: happens because they're ready.
4:34
Speaker 2: They're ready for arbitration. And AJ Hinch was talking about
4:37
Speaker 2: how he's throwing a hundred already and he told him
4:39
Speaker 2: to calm down because they need him for the long hole. Martella,
4:42
Speaker 2: They've already tried. Didn't happen? Jared Duran possibly, But if
4:45
Speaker 2: I'm the Red Sox, I wait because I want to
4:47
Speaker 2: see what kind of year I'm having. Sandy.
4:49
Speaker 3: You need him to come out and start, get off
4:50
Speaker 3: to a hot start, then you trade him to a
4:52
Speaker 3: contender Donovan, Yes, but why haven't they traded him already?
4:56
Speaker 3: That's my question with Donovan and then Severino. I think
4:59
Speaker 3: the A's want to see how they start also before
5:00
Speaker 3: they make that movement. Okay, I'll say Donovan and Abrams
5:05
Speaker 3: would be the two on this list, but why hasn't
5:07
Speaker 3: Donovan been traded? And we just heard that CJ. Abrams
5:10
Speaker 3: was closed but they wanted too much for him, So
5:13
Speaker 3: I'm going to say zero before opening day.
5:16
Speaker 1: I like what you're saying as your secondary though I
5:18
Speaker 1: don't think there's any, but if it happens, it's the
5:21
Speaker 1: second base market. Why, because there are at least two,
5:24
Speaker 1: if not three, or four teams that could use a
5:26
Speaker 1: second basement right now. Seattle for sure, San Francisco for sure.
5:31
Speaker 1: I would say Boston should be on that list, and
5:34
Speaker 1: then I'm probably missing some other because I'm just ripping
5:36
Speaker 1: off the top of my head. I'm with you, Abrams,
5:39
Speaker 1: the asking price is going to be high. Donnovan the
5:41
Speaker 1: asking price should be a little bit lower. Very different players,
5:45
Speaker 1: but also Donovan's for two years, c J. Abrams is
5:48
Speaker 1: for three years. There's a difference in control there. They
5:50
Speaker 1: have very different pluses and minuses. Abrams actually needs to
5:53
Speaker 1: improve on the play discipline on base percentage side, and
5:56
Speaker 1: that's the one spot that Donovan has to a t
5:59
Speaker 1: I think it was three on base last year. Kratz,
6:02
Speaker 1: what do you think about this list?
6:05
Speaker 2: I mean, I think the list I'd go back to
6:07
Speaker 2: what Joel Sherman If you guys didn't see, Joel Sherman
6:09
Speaker 2: was on the show after the bbwaas and he was
6:15
Speaker 2: talking about the Mets and how like the first Domino
6:18
Speaker 2: had to fall with Neimo, I feel like Jaron Duran
6:22
Speaker 2: on this list is very similar. The first Domino has
6:25
Speaker 2: to fall for the Red Sox. The Red Sox either
6:27
Speaker 2: need a second baseman or a third baseman. I think
6:30
Speaker 2: Marcelo Meyer they think could fit into one of those.
6:34
Speaker 2: And I think if they would get a Hinneo Suarez,
6:37
Speaker 2: if they would get a you know, maybe possibly you know,
6:42
Speaker 2: you get Isak Parades from the Astros, there's obviously possibilities
6:46
Speaker 2: there for third base. It pushes a Meyer to second
6:50
Speaker 2: and then maybe now they they got that right handed bat,
6:54
Speaker 2: They're okay getting rid of Duran. They're okay trading for
6:58
Speaker 2: one last upgrade at that second base position if Myer's
7:01
Speaker 2: not going to play there, or if they don't get
7:04
Speaker 2: one of those guys, Meyer plays third and they get
7:06
Speaker 2: that upgrade. So I think Aaron Duran I just felt
7:09
Speaker 2: like there's a lot of smoke before and I don't
7:12
Speaker 2: think that smoke went away. I think there's still fire there.
7:15
Speaker 2: And I don't think the Red Sox are done yet.
7:18
Speaker 2: I think they've made their one free agent splashed with
7:20
Speaker 2: Suarez Ron Hare, and now I think they could move
7:26
Speaker 2: him because I don't think they want to move a
7:27
Speaker 2: brayew and obviously not moving Roman Anthony out of their outfield.
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8:31
Speaker 1: site for details. There might be some prospect pieces that
8:35
Speaker 1: move as part of that too, but aj do you
8:38
Speaker 1: like the complexion of an esac paratus to help the
8:42
Speaker 1: infield logjam? Moving over to Boston, where there's a very
8:45
Speaker 1: very primary need at third base or second to an
8:48
Speaker 1: extent or, and then Duran goes the other way to Houston.
8:52
Speaker 1: I know we're going to talk to Channel room later.
8:54
Speaker 1: This was a team where you're looking for a little
8:56
Speaker 1: more action.
8:57
Speaker 2: Right from Boston or from Houston.
9:00
Speaker 1: Houston, Houston, I mean technically both, but Houston too, right.
9:03
Speaker 2: Oh, Houston went out and got him. My. You know,
9:06
Speaker 2: they've done some stuff. They're counting on Alvaroz coming back,
9:09
Speaker 2: Christian Walker being back, and East Parade's having an entire
9:12
Speaker 2: year there. So I don't know they didn't they they
9:15
Speaker 2: signed an out didn't they bring an outfield or two?
9:17
Speaker 2: I have to look now, shoot, pretty sure that bring in.
9:22
Speaker 2: I just don't know where Paratas plays. I just don't
9:24
Speaker 2: know where Paradis plays for for the Astros, and I think.
9:27
Speaker 3: Well care maybe second base. They try all to b
9:30
Speaker 3: left field trick again.
9:32
Speaker 2: I mean, he's gonna get second.
9:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what they said at fan Fest. No, I'm
9:37
Speaker 1: with you, that's what they said at fan Fest. They
9:40
Speaker 1: don't want l two a playing much outfield, but he
9:42
Speaker 1: might play a little bit there parades second. Yes, the
9:45
Speaker 1: way that they're describing things does not make it seem
9:49
Speaker 1: very logical in terms of your best defensive fit. Right now,
9:52
Speaker 1: I'll give you the lineup from Fangrafts against Righty's Jeremy Payne,
9:57
Speaker 1: your shortstop. You're on at d H second base, A
10:00
Speaker 1: to a third Korea Christian Walker at first, Au Sanchez,
10:03
Speaker 1: who was terrible for them last year in right, Gyner
10:06
Speaker 1: Diaz it catcher zat colon left, Jake Myers in center.
10:10
Speaker 1: They could use a Jaron Durant in the outfield.
10:13
Speaker 2: They could totally, And I think they need to continue
10:16
Speaker 2: to let Cam Smith eat. He's in his second year.
10:19
Speaker 2: Don't don't platoon this man, Like the Astros weren't built
10:25
Speaker 2: on that mega platoon. Yes, they had guys like Marvin
10:29
Speaker 2: Gonzalez who were able to slot in places because he
10:32
Speaker 2: was a switch hitter. But to me, Cam Smith, you
10:36
Speaker 2: got rid of Tucker, Like, give him some leash. Don't
10:39
Speaker 2: make it a right handed only. Don't don't let Hayesue
10:42
Speaker 2: Sanchez take his at bats away, whether it's versus right
10:45
Speaker 2: handers or if he's hot. That that type of thing,
10:48
Speaker 2: to me, I think that is anyway. Obviously we're just
10:50
Speaker 2: looking at a projected lineup. I shouldn't have gotten so heated
10:53
Speaker 2: about it.
10:53
Speaker 1: No, you should because I agree with you. When I
10:56
Speaker 1: just read the projected right up against a lineup against
10:58
Speaker 1: right he's Radis and cam Smith are on the bench. Ideally,
11:02
Speaker 1: those guys should be platoon neutral and be able to
11:05
Speaker 1: play against lefties and righty's for sure. So I know
11:10
Speaker 1: they're right handed bats, but I mean, it's not like
11:12
Speaker 1: they're gonna sit every day against it.
11:13
Speaker 2: It gives you flexibility campus play.
11:19
Speaker 1: And pretty should play every day.
11:21
Speaker 2: And Paridi should be gone for that. For that, he
11:25
Speaker 2: should be gone to me. And it's not that they
11:28
Speaker 2: don't want him. They to me. I think they were.
11:31
Speaker 2: They made their bed when they traded for Korea. And
11:35
Speaker 2: I know we talked about with Channel of Rome. Before
11:37
Speaker 2: I asked him, I was like, oh, well then I
11:39
Speaker 2: think ahead. It was more of like, hey, we're making
11:41
Speaker 2: a run right now, and we're able to get a
11:43
Speaker 2: guy like Carlos Carea back in the fold. We figure
11:46
Speaker 2: it out. Well, now, let's figure it out time. And
11:49
Speaker 2: I and I hate to hear that we we kind
11:51
Speaker 2: of played this song and dance last year without Tuve
11:54
Speaker 2: and left and how did that go? And then well
11:57
Speaker 2: we don't really like him at second, so maybe Paradi
11:59
Speaker 2: so go to set like no, I think it's I
12:02
Speaker 2: think there is a clear value with eastop Paradis, and
12:07
Speaker 2: it may you know, it may not be that much
12:10
Speaker 2: more added in Paradis for Jared Durant. So that's why
12:14
Speaker 2: I picked that out of the list, the one that
12:16
Speaker 2: I think is most most likely out of the whole list.
12:20
Speaker 1: I'll end this with this. I mean, the Astros actually
12:24
Speaker 1: go even further back to Christian Walker, and they were
12:28
Speaker 1: shopping him lightly this offseason, at least that's what it
12:30
Speaker 1: seemed like. And they're not going to get a team
12:33
Speaker 1: to bite on much there based off just an okay year.
12:37
Speaker 1: So if you didn't have Walker there, you could slot
12:40
Speaker 1: Paradi said first things line up a lot easier for them.
12:43
Speaker 1: But that's not the case, I think.
12:45
Speaker 2: But we also let's also let's not forget we praised
12:48
Speaker 2: them when they signed Christian Walker. I like, remember they
12:52
Speaker 2: were coming off Josea Breeu, who was a disaster. They
12:55
Speaker 2: needed some right handed power. They didn't know that Jordan
12:58
Speaker 2: was going to miss the whole year. They didn't realize
13:00
Speaker 2: that Parades once they traded for him, was going to
13:02
Speaker 2: miss a lot, a huge chunk of time. So the
13:04
Speaker 2: Christian Walker deal for them made total sense when they
13:07
Speaker 2: did it, and now we're like, oh, we got to
13:08
Speaker 2: get rid of them. Let's let's pump the brakes.
13:10
Speaker 3: Let's give Christian a chance to have a second year,
13:13
Speaker 3: because the second half was much better than his first half.
13:16
Speaker 3: So let's let's not just say, oh, well, Christian Walker's
13:18
Speaker 3: got to go. I disagree on that. I think Christian
13:21
Speaker 3: Walker's in line to have a possible big year.
13:24
Speaker 1: I agree power didn't really go down much. He still
13:26
Speaker 1: hit twenty seven homers after he had twenty sixth the
13:28
Speaker 1: year before. It was just the on base percentage dropped
13:31
Speaker 1: quite a bit for him. He's still one of the
13:32
Speaker 1: best defenders at first base. So I'm with you. I
13:34
Speaker 1: don't think you're going to get much value on the trademarket.
13:37
Speaker 1: You should keep that man and let him play first
13:39
Speaker 1: base for you for the next couple of years. Show
13:41
Speaker 1: me the money. Yes, there are quotes from the I
13:55
Speaker 1: want to get this right Hillsborough commissioner Yeah ye ken
14:04
Speaker 1: Hagen in this story in the Tampa Bay Times that
14:07
Speaker 1: says the Rays are Orlandos if Hillsbury College deal fails,
14:13
Speaker 1: according to Hagen, so it looks like Orlando is a
14:17
Speaker 1: real fallback option if the Rays can't figure this out
14:20
Speaker 1: with Hillsboro College. This has been going on forever, so
14:24
Speaker 1: I will just put a blanket statement over this to
14:27
Speaker 1: start aj and then I'll let you explain the geography
14:30
Speaker 1: and the backstory here. If they don't figure it out
14:33
Speaker 1: with Hillsboro College, I think it's time. They've been talking
14:36
Speaker 1: for decades in the area. They are playing again in
14:40
Speaker 1: a place that is essentially made of paper mache and
14:42
Speaker 1: was not supposed to be lasting this long. It is
14:45
Speaker 1: still the butt of many jokes. I was on a
14:46
Speaker 1: sales call yesterday with a brand and they were making
14:48
Speaker 1: fun of the place. Enough, already figure it out. Let's
14:52
Speaker 1: get some baseball in a better spot in Florida in
14:55
Speaker 1: this region. So I'll take the quote and then we'll
14:58
Speaker 1: get your comments on it. The guy said, the reality
15:02
Speaker 1: is Orlando has significantly more bed tax revenue than we do.
15:06
Speaker 1: They've been pushing for a team, and he's of course
15:11
Speaker 1: then knocking Orlando later on in this conversation for more
15:14
Speaker 1: traffic and that the TV market in Tampa is better.
15:19
Speaker 1: We can get to part two of that. But let's
15:20
Speaker 1: start with part one. Tell us what you know about
15:23
Speaker 1: the Hillsborough College site, because that's Tampa, right, that's not
15:26
Speaker 1: Saint Pete's.
15:27
Speaker 2: So that's Tampa. It's right next to it's right next
15:29
Speaker 2: to George Steinbrenner Field, and it's right across the street
15:32
Speaker 2: from the Bucks. I mean they're literally I mean it's
15:34
Speaker 2: like one, two three on Dale Mabray if you know
15:36
Speaker 2: anything about Tampa right there, So it's all it's all
15:42
Speaker 2: in the same general area. And if you're talking about traffic,
15:45
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've ever been to Dale Maby
15:46
Speaker 2: when there's a Bucks game. We're even been to a
15:48
Speaker 2: Yankee spring training game. But there's some serious traffic on
15:50
Speaker 2: Del Mary because there's one road in a one road out.
15:52
Speaker 2: But that's not the point. Here's where I get a
15:56
Speaker 2: little squirrely on this one is this is a negotiating play.
16:04
Speaker 2: Let's be serious here.
16:05
Speaker 3: Like and I think people in Orlando haven't got excited
16:08
Speaker 3: about this because they all think at the end of
16:10
Speaker 3: the day they're going to keep it in Tampa.
16:13
Speaker 2: I don't know that.
16:14
Speaker 3: I love to have a team here, yes, but then
16:15
Speaker 3: if you talk to the people that the Dreamers whatever
16:17
Speaker 3: they're called. Barry Lark and his group that's running it.
16:21
Speaker 3: You know, they're taught. They've already moved. They kind of
16:23
Speaker 3: already moved.
16:23
Speaker 2: On to like a you know, expansion franchise, right, but
16:27
Speaker 2: they're not going to put three teams in the Florida area.
16:30
Speaker 3: So do I think it would be great for Orlando
16:32
Speaker 3: to get a team? Absolutely? Do I think that Orlando
16:35
Speaker 3: has a space to do it. They have a small
16:37
Speaker 3: space to do it, but owners want one hundred plus
16:39
Speaker 3: acres to build a giant place to think. Orlando's thought
16:42
Speaker 3: they were talking about as thirty five acres. As far
16:46
Speaker 3: as the traffic and stuff goes, Listen, from what I've
16:48
Speaker 3: heard about the Orlando space, there's two major highways that
16:50
Speaker 3: are run right next to where it is. I know
16:52
Speaker 3: where it is. I've been to this so many times.
16:54
Speaker 3: And they're putting a rail station right in there that
16:57
Speaker 3: will run one day to Tampa. Right now, we'll run
17:00
Speaker 3: runs from the airport to Miami, so you can run
17:01
Speaker 3: from the airport. And the biggest thing is you got
17:05
Speaker 3: to get the theme parks involved. I don't know how
17:07
Speaker 3: you do that. If you're Orlando. Listen, Orlando generates eighty
17:12
Speaker 3: has eighty million tourists a year. They generate I forget
17:14
Speaker 3: how many billions of dollars in tourism. They have a
17:16
Speaker 3: tourism tax. All that money now goes to the Citrus
17:19
Speaker 3: Bowl which is now called Camping World Stadium, and the
17:22
Speaker 3: Kia Center where the Magic play, and to this place
17:25
Speaker 3: and to that, and if the Orlando team can just.
17:27
Speaker 2: Get a little slice of that, it would help. So
17:29
Speaker 2: there's so many moving parts on this, but at the
17:31
Speaker 2: end of the day, you have to remember this.
17:33
Speaker 3: It's a negotiating eployee. Remember when the White Sex sad,
17:35
Speaker 3: we're going to move to Nashville. Remember when the White
17:38
Speaker 3: Sex sid we're going to move to Tampa. Remember when
17:39
Speaker 3: the Giants were moving to Tampa. Remember when this team
17:42
Speaker 3: was moving here in this and we'll guess what ends
17:43
Speaker 3: up happening. They get a new stadium. So this is
17:46
Speaker 3: all about negotiating. It was a smart play by this
17:49
Speaker 3: Hillsborough County commissioner.
17:50
Speaker 1: But we'll see, yeah, because the way you read it
17:54
Speaker 1: is there's not going to be Saint Pete Baseball anymore.
17:59
Speaker 1: It would.
18:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, here's that when you do when you do markets
18:05
Speaker 3: like Okay, So let's just say we're you know, he
18:07
Speaker 3: said Tampa is bigger than Orlando. I think Tampa is
18:11
Speaker 3: twelve in markets. But that's Tampa, Saint Pete, Sarasota, basically
18:15
Speaker 3: the entire almost west coast of Florida, and Orlando's Orlando,
18:19
Speaker 3: Daytona and basically like the central mid central area east
18:25
Speaker 3: of in Florida. Right now, Orlando, I believe, is fifteen.
18:29
Speaker 3: They're going to pass Detroit shortly for fourteen. So it's
18:32
Speaker 3: not like Tampa's two, and I think Orlando's twenty five.
18:37
Speaker 3: Like it's not like it's not like New York and
18:40
Speaker 3: then Las Vegas way down here, right, I mean they're
18:42
Speaker 3: about the same, Okay. So that's one of the arguments
18:45
Speaker 3: that I don't understand because and also if you look
18:47
Speaker 3: at visitors and all that, Orlando blows Tampa Saint Pete
18:50
Speaker 3: clearwater out of the water as far as visitors on
18:53
Speaker 3: a yearly basis.
18:54
Speaker 1: I think this is a huge topic, and AJ has
18:57
Speaker 1: a point. It also could be pasturing. We're going back
19:00
Speaker 1: to the conversation about the Rays. This is big. The
19:04
Speaker 1: Rays were sold recently. There's a new owner in town.
19:07
Speaker 1: It's been so damn long that they're trying to figure
19:10
Speaker 1: out their ballpark situation. I do think we're going to
19:12
Speaker 1: get some type of resolution quicker this time. MLB can
19:16
Speaker 1: be criticized for letting this go for a long period
19:19
Speaker 1: of time, but they're also pissed too. They want to
19:21
Speaker 1: get this done. They want to eventually figure out their
19:23
Speaker 1: expansion situation. There's only so much you can do too. Ultimately,
19:28
Speaker 1: the owners own the league, so they all vote on
19:32
Speaker 1: what happens. Let's go back to a part that I
19:35
Speaker 1: think probably pissed aj off. I think you properly clapped
19:40
Speaker 1: back at the commissioner there, the county commissioner for the
19:45
Speaker 1: TV market, and how I think Orlando keeps up there
19:48
Speaker 1: in terms of how many people are in the Orlando
19:50
Speaker 1: area and the tourists eighty million tourists per year. That's insane.
19:54
Speaker 1: That's double Vegas, which is second he said quote. People
19:59
Speaker 1: think think traffic is bad here, it's horrible over there.
20:03
Speaker 1: Orlando couldn't keep the Atlanta Brave spring training team, if
20:06
Speaker 1: you remember that. But the reality is, if a deal
20:10
Speaker 1: can't get reached here, I firmly believe Orlando is where
20:13
Speaker 1: they're going to be playing. There's another part I'll get
20:16
Speaker 1: to that in a moment. I live in Orlando. AJ
20:19
Speaker 1: lives in Orlando. We live on different parts of the city.
20:22
Speaker 1: We live in separate sides, right different parts of town. AJ.
20:26
Speaker 1: I have spent most of my life driving around the
20:29
Speaker 1: New York City Tri State area. The traffic in New
20:33
Speaker 1: York City area Long Island, some of these spots I
20:35
Speaker 1: always had to drive through is a ten out of
20:37
Speaker 1: ten when people complain in Orlando, aside from a little
20:41
Speaker 1: bit of Disney traffic, like right around the parks there,
20:45
Speaker 1: it's like five minutes. You know, people will be like, oh,
20:48
Speaker 1: got so backed up, and it's like five ten minutes.
20:51
Speaker 1: I get stuck on one street or avenue in New
20:54
Speaker 1: York City and then you go to the next street
20:56
Speaker 1: or avenue and get stuck again. So it's all relative.
20:58
Speaker 1: And I actually do think that the Causeway and some
21:02
Speaker 1: of the parts over there in Tampa and Saint Pete
21:04
Speaker 1: area have worse traffic than Orlando does.
21:07
Speaker 2: What do you think now, have you ever been again?
21:11
Speaker 2: Have you ever been to a Rais game? Have you
21:14
Speaker 2: ever been to a Bucks game? Have you ever been
21:16
Speaker 2: to a Yankee spring training game? The traffic is insane.
21:19
Speaker 2: It's on Dale Mayby. It's the one street right.
21:21
Speaker 3: They also have some stops along the way that you
21:23
Speaker 3: can stop if you want to waste some time.
21:25
Speaker 2: Maybe we don't have that many in Orlando. That's why
21:27
Speaker 2: he's talking about traffic. I don't know.
21:29
Speaker 3: Let people figure that out on their own. I want
21:32
Speaker 3: to go back to something else. The traffic is not
21:33
Speaker 3: that bad. Listen, there are times and where I live.
21:35
Speaker 3: I live on the Disney side of Orlando. Okay, yes,
21:38
Speaker 3: can there be bad traffic, yes, But it's all about when.
21:41
Speaker 3: And there's certain times of the day that you know,
21:44
Speaker 3: I don't go to Disney, and there's certain times of
21:47
Speaker 3: the year when you say, okay, I got to stay
21:49
Speaker 3: away from this general area because I know there's a
21:52
Speaker 3: million people in town for a convention or something at Disney,
21:55
Speaker 3: so you stay away from that area. Other than that,
21:58
Speaker 3: Disney is a self contained animal, and Universal is now
22:01
Speaker 3: almost a self contained animal where they are located because
22:04
Speaker 3: they have this whole area that's Universal and Disney's not
22:06
Speaker 3: even in the city, so it doesn't even count. But
22:08
Speaker 3: I want to go back to what the guy said
22:10
Speaker 3: about Orlando could and keep the Atlanta Braids at Disney
22:13
Speaker 3: Spring Training I played for the Braves my last two years. Okay,
22:17
Speaker 3: we sold out damn near every game. I'm saying, I
22:20
Speaker 3: don't know how many stat Stadium hold ten twelve fifteen thousand.
22:23
Speaker 3: It was sold out almost every single game. The Braves
22:27
Speaker 3: didn't leave Disney because they weren't drawing people and they
22:30
Speaker 3: weren't getting fans.
22:32
Speaker 2: They left as the complex fucking sucked. Okay. We had
22:34
Speaker 2: to sit in there with no chairs. We had a
22:37
Speaker 2: locker room with no chairs. I had to bring my
22:39
Speaker 2: little fulled up tail getting chair and put it in
22:41
Speaker 2: my locker because we didn't have room for stools and
22:44
Speaker 2: we didn't have room for chairs. That's a big leage clubhouse.
22:46
Speaker 2: To get to any work done, you had to walk
22:48
Speaker 2: all the way across the field. The training room was
22:50
Speaker 2: had two tables in it because it was so small.
22:53
Speaker 2: There was one couch. The food room was smaller than
22:56
Speaker 2: a closet at Scott's House. Okay, So it wasn't because
22:59
Speaker 2: there weren't drawing, and it wasn't because it wasn't popular.
23:02
Speaker 2: They moved because the facility sucked and the Disney wouldn't
23:05
Speaker 2: throw money into it.
23:06
Speaker 3: It's like, why are we throwing money into this, we
23:08
Speaker 3: get fifteen thousand fans a game. The Braves were like, hey,
23:11
Speaker 3: Northport or Sarasota, Northport, yeah it south Aarrisota whatever they
23:16
Speaker 3: call it. Said, hey, we'll build you a brand new complex,
23:19
Speaker 3: state of the art. Oh yeah, and we'll build all
23:22
Speaker 3: the fields and you don't have to pay a dime.
23:24
Speaker 3: But the brand, who's gonna say no to that?
23:25
Speaker 2: No? Because there were times when I was with the
23:27
Speaker 2: Braves we couldn't go on the backfields because there was
23:29
Speaker 2: a Little League tournament happening, right and it would rain.
23:32
Speaker 2: We had to go into the Milk Jug Complex whatever
23:35
Speaker 2: it's called over there at Disney and throw indoors because
23:38
Speaker 2: there was no fields that were available to use, right,
23:40
Speaker 2: So that's why, So don't don't throw it like that's
23:43
Speaker 2: this is like one of those worst arguments ever, like, oh,
23:46
Speaker 2: they left, so I'm gonna use that. It's not true.
23:49
Speaker 3: Okay, so before this is one of those county commissioners,
23:51
Speaker 3: good politicking, but it's not true.
23:54
Speaker 1: Thank you. I knew that would fire you up. And
23:58
Speaker 1: as someone who has lived in Orlando for a much
24:01
Speaker 1: much less portion of their much fewer years in his life,
24:06
Speaker 1: I was even pissed reading some of these comments. The
24:08
Speaker 1: thing to look at though, that I do believe all
24:10
Speaker 1: the bs and the posturing and the debates about which
24:15
Speaker 1: cities which right, and I like, we both love Tampa.
24:18
Speaker 1: It's not it's not anything against Tampa. I just genuinely
24:21
Speaker 1: feel that I can comment on this these days as
24:24
Speaker 1: a Florida resident. I think Orlando would be a much
24:27
Speaker 1: better spot for a team, and I even think that
24:30
Speaker 1: MLB is on board at this point. With Orlando being
24:33
Speaker 1: a better spot, it would be much easier government money wise.
24:37
Speaker 2: What's the problem you have to You have two problems
24:39
Speaker 2: right now.
24:40
Speaker 3: One, Ron DeSantis is the governor and he's from the
24:42
Speaker 3: Tampa Clearwater area, so he wants to keep the team
24:44
Speaker 3: over there, right. The other problem you have to figure
24:47
Speaker 3: out is that if they haven't exhausted, you have to
24:50
Speaker 3: if it's going to come to Orlando, it almost has
24:53
Speaker 3: to be turn key right where they say, okay, we're
24:55
Speaker 3: going to Orlando, and Orlando has to have the infrastructure
24:58
Speaker 3: everything already ready to go.
24:59
Speaker 2: Right like boom, you say, yes, we turn the foss
25:02
Speaker 2: and all we start building the stadium, we start improving
25:04
Speaker 2: the roads, we have the train station ready to go,
25:06
Speaker 2: and it's done right, because what it gets hung up
25:08
Speaker 2: is where it's hung up now in Tampa, politicians, bureaucrats, whatever.
25:12
Speaker 2: Oh I want my little peace, I want my little piece.
25:14
Speaker 2: I want this. I want that. You have to have it.
25:16
Speaker 3: If you're Orlando, you have to have it turnkey where
25:18
Speaker 3: they just say, boom, we're turning on the faucet.
25:21
Speaker 2: Okay, let's move. Let's make this move.
25:22
Speaker 3: Let's start the stadium next month and the Rays are
25:25
Speaker 3: moving in three years, however long it takes to move
25:27
Speaker 3: a stadium.
25:28
Speaker 2: Will it happen? I don't know. Do I hope it happens.
25:30
Speaker 2: Of course, I'm from Orlando. I want a team. The
25:32
Speaker 2: Magic have done well.
25:33
Speaker 3: As long as you get the theme parks involves them. Well,
25:37
Speaker 3: I don't know how you do that because most of
25:38
Speaker 3: them want their people to stay in their theme park area.
25:41
Speaker 3: But you gotta get the theme parks involved one way
25:44
Speaker 3: or another, and I don't know how you do that.
25:46
Speaker 1: I will say this last point. The reason this came
25:49
Speaker 1: up with the county commissioner out there for that Hillsbury
25:52
Speaker 1: County or Hillsboro County, and that's the college, Hillsboro College.
25:56
Speaker 1: So they would actually take over parts of the college campus.
25:59
Speaker 1: When we've seen that in the by the way, it
26:00
Speaker 1: usually ultimately gets rejected when you're trying to get the
26:03
Speaker 1: education system involved in all that. So I'm skeptical, but
26:06
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens. DeSantis spoke about this the governor
26:09
Speaker 1: of Florida and said, yeah, they're gonna get the first
26:12
Speaker 1: crack talking about the Tampa Bay area. But if not,
26:15
Speaker 1: He's like, our priority is keeping this team in Florida.
26:18
Speaker 1: And I do believe that's the case. So he did say,
26:20
Speaker 1: I mean Orlando wants it. Disney would love to put
26:22
Speaker 1: out Wilde World of Sports. Universal could put it close
26:24
Speaker 1: to their parks. So I believe that's back in the
26:27
Speaker 1: conversation here. And I don't know the new ownership group well,
26:32
Speaker 1: but I think there's a chance they look at what's
26:34
Speaker 1: gone on there for a long period of time and say, okay, enough,
26:39
Speaker 1: this is too long. We went through this last time around.
26:42
Speaker 1: I don't want to be a villain. I want to
26:44
Speaker 1: actually see this team thrive and be able to compete
26:47
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. That's part of the problem too.
26:49
Speaker 1: Are they always going to be Moneyball of Florida?
26:53
Speaker 2: Thirty years years, thirty years it's ridiculous. I saw I
26:57
Speaker 2: saw an NBA game like in nineteen ninety geez one
27:04
Speaker 2: at the Trop back in the day. I mean it
27:06
Speaker 2: was way back.
27:08
Speaker 3: I remember when Vaughan Hayes, Philly's legend Kratz was in
27:11
Speaker 3: spring training. They brought them over from clear Water and
27:13
Speaker 3: they hit them fly balls in the Trup to make
27:15
Speaker 3: sure that people could see, so they could prove that
27:17
Speaker 3: they could have a team and support a team in
27:20
Speaker 3: the Trop. So the stadium was built before there was
27:22
Speaker 3: a team, because Saint Pete actually was forward thinking and said, man,
27:25
Speaker 3: if we build a stadium, they will come.
27:27
Speaker 2: A team actually came and now we're here, But that
27:29
Speaker 2: was in the That was like nineteen ninety when they
27:31
Speaker 2: built the Trop. And so now we're almost, you know,
27:34
Speaker 2: forty years later, and the Rays are still looking for
27:37
Speaker 2: a new team in Tampa. Doesn't seem to be helping
27:39
Speaker 2: them and every capacity that they can.
27:43
Speaker 1: I can't believe it's been that long. It blows my mind.
27:46
Speaker 1: There should be some type of deadline that leagues put
27:50
Speaker 1: together going forward and say if you don't do this,
27:52
Speaker 1: you get fined X amount of money. I mean, if
27:55
Speaker 1: you put a deadline in baseball on almost anything, it
27:58
Speaker 1: usually leads to a little more action. So we'll say,
28:00
Speaker 1: to be continued, Yeah, that's what he said.
28:03
Speaker 2: That's what he said. That's what he said.
28:06
Speaker 1: That's what we said. Fascinating story over the weekend from
28:13
Speaker 1: Dan Hayes and The Athletic covering the Twins and their
28:16
Speaker 1: new head honcho, same last name, different first name. Yes,
28:20
Speaker 1: it's Tom Pohlad these days who is running the Minnesota Twins,
28:24
Speaker 1: and he apparently personally has been calling fans to say, sorry,
28:31
Speaker 1: can you come back and buy season tickets again? I
28:33
Speaker 1: think they're losing many season ticket holders lately. I don't
28:36
Speaker 1: think we need to explain why. And he has been
28:39
Speaker 1: very candid that the Twins tripped over themselves. He said,
28:42
Speaker 1: quote in a lot of things, we tripped over ourselves,
28:45
Speaker 1: and we certainly didn't do a good job communicating what
28:47
Speaker 1: we were going through and what we were trying to accomplish.
28:49
Speaker 1: You take that all together, and it's a recipe for
28:52
Speaker 1: a very challenging time. We're trying to hit the reset button,
28:55
Speaker 1: bring a new energy, different sets of urgency, accountability, blah
28:58
Speaker 1: blah blah. They admitted that they blew it. This is
29:01
Speaker 1: the whole thing. This is the whole storyline in one narrative,
29:04
Speaker 1: and we were all over them. They blew it when
29:07
Speaker 1: they finally made it past a playoff round in twenty
29:09
Speaker 1: twenty four, and then after the season they're like, cut
29:13
Speaker 1: and payroll, thanks for all the extra money. Minnesota cutt
29:16
Speaker 1: and payroll, thanks for the playoff games. They slashed payroll
29:19
Speaker 1: by thirty million dollars. And that was the beginning of
29:21
Speaker 1: the downfall. Of course, it's going to most likely make
29:24
Speaker 1: the team worse. Fans were livid. They were like, cool,
29:27
Speaker 1: we finally built up to this moment, and then they
29:29
Speaker 1: just got punched in the face. And from then on
29:33
Speaker 1: you had eventually the ownership group looking to sell. They
29:35
Speaker 1: didn't sell. They said we're keeping the team. We're the
29:38
Speaker 1: best people to keep the team. And here we are
29:40
Speaker 1: now with one of the most pissed off fan bases
29:43
Speaker 1: in all of sports, and they're trying to make up
29:46
Speaker 1: for that right now. Paul ad was very good in
29:49
Speaker 1: this either interviewer with the Press. He said most of
29:54
Speaker 1: the fans didn't pick up his call, some of them
29:56
Speaker 1: didn't believe that he was calling. He acknowledged one fan
29:59
Speaker 1: hung on up on him. Aja three times convinced the
30:02
Speaker 1: phone call was a hoax. It gets better. When he
30:05
Speaker 1: finally convinced the fan via text messages he was in
30:08
Speaker 1: fact the new Twins head control, owner, chairman, whatever it is.
30:14
Speaker 1: He received an unkind response and a refusal to speak.
30:18
Speaker 1: So it was I don't believe you. And then finally
30:20
Speaker 1: and I believe you, but I still don't want to
30:22
Speaker 1: talk to you. Your thoughts on the state of the Twins,
30:25
Speaker 1: and I'll throw one more thing in there for you.
30:27
Speaker 1: They talked about how they need a sustainable winner and
30:29
Speaker 1: how twenty twenty six is huge for them. What are
30:32
Speaker 1: you doing this offseason? Not much?
30:39
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, cool? He called fans trying to get him back.
30:44
Speaker 2: That's cool.
30:44
Speaker 3: He called like thirty or forty fans that had given
30:47
Speaker 3: up their season tickets. But then I ask you this question,
30:50
Speaker 3: what's the incentive for the fans to come to the
30:53
Speaker 3: games in downtown Minneapolis right now? Because the team's just
31:00
Speaker 3: they traded away what ten guys at the trade deadline
31:03
Speaker 3: last year and no offense to Victor Kartini and Rogers,
31:06
Speaker 3: but they didn't really bring anybody in. And they're talking
31:09
Speaker 3: about trade and Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez could be
31:12
Speaker 3: on the book Byron Buckson's been talked about getting traded.
31:14
Speaker 3: Ryan Jeffers has been I mean, I know Royce Lewis
31:17
Speaker 3: can be something if he stays healthy, which is the biggest,
31:19
Speaker 3: one of the biggest ifs. Ever, what's exciting for the
31:23
Speaker 3: Twins fans to be excited about and want to go
31:26
Speaker 3: to these games? Target Field's awesome. I get all that,
31:29
Speaker 3: but what's the excitement. Where's the Hey, we're help, We're
31:32
Speaker 3: trying to show everybody that we're committed. Twenty six is huge,
31:35
Speaker 3: but we're slashing payroll.
31:38
Speaker 2: I don't know.
31:39
Speaker 3: This just seems like a lot. It just seems like
31:43
Speaker 3: a lot of I don't even know what to call it.
31:46
Speaker 3: Just it's just a lot about nothing. It's just a
31:48
Speaker 3: lot about nothing. Right, It's it's cool that he did this,
31:50
Speaker 3: but at the same time, you know, put your money
31:52
Speaker 3: where your mouth is.
31:53
Speaker 2: Whatever it is.
31:54
Speaker 3: And we've talked about on the show too many times,
31:56
Speaker 3: and Aron Glehamans talked about it.
31:58
Speaker 2: It just seems like they're waiting for the right oppertunity
32:00
Speaker 2: to sell the team.
32:02
Speaker 1: No doubt they're definitely going to sell the team. There's
32:05
Speaker 1: no doubt about that. That's why they pulled that off.
32:06
Speaker 1: They cleared some debt that makes the team more attractive
32:09
Speaker 1: to sell. They acted like it was going to make
32:10
Speaker 1: them do more. They haven't done anything. So you look
32:14
Speaker 1: at a team right now that is going into twenty
32:16
Speaker 1: twenty six, almost like a lame duck with an owner,
32:19
Speaker 1: right You're just waiting for the team to be sold
32:22
Speaker 1: and for a fresh set of decision makers. So I
32:29
Speaker 1: want to do this. We haven't done this in a
32:32
Speaker 1: really long time, and I feel like it's the perfect
32:34
Speaker 1: day for it. A lot of people are cold inside,
32:36
Speaker 1: maybe didn't even go to work today. I would like
32:39
Speaker 1: to resurrect role play now. Yes, I am allowing either
32:46
Speaker 1: of you to pick aside. So whoever wants to participate
32:49
Speaker 1: in this, the other person will kind of be with them.
32:51
Speaker 1: We're going to have an owner in Tom Polad, who's
32:55
Speaker 1: like the new spokesman in the pol Ad family. And
32:59
Speaker 1: then you'll have a season ticket holder, and maybe it's
33:01
Speaker 1: two season ticket holders. So you guys get to pick
33:03
Speaker 1: your roles and I'll decide based on what you guys
33:05
Speaker 1: pick who I'm going.
33:06
Speaker 2: To be a part ticket holder beause because.
33:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, do you want to be do you want to
33:14
Speaker 1: be Tom or do you do? You want to be
33:15
Speaker 1: on the Tom side or the season ticket holder side,
33:17
Speaker 1: and then I'll decide which side I should be on.
33:19
Speaker 2: No, I'm out. I want you to to role play
33:21
Speaker 2: and I'll be the I'll be the arbitrator.
33:23
Speaker 1: Can you do like play by play? Okay? Cool? So
33:26
Speaker 1: all right, let's let's get this rolling here because and
33:28
Speaker 1: the last thing I'll say before we start this is
33:31
Speaker 1: in the article they mentioned how there's too much one
33:36
Speaker 1: good year, one bad year, and they want to build
33:38
Speaker 1: a sustainable product just like every freaking team in baseball.
33:43
Speaker 1: You can't all do that. Not everyone's going to be
33:45
Speaker 1: good every year and bad every year. But they essentially
33:47
Speaker 1: created their own rebuilt after they finally cracked a postseason series.
33:51
Speaker 1: So with all of that being said, here we go.
33:55
Speaker 1: I've already gone through multiple calls. Then I texted Krats,
34:00
Speaker 1: who was a longtime season ticket holder in Minnesota, and
34:02
Speaker 1: he doubled down and bought better seats when they moved
34:05
Speaker 1: into target Field because they did a great job with
34:07
Speaker 1: that place, and they promised the city and the fans
34:10
Speaker 1: that they would spend more because they would make more
34:12
Speaker 1: till they rugged everyone. So I finally got a hold
34:15
Speaker 1: of Crats and we're on the line right now. Eric,
34:20
Speaker 1: this is Tom Poule. Lad thank you for finally picking
34:22
Speaker 1: up the call. How were you?
34:24
Speaker 2: Oh? Thanks? Thanks for calling, big Minnesota fan, don't you know?
34:29
Speaker 1: Wow? This is already off to a nicer start than
34:31
Speaker 1: I anticipated. We'd like you to come back. We'd like
34:33
Speaker 1: you to buy season tickets again. I saw that you
34:35
Speaker 1: canceled last year. Things are going to be different now.
34:40
Speaker 1: Payroll's about the same. We're coming off a bad year.
34:43
Speaker 1: I know we got rid of a third of the team,
34:45
Speaker 1: but Eric, we didn't trade our stars. We're keeping Pablo
34:48
Speaker 1: Lopez for now. We're keeping Joe Ryan for now. Carlos
34:53
Speaker 1: Kraja moved on, but that's okay. We'll eventually be able
34:55
Speaker 1: to reinvest that. Did you know that our debt is
34:57
Speaker 1: in better shape than it was?
35:00
Speaker 2: I didn't even know that you guys had a bag
35:02
Speaker 2: of debt because it's just one of those things that
35:04
Speaker 2: there's a fan. All I'm really looking for is to
35:08
Speaker 2: watch my team win a bunch of games. And right
35:10
Speaker 2: now I'm doing a lot of ice fishing up in
35:12
Speaker 2: the Upper Uopers and there's just really not a lot
35:16
Speaker 2: of baseball in my mind. When it gets sunny. You
35:18
Speaker 2: know what I want to see. I want to see
35:20
Speaker 2: Byron Buxton stay in center field, and I want to
35:23
Speaker 2: see nine more relievers that you traded away coming in
35:28
Speaker 2: to save the games. Because it's one of the nicest stadiums,
35:32
Speaker 2: it's a great environment. We probably should have a roof,
35:35
Speaker 2: but I'm okay with that because Target Field is nice
35:37
Speaker 2: and we are nice people up here, and we enjoy
35:39
Speaker 2: the city when it's in the summertime, don't you know,
35:42
Speaker 2: Because there's a lot of mosquitoes up here. But right
35:45
Speaker 2: now you feel like a mosquito, and you're biting my
35:48
Speaker 2: fandom right out of me. Tom.
35:51
Speaker 1: Wow, this is an eloquent and very nice reply from you.
35:54
Speaker 1: First off, I want to say that we are keeping
35:56
Speaker 1: Buckston for now. We kind of tried to trade him
35:59
Speaker 1: but it didn't want to go and he's got this
36:01
Speaker 1: no trade class thing, so we actually can't even trade
36:03
Speaker 1: him if we want to at the moment. Poor guy,
36:07
Speaker 1: why won't you come back? What do you need us
36:10
Speaker 1: to do differently to convince you to show up here.
36:13
Speaker 1: I'm not like my brother, I'm much more of a
36:15
Speaker 1: go for it guy, and I'm trying to build a
36:17
Speaker 1: sustainable winner here.
36:20
Speaker 2: I actually have a check right here that I would
36:22
Speaker 2: be willing to write to the team for my season
36:24
Speaker 2: tickets if you were exactly what you said and actually
36:28
Speaker 2: go for it. You've not only lied to the city,
36:31
Speaker 2: but you also lied to Carlos Korea, who when he
36:34
Speaker 2: signed here was one of my favorite signings of all time.
36:38
Speaker 2: And you lied to him and said you would pay
36:40
Speaker 2: more money. You haven't been upfront. So I'll keep my
36:44
Speaker 2: check right here, and I'll go ahead and hunt mosquitos
36:47
Speaker 2: in the summer instead of going to Minnesota Twins games.
36:50
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Tom.
36:52
Speaker 1: Well, mosquitoes don't build a sustainable product. They often die
36:57
Speaker 1: out in the wintertime. But whatever. Anyway, Okay, so he
37:00
Speaker 1: hung up. All right, I'm going to hang up, and
37:01
Speaker 1: I'm going to turn to my Twins advisor AJ Prisentki
37:05
Speaker 1: AJ for the next phone call. What do you think
37:08
Speaker 1: I should do differently? How do I convince these season
37:11
Speaker 1: ticket holders to actually come back when I have nothing
37:14
Speaker 1: to tell them? And this is where I'm coming back
37:16
Speaker 1: to real life for a moment. AJ. What are they
37:17
Speaker 1: saying on the phone?
37:19
Speaker 3: Nothing is changing, That's exactly right, hey, please come back
37:22
Speaker 3: because I called you personally, Like what, I don't know. Listen,
37:27
Speaker 3: the pole IDs have owned the team for a long
37:29
Speaker 3: time since like the eighties, I believe, and nothing has
37:33
Speaker 3: really changed.
37:33
Speaker 2: Listen.
37:34
Speaker 3: I played there in ninety eight, ninety nine, two thousand
37:37
Speaker 3: and two thousand and one thousand, so six years I
37:38
Speaker 3: played in the major leagues in Minnesota. We played in
37:41
Speaker 3: the Metrodome. Their excuse was, we have the Metrodome. We
37:43
Speaker 3: can't spend money the Metrodome, the Metrodome, metro We actually
37:46
Speaker 3: drew big crowds of the Metronome when we in two
37:48
Speaker 3: thousand and two, we won the division.
37:49
Speaker 2: Two thousand and three, he won the division. The crowds
37:51
Speaker 2: are pretty good.
37:52
Speaker 3: They got twenty five thirty thousand pretty much every game,
37:55
Speaker 3: even on school nights, and the place was rocking.
37:57
Speaker 2: And they said what they said, Man, as soon as
37:59
Speaker 2: we get get into the new stadium, we're really gonna
38:02
Speaker 2: go for it. We're gonna throw so much money at
38:04
Speaker 2: this team. And they did. They did a little bit,
38:06
Speaker 2: you know, they signed Joe Mauer, they signed you know,
38:09
Speaker 2: they did some things. They tried, never really got over
38:13
Speaker 2: the hump. Twenty two, they finally win the first postseason series,
38:16
Speaker 2: and since I was there in two thousand and two,
38:19
Speaker 2: and they're like, we're slashing payroll. So if I'm a fan,
38:22
Speaker 2: I'm like, you have told me you're gonna spend money.
38:25
Speaker 2: You've told me when they get a new stadium, you
38:26
Speaker 2: told me when they finally win the playoff series, we're
38:28
Speaker 2: gonna do this, We're.
38:29
Speaker 3: Gonna do that, and it hasn't gotten any better. Like
38:32
Speaker 3: kind of, like krat said in his funny accent, why
38:35
Speaker 3: would I spend my hard earned money to go watch
38:37
Speaker 3: a product that I know is not gonna get any better.
38:40
Speaker 2: You have to do something to prove and that to
38:42
Speaker 2: the fans. You have to earn their trust. It's like
38:45
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Pirates in Oakland, or the Sacramento A's and
38:48
Speaker 2: and these other teams, the Miami Marlins. You want to
38:50
Speaker 2: you have to prove that more than one year you're
38:53
Speaker 2: actually gonna put a good product on the field. And
38:55
Speaker 2: if you do that, you can grow the fan base
38:57
Speaker 2: back and get them excited again. But if you're not
39:00
Speaker 2: and you're not gonna try, fans move on. Attention spans
39:03
Speaker 2: are short in today's world. You know that Scott Gratch
39:05
Speaker 2: you know that you have kids, Like attention SPAN's gone.
39:08
Speaker 2: If you don't do it and you don't make me entertain,
39:10
Speaker 2: I'm out. I'll find somewhere else to go and spend money.
39:13
Speaker 2: Fans complain about ticket prices going up, Well, good news
39:17
Speaker 2: is Minnesota Twins fans, your ticket prices are gonna go down.
39:22
Speaker 2: And it's not because they cut payroll, slash payroll. It's
39:25
Speaker 2: because people don't want to go there. They had an
39:28
Speaker 2: influx of season ticket holders purchasing tickets when they signed
39:33
Speaker 2: Carlos Korea. Why is that because they wanted to come
39:38
Speaker 2: and see him play. Because they had developed intrigue around
39:42
Speaker 2: the fact that Royce Lewis was now coming up, that
39:45
Speaker 2: that Byron Buxton was going to stay healthy and there
39:48
Speaker 2: was you know he signed his extension. Wow, like this
39:52
Speaker 2: is a team I want to watch on the field.
39:54
Speaker 2: They didn't have to pay any money for their bullpen.
39:56
Speaker 2: They created those dudes like they were a dest that's
40:00
Speaker 2: a nation for guys to come, like Correa who missed
40:04
Speaker 2: out on two large markets, the Mets and the Giants
40:07
Speaker 2: because of a physical and the Twins said, yes, we're
40:09
Speaker 2: coming in and part of that contract while it wasn't
40:13
Speaker 2: written anywhere. He was told, yes, we're gonna spend money
40:17
Speaker 2: to keep putting players around you. That's that creates so
40:22
Speaker 2: much of an intrigue for fans, which creates demand, which
40:26
Speaker 2: raises ticket prices. When you don't do that, ticket prices
40:29
Speaker 2: plummet because nobody wants to go to the games. So
40:31
Speaker 2: the best way stop calling people, Stop calling ex fans.
40:35
Speaker 2: While it's a cool idea and it's very nice, it's
40:37
Speaker 2: a great gesture. Call free agents. Call people that will
40:41
Speaker 2: be will bring the fans out to watch them play.
40:47
Speaker 1: They just said they messed up two years ago, but
40:49
Speaker 1: they're doing the same thing. They just said they messed up,
40:52
Speaker 1: and they got an influx of cash. The only thing
40:54
Speaker 1: that's gone up is the franchise value. They were bought
40:56
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty four for forty four million dollars. The
40:59
Speaker 1: team is at least worth one point five bill. They
41:02
Speaker 1: just did a raise, right, so they have new minority
41:05
Speaker 1: investors that are part of this group, and the raise,
41:08
Speaker 1: I believe was valued at one point seventy five billion,
41:12
Speaker 1: if we're going off the one point five bill, which
41:14
Speaker 1: is a number that a ownership group would give up
41:17
Speaker 1: this second for the team. They laughed at them because
41:19
Speaker 1: they wanted one point seven to seven five, which they
41:22
Speaker 1: think they're going to get when they vote for a
41:24
Speaker 1: salary cap and the franchise value goes up thirty four
41:28
Speaker 1: x return, not finding thirty four x returns basically anywhere
41:32
Speaker 1: else in life thirty four x return. They have done
41:36
Speaker 1: very well for themselves, they just haven't treated the city
41:39
Speaker 1: that way. Well, you're trying to do some math. If
41:41
Speaker 1: you can get thirty four hundred percent on.
41:44
Speaker 2: Any investments right now since nineteen eighty what I mean
41:48
Speaker 2: thirty four x? No, you you're not finding that unless
41:51
Speaker 2: it's crypto year to year. But what year did they
41:53
Speaker 2: buy it?
41:55
Speaker 1: Nineteen eighty four?
41:57
Speaker 2: So in that time you are going to get, you
41:59
Speaker 2: are going to get. Your value of an investment is
42:01
Speaker 2: going to go up over forty forty two years, not
42:05
Speaker 2: at that rate though not at the times.
42:08
Speaker 3: Also, let's not forget to pull out to many other businesses.
42:11
Speaker 3: I mean, I remember when I was playing there, they
42:12
Speaker 3: sold like a Pepsi distributorship or something for three hundred
42:15
Speaker 3: million dollars or some crazy amount four hundred million, and
42:18
Speaker 3: they're like.
42:19
Speaker 2: Oh, we can't put five million dollars to buy the team. Fleeces,
42:22
Speaker 2: you have to buy your own fleece's team because we
42:24
Speaker 2: can't afford it. And we're all like, wait what, it's
42:30
Speaker 2: true and we are going to be accused of Oh,
42:33
Speaker 2: small market players always are looking for more money. It's
42:37
Speaker 2: just about bringing it because this conversation is all about
42:41
Speaker 2: bringing season ticket holders back. Create intrigue around your team,
42:46
Speaker 2: don't create question marks of whether this owner of whether
42:50
Speaker 2: your ownership group cares about winning or not.
42:55
Speaker 1: Thank you, and we hang up the phone. Let's lap
43:12
Speaker 1: some news. Aaron Sanchez signed a minor league contract. Do
43:17
Speaker 1: you guys remember Aaron Sanchez Kratz you do. We're a
43:20
Speaker 1: teammate alert. He's going to try to crack camp with
43:22
Speaker 1: the Royals and we're going to try to get him
43:24
Speaker 1: on the show. I was actually sending messages to him
43:26
Speaker 1: back and forth this morning and he says hello and
43:29
Speaker 1: he loves you. It's a serious line back from him.
43:32
Speaker 1: So he was a little busy. It was actually a
43:34
Speaker 1: back and forth today. Clearly he was a little busy.
43:36
Speaker 1: He's just signed a minor league contract today with Kansas City.
43:38
Speaker 1: But we'll try to get him on the show Man.
43:39
Speaker 1: He was good for a minute.
43:42
Speaker 2: He was very good. It was he was very good prospect.
43:46
Speaker 2: Later pick I want to do more research, but I
43:48
Speaker 2: think there's a crazy story about how the blue Jays
43:50
Speaker 2: actually got that pick, but I have to confirm it
43:54
Speaker 2: before I tell the story. It's nothing about him, it's
43:57
Speaker 2: more how the Blue Jays just canoodled this system. But yeah,
44:01
Speaker 2: oh great teammate him and Stroman came up right around
44:05
Speaker 2: the same time, and I got to see him both
44:08
Speaker 2: in the minor league's a together, and you know, we
44:12
Speaker 2: had a lot of really really fun conversations when you're
44:15
Speaker 2: at the end of your career and someone is just
44:17
Speaker 2: starting the new part of their career or their new
44:20
Speaker 2: career in the big leagues.
44:23
Speaker 1: Very cool. And then also, Dave Roberts wants to coach
44:26
Speaker 1: Team USA, not in the World Baseball Classic. They already
44:29
Speaker 1: have a manager. He wants to coach them, manage them
44:33
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty eight at Dodger Stadium at the Olympics.
44:36
Speaker 1: So he's already thrown his hat in.
44:39
Speaker 2: Wait, how's that? How would that happen?
44:43
Speaker 1: We're saying they have yet.
44:45
Speaker 2: Wait, wait, you have big league players, you have a
44:48
Speaker 2: big league manager, but no big league players.
44:53
Speaker 1: Well, if it happens, I think it's going to happen.
44:57
Speaker 1: I think it's good.
44:58
Speaker 2: It's going to happen.
44:59
Speaker 1: Yes, so good for Dave Kratsats on the way up.
45:05
Speaker 2: I mean we had Nolan on. I had to make
45:06
Speaker 2: sure he knew new colors he's got to put in
45:09
Speaker 2: his cleats. And Nolan, if you're still listening, you're not
45:12
Speaker 2: that old. You're not that old. If you keep telling
45:15
Speaker 2: yourself you're old, you can put these kinds of colors
45:17
Speaker 2: on your cleats. Drip it up, get some get some super.
45:23
Speaker 1: Drip Team Poland, if you'd.
45:28
Speaker 2: Ever stop drip ever stop dripping, by the way, never have.
45:32
Speaker 1: Told if you want to participate in the Olympics for baseball.
45:37
Speaker 1: AJ's phone is tough to reach, but he will do it.
45:42
Speaker 1: He will do it right.
45:46
Speaker 2: I don't think I can connect you with the correct people.
45:49
Speaker 2: I'll say that I'm a connector.
45:51
Speaker 1: Okay, the most bottom