Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Ken Rosenthal’s 2025 Storylines revisited, 2026 lookahead, Breakout candidates

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Fair Territory: Ken Rosenthal’s 2025 Storylines revisited, 2026 lookahead, Breakout candidates · Foul Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the gear end edition of Bear Territory.
0:04
Speaker 1: I'm Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo. Alana, it's been
0:07
Speaker 1: an amazing year in baseball, amazing year for the Foul
0:11
Speaker 1: Territory Network, and here we are ready to wrap it up.
0:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been so fun to be with you again
0:16
Speaker 2: this season, Ken, thanks for all of that. Looking forward
0:19
Speaker 2: to this offseason getting done so we can get into
0:21
Speaker 2: twenty and twenty six. But let's go back for a moment, Ken,
0:25
Speaker 2: and we're going to revisit some of your.
0:27
Speaker 3: Two Yes, you did a good job. You did a
0:32
Speaker 3: good job.
0:32
Speaker 2: The top twelve story lines for the twenty twenty five
0:35
Speaker 2: Major League Baseball season, A potential Dodger dynasty Hmmmmjan.
0:39
Speaker 3: Soto's worth and more.
0:41
Speaker 2: Let's start with the World Series champs, Ken, the Los
0:44
Speaker 2: Angeles Dodgers.
0:45
Speaker 3: Dynasty or not? What say you? They got another championship? Now?
0:50
Speaker 1: Well, yes, and you went back to back in this
0:52
Speaker 1: day and age when it hadn't been done since nineteen
0:54
Speaker 1: ninety eight to two thousand. Absolutely, however you want to
0:59
Speaker 1: look at it, are the dominant team in the sport.
1:02
Speaker 1: And while I did say that they were well positioned
1:06
Speaker 1: to do this, I didn't necessarily imagine the path that
1:11
Speaker 1: they took, not just in the regular season when they
1:13
Speaker 1: were often kind of a maddening team to watch, also
1:18
Speaker 1: in the postseason, when, of course, they came within two
1:20
Speaker 1: outs of losing the World Series, when it required a
1:23
Speaker 1: series of crazy things happening in the final innings of
1:27
Speaker 1: Game seven for them to win the World Series. But
1:30
Speaker 1: all's well, that ends well, and at least that prediction
1:33
Speaker 1: proved somewhat correct.
1:35
Speaker 2: All right, let me ask you this, then, Ken, considering
1:38
Speaker 2: what you just mentioned, two outs away from losing the
1:40
Speaker 2: World Series, considering how they got it done again, what
1:44
Speaker 2: is it going to take to win a third consecutive title.
1:48
Speaker 1: That's a good question, a Lona, And obviously the offseason's
1:52
Speaker 1: not over yet, we don't have a full understanding of
1:55
Speaker 1: what their team is going to look like. They fortified
1:57
Speaker 1: the bullpen clearly with the addition of Edwin Diaz, and
2:02
Speaker 1: it seems to me the one thing that has been
2:05
Speaker 1: of great benefit to the Dodgers over the last many
2:08
Speaker 1: years is their ability to retain a hunger. Now, it's
2:12
Speaker 1: difficult during the regular season, and we've seen them at
2:15
Speaker 1: times not check out during the regular season. But not
2:18
Speaker 1: be fully engaged. And sometimes the way they handle their
2:22
Speaker 1: players with regard to injuries, they kind of slow play things.
2:25
Speaker 1: We've all seen that. But what it will take is
2:29
Speaker 1: good health first and foremost. And it's tough when you
2:31
Speaker 1: come off a postseason as draining as that one was,
2:34
Speaker 1: especially on your pitching staff. We saw the effects of
2:36
Speaker 1: twenty four on twenty five with some of their relievers
2:40
Speaker 1: last year. But if they have good health and they
2:44
Speaker 1: get an injection of offense that maybe was going to
2:47
Speaker 1: come from some unexpected place, maybe one of their young outfielders,
2:50
Speaker 1: maybe from a player they pick up, that would help
2:53
Speaker 1: as well. Because some of their position players, Mookie Bets,
2:56
Speaker 1: Freddie Freeman, they're getting older, they're still productive. I know,
3:00
Speaker 1: had a bad year, but they're going to be good players.
3:03
Speaker 1: It's just that the Dodgers probably need a little bit
3:06
Speaker 1: more of a lift offensively.
3:08
Speaker 2: I think they still need another outfield er time. We'll
3:10
Speaker 2: tell Ken if they get one. Obviously, the closer position
3:13
Speaker 2: is secured with Edwin Diaz. Let's move our focus from
3:16
Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz's former team, the New York Mess I'm not
3:19
Speaker 2: certain Ken, as we sit here a week before the
3:22
Speaker 2: new year, what the heck they're doing. But I can
3:24
Speaker 2: tell you Wan Soto's going to be there for a
3:26
Speaker 2: long time. Not an overpay yet for you. He wrote
3:29
Speaker 2: about it coming into this year.
3:31
Speaker 1: Well, fifty one million a year is a lot of money,
3:35
Speaker 1: and it's difficult for a player to exceed that in value,
3:40
Speaker 1: and Juan Soto nearly did in his first year. And
3:43
Speaker 1: his first year there were some rocky moments. He had
3:46
Speaker 1: a difficult time early on, difficult transition, He seemed a
3:49
Speaker 1: little bit out of sorts, and yet what happened in
3:52
Speaker 1: the end. He finishes us with forty three home runs,
3:55
Speaker 1: thirty eight stolen bases, a major league high one hundred
3:58
Speaker 1: and twenty seven walks, a National league leading three ninety
4:02
Speaker 1: six on base percentage. Pretty good year. Now, According to
4:06
Speaker 1: fangrafs dollars metric, which translates war into what a player
4:11
Speaker 1: is worth in a dollar form, he was worth about
4:15
Speaker 1: forty six point four million, a little bit short of
4:17
Speaker 1: fifty one. But certainly it was a great year. No
4:20
Speaker 1: one would say otherwise. Even after that rocky start. The
4:24
Speaker 1: question is one, can he be even better? I don't
4:28
Speaker 1: know how much better he can be, but better in
4:30
Speaker 1: year two and perhaps he will be without the transition
4:33
Speaker 1: to deal with, and what kind of team are the
4:36
Speaker 1: Mets going to put around him because the Mets have
4:39
Speaker 1: lost Juan Soto's partner and crime from a slugging perspective,
4:43
Speaker 1: Peter Alnso.
4:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, where do you go from here? If
4:46
Speaker 2: you're the New York Mets?
4:47
Speaker 1: Really?
4:48
Speaker 2: Moreover, where do you go Ken? If you were one Soto?
4:51
Speaker 2: He had a tremendous twenty twenty five. I think he
4:54
Speaker 2: very much lived up to the contract going into it.
4:57
Speaker 2: But next year, even more pressure on him considering the
5:00
Speaker 2: core group is gone.
5:03
Speaker 1: That's a fair point, Alana, And I wouldn't say more
5:07
Speaker 1: pressure just yet, because I assume they're going to put
5:10
Speaker 1: some players around him besides Jorge Polanco, and maybe that'll
5:14
Speaker 1: happen pretty soon. But the pressure of the transition is off.
5:20
Speaker 1: The pressure of having that seven sixty five out there
5:23
Speaker 1: in everyone's head, well, it's still going to be there,
5:26
Speaker 1: but he seems to have adapted to it pretty well
5:29
Speaker 1: in the second half, and I expect he's going to
5:31
Speaker 1: be the one soda that we see year after year
5:33
Speaker 1: after year. Once more.
5:35
Speaker 2: Everybody wants Ken Rosenthal to be a pontificator coming into
5:39
Speaker 2: the season. Get that crystal ball out Ken, what's going
5:42
Speaker 2: to happen? You did a good job with the Dodgers.
5:44
Speaker 2: You did a great job with Wan Soda. Let's talk
5:46
Speaker 2: about the trade deadline. We thought it was gonna star
5:49
Speaker 2: Sandy Alcontra of the Miami Marlins. Can you wrote all
5:53
Speaker 2: Contra the Miami Marlins Ace soon will be a walking
5:56
Speaker 2: trade rumor a transaction waiting to happen seven point two
5:59
Speaker 2: two er before the break three thirty three, after he's
6:03
Speaker 2: still in South Florida.
6:05
Speaker 3: What do you make of it?
6:06
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna give myself a little bit of a
6:09
Speaker 1: break here, because when I write something like that, I
6:12
Speaker 1: need a little bit of cooperation from the player. And
6:16
Speaker 1: the first half he was still coming back from Tommy John.
6:19
Speaker 1: He wasn't good, or at least wasn't as good as
6:22
Speaker 1: he was in the second half. And he's still a
6:24
Speaker 1: guy that ultimately could be traded. But they now intend
6:28
Speaker 1: to compete this season, at least for the start of
6:30
Speaker 1: the season. They are a team that won seventy nine games,
6:33
Speaker 1: surprisingly with him coming on in the second half and
6:36
Speaker 1: a lot of other good things happening in their first
6:38
Speaker 1: year under Clayton McCullough. So I'll take the hit for
6:41
Speaker 1: being wrong about al Contra. I just thought he would
6:44
Speaker 1: be better in the first half.
6:45
Speaker 2: I did too, but I also thought he was going
6:47
Speaker 2: to get traded. I thought he was certainly going to
6:49
Speaker 2: be on a different team heading into twenty twenty six. Really,
6:51
Speaker 2: at the end of twenty twenty five, you also listed
6:54
Speaker 2: Ken and many people did as well. Luise Robert uh
6:57
Speaker 2: still in Chicago and Mike Trout he's still in a
7:00
Speaker 2: so sorry about that.
7:02
Speaker 1: Well, Luis Robert should have been traded in my opinion,
7:06
Speaker 1: I wrote that I was critical of the White Sox
7:07
Speaker 1: for not doing it because then they had to pick
7:09
Speaker 1: up his twenty million dollar option, which they did. They
7:12
Speaker 1: are still trying to trade him and maybe they'll come
7:14
Speaker 1: out better for it, and if they do, more power
7:17
Speaker 1: to them. And I would have been wrong about that,
7:19
Speaker 1: but I thought he should have been dealt. He didn't
7:22
Speaker 1: have a great first half, and of course he did
7:24
Speaker 1: spend some time on the IL, but was healthy at
7:27
Speaker 1: the time of the deadline. Trout, it's just the contract,
7:30
Speaker 1: it's just his unwillingness to go and the fact that
7:33
Speaker 1: he is not the player he was early twenty tens,
7:36
Speaker 1: mid twenty tens. We haven't seen that guy in a while.
7:40
Speaker 1: If we ever see him again or something close to that,
7:43
Speaker 1: then the question will surface ornew about maybe Mike Trout
7:47
Speaker 1: approving a trade. But he has really shown no willingness
7:51
Speaker 1: to do that. And you can look at that positively,
7:52
Speaker 1: you can look at it negatively, but that's his feeling.
7:55
Speaker 1: He wants to win in Anaheim, as crazy as a
7:59
Speaker 1: proposition as that might seem.
8:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, he seems very loyal to the Angels. Perhaps you
8:04
Speaker 2: know it matters to him to stay there, considering they're
8:06
Speaker 2: the ones that gave him two big deals. Are their
8:08
Speaker 2: trade names ken that we should already be thinking about
8:12
Speaker 2: for the twenty twenty sixth season.
8:14
Speaker 3: Who comes to mind?
8:16
Speaker 1: Oh, well, for the deadline. It's a little bit early
8:19
Speaker 1: to look ahead, because we have so many guys right
8:22
Speaker 1: now that we're thinking might get traded Ka tel Marte,
8:24
Speaker 1: Freddie Peralta, Brendan Donovan. The list goes on, certainly the
8:29
Speaker 1: Twins if they fall out of it. Now they've kept
8:32
Speaker 1: Joe Ryan, they've kept Pablo Lopez, and they've kept Byron
8:35
Speaker 1: Buckston at least to this point. But if they fall
8:38
Speaker 1: out of it again, Yes, I would expect that those
8:40
Speaker 1: guys would go and certainly any team that stumbles, those
8:45
Speaker 1: are the teams you look to to perhaps make trades.
8:48
Speaker 1: A lot of teams are trying to compete this year,
8:50
Speaker 1: so it's kind of hard to predict which ones will stumble.
8:53
Speaker 1: But I do expect that the Twins are going to
8:56
Speaker 1: be one to watch as they've been all along, and
8:58
Speaker 1: then any other team that might fall off. As I said,
9:03
Speaker 1: let's say it's the Brewers and they keep per Alta
9:05
Speaker 1: and they're not the team that they thought they would
9:07
Speaker 1: be somehow in the first half, then he would become available.
9:10
Speaker 1: That's just an example. I don't expect it to happen,
9:13
Speaker 1: but that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.
9:16
Speaker 2: Ken, you mentioned the Twins, you mentioned the Brewers. Neither
9:18
Speaker 2: one of those teams were in your top five of
9:20
Speaker 2: teams that had the most pressure going into twenty twenty five.
9:23
Speaker 2: I think your list was great, and you were spot
9:25
Speaker 2: on with a lot of them. If you look at
9:27
Speaker 2: the list Ken was talking about coming into twenty twenty five,
9:30
Speaker 2: the Cubs, the Blue Jays, Ken, the Mariners, the Orioles
9:34
Speaker 2: and the Phillies.
9:35
Speaker 3: How do you think those clubs did well?
9:37
Speaker 1: The Blue Jays and Mariners did great, and the Blue
9:40
Speaker 1: Jays surpassed all of my expectations. They entered the season
9:43
Speaker 1: with their front office in trouble, maybe their manager in trouble,
9:47
Speaker 1: all these questions about Vladimir Guerrero Junior. Was he going
9:50
Speaker 1: to sign? He did early in the season, and then
9:52
Speaker 1: they had really a year for the Ages. The Mariners
9:56
Speaker 1: too came a long way, played in the Alcs, went
9:59
Speaker 1: to seven games. The Ools had a lot of pressure
10:02
Speaker 1: on them and were a huge disappointment. The Phillies had
10:04
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure on them and had a good year,
10:09
Speaker 1: but of course in the end we're disappointed by their
10:11
Speaker 1: playoff exit. And the Cubs well, the Cubs just did
10:15
Speaker 1: not ultimately get to where they wanted to be, though
10:18
Speaker 1: they did too make the playoffs. When Tucker got hurt
10:21
Speaker 1: in the second half, they really weren't the same after that,
10:23
Speaker 1: and ultimately they fall out of the October picture earlier
10:28
Speaker 1: than they wanted to.
10:30
Speaker 2: Well, ken some of those teams, there's a carryover in
10:32
Speaker 2: euro opinion going into twenty twenty six. Who has the
10:34
Speaker 2: most pressure coming into the new season.
10:37
Speaker 1: The two New York teams for sure. Now we sit
10:40
Speaker 1: here and their off seasons are not complete. But the Mets,
10:42
Speaker 1: because they've deconstructed, they are under a great deal of pressure.
10:46
Speaker 1: President Baseball Operations David Stearns under a great deal of
10:50
Speaker 1: pressure to show that he is capable of winning with
10:53
Speaker 1: this kind of payroll. He did it in Milwaukee, but
10:57
Speaker 1: he hasn't done it to the way that the Mets
10:59
Speaker 1: have wanted so far. In New York. They did reach
11:01
Speaker 1: the NLCS in twenty four. It can't take that away
11:04
Speaker 1: from them, but there's a lot of pressure there. There's
11:06
Speaker 1: always a lot of pressure on the Yankees. They have
11:08
Speaker 1: not won a World Series since two thousand and nine.
11:11
Speaker 1: We are all aware of that. Their owner house Dieinbrenner.
11:14
Speaker 1: Will he spend enough to surround Aaron Judge with the
11:18
Speaker 1: talent necessary while Aaron Judge is still in his prime.
11:21
Speaker 1: That's a huge question in this game right now. The
11:24
Speaker 1: Cubs pressure on them still because they are a team
11:27
Speaker 1: that is in a division where they are the big spenders,
11:30
Speaker 1: and yet they haven't really had that breakthrough success. I
11:34
Speaker 1: would say the Oriols because of all they've done, they've
11:38
Speaker 1: put together a better team than they did at this
11:39
Speaker 1: time last year, but there's pressure on them to win. Michaelias,
11:43
Speaker 1: their general manager, clearly feeling it and responding to it.
11:46
Speaker 1: And the Phillies again, how many times are they going
11:49
Speaker 1: to run it back with this group before either they
11:52
Speaker 1: win a championship, which they certainly looked capable of doing
11:55
Speaker 1: last season, or they start to take pieces apart.
11:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, Kyle Schwerberg going back to Citizens Bank certainly helps.
12:02
Speaker 2: Of course, Pete A. Lonzo going to Baltimore helps a lot.
12:05
Speaker 2: Baltimore certainly needs some pitching. However, all right, your last
12:08
Speaker 2: chance of the twenty twenty five season to ask Ken
12:11
Speaker 2: some questions. We'll be back right after this with Grill
12:14
Speaker 2: and Ken. All right, time now for Grill and Ken
12:22
Speaker 2: the last time this year? Who were two breakout candidates?
12:25
Speaker 3: Ken?
12:25
Speaker 2: In your opinion, we'll start with pitching first, and then
12:28
Speaker 2: we'll go with the position player for twenty twenty six pitching, I'll.
12:34
Speaker 1: Go with Chase Burns and the Cincinnati Reds. Made his
12:37
Speaker 1: debut last year and for me, was really impressive. Sixty
12:40
Speaker 1: seven strikeouts in forty three and a third innings. He
12:44
Speaker 1: had a HIGHRA four point five to seven. But his FIP,
12:47
Speaker 1: which is a better measure perhaps of what should have
12:50
Speaker 1: happened under his control was only two point five four.
12:54
Speaker 1: So he's a guy with great promise. I sort of
12:56
Speaker 1: love the Reds rotation. It's young and there are more
13:00
Speaker 1: and that's going to be something to watch in the
13:02
Speaker 1: early part of the season. From a hitting perspective, I'll
13:05
Speaker 1: go with Owen Casey of the Cubs. It does not
13:08
Speaker 1: appear the Cubs are going to resign Kyle Schwarber. I'm
13:10
Speaker 1: sorry Kyle Tucker, and Owen Casey should get his chance.
13:15
Speaker 1: He's a guy who has been a top prospect, he
13:17
Speaker 1: has a great deal of promise, and he looks like
13:20
Speaker 1: he could be the next great Cubs hitter.
13:22
Speaker 2: All Right, so pay attention to the NL Central, the
13:24
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Reds, and of course the Chicago Cubs. Okay, a
13:28
Speaker 2: team on the rise in twenty twenty six, Ken, who
13:32
Speaker 2: is it for you?
13:33
Speaker 1: I've got to go with Baltimore. And the reason for that,
13:36
Speaker 1: Alana is they finished last last season in the ALE East.
13:40
Speaker 1: It was a horrible year for them, incredibly disappointing. But
13:43
Speaker 1: they've made one move after another this offseason. Andrew Kittridge
13:47
Speaker 1: and Ryan Helsley for the bullpen Taylor Ward and Pete Alonzo.
13:51
Speaker 1: For the offense, they still need to add starting pitching
13:54
Speaker 1: beyond Shane Baz. That was a great trade that they
13:56
Speaker 1: made in my opinion. So they have one more big
13:59
Speaker 1: move in my opinion, and that's to get that extra
14:02
Speaker 1: starter or perhaps even at top of the rotation starter.
14:05
Speaker 1: But they are a team that should be better, and
14:07
Speaker 1: I do look for them to be on the rise.
14:09
Speaker 3: I do too.
14:10
Speaker 2: I think, like you said earlier, Michael Layas kind of
14:13
Speaker 2: felt the heat, the pressure, and he's making some moves
14:16
Speaker 2: and responding to that hot seat. A team on the
14:18
Speaker 2: downswing in twenty twenty six, and this may surprise some people.
14:22
Speaker 1: Well a lot, And this one's actually you're right. It's
14:24
Speaker 1: surprising because of the name of the team, but it's
14:26
Speaker 1: obvious based on the way they're conducting their off season.
14:29
Speaker 1: It's the Saint Louis Cardinals. We've seen them trade Sonny Gray,
14:32
Speaker 1: We've seen them trade Wilson Contreras. More to come. They
14:36
Speaker 1: are clearly in or rebuilding mode, and that's fine. It's
14:39
Speaker 1: probably overdue in Saint Louis, and actually their fans are
14:43
Speaker 1: more likely to embrace this than be disgusted. By it
14:47
Speaker 1: because this was coming and it was necessary. So that said,
14:52
Speaker 1: their performance on the field in twenty twenty six cannot
14:54
Speaker 1: be expected to be anywhere near what we've expected from
14:58
Speaker 1: the Cardinals in the past, so I see them going down.
15:01
Speaker 2: They have one of the most understanding fan bases of
15:05
Speaker 2: a team that has such a history. To your point, Ken,
15:07
Speaker 2: all right, your favorite part of the World Baseball Classic?
15:10
Speaker 2: Of course it is coming up in twenty twenty six.
15:12
Speaker 2: Team USA is stacked. I love the World Baseball Classic.
15:16
Speaker 2: What's your favorite part?
15:18
Speaker 1: My favorite part, Alana, is the sheer intensity and the
15:21
Speaker 1: passion that the games are played with, not just by
15:24
Speaker 1: the US team, which shows a lot of passion, but
15:26
Speaker 1: the other teams from other countries. The last experience we
15:31
Speaker 1: have with this in twenty twenty three was one of
15:33
Speaker 1: my all time favorite things that I've covered, and that's
15:36
Speaker 1: saying something. I've covered a lot of stuff, and it
15:40
Speaker 1: just was so electric night after night. The games are incredible.
15:44
Speaker 1: So I would just say the intensity, the passion, and
15:47
Speaker 1: just everything that the WBC is, I'm all about it.
15:50
Speaker 3: I agree with you. It is one of the most
15:52
Speaker 3: fun things we can cover.
15:53
Speaker 1: Ken.
15:54
Speaker 2: I had the opportunity to do it live. In twenty
15:56
Speaker 2: thirteen when I was with MLB Network the first time,
15:58
Speaker 2: and I was in Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rican Pool,
16:01
Speaker 2: and just the teams in that pool. It was the Dominican,
16:04
Speaker 2: it was Venezuela, it was Puerto Rico. It was just
16:06
Speaker 2: so much fun. There's one team that I'm missing, but
16:09
Speaker 2: just the intensity, to your point, is unbelievable. And as
16:12
Speaker 2: the years have gone on, Ken, I think it's been
16:14
Speaker 2: more of a goal and a prize for the USA
16:19
Speaker 2: players to want to participate. I think it's always been
16:22
Speaker 2: a big deal for the Latin players. It's always mattered
16:24
Speaker 2: to them, and not that it hasn't mattered to the
16:27
Speaker 2: US players, but I think now Mark de Rosa, your
16:30
Speaker 2: Dude of the Week last week, has done such a
16:33
Speaker 2: great job of wanting players to participate and making it
16:38
Speaker 2: something that is more of a career a career goal too. Recently,
16:42
Speaker 2: Bryce Harper said he's going to go back to play
16:44
Speaker 2: for the USA, So I love it. All right, We're
16:46
Speaker 2: going to come back and talk about our dudes and
16:49
Speaker 2: dorks of the Year as twenty twenty five comes to
16:52
Speaker 2: a close. Right after this, a few words from our
16:54
Speaker 2: friends at foul.
16:56
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Speaker 1: Dude, Dude, dude.
17:40
Speaker 2: All right, we've had fifty one of these so far. Ken,
17:43
Speaker 2: it is the Dude and dork of the year. This
17:47
Speaker 2: time we've had fifty two weeks in the year.
17:49
Speaker 3: Here it is. Let's start with your dude of the year.
17:51
Speaker 3: Who is it?
17:53
Speaker 1: My dude of the year. This is something of a
17:55
Speaker 1: consolation prize for him, an American League MVP, and a
17:59
Speaker 1: lot of people thought he should have I was in
18:01
Speaker 1: the Aaron Judge camp. But my goodness. Cal Raley had
18:05
Speaker 1: a season that we will never forget. Sixty home runs
18:09
Speaker 1: in the regular season, most ever by a catcher, most
18:11
Speaker 1: ever by a switch hitter, five more in the postseason,
18:15
Speaker 1: four in the ALCS. All this after playing one hundred
18:19
Speaker 1: and fifty nine games in the regular season and every
18:21
Speaker 1: game the Mariners played in the postseason. He had the
18:24
Speaker 1: third most starts at catcher. He had an amazing season
18:28
Speaker 1: that really transcended the game in certain ways. It was
18:32
Speaker 1: historic in many ways. So cal Raley, I know you
18:35
Speaker 1: weren't American League MVP, but you're my due to the Year.
18:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, American League MVP Ken Rosenthal's due to the Year.
18:44
Speaker 2: It is quite the Constellation Prize.
18:47
Speaker 3: And I tell you what, Okay, do you.
18:51
Speaker 2: Have any honorable mentions perhaps of maybe some other dudes
18:54
Speaker 2: that didn't quite make the cut for Due to the
18:56
Speaker 2: Year but were pretty close.
18:58
Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to lead right into your due to
18:59
Speaker 1: the Year, Alana, because my first thought here was Yoshinobu
19:03
Speaker 1: Yamamoto for what he did in the playoffs in Game
19:06
Speaker 1: six and seven, in particular in the World Series. That
19:09
Speaker 1: was the one guy I thought of. Aaron Judge, of course,
19:12
Speaker 1: would have been a logical candidate as well shoo Tani
19:14
Speaker 1: every year. But I still say, Raleigh and I think
19:19
Speaker 1: you need to talk about your dudes of the year
19:21
Speaker 1: because that encompasses some of the people we were just mentioning.
19:25
Speaker 2: Can I just think it's so hard to do what
19:26
Speaker 2: the Dodgers did. And I understand they have a ridiculous payroll.
19:29
Speaker 2: I understand that the Los Angeles Dodgers are paying a
19:31
Speaker 2: luxury tax that is more than several teams entire payroll.
19:35
Speaker 3: But the way that the Dodgers go.
19:36
Speaker 2: About their business and the way that they've been able
19:39
Speaker 2: to understand that they are built for October and nobody
19:42
Speaker 2: panics outside of the organization and to be able to repeat.
19:45
Speaker 2: I mean, there is a lot of parody in baseball,
19:47
Speaker 2: even if the payrolls aren't necessarily the same. And I've
19:51
Speaker 2: said it time and time again, I will say this
19:53
Speaker 2: as my last breath. Money guarantees good players, and money
19:57
Speaker 2: guarantees for the most part that you get into the postseason,
20:00
Speaker 2: but money does not guarantee championships. And the way that
20:02
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts had to have a revolving door of a
20:05
Speaker 2: bullpen that was absolutely decimated this year with injury and
20:08
Speaker 2: obviously what happened to Alex se Messia granted super good
20:12
Speaker 2: starting staff and to your point where yoshinob Yamamoto was
20:15
Speaker 2: able to do an iron horse if you will, to
20:18
Speaker 2: take a you know, cal Ripken junior.
20:20
Speaker 3: But the Dodgers do it the right way.
20:23
Speaker 2: The Dodgers' ownership spends money, the Dodgers treat their players well,
20:28
Speaker 2: and to be able to repeat, I think it is
20:30
Speaker 2: pretty impressive. And they're trying to do it again for
20:32
Speaker 2: the third time in a row, and I think that's
20:34
Speaker 2: pretty cool. So they are my dudes of the Week. Okay, Ken,
20:37
Speaker 2: time now for our dork.
20:40
Speaker 3: Of the Year. I love this so much for you,
20:50
Speaker 3: I think I've waited all year for this one.
20:52
Speaker 2: Who's your dork of the Year. That's a pretty big
20:54
Speaker 2: that's a pretty big category. A lot of people qualify.
20:56
Speaker 1: It's a big category. Alanna, and I don't take this lightly,
20:59
Speaker 1: but we had a guy who was Dork of the
21:02
Speaker 1: Year several times during the season, and we had a
21:05
Speaker 1: guy who did something in early May that was so
21:08
Speaker 1: ridiculous that he has earned Dork of the Year. He
21:12
Speaker 1: is part of the Foul Territory Network. He is a
21:15
Speaker 1: big part of the foul network Territory network. And his
21:19
Speaker 1: name is Aj Prazinski. And why is he the dork
21:22
Speaker 1: of the year, you may ask. Let's go back to
21:24
Speaker 1: May eighth. AJ was doing a game somewhere I was
21:27
Speaker 1: doing a game somewhere else. And what happened was he
21:30
Speaker 1: tweeted or not tweeted. He texted us in a group text,
21:34
Speaker 1: watch and learn kids, enjoy your rain delay. At that
21:36
Speaker 1: point his game was on. My game was not. We
21:39
Speaker 1: were in a rain delay. I believe this was in Atlanta. Well,
21:42
Speaker 1: what happens minutes later? AJ's game goes into a rain
21:46
Speaker 1: delay and you can see my response. You beg for it, Aj,
21:49
Speaker 1: and the baseball gods got you. That's the kind of
21:52
Speaker 1: conduct we've come to expect from Aj Prizinski over the years,
21:56
Speaker 1: and he got nailed. AJ. Congratulations. I'm sure it's a
21:59
Speaker 1: big Yeah.
22:01
Speaker 2: It should be the Pretty Hall of Pretty Good too.
22:03
Speaker 2: I think he's in that as well. So it's a
22:05
Speaker 2: Dork of the Year for Ken Rosenthal and Hall of
22:08
Speaker 2: Pretty Good Agent.
22:09
Speaker 3: You know, I sent him a text the other day.
22:10
Speaker 2: I said, Hey, any of your UF people have an
22:12
Speaker 2: Airbnb that I can I can rent out next year?
22:16
Speaker 2: And all he said was like for Morgan Wall And
22:18
Speaker 2: I said, yes, you think he ever.
22:19
Speaker 3: Got back to me?
22:20
Speaker 2: No he did not, he did not. All right, my,
22:23
Speaker 2: my dork of the year. It is the Angels franchise
22:27
Speaker 2: for a variety of reasons. Ken, I mean, they have
22:29
Speaker 2: misstepped on so many different things, but I think most
22:32
Speaker 2: recently in October a couple of different things. When you
22:35
Speaker 2: you decide to not in October, when you decide to
22:39
Speaker 2: sign a manager Kurt Suzuki to a one year deal,
22:42
Speaker 2: I mean, what kind of what kind of confidence do
22:44
Speaker 2: you think that says as far as your commitment to
22:47
Speaker 2: him and how you think he's going to do. And
22:50
Speaker 2: of course the GM also has one year left Manasi,
22:52
Speaker 2: and so maybe they're tied together. You say, Kakuchi saying
22:55
Speaker 2: the air conditioning didn't work all year in the weight room,
22:58
Speaker 2: I don't care. You're majorly friend. You have a gazillion dollars,
23:01
Speaker 2: but your AC doesn't work. And then the GM plays
23:04
Speaker 2: the dumbest man ever as the Angels post a job
23:06
Speaker 2: for HVAC help. I mean that's just one, you know, three,
23:09
Speaker 2: just three quick examples that we can think of for
23:12
Speaker 2: the Angels. And obviously wasting all that money on Anthony Rendon.
23:18
Speaker 2: There's a lot of there's a lot of things that
23:19
Speaker 2: I can think of, but the Angels, you guys are
23:23
Speaker 2: my dorks of the year. Let's get it together, Anaheim,
23:26
Speaker 2: let's get it too together.
23:29
Speaker 1: Well, actually it might happen. I don't know when it's
23:32
Speaker 1: going to happen, and maybe it won't happen until there's
23:34
Speaker 1: a new owner, because Arty Moreno is the root of
23:37
Speaker 1: a lot of these problems and a on a heck,
23:39
Speaker 1: we should mention too, the whole Tyler Skaggs trial and
23:42
Speaker 1: everything that happened there in the settlement at the end,
23:45
Speaker 1: and everything that we learned about the Angels through that process.
23:49
Speaker 1: It's a whole different thing. It's a tragedy. It's well
23:52
Speaker 1: different than baseball, but it is too, something that was
23:56
Speaker 1: marking the Angels twenty twenty five. So the Angel yep,
24:00
Speaker 1: their dorks of the year. Aj Prazinski, You're my dork
24:03
Speaker 1: of the year. I love you, brother, but you're still
24:05
Speaker 1: the dork of the year.
24:08
Speaker 2: We are thankful to you guys for being here. You
24:11
Speaker 2: are all our dudes and dudets of the year. Thank
24:13
Speaker 2: you for watching and listening all your long Fair territory
24:16
Speaker 2: returns on Monday, January fifth, at ten am Eastern. Enjoy
24:20
Speaker 2: the rest of the holidays, have a very happy new year.
24:23
Speaker 2: We are on to two thousand and twenty six. Can
24:26
Speaker 2: have a good one
24:28
Speaker 1: You too, Elana, thank you.