Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory - Red Sox acquire Willson Contreras, Murakami 2-year White Sox deal, Bo Bichette/Alex Bregman latest intel

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Fair Territory - Red Sox acquire Willson Contreras, Murakami 2-year White Sox deal, Bo Bichette/Alex Bregman latest intel · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. A
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: lot of action right now, and I expect plenty of
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: action in the next couple of days leading up to Christmas.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Let's get right to it. Let's go to yesterday's news.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We had two major situations developed. One was a trade
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox made for Wilson Contreras. The other, earlier
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: in the day was the White Sox signing of Munataka Morikami.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Let's start with Contreras. This was a move that had
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: been rumored for several weeks. We all knew that the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Red Sox were looking for offensive help, and they still
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: are after the Contrerast's move. We'll get into that as
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the show progresses. But this trade is the second trade
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: that they've made with their former president of Baseball Operations,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: actually chief baseball officer, Hem Bloom. The second trade that
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: they've made in which Heim Bloom with the Cardinals now
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: sent the money to get better prospects and for the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Red Sox. These deals are, at least from a financial perspective,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: looking good. I'll get more into that as well. Here's
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the trade Wilson Contreras for Hunter Dobbins, who made his
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: debut last year and was impressive in two prospects Yorker
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: for Haardo and Blake Aita, all right handed pitchers. They're
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the guys who went for Wilson Contreras. I wrote and
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: tweeted Fajardo was just nineteen years old, a four hundred
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars sign out of Venezuela by the White Sox
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, acquired for the DFA Cambooser last winter,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: and then I eate a six round pick out of
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Kansas State in twenty twenty four.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: So a guy who has been.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: In the major leagues in Dobbins and two longer term prospects.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: That's what the Cardinals get back for Wilson Contreras. What
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: do the Red Sox get? A guy who can play
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: first base, a guy who is pretty strong in the clubhouse,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: a good leader, and a guy who, over the last
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: two seasons has been When judging by f war, Fangraft's
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: version of wins a Brough replacement nearly identical to Pete
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Alonso in terms of production, their f wars are nearly
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the same now. Alonso has more power contrast gets on baseboard.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Contreras is also more than two and a half years older.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: But while you needed to trade three prospects for Contreras,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: you're getting him for one hundred and twelve point five
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: million dollars less than the Orioles gave Pete Alonso. So
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: that's from the Red Sox perspective, from a financial sense,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: a good exchange, something that should help them next year.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I don't see Wilson Contreras necessarily slowing down.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Questions arise with their roster as a result of this move.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: What happens to Tristan Cassis. Well, he's coming off a
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: ruptured Patel attendant. He had surgery for that, and there
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: is not certainty that he'll be ready for opening day,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: you see. Jim McCaffrey wrote about that today in The Athletic.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: But once Cassis returns, they can use him in some
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: kind of rotation first base DH with Contreras. We'll see
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Cassis is not really a proven major league player yet.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: So this at least gives the Red Sox what the
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: baseball people call a very good floor at first base.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: The other question with the Red Sox Masataka Yoshida, what
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: is going to happen with this dude? So two years
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and thirty six million on his contract. Once Kasis returns,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: there's seemingly no place for him, and I don't see
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: a place for him even really in the interim without Castes.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: So that's a guy that they've talked about trading and
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: dumping for a while. Now we'll see if it happens.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Maybe they go into spring training with their depth, see
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: how casts progresses. I don't know, but without question, this
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: cannot be their last offensive move. They've traded for Sonny
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Gray and Johan Oviedo to help their starting rotation. They've
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: done some other smaller things and now they've added contraras
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: deals not official yet.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: But will be.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: They need one more big bat and we'll talk more
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: about that in the inside dish.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: The other big move yesterday, and this was a bit
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: of a stunner. News first came out on Saturday night
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: from Mark Feinesland and Scott merkeno MLB dot Com that
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: the White Sox were a team for Murakami, and people thought, well,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: the White Sox, why would they want Murakami? Well, a
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: couple of reasons. One, the price proved to be right,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: two years, thirty four million for a guy who was
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: projected to get a lot more than that in free agency,
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: because he's going to be twenty six this season. The
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Athletics Tim Britton had him at eight years, one hundred
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and eight and fifty eight point five million, eight one
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: fifty eight point five.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: So what happened to Murrikami?
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: The questions that a lot of teams had, really twenty
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: nine teams it would seem, had about.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: His swing and miss, his ability to hit.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Velocity, whether his strikeout rate in Japan, which was rather high,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: would be even higher in the major leagues. Now we're
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: going to find out just who Murakami is. His people,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: his representatives at Excel Sports Management, believe that he could
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: be another Kyle Schwarber, a guy who also strikes out
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: a lot, but like Murakami, has a ton of power
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: and a ton of eggs and philosophy, all those things
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: that you look for from a slugger. So he now
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: signs the short term deal. If he succeeds well, a
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: couple of things could happen. One the White Sox could
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: trade him, or they could make him part of their core,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: extend him at some point and make him the centerpiece
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: of the next great White Sox team. I know you
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: laugh at those mere words. But the White Sox are
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: building an interesting young core of position players, and they've
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: got some pitching coming as well, and some pitching in
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: the major leagues. So Murakami is a guy who really
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: actually fits nicely for them, and once they can get
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: him on a lesser deal, then they got interested. This
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: developed in my understanding very quickly over the last couple
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: of days. He's a guy that obviously should bring power
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: as long as he can make contact to a team
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: that severely lacked it last year, severely lacked offense at all.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: White Sox were twenty seventh and run scored twenty eighth
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: in slugging percentage. As Keith Law and The Athletic wrote,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: you'll probably not guess their home run.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Leader last year.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: It was Lenine Sosa with twenty two. So Morikami goes
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: to the White Sox in a bit of a surprise,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: and also over the weekend. And this seems like ages
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: ago now because the off season moves so quickly at times.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: But there were some big trades on Friday involving starting pitchers,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: specifically controllable starting pitchers. Shane Boz, three years of club control,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: goes to the Orioles, Mike Burrows six years of club
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: control goes to the Astros. Now, what's interesting about these
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: moves as we go forward here? They were interesting in themselves,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: and I wrote an entire column about the Rays Orioles
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: trade regarding Boz. But what I see going forward is
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: that if you are a team holding a controllable starting
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: pitcher and you see the big returns that the Orioles
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: in particular, or that the Rays in particular got for Boz,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: You're gonna think to yourself, well, maybe I can do
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: that for my own team. I'm thinking about the Washington
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Nationals Mackenzie Gore two years of control. I'm thinking about
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: the Miami Marlins Edward Cabrera three years of control, same
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: as baz Well. Mackenzie Gore all right, one fewer year
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: of control than Shane bos but probably a better picture.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: In the eyes of many in the major leagues. Boz
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: is a guy who has not yet reached his ceiling.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: So you're the Nationals, you're sitting pretty. You're the Marlins,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: you're sitting pretty. You're thinking we can get something big too.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: And don't forget the return for Burrows that the Pirates
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: received was three major leaguers, including Brandon Law.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: So it's going to be interesting to see if.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: This emboldens those teams to ask for more, if it
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: ultimately leads those teams to keep these players because they
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: can get what they want, can't get that monster return
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: that the Rays got for Boz. And it will even
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: be interesting to see if the Twins with Joe Ryan,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: who have been adamant about not trading Joe Ryan, now
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: get tempted because he's a guy with two years of
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: control into possibly doing something, knowing what might be out there.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Again might be out there because the free agents that
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: remain the top free agents from ra Valdez Ranger Suarez,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: in my they don't seem to excite teams the way
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: other free agents in the past have. So perhaps the
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: controllable starters are the way to go for these teams,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: and there are a number of teams that still need them.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: All right, that is it for the first segment.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: We will be back with the Inside Dish, more on
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox, more on Alex Bregman and Boba Schett when.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: We return, well well, well, well.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Time now for the inside Dish.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: You know, the drill.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: It's the part of the show right to talk about
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: something I've written, a trend in the game, something else
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: going on, entirely, something personal, perhaps well rarely something personal.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: But today I'm going to talk about the column that
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I published this morning, and also the general sense of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: what is going on with Alex Bregman, with Bobaschett, and
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: specifically what is going.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: On with the Boston Red Sox.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: As I wrote, the Red Sox have created a financial
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: path for a big move. Alex Bregman should be their
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: first choice. What is this path you speak of? Ken
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: pretty clear? So with the money that the Red Sox
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: got in the two trades for Contraras and Gray, Williams
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Wilson Contraras and Sonny Gray twenty eight million in those
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: two trades, they essentially paid those players down to very
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: reasonable rates. With Sonny Gray it comes down to one year,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: twenty one million. That's a very good move for the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: club from in the terms of what they will be
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: paying him for what his production might be. He'll probably
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: be exceeding.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: That value in what he does.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: And then with Contreras it's two years forty two point
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: five million. It's still a reasonable number for a guy
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: who plays at the level that Wilson Contreras does so
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: in those two trades, and in the trade for Oviedo,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Johann Oviedo, who is projected to earn ten million in
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: arbitration this season. The Red Sox cut financially prudent deals.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: That's one element of this. Another element, of course, is
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: the money they saved in the Raphael Devers trade last June,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: more than two hundred and twenty million going forward again,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: more than two hundred and twenty million saved in that trade,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: not all in one year, of course, it's spread out
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: over time, but they created incredible payroll flexibility with that deal.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: That was one of the motivations. And then finally, also
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: this week, we learned that the Fenway Sports Group, owners
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: of the Red Sox, are selling the Pittsburgh Penguins for
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: a reported one point seven billion to one point eight billion.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: That's nearly twice or about twice what they paid for
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: the Penguins back in twenty twenty one. Pretty good investment,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: pretty good.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Return over four years. Now.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: I know what the Red Sox would say, or the
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Fenwaz Sports Group would say, that's a separate transaction, has
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with the Red Sox. We operate the
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Red Sox simply based on their cash. All right, whatever,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox have money. We know they have money.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: We know they need.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Another big bat in addition to Wilson Contraras, So who
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: is it going to be? As I wrote in my opinion,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: the first choice should still be Bregman. He is, yes,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: going to be thirty two years old in March. But
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: at the same time, the Red Sox saw firsthand last
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: season what Bregman can do for them offensively, defensively, and
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the thing that might distinguish him the most is what
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: he offers from a leadership standpoint, the dugout and the clubhouse.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: This is a guy, a rare player who, as I wrote,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: helps make teammates better. That's what Alex Bregman does, in
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: addition to being a really good player, a really good
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: third baseman. So Bregman, Okay, that's one possibility. Boba Schett
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: would be another free agent possibility, and Boba Schett would
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: be an interesting fit for the Red Sox as well.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: They could play him at second most likely, I would think,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: or third. They still have Trevor's story at short and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Marcelo Mayer conceivably could fill in at the other position,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: or perhaps they could do something else at the other
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: infield spot. But to me, Bregman, because of his leadership,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: because the Red Sox have experienced him, because he has
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: proven himself in Boston, he should be the first choice. Now,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: there are other teams obviously interested in Bregman. As I wrote,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays have emerged as legitimate suitors
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: in recent days, and there are other teams involved as well.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: And I know a lot of people Red Sox fans
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: in particular the last few days are like h Scott
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: boris just using media for leverage.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Guys, use common sense.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Do you really think there is only one team interested
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: in Alex Bregman, only one team interested in Boba Schett.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: These are elite free agents. The same goes for Kyle
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Tucker and Cody Bellinger. These guys have active markets. Now
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: it remains to be seen just what they'll get. But
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: the point of it is there's competition. Now, what will
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks do? Well, they could keep katel Marte even
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: if they signed Bregman, though I don't expect that to happen.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Katel Marte becomes a ten and five player with full
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: veto rights over a trade on the tenth day of
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: the season. We've heard all off season, even before that,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: about Marte's issues in the clubhouse. They've been well chronicled,
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: and it seems to me that Diamondbacks want to move on.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: The Red Sox could be a.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Team for Marte. They could be a team for Brendan Donovan,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: another player reported to be in trade talks. You play
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: one of those guys at second base, maybe you play
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: may or third, and you don't need Alex Bregman or
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Boba Schett. Okay, you do that, that's fine. The problem
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: with that from the Red Sox perspective is they've already
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: made three trades in which they've given up prospects. Three
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Now they could do it again. They really haven't touched
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: the top of their system. But to do it to
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: get a Marte or a Donovan would probably require one
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: of their top starting pitchers, top young starting pitchers. I'm
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: talking about Peyton, Totley or Connelly early. They've already lost
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: some pitching depth, so I'm not sure they want to
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: make a trade again. It points toward free agency. So
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: what about Toronto's role in this? Toronto Blue Jays a
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: team that for several years there couldn't seem to sign
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: a free agent.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: That they got a few smaller ones.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Now suddenly seem to be a destination for all free agents.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: We've seen them sign three already this offseason, Dylan Cees,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Cody Ponce and Tyler Rodgers. They've spent a lot of
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: money already, and it sure seems like with them in
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: the mix for virtually every big name out there, they've
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: got one more signing at least in them. Bregman is
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: actually a really good fit for them. They can play
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: them at third base, they can move her and to
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Clement the second Addison Barger to write and go about
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: it that way, you'd have Springer in Santander Dhing playing
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: some outfield as well. He is someone who would fit
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: quite nicely, as would Bobachhett with Bobaschett, it's largely the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: same equation. You play him at second, you play clemented third,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Barger and Wright, Springer and Santander contributing in the outfield.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: So all of these things are in play for the
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays, and I imagine Tucker and Bellinger to an
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: extent are as well. But their need, the greater need
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: is in the infield, so the Blue Jays. You can
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: see the logic there. And also keep in mind George
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Springer and Miles Straw, two guys who are on the
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays right now. They were teammates with Alex Bregman Houston.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: They know what he brings. I'm sure they've spoken highly
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: of him. Again, there are other teams in the mix
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: for Bregman, for Brishett. My point what I wrote today
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: is that the Red Sox need to come.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Away with one of these guys.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Now, if you don't get either of them, you could
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: sign a third baseman, whether it's Kazumo Akamoto or a
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Uhano Suarez. You can make a trade for Noan Arnado,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: but none of these options is as good as Bregman
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: or Bishett. So for the Red Sox, the way I
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: see it, they've got one job here, one job, get
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: another big bat, and do it in free agency so
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: you don't have to trade some of your better prospects.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: There it is. I've alerted the Red Sox. We'll see
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: what they do back with grilling Tan right after this.
• 16:48
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  Speaker 2: All right.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Time now for grilling and Ken the part of the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: show where I answer your questions.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Let's get right to them.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: First question comes from Tyler Max Smith, who says Anthopolis Braves,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: President of base Operations Alexandthopolis said on the radio he's
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: shooting high and wants to add an.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Impactful starting pitcher with the team.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Adding Maldonado Martin Maldonado to the front office last week.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Could a from ber Valdez signing me next. That's a
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: good connection you're making there, Tyler, and certainly Martin Malda
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: is well acquainted with Fromer Valdez. I'm not sure that
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: that's the route Alexanthopolis wants to go. Valdez. You would
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: think is going to get a fairly big contract, but
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: there is some question now just how well he's going
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: to do. Now. I'm sure his market is fairly active
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure he's going to do pretty well. But
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: you see there that he was born in November of
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, so he is a guy who's thirty two.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: He was always going to command a shorter deal. The
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: question is would the Braves be willing to do a
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: short term, high dollar deal with him, say, I don't know,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: four or five years at thirty million a year. I'm
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: throwing numbers out there. I know, I don't know the
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: answer to that. The Braves also could make a trade,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: and they have some players that would be interesting to
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: other teams, some young pitchers in particular that are coming.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: But Anthopolis has been quite clear, as he said on
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the radio, that he does want another starter, whether it's
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: a one year trade for a ready Peralta, or whether
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: it's a signing a from ber Valdez, or whether it's
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: a more controllable starter who would be acquired into trade
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: that remains to be seen, all right. Next question, This
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: one comes from Cody Klegg eight one oh five, who says,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: after the Brandon Loud trade, what is next for the
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Pirates and what about Akamoto? Akamoto is one of the
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: players in their mix. I've heard Luis Robert Junior with them,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I've heard Ryan O'Hearn with them. I would expect that
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: they are going to continue pursuing offensive help, both in
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: free agency and in trade. But as we've seen so far,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and it's still relatively early in free agency, as we've
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: seen they've been unable to get some of the bigger
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: targets that they were talking about. At least Kyle Schwarber
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: was one, Josh Naylor was another, and there have been
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: others too where they just haven't been a factor. Because
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: generally free agents, when they have a better option than
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: the Pirates, they're gonna take the better option and less
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: the Pirates dramatically overpay. And they've yet to show that
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: they're going to do that. So they may end up
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: with a Ryan O'Hearn or an Aohano Suarez in free
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: agency or some other free agent. But it seems to
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: me that if you trade for someone like Robert Jr.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Or trade for some other bats somewhere else. That is
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: the preferred way to go. That is what they did
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: in the three team deal with Tampa Bay and Houston,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: the deal that brought them Brandon Law and Jake Mangum
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: and the left handed reliever Mason Montgomery. It was a
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: good path for them, and I expect that's going to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: be still a better path for them, perhaps than working
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the free agent market.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: Remember they also got.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: The password from the Red Sox in the Oviedo trade.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that can help them offensively as well.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: All right, next.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Question, This one comes from Padre Bod who asked, well,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: the Padres add ohearn or a Rise. Padres need help
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: at first, or they have a vacancy first, I should
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: say with Arise a free agent, and o'haran certainly was
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: someone who did well there and was someone who.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Was a good fit there. I can see that for sure.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: The real questions with the Padres involve their payroll.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: And where they go from here.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Now that they've signed Michael King to a three year,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: seventy five million dollar deal, that really is a one year,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: twenty two million dollar deal if he does well he
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: probably is going to opt out. I'm not sure what
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the Padres are going to do. You never can read
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: AJ Preller exactly, but their payroll, at least when you
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: talk to other teams, is something that they're concerned about
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and something that they're trying to address.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: So it would seem to me to make further moves,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: they're going to have to clear some money.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Now. I don't know who it's going to be and
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: how they're going to do it, but AJ Preller is
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: one of the most creative gms in the sport, if
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: not the most creative, and he will figure out how
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: to make the resources work for him and how to
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: put a team together.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: With what he has.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: All right, next question, Tony hvac two Ken, will the Mets.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Trade for an ace this week?
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Tony, good question, And certainly the Mets need an ace,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: and it's all the usual suspects that are in play, right,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Valdez and Suarez and am I. But the problem there
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: is the Mets do not want to go long term
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: on any of the free agents starting pitchers in the.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: Market this year.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: They're not enamored of these guys, and many teams are
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: feeling basically the same way. Maybe that's why these guys
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: haven't signed yet. Well they trade for a starting pitcher now,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: that possibly is more likely.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: And we've written.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: In the Athletic about the Mets talks with the Padres
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: that have involved Nick Pavetta. The Mets, I'm sure are
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: on other starting pictures as well, and they've even been
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: involved in trade talks regarding their own starting pitchers David Peterson,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: CODEI Senga. So the Mets, like the Yankees cross.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: Town, they're not done.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: They really haven't even gotten started in some respects yet.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: And I do expect if they don't trade for a
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: starting pitcher, they'll sign one. Maybe they'll find two in
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: one way or another. They know they know they have
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: to address their rotation, and as Will Salmon at The
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Athletic wrote today, they also could use Cody Bellinger or
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: someone of that ILK to help their offense, with Pete A,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Lonzo Goan, and Jorge Polanco their only offensive replacement thus far,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: outside of the exchange of Brandon Nimo from Marcus Simeon.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: All right, next question, this one comes from cam Stanch
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: five six oh three. What the heck are the Yankees doing?
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: It seems like nothing.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Well, They've resigned Tim Hill, They've signed Paul Blackburn, Amed Rosario,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Ryan Yarbero.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Okay, I know it's not enough.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: The Yankees are not necessarily going to be as active
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: as they were last offseason when they lost Juan Soda
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: to free agency. But they know at the very least
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: they have to find a bat to replace Cody Bellinger.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: They have to find help in that bullpen in front
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: of David Bednar, and they really could use one more starter.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: With Rodin and.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Cole not starting the season in the rotation. With Schlitler,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: a guy who probably will be on some kind of
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: innings restriction, they need help there too. The Yankees, like
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the Mets, I do not believe that they're simply going
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: to call it an off season over the next couple
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: of days. You know what we're done January February, we'll.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Just be quiet. No, they're going to do stuff. We
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: just don't know what they're going to do.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: And that is the intrigue that the rest of this
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: off season brings for those particular teams and for all
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: of these other teams we've talked about as well.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: All Right, that wraps it up today.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone for watching and for listening,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Foul Territory is coming up and listen to who is on.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Foul Territory today.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo, Brandon Low, and Robert Murray. Alana Rizzo joins
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: me for our final Fair Territory of the year that
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: will be Friday at twelve thirty Eastern.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Talk to you then.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Happy handed that everyone have a great holiday