Latest / Foul Territory / Jim Bowden’s BIG trade board, Int’l FA primer: Is Sato the best position player available in baseball?

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Jim Bowden’s BIG trade board, Int’l FA primer: Is Sato the best position player available in baseball? · Foul Territory

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Front office unfiltered, Jim Bowden, our resident GM, joining us
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: right now. JB, good to see you. And I get
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: excited during this time of year. I think I can
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit more on the show since I
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: let these guys break down what's going on in the field.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: But I like to talk moves with you. So let's
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: get into it.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: On GM territory, you did an episode that just released
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: on who gets traded between now and the lockout.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: So I'm excited.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: If you don't mind, JB, can I start with Ketel Marte?
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: on the list because I did see a rumor to
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: float over the weekend that they're shopping him again.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Can you explain how that works? If he has a
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: no trade clause?
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really complicated, right? For a lot of different reasons.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: Number one, he has to be able to approve the trade.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: If he is traded somewhere, he's got to waive the
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: no trade. And if he decides that he doesn't want
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: to be traded, then he won't be. Number two, you
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: got to find a team that, not only that he's
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: willing to go to, but you've got to find a
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: front office, a GM, a manager, and a group of
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: players that are willing to accept all the things that
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: comes with Quetel Marte, which includes times where some teammates
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: have been disappointed that he didn't take the field for
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: certain reasons other than a knee injury and those kind
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: of things. So there's a lot that goes around Quetel Marte.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: I don't think any of us will disagree that he's
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: a winning player when he's playing and he's on the
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: field and he's healthy, there's no doubt he's a winning player.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: But to be able to take all of that together,
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: find a home that he likes, find a return that
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: you get in a trade that works, and find a
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: club that's willing to take a chance on him with
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: several years left on his contract, easier said than done,
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: but certainly something that Mike Hazen explored last offseason and
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: is already starting to explore this offseason.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: As the team that's acquiring Cattell Marte, especially with the
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: no trade clause, do you ever get an opportunity to
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: conversate with that player?
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: You can ask permission to make the deal contingent on
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: a physical. And during that physical, you could have time
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: to talk to him during the physical. So there are
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: ways around it. You have to get permission from the
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: commissioner's office and then You have like 72 hours to
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: accept or reject at that point, so there is a
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: way around it. But look, there's also off-the-record conversations that
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: can take place with the agent, and there could be
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: off-the-record conversations that maybe takes place directly with the player.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: There are ways around the rules without tampering, to answer
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: your question.
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: Nobody would ever break the rules, Tim. Nobody would ever
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: bend the rules without breaking them, okay? Everyone in this
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: game is perfect. Can we pull that list up again?
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: Because there's some interesting names for me on this list
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: that you said get traded before the lockout. And these are,
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: it's like recycled names that we've heard forever, right? Otto
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: Lopez was talked about from the Marlins during the C.J. Abrams. Parades. Marte,
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: who we just beat to death, you know, about his trade.
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: Jaron Duran. right? Shea Langelier is the guy that they've
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: talked about in the past. Steven Kwan's a name. Is
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: it just because in the season, it's too hard to
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: move a lot of these guys or is it in
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: the off season? It's easier to move some of these
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: bigger names and you have more time to talk about
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: it rather than, and we've got five minutes. We need
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: to make a decision now. Yeah.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Look, it's all complicated. You know, I've seen deals come
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: together in two hours and I've seen deals that take
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: four years to come together.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: That's really hard. You know, these names are names that
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: are being bandied about. They're out there for different reasons.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: You know, Shea Langeleers, the catcher of the athletics, is
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: not a player they want to trade. They want to
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: sign him long-term, but now you're two years away from
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: free agency. If you're not going to sign him long-term,
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: do you trade him? And then he's got an injury
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: that he's trying to overcome. Is he tradable with the injury?
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: That makes it hard. You know, with Houston, with Isak Paredes,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: you've got Correa that was hurt this past year. You know,
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: they needed his power, and now you're going to have
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: Correa back healthy with him at third, Peña at short,
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: Altuve at second, Walker at first. Alvarez, the DH, Paredes
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: can't play left field, so do you uncrowd the infield?
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: Does Randy Flores, after he hires a manager, try to
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: uncrowd this infield and work on improving the rotation of
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: the bullpen and center and left field? You know, it's always,
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: as you guys know, it's always fluid, right? I mean,
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: I don't know why the Guardians would trade Kwon, but
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: he's a year away from free agency. It's what they've
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: done in the past. and so, you know, their history
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: says that's what they do if they can't sign them long-term. So,
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: each of these guys come with different challenges. You know,
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: Spencer Strider's a guy that, as we all know, has
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: been injured. When he was healthy, he was an ace,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: but he was part of a Jacob deGrom trade at
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: the deadline. DeGrom nixed it. Does that get revisited this winter,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: and do they try to do something there? It seems
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: like the Braves want to move on from the health
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: risk of Strider is kind of what the impression gets,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: but To answer your question, they're all kind of different.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Nick Lodolo, the left-hand pitcher of the Reds, now a
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: year away from free agency. If you're a team like
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Tampa Bay that does such a great job of getting
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: the most out of pitchers, is that a team where
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: you want Kyle Snyder to get your hands on Lodolo
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: for one year? Which, using his magic, he could all
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: of a sudden become a guy. Not a guy, but
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: a dude. So, yeah, it's always fluid. But the one
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: thing in talking to the GMs, and I'm flying to
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Vegas next Monday, Going to be talking to all 30
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: of the GMs here. You know, one thing's for sure.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: They know what the clock says, right? They know when
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: the lockout date is December 1st. We know players like
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: to know what team they're going to be on next year,
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: where they're going to spring training. We get that. Once
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: a lockout hits, who knows when there's a settlement? January, February, March,
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: God forbid, April, God forbid, May. Any of that's possible.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: Free agents don't want to be left stranded during that time,
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: not knowing, not being able to negotiate. And then in
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: terms of trades, if you're a GM, if you don't
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: make your deals by December 1st, how are you going
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: to make your team better? You're all of a sudden
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: going to, you know, we're going to end the lockout.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: We're all going to report. And all of a sudden,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: we're going to make a flirt of trades. Yeah, good
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: luck with that. So there is a lot of pressure,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: in my opinion, on the GMs, on the agents, on
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: the players to get transactions done. And remember this, five
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: years ago, when we were working on the last CBA,
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: $ 1. 7 billion was spent in the month of November. Now, certainly,
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Corey Seager, Marcus Simeon, Max Scherzer had a lot to
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: do with that.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: But $ 1. 7 billion.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: Are we going to top that this time around? My
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: guess is yes.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: Wow, Jim. By the way, we mentioned Langoliers. You said
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: the A's don't want to trade them. But I thought
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: they were going for it once they got their new
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: home in Vegas and they wanted to put together a
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: sustainable team. So why would the A's trade them if
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: they have a new ballpark and a new team and
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: all this stuff like the owner said?
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: Because if you can't sign them long term, you're not
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: going to.
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: But they're supposed to have money now, Jim, because remember
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: they moved. They got out of Oakland. So now we're
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: going to have all this money.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: No one's saying they don't have money, but perhaps they
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: don't like the price of what the price is to
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: sign them. And if that's the case, if you can
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: turn them into three or four players, great. I mean, look,
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: I don't care how many position players they have. At
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: some point they got to build a pitching staff and
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: that's got to be Taylor Smith, the new president of
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: baseball ops of the athletics. That's got to be what
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: he's doing 24 seven, build a competitive staff, you know,
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: So we'll see how it plays out. Look, I hope
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: they keep him. I hope they're able to sign him long-term.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: I hope they take advantage of his present injury to
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: try to get him on a lesser deal. I will
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: have Taylor Smith, the president of the athletics, on my
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: award-winning show this coming Sunday on the front office show,
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: 10 to 1 Eastern. So you may want to tune
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: in to listen to that. and kind of get a
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: breakdown of what he's going to do. I know Billy
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Bean spoke very highly of him with me. I don't
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: know Taylor directly and what he brings to the table,
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: but I'm looking forward to it. But I'm excited about
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: them going to Vegas. I'm excited about another team that's
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: going to have dollars and are expected to be a
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: pretty solid revenue team going forward. I'm looking forward to
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: seeing what they're able to do.
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah, no pitcher wants to get traded there to throw
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: in that mound or in those conditions.
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: Right now.
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: But on this list, this top 10 list that you
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: have in your article, give us one guy that you
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: were like, man, I would push. I would push to
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: make this guy part of my franchise. And one person
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: you were like, I wouldn't give him to AJ's team
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: to have in this franchise.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: So CJ Abrams is the guy I want to play
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: second base if I'm the Dodgers. 30 homers, 30 steals
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: last year. I would love him to be able to
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: be around Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman the next couple
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: of years. and let him learn how to prepare. Let
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: him learn what it takes to go out there at
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: 2 o'clock in the afternoon before everybody else is out
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: there and field 60 ground balls every single day. I
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: think it would be great for Abrams in his career,
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: and more importantly, for the Dodgers. I think they need
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: to start getting a younger nucleus together. I think C.J.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Abrams is the perfect fit for the Dodgers and many
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: other teams as well. But that's the one guy that
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: I think on this list that I would identify as Yeah,
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to touch Strider and the health issues
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: with him, so he'd be the one guy that I'm
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: just going to pass on. I loved him in his prime.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: He was a one. He's had a couple of Tommy Johns.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: I just think the health risk is going to unfortunately
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: not allow him to live up to the potential that
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: we all saw and loved. The other guy probably no
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: interest in is Teoscar Hernandez for me. Look, he's never
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: been a good defender in the outfield. He's lost another step.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: I think the power's gone down a little bit. I
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: think His better years are in the rearview mirror at
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: this point. You know, I'm not going to be surprised
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: if he's traded to the Blue Jays. If the Blue
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Jays sign, say, a Suzuki in free agency and trade
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: for Teoscar, that won't surprise me. They know they've got
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: to build that offense back up. But, you know, he
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: scares me a little bit in terms of where his
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: future production is going to come from.
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: Jim, would you trade for Cattell Marte?
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Probably not for me. You know, 31 years old. all
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: the baggage that comes with him. You know, he and
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: free agent Jazz Chisholm, I love both their talents, don't
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: get me wrong, but I put them kind of in
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: that box where I'm just not sure that's what I
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: want to win with. I'd rather go younger, rather go
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: with less baggage, rather go with more hard-nosed, consistent players
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: that come to the ballpark every day and play the
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: game the right way where I don't have to have
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: all the other issues come involved. I don't have to
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: worry about teammates guiding them. I don't have to worry about,
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: you know, lollipops being licked at second base. I don't
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: have to worry about not showing up to the ballpark
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: at two o'clock and not playing it a day when
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: it wasn't an injury. I just don't want any part
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: of that. You know, these jobs are hard enough as
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: it is. It's hard to win these games as it is.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: So I'd probably pass on both. Look, if they were 22, 23,
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: I certainly would have definitely taken a chance, but you know,
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: they're a little bit older now. They've been around a lot.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: I personally would probably pass at this point.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: Okay, that leads me to the next guy on the list,
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: and that's Jaron Duran. Which Jaron Duran are you going
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: to get? Are you getting the really good, super toolsy
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: guy that can hit 20, steal 30, 40 bases? Or
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: you get the Jaron Duran that can't really do anything
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: out there and is really struggled at times. So if
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: you're making a trade for Jaron Duran, obviously you're hoping
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: for the really good player, but how do you justify
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: doing it if you get the one that hasn't been
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: good at times?
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Depends on the trade price. I know I'll be honest.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: I'd probably take a chance on him.
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: Cause I do think 20 homers, 35 steals makes sense.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I think I've got to play him in left field
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: every day. So, you know, with Boston, you've got a Bray,
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: Raphael and Anthony's the outfield. So Duran, you can play
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: a little bit outfield, a little bit right center, left
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: little DH.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: I'm going to move.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: He can't do that with him. I want to give
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: him stability and continuity. I want to put him in
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: a small market. I want to put him in Kansas City.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: I want to put him in Cincinnati. I want to
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: put him in the left field, play every day in
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: that environment. I think he'll excel. I'll take a chance
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: on him. Of course, it all depends on what I
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: have to trade to get him. I'm not going to overpay.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: I'm going to pay for a guy that hit 209.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's what I'm going to pay for. But
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: would I take a chance? Probably. I don't love some
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: of the risk that comes with it, but I would
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: take a chance on him, yes.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: I got a list of three guys. Rasmussen just signed
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: a franchise record deal for $ 20 million. His team option
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: got picked up. $ 20 million. Highest paid Ray pitcher. McGill
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: from the Brewers, a closer, Trevor McGill, and William Contreras.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: Of those three, which do you think is most likely
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: getting traded or should be traded based on the orgs
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: that they were both in?
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: I would guess McGill if I had to pick one.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: I don't want to pick any of them. I think
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: the Rays are going to try to run it back,
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: and you want to run it back, you've got to
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: have Rasmussen pitching every fifth day. Just in talking to
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Eric Neander during the World Series, I think he kind
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: of views the Rays as the Brewers a year ago
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: when they got swept by the Dodgers. The Brewers were
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: a year ahead of the Rays. I kind of feel
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: like they feel like they can run it back, and
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: you're not going to run it back without Rasmussen And
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: I know their history has been to trade. I don't
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: think in this case they're going to. He loves it there.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: $ 20 million is a good price for a number one
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: starter who for six years in a row has had
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: an ERA under three. His last 61 starts, he's had
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: a 270 ERA. That's not happening. And you cannot trade
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: William Contreras. the best catcher in the world. You just
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: won a world championship. No, do not think about it.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: Make him the highest paid catcher and keep him. This
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: is the guy you spend the money for. This is
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: the Yelich that you actually paid for five years ago.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: This is the one guy you do that to right now.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: So I guess if I had to pick one of
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: the three, I will pick McGill closers can be replaced. Um,
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: You know, I can trade him and I can put
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: Ashby closing if that's what I need to do. Although
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: I would start Ashby as I told Murph and Murph said,
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: no way he's going to keep in the bullpen. I
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: would put Murph with Mizorowski and Henderson at the top
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: of the rotation for me. But if you're going to
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: keep in the bullpen, I feel great with him closing
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: as much as McGill closing.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Wait, I want to bring Kratz in for a moment. Kratz.
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: William Contreras, you feel like is one of the best
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: catchers in the game or is this recency bias?
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: I think he's one of the best catchers in baseball,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: and I just watched him be an instrumental part in
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: winning a world championship, which is what we watch baseball
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: for and live for. His ability to change 2-1 counts
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: into 1-2 counts, his ability to shut down the running game,
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: and talking to all of the pitchers of his team
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: and the credit they give him for his in-game adjustments
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: that he makes... In the third or fourth inning, when
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: a certain pitch isn't there that night, he quickly changes
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: and the pitchers go with it and it works. He hits.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: He hits with power. He gets big hits. He brings energy.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: I mean, the only downside is when Pat Murphy told me,
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: don't invite him to your daughter's birthday party. You know, look,
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: I love the competitors there. I think he's the best
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: catcher in baseball right now.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: I want to go to Paredes on your list, but
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: really make it a Astros conversation here, JB, since we
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: just got the news with Randy Flores over the last
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: few days taking over.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: They were trying for Matt Klein. That didn't happen.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: So state of the Astros, what you would do, should
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: they trade someone like Paredes? And from Jim Crane's press
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: conference today, I didn't get to watch the whole thing.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: I saw clips, but he's like, yeah, we're not going
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: to blow it all up, but we're going to make
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: some Changes crane's pissed about the results from last year
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: or that last season.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I hope that what he said today
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: in this press conference with Randy Flores is quote, he's
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: going to have full authority and quote, Dana Brown and
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: James click did not have full authority. I think it
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: would be great if Randy Flores actually has full authority.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: And I think guys were going to find out when
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: they hire the manager, if he has full authority, right?
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: I don't understand why an owner would interview managers before
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: hiring a president or GM of baseball operations. And apparently
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: he has interviewed several managerial candidates, not just one, including
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: Brad Ausmus, who was there all week. I'm not sure
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: as an owner why you do that before you hire it.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: But he did say today that Randy Flores will make
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: that decision. So if Flo's going to make that decision,
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: I certainly don't think it's probably going to be anybody
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: that has already been interviewed there. So I think we're
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: going to find that out. I'm fascinated to see who
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: he hires. I think that's going to be critical. Now,
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: in terms of the team, which is what you asked me,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: They say Correa is healthy, that he's going to play third, right?
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Pena at short, Altuve at second, Walker one more year
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: at first base, just won the gold glove, right? Alvarez, DH,
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: we know that. Cam Smith and Wright. So you upgrade
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: center field, got to do that. Upgrade left field. You've
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: got to get some two-way players here, right? I think
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: that's extremely important. You've got to continue to build up
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: the starting rotation, and you've got to build up the bullpen.
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: To me, those are the four areas. Paredes is expendable,
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: no question about that. I like him. It's nice to
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: have the depth, you know, because, by the way, Correa
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: is going to get hurt again.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: Sorry.
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: Or Altuve is going to get hurt, and it's nice
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: to have him. But I think there's also some financial
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: constraints always that comes down from ownership there. So my
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: gut says they probably move on from Paredes and allocate
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: those dollars for center field, left field, and pitching.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: Jim, you mentioned Brad Ausmus, and we know he's tight
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: with Jeff Bagwell. We had this conversation earlier. Jeff Bagwell's
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: got Jim Crane's ear. He's probably the one guy that
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: has his ear more than anybody. Remember Jose Abreu, everyone
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: said not to sign him. Jeff Bagwell said sign him.
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: That didn't go very well, right? So, and I said this,
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: that for me, I know that Randy Flores is going
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: to have to get to sign his own, get to
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: pick his own manager. But how much pull does Jeff
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: Bagwell have in Jim Crane's ear saying, Hey man, Brad
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: Auspice has managed before. He's an Astro. I know him.
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: He'll do a good job. Does that happen? Or is
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: this just, I mean, I know you said it, but
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: is this really going to be strictly Randy Flores to
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: pick whoever he wants?
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're going to find out. I don't know. I mean,
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: I do know that Jeff Bagwell has his ear. That's
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: a fact. I know that there's three or four other
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: assistants that also has his ear. There were a lot
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: of people that were going around Dana Brown directly to
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: the owner because the owner operates more like the octopus
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: management style where he's the guy and then he has
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: all the different hands all around him. So a lot
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: of people get a voice directly to him. There's not
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: really a chain of command. Everyone ends up reporting to
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: him is how it's been explained to me. But look,
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: he came out today and said that Randy Flores has
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: full authority. And I can't imagine after watching, you know,
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: Jeff Luno, James Click win world championships, both were fired.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: Dana Brown finishes in first three out of four. He's
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: fired in the middle of the season. I can't imagine
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: someone like Randy Flores, who's well-respected, well-liked, has done a
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: really good job, is going to take this job if
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: he didn't feel like that he had the authority that
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: it takes to do this job. and hiring a manager
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: is the most important part, right? I mean, you got
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: to have the manager there. And if it's going to
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: be Brad Ausmus, then it's not going to be his guy.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: So if it's Brad Ausmus, then we're going to know
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: immediately that it's Jim Grain and Jeff Bagwell's guy. And
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: that's going to tell us a lot of what it's
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: going to be like going forward, which is the same
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: as it's been in the past. I would like to
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: think that Flo is going to have what, the owner
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: said he would in front of the press today, quote,
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: full authority and quote. So I don't know what that means.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: I don't know if he, you know, considers guys like
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Yadi Merlina or Albert pools with some of the St.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: Louis connections, or if he has other people in mind,
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: but I'm fascinated to see how this, um, how this
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: process is going to work out. Um, And AJ, I
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: don't know why you're not.
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: But Jim, why have Ausmus in the offices then? It's
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: just why? Then why do it? If you're not hiring
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: him to do something, then why have him there? I
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: know Crouch has a question.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: He interviewed a bunch of guys. Why would you interview
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: all these managers without hiring the GM or president first?
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: And that's what he did. He admitted that today. He
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: said he has interviewed several managers already. And now he's
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: going to turn it over to Randy. So again, we're
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: going to find out. with whatever that decision is. Now,
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: what about you, AJ? I tried to talk to you
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: on the Field of the World Series, but an owner
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: walked by, and you told me that the owner was
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: more important, so you had to go talk to him.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: So why aren't you in this mix for a manager?
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: Oh, Jim, you see these gray hairs on my face
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: that I have? See, I have a hair like yours
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: that doesn't have a lot of gray in it. I
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: want to keep it that way, and every manager that
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: I see, it's like presidents age. They age like dog years.
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: It's like, oh, man, you see them. Three years later,
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: they're all like, oh.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: That is true.
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: So I need to keep this pretty face, Jim. And plus,
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: as you know, as many times as we've chatted, I'm
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: not going to do exactly what they say anyways. So
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: that's also hard. If you don't just say yes.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: That's why you would be the right hire, right?
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: But that's also why people are afraid of me.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: That's what the game needs. That's what the game needs.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: And we know that.
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: Well, the one thing A.J.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: Also would want is a few extra days off because
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: he's got things going on in the Bahamas. He's going
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: to be doing Fox games.
• 21:57
  Speaker 5: So it would be awkward to be managing a team.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: But that's why you're the bench coach, right? That's why
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: you're his bench coach, Eric.
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: And I'll fill in.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: Off taking photo ops with the Pope.
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: That would be– A.J. manages 100 games. I'll manage 60
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: of them. Kind of like my career. Just back up
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: somebody and see what happens. You said the one thing
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: was this next 20 whatever days is you still have
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: to build a team. Whose side is it more advantageous
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: to try to move a mega contract? I'm not saying
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: a specific player. I'm not saying you've got to name
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: a player. Obviously, some teams want to get away from contracts,
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: but with the looming CBA, with everything that's going on,
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: is there any chance we have a mega contract that's
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: moved in these next few weeks? whatever, less than a
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: month that we have to go yet?
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: I don't know the answer to that, maybe. I mean,
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: I think the extra wrinkle in this is if the
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: clubs really think there's a chance of getting in a
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: hard cap at the top or something like it, you know,
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: there could be some big market teams that aren't going
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: to play on free agents until the next CBA is
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: in place. And there could be some teams at the
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: bottom that believe there's going to be some kind of
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: salary floor or some kind of huge penalties if you
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: don't spend more. That might try to be more aggressive
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: on free agents to spend money because they're not competing
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: with the bigger market teams. I think that's going to
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: be a real interesting wrinkle in terms of how clubs operate.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: I think I'm going to get a better feel next
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: week when I'm in Vegas. talking face-to-face with all the
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: GMs instead of texting. So I'm looking forward to that,
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: getting some answers, and also talking with the agents because
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: some of the agents that I talked to during the
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: World Series, they were like they want to get deals
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: done before the new CBA is in place. I'm not
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: sure all agents feel that way, but several high-profile ones
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: that I talked to during the World Series gave me
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: that strong impression. So, yeah, we could have a fun
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: month between now and the Cowboys losing on Thanksgiving.
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: Wow, Jim.
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: By the way, thanks for not big leagueing me on
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: the field. I really appreciate that. I mean, you were,
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: you know, you're, you know, owners, owners do come first.
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: Owners do come first.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: I had to do the big league me, which you did.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: And I got it. You got to talk to the
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Tampa owner.
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: Look, I understood. I understood. Zalupski and Antonacio are on
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: this side. Jim Bowden's on this side. And then, but
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: then I saw you interviewing, but then I saw you
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: interviewing Rob Manfred. So you, then you big league me
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: when you had Rob Manfred. So, I went back down
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: here and Jim stayed up here. It's cool.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: No, I only bigly when I talked to Bruce Meyer
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: before I interviewed Rob.
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: That's true. You did do that too, by the way.
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: You did do that too, which is pretty, pretty awesome. You, you,
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: you stole Bruce's info and then you took it to
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: Rob and used it on his way. No, no, wait
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: the other way. Jim, you're supposed to do it the
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: other way. Dang it. So let's take Rob's info and
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: give it to Bruce.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: I'm, I'm in the middle of all of this, right?
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: I'm for the fans. That's where I'm at. Everyone thinks
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: I'm pro management because of my history. I'm actually right
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: in the middle of the two, to be honest, I
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: don't want to work stoppage. And I want, I want
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: the players zero to three to make more money than
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: they do now. Um, and I want more teams to
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: have a chance to have a payroll that's within reason
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: of the big market teams. Um, and that's what I'm
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: rooting for and voting for. Cause that's what the fans want.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: And that's what I want. And I want, uh, I
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: want an opening day that teams have a chance to
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: win in every city. So you got a shot.
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah, because the Brewers and Rays are high market, so
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: they won. Anyways, speaking of high market dollars, Jim.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: I love Eric Neander and Matt Arnold and their organizations
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: who did it right. And I give a lot of
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: credit to the analytic, the technology people, the coaches, the staffs.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: that did what they did to put together a world
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: championship club. Two really young teams. Now we have to
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: hope that those teams can keep those players together and
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: not have to sit there three years from now and
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: wonder where they all went.
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: True. By the way, speaking of players together, Jim, I
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: thought for sure you would have a USC sweatshirt on today.
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: The fact that you don't have a USC sweatshirt on
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: today after you beat that little team in Ohio... this
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: weekend after your son and his boys went out and
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: not only they beat him, they stomped him, Jim. I'm
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: very disappointed in the fact that you don't have a
• 26:21
  Speaker 5: USC sweatshirt on today.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: Well, I can promise you Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday, it
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: was worn 24-7, including to bed. So yes, I had it.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: Very proud of my son and the USC group. Big
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: upset for them. That was huge. And now look, now
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: by week and then they had got to go to Indiana.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: Then they get UCLA at home. And at least if
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: they want to make the playoffs, it's right in front
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: of them. They got to win those next two games.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: And if they do, they got a shot. And, um,
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: and that's the goal is to make the playoffs. So
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: we'll see if it can happen.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: Well, congratulations to Chad big win this weekend. Yeah.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: JB is just running through USC laundry right now. So, um, JB,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: good catching up and we'll catch you soon.
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: Sounds good guys. See it.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Thank you. That's Jim Bowden.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: GM territory goes through name by name, too, of the
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: list of 10 players that JB thinks could be traded
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: over the next few weeks. Hey, did you guys see this?
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: I knew Fran Malreis was crushing it out in Japan.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Franimal was the name, and he was very lovable in
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. He just didn't make it, right? He
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: goes overseas. He becomes a star. So the Nippon Ham
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Fighters just signed him to a four-year extension.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: AJ, $ 40 million, up to 40 mil.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: It's the highest paid player now in NPB history, Fran Milreis.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Who would have thunk it?
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: Good for him. Good for him. Listen, guys go over
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: to Japan all the time. Kratz knows this. Guys that
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: are struggling over here in the big leagues, they can't
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: really get that break to get their chance at the
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: major league level. And they go over and they make
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: a million dollars, sign a two-year, two-million, two-year, three-million dollar deal,
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: and that's a lot of money. But for him to
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: go over there and do what he's done and then
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: get four years 40, good for him, man, taking a chance,
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: going over there, and then dominating. Good for you, Fran Mill.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 28:17
  Speaker 4: I mean, let's not forget, like, this is a dude
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: that had 30-plus homers in back-to-back seasons, I think. I
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: just have to look at that. Like, Fran Mill Reyes
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: was a legit– okay, not back-to-back. He went, yeah, back-to-back, 37–
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: And then in 2020, we didn't have the season. That
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: was full. And then he went 30 again. So this
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: is a dude in Cleveland that was hitting some taters.
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: And he was a force in that lineup. And it
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: was quick. As soon as it wasn't working out here,
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: he went over to Japan and made a lot of money.
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: You can come up with a lot of guys that
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: have made a lot of money over in Japan. And
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: it's not because Japan's a worse league. It's just the
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: fact that they're getting the opportunity to And then they're
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: running with it and staying there and 40 million. Yes, sir.
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: I'd go.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah. One quick thing though. It is a worse league.
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's good, but it's not as good as
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: major league baseball and it's very different, right?
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: It's better than triple a right. But worse than major
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: league baseball in many cases. And the main thing, the
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: main difference is velocity. If you're a guy that struggles hitting,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Bilo in the major leagues, like that's your main bugaboo.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: You can't hit 98. First of all, get in line.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: But then also in Japan, I mean, there are not
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: a lot of guys that are pumping 100 left and right.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: And usually if they do, they end up over here
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: pretty quickly.
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: The way I was explained and I saw it when
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: I went over there. two different times playing against the
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: All-Stars and then playing against Team Japan also, is it
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: was explained that it's kind of like AAA in April.
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: All the good young pitchers are still there that don't
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: get called up quite yet, and then there's a pretty
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: steep drop-off. Like Japan, like a lot of the starters
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: we were facing, obviously this was a heyday in like 2014,
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: where there's dudes that are throwing 94, 97 starters, a
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: guy coming out of the pens, 95 to 100, all
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: that stuff. And then you go, you get the guy
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: that's a submariner that's throwing 82. Then you got the
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: guy that's got a really good control of his split,
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: but will only top out 84. So it's a big
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: gap and There's some dudes that have gone over there
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: that have struggled also. It's not just, oh, well, I
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: was in the big leagues. I'll go over there and
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: have success. No, like it's a big change.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Perfect segue into our next segment. Baseball America's Jeff Ponce
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: joining us right now for an important conversation.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Jeff, good to see you.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: We have multiple players coming over from overseas, and I
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: need to get some info from you because they're going
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: to sign pretty quickly.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: They have to. They can't sign.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: After the lockout, the guys that just posted. So help
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: us out here. Four players in particular. I know three
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: coming over from Japan and then one from Korea. I
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: do have to make sure that I still see Jeff because, oh,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: there he is.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: Okay. We were frozen for a moment. Okay.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: So Jeff, let's start with the headliner here, right? Because
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: there's one player who's better than everyone else by a
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: landslide and he just won a triple crown.
• 31:19
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Taruki Sato, third baseman for the Hansen Tigers. You know,
• 31:26
  Speaker 6: a couple of MVP seasons consecutively. You know, huge bat
• 31:32
  Speaker 6: speed when they've been able to measure that sort of thing.
• 31:35
  Speaker 6: It's been on par with like Giancarlo Stanton and like
• 31:38
  Speaker 6: that level of bat speed. So it's obviously huge impact.
• 31:42
  Speaker 6: Kind of comparing and contrasting from last year's, you know,
• 31:45
  Speaker 6: big position player that came over in Murakami. More contact
• 31:49
  Speaker 6: than Murakami, much better bat to ball skills, just kind
• 31:55
  Speaker 6: of overall. Approach is very different. He is pretty aggressive.
• 31:59
  Speaker 6: He likes to swing it. Not going to walk as
• 32:02
  Speaker 6: much as a Murakami, so he will swing himself into
• 32:05
  Speaker 6: some outs. But I think some of those approach changes,
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: things like that, could maybe come to form once he
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: comes over here. And, you know, different styles of pitching and,
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: you know, different quality of breaking balls, et cetera. A
• 32:17
  Speaker 6: lot more velocity. as you guys were saying, that he's
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: going to see over here. But the contact quality is unquestioned.
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: Not a standout defender, but probably enough to play third base.
• 32:29
  Speaker 6: At worst, they'll move him to an outfield corner, kind
• 32:31
  Speaker 6: of similar defensively to what Okamoto was last year. But
• 32:36
  Speaker 6: I think he could be an impact player, certainly a
• 32:40
  Speaker 6: better hitter than either of the guys that came over
• 32:42
  Speaker 6: last year, who both had pretty good seasons for their
• 32:44
  Speaker 6: respective clubs.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: But Sato is definitely the headliner here.
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: All right, Ansato, you mentioned Murakami. Murakami kind of fell
• 32:52
  Speaker 5: into the White Sox lap. Nobody would give him that
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: long-term deal that he was expecting. Do we expect this
• 32:57
  Speaker 5: to happen to Sato, or is he going to get
• 32:59
  Speaker 5: a bigger deal similar to, you know, I'm trying to
• 33:03
  Speaker 5: think of someone. I'm not going to use Matsui because
• 33:05
  Speaker 5: Matsui was like a god over there. He was on
• 33:07
  Speaker 5: a different level. So, like, is he going to get
• 33:10
  Speaker 5: a better deal than even Okamoto got? Is he going
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: to be one of those guys where you say, hey, man,
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: someone gave him five years and $ 70 to $ 100 million
• 33:17
  Speaker 5: because of the contact?
• 33:21
  Speaker 6: I don't have any good dope on this, but, um,
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: you know, just based on the player, the way evaluators
• 33:27
  Speaker 6: I've spoken with and just watching tape and kind of
• 33:29
  Speaker 6: just how he's decorated and discussed over there.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: I think he'll get more money.
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: And I think that the market would probably materialize much
• 33:37
  Speaker 6: quicker course based on Rosenthal's reporting. It's a 30 day window. Um,
• 33:42
  Speaker 6: so that's going to probably speed up the process anyway. Um,
• 33:46
  Speaker 6: but I would imagine there'll be more suitors for Sato.
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: there's more of a defensive profile here, right? Where someone
• 33:52
  Speaker 6: can pencil him in at third base. And I think
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: some of the concerns regarding the approach are probably things
• 33:59
  Speaker 6: that you can adjust and probably coach up a little bit.
• 34:03
  Speaker 6: Not that you totally want to take some of that,
• 34:05
  Speaker 6: that aggression away. But it's not like he has just
• 34:09
  Speaker 6: sort of holes in his swing, like Murakami where there
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: are certain parts of the zone. You knew he was
• 34:13
  Speaker 6: going to have trouble with and certain types of pitchers.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: He's a better hitter.
• 34:18
  Speaker 4: You bring up a lot of, recent names with Sato
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: and Murakami. Without seeing Murakami, is this more of a
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: crapshoot than now we've seen what Murakami can do for
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: that value and can't not be a great benefit for
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Sato before he comes over here, correct?
• 34:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, but I think we've had enough generations of, like
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: Japanese star hitters, like guys that are really the top
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: of the market here, that there is some track record,
• 34:51
  Speaker 6: at least of there being like a reasonable floor. I
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: think that maybe it will mean that there's maybe a
• 34:59
  Speaker 6: few less teams that are apprehensive to buy in on this.
• 35:04
  Speaker 6: But I do think it's just a different player too, right?
• 35:07
  Speaker 6: Like it's a different scenario. It's a different skill set.
• 35:10
  Speaker 6: You know, years before that, obviously the last lockout, we
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: had Suzuki who signed and has had a pretty good career.
• 35:17
  Speaker 6: Even Yoshida, though, as limited as he is as a
• 35:19
  Speaker 6: player defensively, the bat isn't the problem there either.
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: So I think it will translate.
• 35:24
  Speaker 6: I don't know how sort of scared off teams were
• 35:30
  Speaker 6: coming into the Murakami thing versus now if they're more
• 35:34
  Speaker 6: open to it. I don't know. I don't know how
• 35:36
  Speaker 6: much Murakami and even Akimoto would have kind of shifted
• 35:39
  Speaker 6: that at all.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: Some fans want to know about the long-term defensive positioning,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: like from what you've seen red, et cetera, where do
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: you think Sato ends up? Like, and I started looking
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: at teams that might be interested in him. And for example,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: the Yankees were on the list, right? Ryan McMahon, not
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: hitting much. So the Yankees are still going to value defense.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: I think they need to, that's not necessarily a fit.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: And then you don't have another place for him. I'm
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: just using the Yankees as one example, you know, the
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Phillies being interested in someone like this to, replace alec
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: bone but i'm like maybe he's actually a corner outfielder
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: which can work for them too so that's a big
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: part of this um and he's played.
• 36:19
  Speaker 6: A little too yeah i mean like the arm would
• 36:21
  Speaker 6: play in right fields um like he's won gold gloves
• 36:24
  Speaker 6: over there but i mean it's not the same standard
• 36:27
  Speaker 6: that you know we're sort of holding over here in
• 36:29
  Speaker 6: terms like feeling viable or like just good defenders right
• 36:32
  Speaker 6: when ball knowers talk about that kind of thing but
• 36:35
  Speaker 6: um I think it's enough that he can probably play
• 36:38
  Speaker 6: there and be fine. There's also elements of this, and
• 36:41
  Speaker 6: I've heard this with other players that have come over,
• 36:44
  Speaker 6: that just how the position is coached and some of
• 36:46
  Speaker 6: those things, there's tweaks. There's obviously a lot of good
• 36:49
  Speaker 6: infield coaches throughout MLB. So I don't know if there's
• 36:53
  Speaker 6: tweaks that could be made there. I don't think it's
• 36:56
  Speaker 6: first base. I think it's probably right field if it's
• 36:59
  Speaker 6: not third base or a mix of the two.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: And before we get to the other players on the list,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: I think it is important to talk about how urgent
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: this is going to be. You know, you have 45 days, right? Um,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: you don't have 45 days this time around and the
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: story that Ken put out Rosenthal was how the league
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: is not going to give the extension of time for
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: after the lockout. So there's a direct example of this
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Jeff with say a Suzuki 2021 to 2022.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: He got posted in late November. Lockout happens. He doesn't
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: end up signing until March.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: It gives you two windows, the before the lockout craziness,
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: and then you don't get what you want, and then
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: you wait till after the lockout.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: That's not going to happen here. That's the point.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: I will say that used to be when there was
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: a 30-day window. Now, it's a 45-day window that basically
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: gets crammed down to almost 30 days, which is how
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: it used to be. I wanted to explain all that,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: but Fill in any blanks that I'm missing. And then also,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: how does this impact the free agent market in general?
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Because a big bat is going to go in the
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: next few weeks. I know there are others too, but
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: how this affects some of the teams that are looking
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: for a bat.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: And I just, you know, of course, like there's market
• 38:11
  Speaker 6: uncertainty here just because of like the pending, you know,
• 38:14
  Speaker 6: labor negotiations and likely lockout. So are there going to
• 38:20
  Speaker 6: be other free agents that are also, are we going
• 38:22
  Speaker 6: to see like a frenzied period early? Are people going
• 38:25
  Speaker 6: to hold out and sort of wait and see where
• 38:27
  Speaker 6: things shake out?
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't know. I don't know how teams
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: are going to approach spending money. I think because of
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: the cost.
• 38:36
  Speaker 6: Of players coming over that are being posted here, and
• 38:39
  Speaker 6: it's not going to be the same as like your
• 38:41
  Speaker 6: MLB stars who are going to get, you know, top
• 38:43
  Speaker 6: of the market sort of deals. I think Sato will
• 38:46
  Speaker 6: get a good deal.
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: But, you know, I don't, I don't know.
• 38:51
  Speaker 6: If it's such a bad thing that it's being crammed
• 38:53
  Speaker 6: into 30 days, as opposed to like that extra two weeks,
• 38:56
  Speaker 6: essentially at the end, I always felt like it went
• 38:59
  Speaker 6: longer than it probably needed to. It just felt like
• 39:03
  Speaker 6: the process dragged in the beginning and then sort of
• 39:06
  Speaker 6: sped up over the last couple of weeks. And then
• 39:08
  Speaker 6: there's plane rides and, you know, Sasaki signing in Toronto.
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: And then it's, you know, it's actually the Dodgers two
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: hours later.
• 39:16
  Speaker 6: So, A lot of the time, I think we probably
• 39:18
  Speaker 6: could shorten some of these windows and make things happen.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: So that's not such a bad thing.
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: It will also be nice to kind of spark the
• 39:25
  Speaker 6: hot stove a little earlier.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: And I don't know if there'll be other.
• 39:29
  Speaker 6: you know, MLB free agents that will sign around the
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: same time to try to get in before the lockout happens,
• 39:34
  Speaker 6: but we'll be an interesting period, especially with some decent
• 39:37
  Speaker 6: other names too.
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: Jeff, don't, don't, don't follow planes during this time period. Okay.
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: Don't follow where they're flying from and going. You're just
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: going to be led well. All right, well, let's go
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: to some pitching. Ito and, am I saying it.
• 39:53
  Speaker 5: Right, Tyra?
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: Kyma Tyra, yes.
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: Kyma Tyra or Tyma, yes.
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: So Ito versus Tyra. Both very diminutive pitchers. Surprisingly, both
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: very durable this past season. Maybe not as much in
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: their career. Innings limits, everyone's going to be afraid of those.
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: compare them, contrast them, but also give us where those
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: fits could be. And one of these guys may actually
• 40:24
  Speaker 4: go back to Japan, even though they have been posted.
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 40:28
  Speaker 6: So Kaima Tyra, I find of the two to be
• 40:32
  Speaker 6: more interesting in terms of, you know, what the exchange
• 40:35
  Speaker 6: rate is with stuff and all this coming over to
• 40:39
  Speaker 6: major league baseball. He's small, he's five foot eight, but fiery. There's,
• 40:45
  Speaker 6: power in the arsenal um the fastball sits five to
• 40:51
  Speaker 6: seven you'll see him touch an eight um he's really
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: small so it's kind of weird angles um but he's
• 40:58
  Speaker 6: like ito throws a ton of different pitches i'd actually
• 41:02
  Speaker 6: say his best pitch is his cutter which is like
• 41:04
  Speaker 6: 92 to like 94 really late break um kind of
• 41:09
  Speaker 6: sits between the fastball and and the slider but is
• 41:13
  Speaker 6: really effective in its own right i think You'll probably
• 41:16
  Speaker 6: see him turn up the dial on that pitch a
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: little bit in MLB. He's got two off speed pitches.
• 41:20
  Speaker 6: He has a distinctly different change up, um, from his splitter.
• 41:25
  Speaker 6: They look different. He'll give left-handed batters a couple of
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: different looks. It's a good fastball. Everything kind of plays
• 41:32
  Speaker 6: off of that. It's a get me over curve ball.
• 41:34
  Speaker 6: The slider I think is good over there. It's not
• 41:37
  Speaker 6: super high spin. So you always kind of wonder how
• 41:41
  Speaker 6: that's going to translate. You know, we, we saw what happened, um,
• 41:44
  Speaker 6: you know, last year with what's his name from the Astros,
• 41:48
  Speaker 6: but you know, like similar, similar thing where he's, he's
• 41:51
  Speaker 6: more of like a pronation dominant type of a pitcher.
• 41:55
  Speaker 6: But I think with the power and the different looks
• 41:58
  Speaker 6: and just how deceptive he is, there's like a little
• 42:02
  Speaker 6: Stroman in this, in terms of like a little guy
• 42:04
  Speaker 6: that throws a whole bunch of different pitch shapes and
• 42:07
  Speaker 6: his angles kind of play up because he's small, has
• 42:10
  Speaker 6: more power than Stroman had kind of.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: At his peak. But he's a lot of fun.
• 42:14
  Speaker 6: He's bounced between like as a reliever early in his career,
• 42:18
  Speaker 6: was a starter for a little bit. It kind of
• 42:20
  Speaker 6: didn't take, they put him back into the bullpen. He
• 42:23
  Speaker 6: was like a dominant closer. They sent him back into
• 42:26
  Speaker 6: the rotation this year and he was excellent. So I'm
• 42:29
  Speaker 6: interested to see how this all plays up. Obviously it's
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: a smaller body. So you do have some of those
• 42:34
  Speaker 6: durability concerns. But I just think overall the stuff is better.
• 42:39
  Speaker 6: There's more that you can probably go places.
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: You can go with this.
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: Ito's more decorated, a couple years older, not as much
• 42:48
  Speaker 6: power on the profile, but he throws like, I think
• 42:51
  Speaker 6: it's like 10 different pitch grips, but it's more low
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: 90s locations, you know, that sort of thing.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: He's been really successful over there.
• 43:00
  Speaker 6: I think he won a Sun Memorial Award a couple
• 43:04
  Speaker 6: years ago.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: So really decorated.
• 43:07
  Speaker 6: I wouldn't be shocked if he ends up, not in
• 43:12
  Speaker 6: the top of the market, but you know, the blue
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: Jays have kind of consistently been on in on all
• 43:18
  Speaker 6: of these players that have come over and just haven't
• 43:20
  Speaker 6: been able to close on, on, on everybody. I think
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: that's a potential option. I think it's probably similar teams
• 43:29
  Speaker 6: for both of them. I haven't seen where Tyra has
• 43:32
  Speaker 6: been kind of linked yet. But I wouldn't be, I
• 43:36
  Speaker 6: would be surprised if there aren't, you know, a dozen
• 43:40
  Speaker 6: teams in on him just based on what the stuff is.
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: Really unique profile.
• 43:44
  Speaker 6: Analysts will probably love all the weird angles and all
• 43:47
  Speaker 6: that sort of stuff. So two really interesting arms that
• 43:50
  Speaker 6: are coming over. I think Tyra, though, probably translates to
• 43:54
  Speaker 6: more success. There's probably more high-end outcomes just in terms
• 43:58
  Speaker 6: of like a mid-rotation starter, or if he eventually ended
• 44:01
  Speaker 6: up in the bullpen, could be really good there, where
• 44:04
  Speaker 6: Ito is more back end of the rotation, sort of
• 44:07
  Speaker 6: innings eater starter.
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: With Tyra's upside as far as, okay, he could be
• 44:12
  Speaker 4: a starter. We've seen him have success as a closer,
• 44:15
  Speaker 4: that type of thing. Is there a cultural divide in
• 44:20
  Speaker 4: the sense of you're coming from Japan, teams are talking
• 44:25
  Speaker 4: to you, not just one team, teams are talking to
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: you and say he would not like to be a closer.
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: If a team says, hey, we would love to have
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: you as a starter, but if it doesn't work out,
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: Is there something from that to glean from it, or
• 44:40
  Speaker 4: is it just who's got the most money and this
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: is who we're willing to go to?
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: I would assume negotiations probably start with him starting. Just
• 44:53
  Speaker 6: because he had so much success there this year, it
• 44:55
  Speaker 6: was kind of a revelation. I would imagine that's the
• 44:58
  Speaker 6: money that he's going to be seeking from you know,
• 45:00
  Speaker 6: we know that starters on the market that are good
• 45:05
  Speaker 6: and guys that, you know, can project as a number
• 45:07
  Speaker 6: three or better, they get paid. So, you know, it's
• 45:10
  Speaker 6: not going to be crazy money, but I would imagine that,
• 45:13
  Speaker 6: you know, whoever he's going to, it's with the, it's
• 45:16
  Speaker 6: with the, you know, the idea that he's going to,
• 45:19
  Speaker 6: he's going.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: To be a starter.
• 45:21
  Speaker 6: I think that, you know, the floor is just more
• 45:23
  Speaker 6: that if it doesn't work out and you're paying him
• 45:27
  Speaker 6: a good, a good chunk of money, it could potentially
• 45:30
  Speaker 6: work as a closer because he's done it before. But
• 45:32
  Speaker 6: I think ideally from his camp, I'd be shocked if
• 45:35
  Speaker 6: he doesn't, he's not looking for an opportunity to start.
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: AJ, is your team going to get any of these guys,
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: you think?
• 45:43
  Speaker 5: These guys have White Sox written all over them. They do.
• 45:46
  Speaker 5: You know why? Because this is Murakami. We don't know
• 45:49
  Speaker 5: what he's going to be. Teams are hesitant. The White
• 45:52
  Speaker 5: Sox can get him for relatively cheap, we'll take a
• 45:55
  Speaker 5: chance on him and hope he works out. That's the
• 45:57
  Speaker 5: way it happened with Murakami. I could see both these guys,
• 46:01
  Speaker 5: you know, if the team they want, whatever that team is,
• 46:04
  Speaker 5: the Dodgers, the Padres, the Giants, whatever, the Yankees, the Mets, whoever,
• 46:08
  Speaker 5: and they're like, ah, well, Chicago's not terrible. We could
• 46:11
  Speaker 5: go there. And the White Sox would be like, yeah,
• 46:13
  Speaker 5: look at me. Look how awesome we were at signing
• 46:15
  Speaker 5: these guys that kind of fell on our lap.
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: But anyway.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Jeff.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: And my last question here to play off of what
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: AJ is saying, right? Sato is probably going to be
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: out of White Sox pricing territory. So do you have
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: any idea on what pricing would look like? I know
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: it's hard to project. And also last year was a
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: bit of a shock based on what AJ is saying there.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, most people thought Murakami was going to sign
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: for a lot more money. So I believe that Sato
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: won't have that problem. Do you agree with me? And
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: my primary reason actually is because of the bat speed
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: and how obsessed the industry is with it.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: So I think that's going.
• 46:53
  Speaker 5: To get him paid. I wasn't talking about Sato. I
• 46:55
  Speaker 5: was talking about the pitchers.
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: No, I know that.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: But it was my transition, AJ, to get back to
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: how I think Murakami ended up getting underpaid, even though
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: he definitely had a swing and miss issues, contact rate,
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: all that in the second half of the season. This
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: guy makes more in zone contact and he's got, the
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: elite bat speed, like you mentioned, that I think teams
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: are obsessed with.
• 47:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 47:18
  Speaker 6: And I think just having a little bit of defensive ability,
• 47:21
  Speaker 6: like just the athleticism that you could project out of position.
• 47:24
  Speaker 6: I mean, obviously after watching Murakami for a full year,
• 47:27
  Speaker 6: if you had scouted that, you would have said, yeah,
• 47:28
  Speaker 6: he's going to end up at first base DH.
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 47:31
  Speaker 6: But yeah, I think that you're probably looking at a
• 47:35
  Speaker 6: longer term deal, probably more of like a five to
• 47:39
  Speaker 6: six year term. And I would say probably upwards of like,
• 47:43
  Speaker 6: you know, if it's a six year term, 120. So
• 47:46
  Speaker 6: still reasonable dollars, I think, for the type of player
• 47:49
  Speaker 6: that you could get. But some of that mystery and
• 47:53
  Speaker 6: I think that exchange rate is probably baked into it
• 47:55
  Speaker 6: versus if this guy had done this and was a
• 47:58
  Speaker 6: 27 year old free agent, you know, in MLB.
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: Well, Jeff, thanks for the info. Important info.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: That I wanted to get in there quickly here in
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: the off season, because these guys are going to sign
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: in the next few weeks. They have to, or they
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: don't come to major league baseball.
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: So appreciate the time, man. Good to see you. Thank you, man.
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: Good to see you too. That's Jeff Ponce from baseball America.
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: You can often hear him on hot sheet.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: Make sure you give him a follow to, and check
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: out his work in baseball America, baseball America.com is the spot,
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: or if you're checking out hot sheet, there's the QR
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: code on the screen to get you to baseball America's
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel.