Latest / The Craig Way Show / Gene Watson on latest MLB Free Agency moves

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Gene Watson on latest MLB Free Agency moves · The Craig Way Show

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It's the Craigway Show with a voice of the Texas
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Longhorns in Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
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  Speaker 2: Day after Christmas.
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  Speaker 3: Here the game above Sports Bowl Toledo is just taking
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  Speaker 3: a thirteen to twelve. Lad had a long touchdown on
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  Speaker 3: a screen pass where Junior Van de Ross the third
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  Speaker 3: scored on it and did kind of a a whirling
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  Speaker 3: flip into the end zone, kind of a spin into
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  Speaker 3: the end zone. He got flagged for it, but the
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  Speaker 3: the touchdown stood any exports good. So anyway, it's the
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  Speaker 3: team to twelve in that ball game. We'll keep you
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: we'll keep you posted on that. But like we said,
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  Speaker 3: this being the off season for baseball and for this
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  Speaker 3: being the holiday season, it also means the off season
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  Speaker 3: with regard to Major League Baseball and some signings that'll
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  Speaker 3: be underway. So with that in mind, it's always good
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  Speaker 3: to visit with a good friend. Jean Watson from the
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  Speaker 3: Chicago White Sox front office, but especially at the holiday
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  Speaker 3: time of year because he's come off winter meetings, it's
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  Speaker 3: before spring training, so sometimes we can pin him down
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  Speaker 3: just long enough during the holiday season to do that.
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  Speaker 3: Happy Holidays, how you doing, you know, great.
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  Speaker 4: Christmas, Craig, I was really excited to see you on
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  Speaker 4: the air today.
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  Speaker 3: Really well, we're glad to be We're glad to be
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  Speaker 3: here sort of.
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  Speaker 2: Uh no, we're glad to be back on.
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  Speaker 3: I wanted to grab a few minutes with you and
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  Speaker 3: have you talk about that, not only the signings that
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  Speaker 3: have happened to this point in what's going on, but
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  Speaker 3: what organizations go through in this last part of the
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  Speaker 3: month of December before they get into January, before we
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  Speaker 3: even get to spring training. So before we do that,
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  Speaker 3: I want to ask your opinion on a couple of
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  Speaker 3: signings and how things will go. First of all, a
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  Speaker 3: guy you've known, we've all watched his career. He played
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  Speaker 3: for my team, he played for the Braves, he played
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  Speaker 3: for the Giants, he played for the Cubs, he played
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  Speaker 3: for about everybody, and now he's going to be a
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  Speaker 3: Texas Ranger, Jock Peterson. How about your thoughts on the
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  Speaker 3: Jock signing a two year deal.
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  Speaker 4: He's just such a winning player, Craig. I mean, everwhere
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  Speaker 4: the guy goes, they win. He provides such a value
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  Speaker 4: from an offensive standpoint, left handed.
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  Speaker 2: Power in that ballpark, and.
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  Speaker 4: He certainly fits them perfectly, and in time when they've
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  Speaker 4: tried to be a little bit transactional and create some
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  Speaker 4: financial flexibility, he became a strong trip for them moving
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  Speaker 4: into twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, all right.
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  Speaker 3: And then in addition at another former Dodger now Walker Bueller,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, one of the heroes of the World Series, obviously,
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  Speaker 3: and pitched in that.
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  Speaker 2: Last game, and you know he did.
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  Speaker 3: He did have a five to three adra and sixteen starts,
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  Speaker 3: but he really cranked it up in the in the postseason,
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  Speaker 3: and they had locked it down on one day's rest
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  Speaker 3: that last game against the Yankees, but had a really
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  Speaker 3: good start other and he signed a one year, twenty
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  Speaker 3: one million dollar deal with the Red Sox. Maybe that
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  Speaker 3: flies in the face of those who say the Red
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  Speaker 3: Sox don't have any money. They've got money. The question
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  Speaker 3: was how are they going to spend it? And here's
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  Speaker 3: one area where they did no question.
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  Speaker 4: And I don't think there's been a team that's been
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  Speaker 4: more aggressive or had more impactful moves than the Red
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  Speaker 4: Sox this winter. They finished outside the wild Card by
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  Speaker 4: five games.
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  Speaker 2: They won eighty one games.
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  Speaker 4: In twenty twenty four, they trade for Grant Crochet, really giving.
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  Speaker 2: Up four premium.
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  Speaker 4: Prospects that we were super excited to acquire. They signed
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  Speaker 4: Patrick Sanderbal who's going to be a comeback guy as
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  Speaker 4: a left handed starter, and you signed Walker Bueller. So
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  Speaker 4: they certainly narrowed the gap certainly in the wild card race.
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  Speaker 4: But I'm sure they will continue their push to try
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  Speaker 4: to win that division next.
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  Speaker 3: Take us back to that deal again for Crochet, because
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  Speaker 3: I know you said you guys are excited as you
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  Speaker 3: go through your building and rebuilding through your farm system
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  Speaker 3: in the youth the guys that you acquired from Boston
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  Speaker 3: and Carshiera is obviously a tremendous pitcher. How about the
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  Speaker 3: recap of that whole deal that you worked with the
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  Speaker 3: Red Sox.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we were sitting in the room on Tuesday afternoon,
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  Speaker 4: and really there were six or seven teams on the
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  Speaker 4: board at the time, and we're rolling through each player.
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  Speaker 2: We're ranking out the players.
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  Speaker 4: We're breaking the players down with our scalps and just
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  Speaker 4: circling like who are the anchor players of this deal?
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  Speaker 4: And then after you get the number one player, who's
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  Speaker 4: the best number two? And then so you kind of
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  Speaker 4: rank out the deals. In Boston at the time, we
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  Speaker 4: didn't really feel like it was a.
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  Speaker 2: Big player in the game.
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  Speaker 4: We had a couple of teams in the National League
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  Speaker 4: that were very aggressive, a couple of teams in the
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  Speaker 4: American League that were aggressive. But overnight, as things began
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  Speaker 4: to transpire with free agency, Boston engaged and we gave
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  Speaker 4: them something that we felt like, Okay, this is the
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  Speaker 4: deal we could put our heads down the pillow and
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  Speaker 4: be super excited about. And Kyle Till, who was their
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  Speaker 4: first round pick in twenty twenty three out of the
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  Speaker 4: University of Virginia, an ultra athletic catcher, we're super excited about.
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  Speaker 4: A lot of Aggie fans might know the name Braden Montgomery,
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  Speaker 4: who was a first round pick this year in the
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  Speaker 4: outfieldings transferred from Stanford and at the injury to his
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  Speaker 4: ankle in the Super Regional. And then all right here
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  Speaker 4: had started Winkelming Gonzales and a young bat named Chase
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  Speaker 4: Maderon who's going to impact our major league team next year.
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  Speaker 4: So really an old school trade that you rare in
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  Speaker 4: today's mark and we were super excited to see it happen.
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  Speaker 3: All right, and before we're done with the Red Sox,
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  Speaker 3: they did a deal a couple of days ago, they
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  Speaker 3: got left hander Giovanni Moran from the Twins for the
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  Speaker 3: catcher infielder Combo Mickey Gasper.
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  Speaker 2: How about that deal.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, more of an organizational type deal, and we really
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  Speaker 4: broke down Gasper for about two days. But that was
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  Speaker 4: more of a depth type deal just to add to
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  Speaker 4: their pen and they have probably been the most aggressive
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  Speaker 4: team so far and trying to get back in the game.
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  Speaker 2: In twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 3: Andrew McCutcheon re signed a one year deal with the Pirates.
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  Speaker 3: And when you think Pittsburgh Baseball, he really is that guy,
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  Speaker 3: even though he spent some years away from him and
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  Speaker 3: with the Giants and everything, but now back and five
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  Speaker 3: time All Star one year deal probably worth about five
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  Speaker 3: million dollars. That's a feel good thing, isn't it to
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  Speaker 3: see Andrew mc because I think everybody knows that it's
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  Speaker 3: getting near the end of the line for him and
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  Speaker 3: probably would be cool to see him be able to
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  Speaker 3: end his career in a Pirate uniform.
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  Speaker 4: Well that's it, Craig, and I'm sure he will be
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  Speaker 4: a Pirate for life. I'm sure they have some personal
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  Speaker 4: services contracts waiting for him.
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  Speaker 2: Wants his career over but perfect for.
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  Speaker 4: Them in that he embodies everything that that organization has
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  Speaker 4: been truly for the last fifteen years. And you know,
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  Speaker 4: they've got a younger club, so he can come in
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  Speaker 4: and insteal tangibly. You know what they represent as an organization.
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  Speaker 4: You know, they've been very very close to winning a
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  Speaker 4: couple of times, losing in the wild card rounds, and
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  Speaker 4: they've got a really talented young team kind of below
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  Speaker 4: the rate OAR team for twenty twenty five, and so
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  Speaker 4: he can come in and be the tangible glue, the
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  Speaker 4: leader in the clubhouse and just show those young players
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  Speaker 4: how to win. And it's it's really he's a pirate
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  Speaker 4: for life.
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  Speaker 2: They'll retire his number.
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  Speaker 4: He'll be in the Hall of Fame with Pittsburgh and
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  Speaker 4: truly one of the great ambassadors of that organization and
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  Speaker 4: the game of baseball in itself.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, so Andrew mccuncheon's thirty eight. Here, Adrianza is retiring.
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  Speaker 3: He's thirty five. He was the Angels earlier this year.
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  Speaker 3: He's one World's series titled with Atlanta, and he played
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  Speaker 3: with the Giants and the Twins and the break I mean,
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  Speaker 3: you've known him for a while, yeah.
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  Speaker 4: And you know, Craig, that's what we're seeing, especially at
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  Speaker 4: the catcher's position, where guys we're retiring at thirty two,
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  Speaker 4: thirty three years old. Look at the age of the
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  Speaker 4: players now playing beyond thirty five years old, especially at
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  Speaker 4: the catcher's position because of the supply and the demand
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  Speaker 4: for the position. But more importantly, what the physical conditioning
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  Speaker 4: and strength and condition you have done to make these
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  Speaker 4: players healthier longer and keep their in shape longer. And
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  Speaker 4: so you're seeing guys that are they're.
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  Speaker 2: Having longer careers, and that's certainly.
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  Speaker 4: Great for the game when and I think the DH
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  Speaker 4: has been a big part of that in the National League,
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  Speaker 4: where normally you know, you'd walk by a guy because
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  Speaker 4: there wasn't really a positional fit. Now those careers are
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  Speaker 4: being extended because of the designated hitter.
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  Speaker 2: So it's really great for baseball when guys like Andrew
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  Speaker 2: who can stay in the game.
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  Speaker 3: Talking some offseason baseball signings and comings and goings with
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  Speaker 3: Gene Watson the Chicago White Sox front office. Okay, let
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  Speaker 3: me jump to the Astros. They signed Christian Walker three year,
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  Speaker 3: sixty million dollar deal. It's gonna pay him twenty million annually.
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  Speaker 3: And that came just more a little over a week
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  Speaker 3: after they picked up Isaac Braidy's for the Cubs, and
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  Speaker 3: that was the big deal that sent Kyle Tucker to
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  Speaker 3: the Chicago to Chicago and then and then everybody's waiting
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  Speaker 3: to see what's gonna happen with Alex Bredman and the
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  Speaker 3: Astros today, even said Dana Brown said yesterday, I guess
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  Speaker 3: it was that things have stalled a little bit there.
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  Speaker 3: How much of that type of thing is just them
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  Speaker 3: seeing what else could what they could do or is
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  Speaker 3: it just stalled and trying to get a deal done,
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  Speaker 3: because I know you've sat in those runs before.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think organizationally, it comes down to the fact
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  Speaker 4: that like when you begin, and what they've done is
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  Speaker 4: absolutely incredible. Sevestrate American League Championship series before this year,
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  Speaker 4: a couple of World Championships, and they have truly been
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  Speaker 4: the modern day New York Yankee organization of just where
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: expectations drive the results. Jim Crane has done an amazing
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  Speaker 4: job of just refeeling that twenty six man roster the
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  Speaker 4: forty man roster of the minor league system. But I
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  Speaker 4: think they're looking at it now and you look around
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  Speaker 4: the league, and you look at the Dodgers and the Yankees,
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  Speaker 4: what Boston has done, what Seattle's done with their pitching, and.
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  Speaker 2: I think you kind of got you kind of.
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  Speaker 4: Have to draw a line in the sand and say,
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: there's only so much more we can push. And Kyle
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  Speaker 4: Tucker being traded, I think was the first sign there
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  Speaker 4: have been rumors about their starting pitchers being on the
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  Speaker 4: trade market, and so I think it comes down to, like, Okay,
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  Speaker 4: how much do we really want to push in for
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  Speaker 4: the next four or five years when we kind of
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  Speaker 4: know that we don't want to be caught in the
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  Speaker 4: middle and this has got a chance to be a
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  Speaker 4: rebuild the next three or three years.
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  Speaker 2: And so it's always tough on an organization to make.
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  Speaker 4: Those kinds of decisions when you've got a player that's
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  Speaker 4: the statue of Alex Bregman.
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  Speaker 3: In addition to Bregman, you look at other guys that
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  Speaker 3: are out there, peed Linzo, Tai Oscar Hernandez Oh. Dodger
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  Speaker 3: fans here thinking or hearing and maybe maybe he's close
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  Speaker 3: to resigning. We're all hoping. Anthony Santen there from Baltimore.
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  Speaker 3: And then you got pitchers like Corbyn Burns, Jack Flaherty,
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Nick Pavetta, Relievers, Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffsman Hoffman, Kirby Yates.
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  Speaker 2: You got all those guys, So.
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  Speaker 3: It sounds like there's still going to be some activity
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  Speaker 3: going on here even before clubs get to their spring
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  Speaker 3: training destinations.
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  Speaker 4: No question, it's always so hard for the player because
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  Speaker 4: you've got your families.
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  Speaker 2: You want to know where you're going to be for
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  Speaker 2: spring training, you.
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  Speaker 4: Want to begin to look for places to live in
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  Speaker 4: the city you're going to be in, and so that
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  Speaker 4: sense of urgency between the player and the agent always
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: kicks up this time of year. I would certainly look
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: for ti Oscar Hernandez and Santander to come off the
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  Speaker 4: board quickly. In Corbyn Burns, I know he wants to
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: be on the West Coast, and you know, with the
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: payrolls it exists out there, there's only so many West
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Coast teams that can afford him, and so that's something
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  Speaker 4: that he's going to have to measure versus the annual
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: you know the value of his contracts, and so there's
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  Speaker 4: still some work to do with a lot of the
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  Speaker 4: higher end players. But I think once we get past
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  Speaker 4: the new year, they'll be can put off the board quickly.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 3: One other thing I had to hitch up with David Choonfeld.
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  Speaker 3: I know you're familiar with his work with ESPN dot com.
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  Speaker 3: He did a piece today where it was he listed
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  Speaker 3: a number for every American league team at number that's
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  Speaker 3: important and it was different, different numbers, different things. But
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: for your ball club, the number was forty nine. And
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  Speaker 3: I know you know where I'm going with this because
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  Speaker 3: it's because he wrote the White Sox bullpen set major
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  Speaker 3: league records in twenty twenty four with forty nine losses
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  Speaker 3: and a minus eleven point two two win probability added.
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  Speaker 3: And so he said that number obviously has to improve.
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  Speaker 3: Now that's that's being captain obvious there. But I know
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  Speaker 3: that's one of the one of the areas that you
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  Speaker 3: and the ball club are looking at, right Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: And I don't think you can you can set expectations
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  Speaker 4: for your team. I think that you try to put
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  Speaker 4: the twenty six best players on the field that you can.
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  Speaker 4: And we're certainly very encouraged and excited about the roster
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: that we continue to grow on every year. I've been
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: a part of four rebuilds this one feels a lot
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  Speaker 4: better than some in past that I've been a part of.
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  Speaker 4: We've got a very very difficult decision. The Detroit Tigers
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  Speaker 4: are going to be a monster next year. The Kansasy Royals,
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  Speaker 4: you look at the turnaround they had in twenty four
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  Speaker 4: from twenty twenty three, Cleveland and Minnesota are obviously powers
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: in the division. So the American League Central is no
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: joke when it comes to talent and expectations winning.
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  Speaker 2: And so we're going to continue to.
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  Speaker 4: Plod along and build out our forty man roster the
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  Speaker 4: best that we possibly can and play the best baseball
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  Speaker 4: we can. We're very excited about Will Venable being our manager.
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  Speaker 4: But those numbers, those projections certainly don't seep into the
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  Speaker 4: organization of what our expectations are each day.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, hey, listen, I appreciate you doing this on the
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  Speaker 3: day after Christmas, sending the love to Melanie the family
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: and happy holidays. And sure I'll see that you're still
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: trailing Notre Dame though. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: go to the Sugar Bowl, aren't you be at the
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  Speaker 3: Sugar knew you were gonna be.
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  Speaker 2: I knew you're.
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: Gonna don't think I didn't try to do the peach
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: and the sugar in the same day, but it got
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: I got threatened with some Christmas ribbon when I brought
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  Speaker 4: it up.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point. It's a good point. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I need to do that. All right.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, thanks and we'll be back in touch. Happy holidays,
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: all right, Greig, thanks so much. All Right, that's Gene
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Watson from the Chicago White Sox. All Right, we'll uh,
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  Speaker 3: we've got inconceivable up next. We continue on Sports radioa
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  Speaker 3: of thirteen under the Zone