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What pitchers should the Twins target in free agency? Here's our list · Twin Cities Territory

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  Speaker 1: It's free agent week here at Twin Cities Territory, your
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Twins podcast here on the Foul Territory Network. Zach Pearson,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Tyler Duffy, the longtime major
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  Speaker 1: leaguer here with you. This week is all about us
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  Speaker 1: picking out our list of names that we think the
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  Speaker 1: Twins should target in free agency. We're going to do
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  Speaker 1: pitchers today and then hitters on Thursday. And today it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be mostly about the bullpen. It was the
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  Speaker 1: bigger area of need for sure for the Twins today.
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  Speaker 1: this season. And obviously they feel pretty good, at least
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  Speaker 1: about the best case scenario of their starting rotation with
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  Speaker 1: all of the arms they have there. So most of
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  Speaker 1: our attention on the bullpen today. Guys, let's throw all
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  Speaker 1: the caveats out there. Obviously, free agent deals are two-way
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  Speaker 1: streets or three-way streets, however you want to figure it out.
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  Speaker 1: We don't know what the markets are going to be
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  Speaker 1: like for all these players. Some deals would make sense
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  Speaker 1: at a Uh, some guys may make a lot of
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  Speaker 1: sense on a bargain deal. Others might not be worth
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  Speaker 1: the risk, et cetera, et cetera. We don't know if
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  Speaker 1: say a certain player is secretly hiding some love of
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  Speaker 1: Lake Minnetonka that they might actually want to come to Minnesota, uh,
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  Speaker 1: unlike some other free agents who may not. So we
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  Speaker 1: don't know all that, but we're going to do our
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  Speaker 1: best to make, I think what we would call realistic
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  Speaker 1: projections of players. The twins might be able to be
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  Speaker 1: in the mix for based on what they need, what
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  Speaker 1: we know, uh, what we expect, uh, their certain market
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  Speaker 1: to be. Did I miss anything, Dan? Did I cover it? No,
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  Speaker 1: I think very, very, very early predictions. Very, very early,
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  Speaker 1: way too early free agent predictions. So with that, like
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  Speaker 1: I said, we're going to start with pitchers today. And
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  Speaker 1: twins were very bad in the bullpen. They need a
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  Speaker 1: lot of help there. The bullpen, we'll talk about this
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  Speaker 1: later in the show too, or even during this segment.
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  Speaker 1: There's certainly a lot of different ways to get help there.
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  Speaker 1: It could be some of that starting pitching depth that
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  Speaker 1: gets used in that capacity. There could be somebody waiting
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  Speaker 1: in spring training who comes along and blows them on
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  Speaker 1: the water. But definitely they need improvements there, Dan. And
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  Speaker 1: I guess let's get started. Let's throw out a name, Dan.
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  Speaker 1: I'll put you in the spotlight first. Well, let's say
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  Speaker 1: Brian Abreu. And wait, first let me just say this.
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  Speaker 2: Look, you look at the postseason bullpens and you see
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  Speaker 2: a group like Milwaukee and Mizorowski leaves the mound last night.
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  Speaker 2: And they roll out Hall, Uribe, Ashby, and McGill. And
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  Speaker 2: they have Abner, too. There's options.
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  Speaker 3: Former twin, McGill.
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  Speaker 2: You need five options, six options. I like where the
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  Speaker 2: twins are starting, right? This is a group that right
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  Speaker 2: now is starting with Hoffman coming back. You have Andrew Morris.
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  Speaker 2: You have Cody Funderburk. You have Yoandris Gomez. Travis Adams
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  Speaker 2: was really good in the second half, especially when he stopped.
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  Speaker 2: He went focusing more on good pitch quality and wasn't
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  Speaker 2: looking to strike guys out quite as much. He sacrificed
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  Speaker 2: a little stuff for command, I think, and his strikeout
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  Speaker 2: numbers dropped, but his ERA also went down. There's a
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  Speaker 2: good base there to start with, but you need more
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  Speaker 2: and more and more. That's where I think if the
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  Speaker 2: Twins are going to be aggressive in free agency, this
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  Speaker 2: is where they're going to go into it. Right now,
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  Speaker 2: I checked out Kotz Contracts. if the twins brought back
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  Speaker 2: everybody right now, they would have $ 121 million on the
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  Speaker 2: books for next year. That includes Carlos Correa's $ 10 million.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to Houston. So depending on where they go
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  Speaker 2: and their, their peak has been $ 154 million in 2023. And,
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  Speaker 2: and they've been, you know, in that hovering before last year,
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  Speaker 2: you know, going into the middle or going into the
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  Speaker 2: trade deadline before they cut all that salary, they were
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  Speaker 2: somewhere in the, The 130 or one– maybe low 140 range.
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  Speaker 2: But they cut significantly. And then this year, obviously, we
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  Speaker 2: saw them have $ 101 million payroll. So where are they
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  Speaker 2: going to end up? I don't know. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: if they're going to keep everybody that's arbitration eligible and
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  Speaker 2: go into the season– go into this with $ 121 million.
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  Speaker 2: Would they maybe move like a Bailey Ober? Would they–
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  Speaker 2: Trevor Larnik doesn't seem... His $ 6 million or whatever it
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  Speaker 2: is probably isn't going to fit with all their outfielders.
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  Speaker 2: They would appear to have money to spend. Tom Poled's
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  Speaker 2: talked about being aggressive. Bullpen seems like the area to attack.
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  Speaker 2: I think Brian Abreu is the guy... They traded for him. Now, granted, look.
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  Speaker 2: Brian Abreu is 29.
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  Speaker 1: It's a pretty good sign they like him.
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  Speaker 2: At least. Yeah. They traded for him and only to
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  Speaker 2: have Jim crane, the Astros owner, uh, declined the trade. Dana, Dana, um, Brown,
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  Speaker 2: their GM, who he fired like three weeks later, wanted
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  Speaker 2: that trade. It was Larnik for a Bray. You, it
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  Speaker 2: got nixed at the ownership level. That's how far it went. Um,
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  Speaker 2: Brady's 29. He's going to get a fat, long contract.
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  Speaker 2: He is averaging through this, this great run that he's
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  Speaker 2: had with the Astros in particular, the last five seasons
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  Speaker 2: is averaging 12.4 strikeouts per nine. Now he does walk
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  Speaker 2: a lot of guys. He walks about 4.2 per nine.
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  Speaker 2: So he's got, you know, some, some drawbacks to him,
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  Speaker 2: but he's 29. And the other drawback is he's probably
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  Speaker 2: gonna get like a nice longer term deal. Um, you know,
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  Speaker 2: he'll probably get a five-year deal because he is 29,
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  Speaker 2: but he really struggled early in 2026 and then came
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  Speaker 2: back strong. I think the first month he was just
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  Speaker 2: off and then finished very strong, even though he had
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  Speaker 2: a three 73 era, he was one of their most
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  Speaker 2: dependable relievers. The second half of the season. Um, that's
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  Speaker 2: a guy I could see them targeting. And I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it's just because they have targeted him. However, that was
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  Speaker 2: at a cost of Trevor Larnik, um, And knowing that
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  Speaker 2: Abreu was going to depart in free agency after the season.
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  Speaker 2: So whether or not they would pursue him in the
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  Speaker 2: open market, I don't know. But, I mean, it's an
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  Speaker 2: easy name to pick just because it's a guy they liked.
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  Speaker 2: And I do think that they're going to bring in
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  Speaker 2: somebody high end. Like Jeff Hoffman's got one year left
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  Speaker 2: and he's going to make $ 13 million. Maybe it's $ 11
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  Speaker 2: million this year. But Jeff Hoffman's got one year left. So...
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  Speaker 2: you're going to want somebody that's around for a couple years.
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  Speaker 2: That's the first name that jumps out, but I don't
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  Speaker 2: know that they'd want to do a five-year deal for
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  Speaker 2: a guy. Because this is a team, the one thing
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  Speaker 2: we have to keep in mind is the longest free
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  Speaker 2: agent contract that the Twins have given a reliever since
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  Speaker 2: I've covered this team in nine seasons is two years
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  Speaker 2: and $ 18 million to Addison Reed. This is not something
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  Speaker 2: they typically do. But I also think this is a
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  Speaker 2: different The way they're talking, the way that Tom Pollett
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  Speaker 2: has been acting is that he wants to be aggressive
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  Speaker 2: and not settle and that they need to go out
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  Speaker 2: and spend. This is the guy that said this is
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  Speaker 2: not a situation where we wait for the business to
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  Speaker 2: get healthy. This is a situation where we make the business.
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  Speaker 2: We sell it to the fans and say build it
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  Speaker 2: and they will come approach versus if we build it.
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  Speaker 2: They're trying to basically make it happen. so that fans
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  Speaker 2: are interested. Now, if that being said, they have to
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  Speaker 2: prove that, right? We've talked about this a million times.
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  Speaker 2: The twins have to go out and do something they've
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  Speaker 2: really never done. And that's a big leap of faith
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  Speaker 2: to ask fans to take. But this is the proven
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  Speaker 2: ground is in free agency and, and going out and
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  Speaker 2: being aggressive. And I think if there's an area that
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  Speaker 2: they're going to identify, it's bullpen. So one of these
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  Speaker 2: guys that we mentioned over the course of the show, um,
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  Speaker 2: or someone of that ilk, it shouldn't be shocking if
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  Speaker 2: they went out and did this. It's just really, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're taking a, we're throwing darts at a darts, like
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  Speaker 2: a zillion choices here.
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  Speaker 1: And it all depends who's interested in whom and what
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  Speaker 1: the market is like, of course. And like the twins were,
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  Speaker 1: they were bad across the bullpen really, but the right-handed
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  Speaker 1: side was worse. 5-1-6 ERA, one of the worst in
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  Speaker 1: the league. so I looked at, I looked to righties
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  Speaker 1: first and MLB.com has their potential free agents listed by, uh,
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  Speaker 1: fan graphs war over the last two seasons on that list.
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  Speaker 1: A brave is the fifth best, uh, two of the
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  Speaker 1: top four though are under club option and likely will
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  Speaker 1: not be going anywhere. That's Garrett Whitlock with the Red
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  Speaker 1: Sox and Andres Munoz with the Mariners, unless they're ready
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  Speaker 1: to tear down their team. That two years ago was
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  Speaker 1: quite good. Um, So the others on that list are Abreu,
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  Speaker 1: David Bednar, currently with the Yankees, and a name that
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  Speaker 1: you looked at as potentially interesting, Tyler, who may not
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  Speaker 1: require quite so much term in Reisel Iglesias.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and he's a guy, I think he was with
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  Speaker 4: LA for a long time as their closer, and so
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  Speaker 4: he didn't get the publicity a lot, but he's a
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  Speaker 4: veteran in every form.
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  Speaker 3: I think he's 37, 36, 37, but he's had somewhat
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  Speaker 3: of a, I wouldn't even say resurgence.
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  Speaker 4: He's just found a second stride over the last five
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  Speaker 4: years or so. He's been locked down for Atlanta. He's
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  Speaker 4: been their go-to guy. And to all of those points,
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  Speaker 4: he's a little bit older. It's kind of one of
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  Speaker 4: those father times always lurking somewhere. But he's a guy
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  Speaker 4: who is a bona fide closer. He's not a, oh,
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  Speaker 4: throw the eighth, throw the seventh, maybe. He is your
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  Speaker 4: ninth inning guy. He slides these leverage arms that you've
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  Speaker 4: had this year into more comfortable roles. It gets your
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  Speaker 4: young guys into some spots where maybe they can thrive more.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and there's the numbers there. I mean, the guy's
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  Speaker 3: a workhorse.
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  Speaker 4: He's thrown almost 60 innings for the last five seasons.
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  Speaker 4: So it's just like, he's a dependable guy. He's a
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  Speaker 4: little long in the tooth, but at the same time,
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  Speaker 4: he's done it on every possible stage. Not unlike Hoffman,
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  Speaker 4: you know, and having he and Hoffman as like a
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  Speaker 4: one-two out of the back end of that bullpen is
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  Speaker 4: something significant. But like we were saying, it's hard to
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  Speaker 4: know what market he's going to have. And at the
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  Speaker 4: same breath, the twins have to be willing to go
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  Speaker 4: spend some real money, not just, hey, we tried.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that's what Dan was saying too. It's, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we wanted this guy.
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  Speaker 4: It's like, well, no, you've got to really want somebody,
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  Speaker 4: especially to get a true back-end closer relationship. who you're
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: not going to have to develop and mess around with. Like,
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: he's going to show up to spring. He's going to
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: tell you his plan for spring training outings. And then
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  Speaker 4: he will be ready when the season starts to throw
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  Speaker 4: the ninth inning and don't ask him any questions. And that's,
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  Speaker 4: you know, Aroldis Chapman's another guy who he's, his face
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  Speaker 4: pops up everywhere. And it's just like, he's somehow, you know,
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  Speaker 4: he's found the fountain of youth. But Iglesias, he's been
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  Speaker 4: locked down. He's a great option. And to that point,
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  Speaker 4: he's right-handed. and he's done it on every stage. He's
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  Speaker 4: pitched in postseason and World Series and this and that,
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  Speaker 4: so he's one that seems attainable for the Twins without
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  Speaker 4: them having to give a guy five.
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  Speaker 3: Years and $ 100 million to throw the ninth.
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  Speaker 1: Four and a third innings pitched in the playoffs for Iglesias,
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  Speaker 1: two saves, only three hits and one run allowed. That
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  Speaker 1: was against the Phillies and Dodgers who Twins notably did
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  Speaker 1: not do so well against this year, so that might
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  Speaker 1: be an attractive little figure. But Dan, he would still
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  Speaker 1: be expensive, probably less term, but the Twins have not
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  Speaker 1: been trying to pass to go after the older free
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  Speaker 1: agents who might have a couple good years left.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, Tyler pitched with Fernando Rodney for.
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  Speaker 3: A year or two.
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  Speaker 2: Those, you know, shorter term at the end, might make
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  Speaker 2: sense just because you can spend and you can throw
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  Speaker 2: two and 30. I don't even know what the numbers
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  Speaker 2: are going to be like because, let's be honest, it's
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  Speaker 2: a closer market.
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  Speaker 1: I think Kenny.
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  Speaker 2: Jansen got $ 17 million this last year. So it's probably–
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  Speaker 2: and you may have to pay overpay. Like Iglesias might
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  Speaker 2: look at Minnesota and go, that's cold. Why would I
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  Speaker 2: go there?
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  Speaker 1: I don't have to live here in the winter to
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  Speaker 1: play baseball.
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  Speaker 2: Correct.
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  Speaker 1: No, no.
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  Speaker 2: But– But that's– like everybody has that impression and it's
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  Speaker 2: not unique to like guys, like one or two guys.
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  Speaker 2: You can ask guys around the league. It's harder to
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  Speaker 2: get people to come play outdoor baseball in Minnesota in April.
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  Speaker 2: That's a fact. But– so how do you counteract that?
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  Speaker 2: You pay them more. You say here's what the market
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  Speaker 2: deal is and it's 2 and 34, right? Well, we'll
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: give you two and 36. Like they, they paid more
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: for Nelson Cruz. I know that they paid like I,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: when they got Nelson Cruz the first time, I believe
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  Speaker 2: they gave about 2 million more dollars than the next
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: offer was to convince him to come. And sometimes you're
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: going to just have to do that and suck it up.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: And it sucks to do that. It really does. But also,
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: and we love target field. Like, honestly, it's, it's probably
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: a beautiful, it's a top seven ballpark in baseball, in
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: my opinion. It is a great place to play from
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: about May 18th on. But that first part of the
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: season is challenging. The first part is challenging. And you
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: kind of probably have to pay for that. So do it.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Just go buy.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: A guy a house or something.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: It's kind of the opposite of every other employment situation
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: where they have to pay you more to live in
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: a big city versus here. But you have to pay
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the premium one way or another.
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  Speaker 2: The whole thing is– Just get more arms. You really–
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: this is what we need to– and there's names that
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: we didn't– obviously, we've thrown two names out, and that's
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: very small. Like, are we going to go through name
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: by name, or should I just throw out a group
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  Speaker 2: of them?
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: throw out a handful of other names that make sense
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: for other reasons right after this.
• 14:19
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• 14:20
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  Speaker 1: passed 600 subscribers over the weekend. Thank you, everybody, for listening.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: We've had some of our best shows ever since the
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: season ended, which I guess isn't surprising since it was
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: a bit of a depressing end to the year, and
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: now everyone's looking ahead to what's next. Brian Abreu says,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Rysel Iglesias are the spending names. There's also plenty of
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  Speaker 1: other options on the list that, uh, that could be
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  Speaker 1: more affordable for one reason or another, or just make
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: more practical sense for one reason or another. Um, Dan, uh, well,
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  Speaker 1: let's go with Tyler. Tyler, do you see anybody else
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: on that list that you thought might be?
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  Speaker 4: I saw like a guy, he, uh, obviously the White
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  Speaker 4: Sox are going to get the first crack at him
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: because he's, you know, in house, but I like Newcomb.
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  Speaker 4: He's been, you know, he had some injury stuff. He's
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: a super big prospect with Atlanta for so long. You know,
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  Speaker 4: he's bounced around a little bit with some injury things,
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: but he's back and he's a, you know, he's a
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  Speaker 4: big lefty throwing upper nineties. And it's like, he is,
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  Speaker 4: he's a guy who has kind of revitalized himself. He's
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: a little on the older side considering, you know, what
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: he's gone through, but it's, he looks really good. he
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  Speaker 4: probably won't be super expensive because of those things, you know,
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  Speaker 4: all this history, but you know, when you're looking for
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: just a stuff arm and maybe a name that isn't
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: on everyone's radar, like obviously he's going to be, he
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: showed up when we looked, but it's not necessarily a
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: household name as a guy that you'd grab to go
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: put in the back end. But he he's, I mean,
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: what is this year? He's thrown 90 innings. So he
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: started in and relieved. You know, he's been that Andrew
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: Miller type guy and, I like him. Watching him in
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: these playoff games, he was really, really good. The stuff
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: just jumped out at me. Not unlike a guy like
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: Prelip that we have in-house. He's a big, durable guy
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: who seems to have his health on the right side
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: of things now. He's been super effective. It's a lefty.
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: We've got a lot of righties. We talked about them
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: not being great, but at the same time, you've got
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: to have you know, effective guys on both sides of
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: the box there, both sides of the mound, so to speak.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: So I don't know.
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: He was another one I liked in the short term,
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: you know, without getting too deep in the weeds.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, they had AJ Minter, right? They brought him in.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: He was on a two-year $ 22 million deal from the Mets.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: He was pretty good. He gave up quite a few
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: long balls there at the end. I don't know that
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: he's in the plans, especially $ 11 million, but One guy
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: I kind of liked was Brent Suter, just because he's
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: always been a character in the game. He had a nice...
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Sorry there, Zach.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: We should talk about Minter. It's good.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: No, we can't. We'll go to Suter.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Carry on.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Suter had a nice resurgence with Atlanta. Here's the one
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: thing I like about him. He's a guy that pitched
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: 91 innings this season and was sort of a, he
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: can pitch a lot. Like he can go two at
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: a time, you know, and, and Phil's a lefty role.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: When you look at the numbers with Atlanta, when he
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: went over after at the trade deadline, it's not a
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: big strikeout guy, but he can get a lot of innings.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: I just want, here's the thing. I just want arms.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: I just want more arms and possibilities for, So that Derek–
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: like for Derek Shelton to be able to go and
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: not burn guys out two days in a row, give
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: them that third day off. Asking the third day in
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: a row is a tough ask. And it's funny how
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: that's changed over the course of even the last seven
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: or eight years. But when guys are throwing 100 as
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: consistently as they are and ask them to do that
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: three days in a row, you can see when they'd
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: want to reset. And so that means getting six, seven–
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: eight guys that are trusted options so that you can,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: on that third day, still throw some functional guys out
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: there and try to get you a win and keep
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: streaks going because you can't ask the same guys over
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: and over again. Suter giving teams 91 innings last year
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: at age 36, that's pretty eye-opening, but he's going to
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: get paid. All of these guys, every mention we're making here.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Twins have got to pay somebody. You've got to pick somebody.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: I feel like I always end up surprised at how
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: much money people get in free agency. You think someone
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: might be gettable at a reasonable price or what feels
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: reasonable anyway and it balloons. That's what happens when you're desired.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Someone's going to want you for sure.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: I like the sooner idea too. He's just a change
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: of pace guy.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: He's the finesse pitching guy and it's something that's missing.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: I think that's why he's so effective.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: I think he was on show or did an interview
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: recently and he was talking about it and they're like
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: don't try to throw harder and lose your effectiveness be
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: good with what you have in pitch and that's what
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: he's doing and that's there's something to be said for that.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Um if we go really far down oh hey buddy
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: a little cameo there from tyler uh which one was
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: that roy That's Teddy. Teddy. Hi, Teddy. How are you doing?
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: I think, like, obviously you cannot assume the same production
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: from before is going to continue. I don't think it
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: makes sense to be handing out super long-term deals to
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: bullpen guys. Twins also, they love their own people, and
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: they love, like, low-risk short-term deals with homegrown talent. Caleb Theobard, anybody, anybody,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: he's going to be 40, but he's.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: Up to 97 this year. I think I saw him.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: I was like, good God.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: He's coming off a terrible year.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: He didn't have a great year, but the year before
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: that was great. One of his best ever, uh, with
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the Cubs. Those are both with the Cubs. And, uh,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: like you don't have the, would he want to play
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: in Minnesota factor? The Northfield, uh, born Theobard obviously played
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: here for several years, but, um, Fernando Rodney, Sergio Romo,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Jim Tomey. The Twins love to bring the almost 40-somethings
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: back for one last hurrah.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: Definitely one of the best stories that I've ever covered.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: I was going to retire. The Twins said in 2020, hey,
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: do you want to give it a shot with us?
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Because he had been at AAA for a couple of
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: years and was like, I'm going to go coach D3,
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: be a pitching coach. And the Twins said, hey, do
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: you want to come to camp? And then Pandemic happens.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: And then one day all of a sudden he's just
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: at the park and we're on zoom and he got no,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: and he pitched a great game. He came in, they
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: added him and, and like, you know, there was no
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: access to clubhouse. We hadn't seen him. I think one
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: of the beat reporters had talked to him in camp
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: total before everything shut down and they just threw him
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: on zoom and it There's like eight of us and
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: they didn't say, Hey guys, this is Caleb field bar.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, and they threw me the first question
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: and I'm not kidding. My reaction was, Holy shit. Who
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: am I talking to? I have no idea who I'm
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: talking to. And I said, I did a leap of faith.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: I said, Hey, so Caleb, what is this like to
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: be back in the majors? And I guessed right. It
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: was Caleb field bar, but I mean, no kidding.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: No kidding.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: It could have been horrible. could have been horrible. And, and, uh,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: so like it was, it was so that was, I,
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: I still get sweats thinking about that moment. Um, but he, uh,
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: like to go from the guy that got brought up
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: and came out of nowhere seven years ago, that's seven
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: seasons ago to make a career. He's made some nice money. Um,
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: he's a hell of an athlete. He's, he's like one
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: of the few guys that can dunk a basketball.
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: Um, Oh, no, he could windmill dunk like an NBA player.
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: It was impressive.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: And I think we're still seeing it. There's miles left
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: in the arm. He'd be interesting as bringing him in
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: as your lefty on a short-term deal, like you say, Zach, because, look,
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: they're going to need another. They traded for Minter. You
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: could start there. You could absolutely do Thielbar on a
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: one-year with an option if he wants to play it's
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: always the, it doesn't want to keep going. Um, but, um,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: I want to throw a few names out that I
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: just would be interesting. Um, to me, I loved the
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: way the guardians turned to Sean Armstrong early in game
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: for the other day. Uh, Parker Messick was out of control. Um,
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: and like, that was a weird outing for Sean or
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: for Parker Messick. And, Sean Armstrong came in with the
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: bases loaded and Antonacci at the plate, who was like
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: one of the White Sox fire starters in that ballpark,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: was going nuts. And he hit a pretty solid drive,
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: but it ended up being just a sack fly. Armstrong
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: got out of it, put out a huge fire, came
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: back and had a 1-2-3 inning the next inning. He's
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: not a sexy name. This isn't a guy that's going
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: to blow you away. But again, he's a really solid
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: guy who has had a good career and can just
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: come in and be a functional arm like it's he's
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: got the reason why he's appealing to me is he's
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: a little bit more than a strikeout per nine he's
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: not a guy that'll break the bank um but you
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: know he gets outs in big spots and like the
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: whole guardians bullpen maybe that's just maybe that's a guardians
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: magic thing who knows um but because there is real
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: guardians magic i did not realize it um i i
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: think inwardly i knew but our, our good writer for
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: the athletic, uh, Zach Meisel there. And I wrote a
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: story about progressive field and how it's had the most
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: walk-offs in baseball since its inception. And I've been there
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: for about 20 of those. So it, it, it fits
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: to me. Uh, maybe there is guardians magic there, but
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: like Sean Armstrong, guy like that, um, On the upper tier,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: I like Evan Phillips. He just came off of Tommy John.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: He looks electric again. He's going to get paid very well,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: I would bet. We didn't get to see Alex Vessia
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: in the World Series last year. He had an unfortunate
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: family incident and got knocked out of the World Series.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: When you see him on the mound, you understand why.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: He's really good. He'll probably get paid by the Dodgers,
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: let's be honest. Yeah. you look around, I like Brooks Raleigh.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: I like, you know, there's a name everybody's seen forever.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Gregory Soto. He's a free agent. He's a, I.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: Believe he pitched for Sheltie before.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Lefty, nasty, just experienced.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: And he's a ground ball guy.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: Like it's, you know, it's one, it's, he was so
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: good when he first came in with Detroit, like, where
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: did they find this guy? And he's just throwing a
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: hundred and, He's had some weird years, I think, since,
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: whether it's been usage or whatever.
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: Soto is one.
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: I wasn't sure on what he had this year with
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: health and everything else, but he is definitely a guy
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: that would be a great addition to anybody's bullpen.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: Hey, I want to make clear on something here for
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: people listening. This is so early. This is three guys
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: sitting at a bar on bar stools throwing their wish
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: lists out there kind of thing. Like I'm going to
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: say Adrian Morjean. But I also know that he's 28
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: and going to get paid $ 700 zillion, right? So like
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: this is total– there's no informed speculation on this. We're
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: just saying names that we think they should go after
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: at this point because it's so early and teams– like
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: the Twins are doing planning now and what their budget
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: looks like now. They're trying to figure it out. It's
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: over the course of this month. How do we get better?
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: and and so at this point it's not really like
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: there's there's nothing informed it's just these are some of
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: the best options out there and and it's a chance
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: to have fun with it and dream a little versus
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: maybe reality.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Well and we i mean the reality is we have
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: an owner who's pledged to invest in the team he
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: hasn't said how much or how so that's right that's
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: where the speculation comes in like if he really really
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: means it maybe he does mean giving five years in
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: a million dollars to a to a.
• 28:34
  Speaker 4: Well yeah some of these some of these have to
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: be a reality not just a dream like some of
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: these even the you know the mid to not quite
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: top tier like those are the guys you're going to
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: go get if you're trying to spend to win like
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: that's just the.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Name of the game and maybe they'll decide that the
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: bullpen is not the place to do that maybe it'll
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: turn out that by investing in this team he meant
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: paying arbitration deals and you know not not doing very
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: much after all we'll we'll see but That's the landscape here,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: and that's why it's like– I think we categorized it
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: as these ones are the– they're trending more towards the
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: pipe dream end of the spectrum, and these are the
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: more realistic ones on there. But I agree the Dodgers
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: are going to go after somebody. Of course, all the
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: usual suspects are going to go after somebody. But there's
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: like 75 pitchers on this list. There's going to be somebody–
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Who's left out. Pete Fairbanks. What am I saying? What
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: am I saying? No, I shouldn't say.
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: He's the one I saw that was like, that guy,
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: he's a twin next year. He had a bad year
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: with Miami, or for him anyway.
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he did. not a great year.
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: He's 31, so this will be his last crack at it,
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: probably to get a real big contract. Maybe get a
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: deal on a guy like him and he figures it
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: out in Minnesota again and hits a stride.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: When he's right, he's unhittable.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: It's just whatever the mix and Miami West this year
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: wasn't quite the right one.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Well, there you have it. You're way too early, Twins
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: free agent relief pitcher speculation. On to the next. We
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: have a few other topics to hit on quickly before
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: we go. First off, the Guardians rallied to beat the
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: White Sox in the American League Division Series. Dan jinxed
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: the White Sox. He showed up for Game 3 and
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: the tailspin, the free fall. We were actually... we were
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: discussing doing a like what can the twins learn from
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: the White Sox show when it looked like for sure
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: the White Sox were going to move to the ALCS I.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Still think there's something to learn there by.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: The way I think there is for sure but I think.
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: Oh go ahead yeah sorry.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: No you're good Jose Ramirez fantastic and now the Guardians
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: who are in many ways sort of a mirror image
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: of the twins at least in terms of where the
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: runs come from they don't score a lot they don't
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: give up a lot and here they are facing Tampa Bay,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: game one, Monday night, tonight.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: That offense looks a zillion times better with Jose Ramirez
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: hitting again. Look, Jose Ramirez, for his standards, was terrible
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: when he came back from his broken hamate bone. That's
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: a guy who came back and pushed. He's getting hot
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: at the right time. Wanted to do it for the
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: team and came back after five and a half weeks
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: without a rehab. Just came back immediately. And whereas the
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: Twins could, at that time, give Jeffers days off because
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: he's a catcher, and that's a suitable position to play
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: every other day. It's kind of expected. Jose Ramirez is
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: an everyday guy, and he was out there, and he
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: hit two home runs. I can't remember. I think his
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: OPS was like. 550. from when he returned and he
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: returned against the twins on July 22nd through the end
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: of the season, he had two homers and 20 RBIs.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: And I, I'm very close to a lot of the
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: reporters on that guardians beat. Uh, and everybody knew his
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: wrist wasn't right. And it's like, they got the lottery hitting.
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: They got Buzana putting together great bats. They have Brian
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: Rokio down at the bottom of the lineup doing guardians
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: devil magic. They have Steven Kwan getting on base again.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: And the only thing missing is Jose Ramirez. And, you know,
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: the White Sox were convinced because of what they were
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: seeing with his wrist in the first couple games that
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: Jose Ramirez wasn't right. And they were right to think that.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: And it didn't, you know, they faced him. It was
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: a 5-3 game, late in game three, open base, and
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: second and third. And it was an 0-2 pitch, and
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: it was a curveball away, and he blooped it down
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: the left field line. And he was hitting left-handed, so
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: it was an oppo. But my immediate thought, and I
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: turned to some colleagues in the press box, and I
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: was like, walk him. What are you doing? Why are
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: you facing him? Because this is Jose Ramirez. And he
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: did what he always does. He blooped and he got
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: a triple. And earlier in that game, he had doubled
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: and he stole third. Another critical point. The White Sox
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: had just scored to make it a 4-2 game. Ramirez
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: doubles to lead off an inning, steals third. and then
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: scores on a contact play. It was 106 miles an
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: hour ground ball directly to Chase Mydroth, their second baseman.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: It was a great throw home, and Jose Ramirez made
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: a swim tackle move, diving, and avoided the tag and scored.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Immediately it was like, oh, he's back for real. And
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: then he knocked down a line drive. Miguel Vargas just
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: hit a screaming, like it was going to be a
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: base hit, and it was going to be a critical hit,
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: and the White Sox were going to get back in
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: that game. and Ramirez knocks it down and it collects himself,
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: jumps up, grabs the ball, throws the first in time.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: Like game three was like, Oh, Jose Ramirez is back.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: And then the game four, the pitch that he hit
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: off of Jordan Hicks, like a hundred top of the
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: zone away. And he deposits it into the right field,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: but he pulled it into the bullpen a hundred miles
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: an hour up and away and, and did that. And
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: it was like, Oh, he's really back. And, I remember
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: asking Will Venable before game four, because he had said
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: that Chase DeLauder was a terrible matchup for them.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: And he's right.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: The numbers suggested the matchup at the time, it was
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: a very bad pitcher-batter matchup. And he said, so it
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: was an easy decision with Jose Ramirez. I think everything
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: changed when Jose Ramirez doubled. And then the next day,
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: the White Sox really found out who they're up against
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: with that home run off of off Jordan Hicks, and
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: then obviously game five. I mean, that pitch was seven
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: inches off the ground?
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was incredible.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: Sean Burke was outstanding. What's it like facing him when
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: he is going as good as he is?
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: What I've said, and I said it jokingly but not completely, he,
• 35:15
  Speaker 4: for me, was a guy, if you got him to
• 35:18
  Speaker 4: swing and miss once and then at bat, he was
• 35:20
  Speaker 4: not going to do it again. And that was like
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: just the going, like my plan of attack with him
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: was like, hopefully he hits a ground ball. If, and
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: if he's throwing up my curve ball, Oh one and
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: got to Oh two, I knew I had to get
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: him out with something else. He just, he's, I don't
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: know what the, the it's like Altuve and like, but
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: then a power hitter combined, like, he's just like this
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: dangerous at bat, no matter what he's doing. Cause like
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: you said, he will dump one to left and run
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: like a skull to dog and end up on third
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: base somehow. And then, okay, let me just try and
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: get over the plate, and he takes you to right center, 450,
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: and it's like, what am I supposed to do with you?
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: And then, you know, if you walk him, now he's
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: going to steal bases on you. Like, he's just that
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: ultimate ball player, like a creative player guy. And like
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: you said, Dan, I'll let you say what you were
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: going to say earlier, but like he is a dangerous
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: at bat no matter who's on the mound at any
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: point in the game, and it's just one– if he
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: came up with guys on and you were in Cleveland,
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: it was just like, God, please hit it at somebody.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Oh, God. Don't hit a homer. Literally.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: He's an elite base runner to go with it. You
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: mentioned stolen base, but he is a first to third.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: He's one of the most intelligent guys. And I've covered
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: this division for 15 years. If you gave me triple
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: crown Miguel Cabrera, who was not a good defender, or
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: you gave me the choice of elite Jose Ramirez, I
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: would choose Jose Ramirez because of all the things he does.
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: And I recognize... that Miguel Cabrera is one of the
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: best hitters I've ever seen. But Jose Ramirez knows how
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: to impact the game, especially on the bases. He gets
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: his guys fired up. Look, this is a team that
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: lost Emmanuel Classe a year ago. That should have shattered them, right?
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: This is a bullpen-first team that has just thrived off
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: their bullpen for years. It's been Jose Ramirez in the bullpen,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: and then, you know, Steven Kwan's a really good leadoff guy.
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: And they compliment each other so well.
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah. Yeah. And it's like, so they, they are
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: all the pieces have to fit kind of thing. And
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: somehow they've just moved on from manual class, say being
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: there and, and are in the American league championship series.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: And I know that Tampa Bay is rested and Tampa
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: Bay looks amazing and, I still expect Cleveland to give
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: them a hell of a dogfight because Cleveland's got starting pitching.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: They have a bullpen, and now they have Jose Ramirez.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: So I don't think it'll be as easy as people
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: want it to be because these are two teams that
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: are scrappy like this with each other. It's just the
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Rays have Caminero, and they have home field advantage. But
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: it's going to be a fun series.
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: Home field advantage.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: They were, they, they rep pretty good against the Yankees.
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: I thought they were, did they take the tarps off
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: the third deck for this series?
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: They did. They did.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Good question. Over on the National League side, the Brewers
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: lead the Dodgers one, nothing after a two, one win
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Sunday night. And Tyler, uh, it was sort of a
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: illustration of the importance of the issue. We talked about
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: the first 25 minutes of the show, uh, the two
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: highest scoring teams in baseball hell do a total of
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: three runs and the bullpens combined for about half the
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: game pitched and no runs allowed.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's, I mean, that's the blueprint in today's game.
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: You know, most of our starters for that matter, for
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: the twins, it was five was pretty regular in the
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: six and seven inning outings were like, that was incredible.
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: You know, and.
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: To Dan's point too, you need six to eight guys,
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: not three or four. to bridge these gaps and the
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: stuff doesn't drop off. That's the biggest thing I've noticed.
• 39:06
  Speaker 4: And it's frankly, it's why I'm sitting here doing this.
• 39:09
  Speaker 4: Everybody throws 98 to 100. They all have a wipeout
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: slider or splitter. It doesn't matter the run differential in
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: the game. You're going to get a righty or lefty
• 39:20
  Speaker 4: that is going to blow your doors off with a
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: fastball and have something electric behind it.
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: And it's, it's, I mean, a testament to these teams. They've,
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: they've worked to put it together.
• 39:30
  Speaker 4: The brewers have seemingly found the right formula, kind of
• 39:33
  Speaker 4: like Cleveland, where they just, their pitching development system and
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: then their acquisitions, like they get their pieces right and
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: they work, you know, and the Dodgers obviously are notoriously
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: known for how they do their job, but at the
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: same time it works. So, To all the points we're
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: making today, the bullpen needs help because, one, you need
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: it to win and you're going to pay for it
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: or you better develop it.
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: And that's just the name of the game now.
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: These certain teams, the Rays, I guess you could throw
• 40:03
  Speaker 4: in there, Cleveland, Milwaukee for me, they develop these arms
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: and they get them right. And then the Dodgers go, hey,
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: you're really good. How much money do you want? And
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: so you've got to pick. You've got to pick who
• 40:15
  Speaker 4: you're going to be. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: every year at 500 and hoping to make the playoffs.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: Stuck in the middle, right? Paying the in-between players in-between
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: money and not. Yeah. Dan, the Brewers are up 1-0.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: They've been in the playoffs eight times in nine years.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: They've never been past the NLCS in that stretch. They
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: can't blow this, right? There's no possible chance. This has
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: got to be the year. I'm not trying to jinx them.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying.
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: No, no.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: It looks like, I mean. You only got four and
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: a third out of Mizorowski and you still won the game.
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing I liked. Bryce Turing's swing off
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: of Tarek Skubal.
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: That was nuts.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: That was incredible. You hit a lefty off the lefty
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: homer off the big ringer that the Dodgers brought in.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: Skubal did not pitch poorly in that game. Skubal was
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: just dicing guys up. It's just that the Brewers were
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: able to roll out those arms behind. I thought Mizorowski struggled.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: I thought if I was going to pick which pitcher,
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: I'd pick Scooble over Mizorowski by far. And Mizorowski's shown
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: a little bit of that. I remember the start against
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: the Twins and thinking in August, man, he's going through something.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: It's just not quite as elite. It's still unbelievably good.
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: This is quibbling over... you know, the, the, the, the
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: minor flaws, but you're facing the Dodgers lineup and you
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: only give up one run. And here I am saying
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: you weren't great, but like they were able to get there. They,
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: they brought in their key guys. They had it lined
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: up very well. It was a great start. They absolutely
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: needed that. And I think that a lefty on lefty
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: home run from a guy who struggled in the first
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: round terrain went two for 16 against the Padres and
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: for him to come out and homer, and also draw
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: a walk. That's a good start because you need terrain,
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: terrain and cheerio, um, to, yeah, they're going to need
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: the key hits from those particular guys in this series.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: Those are their stars and they need them to come through.
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: So that was a very good sign. And Luis Lara,
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: who's young and energetic, he had the other RBI, um,
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: you know, get that guy going and you're in a
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: good spot. So you got to feel good if you're
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: the Brewers. Also, you got to win tonight. You want
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: to go to LA up to, uh, and, uh, and
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: not leave things to chance.
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: I think it's Yamamoto tonight.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he sucks. He's just the next guy down the list.
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: It sucks. Hey, Scooble's out of the way. Oh, we
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: only have to face Yamamoto now. What is he like
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: in the postseason? Let's just look this up.
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: Probably no hits and no rock.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: He is 8-1 in the postseason.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: With a 2-14 ERA in 11 appearances. And last year
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: in the World Series, he had a 1-13 ERA in
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: 24 innings. He pitched four games in the World Series.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: No, wait, wait.
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's the two World Series together. Sorry. But last
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: year in the World Series, he's 17 and two-thirds.
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: 300 million will get you.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: Oh. Hey, good job. You beat Scooble. Now you face
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: our real ace tonight.
• 43:31
  Speaker 4: If you like pitching, great series.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: 4 o'clock Central start for that one. 7 o'clock for Cleveland.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay. Next time we're with you, we will have
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: had a few more games unfold. We'll check back in
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: with those on Thursday. Now comes our favorite segment of
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: the show where we talk NFL because the Vikings and
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: 49ers are both 5-0. Tyler, are you a Texans guy?
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: What's your team?
• 43:59
  Speaker 3: Here, Teddy. Show them your Teddy's got a seedy lamb
• 44:02
  Speaker 3: jersey on right now.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, Cowboys. We won't talk about that.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we won't talk about that.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: Dan and I decided to take the high road. We
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: are not going to ask what the hell the commanders
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: were thinking at the end of that game against the
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Giants yesterday. We're not going to ask what the hell
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the Eagles were thinking.
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: Just going to enjoy it.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: Kicking off. We're just going to say we wish the
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: best for these teams. And certainly... hope nothing but the
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: best for ours, that there's no substation issues, no defensive
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: regression to the mean. Nothing like that could possibly happen
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: to our teams.
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: Correct. Yeah, Mike Evans.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: Correct. Mike Evans.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: Say a little prayer for you.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: He'll be fine.
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: Say a prayer for those ribs.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: He'll be fine.
• 44:48
  Speaker 4: That was incredible yesterday, by the way. Him literally looking
• 44:51
  Speaker 4: at Diggs' jersey. He's like, who are you talking to?
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: Son. I mean, the trash. Could you? Look, I'm not
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: going to lie.
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: That one hurt. There's none coming back.
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: From that one. There was one point when the Seahawks
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: fumbled on that last play before the half ended where
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: I was fortunate that nobody was in my house because
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: I don't know if the O that my body emitted,
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: if there was a higher pitched voice that I would have.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: It was near scream. especially when I saw the Niners
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: recover the fumble and take a 21-13 lead. But that
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: was probably one of the more intense games I feel
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: like I've watched in a while. And you could hear
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: it in the crowd because there were a good amount
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: of Niner fans at Seattle. It just felt like those
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: two teams hate each other. Man, I don't smoke, but
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: I could have used like a half pack of cigarettes
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: after that game. That was intense.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: Cooper Cup got the first down, though, just so we're clear.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: Hey, hey, hey. I like– wait, wait. Okay, but also, sure, great.
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: Deebo Samuel didn't fumble. Deebo had the– Deebo's arm hit
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: the ground and the ball moved after. Deebo was like
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: flying to the ground with the ball. So I think
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: you can make arguments on both sides.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: We're going to both sides it? All right.
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: Hey, that led to three points.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: That led to three points.
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: Hey, when your team plays somebody for real, when your
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: souls play somebody for real, we'll talk. But the Niners
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: have road victories over the Rams and Seattle right now.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: It's not going to look as good at the end
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: of the year.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Really? Is that correct?
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: Hey, the Bucs look great now. Just beat the Cowboys
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: with a backup. Sorry, we weren't going to talk.
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, the Bucs look amazing.
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: They're back.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: They're back. And finally, it's the 35th anniversary of the
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: Twins 91 World Series, all month long. I've got some
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: details coming up about our live show about Game 7.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: I'll tell them on Thursday. I'm going to re-watch Game
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: 7 of 91 for anyone who wants to sit through
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: that with me. But on this day, October 12, 1991,
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: it was Game 4. The ALCS against the Blue Jays.
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: Twins won 9-3. Took a commanding 3-1 lead. They would
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: close it out the next day. They won all three
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: games in Toronto. Three ribbies for Dan Gladden in that game.
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: Two for Kirby. Jack Morris, another win. Pretty decent postseason
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: for him. And they beat Todd Stottlemyre in that one.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: That's all I got. I think they're going to win
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: the World Series, guys. Allegedly.
• 47:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Jack's going to have better and better outings as
• 47:42
  Speaker 4: this thing progresses.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's looking good for him this month so far.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: All right, that was Free Agent Pitchers. We've got hitters
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: coming for you on Thursday. Thanks so much, everybody, for listening.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: As always, if you like what you hear, please toss
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: us a like or subscribe. However you watch or listen,
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: if you're on YouTube, there's a QR code on the
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: screen right there to make it super easy. Thanks so much.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: We will see you Thursday. Bye-bye.