Latest / Foul Territory / Front Office Unfiltered w/Jim Bowden: Top FA list, Dissecting manager hires, LA playbook, Skubal trade?!

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Front Office Unfiltered w/Jim Bowden: Top FA list, Dissecting manager hires, LA playbook, Skubal trade?! · Foul Territory

0:09
Speaker 1: Front office, unfiltered resident GM. Jim Bowden is here with
0:13
Speaker 1: the Dodger blue sweatshirt, JB.
0:15
Speaker 2: Happy.
0:17
Speaker 1: What do you call it? Because you say this is
0:19
Speaker 1: this is a big day?
0:19
Speaker 3: Happy?
0:20
Speaker 2: What is it? Postseason? This is it? Let's go the postseason,
0:25
Speaker 2: after the postseason, the off season, off season of the
0:29
Speaker 2: opening day of the.
0:31
Speaker 1: Opening day of the off season. Yes, happy opening day
0:34
Speaker 1: to you. This is a time to shine. So so
0:37
Speaker 1: we're going to get to the manager carousel and we're
0:40
Speaker 1: also going to do the free agents in a little bit.
0:42
Speaker 1: I want to start with this. You're wearing the Dodger
0:45
Speaker 1: blue sweatshirt. Dodgers win. You covered a lot of the postseason.
0:49
Speaker 1: What can other teams and front offices learn from the
0:52
Speaker 1: Dodgers aside from the money spending or if you want
0:56
Speaker 1: to include that, they do some other things well too.
0:59
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think when you have an owner that commits
1:01
Speaker 2: the right money, the dollars that it takes to win,
1:05
Speaker 2: and then you have a front office that spends it correctly.
1:09
Speaker 2: And it's when I say spend it correctly, I'm not
1:11
Speaker 2: just talking about building a team that has four number
1:14
Speaker 2: one starters. I'm not talking about just a team that's
1:17
Speaker 2: building with three future Hall of Famers in showy Otani
1:21
Speaker 2: and Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman and perhaps even Will
1:23
Speaker 2: Smith someday.
1:24
Speaker 3: Who knows.
1:25
Speaker 2: We'll have to keep watching. But it's an organization that
1:28
Speaker 2: spends a lot of time and effort on making sure
1:30
Speaker 2: they get the right human beings in the clubhouse, not
1:32
Speaker 2: just the players, but the players with talent that are
1:35
Speaker 2: also elite human beings. They get that. They spend a
1:38
Speaker 2: lot of money on research and development. They spend a
1:40
Speaker 2: lot of money on technology. They spend a lot of
1:42
Speaker 2: time and effort providing the players the best information they
1:47
Speaker 2: possibly can to help them be the best they could be.
1:50
Speaker 2: And when you talk to players, and when I'm on
1:52
Speaker 2: the field at Dodger Stadium, I'm asking players, you know
1:55
Speaker 2: what's different, you know, playing for the Dodgers than your
1:58
Speaker 2: previous team. I love hearing the smiles, and I love
2:02
Speaker 2: hearing about how much effort and money is invested in
2:06
Speaker 2: time in helping each player be the best they can be.
2:09
Speaker 2: And the Dodgers of the model organization. This has been
2:12
Speaker 2: great for baseball. I tell everybody, we'd all love to
2:16
Speaker 2: be the GM or the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2:19
Speaker 2: They put together the best team. They invest the money,
2:23
Speaker 2: and nobody should be upset. They play within the rules,
2:25
Speaker 2: and they're first class organization from top to bottom. That's
2:30
Speaker 2: just the facts, that's just the truth. And they treat
2:32
Speaker 2: everybody great. So I think we can learn. Everyone can
2:35
Speaker 2: learn from that.
2:36
Speaker 4: They have a bunch of good people in that organization too, Jim,
2:39
Speaker 4: I mean players, So I mean Dave Roberts and Freddie
2:42
Speaker 4: Freeman and Show Hey and Mooki, and they're good people too.
2:45
Speaker 3: So listen. As much as you want to.
2:47
Speaker 4: People want to hate them because they're good, but don't
2:48
Speaker 4: hate them because if you don't know them, you don't
2:50
Speaker 4: you can't. It's hard to It's hard to hate those
2:51
Speaker 4: people once you get to meet them and talk to them.
2:53
Speaker 4: So I agree with what you said. Now now I know,
2:56
Speaker 4: I don't know if you heard what we were talking about
2:57
Speaker 4: before you came on about the Rocky situations. So I
3:00
Speaker 4: want to go to the Rockies of what's going on there.
3:02
Speaker 4: They came they seemed like they were down to two
3:04
Speaker 4: finalists for their front office opening and they're like, no,
3:07
Speaker 4: we're moving on from them.
3:08
Speaker 3: What the hell is going on in Colorado?
3:10
Speaker 4: Can you explain what is happening, because no one knows
3:12
Speaker 4: what No one knows what's going on there.
3:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know for sure what's going on, but
3:17
Speaker 2: I can tell you that any executive that's going to
3:19
Speaker 2: consider that job is going to need a commitment long
3:23
Speaker 2: term because it's gonna take at least seven years to
3:26
Speaker 2: make that franchise competitive. They're in a division where there's
3:30
Speaker 2: four other teams that are built for the next five
3:32
Speaker 2: years that are gonna be playoff contending teams, and the Rockies.
3:36
Speaker 2: It's gonna take a long time. The other thing about
3:39
Speaker 2: the Rockies like an expansion team, right, they haven't spent
3:42
Speaker 2: any money on the analytics, with technology. They're so far
3:44
Speaker 2: behind every other team in that division that the person
3:47
Speaker 2: going in there's got a lot of work to do
3:49
Speaker 2: and a lot of revamping, and they're gonna have to
3:51
Speaker 2: deal with a lot of losing over the next several years.
3:54
Speaker 2: So you know, are you gonna pay someone enough and
3:56
Speaker 2: are you're gonna give them a long enough term contract
3:59
Speaker 2: for them to take it. I've said this before. If
4:01
Speaker 2: I'm the Rockies, there's only two people on planet Earth
4:04
Speaker 2: that I would want to hire to run that team.
4:07
Speaker 2: Number one would be THEO Epstein, and I would give
4:09
Speaker 2: him ownership of the team, and I would give them
4:12
Speaker 2: a checkbook and say, go have fund you a full
4:14
Speaker 2: rang to make all the decisions. I think if you
4:17
Speaker 2: did that, THEO would turn that team as quick as
4:20
Speaker 2: possible into a team that was relevant again. The other
4:24
Speaker 2: guy would be Howie Roseman of the Philadelphia Eagles, who
4:27
Speaker 2: I think is the best GM in sports period. I
4:29
Speaker 2: would bet that he'd be able to come over to baseball,
4:32
Speaker 2: hire the right baseball people around him, and he'd be
4:34
Speaker 2: able to find a way to turn that franchise around.
4:38
Speaker 2: But this hire is extremely important for their future, and
4:42
Speaker 2: they have dug themselves such a hole that the best
4:45
Speaker 2: move that could possibly happen to them is for Commissioner
4:48
Speaker 2: Rob Manford to do what he told me on the
4:50
Speaker 2: field during the World Series when he said the one
4:53
Speaker 2: thing he wants to do before he leaves office besides expansion,
4:57
Speaker 2: is geographic realignment. Rockies need to do every anything they
5:00
Speaker 2: can to get out of having to be in the
5:04
Speaker 2: division that they're in, and that's the best move the
5:06
Speaker 2: next executive should be able to push.
5:08
Speaker 3: Well, that's a week that's a week out that's a
5:10
Speaker 3: cop out, Jim. That's a cop out by the Rockies.
5:13
Speaker 4: They've been to the playoffs in this division before playoffs,
5:16
Speaker 4: but not anytime soon, all right. I want to go
5:18
Speaker 4: to some other things, some other news here. The Gabe Kapler,
5:21
Speaker 4: first of all, is the new GM. This guy's nine lives.
5:23
Speaker 4: I mean, he didn't do very well as a manager.
5:25
Speaker 4: He was the Dodgers guy. Now he's GM, which is cool.
5:28
Speaker 4: He can maybe he can show us him getting dressed
5:30
Speaker 4: all the time like he does on Instagram, where he's
5:32
Speaker 4: like I'm getting rid of the day and he's putting
5:34
Speaker 4: his strike well whatever. And then the age of some
5:36
Speaker 4: of these managers, especially Breutera, right, and then a one
5:39
Speaker 4: year deal for Suzuki and then a thirty three year
5:42
Speaker 4: old manager. The game is changing fast right in front
5:46
Speaker 4: of our eyes.
5:47
Speaker 2: Yeah it is. You just threw a lot at me
5:50
Speaker 2: right there.
5:50
Speaker 3: I know. I'm sorry, Jim. I'm fired up today. The
5:52
Speaker 3: World Series over. I got nothing to you.
5:55
Speaker 2: I love this version of AJ I do. Yeah. So,
5:58
Speaker 2: I mean look for Gay Kapler. Peter Bendix is making
6:01
Speaker 2: all the decisions and he will going forward. Gabe Kapler
6:05
Speaker 2: can do a lot of the work between Bendix and
6:08
Speaker 2: the clubhouse, and Bendix and the coaching staff, and he
6:12
Speaker 2: can talk to the other gms for Peter. So look,
6:15
Speaker 2: don't misunderstand what this means. Andrew Freeman runs the Dodgers,
6:19
Speaker 2: not Brandon Gomes. Dave Debrowski runs the Phillies, not Presston Mattingly.
6:23
Speaker 2: But the gms in those jobs can take a lot
6:26
Speaker 2: of the load off of the president, like Peter Bendix.
6:30
Speaker 2: So that's kind of the Gabe Kapeler role there. But
6:32
Speaker 2: he's not gonna have carp Blanche to make any baseball decisions.
6:36
Speaker 2: Peter's going to continue to make, is what I was told. Now.
6:39
Speaker 2: In terms of what you threw at me, I love
6:41
Speaker 2: the Alburnez signing in Baltimore. I thought it was a
6:44
Speaker 2: good signing. I like the fact they went outside the organization.
6:48
Speaker 2: Albrenez has a tremendous reputation from a lot of people.
6:50
Speaker 2: I love the Skip Schumacher signing with the Rangers. Watching
6:54
Speaker 2: him with the Marlins that first year and he was
6:57
Speaker 2: manager of the Year in the National League. He can
7:00
Speaker 2: developed players, communicates well, very good at strategy, handling a
7:04
Speaker 2: pitching staff. I think that was a good hire. We
7:07
Speaker 2: knew when they hired him a year ago that he
7:09
Speaker 2: was manager and waiting, but when Bruce Bochi's contract was up,
7:12
Speaker 2: and so that wasn't a surprise. Kurtsuzuki on a one
7:16
Speaker 2: year deal, Like why did you take it? I mean,
7:19
Speaker 2: we're gonna be doing this a year from now when
7:20
Speaker 2: Perry Manassey and then Suzuki are fired at the same time.
7:23
Speaker 2: And the reason we were given that it's a one
7:25
Speaker 2: year deal is because that's all Perry signed for. I mean,
7:28
Speaker 2: what does that have to do with it? Like, you know,
7:30
Speaker 2: I just it's embarrassing. It is. Sorry, don't like it.
7:34
Speaker 2: The blake, but terror one is the one that caught
7:37
Speaker 2: me completely off guard. And I'm open minded. Look, there
7:41
Speaker 2: was a time where I was the youngest GM in
7:43
Speaker 2: baseball at thirty one, so I think you have to
7:47
Speaker 2: keep an open mind and give him a chance. I
7:50
Speaker 2: think the one part that would be concerning for me
7:53
Speaker 2: is you're having a rookie GM and a rookie manager,
7:56
Speaker 2: two of the youngest in those roles. I know, my
8:00
Speaker 2: first year was a huge learning experience. I thought I
8:02
Speaker 2: was ready. I wasn't ready. I had a rookie manager
8:05
Speaker 2: at the time. That's a tough formula to have and
8:08
Speaker 2: now nationals, it won't be high expectations, but at the
8:11
Speaker 2: same time, you know that's the one I'm gonna be
8:14
Speaker 2: watching closely. And in terms of the giants hiring of
8:17
Speaker 2: I Tello, I actually love it. I don't know if
8:20
Speaker 2: it's gonna work. I'm fascinated to see how it plays
8:23
Speaker 2: out with zero professional experience. But the one thing I've
8:27
Speaker 2: learned in the last year I trust Buster Posey. I
8:31
Speaker 2: trust his decision making. I like the adamis signing. I
8:35
Speaker 2: like the Devor's trade. I like the trade with the Mets.
8:38
Speaker 2: He's won three world championships. He knows what it takes
8:42
Speaker 2: to manage. And if Buster thinks that that's the right
8:45
Speaker 2: guy for him, I'm gonna just trust it. But I
8:48
Speaker 2: am really looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
8:52
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9:59
Speaker 5: old GA, you had a rookie manager. What are some
10:02
Speaker 5: of the problems they're going to run into that they
10:04
Speaker 5: have to learn from your experience?
10:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, I mean the first part is just when
10:12
Speaker 2: you're sitting in the GM seat for the first time
10:14
Speaker 2: and everything is on you. That's a big enough job
10:17
Speaker 2: as it is. You combine that with a manager who
10:21
Speaker 2: isn't ready to be a major league manager, who's dealing
10:23
Speaker 2: with everything, that's even more of a burden that's put
10:27
Speaker 2: on top of you. And there's just so much to it.
10:29
Speaker 2: And as you guys know, that first year you're a
10:32
Speaker 2: big league manager gains fast. I mean, you better have
10:35
Speaker 2: experienced coaches near you, and you better hope they're in
10:37
Speaker 2: your helping you. But it goes fast, a lot can
10:40
Speaker 2: go wrong, and it's it's kind of just overwhelming. And
10:44
Speaker 2: I just, you know, my own personal opinion, if I
10:47
Speaker 2: was an owner, if I'm going to have a rookie GM,
10:50
Speaker 2: which not opposed to it that you have the right
10:52
Speaker 2: guy there, I would like to have an experienced manager
10:55
Speaker 2: that's won before so that you don't have any development
10:58
Speaker 2: issues for that person in that job. It's just it's
11:01
Speaker 2: very tough to develop both of those positions at the
11:04
Speaker 2: same time when you're running an entire franchise. It's just
11:09
Speaker 2: there's too many mistakes that can happen. And in this
11:11
Speaker 2: day and age, you know, there's so much to do.
11:14
Speaker 2: They're really hard jobs. And look, I'm not saying it's
11:17
Speaker 2: not gonna work. I hope it works. I'm fascinating to
11:20
Speaker 2: watch it, but I'm not sure that that was the
11:23
Speaker 2: right higher for where they are right now.
11:26
Speaker 5: Last off season we were talking about, hey, you know what,
11:28
Speaker 5: they need a Jason Worth type of signing. You know,
11:31
Speaker 5: maybe it's Pete Alonzo, maybe whatever it is, hiring both
11:35
Speaker 5: of these young guys. Doesn't that just completely preclude them
11:40
Speaker 5: from having any kind of free agent presence, because what
11:44
Speaker 5: free agent is like, hey, you know what, unless they
11:46
Speaker 5: give Jason Worth type of excessive money that no one
11:50
Speaker 5: else is getting. Obviously you can go anywhere for the
11:52
Speaker 5: extra money. But doesn't that just keep them off the
11:55
Speaker 5: board for any of these free agents who are like, yeah,
11:57
Speaker 5: I'm looking to definitely make make my mark.
12:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it does it. Also, remember I think
12:03
Speaker 2: the owner has it off the board anyway, I'm not
12:05
Speaker 2: sure the Learners are ready to invest in free agency again.
12:09
Speaker 2: So I think what Paul Tiboni's plan is, from what
12:13
Speaker 2: I understand, is, you know, he's looking for controllable young pitching,
12:17
Speaker 2: and he's looking for catching help from what I can understand,
12:20
Speaker 2: and he's going to be listening to offers on Mackenzie Gore,
12:24
Speaker 2: probably going to trade him in this offseason, and so
12:28
Speaker 2: you know, I think they're looking at it as a
12:30
Speaker 2: developmental year rather than going out there. You know, and
12:33
Speaker 2: you mentioned Alonzo, so let me follow that. I mean
12:36
Speaker 2: to me, you add Alonzo. It takes pressure off James Wood,
12:39
Speaker 2: It takes pressure off Dylan Cruz and c j Abrams.
12:42
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, you have an adequate offense. You know,
12:44
Speaker 2: you make a big move like that, it matters, it does.
12:47
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any question about it. I don't
12:49
Speaker 2: think ownership's ready to do that, and I don't get
12:51
Speaker 2: the sense that the GM is planning on doing that,
12:54
Speaker 2: at least for this offseason.
12:57
Speaker 3: Jim, you you forgot one. You forgot Derek sh Elton. Oh, yes,
13:02
Speaker 3: we forgot to talk about him.
13:03
Speaker 4: And how I mean I said the other day, is
13:04
Speaker 4: this just Rocko part two because he worked under Roco?
13:06
Speaker 3: Whatever?
13:07
Speaker 5: There?
13:08
Speaker 3: I mean, that's what it seems like for the Twins, like, oh,
13:10
Speaker 3: we can.
13:10
Speaker 4: Just get this guy as Roco part two and we
13:13
Speaker 4: won't make waves and just do whatever we want Derek.
13:15
Speaker 3: Fallavi and we'll move on.
13:16
Speaker 4: But that's fine, that's we can get into that another
13:18
Speaker 4: time when because the Twins aren't trying to win anyways.
13:20
Speaker 4: They're trying to ship payroll and save money, so the
13:23
Speaker 4: pollouts can sell the team.
13:24
Speaker 3: But we'll get into that another day.
13:25
Speaker 4: But I want to know about the work stoppage and
13:27
Speaker 4: everything that's been talked about coming up after this year.
13:30
Speaker 3: Cursuzuki.
13:31
Speaker 4: People are saying he only signed a one year deal
13:32
Speaker 4: because already doesn't want to, you know, pay a manager,
13:35
Speaker 4: possibly through.
13:36
Speaker 3: The work stoppage. I don't think that's it. I think
13:37
Speaker 3: it's more of what you said.
13:39
Speaker 4: But as far as player's salary goes, we're here and
13:41
Speaker 4: we're gonna dig into some free agents. We have some
13:43
Speaker 4: opt outs today, Bregman, Edwin Diaz, Cody Bellinger. As a GM,
13:47
Speaker 4: were you ever a GM at during the threat of
13:49
Speaker 4: a work stoppage and did it affect how you signed
13:53
Speaker 4: free agents going forward because of that? Did you try
13:56
Speaker 4: to get shorter term deals? Did you try to get
13:58
Speaker 4: guys that were good after the workstops? How does that
14:00
Speaker 4: affect the front office?
14:01
Speaker 3: All?
14:02
Speaker 2: Right? So I've been involved in a lot of work
14:05
Speaker 2: stoppages over the years. The ninety four ninety five was
14:09
Speaker 2: the biggest, the biggest ones that's sitting in the GM
14:11
Speaker 2: seat there, But every single work stoppage that I was
14:15
Speaker 2: in there was always a threat and there was always
14:17
Speaker 2: going to lock them out or they're going to strike.
14:20
Speaker 2: Every single time since Commissioner Manford has been in that seat.
14:24
Speaker 2: Though we you know, we haven't had a work stoppage,
14:26
Speaker 2: right and so we had one for the pandemic, but
14:29
Speaker 2: we didn't have one for this. The threat of it
14:33
Speaker 2: is always a huge part of negotiations. We want a
14:37
Speaker 2: salary cap, but if we don't get at the'bino baseball
14:40
Speaker 2: and there's always baseball. Baseball is in such a strong
14:44
Speaker 2: position financially right now, and I think in time the
14:49
Speaker 2: revenues are gonna spike when they all figure out better
14:53
Speaker 2: way to get the streaming revenues. But eventually that's going
14:56
Speaker 2: to come around in time. It's very healthy and a
14:59
Speaker 2: workstop page ruins that. I don't think it's going to happen.
15:02
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be threatened. I talk to people,
15:05
Speaker 2: you know all the time when I was, you know,
15:08
Speaker 2: at the LCS and World Series, and everyone's talking about, oh,
15:11
Speaker 2: you know, there's gonna be a work stoppage in twenty seven,
15:13
Speaker 2: and yeah, why why are you saying that, Like, come on,
15:16
Speaker 2: would the game can't afford it? I don't think there's
15:19
Speaker 2: any question there's a lot of owners that would like
15:21
Speaker 2: to see the salary gap close and make it a
15:24
Speaker 2: little bit fairer for some of the smaller market teams.
15:28
Speaker 2: And there's no question that, you know, we got hardcore
15:31
Speaker 2: people now in terms of answering your question aj about
15:36
Speaker 2: signing that. There's gonna be several gms that are not
15:40
Speaker 2: going to pay any attention to it, Like the San
15:42
Speaker 2: Francisco Giants, the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees thought
15:45
Speaker 2: off the affillies. They're gonna spend the money, they're gonna
15:47
Speaker 2: go sign their free agents. There's gonna be some owners
15:50
Speaker 2: that are not going to do it because they're going
15:53
Speaker 2: to be scared of the work stoppage. And so there's
15:56
Speaker 2: there's some teams that are just not gonna be involved
15:58
Speaker 2: this winner and and that's kind of who they are, right,
16:02
Speaker 2: I mean, they tell you are.
16:03
Speaker 3: You know.
16:04
Speaker 2: My feeling is it's business as usual. Be very careful
16:08
Speaker 2: because we got really smart agents. They're gonna wanna backload contracts.
16:13
Speaker 2: They're gonna want to take salary from twenty twenty seven
16:17
Speaker 2: and they're gonna want to push it to twenty eight
16:18
Speaker 2: twenty nine and thirty. They're gonna want to push move
16:21
Speaker 2: it up from twenty seven to twenty six. And you're
16:24
Speaker 2: sitting in the GMC going no, no, no, no no,
16:27
Speaker 2: we're gonna do the AAV. We're gonna have twenty seven
16:29
Speaker 2: be the AV. So if there's a workstop much on
16:31
Speaker 2: either side, you know you're not getting paid with the
16:34
Speaker 2: contract is I'm not gonna pay you more money because
16:36
Speaker 2: there might be a workstop. But so that could be
16:39
Speaker 2: a negotiating problem at some point, and negotiating some of these,
16:43
Speaker 2: I mean, you know the Bors Corporation. You know, Scott,
16:45
Speaker 2: who is sitting there with ten ridiculous free agents like
16:48
Speaker 2: he normally has, is gonna work very hard at making
16:51
Speaker 2: sure he protects his players the best way again. And
16:54
Speaker 2: I think from the club side, you gotta, you know,
16:56
Speaker 2: be strong and uh try not to fall for that
16:59
Speaker 2: kind of negotiating ploy.
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18:02
Speaker 1: back with Jim Bowden, who just put this out, Top
18:04
Speaker 1: fifty MLB free agents this offseason contract predictions, team fits
18:10
Speaker 1: for Tucker, Schwarber and more. So, right now, we're going
18:13
Speaker 1: to go one through fifty. We'll do one minute each.
18:16
Speaker 1: I'm totally kidding. We're just going to pick some standouts here, JB.
18:19
Speaker 1: But let's start at the top. Kyle Tucker is going
18:21
Speaker 1: to get the most money in the offseason. That's accurate, right.
18:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. I mean, he's twenty eight years old,
18:28
Speaker 2: they'll play next year at twenty nine, So you know,
18:31
Speaker 2: I think realistically he gets a ten year deal. You know,
18:35
Speaker 2: the thing that Tucker does is he's thirty homers, he's
18:37
Speaker 2: thirty steals, he's plus defense and right field. He's a
18:41
Speaker 2: really good base runner. He's a complete player. Now, he's
18:44
Speaker 2: not the franchise player, right. You don't want to sign
18:48
Speaker 2: him as the face of your franchise. You want to
18:51
Speaker 2: put him on the team where he's going on a
18:54
Speaker 2: team that's got a loaded lineup, and then there's real
18:56
Speaker 2: value there, right. I mean, if you put him on
18:59
Speaker 2: the Dodgers, you put him in right field, moved to
19:01
Speaker 2: O to left, and now you got a plus defender
19:04
Speaker 2: and right field that you haven't had all year, and
19:06
Speaker 2: another thirty homer, thirty steel guy in that lineup. He's
19:09
Speaker 2: a perfect fit for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's a
19:12
Speaker 2: good fit for the New York Yankees. Put him in
19:15
Speaker 2: left field and that short porch in right field. Let
19:18
Speaker 2: him eat, Let him eat. You know, I also like
19:21
Speaker 2: him with the Phillies, the Mets, and the Giants, but
19:24
Speaker 2: I think the best spot for him is Dodgers or Yankees.
19:27
Speaker 2: But yeah, he's he's gonna get paid. I originally thought
19:30
Speaker 2: before the season start he might get five hundred. I
19:33
Speaker 2: don't Now I've got him at ten years, four hundred
19:35
Speaker 2: and twenty seven million over ten. But really good player
19:39
Speaker 2: and a complete player.
19:42
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm digging through this list. I looked at
19:44
Speaker 3: it earlier.
19:44
Speaker 4: There's some there's some names on here to me that
19:47
Speaker 4: are are that are very interesting. Brandon Woods if you
19:50
Speaker 4: have way down the list right, he showed he could
19:52
Speaker 4: do a lot of things, and then he goes and
19:53
Speaker 4: gets hurt. What's he gonna get right? Some of these
19:56
Speaker 4: some of these other names are big name guys, like
19:59
Speaker 4: especially even I'll go to your top ten that you
20:01
Speaker 4: have on here. I mean obviously Tucker Schwarber, you know,
20:04
Speaker 4: Pete Alonzo.
20:05
Speaker 3: But what's he gonna get again, right?
20:06
Speaker 4: Because he went through it last year and now he's
20:08
Speaker 4: And then the one that pops out to me, though,
20:10
Speaker 4: is your number four guy from ber Valdez. Are the
20:14
Speaker 4: Astros gonna poney up and keep him? You put San Francisco.
20:17
Speaker 4: He seems like the perfect guy to compliment Logan web
20:20
Speaker 4: right at the top of that rotation, But is Buster
20:23
Speaker 4: Posey into the whole catcher? Where he crosses up his
20:26
Speaker 4: ketcher on purpose, although he didn't do it on purpose, right,
20:29
Speaker 4: And then there's the up and down, like there's so
20:31
Speaker 4: many things with him, like he should get if you
20:33
Speaker 4: just go off talent, a huge contract, but then there's
20:35
Speaker 4: so many things where people like, ah, I don't.
20:37
Speaker 2: Know, Yeah, great, you threw a lot of b again.
20:41
Speaker 2: I love that ag. So let's start with Woodrift. It
20:43
Speaker 2: all depends on the medicals, right, I mean what he
20:46
Speaker 2: gets paid is gonna all depend on what does the
20:49
Speaker 2: MRI say, what is the health risk? Is it a
20:52
Speaker 2: one year prove it deal, right? Or is it a
20:55
Speaker 2: two year with an opt out kind of deal? Kind
20:58
Speaker 2: of like Jack Flaherty Flairity signed John Flair with the Tigers.
21:03
Speaker 2: So you know, Wood's a tough call, like Zach Allen's
21:06
Speaker 2: a tough call.
21:07
Speaker 3: Right.
21:07
Speaker 2: Does he get a baldise three at seventy five or
21:10
Speaker 2: the way he pitched an August? Does he get better?
21:12
Speaker 2: Getting back to your Peede, Alonzo, Yeah, I think he's
21:14
Speaker 2: gonna get the long term deal this year, and if
21:17
Speaker 2: the Mets are going to do short term again, I
21:18
Speaker 2: think he leaves. I do Alonso plays every day, That's
21:23
Speaker 2: what he does. He plays one hundred and fifty played
21:25
Speaker 2: on hundred and sixty two this year, but he plays
21:27
Speaker 2: a posts. He's forty homers every year, and it's okay
21:31
Speaker 2: to give him a six year deal even if he's
21:33
Speaker 2: your DH, right, I mean, it's okay to pay that.
21:37
Speaker 2: He's a difference maker, right, and he's a good teammate.
21:41
Speaker 2: So I think so the Valdez one's fascinating. I overshot
21:45
Speaker 2: Baldez on purpose just because I think pitching sorry to
21:47
Speaker 2: get by. I think the San Francisco Giants is a
21:50
Speaker 2: great spot for him. I do. I think that what
21:55
Speaker 2: happened with the catcher is something that you're gonna have
21:58
Speaker 2: to explain. You're gonna have to have us understand it.
22:03
Speaker 2: But at the same time, with that kind of sinker
22:05
Speaker 2: and that track record and being able to pitch the
22:08
Speaker 2: big games in October, you know, there's just only so
22:11
Speaker 2: much pitching out there. I mean, it's him, it's Ranger Suarez,
22:13
Speaker 2: it's Dylan Cease, it's Zach Gallen. You know, there's only
22:17
Speaker 2: so many starters out there, and every GM you talk to,
22:20
Speaker 2: what are they looking for a starting pitcher? So yeah,
22:23
Speaker 2: he's gonna get paid. I do love the fit with
22:25
Speaker 2: the Giants, And I know one thing. As much as
22:27
Speaker 2: I think the Giants need one more bat buster, Posey's
22:30
Speaker 2: making it clear to agents and the GMS that pitching, pitching,
22:34
Speaker 2: and pitching is what his goal is. This offseason, you
22:37
Speaker 2: brought Pete Alonzo.
22:39
Speaker 5: Your prediction for Kyle Schwarber was five years one fifty
22:44
Speaker 5: at thirty a year. Pete Alonzo, who's two years younger
22:49
Speaker 5: at six years one eighty, So thirty a year. Well,
22:53
Speaker 5: you said one eighty two, so you gave him extra
22:55
Speaker 5: two million. Do you feel like they are comparable players
22:59
Speaker 5: even though there's a two year difference and you're essentially
23:03
Speaker 5: getting more out of Alonzo.
23:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I mean had an extra year at twenty two,
23:09
Speaker 2: So you know, I don't you know, I don't know
23:11
Speaker 2: if you know you're taking a lower AAV. But look,
23:14
Speaker 2: I have Shober ranked right behind Tucker ahead of Alonzo.
23:17
Speaker 2: That's how I view it. I'll tell you why view
23:20
Speaker 2: it that way. I think Kyle Schwarber on a scale
23:22
Speaker 2: scout of the scale of twenty to eighty is an
23:25
Speaker 2: eighty teammate. I think he makes everybody around him better,
23:28
Speaker 2: He makes rookies better, he makes veteran players better, He
23:32
Speaker 2: makes managers better. Everything he does, those intangibles is why
23:37
Speaker 2: he's second on this list outside of the Dodgers who
23:42
Speaker 2: have Otawni and the Yankees who have Stanton's contract, they're
23:46
Speaker 2: stuck with. I think every other team in baseball should
23:48
Speaker 2: try to get Kyle Schwarber to be the guy now
23:51
Speaker 2: in terms of you know why I put the money
23:53
Speaker 2: where I put it. Everything I'm understanding is again, this
23:58
Speaker 2: is information that I'm getting that it sounds like five years,
24:02
Speaker 2: one fifty to one seventy is where this thing is
24:04
Speaker 2: gonna land. That's what I've been told by everybody. Now
24:07
Speaker 2: with Scott Boris representing Pete Alonzo, just knowing Scott over
24:13
Speaker 2: the years, there's certain plateaus that he looks for, and
24:18
Speaker 2: if he gets a bidding war, he's gonna get that
24:20
Speaker 2: six year for Alonzo, and I think I think he's
24:23
Speaker 2: proven enough. I mean, look, if you're the Red Sox,
24:26
Speaker 2: how great would Alonzo look on that in that lineup right?
24:29
Speaker 2: That power? If you're the Seattle Mariners who are that
24:32
Speaker 2: close to the World Series, how are those forty home
24:35
Speaker 2: runs look in that lineup?
24:36
Speaker 3: Right?
24:37
Speaker 2: If I'm Texas, how great would he look at first
24:39
Speaker 2: base for them. So I just think there's a lot
24:42
Speaker 2: of fits there, and I think he's been so consistent
24:45
Speaker 2: in playing and hitting homers that Look, I'll take Schwarber
24:50
Speaker 2: or Alonzo either one. I love them both. I'm getting
24:53
Speaker 2: forty homers from both of them. I just think Sharber's
24:56
Speaker 2: gonna get five years and Alonzo is gonna get six.
25:00
Speaker 3: Okay, that's fair, that's fair.
25:03
Speaker 4: My next question is again on this list the relievers,
25:05
Speaker 4: Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Palm Rants, Brad Keller. I mean,
25:08
Speaker 4: Diaz is kind of in a different class in those,
25:11
Speaker 4: But what do you look at more if you're in
25:12
Speaker 4: the front office, You've been through this before. Palm Rance
25:15
Speaker 4: has done some good things. Devin Williams was many considered
25:18
Speaker 4: the best relief pitcher in baseball until this year. Right,
25:20
Speaker 4: Luke Weaver had a great year last year, fizzled a
25:23
Speaker 4: little bit this year. What do you value when you
25:25
Speaker 4: go into free agency and you say, all right, these
25:27
Speaker 4: are the best relievers out there.
25:28
Speaker 3: Who do I give my money to? And how do
25:30
Speaker 3: I judge how much to give them to?
25:33
Speaker 2: Yeah? So I like getting relievers at the trade deadline,
25:36
Speaker 2: and I like developing relievers from within or trading for
25:41
Speaker 2: set up relievers that haven't closed before. You know, and
25:44
Speaker 2: my history as a GM you know, I traded for
25:47
Speaker 2: Jeff Shaw and Jeff Brantley and I just Danty Graves
25:50
Speaker 2: and all three closed and all three one row leads
25:52
Speaker 2: for me. I like creating my own and not spending
25:54
Speaker 2: the money. You know, a lot of times when you
25:56
Speaker 2: get closers in the off season, it doesn't work out.
25:59
Speaker 2: As the dodge about Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates and
26:02
Speaker 2: ask them where they are right now when they got
26:04
Speaker 2: to the postseason, right, I mean not that they you know,
26:07
Speaker 2: and ask the Yankees about Devin Williams when they needed
26:10
Speaker 2: the most. I mean, unfortunately the way you know, the
26:14
Speaker 2: Mariano Rivera's and the Trevor Hoffins were exceptions. Historically, relievers
26:18
Speaker 2: are tough to guarantee. Now looking in this market, Look,
26:22
Speaker 2: there's two relievers that really stand out, right, you mentioned
26:25
Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz and Robert Suarez. Those are the two impact closers.
26:30
Speaker 2: I think they get paid and I think, you know,
26:32
Speaker 2: if you're the big market team that's ready to win, right,
26:35
Speaker 2: if I'm the Yankees, I'm the Dodgers. I'd like to
26:38
Speaker 2: have those guys. Sure, let's let's go give a shot.
26:41
Speaker 2: If it doesn't work, it's okay. We have enough money
26:44
Speaker 2: to you know, overlook it. If they get injured or
26:47
Speaker 2: all of a sudden can't perform, and then you got
26:49
Speaker 2: to get creatd Look, you know, I'd like to take
26:50
Speaker 2: a chance on Luke Weaver based on what I saw
26:53
Speaker 2: a year ago. You know, can I get them back
26:55
Speaker 2: to there? But you know, you really, when you talk
26:57
Speaker 2: about relievers, you got to do your homework on thats
27:00
Speaker 2: and MRIs and make sure that the arms are good.
27:04
Speaker 2: Because the way all these relievers are used, they're being
27:07
Speaker 2: used to blow out. Right, We're taking the starters out
27:09
Speaker 2: early after they face the lineup twice. We're pitching them
27:13
Speaker 2: all the time. We're trying to break them, and we
27:15
Speaker 2: are breaking them, and we're doing a good job of
27:17
Speaker 2: it as an industry, so I think you got to
27:19
Speaker 2: be careful. I think, you know, as a GM, I
27:21
Speaker 2: think you're better off concentrating double A, triple A on
27:25
Speaker 2: other teams. Where can I have guys where you know,
27:28
Speaker 2: maybe they're starting for them and I can trade for
27:30
Speaker 2: them and I can put them on the back end
27:32
Speaker 2: of the bullpen. But I I'd rather spend my money
27:35
Speaker 2: on starting pitching and impact bats and try to find
27:38
Speaker 2: other ways to get relievers. I mean, you look at
27:40
Speaker 2: the Dodgers, the World champions, and you know, at the
27:43
Speaker 2: end of the day when they got to the World Series,
27:45
Speaker 2: all those veteran relievers, you know, weren't there. It was Robleski,
27:48
Speaker 2: and it was em At Shean, and you know they
27:51
Speaker 2: had signed Roki Sasaki in the off season, But I mean,
27:53
Speaker 2: it wasn't all the relievers they were planning on back
27:56
Speaker 2: in November, December, January, February and March. None of those
27:59
Speaker 2: guys were there.
28:01
Speaker 3: All right.
28:01
Speaker 5: One of the things you've said about almost everybody out
28:03
Speaker 5: there in free agency, it's uncertainty. We're uncertain And as
28:07
Speaker 5: a GM, I'm sure you go into it. There's uncertainty
28:10
Speaker 5: about this or that or health or whatever. So is
28:12
Speaker 5: there more of a slam dunk than Alex Bregman to
28:16
Speaker 5: go back to the Red Sox. One they took three
28:19
Speaker 5: hundred million dollars off their books. Two, there's no uncertainty,
28:23
Speaker 5: you know exactly. You've heard stories, But he came and
28:26
Speaker 5: played for you last year. You kind of undercut him
28:29
Speaker 5: with a little bit of Okay, maybe it was a
28:31
Speaker 5: good deal, not a good deal, opt out. Whatever is
28:33
Speaker 5: feeling is you saw it. Is there more of a
28:36
Speaker 5: slam dunk than him back to the Red Sox.
28:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not a slam dunk at all. Yeah, they're
28:42
Speaker 2: fine with putting Marcelo Meyer at third base with story
28:45
Speaker 2: and shortstop. You know, look, it's not that they don't
28:49
Speaker 2: want Bregman back. It's not that they don't want him
28:51
Speaker 2: at third base. It's not that they don't appreciate and
28:54
Speaker 2: respect the influence he had on Roman, Anthony and all
28:58
Speaker 2: Meyer and all the young players there because he did
29:01
Speaker 2: I get it. He's represented by Scott Boris, one of
29:04
Speaker 2: the best agents in the business who breaks records with contracts,
29:07
Speaker 2: and Bregman didn't get that long term deal he had
29:10
Speaker 2: last year, and he wants a long term deal and
29:12
Speaker 2: he wants to be paid. So unless the Red Sox
29:15
Speaker 2: change their tune and are willing to go, you know,
29:19
Speaker 2: give him the six years that long term contract. He
29:21
Speaker 2: doesn't have to worry about his next home. I think
29:24
Speaker 2: he can be out there for play. And if I'm
29:26
Speaker 2: the Detroit Tigers, I'm going to make a run at him.
29:28
Speaker 2: If I'm the Phillies, I'm going to make a run
29:30
Speaker 2: at him. If I'm the Yankees, I'm going to make
29:32
Speaker 2: a run at him. I mean, Alex Bregman's an October player, right,
29:36
Speaker 2: I want Bregman on my team. So I think Boston's
29:39
Speaker 2: a great fit. If I were Boston, I'd love to
29:41
Speaker 2: bring him back. But I get I don't get the
29:44
Speaker 2: sense that that is the number one priority. I wouldn't
29:47
Speaker 2: be surprised if starting pitching in first base ended up
29:49
Speaker 2: being the two biggest moves at Craig Breslo.
29:52
Speaker 4: Makes Hi Jim time for one more question. It's a
29:55
Speaker 4: yes or no question. Okay, kerk Scubele and Detroit Tiger
29:59
Speaker 4: next year?
30:00
Speaker 2: No? No, I mean, look, I have to add something
30:03
Speaker 2: that I can't just say yes or no. He won't
30:05
Speaker 2: be because they won't be able to sign him. The
30:07
Speaker 2: offer they made him was embarrassing. You have to know
30:10
Speaker 2: that Schooble is the second best pitcher in baseball to
30:13
Speaker 2: Paul Skiings, and he's gonna be the highest paid pitcher
30:16
Speaker 2: in baseball history. Your first offer has to make him
30:20
Speaker 2: the highest paid pitcher in baseball, and you're hundreds of
30:24
Speaker 2: millions off with your initial offer, and you can't go
30:27
Speaker 2: into the season knowing he's going to be free agent
30:30
Speaker 2: of nothing for him, So you've got to be sitting
30:32
Speaker 2: here and spend the whole offseason trying to find out
30:35
Speaker 2: who is the best farm system, and who's willing to
30:38
Speaker 2: make a run and trade their farm system for him,
30:41
Speaker 2: and what team's gonna be able to step up and
30:43
Speaker 2: pay what it's going to take to get him. I
30:45
Speaker 2: find a hard time to believe that the Illitch family
30:48
Speaker 2: is going to commit it to Schooble. So that being said,
30:51
Speaker 2: I think he's going to be traded between now and
30:54
Speaker 2: the beginning of spring training.
30:58
Speaker 1: That's good stuff, Crochet. Last year, he was a pretty
31:01
Speaker 1: big deal for Boston this season. Now pictures schoobl in
31:05
Speaker 1: another rotation for twenty twenty six. That's a segment all
31:10
Speaker 1: in itself.
31:11
Speaker 4: Those playoff changing moves right there, Those are the types
31:13
Speaker 4: of moves that jams can make and change their future Rockies.
31:16
Speaker 3: And then when they get a GM Rockies.
31:19
Speaker 1: And maybe he goes to a team that locks him
31:21
Speaker 1: up long term, and then he does a Yamamoto and
31:23
Speaker 1: pitches Game six and seven. We know Schooble is certainly
31:26
Speaker 1: capable of doing it if he's got, you know, the
31:28
Speaker 1: place that's telling him you're here no matter what. JB.
31:31
Speaker 2: Good stuff.
31:32
Speaker 1: I really appreciate the extended time we'll be talking.
31:34
Speaker 2: Talk to you soon. Thanks guys,