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GM Territory: Jim Bowden’s free agent market preview · Foul Territory

0:06
Speaker 1: Welcome back in everybody to GM territory. Jim, we're going
0:10
Speaker 1: to talk about free agents today. It's an exciting free
0:13
Speaker 1: agent class, especially when it comes to the pitching side
0:15
Speaker 1: of things. But before we start with the labor talks
0:19
Speaker 1: going on right now, how is this going to affect
0:22
Speaker 1: free agency?
0:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great question. I think the only way
0:26
Speaker 2: I would know to answer is kind of look back
0:28
Speaker 2: at the last CBA negotiations to see what happened during
0:31
Speaker 2: that time. And it was interesting because We did have
0:34
Speaker 2: some free agents that wanted to sign quickly and swiftly
0:37
Speaker 2: before the agreement was made. And then we had other
0:40
Speaker 2: free agents that basically didn't sign until the end of
0:43
Speaker 2: January or into February. And so I really don't know.
0:47
Speaker 2: I think one of the big questions is how are
0:50
Speaker 2: the labor negotiations going? Does it look like there's going
0:53
Speaker 2: to be a cap? Does it look like there's going
0:55
Speaker 2: to be a penalty for the highest payroll teams? Because
0:58
Speaker 2: that could affect the superstar pitchers, the very best pitchers.
1:02
Speaker 2: That could affect how their contracts look. But I do
1:05
Speaker 2: think you're going to see some guys that sign early.
1:08
Speaker 2: As an example, I think someone like Freddie Peralta who
1:11
Speaker 2: has really pitched well at the end of the season,
1:13
Speaker 2: has brought back his value. Tampa Bay, after trading for
1:17
Speaker 2: him at the deadline, has resurrected his career. And someone
1:20
Speaker 2: like that, if he gets a really good offer early on,
1:22
Speaker 2: might want to grab it. So I guess my answer
1:25
Speaker 2: is I'm guessing it's going to be mixed. We'll see
1:27
Speaker 2: some guys that sign quick and other guys that are
1:29
Speaker 2: going to probably wait until after the labor negotiations are done.
1:34
Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaking about, you know, when it comes to this
1:38
Speaker 1: pitching class, Tarek Scouble is going to headline this class.
1:42
Speaker 1: No doubt about it. Where do you see Tarek going?
1:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, obviously a big market team,
1:51
Speaker 2: someone that's willing to break records. So I think, you know,
1:53
Speaker 2: obviously you look at teams like the Dodgers, the Mets,
1:56
Speaker 2: maybe the Angels with new ownership, maybe the Yankees, but
1:59
Speaker 2: I think they'll end up with one of the bigger
2:01
Speaker 2: market teams. I know he's also open to returning to Detroit,
2:04
Speaker 2: but we'll have to wait and see. It's going to
2:05
Speaker 2: be very fascinating. It's going to be fascinating to see
2:08
Speaker 2: if he gets the long-term record-breaking deal or if he
2:10
Speaker 2: does a shorter-term deal with the highest AAB we've ever
2:14
Speaker 2: seen before. You know, Scouble's coming off two Cy Young awards.
2:18
Speaker 2: He's not going to win one this year, but, you know,
2:20
Speaker 2: after he had the elbow surgery, he's come back. He
2:22
Speaker 2: looks strong. He's an ace. We'll see how he does
2:25
Speaker 2: in October. But I do expect Trey, Tarek Scouble, to
2:29
Speaker 2: become the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history when his contract
2:32
Speaker 2: is finalized. And free agency is going to be fascinating
2:35
Speaker 2: for him. as it always is with the top pitchers
2:37
Speaker 2: in every free agent market.
2:40
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And, you know, Scott Boris, I have a feeling
2:44
Speaker 1: he's probably going to wait for a long time to
2:47
Speaker 1: see what the best offer is. He actually had an
2:50
Speaker 1: interesting quote talking about Ellie De La Cruz of the
2:52
Speaker 1: Reds recently saying how Ellie De La Cruz, he's the steak, right?
2:57
Speaker 1: You know, you're going to wait to see who wants
2:59
Speaker 1: to come and try one of the best steaks. And
3:02
Speaker 1: I thought that was a pretty funny tidbit from Scott Boris. So,
3:05
Speaker 1: All right, there's also another pitcher in this class that
3:09
Speaker 1: I really didn't know too much about, to be honest.
3:12
Speaker 1: But I did some research on this guy, Kaima Tyra.
3:16
Speaker 1: And what scouts are kind of calling him is he
3:19
Speaker 1: literally is forged in the shape of a fire hydrant.
3:23
Speaker 1: You know, he's 5'8. He can throw up to 100
3:27
Speaker 1: miles an hour. His career in the NPB, 179 ERA,
3:31
Speaker 1: 578 innings pitched, 603 strikeouts over nine seasons. But he
3:36
Speaker 1: was mostly a reliever and closer for most of his career.
3:40
Speaker 1: Only in 2023 and 2026 has he been a full-time starter. Now, Jim,
3:47
Speaker 1: I am willing to believe that this guy is going
3:49
Speaker 1: to be a hot name, this free agency. What have
3:52
Speaker 1: you heard about him?
3:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've never seen him pitch in person. I have
3:56
Speaker 2: watched the video. I love the fire hydrant analogy. Just
4:00
Speaker 2: gave him a laugh. It's tremendous, the strength that he
4:04
Speaker 2: gets from the bottom half of his body. He has
4:07
Speaker 2: amazing extension for a pitcher that's only 5'8. I don't
4:12
Speaker 2: get the impression he has good downward plane on that
4:15
Speaker 2: 100-mile-an-hour fastball you were talking about, but a lot of strength,
4:18
Speaker 2: but a lot of the same plane type of fastball.
4:21
Speaker 2: foreseen top of zone. I can deliver it there at 100.
4:25
Speaker 2: I can deliver it below the knees at 100. It
4:27
Speaker 2: kind of is what you're seeing here. You know, some
4:31
Speaker 2: teams I've talked to have said they look for him
4:33
Speaker 2: as a guy that they believe can be a starter.
4:35
Speaker 2: Others have said that he'll be a back-end reliever type.
4:38
Speaker 2: You never know until you get the free agency. You know,
4:40
Speaker 2: I hate to give an opinion. I hate to rank
4:43
Speaker 2: someone like this, but I've never seen them in person.
4:46
Speaker 2: But he is a fascinating pitcher to watch, and he
4:48
Speaker 2: will be very interesting to see what he gets in
4:50
Speaker 2: free agency. By the way, he also is represented by
4:53
Speaker 2: Scott Boris and the Boris Corporation, not just Derek Skubal.
4:57
Speaker 2: They always have a bevy or plethora of free agents.
5:01
Speaker 2: So Tyra is one of them. But he is a
5:03
Speaker 2: fascinating pitcher just because of the size, the delivery, the strength,
5:07
Speaker 2: and the fact that you can compare a human being
5:09
Speaker 2: to a fire hydrant.
5:11
Speaker 3: Yeah.
5:13
Speaker 1: I just don't.
5:14
Speaker 2: Want to see big league players walk by and pick
5:16
Speaker 2: up their left leg when they see him.
5:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, it would bother me too. It would bother me too.
5:23
Speaker 1: The question I have to ask, so we've seen a
5:25
Speaker 1: lot of pitchers come over from the NPB. How does
5:29
Speaker 1: that factor in as a general manager when you're trying
5:32
Speaker 1: to figure out the contract to give a guy like this?
5:35
Speaker 1: For me, I would think it's more of a prove-it deal, right?
5:39
Speaker 1: A one-year prove-it. Show me that you can play in
5:42
Speaker 1: this league. How do you go about this?
5:44
Speaker 2: You know, I think it used to be a lot
5:46
Speaker 2: more difficult than it is today. And I think the
5:50
Speaker 2: success that some of these Japanese players are having in
5:52
Speaker 2: Japan when they come to the States, it is translating, right?
5:56
Speaker 2: So we saw Japanese players come over this year. Murataki
5:59
Speaker 2: Murakami with the White Sox basically performed the same way
6:02
Speaker 2: he did in Japan, right? Lots of home runs, lots
6:04
Speaker 2: of strikes out on base percentage. We saw Okamoto of
6:07
Speaker 2: the Blue Jays come over here. We saw that same
6:10
Speaker 2: 30 home run power we saw in Japan immediately came
6:12
Speaker 2: here and translated. And interesting, you know, a pitcher, Tetsuya
6:16
Speaker 2: Imai with the Houston Astros came over, didn't really translate.
6:20
Speaker 2: He had a bunch of injuries. But I do think
6:22
Speaker 2: that the professional competition in Japan is now pretty similar
6:27
Speaker 2: to what it is in the States. I think it's
6:29
Speaker 2: easier to translate what a guy is going to do.
6:31
Speaker 2: This particular pitcher, though, could be a little bit more
6:34
Speaker 2: difficult over here just because of a unique, you know, delivery, size, spin,
6:42
Speaker 2: those kind of things is kind of unique with this guy.
6:44
Speaker 2: So he might be a little bit more difficult. You know,
6:46
Speaker 2: when Tetsuya Imai came over with the Astros and I
6:49
Speaker 2: talked to teams, everybody was split on him. Some guys
6:53
Speaker 2: didn't like him. Some guys thought he could be a
6:55
Speaker 2: top of the rotation starters. Others saw him as just
6:57
Speaker 2: a reliever. I'm expecting the same kind of mixed... you know,
7:02
Speaker 2: scouting reports on this guy as well. So he may
7:05
Speaker 2: be a little bit more difficult to understand how it translates.
7:08
Speaker 1: And I think that's, you know, an important part of
7:10
Speaker 1: what spring training is all about. You know, I think
7:13
Speaker 1: you're going to be able to learn a lot about
7:14
Speaker 1: that guy too once he's actually in house and you
7:17
Speaker 1: have your staff evaluating him every single day. So I
7:21
Speaker 1: think there's something to be said about that. But, you know,
7:23
Speaker 1: hand up. I'm excited for this guy to come over
7:27
Speaker 1: to the States. I can't wait to see him pitch.
7:29
Speaker 2: And one more thing just to keep in mind is
7:31
Speaker 2: that You know, Murakami, Okamoto, and Imai, they didn't get
7:36
Speaker 2: aggressive offers, right? Because there were a lot of teams
7:39
Speaker 2: that really didn't know what they were getting. And I
7:42
Speaker 2: know there's a lot of GMs right now that are
7:44
Speaker 2: kicking themselves for not stepping up and doing more to
7:47
Speaker 2: land a Murakami or an Okamoto. And so that might
7:50
Speaker 2: have teams maybe change how much they're willing to bid
7:53
Speaker 2: or how much they're willing to commit. based on the
7:56
Speaker 2: fact of how much they regret not being more aggressive
7:59
Speaker 2: with the Japanese players a year ago. So that part
8:01
Speaker 2: will be fascinating as well.
8:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, I didn't think about that. That's a good point.
8:06
Speaker 1: All right, Jim, I want to move on now to
8:09
Speaker 1: two teams, right? They're going to see some players walk
8:13
Speaker 1: when it comes to free agency. I want to start
8:15
Speaker 1: with the San Diego Padres. They got some arms that
8:18
Speaker 1: we're going to see walk here. And I want to
8:20
Speaker 1: talk about this starting rotation. You know, headlining it would
8:24
Speaker 1: be Casey Mize, you know, the guy that they just
8:27
Speaker 1: traded for during the deadline. Robbie Ray is another name.
8:30
Speaker 1: And then also Michael King. What do you see the
8:34
Speaker 1: Padres doing here?
8:36
Speaker 2: Well, as you just mentioned, you just mentioned three fifths
8:39
Speaker 2: of their rotation. And right now they're fighting for that
8:41
Speaker 2: final wildcard spot in the National League. But imagine if
8:45
Speaker 2: you took the three starters off what they look like
8:47
Speaker 2: and what you didn't mention. mention those starters was their reliever,
8:51
Speaker 2: Adrian Morahan, who will be the best left hand and
8:53
Speaker 2: relief pitcher on the free agent market. So for the Padres,
8:56
Speaker 2: they're going to have a lot of work to do
8:58
Speaker 2: in this offseason because to lose a Michael King, a
9:01
Speaker 2: Robbie Ray, a Casey Mize and Adrian Morahan, I mean,
9:03
Speaker 2: that's four-thirteenths of your pitching staff, right? That's a lot
9:08
Speaker 2: of your pitching staff. So, you know, they're going to
9:10
Speaker 2: have some work to do, either trying to re-sign a
9:12
Speaker 2: couple of them or, you know, trying to replace them
9:15
Speaker 2: out there, either in free agency or through trade. So, look,
9:19
Speaker 2: this is an important October for this team while they have,
9:22
Speaker 2: you know, these pitchers because, you know, Michael King's their
9:25
Speaker 2: best starting pitcher. They traded for Mize and Ray at
9:27
Speaker 2: the deadline. And again, Morhan sets up Mason Miller and...
9:32
Speaker 2: as one of the best bullpens in baseball in San Diego.
9:35
Speaker 2: Keep in mind, Trey, that's not the only team, though,
9:37
Speaker 2: that has a chance of getting hit hard in free agency.
9:40
Speaker 2: Another wildcard team, the Chicago Cubs, they're also going to
9:44
Speaker 2: get hit because two-fifths of their rotation are also free agents.
9:48
Speaker 2: And I'm talking about Clay Holmes, who they acquired from
9:51
Speaker 2: the New York Mets at the trade deadline, and left-hander
9:54
Speaker 2: Shota Imanaga. So you've got two really good starters for
9:58
Speaker 2: the Cubs, and they're going to walk. And by the way,
10:00
Speaker 2: when you and I talk about position players later, we're
10:03
Speaker 2: going to talk about two more in their starting lineup
10:05
Speaker 2: that are free agents. So both the Padres and Cubs
10:08
Speaker 2: are going to get hit hard this year in free agency.
10:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, they absolutely will. And I want to ask you
10:16
Speaker 1: something here. If you're the Padres, we mentioned the four names.
10:20
Speaker 1: If you could keep two, what two are you trying
10:23
Speaker 1: to keep?
10:24
Speaker 2: Michael King and Adrian Moran, without a doubt. Michael King's
10:27
Speaker 2: the best starting pitcher they have. I love the makeup.
10:30
Speaker 2: He loves San Diego, pitches great at Petco. And Moran
10:33
Speaker 2: is just so valuable. I mean, part of the reason
10:35
Speaker 2: why the Padres, if they make the playoffs, is going
10:37
Speaker 2: to be because they have the best bullpen in the
10:39
Speaker 2: National League and the deepest one. Moran plays a big
10:42
Speaker 2: role there. It's just going to be hard to keep
10:43
Speaker 2: him because there's going to be teams that are going
10:45
Speaker 2: to want him as closers. And by the way, speaking
10:48
Speaker 2: of closers, This free agent pitching market also is going
10:51
Speaker 2: to have two elite closers, both of whom we're going
10:53
Speaker 2: to see in the postseason, right? New York Yankees closer
10:57
Speaker 2: David Bednar, who was such a great closer with the Pirates,
11:00
Speaker 2: has come over and been able to handle it in
11:02
Speaker 2: the Bronx, in New York, in the big market. He's
11:04
Speaker 2: going to be the most sought-after closer on the market.
11:06
Speaker 2: And Russell Iglesias, he might be 36 years old, but
11:09
Speaker 2: all Iglesias does is just lock down games for the
11:12
Speaker 2: Atlanta Braves. So it's going to be fun to see
11:14
Speaker 2: Bednar and Iglesias pitching in October, and it'll be interesting
11:18
Speaker 2: to see– where they land in November. Also, before we
11:23
Speaker 2: go on to position players, I did want to talk
11:26
Speaker 2: about a couple of left-handed starting pitchers who I think
11:29
Speaker 2: have a chance to be two of the best undervalued
11:32
Speaker 2: free agent starters in this year's class, and that's Foster
11:34
Speaker 2: Griffin and the Cleveland Guardians. You know, this past offseason,
11:38
Speaker 2: the Washington Nationals president, Paul DeBoney, did a great job
11:41
Speaker 2: in signing Griffin to a one-year, $ 5. 5 million deal. In fact,
11:45
Speaker 2: the best undervalued free agent signing of the offseason, He
11:48
Speaker 2: couldn't get him extended in July, so we traded him
11:51
Speaker 2: to the Guardians. But I think he's going to do
11:53
Speaker 2: really well in free agency. I think he's young. I
11:55
Speaker 2: think he's really figured it out. He's a really solid
11:57
Speaker 2: mid-rotation starter. And also Trevor Rogers, the Baltimore Orioles, another left-hander.
12:03
Speaker 2: So those are two lefties to keep in mind, Foster
12:06
Speaker 2: Griffin and Trevor Rogers in free agency. And by the way,
12:10
Speaker 2: The class also has guys like Nick Martinez, Kevin Gosman,
12:12
Speaker 2: Shane Bieber. We mentioned Freddy Peralta. We just went over
12:17
Speaker 2: some 16 really good names in this free agent pitching class.
12:21
Speaker 2: It's going to be fascinating to see where they all
12:23
Speaker 2: end up.
12:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be fascinating for sure. I do
12:27
Speaker 1: want to just have one little take here. This is
12:31
Speaker 1: a question that I've talked about with you before in
12:34
Speaker 1: the past. Is it more important when you are managing
12:38
Speaker 1: a big league team to have Two top arms in
12:42
Speaker 1: your rotation or a top arm and a really good reliever.
12:46
Speaker 1: Because we were talking about the Padres of Morhan and
12:49
Speaker 1: then keeping King compared to King and Mize. Like for me,
12:53
Speaker 1: I think I'd rather have King and Mize on the
12:56
Speaker 1: team and let Morhan walk. Even though that's a lot
12:59
Speaker 1: of talent, I just feel like I can find something
13:01
Speaker 1: else elsewhere, especially still having Mason Miller in the back
13:04
Speaker 1: of my bullpen.
13:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think I like Moran more than
13:07
Speaker 2: you do. And his value is just the fact he's
13:10
Speaker 2: able to pitch and participate in three out of every
13:14
Speaker 2: five games that I play instead of one out of
13:16
Speaker 2: every five. So helping me win those other games that
13:19
Speaker 2: are started. So I want the most talent. That's how
13:23
Speaker 2: I would answer it. So I would pick top two
13:25
Speaker 2: starters if I thought the second starter was better than
13:27
Speaker 2: the reliever that you're giving an example. Like with the Padres,
13:30
Speaker 2: if you ask me what two pitchers you want, I
13:32
Speaker 2: want King and Mason Miller. Those are the two. But
13:36
Speaker 2: I do value Morhan extremely high. I like Casey Mize.
13:39
Speaker 2: I like Robbie Ray a lot. I do in their rotation.
13:43
Speaker 2: I think they're very solid starters. Morhan, though, has been
13:46
Speaker 2: a difference maker for San Diego. And without him, I
13:48
Speaker 2: don't know where they'd be, except for the fact I
13:51
Speaker 2: know they'd be outside of the playoffs looking in.
13:54
Speaker 1: All righty, everyone. It's now time to go over the
13:56
Speaker 1: pending position players in this upcoming free agent class. Jim,
14:00
Speaker 1: I want to start out with Jazz Chisholm. What can
14:04
Speaker 1: you tell us about Jazz?
14:06
Speaker 2: You know, Jazz has had a down year, and there's
14:08
Speaker 2: no question he has a lot of talent. When he
14:10
Speaker 2: got to spring training, he told the world, I'm going
14:12
Speaker 2: to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bags, and I'm
14:14
Speaker 2: going to make $ 350 million. Well, none of that's going
14:18
Speaker 2: to happen, okay? He had a down year, unfortunately. But
14:21
Speaker 2: he's still going to end up probably... with 20 homers
14:24
Speaker 2: and 40 stolen bases. Right now, he's on the injured list,
14:27
Speaker 2: not his fault. This has not been a good year.
14:29
Speaker 2: It's one of his worst slash lines of his career,
14:32
Speaker 2: and that's gonna hurt him in free agency. And I
14:34
Speaker 2: think the big question is, will someone give him that
14:37
Speaker 2: long-term deal with enough dollars to make it work for him,
14:40
Speaker 2: or is it more likely he signs a shorter-term deal
14:44
Speaker 2: with opt-out clauses? Contracts like Bo Bichette of the Nets
14:48
Speaker 2: and Cody Bellinger of the Yankees signed a year ago,
14:51
Speaker 2: and I think that's more likely for Chaz so that
14:53
Speaker 2: he can prove it. Go back out there and hit
14:56
Speaker 2: up to his standards. And I think if that happens,
14:59
Speaker 2: his contract will be much better than what it's going
15:01
Speaker 2: to be this offseason. He has played well at second base,
15:04
Speaker 2: not as consistent as you'd like, but he makes some
15:06
Speaker 2: flashy plays. And he's done well in New York City, right?
15:10
Speaker 2: He brings energy, brings swag to the ballpark every single day.
15:13
Speaker 2: Has been a really good teammate. He's well-liked inside that
15:16
Speaker 2: Yankee clubhouse. And it's been able to handle the bright lights.
15:20
Speaker 1: Of New York.
15:21
Speaker 2: So look, I think he's going to do well, but
15:23
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be a shorter term deal,
15:26
Speaker 2: higher AV AAV, and then opt outs and then deal
15:29
Speaker 2: with it after that.
15:31
Speaker 3: Yeah.
15:31
Speaker 1: With jazz, especially, you know, he's hitting one 89 this
15:34
Speaker 1: year with runners and scoring position. That's not going to
15:37
Speaker 1: get you paid $ 300 million. However, As you mentioned before,
15:42
Speaker 1: you know, he's a, he's a confident guy and I
15:43
Speaker 1: like that. I want that kind of player in my
15:46
Speaker 1: clubhouse without a doubt. Let's now switch gears and talk
15:50
Speaker 1: about Randy Rosarena. He's having an awesome year in Seattle.
15:56
Speaker 2: Best year of his career. Really? I mean, yeah, 20
16:00
Speaker 2: homers and 20 stolen bases. Again, I think it's six
16:03
Speaker 2: straight years now that he's been able to accomplish that,
16:05
Speaker 2: which is amazing. Very consistent player. but this year he's
16:09
Speaker 2: been better slash lines. The best of his career. He's
16:12
Speaker 2: been getting on base offensively. It's got 23 home runs. Um,
16:16
Speaker 2: had a one over the weekend. That was a big one. Um,
16:19
Speaker 2: and the big question though, is the defensive part of
16:21
Speaker 2: his game, which has not been great in left field.
16:24
Speaker 2: He does make some highlight films cause he makes some
16:26
Speaker 2: highlight plays, but he's a below average defender in left field,
16:29
Speaker 2: but he's going to do extremely well in free agency.
16:33
Speaker 2: We saw at the trade deadline how teams overpaid prospects
16:37
Speaker 2: to trade for right-hand hitting power, which is just very
16:41
Speaker 2: thin in the game. There's not an inventory of it.
16:43
Speaker 2: And because Rosarena is going to provide 20 to 25
16:47
Speaker 2: homers and 20 to 25 stolen bases year in and
16:50
Speaker 2: year out, not only is he going to get paid,
16:52
Speaker 2: but I think he's going to end up doing extremely
16:54
Speaker 2: well in free agency and maybe even get overpaid because
16:58
Speaker 2: of what he brings to the table. with his power.
17:01
Speaker 2: I would like to see him to go to a
17:03
Speaker 2: team that has a band box to improve on the
17:07
Speaker 2: number because I think it could be 30-30 to be honest.
17:10
Speaker 2: I think Philadelphia, the Phillies would be a really good
17:12
Speaker 2: spot for him this offseason. I think the Cincinnati Reds
17:15
Speaker 2: would be a good location for him. We'll see how
17:18
Speaker 2: much Seattle respects and honors him in free agency and
17:22
Speaker 2: tries to keep him in a long-term deal, but I
17:25
Speaker 2: think he's going to be a very fascinating free agent
17:28
Speaker 2: in this class. Because I think Trey, he's going to
17:30
Speaker 2: get overpaid by somebody just because of the power, right-handed
17:34
Speaker 2: power and the speed combination he brings to the table.
17:37
Speaker 3: Back in the day, Kratzy and I were looking for tickets.
17:40
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17:43
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17:45
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17:49
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17:53
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17:55
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17:56
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17:57
Speaker 3: Easy it is.
17:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know you used to scalp your tickets, but look,
18:01
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18:03
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18:07
Speaker 4: not even going to fast forward to the postseason. I'm
18:09
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18:12
Speaker 4: aren't in yet, so right now is the time to
18:14
Speaker 4: get it, and those seats are available.
18:16
Speaker 3: And it's playoff time, the best time for baseball. And,
18:18
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18:20
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18:37
Speaker 1: All right, I now want to address the Chicago Cubs.
18:41
Speaker 1: You know, we know they have two outfielders that are
18:44
Speaker 1: set to walk at the end of the season with
18:46
Speaker 1: Saya Suzuki and Ian Happ. Tell us about this situation.
18:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of interesting, right? Seiya Suzuki in right
18:53
Speaker 2: field produces the home runs. He's a big bat. He
18:57
Speaker 2: hits ball at ballpark, drives runs in. He's really improved
19:00
Speaker 2: defensively in right field as well. He's an impact player.
19:03
Speaker 2: He would be the priority for me if I were
19:06
Speaker 2: in the front office of the Cubs and trying to
19:08
Speaker 2: retain him. But I also, look, I love what Ian
19:10
Speaker 2: Happ has been able to do, four consecutive goal gloves
19:13
Speaker 2: in left field. And he's another player like a Rosarena
19:16
Speaker 2: and Jazz Chisholm that produces 20 homers and 20 steals
19:20
Speaker 2: year in and year out at a pretty consistent pace.
19:22
Speaker 2: His slash line is down this year. I'm not that
19:25
Speaker 2: concerned about it. Really good defender. So these are very
19:28
Speaker 2: important elements of the Chicago Cubs club in the corner outfield.
19:34
Speaker 2: They traded away one of their best corner outfield prospects
19:36
Speaker 2: in the offseason, Owen Casey, in that deal for Edward
19:39
Speaker 2: Cabrera with the Miami Marlins. So they don't have him,
19:42
Speaker 2: which means to me they have to sign at least
19:45
Speaker 2: one of the two. They do have another corner outfield
19:48
Speaker 2: prospect and kevin alcantara they also have matt shaw both
19:51
Speaker 2: would be candidates to replace if one of the two
19:54
Speaker 2: were to leave as well but you know look i
19:57
Speaker 2: mean this is a playoff team and i think these
19:59
Speaker 2: two guys are extremely important on both sides of the
20:01
Speaker 2: ball offensively and defensively so Free agency is going to
20:05
Speaker 2: be fascinating with the Chicago Cubs because, as we mentioned
20:08
Speaker 2: earlier when we talked about the free agent pitchers, they
20:12
Speaker 2: also have Clay Holmes. They also showed Imanaga that are
20:14
Speaker 2: free agents as well. So a lot of free agents
20:17
Speaker 2: on the Chicago Cubs team. So after this postseason is over,
20:21
Speaker 2: the front office has a lot of work to do
20:23
Speaker 2: to try to retain their own players, let alone try
20:25
Speaker 2: to make this team better.
20:27
Speaker 1: If you had to pick between Suzuki and Happ, which
20:30
Speaker 1: one are you keeping?
20:31
Speaker 2: I'm going with Suzuki. I'm going with the power guy.
20:34
Speaker 2: But again, they both bring different things to the table,
20:37
Speaker 2: and they're both very important parts of the team. But
20:39
Speaker 2: I would lean Suzuki.
20:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm going to lean Happ. And the reason I'm
20:44
Speaker 1: leaning Happ is the four gold gloves. That's very, very
20:48
Speaker 1: hard to do at this level. I know he's having
20:50
Speaker 1: a down year, but in a down year, he still
20:53
Speaker 1: has hit over 20 home runs. So I like Ian Happ.
20:57
Speaker 1: He went to actually the University of Cincinnati, just right
21:00
Speaker 1: down the street from where I'm from, And, yeah, so
21:03
Speaker 1: I might have a little bias there. All right, we
21:05
Speaker 1: also have some catchers that are going to be available
21:09
Speaker 1: in the offseason. Tyler Stevenson is one that I'm excited
21:13
Speaker 1: to see what kind of contract he gets. Are there
21:16
Speaker 1: any others out there?
21:17
Speaker 2: Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins would be the other.
21:20
Speaker 2: So I think those are the two best catchers. Carson Kelly, Cubs,
21:24
Speaker 2: would be the third one. So, no, there's not an
21:27
Speaker 2: all-star caliber catcher out there, but there are three quality
21:29
Speaker 2: catchers that will do well. They'll do okay in free agency.
21:32
Speaker 2: I think with Jeffers and Stevenson, they might be looked
21:35
Speaker 2: at more as platoon-type catchers, to be honest, for contending teams.
21:40
Speaker 2: And maybe the same thing with Kelly as well. But again,
21:43
Speaker 2: solid catchers in every team needs catching. The other thing
21:46
Speaker 2: we should look at in this free agent class of
21:48
Speaker 2: position players is a couple guys that are having really
21:51
Speaker 2: good years and maybe taking their game to the next level.
21:55
Speaker 2: And I'm talking about first baseman outfielder Jake Bowers of
21:58
Speaker 2: the Milwaukee Brewers. And Louis Arise, the second baseman of
22:01
Speaker 2: the Philadelphia Phillies. You know, Bauer's going to hit 25
22:04
Speaker 2: to 30 home runs when this season is finally over.
22:06
Speaker 2: That's an incredible year for him. He's done a lot
22:09
Speaker 2: of adjustments with his swing, has really bought into the
22:13
Speaker 2: analytics and technology that's been available to him. He's become
22:16
Speaker 2: a really good player, and I think he's going to
22:17
Speaker 2: be a very fascinating free agent based on the year
22:20
Speaker 2: that he's had. And the other player is Louis Arise,
22:22
Speaker 2: who has a chance to win his fourth batting title
22:26
Speaker 2: with four different teams, which is amazing. But the most
22:29
Speaker 2: important part of Louis Arise is his improvements defensively at
22:32
Speaker 2: second base. And a lot of credit goes to Ron Washington,
22:35
Speaker 2: the coach of the Giants, who had him in the
22:37
Speaker 2: first half of the year before he got traded to
22:39
Speaker 2: the Phillies. He worked with him and Arise has kept
22:42
Speaker 2: getting better and better defensively. So this is a really
22:45
Speaker 2: great news, I think, for Arise when it gets to
22:49
Speaker 2: free agency. You know, the one downside of Arise, besides,
22:53
Speaker 2: you know, the fact that he doesn't strike out and
22:55
Speaker 2: he puts the ball in play and wins batting titles,
22:59
Speaker 2: but what he doesn't bring to the table is power speed.
23:02
Speaker 2: And those two things has, you know, prevented him from
23:04
Speaker 2: getting that long-term contract that he's always been looking for,
23:07
Speaker 2: but he doesn't have the power. He doesn't have the speed,
23:09
Speaker 2: but now that he's a good defender to go along
23:12
Speaker 2: with being able to win batting titles, I think his
23:14
Speaker 2: value is going to be better than it's been in
23:16
Speaker 2: prior years. So those are two interesting guys. I want
23:19
Speaker 2: to throw in a few infielders too, and get your
23:22
Speaker 2: take on them. The infield class isn't great, but there
23:26
Speaker 2: are some guys, Brandon Lau of the Pirates, left-hand power hitter,
23:29
Speaker 2: Glaber Torres, second baseman of the Tigers, and Alec Boehm,
23:32
Speaker 2: the first baseman, third baseman of the Phillies. What's your
23:35
Speaker 2: take on those three guys, Trey?
23:37
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, I'm loving Brandon Lau. He's
23:40
Speaker 1: had an unreal season. You see on the screen here,
23:43
Speaker 1: he's going to hit 30 home runs. He's hitting above 250,
23:46
Speaker 1: which actually he's on pace to have better batting averages
23:49
Speaker 1: this season than last season. Uh, so I'm, I'm excited
23:52
Speaker 1: for Brandon Lau. I think there's going to be a
23:54
Speaker 1: really good market for Lau out there. And then, you know,
23:58
Speaker 1: when it comes to some of these other players that
24:00
Speaker 1: you just mentioned, yeah, look.
24:02
Speaker 2: Alec Boehm.
24:04
Speaker 1: I think he needs a change of scenery and I
24:05
Speaker 1: think the Phillies probably want him to have a change
24:08
Speaker 1: of scenery as well. Uh, it's kind of been a,
24:10
Speaker 1: I don't want to say a love hate relationship relationship
24:14
Speaker 1: in Philly, but listen, there's been some ups and downs
24:17
Speaker 1: with him and the fan base there and Although he's
24:20
Speaker 1: really been producing off and on, I think it's time
24:24
Speaker 1: for a change, for sure.
24:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good call. I like that. There's also
24:29
Speaker 2: some good defensive center fielders that will be on the
24:31
Speaker 2: open market. Trent Grisham of the Yankees, Dalton Varshow of
24:35
Speaker 2: the Astros. Offensively, some questions around them, but pretty solid players.
24:39
Speaker 2: And then you've got a couple power bats as well.
24:42
Speaker 2: Taylor Ward of the Mariners started the year with the Orioles,
24:45
Speaker 2: had a down year in terms of power, but the
24:47
Speaker 2: year before hit 30-plus. And of course, the veteran George Springer,
24:51
Speaker 2: who has been a very solid DH there for the
24:53
Speaker 2: Toronto Blue Jays. I would guess that he would stay
24:56
Speaker 2: in Toronto and try to sign a shorter term deal.
24:59
Speaker 2: But that's basically the position class. What's your take overall
25:03
Speaker 2: of the free agent class? And what's your take about
25:05
Speaker 2: the pitching and position player classes, Trey?
25:08
Speaker 1: Oh, man, my overall take, I'd say this is a
25:11
Speaker 1: pitcher dominant class. You know, I think That's really what
25:14
Speaker 1: we're looking at when we see this free agent class
25:17
Speaker 1: in general, more dominant arms and dominant hitters. But it's
25:21
Speaker 1: going to be exciting for agency, for sure. I'm excited
25:24
Speaker 1: to see, obviously, what happens after the labor talks, you know,
25:27
Speaker 1: when we see these guys sign and, you know, will
25:30
Speaker 1: it be earlier? Will it be later? But overall, this
25:33
Speaker 1: will be an exciting winter.
25:36
Speaker 2: No doubt.
25:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about it. All right, everyone. Well, hey,
25:39
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this edition of GM Territory.
25:43
Speaker 1: Happy week one to all the NFL fans out there.
25:46
Speaker 1: Go Bills. Go Cowboys. Challenge relax.
25:49
Speaker 2: We gone.