Latest / Foul Territory / Bob Nightengale on the Skubal sweepstakes, Japan’s top free agent, CBA update, BLOCKBUSTER trades ahead?

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Bob Nightengale on the Skubal sweepstakes, Japan’s top free agent, CBA update, BLOCKBUSTER trades ahead? · Foul Territory

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: It's that time. Bob Nightingale joining us USA Today, FT, Insider.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Let's do this.
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: Bob, good to see you. And we got to start
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: with the headliner. Where will Schuylkill sign?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I still think the Dodgers.
• 0:22
  Speaker 4: If it's not the Dodgers, then they got more financial
• 0:25
  Speaker 4: problems than we think of because that's a natural place.
• 0:28
  Speaker 4: You know, born and raised in Kingman, Arizona, about a
• 0:30
  Speaker 4: four-hour drive from L.A., lives in Scottsdale. I think the
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: sleeper team could be the San Diego Padres. brand-new ownership,
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: they need starting pitchers. And if they really want to
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: make a big splash and keep away from the Dodgers,
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: they should.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Be in on Skubo. I think they'll certainly dabble for sure.
• 0:49
  Speaker 5: Bob, is this going to be done quickly? I mean,
• 0:52
  Speaker 5: it has to be done by December 1st, obviously, because then,
• 0:55
  Speaker 5: you know, the owners and their network can't even talk
• 0:57
  Speaker 5: about players. They can't even show a picture of a
• 0:59
  Speaker 5: player or mention a player. So it has to be done, right,
• 1:03
  Speaker 5: before December 1st. So that means it has to happen.
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: We're at November 4th. But it has to be getting
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: close in the next two weeks because they're going to
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: want to do physicals and press conferences and all that
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: before the December 1st deadline. So this has to happen
• 1:16
  Speaker 5: fairly fast, right?
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's got to be done before December 1st.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: They don't want to take the chance that, okay, if
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: there's some kind of salary cap or salary restriction that
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: the teams are interested in, all of a sudden it
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: can't be. So I'm not sure about the press conference.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: That's a big worry. But certainly December 1st. I'm sure
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: right around Thanksgiving weekend, don't want a decision. But when
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: you're talking about Thanksgiving, then it's like, okay, you're not
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: going to have another weekend. Then the lockout's on that Monday,
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: December 1st. So I don't think there's a big deadline
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: except for December 1st. I'm not sure you're going to
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: worry about a press conference.
• 1:56
  Speaker 5: Boris and his clients, whoever comes up with it first,
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: as a group, they love records. Do you think Scooble's
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: The same Scooble that had a nanoscope surgery on his
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: pitching elbow during this season breaks either the AAV record
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: for a pitcher or the total amount in a contract
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: record for a pitcher.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: I think he breaks both, but certainly the overall record.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: 325 by Yamamoto. Everybody's got to start a bid over that.
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: They're not going to go under 325. So we'll see
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: if it hits 400. But the big thing is just
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: the overall record. Now, you know, if a few teams
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: are in the same ballpark, I would think the teams
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: out west would have the advantage since Scooble lives out here,
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: everything else. So I would think, you know, if the
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: Dodgers are close, he goes back to L.A.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: Bob, is there any chance we see a mystery team
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: jump in? I mean, I don't know who it would be.
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: I mean, you mentioned the pod. We mentioned the Cubs.
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: We mentioned the Mets. We mentioned the Dodgers. We mentioned
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: the Padres. Krauts brought in the Braves for. for a team,
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: but is there a team that we haven't talked about
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: that might jump in and try to scoop him up
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: because it has to happen so quickly?
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: I don't think so.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: I mean, with the San Francisco Giants being a mystery team,
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: you know, they got the money, you know, that's possible,
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: but I don't see a small market, mid-market team jumping in.
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: I know someone threw out the White Sox, you know,
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: earlier that was kind of laughed at. So, no, I
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: don't think we'll have a mystery team. And when you're
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: talking about that kind of money, you know, really only
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: talking about three or four teams that are going to
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: be in this thing, it just.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: too rich for a lot of teams' financial comfort.
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: Bob, Bob, who said the White Sox? Because have they
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: seen Jerry's record of signing players? Their highest-paid player of
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: all time is Andrew Benatendi at $ 75 million, five years, 75.
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: So then they're going to go from five years, 75,
• 3:52
  Speaker 5: to 10 years, 400? I mean, whoever put that out
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: there must have had some nice drinks right before they
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: tweeted or put that out there.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's not going to happen.
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: But now the White Sox did offer Machado about 240.
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: So it's not like they've offered some big time money before.
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but they offered just enough. They offered just enough
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: to where they can say, well, we tried. We tried, guys.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: We tried. Right.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Am I wrong?
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: I mean, I wish they'd signed. They tried Harper. They
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: tried Harper. Machado got 300. Didn't he get 300?
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, 300.
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: But remember they signed Yonder Alonzo, his brother-in-law, hoping that
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: would help entice.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Obviously it didn't work, but they did try hard, I
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: will say that.
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: Brother-in-laws aren't as important as cash, Bob. Sorry.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Nor living on the beach in Cornola Island either.
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that beats, no offense, I love Chicago, but Coronado's
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: pretty nice.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: All right, let's move to position player side. The talk is,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: it's not a good group. I'm getting more and more
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: into Sato from overseas in his storyline.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: I liked Okamoto a lot. I thought he had a
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: nice season. I know there's a lot of swing and miss,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: but there was a lot of pop.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Blue Jays would have been in a really bad spot
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: without what he was bringing to the table because the
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Blue Jays had a disappointing offensive season. And I know
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: this guy Sato has less swing and miss than Murakami,
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: especially in zone makes more contact. So what are we
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: thinking here in terms of teams that could be involved?
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: And do you think that.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: He does much better than Murakami. That's a good comp, right?
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Like on the topic of the White Sox. I mean,
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: he fell in their lap. Nobody saw Murakami getting whatever
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: the number was, $ 34 million.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: So where are we at with Sato?
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: I would think he's going to get more than Okamoto.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: And you're right, Okamoto had a heck of a year
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: for Toronto Blue Jays. So yeah, very similar player to Murakami.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Not quite the same type of power. Maybe a little
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: less swing and miss. But, yeah, I think a lot
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: of teams are kicking themselves over Morikami like, man, that's
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: a steal at 17 a year. So I could see
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: him certainly, you know, getting between $ 80 and $ 100 million total.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: And it's a weak free agent class. So he may
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: be the top position player out there. And, you know,
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: he's not going to get, you know, $ 200 million, $ 150 million,
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: but he could get $ 100 million.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: And I would think he'd have at least a handful
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: of teams after him. Is there any.
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: Relevance to the fact that some teams were talking about
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: trying to enhance their grip or even just their presence
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: in the Japanese market. Last year with Okamoto and Murakami
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: coming out from Japan, teams like the Phillies were starting
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: to have no signed Japanese players besides ones that were
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: already here. Are there teams that would try to make
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: that splash with Sato?
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Well, you're right, Eric. And look at the White Sox
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: made a killing off the field with Murakami. They didn't
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: really have a presence either. And all of a sudden,
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: you know, all kinds of Japanese fans came in advertising
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: everything else.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: So you're absolutely right.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: And this guy could pay for himself if he has
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: a good year just with the advertisements, merchandise and everything else.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: That contract will pay for itself. All right, let's move
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: to the trade market for now. Anybody that you think
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: will be a hot name? And, I mean, I know
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: you're stationed often in Arizona. Do you think there's a
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: chance a team takes on Quetel Marte? And what do
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: you remember from last offseason when they were shopping? And
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: they were very clearly shopping him. It sounded like they
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: just didn't get the offer that they wanted, but there
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: were decent offers out there.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: So clearly the stock is not going to be the same.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: And I'm mentioning Marte, but feel free to mention some
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: others too that you think could be dealt in the
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: next few weeks.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think Marte will be the most interesting guy
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: for sure. I mean, they had some strong offers, not
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: strong enough from Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: I can see the Rays jumping back in this thing. Obviously,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: they don't have to give up as much as a
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: year ago. He's got a reasonable contract.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: It's about $ 15 million a year, $ 85 million left. And
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: you've got to have a strong clubhouse presence if you're
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: going to get Marte. The Rays have that and Yanni Diaz.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: Marte really didn't have that clubhouse leadership to kind of
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: rein him in. So someone who ever wants him has
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: got to feel strong about that clubhouse influence to say,
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: you know what, he's not going to pull the same
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: stunts he did in Arizona.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he did. And I think Arizona will be much more.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: Motivated to trade him now. Of course, Marte has got
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: a no-trade clause, too. So he can reject anything he wants.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: But if he feels like he's not wanted in Arizona,
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: why would you want to come back?
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: Another player that's an assumed second baseman, if he gets traded,
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: is C.J.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Abrams.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: C.J.
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: Abrams leaving. Obviously, it doesn't look like the Nats can
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: build a pitching staff to contend for this year. Is
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: there a chance that The Nats look at some of
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: their other stars because clearly they think that they can
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: create hitting through their system that they've created. Do they
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: look at a James Wood as a blockbuster type of
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: deal or a blockbuster type of extension?
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: I think they prefer, obviously, to get Wood to extension.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: I think Abrams could be on the move. They're going to,
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: I think, shop him, listen to all kinds of offers.
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: Where Wood, I think the preference is, you know, lock
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: him up. But, hey, you might as well listen to everybody.
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: I remember when Kevin Towers was the GM of the Padres,
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: he used to tell teams, hey, if you want to
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: make offers on Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, I'm all ears.
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to say I'm going to trade them,
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: but I'll certainly listen. So I think the Nationals do
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: the same thing. Okay, if you want to make an
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: offer for Wood, we'll listen. We probably won't do it,
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: but if someone blows.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Us away, why not?
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: Go down the beltway to Baltimore. Almost everybody's available. except
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: for Pete Alonzo, the guy who just got there last year,
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: and everybody should have been available. That's now available and
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: was prospects in the last six years.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: When they came around after tanking those years and looked
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: like they were going to do what Houston did and
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: just take off, that window slammed in a hurry. all
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: those young prospects and stuff, a lot of them haven't
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: turned out and they haven't lived up to the hype.
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: So I think they're smart saying, you know what? We
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: got a lot of these guys here. We got a
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: deep farm system. Go ahead and make us some offers.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: You know, we got to change some things here. So
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: I thought that was smart for them to do that
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: and let everybody know before the GM meetings.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Hey, you know, give us a call. We're right here
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: in the hotel suite. We want to trade.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: Is this a move because now they have an actual GM?
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: Because Mike Elias, I think his title is president of
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: baseball operations, and now they have a GM? Or is
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: this something that was clearly already started before they hired
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: a GM when they traded Adlai Rutschman during the season
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: this year?
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I think he's already started.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: Obviously, Jared Bannon, the GM, works for Elias, so it's
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: not like he's going against what Elias wants. So I
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: just think he's in agreement with what the ownership wants,
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: what Elias wants. And let's shake some things up because
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: we've got fans are very disappointed. Our window is starting
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: to close here. You know, we've been very disappointed the
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: last couple of years. You know, their their their seasons,
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: but as frustrating as it was in Seattle or Detroit,
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: you know, right there as far as big disappointments.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Hey, Bob, a couple of hires that are interesting was
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: the new Mariners manager who has never managed anywhere before.
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: I mean, Tony Vitale, he's coached a college team. This
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: guy never even did that. So that's an interesting hire.
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: And then Cam Castro in Las Vegas, Sacramento, Oakland, athletics,
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: whatever you want to call them. Two young guys that
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: are very young. You know, obviously Castro has more experience
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: than them. What are your thoughts on these two hirings
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: for the future of baseball? Is it just going to
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: keep getting younger and younger and younger?
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: I know with Kanzler, when they hired the hitting coach
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: last week, there were a bunch of executives that predicted
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: he's going to be the guy.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: That might be his.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: Best friend, a very close friend, and said, you know what,
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: they go hand in hand.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: So we'll see.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: I mean, that's stepping out here, and that's a big
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: hire for Jerry DiPoto. I think this is his third
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: full-time manager, and if they don't have a good season
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: next year, then all of a sudden, instead of looking
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: for a new manager, they'll look for a new GM.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: He'll be in the hot seat. With Castro... big pitching.
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: Background where he was a, you know, minor league pitching coach,
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: then coordinated all the pitching for the Brewers. We saw
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: how the Brewers have developed pitching over the years. So,
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: and the A's need more pitching than, than ever. They
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: got the position players, just no pitching. So you team
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: him up with a guy like Dave Stewart, who's special
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: assistant worked for the A's organization. You know, they want
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: to get that pitching staff ready to go because they,
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: they need to be contending by 2028 when they move into,
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: moving to their new ballpark in Vegas.
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: They got a long way to go. It's going to
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: be tough to get dudes to pitch well in Sacramento.
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: But speaking of Sacramento, essentially the entire American League West
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: got new managers. Is Kotze's job... on the line in
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: the sense of not because of what's happened there, but
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: because of the fact that they now have two new
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: guys at the helm. Is there any talk of taking
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: somebody new as manager with this core that they have
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: into Vegas? Because if that's the case, then maybe this
• 13:39
  Speaker 5: year could be his last.
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there was some people that were disgruntled last year
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: with the way they just took the nosedive. I mean,
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: tons of injuries, not saying his fault, but they shouldn't
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: have played that poorly. So, no, you're absolutely right, Eric,
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: and he's on the hot seat for next year for sure.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: I think he's got a contract through 2029, but it
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: doesn't matter. I think they've got to be at least
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: a 500 team, if not at least contend, and show
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: a drastic improvement from a year ago for him to
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: make sure he's a manager going to Vegas.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: He bought a house in Vegas. He's been living there.
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: He was all in before other teams or other executives
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: started buying in Vegas.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: So we'll see. But, yeah, this is a big year
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: for them. I agree.
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: How can you blame Mark Kotze? Honestly, how can you
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: blame Mark Kotze? And I mean this, and I played
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: with Kotze. I love Kotze. But they've moved cities. Pitching
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: has fallen apart every time he looks up. No one
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: can pitch in Sacramento, right? Every visiting player complains about Sacramento.
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: They're in a minor league ballpark. They're transient. They have
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: to worry about going to– Like, is it fair? I mean,
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: I guess it is fair because it's the nature of
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: the job, Bob, but I don't feel like it's Mark
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: Kotze's fault, and I know he's on the hot seat,
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: but shouldn't you at least let him get to Vegas
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: and say, hey, give us a couple years in Vegas
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: when we're supposed to really, as they said, start spending money?
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: You would think so, but like you said, I mean,
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: a lot of these jobs aren't fair when the guys
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: get fired. You know, I mean, trying to make sense
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: when Jesse Baker got fired from the Nationals, we led
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: the team to– two division titles made, made zero sense.
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: But I think in this sense, they just played so
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: poorly and it's almost like, you know, lifeless on the
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: field scouts that went there were kind of alarmed just
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: how bad that looked. So as long as they show
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: some energy and improvement, then I think they'll give them
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: a fair shot. Like, okay, you got the first year
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: in Vegas, but they certainly got to play better than
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: they did last year. I said, I know the injuries
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: of fishing was terrible, but I made all these changes
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: with the coaching staff.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: And everything else.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: They've got to show improvement or go look for someone
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: to usher them in in 28. That ballpark is going
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: to be ready by May or June. They're not going
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: to move there next summer, but people are excited already.
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: They've already sold out all the suites and everything else,
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: but they better have a great product ready to go,
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: just like the hockey team did.
• 16:00
  Speaker 5: Is there a team that you're specifically looking at that
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: in these next 26 days or 27 days, whatever it is,
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: Has some sense of urgency to make moves because of
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: how their season ended last year?
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: I would think Atlanta might be that team.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: You know, get back Dubon, get some pitching help to
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: help out Chris Sale, that sort of thing. I could
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: see them being aggressive. Obviously, Alex Antalpa is as good
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: as any executive in the game. But I see them
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: being maybe more aggressive than they have in the past.
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: A lot of times in the past, they've kind of
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: waited until after the first year, spring training. This time,
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: I think they say, you know what, let's be a
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: contender right away, or not a contender, but the team
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: to beat in the NL East again. Also curious about Philadelphia.
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, they're going to be shopping everybody here. Let's
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: see what moves they make. I still think they want
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: to shake things up big time before next year.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Hey, Bob, do you think that there are some teams
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: that might sit out over the next few weeks based
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: on not knowing how things are going to go, or?
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Don't read too much into that.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: Of course, some teams sit out all the time, but
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: do you think there will be any teams a little
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: trigger shy?
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: Well, I think some may just say, you know what,
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: I want to wait them out because just for strategy
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: purposes that, you know, once a, the lockout ends, you know,
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: you got about four days or so to go for
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: spring training, guys are going to panic. She might get
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: some bargain basement deals by winning. So after the lockout,
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: I can see more of that type of strategy. Then,
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: you know, maybe the money part, the only, the only
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: team I think that'd be afraid of the money part
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: would be the Dodgers just because, you know, the Walt
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: Mark Walters investigation, everything else, you know, can they bring another,
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: you know, 350, $ 400 million contract in the books that
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: I think that's the biggest question of all this winter
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: is just what are the Dodgers going to do?
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a good call, right?
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: I know he's still selling stuff away. I've been following
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: that storyline, other pieces of businesses he has. Bob, let's
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: get to the CBA proposals. So MLB threw a little something,
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: a little bit of a wrinkle on the table to
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: the MLB PA. So what did you take of the
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: next little exchange that was made and how friendly they
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: are with each other right now?
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Not friendly at all. They're bitter enemies.
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: I think it was just a thing to say, okay,
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: if teams are worried about what's going on, that the
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: free agents are saying, oh man, we're getting hurt by this.
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: They're telling the free agents, okay, this won't affect you
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: next year. But still, you're going to have to phase
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: it in.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I don't care if you start in 2028 or 2030, whatever.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: You can't force the Dodgers all of a sudden, you know,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: dump a couple hundred million dollars worth of contracts.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: You can't force the Marlins and Tampa Bay and.
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: Cleveland to all of a sudden say, okay, I'm going
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: to put $ 80 million in this free agent market, Wednesday
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: week free agent market.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: So it'll be ushered in anyway.
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: You know, I think it, you know, It looked good
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: to the public and tried to.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Appease the fans, but it didn't change anything.
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: It still involves a salary cap. That part's not going away.
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: I'm sure the fans would say, hey, how about a
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: salary cap on ticket prices? We'll go on that. Or
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: a salary cap on profits by everybody. We'll go on that.
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: So I don't think it changed anything.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: There's a number that they presented because we saw Garrett Stubbs'
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: comments like, He said, I don't understand, I guess I'm paraphrasing,
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: why they keep presenting the salary cap. It's a non-starter.
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: So does the number change when they put that out
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: there that, okay, Major League Baseball said this is going
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: to be the new cap, this is going to be
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: our new floor, and those numbers went up.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Does Major League Baseball.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: truly believe that because those numbers go up they're getting
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: more intrigued from the players i.
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: Think they're going after the minimum salary guys and the
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: middle class and trying to say hey look at guys
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: you know we're going to squeeze you in you're going
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: to get more money here it doesn't have to just
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: go to the uh the greatest players in the game, you.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Know, the elite to the elite.
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: So, but I really believe that if MLB came out
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: and said, okay, our salary cap is going to be
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: a billion dollars. Every team is going to have to
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: spend 500 million. It would still be rejected just because
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: it's a cap. So I don't think we're going to
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: see any progress, you know, probably start serious negotiations in
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: February and any serious progress until a paycheck is missed
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: in April.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: And then we'll see who starts the blink.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And just a couple of thoughts here.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: So playing off what Kratz said, the numbers went up
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: on the floor in the cap because it's for the
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: next year.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: It's for 2028.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: And so they kind of showed that it would be
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: about 5% on the increase. And also you can't understand
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: what the cap's going to look like. Let's say the,
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: it just happened to cap in a floor that would
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: be indicative of what revenue sharing looks like. And so
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: each year we would get a different number.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Um, Right.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: Is that the understanding there that those numbers change because
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: they said, hey, it'll go up 5 percent based on
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: it not being for 27.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: This would be for 28.
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you're absolutely right. And they say that, but you're right.
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: And the thing, too, is that the CBD tax wasn't changing.
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: So that means, you know, so what happens next year?
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: There's going to be more.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: Teams that say, you know what, we got to stay
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: under the CBD tax. There's teams that you refuse to
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: go over, you know, like the Houston Astros. Atlanta usually
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: doesn't go over it either. So that part will actually
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: diminish free agency. So they were vehemently against that just
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: from the get go. You know, you didn't have to
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: wait for them to issue the statement. They were upset
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: as soon as they saw the proposal.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: Last one for you on this, Bob, are you surprised
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: that the minimum salary they're offering isn't higher? Like you're mentioning, Hey,
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: they're going after the league minimum guys. I mean, if
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: I'm playing that side and I'm going after the league
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: minimum guys, I'd be like, Hey, you guys are going
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: to get 3 million bucks. Anybody that plays in the sport,
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: like right now they're upping it by, I don't know,
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: a couple hundred thousand or something like that.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Like I get it in the real world. It's huge
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: in baseball terms. It's not. So are you surprised that
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: they're not taking that approach?
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Well, they will.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: I think it goes, I think they'll offer eventually up
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: to 1.25 million, could go up to 1.5, but I'd
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: be shocked if they're, if the final thing is under 1.25,
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: I think just kind of staggering the increments here.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: To make it look good rather than come in right away.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: But I think they're prepared to go at least at 1.25,
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: if not more. Remember, even the thing yesterday, a million dollars,
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: that was just for two plus service. That wasn't for
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: any guy with no service at all.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: So I think that part's got to change as well.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: Bob, have you ever been trolled on the internet for
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: making a mistake when you tweet something? Always. Always. So
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: then today... I want you to be celebrated because your
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: perfect bracket for the playoffs is something that, I don't know,
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: they give millions of dollars away for the NCAA bracket.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: Your playoff bracket, here it is, your tweet said, a
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: perfect bracket is now complete. Next year, predicting the Brewers
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: and Rays run it back, meet again in the World Series.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: Undefeated postseason, Bob. Are you reveling in your perfection?
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: No. I enjoyed it, but it also shows that there
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: wasn't really many major upsets, actually some minor ones. You know,
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: they had Brewers of the Dodgers. That was, I don't know,
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: maybe a land over Philadelphia a little bit. But there
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: really weren't that many major upsets. So I think the
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: Rays will definitely be back, and I think the Brewers
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: will be back too. I wouldn't be surprised to see
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: the Rays take their turn to win it all.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: And they're built for the long haul, and the Brewers
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: aren't going away.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: I was kidding with the Brewers after the– World Series,
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: I say, well, you think it'll still be picked to
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: finish second in your division behind the Cubs?
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: So they may actually be favored this year.
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: All right. Well, Bob, just to make sure you're not
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: getting too big and high on your horse here, you
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: did say they were going to win in six and
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: they won in five. So the internet wanted to make
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: sure that they don't think you're perfect, but here at
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: Foul Territory, we think you're perfect, Bob.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, Graz. Yeah, actually, I actually had the, uh,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Brewers and seven of the Dodgers, they swept. So they
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: made it look a lot more easy. I thought they
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: were going to do it.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: See, that's a humble guy right there. Perfect bracket, though.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Forget the games. You picked the winners.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: You nailed it, Bob. Good stuff.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Good talking to you, and we'll chat again soon.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: All right. See you at the GM meetings. Take care.
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: Yes. See you then.