Latest / Foul Territory / FairT: Cubs get Pressly, Bregman/Astros return possible, Steve Cohen talks Pete Alonso, Skenes studying

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FairT: Cubs get Pressly, Bregman/Astros return possible, Steve Cohen talks Pete Alonso, Skenes studying · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Might DEBI rooms to negotiate. Sure might. Pete Alonzo still
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: want more. Absolutely, how this ends, We're gonna find out.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. The
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: BBWAA Awards dinner is behind us. You might have seen
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: that on the Foul Territory Network over the weekend. It
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: was a big honor for us to broadcast it live
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: on YouTube. And now we look ahead on this program
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and Foul Territory and our other many shows to the
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five season. A lot happened this weekend, even
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: beyond the dinner. Two teams in particular were in the spotlight.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I'm going to deal with one of them in this
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: segment and another one in the next segment. And the
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: first team I want to discuss is the Houston Astros.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: The Astros are in the middle right now of a
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: lot of action. You might have seen the reports over
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the weekend, actually yesterday is when they surfaced Sunday about
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the Astros trading Ryan Presley to the Chicago Cubs, saving
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: a eight and a half million of the fourteen million
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: dollars that Presley is owed next season. This is a
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: significant move for the Astros and the speculation, probably informed speculation,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: is that they are trying to clear money to perhaps
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: sign Alex Bregman. Re signed Bragman, their all star third basement,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the Astros bullpen is going to be weaker without Presley,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: a star of many postseasons. He is a guy that
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: was really a stalwart for them. But at the same time,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: not only is the bullpen going to be weaker, this
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: is a point in the Astros' evolution right now where
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the rotation is kind of questionable too. We'll get to that,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: But as for their current configuration, if they resigned Bragman,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: this is really interesting. Their plan is to play Bregman
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: at third base and move each Parades over to second base,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: and also to play jose L Twove, their longtime second baseman,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: in left field. Now. I wrote about this scenario in
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: my notes column on Monday, and what's interesting about it
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: to me is that defensively that probably better off with
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Paraders at third and Bregman at second. They might say, well,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: why are you moving Bregman off of third? He won
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: his first Gold Glove last season, but that is a
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: position he is willing to vacate if he signs with
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox. For Raphael Devers. Now maybe he's not
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: as willing to vacate it for Isaac Parades, who is
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: not a franchise player like Devers is. But at the
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: same time, Bregman is a guy who came up as
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: a shortstop, played some shortstop in the miners, even the majors,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and certainly could handle second. Parades is a guy with
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: limited range, and you wonder how that's going to work out. Meanwhile,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Altuve no longer a really good defensive second basement. It's
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: been a couple of years since he was that guy.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Putting him in left field, though, is its own risk
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: because he's thirty five years old, his sprint speed is down.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: He is a guy who I don't know he can
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: cover left field in taking the park formerly known as
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Minute Made Park. Can he cover left field in some
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: of the bigger, more spacious road stadiums that the Astros
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: will play in. And then there is the Astros rotation.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: General manager Dana Brown revealing over the weekend that Luis
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Garcia and Lance mccullors will not be ready to start
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the season. These guys have not pitched for a long time.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Garcia since twenty twenty three, mccullors since the twenty twenty
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: two World Series. The Astros still have a pretty good
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: group together. It's from Bervaldez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, Spencer Aarraghetti,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: and the newly acquired from the Cubs Hayden Wiznski. But
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: we will see if they're gonna have the depth now.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: They expect Garcia McCullers back early in the season. We've
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: heard this from them for a couple of years. Now.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: We expect them back, and they could get Christian Havier
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: back as well as JP France perhaps in the second half.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: They're coming off their own surgeries. But the Astros rotation
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: is a little bit thin right now, so you wonder
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: with some of the defensive question that could arise if
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Gregman returns, how this is all going to play out.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: They'll be better defensively with Christian Walker at first, They'll
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: be better offensively with Christian Walker at first. But remember
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: they're also losing Kyle Tucker, so it's a much different
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Houston Astros team we'll be looking at in twenty twenty five.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: For more on the Astros, check out Crush City Territory,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Chandler Rome, Josh Reddick, and Tyler Stafford host. Their latest
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: episode talks about Gregman's future and Presley's legacy in Houston.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast to
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the entire Foul Territory Network. Now, speaking of defense, I
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: was speaking with a team executive over the weekend and
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: he said to me, you know what, I do think
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers might have a weakness. Their weakness might be
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: their defense. And that's why they've been trying to acquire
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: all these swing and miss guys this offseason. And we're talking,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: of course about Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, perhaps
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Kirby Yates. Now, I don't know that's the motivation for
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers to acquire swinging mis guys. They always want
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: swinging miss guys. But their defense could be, if not
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a weakness, certainly not a strength. And you go around
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: the diamond in the outfield, in particular, the range in
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the corners with Taskar Hernandez and Michael Conforto is perhaps
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: not what you want. Centerfield, Tommy Edmund I expect will
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: be adequate, if not better, But he is a better
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: infielder than an outfielder, at least at this stage. Of
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: his career in the infield. You've got Freddy Freeman at first.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: He's still good. Hashan Kim take me over a second.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: He should be good. Mookie Betts at shortstop remains a
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: huge question. Now he's had an entire offseason, he'll have
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: an entire spring training to get himself ready for the position,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: as opposed to last season when he moved there in
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the middle of the spring. So we'll see how Mookie
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: does and if he turns out to be a quality shortstop,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: quality defender at shortstop, Hey, the Dodgers really have something there.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: And then Max Months he at third he's okay, especially
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: when he's healthy. He's more than okay at times. But
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: their defense I wouldn't call it a weakness, but I
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: would call it something to watch as the season progresses,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: particularly with Mookie at short Finally, in his first segment,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: I want to talk about Paul Skeens. If you watched
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: our show on Saturday night, he was one of the
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: last interviews we did National League Rookie of the Year,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: of course the one point nine to six era, the
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: brilliant first campaign, and I asked him on our show, Hey,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: what do you want to do better? Next year, and
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: he said, and I thought it was an interesting, thoughtful answer.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I want to attack the strike zone more. And he
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: talked about a conversation he had with one of his
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: old statistical analysts at LSU, and he talked about how
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: that analyst found that in a comparison with the two
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Cy Young winners, Tarek Skubele and Chris Sailee, that when
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: it came to first pitch strike percentage an overall strike percentage,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: those guys were ahead of schemes. And that's what Skeens
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: was talking about, attacking the zone more. And when I
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: found more most interesting about Skeins in his speech and
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: then in his comments to us, he is thinking Cy Young.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: He basically said in his speech, I want to make
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: it easy for the writers the next time they vote
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: for me for an award. Well, he's no longer eligible
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: for Rookie of the Year, so he wants to make
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: it easy for the writers to vote him Cy Young
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: when that time comes, and he is fully expecting to
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: be in that conversation now starting pictures like Skiens aces,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: they have what I would describe as unique personalities, and
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: it goes from all the aces I've ever covered ever
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: known and still covered today. These guys are a different breed.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: There's a confidence there that you don't see in other players,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and all major leaguers are confident they have to be
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: to get to the major leagues and be who they are.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: But starting pictures, there's this borderline arrogance to them. It's
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: not like obnoxious or anything, but it's hey, you can't
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: touch me. That kind of thing. You see it in Verlander,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: you see it Insurser, you see it in Kershaw. You
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: even see it in quieter guys like Mike Messina when
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: he was pitching. Mike Mesina was not a brash, arrogant guy,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: but he had that I'm better than you mentality. Skins
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: has it too, and again it's not cockiness, it's not
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: anything negative. It's the way they are. It's who they are,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: and it makes them so interesting both on and off
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the field. So a lot to look forward to from
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Paul Skins in twenty twenty five, and let's hope well beyond.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back after a quick word from our
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: friends at foul Territory.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: As an athlete, I care about what I put in
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• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Will we will? Time now for the inside Dish, the
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: part of the show where I talk about a trend
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: in the game. Something I've written something else entirely that
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: is going on. And this week I want to focus
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: on what I would describe as the other major news
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: event of the weekend outside of the BBWAA dinner. We
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: heard some news out of the Astros FanFest, and let's
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: talk about the Mets Amazing Day that was their fan
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: fest on Saturday as well. And an extraordinary scene unfolded
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: at City Field when you had the owner, Steve Cohen,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the general manager David Stearns up on the dais for
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: a news conference and they were addressing the Pete Alonzo
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: negotiations and Sterns was explaining where they were, and the
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: fans were getting restless, and then Cohen took the mic
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: as the fans were chanting for Alonzo, we want Pete,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: resign Alonzo, Pete Alonso, all these things, and Cohen proceeded
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: to describe his frustrations with the negotiations, and he talked
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: in some detail about what was going on. He said
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: the negotiations have been more difficult for him than the
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Jan Soto negotiations were. He said that the structures being
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: proposed by Alonzo's camp, of course he's represented by Scott Boris,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: were asymmetrical, meaning one sided in favor of the player,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: and basically Steve Cohen said, I'm not happy now. We
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: could have seen this whole thing coming. We all did
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: see this whole thing coming. Pete Alonzo is a year
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: old first baseman who was limited athletically and defensively. He
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: is also quite an accomplished hitter and a guy the
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Mets need in addition to signing Juan Soda this offseason,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: they need him to complement Sodo. But this impasse has developed,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and it's developed over time. If you remember, the Mets
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: offered Alonzo with one year of arbitration remaining seven years
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty eight million now in new money.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: When you take away the one remaining arbitration year, it
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: was more like six years, one hundred and thirty eight million,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: and Alonzo, who was then under a previous agent, not Boris,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: turned that deal down. He turned that deal down probably
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: thinking what am I going to get in a free
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: agency I'll probably at least get one hundred and twenty.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: If I can get to one hundred and sixty one
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: hundred and seventy, that's a good bet. I'll turn it down.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: The one thirty eight new money and gamble on my upside. Now,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: he didn't have his best year. His home run total
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: was down for him, It's still pretty good thirty four
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: home runs. But here we are sitting here wondering what's
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: going to happen with Pete Alonso and taking in this
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: stare doown he is having with the New York mets.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I wrote in October an imaginary conversation between David Stearns
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and Steve Cohen in which Stearns was playing the efficiency minded,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: cold blooded GM talking about numbers, and Cohen was kind
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: of the emotional fan owner type, saying you know what
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: we need Pete, and Stearns was like, I don't know
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: if we need Pete, And certainly Scott Boris's expectations were high.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Scott Boris was saying, he said this on Joel Sherman
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: and John Hayman's podcast some time ago. He wasn't going
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to look at Alonzo's situation and compared to recent contracts
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: for Freddie Freeman, for Paul Goldschmid, forro Matt Olsen, some
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: in free agency, some via extensions, he thought times have changed,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Alonzo was worth more than that. He was looking more
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: toward the past and some of the big free agent
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: contracts that were signed for First Baseman, some of which
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: he negotiated. So we have this impass. And we also
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: had Cohen's comments, which I wrote about in my column
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: on Monday. For an executive for an owner, those comments
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: were rather aggressive, and I explained why owners and executives
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: never talk like this, and it's because they're afraid of
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: a part of the CBA known as Attachment forty nine.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: An Attachment forty nine in essence, details why owners and
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: executives and for that matter, agents cannot talk about contract
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: negotiations and reveal details publicly. And it goes back to
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the collusion era when obviously things happened done by the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: owners to influence the market, and the players and owners
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: agreed that they don't want media comments influencing the market. Now,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: I didn't write in this story that Cohen definitely crossed
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the line on Attachment forty nine. I don't know that
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: he did. I wrote that it was a matter of interpretation.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: But I have spoken with executives over the years who
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: are terrified to talk about free agency because they don't
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: want to become part of a grievance. Now, I don't
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: expect a grievance in this matter, and the reason is
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Boris and Alonzo they don't want to mess up their
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: negotiations or have some outside thing like a grievance come
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: into play. They want to get Alonzo the best deal possible,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: and that is what they continue to aim for. So
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: where is this headed. I don't know, is the answer. Obviously,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Toronto has been interested in Alonzo. We know that the Angels.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I've heard mixed signals about the Angels are kind of
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: on anybody and everybody right now, But I don't know
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: that they're that serious on Alonzo. So if you're Peter
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Alonzo and you don't want to go to Toronto, you
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: want to play for the Mets, you're gonna hold out.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: You're gonna look for the best deal you can. And
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: that's what's happening. And I wrote with Will Salmon at
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: one point that I expect it to be three years,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: ninety three point three million, just over Miguel Cabrera's record
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: average annual value for first baseman. And we in that
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: same thing that with that kind of deal, which is
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: not close to what the Mets have offered, it's well above,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: you'd have massive deferrals. To take the number down. Now,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: obviously Scott Boris is going to fight that. Peede Alonzo
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: is going to fight that. But that's what I'm thinking,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: That's where I believe this might be headed. The Mets
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: have offered Alonzo three years between sixty eight and seventy million.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: That is a deal they had to know Alonso would reject,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: and of course he did reject it. Might they be
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: room to negotiate, Sure, might Peter Alonzo still want more. Absolutely,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: how this ends, We're gonna find out. But right now
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: it's a stare down and I want to mention one
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: more thing. As we discussed this situation over the weekend
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: as well in WFAN and apparently one of the hosts
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: was talking about the structure, the structure that Steve Cohen
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: objected to, and he pointed out, hey, there are buyouts
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: on the end of the opt out years. Well, yes,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: there are always buyouts on the end of opt out years.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: That's a way for TEA seems to defer a little
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: bit of money into the future. So, for instance, if
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: a guy like Alonso or anybody else who signs this
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: type of contract three years or four years opt outs
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: high average annual value. If they opt out, there is
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: a buyout attached, and that number figures into the guarantee.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: It's simply a way for the clubs to push money back,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: not to pay as much presently. So that's not the
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: hold up here. The objection seems to be from Cohen's
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: part that if Alonzo opts out, well, he has all
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: the leverage. He can opt out if he's good, and
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: he won't opt out if he's bad. This is always
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: how it is with opt outs. That's why they favor
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the players so much. And for whatever reason, Boris believes,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: as he said to the athletics will Salmon, Hey, these
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: are standards and practices that have been established in contracts
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: of this nature. Let's go, let's get it done like
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: this again. I don't know where this is going, but
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: I will say this was fully anticipated. A player like
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Peter Alonzo, a player who is not as athletic, not
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: as defensively versatile, a player who is thirty years old,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: was always going to have a bit of an issue
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: in the free agent market. For more on the Mets
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: and Steve Cohen's comments about Pete Alonzo, check out Mets Up.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Mark Luno and Jamesiana host subscribe on YouTube and wherever
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: you get your podcast to the entire Foul Territory network.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Time now for grilling Ken. Let's get to your questions.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: The first question comes from Blue Cheesy. I love these handles.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Blue Cheesy asked, is Salvador Perez a Hall of Fame lock?
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Interesting question coming off the Hall of Fame vote in
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: which Brian McCann and Russell Martin did not even make
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: it to the next ballot. Now Brian McCann and Russell
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Martin are not Salvador Perez, and when you ask if
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: Salvador Perez is a lock, I'm not sure I can
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: say yes. After those two results, I would expect the
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: audio Molina is a locked. I would expect Buster Posey
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: is a lock. Perez might not be first ballot, but
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: he's building a strong case. And I want to show
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: you a comparison here, and it's detailed and we'll leave
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: it up on the screen for a little bit so
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: you can see. But Salvador Perez is going to have
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: a good case. He's gonna end up with probably three
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: hundred home runs. That's more than any of the other
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: guys on this list. Malena McCann and Martin. His OPS
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: plus is right near Brian McCann's for the highest among
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: this group. Nine All Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, five
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Silver Sluggers, and one World Series title. He was the
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: World Series MVP in that year for the Kansas City Royals.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: He's also played for only one franchise, and to me,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: that raises his identity as a player. There's no harm
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: in leaving as a free agent or getting traded, but
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: it kind of distinguishes Salvador Perez. And keep in mind too,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: with two hundred and seventy three home runs, it's probably
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: likely he'll get to three hundred. Only seven players in
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: history who started fifty percent of their games at catcher
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: have gotten to three hundred or more home runs. Six
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: of those seven are Hall of Famers. The seven are Piazza,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Bench Fisk, Barak Carter, Lance Parrish, He's the one non
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, and Pudge Rodriguez. That's a pretty distinguished
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: group that sal Perez might be a part of. So yes,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: I do expect him to be a Hall of Famer
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: at an underrepresented position. I don't know if it will
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: be first ballot, and I know the cases for McCann
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: and Martin were presented by some pretty intelligent people, and
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: yet they did not get through to the next ballot.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: They're off after one year. Their cases were largely based
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: on framing. I didn't love that argument, but they were
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: certainly really good players. Sal Perez is a different kind
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: of player, and sal Perez, in my expectation, will be
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer. Okay, let's get to the next question.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: This one comes from MKD, who asked to show hek
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Otani keep his two way player status in twoenty twenty
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: five after not pitching in twenty twenty four. The answer
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: is no, you have to earn that status, and the
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: way to earn that status is by pitching twenty innings
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: and playing twenty games as a position player with three
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: played appearances in each of those games. Again, twenty innings
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: pitching this season and starting twenty games as a position
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: player can be as a DH and making three played
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: appearances in each of those games. Once Otani hits those standards,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: and he will early in this season, he becomes eligible
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: for two way status, not just this year but the next. Obviously,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: he didn't reach those standards last year because he wasn't pitching.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: So what does this mean for the Dodgers. Once O'tani
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: gets to twenty twenty, let's call it, he becomes eligible
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: to be a two way player, and that gives the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Dodgers really the ability to carry a fourteenth pitcher. Remember
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: there's a maximum of thirteen. That's all you get. But
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Otani would be a fourteenth as any two way player would,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: and it gives the Dodgers a certain advantage. So yes,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: he will be a two way player, but not until
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: he reaches those particular standards that I mentioned. All right,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: last question, This one comes from Adam who asks why
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: do you think your colleagues are giving a pass to
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Carlos Beltron and Hall of Fame voting. Do you believe
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: it's because of personal bias against players like a Rod
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: and Manny Ramirez or is the astro scandal not as
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: meaningful as the steroid scandal? Well, this is a very
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: interesting and deep question. The two scandals, in my opinion,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: are apples and oranges. They don't really equate. But I
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: am a Beltron voter. I did not vote for him
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the first year. I did vote for him subsequently after that,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: and will continue voting for him because I believe he
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: is worthy. Now, the question is why am I and
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: other Hall of Fame voters electing or trying to elect
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Beltron when he was acknowledged as one of the heads
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: of the Astro sign stealing scheme that led to all
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: kinds of trouble a few years back. I sort of
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: see it the way I see the players who used
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: steroids before MLB established firm penalties and guidelines against that use.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: So I ended up at some point voting for Bonds
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: and McGuire, but I still do not vote for a
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Rod and many Ramirez because their indiscretions occurred after MLB
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: had established firm penalties and rules regarding ped use. With Beltron,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: it was almost a similar situation and the Astros in general.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: And I'm not excusing it, Okay. I was the guy who,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: with Evandrelik, wrote the story that revealed what the Astros
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: were doing. But what I'm saying is, at the time,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: as we wrote in that story and others, there were
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: no firm guidelines or rules or standards established by Major
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: League Baseball. It was kind of a wild Wild West situation.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: The Astros obviously were the most egregious in what they did.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: They used the trash cans. Other teams did not. It
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: was simply a step beyond what other teams were doing.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: We also wrote about the Red Sox some things too
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: that were not legal. Yes, but it was still not
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: the same as the Astros. Again, if MLB had firm
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: rules and penalties in place, I would have felt one
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: way about this, a different way than I feel right now.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: But MLB didn't. And I also say, and I also
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: wrote last year that the Astros players, even though they
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: were not punished by MLB, you cannot say that they
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: have not been punished. They've been punished in the sphere
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: of public opinion. They've been punished in other ways as well.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Carlos Beltron lost his job as Mets manager. So I'm
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: not saying all of this is enough to excuse any
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: Astros player as a Hall of Fame candidate. You have
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: to consider all of these factors. But to me, I
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: am just not ready to go to that length and
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: exclude a guy from the Hall of Fame. A guy
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: who really had a distinguished career was a Roberto Clement,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: the award winner, did a lot of wonderful things in
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: his community as well as on the FA. He had
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: his indiscretion, no question about it, but MLB was largely
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to blame for creating or at least allowing, an environment
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: that led to what the astros did. I want to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: thank everyone for their questions, everyone for watching and listening. Hey,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Network has been around for two years now,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: and Saturday night, as I mentioned earlier, we broadcast the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: BBWAA Awards Dinner. That's a pretty good accomplishment in two
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: years time. So I want to thank everyone again for
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: tuning in, for watching, for following us over the last
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: two years. We're really proud of what we've accomplished. Now
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: we will be back Thursday, myself and Alana Rizzo with
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: our normal live podcast YouTube show twelve thirty Eastern. Have
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: a great week, everyone, and I'm sure we'll have some
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: more news to talk about by then.
• 24:46
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