Latest / Foul Territory / Where will Tarik Skubal sign? Exploring offseason trade chips, Rays extending Junior Caminero?

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Where will Tarik Skubal sign? Exploring offseason trade chips, Rays extending Junior Caminero? · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hey, things are happening. What's up? It's FT. There was
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: a move right before the show started, but it's a
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: front office move. The A's are building up their new
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: front office. Cam Castro is the name. You'll never believe
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: where he came from, guys. You'll never believe it. Which
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: team do you think he was poached from?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: It's always the Rays.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: No, close.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Brewers.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: AJ, the Brewers are the new Sexy thing in baseball.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: And hey, they should be. Castro worked with the Brewers
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: since 2019, and he will now be the general manager
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: under new president of baseball operations, Taylor Smith. I didn't
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: realize Taylor Smith, by the way, is 31 years old.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't care. I'm all for it. But
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Castro was VP overseeing player development and performance on the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Milwaukee side. This is Ken's tweet. He holds extensive experience
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: in pitching development. And... Well, damn, AJ, the A's need
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: help in pitching development. They have no pitching.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: They need help in business development, pitching development, every kind
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: of development they need help with. I mean, it's just been,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: I don't know. It's been a rough go for the Oakland, Sacramento,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Vegas A's lately. And I don't see any help on
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: the horizon, especially if they're going to, or like we're
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: talking about today, Langoliers on the trade block. I don't
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: know why you can't figure out a way to sign
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: someone like that. I mean, why has Kurtz not had
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: an extension? I don't know. I mean, I guess they
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: did sign Rooker, so that was good.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and they signed some other guys, Butler, Soderstrom. So
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: they've signed some guys.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: They signed Wilson.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Nick Kurtz almost wins an MVP, and you're cooked, unless
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: you're willing to put out money that I don't think–
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: Fisher's willing to put out. He's going to look at
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Kurtz's potential contract and go, that's almost as much as
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: I'm putting into this stadium. I know the city's putting
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: a lot more into, but that's almost as much as
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: the stadium's going to cost me.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And they need pitching. I mean, I think there
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: are some pretty good pieces position player wise, but they
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: need a lot of pitching and you can't just buy
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: it all on the market. And right now you can't
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: really get it at all because unless you're way over
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: bidding for a player, he's not going to pitch in Sacramento.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: I know we're not going to talk too much about
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Cam Castro because I don't know much about him, but
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I reached out to somebody that does know him. And
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: this will give you an idea of how these hirings
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: or not hirings are made. The first thing that the
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: person responded to me was, he creates tremendous systems. And
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: I was like, question mark?
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Systems.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: What does that mean? Like, does he create a great
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: pitching plan? Does he create He's got a driveline background
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: originally before he got into player development with the Brewers.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: But tremendous systems.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: That's what you got to do. I'm telling you. You
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: want to get hired in today's world? Just go to driveline,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: get a certificate, and say you were there. Man, I
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: worked for driveline for a month. Man, someone's going to
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: hire me? I don't know how driveline got the monopoly
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: on everybody being hired from them, and I'm sure they're great.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: I'm sure they do a lot of awesome things, but
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: how does everybody that goes to driveline is just like,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: you're hired. It's like you went to driveline, you're hired.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: You went to driveline, you're a GM. You went to driveline,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: you're a coach. You went to driveline for a week.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm thinking about making a comeback. I'll go
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to driveline for a week. I'll be in the big
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: leagues tomorrow.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: I would love to see you go there and do
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: a piece of content, a little video, go through the
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: system and get your certificate. I think that would be fun.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: In fairness, this guy's been with the Brewers for a while, though. Yeah, yeah, sleeveless, AJ.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: This guy's been with the Brewers for a while, though.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: He's been with them since 2019 and worked in a
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: number of player development roles that clearly have been helping
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: the Brewers. The Brewers are the best homegrown team in
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: the sport right now. So I'll give him credit. It's
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: nothing against him.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: No, it's nothing against him at all. It's just it's
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: funny that how every guy, the first thing you say is, well,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: he went to drive. He worked at driveline. Well, gosh,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: that just means he must be amazing.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: It definitely helps on the resume these days. I'll give
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: you that. But you know what else helps? Brewers. Brewers
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: right now helps. They've gotten like four or five guys
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: poached in the past five days. I just don't want
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: to overlook that.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: Matt Klein should have been the GM of the Astros,
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: but he turned it down.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Right. And he will get more phone calls for other
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: openings too. So keep an eye out for that. Okay.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Let's get to free agency. Derek Scooble, shall we? So
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: we'll go off the ESPN article that involved a number
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: of their insiders commenting on Scooble status. And of course
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the consensus revolves around teams like the Dodgers, the Mets,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: other teams that were mentioned, the Padres, the Cubs. When
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: it came to the Mets, they were like, yeah, obviously
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: they have money. They haven't spent big money on big
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: name starting pitching top tier guys, right? They haven't believed
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: in that the last few years. And there is definitely
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: an inclination that they will go that route since it
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: hasn't worked doing the we don't like big time starters thing.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: The Padres have a new ownership group. Perhaps they try
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: to make a splash. They were mentioned here. Yeah, when
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: it came to the Cubs, it was mentioned that they
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: badly want him. And this is a collection of passing
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: only Castillo, Gonzalez, some of the great guys that we
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: have on our show sometimes, too. And the number was
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: expected to be three to four hundred plus million dollars
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: for by far the best player available on the market.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: One other note from Alden, AJ, was if all things
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: are equal, he absolutely adored L.A. Stars, besties with Snell.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: No surprises really on any of this. But if the
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Mets win the bid, then I'm sure he'll end up
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: being a Met and leading that rotation. Your thoughts?
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, David Stearns doesn't like to do
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: that with pitchers, so we all know that. The Cubs,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: they don't have any money because they're in a small market,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: or at least they act like they're in a small market.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: The Padres, I could see the Padres doing it, but
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: they'd probably want a shorter-term one than a long-term one. Gosh,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: it just seems like it's going to be the Dodgers again.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: They'll figure out a way with deferrals. They'll get this
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: done with deferrals or something. Before we get too deep
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: in the offseason, whether they need to trade Teoscar Hernandez
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: or trade someone else, I just feel like this is–
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: the way it's going to be. But I mean, all
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: the teams that were listed all make sense. But I mean,
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: remember the days when like Houston or not Houston, sorry,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Texas would come in and swoop out a player. Washington
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: would swoop in and steal a player. Seattle would steal
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: a player or some of these other teams. It's just
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: gotten to the point where every team is like, we're broke.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: We don't want to spend any money. And it's always
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: like the same four or five teams over and over again.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: And I know they're going to say, well, that's the
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: argument for the salary cap. It's also an argument for
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: owners not wanting to win. Sorry.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: Yes, Scubo's going to get a lot of money. But
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: exactly what AJ said at the end, he wants to win.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: He hasn't won a World Series yet. He didn't have
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: a choice to go to LA. People are going to
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: be like, well, he chose to go to LA. No,
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: he got traded there. Pretty decent landing spot. Good chance
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: to win. But that's what's going to happen. And I
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: think there's teams that are going to say they're giving
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: it their best effort. But the reality is, I think
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: it's those three teams. I think the mystery team, I
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: said the other day, I really feel like a team
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: that feels like they have a core that can strike
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: at this time could be the Nats. Now people will
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: say C.J. Abrams could be gone. I get it, but
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: you could turn him into somebody that will be there
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: during the entire nine years or to somebody's the nine
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: years of this contract.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Oh, man. Should we come up with some type of
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: crazy bet for how sure I am that the Nats–
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: will not be investing $ 400 million in their current status.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: No chance. It's a great fit, but no chance.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: Okay. But see, this is the argument from the players
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: association against the salary cap is that teams don't want
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: to spend the money. And then the argument from the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: fans is we need a floor. Well, you just, because
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: you have a floor doesn't mean that players, I mean,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I guess players are going to get more money, but
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: like it's what Kratz said, it'd be some of the
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: lot more younger players that are getting the money. But
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: when the best, player on the market doesn't have every
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: team after him in some form or fashion, I don't
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: know how we fix it, but that's a problem for me.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying a salary cap is the answer. Please don't.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: I'm not a salary cap guy. But if every team
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: can't go after the best free agents in the free
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: agent market, then there's something wrong, whether that's an ownership
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: not wanting to win, whether that's whatever you want to
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: put it. Payroll's too high. Players are getting too paid.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Whatever excuse you want to make, That's something wrong with
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: the sport. I'm sorry. I hate to say that. It
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: kills me to say that.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: I agree, but that's what's going on here. The hand
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: has been forced for a long period of time. And
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: that's why there are other ways to fix this. But
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: one side is saying we will only spend if we
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: get the cap floor system. I mean, again, I don't
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: want to get into a labor talk when it comes
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: to talking school here, we'll have five months to do that.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: But the reason that not every team is involved is yes,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: they don't want to be involved and they need to
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: be forced to be involved. So Um, that's just how
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: it is right now. Also, I will say this, if
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: there's something to learn about the world series, we just saw,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: these are young teams. These, I mean, especially on the
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Milwaukee side or teams that are locking up some of
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: their stars at a very early time period, that certainly helps.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: If you, if you think you've got a star Jackson Churio, right.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Who could, reach free agency and make four or $ 500 million.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: That's not going to happen. He might reach free agency,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: but he won't reach it at 25 years old. He'll
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: reach it at like 30, some 30, 31, whatever it is.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: That's one way to curb it. Another thing to look
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: at is that some teams don't want to invest all
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: of their money in one player and prefer to spread
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: it out. I'm okay with that too. There might be
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: some people that say, you know what? Pitching is so risky.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: This isn't the guy, or I don't like his medicals. Right.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: I'm not, I don't know Scooble's medicals. I mean, he
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: has had, injuries in the past, but it's something that
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: teams look at and say, you know what? This is
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: not the route that I'm going to take. I'm not
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: going to spend it all on this one guy. And
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: other spots are like, yeah, sure. I don't care.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: I have four.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: I have four teams. I think it's the Dodgers. I
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: think it's the Mets. I think it's the Cubs. And
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: I think it's the Braves. Braves just have some, some connection.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: Do they make these big splashes? No, but you know what?
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: there's an opportunity here for them to bolster what they
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: didn't have this past season. And then when sale rides
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: off into the sunset, he can be the new sale.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: I agree. Braves would be a great fit.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: For me, I mean, the Mets are an obvious fit
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: because of the need of not just starting pitching in
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: this ESPN article, Jeff Passan wrote in order for the
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Mets to get back to the Atlanta Philly level, of
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: competitive of competitiveness even if they got school he's like
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: they need more starting pitching they need a lot more
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: relief help they need two more productive bats and it's
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: a team that doesn't want to create too much turnover
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: because they felt like that was an issue last year
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: well i mean there's there's a problem here so the
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: cubs and the braves and even the padres for me
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: crats i wouldn't rule them out are all in a
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: good spot where it's win now mode and can they
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: put up the best bid i think all those teams
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: could be involved here aj what about you.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, this. Yeah. But it's, you know, Dodgers, Mets, Cubs.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, Braves are interesting, but it's just I don't know.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: It's it's this this is that we're going to have
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: this and we're going to talk about this. We're going
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: to talk about this. We're going to talk about this.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: And you guys know how much I love talking about
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: the same thing over and over again when it comes
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: to bringing it up.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Just wipe it out. Here, I'm going to be your therapist.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Wipe out the labor stuff for three weeks. Not everything.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I'm talking about the labor stuff. I'm talking about the
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: signing of Tarek Skubal because we're two days into the offseason.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: He's not signing for at least November, at least for
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: two weeks, I'd say. He's not signing. So for the
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: next two weeks, every day, we're going to be like,
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: where's Tarek? So, producer lady, let's get the graphic going.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Where will Tarek go? Let's get it going.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Where will Skubal sign?
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, where will Skubal sign?
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Whatever we have to do, but Where's his Scooby snacks?
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: It's like, okay, I mean, I get all this, and
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: we get all this, and I get all this, and
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I understand it, but it's hard to speculate for me.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: And listen, he might get $ 300 million to $ 400 million,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: and I hope he does because I really like Tarek Skool.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: I think he's great. I hope he breaks the record,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: and he pushes salaries even higher. I'm all for it.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: I know it's the offseason, and we just got done
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: with playing games, but gosh, I just know for the
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: next two to three weeks, it's going to be Scooble, Scooble, Scooble, Scooble, Scooble.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, which I can't wait for. I'm excited for that.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: And also, let's think about it. We didn't bring up
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: one or two teams. We just brought up like five
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: or six that we think could get involved.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Well, the Braves aren't going to do that.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: You're not going to have 20 teams involved on everyone.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: I know, but unless the Braves get rid of– yeah,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: but if you get a cap and a floor, Scott,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: you will. That's what people argue. So that's not true.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Because even if you do that, look at the NBA.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: People go where they want to go and they want
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: to go to the city. They'll find a city that
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: they want to go to, whether it's Los Angeles, whether
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: it's whatever, Texas, Florida. New York, wherever they want to go,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: they'll just be like, I'll take a couple less to
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: go there. Yeah, but I don't know. I don't know.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Next.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals are hiring Joel McKeithen as hitting coach. McKeithen
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: was recently with the White Sox as assistant hitting coach. AJ,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: the White Sox hit this year.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Was it the assistant hitting coach's job? I mean, we
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: learned that the third hitting coach for the Mariners got
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: fired and it didn't make a damn bit of difference.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: So I guess the assistant hitting coach– I mean, the
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: assistant hitting.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Coach– It does matter. That means it does matter.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but I mean, was it the– is it the player?
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: Is it the arrow?
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Or is it the person shooting the bow? I don't know.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's– yeah, I mean, good for him. He
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: got a big league lead hitting coach job. Good for him. Yeah.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know anything about the guy. He was the
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: assistant hitting coach for the White Sox. Good for him.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: AJ, I have a question for you. Were there some
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: hitting coaches you loved and you were like, damn, this
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: guy knows what he's talking about and I really connect
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: with him? And were there some where you're like, this
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: person's terrible, they don't deserve a job, and they're hurting us?
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: There was only really one that I ever had that
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: was like that.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Right. But I guess point is it matters.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: There was two that I had that were like that. Sorry.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: That were bad? Yeah. So it matters. There was two.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: That cared more about themselves than they did about the player,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: and I wasn't a big fan of that.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: There's definitely a lot of that.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: It's always about the player. As a coach, it's about
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: the players. It's not about you. It's not about your ego.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: It is about the players. And if the player needs
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: you to fly to the moon and throw BP to him,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: as a coach, you fly to the moon and you
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: freaking throw BP to the guy. It doesn't matter. That's it.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: You do whatever the player– to make the player successful.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, Brant Brown, this dude does what you just said.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: Like this guy is– Everywhere he is locked in when
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: it's time to be the hitting coach for his guys.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: No matter where he's been, he's been in a lot
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: of places. And they fired him. So I was kind
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: of surprised. I felt like some of their offensive guys
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: took some extra steps. I know a Mason Wynn maybe
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: took a step back. But there were some dudes that
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: had some good processes in place that they were implementing
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: into the season. And partway through the season, Brant Brown
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: and the Cardinals.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: cut bait.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: Whatever happened, I don't know, but Walker took a step
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: up again when you thought his light was fading. Burleson
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: led the league in RBIs. There's some dudes that had
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: seasons and there's dudes that fell back a little bit.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Don Herrera.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Hey, so remember how I wasn't the biggest fan of
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Brad Ausmus interviewing for the Astros manager job yesterday. I
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: pointed that one out, the lack of success in the past,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: stuff like that. I'm going to go the other route
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: on this one. Rangers bench coach, uh, Luis Urieta, um,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: will interview for the Astros managerial job. And this is
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: from Jeff Wilson covering the team told he was a
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: candidate for the Mariners opening too, which went to Kanzler,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: of course. So I'm going to go the other route here, AJ,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: this guy who I think has deserved to have a
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: spot for a while now, um, Energy, experience. Has he managed? No,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: but he has coached in the big leagues. It's been
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: a long time. I haven't looked at the track record
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: at this point, but bench coaching for a long time,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: super well-liked, bilingual. I mean, he was actually most well-known
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: for the World Baseball Classic in, what was that, 2017
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: when Columbia was making a little run. So we'll see
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: what happens, but there's one I can go on the.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Other side of. The name that popped up yesterday was
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: Phil Holes. That was an interesting one.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Oh, no doubt.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: I saw that. I was like, hmm, maybe Albert will
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: get a shot. But we'll see. We'll see. Good luck
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: to whoever gets this job because just don't win the
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: World Series because that's how you get let go.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: You know another name that got mentioned, and I didn't
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: do a lot of homework on this, but Morgan Ensberg
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: has been managing with AAA Durham. And I was just
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: going through Astro's comments on our YouTube. I'm trying to
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: get back to commenting to a lot of people on
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: our YouTube clips. And there were many people that were like,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: please no Ausmus, please yes Morgan Ensberg, especially if you're
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: going the route of the former Astros.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Jeff Bagwell.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Don't think he wants the gig.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Why would you? Why would you?
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: Why would you put it all out there when you
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: already have it out there? You just don't have to
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: put it out there. Nobody's going to fire the guy
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: that sits in the first row, third seat to the
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: left on camera every game.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but also he's essentially in the front office, so
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: he's not taking a manager job. In my mind, in
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: the hierarchy, he's got a higher role than the manager.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Why would you take that? But Ensberg, I don't know
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: a ton about what he's done there, but AAA, Rays,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: they're doing a pretty good job developing players.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Did he go to driveline?
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Didn't exist when he played.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: No, but I meant since then. He drove on the line.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: I think that's probably– that's close.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Is that close? He says it really fast. Did Luis
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: Arrieta go to driveline? Otherwise, no chance.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: I hope Pipe gets a job. He's great.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: Let's pump the brakes. There's a lot of people that
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: were in line for the Mariners job.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: A lot. Hey, Larry Stone, who I think was a
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: former writer. I don't think he's writing anymore. Maybe I'm wrong. Whatever.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Covered the Mariners. Said 2019 incident indicates new Mariners manager
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Jason Kanzler has a fiery side. So apparently there was
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: a wild seventh inning when he was in the minors
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: with the Woodpeckers, They're hitting coach. I don't know what.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Who are they with, Kratz? And yes, Stone is retired now.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: Who are the Woodpeckers?
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I just want to hear you keep
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: calling them the Woodpeckers. I mean, come on.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: The Woodpeckers were pecking. The Woodpeckers did it. They were packing,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: and Kanzler apparently put a trash can over at home plate, AJ.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: I bet he's ready to win, AJ. He's ready to win.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: That's what that says, AJ.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I bet he doesn't do it in the big leagues.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: I can almost guarantee you he doesn't do this in
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: the big leagues. I mean, dude, how many times did
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: you see managers go crazy in the minor leagues? It
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: was the best part, man. Managers in the big leagues
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: used to do this, dude.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: He was a hitting coach. He wasn't even a manager.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: Okay. I mean, my hitting coaches got more mad than
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: the managers did. Half the time, hitting coaches were always
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: the ones that were pissed because they were bad calls. So,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, awesome. I hope he does this. I hope
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: he goes full Lou Piniella, Lloyd McClendon. I mean, whoever
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: you want to name and just starts going crazy because
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: it would be fun to see because we don't ever
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: get to see that anymore.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Do you think it helps players to see that? We
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: don't see it much anymore. Like, you guys liked it, right?
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Not all the time, but every once in a while
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: you're like, yeah.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Not if it's fake. Not if it's fake. I mean,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: I saw Ozzie go crazy. I mean, obviously more than once,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: but if it's fake, it doesn't work. It has to
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: be genuine and you have to understand. And there has
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: to be, I mean, I saw Paul Malter chuck a
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: tee on a field once in a big league stadium.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, he was, he's the first ballot hall of
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: fame guy, 3000 hits. And he threw a, he threw
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: a tee on the field in Cleveland and then went down,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: ran down the tunnel and hit and Hirschbeck had to
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: go chase him out of the tunnel.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: It was hilarious. But I mean, yeah, it's cool. This
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: is what AJ is talking about. It has to be real.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: You have to know when to freak out. There's no
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: time on a sheet when it's time to freak out.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: And that's what we've been saying the whole time. Experience
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: will let you know. If your team loses the first
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: two games of the season and it has some veterans
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: on it and then you come into the locker room and.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Go, you know what we need to do?
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: We need to do this. We need to do that. Like,
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: you might come out, some of those stars might come
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: out and say, all right, it's a little too much.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: We've got a long season. I tell them.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Hey, we can show this Angels news. I know we
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: talked about them a lot yesterday with Ken, but we
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: can run this tweet on John Mazaloc and his status
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: and eventually the status of who is going to run
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: that front office. Like you mentioned, AJ, I know you're
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: going back and forth with Kenny Ball, Game Rosenthal about it.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Jeff Fletcher covers the team for the Orange County Register,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: said the Angels have not interviewed anyone for that spot,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: according to Mo. They put some lists of names together.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: He said plans to go full-born this month. Owners vote
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: on the sale, which is now expected to happen the
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: week of November 16th. That's actually the big news to me.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: At one point, call me crazy, I thought I saw
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: that it might not happen until new year um and
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: it looks like the voting is happening sooner i actually
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: looked at that at one point because this was announced
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: like what two months ago and then when i initially
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: saw it was going to be january i was like
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: it has to be taxes has to be taxes because
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: there it does not take that long you know they
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: have meetings what quarterly at least so i was like
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: it has to be something else and maybe the official
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: takeover isn't then whatever it is there's some semantics and
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: paperwork going on behind the scene that is holding things
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: up and from what i've seen angels fans are mostly
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: actually okay with it because they just want already to
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: sell the team. And they're like, we have to wait
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: an extra month or two for this. It's going to
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: screw up our off season, but the future is so
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: much brighter in Anaheim. Your thoughts, AJ. Yeah.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, this is good. When we talked to Ken yesterday,
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: he said after December 1st, and then that just kills
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: their whole off season because they can't make any moves
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: before then. So this is good news. If you're an
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: angels fan, that if it'll be done November 16th, that
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: gives them about two weeks to try to figure it out.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: But they got to hire a GM. They got to
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: fire our manager. They got to do all these things
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: within two weeks. It's going to be a hectic two weeks,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: but at least we'll have something to talk about.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean, if you're the Angels and you
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: want to make a splash, Tarek Skubal, we were talking
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: about him earlier. Why not? The Angels could be a
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: very valuable franchise, just like Ken mentioned, and we've talked
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: about it for a long time. Good market, good fan base,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: great place to live, right? Players love being there. Trout's
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: still there, even though he's not the same Trout that
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: he was. He's still very good, and people love playing
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: with him. You could turn that ship around quickly. They've
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: been so far behind on approvals on things that every
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: other team has. Could be good. Could be good soon.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Spreading rumors. Let's hit some other points from the ESPN
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: article about the offseason. We'll start with trade candidates. Jeff
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Passan wrote about Drew Rasmussen, although the race certainly changed.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: have been talking about Rasmussen coming back. We can get
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: to that at another point. The Astros were mentioned here
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: deciding on what to do with Jeremy Pena. He's a
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: free agent after next season. The angels did trade Jose Soriano,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: but they mentioned three Detmers and even Zach Netto problem
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: with the Rangers. I mean, the angels is that they,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: they do have some good pieces, but they haven't figured
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: out locking these guys up yet. Already didn't want to
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: do that until I guess the team got sold. So
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: to me, that's like a, You come in quickly, GM says, hey,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: should we try and keep these guys? Do we want
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: them or not? Otherwise, then I guess you can look
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: into trading them. Quetel Marte, of course, mentioned, and McGill,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Trevor McGill, AJ. Do you think Brewers fans will be
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: pissed if McGill gets dealt? I know he's a fan
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: favorite there, but they saw Hayter get dealt, and the
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: fruits of the labor from that trade certainly helped them
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: win a World Series.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I think they'll understand it because the
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Brewers have done this a lot. I mean, Hader, you know,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Devin Williams, Corbin Burns, you know, they've made these moves
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: to help them get to the point where they win
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: a World Series. Excuse me. Listen, Trevor McGill had a
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: great run, but they also have Arribe who could close,
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Ashby who could close, D.L. Hall, what are they going
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: to do with him if they put him back in
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: the rotation? Whatever they do, They have options. And as
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Jim Bowden says on the show all the time, I
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: can find relievers left and right. He's like, I can
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: always find a reliever. So I don't think that's a
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: big deal. You can tell Marte's not going anywhere because
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: why would he go anywhere? If he goes to another team,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: if he just decides not to show up one day,
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: someone might actually say something to him about like, dang, dude,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: you might need to show up tomorrow. You know, in Arizona,
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: they just say, ah, it's just Cattell. He's fine. Don't worry.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Missed the playoffs by one game this year. And don't worry, Cattell.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: Didn't matter that you missed those three or four just
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: because your feelings got hurt. So he's not going anywhere.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: The Angels can't do anything like we just talked about
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: until their owner gets settled. I think Peña is the
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: one guy that is interesting to me. I think he's
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: a guy that could get them a lot in Houston
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: with a new GM and an opportunity to make some
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: moves and make some eye-popping moves. I think Peña might
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: be the one guy that I would say, he's got
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: a pretty good chance of being moved.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: I think it's ironic that there's two shortstops available, two
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: shortstops that have clear upside. I mean, Neto and Peña,
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: does a team pivot? and go to Neto or is
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: a team pivot and go to Pena I guess it's
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: really the asking price I guess it's really if you
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: can actually talk to somebody with the Angels but I
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: think there's there's an inflection point with both teams and
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: getting rid of a shortstop is a huge huge deal
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: and it's not like oh Carlos Correa can easily just
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: slide over and play shortstop because he's clearly said for
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: his health he feels better playing more third base consistently
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: so It's not just a, like when you're giving up
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: a shortstop, yes, you should get a haul back, but
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: you're also giving up a shortstop and you don't find
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: big league shortstops at very many places. That's why I
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: think it's hard to move those guys because I think
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: they'll probably ask the world for them.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is tough to find that level talent at shortstop.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: I can tell you, I read just about anything I
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: can from the publications I like about what teams are
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: looking for. And this is really two off seasons running
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: where you're like, yeah, this team could really use a
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: star shortstop. There is none available on the market, right?
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: You can trade for one, but it's pretty rare to
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: get a Jeremy Pena popping up. The Astros could get
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: a lot for him if they don't come to an
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: extension agreement. Teams need star shortstops. And I would put
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Pena in that category, whatever you want to call it.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: If it's not superstar, all-star, like he is an impact shortstop.
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: I look at a team like the Phillies who probably
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: don't have a haul to give, but they have a
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: guy in Trey Turner who could move to third base,
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: who could move to center field, who could move. I'm
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: not saying that that's who it's going to be. I
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: think the Phillies will probably delve more into the Jaron
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: Duran type of sweepstakes, but to me, a team has
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: to line up with needing a star shortstop, an above-average
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: star shortstop, an all-star shortstop, but also being able to
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: backfill what they lose when they're giving up because it's
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: going to be a haul.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: The Braves, whew. They've been looking for a shortstop. They'd
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: be all over acquiring one of those two if they
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: like them. I mean, I think, yeah, why wouldn't you?
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Both of those players have performed really well. over the
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: last few years, I know painting dealt with a little
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: bit of injury stuff and Neto sometimes, you know, has,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: has the swing and miss, but look at the overall player.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: They're contributors. They have their strengths and weaknesses.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Every player has their weaknesses.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Exactly. I know. Let's not be overly critical of the
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: fact that there's not many made like those guys. So
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: we'll see if they become available. Hey, this one from
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Jesus Cano, who is the new Braves beat reporter for
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: The Athletic. He said, Braves aren't changing a thang. Player
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: personnel could be changing, but. Coaching staff staying the same.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Walt Weiss did a nice job, AJ. And remember, sometimes
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: we agree, sometimes we don't. I think all of us
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: were like, Walt Weiss is the guy for the job.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: And I think that was proven right this year.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, the coaching staff did a great job.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, Tim Hires, who's in the picture, is a
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: good hitting coach. I've had him before. You know, all
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: the guys they have on this team are good. They
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: know what they're doing. They've been around. And one thing
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: about the Braves, they have a lot of former players
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: on their staff. Eddie Perez is around all the time.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: And they had a good year. So why would you
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: make changes? Sometimes I think we make changes just to
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: make changes when you don't need to. But unless there's
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: a disagreement somewhere, keep these guys because they know what
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: they're doing and they know how to get you to
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: the postseason.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and continuity is important, Kratz.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: Continuity, for sure, especially with this lineup that plays every day.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: Might as well keep the same coaches. They know what
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: they're getting. As long as there's not complacency, that's the
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: only reason I choose to believe you need to make changes.
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: If coaches get complacent, like, ah, what am I going
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: to do? I'm just the first base coach. But Anton Richardson,
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: he's been lauded for some of the stuff that he's
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: been able to do with some of these base runners. But, yeah,
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: you get a staff, and this is when we're reminded–
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: Most of these coaches, now I know Tim Heyer's got
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: a two-year deal back in 2025, so it was 25-26,
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: but most of these coaches are on one-year deals. It
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: looks glamorous, but they're on one-year deals, and you know what?
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: It's over. We're not going to bring them back. So
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: good for the Braves front office for bringing them back.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: It's become a point of saying, hey, this team is
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: actually bringing their whole coaching staff back. that has become
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: news because so many teams don't run it all back.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: It's just a thing nowadays.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: I think there used to be more continuity.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Make changes to make changes.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: Got to blame someone if you don't win, but the
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Braves did a lot of winning this year. I know
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: it wasn't the postseason result that they wanted and fans
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: have had some good winning there. So they're not pleased
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: with the final result, but I mean, pretty good year. Also,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Braves got to figure out the pitching.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, Health.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Pitching health. Yeah, pitching health. Yes. Strider, Schwellenbach, Waldrow. Go
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: for a long time on how many guys went down
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: this year for a long time.
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: Great names.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: Don't turn into the Rays or you break everybody.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what he said.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: That's what he said.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: That's what he said.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: That's what he said. All right, so we're going to
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: continue to talk about some off-season rumblings, but I do
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: want to start with the Rays because Eric Neander, who
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: runs that front office, did just speak. It's really one
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: of the last teams to do their post-mortem about what
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: happened this season since they made it to the World
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Series and fell short. So with Neander, I think the
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: big question coming at him right now is Drew Rasmussen.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: He was so damn good, but the option becomes real
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: money this time around. It's $ 20 million for him. And
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: the question is, do they look to shop him? We
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: can get more of a response from you guys after
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: we hear from him. But let's get Neander in here
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: to talk about what their plans are for Jurasmasen and
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: if it would trade him with one season left to go.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: Or do you run it back with someone like this
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: to anchor your rotation? Because it's not easy to find
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: a $ 20 million number one starting pitcher on the market.
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: It's hard to think that we'll be closer if Ras
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: isn't a part of this team, right? So that's where
• 33:51
  Speaker 4: our head's at. That's where our heart is on that
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: particular matter. Certainly can cite, well, Tyler Glass now. I
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: think enough time has gone by. I can use that
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: to frame it and where the obvious questions come from.
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: Our history is our history. Our decisions are our decisions.
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: And there are forces that when you start to get
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: into that territory, does that take too much of your
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: payroll in a way that makes it difficult to have
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: a contending team? I think we're in a position where
• 34:18
  Speaker 4: we can accommodate that and make it work and make
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: another run at this because our position player group, you know,
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: isn't as expensive, you know, as, as some years, um,
• 34:27
  Speaker 4: further and going back to a glass or situation like that,
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: I 2023, you know, the, the best laid plans we,
• 34:35
  Speaker 4: we navigated that year 13 and O might've been the
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: best team we ever had. We had a, in August,
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: we said goodbye to two key contributors for a while, right?
• 34:45
  Speaker 4: That changed the competitive trajectory of that club. Um, We
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: had no intention at the time of doing that extension
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: of glass, of making a decision like that. We had
• 34:53
  Speaker 4: no intention of saying goodbye to Zach Eflin and raining
• 34:56
  Speaker 4: some of those. But the competitive trajectory of that club changed.
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: And with that, we were in a spot where financially
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: we didn't feel like that was the right time to
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: really press on payroll. I think we're in a position
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: now going into this offseason, the quality of our club,
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: how it comes together looking ahead, where circumstances are different.
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: And I'm hopeful that because of that, we have a
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: real opportunity to run back.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Good stuff from Neander there. What did you learn, AJ?
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: A lot of words about running back and changes and
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: the trajectories change. I mean, they want to bring back
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Drew Rasmussen, and they should. $ 20 million is not a
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: lot of money. Sorry. They should bring him back. That's
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: what I learned. They want to bring him back, and
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: they should. There shouldn't be a way. They should not
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: be stopped from bringing back Drew Rasmussen. Whether they bring
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: him back or not, that $ 20 million should not make
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: a difference, and I think they will. I did learn
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: a lot about trajectories and Zac Eflin and things that
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: I thought were in the past, but trajectories change, and
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: now we're talking about Drew Rasmussen.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and Nick Martinez is most likely going to be
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: gone because he's a free agent. Freddie P is not
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: most likely to come back. You've got guys that were hurt,
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: like McClanahan didn't finish the season hurt. Ryan Peppio should
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: be back next year. Seymour is a starter, but it
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: would be nice to have the big boy number one there.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: He tips, boy. Oh, I got a video of him tipping. Boy,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: I wonder if he got whacked in the World Series. Seymour?
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: What a name for somebody who tips. The hitter Seymour.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: Apparently they were seeing it all. That can be fixed.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: It better be.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: That can be fixed. You change the last name to C-Less.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: Once a tipper, always a tipper.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: But– That's not what we're talking about here.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Is that true? Yes. Once a tipper, always a tipper.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: You can't fix your tips. Nobody can fix their tips.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: No, you change them and you just do something different.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: I've seen it too many times. You might change it,
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: but you do something different. Someone will eventually figure it out.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Get the world's biggest glove, Roki Suzuki.
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: But there's something that then happens. Like if you're before
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: you put the ball in the glove or you're finding
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: it in your glove, Then it's something with your feet.
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: Then it's something with your face.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: It's hard.
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: Let's put it this way. It's hard and it's a
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: constant thing. But we're talking about Rasmussen here. What I
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: heard was maybe they offer him a three-year deal. Maybe
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: they tear up this option. Maybe they give a guy
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: who's had three major elbow surgeries a little bit of
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: stability as a 31-year-old. That takes him to 34. That's
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: what I heard. I heard Wander Franco... his issues went
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: into play for why, hey, you know what? We're going
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: to get rid of some of our pitchers because we
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: don't feel like our competitive window is the trajectory that
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: they were originally going to. So I've heard, I know
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: they've made offers. When they feel like there's a window
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: for them to strike, are they long offers? Do you
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: think they need to give Rasmussen five years?
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: No. Say, hey, you know what?
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: I know you're getting 20 this year and you love
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: that number. What if we gave you 63 for three?
• 38:11
  Speaker 3: I think that's in the realm of what the Rays
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: can do.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: What about Junior Caminero? Eric Neander was asked about a
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: possible extension for the star.
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: His importance to our franchise, not just last year and this,
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: you know, this 2026 season, but beyond. He's as critical
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: a player to our successes as we have. And, you know, I,
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: We'd love nothing more. We have a great relationship with Junior,
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: with Rafa. We'll love for him. Those are the players
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: you never, ever want to let go of. And as
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: we go along, hopefully that's how it plays out. So, yeah,
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: not going to get any details about the particulars, but
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: it's not lost on us what kind of, not just
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: talent we have, but what kind of character we have,
• 39:00
  Speaker 4: what kind of professional we have, what kind of drive
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: junior has within him to to not be satisfied with
• 39:09
  Speaker 4: the two unbelievable seasons that he's had but just the
• 39:11
  Speaker 4: obsession to continue to get better that's all you could
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: ever want in a player and ideally that's one that's
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: a right for a very long time.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: So yes they want him but they're not there yet.
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: Too late right yep they should have done it they
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: should have done it long they should have done it
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: already it's already in his third year. He's already into
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: his third year. They should have already done it. They
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: should have done it.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: What skill gets paid?
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: Wander Franco scared him. I'm telling you.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: What skill gets paid? Age. Age gets paid.
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but why do guys swing for the fences?
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: Power.
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: Because homers get paid.
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: Now, if you could have gotten, if you could have
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: gotten junior when he wasn't a two, I'm not even
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: sure what junior ended up hitting when he wasn't above
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: a two 70 hitter, maybe then you could have been like, ah,
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: maybe we can get some homers for a little bit cheaper,
• 40:05
  Speaker 3: but what he did this year, sorry, too late.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: I still think there's a possibility. I mean, AJ, you're
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: going to head into a new ballpark in a few years.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: It's a new ownership group. He's not going to cost
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: $ 500 million. He's not, close to free agency yet, I
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: think there's a number they can come up with.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: It's going to be a $ 200 million to $ 300 million
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: at least. I don't know if they're comfortable going there.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: They should have done it. They should have done it
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: after the first year. They should have done it after
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: his first full season and said, you know what, Junior,
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: we think you can hit some per power. Here's seven years,
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: 150 or something. I don't know. I'm just throwing random
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: numbers out there.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Right, like the PCA contract.
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now he's at a point where, remember, PCA waited,
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: and he got way more money than he would have
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: originally got. I just think the number's gotten too big.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: When you hit 40-plus home runs in your first two
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: full seasons, take a team to the World Series, you're
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: popular as heck in your hometown, he's going to get
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: paid a lot. He deserves it.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: PCA would have gotten way more if he waited another year.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: He's won an MVP. But at some point, you get
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: thrown the number. He wouldn't have gotten it.
• 41:16
  Speaker 3: He wouldn't have gotten it then. The Cubs would have
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: said no. He would have been too far out of it.
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: And I think we saw it. I mean, AJ's loved
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: this guy ever since the first time he saw him
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: or the first time he started to play regularly in
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: the big leagues. He's a less strikeouts than the rest
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: of the league. Doesn't chase a lot. I know in
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: the World Series he did. Hits into a lot of
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: ground ball, double plays. Like if you're talking about negative things,
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: but you're talking about a guy who if people from
• 41:43
  Speaker 3: the outside saw it, The org, in my opinion, should
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: have seen this early, and 150 feels like it would
• 41:54
  Speaker 3: have gotten it done. Now I don't even know if
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: 250 or 300 gets it done, and the Rays have
• 42:01
  Speaker 3: never come close to that.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Well, they did come close. Wander Franco's guarantee was in
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: the high hundreds, and it could have been worth as
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: much as... Yeah, that's a big number.
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: That's not 250.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this was a long time ago at this point, too. What, five,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: six years ago? Just made all that playoff money off
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: the Brewers?
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: Let's not act like we can't do that.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: That's all. Hey, hey, we'll see. We'll see. I think
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: he's going to sign an extension at some point. All right, people.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Let's slap. Jim Duquette and Evan Grant joining us for
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: the next edition of FT, the Thursday episode. So we're
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: looking forward to that. We'll talk to Duke about free agency.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: Evan Grant has some explaining to do. AJ, he wrote
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: a column about the Rangers potentially shopping quite a few
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: of the big boys. They need sign-offs for most of
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: them for their no-trade clause. I don't think Jacob DeGrom's
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: going anywhere.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: DeGrom already said he's not going anywhere.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: What about Seager?
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: Seager's not going anywhere.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: My thing is, I'm with you, and we'll ask him tomorrow.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: I don't think these guys are going to want to–
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: They don't want to go anywhere. Right? Yeah.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: They don't want to go anywhere. New ballpark.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: No taxes. It's tricky.
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: No media. No pressure.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: Very true. Just Evan. They love Evan. They don't want
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: to leave him.
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: It's a cowboy's town. Sorry, I bleed there. I know.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: It's a cowboy's town. I hate to say it. Hmm.