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Tucker & Bichette GET PAID! · The 3-0 Take

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take, where we talk
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all things Major League Baseball.
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Here's Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes it.
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All starts. Right now.
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Welcome back to the three O take presented by Chinook City this
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episode 590. I'll be your host, Kyle Gordon.
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Here's my Co host, Nate Reyes. Nate.
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Boys, I'd ask how we're doing, but I I think we all what?
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What, what's going on? And I'm not asking you to I'm,
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I'm asking what's going on in, in baseball right now.
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As much as I'd love to hear how your old days and weeks have
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wrapped up, I, I think the more pressing question is, is Major
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League Baseball drunk? Because this is insanity.
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I don't even know. I don't know.
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I don't know. I don't know what to say.
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I don't know what to make of it. Well, I'm glad we're doing a
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podcast today. Me too.
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Me too. No, I'm the same way.
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We, I was telling you before we hopped on, I was like, I've,
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I've spent the last, I mean, call it, we'll just call it 24
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hours. I spent the last 24 hours trying
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to make sense of how how I feel about everything that's
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happened. And that was just time spent
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thinking about the Kyle Tucker deal.
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You throw the boba shit, move into the mix, and now my head's
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just spinning. I I truly don't know how to how
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to feel. I think we all.
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This offseason is stupid. It's it's weeks of dormant and
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then it's just like random hammers getting hit by hammers.
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I I will. Say as exciting as the last 24
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hours has been or just well, I guess what you say say crazy.
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As as crazy as it's been, I still think I'm of the mindset
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and I don't know if I've been this way for longer than just
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this offseason, but I'm of the mindset that I won an offseason
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deadline. I.
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I think so too. I can't I can't do this anymore.
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Like you said, they're just weeks, months even.
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It feels like of just absolute crickets.
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And it's nice when something falls from the clouds like this
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or a couple things fall from the clouds.
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But some of these things can just get dragged out far too
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long. But that's that's neither here
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nor there. We're here to talk about Kyle
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Tucker. Boba Shet, Josh, you.
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You had a thought. Yeah, I was going to say, I
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think that we all kind of thought early in the offseason,
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specifically Kyle Tucker, because we all thought the
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Dodgers were not going to be in on it.
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We thought that they weren't going to make that move.
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We didn't think they were going to make the Edwin Diaz move.
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And that's where we were stupid. And we said the longer they stay
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out there, the more chance there is that the Dodgers are just
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going to say they're still there.
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Yeah, the guys going to be closing games for him.
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Yeah, just the footnote of the offseason.
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Dodgers aren't going to spend a lot of money or they'll get the
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best closer and the best outfielder available.
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Yeah. Well, I think you like they've
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officially, I'm not saying official, it's beneficial for a
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few years now, but like they've established themselves as like,
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you know, the final call. They genuinely get the final
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call. I can't promise you that
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whatever agent is representing whatever, you know, top of the
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line free agent, it's going to be this, you know, hey, Dodgers,
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we just got this on the table and it's probably pretty
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accurate. It's probably, you know, there's
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here are our cards. You want to match it, beat it,
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It's up to you. We'd prefer to be here and
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specifically in the Tucker realm.
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It's like, I don't know what the Mets are.
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We'll get into the the Boba shet move here in a minute.
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But like, I don't know what they are.
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A circus. It seems so mismanaged.
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It seems directionless and I can't blame him for for making
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this decision now for me personally.
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You're saying, Tucker, you're saying, you're saying choosing
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not to go to the Mets. Choosing to not go to the Mets
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and go to the Dodgers. But like, you know, personally,
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I'm sure you, I, I could speak for you a little bit here is
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that it's like we've been in this in this, in this camp of
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like, you know, the Dodgers are doing what they're able to do.
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And there's a lot of other teams that don't do what they're able
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to do. And I'm not going to sit here
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and say that there's plenty of other teams in baseball that can
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match what the Dodgers do, but do they do as much as they can
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to get a job done? And and that's the ultimate
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argument, right? I mean, what was?
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Well, and I'm struggling to feel like good.
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What was? Kyle Tucker expected to get this
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offseason. How many teams did you hear
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boning up the money that he was expected to get?
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Not very many, if at all. And to Josh's point, he just
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falls in the Dodgers lap. They're like, all right, I mean,
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we can throw stupid money at it. We maybe this time around or for
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this particular player, we don't throw around five, $600 million.
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But yeah, we can throw a historic short term deal at you
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if you'd like. If, if, if you care to come
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here. To which I mean, it begs the
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question, who's not? Who's not accepting that call?
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Who's not signing their name on the dotted line to play for the
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Dodgers at this point? Then I think the other thing to
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consider is that like, it's, it's not like that roster is
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filled with 25 year old, you know, future Hall of Farmers.
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They're all peak, they're all right there in their mid, you
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know, late 20s, early 30s where it's like the window is now.
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Let's just push all chips in the middle of the table over and
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over again. You know, Freddie creeping up,
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Mookie creeping up towards the the downward path, I guess, or
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the the back end of their career, if you will, especially
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with potentially having a lockout and maybe missing a
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season. Now you're talking about these
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guys getting one year older like it it is now.
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And they're they're this is the most I don't know.
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Everyone keeps. I keep like reading through the
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comments section. It's like Yankee fans are bitter
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because they used to be this way.
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And I was like, I don't think anyone's ever been this way.
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I know the Yankees used to do used to be the evil umpire and
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they used to be able to throw more money at at people than
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than other teams. But I don't think we've ever
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seen anything in sports to this caliber.
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This transcends baseball. This is talking all sports.
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With this four year $240 million deal for Tucker, which by the
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way includes opt outs after years two and three, this puts
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them at a projected 400 million plus payroll.
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Where does that take us after taxes?
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Well I think glad did. I read last year they paid 170
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million in in payroll tax last year.
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I don't remember what it was. I think I saw, I think I saw
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this year that it would be in the 90s so that that wouldn't
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the 90 wouldn't be right if last year was that much.
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I mean, aren't they going to pay 110% of about now?
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They're going to pay 110% of whatever.
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I can't. Oh, you know what it is?
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You know what it is, is there's there's 120.
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There's like two different numbers.
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I heard somebody breaking it down.
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There's like 120 that goes into to something else.
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And I if I find it, I'll, I'll bring it up.
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But there there's 2. So it's probably, it's probably
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over 200 million. All I have to.
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Say if that's right all. I have to say I, I feel like
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everybody is hyper fixated on the AV, the, the insanity that
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is 240 / 4. But yeah, like, I know shocker.
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Dodgers spend money. It's it's.
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That's them headed to they're headed to the Mets.
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Organization right now big fire. Big fire in Queens of the
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dumpster variety. No, everybody's just so fixated
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on the money. And for me, it's it's way, way
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less about the money and more about the team selection.
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Now, look, when I talked about how I was confused on on really
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how to feel about the last 24 hours, that included feelings of
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understanding that if I were in his shoes and a team offered me
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regardless who was on that team, regardless what that team had
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done in October the previous two years.
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Mind you, who's not taking that up?
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Who's not, who's not agreeing to that?
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However, selfishly, as a baseball fan, I just want one of
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these MVP caliber players to just take a stance just once and
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say I don't want to play with the best.
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I want to beat the best. But anytime you express any sort
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of sentiment, it's well, you're a hypocrite.
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You're just salty because you would take that money too.
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It's like, yes, I understand that the, that the, that the,
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the, the viewpoint is flawed in saying, well, Kyle Tucker should
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do this. Kyle Tucker should do that for
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the betterment of the sport, for the betterment of competition in
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Major League Baseball. I understand that I can't just
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sit here and, and, and sort of, you know, map out the league
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and, and its personnel and, and destinations and all that just
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based on general competitive competitiveness.
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I can't do that general competitiveness competitiveness.
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But yeah, selfishly, do I wish Kyle Tucker had gone elsewhere,
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even if it was the Mets? Yes.
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Do I wish he would have went to Toronto?
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Yes. And they had a long term deal.
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They kind of met. I think there was a 10 year
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offer out there for him, wasn't there from the Blue Jays.
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Think that's what I saw. Was it 10?
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Did it get up to 10? Yeah, I think, I think you're
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right. What are your thoughts on what
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was out there? It does feel like it was really
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limited. I mean, this is a very good
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player. Was it just the price?
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We talked about it a couple episodes ago where it was
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interesting because like there was like almost an attack on his
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competitiveness, an attack on like his level of fire.
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And then kind of seem like things slowed down, like the
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market like somewhat cooled off. But now you're hearing that
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there were a variety of offers. There were multiple short term
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big AAV deals and then there was obviously the one long term
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deal. And then that's where you're
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like. The Mets got up to 4 to 20,
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yeah, I believe. Yeah, so it's I don't know.
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I don't obviously we can't believe rumors anymore.
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Like that's I know that was that's always been the case.
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It's like, oh, you know, you've done great this offseason.
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Like I'm not paying attention to rumors because it doesn't do me
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anything. And now this just proves that
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because we heard for weeks that like the Dodgers were not really
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in. We heard for I don't know.
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I mean, I, I'm genuinely just trying to figure everything out.
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Didn't we also hear not to like go off in a different direction
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too much, but like, didn't we hear that Mookie was potentially
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going back to right? I thought that that was
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something out there. Now that's done.
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So he's he's definitely a shortstop.
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I don't know, man, it's interesting to choose again.
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A-Team, he's 29. Kyle Tucker potentially hitting
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the market and. Birthdays tomorrow, I believe.
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Happy birthday actually hitting the market again at 3132.
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Depending. I mean, it's smart in his end
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because it's like, why not add to the resume?
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Why not pump stats? Because you're going to in the
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middle of a ridiculous lineup. And then whenever this CBA does
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get figured out, and however that restructures and completely
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changes the landscape of how things are moving forward, you
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hit the market again. Like going back to the team
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selection, cause again, this is sort of where I've just had the
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most frustration. I feel like it's like people, it
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was you were considered a coward if you signed up to play for the
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Dodgers back in like 2022. We're now going into the 2026
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season where the reputation of the the Los Angeles Dodgers is
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well known. It's been well established given
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the talent that has since gone there in that, in that, you
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know, call it four year span. I mean, I hate to say it, but I
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like take, please take, take money out of the picture.
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He took the easy way out. Like I, I don't care what
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anybody says. Like again.
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Very Kevin Durant to the Warriors.
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It's what I'm saying, man. But you can't.
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But that goes back to what I said is you can't say that now
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because everybody's immediate response is, well, you're you're
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just a hypocrite because you would have taken that deal too.
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It's like that's it's just not the point.
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Like give me a guy like I feel like I'm going to regret saying
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this because he'll probably end up on the Dodgers as well.
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But you take a guy like Paul Skeens.
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Paul Skeens to me seems like a guy that would be like.
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JB's heart just skipped AB. No, relax.
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Relax. No hear.
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Hear me out, though. For real.
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Paul Skeens to me seems like a guy.
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OK, let let's just let's get to the end.
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We'll just Fast forward. Pretend, pretend his time up in
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his time in Pittsburgh is up. Now it's time to hit the market
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and sign with one of the big boys.
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No disrespect. Paul Skeens to me just doesn't
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seem like a guy that's going. Yeah, let me go out to LA, play,
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play with them. He's going to go, he's going to
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go elsewhere. He's going to go elsewhere.
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Yeah. And I just, it's, it's it's lazy
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to me. I'm not going to, I'm not going
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to sit here and call him a coward.
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But like, I just feel like it's a, it's a cop out.
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But again, for cannot stress this enough.
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You can't say that because everybody's immediate response
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is, well, how are you turning that money down?
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OK, then I just won't. I just won't say anything.
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And he's skins as a Southern California guy too.
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So that makes it a little bit hard too.
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But it, it it you're talking, I mean, let's let's just bring it
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down to, I mean, it's Mets Dodgers, right?
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I mean, do you think at this point the Blue Jays offer after
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what the Mets came in with and then what the Dodgers came in
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with? Are we, are we riding off the
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Blue Jays Dodge or the Blue Jays offer for a minute?
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You're picking between Mets and Dodgers.
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You're either bad or worse as far as whether or not you're
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going to be well liked. And you could go to the Mets
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back against the wall. You don't really have confident
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in what they're doing ever and try to beat the Dodgers.
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And you could say that that's great, but you also give a
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better shot in Blue Jays. But I'm going to be honest with
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you, the Blue Jays are loading up.
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Not much different. I think the Blue Jays are going.
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The Blue Jays are the Dodgers of the American League, right?
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I'm not sure I, I guess you could say that I do think
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they're doing well and there is clear direction.
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I think there's younger success. You know, it's like you're kind
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of signing up for a younger core.
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That's why it's interesting. And there's no reason why he
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can't go back there after this is it is done.
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Whether he finishes it out or decides to opt out and go gets
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a, you know, four or five year deal with them like that's I
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don't know, man, It's it's it's. I hate that the Mets are the
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only other team that can really be considered in the mix because
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it's like, as we've talked about, just a directionless
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dumpster fire over there that are just throwing money at
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everything. Beau Bouchet, by the way, makes
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no roster sense. No for the Mets, you're going to
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stick him at 3rd where he's never played before, right?
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And by the way, they got Jorge Polanco at what?
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At first? Who don't believe he's no who's
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playing? Vientos at first vientos.
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Or. Beatty yeah, it's it's.
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Plus little acuna. Roster wise, it just makes no
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sense. But going back to my point with,
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with like a guy like Tucker, it's like the only other team
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that's going to throw stupid money at you is a team that is a
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circus with no direction. Like it's, it's why I get so
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frustrated with the team like the Red Sox, where it's like,
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you could be one of these teams again because you used to be.
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Yeah, there's multiple. Like I think the Giants could
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have probably been in in this and more more, you know, being
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in the division and being like, hey, let's go take down the top
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dog, let's go, let's go take him down, whatever.
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But I don't know what to make of it.
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It's interesting to see the decision making.
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I mean, that's the ultimate panic move.
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That's the ultimate PR move in the Mets just randomly going and
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hey, let's go get Bo like that's there's nothing else to do that.
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What sucks is that the Phillies provided exactly what he asked
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for. They put out exact.
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I wasn't it seven years to 10. I think that's what the Phillies
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put out, which is what Bo was asking for.
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No, they Phillies put out seven, 200.
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According to According to Nightingale, Phillies had agreed
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to Boba Shett's request for a 7 year, $200 million deal last
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night and believe they would sign them until the Mets swooped
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in with their three-year, $126 million offer after losing out
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in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes. So Bob Nightingale, so.
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I I believe that I I do believe that I pick and choose my
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battles when it comes with to comes to Bob Nightingale like
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anything on the front end before things happen yeah back at like
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who at that point who cares about you know the details that
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come out like I I would if if I'm an agent or in that in that
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discussion room sure here here the the nuts and bolts of these
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discussions that just took place, but.
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That deal is interesting too. Multiple opt outs prove that you
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can play at a different position, prove that you can
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stay healthy and hit the market again.
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I guess it's rare to see deals without opt outs now.
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I hate it. I hate it.
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I really do. Like seems non committal.
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It seems like loyalty just doesn't really.
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That's what I'm saying. Loyalty doesn't matter, pride
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doesn't matter. And again, I'd, I, I'm sorry to
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keep coming back to this, but I just can't get these people in
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the comments out of my head where it's like you say those
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things and it's like, who cares about those things when you've
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got 200, three, $100 million on the table?
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It's like, OK, then if money is the end all be all, then what
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are we? What are like, what are we doing
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here? I understand it's a business,
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but like, if this is just going to be a who can offer the most
20:54
money sort of thing, then there's no, there's no sport
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element to the sport anymore. It's it's purely X's and O's
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bottom line. And you're seeing it like you're
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seeing that kind of thing play out in in the in college sports
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now too. I mean, not that we got to go
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down that that rabbit hole, but it's like, I don't know, man.
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I look, I'm not, I'm not angry at the Dodgers going back to the
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Tucker thing. I'm not angry at the Dodgers and
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I haven't been. I'm only, I'm only going to get
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upset if the Dodgers push it to the point and it we may already
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be at this point, but if the Dodgers push it to the point so
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strongly that we start missing out on baseball again, like if
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this if this 2027 thing is inevitable.
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Definitely did it. It's had to have.
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Yeah, well, without going, you know, I could go for a long
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time, so I I won't without going all the way down.
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What you have right now, as you have owners against owners and
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you have players against players right now and so on, both sides
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that they're not, they're not thinking the same, right.
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The players who aren't, who are getting league minimum are not
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thinking the same thing as what Kyle Tucker's thinking right
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now. They're not getting paid.
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They're they're making less than hockey players right now.
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That's awful. So and then on the owner's side,
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you've got AI mean even big market teams are arguing with
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the Dodgers, like when the Yankees are mad it's a problem.
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And so there's stuff to work out on each side, let alone try to
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find a way to come together. And I think that's the thing
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that makes this thing look so ugly going into CBA
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negotiations. Yeah.
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I just hate this because like we said, I I feel like they waited
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this thing out. A guy like Kyle Tucker falls in
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the lap of the Dodgers and then these other teams can can wipe
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their brow and go, well, we couldn't have pulled that off.
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It's like if somebody would have stepped up and spent the money
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that they had might not be in this situation.
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That's what I meant earlier. Is that like there's, that's our
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argument. That's my argument is I just
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want teams to do what they're capable of doing.
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I'm not going to hold it against you if it's outside of your
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realm of possibility, but if it's within it and you can
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handle it, show me and build momentum that way, whatever.
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Where do you think Kansas City's payroll is right now?
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Just to bring up a A-Team, You've got Bobby Witt.
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You've got Pasquatch over there, you've got, you know, Garcia,
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you've got a decent team. Imagine if they were able to get
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up to like 100 and 5000 and 60 million and say like, hey, we
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can pull this off. All of a sudden there's another
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suitor and I, I know that we're talking money, but you can be
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you. You guys had mentioned this, and
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I know this was the talk You you become the hated player for
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signing with this team. Yeah.
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And if there's another team offering you 40 mil, yeah, it's
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a lot less. But you could be filthy rich and
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hated or filthy rich and not hated.
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So what are we talking about? It plays a role.
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It's the way sports is going, man.
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Like the, the, these athletes that come up, they, they just
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don't care. And it, it's, it's who is going.
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And it like, like I said, it's, it's now trickling into the
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college level. So it's going.
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To do who's going to do what for me?
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Exactly. There's this, there's this level
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exactly there's this level of entitlement and it's it's
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there's going to be, there's going to be no room for
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discourse in sports anymore. There's going to be no, what
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happened to loyalty, man? Like you, you don't you couldn't
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have gone to Toronto and and try to make things happen with the
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Blue Jays. It's like, no, because the
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Dodgers offered me the most money, bottom line.
24:53
So it's like, if that, if that's where we're headed, if that's
24:55
where we're already at, then why are we, why are we even having
24:58
this discussion? Does this lead the way to more
25:02
short term deals? Oh I'm talking you talk about a
25:05
guy can't even commit to 1 school through college.
25:07
That's what I'm saying, man. And like, and I'm not trying to
25:11
sound dramatic here, but I feel like the more we talk about it,
25:13
I'm just getting like increasingly frustrated where
25:15
it's like all of the, all of the things that you hate about
25:19
sports and money in the business side of things, It's all going
25:23
to come to the, it's all going to surface to the top.
25:25
It's all going to come to the forefront.
25:27
We're going to start, we're going to start seeing teams
25:29
offer guys like $100 million one year deals with an opt out after
25:34
the All Star break. You're just going to see stupid.
25:36
You're just going to see stupid crap now because money, money
25:40
rules all. And I know again, for like the
25:43
12th time today, it's easy for me to sit here and say, well,
25:48
can you just set the money aside and, and consider some of these
25:50
other factors? That doesn't matter.
25:53
It doesn't matter these players, they don't care about the
25:56
perception of the team they're going to.
25:57
They don't care about their the fans perception of them as
26:00
players because they're in it to get the money.
26:03
So I don't know, man. Like it's I.
26:05
Think all. I think all all eventually
26:09
bounces out. I think it'll come back around
26:12
eventually. I do.
26:14
Will the size of contracts continue to grow?
26:18
Sure, but does this spark a whole new hatred amongst a
26:23
younger generation a la anyone that played against the Yankees
26:27
in the late 90s and early 2000s? Right.
26:30
Like you, you have guys that grow up and they finally get to
26:34
that level and they're like I that's the last team I wanted to
26:37
go play for. The Dodgers are going to be that
26:39
in the same way. I think Josh is right and off
26:42
cameras when we've talked about it the most is that the CBA is
26:46
going to it involves so much new stuff that we've never even seen
26:50
it before in any other sport and it's going to affect it, right?
26:56
And I'm not saying it's the same thing, but like a couple years
26:59
ago, you and I talked about how fed up we were with the, the you
27:03
know, the three outcome baseball, whether it's a walk, a
27:06
walk, strikeout or a home run. And it does seem to be like it's
27:11
starting to come out of that a little bit.
27:13
And there's value in other parts of the game that we appreciate.
27:17
I think there's going to be something similar.
27:19
And I'd like to see, I'd like to see teams get rewarded for
27:24
certain things, right? We talked about like 10-5 rights
27:26
with, with guys that stick around for one organization.
27:30
I'd love to be able to see a A-Team reward for that, for
27:35
having a guy that wants to stick around that long.
27:39
Are there thresholds that teams can meet that somehow qualify
27:43
for more draft picks or, or you know, more international money,
27:48
whatever it's going to be, right?
27:50
Like, I think there's a lot of creative things that can you're
27:53
going to come in this CBA that are going to very much change
27:57
the way we look at this game. And you're also talking about
28:00
likely 2 new cities getting 2 new teams that, and that's going
28:05
to be its own build and its own, hey, who do we have here that's,
28:09
you know, going to come help start this franchise and etch
28:12
their name into this stone for the next few decades.
28:15
So a lot is about to change and it's hard to look at it now and
28:21
just say like, this sucks. Yeah, like it sucks.
28:26
Of course it sucks. This is not fun.
28:34
But be better. I, I, it's, it's find a way to
28:37
be better. Find a different way to get to
28:39
that cheese right? Like it's if you're not going to
28:42
do it the same way, then be creative and find a different
28:46
way. Because in reality, there's only
28:48
one guy that can get on the mound for them at a time.
28:51
There's only one guy that gets in the box for them at a time.
28:53
And there's multiple ways to skin a cat.
28:55
So like, let's go figure out how to be better.
28:58
And maybe along the way we find gems of players and and
29:03
hopefully place the right bets at the right time.
29:07
That's what's the most frustrating of my end.
29:09
I'm looking at one of the best right-handed hitters in our
29:13
generation get no support around him for long term and no one's
29:18
going to care and no one's going to feel bad for the Yankees.
29:19
But what I'm saying is that it's like that's frustrating.
29:23
And every Yankee fan can look at the Yankees say I know you're
29:25
capable of doing more and you're not doing it.
29:27
That I'm more frustrated at that then just screaming at the
29:32
Dodgers and saying, you know, screw you for doing everything.
29:36
I wish we we did. No, I'll, I'll say it again.
29:39
I'm not mad whatsoever at the Dodgers and people love to just
29:43
get out in front of me on that and be like, you're just a salty
29:46
Dodger hater. It's like, no, it's well
29:48
documented that I, I have no, no bone to pick with the Dodgers.
29:53
I respect what they're doing. They're do they have?
29:57
If they were in our division, it'd be a very different story.
30:00
By the way, it'd be hard to sit here and like it if you you got
30:06
to think of that to a Diamondbacks fan or a a Giants
30:09
fan, like that's today's a tough day for them if they were in our
30:14
division, if they were in the. No, I mean I don't.
30:16
Know if I'd be saying the same? Thing, I guess, but like you,
30:20
you at that point, you got to take off the team hat and put on
30:23
on the you know, the the the league hat, if you will, and
30:27
recognize like no, I would rather have a team like that in
30:31
my league. Sure.
30:34
Then a team like I don't want to pick on the Pirates fill in the
30:38
blank with any of the other bottom feeders.
30:40
It's like. Twins.
30:42
Sure. Nobody likes the twins.
30:45
Just just make make the effort with it.
30:47
And, and again, to drive home the point, it's not like you
30:52
were saying, Nate, it's not a matter of trying to keep up with
30:55
the Dodgers. It's what are you, what are you
30:59
willing to do? What are you capable of doing
31:02
and are you doing that? And a lot of these teams, the
31:06
answer to that question is no. Nope.
31:10
No. And I think there's a lot of a
31:12
lot of fans who are critical to their own organizations for that
31:15
very thing. And, and I don't know how many
31:18
of them are, but the Dodgers certainly are.
31:20
They have more money than anyone else.
31:23
They're going out and they're spending it.
31:25
And so that's the one thing like the system has to change for the
31:28
Dodgers to change because they're not doing anything
31:31
wrong, right? It's bad for the game, yes, but
31:34
they're not doing anything wrong.
31:36
And The thing is, is if and, and I'll call out our three teams
31:39
just because it's our three teams, but the Yankees are, are
31:43
right up there. They're making a lot of money
31:44
too, and they're not willing to. I mean, why isn't Bellinger
31:47
signed, right? You could talk about the Red
31:49
Sox. And how's come we didn't get
31:51
Bregman? And obviously the Pirates are
31:53
well documented, but the numbers are completely different because
31:58
of what they can't do. But they still aren't doing what
32:01
they could do. And and so it doesn't matter
32:04
what that top bar is for the Pirates.
32:06
It might be 125 million. That might be the most they can
32:10
spend. Guess what?
32:11
They're at 93 right now. They're not getting there.
32:15
And the same thing goes for a lot of teams in the league right
32:17
now is there is a number, there's a, there's a time when
32:21
you have to say, we can't do both of these things.
32:24
And they're not, they're not getting to that point.
32:27
Even the Blue Jays are at that point, right?
32:29
They made a decision to say like, we, we got one more in US
32:33
and, and, and they've pushed it to the limit.
32:36
And that's what that's what we're not seeing right now is a
32:39
lot of teams do that kind of things.
32:41
No matter what your number is, they're not pushing it to the
32:43
limit. Would it surprise you at all if
32:50
the Los Angeles Dodgers traded for Tarek School before Opening
32:53
Day? I don't see it happening.
32:58
No, I don't see it happening this year.
33:00
I want you to look at this through the lens that the team
33:05
I'm talking about just paid Kyle Tucker $60 million a year.
33:11
I'm not going to, I'm not going to act like I'd be surprised.
33:15
I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised.
33:17
I don't think it's happening before Opening Day.
33:19
I don't. Maybe it's a deadline deal and
33:22
then you see him pitch for them down the run and then he hits
33:28
free agency or whatever. I or he's got a Does he have one
33:31
more year in control after this? They think this is it, this is
33:36
last. Year.
33:36
OK, cool. Yeah, I don't it's I wouldn't be
33:41
surprised. I wouldn't be surprised.
33:43
The Dodgers right now have a six man rotation.
33:46
Yeah, I think they're stocks, I mean.
33:48
And so they're somebody's moving the other way.
33:50
And they do have plenty of of pieces, young pieces, that are
33:55
able to move because there's obvious blockades.
33:58
I wouldn't be surprised if they trade for Bichette honestly.
34:03
Be smarter than Mets to try and pull it off.
34:06
I was going to say that. We're not going anywhere.
34:12
You know, everyone talks about like this is going to ruin
34:14
baseball fans and it's going to ruin maybe for whatever Manfred
34:18
has dreamt up of, you know, getting people who watch ping
34:23
pong to start paying attention to our game.
34:26
We fans aren't going anywhere. No matter what this does.
34:29
It's I can't imagine someone stop after watching 2025 years
34:35
and you'll be like I'm done. I I don't see that happening.
34:39
And if that does happen then like, I don't know how much of A
34:42
hardcore fan you are anyway. Yeah, especially go ahead.
34:48
I was just. Going to say, especially having
34:49
the Dodgers to hate to this extent now, like it not us.
34:53
I'm just saying if you were a somebody that likes having a
34:55
team to hate, you've got a team that you can do that with and
35:00
building off of the the momentum from last year's World Series
35:04
and presumably what's to come this year.
35:07
I don't know how how that momentum, how that momentum just
35:10
fizzles out. I don't, you know, I don't know
35:12
how people just decide like kind of, kind of out on this sport
35:16
now. The best?
35:18
Like if you made it this far, if you've made it this far, is Kyle
35:22
Tucker, is the Kyle Tucker move going to be the one that really
35:25
pushes you over the edge? Like, what are we?
35:27
Come on. Yeah.
35:30
Yeah, I think that I think that something like this is it it, it
35:37
gets you to like you do get to a certain point if you're a
35:40
certain type of fan. The diehards, you're right.
35:42
You're we're not going anywhere. What baseball's problem in front
35:46
of them is now is they need those casual fans to stick
35:50
around. We need more of those casual
35:52
fans to be there and to be around.
35:54
And I think that's the thing that Major League Baseball will
35:57
struggle with if they want to. I mean, they're not getting back
36:01
to the point where they're number one.
36:02
I mean, I think the NF LS just got it right now.
36:05
But I mean, to get back, it's on.
36:09
It's on the upswing. Like baseball is doing well and
36:13
this is the sort of thing that it takes a hit on.
36:18
Am I, am I crazy for thinking that Manfred is doing backflips
36:22
when, when deals like this happen where you get a guy not
36:25
to, you know, not to talk about Kyle Tucker for the entire show.
36:30
But it's like you, you look at a guy like Kyle Tucker who's made
36:32
multiple stops in pretty good markets, starts out in Houston,
36:39
then makes his way to Chicago for a little, for a, for a brief
36:42
stop. Now he's going to be in LA.
36:44
That's what that's what I was saying earlier when I'm talking
36:46
about all the things you hate about sports contracts and, and
36:49
the money side of things and the business side of things.
36:52
All that's coming to the forefront.
36:53
And I think I would venture say Manfred loves this kind of stuff
36:57
because you're, it's, it's like a, it's like the, the, the
37:01
travelling globetrotters. It's like the travelling circus
37:04
where you've got, you've got this, you know, exhibition
37:07
making its making its rounds across the country and you're
37:11
not, you don't have a guy like Kyle Tucker pigeon holed to a
37:14
team for 13 years or something. That that's what I'm saying.
37:17
I think these, these short term high a value or high AAV deals.
37:24
I, you'd have to think that the higher ups at MLB are, are
37:28
loving this because purely from a marketing standpoint.
37:33
Oh. Well, I mean, all press is good
37:35
is good press, whether it's positive or negative, whatever.
37:39
I mean, it's, I'm sure he's loving it.
37:42
I'd like to see, I'd maybe like to see like a little adjustment
37:45
on the, the number of control, number of years the guys are
37:50
controlled. Maybe drop it down from 6 to 4
37:52
or something like that. Allow these guys to hit free
37:55
agency a little bit earlier. And then maybe you do see a
38:01
little bit of a change because like in reality, you know, being
38:04
29 and maximizing 60 million a year and then potentially
38:09
hitting the market again at 32. You know, it's, those are your
38:13
only two swings, right? Like you get 2 swings at this,
38:15
but we wind the clock a little bit and maybe he's 27 instead of
38:20
29. Like how does that affect
38:23
things? How does that change things?
38:24
But I think the reason our sport is the best and, and, and
38:29
beautiful is because we have examples of both.
38:32
We have our villains and we have our good guys.
38:33
And it's, I think it's I think it's excellent to see a Kansas
38:40
City Royal team commit to a Bobby Witt early in his career
38:44
and watch him blossom into one of the best short stops in the
38:47
game. And like, you get to see a guy
38:48
who presumably fits the mold of what scratches our itch, right?
38:54
Like, we love those guys that want to stick around.
38:57
You saw something? No.
39:00
Breaking news The Los Angeles Dodgers have traded for
39:05
shortstop Bobby Witt Junior from the Kansas City Royals.
39:13
Sorry, Continue I. Just.
39:16
Was rude #1. I'm like refreshing Twitter.
39:21
I'm like, what's going on? Just crapping on my point there.
39:26
I think that I think our sport has examples of everything.
39:31
So as much as we want to talk and and complain about the
39:35
villains we still have, our are guys that, you know, still put
39:41
their head down and immediately jog after a home run.
39:44
To piggyback off that, you know, I, I mentioned the younger
39:47
players who aren't making as much, right?
39:50
Whenever they make this move, they're they're going to
39:52
increase, they're going to increase those salaries at the
39:55
bottom. But not only that, as a piece of
39:58
that ownership wants that control because it once you get,
40:02
if they don't have the money to compete there, they need that
40:04
control. But in in this.
40:07
What would work in this format is dropping that down to four
40:10
years. And the reason for that is, is
40:13
now those Bobby Witt, those Jackson Cheerio contracts, those
40:17
are going to happen a lot more often.
40:19
If you only have four years, you're going to make sure that
40:22
that guy gets paid and you buy 2-3 years of that free agency.
40:26
And they're certainly going to be willing to do that because
40:29
they're still going to be very young when they hit free agency.
40:33
Anything on this side of 30 is still young enough to hit free
40:37
agency and make and make big money.
40:39
But especially if you're making more money on the front side of
40:42
things, you're going to maximize that value through and it's
40:45
going to make a lot more sense and you're going to see a lot
40:47
more of those types of deals. And I think that's good.
40:51
Yeah, I don't know. Should we, I mean, should we
40:55
give some JT some flowers real quick for going back to Philly?
41:02
Yeah, in there. Yeah, did we?
41:04
Do we feel like we covered Bow's deal enough?
41:07
I mean, I think we're all on the same page.
41:09
It makes no sense. They have a million infielders.
41:13
You've got multiple guys that are playing out of position.
41:16
At this point, I would have spent every dollar bringing
41:22
Belly in over, Yeah, Boba Chet, But I don't.
41:28
Maybe Belly doesn't want to be in New York, man.
41:29
I'm not sure. To Kyle's point earlier, he said
41:33
that Polanco's at 1st right now on fan graphs, they have Polanco
41:37
at first, they have Beatty at DH, Carson Bench, a guy who
41:41
hasn't played an inning of Major League Baseball right now is
41:43
their left fielder on fan graphs.
41:45
And you went for Beau Bouchet instead of instead of.
41:48
PR move strictly APR move the. Steve, the Steve Cohen effect
41:55
has fully worn off for me. Oh, yeah.
41:58
Like there's no, there's no strategy.
42:00
Like I, I thought when he took over.
42:02
I'm thinking, OK, finally you've got a, you've got a brilliant
42:06
baseball mind with money. Not just like a brilliant
42:12
baseball mind that's, you know, squeezing his pockets a little
42:15
bit or just an idiot that likes to throw money around.
42:20
It seems like he just like stolen money around.
42:22
I'm not going to call him an idiot, but he he just there,
42:24
there just doesn't seem to be any sort of direction.
42:27
And it there seems to be a little bit of cluelessness as
42:33
well. Like, I don't know if you saw,
42:34
but he tweeted out what like an hour before the the Kyle Tucker
42:39
deal went down. He said, let me know when
42:41
there's smoke. It's like, buddy, have you, are
42:47
you seeing what's going on? Like are, are we aware?
42:50
Are we in tune with, with, with, with what's going on here?
42:52
Apparently not. So I, yeah, I, I don't know it,
42:56
it makes no sense. It's the like I said, the Cohen
42:59
effect is is rubbed off and it's not.
43:04
It it doesn't mean anything. It's pointless spending is what
43:09
it is. Mets hot take Marcus Simeon at
43:13
third, Beau Bichette at second. By the end of spring training,
43:20
Bichette doesn't cut it at 3rd. Yeah, but does Simeon, does
43:23
Simeon have Simeon's played for that he.
43:25
I don't he's played 50 games at at third base, but Bichette's
43:28
played none and Simeon's so good.
43:32
Yeah, really think he's a better glove defensively.
43:34
Sure, and by the way I'm not saying Bichette is going to be a
43:38
great option at 3rd but I'm just saying I thought that was the
43:40
one of the hang ups with Simeon's game is his.
43:43
Right, I wonder if the arm strength is also the same on on
43:46
the Michette side and why people want him off short too.
43:49
So again it makes. No sense, but what does make
43:54
sense is JT real mute, real muto as a Philly.
43:58
Just seemed like this was this was inevitable.
44:01
This was fate. Three-year $45 million deal up
44:06
to 5,000,000 per year in bonuses.
44:09
Am I missing something or of all the it's Adolis, Garcia,
44:13
Schwarber, JT, Romita, right, Nothing else?
44:16
Keller, they added. Keller.
44:21
Really. Brad Keller to the bullpen,
44:23
Yeah. Yep.
44:23
Oh, I was like wow, I missed that.
44:26
No, not, Yeah, not Pittsburgh's killer.
44:32
They also lost Suarez. Ranger Suarez.
44:35
Yeah, I'd be a little bummed right now if I was if I was a
44:38
Philly fan, because we've talked about them.
44:41
Like not you can't just run it back.
44:44
You can't keep running it back with the same group getting
44:46
older like in their outfield. Bellinger makes a ton of sense
44:50
there, too. Yep.
44:53
I'm going to be honest with you, I don't I I keep seeing these
44:57
reports of Bellinger once seven years, which I know is a is a
45:00
Boris play. I think that's ridiculous.
45:03
It's, it's insane. And he's not.
45:04
He's not getting seven years. I don't think he should be over
45:08
30 32,000,000 a year either. It's 37 a year.
45:14
Well, I, I don't know. I don't know if that's the
45:16
number. That might have been my joke
45:18
earlier. I thought I've seen that though
45:20
I think oh have. You seen that?
45:21
He's wanted over 35. I've heard four.
45:24
I've heard 400 million early in the offseason that he was
45:27
looking for. And are we talking about the
45:29
same Cody Bellinger here? Do we really think this the a
45:32
long term contract with Cody Bellinger is going to age well
45:34
and sure. No, that's why I'm OK with the
45:36
Yankees holding firm at the 5150.
45:38
It's like. That's fine.
45:40
I mean at the end of the day, what long term deal really does
45:44
age well? But I feel like that would
45:46
outright age poorly. I think it's more so of the
45:49
market. I I think it's like there's no
45:51
doubt. There's nothing else out there.
45:53
He is a wizard defensively at multiple positions.
45:57
He's above average in multiple positions.
45:59
So I think that part plays a role.
46:01
The stick, I don't know. I don't think it was that
46:04
impressive last year and it was very streaky.
46:08
So I'm completely OK with the with the Yankees missing out on
46:12
him. I just think that when you look
46:14
at the market, it's like the Mets need an outfielder and the
46:17
Phillies need an outfielder. I would say, and I'm looking to
46:23
me, the injury situation would be the the thing I'd be most
46:27
nervous about as far as that aging, the fact that he's an
46:30
outfielder right now and he's a very good one and he probably
46:32
will be for another 3-4 years. He's also a very good first
46:36
baseman. So as far as aging well, you
46:38
don't have to teach him first base, you don't have to put him
46:40
at DH. He can just be a first baseman.
46:43
He struck out 13% of the time last year, 15 the 2-3 years
46:47
before that. So he doesn't strike out a ton
46:50
if if it wasn't for the violent swing.
46:52
He is actually the profile of a player who will age well, but
46:58
he's got a lot of miles on him. He came up young.
47:02
And so that's the thing, that what makes me nervous.
47:04
About what is the consistency there is what I'm trying to
47:07
figure out because I just don't feel like it has been to warrant
47:10
us. And again, I know seven years is
47:14
purely an agent play. I'm not saying that that's what
47:16
he's he's going to get or that's even what he wants.
47:20
But the fact that that's even being discussed are, are you
47:24
really telling me that the consistency justifies anything
47:29
over 5? Not for me.
47:34
But it it just, it depends on the money.
47:42
If you go by war standards, I mean he's up around that number,
47:46
that 30 million a year. He had a 5 WAR season last year
47:50
at at least Baseball Reference 5.1.
47:53
That's based on F4 as far as 8,000,000 per WAR.
47:56
F4 is kind of like a free agent baseline.
48:00
But that's, I think guys that don't strike out a lot that, you
48:06
know, he walks, he plays good defense.
48:09
You're not going to get, you're not going to get 30 homers.
48:11
You're not. He's done it twice.
48:13
Right. He also hasn't struck out 100
48:15
times in the last three years, but some of those have been with
48:18
only 130 games played. So I don't know, but it's not
48:24
$400 million. No, Nope.
48:30
I don't know that you're getting it like a 35 Homer season from
48:33
Kyle Tucker either, maybe with the protection that he has now.
48:39
Yeah, good night. Anyway.
48:45
Emergency pod. Closing the book here, just a
48:50
couple things. Alex Bregman, Clayton Kershaw,
48:52
among others, I believe to to be added to the Team USA roster.
48:58
I mean, I don't know what else to say at this point.
49:00
I mean the I've. Already said what I need to say.
49:03
The fact that I know you did, I know you said what you need to
49:07
say. The question is, though, are we
49:10
putting, I mean, no disrespect, Bryce Tarang.
49:13
We'll see You hit the pine. Yeah, hit the pine, my guy.
49:17
But the question is, who's who's holding down the hot corner?
49:21
Just got Bregman at Bregman at 3rd, Gunner at second.
49:25
Yeah. I don't care.
49:27
I don't know. I'd, I think I'd go.
49:31
I think I'd go. I don't know, man.
49:33
Bregman's. Bregman's just.
49:36
I could go either way. Yeah.
49:39
I'm just going purely out the fact that he was being discussed
49:42
as a he was being discussed as a second baseman.
49:45
He was. Yep.
49:48
So I can go either way. But I mean, like, I think
49:51
knowing Dero, I think he probably can manage that pretty
49:54
well. And then like knowing like how
49:57
he is with like a player personality, I think he can talk
50:01
these guys into it. But also like Bregman signing on
50:04
this late, he's probably got to know that's like, hey, it's OK
50:09
if you don't see me as like third baseman every game.
50:13
Sure, I'll do whatever I need to do.
50:15
I love it, though. I mean, we're we're stacked or
50:19
stacked. This is awesome, I can't wait.
50:24
I think I might be more excited for the WBC than the actual
50:27
season. I mean, I wouldn't.
50:33
I wouldn't. Wouldn't fault you for it.
50:35
Yeah. Wouldn't fault you for it.
50:38
All right. Who who Who wins a A5 game
50:41
series? Team USA or the current Los
50:44
Angeles Dodgers? We probably wouldn't even see
50:49
the five game series because the Dodgers would probably just
50:51
trade for them all before the series even started.
50:53
So I don't know that there's an answer to that question now.
50:59
I promise you I'm not a Dodger hater, truly.
51:01
I just. You're allowed to have a time of
51:05
frustration. The frustration is is directed
51:08
at these other teams that just choose not to do anything and
51:14
then let these things fall into the laps of the Los Angeles
51:17
ciders. To that point, right?
51:18
And what, and I think this is what you're saying, if there was
51:21
more teams in on Tucker in December, it's possible he's off
51:26
the board and this doesn't happen.
51:29
Does that make sense? Yeah, which I think is what
51:33
we've been saying like it's it shouldn't have gotten to this
51:37
point. Yeah, free agent window starts
51:43
this day, ends this day. Put it in the CBA trade
51:47
deadline, everything. Trades open back up in the
51:52
spring. You know your roster by what,
51:58
December 31st? January 31st?
52:00
That'd be fun. I mean, I kind of like how it
52:03
goes with like Japanese players, like the international stuff,
52:05
like, you know, when they're released to like be able to talk
52:10
to it, you know, when it needs to be like closed, like treat it
52:13
the same way. If there's a 45 day window,
52:16
wouldn't that be cool? That would be fun.
52:18
Yeah, be great. Yeah, like the the response to
52:22
that is, well, then you just don't have any activity for like
52:24
the rest of the winter. It's like, I don't care.
52:25
I'm OK with that. Like let me tell you, like let's
52:28
all take a break. Like give us the window of just,
52:31
you know, non-stop this deal, that deal, and then we can wrap
52:34
it up and be fine with it. Like the the season is long
52:38
enough, like there's enough, you know, hey, look, hand up.
52:42
I can't believe I'm saying this, but like there's enough.
52:44
We've got enough baseball throughout the year to get us
52:46
through a calendar year a couple.
52:48
Months. We can deal with a couple months
52:50
of just like everybody laying low and kind of knowing what's
52:52
what and then we get back into it in in March.
52:56
Any news? That's all I got.
52:58
Any other thoughts before we get out of here?
53:00
No whatever, have a good weekend.
53:03
Except for Kyle Tucker. Right answer.
53:08
Not happy birthday. Honestly not.
53:11
Happy birthday. Yeah, I, I hope, I hope.
53:13
Happy birthday for. Him.
53:14
I hope there's an extra candle added to your cake just to make
53:19
you feel a little older or something.
53:21
I don't know, some minor inconvenience.
53:24
Yeah, I hope you get a lemon cake.
53:30
Hey, don't don't sleep on vanilla cake, don't sleep on the
53:33
white vanilla cake, don't sleep on vanilla cakes either.
53:35
I mean, that's. Typical Wonder Bread response
53:38
there. I don't know what that's
53:40
supposed to mean You. Know what it's supposed to mean?
53:42
I don't. Know what that means?
53:44
So afraid of flavor. It's all right.
53:48
I don't, I don't know where this this narrative continues to come
53:51
from. Like, I've changed.
53:54
Yeah, because it's a like, it's objectively just a good cake.
53:59
All right, well, we're not going to go down this rabbit hole
54:01
anyway. That's that's that's it.
54:04
Let's let's get out of here. I'll go chasing curveballs,
54:08
folks. Love you all as always, looking
54:09
forward to talking more baseball with you guys soon.
54:11
Until next time, stay filthy.