Latest / The 3-0 Take / Cody Bellinger Traded

Transcript

Cody Bellinger Traded · The 3-0 Take

• 0:00
  Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Three O Tape
• 0:03
  where we talk all things Major League Baseball.
• 0:06
  Here's Kyle Corwin and Nate Reyes.
• 0:10
  It all starts right now. Welcome back to the Three O Tape
• 0:18
  presented by Sea Kick. This is episode 498.
• 0:22
  Hey. Oh, I'll be your host, Kyle
• 0:24
  Cordon. I'm here with my Co host Nate
• 0:25
  Reyes. Nate.
• 0:30
  Kyle Listeners, Mom, dad, I'm out on something and I need, I
• 0:40
  need it to be known. I, I think I might be the first
• 0:46
  one in this camp, might be the only one in this camp.
• 0:53
  I'm all done with the press conferences.
• 0:56
  I'm out on the Zoom press conferences.
• 0:59
  I'm so done. What are we doing?
• 1:02
  What is this like? Are we, are we finding contract?
• 1:07
  Are we finding out that like a A2 star prospect is committing
• 1:14
  to like AD 3 school like this is the big leagues?
• 1:17
  Come on over. It it's every freaking free
• 1:21
  agent. Everyone.
• 1:24
  Like what are we? What are we?
• 1:25
  This is for who? What is this for?
• 1:29
  The ridiculous awkwardness of like the 30 seconds of silence
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  while they put on a jersey. They they work the bill to get a
• 1:39
  hat on, the managers just standing there awkwardly, the
• 1:48
  agent sitting in the 1st. It's like, what do we?
• 1:50
  What is this? We're on 4.
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  We're on 2 completely different pages.
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  I thought you were saying you were done with the Zoom press
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  conferences. You're just saying you're done
• 1:57
  with the press conferences all together.
• 1:59
  I don't want the new signing to do that.
• 2:04
  Like it's lost its luster. I'm it's like a first pitch, all
• 2:13
  the first pitches. Not every game has to have a
• 2:15
  first pitch. Some games are first pitch
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  worthy, some aren't. Some people throwing out that
• 2:22
  first pitch are first pitch worthy and some aren't.
• 2:27
  I'm just done with the here's our new toy.
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  Everybody come in and ask him freaking softball questions and
• 2:39
  let this aforementioned player act like he's been a fan of this
• 2:45
  team since he was 3. Yeah, yeah.
• 2:47
  We did every freaking time. We didn't get a chance to talk
• 2:51
  about it, but the whole Soto presser asking him like, hey,
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  like, what was the what was the reason you decided to come to
• 3:01
  the Mets as if it wasn't? I don't know, a billion dollars.
• 3:09
  I mean, that's why I'm here. Like the the softball questions
• 3:13
  that these guys are getting asked in these pressers are, I
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  mean, they're they're an insult to softball questions.
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  These aren't even. I don't.
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  Even know what journalism man like what are they doing?
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  I don't know what this has become.
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  No, but I, I'm, I'm whatever about regular press conferences.
• 3:32
  I mean, I'm, I'm still on board with them, but it's these, it's
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  these Zoom press conferences, like get, get them on a plane,
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  get him to your ballpark, get him in your media room and put
• 3:45
  on an actual press conference. Enough of the Zoom press
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  conferences. That's all I got to say on that
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  matter. Sucks stupid.
• 3:53
  Also the SODO thing has gotten weirder day by day.
• 3:56
  By the way the amount of crap that's around the signing I'm
• 4:03
  I'm starting to back away and this isn't like a oh Yankee fan
• 4:07
  just being a hater. I'm like the amount of stuff
• 4:11
  that's been added on that we're just hearing about.
• 4:14
  Yeah, that whole like, clothing allowance thing for his mom,
• 4:18
  like. Just you mean the $800 million
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  wouldn't cover that? That's what I'm saying.
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  Can't. Fall under that umbrella, you
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  got to have your own suite Yeah, the.
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  Suite thing didn't make any sense either.
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  I'm like, you tell me you can't cover a suite for yourself with
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  800, basically a billion dollars.
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  Anyway, we're not here to talk about Soto.
• 4:39
  We're here to talk about Cody Bellinger being traded to the
• 4:43
  New York Yankees via trade. Traded to the Yankees via trade.
• 4:48
  That. Yeah.
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  There it is. That's definitely there's our
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  host coming up on whopping 500 episodes.
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  That's what I said. It's one of those days getting
• 5:01
  burnt out, not going to lie. No, not with the podcast, with
• 5:07
  with just the busyness of everything going on right now.
• 5:11
  Speaking of which, that's a great that's a great moment to
• 5:15
  to pump, to pump the three O change that we just dropped
• 5:20
  earlier this evening. Hopped on, did a little three O
• 5:24
  change up a little bonus pod. If, if you're unfamiliar, little
• 5:28
  bit of a, as I mentioned, bonus pod where we talk about things
• 5:33
  unrelated to baseball for a change.
• 5:38
  So we got on there, talked about, talked about some, some
• 5:42
  rather interesting, some rather interesting Christmas topics,
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  some controversial. I think we may have, we may have
• 5:50
  hit some nerves with some takes we had on there.
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  So definitely go check that one out.
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  I think so. I'm sure I upset some people
• 5:57
  with some, with some things I said, particularly about the
• 6:01
  Christmas or about the the music.
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  Yeah, I feel like I rubbed some people the wrong way there.
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  So definitely, definitely check that out.
• 6:09
  We I dropped it this week as opposed to next week to give you
• 6:13
  guys, if you're all travelling, give you a little bit of extra
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  content to take with you on the road or in the air, wherever,
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  however you're getting to where you're going.
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  Cody Bellinger, talk to me about it.
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  How? How do we feel?
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  Oh, this is one of those rare trade proposals that you hear
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  about for months that you think, well, everyone predicting it, so
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  there's no way it's going to happen.
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  And it actually did happen. Look, I mean, nice, nice move.
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  I can't sit here and act like this is monumental.
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  I think there are a lot of Yankee fans that are very
• 6:58
  excited, maybe a little overly excited on the move.
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  I I'm excited for other reasons. I'm not going to fall in love
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  with the Cody Bellinger name. You and I have gone into it.
• 7:10
  Well, we just went into it last episode about, you know, he's
• 7:14
  not an MVP anymore. Like I don't I don't see him
• 7:16
  nearing those numbers at any point, 20. 19 NLMVP Cody
• 7:21
  Bellinger. Yeah, I'm, I'm not, I'm not
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  expecting any of that. And I think any Yankee fan that
• 7:27
  is is naive, here's what I do like here's here's what I do
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  like is the versatility that he comes with.
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  He's going to play above average defense in left center and first
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  base. That's a very rare thing.
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  And when you look at 12, the world champions and you look at
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  other really good teams in baseball, a lot of them have
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  guys that can float around and do different things.
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  And I like what he brings to the table, specifically defensively.
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  And I was kind of surprised offensively like it's it's been
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  decent the last few years. I do like that he's played 130
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  games the last two years. So durability is there a 139 OPS
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  plus in twenty 23111 OPS plus last year.
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  It it's it's nice. It's nice.
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  I think I appreciate what it opens up for the rest of free
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  agency and or trademark it. Bob Nightingale put his foot in
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  his mouth again, per usual. And immediately after the trade
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  coming out and saying he's going to be playing center field and
• 8:48
  then the whole Yankee organizations, like, no, we
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  actually never said that. So that was never a
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  conversation. I don't know why Bob Nightingale
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  just randomly throws out things with probably no source.
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  With gusto. Yeah, I just don't understand
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  that guy. But yeah, I mean, it's it gives
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  them the versatility right now in this moment to where the
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  Yankees can say, OK, well, how do we feel about the first base
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  market? You know, do we go get, you
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  know, Pete Alonso? Do we go get Christian Walker?
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  Do we trade for Paul Goldschmidt?
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  Do we trade for a Yandi Diaz? It opens up some things there.
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  If none of those happen and the market opens up something at
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  center field or left field, now you can kind of slide Cody
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  Villinger into that other spot. There's a lot going on that I
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  like about it and it's it's tough, man.
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  There is there's really not like any other.
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  They needed a lefty. That lineup needed a lefty, and
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  there's no one really else in that market that kind of checked
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  some of those boxes. So this was something that the
• 10:00
  whole baseball world knew needed to happen, and then it happened.
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  Did you? Did you know his dad played for
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  the Yankees? I told you he was incoming and
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  texting. Yeah, in case you didn't, in
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  case you didn't see that in one of the 1000 times.
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  Did you also know he played in the Little League World Series?
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  I did know that. Yeah.
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  Yeah. Jeter Paige went to high school.
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  With him, I did not know that it's.
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  Pretty wild, yeah. Went to high school in Hamilton,
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  went down the street. Did you know that?
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  What was that? What was that nugget that they
• 10:42
  always told us about around the All Star game?
• 10:46
  Todd Frazier and Derek Jeter? What was that one about?
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  Oh, the the he Todd Frazier went out for like a national anthem
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  and stood at shortstop with Jeter.
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  Yeah, did you know that too? Crazy.
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  I'm trying to think of other trivia that has been shoved down
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  our throats over the years. Yeah.
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  No. But this, you know, like this,
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  this trade, like you said, it's one that everyone predicted what
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  happened and it was to the point where you just think there's
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  just no way it happens. But then sure enough, it
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  happens. And then you text me.
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  I'm I literally just rolled my eyes right now and I'm going.
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  I can already see how the conversation around this move is
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  going to just become so unhinged with.
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  The. Soto comparison like, oh, you'd
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  let Soto walk out the door and this is who you It's like, no,
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  it's more. I mean, sure, like if you you
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  want to look at it, you know, tit for tat, whatever.
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  But if you have any understanding of how the
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  financial side of this thing works, look at what they would
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  have had to have paid Soto, and then look at the three additions
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  they've made. With still potentially more to
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  come with. Potentially more to come, and
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  I'm not sitting here. I'm not trying to like stroke
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  the Yankees by any stretch, but it's just like, would you rather
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  have, I don't know, would you rather have one of one Soto or
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  have three pieces that can plug pretty glaring holes scattered
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  or sort of littered throughout your roster?
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  And I know certain people will say, I'll take one of one Soto
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  and make it work elsewhere. Just, you know, fill the fill
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  the line up with scraps. If if that's what it that's what
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  it takes. But then there's some people
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  says no, Like if the asking price gets too high for a guy
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  like Juan Soto, let him walk. And then and that's what we
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  talked about. That's what we like.
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  We were talking about this before the Soto deal actually
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  went down. It was specifically through the
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  lens of of your Yankees where it's like, all right, if, if, if
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  the Yankees are rumored to be one of the top two finalists and
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  they somehow miss out on on on him, let him walk out the door.
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  Let's look at some pieces that the Yankees then could bring
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  back or not bring back. But you know, like add on, yeah,
• 13:27
  in response to that, and I think I almost sort of talked you into
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  that scenario playing out. I think you're more in favor of
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  that than not. Granted, I think maybe the
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  pieces that you would have signed possibly would have been
• 13:41
  a little bit or acquired would have been different than the
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  ones you got. But I feel like you got to be
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  happy knowing that there's still potentially additions to be made
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  given the flexibility that you still have.
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  Yep, Yep, they need a second baseman.
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  Or a third baseman. And I Cashman's due for A2 for
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  one deal. And I mentioned it in last
• 14:08
  episode that I really thought Nico Horner was going to be
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  included in this deal because again, they need a second
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  baseman or a third baseman and Cashman loves to be able to do
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  this and solve this at the same time, IE they needed outfield
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  depth and asked for Trent Grisham in the trade with Juan
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  Soto. So like he does that a lot.
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  And normally it's like an under the radar name attached to the
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  prize name. I don't know if I loved the the
• 14:41
  defense side of things, but like I feel like Yandi Diaz and
• 14:45
  Brandon Lau potentially together in a deal would make a ton of
• 14:50
  sense. Not that I'm totally in love
• 14:54
  with that, but I could see that happening.
• 14:57
  But overall, like, yeah, this needed to happen.
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  Look, like if you bring back Soto, you're looking at the same
• 15:02
  team that that is you're going to run back the same team that
• 15:05
  got embarrassing against the Dodgers in the World Series.
• 15:07
  Like, no, like you, you got to make additions.
• 15:10
  You got to get to change some stuff.
• 15:12
  And I normally I have a lot of question marks around the
• 15:17
  offseason. Normally, I think if you guys
• 15:20
  have been listening to me for a while, you realize that I'm
• 15:25
  fairly critical of my own team and I'm fairly real on, you
• 15:32
  know, navigating through some of the BS that you can hear from
• 15:35
  that organization. And overall, like I've really,
• 15:41
  I'm kind of proud of the way they're looking at this market
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  and not forcing things. They're they're realizing what
• 15:47
  the market is, what's being available out there, and they're
• 15:52
  just going with it. And there's a very real chance
• 15:55
  that instead of trying to replace 40 home runs in Juan
• 16:00
  Soto, it's let's turn that into, you know, a really good
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  defensive team, a really flexible, solid defensive team
• 16:11
  who's going to hit a little bit, we'll figure that out and pitch
• 16:13
  really well. And that's that's pretty
• 16:16
  refreshing. So it's it's cool to see that
• 16:19
  there's a lot still open. There's a lot of doors.
• 16:22
  They haven't pushed themselves in a corner.
• 16:24
  There's a lot more that they can do around this deal.
• 16:28
  So it's going to be interesting on the Cubs side of things.
• 16:31
  I did want to mention, I mean, you know, they they get Cody
• 16:38
  Petit, who's kind of been like a quad a guy.
• 16:42
  I'm assuming he may step into the rotation for them.
• 16:45
  I'm not sure. And then obviously just like a
• 16:48
  big financial dump for the Chicago Cubs.
• 16:52
  I think they kicked in 2 1/2 mil for this year, 2 1/2 mil for
• 16:55
  next year. So a little bit of money, but it
• 16:58
  frees up like, you know, over $20 million.
• 17:03
  So I feel like I feel like the Corbin Burns conversation in
• 17:11
  Chicago has to potentially come back to to the table now that
• 17:18
  they dumped this money you didn't trade for Kyle Tucker for
• 17:22
  a year to not somewhat go for it.
• 17:28
  The familiarity with Craig counsel, I could really see
• 17:33
  Corbin Burns in Chicago now that this money is freed up.
• 17:42
  Just saying. I like that a lot.
• 17:47
  Yeah. Right, I really like that.
• 17:51
  Well, redemption tour back to the division.
• 17:55
  Honestly, I'm, I'm just, I'm happy for the Cubs for getting
• 18:03
  out from this situation. I just was not.
• 18:08
  The situation they put themselves in by.
• 18:10
  The way that's yeah, sure, sure, sure.
• 18:12
  But it's the Cody Bellinger situation or the the career arc,
• 18:22
  we'll call it, just has not panned out the way I would have
• 18:31
  hoped for for him. Like there was, there was a
• 18:34
  season or two where I'd, I'd, I'm not going to say I
• 18:37
  predicted, but like I was, I was strongly feeling a, a sort of a,
• 18:42
  a renaissance season, if you will, for him.
• 18:45
  And that was the year that ultimately got him the, the
• 18:48
  money that he was, he was ultimately looking for.
• 18:52
  But it, it just seemed too obvious that any sort of length,
• 18:59
  any sort of, you know, excessive amount of money just was not
• 19:06
  going to play out well. And you can tell that the Cubs
• 19:08
  have been trying to get out of this from the jump, essentially.
• 19:12
  So. I guess the Yankees don't mind
• 19:17
  handling what's left of it 'cause I think the Cubs are
• 19:21
  sending over, what, 5 million? Yeah, 2 1/2 each year.
• 19:24
  Yeah. So I mean, that's whatever, but.
• 19:28
  I think this this is kind of a win win.
• 19:30
  You know, the Cubs got rid of some money and out of a
• 19:33
  situation they didn't seem to be really, really fond of.
• 19:37
  And, you know, I think the Yankees got boxes checked.
• 19:43
  I really do like I'm not going to sit here and say I'm in love
• 19:46
  with it and I'm not going to sit here and say that I think he
• 19:50
  should be the three hole the whole year.
• 19:55
  You know, I'd like for them to go get another bat.
• 19:58
  But like again, you're just you're kind of forcing the
• 20:00
  issue. Would you need a lefty to split
• 20:04
  up Judge and Stanton and name somebody out there that that
• 20:10
  they need like? Is there a point in getting a
• 20:14
  Santander and putting him in right field and having Judge
• 20:19
  play left and and learn left again?
• 20:22
  Or do you have Judge and Center for the foreseeable future and
• 20:25
  have Jason Dominguez and left like it just I can't see
• 20:31
  anything else. And so that's why it feels like
• 20:33
  they're just turning this other direction and doing something
• 20:38
  and they still have prospects to hold onto.
• 20:42
  And I do think they're still going to dump money.
• 20:44
  I think Stroman's gone. That needs to happen.
• 20:48
  You want to talk about a career arc?
• 20:49
  My goodness, what has happened there?
• 20:52
  Stroman's got to go and and that frees up some money too.
• 20:55
  So there's still more to be done.
• 20:58
  And this is like the one of the first times in my life where I
• 21:01
  hear Brian Cashman say there's more work to be done.
• 21:03
  And I believe that they can't stop here.
• 21:06
  They literally don't have a couple positions like they they
• 21:10
  need to keep going. But you heard it here first.
• 21:15
  Corbin Burns to the Chicago Cubs.
• 21:17
  Love it. Speaking of the Cubs, how about
• 21:26
  this for a segue, their rival, the Saint Louis Cardinals?
• 21:31
  OK. Employ 1/3 baseman by the name
• 21:35
  of Nolan Arenado. Nailed it.
• 21:39
  Who recently declared that he was not interested running.
• 21:45
  Out of space for this headline. In a trade to the Houston
• 21:50
  Astros. There it is.
• 21:55
  I'm a little surprised. Are you?
• 22:04
  Yes and no. Talk to me.
• 22:09
  I is it just me? I mean, I have no way of really
• 22:14
  knowing this, so this is purely speculation.
• 22:17
  I think I know where you're going.
• 22:19
  I don't think. You do I, I, I think I.
• 22:21
  I I think you don't. Is it just me or does Nolan or
• 22:26
  Renato seem like a slightly spiteful guy?
• 22:33
  And I don't know, I don't know what potential beef he would
• 22:35
  have with Houston, but I he just seems like a guy to me that
• 22:39
  would get easily swept up in the reputation that the Astros have
• 22:44
  created for themselves over the years and say exactly, I thought
• 22:47
  you. Were going to.
• 22:48
  Go, OK, Yeah, well, it's like a roundabout way of getting there.
• 22:51
  He just he just doesn't have any interest in in partaking, even
• 22:56
  though, even though, like we we all know that it's right.
• 23:00
  It's not. This is not the the Astros team,
• 23:04
  obviously of their their scandal years.
• 23:07
  We we understand that, but they're still, they're still a a
• 23:14
  light breeze, a light air of that still that exists, if you
• 23:18
  will. Well, it's not going to go away
• 23:20
  until this generation of players moves on, you know, event
• 23:25
  eventually it'll go. But like while these guys.
• 23:28
  That were at the very least Altuve right?
• 23:31
  Until he's gone, at least. Well, I mean, I'm, I'm not even
• 23:33
  saying I'm saying even like the opponents as well.
• 23:36
  You know what I mean? And look like I, I'm judging a
• 23:40
  book by by it's cover here. But like, you have a guy that's
• 23:45
  named after a baseball legend, He grows up.
• 23:50
  He grows up in California. For all I know, he's maybe still
• 23:53
  a little bit of a Dodger fan. He seems like he really
• 24:00
  understands and knows baseball history really well.
• 24:05
  And I just, I get that feeling that, yeah, what they did
• 24:11
  potentially rubbed him the wrong way because, I mean, let's face
• 24:14
  it, like, if I'm in his shoes, why would you turn down Houston,
• 24:22
  right? Like, overall, when you kind of
• 24:26
  look, take a step back and look at the organization, like that's
• 24:29
  a fan base that loves everybody on that field talking about an
• 24:34
  organization that wins, talking about a current roster that is
• 24:41
  still in really good shape to keep going.
• 24:44
  I I don't know, did we get details on whether this was
• 24:51
  before or after the Cubs trade to get Esock parades?
• 25:00
  This was yesterday I think. So it like it's not just that he
• 25:06
  it came out that he declined it. It was literally declined
• 25:10
  yesterday. Oh, that I, that I don't know.
• 25:14
  I, I, I, I never know, like the timetable of how these things
• 25:17
  play out. I have to.
• 25:18
  Assume it was it was 4. Get the reports out, yeah.
• 25:22
  What are the Cubs doing? I mean, excuse me, what are the
• 25:25
  Astros doing trying to get pretties and Nolan that I feel
• 25:28
  like the the third base hole is is kind of all done.
• 25:33
  I don't know how they're viewing E sock pretties, but I don't
• 25:37
  know whatever. I yeah, I think he's he's trying
• 25:41
  to hold out hope for the Dodgers ultimately, or honestly, maybe
• 25:50
  he wants to come to Boston. I don't know.
• 25:52
  I see that. Like I really can see that.
• 25:54
  I can see it too. Maybe there's a lot of people
• 25:56
  that can see it. Maybe he's holding out for this
• 25:59
  monster I like. I don't Maybe I don't know.
• 26:03
  I I just don't know what his you know, we, we talk about guys
• 26:07
  motivations all the time. Like what is it that's driving
• 26:10
  Nolan Arnotto to make? But again, like, if you talk
• 26:13
  about a guy that like loves baseball history and is, you
• 26:17
  know, born and raised with baseball through his veins, like
• 26:23
  there's an obvious attraction to winding down your career in a
• 26:29
  legendary ballpark in Fenway. You know what I mean?
• 26:32
  Like there's that's got to be like a bucket list kind of thing
• 26:37
  of like if I had an opportunity to go play for that
• 26:39
  organization, I would say yes. And maybe that's in the back of
• 26:42
  his mind. Yeah.
• 26:48
  I mean Dodgers. But if he ends up there, you
• 26:50
  just got you got to move Devers to the DHI.
• 26:55
  Don't want to see Devers at first base.
• 26:58
  I just don't. I don't know why everyone
• 27:01
  suddenly believes that first base is such an easy position to
• 27:05
  play. This isn't.
• 27:06
  This isn't 25 years ago. You don't.
• 27:09
  You don't hide people there like that's an important position.
• 27:12
  And that's why what what Harper did was so impressive.
• 27:15
  He's just like, yeah, I'll, I'll play first base.
• 27:17
  And then he was like making very athletic plays over there.
• 27:21
  And I'm like, you don't, you just don't see this every day.
• 27:25
  Devours I, I don't see that happening because he struggles
• 27:29
  to make routine plays at third base, so we're going to then put
• 27:35
  him at a position that involves him on every play.
• 27:42
  I don't get it. He's got ADH.
• 27:45
  Makes no sense to me, but anyway, can you see?
• 27:49
  Anywhere else with no one, like just out of it just feels like
• 27:56
  those two places, doesn't it feels like Boston or LA.
• 28:04
  Yeah, but didn't the Dodgers have, didn't they come out and
• 28:07
  say that they're out on that? I don't believe anything they
• 28:12
  say. Not a word.
• 28:17
  Not a word. What about Seattle?
• 28:22
  Or Dodgers said they were out on somebody.
• 28:28
  Couldn't have been, could have been Bregman, right?
• 28:31
  Or maybe they were never in on Bregman.
• 28:33
  I don't know. Yeah, whatever.
• 28:39
  Sorry, who are you asking about? Anywhere else for Nolan, No.
• 28:45
  I mean, I guess, I guess if you're looking at the XS and OS,
• 28:50
  wouldn't New York make sense, Yankees?
• 28:55
  The Yankees keep coming out saying they're out on that.
• 29:01
  I don't know why. I mean, I I'd be down.
• 29:04
  I'd again, like I'm not going to sit here and act like whatever
• 29:08
  team gets Nolan Arenado is going to be getting, you know, a
• 29:13
  Rockies version of a complete stud both sides of the ball.
• 29:20
  Like I don't I don't think the defense is going anywhere.
• 29:25
  I don't know, it's it's it's a weird thing when when the when
• 29:28
  the pop starts to go and he doesn't really necessarily have
• 29:35
  he's got a lot of swinging miss in him too.
• 29:37
  And we've seen that the last few years.
• 29:38
  So it's it's a weird combination.
• 29:41
  And you know, maybe he does learn to come out and and play
• 29:45
  first base. I think I've heard those rumors
• 29:48
  as well. But even then, it's like, dude,
• 29:50
  what are you bringing to the table offensively?
• 29:53
  Is what has been happening in Saint Louis a fluke?
• 29:59
  Or are you just like, are you needing a change of scenery?
• 30:01
  Like, what is that? But if that's the case, wouldn't
• 30:03
  you just rather trade for Paul Goldsmith?
• 30:06
  Like somebody who's born and raised at first base that
• 30:12
  arguably has the same, if not a little bit of a better stick
• 30:16
  right now? That'd be the route I go.
• 30:19
  Less commitment, less money. Yeah, but that defence that no
• 30:23
  one provide to is. Sure.
• 30:25
  Hard to dispute. Sure is.
• 30:29
  And yeah, I mean, he's, he's willing to play first.
• 30:33
  But yeah, I, I don't see that. And I, I even more so don't see
• 30:39
  Bregman in New York. Like I why that's even being
• 30:43
  entertained as a as a possibility that that you just
• 30:45
  talk about two sides that don't mix.
• 30:47
  I think I feel like monetarily that kind of went out the window
• 30:52
  in Bellinger, right? But I, I do think that there was
• 30:56
  like a a weird Yankee, not a weird, I mean very obvious
• 31:00
  Yankee Astro tax, if you will, when they were talking Kyle
• 31:07
  Tucker trades. Like I think that the Yankees
• 31:12
  and Asher's can't get on the same page with stuff.
• 31:14
  And I think that tells you, you know, potentially what the
• 31:22
  Yankees think and feel about certain names.
• 31:26
  I just, again, until some of these opponents that suffered
• 31:32
  from the scandal are out of the game, this is still a part of
• 31:39
  the equation. And Aaron Judge is the captain
• 31:45
  of that team and the leader in that clubhouse.
• 31:50
  Pretty sure 2019 still bugs them.
• 31:54
  It'd be weird. It'd be weird for fans too.
• 31:59
  Sure would. Speaking of weird situations,
• 32:05
  Sammy Sosa, apparently back in the good graces of the Chicago
• 32:08
  Cubs, released in a We're going to call us an apology.
• 32:16
  Sure was he? Was he direct as he could have
• 32:19
  been? Probably not, But apparently
• 32:24
  this is all. All that Cubs chairman Tom
• 32:28
  Ricketts wanted was just an acknowledgement of what had
• 32:31
  happened, Sosa, in his statement, said.
• 32:36
  I left it all in the field for the Cubs and Cubs fans because I
• 32:40
  wanted to win and make the fans happy.
• 32:41
  I love to see the fans at Wrigley and in the right field
• 32:44
  bleachers every home game. I understand why some players in
• 32:46
  my era don't always get the recognition that are dates
• 32:51
  deserve. There were times I did whatever
• 32:53
  I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength
• 32:57
  up to perform over 162 games. I never broke any laws, but in
• 33:01
  hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.
• 33:03
  We accomplished great things as a team.
• 33:05
  I worked extremely hard in the batting cage, become a great
• 33:07
  hitter. Cubs fans are the best in the
• 33:11
  world and I hope that fans, the Cubs and I can all come together
• 33:13
  again and move forward. We can't change the past, but
• 33:16
  the future is bright. In my heart, I have always been
• 33:18
  a Cubs, been a Cub Cubs, and I can't wait to see Cubs fans
• 33:23
  again. Sincerely, Sammy Sosa Ricketts
• 33:26
  comes out. I know I dance.
• 33:32
  And let's dance around some stuff, no?
• 33:34
  Kidding. And then Ricketts, like I said,
• 33:36
  Ricketts came out and said we we appreciate Sammy releasing his
• 33:43
  statement and for reaching out. No one player, no one played
• 33:48
  harder or wanted to win more. Nobody's perfect.
• 33:50
  But we never doubted his passion for the game and the Cubs.
• 33:53
  It's an understatement to say that Sammy's a fan favorite.
• 33:56
  Plan on inviting him to the 2025 Cubs convention and while at a
• 34:01
  short notice, we hope that he can attend.
• 34:02
  We are ready to move forward together.
• 34:05
  So. While it's short notice, this
• 34:10
  wasn't happening without an apology.
• 34:14
  Yeah, no, not just the Invite to the Cubs thing, but just like
• 34:19
  being a part of the Cubs organization as a whole like
• 34:24
  that. It wasn't happening until he at
• 34:27
  the very least acknowledged his. We'll call it wrongdoing.
• 34:36
  Yeah. I mean, I like you said, dancing
• 34:40
  is putting it, putting it nicely I guess.
• 34:42
  But no mention of the word steroids.
• 34:48
  Or Cork, no mention. Of the word cork.
• 34:51
  No mention of the word cheating, no mention of the phrase
• 34:56
  cheating the game or anything. And I get that they weren't
• 34:58
  testing the. Typos.
• 34:59
  I feel like he it was him. Oh yeah.
• 35:03
  No, definitely I don't. Think that was ChatGPT, you
• 35:05
  know, Definitely. Him, no doubt about that.
• 35:07
  But. Just lifesaver.
• 35:10
  By the way, ChatGPT. Don't encourage that.
• 35:15
  Dude responding to emails with that puppy.
• 35:18
  Encourage that. No, we don't.
• 35:21
  Oh yeah. We're not pushing AI.
• 35:24
  Don't, don't get ahead and don't, don't be, don't be, don't
• 35:27
  be promoting that. We're not doing that here.
• 35:29
  Big day. I saw a tweet from, I think it
• 35:35
  was Buster, only can't remember what it exactly said when
• 35:37
  paraphrasing here. Basically said that if Sammy
• 35:42
  Sosa is apologizing, then the Cubs need to come out with an
• 35:47
  apology as well because they were cashing checks while he was
• 35:51
  cheating or not cheating, allegedly cheating, we all know.
• 35:59
  But either way, like the Cubs, you know?
• 36:01
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Cubs.
• 36:09
  I mean. Look, they sat there and enjoyed
• 36:13
  the profits rolling through. No doubt, no doubt.
• 36:18
  Like it's a little, it's a little contradicting.
• 36:22
  It's a little what's the word? What is the word?
• 36:33
  What are we trying to figure out here?
• 36:34
  Well. Like when you're guilty, but
• 36:37
  you're like shaming that other, you're guilty of the black.
• 36:43
  Yeah, yeah. But there, there is like a,
• 36:45
  there's like a word for it, right?
• 36:54
  I don't know. I don't know, bad time of year
• 36:57
  to check the vocab. Yeah.
• 37:00
  So it it's all weird, man. I don't know.
• 37:04
  I, I don't want to go too deep into this, but I, I do think
• 37:11
  that I, I there, this is a chapter of baseball, this is a
• 37:19
  chapter of our game. And this is a chapter that has,
• 37:26
  whether you're for it or against it has had a ripple effect and
• 37:29
  is affecting what our game is today.
• 37:33
  So the whole argument of the Hall of Fame being a baseball
• 37:40
  museum and recognizing all eras of baseball.
• 37:49
  This is an era and it's difficult to watch MLB enjoy the
• 38:01
  riches when it happened and then act like it never happened a few
• 38:07
  decades later. And it's just it's very odd.
• 38:12
  And I think that's what upsets fans is that like you're, you're
• 38:16
  not even, you swept it under the rug and it's still very much an
• 38:21
  elephant in the room for anybody old enough to remember it in
• 38:31
  many ways. I'm not going to sit here and
• 38:34
  say it saved our game and there are people that make that
• 38:36
  argument. But it brought eyes, it brought
• 38:41
  attention. It sold.
• 38:44
  It made money. I mean, there are certain
• 38:47
  certainly a large enough, large enough swell of people that
• 38:54
  would say that that that the steroid chapter of of our game
• 38:59
  did save baseball. And I I wouldn't, I wouldn't
• 39:02
  disagree. With it, you can't say it didn't
• 39:04
  Yeah, You know, I don't I don't think I'll say that it saved it,
• 39:08
  but I don't I'm not going to sit here and say it didn't.
• 39:11
  It it is our game is where it's at at this point because of
• 39:16
  what's happened in the past. So, you know, I think a lot of
• 39:22
  these guys are getting older and a little bit softer and and
• 39:26
  maybe they're more apologetic. Maybe their understanding of,
• 39:29
  you know, their wrongdoing. Maybe there's different ways
• 39:32
  around it. And you take the Alex Rodriguez
• 39:34
  route and you and you just try to smile your way through this
• 39:38
  and, and be as in everyone's faces as humanly possible.
• 39:42
  Or you hide in the shadows like a Bonds And so and Sosa and
• 39:46
  McGuire. And it's, it's very, it's very
• 39:50
  odd of what our game does. And I think that tweet kind of
• 39:56
  hits the nail on the head that like the Cubs probably were
• 40:01
  aware of what happened and they enjoyed everything that came
• 40:05
  from it. So to chastise or ostracize a
• 40:12
  figure in our our sports history is just a little silly.
• 40:20
  So welcome back, I guess. Welcome back to our game and
• 40:25
  this conversation's never Dang been holding the whole episode.
• 40:30
  Really dropped the ball there. Sure did.
• 40:32
  I don't know what I'm saying anymore, I'm all done.
• 40:41
  Took you way too long to find that.
• 40:43
  I was looking for it. It's all right.
• 40:47
  You saw? The sound board took me to like
• 40:51
  a blank page. I didn't even realize that I
• 40:53
  could browse a blank page with no sound effects on here.
• 40:56
  But it's in the, it's in play. Speaking of blank page, I don't
• 41:03
  know. I was just trying to find a
• 41:04
  Segway for you. Yeah.
• 41:19
  Find out whose was it colony? Was it colony?
• 41:34
  Was it colony? Whose quote was this?
• 41:39
  The quote. Apparently this guy married his
• 41:41
  gym teacher in high school or from high school.
• 41:44
  Not in high school. That had been weird.
• 41:47
  Married his gym teacher from high school.
• 41:48
  Did you know this? That's the quote.
• 41:57
  That's insane. Give me KC and give me a little
• 42:05
  baseball history. That's my.
• 42:08
  That's my guess. That's the context.
• 42:12
  Episode that Yep, that quote is from yours truly, Episode 41
• 42:18
  titled 25 Best Players Under 25. That was January 31st, 2019.
• 42:26
  That's like four months into this.
• 42:30
  Yeah, that was that was in the early stages, Episode 41.
• 42:34
  I don't know if that was baseball history or if.
• 42:38
  It was. When Hold on, no, I think that
• 42:42
  was. What are you going to Google?
• 42:45
  Baseball player married as gym teacher.
• 42:47
  No, I know who it was 'cause I said I know.
• 42:50
  Yeah, it was Jared Saltalamacchia, but I'm trying
• 42:53
  to remember what? Yes, dude, it was Jared.
• 42:59
  I know it was Jared Saltalamacchia.
• 43:01
  OK, Yeah. So he he finished.
• 43:03
  Wikipedia real quick. He finished in 2018 with Detroit
• 43:09
  at age 33. So this must have been.
• 43:12
  He must have been. I think he announced his
• 43:14
  retirement probably. He's only 39.
• 43:22
  Yeah, Jared Salta La Macchia married his gym teacher from
• 43:26
  high school. Yeah, sure enough, he announced
• 43:29
  his retirement on January 28th, 2019.
• 43:32
  She's 53, I got 4 kids. Hey, who am I to judge?
• 43:43
  You know what I mean? Shit, yeah.
• 43:45
  So that was we would have been, we would have been talking some
• 43:49
  Jared Saltha Lamacchia talk post retirement announcement.
• 43:53
  So there you go. Yeah, if you if you weren't
• 43:55
  around for episode. What did I say?
• 43:56
  Episode. 41 Please don't go back and listen to that.
• 43:59
  No, please don't go back and listen to that.
• 44:01
  If you weren't around for episode 41 where we talked about
• 44:05
  this wild story that probably not a lot of people knew, you're
• 44:09
  welcome. Brought that back to light.
• 44:11
  You are welcome. Speaking of episodes, we can
• 44:17
  kind of, we can kind of close it with some some little spicy,
• 44:26
  spicy news. Well, it's not like spicy news.
• 44:28
  It's very predictable. It's coming down.
• 44:30
  The pipe here, it's just math, yeah.
• 44:32
  It's just basic math really. Episode 500 is 2 away and we've
• 44:38
  got some got some some some plans in the works.
• 44:43
  We'll see what what ends up happening.
• 44:45
  But we I have addressed a once. Some would call it even a need
• 44:53
  that people have been clamoring for for some time.
• 44:56
  That's in the works. And I.
• 44:58
  Think we're going to have it. I'm not even going to finish
• 45:03
  that sentence. I think we're, well, I'll say
• 45:05
  this, I think we're going to have it in the new year is what
• 45:09
  I'll say. I know what you're talking
• 45:13
  about, it's good stuff. I think we're going to have in
• 45:17
  the new year as as sort of a way to celebrate because we, we went
• 45:21
  through our our sort of content calendar and I think did we
• 45:25
  agree that we're doing 500 on the other side, We're doing 490.
• 45:32
  We're doing 499. Yeah, we're doing 499 right
• 45:36
  before Christmas and then that's when we're taking our break.
• 45:38
  No. Is that what we're doing?
• 45:40
  Yeah. And I think we're kicking off.
• 45:41
  Yeah. That's, I think that's what we
• 45:42
  talked about kicking off next year with 500.
• 45:44
  I can't keep you straight anymore.
• 45:49
  So that's the plan for that. Yeah, we'll keep an eye out on
• 45:52
  the on the on the stories, right.
• 45:54
  Like, yeah, I think are you going to, are you going to get
• 45:57
  the voicemail going? Yeah, I think I might.
• 45:59
  I think I'm going to try to re up the voicemail a little bit
• 46:01
  and I'm going to get the voicemail.
• 46:03
  I'm going to be keep an eye out on on IG.
• 46:06
  Well, I guess any of the platforms, but I'm going to, I'm
• 46:10
  going to be opening up to you guys, the listeners, the
• 46:13
  watchers, the chasers and give you guys a chance to give you
• 46:20
  guys a chance to share your. I mean, because we, like I said,
• 46:23
  we've been going on nearly 500 episodes now.
• 46:26
  Give you guys a chance to share some thoughts, share some some
• 46:29
  memories, share some of your favorite moments from the show.
• 46:32
  Yeah, we got some cool stuff planned too.
• 46:34
  Yeah, we're having a little fun on that episode.
• 46:37
  Yeah. So we'll see.
• 46:39
  I was texting rye guy about it today.
• 46:42
  How are you? Yeah.
• 46:43
  I was like, hey, 500 is coming up.
• 46:46
  He's like, oh really? And I was like, yeah, you
• 46:49
  coming? He's like, I'll make it work.
• 46:51
  Just let me know when. Yeah.
• 46:52
  We'll see. So yeah, I was listening to the
• 46:56
  his Buck Showalter interview. It's a good episode.
• 47:01
  Ryan Ripken off the script off the script with RIP is the is
• 47:06
  the name of the off script with RIP.
• 47:08
  Off script, off script with RIP. But he also does the Ryan Ripken
• 47:11
  show, which he does. He's got a lot going on, but
• 47:13
  that was a good episode. If if you haven't given that a
• 47:15
  listener, if you if you don't know what we're talking about,
• 47:17
  this is Ryan Ripken, Prince of Baltimore.
• 47:21
  Hello. Prince of Baltimore, friends.
• 47:23
  He's just, he's just texting us. Friend of the program.
• 47:26
  Us peasants out here, hey? Quick quick little plug though.
• 47:29
  Speaking of friend of the program, shut up Bobby Witt for
• 47:33
  for finally he got married All right, Did you not see all the
• 47:39
  all the. Yeah, no.
• 47:40
  With Whataburger, he, I, I don't know if it's like an official
• 47:44
  thing, but. He's got a little thing going
• 47:45
  with Whataburger. Oh yeah, he's he's.
• 47:47
  Guy just keeps getting better. Pardoned with Whataburger, but I
• 47:50
  think they have. Again, I don't know if it's like
• 47:52
  an official meal or anything, but it he like a wit and his
• 47:56
  wife, yeah, it was a Wittaburger.
• 47:59
  And he did, he did, they did. He and his wife did a little
• 48:03
  photo shoot it it Whataburger and it's it's just top tier.
• 48:08
  That's top tier. That's good stuff.
• 48:11
  Friend of the friend of the pod, Bobby Witt.
• 48:14
  Shout out episode you can go back and listen to.
• 48:18
  Was that 20/21/20? 21.
• 48:21
  No, that would have been. That was probably 2019.
• 48:25
  I was early. That was like episode 70
• 48:28
  something, I think. I don't know.
• 48:30
  That far back, yeah. We like, we like Bobby.
• 48:34
  We like Bobby went down early. That's when it.
• 48:36
  Was right after the draft. Yeah, we've talked about this
• 48:39
  before, but that's when that's when young Bobby was still.
• 48:43
  No facial hair. No facial hair.
• 48:45
  No, he was, he was just he was nervous, man.
• 48:48
  He was, he was this young kid is still in high school.
• 48:51
  But anyway, oh, let's say episode 500 coming up, keep an
• 48:55
  eye out for some some exciting things got coming down the pipe.
• 48:58
  But other than that, that's all I got.
• 49:05
  Let's get some. Let's get some.
• 49:08
  We'll see. We'll see everybody again before
• 49:09
  Christmas, right? Yeah, we'll see everybody for
• 49:11
  499 before Christmas, probably Monday.
• 49:15
  Let's get some. Let's get some final moves in
• 49:21
  right before Christmas, huh? And then, and then we can chill
• 49:24
  until the new year. But maybe just like one or two.
• 49:26
  One or two moves. One or two before Christmas and
• 49:31
  then we can, yeah, we can just bang it until 2020.
• 49:34
  Five, but no offense. Max Cap Max Kepler to the to the
• 49:37
  Phillies doesn't count. One year deal for the to the
• 49:40
  Phillies Shout out Max Kepler. It's really all I got on that,
• 49:45
  but that's really all I got in general.
• 49:51
  So let's let's call it and get out of here.
• 49:54
  Don't go chasing curveballs. I love you all, is always
• 49:57
  looking forward to talking more baseball with you guys soon.
• 49:59
  Until next time, stay filthy.