Latest / Foul Territory / A's Season Preview, Chatting with Manager Mark Kotsay + Picking AL Roy Winners

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A's Season Preview, Chatting with Manager Mark Kotsay + Picking AL Roy Winners · Foul Territory

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Time for a little season preview. Let's do it.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: We're talking about the A's right now and their twenty
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: twenty six campaign. So first, let us show additions and subtractions.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Todd Father, we can slice up what happened for this team.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: They did a little adding.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Jeff McNeil, former teammate of yours, now joins the mix
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: with the A's. There's one thing he's been able to do.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: For his career. It's what it.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: That'll help yes, Mark Lighter Junior, Aaron Savali, Scott Barlow
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: also added to give you a little more pitching depth,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Sean Neukom signing with the White Sox and JJ Bledet
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: out of the mix there. But there's your additions and
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: your subtractions. Now, this is a team that is very
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: simple to analyze from last year good young, core pitching,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: not good enough. One abysmal month, the worst month in
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: baseball last year belong to the A's in May. If
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: you don't go through that, and a lot of averages
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: means you probably won't, and you take a slice of
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: what they did in the second half of the season.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Can this team compete for a wild card spot?
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: When I say compete, not necessarily get one, But can
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: they be in the mix when we're in September, are
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: we like, Hey, the A's are a few games out,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: They've got a chance.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, on the simple fact that they're scrappy. They're not
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: going to back down from anybody. How far and how
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: long that takes you over one hundred and sixty two,
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: you know, it'll test you a little bit. I do
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: like Jeff McNeil's signing. I like all these little signings here.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: You know, guys that are not going to be oh man,
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: that was the guy to get, but guys that are
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: dudes that go in about their business and do the
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: right thing. They got a tough they got a tough
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: road man. We talked about the managers or Mariners, Rangers,
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, Astros, even the Angels might give them a
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: little run for their money, depend on how they're doing.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: But it's a nice team. But how far they'll go,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: we still don't know. But they you know, playing in
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: that park last year, they look comfortable in the minor
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: league park, and you know, I think it plays their
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: advantage overall at the end of the day.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because it could be a nightmare for a pitcher.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: So let's show the Al West projections from fangrafts. They
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: have the A's pretty close to a couple of teams.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Ahead of them. They have the Mariners way ahead.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Aj They have the Mariners at eighty eight wins, then
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: the Rangers at eighty and a half. And this is
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: a projection system, so obviously, yes, no one's winning eighty
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: and a half, but this is that we're going to
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: play it out. So eighty point five on the Rangers,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: eighty point fourt the Asters, they basically have them projected
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: out the same way as at seventy eight point eight.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: That's pretty close, and the Angels at seventy two and
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: a half. So I know you were big on this
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: team last year, and again, you can't wipe out a
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: bad month, but if we did, they would have been
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: in this range and.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: They would have been in if they win ten of
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: those twenty out of you know, they go ten and
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: eleven instead of one and twenty, they're close to the playoffs,
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: if not in the playoffs, So correct I. You know,
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: I get to go around to all these camps and
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: you talk to people. They're really excited about this team.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: And I've been buying this team for a couple of years,
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: Nick Kurtz, a full season in Nick Kurts another season
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: or Rooker Langeleiers continues to improve if they get any
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: kind of pitching and they brought in some pitching for
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: some bullpen help, and Severarino pitches better at home. The
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: rest of their young starters come up. They have some
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: good guys they're super excited about to pitching wise to
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: come up. So I'm bullish on the A's. I think
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: they've got a chance to be really good. Now does
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: that put them in the Seattle category, I don't know,
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: but I just think if they can get off to
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: a decent start, they can be five hundred, if not
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: a better, and be around to make the postseason.
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: I love what they've done.
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: I love Katsee obviously as a former teammate of mine Brookers.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: I just I'm bullish on the A's and I think
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: seventy eight might be a little.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Bit lowy six wins last year A Jane, like you mentioned,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: if they won ten more games, that's eighty six wins.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: That's on the cusp of a postseason spot. That's impressive.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: The criticism, I'll say this about the A's as much
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: shit as we have given them over the last couple
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: of years, they've signed some guys to some nice contracts
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: and the A's in the past.
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: Let's not forget even.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: When they were in Oakland, if they were in it,
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: they were not afraid to make some moves to help
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: their reinforcements come in. Now, they never won anything because
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: of it, but they were not afraid to go out
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: and make some moves to help this team win. And
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: the way they've spent money and they have more money
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: now because of revenue sharing, whatever you want to call it,
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: they're not afraid to make the move if they think
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: they can get to the postseason. They've done in the
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: past and they're willing I bet to do it again
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: if they're close.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: And they did that last year with Sebarino, who I've
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: talked about a lot this episode has. If he can
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: figure out what he did on the road and do
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: it at home, and he did that the year before
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: with the Mets, then you have a guy that's going
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: to win you a lot of games. My criticism is
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: I would have liked another arm or two. You know,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: could they have landed some type of mid tier starter.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, hey, as right now, uh, he should be
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: in the rotation. Okay, yeah, he's he should be in
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the like three four spot here Vangrass right now has
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Severino Springs, Savali, then Jacob Lopez and Luis Morrales. However,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: you want to slice up the five, that's the five
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: they have for now. So yeah, no Savally, nice nice piece,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: but I would I would have loved one more. I
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: still think when we're overall looking at the starting staff
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: and the relief corps, that's where you're going to have
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: some trouble. And Todd fil playing to your point about
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: the ballpark, the offense is going to click. I feel
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: like if you get in trouble and you're in a
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: rut in that ballpark with your staff, it can get
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: bad quickly. There were some games where teams were putting
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: up video game numbers there, and I think it's a
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: pretty inexperienced staff still overall, like when I'm looking at
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: the full staff, Mike, is this a postseason pitching staff,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: because I think it's a postseason lineup. Is it a
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: postseason pitching staff. I don't think they're there yet.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: No, I perfectly said, And there was a lot of
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: when balls are struck there, the ball was flying out
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: of there a lot of back to back home runs,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: even back to back to back, there's guys hitting three
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: home runs there, So your stats can boost up going
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: to that place. And as a pitcher, it's not friendly
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: at all, so and I think the A's are understanding
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: that and trying to capitalize on that, knowing that when
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: you get five runs in the first you still got
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: a long ways to go in this game. And I
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: think they understanding that, and they're coming together and knowing that, hey,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: we have a good day here, knowing that these teams
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: got to come in not have the same stuff they
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: usually have on the road, Let's take advantage of it.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: And I think that's what they've been doing.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: Here.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: With my ex teammate and now the manager of the Athletics,
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: I can't call you Sacramento. I always would still say
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: Oakland because they were always Oakland. Mark Costsee, one of
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: my all time favorite ex teammates that I ever played with.
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: Just an awesome, awesome fellow. Talk to me about camp
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: a little bit here in Mesa. Yeah, it's been great
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: so far. We've obviously we've got a lot of players
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: in camp this year. I think the most that I've
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: ever had in camp as the manager of this club,
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: you know, we brought a lot of six year guys
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: in to help with the depth. You can never have
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: enough depth in pitching. But it's exciting. We've got a
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: lot of young, talented players.
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: If you're familiar with our club, you've seen some of
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: them come to fruition with some nice long term contracts
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: that we've handed out this offseason. Others that we would
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: love to secure, and you know, we're building something here.
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: We've been building it. You know, we went through one
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: of our hardest years as an organization in twenty three.
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: Since twenty three, we feel like we've moved the needle
• 8:00
  Speaker 6: in the right direction over the last two seasons and
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: the expectation is even higher this year.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: So extensions. Are you going to get an extension? Are
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: you next venue? Do you go to John Fisher? Do
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: you say, hey, you know you're sending all these players
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: and you know who molded those players with me?
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: Well, I was thankful to be rewarded with that.
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I had an option year that was picked up
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: last season and we'll be managing the team, well, contractually
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: managing the team through twenty eight.
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: That's awesome.
• 8:26
  Speaker 6: Yeah, So it's been great, and you know, I'm looking
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: forward to continuing to lead this young group and win
• 8:33
  Speaker 6: a championship.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: With this team. How do you get these guys to
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: take the next step? Right, because I was so high
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: on y'all last year.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: We kind of had that May that was like twenty
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: out of twenty one or some crazy number.
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: You guys lost, right, and then you got hot again.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: So we had a geloff on the other day and
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: I said, just have Cotsay tell you guys it's June
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: and July on opening day. Because every year, you guys
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: get to around the All Star break and then you
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: just explode and take off and finish as one of
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: the best teams in baseball.
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: So how do you start faster?
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a great question and one that were you know,
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: hopeful to figure out this season. I think last year,
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: you know, we had a circumstance, different challenges that we'd
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: never gone through before, you know, in terms of changing ballparks,
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: going to Sacramento, playing in an environment that we never
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: played in before. There was a lot of learning. There
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: was a big learning curve for us. You know, April
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: was kind of the honeymoon phase and then we got
• 9:26
  Speaker 6: smacked in the face in May, like you said, you know,
• 9:28
  Speaker 6: and for me, this ball club learned a lot through
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: that time. They learned a lot about themselves, they learned
• 9:34
  Speaker 6: a lot about adversity, they learned a lot about you know,
• 9:38
  Speaker 6: worrying about the things that you not worrying about things
• 9:41
  Speaker 6: you can't control.
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: Really, and I think we've taken a step in the
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: right direction.
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: We got through it, you know, I told the team,
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: you know, for a team that went through twenty losses
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: in twenty one games to finish the season, seventy six
• 9:53
  Speaker 6: wins was was actually a great accomplishment in itself, because
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: no team in Major league history had lost twenty out
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: of twenty one and one seventy six games, So there's
• 10:03
  Speaker 6: something to say about that. But you're right, we need
• 10:05
  Speaker 6: to get off to a good start. We need and
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: we have. We need to play good through through May
• 10:09
  Speaker 6: and in the June.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Hey, do you think it's going to help to have
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: most of the team intact for the entirety of spring training?
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I asked that because I looked at your WBC list
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: and there are some names, but I don't know if
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: you've checked out some of the other teams in.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: The league where it's like a third of their roster.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Coming up from the season is going to be playing
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: in a tournament and could be playing deep into the tournament.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: For example, you have some very talented players that are
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: from the US, but there are some players above them
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: or more experienced than them right now, so they might
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: be in the next go round. So how helpful is
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: it when I look over and I see like Benzel
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Clark and lu Severino, But those could be the only
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: two guys from your opening day roster that are not
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: here for a week or two.
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah, no, there's no question that, you know, we kind
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: of got lucky in that sense of team of USA
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: and guys like Tyler Soderstroum and Jacob Wilson and Nick
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: Kurtz obviously, you know, keeping them here in camp cantinuing
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: to build something, uh you know, through spring training together.
• 11:04
  Speaker 6: But you're right, we do lose, you know, Uh, Severino,
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: we do lose Denzel Clark, both players obviously projected to
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: be a big part of this club's success and impact
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: type players. Carlos Kortez is another one, Darryl Hernice. So
• 11:18
  Speaker 6: those four guys we leave, you know, we lose out
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: of Big League camp and uh, you know, it can
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: be impactful, but I think you know, and on the
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: on the flip side of that, these guys going to
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: represent their country is something that's once in a lifetime.
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: You did it, right, Yeah, I did. I got to play.
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: We're Team USA. We were amateurs though, and so we
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: were collegiate athletes.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: It's one of the greatest you know, sporting events and
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: and prideful moments that I could talk about in my life.
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: For sure.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: Rose the Elementry Olympics ninety six medal. We medled, We
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: we took home a bronze. We got better than any
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: metal I got. Yeah, we got beat by Japan in
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: the qualifying game and uh, and then we ended up
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: playing for the bronze. But it was it's the house, yeah,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: like hanging it's in the case. Yeah, because I'm KVI.
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: You know Minkaevitch, she has the goal from Sydney and
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: he trusts me. He's just bowed his Olympic goal.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: Any chance he gets he gets to I'm like, well,
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: I never got the chance. So I'm just anybody that
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: gets to play for their country, and especially if they metal,
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: even in the Olympics, is I'm jealous.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah, no question.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: And now that they've talked about in twenty eighth having
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: baseball back in the Olympics and being in LA where
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: I grew up.
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: You know, I know Doc's already thrown his name in
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: the hat to manage that club. I mean, hey, Doc,
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: if you're watching this or hearing this, like I bring
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: me on your staff and you know, but I'd love
• 12:37
  Speaker 6: that opportunity as well.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: So hey, while we're on Sebarina, we mentioned him. I mean,
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: this is important. What is the plan and what is
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: the communication process like with him to make sure that
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: he's comfortable. And I give him credit. I know it,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: you know, can be a bad look, but he was
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: transparent that even though it might seem like not a
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: big deal for some, for him, it was a big deal.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: The home road numbers were crazy and pitching at times
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: the problem for the team. Imagine if Severino puts the
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: road numbers together at home, and how many more games
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: the team can win. So did you guys go over
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: that a lot internally in the off season?
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Then what did you say to him?
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean we definitely have tried to make adjustments.
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: You know, one thing for sev and we've talked about
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: this is you know, obviously moving forward and you know,
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: having the right mindset. You know, we didn't know how
• 13:24
  Speaker 6: the ballpark was going to impact us as a team
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: and let alone as individuals, right and so anytime there's
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: adversity in life, you know, you just don't know how
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: you're going to be able to get through that adversity.
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: I do feel like sev In, you know, the later
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: half of the season, was able to pitch at home.
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: You know, I think he's got the right mindset right now.
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: He looks great, he looks ready prepared his you know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: live VP the other day. I mean, this kid throwing
• 13:57
  Speaker 6: ninety seven miles an hour right now, and it's you know,
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: first of spring training, which is different. So I think
• 14:03
  Speaker 6: this he's shown up with a different attitude and the
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: right mindset to have success this season.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: You mentioned how there's some guys that got contract extensions
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: and hopefully some more too along the way. What's different
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: when they show up to camp they are much richer.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: There are some names that are much richer. Now, even
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: if it's just saying hey, you know, what's different, we
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: can crack some jokes and say dinners on you.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Whatever it is, what's different.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: And also how do you make sure that not that
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: they stay motivated, but that they know, hey, like we
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: need you guys to obviously feel comfortable because you have
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: long term security, but also maximize your value and you
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: can get paid even more in the future.
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: I mean, anytime you invest in a player, you know
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: that this player has the right mindset that they want
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: to accomplish greatness. And I think for Jacob and for Tyler,
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: you know, they're cut from the same cloth. I mean,
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: they get after it every day. They work their tails
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: off to have success to you know, under stand that
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: that they have a chance to even you know, on
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: the back side of this, as young as they are,
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: get another contract and uh, you know, so that investment
• 15:10
  Speaker 6: shows that that we're making a commitment to this team,
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: to their teammates as well, to build something here that
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: we feel when we you know, over the next two
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: seasons before we get to Vegas, win a division, go
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: into Vegas with the championship type team and and just
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: have a you know, have a blast opening up a
• 15:30
  Speaker 6: new stadium. This new stadium is going to be electric.
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: It's it's I've been there toward it. Uh, it's being
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: built at a pace that you can imagine, you know,
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: the whole lower bowls I think almost come together.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: And uh, the location is going to be unbelievable. That's awesome.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: Two things before we let you go, I'd be remiss.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: We haven't even mentioned a guy in your lineup so far,
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: your first basement.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: Extend him, please, there's a there's an opportunity, yes, for sure.
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: Now it was Nick Kirk.
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, for kids so youngs in college and boom for
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: Homer game.
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: All the everything he did, Rookie of the Year. How
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: good is he? Yeah?
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: He?
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: I mean, I think this guy's the limit for this kid.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: And you know there's a reference. A good close friend
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: of ours, philm Nevan sent me a side by side
• 16:17
  Speaker 6: of you know, two guys swinging and I had to
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: shoot the text back, Hey, I can't tell the guy
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: in the left is and it was actually Nick, but
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: the guy in the right was a former teammate of ours,
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: Jim Tobe. And I mean it was so comparable. The
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: swinging was finish, everything was so much alike. And I
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: know Tony was a big fan of Nick when he
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: was at Wake and sat on him. And if we
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: hadn't draftedn't believe me, the White Sox the pick behind
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: us were taken next week.
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: I just can't.
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: But you know, not just not just the player, this
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: kid special man. He's just so humble. He's such a
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: he reminds me of like the thirteen year old All
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: Star that's just you know, doesn't even realize how good
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: he is.
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: I mean, Nick knows how good he is.
• 16:59
  Speaker 6: But you know, I feel blessed to have this chance
• 17:02
  Speaker 6: to be a part of this guy's career. And I
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: mean last season, that game in Houston when he went
• 17:08
  Speaker 6: six for six and set records, it was it was
• 17:11
  Speaker 6: it was remarkable how easy it looked.
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: You know, yeah, all right, last.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: Thing, real quick, just give you just give me a
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: quick answer. One guy in camp that we haven't talked
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: about that you have your eyes on Max Months. Max Months.
• 17:23
  Speaker 6: He's a talented young player. We drafted him, we were high.
• 17:25
  Speaker 6: He's out of you know, the LA Area, is a
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: high school draft pick. He's got an electric pop and uh,
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: you know, for us as a team, we're still looking
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: to solidify at their base spot. So this kid's got
• 17:35
  Speaker 6: that chance to have an impact year and and you know,
• 17:37
  Speaker 6: the projections in some sense, you know, we're hopeful that
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: that that he has a Tyler Soderstrom type projection where
• 17:45
  Speaker 6: you know, Sodi's scuffled a little bit and then had
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: a decent, you know year, and then it was.
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: Last year that he finally put it all together. That's
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: on from Max Well, coach.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you very much, and i wish the
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: athletics all the best, and I'm super happy that you
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: got to I don't know that.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: I mean my day, buddy, Hey, jj, I think this
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: is fitting today, Todd Father. We're gonna do bet MGM
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: futures Al Rookie of the Year. So what we're doing
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: is showing the trends that BETMGM shares with us highest ticket,
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: So where's the most money and the most bets going,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: both of them going to Kevin mcgonagal. We don't even
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: know if he'll crack the team in spring training and
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: be on the opening day roster with the Tigers, but
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: assuming he's healthy and clicking, he'll be up with the team.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: If not opening day shortly.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: And he also becomes the biggest liability for the book.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: He is at plus.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: Eight hundred one two three four five sixth sixth best
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: odds to win this award. Trey Savage is the odds
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: leader at plus three fifties. So what do you think
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: about Kevin mcgonagal. For me, Todd Father, I can see
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: it's plus eight hundred.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: It's nice.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: But I look at the I often look at the
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Japanese town and there's three in the American League because
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: they're not rookies. And I know AJ's shaking his head.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: This is where the good money usually is. Japanese players
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: and sometimes Cuban players too, right like O Jose Bray
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: back in the day. These are grown men and you've
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: got three candidates. So I am focused in on those three.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Who do you like?
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: I know, And listen, there's always that talk about, you know,
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: do you have to be a certain age to be
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: the rookie of the year. Well, now, that's why baseball
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: is a great sport. You could be fifty one and
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: get your first start and be the rookie of the
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: year and everybody's like, what is going on here? And
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: that's what makes it a beautiful sport. I mean, I
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: think they're all in the right spot here. I think
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: the one am I I like that that's the one
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: for me At plus seven hundred. You know me, I
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: always like to put a little more juice bang to
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: my buck. And where they're McGonagall, we don't know if
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: he's gonna be there. My We'll see what happens. But
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: this is a hard one. This ar when you Savage
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: had a great year to finish, of course, but we'll
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: see in a full year. So I'm sticking with him
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: Iya plus seven hundred, and we'll see where it goes.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: It could be somebody an outsider coming in. These are
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: these are the hard ones to decide because you don't
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: know exactly the track they have, these guys going on.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Isaac Collins had a shot at Rookie of the Year
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: AJ at twenty eight years old, and he's, you know,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: in prospect coming from the States.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: But what do you like A.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: What's what's murkamiet So.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: So I'll give you the three Japanese players that are
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: gonna be rookies. Todd likes and may at plus seven hundred.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: I'm worried about Murakami because the grading of the defense
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: and the swing and miss maybe goes through some league adjustments.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: He's at plus five hundred. Okamoto's at plus thirty hundred.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: That's my guys thirty. Yeah, it's thirty. It helps, but
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Okamoto might hit twenty five and hit three hundred and
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: played decent defense.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, if Okamoto does that, a lot of people
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: be mad they didn't get in on him. So let's
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: not forget about that. But also, you know you mentioned
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: your savage. Here's there's a couple of guys we didn't
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: talk about. And one of them has a long term
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: extension in Baltimore. His name Sam Pasaiyo, and that dude
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: can match. He's not gonna catch because of ADLEI Rutchman
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: are gonna find it, bats form dh wherever they need
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: to do it. That's a name to watch because he's
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: gonna get playing time because he signed a long term deal.
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: Guys, and ADLEYE.
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: Rutchman has been injured, he's been up and down. That's
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: the name to watch for. And then the other one
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: is a guy we were in Guardians camp yesterday, Chase
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: the Lawd. I know he had to drop fly ball
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: in the postseason, but they love this kid and he's
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: gonna get a chance to play every day. And I
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: don't want to say it's a non pressure environment, but
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: playing somewhere like Chicago Toronto is a little different than
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: playing in Cleveland. You get to make some mistakes, you
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: get to learn from him, you get to grow from him.
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: And you're gonna get your repats.
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: I mean, those are a couple names for me that
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: we didn't even mention the National League for me when
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: we get to that.
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: That one's an easier.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: One, okay, But here you took some that were pretty
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: far down the board.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Interesting. I like it.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: But Sia was right after McGonagall, and I like that
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: pick because he's also only going to catch so much.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: He'll he'll and he's not even gonna play much first
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: this year with Pete Lonzo there and unless they trade Mountcastle,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: so he's gonna get a lot of DH time, which
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: is going to help because he can just foke on
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: the bat and mix in a little catching. So he's
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: plus nine hundred, and then you brought up the latter.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: He's at plus sixteen hundred. So I think he's either
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: in the top ten or right outside of it.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I believe ten.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: I can't count really quickly, So yeah, this is actually
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: a really good race. I think there are going to
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: be a lot of good rookies in the American League,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: but anyway, let us know your thoughts and let's talk
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: about what betmgm is focused on before the World Baseball Classics,
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: which we'll be doing our lockscorre, so we'll be early
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: in on season locks. But we're talking about the odds
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: boost token to score a bigger payout on the Winter Games.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Hockey NHL A is matching up right now across the
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: country or in Italy, across the pond in Italy in
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: the Olympics. So if you want to get in on
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: that action, betemgam dot com or on the betmgam app.
• 22:48
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• 22:50
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