Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal's Inside Scoop: Manfred's tourney idea, D’backs not trading Ketel + Skubal’s shot, NPB/KBO surplus value obsession

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Ken Rosenthal's Inside Scoop: Manfred's tourney idea, D’backs not trading Ketel + Skubal’s shot, NPB/KBO surplus value obsession · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: That's at the inside scoop with that FT senior insider
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal, big news about an hour or two before
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: our show started, and this put out by Ken in
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the Athletic it sounds like Cautel Marte will not be
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: traded this offseason, and that means maybe not ever for
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the rest of his career since he has no trade
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: class kicking in soon. Ken, what else can you tell us?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Just what you said, Scott that the Diamondbacks, after weeks
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: of speculation and talks, have determined that they're not going
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: to trade him and this is not posturing. They had
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: made the statement Mike Haysen had their general manager right
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: at the end of December, that hey, if we don't
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: get this done soon, we're not going to do it.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: We're going to move on to other things. They are
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: looking at their bullpen, They're looking at a right handed
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: hitting first baseman. I don't know that they are out
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: on Alex Bregman, in fact, I don't believe they are.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: But it becomes a little bit more difficult when you've
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: got Marte on your books, albeit at an affordable price,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: to go get Bregman when you have these other needs
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: as well. Remember They're without Corbyn Burns to start the season.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: They were without two of their key relievers, Ajpuck and
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Justin Martinez to start the season. These guys are all
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: coming off Tommy Johns, so they've been trying to supplement
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: their pitching and they're going to continue to do that.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: That was the only reason initially they were even entertaining
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: trading Marte was if they could fill some of these needs.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: And maybe they felt as well that it might be
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: best for Marte to move on, But they valued him
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: very highly and they by not trading him, have shown
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: they weren't simply trying to get rid of him. So
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: this is where they are right now. And as you
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: mentioned Scott, ten days into the season, he becomes a
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: player with ten years of service, five consecutive with the
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: same team, and thereby gains full no trade protection. He
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: can veto anything at that time, so this really is
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: their last window to trade him without restriction. You can
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: still trade a guy with no trade clause, but he
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: has to approve.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Now do you think this was just a matter of
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: not getting the right trade like you talk about, or
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: our teams being too tight and our esteni about not
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: wanting to give up certain players that other teams want.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Todd, that's always in the eye of the beholder, right
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: and I know, and they have freely admitted that they
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: were asking high and rightly. So kateel Marte is an
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: All Star. He is a guy who is one of
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the best second basemen in the league from an offensive standpoint,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: still good defensively. He is a player that is valued highly.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: And on top of all that, his deal is considered
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: by the industry to be quite affordable. His luxury tax
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: number annually is fourteen point six million. That's not a
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: lot in this day and age when you see the
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Kyle Tuckers of the world looking for thirty five forty, when,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: of course Soto and Guerrero and Otani are crazy much
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: above that. Kateel Marte might not be those guys, but
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: he's pretty good and for fourteen point six million a
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: year from a luxury tax standpoint, that is very appealing.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: So the Diamondbacks had all this to pedal, so to speak,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: but no team bit to their satisfaction.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: So how does this affect the rest of the market.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: As you told us last time around, a lot of
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: players are intertwined to take Catel off I know you've
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: reported about the Cardinals and Brendan Donovan. Bobashett essentially is
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: a second basement free agent, or at least it appears
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: to be that way for most teams. So how does
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: this help the puzzle pieces fit into place so we
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: can get some signings done.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: It's a good question, Scott, And certainly let's look at
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Boston just as an example. They were a team that
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: reportedly were in on Katel Marte. Now that katl Marte
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: is not available to them, it's Bregmann or Bishett for
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: their infield if that's the way they want to go,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: and that clearly is their area of needs, so it
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: should influence those particular free agents from that perspective. Well,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: there's one option that's not there any longer. And the
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: same goes for Brendan. Now, I don't know that Brendan
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Donovan was looked at the same way as Kateell Marte.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: It's a different set of scenarios, entirely two years of control,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: not quite the same offensive type player that Marte is,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: but more defensively versatile. And I know that Seattle, for example,
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: had and has a desire for Brendan Donovan because of
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: that defensive versatility, whereas Marte they were cooler on because
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: he would only have played second base for them. So
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: it does, or theoretically should, open up these things a
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: little bit more. But I don't know that any one
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: move is going to necessarily start all the others. It
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: just is logjammed right now.
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: Ken, what's the move that'll on logjam?
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: It?
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: Is it Bobachett signing? Is it Kyle Tucker signing? Who
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: was it in? Where did the Phillies come from?
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: On Bobachow We kind of discussed this a couple of
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: days ago, and they were kind of a team like, oh,
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: they'd have to maybe move Bome or Stod or somebody
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: to make this work. But here they are setting up
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: a zoom call with them.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Right and AJ, I'm not exactly sure which is the
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: first domino and how that would affect the others. It
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: seems to me that you have three groupings of the
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: better free agents here of two, three of two. And
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: what I'm talking about is Ranger Suarez and fromber Valdez,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: both left handed pitchers. When one goes, I would think
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the other would follow. Tucker and Bellinger similar left handed
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: hitting outfielders, Bregman and Bischett right handed hitting infielders. I
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: would think those are the dominoes that would need to
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: fall one of those for the other. I don't know
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: that Tucker would necessarily affect fromber Valdez, for example, or
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: even Bishett. Now. As for the Phillies, they are a
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: team that has been trying to sign JT. Real Mutto
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: for the longest time, trying to re sign him at
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: least for now, that has gone nowhere. So they started
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: looking around and saying, okay, what if we look at
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: some other things, some other guys who are still lingering
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: on the market, and Bishett would be an interesting fit
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: for them. They've been trying to trade Alec Bohm for
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: quite some time now, so they would open up third base.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Presumably they could even trade Bryce and Stott, though I
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: don't know that they want to do that, And then
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Bashett fits. If you get rid of Boehm's money and
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: you bring in a catcher some other way, you can
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: make it work. And the Phillies don't necessarily worry about
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: the dollars the way other teams do anyway, So it
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: seems that this all emanated from their frustration or their
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: inability at least to sign JT. Real Muto quickly. Now
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: they're looking at other ways to go about building their team,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: and we'll see how it all plays out. Some people
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: have asked, well, they're just trying to leverage JT. Reel
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: Muto with Bishett. I don't see that at all. They're
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: two different categories of players, two different categories of what
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: they will cost. This is simply another idea for them
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: to get a younger position player into an older group
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: and maybe go about it that way.
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: Ken, Another interesting free agentcy is Cody Bellinger. You know,
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: there's rumors of the Yankees and they're thirty million dollars
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: a year. We don't know the length of the contract,
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: and this and that, and then there's people saying he
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: wants thirty seven thirty eight million dollars. Are the Yankees
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: bidding against themselves? And if this offer is out there,
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: let's say five one fifty, which is you know, thirty
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: million a.
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: Year, Lil freeze, Ken, we're back.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I know the question, and aj I
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: don't know that the Yankees are the only team. I'm
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: sure they have some concerns about bidding against themselves, but
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: the Mets have been reported to be on Bellinger as well,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: And when players of a certain level are out there
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and people say they have no market, I'm always skeptical
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: because good players always have teams interested. Now the question
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: is at what level are they interested in? And Cody Bellinger, yes,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: thirty plus million a year for five years would be
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: a good deal for a guy who has not gotten
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: a long term deal yet. Right at the same time,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: he's probably looking at it like, I'm younger than Alonzo,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: I'm younger than Shorber, and those guys got five years,
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: why shouldn't I get longer? That would be his perspective
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: on it. I'm not saying it's right, but as Brendan
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Cuddy of The Athletic reported yesterday, if he got a
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: thirty million dollar aav it would be the fourth highest
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: for an outfielder. That's pretty good, and five years isn't
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: bad either. So I'm sure Bellinger and his agent, Scott
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Orris do want greater length, and they have every right
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: to seek it. I just don't know that they're going
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: to get it, and it certainly sounds like they're not
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: going to get it from the Yankees. And then the
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: question becomes as you mentioned, Daja, where else would the
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: Mets do that. The Mets have been more inclined to
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: do shorter deals too, So it's really curious.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: You talk about those two teams, but out west, the
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: Dodgers are always lurking. Are they in on any of
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: these guys? As you know right now in your talks.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: The Dodgers are a team that they like to say, well,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: we hang around the backboard, and what they mean by
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: that is we wait and see, and if certain players'
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: markets fall below perhaps where they anticipated the players anticipated,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: then we jump and we grab the rebound and we
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: get in. Will that happen with any of these guys?
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure They've been linked to Tucker, They've been
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: linked to Bishett Bishek to play second base for them.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: But it seems to me that any interest by the
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Dodgers is predicated on the markets not being with those
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: players initially envisioned. Could that happen? Yes? Could the Dodgers determine? Well,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: maybe the market doesn't fall to quite the len that
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: we would have wanted, but it's at a place where
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: we're good, we're comfortable. Okay, I can see it happening
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz that was not a guy they necessarily were
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: linked to at the start of the offseason. What were
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: they saying, we want a one year closer. Well, when
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz wasn't getting five years and when they could
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: get him for three with deferrals, they said, let's do it.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: So that is how they've generally operated, or often operated.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: It's kind of how they got Freddy Freeman when his
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: market collapsed, and others as well. So we'll see what
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: happens with the Dodgers. But TDD, you're right, they can
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: never be ruled out because they're always kind of there
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: in the background.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: True. True, All right, Ken, you know not really.
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: People are gonna ask what do you think of the
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: schoobl arbitration and the thirteen million dollar gap? But I
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: just want to know who wins the team or school.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: I've been asking that question this morning of different people
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: in the game, AJ and kind of getting different answers.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: And there are a couple of factors in play here
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: that stand out to me anyway, and just talking to
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: people and learning more. One, the Tiger's number was lower
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: than David Price for and his was a record for
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: an arbitration pitcher. Nineteen point seventy five million. Schooble is
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: at nineteen million. Price was eleven years ago, and I
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: had one person point out to me this morning the
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: Tigers should have, if at least filed at twenty million,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: just to say, okay, we're offering him a record arbitration
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: amount for a picture. I don't know why they didn't
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: do that. It seems to me that would have been
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: wise to do. The other side of this is that
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: the rays that Schooble is seeking is something along the
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: lines of twenty two million. That is unprecedented in arbitration.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: One player has not gone from RB three, arbitration three
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: to arbitration four, arbitration two to arbitration three and made
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: that kind of jump. David Price, we just talked about him.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: He went from a higher level than Schooble. When he
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: got his nineteen point seventy five he was at around fourteen,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: if my memory serves correct Schoobles coming from ten. So
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: arbitration is not necessarily a process that most fans would
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: think is logical, But it's based on all these precedents
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: and all the things that have happened before. That's what
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: precedent is. So I'm not sure who wins. My inclination
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: would be to say the Tigers win. But you know
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: what really should happen here, What really should happen here
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: is that they should settle somewhere in the middle around
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: twenty five million. And I know if the Tigers are
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: a file on trial team, that they're going right to
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: a hearing. Well, I've never thought the file on trial
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: thing was such a great idea in the first place,
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: in all circumstances. Maybe in some and in this circumstance,
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: it would behoove them, and it might behoove schoobl and
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Boris as well. To settle somewhere in the middle.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you're gonna break your protocol, Derek School is
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: a pretty good guy to break the protocol with.
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: He's done a lot for the Tigers, so that makes sense.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: But one thing too worth explaining. So the midpoint is
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: twenty five point five million, and what the Tigers must
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: do is prove that simply he is less worth worth
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: less than twenty five point five And what Boris and
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: School must do is prove that he is worth more.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: That's how these things are determined, and we'll see how
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: it works out. His award would be unprecedented, not just
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: for a pitcher, it would be the highest arbitration award ever.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Soto is the record at thirty one million. Shohyo Tani
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: was at thirty million. Pitchers are not the same as
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: position players, of course, but there is a lot at
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: stake here, obviously a lot in play. But the process
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: is again not something that you can just simply say, well,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: he's here, so he should be here. That's not necessarily
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: how it works.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: The difference for me is that I don't think there
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: is a comp for Schoogle with the current arbitration process.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Looking back at our guys not free agents, and so
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: it sounds like they're fundamentally challenging the whole system, Like, hey,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: the system's messed up. The guy who has the record
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: pitched in twenty fifteen for this, that's crazy, that's eleven
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: years ago. It's like there's nobody else good. And I
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: know not everybody gets to this point in art, but anyway,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: it's going to be an interesting battle. I did want
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: to get to one more with you, Ken, based on
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: comments from Rob Manfred about a potential in season tournament
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: or split season your thoughts.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: I don't love an end season tournament. I have heard
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: for a while now about the possibility of a split season.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: I believe my colleague get Fox John Smoltz is one
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: of these people in favor of that. And there is
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: a certain logic to a split season. You'd start over,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: you can have two dra deadlines, you'd have the ability
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: of more teams to get in the mix, perhaps even
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: than they are now. So that is something worth exploring.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: But as Manfred said accurately, the schedule in baseball makes
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: it a little bit more challenging, a little bit more
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: difficult perhaps to accomplish one of those things. I know
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: a lot of fans say, hey, man leave it as
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: it is and don't mess with it. And Manfred even
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: mentioned that, he said, hey, we have a fan base
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: that is accustomed two one hundred and sixty two game
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: seasons since what nineteen sixty one. That would be hard
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: to abandon. And the sport has abandoned certain things over
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: the years, and they've expanded playoffs and they've had some innovations,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: but once sixty two has been kind of sacred. So
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: if you split it into eighty one and eighty one, okay,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: maybe that works. But again, there are some other things
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: that would have to be figured out, and I'm not
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: sure totally where I stand on it. The idea is intriguing, though,
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: the idea of doing that at least is worthy of discussion.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: I don't know that I would do it, but I'd
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: like to hear a good plan that would maybe make
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: it a strong recommendation.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know you want to keep fans engaged for
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: a longer period of time. Some fans are already out
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: of it by April or May, and.
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: It still feels gimmicky.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: But whatever.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: We again, we can spend a lot more time on
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: it once we get more details. And just because NBA
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: does it and they've done some things better than MLB,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: we don't have to be the copycat league. But here
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: we are. And I like that he floats it out
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: there to get the public perception. That's why we talk
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: about it. Thank you, Rob Manford for the content for
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the day. Ken, thank you for joining us. We'll talk
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: to you on Monday, or actually we'll hear from you
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: on Monday on Fair and we'll see on Tuesday.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: Thanks guys.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we're talking pitching with Cody Stavenhagen, who is
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: a writer for the Athletic covering the Tigers among other
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: topics and one of the stars of Tiger Territory, part
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: of the FT Network. Well, you've got some fodder to
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: cover this week on the show, Cody. I know the
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Tigers haven't been super active. They had their two signings
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: of Kenley Jansen and Kyle Finnegan that stand out.
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: But here we go with the Schooble battle. We go
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: from the trade rumors.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: To the battle between him and the team over arbitration figures.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Can you lay out what you wrote in the Athletic?
• 16:33
  Speaker 7: Well, yeah, Scott, it's really quite the twist and what's
• 16:35
  Speaker 7: already been a weird off season saga. They went from
• 16:39
  Speaker 7: trade rumors to now the Tigers and Trek Scuogle face
• 16:42
  Speaker 7: the largest gap, the largest salary gap in MLB arbitration history.
• 16:47
  Speaker 7: Scott Borris and Trek Scuble filed to make thirty two
• 16:50
  Speaker 7: million next year. The Tigers filed to pay Schooble nineteen millions,
• 16:54
  Speaker 7: so a thirteen million dollar gap. We'll see that sides
• 16:58
  Speaker 7: could continue negotiate, but right now it looks like this
• 17:01
  Speaker 7: is one track to go to a February hearing, and
• 17:04
  Speaker 7: a February hearing that could have a lot of precedent
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: on the line. Nineteen million sounds low compared to thirty
• 17:11
  Speaker 7: two million, but it's not completely out of line with
• 17:13
  Speaker 7: arbitration norms. The most picture has ever made an arbitration
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: is David Price at nineteen point seven to five million.
• 17:21
  Speaker 7: Granted that was eleven years ago and Trek Scuball was
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: coming off a better year than David Price probably ever had,
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: but thirty two million would represent easily the largest raised
• 17:31
  Speaker 7: in arbitration history. If Scooba were to get that would
• 17:34
  Speaker 7: probably set a whole new precedent for how stars and
• 17:37
  Speaker 7: particularly star pitchers are treated in the arbitration system.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: Now my question to you, well, first the first question,
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: do you see this going to arbitration? Do you think
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: they will come to an agreement beforehand?
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Do you see that?
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: Or do you think one side is very standstill on
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: where they want to you know, get paid or make
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: the payment of.
• 17:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that's definitely the biggest question at hand, Toad. I
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: think it would make a lot of sense for the
• 18:03
  Speaker 7: sides to continue negotiating. Just my opinion, Schooble's probably worth
• 18:08
  Speaker 7: more than nineteen and less than thirty two. The two
• 18:12
  Speaker 7: sides could get there to a number in between if
• 18:14
  Speaker 7: they wanted to keep negotiating. My sense right now, I
• 18:16
  Speaker 7: don't know. I kind of feel like both sides might
• 18:18
  Speaker 7: be pretty dug in. It seems to me like Scott
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: Boris wants to use this as a way to break
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: the arbitration system a little bit. And the Tigers, look,
• 18:27
  Speaker 7: if they wanted to pay Trek Scooble a little bit more,
• 18:29
  Speaker 7: all they had to do was file for a higher number,
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: and maybe this could have gone a little better than
• 18:35
  Speaker 7: it is right now. The Tigers typically operate is what's
• 18:39
  Speaker 7: called a file and trial team, which means they file
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: a number and if there's no agreement, we'll see you
• 18:46
  Speaker 7: at the arbitration table. Now they've made a couple exceptions,
• 18:49
  Speaker 7: it usually results in negotiating a multi year deal, sometimes
• 18:53
  Speaker 7: with an option that's just going to be declined. But
• 18:57
  Speaker 7: the Tigers tend to be pretty tough negotiators. We all
• 18:59
  Speaker 7: know Scott Boris is a tough negotiator. The easy solution
• 19:03
  Speaker 7: is to keep talking here, but I wouldn't be shocked
• 19:05
  Speaker 7: if this actually ends up going to a hearing.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: Now, my second question is we talked about this earlier.
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: David Price his first year, nineteen point seventy five million,
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: the highest one as we know, no Cy Youngs, Derek Scuobel,
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: two Cy Youngs, the best picture in baseball. How can
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: you start off in nineteen million dollars is my question
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: if you're if you're the Tigers, where are they getting
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: that number from?
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I think they're they're basing it off.
• 19:34
  Speaker 7: Guy is like David Price, who did have one Cy
• 19:37
  Speaker 7: Young he won the say Young in twenty twelve, or
• 19:39
  Speaker 7: from Bravaldez made eighteen, which I think is second most
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: ever for a pitcher that was just one year ago.
• 19:45
  Speaker 7: Scooble was better than from Bravaldez. They're only valuing him
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: at one million better. I think it's fair to say
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: that's a little low.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: Scooble.
• 19:55
  Speaker 7: The projections kind of vary. Spot track had him at
• 19:57
  Speaker 7: twenty two point five million. I feel like that's probably
• 20:00
  Speaker 7: a little bit of a safer number given the two
• 20:03
  Speaker 7: Cy Youngs, given two years of dominance. But arbitration is
• 20:07
  Speaker 7: also generally based on track record, the whole body of work.
• 20:11
  Speaker 7: Schooble the early years of his career, he was hurt,
• 20:13
  Speaker 7: he was inconsistent. That kind of started him at a
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: lower floor, whereas David Price was a super two player,
• 20:19
  Speaker 7: so we actually got to go through arbitration four times
• 20:22
  Speaker 7: instead of the normal three. It's generally a camp based system, right,
• 20:27
  Speaker 7: One thing Scott Boris is bringing to the table. If
• 20:29
  Speaker 7: you're in your fifth year, we don't just have to
• 20:31
  Speaker 7: compare you to what David Price did eleven years ago.
• 20:34
  Speaker 7: We can compare you to anyone. Zach Wheeler, Garrett Cole,
• 20:37
  Speaker 7: Scoobol was better than those guys last year. And that's
• 20:39
  Speaker 7: why Boris seems to be kind of shooting for the
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: moon here.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Cody, can you elaborate on why the Tigers can be
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: tough to negotiate with?
• 20:48
  Speaker 6: Like what I don't want to say.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: What gives them the right? But take us behind the
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: scenes on how that's been. Is it a Scott Harris thing.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Scott's done a really nice job building up some core
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: players for to try that's right, But it seems like
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: either he or ownership has not allowed him to kind
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: of push the chips in further, to build upon what
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: they've had, which is a lot of success the last
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: couple of years, or to try and actually not have
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: this issue and just throw an extension off or at
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: schoogle or yeah, like you said, throw a little bit
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: of a higher arbitration number. This almost seems contentious to me,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: and I just want to get more on the psychology
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: of who is doing this. Is it Chrisilich, is it
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Scott Hires. Are they both on the same page where
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: they like to be aggressive and they don't care if
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it's the best player on the team by far?
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: Well, yeah, I mean I think the Tigers are clearly
• 21:37
  Speaker 7: pretty numbers based, pretty data driven. Again, they're using their
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: comparisons to say it's reasonable to pay trek'scuoble nineteen million dollars. Now,
• 21:45
  Speaker 7: maybe they didn't expect Scott Boris to file at thirty two.
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: Maybe they expected him to file at twenty four, and
• 21:51
  Speaker 7: the two sides easily could have struck a middle ground.
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: I don't know exactly how that went down, but the
• 21:56
  Speaker 7: Tigers do have a reputation in the league of being
• 21:59
  Speaker 7: tought inotiate with, of being a little stubborn. Whether that's
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: in trade talks we saw them not wanting to part
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: with prospects at last year's trade deadline, or whether that's
• 22:09
  Speaker 7: free agent deals. They tend to come up with their numbers,
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: and it seems like they tend to stick to them.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: They have overpaid for guys Alex Cobb, they paid Drew
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: Anderson seven million this year, but especially operating at the
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: higher levels, I think they're pretty cautious. People are going
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: to use the nineteen million to again paint them as
• 22:29
  Speaker 7: being cheap when it comes to the best pitcher in baseball.
• 22:33
  Speaker 7: But again, there's just not a lot of precedent for
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: any pitcher getting more than this in arbitration. That's what
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: the Tigers are banking this one. Scott Boris is using
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: more common sense. Hey, this guy is the best player
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: in the game. He should get a lot more than
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: all these other guys have in the past.
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: Cody, you mentioned the file and trial and there's people
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: out there that.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: Don't know what file and trial is.
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: It means if you file numbers, teams automatically go to
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: the arbitration case. What the Tigers make in exception here,
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: if there's any chance to keep Trek scouble. I've been
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: through arbitration. I've told the story. It sucks for the player.
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: You will bunk out of that place and you're like,
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: I hate that team. Corbyn Burns has talked about it.
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: Players that have gone to that trial walk out of
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: there with a completely different feeling for the GM and
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: the organization that they've been a part of, especially like
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: Trek Scuble, who's been there his entire professional career. Is
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: there any chance they would make an exception and say, hey, Trek,
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: what if we give you twenty eight million or twenty
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: seven or thirty or whatever it is? Or are they
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: just going to be so stubborn and say, you know what,
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: we're losing them at the end of the year.
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: Anyways, We'll just take our chances. Yeah.
• 23:35
  Speaker 7: I think that's a good question, and I think there
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: are a few things at play here. One, let's be real,
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: the Tigers likely are not signing Trek Scouble to an extension.
• 23:42
  Speaker 7: There's been no indication of any real movement on that front.
• 23:46
  Speaker 7: I think Schooball and Bors both want to set a
• 23:49
  Speaker 7: record in free agency. Anything that Tigers throw at them
• 23:52
  Speaker 7: is just going to be used as a starting point
• 23:54
  Speaker 7: for negotiations with other teams next offseason. I don't think
• 23:58
  Speaker 7: they can sign them. No matter what happens now, it
• 24:01
  Speaker 7: is still worth considering. Is it worth for lack of
• 24:03
  Speaker 7: a better term, pissing off your best player in his
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: final year before free agency, when you have a good team,
• 24:09
  Speaker 7: a team that could really make a postseason run if
• 24:12
  Speaker 7: some things go well, and I think that's where it
• 24:14
  Speaker 7: might be worth the Tigers being open to keep talking
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: about this, because you're right, think this could get contentious.
• 24:23
  Speaker 7: I think Scott Boris is prepared to exercise some theater
• 24:26
  Speaker 7: in front of an arbitration panel. I think this could
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: get heated and could get ugly. The Tigers have already
• 24:32
  Speaker 7: been walking a little bit of a tightrope with all
• 24:34
  Speaker 7: the trade rumors and everything regarding Schooble. For the most part,
• 24:38
  Speaker 7: the team's handled it well. Schooble's handled it well, but
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: at some point this was bound to get a little
• 24:42
  Speaker 7: bit awkward, and I think this situation puts us there.
• 24:46
  Speaker 7: I think this could certainly get awkward, especially if the
• 24:49
  Speaker 7: Tigers go in front of a panel and say Trek's
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: not actually worth that much, and if Scott Boris goes
• 24:55
  Speaker 7: in front of a panel and tears down the Tigers' arguments.
• 24:58
  Speaker 7: I just don't see that have a friendly resolution. Even
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: if both parties should say, hey, this is just business,
• 25:05
  Speaker 7: there's going to be there has to be a bitter
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: taste that would come out of that room, I would think.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Cody, I'll ask the bigger picture Tiger's question. They're going
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: to be focused on this battle for a little bit
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: of time. Are they focused on anything else? I think
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: most Tiger fans are pretty pissed off right now. Kenley Jansen,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Kyle Finnegan cool, happy, Great, that helps the bullpen, But
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: this is another offseason where it appears that they might
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: not make a big splash. Last year they made an effort,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: but the effort was not good enough according to Alex
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Spragman's camp, and that proved to be right because he
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: got his opt out after one year and here he
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: goes again where he'll probably get more money. So they
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: were wrong on that one. What's next for the team.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Are they actually going to do anything else to try
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and improve this current roster? If they're going to keep
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Trek Skoogle and this might be the best winning window
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: you're left that they have.
• 25:54
  Speaker 6: In a while.
• 25:56
  Speaker 7: Yeah, the sexy move everyone wants to see is probably
• 25:59
  Speaker 7: not talk about the Tigers being, you know, kind of
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: dug in on their stances. I think they're dug in
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: on doubling down on the next wave of young position players.
• 26:08
  Speaker 7: Obviously that's risky, prospects don't always pan out, but it
• 26:11
  Speaker 7: seems like that's what this front off is is pretty
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: intent on doing. They're not in on Alex Bragman right now.
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: I don't think they're gonna get in on Boba Schett.
• 26:19
  Speaker 7: Maybe they could always add another pitcher, but even I'm
• 26:22
  Speaker 7: not sure it would be a top of the line guy.
• 26:24
  Speaker 7: They're probably not one hundred percent done this offseason, but
• 26:27
  Speaker 7: I don't see anything big happening, especially on the position
• 26:30
  Speaker 7: player front.
• 26:33
  Speaker 6: All Right, Cody, I want to get to hold up.
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: Hold up.
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: It's amazing because they were they were disclosed, Cody. We
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: were there in Seattle from going to the LCS right
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: in making a run to go deep in the playoffs.
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: I mean, they were one hit away.
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: Just it's mind boggling to me because I remember that
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: Mike Ilich, not Chris Vilich, Mike Ilitch, and he'd be like, Oh.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: We're this close.
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: Okay, we're gonna go get David Price, and we're gonna
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: go get you know, whoever took Princefield, or we're gonna
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: go get whoever we need to get us try at
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: least to get us to the next level. So it's
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: just such a different mindset from the It's like, wow,
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: is this the same Tigers? You know, I know it's
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: not because mister Illig passed away a while ago and
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: his son now runs a team. But wow, it's just
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: such a different mindset that, you know, the Tigers because
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: if you for me, but being someone that was in
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: the Central for so long, the Tigers have the city
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: and the power and the fan base to really do
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: something and take a step and control this division for
• 27:29
  Speaker 5: years to come. But it's just like, oh, well we
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: have mcgonagale come in and you know, Joeb we'll be
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: back at some point, and oh, we'll just wait for
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: them and then hope we play good enough and then
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: if we just get in it's good enough.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: No, like they haven't won since what eighty four, right,
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: Restore the Roar eighty four?
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: I mean it's been a long time now, Yeah, it's
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: it's been a long time. And the unfortunate reality, you know,
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: you just said it, Mike Ilich is dead. This is
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: not the same Tigers of the mid twenty tens. They
• 27:55
  Speaker 7: run things a lot differently now. They're not quite a
• 27:59
  Speaker 7: small market club. They run kind of a mid market payroll,
• 28:02
  Speaker 7: but they're pretty focused on development and being one of
• 28:04
  Speaker 7: these new wave player development driven organizations. I think there's
• 28:10
  Speaker 7: a real argument that they should do a little more,
• 28:12
  Speaker 7: that maybe they are one player away, one veteran bad away.
• 28:15
  Speaker 7: The Tigers will tell you that they made the Alds
• 28:19
  Speaker 7: and had a great season with the third most played
• 28:22
  Speaker 7: appearances of players under twenty five. They think they're young,
• 28:25
  Speaker 7: they think they're only going to get better. They want
• 28:27
  Speaker 7: to maintain flexibility, both in terms of their roster, both
• 28:30
  Speaker 7: in terms of payroll. So it's definitely, you know, a
• 28:33
  Speaker 7: lot of varying approaches. It's not what a lot of
• 28:35
  Speaker 7: fans want to see. I can kind of twist my
• 28:38
  Speaker 7: head and sometimes see the team's logic, but I think
• 28:41
  Speaker 7: it's definitely focused not just on twenty twenty six. I
• 28:43
  Speaker 7: think they're looking at twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine.
• 28:47
  Speaker 7: There have been other teams that have done that in
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: the past, and it doesn't always work out, So I
• 28:50
  Speaker 7: think it's it's certainly a little bit of a gamble
• 28:52
  Speaker 7: in its own way, the approach that they are taking.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: You wrote an article about how pitchers are seeking a
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: boost from Japan or even Korea and the MPB and KBO.
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, case in point, you have Cody Ponce who
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: went for another year back to Japan and absolutely dark
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: excuse me, Korea absolutely dominated out there, and now he
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: gets a three year, thirty million dollar deal. Talk a
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: little bit about you know what you wrote, and you
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: know about how pitchers are getting better as they go
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: out there and then when they come back.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 29:22
  Speaker 7: I think one of the more interesting trends we've seen
• 29:25
  Speaker 7: this offseason is the market that's developed from guys coming
• 29:28
  Speaker 7: back from Japan and really especially Korea. Cody Ponce got
• 29:32
  Speaker 7: three years and thirty million, Drew Anderson the Tigers played
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: seven million, and other teams wanted him. Ryan Weiss is
• 29:39
  Speaker 7: going to the Houston Astros and people are really optimistic
• 29:42
  Speaker 7: about what he could be. These are dudes who are
• 29:44
  Speaker 7: going to be parts of MLB rotations. And then Anthony
• 29:47
  Speaker 7: k with the White Sox and Foster Griffin with the
• 29:50
  Speaker 7: Nationals are coming back from Japan. These are guys who
• 29:53
  Speaker 7: I feel like a decade ago just might not have existed.
• 29:57
  Speaker 7: Most of them were first or second round pick, good
• 30:00
  Speaker 7: prospects who didn't work out and in the past. Maybe
• 30:03
  Speaker 7: these guys would toil away in Triple A and maybe
• 30:06
  Speaker 7: they make it back, maybe they don't. It seems like
• 30:09
  Speaker 7: players are becoming more willing to go overseas Korea, especially pitch,
• 30:14
  Speaker 7: refine their stuff, add a pitch, do something different, and
• 30:18
  Speaker 7: get better. MLB teams as a result, are paying a
• 30:22
  Speaker 7: little more attention to these leagues. They're using their pitch
• 30:24
  Speaker 7: models stuff plus to say, hey, we know the KBO
• 30:28
  Speaker 7: is a week hitting environment, but this guy's pretty nasty.
• 30:30
  Speaker 7: We have reason to believe it can translate. And these
• 30:33
  Speaker 7: guys are then coming back in their late twenties or
• 30:37
  Speaker 7: early thirties with multiple teams wanning their services. These aren't
• 30:41
  Speaker 7: minor league deals, these are major league contracts. Part of
• 30:44
  Speaker 7: the reason is teams being quote unquote cheap. Everyone's obsessed
• 30:48
  Speaker 7: with finding value, and we all know the middle part
• 30:50
  Speaker 7: of the free agent market can get a little bit dicey.
• 30:53
  Speaker 7: You see guys like Luis Severino getting fifteen twenty million
• 30:56
  Speaker 7: dollars struggled last year for the A's. I think team
• 31:00
  Speaker 7: are saying, hey, rather than pay some veteran fifteen to
• 31:03
  Speaker 7: twenty million, what if we pluck a guy out of
• 31:05
  Speaker 7: the KBO pay him half that, and we think there
• 31:08
  Speaker 7: could be just as much upside. This has been percolating
• 31:12
  Speaker 7: for a couple of years and there are at least
• 31:13
  Speaker 7: five guys who kind of fit this bill. I think
• 31:16
  Speaker 7: this season is going to be a little bit of
• 31:18
  Speaker 7: a litmus test for if this can actually work, because
• 31:21
  Speaker 7: although it's cool, there are some good stories, there is
• 31:25
  Speaker 7: also uncertainty when guys are coming back from overseas. But
• 31:29
  Speaker 7: it's becoming more common than it used to. It's no
• 31:31
  Speaker 7: longer like you go over there and you're probably not
• 31:33
  Speaker 7: coming back.
• 31:35
  Speaker 6: Hey, Cody, what did you think?
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: I know we're talking about the US players, but what
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: did you think of the Japanese market for the players
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: that we're playing an MPB for a long time and
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: are Japanese born players Like I don't even know if
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: I want to go murk Kamie.
• 31:50
  Speaker 6: I kind of want to go more on the Ami.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: Factor here based on your article and how it, in
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: my opinion, seemed like they might have undervalued him.
• 31:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it'll be a fascinating player to watch this year.
• 32:04
  Speaker 7: I think he was getting a lot of hype because
• 32:05
  Speaker 7: there's always a lot of hype around, you know, the
• 32:08
  Speaker 7: big players coming over from Japan. Some of the scouts
• 32:11
  Speaker 7: I talked to in the league weren't all that impressed,
• 32:14
  Speaker 7: or at least saw a lot of risk.
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: In his profile.
• 32:17
  Speaker 7: Now, this is a guy who can throw in the
• 32:18
  Speaker 7: upper nineties, who has a good splitter, who has a
• 32:20
  Speaker 7: good slider, but no one was projecting him to be
• 32:24
  Speaker 7: Yamamoto or even Showda In Monaga. He was viewed, you know,
• 32:29
  Speaker 7: more along the lines of kind of a number four
• 32:31
  Speaker 7: starter with even some reliever risk. So I thought it
• 32:34
  Speaker 7: was possible he could get a little bigger deal just
• 32:37
  Speaker 7: based on the upside. But I also wasn't totally shocked
• 32:40
  Speaker 7: at the deal he signed. It seemed to me more
• 32:42
  Speaker 7: in line with what I had heard from evaluators across
• 32:45
  Speaker 7: the league than some of the numbers, you know, one
• 32:48
  Speaker 7: hundred plus million being floated out there where I just
• 32:52
  Speaker 7: think the teams see some risk in his profile. They
• 32:54
  Speaker 7: want to see if he can overcome adversity in a
• 32:57
  Speaker 7: different league. There's always concerns guys coming over the all
• 33:00
  Speaker 7: is different. So he may's a really good pitcher, But again,
• 33:04
  Speaker 7: no one was ever proclaiming him to be Yamamoto, So
• 33:07
  Speaker 7: I wasn't totally shocked at the contract ended up being
• 33:10
  Speaker 7: a little lower than some people.
• 33:11
  Speaker 5: Thought, Cody, before I let you go, why don't mid
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: market teams take more flyers on some of these Japanese
• 33:20
  Speaker 5: guys coming over? Meaning the amis like you said, because
• 33:24
  Speaker 5: he didn't get as much. Now, the White Sox did
• 33:26
  Speaker 5: it with Mark Kami, But why would they not? It's
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: just because the risk is too great and they don't
• 33:30
  Speaker 5: They can't afford to give a guy like a my
• 33:32
  Speaker 5: seventeen eighteen million dollars for a couple of years. But
• 33:35
  Speaker 5: if it does work out, they make that money back
• 33:38
  Speaker 5: hand over fist in the Japanese marketing and all that stuff.
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: So why are some of the smaller market teams like
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: this would be a perfect guy, I thought, for we
• 33:46
  Speaker 5: use the Tigers who you cover, right, he could fit
• 33:49
  Speaker 5: flip right in there into the third fourth spot in
• 33:51
  Speaker 5: the rotation. And if he turns out to be something, wow,
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: we really got something with Schooble and Flaherty in a mine.
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: You know, do you see what I'm saying?
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: Like, well, I just don't understand why some smaller market
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: teams don't go a little bit more into this.
• 34:04
  Speaker 7: It could be as simple as they don't think these
• 34:06
  Speaker 7: guys are that good. You look at Murakami, you look
• 34:09
  Speaker 7: at Okamoto. These guys are corner players. No one quite
• 34:12
  Speaker 7: knows how I mean, a Kimodo can probably hit philosity
• 34:15
  Speaker 7: a lot better than Murakami, but no one quite knows
• 34:18
  Speaker 7: what they're gonna be at the MLB level, even tatsoy Eme. Like,
• 34:22
  Speaker 7: we just talked about the risk, So it's possible that
• 34:25
  Speaker 7: a lot of teams just didn't have great evaluations on
• 34:27
  Speaker 7: these players. It's also possible that the risk is just
• 34:30
  Speaker 7: too much, which in a way relates to the thing
• 34:33
  Speaker 7: we were talking about with the KBO. If you're looking
• 34:36
  Speaker 7: to get someone you realistically think can be a two
• 34:39
  Speaker 7: war pitcher, would you rather pay a much higher figure
• 34:43
  Speaker 7: eighteen twenty million, knowing there's some upside, or would you
• 34:47
  Speaker 7: rather play it safe pay seven million for Drew Anderson
• 34:51
  Speaker 7: you think he can be a two war pitcher, and
• 34:53
  Speaker 7: if he's not, it's only seven million. You just move on.
• 34:56
  Speaker 7: You find someone else. I'm not saying that philosophy is right,
• 34:59
  Speaker 7: but I think that's clearly what the Tigers and some
• 35:01
  Speaker 7: other teams have done. It's a little bit safer, it's
• 35:04
  Speaker 7: a little bit cheaper, and it also speaks to like
• 35:07
  Speaker 7: I think teams really value volume with pitching injuries are
• 35:09
  Speaker 7: so volatile. If you can get three or four guys
• 35:12
  Speaker 7: a pay guys seven mil, sign three guys on minor
• 35:16
  Speaker 7: league deals, hope one of them hits. Is that a
• 35:18
  Speaker 7: better strategy than paying a fistful of money to someone
• 35:23
  Speaker 7: who you don't quite know what they are going to be,
• 35:26
  Speaker 7: even if there's a little more upside. I don't know
• 35:28
  Speaker 7: if that's right, but I think that's kind of what
• 35:30
  Speaker 7: the thinking is.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I like the philosophy. That makes sense, and it's
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: great homework on a great article. Check it out in
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: The Athletic. Cody Stavenhiggen joining us, and of course a
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: fresh Tiger Territory episode.
• 35:41
  Speaker 6: Did you do one yet or it's coming out on
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: the Schoogle News.
• 35:44
  Speaker 7: Because I know we got one this morning school now.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, so everyone check that out and if you want
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: to hear more on the spice between the two sides,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: go for it.
• 35:52
  Speaker 6: Cody, have a good weekend. Thanks for joining us. Good
• 35:54
  Speaker 6: to see you, dude.
• 35:55
  Speaker 7: All right, Thanks guys, good stuff. Appreciate it.
• 35:59
  Speaker 6: There.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: It is Tiger Territory part of the FT Network. It's Kieran,
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: it's Cody. You get a little Austin Jackson in there too.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Go download, Go subscribe, do the deal.