Latest / Foul Territory / Skubal joins Team USA, Detroit POBO’s viral comments, Could D’backs keep Ketel AND sign Bregman?!

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Skubal joins Team USA, Detroit POBO’s viral comments, Could D’backs keep Ketel AND sign Bregman?! · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Ip, it's here.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Hello, Happy holidays you two.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Happy holidays to you, Krats. What were you saying a kid?
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Before Eric's going back?
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: I wanted I've knocked on his door. I was like, okay,
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: if you will come out and play, we can play catch.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: You won't play catch, Like, no, bro, I'm just chilling. Man,
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: I'm just hanging out, Like, leave me alone.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna pass you.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Guys.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: He is good, he doesn't he like he is a
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: member of I just think of the movie Step Brothers
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: when it's him and him and Todd Fraser when they're
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: sitting next to each other, they're like flicking in each
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: other's ears and all that. So but I feel like
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Kratz has gotten so good, he's on every day that
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: he can actually do that act without physical contact. He
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: can do it with his facial expressions, with his words.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: He's got something going here.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Finally, an everyday guy, Krats.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: I know it's taken so long. I get every day now.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: It makes me.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: It suits, Yeah, except except for when we go to places.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Except for when we're like at the winter meetings or
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: like fun places. They always they always call me and
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: they're like, hey, it's not you. But you're not going,
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: and I'm like, what, but I want to.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Well, maybe you'll get more invites as the days go on.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: But there are multiple reasons for that.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Okay, it's basically I can't make it.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: The real life most important reason for yeah, exactly, he's busy.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: His calendar is busy. I've had that before. I've asked
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: for something in past lives and they've been like, you
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: can't do it, and I'm like, I didn't even say
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the date yet. I had that with my past job
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: once I was trying to do something for I used
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: to work for s n Y and for mlbnwork in
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: a couple other spots, and the two bosses hated each other.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: They're both out of those positions for a while now,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: so I don't give a shit. But he was like,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: you can't do it, and I was like, I didn't
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: even ask you for the dates yet. He was like,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: we have you on show because they didn't say you
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: can't do it because we don't want you to. They
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: said you can't do it because we have you on
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: shows or a game or whatever. It's like, I didn't
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: even give you the dates, so wow, do you know
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: it's it's Christmas? At six am. You got me working.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Actually they probably.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Did, but probably you did.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Probably. Yes, Hey, real quick before we start, and we'll
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: get into this. A lot of Baseball World, Baseball Classic news,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: and then plenty of rumors in the whole deal. This
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I've been sitting on for about a week, and I
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: keep forgetting to bring it up. So I'll just do
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: it right here. Kratz Stephen A. Smith has had a
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: very successful career. But he was on his own little
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: podcast the other day, and I don't have the clip
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: because I'm just bringing this up randomly and I don't
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: want to get too far away. He was talking about
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the Pee Alonzo signing with the Orioles, and he brought
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: up how he only played fifty seven games his sophomore season.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: He was hurt, like kind of I guess, I don't
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: know if you want to call it knocking him, but
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: just kind of going through as if he is the
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: historian taking us through the chronological career of Pee Alonzo. Yeah,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: his sophomore season, Kip was a season you know, well,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: it was called twenty twenty the Pandemic. He played fifty
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: seven out of sixty games.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just wanted to throw that out there.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, ninety eight percent of the games, ninety seven percent
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: of the games.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: He was pretty healthy his sophomore.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Year, pretty healthy.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I want to slander him as an injury prone player.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: He's been super durable. And on his show, he's just like,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: oh he's got hurt.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: He got hurt.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: He only played fifty seven games his sophomore year. Like, hey,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I know you missed that year and every other year
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: ever in our sport, which is fine, you do your thing,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: You've got your sports. But Kratz, I'm like, we only
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: ended up playing sixty games that year.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: I hear you. I hear you. I And when you're
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: not in when you're not in it all the time,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: I get it. You're just you're rattling stuff off. I
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: know I have done it. I've done it where I've
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: looked at stats and I've just been like okay, okay,
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: oh yeah it must have been oh wait no this happened.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh man, I feel like an idiot.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: But he's riffing on his own, like he's just he's
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: just throwing he's just throwing words out all the time,
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: all the time. You know, I can't doat it out
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: here that whah whah blah whah. So I'll give him
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: a pass on this one, even though it does fall
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: into the it falls into the easy like steven A
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: doesn't watch baseball category. But hey, you know what, steven A,
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: you could have a show on FT and we'll teach
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: you all about baseball.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Maybe I'll get him on some time. I think I
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: can actually pull that off and we can have a
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: little chit chat and we can teach him a few
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: things from the player perspective here from you guys. But anyway,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: we got a lot of news to get too, So
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: let's begin art World Baseball Classic roster news coming in
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: hot and very frequent. Let's start with one of the
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: best pitchers in our sport. I would say can make
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: a case for Skeens and schoobl Skeens has been in
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: for a while now. He started his college career at
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: air Force. He's like, I'm pitching every single WBC if
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: I'm healthy. Derek Scooble is in. I think this is fascinating, Kip,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: because Schooble is the talk of the town. He's still
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: involved in trade rumors. I don't know if that's going
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: to end up happening. But what I can tell you
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: is that he is entering his free agent year and
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the Team USA Ball club has had trouble recruiting top
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: end pitching talent. This is already a much better looking
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: pitching staff than we've seen in the past from Team USA.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: They won not last time it was Japan, but the
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: time before that. This puts them in a much better position.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: So what do you think about the addition here? We'll
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: go over some other roster moots within TMUSA. But also
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: the fact that a guy who's about to hit free
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: agency is committing to something that occasionally causes concern for injury.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: You'd probably like him.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: I think he would probably like a deal to be
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: in place before he starts to that because I for
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: the same reason that you just said that, there have
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: been injuries that have come down the road from it.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: But in terms for the USA, just speaking on that,
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: I mean for American pitchers, this is not we have
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: what number one and number two right now. I put
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: those schemes in Scooba are the top guys that we
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: could get and that it doesn't get much better than
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: that in this game. So that is that is an
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: awesome get for Team USA. Sets them up great because
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: you know, pitching wins games in those type of atmospheres
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: and it just increases the odds. Then down the road
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: maybe at the championship or or to get into a championship.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Now you have the better odds to have one of
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: those guys going. It sets you up really well. That's
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: they've already had the big lineups, but now if you
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: start getting those pitchers to come in, that's that's that
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: puts you right back up there with Japan and ready
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: for match.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: So Mark de Rosa is essentially the team USA Elite
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: Gold National twelve U team. He's going to figure out
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: how to use the best players to try to win
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: this travel ball tournament that he is entering in. Like
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: I think, now, I mean he's he's got what he needs.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: Now it's a matter of do they throw Paul Skins
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: in what would be the semi finals and Trek Scubel
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: in the finals. Do they say, we got to get
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: to this, so we want them throwing in the first
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: two games? What if the first games against Brazil? Like
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: I think it's more of like figuring out how to
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: put the best team out there now. But this is
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: the first time that I've seen this good of pitchers,
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: and I love the fact that Trek Scoubele did it,
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: And I think people are too afraid of injuries organizations,
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: not just not just a free agent that's looking to
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: possibly make four hundred million dollars or three hundred and
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: fifty million dollars, but organizations. When I played for Team
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: USA and we're gonna have Cody Ponts on tomorrow, it's
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: hard to get organizations to send pitchers to play in
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: stuff like Team USA puts out there. When you're playing
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: high quality, tough international games, teams just think, oh, there's
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: such an injury risk. There's such an injury risk to me.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Trek. Scubel is doing exactly what
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: a recent Tiger, Max Schurzer did in his last year.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: He's betting on himself. Max Schuzer bought a little insurance policy.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: I'm sure Terrek Scooble is gonna do the same thing.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: And he's like, I'm gonna get my money, whether it's
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: through the insurance policy that I got or when I
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: go to free agency and he's like, I don't see
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: any reason why I would get hurt because I'm a
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: beast and the opportunity to play for Team USA is
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: something I hope no player ever turns down if they
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: haven't gotten to do it yet.
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: Kratz question, do you remember at all the type of
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: restrictions teams would put on pitchers if they kind of
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: make a deal with them that okay, you're allowed to go,
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: here's a pitch count, here's Is there a conversation between
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: the organizations and the World Baseball Classic Team USA saying
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: we'll send you our guy, or is it the player's choice?
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: Is it what if the player wants to go? But
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: does the team not let a player go before?
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: For sure? I don't know about WBC, but I know
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: the conversations for Team USA because my second time through
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: I was I wasn't sitting at the table with the organizations,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: but I was thirty nine years old, and they were like,
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: do you have any pitchers that you think should be
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: on this team? And you know, the guys that I
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: the guys that I suggested were guys that two of
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: them ended up making the team. And I know they said, look,
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: the organization's not going to get in my way, and
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: I say, well what about this guy? They said, we
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: called the organization said no, and I said, all right, well,
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: why don't you have that guy call the organization? And
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: then the organization got a call from said pitcher and
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: they ended up letting them go. So some teams, some
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: organizations are like, no chance, we already have your pitch limit.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: Like especially now now, organizations say, okay, we want you
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: to throw seventy seventy innings this year. We want you
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: to make twenty two starts as a minor league, as
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: a minor league starting pitcher. If you fall short of
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: that number, then they're more they're less hesitant to let
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: you go and make two more starts, because really, when
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: you're on these teams, you're not making that many starts,
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: but you stay ramped up all the way through the
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: end of October November. That's minor leagues, that's the Team
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: USA stuff that I did this to me. It's about, hey,
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: what's your routine? What's your routine? Paul schemes. Are you
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: coming into spring training throwing eighty six to eighty nine
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: and working up to your ninety seven to ninety nine. No,
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: his first his first spring training start. At most guys
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: first spring training start. For Paul Skins, he'll be down
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: in Bradenton. He's coming out there and he's throwing probably
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: three to four innings, and he's pumping his normal ninety
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: five to ninety nine like Gus. Guys don't ramp up
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: the same as they used to ramp up.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Okay. Mark de Rosa, Tmusa manager, brought this up publicly
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: after they lost last time to Japan in the finals.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: It was a lot of phone calls and a ton
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: of rules. So this time around, he wants guys that
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: essentially have less restrictions, right. He wants to be able
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: to utilize his roster in a winning way the way
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: that the team that beat them does Team Japan. So
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I think there's two prongs to this. It's getting pitchers
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: that are all in that might have less restrictions, but
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: also guys that have juice. Right, how much are the
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Tigers really going to dictate with Scoogle Like, oh, hey,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: uh Erk, we'd like you to only go fifty. I
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: know that for this round it's seventy on the restriction.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Be like, yeah, I know what I'm doing. I don't
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: need your help, thank you. I know how to prepare
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: for a cy young season. So don't you think that
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: helps kip where a team is going to have more
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: difficulty telling a picture what to do if it's somebody
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: that has Errek Schougle, Paul Skimes like poll and success
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: in the big leagues.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: Yes and no, because if they have that success, they
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: probably have a bigger investment attached to them by that team,
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: so that it's they're more the teams can be more
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: worried about it.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: That way a little bit.
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: And it's tough because it's like, you don't want to
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: shelter yourself from injury or worry about it too much,
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: because then you're you're gonna not play how your body
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: normally plays, and you might be more apt to get
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: injured that way. But then you have to plan for
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: it a little bit. By planning for it, I mean
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: you have to know that you can ramp up enough
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: and say I'm only gonna throw three innings or do whatever.
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: But once those lights come on and that adrenaline starts going,
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: you're right back in game mode and you're gonna be
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: throwing out your shoes a little bit and your body
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: just might not be there. So it's a really give
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: or take, and I think they have the right to
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: voice their opinion. That's kind of why I asked Kratz,
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: is it is it strictly the player's decisions, because I mean,
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: they are their own entity and they are their own business.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: Are they If they team says they don't want them
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: to go, can the players be like, well, I'm going,
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: so I wonder, I wonder, I wonder if an organization
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: would penalize.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Them, find them. I really wanted to know how that
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: would play out.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: I don't know. Contraction, that's that's a good point, Like
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: could they no rubber hits the road? Are they saying like,
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: no chance you are not able to go. If you go,
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: this will happen. I don't know. I've never that would
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: be a good good pitcher question went through it. But
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: are we ever gonna see this type of stars align
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: in the sense that part of this, somebody has to
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: pick up the insurance tab. When I go and play
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: for Team USA, there's insurance on me as a player.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: It's very very small when you start talking about and
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: this is why they put values on prospects. When you
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: start putting insurance packages together for a valued prospect, like
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: let's say the number one prospect Connor Griffin, he gets asked,
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: there's a cost to let him be insured to play
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: on a team that is not a Major League Baseball team,
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: it's current team. So Tarrek Scubele, while he is gonna
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: be really expensive currently, he's not, so that insurance cost
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: is definitely down. Paul skeins, while he's gonna be expensive
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: right now because of his salary, that insurance cost is down.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: You just happen to have two per free agents pitchers
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: who are the best one to two pitchers in Major
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: League Baseball right now.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: The WBC makes a ton of money these days, and
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: I don't think the players get much for it, so
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I do think that the insurance gets covered by whatever
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: they're making, league profit whatever. So I think it's an
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: easier sell even though it's expensive. That's my guess. I
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: don't know for sure. They don't reveal a lot, but
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: you know, players aren't making millions of dollars on this,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: so I do think that the petty cash fund is
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: pretty reasonable that they can go, Okay, we'll throw some
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: money at this, right. I mean, this whole package got
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: sold to Fox. Ratings are going to be great. Netflix
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: bought the package for Japan. Numbers are going to be
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: super Bowl like for Unreal. They were last when Japan
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: USA and it was Trout versus Otani. I mean, it's sick.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: It's an awesome tournament. I love it, love it. I
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: just want to finish with a few other roster notes
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: here because anyone that's catching this later on, I want
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: to give them like the comprehensive look. We haven't touched
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: on this a ton. Many of the position players known already.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: It's kyt Raleigh, Judge Schwarber, Gunnar Anderson, Will Smith, Peak
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: her Armstrong, et cetera. Right, the pitching is what's the focus.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: The World Baseball Classic Team USA team has struggled with
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: finding the big boys. Mason Miller just committed. Others in
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: the bullpen Griffin Jack's, Garrett Clevenger, and then I guess
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Clay Holmes is probably going to be coming out of
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: the bullpen. Uh, Garrett Whitlock starting pitching wise, We've got
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd, Paul Skens, Tyrek Scoogle, Joe Ryan just committed.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: And then the interesting one I wanted to bring up
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: was Nolan McLain. He was one of the better rookie
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: pitchers didn't pitch a ton last year. But when he did,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: he was great for the Mets. Mets fans are freaking out.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Do you remember the last WBC. This dude's entering his
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: first full season, Kip, so this one's a little more.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Stands still after a win that, oh.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Man, I mean I'm pumped for Team USA. I mean,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: I think this guy's a number one.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: I love it. No, I love it. Mets fans, the
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: risk is worth it, risk it for the biscuit because
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: Nolan mclan. You want him, You want him to be
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: in your rotation for the playoffs. There is no better
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: chance for him to get a playoff experience without actually
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: getting there, and he will get there. This team will
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: be a playoff team, but you want him to have
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: that experience. The WBC is it. Do not fear getting hurt. Stop,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: He's gonna get hurt. Just the same chance of getting hurt,
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: almost the same chance of getting hurt in spring training
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: as he does playing for Team USA.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: Long term development's huge too, if you're hanging out with
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: the best players in the sport. So I'm with you,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: and it's not like he's going to start every day.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: You know he's gonna get what two starts, maybe in
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: the w Yeah, maybe one, depending on how it lays out.
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: And then lastly at the Joe Ryan edition too, he's
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: a stud as well.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Oh hell yeah, they got some pitching.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: It is a much different looking staff than usual, and
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: we'll continue to learn about more names. Last one I
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: want to throw at you that won't be participating. Mookie
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Bets just revealed he is not in for Team USA.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: The birth of his third child is expected around the
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: same time. And the quote he gave to some I
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: don't know random digital show thing, I honestly don't know
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: what it's called Aiden Ross she as in. His wife,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Brenana Betts, said that she would divorce me if I
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: wasn't there. That's asrael as it gets. Mookie, you do
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: your thing, man.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: That that organization ain't letting you go to this one. Yeah,
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: that's not just a fine, that's yeah, you better listen
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: to that One's injury would be That injury will be
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: worse than what could happen to w.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: That would be worse. That would be costly. Hey, you
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: talk about getting rings from the organization. He's with the Dodgers.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: He gets rings from them. Every child is a championship ring.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: So you go be with your kid. You don't. They
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: don't need a backup shortstop because Bobby WIT's gonna play
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: short anyway. Mookie, that's the real reason you're not playing.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: We get it. It's okay.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: There's no insurance policy that's going to cover that either.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: So there's no insurance policy for Oh, I gotta leave
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: and my wife might hate me forever if I'm not
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: in the delivery room. So yes, we're WBC is in
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: good shape. Bobby Wit Junior will handle things, shake it up.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: That's what the Diamondbacks might be doing. And this is
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: definitely a good segment title for the owner of the
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Arizona Diamondbacks, Ken Kendrick, because it's like chilling chillin. Okay,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I want him and to me, Kip, I've said this
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: many times on the show. He defines what being an
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: owner in baseball should entail. Like he keeps to his
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: and budget and he does this thing. But then he
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: can wake one up, wake up one day and just
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: be like, I think I would like to have a
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: conversation with Corbyn Burns and that hadn't been a thing. Right,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: This is my toy, this is my ship. So the
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: latest is Alex Bregman pursuit and how that factors into
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: what they do with kaatel Marte. Kratz made a great
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: point about how he felt like that doesn't do a
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: lot from a productivity standpoint. Ken Rosenthal's latest note is
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: how those two could end up together. There could be
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: a scenario where Bregman and katel Marte are on the team.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: And now we're talking right, and it's in the latest
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: column from Ken, who has fair territory at If you
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: want to check that out, it's already up on YouTube
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: and podcast platforms fresh from today. I think Ken's joining
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: us tomorrow as well. But Kip, if you actually click
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: into the article, Ken mentions essentially how he finds it unlikely.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: So is it likely they signed Bregman. No, but if
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: they do, it still sounds like they're going to trade
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: ktel Marte because he has the ten to five rights
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: kicking in a week and change into the season, and
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks just don't want to be stuck with him
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: for the length of the contracts not stuck, but have
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: no option in case they want to trade him at
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: some point, so they want to smash the veto rights
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: for him. So your thoughts on all of this.
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: I like what you said about the owner. I think
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: there's the realistic thinking of most teams. They not all
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: teams can win every year. I think there so there's
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: times to push and pull, there's times to pull the strings,
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: and there's times to go forward and all that stuff,
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: And so I like where he at least puts out
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: a competitive product though I mean, they're only what four
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: years removed from a World Series or three or four.
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: But I don't know if Bregman would be the right
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: answer here. I love Marte as a player. I think
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: him and Perdomo up the middle are one of the
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: best middle combos in the entire league. But I watched
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: a couple of their games last year I did radio
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: for Cleveland versus Arizona. It's a very top heavy lineup.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: I think after you get through those first four or
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: five there's not much behind it. So they really need
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: to link that lineup. But I think they could spend
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: the money that they were going to spend on Bragman
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: maybe to kind of maybe spread it to two or
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: three different people instead. But I like a guy who
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: when in the time comes, he can pull the trigger.
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: He's not automatically out of conversations because of a certain
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: price tag or a certain player's name. So that is
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: fun to watch and it's fun to have as a
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: fan for that city.
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: I will go to exactly what he said after they
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: lost the World Series the next offseason. While it didn't
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: work out, I get it, and so maybe he's a
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: little bit retisent to do the same thing he said.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: He went to his he went to his general manager,
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: Mike Hasen, and he said, we have a little extra
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: money coming in because they had all of their they
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: had all of the season ticket holders, and they sold
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: more season tickets then they had anticipated because of the
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: run that they made. And they went out and got
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Jordan Montgomery, who at the point at that time was
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: the guy that you know, had had been the guy
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: to like, hey, push the Rangers over, and so they said,
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: you know what, We're going to go out and make
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: that push. It didn't work out, but that's what owners
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: are supposed to do. You get a little extra cash,
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: you get the taste of winning, and you're like, I
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: want to keep winning. At the time, they had Corbyn Carroll,
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: you know, Rookie of the Year, MVP type of player.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: They already knew what Ka tell Marte was Erldo Perdomo
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: was getting to where he was. I think they always
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: knew it. He just had that like he had that
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: energy and you know they pushed. So you want that
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: type of owner because it's not all about the bottom line,
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: it's about the rings.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Put the rings on that things.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Kratz, is there a world where they signed Bragman and
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: they really gets the return for kateel Marte on guys
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: that are ready now, yes, Okay, there's no way you
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: would you feel okay about it.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: If they get that top end starting pitcher, If they
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: get that guy that would couple with, you know, the
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: hope of what Mike Soroka is going to do, the
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: hope that Merril Kelly not even hope. I mean, I
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: think he's shown he can be a solid contributor. But
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: you need somebody that for kateel Marte. You need somebody
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: that's going to start game one or game two of
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: your postseason. I'm not saying I'm not saying it has
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: to be somebody that's starting a game one for everybody,
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: but it's somebody that's that's starting, that's starting one of
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: those two games. Just because Corbyn Burns isn't going to
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: be back for a majority of the season, and I
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: think you need somebody depending where he's at, You need
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: somebody to be able to slide into that role. And
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: that's gonna be That's a tough that's a tough return.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: It's a tough return for the team that's getting rid
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: of them, but it's also a tough return for your
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: scouts saying, I know this guy can definitely start Game
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: two for us if Corbyn Burns is one hundred hitting
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: on all cylinders going into the playoffs. Because this is
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: a Diamondbacks team that they struggled last year. But if
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: you look at all the last few seasons since they
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: were in the World Series, they are right at the cusp.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: They even they've won more games than they did in
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: their World Series winning season or World World Series making season.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: They won more games the next year and didn't make
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, So they're right on the cusp. And I
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: think that starting pitcher plus Bregman would definitely I'd be
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: more okay with it than I was when you just say, oh,
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: get rid of Catel, We're gonna get Bregman, Because like
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: I said yesterday, it's not an upgrade. As much as
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: everybody loves Bregman and he's mister consistent, you we have
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: a tough time. You have a tough time backfilling with
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: what Ca tell Marte has done and will do here
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: in the next few years.
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: I think pretty standard a lot of people would take
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: Marte over Bregman at this point.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: I think that's not knock on bregmant.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: Marte's just been that good the last five years or
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: however long he's been doing it. My question would be,
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: I don't disagree with you Kratz on needing to get
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: back that guy who can fill in a number two
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: starter like that. But if a team's trading for Marte,
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: they're trying to get better, they're trying to maybe make
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: a run and go for it. Are they going to
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: really let go of that much big league level.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Talent a guy like that.
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: Wouldn't they need him and try to keep him. I
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: feel like they'd be more apt to deal prospects than
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: the big league level talent. Uh, if they're they're trying
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: to upgrade their big league roster already.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: That's why I think it's a small small window of pitchers,
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Like do the Mariners do the Mariners give up Bryce
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: Miller do the Dodgers give up and it's Shean and
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: maybe Robleski do. It's those are the two that come
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: to my mind right out of the gate, you know,
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: like like you just you look around those teams that
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: are on that friends that want to upgrade, you know,
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: do the Red Sox the Red Sox, I get it.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: They have they have uh Campbell at second base. Yeah,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: at second, but he's in the minor leagues. They signed
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: him to an extension so they would need an upgrade
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: at second if they don't get Bregman, but they're not.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: They don't have enough pitching that you would you would
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: that they would match up. It's a small it's a
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: small window of teams. Yeah, I don't. And but I
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: think those two teams, the Dodgers and the Mariners, that's
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: where That's where I see the Mariners being high up there.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: And I know everybody needs depth and starting pitching, and
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: the Mariners saw that last year. They needed depth because
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: the year before everybody stayed healthy. It's not going to happen.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: But when you have the depth and the quality depth
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: like the Mariners have, I've been calling for it and
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: they did it little bit last year going to get
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: Suarez and and Naylor at the trade deadline. Now is
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: the ka tell Marte piece that makes the Mariners a
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: the American League favorites? In my opinion, it does that
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: makes that lineup and that starting rotation and that bullpen
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: the best team in the American.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: League right Planco had a really strong postseason, but he's nowhere.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: And a strong year mate, Yeah, and a strong year
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: and a strong year he did.
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: He had like he had a plus one thirty two
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: ops plus. I think like that's why he got twenty
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: million a year. But when you start talking about katel
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: Marte for seventeen a year now at the level that
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: he's doing it at, well, Kip, you know you were.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: You were an incredible offensive second baseman. Katl Marte is
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: doing things that other guys are not doing at that position.
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: I think he's the best second basement in the league
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: right now. I think pretty trying to think of who
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: else would be above him.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: He does it all.
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: He's a gamer, he shows up every day. No, he's
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: one of the most reliable guys that you can just
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: put his name in and not think twice.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: And later this. Yeah, that's a bargain, right, because Kip.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think Boba Schet is eventually going to
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: sign with the team as a second baseman, and I
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: think he'll immediately become one of the best second basemen
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: in baseball. I think he'll be able to handle the
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: position and be above average, and then he'll be a
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: top three bat at the position. He's going to cost
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: like two hundred million dollars. It's basically double coutel.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, that's that's kind of how the game works, though,
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: the you from football to baseball or anything. Guys signed
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: these big deals and then five years later those deals
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: look cheap compared to the inflation of the next deals.
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: So Marte's deals looking better and better the more that
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: all these other deals are coming out.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: That's why.
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the Polancal forty surprises me a little bit.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: That number.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: I think they overspent a little bit just to make
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: sure they got their guy. But getting good for him
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: by all means get your money. But if you're looking
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: at Marte's deal, there's not many better deals around there,
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: so value wise at least.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Hey, let's get to some other notes here from Ken's
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: column this morning, he posted about Jorge Polanco. We just
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: brought him up. He said. The Rays were Kratz's two
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: favorite words related to him. The Rays were in on
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Jorge Polanco and they got out bid, but they were
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: trying for him, and they said, cool, this guy can
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: play anything infield besides shortstop, which was his original position.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: But he's not really a big league shortstop anymore. So first, second, third,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: DH and you anticipate if they had done that Kratz,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: they would trade Brandon Lauer Yandi dis So if you're
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: the Raise, you're probably looking shrewdly and saying, Okay, I
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: can spend probably similar money AAV on him compared to
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: what Yandhi and Blau are costing me next year year,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: I can trade those guys since they're both entering their
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: final seasons. I believe definitely b Lao Yandi. I have
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: to look up to confirm that I have gotten conflicting.
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: I think it's I think it's Yandi's last year and
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: both of them. I guessed, go ahead team.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: I think he has a club op. Okay, I think
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: I'm right on this because I was on a Raised
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: podcast recently and they said he was a free agent,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: and then I looked it up and I wrote it down,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: and you can't always find everything, but twelve million for
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six for Yandy, ten million dollar club option
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: or thirteen million investing option if you hit the five
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: hundred played appearances. So I think he does actually have
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: two years left. So it's two years of Yandy, one
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: year of b Lao. So in my mind, Kratz, it
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: would have been signed Polanco, trade Brandon Lao and boom,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: there you go. You get a return for a guy
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: who's about to leave, and you signed Polanco for a
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: similar number. Oops, your number wasn't big enough. They probably
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: were like throwing him fifteen and he ends up with
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: twenty plus a year.
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: So I'm gonna kind of go against that only for
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: the simple fact I know he didn't sign there, but
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: I know the Rays have made two year deals for
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: guys that were exam were exactly what other teams offer. Now,
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: were they a little short money wise? Maybe, and maybe
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: that's why Polonka went to the Mets. Or just like
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: when DJ Lemayhew signed with the Yankees his two year
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: deal that he ended up signing and winning a batting title,
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: he got the exact same offer from the Rays and
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: he felt like the Yankees were at a better spot
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: in the sense of, hey, you know what we can
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: You know, I can make the playoffs sooner. So maybe
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: that's what Polanka was thinking, or maybe it was just
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: a dollar for dollar thing. But the Rays on the
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: shorter term deals, I say two years to four years,
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: they have been in the market for or offering the
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: same amount of money that other teams have been offering.
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: I just don't think they have that offer, you know,
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: where it's like, oh, yeah, we're ready to win right now.
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: It's just more of like, hey, if this is the
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: same amount of money, you know, I'm not going to
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: go to a place isn't quite ready to win right now.
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: And so let's say in this scenario that it was
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: two years, forty millions or twenty million a year. Is
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: his versatility really that big that you'd be willing to
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: get rid of Brandon Lao, who I think is number
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: two all time on the home run list. I'm not sure.
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: I know he was climbing up the board in Ray's history,
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: but you would just because he's more versatile like Jorge
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: Polanco DH last year he played all of one inning
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: at first base, and I think don't quote me on this,
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: but I think he played like ten ten games at
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: second base?
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: No no played, no no, no, that part you're off
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: you played? Do?
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: Do I have it mixed up?
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: I got this season escapes me quick, But I feel
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: like I watched you know, enough Mariner games and saw
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: him filling in at second base. It felt like more
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: of a split, if I had to guess. But let's
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: let's look this up together. And it was smart. It
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: kept him off his feet more. How many thirty.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: Four starts at second base? Thirty eight games eighty seven,
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: DH's That doesn't sound like somebody that's versatile. It doesn't
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: sound like somebody that's yeah, he's willing to play third, second, first.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: That doesn't mean the year before that, the year before
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: that he played one hundred and nine. So what happened
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: last year? What happened last year? Was it the fact
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: that how they built the roster of the Mariners said,
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: you know, we don't need you that many times, but
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: to drop seventy games, Kip, if did you ever drop
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: seventy games games played at one at second base from
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: one year to.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: The next, Yeah, nineteen and then COVID year the new.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: Thanks Steven a but like off a position, when you're
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: moved off a position, I have a hard time believing
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: that you're all of a sudden just gonna be like, yeah,
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: I'll go play everywhere. I'm not saying he's all time DHS,
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: but this is why I blasted it for the Mets.
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: And if I'm not gonna blast it for the Mets,
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: why am I not gonna blast it for the race?
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: Twenty million dollars for a guy who supposedly will play third, second,
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: first DH. Maybe it'll work, but is that the most value?
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: Is that more value than branded allow playing every single day?
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: Or if he's healthy at second base, that's a team.
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: That if he drops seventy games, starting seventy games less
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: than next year, is either something happened or some opinion
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: changed from the organization to where yeah, I'm with you
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: on that one.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: How about this, which player would you rather have at
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: second base just for next season? Or Hey, Polanco or Brandon.
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: Lau That's easy for me, Brandon Lau.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Wow, Okay. I think they probably looked at the two
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: this is what the Rays would do and said it's
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: close enough. Let's bring on Polanco. Planco has less swing
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: and miss I mean they're very different hitting profiles. Las
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: big pop, big swing and miss guy Planco will give
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: you a kind of a mix. But like you said,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: you're a lot less second base lately. Yeah, I guess
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: you're right. Two years ago, the strike out numbers were.
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: High, right, they were. Really That's why they that's why
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: they brought them in. They said, they said, oh yeah,
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: you know, we're we want we want less strikeout guys.
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: And they went to the Mariners and they were like,
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: come on, Jorge, you can strike out too. And he
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: was like, okay, cool, it's no problem. Nobody's nobody's gonna
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: give me a tough time.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: He's needed a year. It was a year. Buffer.
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: Oh, the batter's eye. The batter's eye was angled.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: It was tough to sy Yeah, exactly.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what he said.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: That's what he said.
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: That's what he said.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: That's what he said. Tiger's President of baseball Operation, Scott Harris,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: has been fielding a number of questions about the future
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: of the franchise. They went through your classic rebuild. They've
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: had a nice run the last couple of years. That
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: included getting very very close to advancing past the Seattle Mariners.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: They lost in that game five, but again, you know,
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: he looked at a team that kind of collapsed down
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: the stretch, still made the playoffs, Still be Cleveland. It's
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: back to back seasons where the results are strong, and
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: you want to build on that because you went through
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: the pain previously. Instead, Tiger's fans are frustrated. They're dealing
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: with Derek's Google trade rumors and not a ton of
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: action and whispers about what's happening right Some reliever signings
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: cute Kenlee Jansen and Kyle Finnegan, but will the Tigers
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: do something big? Scott Harris was asked about this and
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: his response has gone viral. And this team is going
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: to change. This roster is going to change.
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: So like on the pitching side, for instance, like last
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: year around this time, nobody really was talking about Droy Melton,
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: and now all of a sudden, he's a huge part
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: of what we're doing. Like, there are a lot of
• 38:21
  Speaker 5: young players that are coming right now, a lot of
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: guys that aren't necessarily top of mind, but they're going
• 38:26
  Speaker 5: to be top of mine this summer. They are going
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: to be a huge part of this and we have
• 38:30
  Speaker 5: to make space for that sort of natural change here,
• 38:33
  Speaker 5: So Becauson, I understand by the nature of the question
• 38:36
  Speaker 5: that the roster and the offense looks the same. Yeah,
• 38:40
  Speaker 5: I agree that the names are very similar right now,
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: but this team is not the same. This team is
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: changing on an individual and a collective level.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: That segment brought to you by Captain Obvious. Yes, nobody
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: is the same on a day to day basis, but
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: I would say this right to him if he was
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: on the show, Kip, that's not really the answer people
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: are looking for. And also everyone's aware that players are
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: going to get better, some players are actually going to
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: get worse. But they're asking you about a change in personnel,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: not a significant one, but for example, can you switch
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: up the offense a little bit by adding a bat.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of question that was asked, and the
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: answer feels insulting to the crowd because it's like, well,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: we aren't the same, You're going to get a different
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: version of Riley Green and Troy Melon.
• 39:26
  Speaker 4: By his reasoning, every other team is getting better too,
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: because all their players should be also along that same thing. Well,
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: they're also the other teams are making moves, so they're
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: getting better players who are getting better at the same
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: time exponentially getting better now as a team.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: No, it's not the right answer.
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: I would imagine he would want that back or just
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: to hey, kicking the butt to go make some moves
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: here or something. Because you are on the verge of
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: becoming a good playoff team and having a deep run.
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: You've been right there the last couple of years. They
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: did collapse down the last month, but they made up
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: for it. No, no fan wants to hear, hey, everything's fine.
• 40:06
  Speaker 4: When when you didn't win the World Series the preentire year.
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: I'll tell you when everything was not fine. We're not
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: even talking about the second half when I even talked
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: they made the playoffs, they squeaked in. Since Friday, October tenth,
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: at like I'm gonna say, twelve thirty at night, it
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: may have been October eleventh at like one thirty, the
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: Tigers still haven't scored a run. I think their last
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: run that that game was in the sixth inning. So
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: you know what, No, it's not okay. This team was
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: so close to going to the American League Championship Series
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: and they have the best pitcher for one more year.
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: I want a GM as reckless as it can be
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: But as a fan, I want a GM to say, yes,
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: I'm going to push. I'm going to push to get
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: a guy in here that will make these young players,
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: which hey are going to get better because they have
• 41:03
  Speaker 3: another year in their repertoire, another year under their belt.
• 41:09
  Speaker 3: To me, this is when you put your job on
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: the line and it's okay to say I'm willing to
• 41:14
  Speaker 3: put this job on the line, and the organization says,
• 41:17
  Speaker 3: ownership says, that's cool. I like that. We know it
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: could make us take a step back in two or
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: three years, or it could propel us to be a
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: beast of the American League Central, which is winnable every
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: single year, and you push forward because you have a
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: guy that can change an entire five game series in
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: Trek Scoble pitching twice.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: Here's the thing with the Tigers, it's a different regime
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: these days. We are now years away from how Mike
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: Illich operated the team, and this is just generally how
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: it works. You pass it on to the next generation.
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: They're going to run it differently. They're often going to
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: run it more quote efficient, and they don't look at
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: it like we talked about earlier. Ken Kendrick and his
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: toy and suddenly deciding he really likes Alex Bragman or
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: he really liked Corbyn Burns. That's just not how most
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: of the next generation works when they get past a team,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: and so let's take it a step further, then they
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: look for someone who's aligned with their values, that is
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: running the day to day in the front office. So
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: that is what Scott Hires believes in and does put
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: you in a position to compete and maybe put together
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: something that consistently pumps out prospects and good young players. Kip,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: but where are we right now? We're at a point
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: where this team could push it in and two years
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: from now they don't have Schooble and you know they're
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: in a weird spot. Okay, people aren't going to be
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: looking at you like what you have to keep going.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, you hope that the team's in a good
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: spot where everybody got better, because everybody's getting better every
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: single day in life. But the point is that I
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: think fan look at things much simpler than the viewpoint
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: that is pushed out to them. Right, it's all about
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: the long term vision, and you know, everyone's getting better
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: every day and we're being really methodical about what we
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: do and how we evaluate, and we don't want to
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: block anyone be a free agency, like not fuck all
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: that you guys rebuilt for a while. Now you're in
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: your winning window. Put the fricking cherry on top, and
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: then we'll worry about the shit in a few years.
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: That's it.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: That's the whole name of the game. And when it
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: starts to get really cute with like the terminology that
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: nobody likes, it gets really frustrating. So we're actually taking
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: it easy on this case. Right now in Detroit, they're
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: having a field day with this stuff because they're pissed off.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: They're like, we've been waiting. This is the one time
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: where you either make a decision you're not going to
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: pay Tarek Schoogle, you trade his as because you're gonna
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: get a lot for him, or you keep him for
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: one more year and you load the hell up and
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: have a chance to win a World Series this season.
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: I agree. I agree.
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: Doing nothing, you're you're basically saying I'm doing something by
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: doing nothing, and you're gonna look back on it and
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: being like I didn't do a crap once once you
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: realize if it doesn't work out. It's like every GM
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: hopes all their players get better. Every player hopes all
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: their players get better. But that's not a move, it's
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: not you're not telling a fan base. Hey, we respect
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: you guys. We're going to try to put the best
• 44:22
  Speaker 4: product out there. The best product is not standing pat
• 44:25
  Speaker 4: on something that didn't work the prior year, in my opinion.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: But that's just my It's also bad business. It's just
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: bad business, dude. Like the off season is a bad hope, excitement,
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: season ticket sign ups. It's it's just bad optics. We
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: we are getting better, our players are getting better. I've
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: got one guy who's doing the you know who's who's
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: at the gym right now, and he's on They're.
• 44:52
  Speaker 4: They're getting better. You're not getting better. They're helping the
• 44:55
  Speaker 4: team get better. What are you doing as a GM
• 44:57
  Speaker 4: to help the team get better?
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: Then?
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: Wise, why are you there?
• 45:01
  Speaker 4: Because all the players are working hard and trying to
• 45:03
  Speaker 4: improve it already. That's then then they're trying to get better.
• 45:05
  Speaker 4: They're getting better. What are you doing, though, to help
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: them get better? It sounds like nothing at the point.
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: I think we just had Zach Rosenthal. I know this
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: gets clipped and everything. We just had Zach rosenthal On
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: who was in the or in the front office with
• 45:19
  Speaker 3: the Rockies, and I would love to ask him. Why
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: do gms not say, yes, I want to push all in?
• 45:28
  Speaker 3: Is it because they really really want and want to
• 45:31
  Speaker 3: keep that job for as long as possible because you're
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: going to be out of that GM role at some point.
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: Don't you want to say, I'm pushing all in. I
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: want to be the best I can possibly be this
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: season while also being the best I can be next
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: season while the best Like that is what players do
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: because players know you might play ten years, you might
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: play one year. And players that have regrets at the
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: end their career are always the players who didn't put
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: everything they had into it they could. They're like, man,
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: I wish as a rookie, I wouldn't have jacked around
• 46:09
  Speaker 3: so much. I wish I had done more of this
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: because I noticed it later in my career. It was
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: more like the guys who didn't put everything into it
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: have more regrets. I wonder if gms feel that way too,
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: And here's.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: My thing, No, I mean they feel that way, but
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: they can't say anything. Although some don't feel that way.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: I actually genuinely believe that Scott Harris is just very
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: careful and calculated one of those super careful calculated guys.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal brought it up. He's as dialed in as
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: anyone on the Maxia Beach GM. I mean, it sounds
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: like Scott Harris is very much the opposite of Dave Dombrowski.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: And that's a thing, right. Everybody has their style. He's
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: fitting to the style of who the owner wanted to hire.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: I think the thing that's pissing everyone off is that
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: most Tiger fans are being pretty rational. They know they're
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: not about to sweep the free agent field, but they're like,
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: can you give us something Gwen did? Detroit all completely
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: into low market abyss and the team's doing well. They're
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: showing up butts are putting in seats.
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: One big move Kratz right one can completely change things
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: and as you guys know, completely changed the clubhouse. You
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: show up spring training, you're like, let's fucking go, look
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: who showed.
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: Up one guy. Because we look at it on such
• 47:20
  Speaker 3: a linear level, that's that game. That game. At the
• 47:23
  Speaker 3: end of the year, it probably wouldn't even have gotten
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: a game five to be honest, and then you would
• 47:27
  Speaker 3: have had Trek Scuebell pitching in Game one of the
• 47:29
  Speaker 3: American League Championship Series, probably Game four and again in
• 47:33
  Speaker 3: Game seven. But one guy could have changed that one
• 47:37
  Speaker 3: guy in that lineup. Did they try for Alex bragmant? Absolutely,
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: But this is what I'm talking about. You can pay
• 47:43
  Speaker 3: anybody to try get it across the line. What does
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: it take. I'm not saying they need help at second
• 47:49
  Speaker 3: base because Glaber just came back. He signed, you know,
• 47:52
  Speaker 3: he took the qualifying offer. But what if they had
• 47:56
  Speaker 3: ka Tell Marte there's a lot of what ifs, but
• 48:00
  Speaker 3: push those what ifs off the table. I get it.
• 48:03
  Speaker 3: You're not in on Kyle Tucker. That's fine. One guy
• 48:07
  Speaker 3: that is an aircraft carrier, that is a difference maker,
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: changes your entire season last year. Don't let it happen again.
• 48:15
  Speaker 3: Don't let Trek scooble go without seeing a World Series
• 48:20
  Speaker 3: in Detroit because I know fans. Kip knows this, he
• 48:23
  Speaker 3: played in the division. Fans come out and watch their
• 48:28
  Speaker 3: team in Detroit.
• 48:29
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah, Oh that's a hard place to play. When
• 48:31
  Speaker 4: those fans show up, that place gets me mocking.
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: And it's so weird because it's like a it's a
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: single level stadium. You know, it feels like they're like
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: on top of you. It almost feels you know, it's
• 48:44
  Speaker 3: just different. I feel like it's different. Play against them
• 48:47
  Speaker 3: early early tens, twenty tens when they were when they
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: were the bomb dot Com, it was like, oh man,
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: this lineup is suffocating. These starting pitchers are suffocating, these
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: fans are suffol I love it because it's such a
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: passionate city for their city, like you're Detroit, like you
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: love your city of Detroit.
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: Facts.
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: All right, let's see what they do. They've got a
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: couple months to figure this out. And it's really just
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: one move that can win fans back over because they're
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: pissed right now and they shouldn't be coming off that postseason. Also,
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: maybe they're just looking at it too soon and not
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: waiting for the right move to happen. But this particular
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: quote is why we want to spend ten minutes on it.
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: It went super viral. I'm like flipping through things last
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: night on Twitter and this quote just keeps popping up
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: again and again, and people are like, bro, really think
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: if you were sitting with your buddy and He's trying
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: to explain something super basic to you, and you're like,
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: is that really what you just explained? Like, your players
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: are gonna probably get better the same exact ones you're
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: teaching me about development, got it, let's lap. Sorry, I
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: can't I cut you with our cool animation by accident,
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: you got last word here?
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: What do you What do you got to say?
• 50:12
  Speaker 4: Isn't isn't the definition of insanity trying the same thing
• 50:14
  Speaker 4: over and over and expecting different results.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: So yes, it's just it's just not the answer. It's
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: just such a tough answer to say. Yeah, we are
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: getting better. Look, I mean, Ft is better, Kratz is
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: here today, he's better than he was yesterday. Actually it's
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: not even true, right, Yeah, half your players might get
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: better next year, and half your players might get worse
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: because there's no chance it is not physically possible for
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: next year in MLB every single to be a better
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: every single player to be a better version of himself.
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: You can't have everybody's eras go down and everybody's hitting
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: stats go up. It's not possible.
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: Doesn't work that way.
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: New But.
• 50:56
  Speaker 3: I was better today than I was yesterday.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: But I think you're better every day.
• 51:01
  Speaker 3: Because Jason made me better.
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: We make each other better. Bud, miss you guys.
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: Missed you too, dude. It's good to see you have
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: a great holiday, right. I don't think we'll catch it
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: until January. We don't have many shows left. We'll say thirty,
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: we only have three shows left, and then I will
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: say we've been racking up some cool content that we
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: are going to unveil between Christmas Eve and New Year's
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: so that we keep you entertained on the YouTube channel
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: and on the podcast feed. We'll get into that more
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: as we continue. We also have an event announcement tomorrow,
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: so we'll see you then.
• 51:38
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 51:39
  Speaker 3: I don't even know it. I'm so excited I'll be here.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: You're not invited.
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: But it hurts. It hurts in crazy nights