Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal joins FT: Braves SP injury chaos, Cubs extend Pete Crow-Armstrong + Roki Sasaki’s flub

Transcript

Ken Rosenthal joins FT: Braves SP injury chaos, Cubs extend Pete Crow-Armstrong + Roki Sasaki’s flub · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: One more sleep and then we play real ball one
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: game Giants and Yankees, and then many more games on Thursday,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: which I'm all about. They haven't done that every year,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: but I think they're going to start doing that. One
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: initiative that the league is working on is more marquee
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: moments within our season. Let's make sure every year we
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: have one game that seperates from the rest to start
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: the season.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Why are you looking at me weird?
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: Do they have to plan that ahead of time? Because
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: that might be a colossal fail, like the Twins in
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: the Phillies playing in the Field of Dreams game, Like
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: didn't know the Twins when they scheduled that We're going
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: to get rid of half their team.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: They do have to plan that ahead.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: The opener probably not as much a Field of Dreams game,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: probably a lot more.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Would you agree now?
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: The opener I don't like? I mean what no? I like?
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: I like.
• 1:04
  Speaker 5: I'm a traditionalist when it comes out. I think Cincinnati
• 1:07
  Speaker 5: should be always be the opening day of the first
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: pitch and they should go from there.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: But it's changed.
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: I get it, it's changed, but I just think that
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: for me, I was more of.
• 1:17
  Speaker 5: A traditional opening day. I think that it should be Cincinnati.
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: It was like that for years and years, and that's
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: fine if you want to do the games. I get
• 1:27
  Speaker 5: the games, the one off games, and Netflix is and
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: Netflix apparently paid a lot of money for this, yes,
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: so I get it. And then they get the cross
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: promote with WWE and NFL and all that stuff, which
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: is fine.
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: I get it.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: I like the one off games, meaning the Field of
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: Dreams in the Little League and all that stuff, although
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: the Field of Dreams for me, it should have been
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: a one and done.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: Sorry. The White Sox game was.
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: So good, and the Yankees game was so good, and
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: then the next year they did the Cubs and the
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: Reds I think or Red or whoever it was in
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: the Red and it wasn't near as big. And then
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: this year I don't even know who's playing with twins
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: at Phillies.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it just the one year was really cool.
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: It was like when we did for Bragg. It was
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: really cool to do the four Bragg game, and then
• 2:13
  Speaker 5: they never did it again. Like, okay, but there are
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: certain things that should only be done once. The Little
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: League I get because it's new teams, and it's new
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: teams from around the world. Every year so that one
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: I get. But the field of dreams, I don't know.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, okay, fine, visually it looks cool, so for
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: me it breaks up the season. I like moments that
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I can look forward to where I'm like, hey, this week,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: we get this, and it's not always going to be perfect.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: And I do think that you have to sometimes starve
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the market and not dilute what you're doing. But I'm
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: a little more on this side about it. But let's
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: get to Ken. Time to hit the inside scoop with
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: FT senior insider Ken Rose and thal Ken. Let's start
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: with Pete Crowe Armstrong, who was having talks apparently about
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: a year ago with the Cubs and they have finally
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: landed on an extension.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: What do you know?
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: We know that they have a deal and that it's
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: pending of physical and that it probably will be announced.
• 3:11
  Speaker 7: I would think today or tomorrow. Now.
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: I don't know the number yet, don't know the years,
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: don't know the dollars, and I've been thinking about this
• 3:19
  Speaker 6: all morning, even last night, and I can't even venture
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: a guest because this is an unusual player. Pkrow Armstrong's
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: value right now is heavily tied up in his defense. Obviously,
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: he had the great offensive first half last season a
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: much lesser offensive performance in the second half. But I
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: would expect that in this deal there will be I
• 3:41
  Speaker 6: don't know about escalators, but ways for him if he
• 3:44
  Speaker 6: becomes an elite offensive player as well as an elite
• 3:48
  Speaker 6: defensive player to get paid what he would be valued at. Now,
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: I don't know what he would be valued at. In
• 3:54
  Speaker 6: the guarantee here, he has four arbitration years and another
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: year left, so one three year and then four RB years.
• 4:02
  Speaker 6: Then I'm sure there are some free agent years covered too,
• 4:04
  Speaker 6: so I'm guessing at least seven years, and then what
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: the dollars come out to, I'm not exactly sure.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: What is this?
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: What is this process for PCA in the sense of
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: like the other comps that are out there, because it's unusual,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: but also with his service time, it's also unusual. So
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: where's the where where's that process for him? For his
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: camp in When we're guessing the numbers, I'm.
• 4:32
  Speaker 6: Sure they look at other one plus deals and even
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: deals for players with less than one year of service.
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: Remember the Julio Rodriguez deal, very unusual, that was two
• 4:41
  Speaker 6: hundred and nine million, and he did not have at
• 4:45
  Speaker 6: that point even a year of service. Now there are escalators,
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: There are all kinds of things in that deal that
• 4:50
  Speaker 6: can raise the value. If, for instance, he has high
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: MVP finishes, that's what will escalate the option years on
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: this deal with Rodrigue. Then there are other deals Roman
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: Anthony last year that was less than one year of service,
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: that was one.
• 5:05
  Speaker 7: Hundred and thirty million.
• 5:06
  Speaker 6: I would expect PCA is going to be somewhere in
• 5:09
  Speaker 6: the one thirty to one fifty range. But I will
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: caution people listening that I'm guessing and I'm not sure
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: I'm right about that, because again, he has a lot
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: of value tied up in his defense, at least right now.
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: And ultimately the question is what kind of offensive player
• 5:26
  Speaker 6: he's going to be? Will he be that guy? In
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: the first half consistently he had that crazy chase rate,
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: remember the low on base percentage relatively speaking. So he's
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: an interesting player, a fascinating player in many ways, and
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: this obviously is a great commitment by the Cubs and
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: a great commitment by Pete c Armstrong to the Cubs.
• 5:45
  Speaker 7: The only question now is how much it is valued at.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: Well, why is I don't understand why both said this
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: as unusual. Why is this unusual they went to him
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: with a deal, as it's only.
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: An unusual player.
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: AJ, you're not listening to me.
• 5:59
  Speaker 6: He is different because his value is in many ways
• 6:03
  Speaker 6: tied up to his defense.
• 6:04
  Speaker 7: Right now, if you look at him, yes.
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: Good offensive player first half, not so good second half,
• 6:10
  Speaker 6: Chase Rays high, Obp's low, all these questions there, but
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: in center field he is absolutely incredible. So I would
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: expect that he will be paid based on what the
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: Cubs think he will do and what he thinks he
• 6:24
  Speaker 6: will do. And again that's why it's unusual. It's not
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: unusual for a player to sign an extension.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: No, hey, it might be time to have a heart
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: to heart with your phone and be like, I love you,
• 6:37
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• 6:40
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• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Is this is this signifying Obviously they signed Bregman and
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: now this extension. Is this signifying maybe the Cubs are
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: gonna spend more? It might be an obvious question, but
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: more of the sense of when teams go to their
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: young players and they give them extensions, that doesn't mean
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: they're necessarily going to spend big in free agency. Now
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: they've made that move with Bregman, but he would be
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: the second highest paid player if he makes more than
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: one hundred million in this contract, which we think he will.
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: The reason you signed players to extensions is because you
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: think you're getting a deal. Frankly or trying to obviously
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: give him greater security at a lower number than he
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: might get if he went year to year and then
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: became a free agent. When you're buying out free agent years,
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: you're essentially getting a discount. That is the exchange, the
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: trade off the players make. So I don't know that
• 8:26
  Speaker 6: this signals a commitment by the Cubs as much as
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: the Bregman deal did. And the next test for them
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: will be Nico Horner. Nico Horner is a free agent
• 8:33
  Speaker 6: after this season. He is another player who has great
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: value in part because of his defense, and he is
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: a guy that they consider, the players, the coaches, everyone
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: with that organization to be really part of their fabric.
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: So do they resign Nico Horner? There's always another test
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: for a team, and the Cubs still to me have
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: some work to do to prove that they can spend
• 8:58
  Speaker 6: like a big market team. Bregman was a big first step.
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: This is a little bit different with Petek, Armstrong, Nico Horner.
• 9:05
  Speaker 7: That will be a better test.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, Ken, let's go to the Braves Spencer Strider on
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: the IL to start the year.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Braves Country is freaking out. Should they be yes?
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: And it was about a month ago Scott when I
• 9:19
  Speaker 6: wrote after the Schwellenbach and Waldrup injuries that there were
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: one injury away from kind of a true crisis.
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: Oh, here we are.
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: And Streider is an oblique that generally takes time, and
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: he's a guy that has had different kinds of injuries
• 9:34
  Speaker 6: of course, to Tommy John and with the Braves, they
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: are not really protected with the depth of the rotation.
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: They have pictures that they will use. Bryce Elder will
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: step in. They've got Ditty or Fuentes who's a great prospect,
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: who's had a big camp, who ultimately could be a
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: starter as well, and maybe it all works out. But
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: when you're down Schwellenback, you're down Strider, you're down Waldrip,
• 9:59
  Speaker 6: it's not a great place to be. Rinaldo Lopez has
• 10:01
  Speaker 6: not had a great spring. This is a team that
• 10:04
  Speaker 6: I was looking at this yesterday. The Pakoda projections have
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: winning the NL East, still slightly over the New York Mets.
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: I don't see that. But maybe the Braves overall are
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: so strong with their position group that that will happen.
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: I don't know. And maybe these pictures, ultimately some of
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: them come back and they're effective and healthy. But if
• 10:24
  Speaker 6: I'm a Braves fan, Yes, I'm freaking out a little
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: bit right now.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: Sure, you wrote in your article about the flames and
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: the fire that Alex Anthropois is possibly looking at. When
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: will that flame? When will those flames be like exploding?
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: Because is it going to be an injury is obvious.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: It's kind of what you were writing about another somebody
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: else goes down and now be catastrophic for him. But
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: what if these guys don't have success now all of
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: a sudden, you're looking at the question marks and the
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: success is something that, oh, no, they're not having success.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: Now who do we go to. We haven't even had
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: an injury yet.
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: Right and we're looking at pictures also who have health
• 11:06
  Speaker 6: histories that are questionable. Chris Sale, we all love them,
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: but he hasn't been the healthiest guy over the years.
• 11:12
  Speaker 6: Lopez not been the healthiest guy over the years.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: These are the remaining.
• 11:15
  Speaker 6: Pictures in the rotation the top guys, so they are
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: high on Grant Holmes another picture with health questions. They
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: are confident that they can get through this, I'm sure,
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: but it just seems to me that they're in a
• 11:29
  Speaker 6: really difficult spot right now to start the season. It's
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: a long season. We all know that. We all know
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: that some of these guys will come back and hopefully
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: be effective for them. But it seems to me that
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: they are the team that should sign Lucas Giolito, and
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: he's still out there. I don't know what exactly they're
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: waiting for, other than maybe the price to drop.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: You also wrote about the fact that then they may
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: have to get rid of some of their depth if
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: they signed ge Leader. Did I read that correctly, about
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: the fact that Elder and someone else are out of
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: options and if they signs they may lose one of
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: those two guys.
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: It's Elder and Joey Wentz, and with the Strider injury,
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: those guys can make the staff even if they added Geelito.
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: I don't know if Giulida would be ready to start
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: the season at this point. I'm sure he's been throwing,
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: but that's different than throwing games. He probably would need
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: to start at triple A build up a little bit.
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: So they're not in that position anymore in my opinion, Eric,
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: where they're worried about the out of options guys, The
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: out of options guys are going to make the team.
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: The real question is going forward, do they want to
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: just kind of save their money for the deadline, because
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: remember they've got Profar his money and at the deadline,
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: when you're getting one third of a player, right, one
• 12:45
  Speaker 6: third of his salary, you have that much more spending power, right,
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: and Profar is fifteen million the Deadliney's still fifteen million
• 12:53
  Speaker 6: that they're saving for the year. But the players you
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: can get are valued less because they've already been paid
• 12:59
  Speaker 6: for two thirds of this. So they can do that.
• 13:02
  Speaker 6: They can wait and wait and just see how it
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: all plays out and then strike. But you're risking the
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: start of the season.
• 13:09
  Speaker 7: Being not so good. And that's kind of where they
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: are now.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: That's my point, Ken, I mean, I think they'll be okay.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Their offense should be strong, but what if they start poorly?
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: It happened last year. Now, do we think they're going
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: to go oh and seven or whatever?
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: It is?
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Probably not, But what if they have a terrible April
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: because the starting rotation is falling apart?
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: What's the phrase?
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: You can always kind of fall out of it pretty
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: early on in a season.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: And the National League looks pretty damn competitive.
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: Yeah, you're right, Scott, and they've got ditty er fronts.
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: As I mentioned, they've got j R. Ritchie, another top
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: pitching prospect. Are these guys ready just yet? We'll see,
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: I guess, because they're probably going to get chances at
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: some point, maybe in the first half, maybe beyond that.
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: And they're in a situation.
• 13:57
  Speaker 7: Right now where, in my view it's perilous.
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: Maybe they view it differently because they see these guys
• 14:03
  Speaker 6: coming on and they're high on Homes and they're high
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: on Elder and they're thinking these things are going to
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: work out okay, And you're right. They have a good offense,
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: terrific bullpen as well, with Suarez and Iglesias at the back.
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: It just seems to me like, as I wrote, they're
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: playing with fire, and they've played with fire here and
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: they're already getting burned.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Ken.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Let's finish with this topic call ups s an options,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: So let's go on the positive side first. From some
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: of the call ups that we've seen, have many of
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: them stood out to you? Carson Benge getting a spot.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: I know Mike Takman got hurt for the Mets, but
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Bene getting a spot and it seemed like they were
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: lining things up for him in the off season.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: By leaving a lane for him.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: So thoughts on him, and maybe you can sneak in
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Kevin McGonagall too, who has become a big topic.
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: Carson Benge certainly is a player that the Mets are
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: extremely high on, and David Stearns the entire offseason kind
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: of indicated they were leaving room for him to win
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: a job. Now, even if Talkman was healthy, Carson Benge
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: would be on the team, in my opinion, and it
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: certainly seems that the Mets were pointing this way, and
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: at Stearns has been deliberate about creating room for prospects
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: like this.
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: Kevin McGonagall is one.
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: Of the top prospects in the game, number two on
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: most lists behind Connor Griffin, and he's a guy who
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: had a monster spring and I expect him to break
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: with the Tigers. And in my view, if McGonagall is
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: what they think he is, if Max Clark, their great
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: outfield prospect, comes up later in the year and is
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: also what they think he is, that is a transformative
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: combination for them and it might make them into a
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: World Series contender. I don't want to put too much
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: on these kids, but the offense has been the question
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: with the Tigers over the last couple of years. If
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: these two young players help make that offense or reach
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: another level, then we're talking about something else with the
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: Tigers now that they've added from ber Valdez and Justin
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: Verlander along with Trek Skubel at the time of the rotation,
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: so I'm intrigued by them. One more guy that is
• 16:04
  Speaker 6: certainly going to be worth watching Justin Crawford, the son
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: of Carl Crawford, the former Major leaguer. He's going to
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: be the Phillies starting center fielder, and he's going to
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: be an interesting guy. JJ Weatherholt Cardinals shortstop prospect. He
• 16:17
  Speaker 6: made the team. All kinds of different prospects are going
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: to have an impact this year. The National League Rookie
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: of the Year field is loaded, and I'm looking forward.
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: Obviously we all are to seeing these guys play.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Hey, if you at the age where everything feels a
• 16:33
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• 16:37
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• 16:41
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• 16:44
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• 16:49
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• 17:32
  Speaker 3: Is there any indication with McGonagall if he will bump
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: cold Keith out of a position that he ended up
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: moving to last year with then torkl Sin getting more time,
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: does that push a X prospect who got extended before
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: to another position again.
• 17:49
  Speaker 6: I'm not exactly sure how they're going to play this Eric,
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: and that's still kind of something to be sorted out.
• 17:55
  Speaker 7: I don't expect.
• 17:55
  Speaker 6: They're giving up on Cole Keith. And you don't have
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: to play McGonagall every day and rotate guys. There are
• 18:01
  Speaker 6: all kinds of things you can do, and McGonagall can
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: be the shortstop. Col Keith is not a shortstop. So
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: they're a team that has been not relying on their
• 18:11
  Speaker 6: young players but kind of waiting for the young players
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: and banking on them to make significant contributions. Well, they're
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: at a point now where it's time and it's an
• 18:21
  Speaker 6: exciting time for that organization in my opinion, because of
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: these kids that are coming and because of what they've
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: done in the offseason, they're an interesting group to say
• 18:29
  Speaker 6: the least.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Ken I want to finish with this.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: We of course talk CBA quite often, but I don't
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: want to talk about it much leading up to the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: beginning of the season. I'm going to do it on
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: the positive vent. Look how many guys we're talking about
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: that are getting called up right now? AJ would that
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: have happened in the previous CBA All we talked about
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: at this time of year was, Ah, they're gonna hold
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: this guy back, They're gonna wait ten days.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: Most of these guys are getting called out.
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: Yes, I do think the last CBA in which some
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: service timepulation questions were addressed, has had a positive effect,
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: and kudos to the Union for pushing for that and
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: for the league for agreeing to it. We've seen now
• 19:10
  Speaker 6: less of this kind of thing. The Prospect Promotion Incentive program,
• 19:14
  Speaker 6: in which if a guy who is a top one
• 19:16
  Speaker 6: hundred prospect is on your opening day roster and wins
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: Rookie of the Year you get a draft pick. That's
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: had an effect. Is it totally to a point now
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: where teams just take these guys right from the beginning
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: of the season.
• 19:29
  Speaker 7: No, it's not.
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: And in some cases Connor Griffin's a good example, a
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: team might be justified in holding a player down he
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: didn't have a tremendous offensive spring in certain respects. So
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: I do think the game is in a better place
• 19:44
  Speaker 6: for that. And as I've written and said all along
• 19:47
  Speaker 6: with regard to the CBA, there are still adjustments, perhaps
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: even significant adjustments, that need to be made. The disparity
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: between high revenue teams and low revenue teams financially needs
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: to be addressed. There's no question about that in my view.
• 20:03
  Speaker 6: Do you need a salary cap to do that. That's
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: where the question is going to come in, and that's
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: where the fight is going to come in. My opinion
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: is no, especially when a salary cap, if the owners
• 20:14
  Speaker 6: are insistent on it, is going to shut down the
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: game in twenty twenty seven. But we have a whole
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: season of baseball ahead and I look forward and I'm
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: sure you guys do too, to talking about that and
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: not the shenanigans that are going to take place between
• 20:28
  Speaker 6: the owners and players.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Yes, as much as the games as possible, as much
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: of the games as possible to talk about, please Ken,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: We'll see you later this week.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Sounds good, guys, And later this week, of course, another
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Fair Territory. We already have one out from yesterday morning
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: with Ken, so if you want to check that out,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Fair Territory, which we'll have Alana and Ken for opening
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: day of the season on Thursday, part of the FT Network,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: taking your questions. The show is live on Thursdays and
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: is usually live on Monday mornings as.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Well, so look out for that.
• 21:06
  Speaker 6: Charge about.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, the Cubs get the job done with Pete Crow
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Armstrong and so does he. It takes two to tango here.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: But PCA is going to be a Cub for a
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: long period of time. You're going to get into the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: free agent years, You're going to lock up the r years.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: The whole deal looks like it'll be one hundred mili plus.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: We're still waiting for final numbers. There's Bob Nightingale, who
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: was really the first and only one that was giving
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: us an idea on money, but we don't know for
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: sure exactly what it looks like. He said he rejected
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the Cubs extension offer of a year ago, and now
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: they're on a one hundred mili plus contract extension. And
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: he was offered sixty six million dollars last spring. He
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: should double or more than double the amount with this
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: new deal. Remember he was off to a blazing start
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: last year, so last spring. If the Cubs are making
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: him an offer, AJ, it's a very different PCA.
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: Yeah. I think this is great. I think it's all right.
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: I think it's great for both parties. I'm glad they
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: did this, and I don't know, I mean, I'm happy
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: for PCA.
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: I love that guy.
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: I think he's great for the game and good for
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: the Cubs for recognizing that he is an unusual fucking player,
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: and he will good for him.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, I think if you're sitting there
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: and you go, what is you know what Ken said?
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: Oh man, you know how he's unusual, Like he has
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: a six war, a six war, You're like, Okay, I'll
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: definitely take this. I'll definitely take this guy. Give him
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: an extension, and we'll get tons of value as a team.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: But if you look into the offensive portion of it,
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: you say, Okay, his chase percentage, his lack of walks,
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: how's that going to age? As he ages? To me,
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: if you're the Cubs, you just go you just go in.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: You just go in like and and say we have
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: this value. He's a very like fans connect with this
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: guy like he plays with his hair on fire. I
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: think there's I think there's an opportunity here to strike
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: while the iron's hot, even if it's not like the
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: most team friendly deal ever. I don't think every extension
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: before arbitration, before free agency needs to be team friendly.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: To me, I think he adds a lot of value
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: to an organization that really hasn't gone out and paid
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: a lot of players. So I really like this and
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: his defense isn't going to age out till he's like
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: thirty two thirty three. So this is to me, this
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: was an easy one for the Cubs to get done.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: You know, one topic that I saw brought up on
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: social media from the trolls and the haters was like, oh,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: this could cause him to be complacent, and oh, this
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: could end up like a Michael Harris contract. I'm like,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: I get that Harris struggled in the first half of
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: last year, but the industry still thinks that he's a
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: very good player and provides surplus value. It might not
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: be as much as his rookie season when he was
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: a five win player, but it's kind of like a
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: three win player. And if you're putting wins against money,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: it's like, I don't know, what is it? Ten to
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: fifteen mil plus? Like he's going to be worth the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: contract on defense and base running alone if he's an
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: average bat and the upside last year was what you're
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: MVP for the first couple months of the season.
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't understand why this is a surprise. I mean,
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: this is a great move for the Cubs and a
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: great move for PCA. A PCA turns into what they
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: think in Craig Council he thinks he can be a star.
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: Then this is a great move for both sides. I
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: don't understand why this was a thing. I mean, he made,
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: he bet on himself for a year. He made it
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: obviously almost probably double what he was going to get. Now,
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: people will tell you if they offer you a hundred million,
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: don't take it because you can make more. But listen,
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: if you're happy in a place, and he seems happy
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: in Chicago, he goes to all the stuff with Caleb Williams.
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: He's been at Bears games, he's been at Bulls games,
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: He's been at this and now Blackhawks games. He's been
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: doing all this stuff. Why would he not Why would
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: he not take this if it's a place for him
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: and his family and everything is happy and they treat
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: him right. And he already said that he loves Chicago
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: fans and that you know, others fans aren't as good
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: as Chicago fans, and great, this is a great move
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: for both sides because if he blows up like they
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: think he can, then this is going to be one
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: of those contracts they might look back and say, well, man,
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: we got a great deal, like a Ronald m'cunya or
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: a Ozzi Alby's or someone like that. So good for
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: both both sides.
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: This is good.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: I mean, I'm happy. Obviously, I love Pca, I love
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: the emotion he plays with. And for the Cubs, this
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: is a smart move to get ahead of the curve
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: because they see it down the road. Whatever the numbers
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: are that he could make more, so they went to
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: with a number that he would accept.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: I think everybody looks at the comps and I even
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: asked Ken about the comps of like getting this contract
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: to me, if you're an organization, what do you think
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: he's going to be. What do you think his ceiling
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: is going to be? People be like, well, he's never
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: going to be Ronald m'cunya. You're right, But how many
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: Ronald cunyas are there out there? And you know, this
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: is a guy who, admittedly people say, okay, he has flaws. Offensively,
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: he is a thirty thirty season I don't care what
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: half he had it in. If you can pencil in
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: thirty thirty for a guy and he has to do
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: it year after year to be like, oh, he's definitely
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: a guaranteed thirty thirty I promise you're paying twice the
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: amount they're gonna end up paying him if he is
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: a perennial thirty thirty batter. So to me, yes, there's
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: comps now, because that's how they do arbitration, that's how
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: they do pre arb stuff. But where do the Cubs
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: see him going in the length of the contract. Do
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: they see him being this type of player? Do they
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: see him being as good as you know, this center fielder.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: You know, there's very few comps as far as who
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: is better than him defensively in center field.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Hey, shout out to seat geek as you're looking for
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: opening day tickets or opening weekend tickets. I'll get everyone
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: excited with a few games to look out for. You
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: guys know who Schemes is pitching against to start off
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: the season.
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: I don't even know who the Pirates play.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: They're in Queens taking on the Mets Thursday afternoon. Yeah
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: that's a good one. Yeah, that should be a hot ticket.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: People have been talking about Dodgers seats and how the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: home openers pretty pricey. If you want a little discount,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: it's at the bottom of the screen right now to
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: get yourself ten percent off. That's Gallon against Yamamoto in
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: that one, any others crats?
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: You know, you know who the Phillies are taken on
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: to start the year.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: I don't know who the Phillies are taking on, but
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: I really didn't look past because it's not opening day.
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: I'm going to Wednesday. I'm going to San Francochio. Need
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: to see the Giants.
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: Need it?
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: There you go, Okay, they're playing the Phillies the Rangers.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: By the way, that's Christopher Sanchez against Nathan y Valdi.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: So anyway, plenty of awesome matchups, a lot of the
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: number one starters.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Of course, Google pitching on day one of the season.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Good question. I do not know.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I haven't heard my uch about Jacob this spring training,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: but I will look into that. And we have a
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: code for it on tea geek Territory ten ten percent
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: off your next set of tickets. That's ten percent off
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: any tickets with promo code Territory ten. Click the link
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: in the description, download the app, have the code automatically
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: added to your account so you can use it later.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: I have a comp I just came up with on
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the fly, not for the players, but when you dive
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: into the contract and how deep into their MLB careers
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: they are. Julio Rodriguez last year had just shy have
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: a seven win season. I'm just going off the war
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: numbers for now on Baseball Reference six point eight, right,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: and before that for Ish the year before in twenty four,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: PCA had a six war and I think some could
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: make the case that the second half got really bad
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: swinging at everything. You would think that he'll get a
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: little more consistency in his career. Okay, different players, but
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: AJ in twenty it was either twenty two or twenty three.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: He signed that massive extension after two hundred and forty
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: games in the big leagues. They often look at these
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: extensions and say, how far into your career are you?
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Right now, PCA is actually further into his career. He's
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: two hundred ninety three games into his career. It doesn't
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: sound like he's going to get two hundred plus guaranteed.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: And Julio signed for more years most likely, but he
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: got twelve years to ten and incentives club options. You know,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: MVP finishes stuff like that. Not MVP, but top ten whatever.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: His contract could be worth over four hundred seventy million
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: dollars over seventeen years. I think you could make a
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: case that the upside for Julio is a little bit higher,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: but I think it's kind of close. So you look
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: at a contract from a few years ago, and Julio
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: got a lot more guaranteed money and upside. So again,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying, for Cubs fans, you should be pretty pumped.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: I think this is at most a market deal. It
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: could even be a bargain deal compared to other deals
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: at this length during this time period of how many
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: games you've played.
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: Well, we don't know the numbers, so how can we
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: I mean, what if it's five here is one hundred
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: and forty. I mean, we don't know the numbers, so
• 30:03
  Speaker 5: it's hard for us to say that it's a good
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: deal compared to this deal or not that deal. It
• 30:07
  Speaker 5: doesn't we don't know. So right now, listen, I'm just
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: happy that they come to an agreement. That should be
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: the point here, or not the actual numbers. Until we
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: know the numbers, we can't finalize and say well, Julio
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: got more, or this guy got more, this guy got
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: more or this or that.
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: But yeah, I mean, listen, they got a deal done,
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: so be happy. Cup fans.
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: You should be happy. This is a guy that loves
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: being in Chicago. He loves playing at Wrigley. He's really
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: great there. He embraces the fans, he embraces the city.
• 30:30
  Speaker 5: So everyone should be happy about this. We don't know
• 30:33
  Speaker 5: the number. Once we know the numbers, we can talk
• 30:34
  Speaker 5: about that, but right now we don't know. So I
• 30:37
  Speaker 5: sure I'm happy for PCA and I'm happy.
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: For the Cubs.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and obviously we'll let you know as soon as
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: we have it. Usually we get it pretty much right
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: away in tandem because if you hear the agreement, but
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: we don't know, so we'll.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Let you know.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: One question from the crowd, Ryan in the YouTube chat said,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: how much do you think Buxton and PCA talked about
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: his future during the WBC.
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: I'm sure it came up. I'm sure. I'm sure something
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: came up. I'm sure they talked about stuff. I mean,
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: you don't sit in a clubhouse for three weeks with
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: a guy and I talk about certain things. And I
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: don't know if the exact contracts came up, but I'm
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: sure some choices came up. And if they were talking
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: to PCA during it, I'm sure he went around and
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: asked guys that signed extensions. I would be the smart
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: thing to do if I was his agent, I tell
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: him to talk to Buxton and talk to other guys
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: Roman Anthony and guys that signed long term extensions.
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: It's the right thing to do.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Also, there's a big difference between Buckston's situation and PCA.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Cubs generally are going to give you
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: a chance. In my opinion, the Twins it's a little
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: tougher to trust. And you know, this has surfaced again
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: over the past week where people are talking about the
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Angels and Mike Trout and how much did he know
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: about the direction of the franchise when he signed. You know,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: I think it was still I think Otani was there
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: and they had, you know, shown some bigger signings in
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: the past. So did he really know it was going
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: to turn and into this? What do you think Kratz, I.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: Mean, I think he's been he I mean, if you're
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: just talking about Trout, I think he was in the
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: big leagues. I think some of the infrastructure stuff he
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: probably could have been sheltered from that. I think he
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: also liked la like he likes to win, but he
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: also likes La and the fact that they offered him
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: that deal right after I think it was right after
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: Harper signed his deal, and so it was like they
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: made him that much, you know, that much larger. And
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: I feel like probably at the time it was a
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: market it was a market thing where it was like, hey,
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: you know, we'll pay you what you would be worth.
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: And so I think he liked the deal. But how
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: much did he know? I don't.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: I don't know that. That's hard to say. Like, as
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: a big leader, you don't know how teams are treating
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: scouts in the minor league infrastructure, and you know, you
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: don't have a weight room that's an actual building, it's
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: just a tent in Big league spring training. Did Trout
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: even care about that kind of stuff at that point
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: in his career, I don't know. He'd never been with
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: any other organization.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: For me, PCA is a diehard Cubs fan. Yeah, it's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: a good time to be a Cub right now. It
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: just makes too much sense on the look around you front,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: and then if the money lines up, boom, there you go.
• 33:25
  Speaker 7: I like that.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: I like that animation a lot. It's called Pressure Cooker.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: It's a new segment and We're going to start with
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: some decisions that were made here at the end of camp.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: Really, we're going to focus on the Dodgers.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: When you're this good and you're coming off back to
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: back titles, you do have tough decisions to make. We're
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: going to talk Rokie Sasaki, and then we are going
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: to talk Hasan Kim. So let's start with Roki. He
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: just pitched yesterday. He looked abysmal awful. It's spring training.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: He's gone through a lot of ups and downs. He
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: was a savior for them to some extent in the
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: postseason as a bullpen guy.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: But he walked in two runs.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: As from Katie Wu who's at the game, did not
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: record now in the first inning, thirty pitches. Then he's
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: removed and spring games you can get removed. And then
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: he came back for the second inning, but she was
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: not encouraging for his first spring start, and Dave Roberts
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: said pregame he wanted to see Rokie in complete game
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: mode for the season. Then Maddie Lee, who was at
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: the game there too, reporting said he returned in the
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: second inning, exited again, no outs, zero hits, five runs,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: six walks, two strikeouts, two hit by pitch in sixty
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: six pitches and recorded six outs. He is part of
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: the starting rotation to start the year. Should he be
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: or does it have to do with promises that were
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: made to him to recruit him.
• 34:52
  Speaker 5: He's a pitch better. I don't know what they said
• 34:54
  Speaker 5: to him, but he just needs a pitch better. He
• 34:56
  Speaker 5: needs to figure it out. And this is one of
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: the question marks about him, was his command and con
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: he's a two pitch guy and they said this and
• 35:02
  Speaker 5: if people don't swing in a split, this is why
• 35:04
  Speaker 5: he was effective in the bullpen because he could come
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: in and not save anything and you can go fastball
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: right to the split. And this is why he was
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: better in the bullpen than he's a starter. Maybe this
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: guy's just a bullpen guy. Maybe we just need to
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: figure that out.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: Here's my question.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: If you're the front office and you think you're gonna
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: make the playoffs anyway, and you can deal with two
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: or three clunky starts that then give you the evidence
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: to say you need to be optioned or moved to
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: the bullpen, is this the reat that you would take,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: because I'll give you one caveat recruiting Japanese players is important.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: It should be important to every team. It is very
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: important to the Dodgers. This was not a guy who
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: signed just for money. He signed for the team. If
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: they optioned him to start the season, does it set
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: a bad precedent for other players and agents representing those
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: players to sign with the Dodgers.
• 35:51
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but still he hasn't pitched well. You don't pitch well.
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: Listen.
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: If you don't pitch well and you don't play well,
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: you don't stay in the big leagues. Right, A crappy player,
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: you don't stay in the big leagues. Sorry, I mean
• 36:04
  Speaker 5: that's the way it is. If you're a good player,
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: then you stay in the major leagues for a long
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: time because you can because you're good. But if you're not,
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: you go up and down and up and down and
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: up and down. Right, Okay, he hasn't been good. Yeah,
• 36:15
  Speaker 5: he hasn't been good. Sorry, he hasn't Maybe he's a
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: booming guy. And by the way, like it's the same thing, right,
• 36:22
  Speaker 5: Dylan Cruz we just talked about he hasn't been good.
• 36:24
  Speaker 5: Guess where he is Triple A. Connor Griffin hasn't been
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: given a shot at the big leagues yet, so we
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: don't know what he's gonna be. Right, some fool in
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: the chat is saying Christian Campbell makes a hundred million
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: He didn't sign a hundred million dollars contract. He also
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: started the season in the Big league exact, didn't play well,
• 36:41
  Speaker 5: and now he's in Triple A and now they're trying
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: to find a position for him.
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: Right, So, if you're good, you stay.
• 36:47
  Speaker 5: If you're not good, guess what happens you don't stay there,
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: You go up and down, or you go down and
• 36:51
  Speaker 5: hope they hope you can.
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: Get you back.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Yes, Christian Campbell a different story. They gave him runway
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: and then it didn't work out. So if we're talking
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: about that compared to Connor Griffin would give the guy
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: runway first and then if he didn't perform, you would
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: send him down.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: Regular season.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: So regular season here, kratz Roki Sasaki coming off a
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: brutal performance. He has looked lost often in spring training.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: What would you have done if you're the Dodgers considering
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: all factors here, including long term recruitment of players like him.
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: That's something that I think the Dodgers have played an incredible,
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: incredibly well the long term game they've they've been setting
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: up for this success for years when they were recruiting
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: Shoho Tani before he went to the Angels, when they
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: were recruiting when they were changing different things in the
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: minor leagues, like, they played the long game really well.
• 37:42
  Speaker 3: So to say that wasn't discussed, I would have a
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: hard time believing it wasn't discussed, because they know what
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: that looks like. It's the same way when American guys
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: go over to Japan and play. If you strike out
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: for your first two weeks of the season, when you're
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: over in Japan trying to make the adjustment, they send
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: you to Triple A. Well, now all of a sudden
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: that player has other has an agent who has other
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: players that they want to recruit over there. It is
• 38:09
  Speaker 3: definitely a thing vice versa coming from Japan and over
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: like the Dodgers want the next pitching star, and if
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: they feel like if an agent or somebody feels like
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: they're treated a certain way, then you know what, hey,
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: we're you know, maybe maybe we'll look to another team.
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: Because it clearly if that's the case. It was a
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: pre pre free agency deal or pre determined deal which
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: was supposed to be open to all thirty teams when reality,
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: the Dodgers had it. But to me, I said it
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: when they first signed him. This guy could get sent
• 38:44
  Speaker 3: to Triple A and that's okay. It doesn't mean he's
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: not a good player. It doesn't mean that the Dodgers
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: made a mistake or that he should have stayed in Japan. No,
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: it's okay to work on some things if it's not
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: going well in the big leagues. He should have been
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: in the big leage right out of the gate. I
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: get that he did it. Now you're seeing some deficiencies.
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: Go to a place where it's not big league games
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: and work on those things. And I think pitching in
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: Triple A is not that big a deal for him
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: because you saw what happened when he went down there
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: during his rehab assignment last year, and then he came
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: back and he shortened his stride length or length in
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: the stride length, I'm not one hundred percent sure what
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: it was, and he had success.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got roasted when you said that initially when
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: he signed, but you were right. We got to step
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: aside bank or break for the TV crowd and then
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: we'll talk. Has some Kim in the break. This episode
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: of FT is brought to you by a Fox One.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: It is now live stream all your Fox favorites together
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: in one place. MLB, of course, football, and it's football season.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: We had the World Baseball Classic, which was awesome. MLB postseason.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: Start your seven day free trial today offer subject to change.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Go to Fox won four complete terms and conditions. Fox
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Won streaming now including Saturday.
• 39:56
  Speaker 5: Saturday's opening day on Fox One Giants Yankees Giants with
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: Ken and Smoltz and Joe Davis and then me and
• 40:05
  Speaker 5: Adam and Waeno are in Atlanta for the Royals of Brave.
• 40:09
  Speaker 5: So well, I get that as vintp and Jack Caglione
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: and mac Ochorro about those fences that we showed earlier.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: That's right. Oh yeah, you'll be in k C for it.
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: There it is, it's in Atlanta.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: Oh well, then you're just gonna ask.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: All right, first three games in Atlanta, we were clearing
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: this up from earlier. Then they go to Casey after that. Yes,
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: so there you go, seven day pre trial today, go
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: for it. Fox won back for two minutes here, let's
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: get to the Hesse on Kim conversation. So this is
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: kind of the opposite of Rokie. He looks like production
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: wise in the spring he earned it, but they want
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: to see him get more frequent abs in the minor league,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: so they gave the spot to Alex Freeland.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: Despite Kim hitting four oh seven in spring training.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: He's got to be pretty pissed and might be regretting
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: that he signed there.
• 40:57
  Speaker 5: I don't think he's regretting it. But he got paid
• 41:00
  Speaker 5: a little bit too, so I don't think. I don't
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: think he's regretting it. I think the Dodgers see a
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: possibility where later on, like they used him last year,
• 41:08
  Speaker 5: they need him to be sharp, and if he sits
• 41:10
  Speaker 5: on the bench, he's not going to be sharp again.
• 41:12
  Speaker 5: This is if you're on a certain team and they
• 41:15
  Speaker 5: have nine players and you're a bench guy, you might never.
• 41:17
  Speaker 4: Get to play.
• 41:18
  Speaker 5: If you play for the Braves and all nine players
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: a couple of years ago play one hundred and fifty
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: eight games, you don't get in the game a whole lot.
• 41:24
  Speaker 5: And if you're not good enough to be a starter,
• 41:26
  Speaker 5: then a you either need to get traded or guess
• 41:28
  Speaker 5: what you do, you go to Triple A. It's again,
• 41:30
  Speaker 5: if you're not good enough, you're not there, and if
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: you're good enough, you're there, and if you're not good enough,
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: you go down. It's a really hard job. Playing baseball
• 41:37
  Speaker 5: is really hard, okay, and so the people that can
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: do it for a long time should be respected and
• 41:44
  Speaker 5: look at it because it's a really hard job to do.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: He signed for three years twelve and a half mil
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: a year ago, and then there's club options on there too,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: so that was probably the best money that he got.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: And he just won a ring, already.
• 42:00
  Speaker 5: Got some maybes last year. You got to pinch around
• 42:02
  Speaker 5: a bunch of times. He's really fast.
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: That's cool.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but if he wants to play every day, this
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: is a tough team to crack right now.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: Guys will get hurt. He'll come up.
• 42:13
  Speaker 5: That's why they need him ready though, because if let's
• 42:14
  Speaker 5: say somebody goes down, they need him ready to play
• 42:17
  Speaker 5: and step up to play every day.
• 42:18
  Speaker 4: And that's why he's in Triple A.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Edmund's coming back. I think in two months. The
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: thing was Snell.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: All right, let's slap tomorrow.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: We will be talking about regular season baseball beginning at night.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: Yankees and Giants were excited for that. It's going to
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: be fantastic. I watched probably less Spring training this year
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: than maybe ever in my life because of the World
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Baseball Classic, and I don't.
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: Regret it, because sometimes.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: I'd watch and I'm like, I don't want to buy
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: too much into what I'm seeing, So highlights were a
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: better route for me on that front. But the real
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: games I'm watching Rob Freeman pitching, ninj is going to
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: join us. We always enjoy combos with him. Hot sheets
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: coming up. I think this is the perfect day for
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: hot sheet. We just learned about Kevin McGonagall and good
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: for the Tigers on this one. Remember you were sitting
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: next to the hinch and you were like, come on,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: and he was like, no, we're gonna wait until almost
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the finish line. They waited until basically as late as
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: you could go here. I mean, it's two days before
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: their season starts.
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: For McGonagall, they already told them, I think you think so,
• 43:36
  Speaker 5: there's no way you can't do that to people.
• 43:38
  Speaker 4: You have to let him know a little bit of time,
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: give them a little bit of time
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: To pack, right, Ahi, people, we will see you tomorrow
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: for game Day.