Latest / Foul Territory / FT BREAKING NEWS: Dodgers sign Kyle Tucker, Reax from Ken Rosenthal, Jim Bowden, and Kevin Pillar

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FT BREAKING NEWS: Dodgers sign Kyle Tucker, Reax from Ken Rosenthal, Jim Bowden, and Kevin Pillar · Foul Territory

0:06
Speaker 1: Well it happened. We had been waiting. We have an answer.
0:09
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker has selected the Los Angeles Dodgers. He signs
0:13
Speaker 1: a four year deal. He has opt outs after years
0:15
Speaker 1: two and three. It's a cool two hundred and forty
0:20
Speaker 1: million dollars sixty mil per season on average. Scottie Brown
0:25
Speaker 1: and Kevin Plar were going to be joined by others
0:27
Speaker 1: to help us out and get through this.
0:29
Speaker 2: KP.
0:30
Speaker 1: Of course, we can talk about how it appeared as
0:32
Speaker 1: if the Blue Jays and the Mets had a shot too,
0:35
Speaker 1: But the Dodgers get richer. They have won back to
0:38
Speaker 1: back titles, and you know what they do, KP. They
0:40
Speaker 1: don't stop Edwin Diaz. Come on down, Kyle Tucker. Sure,
0:44
Speaker 1: best position player this offseason will take them.
0:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a free market for
0:52
Speaker 3: all these teams to go out and bid for these players.
0:55
Speaker 3: It just and obviously there's going to be interest from
0:58
Speaker 3: every player wanting to join the Dogs. They have a
1:02
Speaker 3: proven track record of making their players better. They're back
1:05
Speaker 3: to back World Series champs. They have a collection of riches.
1:09
Speaker 3: They have some of the best players in baseball. They
1:11
Speaker 3: have this guy by the name of shoe Hey Otani
1:13
Speaker 3: who doesn't want to sign up to be his teammate.
1:15
Speaker 3: You know a lot of people are gonna sit here
1:17
Speaker 3: and say Dodgers are ruining baseball, it's bad for the sport.
1:21
Speaker 3: But everyone has the opportunity to go out and bid
1:24
Speaker 3: for these players. And we obviously don't know exactly what
1:27
Speaker 3: happens behind closed doors with the negotiations with these other teams,
1:30
Speaker 3: but you know, if you are close to another team
1:34
Speaker 3: and the Dodgers are in it, there's a chance the
1:36
Speaker 3: player is gonna go to the Dodgers because of all
1:38
Speaker 3: those things I mentioned, and the Dodgers kind of just
1:41
Speaker 3: kind of been operating, you know, with Kyle Tucker, kind
1:45
Speaker 3: of in silence. You know, you've kind of maybe always
1:48
Speaker 3: connected the dots. You could see how there was a fit.
1:51
Speaker 3: But at some point you're like, there's no way they're
1:52
Speaker 3: gonna go out and get another player. And sure enough,
1:55
Speaker 3: the Dodgers do what they do. They go out, they
1:58
Speaker 3: change the game again. The highest a ever for a
2:01
Speaker 3: player for Kyle Tucker to go play right field, and
2:05
Speaker 3: that's somewhere in that lineup. It's crazy. Yeah, I didn't
2:08
Speaker 3: see it come in, but I'm also not surprised.
2:12
Speaker 1: We always hear this from Ken Rosenthal. He loves to
2:15
Speaker 1: use this terminology. Dodgers just hang around the backboard and
2:18
Speaker 1: they wait, and they have their plan. They want high
2:22
Speaker 1: average annual value and a shorter term contract than other
2:25
Speaker 1: teams will offer. They don't want to be tied up
2:28
Speaker 1: in something super long term. Wipe away the show Hay situation.
2:31
Speaker 1: There are many times where they've made offers like this.
2:35
Speaker 1: Bryce Harper comes to mind. Bryce said, Nah, I'm good.
2:37
Speaker 1: I'm going to sign for a very long time with
2:40
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Phillies. Clearly KP. Kyle Tucker had other thoughts
2:45
Speaker 1: in mind. Hey, I'm going to make so much freaking
2:48
Speaker 1: money on a season by season basis and not take
2:51
Speaker 1: what was likely a much longer term offer and more
2:54
Speaker 1: guaranteed money I would assume from the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead,
2:59
Speaker 1: he has an opportunity needed to play not one, but
3:01
Speaker 1: actually two seasons with the Dodgers and then hit free
3:04
Speaker 1: agency again and perhaps get even more cash. Right, I mean,
3:08
Speaker 1: we'll get the full breakdown of money at some point,
3:10
Speaker 1: but if you're just going off a season by season basis,
3:14
Speaker 1: and let's say it's about sixty a year, Well, you
3:17
Speaker 1: bank one twenty and then you could hit the free
3:20
Speaker 1: agent market again and sign four to fifty three hundred
3:25
Speaker 1: whatever it is. If he looks like a superstar over
3:27
Speaker 1: that two year span, and the Dodgers are probably going
3:30
Speaker 1: to make him look good if he stays on the.
3:31
Speaker 3: Field, Yeah, I mean, how could he not mean, if
3:35
Speaker 3: he just stays healthy and he stays on the field,
3:37
Speaker 3: hitting in that lineup, how could he not go out
3:39
Speaker 3: and have, you know, arguably one of the best years
3:42
Speaker 3: of his career. It's it's a genius play by the Dodgers,
3:46
Speaker 3: kind of just sitting back in the weeds. And I
3:48
Speaker 3: think the Dodgers always know when there's a player of
3:51
Speaker 3: Kyle Tucker's caliber that there's going to be interest from
3:54
Speaker 3: the player wanting to play for the Dodgers. So it
3:56
Speaker 3: feels like maybe they take the meetings they hear the
3:59
Speaker 3: player out to hear the agent out, and it kind
4:02
Speaker 3: of just feels like there's always this assumption that the
4:05
Speaker 3: Dodgers and the players agents go out and see what
4:08
Speaker 3: you can get, get your best and final offer from
4:11
Speaker 3: these teams, and come back to us, and we will
4:13
Speaker 3: give you a real and sincere offer. Take it to
4:17
Speaker 3: your player, you know, and maybe in this circumstance. You know,
4:21
Speaker 3: I don't know Kyle Tucker personally. Maybe he's like, holy crap,
4:24
Speaker 3: I can make a shit ton of money in four
4:27
Speaker 3: years and be out of the game and be done
4:30
Speaker 3: and right off of the sunset. Or he's like, I'm
4:32
Speaker 3: just gonna make a ton of money in these first
4:34
Speaker 3: two years, I'm betting on myself, and then I'm just
4:37
Speaker 3: gonna go sign somewhere for a long period of time
4:39
Speaker 3: after that. Either way is not wrong. I just don't
4:42
Speaker 3: know the guy. I don't know what he's thinking, you know.
4:44
Speaker 3: And you know, you think about some stuff with like
4:47
Speaker 3: Anthony Rendon, you know, would would have the Angel has
4:50
Speaker 3: been better off kind of given him a ton of
4:52
Speaker 3: money early on in his career and not doing the
4:55
Speaker 3: duration of the career career or the deal, and maybe
4:58
Speaker 3: they got more out of him. You know. I feel
5:00
Speaker 3: like the Dodgers right now, are you know, playing chess
5:03
Speaker 3: when everyone's playing checkers.
5:06
Speaker 1: Other people just think, you know what, the Dodgers have
5:08
Speaker 1: more money than everyone. So it's just completely unfair. It's
5:12
Speaker 1: so funny to me, KP how in trouble the Dodgers
5:15
Speaker 1: were under the Frank McCourt era, and then they got
5:18
Speaker 1: the right owner in place, and all of a sudden,
5:20
Speaker 1: they're winning. They're producing talent homegrown, right, they're developing despite
5:25
Speaker 1: picking in the back of the draft, and then all
5:27
Speaker 1: of a sudden they're supplementing that. They're becoming a dominant
5:30
Speaker 1: team making the playoffs every year. Sponsorships get easy. They
5:33
Speaker 1: go after Japanese talent. Of course, like show hey Otani,
5:37
Speaker 1: they're able to monetize his presence much more so than
5:40
Speaker 1: the Angels did. And then you just have this perfect storm, right,
5:44
Speaker 1: and some fans are just gonna yell out, unfair, unfair.
5:47
Speaker 2: Right. Well, hey, if.
5:48
Speaker 1: You're a fan of a team like the Brewers or
5:51
Speaker 1: the Marlins, the biggest thing you should be rooting for
5:53
Speaker 1: is a salary, cup floor and maybe some more revenue sharing.
5:56
Speaker 2: But you know what's funny to me right now, KP.
5:58
Speaker 1: They are fans of teams like that, the Yankees, the
6:00
Speaker 1: Red Sox, and the Mets that are complaining right now
6:03
Speaker 1: that the Dodgers aren't fair owners that can handle that, dude,
6:09
Speaker 1: they can pay that.
6:10
Speaker 3: I wanted to them. I was hoping you were gonna
6:14
Speaker 3: bring this up because I'm sure, you have a greater
6:17
Speaker 3: sense of, you know, the order of teams with the
6:20
Speaker 3: richest owners. And I don't believe that the Dodgers owner
6:23
Speaker 3: is the richest in baseball. I think he's maybe he's
6:25
Speaker 3: definitely in the top ten. You know, you would probably
6:28
Speaker 3: have a better understanding of that than I would. But
6:32
Speaker 3: when you were talking about that, I was just thinking
6:33
Speaker 3: about and I was fortunate enough, as people know, I
6:36
Speaker 3: got to work the World Series this year, and whether
6:39
Speaker 3: I was in La or I was in Toronto, all
6:41
Speaker 3: I kept thinking about is Man, that's such a good
6:44
Speaker 3: business model. If you just put a good product on
6:46
Speaker 3: the field and go out and get good players, they
6:49
Speaker 3: sell this place out. People buy uniforms and merchandise and concessions,
6:55
Speaker 3: and you get to host games in the in the postseason,
6:58
Speaker 3: and tickets are going for who knows how much they're
7:00
Speaker 3: going for in the in the World Series in the postseason.
7:03
Speaker 3: It just seems like good business to me to go
7:05
Speaker 3: out and continue to put good players on the field
7:07
Speaker 3: and win, and your city gets behind it, and you
7:10
Speaker 3: go out and get international guys and then their country,
7:13
Speaker 3: you know, gets on board, and then you got fans
7:15
Speaker 3: from all over the world. Wanting to be Dodger fans
7:17
Speaker 3: or Blue Jay fans. It seems like a pretty simple, uh,
7:21
Speaker 3: you know, business idea that you know, any business owner understands.
7:26
Speaker 3: If you put a good product, whether it's a baseball team,
7:28
Speaker 3: whether it's a restaurant, you put out good food, people
7:31
Speaker 3: are gonna come back and you know, want to pay
7:33
Speaker 3: money to your organization.
7:36
Speaker 2: Is that not what the Blue Jays just did?
7:39
Speaker 1: Exactly what the Blue Jays just did that to a
7:41
Speaker 1: t right, they made one hundred million bucks. Here's Tony
7:44
Speaker 1: with the super chat three Pete. Let's go, Hey, if
7:47
Speaker 1: you want to try and get another championship down, what
7:50
Speaker 1: do you do? Show up the bullpen, which was a
7:52
Speaker 1: little bit of a weak spot for the Dodger especially
7:53
Speaker 1: come playoff time, work on the outfields.
7:56
Speaker 2: They pick up Tucker.
7:57
Speaker 1: We can talk later about ti Oscar Hernandez and how
7:59
Speaker 1: that fits into the mix. Fly High said, hopefully the
8:03
Speaker 1: Dodgers get Boba Shet, but KP, I mean you saw
8:08
Speaker 1: this firsthand covering the Blue Jays quite a bit over
8:11
Speaker 1: the last three four months.
8:13
Speaker 2: The Blue Jays made.
8:15
Speaker 1: A dumb amount of money, right, and talked about it
8:18
Speaker 1: over the past year with the success that they had
8:21
Speaker 1: that was partially sparked by Laddie Junior signing long term, right,
8:26
Speaker 1: solidifying your superstar, your franchise player, who otherwise would have
8:30
Speaker 1: been a free agent right now, and we would have
8:32
Speaker 1: been talking about him.
8:33
Speaker 2: What happened to me was.
8:35
Speaker 1: This close to beating the Dodgers, and then they threw
8:38
Speaker 1: down this offseason. They wanted Kyle Tucker. He chose the Dodgers.
8:41
Speaker 1: But point is, they almost beat the Dodgers this past season.
8:45
Speaker 1: The topic of conversation would have been very different at
8:48
Speaker 1: this point, but the Dodgers are winning the race here.
8:50
Speaker 1: They clearly gave him an offer that he was into,
8:52
Speaker 1: and for whatever reason, he didn't want to go to Toronto.
8:55
Speaker 1: It sounds like the Mets didn't offer as much as
8:56
Speaker 1: the Dodgers, so they're not going to win the player over.
8:59
Speaker 2: What do you think?
9:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean at the end of the day too,
9:02
Speaker 3: I mean in terms of Toronto. You I don't know
9:05
Speaker 3: if we'll know the entirety of the deal that was
9:07
Speaker 3: offered to him, the specifics about it, but you have
9:10
Speaker 3: to believe at this point in time what they offered
9:13
Speaker 3: him was genuine and it was probably a long term deal.
9:16
Speaker 3: And it was a lot of money. You can throw
9:18
Speaker 3: out all these things to a player. Ultimately, the player
9:21
Speaker 3: has a decision to make and sometimes they're gonna choose
9:25
Speaker 3: what they want to choose. He clearly wanted to either
9:28
Speaker 3: be in LA or team up with some of these
9:30
Speaker 3: other guys. He clearly wanted a shorter deal where he
9:34
Speaker 3: could maybe go out a year or two from now
9:37
Speaker 3: and take free agency on again. You never really know
9:40
Speaker 3: what the player in the agent are thinking. But as
9:43
Speaker 3: long as you have an organization that is putting real
9:46
Speaker 3: and genuine offers out there and putting their best foot
9:49
Speaker 3: forward and trying to get these guys. And I know
9:52
Speaker 3: it's kind of a I don't want to say a
9:55
Speaker 3: broken record at this point, but the fact if I'm
9:57
Speaker 3: a blue Jay fan, which I am a fan of
9:59
Speaker 3: the tw team, and over the last three or four offseasons,
10:02
Speaker 3: the biggest free agent on the market, they have been
10:05
Speaker 3: in there, and there's been rumors of them going there,
10:08
Speaker 3: and they've been oh so close to landing them. I
10:10
Speaker 3: gotta feel good about what they're trying to do. And
10:13
Speaker 3: to your earlier point, the blue Jays success this year,
10:17
Speaker 3: the ultimate catalyst in that was just getting Vladdie locked
10:21
Speaker 3: up and giving him that comfort that he knew he
10:23
Speaker 3: was gonna be there a long time. Building this team
10:26
Speaker 3: around him, Having a fan base have a player that
10:29
Speaker 3: they know is gonna be there for a long time
10:31
Speaker 3: and that's gonna be a superstar in their organization for
10:33
Speaker 3: a long time. It just it builds this hope in
10:37
Speaker 3: a fan base that we have our guy and that
10:40
Speaker 3: this team is going for and we're gonna build around him.
10:42
Speaker 3: We're gonna do everything we're gonna do. And like you mentioned,
10:45
Speaker 3: I mean, they were four outs away from you know,
10:47
Speaker 3: beating the World Series champs from the previous year, you know,
10:52
Speaker 3: ultimately the back to back Chance and the Dodgers. They
10:54
Speaker 3: were four outs away. And what did they do? They
10:57
Speaker 3: went out and got better this year.
11:00
Speaker 1: That's what you're supposed to do. You're not just supposed
11:01
Speaker 1: to sit around after that. I mean, I'll use the
11:04
Speaker 1: Rangers as an example. They won, and they've kind of
11:06
Speaker 1: been chilling since then, which is stupid. You should be
11:08
Speaker 1: capitalizing off what you're doing. I mean, not completely chilling,
11:11
Speaker 1: but not doing this. Jack Hires from the California Post.
11:14
Speaker 1: At as Kyle Tucker's market started heating up in recent days,
11:17
Speaker 1: it was unclear if the Dodgers were going to be
11:19
Speaker 1: willing to match the mets fifty million a year off
11:21
Speaker 1: or turns out they went even higher. Sixty mil annual
11:25
Speaker 1: salary will rank second in MLB behind only a county
11:28
Speaker 1: only Shoheo Tani, not accounting for deferrals, So really, this
11:32
Speaker 1: is going to be the highest average annual value unless
11:34
Speaker 1: there are dumb amounts of deferrals. I'm sure there's some deferrals.
11:37
Speaker 1: That's what many of the big market teams do. But anyway,
11:40
Speaker 1: let's bring in our FT resident GM right now, Jim
11:43
Speaker 1: Budden for instant reaction.
11:45
Speaker 2: Jb what do you think?
11:47
Speaker 1: What are the Dodgers doing right now in the front
11:49
Speaker 1: office after landing this at around seven o'clock West Coast time.
11:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're popping some domb champagnes. What they're doing right now, Scott,
11:56
Speaker 4: no doubt about that. I mean, when we watched the
11:59
Speaker 4: Dodgers within or second consecutive World Series, and we watched
12:02
Speaker 4: them through the playoffs in the World Series, we looked
12:05
Speaker 4: at this team and we said, Okay, what are the
12:06
Speaker 4: two weaknesses this team has? Number One, it's the ninth inning.
12:10
Speaker 4: They don't have an impact closer number two. They've got
12:13
Speaker 4: to improve the defense and right field, ti Oscar Andnandez.
12:17
Speaker 4: All of his weaknesses defensively really showed up in the
12:19
Speaker 4: playoffs and the World Series. So what did Adrew Friedman,
12:23
Speaker 4: the president of the Dodgers do. He went out and
12:25
Speaker 4: signed the best closer in the National League, the best
12:28
Speaker 4: closer that was available in free agency, and Edwin Diaz
12:32
Speaker 4: took up from the Nets to be the ninth inning guy.
12:34
Speaker 4: And now he assigned the number one free agent that
12:37
Speaker 4: was out there this entire offseason in Kyle Tucker. A
12:40
Speaker 4: player who has all five tools. He's a thirty homer,
12:43
Speaker 4: thirty steel type of bat. He's a plus defender in
12:46
Speaker 4: right field, plus arm, plus base runner, complete player, and
12:51
Speaker 4: he just took the Dodgers and just once again took
12:54
Speaker 4: the team to another level. The contract, we got to
12:57
Speaker 4: wait to see what the deferrals and what the net
13:00
Speaker 4: present value is. But sixty million a year times four years.
13:04
Speaker 4: He has an opt out after year two, he has
13:06
Speaker 4: an opt out after year three, so he's got the
13:09
Speaker 4: flexibility to get out if he wants to get out.
13:12
Speaker 4: But it was very clear that he's not a new
13:14
Speaker 4: York kind of guy. He was choosing between Toronto and
13:17
Speaker 4: Los Angeles, And the truth of the matter is, in
13:20
Speaker 4: LA he doesn't have to be the star. Shoey Otani's
13:23
Speaker 4: the star, Rookie Betts is the star, Freddie Freeman's the star,
13:27
Speaker 4: Yamamoto's the star. Tucker could just be a support player
13:32
Speaker 4: making sixty million a year.
13:35
Speaker 2: It's crazy.
13:37
Speaker 3: Where did things go wrong for me? I would have
13:39
Speaker 3: liked to have been a support player for sixty million.
13:42
Speaker 3: But Hey, my question for you, though, is, in what
13:45
Speaker 3: world do you envision Kyle Tucker opting out of a
13:49
Speaker 3: deal where he's making sixty million dollars a year? What
13:51
Speaker 3: kind of year does he have to have to go out?
13:54
Speaker 3: What kind of numbers does he have to put up
13:56
Speaker 3: where you would feel, you know, as the player or
13:59
Speaker 3: as his agent, be like, hey, let's go and test
14:01
Speaker 3: free agency again.
14:02
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think he's going to find out how much
14:04
Speaker 4: he likes Los Angeles, right, That's going to be the
14:06
Speaker 4: first part of this. If he wins a world championship,
14:09
Speaker 4: he's going to enjoy the winning. He's going to find
14:12
Speaker 4: out how much he loves living in Los Angeles. And
14:15
Speaker 4: then the other thing is when you're twenty nine years old,
14:17
Speaker 4: and you're knowing you're twenty nine, thirty, thirty one, and
14:20
Speaker 4: thirty two at some point in here, do you want
14:23
Speaker 4: to get the long term deal before you're thirty two?
14:27
Speaker 4: And I think probably at some point, maybe he stays
14:31
Speaker 4: in LA for the two years or the three years,
14:34
Speaker 4: then opts out, but it's going to be better financially
14:37
Speaker 4: at some point, either after year two or year three,
14:40
Speaker 4: to opt out and then get another. Maybe it's five years,
14:44
Speaker 4: one hundred and fifty. Maybe by then it's you know,
14:46
Speaker 4: who knows six years and who knows how much money
14:49
Speaker 4: at that point. So I think having the flexibility to
14:52
Speaker 4: go back on the market because at some point he's
14:54
Speaker 4: going to want to know this is where I'm going
14:56
Speaker 4: to finish my career kind of contract something he might
14:59
Speaker 4: have been able to get from Toronto but wasn't going
15:02
Speaker 4: to get from LA or the METS. So I like
15:04
Speaker 4: the flexibility he's been given. But he's in a great
15:08
Speaker 4: landing spot in order to win world championships and get
15:11
Speaker 4: paid an incredible amount of money.
15:14
Speaker 1: It's crazy, KP. Do you want to ask your Toronto question.
15:17
Speaker 1: We haven't really gotten to it yet, but I mean,
15:19
Speaker 1: this team fell just short against the Dodgers in the
15:21
Speaker 1: World Series, right, and they've lost to the Dodgers on
15:24
Speaker 1: other free agents, so this one hurts a little bit too, right, Yeah, Yeah.
15:28
Speaker 3: I mean, I sorry, I was gonna say. I mean,
15:30
Speaker 3: the first thing that came to mind to me is,
15:33
Speaker 3: you know, when it came to the difference between the
15:35
Speaker 3: Mets and what the Dodgers ultimately ended up offering. You know,
15:40
Speaker 3: at some point teams are going to have to make
15:42
Speaker 3: that ten million dollars a year gap, you know, if
15:44
Speaker 3: you want to try to, you know, outbit the Dodgers,
15:46
Speaker 3: and it's just kind of seems like what they did.
15:49
Speaker 3: You know, if there's you know, maybe a million or
15:51
Speaker 3: two dollars a year difference, a player at that point
15:55
Speaker 3: is probably going to choose where they want to live.
15:56
Speaker 3: But when it's ten million dollars that's all, that's a
15:58
Speaker 3: tough thing to say no to.
16:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is. And I think the other thing Kevin though,
16:03
Speaker 4: is like, I'm I'm an Adison Barger guy, So if
16:06
Speaker 4: Toronto loves him in right field, I think he's got
16:08
Speaker 4: a chance to be a thirty home run guy. Like
16:10
Speaker 4: I'm a fan, so I think what's gonna be interesting
16:14
Speaker 4: is does Toronto pivot and improve their offer to Bashette.
16:18
Speaker 4: They've got a lot of competition right now with Bishett,
16:21
Speaker 4: right because you got Philly, you got Boston. You may
16:24
Speaker 4: have the Mets that decide to pivot after losing out
16:27
Speaker 4: on Tucker. It's gonna be fascinating. But I guess I
16:30
Speaker 4: would ask you, do you think they're gonna now turn
16:32
Speaker 4: around and make an effort, a better effort to bring
16:35
Speaker 4: bow back Because I know they wanted Tucker over Bashett,
16:37
Speaker 4: they wanted that left handed hitter. But I'm thinking now
16:40
Speaker 4: they may shift gears and make a better effort to
16:43
Speaker 4: try to get bow back.
16:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think that's the natural move that
16:47
Speaker 3: they do right now. But to your point, you know,
16:51
Speaker 3: part of drafting and developing players is you hope you
16:54
Speaker 3: get Adison Barger that kind of you know, steps up
16:58
Speaker 3: and you know, become this guy that you think he's
17:01
Speaker 3: gonna be on a big stage and at some point
17:03
Speaker 3: you have to allow him to go out there and
17:06
Speaker 3: be an everyday player. Is Kyle Tucker a better player
17:08
Speaker 3: than Asen Barge? You're sure it's gonna cost you a
17:10
Speaker 3: whole lot more money. To have him. And then the
17:13
Speaker 3: same thing goes with a guy like Ernie Clement, who
17:15
Speaker 3: just kind of was, you know, a utility guy that
17:18
Speaker 3: bounced around, and he shows up on the biggest stage
17:20
Speaker 3: and you know, sets a record for most hits in
17:22
Speaker 3: a postseason ever and now a member of Team USA.
17:26
Speaker 3: At some point, do you give this guy the opportunity
17:29
Speaker 3: to be or everyday second baseman. I mean, those are
17:31
Speaker 3: the tough decisions. You would know more than me you
17:33
Speaker 3: sat in a chair and had to make these tough decisions.
17:36
Speaker 3: But it feels like at some point the Blue Jays
17:40
Speaker 3: just keep falling a little bit short with these free agents,
17:43
Speaker 3: and at some point maybe they have to go out
17:45
Speaker 3: and just try to make a big splash in free
17:48
Speaker 3: agency and maybe go out and give Bo a little
17:50
Speaker 3: bit more money or maybe an extra year, you know,
17:54
Speaker 3: to to you know, continue building on what they've already done.
17:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, agree with you on all of those points. And
18:02
Speaker 4: I love Ernie Clement, But I think if I'm them
18:05
Speaker 4: and I'm watching how the Red Sox are improving, Baltimore
18:09
Speaker 4: is getting better, we know the Yankees are always going
18:12
Speaker 4: to keep getting better. I kind of feel like, if
18:14
Speaker 4: I'm Toronto, I would make a bigger effort to get
18:16
Speaker 4: Bichete back. I mean, look, he's led the American League
18:19
Speaker 4: and hits twice. He's focused, he plays, He's a great teammate,
18:24
Speaker 4: as you know, and you've experienced it. He and Laddie
18:27
Speaker 4: get along extremely well. I think he's such an important
18:30
Speaker 4: part of the fabric of the Toronto Blue Jays that
18:33
Speaker 4: I'll be surprised if they don't make a bigger effort.
18:35
Speaker 4: But it might be too late, you know. I know
18:37
Speaker 4: the Phillies are working really hard to get it done,
18:40
Speaker 4: and my understanding is they're willing because of his young
18:42
Speaker 4: age of twenty seven, they're willing to go long distance
18:46
Speaker 4: in terms of a long term offer to him. I
18:49
Speaker 4: wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in Philly, but
18:51
Speaker 4: I'd like to see Toronto pivot tonight for Baschett and
18:54
Speaker 4: maybe improve the offer they have on the table for him.
18:58
Speaker 1: Hey, that's a great problem, or a great I should say,
19:01
Speaker 1: for bo. He didn't want Kyle Tucker to end up
19:03
Speaker 1: with the Blue Jays. That would take a suitor off
19:05
Speaker 1: the table for him. The Dodgers weren't signing Boba Schet,
19:08
Speaker 1: so let me get back to the Dodgers for a moment,
19:11
Speaker 1: a couple of questions. We'll go roster construction, and then
19:14
Speaker 1: a big picture money after that. Toaskar Hernandez was floated
19:17
Speaker 1: around like we're listening about a month or so ago.
19:21
Speaker 1: I mean, technically they can just flip them over to
19:23
Speaker 1: left field, right and have Kyle Tucker in right. Do
19:27
Speaker 1: you think that's what they'll do or do you think
19:28
Speaker 1: they'll start to kick up conversations again?
19:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think the way they're constructed right now,
19:35
Speaker 4: I think he just goes to left field. I'm not
19:37
Speaker 4: sure they had a lot of trade offers for Ti Oscar.
19:41
Speaker 4: I think the best fit for TiO at this point
19:43
Speaker 4: in his grier is to be a DH. Obviously that
19:45
Speaker 4: doesn't happen with the Dodgers when you have Otani there.
19:48
Speaker 4: I think if Andrew Friedman had his way, to be honest,
19:52
Speaker 4: he would try to trade for Brendan Donovan, put Donovan
19:55
Speaker 4: at second base and move Edmond to left field, that
19:58
Speaker 4: would be ideal, and then move to Oscar somewhere where
20:02
Speaker 4: he can DH and let that power play. Also get
20:06
Speaker 4: that money off the books which they now have to
20:08
Speaker 4: spend on Tucker. Not that money is an issue with
20:10
Speaker 4: the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they're fine with te O
20:14
Speaker 4: and Left. They can always defense for him late in games,
20:17
Speaker 4: so it's not a problem to have them play there
20:19
Speaker 4: and keep him. But I think to your point, if
20:21
Speaker 4: Andrew has his way, it would be trading for Brendan Donovan,
20:26
Speaker 4: putting him at second, putting Edmund in the left, with
20:28
Speaker 4: Pause and center and Tucker and Wright.
20:31
Speaker 1: Jb some money questions, Let's start with the one that
20:35
Speaker 1: has many people freaking out in the comments.
20:37
Speaker 2: Dodgers are ruining baseball?
20:39
Speaker 1: Right, Actually, Dave Roberts said that himself, and actually, up
20:42
Speaker 1: until a couple weeks ago, the Blue Jays were starting
20:44
Speaker 1: to join the Dodgers in ruining baseball. Do you feel
20:48
Speaker 1: like this further emphasizes an issue in the sport and
20:52
Speaker 1: causes fans to get angry or are fans angry at
20:55
Speaker 1: an evil empire just like they were back when the
20:57
Speaker 1: Yankees kept winning?
20:59
Speaker 4: No, I'd see it different. Look, I have compassion, right,
21:02
Speaker 4: I mean I was a GM as you know, small
21:04
Speaker 4: market team in Cincinnati for most of my professional career.
21:08
Speaker 4: I always had that challenge and when you can't compete
21:11
Speaker 4: with the big boys, you've got to find different ways
21:13
Speaker 4: to try to win. It's easy to say, well, anybody
21:16
Speaker 4: can win, and Tampa's been to the World Series and
21:19
Speaker 4: all that is true, But I think we can't deny
21:22
Speaker 4: the realities of the following Scott. The last ten years,
21:26
Speaker 4: there has not been a single major League team in
21:30
Speaker 4: one of the bottom fifteen markets that has won a
21:33
Speaker 4: World Series. That's a decade of baseball hasn't happened. Los
21:38
Speaker 4: Angeles Dodgers literally paid in luxury tax more than sixteen
21:43
Speaker 4: teams major league payrolls. And so a lot of people
21:47
Speaker 4: are going to complain because a lot of small markets,
21:49
Speaker 4: they don't spend the revenue sharing they get. They don't
21:52
Speaker 4: try to win because they know they can't, because they
21:56
Speaker 4: can't compete. And so I try to tell people, like,
21:59
Speaker 4: if you're living right now in a three hundred thousand
22:01
Speaker 4: dollars house, and I ask you, why are you not
22:04
Speaker 4: living in a twenty million dollar mansion on the ocean
22:06
Speaker 4: in Miami, what is the answer. It's because you can't
22:09
Speaker 4: afford it. Otherwise you would be probably right. And that's
22:13
Speaker 4: kind of where the pirates are, right, That's kind of
22:16
Speaker 4: where the Marlins are. They're not going to be able
22:20
Speaker 4: to go sign Tucker at sixty million dollars a year.
22:23
Speaker 4: So is that what you want for the sport? You know?
22:26
Speaker 4: I mean, look, every other sport is a salary cap.
22:29
Speaker 4: My opinion is we should be talking about a salary
22:32
Speaker 4: floor and then we should be talking about a cap,
22:35
Speaker 4: and we should try to try to get a more
22:38
Speaker 4: competitive balance on the lowest payroll teams and the highest
22:42
Speaker 4: payroll teams. Look, the big market teams like LA and
22:44
Speaker 4: New York are always going to have bigger payrolls. The
22:46
Speaker 4: superstar players like Tucker and Soto and Otani are always
22:51
Speaker 4: going to get more money than everybody else. But should
22:53
Speaker 4: it be this much more than everybody else or should
22:56
Speaker 4: we have a system. The other thing is players aren't
22:58
Speaker 4: even getting fifty percent of the revenues. They're getting less
23:02
Speaker 4: share of the revenues than the NFL, the NBA and
23:06
Speaker 4: the NHL. Like that doesn't make sense either. So look,
23:10
Speaker 4: I think the minimum needs to go up. I think
23:13
Speaker 4: we need to have a salary floor making the smaller
23:16
Speaker 4: markets spend more money. We need to continue to add
23:19
Speaker 4: more money to the revenue sharing for the smaller markets,
23:22
Speaker 4: and then I think we have to put how much
23:26
Speaker 4: of a differential do you want one hundred million, two
23:27
Speaker 4: hundred million, three in a million. I don't know. Let
23:30
Speaker 4: everybody decide. But you can't sit there and have a
23:32
Speaker 4: system where one team can spend whatever they want, whenever
23:37
Speaker 4: they want, and fifteen teams can't. And the other thing
23:40
Speaker 4: is have compassion for fifty percent of major league players
23:45
Speaker 4: who spend their whole life go into high school, going
23:48
Speaker 4: to college, going to the minor leagues, going to the
23:50
Speaker 4: big leagues. They're all trying to win a world championship.
23:53
Speaker 4: But if you're in one of the fifteen smallest markets
23:56
Speaker 4: on opening Day, you have zero chance of winning a
24:00
Speaker 4: World Series? Is that really the system we want? Like,
24:03
Speaker 4: I don't think it is. And I think it's okay
24:05
Speaker 4: in the NBA that the Oklahoma City Thunder have the
24:08
Speaker 4: best team, and I think it's okay in the NFL
24:12
Speaker 4: the teams can go from last to first, and I
24:14
Speaker 4: don't think this system works. I look, I'm happy if
24:18
Speaker 4: you're a Dodger fan. I think I'd be thrilled if
24:21
Speaker 4: I'm a big market team. This system is perfect for you.
24:24
Speaker 4: But when you have the fifteen smallest markets that have
24:28
Speaker 4: not won a single World Series in a decade. The
24:30
Speaker 4: last team to do it was the Kansas City Royals.
24:32
Speaker 4: That's a problem for me.
24:35
Speaker 2: JB.
24:36
Speaker 1: Did you think that the Diamondbacks had a chance in
24:38
Speaker 1: twenty three or that the Brewers with the best record
24:41
Speaker 1: had a chance this past season?
24:43
Speaker 2: Not at all.
24:44
Speaker 4: You know, it's a great point because the Brewers had
24:46
Speaker 4: the best record in the regular season, and how many
24:49
Speaker 4: people thought they could beat the Dodgers. I know I
24:51
Speaker 4: wasn't one, and I watched those guys play each other.
24:54
Speaker 4: I think it's great that they were able to have
24:56
Speaker 4: the best record. I like the division they were playing
24:58
Speaker 4: in for that, and I I like the fact they
25:00
Speaker 4: got there. Yes, they had a chance, But really, did
25:04
Speaker 4: any of us look ourselves in the mirror and say, yep,
25:07
Speaker 4: those Brewers are going to beat the Dodgers and get
25:09
Speaker 4: to the World Series, Because I'll tell you I didn't.
25:13
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, seems to win. I'm sorry. And by
25:16
Speaker 4: the way, if a small market team wins, how much
25:19
Speaker 4: how long is that window to keep it? Because it's
25:22
Speaker 4: only so long before they can afford and then they
25:24
Speaker 4: have to move on from their team. Brewers are already
25:27
Speaker 4: talking about moving Freddie Peralta, who is one of their
25:30
Speaker 4: best pitchers because they know they can't sign them long term.
25:33
Speaker 4: So I mean, is that really what we want?
25:36
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny I think that the Dodgers are
25:38
Speaker 1: mostly causing the problem and the hate, right if we
25:41
Speaker 1: didn't have the Dodgers right now, even though many other
25:43
Speaker 1: teams can spend at a very high level, right, it's
25:46
Speaker 1: not like the Mets that are spending a ton or
25:48
Speaker 1: running away. They didn't even make the freaking playoffs, right.
25:50
Speaker 1: The Yankees were fine this year. They weren't great. Right,
25:53
Speaker 1: if we eliminate what the Dodgers are doing, they have
25:55
Speaker 1: built a machine. So I'm with you on the disparity
25:59
Speaker 1: right now. But they've built a machine. It starts from
26:01
Speaker 1: the farm system up right, and then they're making a
26:04
Speaker 1: ton of money. I think sho Hey Otani is making
26:06
Speaker 1: them an extra hundred and fifty million dollars a year
26:08
Speaker 1: at this point. That's enabling them to do this. So
26:10
Speaker 1: it leads me to my last question for you, Kyle Tucker.
26:13
Speaker 1: We don't know the exact amount on deferrals, but is
26:16
Speaker 1: getting paid about sixty million dollars a year now That
26:18
Speaker 1: might go down on net present value based on how
26:20
Speaker 1: much money we get in deferrals, right, But sixty million
26:23
Speaker 1: dollars a year and the Dodgers are pasted all the
26:24
Speaker 1: luxury tax numbers, so that's one hundred and ten percent tax.
26:27
Speaker 1: So they are paying him what one thirty or forty
26:30
Speaker 1: something like that mill is what it would cost him
26:32
Speaker 1: if there's no deferrals on the contract this year. So
26:35
Speaker 1: my question for you is it worth it?
26:37
Speaker 2: Right?
26:38
Speaker 1: Like Mark Bowman who covers the Braves, just threw this
26:40
Speaker 1: out there. It's never had a six plus war season.
26:42
Speaker 1: Hasn't that a five plus war? The past two years
26:45
Speaker 1: two seasons nine hundred ops and just one of those
26:49
Speaker 1: was nine to twenty and he gets sixty million bucks
26:52
Speaker 1: a year. Do you think that Kyle Tucker is worth
26:54
Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty five million dollars after luxury taxes
26:57
Speaker 1: go through then.
26:59
Speaker 4: The Dodgers, I do. Yeah, they have the money, they
27:01
Speaker 4: can deserve that, they can pay it, and they have it,
27:04
Speaker 4: And yeah, I think he's a great player. I like
27:06
Speaker 4: a In fact, I didn't like the position the Yankees
27:08
Speaker 4: took where they didn't think he could play in New York.
27:10
Speaker 4: Is I think he can play in New York? I'm
27:12
Speaker 4: a fan of Kyle Tucker. He's just not you know,
27:15
Speaker 4: he's just not going to carry a team, right, He's
27:17
Speaker 4: not the face of the franchise. That's not the personality.
27:20
Speaker 4: But as a baseball player, oh absolutely, I love it.
27:23
Speaker 4: And by the way, when you get the net present value,
27:25
Speaker 4: whenever we get the deferrals, which we haven't gotten leaked
27:28
Speaker 4: out yet, the number is going to be a lot
27:30
Speaker 4: less than this. I promise you. It's probably going to
27:33
Speaker 4: be in the forties to be honest, but we'll wait
27:35
Speaker 4: and see when we get that to make that determination.
27:38
Speaker 4: But yeah, he's that great of a player. And keep
27:40
Speaker 4: in mind what's happened with the Dodgers. They have one
27:44
Speaker 4: of the greatest minds in the game, and Andrew Friedman.
27:47
Speaker 4: So you've got a small market genius running the large
27:51
Speaker 4: market Dodgers. And the Dodgers every time they went and
27:54
Speaker 4: got Atana Yamamoto.
27:56
Speaker 2: What did they do.
27:57
Speaker 4: They did all these marketing deals all over Japan. They
28:01
Speaker 4: are so brilliant and what they're doing, they're bringing in
28:03
Speaker 4: so much revenue they can afford to do all of
28:06
Speaker 4: this and more. And so the scary part for baseball
28:09
Speaker 4: is when you have great a great mind like Andrew
28:12
Speaker 4: Friedman running a large market team. It's a machine. And
28:16
Speaker 4: by the way, I love their farm Systemsire Hope. Oh
28:19
Speaker 4: my god. I can't wait till he gets to the
28:21
Speaker 4: big leagues and he joins the outfield with Tucker and Pothes.
28:25
Speaker 4: That is going to be phenomenal. They do everything right
28:29
Speaker 4: from the bottom to the top. Analytics, technology, science, scouting.
28:36
Speaker 4: They're the best all the way around. They're destroying people.
28:39
Speaker 4: And it's not just because of the money. I mean,
28:42
Speaker 4: look what the Mets are doing. I mean, come on, stop.
28:45
Speaker 4: At the end of the day, they deserve credit for
28:47
Speaker 4: the baseball movies they're making. But do they have a
28:49
Speaker 4: huge advantage financially, Yeah, of course they do. But they
28:53
Speaker 4: also have the baseball minds that are matching in that's
28:55
Speaker 4: what's been scary for the sport, and they're putting together
28:59
Speaker 4: one of the great greatest dynasties in the history of
29:03
Speaker 4: Major League Baseball. This is incredible what they're doing, and
29:07
Speaker 4: it's also going to lead to a CBA that might
29:11
Speaker 4: cause a work stoppage, or at the very least is
29:15
Speaker 4: going to cause a salary floor in a salary cap.
29:19
Speaker 4: That's the one thing about this signing that it's going
29:21
Speaker 4: to do. It's probably that tip of the iceberg that's
29:25
Speaker 4: going to change everything going forward for the entire industry.
29:30
Speaker 1: And don't forget they cleaned up the ninth thing a
29:32
Speaker 1: little bit too with Edwin Diaz.
29:33
Speaker 2: No big deal. So a what a.
29:35
Speaker 1: Freaking off season, man, unbelievable. Will talk more, of course, JB,
29:40
Speaker 1: thanks for hopping on with us.
29:41
Speaker 2: It was awesome. Appreciate you man.
29:43
Speaker 4: Thanks.
29:44
Speaker 2: Thanks. Wow. That's JB.
29:46
Speaker 1: Jimboden resident GM. We're looking at Dodger contracts from June
29:49
Speaker 1: Lee online. He posted worth more than one hundred million bucks.
29:52
Speaker 1: You've got glass now, Will Smith, Reddy Freeman, Blake Snell,
29:55
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker, Yoshiyamamoto. He's pretty damn good. Pokie Pets show hoo, Tani.
30:02
Speaker 1: What did you think, KP about what Jim said in
30:06
Speaker 1: regards to the Dodgers being unfair. That's the funny thing
30:09
Speaker 1: to me. If the Dodgers didn't exist right now, I
30:12
Speaker 1: don't think it would be as much of an issue, right,
30:14
Speaker 1: Like sure, when fans want every team to spend the
30:17
Speaker 1: same amount, do the same everything, right, they have the
30:19
Speaker 1: same Let's have the same robots on the field. Let's
30:22
Speaker 1: make everything exactly the same. That's stupid and boring. But
30:24
Speaker 1: my point is it's the Dodgers that are bringing this
30:27
Speaker 1: front and center. It's not like we have every single
30:30
Speaker 1: big spender just swinging left and right and crushing everyone right.
30:34
Speaker 1: I mean, the Mets are the prime example right now.
30:37
Speaker 1: They have and can spend as much as the Dodgers,
30:40
Speaker 1: and they've been pretty close with them. I know, the
30:42
Speaker 1: Dodgers separate a little bit over the past year or
30:44
Speaker 1: so because they win so much more so you're gonna
30:46
Speaker 1: make more money when you win. But Mets are capable
30:49
Speaker 1: of doing this, and they can't make the playoffs for
30:51
Speaker 1: two out of the past three years.
30:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was. I always sit back kind of just listening,
30:57
Speaker 3: observing what he was saying. And I mean, I have
30:59
Speaker 3: some compacts too, But in the same breath, I also
31:02
Speaker 3: understand if an owner can't go out and you know,
31:07
Speaker 3: spend the money that he wants to spend or feels
31:09
Speaker 3: like he can afford to spend to go out there
31:13
Speaker 3: and try to win, there's always an option to selling
31:15
Speaker 3: your franchise. You know, Steve Cohen bought the franchise and
31:19
Speaker 3: he's willing to spend money, but it hasn't worked. The
31:22
Speaker 3: Dodgers just happened to have the perfect balance of an
31:24
Speaker 3: ownership group that is willing to spend the money, and
31:27
Speaker 3: they also have a brilliant mind and Andrew Friedman, and
31:31
Speaker 3: they've been able to draft, and they've been able to develop,
31:34
Speaker 3: and they've been able to out tech and outthink and
31:36
Speaker 3: outdo everyone. And they also play in an unbelievable market
31:40
Speaker 3: in Los Angeles where a lot of players want to play.
31:42
Speaker 3: It's a historical franchise with a pedigree of winning. It's
31:46
Speaker 3: sunny southern California. You know, they draw forty five forty
31:50
Speaker 3: eight thousand fans a night. Who wouldn't want to be
31:52
Speaker 3: a Dodger. And also, when he was talking about just
31:55
Speaker 3: kind of creating parody in the game, I'm an avid
31:59
Speaker 3: NBA fan, so I understand how the NBA salary cap
32:02
Speaker 3: works and all that stuff. And it's easy to point
32:05
Speaker 3: to a team like Oklahoma City and how they just
32:07
Speaker 3: recently won the NBA Finals. But what we're not talking
32:10
Speaker 3: about is the five years previously where they weren't very good,
32:14
Speaker 3: but they were able to draft and develop some good players,
32:16
Speaker 3: and they kept trading them and kept trading them, and
32:19
Speaker 3: they finally were able to stockpile multiple first round picks
32:23
Speaker 3: over multiple years, and they went out and they were
32:26
Speaker 3: able to win an NBA championship. And they're only getting
32:29
Speaker 3: better now because they still have first round draft picks
32:32
Speaker 3: that they're able to go out and get the best
32:35
Speaker 3: players in the NBA draft. You know, it's just I
32:38
Speaker 3: feel like teams can do it. It's just a matter
32:40
Speaker 3: of if they want to do it.
32:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean the comments are wild right now,
32:49
Speaker 1: Terry with the super Chat, appreciate that for Russel on
32:52
Speaker 1: Late Night with the Crew.
32:53
Speaker 2: Opening Day is going to be electric.
32:57
Speaker 1: We are also going to talk to Ken Rosenthal coming
32:59
Speaker 1: up in a moment to get his thoughts. Here's showtime,
33:03
Speaker 1: not Shoho Tani, but in the comments, face at the
33:05
Speaker 1: Dodgers are the best team in Major League Baseball. Just
33:09
Speaker 1: an incredible, incredible turn of events here. I really thought
33:13
Speaker 1: he was going to end up with the Blue Jays,
33:15
Speaker 1: and fans are obviously like, oh, Scott's glazing the Dodgers. Well,
33:19
Speaker 1: what I mean for being super successful? What can't we
33:22
Speaker 1: can't give praise to what they've done and for the
33:25
Speaker 1: signing again we're talking about them not being the only
33:28
Speaker 1: team that can throw.
33:30
Speaker 2: The hammer down.
33:31
Speaker 1: The Mets tried, they just came up short. We might
33:34
Speaker 1: end up finding out that the Mets put up a
33:36
Speaker 1: similar number in terms of net present value.
33:39
Speaker 2: Right, look up deferrals. We're not going to spend time
33:42
Speaker 2: doing that.
33:42
Speaker 1: We do it sometimes on foul territory, but KP for
33:45
Speaker 1: all we know, there's so many deferrals that net present value,
33:49
Speaker 1: like Boden mentioned, could be lower, could be in the
33:51
Speaker 1: forties or something, and the Mets could have actually beaten them.
33:55
Speaker 1: We'll find all of those details out at some point
33:57
Speaker 1: pretty soon. But regardless, I also did genuinely feel like
34:01
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker did not want to spend time in New
34:04
Speaker 1: York with the Mets. I don't think he's that kind
34:07
Speaker 1: of guy. I've covered him quite a bit in my
34:09
Speaker 1: career many interviews. It's not really his thing. He is
34:13
Speaker 1: more mild mannered. Guess how much attention Kyle Tucker is
34:16
Speaker 1: going to get in LA. A lot less attention than
34:20
Speaker 1: he would have gotten in New York. You played for
34:22
Speaker 1: the Mets, right, you've spent time in LA. What's the
34:25
Speaker 1: ratio going to be? And actually, real quick, because then
34:28
Speaker 1: we got Ken ready to go. But the ratio of
34:31
Speaker 1: attention and pressure and all of that in New York,
34:34
Speaker 1: even versus LA, when you can be like sixth fiddle
34:37
Speaker 1: on the Dodgers.
34:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I mean, I also don't think maybe
34:41
Speaker 3: some of the potential friction with what was going on
34:44
Speaker 3: in the Mets clubhouse is probably an ideal destination for
34:48
Speaker 3: you know, if you're choosing between the two teams, and
34:51
Speaker 3: you obviously, if you're a baseball fan, and you know,
34:54
Speaker 3: maybe Kyle Tucker is, you know, once his season was
34:57
Speaker 3: over and he's turning on you know, the World Series,
34:59
Speaker 3: and you know, you look at both of those teams
35:01
Speaker 3: and maybe that's why they were the two finalists for
35:04
Speaker 3: his services. Not necessarily because they were the last two
35:07
Speaker 3: teams standing, which he obviously wants an opportunity to win.
35:10
Speaker 3: But if you looked at both of those dugouts, they
35:13
Speaker 3: both looked like they were a ton of fun. The
35:15
Speaker 3: guys genuinely liked each other. It looks like an environment
35:19
Speaker 3: that you'd want to put yourself in. And you know,
35:21
Speaker 3: if you're a guy who doesn't want to be the
35:23
Speaker 3: face of a franchise, what better place to go hide
35:26
Speaker 3: than go play for the Dodgers. I mean, Mookie's arguably
35:30
Speaker 3: one of the best players in the game. Freddie's one
35:32
Speaker 3: of the best players in the game. Will Smith might
35:34
Speaker 3: be the best catcher in the game. We're talking about
35:36
Speaker 3: Max Munsey potentially hitting seventh or eighth in this lineup,
35:40
Speaker 3: you know, and every all those guys are superstars. But
35:43
Speaker 3: when it comes to show, hey, Tawani, he is the
35:45
Speaker 3: one who gets all the attention. So if he just
35:47
Speaker 3: wants to go out and play baseball and help his
35:51
Speaker 3: team win and make a ton of money and not
35:53
Speaker 3: have to answer questions every single day or not have
35:55
Speaker 3: to carry the load, go hide in la.
35:59
Speaker 1: Hey, let's get the scoop on this. Here comes up
36:07
Speaker 1: to senior insider Ken Rosenthal. Ken, I know you just
36:10
Speaker 1: posted an article in The Athletic. Tell us what you
36:12
Speaker 1: wrote about.
36:13
Speaker 5: What I wrote about was just the immediate impact on
36:17
Speaker 5: all three teams as far as the team they're going
36:19
Speaker 5: to put on the field next season. Now, of course
36:22
Speaker 5: there is much more to this. I'm going to start
36:23
Speaker 5: writing again the moment we hang up. But this deal,
36:27
Speaker 5: to me, Scott was not that surprising. Now the number
36:31
Speaker 5: is surprising, yes, of course, sixty million dollars a year.
36:33
Speaker 5: It's a record aav It's crazy. We need to hear
36:37
Speaker 5: the deferrals. We need to hear what the present day
36:39
Speaker 5: value of this deal is. It's not going to be
36:41
Speaker 5: sixty million. I can assure you that it might be
36:44
Speaker 5: closer to forty.
36:45
Speaker 4: I don't know yet.
36:46
Speaker 5: That is a critical detail that we have not yet heard.
36:50
Speaker 5: It will affect the luxury tax number, of course, and
36:53
Speaker 5: I don't know that it even matters to the Dodgers.
36:54
Speaker 5: They're already thirty five million over the luxury tax before
36:58
Speaker 5: even agreeing with Kyle Tucker. So that is one element
37:02
Speaker 5: of this. But essentially, for the Dodgers, what I wrote
37:05
Speaker 5: was they needed an outfielder. Remember they were looking at
37:10
Speaker 5: to start the season if Tommy Edmond was not ready
37:14
Speaker 5: to go from ankle surgery. They were looking at Teoscar
37:17
Speaker 5: Hernandez in one corner, Andy Pahz in centerfield, and the
37:21
Speaker 5: other corner would have been Ryan Ward and Alex call
37:25
Speaker 5: perhaps platooning. That wasn't what we would expect from the
37:28
Speaker 5: Los Angeles Dodgers. So from a strictly baseball perspective, they
37:33
Speaker 5: needed him. They got him, and the reason I'm not
37:36
Speaker 5: surprised it was them kind of goes to what Kevin
37:38
Speaker 5: was saying a minute ago. So I'm not sure he
37:41
Speaker 5: wanted to go long term. I'm not sure he wanted
37:44
Speaker 5: to go to Toronto. Toronto is much more of a
37:46
Speaker 5: destination than it has been in the recent years, and
37:49
Speaker 5: actually all the players they missed out on it was
37:52
Speaker 5: circumstances in each case. We have seen this offseason the
37:56
Speaker 5: Blue Jays spend more than every other team three hundred
38:00
Speaker 5: thirty seven million total with their four free agent signings,
38:03
Speaker 5: including of course Dylan Cees right at the top of that.
38:06
Speaker 5: So free agents do want to go there. Doesn't mean
38:09
Speaker 5: every free agent wants to go there, and it doesn't
38:11
Speaker 5: mean in Kyle Tucker's case, he wanted to sign long
38:14
Speaker 5: term there. So if his preference was short term with
38:18
Speaker 5: opt outs, which is what he got four years with
38:20
Speaker 5: opt outs after years two and three, then it comes
38:24
Speaker 5: down to, of course, the Mets and the Dodgers, and
38:27
Speaker 5: if you're a player right now, and Kevin touched on.
38:30
Speaker 2: This, where would you rather play.
38:32
Speaker 5: Here's a guy also with kind of a low key personality,
38:35
Speaker 5: well established low key personality. He's going to go to
38:38
Speaker 5: New York, whereas Kevin was saying the clubhouse was a
38:41
Speaker 5: mess last year, when he can go to LA for
38:43
Speaker 5: perhaps even more money. It never made sense to me
38:47
Speaker 5: that that was going to happen in the Mets favor,
38:49
Speaker 5: So I am not surprised by the outcome in that sense.
38:54
Speaker 1: Hey, for Toronto fans, ken they want to know where
38:57
Speaker 1: all of that money is going to go.
38:59
Speaker 2: You know how that works.
38:59
Speaker 1: Fans always want to know what we were about to
39:01
Speaker 1: throw the bag at Kyle Tucker? Are we going to
39:03
Speaker 1: throw that at Bobashett or somebody else.
39:06
Speaker 5: I don't expect them to sign Bobashett. I have not
39:09
Speaker 5: expected it the entire offseason. So yes, they have money
39:13
Speaker 5: that they would have devoted to Kyle Tucker that they
39:16
Speaker 5: could now redirect to Boba Sheett. But I still believe
39:20
Speaker 5: rather strongly that Bobaschet's gonna end.
39:22
Speaker 2: Up with the Philadelphia Phillies.
39:23
Speaker 5: Now the Blue Jays, it's not like they haven't spent
39:26
Speaker 5: here and they're already over the highest threshold. So perhaps
39:30
Speaker 5: they will do some things, maybe get another outfielder. I
39:33
Speaker 5: don't see them, maybe going after Cody Bellinger, who still
39:36
Speaker 5: seems headed to the New York Yankees. They could do
39:39
Speaker 5: that and could go about it that way, but it
39:42
Speaker 5: would seem to me they probably now will kind of
39:45
Speaker 5: go with what they have, and they can play Nathan
39:47
Speaker 5: Lucas and left as they have. They can put Barger
39:50
Speaker 5: in the outfield and right field at some point two.
39:53
Speaker 5: But the issue that they face, and this is what's
39:57
Speaker 5: interesting about them, and this is why maybe they do
39:59
Speaker 5: go make a run. Bellinger, Varshow and George Springer are
40:02
Speaker 5: free agents.
40:03
Speaker 2: After this season.
40:04
Speaker 5: They're gonna have a hole. And while they don't necessarily
40:07
Speaker 5: need an outfielder right now for twenty twenty six, they
40:11
Speaker 5: will need one going forward. And the free agent class
40:13
Speaker 5: next offseason is not one that has a cornerstone type outfielder.
40:18
Speaker 5: So sure I would watch out for the Blue Jays
40:21
Speaker 5: still wow.
40:23
Speaker 1: And then last one for you can the Dodgers with
40:26
Speaker 1: the ti Oscar Hernandez conversations like a month ago or so,
40:30
Speaker 1: do you think that gets revisited or like you said,
40:32
Speaker 1: it actually works to move him over to left like
40:34
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker play right. And then nice offseason. You got
40:37
Speaker 1: Edwin Diz two.
40:38
Speaker 5: By the way, certainly they could trade him and it's
40:42
Speaker 5: something that they have at least thought about, but it
40:45
Speaker 5: seems to me, Scott, they're gonna do exactly what you said.
40:48
Speaker 2: Tayo and left.
40:49
Speaker 5: Andy Paje is in center. They've got Alex call coming
40:52
Speaker 5: off the bench. They should be pretty well positioned this way.
40:55
Speaker 5: They probably wanted to get Tayo out of right field
40:58
Speaker 5: anyway and move them over to left. This facilitates that conceivably.
41:03
Speaker 5: Could they maybe go trade to Askar Hernandez and then
41:07
Speaker 5: sign another outfielder.
41:08
Speaker 2: Sure they could do that.
41:09
Speaker 5: I'm not sure why they would want to do that.
41:12
Speaker 5: He yes has questions defensively, but my goodness, he has
41:16
Speaker 5: been a force for them in the playoffs at times
41:18
Speaker 5: of the regular season.
41:20
Speaker 2: It's been a really good Dodger. Ken.
41:22
Speaker 1: We appreciate the time. We'll look forward to more work
41:25
Speaker 1: in the athletic and then we'll talk to you actually
41:27
Speaker 1: tomorrow on FT.
41:28
Speaker 2: Thanks guys, thank you. That's Ken Rosenthal.
41:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, look for all his work in the athletic, the
41:33
Speaker 1: one he already put out there, and then I'm sure
41:35
Speaker 1: you'll see a lot more from him and his colleagues,
41:36
Speaker 1: and then we'll get questions for Ken. On Friday's edition
41:39
Speaker 1: of Foul Territory. One more thing for you, kp So
41:43
Speaker 1: it appears as if we have a little information on
41:47
Speaker 1: the deferrals, thirty million dollars in deferrals out of the
41:51
Speaker 1: two forty mil. That's actually probably lower than most people anticipated.
41:56
Speaker 1: That will bring the net present value the number down
42:00
Speaker 1: for Tucker, but it's not going to bring it down below,
42:05
Speaker 1: say the Mets.
42:06
Speaker 2: That's my guess. You know, it probably won't bring it
42:08
Speaker 2: down to where.
42:09
Speaker 4: The Mets do the math.
42:11
Speaker 3: It's trying to do the math.
42:12
Speaker 2: So thirdy depends where the deferral.
42:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, where where the deferrals are at. It's hard to
42:16
Speaker 3: know exactly, but yeah, still, I mean, yeah, I mean,
42:21
Speaker 3: I guess that's a little bit lower than I thought,
42:24
Speaker 3: just given kind of what the Dodgers had done over
42:27
Speaker 3: the last you know, a couple years with their deferrals.
42:29
Speaker 3: You know, players have been willing to, you know, take
42:32
Speaker 3: some bigger deferrals to come play with the Dodgers. So
42:36
Speaker 3: I mean, I would have thought the number was going
42:38
Speaker 3: to be bigger.
42:40
Speaker 2: Well think about it.
42:41
Speaker 1: So, out of two forty, if thirty is deferred, you're
42:43
Speaker 1: still at to ten mil. So that is still more
42:46
Speaker 1: reportedly than what the Mets put out there, unless their
42:49
Speaker 1: offer changed, right, because the Mets were four two hundred,
42:51
Speaker 1: so that's that's two ten plus still getting thirty million deferrals.
42:55
Speaker 1: So the Dodgers definitely beat the Mets offer. It sounds
42:57
Speaker 1: like some super chats to finish up here, and then
42:59
Speaker 1: we'll do a full two hours of FT on Friday.
43:02
Speaker 1: In this Dodgers ara This from Herado, which fan base
43:05
Speaker 1: is the most bit or due to Dodgers free agens,
43:08
Speaker 1: trades and preventing teams from winning the World Series Padres, Giants,
43:12
Speaker 1: Blue Jays, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, et cetera. I've gotten text
43:16
Speaker 1: from a fan of almost each of those teams over
43:19
Speaker 1: the last forty minutes.
43:22
Speaker 3: I mean, off the top of my head, I would
43:24
Speaker 3: say the Phillies because I think the Phillies went out
43:28
Speaker 3: over there, you know, the previous offseasons getting you know,
43:31
Speaker 3: Bryce Harper and Trey Turner and going out is Zach
43:34
Speaker 3: Wheelers and signing all these guys and spending a lot
43:37
Speaker 3: of money. But they also did it signing these guys
43:40
Speaker 3: over a long period of time, and it kind of
43:42
Speaker 3: feels like that window maybe closing a little bit. They
43:46
Speaker 3: were hoping maybe that Dodger window would close a little
43:48
Speaker 3: bit and maybe they would clash, but to me, it's
43:51
Speaker 3: got to be the Phillies because that was a team
43:53
Speaker 3: who was willing to go out and spend a ton
43:54
Speaker 3: of money and it just hasn't worked out for him.
43:57
Speaker 1: We saw nice super Chat about Kyle Tucker's numbers, especially
44:01
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. He was on a ridiculous pace,
44:03
Speaker 1: but he only played half a season. This past year
44:05
Speaker 1: also put up really good numbers but missed some time,
44:08
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he was dinged for that by some
44:10
Speaker 1: teams that weren't interested JJ with super Chat boohoo.
44:13
Speaker 2: Owners have the money, they refuse to allocate it correctly.
44:15
Speaker 2: It's on them.
44:16
Speaker 1: Players that are good should be able to come to
44:18
Speaker 1: the table and say what they're worth. Just more x
44:21
Speaker 1: GM cope. I guess someone that was not pleased with
44:24
Speaker 1: the whole salary cap conversation thinking that that's the end
44:27
Speaker 1: all be all that's going to solve everything. Also, just
44:29
Speaker 1: to hint for everyone, if you do get a cap eventually,
44:32
Speaker 1: and we do have a soft cap, it does actually
44:34
Speaker 1: prevent many teams from going above a certain mark. We do,
44:38
Speaker 1: but even if we get a hard cap, it's not
44:41
Speaker 1: like every team's going to be tied to a very
44:42
Speaker 1: small amount of money, it's still going.
44:44
Speaker 2: To be a huge disparity.
44:45
Speaker 4: Also.
44:46
Speaker 1: Lol, if we do get a cap and the Dodgers
44:48
Speaker 1: have to somehow shed like three quarters of their roster,
44:53
Speaker 1: that would be a little bit funny. Anyway, KP, appreciate
44:56
Speaker 1: the time, dude, This was great. Appreciate everyone for hanging
44:59
Speaker 1: with us. Good crowd tonight. Thank you for joining us
45:02
Speaker 1: late night here on the East coast and on the
45:04
Speaker 1: West coasts. Dinner time, party time for Dodger fans. Congratulations
45:09
Speaker 1: to them. They're having the time of their lives right now.
45:11
Speaker 1: Back to back champs. They had the best closer in
45:13
Speaker 1: the baseball in baseball, and they had the best position
45:16
Speaker 1: player that was available this offseason.
45:19
Speaker 3: Unbelievable, unbelievable offseason, unbelievable off season. Check check.
45:26
Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal on Foul Territory with us.
45:28
Speaker 1: Trevor May will be on the show on Friday, and
45:30
Speaker 1: also Eric Kratz and you'll see KP very soon. We'll
45:33
Speaker 1: talk spring training schedule very soon too. See you Friday.