Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Batflips and Nerds, the Baseball podcast
Speaker 1: with a British twist. I am your host this evening,
Speaker 1: Ben Carter. We're back after a little hiatus. Not for
Speaker 1: the first time I'm sacking hiatus, but yeah, Happy new
Speaker 1: Year to everyone belatedly. I hope you're all doing well
Speaker 1: out there, joining me to discuss some of the off
Speaker 1: season fun. I've got two of our real baseball savants
Speaker 1: in the building, starting with Ron Rivera wearing an Orioles
Speaker 1: hat tonight.
Speaker 2: How are you, Rob, Yeah, I'm feeling great because I
Speaker 2: have an Oriol's hat is really orange. And you know what,
Speaker 2: as much as I'm not particularly fond of the Orioles,
Speaker 2: I've got to say when it comes to hat swag,
Speaker 2: I do think the Orioles are for like standard hat,
Speaker 2: this is probably probably one of the real best out there.
Speaker 2: I really like the Orioles hat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've got some good match, haven't they. Also joining
Speaker 1: us the seven. You may have just heard him there
Speaker 1: and putting on the hat for a team I can't
Speaker 1: quite identify yet. It's Darius Austin. He's given up on
Speaker 1: the hat. How are you, Darious?
Speaker 2: I'm good?
Speaker 3: Thank you? Yeah, it has been a while. It's been
Speaker 3: I guess since what the first weekend of November. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that whole world, serious thing that happened back on the pod,
Speaker 3: and we've got quite a lot to talk about, we do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, last time we spoke, we were both a little
Speaker 1: bit delirious having watched one of the most insane games
Speaker 1: and series I can remember seeing. And yeah, at at
Speaker 1: the very same time, a lot has happened, and almost
Speaker 1: nothing has happened since then, such as the baseball season.
Speaker 1: Have you've got I personally have not been following it
Speaker 1: that closely, other than seeing the occasional you know, Jeff
Speaker 1: Pass and botm and things like that. Have you guys
Speaker 1: been staying very connected to every minor transaction or are
Speaker 1: you taking Have you been taking time off from baseball news? Rob?
Speaker 2: No, No, every minor transaction. I know where every Rule
Speaker 2: five has gone. I've been following the exploits of everyone
Speaker 2: defade from the Rockies. I am totally zoned in on
Speaker 2: the minor transactions. God only knows about the big ones,
Speaker 2: because I'm not sure some of the some of the
Speaker 2: teams know what they're doing with the big ones either,
Speaker 2: But the minor ones I am there.
Speaker 1: For well, I think you maybe are teasing a pot
Speaker 1: we're going to be doing at some point in the
Speaker 1: next maybe a month or two, where we're going to
Speaker 1: look at some of the under the radar signings, shall
Speaker 1: we say, that have taken place over the off season.
Speaker 1: But I think today we're going to focus a bit
Speaker 1: more on some of those bigger names. And it feels
Speaker 1: like some of those dominoes actually have fallen in the
Speaker 1: last few days. It was obviously quiet period. Maybe that's
Speaker 1: you know, Christmas and New Year related, but now it
Speaker 1: feels like some of the bigger names that had been
Speaker 1: waiting are starting to sign on the dotted line. Darius,
Speaker 1: have you been Have you been keeping a close on everything?
Speaker 1: I feel like usually you're pretty on the button with these.
Speaker 3: Things I have. I am somewhat you know, contractually obliged
Speaker 3: to do so any more perspectives, certainly for two of
Speaker 3: the divisions, I have to pay attention to the minor transactions.
Speaker 3: Time to plug the baseball prospective Daniel available to purchase now,
Speaker 3: we'll be out very soon in the next few weeks.
Speaker 3: Lots of great work and they're doing that. But yes,
Speaker 3: I have been following the dullest of dull transactions, just
Speaker 3: because we have to. So, yeah, I know everything that's
Speaker 3: happened that I don't know everything that's happened enough, but
Speaker 3: only the minor ones. More than a million, then it's
Speaker 3: it's nothing.
Speaker 1: Rob does it for the love of the game. There's
Speaker 1: nothing in his backflips contracts about having to know anything
Speaker 1: about baseball. So this is just pure and I show
Speaker 1: that regularly.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I think we're going to start off talking
Speaker 1: through some of the big obviously some transactions. We have
Speaker 1: had a little bit of sort of breaking news transaction
Speaker 1: wise as we started to record, which is always exciting
Speaker 1: usually happens as we finished recordings and started it was
Speaker 1: to start the pod this time. So I think we're
Speaker 1: going to maybe do a quick draft of our favorite
Speaker 1: moves so far this off season free agent signings. I'm
Speaker 1: going to you, guys, take this in whatever way you want.
Speaker 1: You can either just draft the players that you are
Speaker 1: most excited to see wearing new launching next season, or
Speaker 1: you can draft the contract that you like the most
Speaker 1: or the fit that you like the most. We haven't
Speaker 1: really put any rules in place of how this draft's
Speaker 1: gonna work, but We've got a good list of sort
Speaker 1: of five ten different names here of yeah, fairly major
Speaker 1: guys who've now signed new contracts. I'll maybe let you
Speaker 1: kick us off, Rob, seeing as you've been keeping a
Speaker 1: cloth sign all.
Speaker 2: The moves, all the moves, the little ones, all the moves.
Speaker 1: Which of the bigger moves Michael Tolia accepted are you
Speaker 1: most jazzed about after the winter we've had so far.
Speaker 2: It's a hard way to think about it. So do
Speaker 2: I do I go with jazz because it's an interesting move,
Speaker 2: or do I go with jazz because it's you know,
Speaker 2: it's a good move for a team or something. You know,
Speaker 2: because some of these are big moves that make absolutely
Speaker 2: no sense whatsoever to nice in my mind, and others are, yeah,
Speaker 2: you can see where they're going. I'll start with a
Speaker 2: traditional one then, So I think the first one that
Speaker 2: really said seems to make sense to me that I
Speaker 2: think is a really good move. They win. It's Wilson
Speaker 2: contrals to the Red Sox. I think that's a bang on,
Speaker 2: spot on fit for a team that's just had disaster
Speaker 2: written all over first base for the last few years.
Speaker 2: I think he's a decent first first basement, which nobody
Speaker 2: saw coming because of course traditionally a catcher, but decent
Speaker 2: first basement as part of what has been terrible in
Speaker 2: field for the Red Sox. So there's already an increase
Speaker 2: there his profile for hitting. I think he's gonna be
Speaker 2: absolutely phenomenal against the city pinball wall at Fenway, and
Speaker 2: there's a chance for cast has to come back a
Speaker 2: bit more slowly. You know, he's not not been durable.
Speaker 2: He's he's a he's had a horrible injury. It's gonna
Speaker 2: take some time to get back from that. And I
Speaker 2: think you've got a natural platoon there and you've got
Speaker 2: someone who can play d H gives cass has a
Speaker 2: chance to go and get some rehab time in the
Speaker 2: minor leagues if he needs to as well. It shouldn't
Speaker 2: do with with with training. But yeah, I just it
Speaker 2: just really really fits. He's he himself has had a
Speaker 2: terrible time the Cardinals. You know recently that it's it's
Speaker 2: been bad for him, between eating tape and getting kicked
Speaker 2: out of being a catcher. It's not been a lovely
Speaker 2: fit for him there over at the Cardinals. But it's
Speaker 2: supposed to be a big move for them the sort
Speaker 2: of the beginning of them pushing back towards something it
Speaker 2: really matters, and it hasn't happened. So I think Wilson
Speaker 2: Contreras is a star of the game that we need
Speaker 2: to see a bit more in a team that's going
Speaker 2: to be doing well, and I think this this is
Speaker 2: the place for him, spot on move and I think
Speaker 2: he's gonna look good in the in the Red Sox.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that one. As you say, I think
Speaker 1: Cassas obviously has struggled so much with injury, and there's
Speaker 1: the I guess theoretical quite a nice patune between the
Speaker 1: two of those guys. There one who can mash right,
Speaker 1: he's one who can mash left. Is it when they're
Speaker 1: both fit? So yeah, that's that's a nice move for
Speaker 1: the Red Sox. I know that maybe some of their
Speaker 1: fans have been a bit upset about missing out on
Speaker 1: one of the other guys who signed somewhere, but I
Speaker 1: think that's a sneaky good addition to their lineup when
Speaker 1: Contreras is clicking Darius, which moved did you like the
Speaker 1: most so far this winter?
Speaker 3: I'm going for tatsu Imai to the Astros. I think
Speaker 3: We've seen maybe certainly two and perhaps all three of
Speaker 3: the MPV converts get less money than we expected. But
Speaker 3: I think Ima I was considered to be a pretty
Speaker 3: high upside starting pitcher. We've certainly seen guys in recent
Speaker 3: years come over shot Managa being the most recent, I guess,
Speaker 3: and have pretty big success. I think I can at
Speaker 3: least be in that category of picture. So I love
Speaker 3: to deal for the Astros. They needed a bit of
Speaker 3: rotation help with Valdez leaving, there's some questions at the
Speaker 3: back end, so to have him to join Hunter Brown
Speaker 3: at the top there, I think is really good for them,
Speaker 3: and they're obviously looking to overturn what was pretty disappointing
Speaker 3: season for them, actually not making the playoffs for the
Speaker 3: first time in forever. So yeah, I really loved that move,
Speaker 3: and I would just generally quite excited to see how
Speaker 3: it gets on in MLB as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I won't pretend to know much about im. I
Speaker 1: am not a big MPB watcher, but I know that
Speaker 1: he seems to be on that sort of middle tier. Maybe. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the comparison new Makers is apt, certainly not on the
Speaker 1: level of some of the bigger names that have come
Speaker 1: over the last couple of years, Yamamotos and whatnot. But
Speaker 1: I think he, yeah, seems to be on that slightly
Speaker 1: tier below and it seems like a good deal on
Speaker 1: paper at that value. Is it one of those where
Speaker 1: he's got opt outs after every year, where in theory
Speaker 1: it could be a one year deal if he dominates
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 3: I think it's the the Bregman from last season.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3: If he does well, he'll stopped out immediately pretty much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's something that's moved for him because, like
Speaker 1: you say, if he does turn out to be unbelievable,
Speaker 1: then he can cash him more next year. And for
Speaker 1: the Astros, it's a pretty low risk at that amount
Speaker 1: of time and that amount of money option to fill
Speaker 1: out their rotation. And it's always exciting getting guys over
Speaker 1: here who we've just have never seen play, who you know,
Speaker 1: have done well over in Japan and just see how
Speaker 1: they adapt to to the major So that'll be an
Speaker 1: interesting one to keep an eye on. Rob Any strong
Speaker 1: thoughts on on am I an excitement around him.
Speaker 2: Not specially him. I think it's it's more talk on
Speaker 2: on what we know about the Japanese players. I again
Speaker 2: don't pretend to know an awful lot about him. But
Speaker 2: what I've been hearing elsewhere is that there's such a
Speaker 2: picture friendly situation in the NPB at the moment that
Speaker 2: we really don't kind of know how good these guys
Speaker 2: are going to be compared to to m IBB because
Speaker 2: it's it's it's all a bit skewed. So I think
Speaker 2: these three guys are going to be a bit of
Speaker 2: a litmus test this year and then and then next year.
Speaker 2: In theory is when if they if they're good, I
Speaker 2: of course see a wave of this and they're all
Speaker 2: going to get paid if they're okay and not so
Speaker 2: good this year, I think it might sort of set
Speaker 2: it all back a little a couple of years. But
Speaker 2: so so it's a really interesting one to see what
Speaker 2: what's going to happen for future years because I think
Speaker 2: this is this is, as I said, a bit of
Speaker 2: a litmus test.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll actually keep it on a similar note and
Speaker 1: I'll put Moon Attacker Murakami down as my pick. I
Speaker 1: hope I'm getting his name right there, but he obviously
Speaker 1: another guy is coming over from who maybe surprisingly signed
Speaker 1: a deal with the White Sox of all teams for yeah,
Speaker 1: two year, thirty four million dollar contract, which again feels
Speaker 1: pretty low risk for the White Sox. I think I
Speaker 1: don't know whether the projections have Morecami down as with
Speaker 1: that feels probably lower than what we anticipated for him.
Speaker 1: I know he is He's a big fella, isn't he
Speaker 1: And he's not old he's twenty five, but he's probably
Speaker 1: limited to playing first. But I know there's a ton
Speaker 1: of power in that bat, but also maybe the concerns
Speaker 1: that he could just strike out too much to even
Speaker 1: be able to pass as in every day regular so
Speaker 1: I guess at least with that investment for the White Sox,
Speaker 1: who are a team certainly in need of taking home
Speaker 1: run swings mesaphorically and literally, it feels like a nice
Speaker 1: match for them. You know, he's been a record setter
Speaker 1: over in Japan. I think there'll be a lot of
Speaker 1: excitement around him, which is something again that White Soxs
Speaker 1: have been missing for a few years now. So I
Speaker 1: think that feels like a really exciting deal or something
Speaker 1: that White Sox fan should be amped for. And we
Speaker 1: have seen hitters from MPB I think take a bit
Speaker 1: more time to adjust in the past, just because maybe,
Speaker 1: as you say, Rob that league is so different in
Speaker 1: terms of the way pictures dominate that sometimes they just
Speaker 1: is that period of having to adjust to the majors.
Speaker 1: But we've also seen guys really succeed. You've come over,
Speaker 1: says as you obviously for the Cubs, and plenty of
Speaker 1: others who have been able to make it work. And
Speaker 1: I'll be interested to see if he can yet have
Speaker 1: a great couple of years for the White Sox. And
Speaker 1: then again he'll be young enough to maybe sign up
Speaker 1: a third extension if all goes well, but knowing the
Speaker 1: White Sox, he'll probably be out of the lead by
Speaker 1: August and unable to hold down a job. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys know more about Murakami
Speaker 1: or have anything that you wanted to add.
Speaker 3: Yeah, an interesting one, just because I feel like this
Speaker 3: was a little bit telegraphed. Certain the projections are very high.
Speaker 3: I think trade rooms said about one hundred and eighty million,
Speaker 3: so the third really a long way off. I don't
Speaker 3: think others were quite as high, but it's still triple
Speaker 3: digit in the millions. But there was a lot of chatter,
Speaker 3: you know, in the run up to him being posted
Speaker 3: about how high the strike out rate had been in Japan, which,
Speaker 3: as you said earlier, has been a pre picture for
Speaker 3: aendly league lately, so maybe that has something to do
Speaker 3: with it. But he has really seen close to thirty
Speaker 3: percent rate each of the last three seasons. So if
Speaker 3: you're looking at him striking out thirty four thirty five
Speaker 3: percent the time in MLB, we are talking, you know,
Speaker 3: Joey Gallo and Joey Gallo had some good seasons, but
Speaker 3: Joey Gallo also had some you know, can you really
Speaker 3: play this guy seasons? And he was a much better
Speaker 3: defender than Mcamis. So I think that's why we've ended
Speaker 3: up here. I think it will be looked at that.
Speaker 3: I think there was a lot about him really struggling
Speaker 3: against high heat, which you don't see very much in Japan,
Speaker 3: but when pictures were throwing hard against him, he was
Speaker 3: really struggling. And it clearly seems like a lot of
Speaker 3: teams have said, you know what, we don't think this
Speaker 3: is going to play white socks in perfect place, you know,
Speaker 3: perfect team to take a flyer on him if it
Speaker 3: works out. Yeah, he's a young guy. He could easily
Speaker 3: mash forty fifty fingers in the big leagues when the
Speaker 3: power he's got, so it could be fantastic, or it
Speaker 3: could be, you know, a one eighty batting average in
Speaker 3: out of the league by August.
Speaker 2: It is a little surprising to me that it was
Speaker 2: the White Sox. I do. I mean, I had the
Speaker 2: same thoughts about Utani when it happened. But I do
Speaker 2: wonder if he got kidnapped at the airport and driven
Speaker 2: to the wrong stadium, because you know, I've been to O'Hare.
Speaker 2: It's big, it's a monster of an airport like, and
Speaker 2: it's very, very easy to go the wrong way. So
Speaker 2: you know, I imagine was he supposed to be at Wrigley?
Speaker 2: Who knows?
Speaker 1: Just sees the ivy going further away in the rear
Speaker 1: view mirror. Hang on, what isn't that? Well? Oh, hang
Speaker 1: on right, Let's do another round then rob back to you.
Speaker 1: Who's Who's another player that you liked the move for
Speaker 1: this this winter.
Speaker 2: We've got so many here that I want to talk about,
Speaker 2: but not many of them about actually being any good
Speaker 2: at anything. Let's give it a stupid one then, so
Speaker 2: and we'll go that Homer pick I liked the trade
Speaker 2: of between the Reggie's the Pirates and the Astros, which
Speaker 2: sent Brandon, Mason Montgomery and Jake Marriingham to the Pirates
Speaker 2: for a couple of prospects, and someone else somehow also
Speaker 2: the Astros got involved. And I really like it for
Speaker 2: the Pirates because there are some really good guys here
Speaker 2: and it almost feels like it's a bit of a
Speaker 2: bit of an undo of the the Chris Arch trade
Speaker 2: a few years ago, because that was a disaster for
Speaker 2: the Pirates to the Rays, and I think like this
Speaker 2: is going back the other way because I do not
Speaker 2: get this. Sure, the Rays want to trade on Loud
Speaker 2: before he before he hits free agency, but Mason Montgomery
Speaker 2: is an absolute flame throwing lefty who's just not quite
Speaker 2: got there yet, and Jake Mangham has has speed and
Speaker 2: and on base to spare like, like, there's some really
Speaker 2: interesting guys here, but they've just spaffed them away for
Speaker 2: some sure, some prospects, but you know who knows how
Speaker 2: good they are, and yes, it's the Rays, so these
Speaker 2: will probably turned out fantastic. But right now, this looks
Speaker 2: like the Pirates have done the damn good job and
Speaker 2: they're going to have a much better, better showing of it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: maybe maybe the Pirates aren't the place to fix Mason Montgomery.
Speaker 2: I don't know, and you know Brandon that will be
Speaker 2: just another interchangeable bloke in that in that in field.
Speaker 2: But I think it's a good move for them. Had
Speaker 2: a bad mood for the Raise. Maybe I'll be proven
Speaker 2: wrong in the long run, but there we go. I
Speaker 2: like that one. I like one for the Pirates.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad you weighed on that because I wouldn't
Speaker 1: have been able to give you quite as much detail
Speaker 1: on some of the guys on the on the rail side.
Speaker 1: But I think injecting a bit of talent and young
Speaker 1: players to the Pittsburgh one up, it's a good thing.
Speaker 1: They know they were sniffing around cultural with for a bit.
Speaker 1: Weren't they always claiming they were sniffing around cultural with
Speaker 1: for a bit, which never really felt like it had
Speaker 1: any legs. But yeah, that's a nice move. I think
Speaker 1: they also signed Ryano herndon't they, So it feels like
Speaker 1: they're trying to do things that make the team better,
Speaker 1: which isn't always given with with the Pirates. So so
Speaker 1: that's that's nice for them. And yeah the Rais, I
Speaker 1: mean you kind of assume there's always something that they
Speaker 1: know that we don't, but this one does seem a
Speaker 1: little puzzling. Yeah, Darius, if you see it the same.
Speaker 3: Way, Yeah, it definitely wasn't the normal reaction you have
Speaker 3: to a pirates trade, which is usually either they've just
Speaker 3: made a horrible mistake or he's dumping a load of money.
Speaker 3: Those are usually the two types of pirates trade. If
Speaker 3: they had to happen to be spending any money on
Speaker 3: anybody in the first place, then they usually got rid
Speaker 3: of it pretty quick. So yeah, it's moderately encouraging. It's
Speaker 3: still very pirates codly, doesn't it. When I think Ryan
Speaker 3: o Hearn's their biggest free agent deal for about ten
Speaker 3: years or something, isn't he twenty nine million dollars? We're
Speaker 3: not quite there, but you know, it sounds like they
Speaker 3: were genuinely engaged or war. But it seems like maybe
Speaker 3: they're trying to surround Paul Skins with a team that
Speaker 3: could consimably hit a little bit, which would be nice
Speaker 3: for the poor guy. So yeah, I'm moderately encouraged by
Speaker 3: the Pirates attempts, and they certainly got some talent. I
Speaker 3: love watching Montgomery pitch when you know he knows where
Speaker 3: the ball is going. So yeah, I think it could
Speaker 3: be a pretty good treade for.
Speaker 1: Them, moderately encouraged, about as excited has anyone's ever been
Speaker 1: about the Pittsburgh Pirates. So that's that's a good start
Speaker 1: for them. Dish, go back to you, what's your next
Speaker 1: favorite transaction?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I'm actually going to go with the
Speaker 3: other the third MPB signing, Kazima Okamoto signing with the
Speaker 3: Blue Jays. Just in general, been really impressed with the
Speaker 3: way the Blue Jays have approached this offseason. You know,
Speaker 3: they're not sat there going well, we made it to
Speaker 3: the World Series, we'll just run it back. They've really
Speaker 3: gone out hard and look to upgrade their lineup, not
Speaker 3: just with the Kamoto, but they've also added Dylan Cease
Speaker 3: to the rotation. Obviously, but I like Okamota more than
Speaker 3: Murk Army. I think he seems like a more stable profile.
Speaker 3: He's got a bit more defensive versatility to him. He's
Speaker 3: going to hit for a much higher average and that
Speaker 3: lineup is looking pretty deadly to me. So yeah, excited
Speaker 3: to see him play. I think really excited to see
Speaker 3: Toronto this season. Because they were already a pretty great
Speaker 3: team last year and they've got better. So yeah, good
Speaker 3: move for them.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I don't know a lot about him, but
Speaker 1: that feels like, yeah, a low risk move, exciting one,
Speaker 1: and like say, that lineup was already so good that
Speaker 1: if this is something that helps push them over the
Speaker 1: h they're going to certainly be a well series contendent
Speaker 1: once again this year, which will be fun. For my
Speaker 1: next one, I'll go with the obvious, I'll go I'll
Speaker 1: go with Alex Bregman, who signed last week with with
Speaker 1: the Chicago Cubs. I think, yeah, one of those big
Speaker 1: dominoes that we've waited a bit on to fall. Rob
Speaker 1: shaking his head at me, I look, no, I don't
Speaker 1: like it. I like Bregman as a player, and I look,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of money, and he probably isn't the
Speaker 1: player he was three or four years ago, and I
Speaker 1: think you can make the argument that his reputation has
Speaker 1: maybe always outstripped his actual production. But I think the
Speaker 1: clubs had to go out and do something. Having let
Speaker 1: Tucker walk for free. I like Bregman is a fit
Speaker 1: for them, even though their inn field is now very crowded.
Speaker 1: I think a right handed bat is good. I think
Speaker 1: he's a great locker room presence. I love the fact
Speaker 1: that they signed him about an hour before the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears pulled off one of the craziest playoff comebacks of
Speaker 1: all time, Like what a night to be in Chicago,
Speaker 1: as those two things kind of happened all in the
Speaker 1: space of a few hours. And I like the other
Speaker 1: moved they made last week picking up Shane bats which,
Speaker 1: sorry Cabrera, which feels like a nice move for them,
Speaker 1: getting some extra help for the rotation. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that they needed to kind of get off their hands
Speaker 1: and do something and look that that break my contract
Speaker 1: might not look great come at the very end of it,
Speaker 1: but if you don't, what's the point in keeping this
Speaker 1: money if you're not going to spend it. He was
Speaker 1: probably the best player Tucker Aside left on the market,
Speaker 1: So a good yeah, good move for them to go
Speaker 1: out and get him and make them better. But Rob,
Speaker 1: I can really feel you ready to rebuke me.
Speaker 2: Hey, look, I have no issue with the number of
Speaker 2: years and the money. That's that's what you have to pay.
Speaker 2: That's absolutely fine. My problem is the the Cubs of
Speaker 2: let Tucker go like this like in isolation. Fine, yeah,
Speaker 2: no problem at all. I had bregmant, it's a great
Speaker 2: move into maybe, as you say, a slightly crowded in field.
Speaker 2: But this isn't Tucker. Like this if you've let Tucker
Speaker 2: go and you've got this like, this is not a
Speaker 2: good trade. Like if they were to trade these guys
Speaker 2: one for one, you'd be like, what the hell has
Speaker 2: happened here? This a disaster? So no Cubs do better? Like, hey,
Speaker 2: they have time, maybe they will do better. Maybe Tucker
Speaker 2: will go there. I don't think he will. But this
Speaker 2: isn't isn't making up for it, and it says smoke
Speaker 2: and mirrors trying to make us think that they are
Speaker 2: making up for it. But it is not enough, And
Speaker 2: so I don't think they deserve their qdos for you know,
Speaker 2: I was trying to think of something like, you know,
Speaker 2: they they've they've they've chucked the gold out and they'd
Speaker 2: be like, yeah, well we'll have that that copper. Let's
Speaker 2: let's take that instead that that's what they've done here.
Speaker 2: It's it's not a not a good trade. So don't
Speaker 2: let them put the smoke of mirrors over your eyes.
Speaker 2: It's not good. They've they've they've traded silk for cotton
Speaker 2: fair enough.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, I don't disagree. I Tuck is a
Speaker 1: better player, and if you're going to spend the money,
Speaker 1: why not spend it all and get him back. But
Speaker 1: it feels like all the money, for whatever reason, that
Speaker 1: relationship had fallen apart a little bit. And yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know how seriously they made a play for Tucker
Speaker 1: or whether they just got too rich for their for
Speaker 1: their taste, but at least they went out and did something.
Speaker 1: I guess there are a lot of teams that haven't
Speaker 1: done much at all, so I like that for them.
Speaker 1: There has any strong views on the Bregman deal, I.
Speaker 3: Still see where rober is coming from, and I feel
Speaker 3: similarly about the Cabrari deal, sort of in the isolation.
Speaker 3: Also like quite an interesting player, different point in his career,
Speaker 3: potentially a lot of upside, but it still feels like
Speaker 3: they're playing below the top of the market. And it's
Speaker 3: the Cubs. You know, they should be able to pay
Speaker 3: at the top of the market. You know, they should
Speaker 3: be able to go and get an ace, They should
Speaker 3: be able to bring back car Tucker, and obviously they
Speaker 3: can still do those things, but it seems like they
Speaker 3: are pitching themselves just kind of in that second tier
Speaker 3: a little bit after a season when the Brewers had
Speaker 3: their number yet again. So we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 3: You know, it's never bad to have ad Ex Bregmant
Speaker 3: on your team. But I would like to see the
Speaker 3: Cubs show a little bit more ambition in terms of
Speaker 3: who they are targeting, because they have seemed to shy
Speaker 3: away from these real blockbuster guys when you know, this
Speaker 3: is a top five team in baseball in terms of, like,
Speaker 3: you know, any potential in terms of the amount of
Speaker 3: money they have at their disposal, they should be up there.
Speaker 3: It's you know, the Yankees and the Red Sox, but
Speaker 3: they're not.
Speaker 1: Should do one more round quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got another four, but like I'll take one. Yeah,
Speaker 2: where we want to go? And it's not a good move.
Speaker 2: It's not a it's not a good move. It's a
Speaker 2: move I want to talk about though, And that's Alonso
Speaker 2: to the Orioles. Wow, this is great, This is fantastic.
Speaker 2: Chris Davis too, We've.
Speaker 1: Got another one.
Speaker 2: Everybody, we have another one. I remember watching and just thinking,
Speaker 2: oh God, here comes Chris Davis. G I am so like,
Speaker 2: I really wish this guy was on my team, and
Speaker 2: then Chris Davis happened, and like he even looks a
Speaker 2: bit like him.
Speaker 1: Like there's so many.
Speaker 2: Parallels here with Chris and Peter Alonso.
Speaker 4: So I'm just I'm just absolutely stoked to see this
Speaker 4: all go so horribly wrong in two years time, and
Speaker 4: that you know, I wish on mister Alonzo himself, although
Speaker 4: he seemed like a bit of an odd bloke.
Speaker 2: I just I just love how how this is history
Speaker 2: repeating so horribly. It's it's totally gonna happen. I can
Speaker 2: totally see it, and then no one will talk me
Speaker 2: out of this being Chris Davis Mark too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like we've been waiting for the Peter
Speaker 1: Alonzo fall off for a couple of years now, haven't we,
Speaker 1: And it hasn't really happened yet, but it does feel
Speaker 1: like when it does, it will be dramatic and it
Speaker 1: would be very Orioles for it to happen for them.
Speaker 1: As soon as they signed this huge contract for him.
Speaker 2: I like it.
Speaker 1: It's exciting and it's fun and it's like New Player,
Speaker 1: New City, and god, they already needed to do something,
Speaker 1: didn't they? And I, yeah, I mentioned Baz earlier wrongly
Speaker 1: saying he's going to be compable hit. But that also
Speaker 1: quite exciting for them, Like it feels like they're at
Speaker 1: least they've learned their lesson from las year where they
Speaker 1: kind of didn't do anything, thinking we've got a great
Speaker 1: team and then it all fell apart. So at least
Speaker 1: they're trying. But yeah, that does feel like one that
Speaker 1: could could end in disaster. Darius, who have you got
Speaker 1: an next on your on your list?
Speaker 3: I think I'm gonna pick Josh Naylor back to the Mariners,
Speaker 3: just because Josh Naylor seems like a pretty fun guy.
Speaker 3: The Mariners had a pretty fun time last season, and
Speaker 3: it's nice to see them do something on the hitter side,
Speaker 3: you know, actually keep somebody around who helped their line
Speaker 3: up quite considerably. We'll see whether he comes out and
Speaker 3: you know, steals a ludicrous amount of bases again, but
Speaker 3: it just seems like quite a good personality and they
Speaker 3: seem to love him over there in Seattle. So I
Speaker 3: have given Jerry to put her a lot of grief
Speaker 3: on this podcast over the last few years for not
Speaker 3: supplementing one of baseball's best rotations with offensive players. So
Speaker 3: I thought I should take the opportunity to say, hey,
Speaker 3: well done for actually signing a hitter to a long
Speaker 3: term contract. Yeah.
Speaker 1: My incinent response was, that is a lot of money
Speaker 1: for Josh Naylor, but he has been a productive and
Speaker 1: like I know, you're no one's following his stolen base
Speaker 1: pursuits more placer than you are. That that was unbelievable
Speaker 1: twist in the tail last year where he's only became
Speaker 1: like Baseball's best stolen bas guy. So that, like, that's
Speaker 1: a fun deal, and like you say, it seemed like
Speaker 1: a great fit player in city, another guy who it
Speaker 1: feels like could maybe fall off at a little cliff
Speaker 1: on once the age hits a certain point. But that's yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a fun one. My last one's kind of a
Speaker 1: fun one too. How could I not talk about my
Speaker 1: old favorite player, Noan Arnado, who somehow is still limping
Speaker 1: around the league getting shipped off to the Diamondbacks in
Speaker 1: a pretty major salary dump. From I say salary dump.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are still mostly paying his salary, but he
Speaker 1: will be playing for the Diamondbacks, which, like, is that
Speaker 1: not a perfect fit? You almost think he could have
Speaker 1: been playing for Diamondbacks forever Aaronado, So that that just
Speaker 1: seems to work to me. I think we're past his
Speaker 1: best years at the plate and in the field, but
Speaker 1: he's still an impactful defender. I think in that ballpark
Speaker 1: he could still hit some dingers. So yeah, that's just
Speaker 1: kind of a fun one to have a look at
Speaker 1: the box score every now and again and see if
Speaker 1: no one went deep.
Speaker 2: You know, the Rockies are still paying him five million
Speaker 2: as well. Next year literally play against them, and he will.
Speaker 1: He will hit fifteen against the Rockies. Yeah, we should
Speaker 1: probably finish with maybe a quick go on.
Speaker 3: Was it was it Glaver against against the Orioles one
Speaker 3: year hit like it was?
Speaker 2: It was ridiculous, a bit like eighteen.
Speaker 3: Home runs against them or something when they were just
Speaker 3: drawn up.
Speaker 2: And then against anybody else. Yeah, Yeah, they just couldn't
Speaker 2: get them, and Ben it's coming.
Speaker 1: There's no change there for the Rocket. It could be
Speaker 1: anyone and they'll go deep against the Rockie anywhere. We've
Speaker 1: already dedicated enough airtime to them. Yeah, we should probably
Speaker 1: maybe quickly touch on the range of Suarez deal, which
Speaker 1: literally has been signed. Yeah, an hour or so ago.
Speaker 1: Now he's gone with the Red Sox five years, one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty million, no opt outs, no deferrals. He
Speaker 1: is on the older side, I think twenty nine, maybe thirty,
Speaker 1: so this will take him through to his mid thirties.
Speaker 1: And he's never really been a power pitcher has He's
Speaker 1: more of the deception and control and movement guy. I
Speaker 1: think the Red Sox maybe this was a slight knee
Speaker 1: jerk reaction to getting piped to Bregman feel like they
Speaker 1: had to go out there and do something, But it
Speaker 1: definitely makes irritation stronger for this year. So it appeels
Speaker 1: to me like a nice deal. You're never going to
Speaker 1: get a guy of his caliber for less years than that.
Speaker 1: I think it's. Yeah, it's not going to hamstring them
Speaker 1: too much, So my opinion, good deal.
Speaker 2: Rob Agree, Oh, totally agree. Absolutely That Red Sox team
Speaker 2: is quietly going to be chipping away right up behind
Speaker 2: the Blue Jays, so I actually have them in my
Speaker 2: mind slightly head of Blue Jay's at this point.
Speaker 1: But yeah, absolutely there is any concern about his stuff
Speaker 1: translating in the next few years, No, I.
Speaker 3: Don't think so. You know, he's been a pretty solid
Speaker 3: picture I mean, there is some uncertainty around exactly what
Speaker 3: the Red Sox in field looks like. Obviously, I got
Speaker 3: a lot of very young players who have not really
Speaker 3: proven themselves yet. We don't know what's gonna happen with
Speaker 3: Marcel and Mayer. We don't know what's gonna happen with
Speaker 3: Christian Campbell. Trevor Story is probably not the best defensive
Speaker 3: shortstop at the age of thirty three, so for a
Speaker 3: groundball guy like the Ranger, you know, maybe not the
Speaker 3: best fit for him in that regard, But it's you know,
Speaker 3: the Red Sox having put Gray and Suarez into this rotation,
Speaker 3: I think it's exactly what they needed to do behind
Speaker 3: Garrett Crochet. So yeah, good for them. And he's still
Speaker 3: I think he tens thirty this season, so it's not
Speaker 3: like they're signing him into his late thirties or anything.
Speaker 3: I think it's fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it's a pretty mean one two three for them.
Speaker 1: Now they'll be yeah, forcing me reckon with this year.
Speaker 1: Should we quickly do predictions for the sort of remaining
Speaker 1: big free agents. I think we've got a list of
Speaker 1: six of them here that have guesses.
Speaker 2: I've only got five, got five it's a good start.
Speaker 1: I haven't made my own predictions for any of them yet,
Speaker 1: so this is going to be made up on the fly.
Speaker 1: But I imagine by the time this podcast even comes out,
Speaker 1: one or two of them we'll sign again. As I say,
Speaker 1: it does feel like the dominos are starting to fall now,
Speaker 1: and we're obviously getting closer to pictures and catchers reporting
Speaker 1: and players getting a bit panicky if they haven't got
Speaker 1: a team. Let's start with the big dog, Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 1: Rob Kyle Tucker next year will be playing four the.
Speaker 2: It's the Mets, which is a really stupid boring answer,
Speaker 2: because you know the offer is on the table, it's
Speaker 2: big money, and it looks like it's going to happen.
Speaker 2: So I've done my very very best with these predictions
Speaker 2: to go at least a little bit off p But
Speaker 2: this one, I just it's rail roaded. He will be
Speaker 2: a Met or outside chancey Yankee if they can get
Speaker 2: rid of Stanton somehow, but otherwise he's going to New York.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I also think Mets to Tucker feels like the
Speaker 1: Mets a bat themselves into a corner where they kind
Speaker 1: of have to sign him now because they've missed out
Speaker 1: on everyone else that would be an impact bat. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think he inevitably will be in there. I mean,
Speaker 1: inly see what contract looks like. If it ends up
Speaker 1: being a high AAV short deal length contract where he
Speaker 1: gets opped outs again, because that sounds like it's maybe
Speaker 1: the way it's trending, or if it's just one of
Speaker 1: those monster ten year deals, we'll be interesting to see. Darius,
Speaker 1: You've got a more interesting answer for us, I.
Speaker 3: Think interesting but still plausible. The Phillies. I think the
Speaker 3: Phillies need help right like that, so I would would
Speaker 3: like to see that.
Speaker 1: Obviously.
Speaker 3: I'd like to the Giants do it because they definitely
Speaker 3: need help in right field, but they're not going to
Speaker 3: because the Giants are the most mid team that has
Speaker 3: ever been in existence.
Speaker 1: Let's do the mid all infield, then Bobaschet. Darius, where's
Speaker 1: Bobusche going? It?
Speaker 2: Feel?
Speaker 3: It feels like he's getting back to the Blue Jays somehow,
Speaker 3: just because of the way they properate. Yeah, there are
Speaker 3: a lot of people that need second basement, but I
Speaker 3: don't know how many of them are going to pay
Speaker 3: what it takes to get Bobuschet. I feel like I
Speaker 3: haven't heard so many rumblings about Bishet either the Red
Speaker 3: Sox of the other team that I could kind of
Speaker 3: see it just so they don't have to think about
Speaker 3: this headache of what what exactly is are infield. That
Speaker 3: would certainly tie up a spot for them. Again, you'd
Speaker 3: worry about a Bischette story middle infield convo probably, but yeah,
Speaker 3: I could. I could see them getting in the mix
Speaker 3: for him as well.
Speaker 2: I had Bichette downs as Red Sox. It's on my
Speaker 2: short list, but I've actually I've actually gone to the Astros.
Speaker 2: I feel like there is a nice fit for for
Speaker 2: Bichette again. I think his bat plays nicely there. And
Speaker 2: you know, Dubona now to a second, aren't doing it
Speaker 2: for me. I'll too, is obviously shipping out to the
Speaker 2: outfield and then off to you know, a canoe being
Speaker 2: pushed out and set on fire, because that's where that's going.
Speaker 2: And Dubaran is great, but he's a he's a you know,
Speaker 2: he's a utility guy. He's gonna be all over the shop.
Speaker 2: You don't want to you don't want to stick him
Speaker 2: at second and keep him there. So I would see
Speaker 2: Bishett being a nice little fit for for Houston, which
Speaker 2: has some money to spend because they've had a bit
Speaker 2: of cash off the books. So I reckon he could
Speaker 2: go there. It's probably a little bit bit late for
Speaker 2: like a big long contract at this point, so maybe
Speaker 2: like a two years, three years with opt outs, and
Speaker 2: then he'll see where he can where he can go
Speaker 2: if he if he rakes, But I like, I like
Speaker 2: Houston for him.
Speaker 3: Before we get angry, I'm going to I'll just point
Speaker 3: out that Mauricio Dube is that with the Braves.
Speaker 2: Was he When did that happen? When did that happen?
Speaker 1: Quite a while, I think, oh man got bull this
Speaker 1: is embarrassed.
Speaker 2: Well that even what it just plays even more into
Speaker 2: my hands. Then we absolutely need we need mister Bouchette
Speaker 2: in in in Houston, Dubar to the breeze. That makes
Speaker 2: no sense to me, no sense whatsoever. Send him back.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna take this one in the direction
Speaker 1: that feels like it'd be a nice fit just for
Speaker 1: a player and team, and and that is with your Giants, Darius.
Speaker 1: I don't have no idea who plays or be playing
Speaker 1: second base with the Giants this year, but it feels
Speaker 1: like Bshet would be an upgrade on whoever that warm
Speaker 1: body is and it just feels like a nice Katy
Speaker 1: Schmidt there you go. No disrespect to Katy Schmidt, but
Speaker 1: I think grade for them, and yeah, like they definitely
Speaker 1: need some help in that lineup they are, they are mid,
Speaker 1: so maybe that precludes him from making a big swing
Speaker 1: for him, But I think on one of those deals
Speaker 1: Broad mentioned, that's yeah, like with the opt outs, it
Speaker 1: could be quite a nice move. Let him have a
Speaker 1: have a good season or two there and see where
Speaker 1: things stand after that. But they yeah, they certainly use
Speaker 1: a help. I think someone reported they were in the
Speaker 1: market for a trade to trade for a second basement,
Speaker 1: why not go out and just spend a bit of
Speaker 1: money and and bring Buschet in and kind of get
Speaker 1: the best guy available.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they have been looking at Brendan Donovan and Nico
Speaker 3: Horner apparently, so clearly clearly appetite to do something there.
Speaker 3: But yeah, do you think more exciting than you know,
Speaker 3: Adrian Hauser and this kind of thing with Adrian Houser.
Speaker 1: We've only got one lefty or dominating left at least
Speaker 1: left on the market now with the swazign that's fran
Speaker 1: Ba Valdez formerly the Houston Astros. Do we think he
Speaker 1: stays in Houston? Do you have him going elsewhere? What
Speaker 1: do you reckon?
Speaker 2: Run Orioles. The only way the ridiculous situation of trading
Speaker 2: what's his face, It's gonna come to me, Grace Rodriguez.
Speaker 2: The only way it makes any sense is if they
Speaker 2: if they absolutely flood with with other signings. Now they
Speaker 2: they've got the the Alonso, so they're clearly pushing chips in.
Speaker 2: So yeah, absolutely they've got to go get pitching, and
Speaker 2: he fits there. Why not, Let's let's have him as
Speaker 2: an Oriel.
Speaker 1: I think that'd be fun. They definitely need an ace,
Speaker 1: don't they, even with Yeah, some of the moves they've
Speaker 1: already made so that that feels like someone they could
Speaker 1: at least Plausa. The need like a fun line starter, and.
Speaker 3: Everybody needs to.
Speaker 2: Be nobody more than the Orioles, Nobody more than the Oriols.
Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, honestly, the Mets should sign him because
Speaker 3: Steve has an infinite amount of money and like I
Speaker 3: like Nolan mcclaim. He looks really good last season, but
Speaker 3: he is pretty much their number one by default, and
Speaker 3: I believe he's still technically a rookie because he pitched
Speaker 3: under fifteen last season, so I'm not sure about that rotation.
Speaker 3: That's there's a lot of question marks going on there.
Speaker 3: I think they could do with a nice frum with
Speaker 3: our beds.
Speaker 1: I will send him to the Padres. It feels like
Speaker 1: they've had a really quiet winter. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that's like that just because they're doing luxury tax things
Speaker 1: and trying not to spend or what the explanation is,
Speaker 1: but usually they're one of the big animators, it feels
Speaker 1: like in the off season, and that doesn't seem to
Speaker 1: have been the case so far. So yeah, why not
Speaker 1: chuck down another sort of frontline starter who can help
Speaker 1: them compete in that division and try and haul back
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. So to the Padres Hody Bellinger?
Speaker 2: That makes sense.
Speaker 1: Where is lub bell Ringer headed next?
Speaker 2: Rob? This is difficult. I feel like he's to overly
Speaker 2: use and far too obvious joke. He's a bit high
Speaker 2: on his own supply here. He seems to be holding
Speaker 2: out for a deal that I'm not sure is there, so,
Speaker 2: I mean the obvious answer is Yankees. He stays put
Speaker 2: gets gets some big cash to be where he is.
Speaker 2: But if you look around the league and think where
Speaker 2: might he be some use, Like, you know, if he
Speaker 2: went to the Brewers, they're high right now, Like I
Speaker 2: could see him play a bit of a bit of
Speaker 2: outfielding the Brewer for the Brewers. So I'm going to
Speaker 2: go with Brewers, knowing full well they're not going to
Speaker 2: stump up the kind of cash he's looking for. But
Speaker 2: that's based on maybe he doesn't get the deal he
Speaker 2: wants from the Yankees and he finds himself just out
Speaker 2: in the cold, So yeah, let's go for Brewers.
Speaker 3: There is Yeah, I mean it's I'm assuming the Yankees
Speaker 3: are the boring answer. I'm like, that makes the most sense,
Speaker 3: but it is kind of hard, like that's where all
Speaker 3: the buzzer's been, you know, nobody else is just Bellinger
Speaker 3: doesn't want to side with the Yankees unless they give
Speaker 3: them two more years. The Yankees really wanting back, but
Speaker 3: they're not going to give them two more years. At
Speaker 3: some point. It feels like they're just going to more
Speaker 3: of concord and yeah, get one more year, or they'll
Speaker 3: give them a higher av or an extra opt out
Speaker 3: or something. And they'll just bring him back. I'll just
Speaker 3: say who ought to do it, which is the Tigers
Speaker 3: remained unconvinced by the Tigers lineup for much of last season.
Speaker 3: They've got the odd bright spot. But you know when
Speaker 3: when Seal Prayers is playing right field for them, you
Speaker 3: know they could use the help. Like is Spencer talkers
Speaker 3: and really likes he come good? Now are we convinced?
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't know if we're convinced. You know, it feels
Speaker 3: like the Tigers are the kind of team where guy
Speaker 3: like Benen you play all three out field sports, play
Speaker 3: first base. You've just got that safety. Then you've got
Speaker 3: the cover. You can count on him. So I would
Speaker 3: like to soon do that and you know, actually dominate
Speaker 3: the Al Central properly instead of letting Cleveland come back
Speaker 3: into it again. They won't. I would like to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he ends up with the Yankees or
Speaker 1: the Mets would be the other team again, partly because
Speaker 1: they backed into a corner of feeling that they need
Speaker 1: to spend some money with some of the names that
Speaker 1: have left them. Partly because I think that would just
Speaker 1: be a fun fit to send him there. He Yeah,
Speaker 1: it does feel odd because I think he's probably gonna
Speaker 1: end up getting offers similar to what he just opted
Speaker 1: out of, which puts him in a slightly embarrassing spot
Speaker 1: of taking a very similar deal to the one he
Speaker 1: just decided he wanted to test the market to see
Speaker 1: if he could better. But yeah, I think that'd be
Speaker 1: a fun fit and it would help shore up some
Speaker 1: of the power they've lost from that lineup this offseason.
Speaker 1: So yeah, put them down to the to the Mets
Speaker 1: final two. Then we can quickly go through Zach Gallon.
Speaker 1: Where is Zach Gallon going? We'll start with you this time, Darius.
Speaker 3: This feels like a Giants move because he probably is
Speaker 3: coming up a pretty bad season. I could totally see
Speaker 3: them doing what they've done with quite a few guys
Speaker 3: over the last few years, thinking of like Kevin Garsman,
Speaker 3: for example, where you know people have maybe not quite
Speaker 3: lived up to their expected level. Giants have come in,
Speaker 3: you know, signed a one year deal or something, but
Speaker 3: they can opt out after one year, rehabilitate the profile,
Speaker 3: and then move on somewhere else. Giants have been fishing
Speaker 3: around in this part of the market, so yeah, I
Speaker 3: could I could believe them going after another another starting
Speaker 3: picture here and just rounding out their rotation.
Speaker 2: I would see the obvious answer feels like he stays
Speaker 2: put where he is, but again boring. So I went
Speaker 2: with the Pirates because Gallon is a bit like Galleon,
Speaker 2: and that's what Pirates ride on. So you know, you've
Speaker 2: fit nicely and there's a three or four guy in there,
Speaker 2: and with some upside if these if he gets back
Speaker 2: to the zach of old. So yeah, Pirates, all I said,
Speaker 2: Orioles because again they need pitching and they should be
Speaker 2: buying everyone. But yeah, Pirates, let's go with that one.
Speaker 1: That's a fun one. I like that. I'll send him
Speaker 1: to to the Cubs. They've you know, deferred from the
Speaker 1: Bregma money, They've got plenty more to spend. I think
Speaker 1: their rotation could still use an upgrade or two. So
Speaker 1: I'm kind of just picture him at Wrigley, you know,
Speaker 1: with the nice facial hair and the IVY in the background.
Speaker 1: So go into the Cubs final one. IV It just
Speaker 1: goes well together, doesn't it. Not that I would know
Speaker 1: we're gonna do a Suarez who who are good? John
Speaker 1: McGee thought had signed with the Red Sox tonight when
Speaker 1: he saw the report that Suarez had gone there and
Speaker 1: almost lost his head completely. Uh, fortunately the other Suarez
Speaker 1: they signed. But maybe you guys think he's gonna end
Speaker 1: up with the Red Sox. Anyway, where where do you
Speaker 1: see our favorite big bopper, au Henny O ending up Darius?
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a tough one. I don't know who
Speaker 3: needs that helped the most. I almost want to say
Speaker 3: something a bit off the wall, like the Nationals, because
Speaker 3: the Nationals are all like twelve, and it feels like
Speaker 3: they could maybe do with one piece of veteran leadership
Speaker 3: from the clubhouse. And by all accounts, a Helio is
Speaker 3: just a tremendous clubhouse guy. And you know they'll started
Speaker 3: him and then they'll trade him at mid season because
Speaker 3: they'll be twenty games under five hundred and everybody will
Speaker 3: be happy. So I'm just going to say the Nationals
Speaker 3: because yeah, I think it would be funny.
Speaker 2: Feels like the Angels are going to spend far too
Speaker 2: much money on him. It's got Angels written all over it,
Speaker 2: like the you know Rendom's got like no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: that was a bad move. So yeah, I reckon, I
Speaker 2: reckon He's going to the Angels. Failing that Japan.
Speaker 1: Oh.
Speaker 2: I like that.
Speaker 1: It does feel like he could You could like kind
Speaker 1: of make an argument with him going almost anywhere. It's
Speaker 1: just one of those players that, yeah, we're just kind
Speaker 1: of fit. I'll maybe follow a little bit your suggestion, Darius,
Speaker 1: of having him or as a mental figure for a
Speaker 1: team that's trying to change their culture. I'll send them
Speaker 1: to the Pirates who still need more in that lineup.
Speaker 1: Can actually pitch him in Pirates Colors. But I think.
Speaker 3: It's hard to imagine any free agents in Pirates Colors
Speaker 3: because they don't really.
Speaker 2: Unless they're about to finish their career.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they think they could use a third base when
Speaker 1: they could use any position, couldn't they. And that might
Speaker 1: be a nice fit with some of the younger talent
Speaker 1: they've got, and Murakami is or not Murakami, sorry, with
Speaker 1: who they signed. If I signed anyone, never mind, that's
Speaker 1: that would be a nice fit for them.
Speaker 3: I do quite like Rob' suggestion, because currently the Angels
Speaker 3: have like Vaughan Grisome, a second base who Red Sox
Speaker 3: obviously just cast aside because they don't think he's any good.
Speaker 3: So you could totally believe in just moving Christian More
Speaker 3: back to second base and signing as far as the
Speaker 3: third unreasonably long amount of time, and you know.
Speaker 1: That he would either be the worst player in baseball
Speaker 1: or the best, or would just alternate month by month,
Speaker 1: because that's just what he does, and that's what the
Speaker 1: Angels do.
Speaker 3: The Angel. The Angels would get like a seventy WRC
Speaker 3: plus out of him for three months and then he'll
Speaker 3: go somewhere else and be great.
Speaker 1: That's it, That is the answer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, back to Seattle again and yeah taking to the
Speaker 2: playoffs excellent.
Speaker 1: Well that's that sorted. Then the rest of the off
Speaker 1: season spoiled for you. I'm afraid, folks, I thought we
Speaker 1: could quickly. We've not got much more to chat about.
Speaker 1: But another bit of slightly funky news that came out
Speaker 1: this week is that Kaufelman Stadium, the kay home of
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Royals, it's going to be getting a
Speaker 1: makeover this off season. They're going to be bringing the
Speaker 1: walls in closer. The dimensions will slightly change. Maybe Darius,
Speaker 1: you can speak a bit more to the exact impact
Speaker 1: is going to have on players and stats, because it's
Speaker 1: quite interesting one. You know, your initial thought is great.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be more home runs that will help out
Speaker 1: all the hitters there. But Kaufman has always rated as
Speaker 1: a relatively hit a friendly park, partly because of the
Speaker 1: amount of space in the outfield rights, which will now change.
Speaker 1: So maybe some of those line drives that are getting
Speaker 1: down will become outs, but also some of those fly
Speaker 1: balls that were outs will become home runs. So yeah,
Speaker 1: what what's your initial take on whether this is good
Speaker 1: for those you know, young Royals hitters or actually, is
Speaker 1: it kind of much of a muchness and there'll be
Speaker 1: fewer doubles more home runs net result is kind of
Speaker 1: the same thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, they had some interesting comments about this
Speaker 3: which sort of suggested that they were sick and tired
Speaker 3: of watching their players change their approach because they thought
Speaker 3: they weren't going to hit any home runs, which Rors
Speaker 3: were like twenty sixth in home runs last season. It's
Speaker 3: not wrong, so I'll be interested to see what the
Speaker 3: impact is in that regard. They have currently a very
Speaker 3: low strikeout team, so I do worry a little bit
Speaker 3: that they've sort of already assembled a roster that in
Speaker 3: fact does not know how to hit home runs. They
Speaker 3: therefore this isn't going to go that well as well
Speaker 3: for them as it might for say their opponents, you know,
Speaker 3: Vinnie Pascantino and Salvador whereas maybe they will hit war
Speaker 3: home runs Bobby wit Junior. Yeah, but then who's next,
Speaker 3: Like who is on this roster that you're thinking, Wow,
Speaker 3: that guy's going to hit loads more home runs?
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: I don't think Jack Caglione's problem is like how close
Speaker 3: the fences are, will you make contact with the baseball?
Speaker 3: And yeah, then it's like, yeah, kylesball's not going to
Speaker 3: hit more loads of home runs because you've moved the
Speaker 3: fences in ten feet. So I have my concerns. But
Speaker 3: maybe they're thinking about this more in the long term
Speaker 3: than the short term, and that it will hopefully make
Speaker 3: their younger hitters not change their approach to become more
Speaker 3: contact oriented. I think it's going to hurt their pictures
Speaker 3: quite a bit. And I do also wonder about that
Speaker 3: from the opposite perspective of how many of them have
Speaker 3: just been like, yeah, I'll give them flyball that's not
Speaker 3: going to go out of the park, and find that
Speaker 3: it is now going to go out of the park.
Speaker 3: But you know that the people running the Royals seem
Speaker 3: to be a lot smarter than the people previously running
Speaker 3: the Royals used to be, so they've done all the
Speaker 3: maths and they've figured out that this is going to
Speaker 3: be good for them in the long one.
Speaker 1: I do love the idea of the Royals being like,
Speaker 1: this is great, our guys are going to hit so
Speaker 1: many more home runs now, and then realizing opening Day
Speaker 1: that now the other team can also hit home runs.
Speaker 1: Hang on, this wasn't part of the calculations at all,
Speaker 1: but it feels like this is a good news for
Speaker 1: Bobbywit Junior Rob that you know, he's an MVP candidate
Speaker 1: as it is, does this help him become, you know,
Speaker 1: a fifty home run guy and dominate baseball for the
Speaker 1: next five years more so than anybody has.
Speaker 2: Well, anything that puts that extra a little bit on
Speaker 2: top four him does help, because you know, the Royals
Speaker 2: not the biggest market team, they don't get the most coverage.
Speaker 2: You know, you're often not looking at the Royals when
Speaker 2: good things are happening. So you know, if he has
Speaker 2: some Hollywood numbers on his home run hitting that that
Speaker 2: really can't help him, can't hurt him. Sorry, get a
Speaker 2: few eyes on him because the game's already there. He's
Speaker 2: already good enough. It's just no one's looking. So you know,
Speaker 2: let's have some flashy starts that make more people look.
Speaker 2: So yeah, probably it will probably probably do a bit
Speaker 2: for his profile certainly.
Speaker 1: And the team on your hat, the Oriols. When did
Speaker 1: they bring their fences in? Was that two years ago? Now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't good.
Speaker 1: Was it like this?
Speaker 2: I was thinking that, Well, I see I've thought about
Speaker 2: this the last few years every time someone's brought the
Speaker 2: fences or moved the fence, and we've had a bit
Speaker 2: of a discussion about it. I ever really remember it
Speaker 2: being particularly positive. You know, the Marlins did it, and
Speaker 2: and the Orioles did it, and you know when the
Speaker 2: Astros did it, they took out the fun hill at
Speaker 2: the back and the you know tolls hill that went.
Speaker 2: So you know, when was the last time someone moved
Speaker 2: the fences and we were like, oh, actually, this is
Speaker 2: fantastic because I don't remember it happening.
Speaker 1: No, it's a good point. I'm sure there are numbers
Speaker 1: to back up, maybe darish you know some of them
Speaker 1: then was to back up like the exact part factor
Speaker 1: effect of some of these changes. But you're right that,
Speaker 1: at least from a watching the game perspective, it doesn't
Speaker 1: suddenly feel like, oh my god, that one went out,
Speaker 1: that one never goes out now that some of these
Speaker 1: teams have moved them in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's complicated. I think we're certainly working
Speaker 3: on modeling it at the moment at BP. But if
Speaker 3: the Royals theory is correct and their players change their
Speaker 3: behavior based on where the fences are, then that may
Speaker 3: all sort of be a bit irrelevant. Anyway, if they
Speaker 3: start trying to hit more fly balls, for example, I
Speaker 3: might find that the effects are outsized, so it will
Speaker 3: be interesting to see. I have been trying to think
Speaker 3: about an answer to Rob's question. But if there was
Speaker 3: a massive success story of somebody moving the fences in
Speaker 3: and it seemed to greatly benefit their team more than
Speaker 3: it hurt them, and one isn't coming to mind. Apparently
Speaker 3: the Royals did do this like back in the late
Speaker 3: nineties before for like six or seven years, and they
Speaker 3: just went back to the old dimensions again it worked
Speaker 3: and that they hit more home runs. I don't think
Speaker 3: the Royals were good in the late nineties, but I'm
Speaker 3: not that Okay, with their history of playoff appearances.
Speaker 1: Look it up. I find it hard to raise.
Speaker 2: Did cut a tiny little chunk out of the left field?
Speaker 2: It was for Carl Crawford, a tiny little chunk out
Speaker 2: and that's exactly where that ball went over on game
Speaker 2: one six one six two forios. So hate look that
Speaker 2: that worked, that tiny little cutup they put in.
Speaker 3: Well, that's what suggesting is that teams should just really
Speaker 3: specifically tailor bits of their park to certain players.
Speaker 1: Was that just?
Speaker 2: I mean, this was very specific. I mean I was
Speaker 2: im honest, I was just vamping while you looked up
Speaker 2: how good the Royals were in their last last fence
Speaker 2: move period. But what we got.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it was ninety six or ninety seven,
Speaker 3: though we did it. So they finished when the division
Speaker 3: was fifth, fifth, third, fourth, fourth, fifth, fourth, and then
Speaker 3: I think I think they went back in two thousand
Speaker 3: and three. I think it was so the most games
Speaker 3: they won in that period was seventy seven.
Speaker 2: Fantastic, well done.
Speaker 1: Well done, you lot, that's very good. I'll just move
Speaker 1: their fences back.
Speaker 2: They did score more runs, so did the opposition.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they scored a lot more runs than allowed even
Speaker 3: more runs.
Speaker 1: Funny how that works well, yeah, yeah, we were segueing there,
Speaker 1: I think into into a fun hypothescal that feels like
Speaker 1: your street Robie, Who which ballpark do we want to
Speaker 1: see changed next? You know it doesn't happen very often,
Speaker 1: but where are you putting your next cutout of the
Speaker 1: wall area or walls moving in or back or higher
Speaker 1: or lower. Any ballparks come to mind as needing a
Speaker 1: refresh when it comes to the dimensions.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean yeah, the team I follows in the
Speaker 2: Al East, so we've got stupid pinball park in Boston.
Speaker 2: We could cut a great big hole in that so
Speaker 2: that you know, we have a I don't mind the
Speaker 2: top bit, so if it goes up really really high
Speaker 2: that find it's a home run. But let's kind of
Speaker 2: let's kind of shallow it out so that you can
Speaker 2: have a normal, normal, sort of lower level for line
Speaker 2: drives and stuff rather than banging off everything. So that
Speaker 2: that was one option. The other option on Lee is,
Speaker 2: you know, get rid of the stupid short porch in
Speaker 2: in Yankee Field. But I thought the real answer, the
Speaker 2: correct answer here is it's not so much about the dimensions,
Speaker 2: but we need to put the fish tanks back in Miami.
Speaker 1: Ah, yeah, you know nobody.
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody. I mean, obviously the statue should
Speaker 2: go back, because you know, it's become the dullest park
Speaker 2: in Major League Baseball. But you know, I don't think
Speaker 2: you'll find anybody arguing other than maybe Peter, that the
Speaker 2: fish tanks were not an improvement on what we currently have.
Speaker 2: What was gea thinking.
Speaker 1: Anything?
Speaker 3: What is thinking anything?
Speaker 1: The man is more fun than I am on board with.
Speaker 1: Just to understand your Famway Park idea, are you saying
Speaker 1: the green monster should should should sort of bend like this, Yes,
Speaker 1: biboys can still go over it, but now there is
Speaker 1: more space under it.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, there's like a there's like a like a cave
Speaker 2: we'll call it, like the left field cave or something
Speaker 2: where where they are running into get to get the
Speaker 2: So maybe if you if if you have a right
Speaker 2: handed hitter, he can make one day actually hit a
Speaker 2: double rather than getting thrown out at second on what
Speaker 2: should have been a double because of stupid pinball park.
Speaker 1: I'm sure, yeah, I'm sure that I did. Will go
Speaker 1: down with Red Sox fans. Darius, your stage Emelion with
Speaker 1: the with the Giants feels like one that maybe. I
Speaker 1: don't know if they have been discussed before. I'm sure
Speaker 1: they have about moving those walls in. That's obviously a tough,
Speaker 1: tough ballpark for hitters. Is that the one that comes
Speaker 1: to mind for you? Or there any others that you
Speaker 1: think could could use a change.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well anything that was water adjacent. I thought there
Speaker 3: should just be more involvement of the water. So can
Speaker 3: we get a boat around the edge or something, you know,
Speaker 3: something the outfielders have to dive into to make step
Speaker 3: backular catches, So we could do that. In San Francisco
Speaker 3: we do thats right by the river CA. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: anything like that. Maybe we just have like a what
Speaker 3: like a river running right through the center of the field.
Speaker 3: That could be fun. You know, really got to watch
Speaker 3: the ball and make sure you don't land in the
Speaker 3: lake that they've oh, I like, yeah that's what I want.
Speaker 3: And I did have that ships all the time in
Speaker 3: San Francisco and the players never can take part. But
Speaker 3: imagine if you did the diving cash into the bay,
Speaker 3: that would be.
Speaker 2: You know, there get Dave and his canoe. If you
Speaker 2: knock him over or something, you get two runs. I
Speaker 2: actually do have a oracle Park on we list as well,
Speaker 2: I said they should bring the outfield s left center field,
Speaker 2: bring it in because having visited it, that was just
Speaker 2: too busy. There's too many people around the coke bottle,
Speaker 2: so like they just need more space for people. So
Speaker 2: if they bring bring into the field a bit, there's
Speaker 2: more walking space and everyone will be happier.
Speaker 3: And it's hard hit home runs out there as well,
Speaker 3: So exactly.
Speaker 2: There, you know, win win.
Speaker 1: I like it. But yeah, the only addition I had
Speaker 1: I think at Petco Park, if you managed to hit
Speaker 1: a ball off the Western Metal Supply Co sign, it
Speaker 1: should count as double runs for how many people are
Speaker 1: on base, that should be a double home run for
Speaker 1: hitting the Western Mester Supply Company sign.
Speaker 3: You don't want to do anything outregous to cause you
Speaker 3: know fifty foot Well, I.
Speaker 1: Was thinking, like, is there a way you can make
Speaker 1: just center field like five hundred like way deeper, so
Speaker 1: it's almost like polo.
Speaker 2: Ground polo grounds.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which, well, I think I was kind of fine
Speaker 1: with the idea in my head of like a center
Speaker 1: fielder just running after a ball that is just very
Speaker 1: clearly and inside the park home run. But I mean
Speaker 1: that stadium is broken I don't think there's anything you
Speaker 1: can really do. They have maybe like actually in recent.
Speaker 2: Years they'll be like a mad Max three Thunderdome sort
Speaker 2: of situation, like two teams in one team up, but
Speaker 2: like it's it's Tony. It's like it's like a like
Speaker 2: like every hit ball is going to hit the hit
Speaker 2: the roof, so you know it can't go anywhere, So
Speaker 2: there's there's no home runs, new home runs and cares
Speaker 2: because you've got like a tiny trump and it can't
Speaker 2: like everyone's ducking as they're playing because the roof is
Speaker 2: so low, so the ball just kind of like pings
Speaker 2: around everywhere in.
Speaker 3: Place of different angles as well, so you never know
Speaker 3: which way the ball is going to bounce when it
Speaker 3: hits the roof. It could be like all random.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, yeah, absolutely, and just horrific injuries left right
Speaker 2: and center from ricochets. Yeah, I like it should, Like
Speaker 2: does anybody notice that that Rockie died no interchangeable one
Speaker 2: right to the.
Speaker 1: Face that point we might as well try that didn't
Speaker 1: get silly. I think we're going to at some point
Speaker 1: talk WBC. We're actually not far away now from the
Speaker 1: World Baseball Classic. Russ is planning to go out there
Speaker 1: for it, which is very exciting. So I think when
Speaker 1: he is able to join us, we're going to maybe
Speaker 1: talk through that with him, and I think we'll probably
Speaker 1: do like a proper preview pod for that at some
Speaker 1: point as well, talk through teamgb's chances and they're pool
Speaker 1: some of the other teams and players to look out for.
Speaker 1: That will be really exciting. I know it's a highlight
Speaker 1: of the year whenever we have a WBC to watch. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you ticular exciting with TEAMGB taking part and then yeah,
Speaker 1: Paul that you know whisper it quietly, they may have
Speaker 1: a good chance at getting some wins in. I think
Speaker 1: the squads for those will also drop soon. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's like an actual date they will be
Speaker 1: officially announced, but there's obviously rumors starting around who GB
Speaker 1: are looking to announce in their squad, some quite exciting
Speaker 1: names it could be, and that so yeah, once that
Speaker 1: all comes together, we'll make sure we set up sometimes
Speaker 1: talk that through. And there's also a chance still to
Speaker 1: book a trip out there, either just off your own
Speaker 1: back but a home run traveler running special packages for
Speaker 1: fans in the UK's go out and watch their team
Speaker 1: out there, so yeah, worth hooking them up if you haven't.
Speaker 2: I looked at those today and they're not bad, genuinely
Speaker 2: not bad. I had a look like they are guaranteeing
Speaker 2: you like a three star hotel and stuff, and it's
Speaker 2: the prices aren't crazy, all flights and stuff. I hadn't
Speaker 2: really looked much into them before, but I did ever
Speaker 2: look today and genuinely there's not a plug. They're not
Speaker 2: paying us anything at all. It actually looks like a
Speaker 2: fairly decent way to go and experience in baseball with
Speaker 2: some British people. So I think there's that It's genuinely
Speaker 2: something worth looking at.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I thinks to stress out of it, at
Speaker 1: least of all the things you have to do when
Speaker 1: you're booking those trips. So yeah, and obviously if you
Speaker 1: do go, then let us know and Russ will be
Speaker 1: out there, possibly others will see as the time gets closer,
Speaker 1: I know there's always you know, other fans that make
Speaker 1: that the journeys out there, so shout up to it
Speaker 1: to those guys. I had a quick quiz. This is
Speaker 1: Gav's idea. Is this sort of starter for ten quiz
Speaker 1: idea where I am going to give you clues to
Speaker 1: the identity of a player, sort of starting with difficult
Speaker 1: ones that you hopefully won't be able to immediately get,
Speaker 1: and then making them slightly easier if he's trying and
Speaker 1: guess who this sort of mystery player is. I think
Speaker 1: gas sujudgment to do it with current players. I've actually
Speaker 1: gone with a historical player, in a retired player who
Speaker 1: you're you know, it's not you'll both have heard of him.
Speaker 1: But I thought that that might be more fun. So
Speaker 1: if you're well, that's game over. My first tear was
Speaker 1: going to be was actually shit. So that's that spoiled?
Speaker 1: Why anyone? And I guess right here we go? Then
Speaker 1: I've the way I've written this up is as a
Speaker 1: who am I? So I am this player for the
Speaker 1: purpose of my description a case so plu one. I
Speaker 1: was drafted in the twenty third round of the nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety six MLB draft, and by the end of my
Speaker 1: career I became this is a fun fact, the latest
Speaker 1: drafted player to lead my draft class in Baseball Reference
Speaker 1: war so because I was a twenty third rounder. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that is the latest selection that a player has ever
Speaker 1: led his draft class. In war from now. That's a
Speaker 1: pretty tough one to start with unless you really know
Speaker 1: your ninety ninety six MBI draft. But do you guys
Speaker 1: have any initial clues or guesses as to who this
Speaker 1: might be. I can't imagine you do. But Darius, I
Speaker 1: know you do. You know your players.
Speaker 3: I'm not familiar with the nineteen ninety six MBI draft.
Speaker 2: No, so it feels like a brave. It was like,
Speaker 2: I mean, don't give us any clues, but it feels
Speaker 2: like it feels like someone from the braves.
Speaker 3: That's that's my Braves thing to do.
Speaker 2: It feels like the time the Braves are around, Like
Speaker 2: I can't remember names, but there's some guys from around
Speaker 2: there who I feel like they're going to be the guys.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it feels like a brave to me. But
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I have no more than that. You're
Speaker 2: doing all the heavy lifting here, Darius.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to need more more clues than that.
Speaker 3: I think. I think Ben's actually just the suspense is
Speaker 3: going to be incredible. The only draft pick I could
Speaker 3: think of who was the player that I thought I
Speaker 3: could remember who he was drafted like crazy late was
Speaker 3: Mike Piazza. But he was like a fortieth or fiftieth
Speaker 3: round draft pick, wasn't it? And it was like a
Speaker 3: favor to his dad basically that he got drafted at all.
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, Mike Piazza drafted him. To find that out,
Speaker 3: I'm vamping while Ben.
Speaker 4: Comes back, let's talk about Mike Piazza, just to get
Speaker 4: that he nearly came back then he didn't draft MLB.
Speaker 2: I'm not I'm going to shamelessly google it now.
Speaker 3: I was in the dry was really really big. Do
Speaker 3: you want to guess? Guess when what round was? Might be?
Speaker 3: Alzo drafted in nineteen eighty eight.
Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty eight, okay, right, so I believe there.
Speaker 3: Was no restriction on how many rounds, like teams could
Speaker 3: just keep picking until they were done. Back then, Oh, this.
Speaker 2: Is gonna be ridiculous, like.
Speaker 3: Sixties very good, sixty second.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: So that was like, this is a crazy late draftic
Speaker 3: that was the first player I thought of, but obviously
Speaker 3: too early for this purpose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know much about nineteenninety six, but so
Speaker 2: so if it's someone from nineteen ninety six, their career
Speaker 2: is probably and they were good. So let's say they
Speaker 2: played for sort of fifteen ish years. You know, they're
Speaker 2: going to be.
Speaker 3: At least a couple of years to get to the
Speaker 3: major's probably so, yes, he's through the two thousands. Did
Speaker 3: he say, yeah, how many years his career was?
Speaker 2: We haven't had that. I'm hoping that they might be
Speaker 2: one of the when he returns. It looks like he's
Speaker 2: trying again. When he returns, it might be one of
Speaker 2: the next loses how many years he played for? But
Speaker 2: uh so, yeah, if we're assuming he's yeah, been like
Speaker 2: what so finished at like twenty ten ish, that's going
Speaker 2: to be roughly.
Speaker 3: Because they probably start the time you first few years
Speaker 3: I was watching baseball, it would have been.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, so he's going to be going
Speaker 2: at that kind of point. All r I've just been
Speaker 2: talking about Benny you back, I think.
Speaker 1: Come back. Have you guys been riffing the whole time
Speaker 1: at who this might be?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we went down and Mike Piazza a rabbit hole.
Speaker 1: But that's fine. No, I well, I'm little beings. It
Speaker 1: told me to stopped recording, but I think it's back
Speaker 1: recording now anyway. Apologies, So yeah, sorry, I don't think
Speaker 1: you've got it yet. But I'm just fine aside in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six MLB draft might be the worst draft
Speaker 1: of all time? Can I read out they first? I
Speaker 1: don't know ten names that were picked. Let's go with five.
Speaker 1: Yet's start with Chris Benson, Travis Lee, Braden Looper, Billy Cock,
Speaker 1: John Patterson. Have you heard of any players in your life?
Speaker 2: The first fourth on again? Do that again?
Speaker 1: Billy Cock or Billy Carr.
Speaker 3: I have found with Billy Cock and Branden Looper. I
Speaker 3: think I am.
Speaker 2: Googling Billy cor not on the work computer.
Speaker 1: There are a bunch of other names that I haven't
Speaker 1: heard of until you get to Mark Cott, say at nine,
Speaker 1: Eric Chavez at ten, Adamton not that one, Mary Timmis
Speaker 1: was good, and then you've got ra A. Dicky at eighteen.
Speaker 1: Who Yeah, obviously that long ago. Really yeah, anyway, that
Speaker 1: was just a slight a side to say the nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety six sucked just part of the reason this guy
Speaker 1: ended up the most successful player from it.
Speaker 2: I have a sear side with Billy Cock. Sorry, I
Speaker 2: have not let Billy cock. Billy Cock is also apparently
Speaker 2: it's a term for ball. I had Billy Cock.
Speaker 3: Oh, I know why, I know Billy cock because he
Speaker 3: was on the two thousand and two A's and you
Speaker 3: were the hat the moneyball eyes.
Speaker 4: I do remember that being in the movie I picked
Speaker 4: Rick Show would have picked up on Billy Copp.
Speaker 1: Okay, right on the clue too too. That Baseball reference
Speaker 1: war figure that led that draft class was forty nine
Speaker 1: point nine accumulated over thirteen MLB seasons as a starting
Speaker 1: pitcher with four different teams, although I actually he actually
Speaker 1: accumulated negative war for two of those teams, so he
Speaker 1: made most of his most of his wins above replacement
Speaker 1: for just two teams.
Speaker 2: So that's thirteen years in the majors.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thirteen years in the majors starting pitcher, four teams.
Speaker 2: So presumably it took him two three years to get
Speaker 2: to the majors. So we are talking roughly twenty ten,
Speaker 2: as we guessed whilst we were vamping, roughly twenty ten
Speaker 2: for the end of his career. Then this doesn't help
Speaker 2: me in the slightest.
Speaker 3: If I had some teams might be able to start
Speaker 3: has to card.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, two three. This is a long one, but
Speaker 1: it made me laugh, so I'm going to read it
Speaker 1: all out. I was a free agent for the first time.
Speaker 1: Following the twenty eleven season, in which I put up
Speaker 1: two point one b war with a three point six
Speaker 1: to nine ERA across twenty three starts. The headlines about
Speaker 1: me on MLB trade rumors during that off season go
Speaker 1: as follows. Blank seeks multi year deal, Blank seeking three
Speaker 1: year deal, Blank seeks one year deal. Interest picks up,
Speaker 1: many teams in on Blank, No deal close. Blank still
Speaker 1: on Rangers radar asking price drops for Blank, Red Sox
Speaker 1: intensifying pursuit of Blank agent, no chance of Blank relieving.
Speaker 1: Rangers not likely to sign Blank, Phillies considered Blank deal unlikely.
Speaker 1: Blank could have had a new team by tomorrow. Blank
Speaker 1: will now look to sign mid season. Blank open to
Speaker 1: playing anywhere. Angels emerging as front runner for Blank. Rangers
Speaker 1: to sign Blank. So that final one Rangers two signed
Speaker 1: Blank is how it finally ended. That was his twenty
Speaker 1: eleven free agency as subscribed by MLB trade rooms headlines.
Speaker 3: Christ I don't know if I haven't seen a player
Speaker 3: have that many headlines so on over one off season,
Speaker 3: it's going to be good or headlines as Blank will
Speaker 3: play anywhere when you're willing to go to cords, you know,
Speaker 3: that the market is bad.
Speaker 1: Okay, clue for this one will where I think will
Speaker 1: help you get there or at least get close. I
Speaker 1: was part of a blockbuster trade that saw me go
Speaker 1: one way in return for Ja Happ, Anthony Go and
Speaker 1: Jonathan Villar the other, a trade that would securitously later
Speaker 1: allow my original team to eventually land Garrett Cole.
Speaker 2: Jonathan Ha ha ha.
Speaker 3: So can you read the names in the trade again?
Speaker 1: Yea, yeah, yeah, So I was traded one way and
Speaker 1: going back the other way were Ja Happ, Anthony Goss
Speaker 1: and Jonathan Vr Jonathan.
Speaker 3: So this is and this helped the team, the original
Speaker 3: team to land Gerrit Cole securitously.
Speaker 1: Yeah, many years later if you kind of follow the display,
Speaker 1: got traded for this player, this player, this player.
Speaker 3: Trade tree ended up the trade tree ended up who
Speaker 3: traded for Garrett Cole asteroids, So it must be his original.
Speaker 3: He must be the Astroids m original astro traded for
Speaker 3: coal and d R.
Speaker 2: But where VR was coming from? Where he must have
Speaker 2: been an oil. I this is much harder than you
Speaker 2: led us to be. Played a few places as well,
Speaker 2: but like he's known as an aura, that's where he
Speaker 2: was good and he was pretty rubbish as soon as
Speaker 2: he left, wasn't he? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Was he all right for the Brewers for a bit? Maybe?
Speaker 3: I think I think he both. Yeah, there was good
Speaker 3: a scenario, right, and that's something of someone else.
Speaker 1: I don't really remember that these guys playing for this
Speaker 1: team they were traded for me. VR and Ghost were
Speaker 1: both in the miners when they were part of this
Speaker 1: trade that hadn't made.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, I kind of assumed it was the other
Speaker 2: end of the VR. But no, that doesn't make any
Speaker 2: sense because he would have been too old.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I don't know how good he was at
Speaker 1: this point in.
Speaker 3: This current Okay, So hang on. So I'm thinking of Astros,
Speaker 3: and I'm thinking two thousands to twenty ten starting.
Speaker 2: Pictures, who starting pictures from back then?
Speaker 3: Lots of war.
Speaker 2: I probably wasn't watching enough baseball back then. But you say,
Speaker 2: I've definitely heard of this bloke.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, oh good? Had you heard everyone else?
Speaker 2: I've heard of him, Okay, for the Astros.
Speaker 3: Didn't like.
Speaker 1: It was a decade he was with, but that was
Speaker 1: probably before I started following the sport. I remember him
Speaker 1: more as a Philly, which is the team he got
Speaker 1: traded to yeah that day and Cliff Lee and cold
Speaker 1: Hammill's and then he ended his career. Yeah, well he
Speaker 1: went to the Rangers after completely underrestimating his free agency
Speaker 1: value and unfortunately ended his career with the Colorado Rockies,
Speaker 1: which was my final clue for you.
Speaker 3: Yes, I don't know if I remember, because I think
Speaker 3: he was still with the Astros for three or four
Speaker 3: years after I started following.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Before Darius gets points of some description, Yeah,
Speaker 2: you've got to lead. How many points is that?
Speaker 3: Two points?
Speaker 2: Let's give him two points?
Speaker 1: That was four clues, four clues, So.
Speaker 2: He gets two points, and like somebody needs to write that.
Speaker 2: I'm going to write this down and then never never
Speaker 2: remember where it was again.
Speaker 3: I think Billy Cock spot wrong.
Speaker 2: But doenly just two points? Two points?
Speaker 3: I'm going to and then how you pronounced pretty cock
Speaker 3: because it's probably something else, isn't it not?
Speaker 2: To a k coach Coch coach coach.
Speaker 3: Says battal reference coach, Billy Coch coach.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Billy, by the way, was yeah, I was always
Speaker 1: Hall of Faint eligible. In twenty nineteen, he received four
Speaker 1: vote off the ballot. But I think definitely a Hall
Speaker 1: of very good player. Well that's it. I think that's
Speaker 1: something that we had on our running.
Speaker 3: Stag year, wasn't it was that one of those years
Speaker 3: nineteen where they just had like so many guys that like.
Speaker 2: It was on this year.
Speaker 3: I probably would have stuck around, but I have a
Speaker 3: fee that.
Speaker 1: It's a lot, a lot more war than I would
Speaker 1: have thought he would have wrapped up. But he was
Speaker 1: very very good for most of that decade with the Astros.
Speaker 1: So good for him, good for him, and good for everything. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's final shout outs, I guess number one. Gav has
Speaker 1: produced a brilliant piece of work for the website talking
Speaker 1: about his trip to the euro Baseball Championship. I think
Speaker 1: we were initially going to record with him on this week,
Speaker 1: which unfortunate didn't materialize. But I think we're going to
Speaker 1: get him on the pop more this year, even if
Speaker 1: he refuses to acknowledge that fact, and we're going to
Speaker 1: definitely get him on soon to talk about that. He
Speaker 1: had a great time out there. But do go to
Speaker 1: the website and check out his articles. Is a Monster
Speaker 1: is twenty thousand words, but it's really worth reading. So
Speaker 1: set around with a cup of tea coffee or something
Speaker 1: stronger and read through that. It's really nice bit of work.
Speaker 1: Also on the website is a new series of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six reasons for Optimism. They're doing five reasons for
Speaker 1: optimism for each of the thirty teams in Maation League Baseball.
Speaker 1: I think some are being produced as we speak for
Speaker 1: some teams, but in they're also looking for fans to
Speaker 1: send in their own sort of submissions to their team.
Speaker 1: So if you have five you want to send in
Speaker 1: for your own team for the website, then do contact
Speaker 1: Gav either via the website form or on Insta or
Speaker 1: you know, DM the backplips account and we'll we'll get
Speaker 1: to you. So yeah, anything else challenge you define too.
Speaker 1: For the Rockies five of the stretch, christ one reason
Speaker 1: for optimism is this brand new roof where the ball
Speaker 1: pings off it in different directions. Yes, anyway, Yes, I
Speaker 1: don't think we've missed any breaking news I've been recording,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure as soon as we and the call
Speaker 1: it will something will come in. But yeah, thank you
Speaker 1: guys for listening. Thanks Robin Darius for jumping on with
Speaker 1: me today. We will promise to be back with Yeah,
Speaker 1: sooner than we left it after the last one, We're
Speaker 1: going to put a more effort into the poss going forward.
Speaker 1: So yeah, Rob's laughing because I always say that, but
Speaker 1: we are before we are, so yeah, thanks for listening
Speaker 1: or watching and we will catch you next time. Goodbye.
Speaker 2: Why