Ken Rosenthal joins FT: Red Sox-Pirates trade, Blue Jays think big + Judge HOF now, Cubs want Bregman

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Ton Fither. You ever seen those notes where it's like, oh, this team has had eighty different lineup combinations this year. You're like, damn, how have they done so many different lineup combos? This is a new lineup combo today.

00:00:16
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:00:17
Speaker 3: I've been a part of a couple of teams like that too. So I just remember at the end of the year they were saying, like, dude, you bad it everywhere in the lineup except leadoff, and I'm like, oh, yeah, you're actually right.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: So yeah, I've been a part of a couple though. It's a good way.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you get a chance to lead?

00:00:33
Speaker 4: You get one?

00:00:33
Speaker 3: Thought one game? Every single one. I've been one through nine.

00:00:41
Speaker 4: I would honestly say I think I probably had two. And obviously the part in the middle of the order was more out of necessity at some point. But I spent most of my time kind of reading the lineup, you know, reverse I was kind of dyslexic when it came to the lineup. I had to read from the bottom to the top.

00:00:57
Speaker 3: Hey, hey, Scott, I'm going to ask you this, but I KP is gonna know if you're batting nine, who's batting in front of you?

00:01:07
Speaker 1: Is this a trick question?

00:01:09
Speaker 4: No, just what's your answer?

00:01:12
Speaker 2: Who would be batting front? Yeah, if you're in front of you?

00:01:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, the front behind in front of you before you.

00:01:25
Speaker 3: You're thinking about it, KP. Who's hitting in front of your dog?

00:01:31
Speaker 4: Everyone?

00:01:32
Speaker 3: Everybody. It's just the fact you go to the score. It's just a baseball lingo thing. You go to score with the nine and the coaches. I phrase, you're sending in front of you. Everybody's hitting in front of me. That's all I knew. You would take it literal and you were trying to decipher, but it was It was funny.

00:01:49
Speaker 1: I was like, is there some hidden message in here?

00:01:51
Speaker 2: No?

00:01:52
Speaker 1: No, unless unless you play it or you know the lingo. It's everybody, baby.

00:01:57
Speaker 4: I spent I spent a couple of I wouldn't say years, as I spend a majority of time in my career battling between someone else and being the butt of that joke. We'un out. We'd run the you know, before they would send out the lineup, you go check the lineup in the clubhouse or in the dugout. We'd run over it to and be like, oh, yeah, I'm eight today, not nine. So who's in front of you. Buddy, that's good.

00:02:19
Speaker 2: That's good.

00:02:20
Speaker 1: I like that. Well, this combination has never happened before, so that's how it came about. We got a little former met action, but they didn't play together on the Mets at the same time. Todd Father and Kevin Pullar first time together on the show. You guys a lot of pressure. You ready to carry it?

00:02:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll carry it.

00:02:38
Speaker 1: Okay. Well, of course we're going to start with a trade that involves one of the most confusing first names in baseball, So let's hit it. Jose Tinsen Garcia Boom. I said it, But from now on after that, I'm calling him what everyone calls him, and that's the password. Red Sox fans know him well. He's barely touched the majors so far, but there are high expectations for him. Very physical moves over to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with right handed pitching prospect Jesus Travoso, and the Pirates send Johann Oviedo out to Boston. Nice little pickup for the Red Sox, very physical, big pitcher KP. Here's the whole trade breakdown, and I'll start with you. Because of all of the teams that you could have selected the other day to try and de cipher what they're going to do in the offseason, you actually chose the Pittsburgh Pirates. So does this track with what you had them doing this offseason? I mean it's something.

00:03:41
Speaker 4: I mean, we spent a little bit time talking about some of the young pitchers that they have, and they didn't get an opportunity to start and there in the bullpen. Maybe this kind of gives them a clear path to go out and start. You know, maybe they're subtracting from an area where they feel like they have a strength in some of the starting pitching, filling out some of the other positions they need to go out and get. They still are not going out and signing someone to a multiple year deal, which I talked about when I selected the Pittsburgh Pirates that they were going to do one year deals. But if they were able to go out and get a you know, a guy who's already been given the name the password to go room the outfield for the next five or six years, it's something.

00:04:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think you hit it perfectly because I'm sitting here it's like, okay, like this wasn't something that I, you know, was saying this was going to happen, or hey, get ready for this trade, Like I I okay, you know, I don't know. Maybe it's a trade for them to be like, hey listen, we did something. Yeah, we you know, we worked this offseason. Well, you know, I don't know how it's gonna help your team. Yeah, it's gonna help. But it's not the big trade. It's the pirates. They this is what they do. They gave up a picture who's known, who's been out there before, who's actually pretty good. You know, he has his times where he struggles a little bit, but for the Red Sox, it's a stable pitcher. He's healthy, he's gonna go out there and p and do really well in a viedo. And you know, I don't know. I I thought it was just whatever. It's just it's just a trade. I mean, you got a guy like the password. I mean, why do you call him the password? Is it because it's he's top secret and nobody knows about him. I don't know, So we'll we'll find out.

00:05:16
Speaker 1: Well, if you can spell his first name, then you win a prize. Jost Y n XO N I'm with you, here, Todd Father. The Pirates are in like I don't want to say do or die mode, but it is that way for their front office. They can't miss the playoffs again, even though it is lofty that they would make the playoffs otherwise, it's going to be a new front office. So that's why it's interesting to me too. Garcia is young. I mean, I don't know how much of an impact he's going to make on the major league club this year. He's gonna be on the club, but unless you haven't pegged, it's like the breakout rookie of the year. I'm expecting a little bit more from them. And on the other side, Johan Oviedo happens to be Eric Kratz's favorite pitcher for the last like three four years since this show existed. He's been talking him up and then he went down for about half the time that this show has existed because he had Tommy John surgery. Comes back this past season nine starts about a three and a half thera fastball shapes were better for him between his four seam and two seam reading scattering reports. He's got big extension. He's huge. He's six six ish to fifty throws hard, gets swing and miss limits hard contact. So for Red Sox fans, I think he should be fired up. I don't think Garcia was going to be a big part of the twenty six team, and you're trying to build a contender, So I think the Red Sox get the better end of this one. Again, Yeah, do we know a ton about Garcia. We're not gonna act like where the prospect experts. But wait, Baseball America is Jeff Ponce knows all about these guys. Jeff take it away, all right, guys.

00:06:46
Speaker 5: Big deal went down yesterday between the Red Sox and the Pirates.

00:06:50
Speaker 1: Five player trade.

00:06:52
Speaker 5: Johann Oviedo, a major league pitcher that just returned from Tommy John surgery last season, goes over to the Red Sox. Of things, He's joined by a Donnis Guzman, who was a fifth round pick this year out of Arizona. Was with Boston College actually as a freshman, so somewhat familiar with the area. Huge arm, great throwing catcher, a little bit more questions around the bat. He did show a little bit more impact and decent swing decisions this year. The other play going to the Red Sox, Tyler Samonego was another guy that was added to the forty man roster this year, had some elbow troubles coming into twenty twenty five, certainly showed enough, though it was in the lower levels, to get added to the forty man roster. He's a left hander with big stuff. Replaces some of that left handed relief depth that the Red Sox have lost this season between Brendan Bernardino and Chris Murphy going to the White Sox on the other side, headed to the Pirates, you have the pass where just Nixon Garcia obviously maybe the most famous player in this trade.

00:07:54
Speaker 1: I think he's the only guy that's had a Jeopardy question.

00:07:57
Speaker 5: Big power bat, there's good bat to all skills there. Where he gets in trouble is really over zealous swing decisions, loves to swing the bat, loves to try to attack any pitch that's even anywhere near the zone. You'll have to tamp that down a little bit if he's going to have success. Played primarily center field last year in Portland and then in Tripa. A Wooster can probably handle center field right now. Probably a corner outfield guy long term, but a guy that could slot into the middle of the Pirates order right now, and certainly probably an upgrade over some of the defensive options that they currently roll out there in the outfield.

00:08:33
Speaker 2: Wow.

00:08:34
Speaker 1: And we'll get more from jeffon Travioso coming up in a moment. We're just splitting that up so we can talk again here. So he thinks maybe middle of the order outfielder a Pirates team that has to do serious lineup upgrades.

00:08:46
Speaker 2: It was the worst.

00:08:47
Speaker 1: Offense in baseball this past season, and also for Boston, Todd Father, they have too many outfielders. We've heard Jaron Durand's name in trade rumors for like a year or two at this point, and you look and you're like, am I missing something? This is a very good first division outfielder. It's just that they have a little bit of a surplus. So Garcia was not going to be able to find consistent playing time here unless there were quite a few injuries.

00:09:14
Speaker 3: And that makes sense, like when you have a guy that's not going to play a lot who's a decent ballplayer, what are you supposed to do with them? Oh, let's hang them around and maybe you know something will happen. They have, again, a surplus of battlefielders that they can use. Why not trade a guy to get you know, a decenter quality arm or anything else. That's what a smart organization will do. Now we'll hang on. We're worried about the injuries. Well, if you're worried about injuries, guess what, Yeah, that might happen. But at the same time, you got to go with you gut. It's a great plan. It's a great, great job by them to figure this out. You know, we'll talk more with somebody down the road to how these trades get going and stuff like that. But for me, don't wait. You saw what the Orioles did. They had so many of these prospects. Now what they got nothing out of it. You know, there's organizations that do this all the time, and I just think it's a very smart move by them, and you know, hopefully it works out for both teams. Again, I'm not trying to knock both, but when you've got a guy that's not gonna able to play, help him out a little bit, move him somewhere where.

00:10:12
Speaker 2: He has a better opportunity.

00:10:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I love your point too, because we as an industry value prospects so much. But if they don't have a place to play where you have a surplus of them. Yeah, it's things when those guys go other places and they end up being the player you thought you were gonna get. But sometimes you've got to gamble a little bit, and you got to you gotta take away from areas that you have a surplus of guys and go out and get some other players and areas that you need. And you know, I'm looking at Oviedo's numbers from twenty thirteen and the big thing that stands out to me is he had thirty two games started, one hundred and seventy seven innings. That's extremely valuable when they're trying to fill out that back end of the rotation. You know, not every team is fortunate enough to have a rotation like the Seattle Mariners or the Dodgers or not. Not all teams are gonna have of, you know, four number one starters. Sometimes you just need to get guys that can take the ball every fifth day, you know, eat innings and give your team a chance to win. So I love the trade, and hopefully this kind of quiets down the Duran, you know, getting traded rumors because I think he's a heck of a player. I think he is kind of that catalyst for the Red Sox offense, kind of hitting at the top of the order. He's so fun to watch. I mean, he's a year where maybe two years removed away from me in the All Star Game, MVP didn't have the same caliber year last year, but he's still so valuable to that team the way he just plays with energy and he's found a nice home in left field.

00:11:38
Speaker 1: There great point also by Todd Father on how you can't just hold on to all of these guys. He got to start mixing it up and making trade. There's Mikey saying it advanced. Stuff looks real good too from Oviedo. I agree. I think it's going to be a big pickup for the Red Sox if he's on the field. And yeah, Armen cent, are they done with the rotation now they added Gray and Oviedo. That's a good question, really we could ask. I mean, I think some fans still wanted like an ACE type or something. I don't think they're going to spend on the market like that. They spent their money on Garrett Crochet in terms of giving him an extension. I think Red Sox fans are still a little frustrated because they want the money to be spent that makes up for what they gave up with Rafael Devers. It almost was like a public promise, We're going to spend that, But let me give the Red Sox love for a second. They traded for Garrett Crochet last year. I think the Orioles were in the running. Two Red Sox won with their bid. How did that go? They traded for a number one starter, top three in the American League, picked him up, signed him to an extension. That is exactly what player development is all about. You get the guys that bit into your roster, and then you take some risks and get rid of some others and say I don't care what ends up happening to them, because I just got a number one starter. The other thing that the Red Sox just did, in addition to trading the password is a guy who they found kind of as a diamond in the rough. They didn't pay much for him in terms of when they picked him up as an international prospect, like he wasn't highly regarded. His name's Hazus Travioso. Five to eleven, one hundred and forty pounds. They signed him out a Venezuela for ten thousand dollars in twenty twenty four. That's like basically as low as it gets when you're doing those international signings. So they found something here, and again we're looking at the trade. I just want to queue up the second part of what Jeff Pons from Baseball America is going to bring to the mix, because BA is very high on him, so Pirates fans could get excited the big question mark.

00:13:25
Speaker 5: And I think the guy that drew the most interest yesterday, at least over on our site, which does focus on prospects, is Jesus Traviso. Traviso was really really interesting. He's an undersized right hander, but he's got huge stuff. Really really good performance last year in the Florida Complex League. I think he made thirty nine pits, thirty nine ing's there, two point seventy seven ERA, fifty two strikeouts, twenty five walks. As I mentioned, big velocity since ninety four to ninety six, he'll ramp it up to one hundred miles an hour. There's not a ton of bat missing traits there in terms of shape, but the velocity does play his primary pitch is actually a gyro slider eighty four to eighty six miles an hour, really tight bullet spin. Loves throwing that thing, throws it more than the four team commands it better than he commands his fastball actually also throws a sweeper that isn't very good and has a really good change up as well that he kills. Lyft On commands that pitch really well. Probably is an averager, better pitch long term. So really interesting trade, I think from the Pirates side and from the Red Sox side, and it's a trade that could certainly have some impact in the coming years.

00:14:41
Speaker 1: FT senior insider Ken Rosenthal with the Inside Scoop, I like this interesting trade, Ken, what are your thoughts? I know you wrote also about the Pirates side, so if you want to spend time there, we'll then get to Boston.

00:14:51
Speaker 6: It was definitely an interesting trade, and I had heard earlier in the off season that Oviedo was attracting Symtris. There are some things that happened after he came back from the injury. He's affordable, he is an intriguing guy, so for the Red Sox to want him in addition to Sonny Gray, that made sense. To me, and certainly they liked the left hander that they got in the deal as well, the left handed reliever. And then from the Pirates perspective, Garcia the password is the kind of guy that they should be taking a chance on.

00:15:20
Speaker 2: Now.

00:15:21
Speaker 6: There is swing and miss there, there is a little bit of volatility there, but he's a good defender, a good base runner, and if they can unlock him, if they can kind of get him to reiin in his aggression, they might have something there. And he certainly is a guy that could fit into their long term future if he proves to be the kind of player that they envision. So it was a bit surprising to a lot of people. I think that the Red Sox went and got another starter after Sonny Gray because their focus now is seemingly offense. But even with the young pitching that they have, even with the depth that they have overall, I don't see that it's ever a problem to add starting pitching. And if they can maybe make another deal, package one of those young starters with someone and get something else, all the better.

00:16:11
Speaker 4: He Ken Let's stay on the topic of the Pirates. Right before Thanksgiving, we got to pick a team and kind of put together a Thanksgiving plate of who we think teams are going to go out and get in free agency, and I happen to pick the Pirates, and you know, I had to go kind of in the middle of to the bottom of the free agent list. This is kind of the list I came up with. Is this the type of moves you kind of expect the Pirates to make, be a trade or free agency or we've heard rumors of them going out and maybe spending some money this offseason. Are they going to play near the top of you know, get some of those guys at the top of the free agent list.

00:16:46
Speaker 6: Actually, Kevin, those names are a little bit below where I think they are aiming.

00:16:51
Speaker 2: Now.

00:16:51
Speaker 6: They ultimately might end up with guys like that. I don't think they'll be at the top of the market for Schwarber or anyone along those lines, even if they try, because when you're a Kyle Schwarber or any kind of elite player and you have better options, you're gonna choose the better, more competitive options. So I don't see them there. But guys like Ryan O'Hearn, Jorge Polanco, Okamudo from Japan, those are the types of names I've heard with them. There are also trades they can make for maybe a Brandon Lao or Jeff McNeil. They are trying to get one or two regulars and three or four other position players that would be more depth pieces. The password kind of qualifies in that latter category, as I wrote today. So while those names you have there might ultimately be where they end up, it seems to me they want to do better than that. Those are the kinds of names that they've gone after in the past one year guys. They still may end up with one year guys, but they are trying, it seems to do a little bit better than that.

00:17:53
Speaker 3: We're just talking about Boston and how they picked up Olviedo. Sonny Gray is another guy, man. I mean you think do you think the staff is starting to line up a little bit better for this team? I mean there were a playoff team last year. This only boosts them to be exactly where they want to be. I know they're trying to get more stuff. Do you see them going after any more starting pitching or you think this is it for them?

00:18:15
Speaker 6: Well, Todd, I didn't think they were going to get another starter after Sonny Gray, so I would be surprised if they got one more. Now, you never know, and certainly teams do all kinds of things and talk about all kinds of things, some of which never come to light and some of which do, but there are constantly conversations going on. It would seem to me that their focus now should be the bat, whether it's Bregman or Alonso or both or someone else. That is where they have to kind of get better at this point they feel with Crochet at the top and Bao and of course Sonny Gray and Patrick Sandoval coming off an injury, Carter Crawford coming off an injury, Peyton Toley and some of their other young pitchers that we've seen as well. Early is another one. They feel that they're pretty deep and they've got more coming. So I would be surprised if they went after another starter. But again I was surprised that they landed Ovi Aedo.

00:19:11
Speaker 1: Quite frankly, one more on this because fans take everything very literal, and it sounded like Boston said they were going to get like a Coace or a one, A one B or a number two starter right to Garrett Crochet, And like you said, I mean, they've filled out their rotation here. Some fans are like, where's my number one A or B or number two starter here? And it seems like they found two guys. I think Sonny greg can pitch a playoff game. Oviedo actually has the stuff to pitch a playoff game too. They did it a little bit unconventionally and they don't have to spend like say a team like the Blue Jays will spend. So do you think fans are justified here some of them to be a little bit perturbed that they didn't get like this elite pitcher. I actually do.

00:19:54
Speaker 6: And I like Sonny Gray.

00:19:56
Speaker 1: Buddy's thirty six.

00:19:57
Speaker 6: And he's a guy who they love because of his strikeout rates and the swing and miss and the strikeout to walk ratio. All of that is really good. I just question whether when you get to October Sonny Gray is still going to be that effective a pitcher. So I understand where the fans are coming from there. And Oviedo, yes, he has the ability. He's six foot six with an incredible extension, all of that stuff as well, but he hasn't done it, and you don't know if he's going to do it. He's more of a risk along those lines. So I get where the fans are coming from, but you have to wait and see the entire picture too, because if in the end they end up and I'm just throwing this out there, this is hypothetical, it's speculation, But if in the end they end up with Sunny Gray Oviedo and two bats, I don't know who those bats would be. With two bats, that's a pretty good offseason, it would seem to me. And if they need more starting pitching come to deadline, they can go get it. Then remember the kids that they have came up last year and performed pretty well. You can't expect him to be two hundred inning guys in twenty twenty six, but there's definitely some promise there, and with Sandoval coming back, who knows what he might provide. So I kind of like where they are right now, and I want to see more, obviously, but that's true of any team at this stage.

00:21:17
Speaker 3: Let's stay in the al least Toronto Blue Jays KP squad Kyle Tucker just visited the Florida facility. There, Okay, we got something going on here. Now my problem, not my problem. My situation is here. You talk about him maybe going to the Blue Jays. Does that make it hard for Bobaschett to come back or do you see both of them maybe sticking together if eventually this does go through.

00:21:42
Speaker 6: Todd, I don't know, And it certainly seems from the outside that it would be tough to do both those guys, right, Tucker at three point fifty to four hundred million, Bashdd at one hundred and fifty to two hundred million, and I might be low. They might be doing even better than that. Ultimately, that would seem to be a lot, for sure, when you've already signed Dylan Ceases to a deal that's valued at about one hundred and eighty five in present day money. But the Toronto Blue Jays don't seem to be hesitating this offseason, So I don't know that we can rule anything out. And the other thing that's interesting here to me, Todd, and maybe you can talk about this. We've seen this with the Dodgers.

00:22:20
Speaker 1: Great players like to play with great players.

00:22:22
Speaker 6: And we haven't seen this kind of NBA thing happen much in baseball, but it has happened to an extent with the Dodgers, with Yamamoto joining Otani and then Sasaki doing the same. I wonder if maybe that is going to be a situation in Toronto where all of a sudden, after all those years of failing to get free agents, players say, you know what, let's go there and win.

00:22:44
Speaker 1: They're close. Let's make it happen.

00:22:46
Speaker 6: And in that case, if Tucker and Bashett, for instance, are willing to be creative in their deals, deferrals, whatever the case might be, then maybe it happens. I don't know that you can rule it out love it.

00:23:00
Speaker 4: As we approach the Winter meetings here, can you kind of just take me through like a day to day which you go through at the Winter Meetings. I attended my first one last year and I kind of just walked around. It felt like kind of like a high school reunion. Got to see a lot of people. What's your kind of day to day? Like you get invited into GM suites to talk to them? Are you constantly on the phone? Are you just walking around running into people. I'm always curious to know what goes on.

00:23:25
Speaker 2: Kevin.

00:23:25
Speaker 6: I wish I was invited into GM suites. That does not happen. And the Winter Meetings have changed over the years, They've become less of a situation where you're seeing people in the lobby and trying to talk to people that way. Pretty much everyone now, and I'm talking about the gms and even the agents. They stay in their suites, maybe they visit each other, they don't come out, we don't see them, So it's more of a texting phone kind of situation than it once was. I used to I don't know how many steps. We didn't have step counters back then, but I'm sure I was putting on a lot of steps back in the day when the lobby was where it was at. It's really no longer that way as far as the day is concerned. It kind of starts early and ends late, and sometimes it doesn't end at all. And yeah, I'm just constantly trying to find out what's going on.

00:24:13
Speaker 2: It's basically it.

00:24:15
Speaker 6: And then when things do happen, or even before things happen, I'm writing constantly as well. So it's it's really busy, to say the least.

00:24:23
Speaker 2: He's definitely busy over there.

00:24:25
Speaker 3: I got off the elevator and he didn't even know who I was in Vegas.

00:24:28
Speaker 2: But that's that's a story for a different time.

00:24:31
Speaker 1: I heard about it.

00:24:32
Speaker 2: You were locked in.

00:24:33
Speaker 6: I was locked in and I did not recognize you. I was talking to somebody was pretty high up.

00:24:38
Speaker 3: We're on like the fortieth We're on the fortieth floor, man, I told our producering. We were laughing, so it was fun time, Like, yo, what's up big dog? You're like, I'm on the phone. Oh okay. So I just kept going. I was like, you know, Ken forgets me, It's okay, all good.

00:24:55
Speaker 6: I'm not forgetting you, man.

00:24:56
Speaker 2: I was just.

00:24:58
Speaker 1: I know, have you heard your with the Jersey accent? He would have been like, oh.

00:25:03
Speaker 3: Hey, but when you're hey, when you're working, sometimes you got to get the job done. My last question for you is my old team Cincinnati. You know that sometimes they make some moves, sometimes they don't. They've been in talks with some people. How about a guy like Kyle schwarber Man. Have you heard anything with them with the Reds and anything ink to them.

00:25:22
Speaker 6: I have heard that and I've written about it too. They're trying with him now. In the end it would seem they're going to get outbid, and some people at that point might say, see it was never real. It is real as far as their interest, and it is real in terms of he's a guy from Middletown, Ohio, about an half hour north of Cincinnati, and he seems to be interested in them as well. But can the Reds outbid the Phillies or whoever else might be on Kyle Schwarber. That kind of remains to be seen. Now, what's the scenario for him to sign with Cincinnati. It would probably be this willing to take less money or deferrals, whatever the case might be, and willing to join a team that sees him as a guy who could help them grow, help their young players, become a great influence on them, and at the same time want to play for Terry Francona. These are all appealing things to Shorebrough, I'm sure, but this is also his last chance at a major payday most likely, and he's gonna want to cash out, which, of course you would understand. So I don't see it happening. But I do believe, not believe, I know the Reds actually want to make this happen. It's just a question in the end of whether they can make it go their way.

00:26:40
Speaker 1: Last two year. One fan question Di Alvarez wants to know what the Dodgers can get for a Taoscar Hernandez trade in return. If that does end up happening. We had a good debate yesterday on the show. Kratz was like a little or on the lower side because I guess he didn't have as gonna be a year offensively and definitely not a good year defensively. But is this about that for the Dodgers or is it I mean, of course you want to that's something for him, but is it also about getting all of the puzzle pieces back in a better position. I know it sounds weird because Tao's great, but they could improve a lot if they're able to fill that spot.

00:27:11
Speaker 6: It's a really good question. Now they're looking for an outfielder right now, d so that aspect of it complicates things. You trade ta Oscar, you need two outfielders now, not impossible to get two outfielders. The Dodgers certainly could do it, but it's a question more of yes, making the pieces fit together. He's not going to be able to DH for them, right He's declined in the outfield and they have a DH. His name is shoe Aotani, not going anywhere, so what would they want back? The Dodgers are always interesting because they'll take arms that maybe aren't succeeding elsewhere and turn them into something. I'm not sure what they would desire there. They would be clearing some money, and not that it ever seems to matter to the Dodgers. I'm sure that would be appealing to them, but it seems to me, Scott, that it would be more to increase their flexibility with their roster and open up some things for them, maybe with some better defenders. Again, I don't know that I expect this to happen, but as I reported, his name has come up in conversations and there is a certain logic to moving him because this is an older position player club. They have the oldest position player team in the major leagues, or at least they did last year, so you always want to shake it up a little bit. I think, even if you're a two time defending World Series champion, to keep things from growing stale, trading ta Oscar would be one way.

00:28:31
Speaker 2: To do that.

00:28:31
Speaker 6: I don't know if it's the best way, but it would be one way.

00:28:40
Speaker 1: But I'm Jim Futures twenty twenty six l MVP odds are up already and Tod Father, your boy judge is already a plus three hundred like that is impressive to be at that number already. Remember after about a week or two of the season, I think he was already at even money range, where that is just crazy talk. But he's at plus three hundred, Bobby Wits at plus five hundred, cow Riley's at plus seven hundred. Isn't that insane, dude, to be that highly regarded? It makes you think, Okay, for as much as we talk about show Hey and all that, we got to make sure we keep talking about Judge on the other side and how he's a legend.

00:29:17
Speaker 2: Let's do this.

00:29:19
Speaker 3: You know, Scotty, you got money, you got money, Kip, let's all just put twenty thousand together on this plus three hundred and we can take them a nice boatloaded cash.

00:29:29
Speaker 2: No, honestly, I'm not surprised.

00:29:34
Speaker 1: You can triple up.

00:29:35
Speaker 3: You can triple up, and then we go to Sissler and then we go have some fun after.

00:29:42
Speaker 4: But can we just double down and take show Hey too, and really a lot of money?

00:29:48
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:29:48
Speaker 3: Show he's even money probably I don't know yet, but yeah, dude, it's incredible, It's incredible. This It just goes to show you the amount of goodness he has, how good he is. He is just an incredible human being when it comes to the game of baseball on and off the field. He can hit the baseball better than pretty much everybody, and he knows how to do it even when he's slumping, even when he's injured. He was off for a while, he came back and still won the MVP. That's very hard to do. So going to show you the big numbers he has and he not missing pitches that he's getting. You know, two years ago he was swinging outside his own this year. I mean, I would love to see his swing against balls out of his own. But it seemed like every time he got up there, something good would happen.

00:30:35
Speaker 4: I can't let certain things go. So let's just play some hypothetical real quick. Aaron Judge decides he doesn't want to play baseball anymore. Is he a Hall of Famer? And does his number get retired in Yankee Stadium?

00:30:47
Speaker 1: Here we go again, right now, right now?

00:30:52
Speaker 4: He said, you know what I've done enough, I've won three You know, I don't want to play anymore? Like is he worthy of the Hall of Fame? Because he dominated a period of time. I mean, what's the seven eight years in he's gonna be maybe longer at this.

00:31:06
Speaker 1: Point, probably longer. Probably my guess is nine, but I'll double check it. Right now.

00:31:10
Speaker 4: I think he debuted in two thousand and sixteen, if I'm not mistaken, and I was twenty seventeen is its first full season.

00:31:18
Speaker 1: Yes, which makes it nine years, right, I mean tend to one to count sixteen, But nine.

00:31:23
Speaker 3: Years seventeen he won the Rookie the home run Most home runs by a rookie Pete. I was on the team with he did it. Then Judge did it in seventeen. Oh man, I would say, I would say, right now.

00:31:37
Speaker 2: Oh man, see I hate I hate it.

00:31:40
Speaker 1: Wait wait god, I'm gonna help you, dude. I think it's easy. I think it's a lock. We had this with with Mike Trout when he did this, and then actually it's kind of played out that way where Mike Trout was the man. I mean even I would well probably in similar guard to Judge right, more of an all around I mean they're both all around players. I don't know, both superstars in their era best in the sport, or number two or three at worst. And then it just fell off for Trout. That's kind of the question that KP's asking in my mind, and Trout's been a lock, like when you have a peak. I mean a lot of times they look at seven year peak and these guys are already you know, like Judge is already what more of a nine year peak as the best, if not top three player in the sport for that long. To me, that's an easy lock. You don't have the volume. But we're not talking about a guy that's like, oh, he's been in the MVP mix, like you know where it's a better conversation Todd is if you know Jose Ramirez stops his career to marrow like I think he's getting close, but but his would be a little bit more of a debate. With Judge, it's like best or second best bat for years and years and he's almost ten years in the bigs. I'm good.

00:32:44
Speaker 3: And the the reason I'm saying because everybody's like, oh, the bias with the New York and with me working you know, with the Yankees. That's the only reason I pull back because people are like, oh, well he's a Yankee guy. But yeah, I would have to one hundred percent agree with you on all accounts.

00:32:58
Speaker 4: Yes, I do, And that's why I disagree with Like, that's why I disagree with like the numbers. I'm looking at his numbers, sixty two point three war, twelve hundred hits, three hundred and sixty eight home runs. But I mean, you talk about a nine year period or an eight year period of dominance, like Hall of Fame has to have a guy like that in it. And this is assuming he just stopped playing, you know, if he hasn't gradual declined.

00:33:22
Speaker 2: Or even if he falls off the cliff.

00:33:24
Speaker 4: But it's it's just crazy, you know that it goes back to our point of you know, I don't believe in this giant Hall of Fame, but there's got to be like some feel like you ask a player who played against him, You're like, yes, the guy was a Hall of Famer, Like he was so much better than everyone else on the field, and look what he did for a nine year period of time. Like he was the best player on the field for nine straight years. You know, probably much like Don Mattingly. Maybe not the level of dominance of Aaron Judge, but you ask people, when you played against this guy, he was just better than everyone else.

00:33:55
Speaker 3: Hey, and you and I need to have a root beer and just talk because there's gonna be a lot of guys and we play eventually coming up and you and me sit down like yeah or no, Like there there's a couple of there's one couple that come to mind.

00:34:08
Speaker 1: I get it.

00:34:08
Speaker 4: I get it. It's hard when you have like a personal relationship with people. I mean, look at look at the name behind me right here. You know, I know he's on the Hall of Fame ballot. Like I would say, I mean, if if gun pointed to my head and I had a vote, you know, I would say probably not as a friend of his.

00:34:25
Speaker 1: And wait, just you got to clarify, because you got Kershaw and Burley.

00:34:28
Speaker 4: That one's a lot, no that I'm talking about?

00:34:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, wait, that one.

00:34:33
Speaker 4: That side's a lock. This side who I'm talking about? Mark Burley, Yes, a guy that god man, he just did some great things in this game. He was a great team in of mind. I loved him so much. He's on the Hall of Fame ballot deservingly so is he. When you put Mark Burley in the conversation with a Kershaw and a Verlander and a Satchel Page and a you know, it's it's it's hard.

00:34:56
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah? Is he that dude? Does he?

00:34:59
Speaker 3: I'm not saying the done Zervan, but when they talk about those names, should he be with with that company?

00:35:05
Speaker 2: Oh?

00:35:05
Speaker 4: And that's what I That's what I That's what I took out of our previous conversation. When you're naming the committee and the people that are on the ballot, you're like those names kind of all intertwined with each other, like I'm not seeing like I'm not seeing guys that Like it's not like my name was in there, and you're like, okay, no, okay, that's audit. You know, like the names seem so intertwined.

00:35:25
Speaker 2: You know.

00:35:25
Speaker 4: And I think they have to do a better job of recognizing eras of the game, because I do believe the game is has only advanced, it's only gotten harder, not only the skills required to hit and to pitch and to get out and the ability to play defense, but just the longevity aspect, you know, because the game is trying to get younger and younger, so like it's a lot harder for players to play a long period of time, Like I had to scratch and claw to play my last four years to get to ten years, like it felt like smooth sailing for my first five or six. Like the game's always trying to force you out, like it's going to be rare we see guys in today's game unless they come up as a nineteen year old to really play, you know, eighteen nineteen years and you know, to be able to put up enough time, get enough at bats to have three thousand hits or three hundred wins. Like it's just not happening anymore. The game's not allowing it. So you have to factor in errors.

00:36:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, and to your point, like you see, how did these names get picked? Like for the committee, Like how does this happen? And no knock to like Adjason Stark or anything. I love him to death. I love I love news people. I love them. But they didn't play the game either, So it's like it's hard like why some people might say why is he on the committee and not another player or another ex player? So it's it's the back and forth battle. It's like, all right, well if I'm Barry Bonds, well I'm probably not. I'm not saying for this year. I'm just looking at names. Well, this guy old school doesn't like this, I'm probably not going to get a vote from him. He could probably narrow it that to you know, how many guys he's really going to vote for him to get in. So it's just that type of committee where it's like, all right, why not just I don't know what the answer is, but it makes you wonder sometimes.

00:37:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, But I mean it's different from the writer's vote, which is all writers. So you at least get to a point where you're going to then get a blend of players executives, and then you got the writers who are more of like the historians, who I think, yeah, they have a vote, but they're also trying to help people understand. Hey, let's look at this era. Let me give you all of the information and background on this guy. Like I think they can be helpful too when they're present.

00:37:35
Speaker 3: But in this in the committee, and you know, more the thing about they shouldn't they should help you with that, but they probably also, in my opinion, shouldn't have.

00:37:43
Speaker 2: A vote since they already had a vote beforehand.

00:37:46
Speaker 3: Not saying Jason had the vote for that year, but they they get the vote already, why not help out? Hey this guy did this, this and this.

00:37:53
Speaker 2: Here's the numbers. Boom, good luck. You know what I'm saying.

00:37:56
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, the vote. Yeah, and a writer can present a case, but then they don't get a vote, and it's just like, no, this is the player's vote.

00:38:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, good, bad or indifferent. Here's everything on the table. Boom, good luck. I'll be outside. You got it, you got two hours.

00:38:12
Speaker 2: Whatever it is.

00:38:14
Speaker 4: I like it because your point that they already previously had an opportunity to vote for someone, and there could be some bias with that, but allow writers or historians to come into that room and be like, here's the historical context. This is how these players stack up. This is how they compare. You guys are the ones that played You guys are the ones that are in the Hall of Fame. You believe that these players should be, you know, placked up with you, on the stage with you. You know, I think you would get a better you know, a group of players to make that decision. It should be people in the Hall of Fame ultimately making that decision when it comes to like a vote like this.

00:38:50
Speaker 1: Hey, good stuff, guys on the way out here. This was a little bet MGM segment. They're offering an odds boost token for World Cup markets on the winner next summer as open up already for June. That is Tim. That looks like Tim Howard, doesn't it. I think that's Tim Howard.

00:39:05
Speaker 2: How did I know that? I'm a beast of soccer.

00:39:07
Speaker 1: Let's go dude, Tim Howard was a legend. Speaking of legends. Yeah, but anyway, you can get in a little odds boost token dropped into your account now opten necessary out of tournament winner bet or any futures bet on the World Cup. And if you win that bet with the token applied, you know the deal. You get extra winnings. World Cups a while away. But this little boost is coming up this weekend and it expires after I think about twelve hours. Yeah, on the fifth, which is tomorrow. Gambling problem, more concern called one eight hundred gambler. Let's just h the fifth is today, My bad, so maybe it doesn't expired today. Anyway, Let's hit hot corner. What we're hearing about the Cubs. Let's just do a quickie on this because we're getting close to time. I'm a renewed interest in Alex Bregman. The story from Patrick Moodey and toddeve sharmover at the Athletic and also you can listen to them on North Side Territory. I think they have an episode out on this already. If they don't, they will trust me. Alex Bregman a candidate to be with the Cubs again. Now we know that there was interest initially KP Last year. The Cubs offered him in February one hundred and fifteen million dollars over four years that included opt out clauses after the second and the third season. His deal from Boston was won twenty mil with deferrals, so it was actually a little lower overall guaranteed money than the one fifteen, but it was over three years with an opt out after year one. So the Cubs in my mind, lost bag. Like they were not close. They put something out there that's cute, but they were not close. There's renewed interest. Kyle Tucker's not coming back. You look at the position player group and you're like, are they going to let Matt Shaw run a little bit? Sure, but they have a ton of free agents after the twenty six season, and I think there's some concern there. It's really only Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw, and then there's a number of guys that could be an as Suzuki. Nico Horner's on that list. So do you think that this is realistic? Will this actually happen? I think the biggest question is will the Cubs actually be the winning bidder for Alex Bragman In this case? I think Boston's gonna outpit them.

00:41:16
Speaker 4: How could they not? I mean, Alex Bregman is a phenomenal player. They were already had interest in him. Bregman did what he needed to do. It wasn't about I don't think it was about there was a safety blanket with the long term deal, but he really was seeking that opt out. He wasn't coming off the best year. He proved He's still an unbelievable player. You know, someone's gonna just have to step up to the plate. But Alex Bredman fits exactly what the Cubs sort of need. They need a guy who's been there, done it. Just imagine a Dansby Swanson Alex Bregman left side of the infield, both guys with you know, World Series championships, pedigrees everything. I think that would be a you know, great faceiver franchise moving forward.

00:41:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, the guy's been a stud I mean, there's enough to do, can play. He's doing it at a tough age getting older too as well. Not many people want these veteran guys anymore, and they're you know, as they're getting into their thirties and older. But this kid absolute stud plays the game while plays hard, you know if his stature too, just plays the game the right way.

00:42:18
Speaker 1: I think he's got the magic sauce too. I think he is a true true coach. Jim ratt Nut Yeah exactly, But I do think like he like pop quizes guys on pitchers to make sure that a guy that he doesn't feel like studying enough is studying. He's going up to every guy with tips, right, not like forcefully, just like I think a really brilliant baseball mind. I think you've heard that from a lot of guys that play with him. And then he goes to Boston, you hear stories like that. And this was mentioned in the article that Pete crow Armstrong really gravitated towards Justin Turner, and this could be that next guy that could help Pete continue to develop, someone like Alex Bragmant coming in remember PCA was an MVP candidate, was gonna a ton of money on an early extension, and then he really fell off towards the end of the year. But the talent's there. We've seen it, right, We've seen it at a superstar level for half a season. So anyway, I think the Cubs would be wise to invest in Alex Bragman coming over the team. Will they win the bid? I don't think so. I don't think they're going to spend as much as as someone else. And I also think that their focus is on pitching, which is fine. So then if you're going to spend your big money you're a big nut on someone, then go on pitching. I'm okay with that.

00:43:26
Speaker 4: It's to your point. I never to your point. I never played with Alex Bragman, but I kind of knew him a little bit, And I just remember one day calling him on the phone asking about hitting in the off season, and he said, hey, let me call you right back. He facetimeed me. He was standing up in his house with a bat and just took me through a bunch of different things that he thought about that he felt like would help me. And like I said, I never played with the guy. For him to like take that time out of his day to kind of just help me out just kind of shows what type of guy is that, how much he loves hitting and gain the game and being engaged with people to try to make them kind of the best version of themselves.

00:44:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's never here. I never got that call from him. I guess that wasn't that good.

00:44:05
Speaker 1: But hey, Todd, guess what if you call her if you FaceTime him this week, I bet you he'll do it. I bet you.

00:44:14
Speaker 2: I know he will.

00:44:14
Speaker 3: I'm gonna I'm gonna he loves it. When I wake up in the morning in my robe, I'm gonna ask him to move the hips, show me how to go from A to B. Baby, let's go.

00:44:25
Speaker 4: He's gonna be flash lights, flash lights don't rotate.

00:44:29
Speaker 1: He's definitely the guy, right yeah, right here, always has a back and always you'll catch him. You'll catch him at any time, like it's like six in the morning, he's just waking up and like this is how he's drinking his cup of coffee, right like, oh, hey Todd, yeah yeah, yeah, some medding tips where like always has to have a bat. Yeah. Anyway, so we'll see what happens with that. Let's hit slap oh Winter meetings next week. This is the way that we finish off this week, because next time you hear from us, we will be in Orlando. We'll travel far and wide. AJ and I to go to our backyard and be at a hotel all day and grab gms and managers. Some of the names already confirmed on the list include Cardinals manager Ali Marmle, Red's manager Terry Francona, Guardians manager Stephen Vote, Tiger's manager A. J. Hinch Cardinals knew whatever they're calling in President Baseball Operations, him Bloom both new guys for the Nationals. Paul Toponi running the front office, Blake Puterra running the manager's side. We got our insiders there, Ken Rosenthal, Bob Nightingale, Robert Murray, Jim Bowden. We're bringing it so we'll see you on YouTube or if you listen to us on the podcast next week. That's all we got you guys crushed. I like this lineup combination.

00:46:00
Speaker 4: Good line Hey, make sure you make sure you I d Blake Buttero okay, make sure you id.

00:46:07
Speaker 1: Hey, you know AJ and Kratz will manager. That's under forty years old. They're going to bring all your two young baby face blah blah blah kind of jokes. And I heard an interview with Blake the other day. He does sound like he's a pretty mature guy, as he has to be, so don't worry. Kp AJ will handle that. He'll have a drink in hand and be like, I don't know if I'm allowed to give this to you. See everyone Monday,