Bob Nightengale: Trade reviews, Kyle Tucker market, Imai money + FA feasts for Red Sox & Pirates

Foul Territory

FT Insider Bob Nightengale talked about an active trade market and reviewed some of the major moves this week. Also covered: Kyle Tucker's market, Nolan Arenado's situation and expected money for Tatsuya Imai.

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(16:31) FT built out their free agent feasts for the Red Sox and Pirates. How can these teams realistically fill up their plate this winter?

Hosts: Scott Braun, Erik Kratz, Kevin Pillar

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2025-11-27 32 min Transcript

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Transcript

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Hey, Bob night.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: Gel is back with us regular on FT Insider for USA today, and let's get right to biz. Bob. Hope you're gonna have a great holiday. We'll talk more about that coming up, but let's start with some notable trades over the past week. Is the trade market going to continue to stay hotter than the free agent market for now?

00:00:23
Speaker 1: I think it will.

00:00:24
Speaker 3: It's going to stay like this until the end of Decemmer, maybe first of January, until this is absolutely exhausted trade market. Then they'll turn the free agent market and say, you know what, let's let's go that route instead. We'll start spending money when we have to. Right now, you don't have to, and you have big uh, some big contracts have been moved that have been surprising.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: What were your specific thoughts on the Sunny Gray acquisition for Boston and then also the Semian for Nimo deal earlier this week since we haven't had Yon since then.

00:00:57
Speaker 3: Well tells you a kudos that Cardinals to pay twenty million dollars down to get prospects back. So if he just wanted to have a salary dump, you know, they would have said, hey, bossy, you got it.

00:01:07
Speaker 1: We don't care who we're coming back now.

00:01:09
Speaker 3: They got you know, two legitimate guys, uh, you know with Clark, you know should be a starter and nothing else, a back end reliever. And you know fit should fit and well as a uh you know, maybe a fourth or fifth type starter. So to do that, they had to pay twenty million dollars. So kudos the Cardinals ownership police doing that. Uh and Gray wanted out Gray also, you know, I think Eric Ludis the other day that he wanted to prove a con pitchion of big market. I think even when eleven Minnesota, he was open to going somewhere like, hey, I know I can do this, uh, you know in the big trade with the uh you know, with Nemo and Simeon. I'm surprised that Nemo would waive it. I mean, he just had his house redone in Port Saint Luisi. Longtime met as for his legacy is Semion did not have a two teams on his no trade clause. But it seems like both guys were kind of eager to get out. I'll make curious come spring training when those guys start singing down the more relaxed what the true story was as far as you know, why were they kind of eager to go ahead and lead where they are right now?

00:02:18
Speaker 4: I want to make a comment on the no trade. I mean, I was never in a position to not have a no trade. But I can imagine as a player, you pick up the phone, David Stern calls and they go, hey, Brandon Nemo, we're thinking about trading you. Right as a player, you have a you know, you feel a certain way about an organization when they tell you they're going to trade you. You know, at some point it's you know, they want to trade me, but they can't trade me because I have the ultimate say. So. I mean, maybe that played a factor in for a guy like Brandon Neimo. It's like, hey, we want to trade you, but you have to approve it. But my question to you is, knowing hein Bloom's connection with the Red Sox previously to the Cardinals, have you got any word that Sonny was really shot around? Where were the Red Sox kind of the team that he knew the farm system really well. He kind of identified as a place that maybe he felt Sonny would feel comfortable going, and he felt comfortable in the return that he knew he.

00:03:11
Speaker 1: Was going to get from the Red Sox. No.

00:03:14
Speaker 3: I think he was definitely shopped around. Remember a year ago they wanted to trade him, certainly at the All Star break, you know, trade deadline, they wanted to move him, and Sonning Gray said no, now talk to me in a few months. I'll go ahead and think about it. And I think when they present to him he got excited about it. But I know I think he was shopped around. I think sending Gray would I went to a number of places. But yeah, hein and Bloom, knowing that farm system very well, still got a lot of friends in Boston, says you know what, let's identify these two guys, and then convinced his own ownership like they were paying twenty million dollars to a guy who's not here anymore but would get something back. So I think this is going to be a prelude to, you know, trading Nolan Ernado.

00:03:55
Speaker 1: A year ago.

00:03:56
Speaker 3: Ernado turned down to Houston, which was a mistake, turned on the end Angels. And now I think he's saying, hey, shot me everywhere, and I'll probably give my go ahead and they're probably going to eat most of that contract just to get some time to return back.

00:04:13
Speaker 5: Do you think too much is made Bob about the Nemo departure and David Stern's having, as one writer describe it, a cold heart towards the nostalgic mets, Like it's too much being made about that, because David Stern's job is to make the best team based on the start of next year and not like a piece fans. Everybody will forget about trades when they make the playoffs, and they didn't this past year.

00:04:43
Speaker 3: No, I agree too much is made of it. I mean, he already showed his hand a year ago. Hey, if Alonzo wanted to come back, that their dollar fine. If not, so be it. And they were ready to walk away from him last year. They were ready to walk away from this year too. It's like just saying, oh, it nice to have them back. They're saying the right things. But you know, if he gets a good offer out there, let's see if they want to match or not. So I don't think there's any guarantee whatsoever that Pete Alonzo's back. A little bit like the Dodgers you know, did with the Corey Seeger. They weren't going to match that. What Texans is offering all right.

00:05:17
Speaker 5: Let's look at the Cards return in this trade for Sonny Gray. Is it indicative of how close hein Bloom thinks the Cardinals really are. Based on the fact that he didn't go and get you know, three low level prospects that have high ceilings. He got two guys, one who already has big league time, and then Braden Clark, who just burst on the scene with one hundred miles an hour from the left side, seems to be close to the big leagues too.

00:05:44
Speaker 1: I think just more of a sure thing.

00:05:46
Speaker 3: I mean, he likes what fit did as far as can be a fourth fifth starter. Kind of juries out a little bit on Clark at an unbelievable first half, kind of fell apart the second half. So even in Boston, the talent in value intors are saying, well, is he really a starter or is he a reliever?

00:06:03
Speaker 1: At worst? They say he's gonna be a strong reliever.

00:06:07
Speaker 3: They're real, you know the ceiling is high, but they're reluctant to say, oh, this guy's gonna be an ace or number two starter. I used to think for High and Bloom, this is more of a sure thing.

00:06:17
Speaker 1: You know it's going to a piece of fans.

00:06:19
Speaker 3: Too, instead of getting three young guys, you're you know, kind of throwing crafts on and see what works out or.

00:06:24
Speaker 5: Not kind of return is Aeronauto looking at now we knew what the return could kind of look like with Houston. Houston was willing to take a little bit more of the money and Ernauto said no because now we're one year later. But he's one year cheaper too. So is the return just a complete dump or can the Cardinals get anything for him without having to eat twenty million like they did for Sonny Gray?

00:06:56
Speaker 3: And you know they don't want him to be a complete dump, So I won't be surprised if they do this blueprint here and say hey, we'll eat three quarters of his contract. I think they're going to have to eat at least twenty twenty five thirty million dollars, So I'd be shocked if he's there on in Spring's training. They'll find people that want them, butchickularly if they, you know, say you can have this guy at all, it's going to cost you is five or ten million dollars a year for the next two years.

00:07:26
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00:07:38
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00:07:46
Speaker 1: Like what what?

00:07:47
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00:07:50
Speaker 2: Absolute must have Ridge Olive matt That is the design that Kratz has right now, and you can get a hold of that. There's over fifty plus colors and styles to to choose from. Over at Ridge. You can even get a wallet that features every NFL, MLB or college team. And for a limited time, Ridge is having their huge Black Friday sale. Head to Ridge dot com slash foul to get up to forty seven percent off your order. This is by far the biggest discount they've given all year. That's Ridge dot com slash foul for up to forty seven percent off your order during their biggest sale of the year. After your purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about Ridge. Tell them foul Territory sent you, Hey, Bob, any thoughts on the Kyle Tucker market right now in terms of both pace and potential suitors like, have you heard anything in the last couple of weeks that leads you to believe that there are some front runners who are seriously interested? And from a timeline perspective, do you think that this is someone who could potentially sign around the Winter meetings?

00:08:50
Speaker 1: I think he could s that Winter mings.

00:08:52
Speaker 3: I think with you know Bellinger of Bellingers smart, He's sbably gonna say, hey, I'm want Tucker to sign first. Then I'll piggyback off him. I can get the tuck of money, but I don't have to get that much less. I think you know the same. You know a couple of teams where the Blue Jays, the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, there's only I think three or four teams are interested. I don't think there's any chance in the world he goes back to Houston.

00:09:16
Speaker 1: They're not going to spend that kind of money.

00:09:18
Speaker 3: And I think teams, you know, teams like him, but they don't absolutely love them. This is two straight years now, he's had four second halfs with the injuries. The injuries seem like they take a long time, uh kind of slow recoveries.

00:09:33
Speaker 1: Here.

00:09:33
Speaker 3: He's not the aircraft carrier, he's more you know, a stuff putting player, a very good, if not a great, supporting player, but not the guy that you know is going to sell a lot of tickets at the box office, not going to you know, lead you guys.

00:09:47
Speaker 1: Uh, just more of a quiet demeanor.

00:09:50
Speaker 4: Hey, Bob, who do you think is kind of the player the domino that everything once he goes, everything kind of falls in place. Is that some of these Japanese players that are being posted. Is it Edwin Diaz in the back end of the bullpen or is everyone kind of waiting to put their best offer for a trek scooble? Is it Kyle Tucker? Who do you think is kind of that domino that's going to kind of push this free agency thing moving forward?

00:10:17
Speaker 1: I think it's been more of the pitching market.

00:10:18
Speaker 3: I think what you know, I got like Framer Valdez could set the market there, if not Emaya from Japan.

00:10:26
Speaker 1: Uh.

00:10:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think Yo Kate Michael Kain's going to set the market or jail in the cates, but I think Valdez could. I thought I was smart on the edges part of you know, lobbying him, bring him around the lobby of the GM meetings and have him meet individually, send what exactly happened that night? Is this ever going to happen again when you're crossing off to catcher and just you know how bad it looked. So I thought it was smart just for those teams and know his real personality, and I think he can set the pitching market.

00:10:57
Speaker 2: Bob KP mentioned some of the Japanese talent. Do you think that teams will I don't want to say overpay, but be very aggressive to try and land one of who I think are three potential stars that could come over from Japan to the US. Sokomotive seems more of a high floor guy, Murakami more of a high ceiling guy on the position player side than Amai, who seems like he's got a little bit of both. So you have three players who are not going to all sign with the Dodgers. So the reason I ask this is this is an opportunity for teams to kind of re establish themselves in Japan and try and take a little bit of a percentage of share away from the Dodgers who have such a foothold right now in Japan.

00:11:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he might is the guy that everybody wants and I think what you know, what happened with Yamamoto, especially what he did last year, what he did in the postseason. I think people have stars arise now, like oh man, we're not saying John Momoto, but he can be close. So I think his value is going to rise. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's the number one paid pitcher out there.

00:11:59
Speaker 1: Murka me. I think people aren't sure what to get.

00:12:02
Speaker 3: You know, hey, a lot of power, but now he's going to see fastballs he hadn't seen before. Strikes out an awful line Japan. So how much are you going to strike out over here? Okamoto? I think is more of a sure thing. Uh, it's gonna cost a lot less.

00:12:16
Speaker 1: So Mericano would be interesting.

00:12:18
Speaker 3: You know, if Dodgers weren't bringing back you know, Max Munsey, ob would say it makes sense, But he would have to wait at least a year for you know, for Monthsy's contract to run out, or even you know, for Freddy Freeman's to run out in a couple of years.

00:12:31
Speaker 1: So I just don't see a fit there.

00:12:34
Speaker 3: I could certainly see him going to a place like a like like a San Diego padres or or Staly back East.

00:12:41
Speaker 5: I have a question for you, Lance Lane brought it up on Cardinals Territory the other day. How does this offseason look if there was a trade deadline in the off season? Who does that benefit the most? Does that benefit free agents who have worked six years to get there, or does that benefit teams who are holding these trade pieces that teams would want, you know, or or are thinking that they want, but they have a deadline, so we got to get to that before the winter meetings or by the end of the winter meetings.

00:13:14
Speaker 3: I think it would help free agents, they really do, because right now, you know, these guys are taking spots up, you know, like it's sunny, great, just took a nice starting pitcher slot up. So yeah, have a deadline for that. I think you make it a lot more fun. It's like after COVID season whenever he had like a couple of weeks of sign before spring training.

00:13:33
Speaker 1: That was fun.

00:13:34
Speaker 3: It was almost like NBA, you know, NFL style, and you know we hadn't seen that. So but I think it would help free agents as far as okay, through the marketplace. Now they have to focus on us and because you know, right now there's so many moves that are made in spring training. I mean used to be, hey, free agents wanted to sign you for Christmas because in the family to know where they're for the holidays. They get housing in Arizona, Florida for spring training. And now I think guys are still used to just waiting and signing even at the start of spring training.

00:14:05
Speaker 1: And we saw that with Bregman.

00:14:07
Speaker 3: Obviously saw that that big h you know, that big march in February with a Machado in San Diego and of course Harper in Philadelphia. Right now, the only really deadline you're thinking about is the Diamondbacks with kids. Tell Marte only because he's a ten and five player ten days in the regular season, so I think in their mind their deadline is, you know, mid April if it don't trade him.

00:14:28
Speaker 1: Now he's got ten and five right, so we probably never trade him.

00:14:33
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I think it'd be coold. He like focusing on trades from the end of the World Series through the Winter Meetings, and then after that you'd still extend the offseason, which I think baseball does really well with all the signings talk. Okay, last one most important at the buzzer here, bob favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving is.

00:14:54
Speaker 3: You know, I mean I love turking him. I go greens and mac and cheese. I love greens and mac and cheese. If I didn't have a bite of turkey or ham, I'd be okay with that. But give me all the greens and mixing it with the mac and cheese all day long.

00:15:07
Speaker 1: There you go.

00:15:08
Speaker 2: I love that, Hey, Bob, enjoy it.

00:15:10
Speaker 1: Oh with hot sauce.

00:15:11
Speaker 2: Oh that that was a little sizzle at the finish line, A little hot sauce.

00:15:16
Speaker 1: I like that.

00:15:17
Speaker 2: I like it a lot. Well, Bob, enjoy that whole that whole mix. Okay, have a great Thanksgiving. We appreciate you, and we'll talk to you. I think next week.

00:15:27
Speaker 1: Sal's great. Have to think you guys. Take care.

00:15:30
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00:15:34
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00:15:37
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00:17:40
Speaker 1: Right.

00:17:40
Speaker 2: It's not going to necessarily garner any headlines, but it's there for you. Okay, Hair Kratz lay out your free agent feast. Which team are you choosing?

00:17:52
Speaker 5: Boston Red Sox. Boston Red Sox are a team that need take They need to be the splasher in this free agent pool. They need to bring their plate to absolutely crush spread like KP after games when we played together. And I'm gonna go right to the turkey, because nobody ever starts with the cranberry sauce. All Right, you have to get stuff on your plate before you put stuff on top of it. So the turkey for the Boston Red Sox Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman has shown that he is a leader. He can be this guy on this roster of young guys that really needs to they need to learn to win and play at the big leagues. No better player than Alex Bregman, who never doesn't go to the playoffs. That's just what he does. I guess we'll never know was this quote that is the turkey. I don't care how much of that turkey, how much that turkey costs. You got to put it on your plate and it can take up maybe some of the rest of your plate. And I get it. I'm gonna get roasted for not having gravy on there, because I feel like, when you have your plate, when your play is full of really good, juicy turkey, incredibly well done stuffing and mashed potatoes that are perfect, you don't need gravy. I'm not saying I don't like gravy. I like gravy. I just don't need it. When everything else is done. Gravy's for the people who are like, ooh, we we didn't get good turkey stuffing or potatoes, so I gotta soak it all with some something that will make it taste better. So I'm gonna skip over gravy and I'm going right to the stuffing. They've already gotten the the comments out there that they're only going after you know, one a's and two's. Well, they got Sonny Gray, and the argument would be that he's a three. So if the Red Sox are going in that direction, I think one of the guys that's gonna be about twenty to twenty one million dollars a year is Zach Gallan. Now Scott Boris wants more than that, and it might cost one hundred million dollars plus, but I feel like with Zach Gallan, I feel like he can have a bounce back year. The Red Sox are not afraid to give a guy twenty million plus to start. Maybe the five years six years is too much, but you know they're gonna cook in a little opt out. So there's an opportunity there to get a starting pitcher who, when he has a really good year, can opt out and look at the Red Sox. They get out of another long term deal. So I feel like you can move on to the potatoes, and you can mix potatoes with anything. And that's why I chose Hasan Kim. Now you say, well, Trevor Story's gonna play shortstop till at least twenty seven. Got a team option till twenty eight, but Trevor Story got kind of tired. Trevor Story can play second base. This is my Thanksgiving feast, and so I want to have my plate filled with the best players. And I think this does an incredible job of shoring up this defense with a little uncertainty of what Marcella Meyer is going to give you. Now you have a really strong left side that Trevor Story could play shortstop, still Hasan Kim could play a little bit of second base. You figure it out. You get the best players, and you figure it out. As the season goes Cranberry Sauce, they'll say they don't need it, but they don't know what Tristan Costas is gonna bring him. Reece Hoskins. Rarely can you get a guy on a one year deal that is a really good teammate and has a chance to pump thirty dingers for you. Oh and what else does he do? He pulls the ball. Guess where he's gonna play eighty one of his games, Fenway. Reee Hoskins incredible leader, will fit into any clubhouse. And I think he's he's now going to be a full two seasons off of his ACL surgery. I think I think he will be one of the biggest low cost signings of this offseason.

00:21:49
Speaker 2: Wow, really nice, KP. I'm stuffed. I'm actually even a little bit nauseous. I mean, this is a lot more than you'd expect from the Red Sox here after the sunny gray additional already.

00:22:00
Speaker 1: But I like it.

00:22:01
Speaker 2: I like it a lot. Any criticisms here, I guess the only one for me, KP that stands out is how the infield alignment would look. But I'm with Krats here, nobody's going to complain about a little bit of extra depth. Yeah, Reye Hoskins can be there as your insurance. And then, Kim, I know you've got Meyer, I know you've got story. Cost is coming back from injury. Let your worst problem be that at the beginning of the season you've got to figure out a little bit of a pt split in the infield.

00:22:26
Speaker 1: No.

00:22:26
Speaker 4: I mean, I love his point too. Go get the best players available, especially middle infielders, and I think the Padres kind of prove that theory of you just get good baseball players that play in the middle of the diamond, you can find a place for them, and if they aren't able to kind of fill out some of that other part of their list, they have a ton of young prospects. If you get to Alex Regman, do you need some of these younger guys that you've drafted, developed, brought up to the big leagues. If Regman's going to hold down third base for the next probably he's gonna get six or seven years, maybe you can use some of these guys to go on and get your number two starters. I got no complaints with it. It just makes me excited for tomorrow because I love Thanksgiving and I love filling my plate.

00:23:08
Speaker 2: I'm excited for your feasts. So which team are you going to pile up?

00:23:14
Speaker 1: Yeah?

00:23:14
Speaker 4: I mean it was a good kind of segue with the Reee Hoskins. So I kind of wanted to think a little bit outside the box here and go to a team that kind of made headlines the other day in the Pittsburgh Pirates saying that they're going to actually go out and spend some money. So I'm going to spend their money. But I also do know how the Pittsburgh Pirates operate, so I had to kind of go through the list of free agents find guys that I felt like maybe either coming off a bad year and injury year where they kind of are going to go out and sign the maybe a one year kind of prove it deal, because if you look at the recent history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, they do not go out and sign guys for multiple years. So these guys are all going to fill my plate for the Pittsburgh Pirates on one year prove it deals. And I'm gonna start with like krat said, I'm gonna start with with the main course here and go Turkey. And what do the Pittsburgh Pirates need? In my opinion the most they need someone at the back end of the bullpen that can close games. They got rid of their closer last year, and David Bettenar. So these are the three guys that I have options for them. Evan Phillips, Michael Kopek or Adjason Foley, all guys that have proven at the highest level that they can close games.

00:24:26
Speaker 1: What do The.

00:24:26
Speaker 4: Pittsburgh Pirates have arguably some of the best young starting pitching, with arguably the best starting young starting pitcher in the game in Paul Skiings. These guys pitch deep into games if they are if they're able, if they are trying to be a for real team and try to make a push in the division, They're gonna need someone at the back end that can solidify some of these games where you have guys like Paul Skins going deep into the games. So Evan Phillips obviously missed a ton of time last year, probably would have been the Dodgers closer this year if healthy. Even though the they went out and signed guys like Tanner Scott Kirby Yates to kind of shore up their bullpen, Evan Phillips has been their guy. He's proven track record of being able to close games. Michael Kopek also another guy who's very capable of closing games, who missed a ton of time with injury, probably looking for a one year deal opportunity to close some games to kind of, you know, re up his value and Jason Foley also was a guy you know in Detroit for a long time that was closing games, kind of had a weird year being sent to the minor leagues, probably looking for a chance to kind of, you know, up his value, up his stock going into free agency the following year. The next guy that I think would kind of just fit perfectly with kind of the main course the gravy, Michael Confordo. I love the player. I love the guy coming off a down year, coming off a couple down years, actually had the weird kind of shoulder injury in the offseason when when he left a lot of money on the table with the New York Mets. I still think there's a ton of value in Michael Conforto. I don't think it's on a long term deal right now, you know, to the point where he wasn't even on the playoff roster for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. I think he's got a lot to prove. I think a place like Pittsburgh, with that kind of shorter porch in right field could fit perfectly into his swing. I know he's got some opposite feel power too, But you know, I think Michael Confordo could be a great fit in Pittsburgh on a one year proven deal. The next is the DH position, and I know this is Andrew McCutcheon's job until he doesn't want it anymore, you know, I haven't. He hasn't signed quite yet. And maybe Andrew McCutcheon maybe decides to go somewhere else, even though he's been extremely loyal to the Pittsburgh Pirates and it feels like he kind of always has a one year deal kind of standing for him, But maybe he wants to go somewhere else and really try to kind of go win a ring. Marcelo Zuno is my guy. I played with him in Atlanta and he is one of the best teammates I've ever been around, one of the most professional hitters I've been around. Kind of got squeezed out a little bit in Atlanta because of the emergence of Drake Baldwin there and kind of splitting the time at the catching DH position. But I know Marcelo Zuna has a ton of the tank. I know how hardy works, I know how professional of a hitter he is, and I think he would be a great fit for a lot of the young guys they have there to kind of just be in their ecosystem. Learn from mar Marcelo Zuna, how he works, you know, how he can have a professional at bat. I think he'd be a great fit there. And I think he's probably a guy who is not going to necessarily require a long term deal, maybe just a nice one year deal where, you know, if the pirates aren't in it, and he kind of has the type of year we feel like he can have. You know, you go and trade him and go get some pieces next the potatoes, which are obviously very important, but a little bit lower down on your plate. I like Sam Henches from Cleveland Guardians missed the entire year, but what a physical presence this guy is. If healthy, he is a nightmare to face out of the bullpen. You could slot him in as your left handed leverage guy. You can slot him in as an eighth inning guy. I think it's a guy who doesn't get hurt. We're talking a lot more about him as being one of the top left handed relievers in the market right now. And I'm going to round out my plate with Cranberry's, which I don't really even like. I don't put on my plate but in the case of this, this is kind of just like a little sprinkle salt. Wilmer Flores. I think he'd be a great addition to kind of mix in at first base. I know they went out and traded for Spencer Horwitz, who also missed him time with some injury. Still a young guy, a little bit unproven. You got to give him a little bit of a runway to prove that he can be a major league player, that he can hold down the first base position. But a guy like Wilmer Flores, all he does is driving runs. Gives you professional maybe looking for an opportunity on one year deal. I know he's getting a little bit older there, but that's kind of my dream scenario for the Pittsburgh Pirates to take all these guys on one year deals and try to go out there and do something special this year.

00:29:16
Speaker 2: Dream scenario. I would say, on the realistic end, that was really well done.

00:29:22
Speaker 1: KP.

00:29:23
Speaker 2: Krats this guy's different. That was good, But that was the realistic what the Pirates do dream scenario, right, that's the waters they have to play in, they think Schwarber. KP says, you should be thinking Azuna on a one year contract he'll probably get My guess is twelve to fifteen mil on a one year deal, and that's probably the highest paid player in that group that you just went over.

00:29:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean until they prove otherwise that they're going to go out and sign guys to multiple year deals. And I know it's a von Nova because I hear it over and over and what was it, two thousand, nineteen sixteen sixteen, we're going up. Yeah, so we're going on almost ten years here. So yeah, I found it kind of fun. Like, yeah, not to take anything away from doing the Red Sox, but you know, obviously that would have been fun. You get to kind of you get the shop at Neiman Marcus where I'm kind of you know, shopping at Target or Macy's a little bit more. But I I enjoyed it this morning, kind of getting in the depths of the free agent players out there and try to figure out a realistic path forward for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

00:30:28
Speaker 2: I would say more of like a TJ Max or what's the overseas one that is popular?

00:30:35
Speaker 5: Too many, too many, too many analogies. We're sticking to the plate. Basically, the Pirates are building their feast after everybody else has gone through, so all they get left is the draft, Like is the white meat if you don't like white meat, dark meat, if you don't like dark meat, they're getting the like soggy They're getting the soggy stuffing and not the crispy stuffing. So you know, white KP. That was legendary, and I honestly think with the starting rotation you might have a chance of competing in the NL Central with all those moves. Obviously, you have to hope that all those guys have career bounce back type of years, which is tough. It's tough to do. You know, if you get one out of those guys to have a career bounce back year, to me, it's successful. But you can't just keep being the last person to the table to make a full, beautiful plate of food at Thanksgiving. You gotta kind of push, You gotta push to go forward and get the best food. It might sound selfish, but we're about the w here at Thanksgiving.

00:31:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is on the phone too right now, KP. He is looking at your advice and he's making phone calls.

00:31:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say all my things are like the prepackaged turkey. You buy the can gravy, the can cranberries.

00:31:53
Speaker 5: You know, not homemade.

00:31:55
Speaker 2: It's not homemade. It's not homemade, but it's pirates offseason baseball. Baby. It's very realistic.

00:32:02
Speaker 1: I love it.

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