Angels owner drops viral quote downplaying winning? Teams feeling most heat, Pablo López out for 2026

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to Fowl Territory. I'm Alona Rizzo and for Scott Braun alongside Kevin Palar, who I believe is in Torsas right now, and Aj Pierzinski who is live at Mariners Camp, and that is where we are today. We are psyched that you guys are along with us and the Foul Territory Spring Training Tour is engineered by Fastinal.

00:00:25
Speaker 2: Checkout fastenal dot com for more information. We are psyched that they are with us along the way and we are here. We have you covered for spring training. As I mentioned, we're at the MS camp today, Rangers, Tomorrow, Brew Crew, Reds, Cubs, you name it. We're there, Arizona Diamondbacks on the twenty sixth, then the Giants, and then we head to Florida Cardinals, Marlins, Mets, NAT's astros goes on and on and on. We wrap it up on the nineteenth with the Philadelphia Phillies. But Aj is in Peoria. We're psyched. We have a lot of guests coming up scheduled here. Let's get to that momentarily. First, boys, let's charge the mounds.

00:01:07
Speaker 3: Man.

00:01:07
Speaker 2: This is a bummer.

00:01:10
Speaker 3: Before we dig into this I just want to say, when we call it, by the way, we call it God's Country, and we head to Florida. So when we head to God's Country, you know everything will get better.

00:01:20
Speaker 2: That's awesome.

00:01:21
Speaker 3: And then also, uh, by the way, when our show is foul territory, where I am sitting is in foul territory of BP and Mark, Mark is supposed to protect me, But I feel like I have a better chance of anything else protecting me than Mark. Does you have a glove?

00:01:39
Speaker 2: Why don't they put put an l screen behind you or just put some sort of barricade.

00:01:45
Speaker 3: And Mark's son is sitting over here, and he's supposed to be protecting me, Jake, But Jake is so far away. I didn't want to say his name, but so but Jake is so far away from me that if a ball came over here, he could never get here in time. We clearly he's never been around a baseball field before. Kp like he's it's like the bullpen guy. That's you know, when used to have bullpens on the field, you'd have the guy that the guy standing behind him, and they'd be so far away the ball would get hit and they couldn't get to it.

00:02:09
Speaker 4: That's Jacob, or they'd be watching it. Would they be watching the guy warming up in the bullpen exactly?

00:02:15
Speaker 3: So anyways, but continue Alta now that I've been to.

00:02:20
Speaker 2: I appreciate you taking one for the team and putting your body out there and sacrificing yourself for the betterment of foul territory. In foul territory, now let's charge the mounds charging about all right, this is a bummer, you guys. Pablo Lopez of the Minnesota Twins starter of course, had a second opinion and unfortunately confirmed what we already feared. He is requiring Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. AJ. He is going to miss the entire season. This is a massive blow to a Twins team AJ that was already decimated, and now you lose your top end.

00:02:58
Speaker 3: Starter and also a team member. They said they were competing this year, they were going for it this year after they traded away what ten guys at the trade deadline last year and didn't really sign a whole lot of free agency to bolster that. So this is a huge blow. And everyone said they should have traded Pablo maybe last year. Now, what do you do with Joe Ryan, right, another valuable commodity that they have on this team. Do you trade him in case God forbid something happens to him? But the biggest takeaway from this for me is it just sucks because Pablo Lopez is a great human being and a great guy and a great pitcher. So for him to be out, he's going to be out for this year, and then obviously he's going to probably miss someone next year too, so this is almost a two year thing. It just sucks for for not only the twins are fans, but also for Pablo, And.

00:03:40
Speaker 4: So, yeah, I echo what you say. I love watching Pablo Lopez pitch. He's a great human being. He's a fun pitcher to watch. But when I heard the news, that's immediately where my mind went to and everything they did last year in selling off all their assets, and I know they said they're going to try to compete this year, but sometimes when the wind is open for you to trade a guy, you know, injuries are part of the game, especially with starting pitchers, and you know, obviously this is new news. It wouldn't have been you know, bad to trade him last year because he didn't have an injury at the time, But sometimes you just got to take the best off route there. Sometimes you hoard these players a little bit too long and then something unfortunate like this happens. Where you have these assets you got to and you're not competing right now, You've got to go out and sell them and try to make your team a little bit better in the future.

00:04:26
Speaker 5: If that's the direction you're going.

00:04:27
Speaker 2: Kevin, how about this. We just got some information on X Aaron Gleaman tweeting this Joe Ryan has been scratched from today's start versus the Red Sox. No reason given by the Twins yet. Should we make something of that? Or is that is we should not imagine speculate. But that's a little odd.

00:04:46
Speaker 4: It's a little odd considering he's going to be pitching for Team USA, so his ramp up periods a little bit quicker, and it is very important for him to get out on the mound and pitch because he does have to be a little bit ready sooner because he's going to pitch for Team USA. So so maybe you nailed it perfectly. Maybe he's a guy that you know. With the new news, the Pablo Lopez, maybe they're asking price came down a little bit where maybe there's a little bit more desperation to maybe try to trade him before something bad potentially happens.

00:05:15
Speaker 2: Aga, could you see Joe Ryan being moved before the season starts.

00:05:19
Speaker 3: I didn't think so, but maybe now or God forbid, let's hope he's not hurt. Right, that's didn't pop up to Ryan so oh low back tightness apparently on his right side. So that's good. But you know what that's gonna do. I hate to say this, it's gonna take him probably out of Team USA. If there is any little teeny tiny thing that pops up on these teams, especially before they get to the tm UOSA, they usually pull him out. So sadly, this means that he's probably gonna miss out on pitching for TMOSA. But I'll just go get someone else. We're in Manner's camp. I could come up with about three or four guys in Manor's camp, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Wu and Bryce Miller. That it all look nice in that USA uniform. We can't go Louis Castillo because I'm sure he's pitching for the dr his hometown. So yeah, it just is just one of those bad things and if they missed Jill Ryan for a long time. They're not competing with anything except for last place.

00:06:15
Speaker 2: All right.

00:06:16
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00:06:24
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00:06:40
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00:07:16
Speaker 2: Now, I hope that he is okay. Low backkind is fine, but I would hate that he doesn't get the opportunity to pitch for USA for the WBC. Let's take a look, you guys at the Twins projected starting a rotation now that we know that Pablo Lopez is out for the season, perhaps even longer than that, because this is going to be a second surgery in terms of reconstruction. So let's just assume Joe Ryan is okay, and let's just assume he's going to be a Twin this season. Bailey ober Simeon Woods, Richardson, Taj Bradley, and then Zebbie Matthews. This is not a rotation AJ that streams at you. But they do have some good arms. But is it going to be enough for the Twins to compete who They say they're going for it, But I don't know in that division, I'm not so sure.

00:07:57
Speaker 3: No, it's not enough. It's not enough. I'm sorry, listen, it's not They don't have enough offense already to begin with. Their relief corps was decimated by trades last year. They traded a Duran, they traded Jacks, they traded all their best relievers. The Tigers are really good. Remember they have they have Fromber, they have schoobl they have Casey Miz they have Flairty and oh yeah, they brought back Justin Verlander as their fifth starter. So that's one team in their division. Then you go to the Guardians who won the division last year. We know how much pitching they have. Then you go to the Royals with Lugo Waka, Reagan's uh the other lefty camera no a camera, they have boo bitch. They have all those guys right, they are all they're they're bullpen with Stevis and then they have Bobby Witt and Vinnie Pasmentino. The White Sox are on the come up. So I look at it right now that they're the last place team in this division. I know they say they want to compete and they're they're saying all the right things, but I just look at this team and say, where are they going to get offense? And not that, but they don't have even close to enough pitching for.

00:08:53
Speaker 2: Me, Kevin, do does this team even have a chance of getting in via the wild card because I don't I don't believe the division is even even a thought. But wildcard, which banded playoffs? Do they have a shot?

00:09:05
Speaker 4: No, Because I mean we could sit here and say, arguably the Central is the weakest division, you know, in the in the American League, you know, the West is very strong, the East is always very strong. But ag you just mentioned you know three teams that pitching wise are way better than them, offensively, way better than them. And you could even make an argument that the White Sox may have a better overall team because they weren't. They weren't putting one foot in and saying we're competing, but we're also trading. They've been rebuilding and they've been able to sell all their assets off and bringing a lot of young guys, and.

00:09:39
Speaker 5: Maybe it's this year.

00:09:40
Speaker 4: Maybe this is the year where they take a step forward and going from bottom of the division, you know, and maybe jumping over the Twins. I truly do believe that. In terms of their rotation, though I think they have some nice pieces, I think there's just a lot of unproven guys in that rotation and give giving uh, you know, with Lopez being out and giving some guys some more opportunity. It will pay dividends in the future. But they're not a team that is even sniffing the postseason this year.

00:10:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what he said.

00:10:07
Speaker 7: That's what he said.

00:10:09
Speaker 3: That's what he said.

00:10:10
Speaker 2: That's what he said. We got to talk about the Angels a little bit, and it's always something with garbage with the Angels. AJA listen to this Artie Moreno, who I would just I pray he just sells the team. The owner of the Angels said today that he doesn't prioritize winning because it's not even a top five priority for the fan base. Marena goes on to say, the number one thing fans want is affordability. They want affordability, they want safety, and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Believe it or not, AJ, winning is not in their top five.

00:10:46
Speaker 5: What say you?

00:10:48
Speaker 3: There's some fans here? Should I grab some you? Should? They were? Just and ask him because every fan I talked to says they want their team to be good and to win. Am I wrong in this one? So if it's not in the top five, given what do we think the top five is? For Ardie Morino? I know he said, I know he said affordability, safety, good experience. That's three. So winning is what are the next two? Making money for him would be four? Right, I think be five try in center field and one through winning.

00:11:21
Speaker 2: One through five. I think winning is a given right that should not have Let's just say that this was a poll KP. Let's say there was a poll given out or a survey given out as a focus group to a bunch of fans. To me, winning is obvious. If there's going to be other things in terms of categories, maybe that's when you say, you know, ballpark experience, amenities, concessions, those types of things. Winning shouldn't be a category. It should be the ultimate goal.

00:11:47
Speaker 4: Well, I think the other two things that he mentioned shouldn't even be on the list too. I think everyone wants to go to a ballpark that's safe. I think that's a non negotiable. I think people want to have a good experience as well. I think that's a non negotiable. So I don't really know what the point of this kind of survey was, because to me, winning his all fans should really do care about, and that's a non negotiable, much like going to the field and feeling safe and affordability. I mean, maybe the list should have been like giveaways and concessions and things like that, because I have no idea what he's talking about.

00:12:18
Speaker 5: I mean, the Angels. The Angels don't I don't think.

00:12:22
Speaker 4: Ardy moreno realizes how great of an asset he has. You know, I got a chance to play there, and it is arguably one of the best places to play in baseball southern California, you know, the Orange County, The weather's beautiful, the fans are very passionate. I mean, he doesn't realize what he has because if he really cared about winning, it would be such a destination for players to want to come and play.

00:12:46
Speaker 5: It's just a matter of time.

00:12:47
Speaker 4: He just needs to get rid of the team because he really doesn't really care about you know, the Angels, And obviously franchise values are going way up right now. And I think there was a quote he came out with the other day that said he wasn't actively shopping, but I think there's a lot of people interested in buying, So hopefully someone just kind of blows them away with an offer here soon and we could kind of move past the story.

00:13:08
Speaker 2: I feel like he's been actively shopping for many years. Sam Blum, who covers the Angels for The Athletic, actually had a poll himself a few earlier this month, guys, how confident are you in the Angels direction? And not confident at all? Led the pack. Fifty point seven percent of those that took the moment for the survey don't feel good about where the Angels are going and how can you? It seems like every time we talk about the Angels, it's because of some sort of misstep sell the team, like what are.

00:13:40
Speaker 3: We doing Elana? What did kp just say it should be a destination for players. It's almost like there's a team in southern California with Los Angeles in their name who we were at yesterday and we had their president of baseball offs Andrew Friedman, on and he said, our whole goal was to make this a destination or player want to come. Guess what they've done. They've made it a destination. Players want to come. Why because they win and players know that they got a great chance to go to the postseason and win a ring. To say this is unbelievable on so many levels. But again, every baseball fan you talk to, they don't just go, man, you know what, I'm a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. I just like to go because it's affordable. No, yes, affordability matters, they go. Why did the Pittsburgh Pirates not draw forty thousand a year because they don't win? Winning is number one. Winning cures all. You can have the worst stadium in the world, fans will show up if you win. You can have the most affordable stadium in the world. Fans will show up when you win, not because it's cheap. You'll get way more fans if you prioritize winning. So I don't know where this came from or what pole they were doing. Maybe they asked Artie's family what was the most important I don't know. We need to see the results of this poll. But not in the top five, not in the top two, to say, is a believable because it should be number one to try to win.

00:15:02
Speaker 2: And priority hasn't been our winning hasn't been a priority. Guys, if you look at their season records. Of course last year seventy three and ninety sixty three and ninety nine in twenty twenty four, twenty twenty three, and twenty two, exact same records seventy three and eighty nine. The last time they had a winning season, KP was in two thousand and fifteen. We're going on more than ten years. They went eighty five and seventy seven. I mean, this has not been a good team for a long time.

00:15:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, for a majority of that time, they had you know, the best player in baseball and Mike Trout on their team, and they paired him up with Shoe Hee o'tani, who is the best player in baseball, and they still didn't win. So obviously they don't have a problem in getting some players.

00:15:49
Speaker 5: There's a much bigger issue here.

00:15:50
Speaker 4: And already saying that he doesn't prioritize winning is the number one reason why they can't win.

00:15:56
Speaker 2: Another poll by Sam was a howe a great Morano's work as owner AJ They said seventy nine point five was poor. He's not done a good job. He's not done. He doesn't prioritize wunning. No.

00:16:09
Speaker 3: Also, you know what KP just said, he doesn't also give pitchers long term contracts, right, so they always what are they always struggling for pitching, especially starting pitching, right, They rush guys to the big leagues they don't have a lot enough starting pitching, so they always falter if they're even close to being in it at the end. What do the Mariners have starting pitching? What did the Astros have forever homegrown guys, good starting pitching, right? What did the Rangers have when they won in twenty three, great starting pitching and homegrown guys that led the offense? Right? What are the Angels said, Yes, they have some homegrown guys, but you know what, they haven't had enough pitching.

00:16:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, the acquisitions. They added Jose Siri outfielder, third baseman, Heimer Candelario, right hand or Hunter Strickland. The team restructured Anthony Rendon's contract, thank god, to free up short term funds. They re signed another third basement and you one Kata, and added Kirbyates who was with the Dodgers last season to their bullpen. So no starting arms really, and they just have not focused on getting good starting pitching. They haven't spent money. I mean, he's just happy making money. And I hate it for the I hate it for the game because it could really be a pretty a pretty cool place to play and a good experience, you know, for fans to go. But when you hear your owners say that. I mean, at a certain point, you know, folks talk with their wallets and they're not going to go.

00:17:34
Speaker 4: Yeahh I mean we've heard stories about We've heard stories, you know, Kakuchi coming out and talking about, you know, the inner workings of the stadium, and you know, and even if we even if we want to just overlook the fact that he said winning is not a priority, and let's just assume that is a priority that doesn't need to be talked about. If he's trying to give the fans the best experience. It's not like he's putting money into the facilities and the stadium. The stadium from you know, ten thousand feet above looks, but when you play there every single day and you have you know, friends and families and you know, your wife and your kids there in the stadium, the stadium definitely needs a facelift. It's not like he's not putting money into putting the best product on the field, and he's not also improving the stadium. So clearly he's the only one making money in this operation.

00:18:20
Speaker 1: For sure. For sure.

00:18:21
Speaker 3: K P. Let me let me ask you a question. You played there, right, you played an anam. What was it like? What was it like? What was it like? Now? If you would have known that he didn't care about winning when you went there, would you have gone there?

00:18:33
Speaker 4: Well, I didn't really have a choice, but I will tell you once I got there. I mean, it is arguably one of the best places to play. The weather's perfect, you can shove to the field early and you know you're going to get early work in. You could hit on the field, you can do all those sort of things, you know, And living in Orange County and living in Newport Beach doesn't suck. It definitely gives you the best out of any places that I played. And as if you look behind me, I got ten teams on this wall. There was not a better place for work life balance than playing in southern California.

00:19:04
Speaker 3: Hey, by the way, I just want to ask you before we go, because we didn't get your opinion. I want your opinion on this. Mike Trout saying he has to play centerfield. I saw Mike Cameron here earlier at Mariner's camp and he put out the tweet about ego. The ego tweet, and Mike Cameron was just trying to explain it to me like man, centerfield is hard. So I want your opinion. You played centerfield, KP. What do you think about Mike Trout saying centerfield is Didn't he say it's easier on his body than right field or dhing and he feels better playing center than right field or paging.

00:19:31
Speaker 5: I'll I do have an interesting take on it.

00:19:34
Speaker 4: And I had left that year in twenty three and Mike played, they asked him to play the corners, and yes, as far as taxing as centerfield could be on your body, because you have the most ground to cover, you have the most responsibility in centerfield. I do think the corners have an additional challenge for someone coming off, you know, multiple knee surgeries. There's much harder play plants. You know, when you have to cut a ball off down the line and spin and throw. You obviously have you know the bleachers to your left and right, whether you're playing left or right field. I was definitely in favor of Mike Trout staying in center field because I think the movements that you make, the violent movements.

00:20:16
Speaker 5: Happen more in the corners.

00:20:18
Speaker 4: Yes, there is a little bit greater responsibility responsibility in center field, but I do think it is a little less.

00:20:24
Speaker 5: Taxing on your body than playing the corners.

00:20:25
Speaker 4: So I have a much different take on it, especially in especially the way that Anaheim is constructed to center field is actually the smallest part of the field in Anaheim, so the run from the out from the outfield and right field to the dugout is the furthest left field is by far the biggest part of the field. So I was in favor of Mike Trout playing center field. I think him mixing between centerfield and DH is probably the best recipe to keep him on the field.

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00:21:23
Speaker 2: We're talking about Major League Baseball teams, managers and front offices. Guys it's going to be feeling the heat if you will, So let's talk about this. There were thirty six executives, former executives, managers, coaches, and scouts to tell us which front offices, managers and players are feeling the most heat heading into the season. So if you take a look at it, apparently garnering eighteen votes KP, Bryce Harper and the Phillies core group. This is kind of coming off of the whole conversation with Dombrowski saying that Bryce Harper is no longer elite. David Stearns Mendy of the Mets, aj Preller who just got an tension, and the Padres for an office Aaron Judge, who just hit a two run home run by the Way, and the Yankees players, Dana Brown of the Astros, Joe Espada, Manny Machado, and the Padres players. So the Briars showing up twice on this list by the athletic Let's start with number one KP. Bryce Harper is a guy that I never question, I never worry about him, I never questioned his work ethic. Why do you think they are saying that Bryce Harper has a lot to prove?

00:22:28
Speaker 4: Is his general manager president of Baseball Operations put a target on his back. That's probably why he's the number one person on this list. I've never questioned anything Bryce Harper's ever done in his career.

00:22:40
Speaker 5: It is hard to be at.

00:22:42
Speaker 4: An elite level every single year, and even when he is not elite, he is still better than most guys. He just happened to have not an elite year last year, and I think it's unfair for his GM and president of Baseball Operations to kind of put that target on his back. I would really like to see that list turned to maybe the pressure should be on the Phillies front office because they've been a team that's been oh so close many times and they've built this really nice core group of players together led by Bryce Harper, and just haven't been able to win a World Series.

00:23:19
Speaker 3: Bryce Harper, by the way, only had a one twenty nine ops plus last year. So I mean, it wasn't like he was absolutely awful. He was he was pretty He was still pretty damn good. I mean, it wasn't the one forty when he's won the you know, the MVPs, but he was still pretty good. I mean, you take Preller and the Putters from office off this list. They just got extended, right. David Stearns, He's not going anywhere anytime soon. I mean, I guess the heat would be on Mandy. But you can't say David Searns, Carlos Mendez in the Mets. I mean, David Searns isn't going anywhere. He's only been there for two years. Aaron Judge and the Yankees players, Okay, fair, they haven't won a World Series. Judge as the captain. That's how you're measured. Dana Brown, Joe spot in the Astros. I think they're both in the last year of their contracts. So yes, there's some heat on them, but they also have had to make some moves because of payroll and the many Machado and the Padres players. Padres do pretty well every year. You know, they're in it. Every year they're in the hunt. But they're getting older and they they're also what it gets me about when you say players. If the payroll like the Padres goes down and Preller is not allowed to spend more money, why does more pressure go wan the players. They're gonna go out and do the same thing, but they might need reinforcements, Guys get hurt, they lose guys. It doesn't make sense how you can say they're under the most heat, like why because they need to play better. You can't go out there and say you know this, KP. You can't go out there and say, man, I really need to hit fifty homers even though I hit forty last year, because there's so much heat on us, Like, no, they're gonna go out and do what they do.

00:24:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, the Padres just happen to be in a tough position in the division they're in, but they're putting themselves in a position to get to the postseason mostly every year. And yes, it would be nice to see them kind of break through, But I don't see a lot of pressure on Manny Machado in that group. Yes, that core group has kind of been together for a while now too, and they ultimately haven't, you know, won a World Series. And I think that's how we're measuring greatness of players and greatness of organizations. It just happens to be a tough time to be of any organization with what the Dodgers have been able to do, and you know, with the Mets, I mean, I think that's also an unfair pressure to put on David Searns and their manager there too, because I think a lot of that pressure is coming from, you know, Steve Cohen taking over the team, you know, five years ago, we're now six years ago and guaranteeing, you know, the Mets in the city of New York is.

00:25:31
Speaker 5: Going to bring a World Series champion.

00:25:33
Speaker 4: So sometimes I think it's good to be very confident in what you're doing. But you know, like ag you said, it's it's hard to put this additional pressure on players to go out and perform even better than they've already performed because as players, we already have an amount a lot of pressure on ourselves to go out and perform, and no one puts more pressure on ourselves. They don't need that extra push from, you know, someone sitting up in that Ivory Tower.

00:25:58
Speaker 2: There is not a list in the world that Aaron Judge should be on AJ in terms of more pressure on him. The guy was the American League MVP. What else could he possibly do?

00:26:10
Speaker 3: I mean, can be a break three time? By the way, I'm saying, how could.

00:26:15
Speaker 2: You even be on a list of having more?

00:26:17
Speaker 3: What else could just because they haven't won a World Series. That's it just but it actually shouldn't been Ryan Cashman and Aaron Boone and in the front office.

00:26:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, it should be. It should be Cashman and Boone, not Aaron Judge.

00:26:30
Speaker 3: Aaron Judge, what pressure is. All he does is go out and competing. And you know what he also did last year Alana for the first time. He performed in the postseason last year for the first time. So you can't even begin to throw Aaron Judge on this list. Now, you want to put some other players on that list, Fine, Anthony Volpi maybe is under some pressure Stanton to stay healthy, right, I mean, there's some other guys you could probably throw on that list. But to put Aaron Judge on that list, I mean that team, they're the same team they were last year pretty much. They've admitted it, and they think they have a championship caliber team. Aaron Judge is gonna do what he does every year, or if he's healthy, and let's go out and hit three hundred plus and hit fifty homers and probably win an MVP. So yeah, that's that's this is unbelievable. He's even on this list.

00:27:09
Speaker 2: I mean, he even said that he was surprised that the Yankees didn't make more offseason moves. He said what everybody else was thinking. He is a captain by definition. In terms of the managers, guys who were specifically mentioned as having pressure on them, Kurt Suzuki of the Angels received the most votes in terms of this list, five votes. Tony Vittello, the new manager of the Giants, Mendy of the Mets, Rob Thompson of the Philadelphia Phillies, Aaron Boon. Of course, the Yankees are always on this list. I get that, and then Oliver Marmole of the of the Cardinals. Let's start with Kurt Suzuki, though first time manager. Obviously, catchers become oftentimes catchers become good managers. They're good managers for a reason. Kurt Suzuki, though, think about what's around him. We just had the conversation KP of Artie Moreno, not expecting to win. It's not in his top five in terms of priority. I almost feel like it's already at a disadvantage for Suzuki. And by the way, they only gave him a one year contract. I mean, what does that say to you?

00:28:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wish Whoever voted on. This wasn't anonymous, and we could see who's voting on these players, Like, how is Kurt Suzuki under any pressure except for the fact that he has a one year deal and if it doesn't work out, he'll probably go back and resume his role as special assistant. It's hard to put a pressure on a manager when we've talked about being part of an organization that clearly doesn't value winning. So I don't understand the pressure on him. You know, I can understand the pressure a little bit on Tony Vitella, just coming from the college game, and we haven't really seen a manager go from a powerhouse in college directly to the major league, so, you know, unfairly, maybe he has a little bit of a target on his back. And if you go down the list, obviously those are teams that are expected to win right now, and there's always pressure on managers when you're part of organizations like the Yankees, the Mets, teams that are expected to win right now, the Phillies. You know, I can understand some of those. Kurtszuzuki to be at the top of that list just seems very odd to me.

00:29:04
Speaker 3: Well, here's sorry, no, here's The thing about Kurtzuzuki being on top of this list, right, Kurtszuzuki has a one year deal and Ardie Marainer just says he doesn't care about winning, So what pressure is there on Kurtszuki. He goes on one sixty two and be like, boss, you just told me you don't care if we win any games. So as long as people have fun and get to go cheap, then why does it matter if I win or lose? So there's no pressure on Kurtzuk. I promise you. Kurtszuzuki is not feeling pressure. He's feel pressure because he wants to do well for himself. He wants to do right for the players, and he wants to do right for the Angels fans. But he's not feeling pressure because anybody else is putting him on. As far as Tony Vaitello, he's got a nice contract, he's got a nice deal. The pressure on him is just to prove that what people are saying that a college coach can't just jump from college to the big league. So I don't know, I don't agree with this list. I mean, Carlos Mendoza, you manage in New York guess what. There's pressure. Rob Thompson, you're managing Philadelphia. There's pressure. Aaron Boone, you managing and Oli Marmal. The only pressure is is they have Yati Molina in their front office in a whole new regime. So they're not supposed to win anyways this year. So what pressure is on him if if they let him go. I think he's at the last year of his contract too, So if they let him go, he's like, Okay, guys, I did what you wanted. I got you through the rough times. And then they bring in someone else. I mean, this is an interesting list. I would there's never any pressure on managers. I mean you want pressure on managers. I would look at like aj Hinch, Right, Tigers are supposed to be really good. He's a veteran guy, he's been around. Just don't mess it up, right, even here Dan Wilson with the Marriners, just don't mess it up. Let the players go play, be yourself and don't mess it up.

00:30:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I was gonna say, you know, those two managers, you could throw John Snyder in there. You obviously have a ton of success last year. Can you back it up? But ultimately it comes down to the players. But to your point, just be the same guy you were, deliver the same message. Let your players go out and play, don't mess it up. And then if I was, you know, to kind of just throw out a random there. I mean, I would imagine there's got to be a little bit of pressure on a guy like Skip Schumacher just because of the shoes he's filling with Bruce Bochi And I know last year didn't go as well as they wanted, but he did. Bruce Bochi did lead them to their one and only World Series championship. He's a Hall of Fame manager stepped away. You know, those are kind of big shoes to fill.

00:31:20
Speaker 2: What about Kurt Stammon. Why is he not on the.

00:31:22
Speaker 3: List because he's in San Diego? It's the first year guy. Again for me, the first year guys, there's no pressure on him other than just not completely. You know when pull a Gabe Kapler when he wanted the writing and he put up his left hand right like what, this is their first year as a manager. You're gonna make mistakes. There's not press The only pressure is what you put on yourself. I'm sorry, I mean Alex Corr does he have pressure on him Craig Counsel with his team. Those are the guys that are veteran guys that have been around and done it. When you're in your first year, you can make mistakes and be like, look, guys, is my first year. I'll learn from it. But when you're Craig Counsel making eight million dollars a year with the Cubs team that's expected to win, that's when the pressure should be ramped up. Not these first year guys, the first guys. Whatever weiss in there.

00:32:05
Speaker 4: I mean, he's he's stepping into, you know, filling some big shoes too, and obviously he's had some history managing before and it's his second go around. I mean I feel like a guy like that would be a little bit more justified on this list as opposed to some of these names we saw. So hopefully some of these people that voted will will not be anonymous and and you know, you know, put their name next to their votes so we can maybe understand a little bit better or why they chose who they chose.

00:32:29
Speaker 3: KP.

00:32:30
Speaker 2: How big of a learning curve do you think Matello is going to have? I mean, yes, I understand it's the same game, but it's at a completely different level. It's not like he recruited these guys, right, I mean, this is his team. I know that they've surrounded him with some very smart people to help him along the way. But how hard how hard of a first year do you think he'll have?

00:32:46
Speaker 4: I mean from everything that I've been hearing out of Scottsdale that the players love this guy.

00:32:51
Speaker 5: He brings such great energy, he brings such great.

00:32:54
Speaker 4: Vibes, And honestly, that's kind of the biggest thing you can want out of a manager is communication. You know, does he put off good vibes? Does he put off good energy? And obviously there is the in game adjustment, but he's surrounded by great people. He has a great staff around him. And Yeah, the biggest challenge he is going to face, and he's openly talked about it, is in college, you're only playing three or four games potentially in a row. You can go to your best guys in the bullpen very often. Learning how to kind of manage a bullpen is always going to be the biggest challenge for someone going from the college game to the big league game, because it's hard to go to your best guys every single game when you're playing, you know, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen games in a row. But everything I've heard from there is he's an incredible guy. He's an incredible leader. He makes baseball fun, He gets out there interacts with the guys. That communication has been great and I'm looking forward to watching him.

00:33:44
Speaker 2: There's another list too, in terms of front offices managers under pressure. The Mets the most, the Royals the least.

00:33:51
Speaker 3: Well.

00:33:51
Speaker 2: I guess the Royals tie with the Red Sox, the Rookies, the Rookies. They should be the Rookies, the Rockies, Cardinals, and the Royals. I think the Red Sox guys should be a little bit higher than this. I mean, the Red Sox didn't do a ton as far as the offseason. I guess not if you listen to their fan base. Should the Red Sox be higher than this? AJ? Are you okay with where they rank?

00:34:12
Speaker 3: I guess on this list, I think Red Sox fine because Alex Cora, they love Alex Cora. Preslo is fairly new. I think they're fine. The Red Sox have changed. It used to be a lot of pressure in Boston. Now they're the Red Sox. They just I don't know. It's different up there. Now you live up there, Alona, you know it's different. It's not as pressure packs. And they've won those World Series that it used to be.

00:34:47
Speaker 2: All right, kp so, a long time umpire is hanging up the spikes. Major League Baseball announcing that Phil Couzzy, who umpired for twenty seven years and memorably for Mets fans, ejected Max Are for the sticky stuff remember back in twenty twenty three. He is retiring. So is Mark Carlson, who for twenty six plus years and will now evaluate and train umpires for the league. Do you have any Phil Pezzy stories or Mark Carlson stories that you want to share.

00:35:16
Speaker 5: No, you know, it's a weird thing.

00:35:18
Speaker 4: As an outfielder, you don't get to know the umpires as well as obviously someone like aj who's who's back there with them every single day. It's more of a passing relationship unless you've had kind of like a heated moment with him at the plate. I didn't really get to know him. I'm that well obviously know who both of those guys are.

00:35:37
Speaker 5: But congrats on a great career.

00:35:39
Speaker 4: Obviously with the the you know, the challenge system coming in. You know, it might be a good time for some of these umpires that have done it for a long time to get out. But twenty six and twenty seven years of you know, traveling around and umpiring as long as they did, and you know the wear and tear on their body is real too.

00:35:58
Speaker 5: So congrats.

00:35:59
Speaker 3: Ohly shit, all right, I don't care what y'all did. My son just hit a homer. Oh so, I don't really give a shit. Sorry, his first hit in college baseball. I don't even know I missed it. I was listening, I was talking to Cal Rawley. Maybe he rubbed off on him. I don't know he did.

00:36:14
Speaker 5: He definitely did.

00:36:15
Speaker 3: I literally I literally didn't even my I thought the game started at one here, and my mom just text me and goes, it's on, and then I turn it on and my son's round on the basis circle on the police.

00:36:26
Speaker 2: Congratulations. I'm sorry that you missed it, but that that is awesome. What do you have any stories a j or do you just want to go and watch your kid?

00:36:34
Speaker 3: Who? I know, Phil Couzy, who was the other one.

00:36:36
Speaker 2: Party Carlson, Mark Carlson.

00:36:38
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, They're both are great. Uh, Listen, because he was a New Yorker, he had that New York attitude, right, so there was times where we would go at it. But I was also from New York, so I tell people when I need it and we'd kind of go at it. But in Carlson, I never had a problem with Carlson because he every once in a while would go at it just because he's from New York and he'd get that attitude. But listen, congratulations on a great career for both of him. I had you guys both for a long time, so I'm super excited.

00:37:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, I had a question for you in the spirit of the conversations we've had earlier. I'm looking at this jersey in my office here. I got a Mark Burley jersey. What did he need when you came out to the mound when you talked? Nothing he needed to be coddled, or he need to be yelled at, or you probably didn't go out there too much.

00:37:22
Speaker 3: No, he wondered, you know what. I would go out to the mount with Mark Burley sometime. I mean never never did I yell at him, because I was never just gonna yell at him. You know what I got on Mark Burley. Most of the time I told him a joke, or you would talk about something that was going on, like hey, how about where are we going to dinner tonight? There was never ever like any other stuff. It was where are we going to dinner? What are we doing? Blah blah blah blah blah. So it was never it was never like what am I gonna do? Yell at Mark Burley, Hey Burley, you suck. You're only throwing eighty five? Like no, Like, dude, that's what he throws.

00:37:55
Speaker 5: Did you get it? You've seen a replay?

00:37:56
Speaker 4: Have you seen a replay of the home run yet?

00:37:58
Speaker 3: I just watched it too. Oh, get the tape out, I love you.

00:38:03
Speaker 4: Got the head out and hit it to the pull side.

00:38:05
Speaker 3: Yep, finally.

00:38:09
Speaker 2: Awesome.

00:38:10
Speaker 3: All right, Sorry, I got a little excited here.

00:38:12
Speaker 2: All right, you love it? All right. Another bit of news here, Ken Rosenthal reporting that free agent Infield of Ramonte Ureus is in agreement with the Cardinals on a one year, two million dollar contract salary of a million and a half in twenty twenty six, five hundred k buyout in twenty twenty seven. Mutual option. Deal also includes two million incentives based on plate appearances. So there's a little bit of news there for the Cardinals. But I think both of you are in agreement that the Cardinals don't have much of a run in the Central this year. KP. We'll start with you no.

00:38:44
Speaker 4: And you know, unfortunately, for a guy like that who's probably deserving of being on a major league roster, you know how to sit out and wait his turn, and you know, with Brandon Donovan being traded, it opened up an opportunity for him, so good.

00:38:56
Speaker 5: For him signing a big league deal.

00:38:59
Speaker 4: Cardinals probably not going anywhere this year. So you know, when you are a guy like that who takes an opportunity with a team that's not expected to go anywhere, you just try to go on and perform the best you can do, and you know, hopefully you become valuable at the trade deadline and get a chance to play for a contending team, and that's just a kind of a way to prolong your career.

00:39:19
Speaker 2: I want to say a very special thank you to the Seattle Mariners. AJ has been there all morning long, but they have been so unbelievably accommodating. It has been unbelievable. The amount of guys that we got on this show has really been impressive, and for them to take out the time to do that for us has been so great. We love hearing from players, So thank you Mariners PR staff. Thank you to everybody there at the facility for treating Foul Territory as well as you did. Alex from their PR team, thank you, thank you, thank you. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate. It makes our show so much better when we have the players on. Don't forget, guys. Yesterday we were at Dodgers camp and we had an exclusive sit down with Roberts. It was myself, Katie Wu, Clint Pascius, Dave took us through the World Series. He took us through Game one and six and seven specifically, and kind of also talked about turning the page to twenty twenty six. So don't forget to check that out. But it's been good to be with you guys. Aj and you guys are at Rangers camp tomorrow and then the calendar continues fast and I'll bringing you a Foul Territory Spring training tour for the remainder of the time. So for Kevin Palar, aj Przinski, aj Son the entire Mariners, everybody. I'm Alanaizzo and for scot Raun Tricia and whit Marrorfield tomorrow with aideway from Rangers. So take care, everybody. We'll talk soon.