POBO Andrew Friedman joins FT @Dodgers camp + Dodgers season preview

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Thank you Andrew for being here. We're just talking about it. There's so much naturally to be excited about. But there's also a bullseye the size of Texas on this club's back.

00:00:11
Speaker 2: But you would have it no other way.

00:00:13
Speaker 3: Absolutely, it means we're doing something right, you know. I think so much of it comes down to the guys that we have. They're unfhazed by that. The way they prepare, what they do to get ready for a game, that kind of stuff just doesn't really matter to them. And it's fun walking around before a game and all twenty six guys are doing something to help us win a game that night, whether it's watching video, going over scouting reports, or in their cage they're talking about the opposing pitcher, you know. And I look out at three o'clock and we've got Mookie Freddie all of our guys on their knees taking balls, and I look across the field and it's the other team's like twelve thirteenth player out there doing early work. And just the culture those guys have created. Guys are definitely going to bring it when they play, but our guys just aren't phased by it and do everything they can to prepare to go win a baseball game, and there's no better feeling than that.

00:01:07
Speaker 4: That's great. That's great when your leaders and the guys who people look up to are doing the most work. That's how you want it to be in most organized in every organization and every team. And that's why you guys went. I joked with you when I saw you earlier. He had a big smile on your faces. And what can you not be happy about? You've won back to back World Series. Every great free agent, Todd, guess where they go. They go to the Dodgers, right, Oh, I'll go to the Dodgers. You know we were joking with Oral or you guys break every rule with the deferments and this and that. You know, I know, I know there's a joke. Oral got mad. It's like you got mad, right, A lot of gets mad. He defends the Dodgers to her death. But you guys have just figured out ways from the minor league development, from the draft to the way you guys sign guys, to the way you make people feel and the way you treat people to go to be right now the best organization in baseball? How much pride do you take from.

00:01:57
Speaker 3: That a ton you you know, it's so many talented people, the amount of work that goes into it. You know, we talked about this ten eleven years ago of creating a destination spot because obviously the goal is to win a championship, but to create it, create a destination spot are things we can control. You can't control winning a championship, but you can. You can control how you communicate with players, the honest approach, how you treat families, how we develop and share information. You can control those things. And so for us, that's been kind of our north star to continue to get better and better every year. And the way that plays out is our own guys don't want to leave, and ideally guys on other teams are longingly looking like man, I want to be on the Dodgers, and so that's our goal. That's what keeps us going. And I think it's a ton of really talented people and from the different departments being really syncd up.

00:02:56
Speaker 5: It doesn't mean we don't disagree. We disagree a lot, and I.

00:03:00
Speaker 3: Think it's about really tons of people coming together and doing anything and everything we can to win.

00:03:06
Speaker 6: I want to ask a question about the new guys that came in, heard your very approachable guy. Not many guys like you out there, you know, and with brass and baseball. But who out of the new guys that you brought over the Edwin Diaz, Kyle Tucker to name, is there one that you talk to you like, man, this is this is a good pick for us. I can just I can just tell them by just talking to them, you know.

00:03:29
Speaker 5: Obviously we do a ton of work on these guys.

00:03:31
Speaker 3: We're talking to clubhouse guys, teammates, trainers, broadcasters, anyone and everyone we can just to get the.

00:03:37
Speaker 5: Best field as we can for a player.

00:03:39
Speaker 3: Obviously, when we have a guy, we have a better field, But we're trying to get as good of.

00:03:42
Speaker 5: A field as we can.

00:03:44
Speaker 3: And I'll start with Edwin Diaz just because we signed him first. But obviously it just hurt unbelievable things about him over the years and got to see it with us competing against him and him coming into Game six in the fourth inning, all he cares about is way and you know, hearing that and then getting a chance to talk to him before we signed him and had he and his wife on a zoom and just kind of getting into the Dodgers and what we do and what we're about and what we hear about him, and just what a perfect match we feel like it would be, and really connected with him, you know. I think the guys who genuinely care about winning, there is a real connection there. And with Tuck, you know, obviously there was some stuff that was written in questions about you know, how much he likes the game, etc. That as we dug into it, we found to be pretty unfair. He's just a lower murder guy. And as we dug on that and got into it. For me, makeup is so much about what you do to prepare yourself to go win a game and how you compete.

00:04:52
Speaker 5: And I will bet on talk with what he does.

00:04:56
Speaker 3: People say, oh, he doesn't take enough swings before the game. I think most guys take way too many. And if he's not taking enough, but goes out and does what he does, you know.

00:05:08
Speaker 5: So I don't think the results speak for itself, right, I don't.

00:05:10
Speaker 4: Every guy's different. Every guy told you know this. Every guy is different, every player is different. Everyone has a different way to prepare. Everyone takes different number of swings, everyone takes different number of ground balls. As long as you're ready to play. When that light comes on at seven oh five, then it doesn't matter. But those guys I played with that didn't hit exactly still could go out and hit hit on the in the game. There's guys who took a thousand swings to hit. I didn't take a lot of swings. I took thirty swings a day before batting. Bregs was okay, I'm good, yep, right. It's just different for every guy, and that's what makes every guy different.

00:05:40
Speaker 3: But some guys will talk trash about it if it doesn't line up with what they do exactly, instead of appreciating the individualized aspect to this. And so as we dug on it, and so I think through conversations with with Tuck and his wife Sam and just getting into our organization, our family program, you know all of it, I think there was a connection that was created.

00:06:01
Speaker 1: Who's responsible for the culture. We hear so much about the culture, the chemistry of this team. Guys want to stay, guys want to be here. Who's responsible for it?

00:06:09
Speaker 5: I think everyone. I think it takes a village.

00:06:11
Speaker 3: I think it's having genuine people who care about it. I think, you know, the honest conversation I think is incredibly important to that.

00:06:22
Speaker 5: The game of assumptions is.

00:06:23
Speaker 3: So dangerous, and we've all been around a lot of players who assume this is what the organization thinks, assumes this is what instead of having those conversations, and I've had plenty with players over the years where it hasn't gone well in that moment, but later I've had guys come up and say how much they appreciated the honest conversation and knowing exactly where they stood, what things the organization valued, what things they wanted to work with the player on to help enhance. And so I think there are so many fingerprints on that. I think there has to be, And I think it's about having a group of people who believe strongly in collaboration and working together to get to the best possible outcome.

00:07:06
Speaker 5: And so for us, it's about continuing to raise the bar.

00:07:09
Speaker 3: We had a meeting this morning, you know, in an area that we don't feel like we're as good as we.

00:07:14
Speaker 5: Need to be in.

00:07:16
Speaker 3: I'll hold it back, but in ways that we can really enhance it and have a follow up meetings afternoon to really get into it. And so I think it's just holding ourselves to a really high standard and a group of people who all really care about it.

00:07:31
Speaker 6: I have a question. I love asking this question. We kind of understand and know who you know, the one through nine may be. Is there a guy in spring training right now, younger guy that might come up during this year and you know, help this team produce, you know, take help out of it, dude that you're like, man, this kid could be a ballplayer. You know, give me a hitter if you got one. Off the top of your head.

00:07:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we've got a lot of really talented minor league hitters in camp, a number of whom are going to start off the year in Double A and then a few who are going to start the year in Triple A. And just off the top of my head, I mean James Tips coming over last July taking a little bit, was traded twice in his first professional year.

00:08:14
Speaker 5: You know, a little shell shock from that.

00:08:16
Speaker 3: But I think the way his mind works, how he's kind of dug in with our hitting guys and performance guys.

00:08:22
Speaker 5: He's looked great.

00:08:23
Speaker 3: Ryan Ward's coming off an unbelievable year last year in Triple A, and just the makeup is off the charts. You know, those are two guys that feel like could really, you know, if the opportunity arises, if and when, could really do something. And Freeland Alex Freeland, we got a chance to see some last year. His makeup, his on field makeup, the way he plays the game, how much he cares about defense, base running, and what he does in the box align so much with how we see the world, and just we see him continuing to get better and better.

00:08:56
Speaker 4: Andrew, you're the Dodgers. You're not supposed to talk about prospects. That's when you were the Rays that you talked about prospects. Now you're talking about free agents. Okay, So what did you learn? What did you Maybe the better question is you won with Tampa, you've now won with LA. What do you wish you knew or what did you learn once you come to LA that you wish you would know them back when you were with Tampa before you got here. And you can't say you can spend the money, Yeah, oh I wish we had the money.

00:09:21
Speaker 5: I mean, I think I'm.

00:09:22
Speaker 3: Way better today than I was five years ago, way better than I was ten years ago. And it's so many like micro things every day so it's hard to say. I think, you know part of you know, when I was with the Rays competing against the Red Sox and Yankees, we had no business ever beating them, And for me, it was forcing us into thinking about how to do things differently. If we approach things the exact same way, we were going to get beaten over the head. And so there were certain disciplines and things of roster building, of you know, prospects and just things in development and how to kind of individualize things that I always said that it would be so scary if the Red Sox and or Yankees at that time were operating more closely to how we were operating and having the big stack to bully as well. And so you know, coming over here it was something that in a lot of ways was throwing myself in the deep end. I didn't know what the CBT was, I didn't know how it worked.

00:10:30
Speaker 5: There was a lot that had to learn and figure out on the fly.

00:10:34
Speaker 3: But it was if we can take some of those disciplines, not all, because there's advantages that come, but each market has its own unique challenges. People talk about, oh, now you have money. There were benefits to being with the rays that the Dodgers don't have. You can more proactively you know you're not if you're not good enough in that moment, you can be aggressive to add few future value to make your future teams better. And you had to do that to be good in that market. And so we've let a lot of really talented players who have left. I remember sitting with show Hey when we were trying to recruit him to come over here, and you know, the line was, Hey, look, however you define our success over the last ten years, I feel very confident that our next ten will be even better. And if you come join us, then I feel even more strongly about it. The whole system is designed for us to have the worst farm system in baseball. We pick at the end of the draft, we have less international money. We're not trading our expiring contracts for future talent.

00:11:40
Speaker 5: And so show Hey just stop mingus.

00:11:41
Speaker 3: How and it gets to our organization and the integration and the talent that we have throughout.

00:11:48
Speaker 4: Plus, you also got an insurance policy when you sign showing this isn't in his contract. If you leave, he gets to leave too. So you were like, this sounds good for my future, And.

00:11:57
Speaker 5: I told Mark, I said, hey, I did not put them up to this.

00:12:00
Speaker 4: Sure you did.

00:12:01
Speaker 3: Sure I will not ask for more than twenty percent.

00:12:06
Speaker 1: But that says that must have meant a lot to you. I mean, the best player in the game says I go, you go, I go.

00:12:14
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:12:14
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it was him buying into what we were doing, and he didn't get to know me yet.

00:12:19
Speaker 5: It's curious I still have that.

00:12:23
Speaker 2: It's like I made a mistake.

00:12:25
Speaker 1: Do you get nervous about guys going to the WBC just in terms of because the greater picture for you, obviously is another World Series championship. It's like you don't want to take them away from that moment, but you've got a bigger thing in mind.

00:12:38
Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean, I think when I have my.

00:12:42
Speaker 3: Baseball fan had on, I think it's outstanding. I think it is great for the game. Watching it three years ago, I loved it. I was hanging on every pitch. I enjoyed watching it. I thought it was great for the game. You know that being said for our pitchers, especially to throw it. That tensity in March worries me with our designs of playing through October.

00:13:05
Speaker 5: So it's about preparing these.

00:13:07
Speaker 3: Guys as best we can, doing everything we can to put them in the best position to go out and do that and then see where we're at as they come back.

00:13:15
Speaker 5: But yeah, the pitching makes me a little nervous.

00:13:18
Speaker 3: And position players, it's almost that they don't get enough, Like Will Smith and cal Raley are going to alternate. Will's gonna have way fewer plate appearances going in than he would have had he been here, and so even just building up the tolerance with his legs to catch and with Stan that so each guy's a little bit different. I love it in a lot of ways, but in some ways, just where my Dodgers hat, it makes me a little nervous.

00:13:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's yeah, it should. Especially Edwin Diez is the perfect you talked about them earlier, perfect example of something that can go wrong. We pray that nothing obviously does go wrong. So are the Dodgers running baseball? Because everyone you talk to like, don't you get tired of that? Because I think we do is great. You see a player, you want a player, you figure out a way to go get them, whether it's creatively however you want to put it. And I think it's awesome for the game, and I think good teams are make the game better. And now, whether you love the Dodgers or hate the Dodgers, people tune in to watch the Dodgers because we want them to win, and more people tune in because we hate the Dodgers and we want them blue. So how do you react when people say Dodgers are ruining baseball?

00:14:25
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean suck.

00:14:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean said, I am obviously biased. I think it is an incredibly lazy narrative. And you look back thirteen years ago that Dodgers filed bankruptcy.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: And people don't remember that too, they exactly And this is.

00:14:43
Speaker 3: Just a really really strong organization right now where our fans support is incredible. And so the feeling that our ownership group has is we have to fulfill our side of this and we have to reward our credible fans who come out fifty thousand every night, who on the road feels like almost a home game, the way the passion that our fans have for this team.

00:15:11
Speaker 5: It is that partnership and that connection that fuels this.

00:15:16
Speaker 3: And we obviously wouldn't do it if we weren't in position to do it, and we're in position to do it because of a lot of the great things that have happened over the last ten to twelve years. And so the counter of this is the people we are saying that is, oh, so you want Mark just to pocket more money. Yeah, no, Like fans come out because they like watching the best players in the world play this game. That is incredibly difficult to do, and for us to reward our fans and have the best players we can have, we feel like is more common sense than anything.

00:15:52
Speaker 1: Two part question for you, Max Munsey wanted to be here, said, left money on the table. There's no place else he wanted to be. Why the timing of the extension? Why did it make sense for you guys? And second question, how can we get Freddy to finish his career as a Dodger after his two years are up?

00:16:10
Speaker 2: He wants to play until he's forty four more years?

00:16:13
Speaker 5: Two very different two part question.

00:16:15
Speaker 3: All right, starting with months, you know, we had started talking about a little bit soon after the parade and it was, hey, look, we've got a lot of heavy lifting to do right now. Let's get through the heavy lifting of the winner and we'll get back together at some point before spring training.

00:16:33
Speaker 5: So we knew he wanted to be here.

00:16:35
Speaker 3: He knew we wanted him here, so we had that jumping off point and it was, hey, let's just push it until we get through all the craziness. And on Freddy, I mean, the impact that he has had on the field, off the field has been incredible. He has been right in the thick of so many incredible moments. I didn't think going into that off season that he would be wearing Dodger blue, and now I don't want to picture him in a different uniform. And so our hope is that he does finish his career here and hopefully has some more rings on his fingers. But yeah, the impact he's had is not lost on us.

00:17:17
Speaker 4: Andrew. Everyone always looks at you for so long and says he's so young, he's so young. Well, I just wikipeded you and I actually found out you're older than I am. So how can I get people to say that I'm so young?

00:17:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's funny, just our vocational choices.

00:17:38
Speaker 4: Yes, you can. It wasn't good enough to be used, but you can do your job for a lot longer.

00:17:44
Speaker 3: Definitely better aging aspect to it, for sure, although I feel like I'm aging in dog years, so maybe not.

00:17:50
Speaker 4: Maybe if you're winning, you get younger, right, maybe the joke still on me? Well see, okay, that's funny. And then last one for me, as you mentioned Mark Walter, your honor, can you give me on his golf course and you lead the So there was it called White Oaks.

00:18:01
Speaker 5: I think it's can you That's incredible?

00:18:03
Speaker 4: We met, you've been there.

00:18:05
Speaker 5: Okay, it's incredible.

00:18:06
Speaker 4: You have the hookup for Yeah, there's like rhinoceros and there's like rhinoceros and draft around the golf videos. Yeah. Where is this? It's uh kind of Jackson, North, Florida.

00:18:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, the largest animal preserve in the United States.

00:18:25
Speaker 4: And there's golf course. Unbelievable.

00:18:28
Speaker 2: That's all I care about.

00:18:29
Speaker 4: They better not be bought. How do you rescue a right list?

00:18:32
Speaker 2: Listen, Florida? There's things that off season.

00:18:36
Speaker 4: So yeah, okay, fine, we'll exchange numbers.

00:18:38
Speaker 2: Last question for me.

00:18:39
Speaker 1: You cannot go to the Lakers full time? Okay, like I can't lose you for this team. I don't care about the Lakers like I care about the Dodgers. Okay, So lawn's over there now, Yes, we traded Okay, what uh what do you anticipate that role being like not for long nobody cares, but for.

00:18:58
Speaker 5: You, I think it's just much more.

00:19:01
Speaker 3: We're all under this Mark Walter TWG umbrella and it's about you know, information sharing, helping each other and being resources for one another. And it's not easy to have, you know, kind of outside perspective in different people's thoughts and having that all under this umbrella. When things are happening and I can help somewhere, someone else can help us. It's more about just doing everything we can under that umbrella to help each team be as good as they can be.

00:19:34
Speaker 2: I guarantee the Lakers just got a lot better with Mark Walter and that.

00:19:38
Speaker 4: Wait, you're not going to go call Deep Pedesta and go the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and then come back to baseball.

00:19:43
Speaker 5: Dodgers are stuck with me.

00:19:45
Speaker 4: I think they're okay with that.

00:19:46
Speaker 1: Andrew, Thank you, good luck, thank you. We're having another conversation next year about four.

00:19:51
Speaker 2: Pete like that. All right, season, believe you here we go, all right.

00:19:57
Speaker 1: Key additions to the Los Angeles Dodgers gentlemen, of course, Kyle Tucker Edwin Diaz arguably two of the biggest free agents that were available. The Dodgers landed them both Key Key, Hernandez. It was a foregone conclusion he was coming back. He'll be gone or back in a couple of months. Evan Phillips probably mid season. Miguil Rojas, of course, World Series champion. Here's some losses though, a lot of bullpen guys, Michael Kopek, Kirby Yates, Tony Gonsolin another bullpen guy. Probably the biggest loss of in my opinion, of course, is Clayton Kershaw, who was lost due to retirement. Anthony Bonda is now a member of the Minnesota Twins. Todd will start with you, why is there a reason other than health? Is there a reason that this team won't repeat.

00:20:42
Speaker 6: No, there is no reason. That's the only reason that they won't repeat. At the end of the day. I mean, listen, we haven't even talked about Edwin Diaz. I mean, he's the most prolific closer there is. I mean, I put him next to Roaldis Chapman, those two guys from the left and right side. This team has every single detail perfected. They got the guys that they wanted and for them, God willing for them. If they stay healthy, They're going to be just fine. They're going to go through lowells they did last year through the season, but when it's go time, they find ways to win and they should cruise through this MLB season.

00:21:23
Speaker 2: Aja, what was the biggest addition in your opinion?

00:21:27
Speaker 4: I mean, I think Diaz. Remember what they had to do at the end of last season. I mean, Tanner Scott was supposed to be the guy, right he struggled, had some injury problems, and then at the end they had Roki as their closer. They use Yamamoto to Now they have Edwin Diaz. When Sugar's right, he's as good as he gets. I'm looking at their depth chart, so their rotation Blake, Snow, Yamamoto, Glass, now show Hey River, Ryan, Gavin Stone, Roki depending on what they do with him, emittt Shean, and Robleski. So that's nine or ten starters deep.

00:21:56
Speaker 5: Right.

00:21:56
Speaker 4: Then you go DZ trying Tanner Scott who said he's made some adjustments, Vessia who was great for him last year. If you remember Will Klein, Robleski again can be a starter or a long guy. I mean, the pitching is disgusting. And then you go Will Smith Dalton Rushing catcher. Dalton Rushing would be starting on probably twenty other teams. Right, then you go Freddy Tommy Edmund at second base or wrote Mickey Roe third base is Maximuncy. Right, we're showing it. Mookie BET's a shortstop, Ty Oskar, Andy Poe is Kyle Tucker. We ain't mentioned Alex call Key, Key Hernandez. I mean, it's just it's a plethora of just riches.

00:22:33
Speaker 1: When you have this much talent, though, then you start to nitpick, right, because I do, But I'm let's nitpick the lineup.

00:22:40
Speaker 2: Are you okay, Todd, We'll start with you. Are you okay with the lineup order?

00:22:44
Speaker 5: Okay?

00:22:45
Speaker 2: You figure to have show Hey leading off.

00:22:47
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts has already said that Kyle Tucker was probably going to hit in the two hole, so that moves Mooky to the three hole. And then you have Freddy will Max tay Oskar, who looks great by the way, he legitimately has lost some weight and looks good muscle, all the things Andy pa has, and then Hassan Kim because Tommy Edmond, of course is not going to start the season healthy. Hassan Kim figures to be probably getting the most reps at second base until Edmund comes back. So we're splitting hairs here at this point. Do you like this lineup construction?

00:23:19
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:23:19
Speaker 6: Yes and no. I mean I was looking at the whole thing and I'm trying to go left right, left, right, But you can't do that with Freddie Freeman and you know, well, actually, yeah, excuse me, that's how we kind of did it here. I would have liked to see, I mean, putting Kyle in the second spot. Maybe if again, if we're splitting hairs here, maybe have him back forth and move.

00:23:42
Speaker 5: Move Mookie up one.

00:23:44
Speaker 4: I don't know.

00:23:44
Speaker 6: I again, I don't I think you put them in any spot. They're gonna be fine with will Smith and Ti Oscar and Munsey behind them. We'll see how the bottom two. Do you know, Pahes is pretty good. I'm a little more consistent from him. I think they'll be fine. And Kim, we don't know, so we'll we'll we'll see how the season goes on. But again, you can nit pick. You can start with one and then see how the season goes out. Maybe we need to move this guy up, just let him see better pitches. So you're damned if you do. You damned if you don't. But if you're the Dodgers, you're not damned at all.

00:24:17
Speaker 4: Great line. Pull that lineup again? Can we can we pull that lineup up again? I got it.

00:24:23
Speaker 6: If you need it, don't you worry?

00:24:25
Speaker 4: No, No, I want because it has the ops pluses on the side, which is what I was going to talk about. By the way, remember Taosker down here one oh three is better than average, Mookie down here one oh four better than average. Freddy said he had a crappy year one forty one ops plus. Right Max Muntz he won thirty six ops plus. Kyle Tucker missed a bunch of time one forty three. Everyone said he sucked the second half and has.

00:24:45
Speaker 1: Sung Kim didn't get enough at Bess whatever.

00:24:48
Speaker 4: But they'll set him up for the right against left whatever. Yeah, so I mean he's there for defensive speed right. So this lineup is crazy. It's crazy. I don't know. As a catcher, this was like to me, this would have been like facing the Yankees of the early two thousands when they had those teams with Jeter, Bernie Sheffield, Pasada. And then you got into the mid two thousands, and they had again Jeter Damon text a Rod. They were like, how do I get.

00:25:17
Speaker 2: Through too many power hitters, not enough ball to.

00:25:19
Speaker 4: Back guys for who these guys are. Mookie puts the ball in play, Freddie puts the ball in play. Kyle Tucker puts the ball in play. Okay, show Hey strikes out, fine, Will Smith puts the ball in play once he strikes out, fine, Tai Oscar strikes out fine. I mean, listen, they put the ball in play enough and they do enough damage that are they going to have little? Sure? But they do enough damage and it's so deep. I think what they're counting on is eventually the pitcher's gonna make a mistake. Will it come with somebody on base? And not every pitcher can go through twenty seven outs and be perfect, So they're just count they're waiting on their mistakes and boom.

00:25:50
Speaker 1: Todd, How does Andy Pott has take his game to the next level? Because you figure now the outfield is different, Tay Oscar's going back to left, You're going to have Kyle Tsu in right field and Paw Hiss in center.

00:26:02
Speaker 2: So how does he take his game to the next level?

00:26:05
Speaker 6: He can just relax and no, we'll look at what he has in front of him. Like listen, I gotta be if I'm speaking as Andy, I gotta be myself. I can't worry about doing too much. I just got to go out there, produce, have a routine every day. Don't try and be Freddie Freeman. Don't try and be show Hey, O, tany or anybody else. Be myself. Take the base, hit the right field. When you get that picture that you can drive, yeah, make sure you drive it in the gap. Get the rally going so you can get back to the top of the lineup. And I think that's why he's down there or eventually will be seven, eight or nine, whatever it is, to get kickstarted, to get show Hey back up there. So that's what they're looking for from him. If you're Andy, find a way to get on base. So show Hey, So, Mookie, so, Kyle, Freddy. Can they can all drive you in. He should have over one hundred runs next year, no doubt about it. If he's getting on base. And this is a guy right now. You know we talked about batting average, forget about batting average. Kind the way they can get that on base percentage up you'll have over one hundred run score.

00:27:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, get on base score some runs.

00:27:06
Speaker 1: If you take a look at the projections in terms of standings in the National League West for wins brought to you by fan Grafts, they of course have the Dodgers at the top of the division. I don't think that's a stretch by any stretch of the imagination. Ninety nine and a half wins is the projection by Fangrafts, followed by the Giants actually at eighty two point three wins, the d Backs eighty one point four. I think the Diamondbacks are going to be better than some people think Padres at seventy nine and a half and the Rockies. They actually have the Rockies winning sixty five games, which I'll take, I'll believe it.

00:27:36
Speaker 2: I'll take the under on that.

00:27:37
Speaker 1: I mean fair assessment here in terms is that where you'd pick the team teams in terms of rankings, not necessarily, No.

00:27:43
Speaker 4: I think the Padres are going to be better than that, especially with Bueller and in Uh.

00:27:48
Speaker 2: You think Bueler makes the big league club, Yeah, I think he does.

00:27:51
Speaker 4: Because they have a lot of injuries already in their starting rotation. I think he's a great depthy, so a great bullpen. Their lineup is better I think than what people give them credit. Or I think the Potters are gonna be better, and I think the Potters are in the eighties wins. I think the Diamonbacks in the eighties. I think the Giants are too high and the Rockies are definitely too I tell me, explain to me, Todd, how on earth the Rockies are not gonna lose a hundred games this year? Right now? Then if you look at this, they're winning, They're losing ninety seven games. How on earth are the Rockies in this division, with the team they have as symbol, not gonna lose a hundred games? Figure, I can't figure this out. I mean, if I'm if I'm betting on this, if I'm going to bet MGM, my first bet is under on the Rockies every day and all day, because if it's sixty five point two on bet MGM, it's who under under under under under.

00:28:40
Speaker 6: Well, this is why baseball is the hardest sport probably to bet on. It's frustrating. You can got, you can have Sho Hao Tani on the mount and you can lose to the Rockies two to one, So that that's why it's hard. I agree with you on all accounts, but again, they got to understand the numbers is gonna be number. You can have a guy get hot and hit couple home runs and a pitcher all of a sudden looked like Cy Young out there. But again, yeah, I see them losing over one hundred games too as well, So this is going to be a tough one for them to don't get Dodgers.

00:29:11
Speaker 4: But I don't know if the Dodgers get to one hundred wins either.

00:29:14
Speaker 2: I don't think they do, but I don't think they need to.

00:29:15
Speaker 4: They don't need to. They just need to get into postseason. That was a big thing. Oh the Dodgers didn't have the most wins in baseball last year, and yeah, they just went out won the World Series. So I don't I just think it's it's really hard to win one hundred games, especially for a team like the Dodgers. That all they're about is getting to the postseason. They don't care how many games, and when there's like we're going to be in October, however, we have to get theirst order.

00:29:35
Speaker 1: Of business, win the division, second order of business, get home field, advantage.

00:29:40
Speaker 4: Yeah, but they didn't have any of that last year. They had none of that last year where they win the World Series in Toronto, Okay, they weren't. Didn't have home field against the Brewers. How'd that work out?

00:29:51
Speaker 2: They won?

00:29:51
Speaker 4: They didn't have home field against the Phillies. How that work out?

00:29:54
Speaker 2: I get it.

00:29:54
Speaker 1: The point is that the first order of business is getting Really the first order of business is get out of camp healthy.

00:30:01
Speaker 4: Yes, but then get to the win the division. Yes.

00:30:04
Speaker 6: Then I think I think the only order of business is to be healthy before, right before the playoffs start. I think that's the only thing they got to worry about. They're gonna it's gonna have every team. It's it's happening already. Somebody's gonna get injured, you know. Hopefully it's nothing serious and you'll see him in two or three months, maybe four or five months from now. So just gotta gotta be ready for Game one of the playoffs.

00:30:29
Speaker 1: If there is a need at the deadline, if we're gonna look at a crystal ball or pontificate here, if there is a need at the deadline, Todd, what is it for the Dodgers?

00:30:40
Speaker 6: Hmmm, Man, I don't have. I don't have it right now. I mean again, we're pulling hairs here. I'm looking at the bottom of the lineup. But I I really like I like Pahes. I think he plays great. I think he's a good defender out there. You know, they're not gonna have might not have the power down there. I don't know, man, it's just so hard, you know. Listen, Max Montsey's a beast. He's a staple there. Like what kind of year is he gonna have? I think he's gonna be productive. So I'm just trying to nitpick every little thing I can do here besides the top guys. But there's I don't think they they're gonna need anything. Maybe bullpen, I don't know. I don't see it.

00:31:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, aj, how long as Pot has his leash long long.

00:31:25
Speaker 4: Here's my thing. What are they gonna need. They're gonna need a bullpen arm because they're just it's just it just it helps if you can go out and get a bullpen arm that can help you, whether it's a lefty or righty, they'll take it because every team can always needs enough bullpen and at some point they're probably gonna need a starter because someone's gonna go down there they're not expecting, and it's just the nature of the game today. So I think those are the things if we're nitpicking in July because we don't have crystal balls and we can't see farther ahead. But I think they're gonna need a reliever like every other team in contention, and then like you're gonna ask starter like every other team in contention a lot.

00:31:59
Speaker 2: Okay, we're going to be right back.

00:32:01
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00:32:51
Speaker 1: All right, we are checking out betmgm's World Series line movement the open date began on October thirty first. If you take a look at it, guys, that was back on October thirty first, the last day of the month, and here it is right now. So the Dodgers went from plus three fifty to plus two twenty five, the Blue Jays plus eighteen hundred to plus thirteen hundred, the O's from plus thirty five hundred to plus twenty two hundred. Todd, I know you love this stuff. What do you make of the line movement and which one of the three do you buy into the most?

00:33:25
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:33:25
Speaker 6: I think they're so very hard to understand.

00:33:28
Speaker 4: Why these.

00:33:31
Speaker 6: Bet MGM people I don't know their name, but Vegas, why they decide to move lines left and right. There's a whole big algorithm AI whatever it is. But I don't know how you can go wrong with not picking the Dodgers. I picked the World Series one of the last two years on this show, and I'm more leaning towards the same team I picked last year. I don't want to give it away. It's pretty simple. It's pretty much on the board. But yeah, their team is stacked, man from top to bottom. Even if a guy goes down, there's still somebody there. The Blue Jays love everything that they did, great pickups this offseason, Dylan Cease, I love everything that they're doing. And the Oriols. You know, you think about the one big guy that they got, Pete Alonzo. That guy could spark plug a team. He's a happy, go lucky dude. They're missing a couple teams in there. But again, for me, I think the Dodgers are the easiest pick if if you're looking for another World Series winner, I don't think I don't see how you can go wrong with picking the Dodgers.

00:34:29
Speaker 1: All right, t YF So who are they missing? You said there's a couple of teams that they're missing. Who would you put on this board as far as some decent odds to win that World Series?

00:34:38
Speaker 6: Well, I would Well, for one, I'm pretty biased, but I would say the Yankees have an outside chance of winning the World Series two as well once they get healthy. And the Brewers we just talked about them. I mean there's a team right there with Pat Murphy who's on the right path, who has an opportunity to you know, not only get to the National League NLCS, but you know, maybe make some noise.

00:34:59
Speaker 5: So We'll see what happens there.

00:35:02
Speaker 2: What do you think about this? These lines?

00:35:04
Speaker 4: I mean, I think they're about ready. I think the Dodgers are far and away the favorite again to win this World Series. But Todd mentioned teams are missing. We're the Mets. We're the White Sox. By the way, bet MGM. They I heard the other day they said there's no limit to what they could do. We're here in camel Back Ranch where the whites. This is the white home of the White Sox. And they're not on the board. I don't understand why they're not on the board right now. Seriously, on a serious now, we're where are the Mets? Phillies aren't Phillies aren't up there? Right? Those are a couple of teams that have been pretty good, done some stuff this offseason. Uh, Cubs, Cubs, you can put on there.

00:35:42
Speaker 2: I never feel like you can count the Phillies out.

00:35:45
Speaker 4: The Philly Yeah, the Phillies met, I mean Phillies. I agree because they still have when Wheeler comes back, they have Nola, they still have Sanchez, right, they have Lozardo. Their lineup is still intact pretty much. Yeah, I think the Phillies should be in there. The funny part is it's all it's cational league.

00:36:03
Speaker 2: National leg has been the toughest league, right, I.

00:36:05
Speaker 4: Mean, there's no Tigers who we expect to run away with the AL Central on on the board. The Orioles.

00:36:10
Speaker 1: You can make a case that last year too, and you see what the Guardians did after the Guardians.

00:36:14
Speaker 4: Right, the Reds. Todd's Reds aren't on there, and they made the playoffs last year, and they went out and did some stuff this offseason. Right, But I mean we put the Orioles up there, they're probably fourth place team. You can make a case they could be the fourth place team in the AL East.

00:36:26
Speaker 1: You still don't think the Orioles have enough pitching. Westburg is hurt now again.

00:36:29
Speaker 4: But that's what I'm saying. If you go Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, I'm saying, just Al East Red Sox, Yankees, a Blue Jays, and then you can make a case with Ools could finish fourth in that division. And then I mean then you go and if you go round the American League, Astros, Mariners, Rangers, I mean, it's but yeah, I mean, the Dodgers are the clear favorite and even have plus two was it plus two? Twenty five. That's not a terrible bet, Todd. That's really not Give me the Dodgers of the field. Give me that number and I'll take the field.

00:37:05
Speaker 6: See I was still I would still take the Dodgers.

00:37:09
Speaker 4: But the number is going to be a lot bigger and you get twenty nine chances.

00:37:13
Speaker 6: That's true, that's that more bang for your buck.

00:37:15
Speaker 4: That's why I would take them a lot. Is so mad at me right now. She's just so mad because I brought up the white so she for see. The problem with the line is she's never gone past. There's a pond here on the Dodgers side. It has never been over there. There's a lake right there that divides them. Well, it doesn't really divide them.

00:37:33
Speaker 5: I remember, I remember I was with the Socks.

00:37:36
Speaker 4: I remember, yeah, right, so you know on the on the Dodger side, there's palm trees and there's a big lake right and then as soon as you cross that lake and that shows the White Sox sign, it's just yeah, there's no trees, there's no shades, it's just desert trees. Nothing.

00:37:51
Speaker 5: You're burning up, burning up.

00:37:53
Speaker 2: Listen listen Linda, one day.

00:37:56
Speaker 4: Listen listen one Day you'll cross over the lake and you'll see what real baseball is like where the grinders live.

00:38:03
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