Mets sign Luke Weaver, Phillies sign Brad Keller, Finalists for Imai, D’backs pursuing Alex Bregman?

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Big Week, Big big Week. We're getting consistent moves flowing through, including over the past twenty four hours. It's not the world's biggest names, but they are names that are going to be impactful, especially in the bullpen, so we're about to get into that. I do still think that we will have some major moves in the pipe over the next few days. I think one or two big boy free agents like on the top ten could sign before the holidays, and then Todd Father. We have a bunch of posting deadlines, so there's no signing deadline for anyone except the Japanese talent or international talent in general. I should say with a posting fee, if you're tied to a posting fee, you have a window to do something. And Morikami, for example, has to sign by Monday night. So I think that one will go down and that will be interesting to see where he ends up. I think the market is funky, we went over it the other day. But also for more Kami, I think that he could end up on a variety of clubs. We often see the Japanese players coming over to the same place like La and a few others in contention. You know, for a while it was Seattle, now New York. The Mets have gotten Sanga, the Cubs have gotten seas Azuki and the Managa. But I think Mark Commy could end up in a kind of more random market that doesn't usually recruit Japanese talent as much.

00:01:27
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this question.

00:01:28
Speaker 3: I always find it amazing, Well, not a question I'll ask you after, but I always find it amazing how the numbers seem to always be around the same, like somebody wants for these Japanese talent, Like somebody has to talk because you're not going to get a team that comes in that says three years twenty million, and then you got ten teams that say five years, one hundred and fifteen million, Like how do how does it always come around the same, Like, oh, well.

00:01:55
Speaker 2: You know the Yankees didn't get him.

00:01:56
Speaker 3: They were they were about a million off in it, Like it seems like they're all really so close to the price payment. So that's that's one question I would love to ask owners and everybody else.

00:02:06
Speaker 2: But yeah, I can answer for you. Go ahead, what do you got? Well?

00:02:09
Speaker 1: Because this is interesting. This is going to play right into our first topic coming up in a moment, But You'll see two players sign within minutes and get the same offer, and you can look at it innocently and say, well, they just saw that signing, they took it to teams and said we'll sign for the same thing. Or you could flip it and say the teams called and all outfered the same thing. We have had many players on this show appear and say they get calls at the same time with the same rates. Technically, that's what. Yeah, that's happened to you. Wait, tell me the story real quick, and then we'll get into these signings.

00:02:50
Speaker 2: I forget what year it was it was, and then I think I signed with.

00:02:55
Speaker 3: The Rangers. It was either the Rangers or yeah, the Rangers year. But two teams came to me with the and then you know, a day or two and said like it was like one year, three million. And then my agent calls me, You're not gonna believe this. This team said the same thing. I'm like, oh, weird, how much people are talking.

00:03:13
Speaker 2: I guess, so, yeah, that's that's basically what happened.

00:03:17
Speaker 1: You know what's funny, Todd is they're actually not allowed to talk. There's a there's a word for that. It's called collusion. You're not allowed to call other teams and say, hey, let's all offer this guy the same thing. There have been cases and settlements and everything, right, but Seeligue oversaw that at one point. It's really Kratz's favorite thing. Kratz loves when players all get phone calls with the same offer at the same time.

00:03:42
Speaker 4: It irritates me and I would love it if your number was like three point one five million and they both offered the exact same number, because I've heard I've heard countless going all the way back to twenty twelve where my buddy got offered two years, one point nine million dollars the same afternoon from two teams completely different points in their I mean both playoff contending teams, but one on the East coast, one on the West coast. Come on one point nine million for two years, call in the same afternoon, and we're supposed to sit back and say.

00:04:20
Speaker 2: Well, we're investigating collusion.

00:04:23
Speaker 4: Stop. They don't even have to call each other anymore, because we just talked about it yesterday. They're centralizing all of the data. Well, that's easy. Centralize it and just plug in, plug in the number that you want to pay for the guy, and that's an easy way to lower everybody's value. You're never going to figure it out for the superstars, But who cares. That doesn't cost teams a lot. It's the eighty five percent of the guys that they pay, like Todd Fraser three million dollars. If they can lower that by half a million, huh, they're saving millions. Now.

00:04:58
Speaker 1: This is the stuff that no other show talks about, or maybe some doing I'm missing them, but I just think it's an important piece of the puzzle, you know, I mean, Todd Father. There's a lot of former players that are on this show. There's no doubt about that, although we do have former gms and managers and all that. But I do think it's worth pointing things like this out when someone looks and they're like, Wow, two guys signed at the same time for the same money. It's amazing how that works the chances. Kratz, did you like my example I gave you when we talked about this earlier. Was that relevant enough to bring up on the show? It is? Okay the jelly beans? Yeah, absolutely, okay, So Todd Father, I don't know if they still do this with the kiddos anywhere I'm not affair or at schools. Okay, they do this, so Todd father, right, you got the kiddos and they go up to the jelly bean jar and they're going to guess the number, and whoever guess is closest to the number wins the jelly bean jar. Sure, it'd be weird. What if you open up each piece of paper that was put into the hat every number is the same. Yeah, what are the chances everybody's getting the same phone call at the same time with the same numbers. How does that work?

00:06:11
Speaker 2: I know that would That would be collusion.

00:06:14
Speaker 1: That would be collusion, and that is how you teach kids collusion. Anyway, let's get to some of those collusion deals. We can say whatever we want. Listen, it can't be proven. There are very smart people that are able to put programs together and you can make phone calls. It would take a lot to do it. But when everyone's getting the same not everyone, When guys like mid level and lower level free agents quote according to the list, not a listers are getting the same call with the same offers. Do the math for all the parents out there with teenagers like crats, we know life's a little crazy.

00:06:48
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00:06:52
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00:07:45
Speaker 4: Charge about.

00:07:48
Speaker 1: Two years twenty two million bucks for Luke Weaver as Bob nightingale ft Insider and USA Today Insider reports he'll follow Devin Williams and depart the Yankees for the Mets. It was first reported by Joel Sherman. Also Brad Keller received the same deal, which we'll get to second here. But let's start with the Metropolitans. Todd Father, they've had to pick up the pieces. It's been a tough week and change for them publicly. But the night is young, the off season is young, and now it's Devin Williams and Luke Weaver for high leverage at the back end of the bullpen. I'll actually start with my first comment here. I thought Devin Williams definitely had good stuff last year, but I didn't see a full season of proving that he can handle the big city. So I think when you look at his deal relative to Robert Suarez and to Edwin Diaz, they're in a similar enough range that I rank him, say third out of those three. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I think Luke Weaver at two years, twenty two million is a steal for the Mets. I think he could end up being the better reliever in the ninth any guy for the Metropolitans. So I really like this deal for them.

00:08:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I agree totally. I do.

00:09:00
Speaker 3: You know, he gave up some big hits, but ultimately, the guy's been very consistent. He's developed a couple of different pitches. He's a he's a stopper, I call him. And whenever the Yankees need him last year to kind of you know, take the fire out a little bit of a big inning, he came in and did his job. Yeah, he wonders like if that was what it would take, you wonder why the Yankees didn't. Maybe I don't know, maybe they gave a shot too, Maybe the offer just wasn't there.

00:09:26
Speaker 2: Maybe he wanted to change the scenery. But he's going from one New York team to the next.

00:09:30
Speaker 3: And this is the Mets, and these fans they've been dying, you know, for a playoff team, for a World Series team. So if he's not he's not producing, they're gonna be on him early and off and just like what happened at Yankee Stadium all the time. But again, this is a guy, this is the true reliever that you really want. He could be a closer, he could be a long guy. He could be a set up guy. So good pick up right there. I think that's the best pickup that the Mets had recently, and hopefully it'll go up and up for the Mets.

00:09:59
Speaker 4: With their signings a little bit of a drop and his strikeout rate after he made the change to not a quick pitch for Luke Weaver, but it was more like he went to the slidestep and it kind of got on guys. I think he went over a hundred strikeouts the first season that he made that change, when he was a full season with the Yankees, like eighty some innings, a little bit less innings, dealt with a little bit of injury, the strikeouts went down a little bit. I like this signing. I don't necessarily like Luke Weaver in a ninth inning consistently, so I think that combination of those two good for the Mets. The Mets have just been ravaged in the bullpen and you lose your your only consistent piece in Edwin Diaz. They have to keep adding and these I think this is a great This is a great one to two punch for the back of their back of their bullpen.

00:10:52
Speaker 1: And I wouldn't be surprised if they go after yet another high leverage guy. Those are two high leverage pickups. They are well aware at how much they have to make Cup four, not just with Edwin Diez, but with their pitching staff in general. Their bullpen was falling apart, and I think it's important for them to probably add one more in this realm. I wouldn't be surprised if they still go after someone like Pete Fairbanks right now, but we'll see next up. Brad Keller Kratz two years, wait for it, twenty two million dollars and they signed minutes apart. He goes to the Phillies. Your thoughts on how this helps the Phills. Brad Keller really emerged. I mean you look at Weaver to make the comp weavers breakout season was twenty four. He still was solid in twenty five. Brad Keller's breakout season was just now.

00:11:40
Speaker 4: Very similar in since they're both starters, you know, that's what relievers are, failed starters. But I think brad Keller's just sheer size and you look at that and you're like, Okay, can he sustain it? You'd think he could sustain it. Luke Weavers stayed hell for the most part. That's really gonna be the biggest thing with Brad Keller because he has definitely settled into this relieving role. My fear is he only did it for one year, so I hope you look at all the metrics because he was a non roster invite last year to the Cubs, like non roster, not a big league invite, and became a huge piece of that bullpen. Can he sustain it? If it was three years, I'd be like, eh, I don't like this. Two years. I'll be interested to see where Pete Fairbanks, what Pete Fairbanks ends up getting, because I thought he was like a two year, twenty two million kind of guy too, So it'll be interesting.

00:12:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, And ultimately this is great non roster guy. All of a sudden, now he's a big piece. It goes to show you that you keep working your butt off, you keep working your tail off, good things will happen. And he had an opportunity, took with it, and now to make twenty two million dollars in two years, he's got to be sitting back happy as a clam. Got holidays coming up, and he's going to go out there and help the team try and strive to get back to the playoffs.

00:13:00
Speaker 2: And you know when so we'll see, we'll see what happens.

00:13:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was dynamite with the results this year RA plus and we know, I mean they're advanced numbers too that people liked. It wasn't crazy swing and miss Kratz. It was almost a strikeout burning for a reliever. That's fine, that's not elite. But the RA was low twos.

00:13:24
Speaker 2: And you're right.

00:13:24
Speaker 1: I mean, this is the first time that it really all came together for him in this role. I know there were some whispers towards the end of last season, like, oh, will he turn back into a starter? Oh no, I mean I would want to ride this out a little bit and see what it looks like and guess what not going to happen for him. There's not gonna be that question Mark and Philly they have plenty of starting pitching talent. It would take a lot for the Phillies to fall apart and need someone like this to transition to that role. Let's get into the taptuya in my market. Francis Ramires done a nice job breaking some stories the last few years, including this offseason. He said, around five MLB teams have shown real interest in the twenty seven year old Ace. Per industry sources, he expects the Yankees and the Cubs to be finalists to sign Amy out of the five that he's got in his head or that he's hearing from industry sources. Okay, what do we think of those two? Todd father For me, they both make sense. The Cubs have Imanaga and they had more success with them two years ago than they did this past season. But I still think that signing has been a success. There is a pipeline to Japan that the Cubs have built. They were just there this past season to begin the year. They have both a Managa and SAOs Azuki, So you've got friends. Not that in Mike cares, right, he doesn't necessarily care, although it's I mean, he's a talker, which I like, But it sounds like he's down for the Cubs and he's not down for the Dodgers, not that they necessarily want him either, but it sounds like he wants to beat up on you know, Show Hayes little dream team of the Monstars, and then the Yankees you can speak to really well because they're gonna be missing some guys at the start of the year.

00:15:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think that would be the best choice for him for the Yankees to have this guy here.

00:15:16
Speaker 2: Am I really good pitcher.

00:15:18
Speaker 3: Understandably has been in the spotlight for a long time. Now know what it's all about. I love what he said. He said, of course, I'd love to play with show Hey and Yamamoto and all those guys in Tasaki. But at the same token, I'm not afraid to go up against the beast.

00:15:33
Speaker 2: Let's go.

00:15:33
Speaker 3: So yeah, these two teams are perfect match for him. He would suit well with both of them. But the Yankees are much need of a starting pitcher right now and this can only help them out too, So we'll see pretty soon.

00:15:48
Speaker 4: I'd love to see. I'd love to see the Yankees go after am I because he solidifies that first April May, before Rodin and Cole come back, and even when they come back, you never know. We saw a lot of especially with Cole, we saw guys come back and maybe weren't necessarily their best self throughout the entire season. They'll probably be able to lock it in during during the postseason. But of my signing, I think could also then free up somebody like a Luis Hill that could maybe pry Byron Buxton away from the Twins, Like if you have young starting pitching, young girls starting pitching, and I get it, Heels getting up there in service time because of some of his some of his injury time. I just see, maybe there's a little bit different way to go about it. And what have the Yankees done the last two off seasons? The best starting pitchers available, I'm sorry, last three off seasons. Ro Don was available, got him. Cole was available, got him. Max Freed. You could debate was he the best available? You know, but they went after their guy and got him.

00:17:00
Speaker 1: Wait, why is Max Freed catching strays right now?

00:17:03
Speaker 2: You know if I don't think he was.

00:17:06
Speaker 1: It was him and Corbyn Burns, right, they were the two best free agents available.

00:17:10
Speaker 4: Right, and Corbin Burns. I mean Corbin Burns was better, Max Freed was. Max Freed was the best lefty available unless you say Garrett Crochet was available, and the Yankees never got in on that.

00:17:21
Speaker 1: So if you want to track there, you're saying the best starting pitching talent per offseason. For most of the last half decade they're involved, and they're grabbing them results or results afterward. But in terms of what you're looking at, you have to be pleased if you're a Yankee fan, they're going out to my big fish.

00:17:39
Speaker 4: I'm just more talking about who they're in on who they like. I talked to one guy who a seen of my over in Japan. I was talking about a lot of the Japanese guys, and I know, I know that Yankees really like what they see. It's just a matter of you know, what does that what does that price look like? But also how how strict is how gonna be how Steinbrenner and you know, this whole luxury tax threshold thing, the soft salary cap. We'll see.

00:18:12
Speaker 2: That's that's the big question. Yeah, they talked about Cashman talked about.

00:18:18
Speaker 3: You know, a little not much in his you know when he was talking reporters and everything else. But I've heard he was talking a lot about who he wants to go after and what might happen on the side.

00:18:28
Speaker 2: So we'll see how this all, you know.

00:18:31
Speaker 3: Spells out, because there hasn't really been much going on, you know, a couple here and there. But yeah, I'm excited to see what the Yankees doing where where they're gonna get after because they need another starting pitcher, at least one.

00:18:47
Speaker 1: In my opinion, this is the best guy on the market.

00:18:50
Speaker 2: Mhm.

00:18:52
Speaker 4: And so they're gonna they're gonna make a push. This isn't this isn't like some other teams. Oh, they're in on them. They're gonna make a push because of the evaluations I've seen him, because of what we've seen Yamamoto do when he came over. He's they're going to make a push. If the Cubs are really the one that's like, hey, we're the most serious, the Yankees are going to push them. And I'm wondering what the view of Japanese players is of going to Chicago, if we're just saying Chicago or New York, what the view is, because I know I've said it here a ton of times. Masa here at Tanaka said the Yankees were the team that you wanted to go play for when you were a kid coming up through you through grade school through high school, you wanted to go and play for the Yankees. And he said, I will only play for the Yankees. I think he's unique in that sense. But there's still a lore. There's still the Yankee lore, and I think that you I think it gives the Yankees an advantage, But again, are they willing to push that soft salary cap number, which they've said they're not, and does it inhibit them from getting that center field first base Cody Bellinger type.

00:20:06
Speaker 1: I don't hate your idea, Hey, Ballenger's getting pricey for us, sign of my for a similar number or less, and then we could have a surplus and trade from that to try and acquire a center fielder. The only thing is, I don't know who is available, and the name you brought up seems like he's not available. Sure, you can be talked into anything, but it does appear as if the Twins are not going to trade away their talent. That doesn't just hurt the center field market with Byron buckst and it also hurts the starting pitching market. There were teams that were banking on a Joe Ryan acquisition or maybe a Pablo Lopez ad and it took a little bit of leverage away. Right teams are looking like, hey, this starting pitching market's too expensive. I'll just go give up a lot and prospect talent and grab Joe Ryan. But it appears as if the Twins are still going to be on their track. Maybe I'm wrong on that cratz as it's been a winding road even for the Twins front office, right Derek Falve has talked about it publicly. It's like, we don't know where we stand. Here comes the minority investors, all that kind of deal. So anyway, we're looking at some comments as we're talking about it. Neil said, I thought of my wanted to be the only Japanese player on the team. I think that was misconstrued. It sounded more like fun, playful shots at the Dodgers, specifically that he doesn't need to go to the team that has three Japanese players already and has developed this super strong pipeline and dominance in the Japanese market. So I think that's more of what you're looking at with someone like Ami. And at this point it doesn't appear as if the Dodgers are in on him anyway. So that's a fun thing to say, like, Hey, I'm different teams look at me. I want to beat the Dodgers. Many owners are jealous of them right now. I would love to join your ball club and knock them down a notch.

00:22:00
Speaker 4: To be like Rokie knew where he was going, am I knew that the Dodgers weren't in on him. And so was his opportunity to take a free shots. I mean, it's a free shot, and I love that.

00:22:12
Speaker 1: I love that for him real quick. Lance Lynn on Cardinal Territory, and that show's blown up, So I advise you to check it out, even if you're not a Cardinals fan. They cover a lot of topics that we cover too. Kyle Gibson att Holiday, et cetera. Here's Lance on the specifics of a no trade clause, because I think that can often get misconstrued. It's not like, oh, I just hate all these teams their strategy to this, and I thought Lance was very insightful here on how he dealt with this.

00:22:37
Speaker 5: My note trade was full of teams that I thought would trade for me so I can control things, maybe even get into contract. Like there was more said than that. I didn't put teams there on there were bad because I didn't plan on pitching, and bad enough to where I would get traded to those teams. And I was making too much money for those teams to even take me. So my thought was, all right, and we'll put all the teams on there that I know that we'll be looking to add of veteran starter and aren't afraid of the money, and then I can control the market on where I'm going to go and what I can do. And that was my mindset and the no trade, and then I lifted it to LA. There's I would say most every team on my no trade a year I left Chicago I would have went to So it was one of those things where I had a ten team no trade, but I picked at ten teams that I thought were gonna be in the playoffs so I can control where I was going to go.

00:23:28
Speaker 3: He's always in control of what He's a very smart guy. He's very he was a very good ballplayer. He's uh, he's just a guy that his presence is felt everywhere he goes good, better and different. I love them to death. But there's always a method to his madness, and he understood, he understood the process, as they say, So he's no dumby when it comes to this stuff.

00:23:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not just oh I hate these teams. I'm putting them on my limited no trade list because many of those teams are not going to be the team you end up with. You know what we have to do? Actually, I just remember this. It's always one of my favorite stories. When Matt Holliday signed and I don't remember where he got a one team no trade in there, and I think it was the A's. I got to go back and check all that. But I remember now that Matt's part of our crew. So maybe we can spark that conversation back up where he was just seven seventeen Shank Street in this place like a dump ah that might have been where he's like, yo, I just don't want to end up there. The owner doesn't give a crap about the team, and the facilities are falling apart.

00:24:32
Speaker 4: I think I think sometime when Matt comes on or they could, they should talk about with the Cardinals, I think everybody would find it interesting to find out what the other team that he was choosing between them twenty seventeen was. And maybe and maybe it's out there, but I think it's ironic how the twenty seventeen season ended up where he ended up and who they signed in place of him. So anyway, Matt Holiday story.

00:24:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, Matt Holiday Story, we should get him on soon, we can promote the show. But also, yes, so he had a one team, no trade clause in his contract when he signed with the Yankees, and that was the Oakland A's because he did not have a great experience playing with them for a short period of time in two thousand and nine before he ended up being traded to the Cardinals and had a great experience there. Remember he was acquired by Oakland from the Rockies late two thousand and eight, and then mid two thousand and nine the a sent him out to the Cardinals. Ooh wee, let's go in the weeds. Ken Rosenthal's latest notes column has Alex Bregman on the cover. What I'm hearing about the Diamondbacks interest in Alex Bregman plus more offseason notes. But let's start with that, there is this slight chance that the Diamondbacks could be involved for Bregman, and hear me out, it's not like the Diamondbacks are rebuilding guys. They signed Corbyn Byrns last year and I know it didn't work out from an injury perspective. You should be back later this season, by the way, and he's pretty damn good. They signed back Merril Kelly. They do have one of the best offenses in the sport. They have work to do on the pitching staff, but hear me out, the beginning of the paragraph. I thought was really good on this topic, Todd Father, I think you'd like the quote. Okay, Ken said one rival executive told him about the Diamondbacks quote. We have no money, we have no money, we have no money.

00:26:34
Speaker 2: Oh.

00:26:34
Speaker 1: Ken Kendrick got aggressive, as in, nah, we're not playing those waters. And then this is one of those owners who I really like. Ken Kendrick will just come out of the blue and say, you know what, screw it, I'm a gun slinger. I'm going for it. I like this guy. I don't care what my budgeting was proposed to the front office. This is my baby, this is my toy. This is my multi billion dollar franchise. Alex Bragman, let's chat with him. It happened last year with Corbyn Burns. You start to have a conversation and Todd Father, Alex Bregman has the same agent representation as Burns. He lives in a similar area to Corbyn and that is Phoenix, and that is very appealing to people that live in Arizona and can spend the entire year as their home base in Arizona, no spring training, hopping from one home to the next with the family, with the young kiddos, which he also has. It sounds like, according to Ken, I could tell Marte trade would have to happen. I think that's going to happen anyway. It tell's a seventeen million dollar luxury tax hit. Bragman could get about double that. But the Diamondbacks are about seventeen mil under their payroll from last year. So anyway, you add it all up and it's not the craziest thing ever. Is it likely?

00:27:47
Speaker 2: No?

00:27:47
Speaker 1: But I don't think anybody had Corbyn Burns as their top spot for or at Arizona as the top spot for Corbin Burns last year, and look what happened.

00:27:57
Speaker 2: Let's call leverage as a player, as an owner.

00:28:02
Speaker 3: You know, why would you want to leave, Man? You can keep your house right here. We'll give you a certain amount of money.

00:28:08
Speaker 2: Come on down. Your family doesn't have to move.

00:28:11
Speaker 3: If you're a team in Florida or a team in Arizona, well there's only one team in Arizona. Yeah, it's about leverage, man, And I think it's a really good possibility.

00:28:20
Speaker 2: I know you said it's highly unlikely. Why not? Why not?

00:28:24
Speaker 3: I mean, this would be a great fit for him. They just resigned Merrill, Kelly Back, it's a great organization. You don't really hear much bad about him besides not beating the Dodgers and trying to find a way to get over the hump there. I mean, they were a team that were in it a couple of years ago. So this team is not going anywhere, and to them, they have the possibility to pick up an Alec Bregman or Alex Bergman. Yeah, you better, Dann, We'll get ready to do that because I think he, like other people like Burns, this stabilizing my family. I don't have to move, I don't have to put stuff here. My wife and kids can stay here and enjoy. They have to come on the road anymore. There's everything plays a part.

00:29:04
Speaker 4: I don't see this happening because I don't think it makes the Diamondbacks better. I think I think a lot of the stuff about Katel Marte getting traded could be around, you know, some of the stuff that was going on around the All Star break and some of the rumblings that you heard from players like maybe kateel Marte doesn't quite fit in the clubhouse. You know what fits Ku tell Marte's bat from both sides in that lineup. You're talking about a dude that in the last three years has gone ops plus A one twenty seven, one fifty four, one five two MVP seasons. One he was top, he was third, another one he was twenty second this past year. Sorry, Alex Bregman, great player, third base, super important position. You're gonna pay Alex Bregman more per year. You're gonna get rid of kateel Marte bat and you're not upgrading that with what he bring. What Bregman brings, And if you're looking for a leader, okay, you know that's a huge upgrade, but you're talking about a larger contract, most likely more per year. And to me, I think it's more of just a ploy. Look, I'm always about the players getting all their money. Feels like more of a ploy to make the Red Sox pay the full price that Bregman wants.

00:30:30
Speaker 1: Right, You're looking at the market, and I know we've seen reports about the Cubs. I don't know if I'm buying that. I can I can buy the Tigers. Remember I kind of took an l on that one, but I was like, no way, the Tigers are going to engage with him. But I do think that it's possible. After more conversations behind the scenes, I can see the Tigers saying, all right, but try it again.

00:30:54
Speaker 2: And who's the best, say Tigers?

00:30:56
Speaker 4: Say, what if the Tigers say one hundred and fifty million the Red Sox. Obviously we already talked about collusion today. The Red Sox aren't gonna be like what I just found out the Tigers only offered one hundred and fifty million. No, they know exactly what they offered. They're gonna know exactly what everybody offered. The Red Sox are like, Hey, if I got to pay one to eighty for Bregman, that's cool. But if no one else is even close to one seventy, we'll offer one sixty five. Like, I don't know where those numbers are, and obviously we'll never know, but you gotta get other suitors in. Would he be good on the Diamondbacks. Absolutely. If you're the Diamondbacks and you're getting rid of a seventeen million dollar a year player, you better backfill him with a due that's gonna backfill with the exact same offensive production. I know it's a different position, and I know there's leadership stuff with Bregman, that is off the charts. But Cotel Marte is going to help any team immensely, sliding into a two, three or four spot as soon as he goes to another team, and the Diamondbacks have to backfill that and that's tough to do.

00:32:02
Speaker 1: It is still weird. You look at Marte and you're like, this is a superstar player and he's not expensive given the market, why trade him. I'm with you on that one. I thought it was a great call. You laid it out well. And for Bregman, the best fit is Boston according to both his interest and the team. It's not like they're the only team involved, like we said, but are they the only team involved at that price range? Hey? Things change. It didn't seem like Boston was going to be the spot for Bregman, and I heard with strong confidence that they made a pretty late push and upward movement of their offer, And it took influential Red Sox people outside of the front office to make phone calls to ownership and say, Hey, this can get done. This guy wants to be here. You're low balling compared to the market. Figure it out if you really want him.

00:33:02
Speaker 2: That happened.

00:33:02
Speaker 4: I have one thing before we get to our next guest. Yeah, if you're the Red Sox, who would you rather have put into your lineup right now? To Tell Marte or Alex Bregman.

00:33:13
Speaker 1: Mm hmm into the Red Sox lineup?

00:33:16
Speaker 4: Yes, I know, I'm not I'm just saying. I'm just saying, based on why other teams would want either one of these guys, why the Diamondbacks would I get, I get the leadership stuff. I'm just saying the Red Sox are more of a nickel and dime team than what you know they would they would put themselves out as Yeah.

00:33:36
Speaker 1: See, this is where it gets really hard to value a player that contributes like this. I would say, could tell Marte technically, could tell Marte player profile wise, I think on a free agent market, would command more money. I mean and and deservedly so. I think he's worth a lot. Bregman's worth a lot too. But yeah, there's the defense involved, there's the impact off the field. They're both great players. But yeah, that's why I look at this. I'm like, Damn, any team that's looking at Katl Marte should go after him and give up the prospects to do it. You sign him into what looks like pretty affordable options for a number of years. That's me, So we'll see. And actually, if you really get yourself in a bad situation again you want to trade him, I think the five to ten rights that give him no trade rights would reset, so then you would have the ability to trade him again in the future. Super fascinating case. Here, let'sh bet MGM futures so World Series named the finalists Yankees Dodgers plus eleven hundred. This is a category that I struggle with. Help me out. Do you guys feel like there's a spot in this category that you would feel comfortable with. This category is better than it used to be because of the dominanta of the Dodgers lately. So if you're one of those people that's like, hey, the Dodgers are just going to go on this dynasty run, then you already accomplish one side of it. And it does give you insurance that the Dodgers are not necessarily winning the World Series every time, but they are at least taking you to the World Series. So even this past season, you would have been a little less nervous if you had the Dodgers matching up against the Blue Jays. You also would have been crazy lucky because not or just crazy smart. Not many people had that matchup. But Todd Father, do you like this or would you rather just focus on something a little more specific, like just one team and then represent the NL or winning the World Series.

00:35:44
Speaker 3: I do like it. I like it a lot. This was my pick last year. It didn't come in a fruition, but I do. I do like it. I think I would any sane person would put a little bit on this knowing that LA is the best team in the world, and the Yankees always have an opportunity to make a run if their guys are healthy and they find ways to beat the Blue Jays Sola, New York. In LA, I could see the Blue Jays getting back in there.

00:36:12
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:36:13
Speaker 3: I mean there's not many, in my humble opinion, not many American League teams that right now besides the Blue Jays and Yankees I see getting to the World Series as of now. Not saying day one I'll change my mind, but yeah, I'd like this pick a lot.

00:36:33
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm going through the rest of them here, and if you're only sticking with the Dodgers, there's a lot of there's a lot of fun numbers here. I just feel like, I feel like, you know you have Red Sox and Dodgers are coming out at twenty five to one. I like that number way better Orioles and Dodgers coming out at twenty five to one. Like if you're like, okay, I'm stuck on the Dodgers making it, then it's just a matter of who you think is coming out of the American League. And I'm sorry, I'm not taking eleven to one on it being the Yankees. I'm taking I mean, shoot, you can, hey, White Sox and Dodgers are one hundred and twenty five to one. If you if you have White Sox, like, what about the I think there are teams.

00:37:19
Speaker 1: For where the Mariners on there you haven't pulled out.

00:37:22
Speaker 4: That's That's what I'm trying to get down to. Okay, I'll get back to you.

00:37:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, you could.

00:37:28
Speaker 1: Think about Mariners hard. I wouldn't touch the Tigers right now because there's still a chance that they trade schoople and if they don't, are they pushing chips in. I don't know how comfortable I feel, But for me, Todd Father, I think there's a vibe in Seattle. I mean, I've been on them and then kind of eased off this past season, of course, where they finally did put a lot more together and do the adding that they needed to do at the deadline, I think they kind of learned that it only takes a little bit more aggressiveness to separate yourself from a fringe playoff team and an ALCS appearance. To me, I feel like they've learned a little bit about that. It doesn't come from the GM, it's coming from ownership. So I had to give them a little more leeway at this trade deadline to pick up two significant impact players. One was much more impactful than the other. Naylor was much better down the stretch and in the playoffs than Gino Suarez, but both were definitely upgrades. So I could see Seattle rolling that out. It's tough to roll out the same names that just went through the slog of a postseason and have them not deal with some fatigue and hangover effect. But I do think Seattle's got something special and they continue to nurture and take more care of their lineup than they did for a while.

00:38:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you're not wrong by that at all. They just got a hit They've been known for their pitching. They just need more clutch hitting to get over the hump. Now, you saw a couple guys step up. Big Roriguez stepped up huge in the playoffs and came on strong at the end.

00:39:06
Speaker 2: Hopefully he keeps that going.

00:39:08
Speaker 3: And they just got to solidify a few spots, and you know they'll be right there in the talks for sure.

00:39:16
Speaker 4: I'd take I mean the Mariners, the Mariners and Dodgers, all right, seventeen fifty plus seventeen fifty. I still don't like that number, but I like the Mariners and Phillies at thirty five to one, thirty five hundred Mariners Phillies, two teams that didn't quite get the full barrage of it. Maybe could be up there. You know this is this is a fun exercise. I like this. I like this, but I need if I'm picking the two exact teams that are winning the National League and the American League pennant and meeting in the World Series, I need more than eleven to one. Sorry, Yankees and Dodgers.

00:39:53
Speaker 1: He's greedy, todd Father. He doesn't want to eleven X's money. But I get what you're saying.

00:39:58
Speaker 2: I mean it is crazy.

00:40:00
Speaker 1: It is it's hard to pick both seats. But if you're looking for something right now, there's a pro Football no Sweat token. You can check that out applied on any no any pro football bet. Use the token and add that bet on an event to your bet slip, and then you activate the token, and then you get bonus bets if that bet was made with the token and it loses. So gambling problem or concern called one eight hundred gambler. Hey, we do have a sale. The Pittsburgh Penguins are being sold from Fenway Sports Group. Why is this relevant, Well, Fenway Sports Group also owns the Red Sox, so they sold the team to the Hoffman's wherever they are for one point seven billion dollars. This according to Elliott Friedman, he's a super duper insider. He's like the Ken Rosenthal the NHL so one point sevan bill into the portfolio of the group that owns the Red Sox. It does not work where you take that and you just spend it on the major league team. But good for them making some cash through the process. And now Red Sox fans can point to that number all off season long if they miss out on free agents. That's what happens anyway, Kratz, hat's what you got.

00:41:31
Speaker 4: They're gonna put it in air. Soccer team. Sam Blom is doing amazing work. If you want to have a real life saga. I know Sam was just on go read all the stuff that he's been following with this with the trial, the Tyler Skaggs civil suit, and so I had to wear my Angels hat for guys. Sam coming on today.

00:41:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, Sam's great.

00:41:52
Speaker 2: Hey.

00:41:52
Speaker 1: Guest list tomorrow. FT insider Robert Murray also from Fansideed, but new to the party as a regular with us. Zach Rosenthal, former Rockies VP and assistant GM of Baseball Operations, and he was their GM for five minutes, and it'll be interesting to hear his thoughts on what he experienced there in Colorado and what he thinks this new group can bring to try and get them into a I don't know better situation for lack of better terms. Also Paul Hoynes, who's a legend in Cleveland and really amongst many baseball writers. He was honored at the Winter meetings, and we'll talk guardians with a great personality, So it'll be fun. We should have more moves as we're leading up to the holidays and Todd Father, we will see you on Friday, right boom see you then, Bud Yeah,