FT BREAKING NEWS: Cody Bellinger signs back w/Yankees, Mets acquire Luis Robert, Owner cap push report

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Breaking news during the show, Cody Bellinger and the Yankees are married again. Five year contract one hundred and sixty two and a half million dollars. It's very front loaded. We're learning all of.

00:00:16
Speaker 2: The details as we go here.

00:00:17
Speaker 1: It includes a twenty million dollars signing bonus, and the first two seasons of the contract are thirty two and a half million dollars. That's an addition to the signing bonus. The signing bonus, for context, is included in that total number that we learn, right, it's not an additional signing whatness.

00:00:32
Speaker 2: I know some people were asking about that.

00:00:33
Speaker 1: So it's one hundred and sixty two and a half million dollars during the course of the contract, but he gets twenty plus thirty two and a half a year. So when you add that up, the first two years of the contract contain eighty five million dollars. That's more than half of the contract in two years versus what it looks like in the last three years. That is called front loaded, and that makes sense because he should be better in those first two years than he is in the last three years. Well, I mean, how much does he make those first two eighty five million dollars.

00:01:02
Speaker 3: How much does Aaron Judge make a year? You tell me forty?

00:01:07
Speaker 2: Exact number is it? Forty?

00:01:08
Speaker 3: So Cody Bellinger the first two years is making more than aerror Judge.

00:01:11
Speaker 2: Correct.

00:01:11
Speaker 1: Well, Judge signed years ago and he went back to his team. That's I'm just that's the market.

00:01:15
Speaker 3: Saying he're there anywhere. I'm just saying, for these next two years, Yankee fans, Cody Bellinger is making more than AIRR Judge.

00:01:21
Speaker 1: Aaron's a little bigger than Cody, So I don't think he's going to go up to him and say ha ha. But for Cody, he can opt out. Great for Cody, Well, Kratz, you're stronger than him, But I don't know about Cody. You're stronger than Judge. But anyway, I don't know if Cody is going to end up opting out again, none of us know. But if he puts seasons together like he did last year, he can go back into the market again. He's done this a lot. He's a guy that's been attached to opt outs. He's got it. Not after year one, after your two and year three. If we have a lockout that takes out of season, he gets.

00:01:54
Speaker 2: The opt out pushed back. That's actually language that's pushed in there or put in there.

00:01:58
Speaker 1: So what do you think about the deal that we basically already knew publicly for a while.

00:02:02
Speaker 3: Now, whan isn't this what the Yankees offered? Like weeks ago it came out that it was this. I mean, I think he got like two million more dollars. But if five one sixty was the rumor being so, he could have done this weeks ago. But there's one thing that one of the main suitters was who the Mats Matt and who they just traded for last night Atlas Robert. Then what was the other team? The Blue Jays. They were probably comfortable paying him forty million dollars a year, right, so they said okay? And then Bellinger didn't really have any other suitors that I can find that anyone mentioned, So he took the best deal available to him. Good for him. One hundred and sixty two point five million is a lot of millions.

00:02:37
Speaker 1: He wanted seven years, or his team wanted seven years.

00:02:41
Speaker 2: They got it right.

00:02:43
Speaker 1: And Krats, I mean, he put together a great year this past season for the Yankees, one twenty five ops plus one hundreds league average five point one baseball war. I mean five win player is really good. I mean the park didn't hurt. His ops at home was nine oh nine, his ops on the road was seven to fifteen. He just fit really well with this squad. He also improved his numbers significantly against left handed pitching him. He was one of the better lefty edders against lefty pitching this past season. So he had a really strong year. It's a good marriage. Keep it running, absolutely.

00:03:15
Speaker 4: I mean we've said it the whole time that I think the value is not just in the fact that he had twenty nine homers. I think everybody on the team's home runs spiked, from Ben Rice to Jazz Chisholm. You know, Anthony Volpi had. You know, I think he had nineteen homers. Like the home runs are gonna come to me. For Cody to be the most valuable to a team, it's gonna not be if he hits thirty homers. It's gonna be if he puts together good at bats around Judge wherever that is. If they're going to settle him in behind Judge, he's got to be able to put together good at bats to be able to knock Judge around when they're walking him one d to one hundred and fifty times, and it's you know, it's being a past in that lineup. But then also giving the Yankee some flexibility, not just this year where he will not play center field. Trent Grisham will play center field because Trent Grisham's making the qualifying offer twenty two million, but where he can play left Ben Rice catches some games he's going to move away from first now they don't have to find another first baseman. Cody can fill in it first, and then most likely when Trent Grisham leaves next year, he can slot in in center field. Does he play the entirety of the rest of his contract last four years in center field. I don't know. We don't know where that's going to be. But I think this was as much as Yankee fans, I think started sweating a little bit. This was my This was my lock, and then my second lock was Bragman back to the Red Sox. Well, clearly my second lock missed this one hit. And I'm glad for both because he had success there and he doesn't have to play the opt out game, but he can and if he.

00:05:00
Speaker 1: Wants to remember one year ago he was traded from the Cubs to the Yankees, and the Yankees took on ninety percent of that contract, but the Cubs had to eat five million dollars. It wasn't an easy contract to swap, right. It was two years fifty two and a half million left and five of that was covered, so the Yankees were taking on two years forty seven point five million dollars. My point is that his stock swored this past season with the Yankees, especially within the Yankees, right. I mean, he was not looked at across baseball as a superstar. It was looked at as someone who had MVP moments and then had low points, had shoulder issues, had inconsistencies with swing, but really has become an all around player and had a great year.

00:05:49
Speaker 4: For New York.

00:05:51
Speaker 3: No, what's not the right? What is this?

00:05:57
Speaker 4: Did his stock storp?

00:05:59
Speaker 3: I just think he had two solid years back to back, and actually he didn't really, he had one year back to back.

00:06:04
Speaker 1: This year was really good and it was a perfect match. So yeah, I would say his stock.

00:06:08
Speaker 3: Went up surely because he was able to handle New York. He played well in New York, and therefore the Yankees for the Yankees his stock sword. Right again, what were the other suitors? That's the thing, that's my thing right now. We don't know the others back, but the Mets. The Mets were definitely interested, and they were not in his number because I they would have been in this number, they would have got it done. Knowing Stevie Cohen, if there's two teams that are closed, he'll just say, oh, here's twenty extra million, go get it done. Right, He didn't do that.

00:06:33
Speaker 2: They wanted a shorter term deal.

00:06:35
Speaker 1: We'll find out maybe what that looked like, but it was probably two maybe three years. Okay, you got a mini version of the Bobaschett offer that goes on, what does this do for Jason Domingos?

00:06:44
Speaker 3: What does this do for Spencer Jones? What does this do for some of those Yankee hype prospects that we've been hearing about for so long? Yeah?

00:06:52
Speaker 2: Trade one of them from Freddy par Alton.

00:06:55
Speaker 3: Okay, which one.

00:06:59
Speaker 4: H h Which one goes?

00:07:02
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:07:03
Speaker 2: Which one goes? Or which one? Would we trade either?

00:07:06
Speaker 3: Or you tell me which one should go? Which one is gonna go?

00:07:10
Speaker 4: If I'm the Brewers, I take Spencer Jones. I think you've seen what Jason Deminguez can do, has done whatever? And can you afford to have him hit right handed? Or does he become a platoon Obviously, you don't know what Spencer Jones is gonna do, but you're gonna say, I get it. He strikes out a third of the time in the minor leagues. We're putting them in the big leagues. He's gonna steal twenty plus bases for us. He's gonna play, He's gonna play the outfield really well. I mean he's a center field. I'm not saying he's gonna play center field there. But then you're gonna have You're gonna have Churio him in the outfield. And to me, it's gotta be Spencer Jones and somebody Spencer Jones and another piece. And I don't think the I don't think the Brewers will come off somebody that's not a big league pitcher like it has to me, it has to be a big Leagy Pictre because they're getting rid of Freddy. It would be Spencer and a big league Pictures is ready to go.

00:08:06
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00:08:09
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00:08:22
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00:08:29
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00:09:09
Speaker 2: Not Schlittler, but I don't think they're not doing.

00:09:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, but then you can't have Jones and any of those guys in the deal. That's too much for one year a player. Yes, I'm telling you that's too much.

00:09:24
Speaker 3: Jones has proven zero.

00:09:26
Speaker 2: I know, but that's too much for industry standards. I'm just telling you.

00:09:28
Speaker 3: Also, So then why when you throw Domingos and a one of those guys it's too much.

00:09:35
Speaker 1: You're going to get one of those You're getting one of those guys in there, and then someone.

00:09:39
Speaker 3: On the Okay, where's Jason.

00:09:43
Speaker 2: Oh, let me answer the question. Kratz did his for me.

00:09:46
Speaker 1: I'm trading Diminga is potentially in a deal for Freddy Peralta or Nick Pavetta or Mackenzie Gore. Yeah, I mean there's a logjam, and for me, Jones has more upside. Jones is much more of an enigma. He might strike out way too much, or he could become a star with Domingos.

00:10:02
Speaker 2: Do we think he's going to be a star.

00:10:05
Speaker 4: We can ask Derek. I don't know. You can't. You can't. You can't just trade who you want. It's the team who does the team want. That's why I'm saying Spencer Jones is going to be who the Brewers want. The Brewers don't want Jason Dominga's He's right now, he's proven that he's not the guy. To me, I think the Brewers would want Spencer Jones if I'm like, you can't just be like, we want Freddy Peralta and we'll give you Jason Domingus, you can have him.

00:10:34
Speaker 3: To me, here's the thing with Dmingas. Mingas didn't play in the postseason. Okay, that tells you what the Yankees thinking about him.

00:10:43
Speaker 2: You think is too low to be a centerpiece in a deal.

00:10:46
Speaker 1: I think it's you can't do that.

00:10:50
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, Slitler, you have Freddy Perolta. Slitler was Who's better Schlittler? Ferdie Perolta.

00:10:56
Speaker 2: Schlittler's upside is pretty dead.

00:10:58
Speaker 3: So what I asked you, what's Who's.

00:11:00
Speaker 1: I'm not trading Schlitler. If I'm the Yankees, what if.

00:11:03
Speaker 3: They chose that test, that's we have to have him to get the deal.

00:11:06
Speaker 2: The fuck off.

00:11:07
Speaker 1: I'm going to the Padres for Pavetta. I'm going to the Nationals for Mackenzie Gore. I'm going down the line for other guys I can't think of right now.

00:11:13
Speaker 3: So every team goes, we want Schlitler, you trade them or you just stick with them.

00:11:16
Speaker 2: No, I'm not trading it.

00:11:17
Speaker 3: Okay, So what if they say we have to have Spencer Jones and Will Warren.

00:11:22
Speaker 1: I still think that's a little bit high I do. It's one season of a player. Look at look at the deal.

00:11:28
Speaker 3: They say, we want Schlitler in and are we want Spencer Jones and Will Warren.

00:11:35
Speaker 4: No, no, you're getting Freddy. You're getting Freddy Peralta for one season. That automatically puts you an extra an extra win in a playoff series, because obviously I don't think the Yankees are going anywhere if Cole doesn't come back to be Cole, Rodin doesn't come back to be Rodin. But the beginning of the season, you need somebody to step up to be that number one. Freddy is that number one. And then in the postseason you have those three guys starting your first three games of every series. I don't care if the Yankees strikeout a lot or not. Their lineup that is a legit starting rotation to have to face twice in a seven game series.

00:12:19
Speaker 1: Now Dominguez Jones and Will Warren plus another prospect or two that is less developed for Terrek Scooble.

00:12:28
Speaker 3: You only get one year.

00:12:30
Speaker 2: I don't give a shit.

00:12:31
Speaker 3: Oh now see now the rules change, crowd.

00:12:33
Speaker 2: They don't change.

00:12:34
Speaker 3: It's only one year though, I've not given up though for one year.

00:12:38
Speaker 4: How they want him? How bad do they want them?

00:12:44
Speaker 1: But but the point that AJ started with here is that they now have a.

00:12:48
Speaker 3: Serious log jam in the outfield, a log jam which is Cody Villager the first baseman.

00:12:55
Speaker 1: Well, could be a little bit of both, and it gives you versatility, but for now, it's Ben.

00:12:59
Speaker 2: They want to Ben run with it.

00:13:03
Speaker 3: Man, there's a lot of leftended hitters in this.

00:13:05
Speaker 4: They also have a belief. They also have a belief that Ben Rice can catch in the big leagues. Well, so I'm not saying I.

00:13:13
Speaker 3: Believe they but it never happened.

00:13:17
Speaker 4: I'm just telling you. I'm just telling you that, you know, we.

00:13:21
Speaker 3: Saw Ben Rice. We saw Ben Rice catch. It was i it wasn't great.

00:13:27
Speaker 4: But the framing numbers are what they looked at. And so how does that change? How does that change with the abs coming in? Because there is a there's a large value put to that, because if Ben Rice needs to play first base and is a first baseman for the entire season, is that more value than mixing in Jason Dominga's and left field and putting Cody Bellinger in Because Jason Dimingaz can't hit lefties, so it's not really a it's not really that platoon, and you're not gonna put them in there when it's right handers because you don't want Belly or Ben Rice out of the lineup. And Austin Wells is left handed, so it's a heavy, heavy left handed lineup that. Oh, the Red Sox just picked up another lefty too, So you think about how it's like working out, It'll be interesting. It'll definitely be interesting.

00:14:18
Speaker 1: Guys will get hurt too, well, yeah, wow, John Carlos stands not playing.

00:14:23
Speaker 2: A full season or hitting a full season.

00:14:26
Speaker 1: True, So then you have a DH spot that's opened up for other guys to mix and match.

00:14:31
Speaker 2: See, you've got some bashers.

00:14:33
Speaker 4: One of those guys going Dominga is you think.

00:14:36
Speaker 1: You think that they're going to trade one of them between now and the start of the season.

00:14:40
Speaker 4: I do only because I don't think they're in on the Zach Gowan frambur I'm forgetting another free agent pitcher that's still available, but I don't think they're in that. I don't think they're in that realm. I don't think they're in there.

00:14:56
Speaker 2: You think they're trying to acquire someone via trade.

00:15:00
Speaker 4: I think I think it's gonna I think it's gonna end up happening. I think they would love to sign a Framber Valdez, but I don't know that they're necessarily in on who Framber is or what he's what he's bringing to the table. And I think that's where getting Cody back helps, just make some guys possibly expendable.

00:15:23
Speaker 1: Okay, last part of the puzzle here, and then we're going to talk to Derek Lewandowski later on to bring this conversation back up. Ryan in the chat where you guys putting the Yankees power ranked in the division right now, Belly's back. Let's remember the Yankees haven't done a ton. This was the big spend so far. It hasn't been a huge offseason for them. They bring a guy back, they got Weathers the other day. They brought some others back, like a Medrosario. But where do we have the Yankees right now. They got bounced by the Blue Jays, so they're below the Blue Jays. You've got them three who's two right socks? Red socks for you too, Kratz. They beat the Red Sox. Not that means anything now.

00:16:08
Speaker 4: But most likely I haven't. I haven't fully committed yet. I want to see the rest of the Orioles Orioles offseason. I want to see them pick up that starting pitcher that could help put them over the Red Sox put the Yankees. I don't know the Red Sox are completely done either. They need they need a little bit of lineup. But I'm gonna say today Red Sox are second, blue Jays are first. I just think the Yankees will have a good team once everybody's back, but I think they're gonna get too far behind early in the season not having their horses in the starting rotation.

00:16:52
Speaker 1: It finally happened, lou Bob is moving on. We had heard the Mets in the reds forever. The Mets win, they get Louise Robert and they pay the whole nothing salary. Well, they pay the whole salary, and then they give up Louis on Helocunya and last year's when is it twelve round pick? Truman Pauli, Yeah, are you not excited? Are you not entertained? Louisa and Helocunya is a major league player?

00:17:21
Speaker 3: Is he? Though?

00:17:22
Speaker 2: He had four home runs in a Venezuelan League game the other day? Wow, nobody didn't stand.

00:17:26
Speaker 3: Nobody cares cool either. I mean that's all His career major league gops is six forty So am I supposed to be excited about that? He just started his career minor league go ps is seven fifty one.

00:17:40
Speaker 2: Okay, good athlete, speed, multi position.

00:17:44
Speaker 3: No, why the Mets want to give him up?

00:17:46
Speaker 2: Maybe they don't believe in him?

00:17:47
Speaker 3: Oh wow, that's weird. Okay. I mean, listen, here's my thing with this whole tairy so not. You know, obviously, as a white Sux fan, I'm happy that Louis Robert is gone on this year's team because it twenty million. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense when your payroll is like eighty million to have one guy making a quarter of it.

00:18:05
Speaker 4: Yep.

00:18:06
Speaker 3: Now their payroll is down in the sixties and they were the Chris Guetz said that they're going to be allowed to spend that twenty million, So why are you going to stop releasing before the season and not pick up the option, and then you have twenty million to spend for the whole offseason instead of two weeks or three weeks before spring training starts, when the free agent market has already been picked through. Right now, Well, they actually spend that twenty million, let's find out. I don't know who, they'll go get a starter or reliever whoever they want to, you know, an infield or an outfield or whatever they think that they need. Now they have twenty million dollars to spend, let's go see if they use it right. But to me, this should have maybe traded, maybe happened before after the twenty three season when he was really good, because the last two years Luis Robert Junior has not been very good.

00:18:48
Speaker 2: Now you can't stay on the field.

00:18:50
Speaker 3: You can't stay on the field. Now, the Mets, here's what they're banking on. Free agent year, change the scenery, maybe better players around him, depending on how you look at it, which I think you can honestly say. And he's gonna be motivated and they're gonna get a great year. And they bought the Boris hype where Boris didn He switched to Boris, and Boris was like, he's out here working at the Scott Boris Academy and he's gonna he's taking this and we fixed this.

00:19:11
Speaker 2: I don't know the agency situation. Think you did right. So he's shown flashes twenty three was.

00:19:16
Speaker 3: Listen, he's shown flashes when he's healthy, but that he never stays healthy. Yeah, and he strikes out a ton. And when he's on the field, he's great, but he strikes out a ton and he's the potential's there, right, And now you look at that twenty twenty one White Sox corps, they're all gone.

00:19:35
Speaker 2: Oh.

00:19:35
Speaker 3: The team that was supposed to lead them to the multiple multiple parades is Rick Han once said we're gonna have multiple parades. Well, they had a prooptiple parades getting the fuck out of town.

00:19:45
Speaker 2: Maybe he meant trade parade.

00:19:47
Speaker 3: Oh that's what it was. Yeah, I don't know. Listen, I'm happy he's gone as a White Sox fan just because of twenty million dollars is nice. He wasn't good. He wasn't gonna make or break them winning the division this year.

00:19:56
Speaker 1: I was actually about to go bury against you. And then you made a point that made me retreat a bit. I was going to say I criticized them for picking up the option, but they ended up giving him to the Mets, and they take on all of the money, right, So I'm like, that's fine. They actually got some players out of it. Your point, though, is valid. Now we have twenty to spend, but we have a third of the availability in terms of what's on her mark and that probably maybe yeah, but they don't get to pick wherever they want to pick.

00:20:29
Speaker 2: So I get that.

00:20:30
Speaker 1: Was it worth waiting for months and getting these two players versus just not keeping him Krats and getting to spend twenty million dollars or really twenty two It should be twenty two to be fair, because there's a two million dollar buyout, so if he doesn't get picked up for twenty seven, it's twenty two million dollars for this coming season. Kratz, was it worth waiting for Luisan Hilocunya and Graham Paul, who's a later round draft pick from last year that clearly they like, versus being able to spend a good chunk of change on a player for twenty twenty six that now is a much shorter list of players available.

00:21:10
Speaker 4: Oh wait, oh, we couldn't get anybody for the twenty million because it's just not a lot of guys left. No, they're they're not going to go get anybody. And to me, like did they get I would say they came out ahead. Did they come out franchised changing ahead?

00:21:29
Speaker 2: No?

00:21:29
Speaker 4: Was it worth the risk? It's like playing poker right now, like, is it worth going all in when there's four dollars in the pot? What if somebody actually has a better hand than you? What if they got stuck with Luis Robert? He clearly was not motivated in Chicago. He was clearly coveted by teams or a team the Mets last year, but they couldn't they couldn't agree on what that price was gonna be. Now the Mets went and got Mark Simons, so they don't need a depth piece in Luis Ahlcunya and so, yes, they came out on top. To me, the risk wasn't there. And no, if White Sox fans are saying, oh, yeah, we're gonna spend that extra twenty million, I have a hard time believing outside of a like Zach Gallen for one year is not even gonna he's not going to go there, but he's not going to cost that much, like and is he No, he's going to cost way more than that. He's going to get the qualifying offer and the qualifying offers twenty two point seven I think right now, Oh.

00:22:36
Speaker 2: I thought you said he's gonna get less.

00:22:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's gonna cost more, but not necessarily per season. I mean, he might cost twenty something mill for next year, but you might have to add another year or two and then give an opt out or not necessarily. I mean, we haven't heard a lot with his market yet. We all know the obvious Zach Gallen is going to be playing on some type of contract that allows him to go back into the market. That's a that's a definite. I'm way against you guys here on two points one. I do think the White Sacks are going to spend some money between now and spring training. I think they're going to go after someone what I.

00:23:05
Speaker 2: Don't know who who we just talked about it.

00:23:11
Speaker 1: Could it be Gallon, Could it be Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassett, Guys that are on the market that are in the quote mid tier starting pitching.

00:23:19
Speaker 3: Okay, that twenty million dollars to get you one of those guys.

00:23:22
Speaker 1: Okay, but there you guys were saying, Oh, I don't know if they're going to spend it. I think they're going to spend it. I think they'll spend it home pitching that they can then either flip into the deadline or help I mean, at the very least of course helps them in the first half. And then I do want to make sure we hit the Mets side of the equation here he does get a change of scenery.

00:23:39
Speaker 3: Jonas wants to for the Mets. Listen to Mets. This is like a no lose situation for me for the Mets, because they get a guy that's going to be motivated. It's the last year of his deal. He's gonna want to hit the free agent market. He's gonna want to really put up a good year in a new scenery, a place where he goes from a team that has lost one hundred games scers in a row to a team that's trying to compete. He's got Lindor Baschett, Soto, He's got some dudes around him. Now. I like this move for the Mets. Listen twenty although if you read this stuff. It's really gonna cost him more than twenty because of the luxury tax and all that. Whatever. The Mets don't care. Okay, but for the Mets this is like a note, it's only a one year thing that they don't like them. They're like, see a lubab we'll see you next year somewhere else playing. But to me, this is the Mets gave up nothing. Listen. They don't care about Akunya. Sorry, he was in Triple A last year, didn't do anything in the big leagues. Got a lot of hype because he's, excuse me, Ronald Acunye's brother. But if you even look at his numbers in the minor leagues, they weren't outstanding. And then the picture that was it Truman Pauli. He was a twelveth round pick last year. Yeah, right, and look at his numbers. This ain't knocking anybody. But he has a walk problem. If in college in seventy innings you walk forty eight guys, you got a walk problem. And then the year before he had forty one walks in forty four innings. Right, it didn't go any better. He pitched in the Kate got a bunch of h had fifteen innings seven walks right here, you know, so there's there's obviously a control problem mixed in there somewhere, which maybe the White Sox think they can fix, right. And he threw four innings this year in professional bait four and a third, four walks, three strikeouts.

00:25:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they didn't give up anything.

00:25:21
Speaker 3: No, And this was basically the White Sox wanted to get rid of lou Bob and the Mets were like, we'll take him for one year and see if we can turn him into something special, and if it works out, we'll sign him to a long term dealing. If it doesn't, we say, Sayonara, and you hit the free agent trail.

00:25:34
Speaker 1: And they're not going to pitch around him when he's with the Mets crats. I mean, there's other guys for pictures to circle on the scatting report before they start the game. They're not gonna be like, guys, we can't let lou Bob beat us. There was a time period where it's like there's nothing else there.

00:25:49
Speaker 4: Okay, so you put his thirty three stone bases in the lineup right next to Juan Sota's forty like okay, Like now, we're you know, now there's value there. The biggest thing and the only way that this works out like big time mega for the Mets is if they figure out how to get some starting pitching, because doesn't matter how many people on offense they add, they don't get starting pitching, they're not going They're gonna do the same thing they did last year. Can they unlock Luise Robert Junior? Sure, I'm sure they can. You think the White Sox weren't trying to unlock them, No, they were trying. Maybe they didn't have the facilities, maybe they didn't have the people that were able to like connect with them, or maybe it's just gonna be a free agent year for Luise Robert Junior, and he's gonna say, I'm staying on the field. This guy since I saw him come up to Triple A. We were there when he got called up to Charlotte. I think he hit like five or six home runs in the series. I mean it was everywhere you were like, what is this guy just the same as Joann Mancata when he first got called up and I saw him in Triple A, just the same Eloy Jimenez. Something happened to all those guys that had supreme, supreme ceilings and none of them panned out. I don't care what you say about Luise Roberts. One season it did. His career has not panned out yet. How do they unlock Luis Robert that the Mets do it? They figure it out. This isn't mega signing and it will be huge cash for Luis Robert Junior in free agency next year.

00:27:27
Speaker 1: So let me read the lineup that Van Grafts has projected against Righty's and sure there might be a trade still for the Mets, and we all know they need pitching.

00:27:37
Speaker 2: They're going to go after pitching.

00:27:39
Speaker 1: At this point, they need at least another starter Lindor leadoff, Soto two, Bashett three, Polanco four, Semi and five, Brett Beaty six, Francisco Abare seven. They've got Louise Robert eight, and Carson Benge is their top prospect in the ninth spot.

00:27:56
Speaker 3: Fine, that's not bad.

00:27:57
Speaker 1: It's a pretty good lineup that can contend that, no doubt.

00:28:02
Speaker 2: But here's all I agree with.

00:28:03
Speaker 3: That, and people in the chat, I want to say this also, Luis Robert Jr. If he was traded and Acunya turns into something and Paulie turns into something, and they spend the twenty million dollars like they said they're going to and they get some decent trades. If they those guys whoever they signed for those and they can trade them, then I'll applaud this trade from the White Sox side. But to me, they could have just released him in the off season, got nothing, traded him a year ago or two years ago, and probably gotten more because two years ago after especially after twenty three, they knew they weren't going to be any good and twenty four they could have traded away and got a haul, and they and they held on to him because they were afraid he might turn into something. Well, now they trade him away, and imagine if he hits thirty and steal he goes thirty to thirty for the Mets this year and stays on the field.

00:28:49
Speaker 2: But he had to get out of there.

00:28:51
Speaker 3: I agree. That's why I say for the Mets, this is a no brainer trade. Yeah yeah, yeah, Well we'll give you our fortieth best prospect and a guy who's not going to see the field for us. Good luck. Where's he gonna play for the White Sox Acuona. You tell me, you know that's I want to know. He's not playing third, Vargas not playing short. Colson Montgomery. My draw's gonna be second. You got so so probably at first. Okay, where's he play? Where's the bats coming?

00:29:17
Speaker 4: They traded for a utility guy. That's it.

00:29:21
Speaker 2: They got him in center field.

00:29:22
Speaker 3: It's not he's gonna play it's not agent he's gonna play center field.

00:29:26
Speaker 2: They've got him in centerfield. He's fast as hell.

00:29:28
Speaker 3: I know he's fast as hell.

00:29:29
Speaker 2: But that might be the spot for him. You don't have to have as much of a bat. I mean, it's.

00:29:34
Speaker 3: Hard to be able to hit a little bit to play center field.

00:29:36
Speaker 1: I know, but he might be able to hit a little bit. Give him a little bit of chance. He's only twenty three, Okay, give give him a little bit of it.

00:29:42
Speaker 4: Said he.

00:29:42
Speaker 3: If Acona turns into something and they spend the twenty million and the Pauly guy, then listen, this is a great trade for the White Sox. They've got it can be, but I got it. I'm gonna have to see all the That's a lot of ifs and butts, and we know about if some fifths and Butts. You know, we don't know all about that.

00:29:58
Speaker 1: If there's a place for him to go, right, it would be a team like the White Sox. The Mets did not have space for him, like you mentioned with the White Sox. Right now, this is their starting outfield against Writers. According to fangrafts, they've got Brooks Baldwin and right, Andrew ben and Tendi who has had severe injury issues right in left, and Luis Anhell Acunya in center, and even just looking around the diamond, Acunya has developed as a utility player, so you can play a number of positions. Somebody gets hurt in the infield, Acuna can jump in there as well. So he's a utility guy. You picked up a utility guy who's making league minimum. You can be sick and tired of hearing about it, so are we, But the stories just keep on coming. Evan Drelik reports for The Athletic, and a source who is in on conversations that ownership groups have, which my guess is that they're in on the owners meetings, said they are enraged about Kyle Tucker deal. It is one certainty they're pushing for a cap no matter what it takes see pushing for a cap. That's whatever. That's what this tweet says. But if you actually look at the story, there it is. There's the quote, They're going for a cap no matter what it takes. Now, I felt like that was the case for the most part anyway, the psychology, he's not going for a cap. The Dodgers, Met and the Metal.

00:31:27
Speaker 4: I don't know.

00:31:29
Speaker 2: This story said.

00:31:30
Speaker 3: That every owner is unified.

00:31:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that's always this story thinks that there's only two for sure, Mets and Dodgers, and that some of the other teams still would be down for a cap. This brings cost certainty, so every franchise value soars through the roof once you get a cap. That's a fact, okay, and at least half the league is.

00:31:50
Speaker 3: Interested, said Dick Monford, where the Rockies has already come out and pretty much said it.

00:31:54
Speaker 1: Yes, there's also probably five ownership groups that are going to sell their team if they get the app within two years. It immediately gives them an extra like a couple hundred million dollars. The team that stands out the most, of course, it's a lock. The Twins will.

00:32:07
Speaker 2: Sell as soon as if they get a cap.

00:32:10
Speaker 1: They are selling as soon as possible because they're looking for an extra two hundred million dollars and they're like, sure, we'll take the hit and wait two years to get a cap for two hundred million dollars. Oruld you wait two years for two hundred mill I think almost anybody on the planet would so them. Plus there's a number of others that I think will be sold if that happens, Nationals, Angels, we can go through a whole list there, Okay, White Sox White Right, they're already on the pathway to sell that. I think the a's will be sold years. Yeah, so there are a lot of teams. Actually, it says that in the article. It says the next ownership meeting, which I think occur in about a month, will go over what they want to throw out there, what their ideal scenario is, not just with the cap, but with the floor. That would be a guarantee if they ended up pulling it off. I still don't think this is going to happen, But if they do pull that off, it's going to be a battle inside that room because the big market teams are sick of sharing with the small market teams. The small market teams. They are many of them are pocketing money.

00:33:04
Speaker 2: It's a fact. So in the article from Evan, it.

00:33:08
Speaker 1: Says if the floor is too high, it actually puts many of the teams.

00:33:12
Speaker 2: Like the Pirates, in a tough spot.

00:33:14
Speaker 1: They would actually make much less money than they do now. Right, If you're forcing them to spend but you're not giving them much revenue sharing, then it actually would put them in a tougher spot and maybe that leads to a sale, which would be a bonus for Pirates fans.

00:33:27
Speaker 3: Interesting, right, Just wake me up when it's over. Please wake me up when this is all over. I mean, this is going to dominate the headlines for the next what eleven months, ten months until that December first, and then after they lock them out, they'll blame the players and say the players are too greedy, but in reality, the owners will make more money if they get a salary cap, right, so they can say that it's the players, it's the players as the players, but at the end of the day, it's the owners that are the greedy ones, because they're the ones that are going to make more money off of this. From the way that I've kind of looked at this, now, I could be off, and that's fine. Now listen to Am I a player and do I want the players to get every dollar?

00:34:07
Speaker 4: Duh?

00:34:08
Speaker 3: Yes, of course I do. I just don't understand, Okay, I get the floor thing. Okay, but you have to understand that when a owner goes into a season and let's say baseball in twenty twenty seven makes I'm gonna use arbitrary numbers four billion dollars or easy man, Okay.

00:34:30
Speaker 2: Way more.

00:34:30
Speaker 3: You should say, I'm just this is just okay, we'll go ten billion. Okay. Let's say they make ten billion in twenty twenty seven. Okay, they signed this new deal where it's supposed to be fifty to fifty. Okay, well, then, so the players are supposed to get five billion. The owners are supposed to get five billion.

00:34:45
Speaker 2: Right, does that include real estate?

00:34:47
Speaker 3: No, because it's something. No, that's a different thing, doesn't it. You know, it's we only get the five billion to go into whatever company that we are using as the actual team, not the sales, not the tickets, not the real estate. However, they break it up into their little shells. Okay, and the players only get their five million, five billion, excuse me? Okay, So that means there has to be a guaranteed five billion dollars in salary spread throughout the entire league, right, sure, what has you know the floor has to cover that? Well, then the next year the revenue goes to twelve billion. Does the CBA have a built in escalator like there's so many? Well it will, But then why okay, so if this is a perfect system, yeah, why does the NBA striking going in NFL have gone on strikes and lockouts? If they are all cap systems, NHL same thing, they all have gone on strike. If this is such a perfect system, why are there still labor disputes?

00:35:42
Speaker 2: I'll continue to say this.

00:35:43
Speaker 1: It just has to do with actually revenue sharing and making the teams actually spend the revenue share.

00:35:48
Speaker 3: And you ask, so that's hey, you don't get the full hooks opened because I don't care what they say there, trust me, they are the owners are smart about this. They've been doing this for a long time. Ah, we're losing money. Well, the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise is losing money, but not on tick, not on parking, and not on ad sales, and not on concessions, because that's not considered Pittsburgh Pirates. That's Pittsburgh Pirates Concessions. That's owned by the same people. But not that what the team is listening under, right, And again I'm just using the Pirates as I don't know that.

00:36:18
Speaker 2: You're just putting it in vacuum. But yeah, it's hotels.

00:36:20
Speaker 3: It's think about the Braves. The Braves actually have to open their books.

00:36:25
Speaker 2: Now.

00:36:25
Speaker 3: I don't know what the Atlanta Braves if that counts all the battery money they make, but they made what twenty five million or something last year and they had a battery.

00:36:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, well we can see it all. They're profiting, They're crushing it.

00:36:37
Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying.

00:36:37
Speaker 1: It's a good example of how teams are doing. And they're profiting with the team and with the outside investments.

00:36:43
Speaker 3: Like about the battery, the whole battery.

00:36:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, last word, crats.

00:36:47
Speaker 4: I don't have one thing. The source said, these guys are going to go for a cap no matter what it takes. That's the part that's rarely talked about. Players don't care about a floor. Like a cap system, you have to have a floor. Great, the players aren't negotiating the floor. What are the owners going to give up? Are they willing to go to a cap and say four years you've become a free agent? Where's that line? What are they looking to give up? Owners hate free agency? That was the original argument was no, we don't want free agency. Players said yes, we need it. Kurt Flood different guys that held out, that created the system that we have. Now, what are they willing to give up? All? You hear every owner complaining this is unfair. Fans are like, unfair, unfair, unfair. Well, what happens if that star is gone now at twenty four years old? When he made his debut at twenty Like, are they willing to give that part of it up? Because no matter what it takes, there's going to be a monstrous, monstrous concession on the owner's side.

00:37:53
Speaker 1: And if your capped on what you can make, guess where most players are going to go once they're in their mid twenties. A big market to have super teams and make more on marketing dollars.

00:38:03
Speaker 3: What or like what's happening in the NHL. They're going to Florida, They're going to Vegas, and they're going to Texas because they know state income so they make more money. I mean That's one of the everyone's talking about in the NHL. Why do you think the Panthers and the Lightning are winning every Stanley Cup and people in the NHL will talk about it. It's because there's no state income tax Vegas one one, right, because there's no state income tax. So players are like, well, if I can only make ten million and I can save ten percent by living in Florida, I'm going to play for them. Hell yeah for unless you know, for the same amount of money.

00:38:35
Speaker 2: Marlon's and Rais are about to be good. Let's go.

00:38:37
Speaker 3: Marlin's and Raised are gonna maybe a destination.

00:38:41
Speaker 1: Yeah maybe maybe We'll say, okay, just a minute here to get to the Hall of Fame. So you had two center fielders born a day apart, by the way, and we talked about at the top and Andrew Jones and Carlos Beltron getting in. The only other center fielders that have been elected since nineteen eighty one, Ken Griffy and Kirby Puckett. That is fucking crazy to ignore a position like that for that long. You've got to be kidding the age. I already did his thing yesterday on Tory Hunter. But there are other names too.

00:39:21
Speaker 2: We talked about the.

00:39:22
Speaker 3: Show Kenny lofton there's a lot of.

00:39:24
Speaker 2: Go Bernie Williams should get some more letter Williams.

00:39:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's become Listen, this is my soapbox, and it's become a popular It always has been a popularity contest, but now it's even more of a popularity contest when you start comparing numbers, which is fine, I get it. But as long as you go into and say it's a popularity contest, much like for years ago, Glove was a popularity contest, right, certain awards were popular Star all Star games are one hundred percent, especially when the players started voting on him, it's one hundred percent of popularity content. Oh that's my boy. I played with him, I liked him. Let's go for him. He's having a decent start to the season, right, all that stuff. All as long as we understand that it's a popularity contest, that's fine. But with the numbers that we used to count on being the numbers to get you in are not there anymore because of the length of contracts and guys playing not as long and all that like three hundred wins, three thousand hits, all that stuff, it's kind of gone by the wayside. Now it's opening it up to more players. And what causes it is then when these certain players get in, then you have to go back and look at other players and say, dang, he was just as good. Why isn't he in? Right, So it may opens it up to a broader conversation, which is fine, it's just as a different conversation. Then. It used to be like I used to watch a guy and be like, that dude's a Hall of Fame. I played against Griffey Albert Poohols, right, Like, those dudes are Hall of famers. When it gets to and I look at him like, yeah, he's in the Hall of Fame. Not saying anybody this year or any other year. I'm just saying there are times where you're like and then when they don't. You know what. The other thing I don't understand is if you don't get if you get a certain amount of your first year and then what do you get? Your numbers don't get better ten years later.

00:41:12
Speaker 2: That's always a thing.

00:41:12
Speaker 3: It's like, again, I'm happy Carlos belt you and get in. I'm very happy both of them. And Andrew Jones, you and I know them both. I played with Andrew, I played against Carlos for a long time. I am very astatic that they got in. But then when you look at and you know, you read articles about next year, who's going to get in? Buster Posey's first year, he's more likely going to get in. But then Chase Uttley and you start digging in the numbers, Well, why did Jeff kent not get in? Jeff Ki's numbers blow Chase Dentley's out the water, right, But he didn't get in until the Veterans Committee voted him in. Why because of popularity the media didn't love him. Correct, it's it's just the way it is. And as long as we accept that, we can have a conversation about.

00:41:51
Speaker 1: Chase out Lee went from thirty nine point eight percent last year to fifty nine point one percent this year. He's going to get in very soon, if not next year, the year after Felix Hernandez had a twenty six percent spike. He's going to get in at some point over the next few years. Then you look back, how does Felix Hernandez get in? And we don't give more love to Johan Santana, right, Johan Santana was freaking dominant. I mean, so is Felix. But I'm like, those guys have good comps in there. Even Bobby A Brave.

00:42:16
Speaker 2: Actually shot up.

00:42:18
Speaker 3: And tell me how the heck he's not in.

00:42:20
Speaker 2: I have no idea how Posidon.

00:42:21
Speaker 3: I think he was only on the ballot for one year and got kicked off.

00:42:24
Speaker 1: Well, that's part of the problem, is the five percent thing is kicking people off. Pedroia went up from eleven to about twenty one percent. Cole Hamil's first year on the ballot twenty four percent. He's going to get in. These guys are going to get in.

00:42:34
Speaker 3: Then I go back and people just say teammate Cole Hamil's Mark Burley. Mark. Cole Hamils has like one hundred and sixty win Mark Burley has two hundred.

00:42:41
Speaker 4: And some wins. It's all.

00:42:43
Speaker 3: There's other categories, I understand, But if you look at their numbers, you stack them up there, you can make an argument one or the other and say you throw Andy Pettit in there. Right, they're all like the three of them are like almost equal, right, But Cole Hamil's gut is going coming on later, so now he's got more time where's Andy Pett's kind of get to the end or Burley's kind of starting to get to the end now, right, and their numbers haven't jumped enough. I have agree we need to get to may Day. We could do forty hours on this.

00:43:10
Speaker 2: I agree.

00:43:10
Speaker 1: Besides the popularity, I think that there was a time period where the ballots were clocked. There was all this steroid era of stuff going on, and actually those you know, most of those guys didn't get in right, the big names that we've talked about.

00:43:20
Speaker 2: Like Bombs and Clemens.

00:43:21
Speaker 1: And then I think, now there's a market correction going on, krats, you gotta boat some guys in. They're not hitting those counting stats that you want to hit. So then you start comparing some of these guys that are getting love now and you look back to guys from ten to fifteen years before, and you're like, wait, the comps match up here, So maybe the Veterans Committee will clean that up on.

00:43:39
Speaker 2: The back end.

00:43:40
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's tough, and there's always going to because you take that next level of guys, that next layer of guys, and then there's the next layer of guys that are close. It's it's great, it's a great combo. I love it.

00:43:52
Speaker 1: It is good debate, krats ats and then we're getting out.

00:43:56
Speaker 4: I mean, DJ came on. I think a sneaky team team. I can't wait till we get to there over under on Winds, you know, with that good of a pitching staff. Just watch them, just watch they might be pretty.

00:44:08
Speaker 1: Dece I can't believe that we did Monday show with me out and we talked about the LA extension and I couldn't defend him. But whatever, we'll talk about it again at some point. Trevor may may Day Live on FT. Right now, let's get out of here. Yeah, there we go, three o'clock Eastern. Oh wait, that's already on, so check it out part of the FT Network. Trevor's on for the next hour. Give him some love, Stay here for more baseball talk. I'm sure he'll talk about Gody's contract and a lot more. Tomorrow. Brent Rooker is back on the show, looking forward.

00:44:43
Speaker 3: To another guy from Mississippi. By the way, just way, I went to Misssippi State

00:44:46
Speaker 2: Just saying, sip the sit they can hit