Twins & Derek Falvey “mutually” agree to split, Jacob Wilson $70mil A's extension, Rangers W projection

00:00:01
Speaker 1: It's charge about all right. Some interesting news out of Minnesota that Twins announced that they have mutually agreed to part ways with President of Baseball and Business Operations Derek Falvee. Now, this is interesting because he is one of the only front office execs AJ that actually had both of the jobs in terms of baseball operations as well as business. Aaron Gleeman adding, making a change of this magnitude two weeks before the start of spring training is legitimately shocking and certainly wouldn't have been planned by the Twins. Also of note, just one week ago, the Twins held their annual media luncheon at which Derek falve was the lead speaker. This is peculiar, AJ, because the timing is interesting. They continue to clean house in Minnesota. What do you make of it?

00:00:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I don't know what's happening here. I don't know why they do this now, falve they just promoted to the president of business off and it seemed like he was in charge, But then they had the sale and then they switched from Joe to Tom pull that maybe there's a majority sorry, a minority owner that had some thoughts and wants to get a little more power in the organization, and Derek Falvey didn't agree with that, so they just said, hey, it's better if we part ways. But the timing of this is crazy. Plus they're kind of trying to win. They said, so you fire your president or sorry not fire, you mutually part ways with your president of Baseball ops right before spring training starts, when you're trying to, as they say, try to compete this year. I don't know what's happening in Minnesota, but it's strange, definitely strange times there.

00:01:39
Speaker 3: Eric.

00:01:39
Speaker 1: Do you buy the term mutually.

00:01:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, I buy it, but I think it's definitely going to be on one side or the other. Mutually can be eighty twenty. You're both in relationships. You get it like sometimes you mutually agree even though the one side doesn't agree. But what doesn't line up for me is this guy's been successful with not a lot. He's been successful through the fact that ownership was going to spend after they added Carlos care Carlos Correa for this organization. Was that guy that was gonna bring other guys there. You already had Bucks, and you already had Royce Lewis, You already had a bullpen that could just bang, bang, bang, next guy up. They were finding value in bullpens everywhere, in their bullpen everywhere. But the crazy part too is now you have a new and they might even change his title. Who knows. You know, the titles are really just so that other people can move up underneath that person and still get paid at this new title. But whatever it is, they have a new manager. Derek Shelton was hired I assume by Derek Falvey and Tom Pohlad was making a lot of phone calls. Maybe he accidentally called somebody and they called him. Were like, hey, if you get Derek Falvey out of here, I'll re up my season my season tickets. And they're like, uh, Derek Faalby, Yeah, all right, beat it. See you one more season ticket holder.

00:03:09
Speaker 1: I mean, I hope that he's worth more than one season ticket holder. They named him being president in March of twenty twenty five AJ. The move ended a ten year that began when Falvey was named the team's head of baseball operations in twenty sixteen, so he's been with the club a long time now. Jeremy Zohl is going to continue to lead the team's baseball side, while executive shared Tom Fullad will handle overside of the business side on an insterim basis. As far as dysfunctional organizations are concerned, AJ, where do the twins rank for you? Right now?

00:03:40
Speaker 2: What are they doing? I'm not going to rank them because I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. But it's just more of like, what are they doing? I don't understand. If you want to compete, you don't get rid of you don't mutually part ways in your president of baseball house before spring training when you basically have done nothing and you made Derek Falvey trade away ten of the players on your team last year, you may Derek Falvey did not want to trade away ten players last year, including Carlos Korea. Now the better question is, if you're Byron Buxton, do you call the poll Out family and say, what is happening right What is happening to our organization right now? I know he said he didn't want to trade, but I mean, now, how do you trade Joe Ryan, possibly Pablo Lopez, Byron Buckston, Royce Lewis, all these guys, like I know they have some players come in. Oh wow, this is a wow. It's just surprised. It's surprising the timing, and I thought Derek Falve, I mean again, they just promoted him to the business and baseball, so now for him to leave is I can't wait to talk to Aaron Gleman later on because it's going to be fascinating to get the insight on this.

00:04:43
Speaker 3: Trades like this, trades like last year when they trade ten guys, that is not baseball decisions. Those are not They were not sitting there going I think this is the best baseball decision for our future. Those were business decisions. It's essentially ninety nine percent come out that, Yeah, they wanted to reduce some of the debt that they had, and then they brought on some more ownership and that ownership and flucked some cash that they were able to pay down this debt and got rid of those players. Those are business decisions. That stuff is happening from the top, that is from ownership and who is taking care of the business stuff now it's it's Tom Paullad the guy who was telling Derek Valve, who was in the business business and baseball operations. He wasn't just selling season tickets like there was a mutual other teams do this. They've Dombrowski has the same role with the Phillies, like it's there's GMS underneath there. It's not a baseball decision. These are business decisions, and now you're giving the new ownership more business decision Leeway. I hey, look, I could be completely wrong, but just check out the salaries, check out how many moves they've already made, and go, okay, most likely to go if somebody else is making the bit or if people somebody knew is in the business decision role they have to like, why would they not get rid of some players that get rid of some money off the books?

00:06:15
Speaker 1: Does this make it more likely than AJ that Joe Ryan will get moved?

00:06:22
Speaker 2: I don't know. By the way I said Aaron Gleeman, I meant Dan Hayes is coming on later. I apologize to both Aaron Gleeman and Dan Hayes, but I don't know. How does it make it more likely if they I guess they still have a GM. It all comes down to what the pole adds want. Poleads want them to dump more money. Then they say trade Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez and try to get Byron Bucks in a wave. Is no trade. If they don't want to save any money, then they don't do anything, and they try to compete with the team they had, which we saw last year wasn't very good. So I don't think it changes anything. It really as long as the pole Aad family owns this team, it comes down to what they say. And that's why. For listen, when I played there for or, we had Terry Ryan was our GM. We had Jim Rantz in charge of the minor leagues, and we had you know, kind of the same people, Tom Kelly to Ron Garden higher right, and it was they kind of knew what they wanted, They kind of knew what's gonna player. And then they went to Falvey and thad Levine and they kind of got it going there for a little bit, and then all of a sudden they got to a point where they were pretty good twenty twenty two, let's not forget they're pretty good. And then they're like, oh, we're gonna cut the payroll thirty million, cut the payroll more, cut the payroll more, and the team continues to go down and the fans have stopped showing up. It all comes down to the pole AADs man, like if the pole AADs don't want to do anything, they don't have to because they on their team and guess what, it's their decision and they're right as the owners man. Derek Falvey was brought this team, helped this team to four out of the nine years that he was in his role to the playoffs. A team that you know, he kind of helped build. What is there? What is Kurt or what was there last year?

00:07:56
Speaker 3: There? Now he had to tear that down. Like you brought guys up from the minor leagues, you realized you had to be, you know a little just weary of where you're where you're making those changes or where you're adding salary. And he did a great job. I think they found a gold mine of pitching in a in a place where hey, you know what, we're not gonna pay for pitching. Hey, we're gonna add Luis Castillo to the mix. Luis Castillo is going to give us this at I forget what salaries he was locked into before. I'm sorry, not Luis Castillo, Lopez, Jorge Lopez, Pablo Lopez, I got them all wrong. But he's he was willing to trade. He was willing to trade from some of that to give themselves those number ones, to give themselves guys to add in with the youth. They went out and got Correa like he wasn't afraid to make these moves. And to me, I hope Twins fans think of his tenure as successful. Art out with Paul Malader, I think it was time for him to you know, new GM comes in, makes the change goes to rock laball Delhi and I think they were successful. Besides the twenty twenty four collapse at the end of the year. I think they were. It was a successful run, and I don't think anything Falvey did deserve for a mutual departure.

00:09:23
Speaker 1: That's why I don't think it's really mutual. I think it's like you were saying eighty twenty. I mean, this is a guy that's done a lot of good for the organization, and if they're trying to cut costs, there's more ways to do it than just trading away good players. They can get rid of a guy that's probably making you know, four or five million dollars. Dan, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it very much. I know it's a crazy day for you. What do you make first of all of the timing of this news, just a couple of weeks out from spring training.

00:09:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, that part is surreal absolutely. You know, look, six weeks ago Tom poul Ed took over as the team's new executive chair from his brother Joe, and basically a year and change ago, the twins had started to explore that sale, so we knew that there was gonna be a new owner. I don't know that it was within the own family that it was gonna be a new owner, but I honestly think this is something where, you know, Tom Pullad essentially took over after the winter meetings, and you know, there's that winter break, and this is just something where the two parties, Derek Falve and Tom Pullad realized it was gonna be difficult to work together and they made the choice now. But I mean, just to you know, Tom pull Out even addressed that and said, these are two personalities just thrown together. Derek Falvey kind of referenced the same thing. Both of them spoke on Zoom a little bit ago. I think it speaks to the two of them realizing that it was not going to be working, and I mean the fact that they're willing to make this decision two weeks before spring training, says speaks volumes. I think just about where the Twins are trying to head and what maybe the reality of the situation is. You know, Tom pull At at twins Fest last week, came out and said, we want to compete this year, and you know, I mean, that's that's very you know, he talked about some of the missteps that they've made in the last couple of years and how they've gone to this point where they've cut payroll. But you know, it's hard to switch lanes or to turn the ship around so quickly they did. They gutted their bullpen in July, and I think that things might have if they knew they wanted to compete like this, maybe things would have been a little different at the trade deadline. It's hard to rebuild a bullpen on the fly when you don't have a lot of money to do so, tell.

00:11:38
Speaker 3: Me if I'm wrong. But wasn't the reports when they were looking to sell the team that there was somebody from the pole Ad family that wanted to stay on board as in like a pretty dominant role. And are we kind of seeing that come to fruition now that maybe Tom isn't the greatest to work with for people who have been around the game.

00:11:58
Speaker 4: Well, no, no, Look in that part, that was Joe Poulet, who did continue to operate as the executive chair until last month. He had hoped to stay in and be part of a group that really wasn't going to ever happen, because I would have meant that Pole AADs would have sold without seeding power, and I don't think that you know, part of that was he wanted to just oversee the transition. But look, this is definitely an ambitious owner who realizes that the Twins as they are the last couple of years have been sort of a train wreck. I mean, it's hard not to look at it and say where they were twenty seven months ago. They won a playoff game for the first time in eighteen playoff games, they won their first playoff series in twenty one years at the time, and then since then they've cut payroll, fired David Popkins, fired Roco Baldelli, fired Dad Levine, had a number of layoffs inside, like, this is not the same place it was twenty seven months ago. And I think when you think about all that stuff, I think Derek Falve's been wearing a lot as they've endured some of these financial hardships. I mean, we're talking about a team that was making sixty million dollars annually, which was one of the worst TV contracts in baseball. That was at the end of twenty twenty three. Since then they got a reduced contract for a year. They went to MLB TV, which we don't know the numbers on. We just know it's not sixty million. Their finances are in a tough spot and I think a lot of things have changed and you could see it on Derek Falve wearing on him over these last two or three years. I mean, he took this place. The joke was when he took over, there were eight employees in Baseball ops. He built up research and development, he built up their information systems. Basically, he brought them into the twenty first century. And at the time, I mean, there was a ton of money spent on infrastructure. You've seen a lot of that go away. I can't imagine what this is now is what he envisioned it to be. And I think part of this is just him saying, hey, this is probably the right time, because if we're expected to compete, and we don't have all the resources. You know, maybe this was going to happen eventually, and maybe getting out now is the right time.

00:14:06
Speaker 2: So you're, well, I have two questions. One, so you're saying that you think this was mutual or was this more because you're saying he's getting out at the right time, so that I think I'll be wanted out.

00:14:19
Speaker 4: I think that he probably had some say they really started their discussions in the last week or two and got to figure each other out. And I think that owner is saying, let's win, win, win, and the reality is this is a team that Vegas has them. I think it's seventy one and a half wins right now. The over underline, you know, you look at some of the projections, they're higher the Vegas line. Was kind of stunning to me to see that, because you know, there's somewhere in the mid eighties essentially on the projection. But they don't have a bullpen. They they the reality that they can turn this around. It's going to be really challenging. They need a lot of young guys to step up and do things. And look, a couple of years ago, they were extremely fortunate that you Duran went from starter to elite reliever overnight, but that took a lot of work where it was like he'd pitch every couple of days. And Griffin Jacks looked great the first couple of months of his transition, but then he wore down like any like you'd expect a young starter to do. They're gonna need a lot of that to compete immediately. They don't have a book. They signed Taylor Rogers, which is a nice piece to add for guys that can come in and be a voice and a leader, but it's not the Taylor Rodgers that they signed a couple of years ago. They're missing a closer, they're missing multiple setupmen. They have young guys who performed really well, I thought after the trade deadline and Cole Sands and Cody Funderberg, But I mean, like this, when you're looking to close out games, it's you know, I don't see this as being more than an eighty two to win, eighty three win team at best, and who knows, maybe it could happen, but you need Roy Sluis to bounce back. You need all these things to happen. And I think when you look about that reality and where things have gone. Derek Falvey knew that if he kind of exited now, it might help save other people's jobs. I mean, he loves the people he's worked with. I got the sense that he felt like he had some agency in leaving now. And the crazy part is is that leaving now two weeks before the season was the good option. So, I mean it speaks volumes when you think about it.

00:16:18
Speaker 2: It's a crazy The whole thing is a crazy story. But there's one constant. Okay, I was there. Listen, the pole Ad family bought them in what eighty four? They win the World Series eighty seven to ninety one, right, and that was old Carl. And then they went through the nineties and they were terrible. I was there ninety eight, ninety nine, two thousand. We were absolutely awful. There was five hundred people at games in the Metrome. Right then we get them back to where they're good, they're relevant, they're really good. For a long time. They build target Field. They say, target field is man, We're gonna spend money, We're gonna do all these great things. Once we get the stadium. Right then they go through target Field and they go through ups and downs. Da da da Da DA and then they win their first playoff series in twenty twenty three. Oh, we're cranking the payroll down. Okay. The one constant is the Poli family. If they're so miserable owning the Minnesota Twins, why don't they just sell the team like they thought the deal was done, Why don't they just go through it and say, you know what, guys, we made two billion dollars off this. We had a good run, we won two World series. Peace out AJ.

00:17:16
Speaker 4: They need you to start a kickstarter or a GoFundMe to get that money raised. They tried, and you know, look when you're five hundred million dollars in debt, and initially in March we reported four hundred and thirty and that was before the interest payment was added on for last year. And you know, interest payment I think is in the forty million range. So they were five hundred million in debt by October, and a lot of these people looking at the books said, look, there could be a lockout next year, there could be a work stoppage in twenty twenty seven. The team, it's it's hard to take this five hundred million dollars in debt and see us making money immediately, and when you're asking for you know, I think they were. They sold the part sale. Partial sale was at evaluation of one point seven five billion, but that's one point seven five billion where the new owners were expected to take on the debt. It's gonna be hard to make money. So I don't think that they took the best deal they could at the time. I think, really, and I've written this, it primes them better because they've paid down the bulk of the debt, not all of the debt right now. It primes them to be better once we get through the potential workstop page, the next round of national TV contracts, it should be much easier to sell in a couple of years. And I think when you're the pull Auds, you know, Tom Pollad came in and said, look, we've we've tripped all over ourselves these last.

00:18:37
Speaker 3: Couple of years.

00:18:38
Speaker 4: We didn't explain where we were well and it set us up for a lot of criticism. Fans are upset. He's done a lot of work reaching out to disgruntled former season ticket holders and trying to get them back, and you know, he's doing all he can and he's saying the right things, but when it comes to the reality and how out of lines. I think that he's a new guy trying to make a mark, but you know where he wants to be and where they are right now, especially after trading ten guys, there's a little bit of a gap there. And look, I will say this again, I think Derek Falvey saw the exit and knew this was going to be the least the way for it to be the least ugly as possible. But I mean, just seeing him the last couple of years, you could see the stress on him. He didn't want to fire Roco ball Delli. I don't think he wanted to make changes after the twenty twenty four season. You know, it's just been an exodus between Dad Levine, Rocco David Popkins. It's been a lot. I mean, to cut payroll thirty million right after the playoffs in twenty twenty three, and it's the kind of the peak of the twenty first century for the Twins where they were at the time, and to just go this direction for twenty seven months, it's been a lot. You could see it on his face at the trade deadline. He did not want trade ten guys, but the plan changed and they were adapting.

00:20:04
Speaker 1: Dan, I have a hard time listening to any major League Baseball ownership group cry poor. I doubt that very seriously. When you have a one point five billion dollar offer on the table and seemingly turn it down, how were they in debt? Is it just bad business decisions? Are they Are they just biting off more than they can chew. How does a team that can sell for one point five billion have so much debt that they feel that that's not an offer they can take.

00:20:30
Speaker 4: I think part of it was timing. Look, you're talking about a team that was coming off its most successful season in a long time. In twenty nineteen. They had drawn two point three million fans, They won the Division. They set the major league record for home runs. I mean, just wrap your head around that. That The Twins, the light hitting Twins, hit three hundred and seven home runs. The bomba squad was popular, they added Josh Donson covid hits. They're expecting two point five to two point six million fans to come through the turnstiles that year. They get no, and I know that everybody got. They basically were the salaries reduced and baseball did its part, but they kept every employee, they paid their minor leaguers, They did a bunch of things and that started a drain, and I you know, it's about they've said that the bulk of their debt and I would believe that somewhere between fifty and sixty percent of the five hundred million came from twenty twenty on. You lose the TV revenue, they have not resonated with fans whatsoever. They were spending payroll at an all time record high. You know, they brought in Carlos Korea. That payroll was one hundred and sixty one million. In twenty twenty three, they didn't draw two million fans, even though they won the division. The next year, they didn't draw two million fans. And the throw that in with the loss of TV revenue and the fact that that interest payment started to balloon and the last couple of years being in excess of forty million dollars, that's what they've contended. Obviously, we can't see Baseball's books, but you know, I know the Washington Nationals were in a similar position coming off the World Series, expecting to cash in in twenty twenty, and that's poor timing for the Twins because they've never At that point, they had just signed Josh Donaldson. They were you know, ramping up and looking to compete and sell it to fans and have back to back playoff years. And they did have back to back playoff years. But as the COVID shortened season and twenty one they were a mess. Twenty two they brought in coreb and still was a mess. It's been an ugly time and fans have just stayed away.

00:22:34
Speaker 1: For my last question for you, Dan, does this make it less or more likely that Joe Ryan has moved.

00:22:41
Speaker 3: No.

00:22:41
Speaker 4: You know, that's the thing that Tom Paul had did stress when we saw him last Friday at twins Fest. He flew to see Byron Buxton. He flew to see Joe Ryan. He knew Pablo Lopez was coming to twins Fest, but he went. He flew to California, flew to Georgia for lunch with those players, just to reach out and stress how important they were to the culture of things and where the Twins are headed. So at least for now, I see those guys being on board. But you know, if this team falls apart out of the gate, if this team is terrible in July and Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez each have a year and a half left on those contracts. All bets are off.

00:23:20
Speaker 3: All right. One last person that wasn't brought up we talked about players, front office, the fans that have been getting calls Derek Shelton. Derek Shelton comes in under current GM and now it's a new role. Where does this let him? Where does this make him stand in the sense that, hey, he's gonna he's gonna coach this team, he's gonna manage this team. But is this what he signed up for? Because if it isn't, then it's like crap, Maybe I could have taken a different team or a different job.

00:23:51
Speaker 4: I mean, it's definitely you've got to be wondering what's going through his head as of right now, just because you know, he has said last week that the continuity of message was the same between Joe Pollad and Tom Pollad. But Derek Valley was in the picture at that point and now he's not. Now, Jeremy Zohl has been Derek Falve's right hand for the last couple of years and had really taken over on the day to day baseball operations. Derek Falvey was more the view from ten thousand feet guy with the final approval and stuff, But I mean Derek Valvey was certainly Jeremy's ol was certainly taking some of the reins, so there is still that continuity. But I mean it's definitely something where you have to wonder. It's just natural to wonder when the guy that hired you and the guy that you were very psyched to work with is out, And certainly it's a question that needs to be answered. The thing is that this will all boil down to wins and losses, and they do believe, and even Derek Valve talked about this at length today. They believe in the young group of players they have here. They think that there's a pipeline of talent coming and that there's more on the way. I mean, this is a team that picks third in the draft coming up this year, so you know, all that said, if they can win, you know a lot of this stuff gets solved. But we've seen the Twins struggle to do the last couple of years, and now you know they're doing it with the new leader. So it's certainly uncertain times.

00:25:19
Speaker 1: Dan apparently, while Derek Falley was doing his pre conference. It looks like the GM of the Vikings was also fired. I guess they're they're friends. They've known each other for twenty years. They've been you know, exchanging texts and conversations and things for a couple of decades. What's going on? If I tell you, it's a tough time to be a front office person and many right now.

00:25:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a tough time to be in Minnesota right now. And I think in general, it's just been weird. And you know, QUESI and one of the reporters came on and asked Derek about Questy getting fired, and you know, he's shocked because Questy had sent Derek a note this morning just of support. So it's it's definitely a weird day. And I yeah, it's just a strange time for sure.

00:26:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, Dan, we appreciate all the inside. I know today was a crazy day for you. Thank you for taking the time to be with us on on foul Territory. You can check out more of his work, of course on the Athletic And don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube. We are close to three hundred thousand subscribers. So let's try to hit that number before the season starts. Dan, thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon. All right, let's take a look at the Rangers regular season odds. Gentlemen, do we think they will have over or under eighty three and a half wins? AJ will start with you, what do you think?

00:26:49
Speaker 3: Hard?

00:26:51
Speaker 2: Can we just give me an easy one? Uh, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go under. I'm going to go under. I just I don't know. I don't know that they've done enough. I mean, I love de Gram and Valdi and Mackenzie Gore at the top of the rotation. Just until they show me they can hit. I'm going under. And it's not as a former Ranger player and I love my time in Texas. It pains me to say that, but yeah, I'm going to go under. I think they're a seventy eight to eighty one win team right now.

00:27:27
Speaker 1: How much does the division play into your decision?

00:27:31
Speaker 2: Well, I think that you have to look at that. I think the Mariners are going to be good again. I think the A's will be better. I think the Angels will be better with another year of some of their young kids. And I think the Astros are still the Astros, so it has to play into it, and they play them in that division a lot. So I just it pains me to say I think it's going to be under.

00:27:50
Speaker 1: Apparently Jeff Passon reporting that Jacob Wilson just got an extension from the a's longtime, long term deal. There, Eric, you taken the over or the under on the Texas Rangers at eighty three and a half.

00:28:02
Speaker 3: We have to take the over here. I get it. Evaldi and de Grom another a healthy season, making their twenty nine to thirty two starts. Yeah, that's rare. But I just have a hard time believing that this offense is going to continue the way it did. Is the Nemo? Is the Nemo addition going to jump start this offense? Is the subtraction of Adolis Garcia? How are they going to figure out those home runs? This is a subtraction of Marcus Simeon. Is the young youth that they're gonna inject into the lineup? Are they going to do what they did in August and September when they made that little mini run that they were on. I take the over just because I have to answer it. But I don't know. I don't know if they're a playoff team. I said it yesterday with the Brewers. I don't know if they're a playoff team because of how the American League is going to kind of be jumbled at the top, and I think eighty seven wins is where you got to be to make the playoffs in the American League.

00:29:05
Speaker 1: And a new skipper, the helm of the Texas Rangers, of course, Bruce Bochi no.

00:29:09
Speaker 2: Longer their bullpen. Their bullpen worries me. I'm sorry, it does still worry. I mean, Chris Martin. Okay, other than that, though, someone's got a phone call. But other than that, who, I mean, who who's going to be in their bullpen? I mean, no offense, Alexis Diaz.

00:29:30
Speaker 3: Too many question marks.

00:29:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's tough. Certainly it's good, and they're any even looking at their offense, it's still like.

00:29:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, time will tell, Time will tell. A lot can happen between now and the end of the season. Guys, don't forget. But MGM players will receive a Golf Odds Boost token. To use the token at any golf wagers to your bet slip and activate the token. If you win your bet that was made with the Boost token, you will receive extra winnings in unrestricted bonus dollars. Gambling problem or concern called one eight hundred gambler. It is time now, all right, we're slapping hands. Earlier on the show this week, we talked about insurance regarding players not being able to play in the World Baseball Classic, but we look more into it. We wanted to clarify things just for a hot second, and the main point is, guys, that the World Baseball Classic insurance is for the teams themselves, not the players, So the players under contract are never at risk. It's more of the team not wanting the player to participate in the WBC because they don't have the insurance. If the player does in fact get hurt and then they can't play for their big league club. For example, Clayton Kershaw back in twenty twenty three could not play. Carlos Korea is not going to play for the Astros or for his team in the WBC, nor is jose L Tuve because of an insurance reason. So I guess you can understand aj from a team perspective, why you wouldn't want your some of your star up or any player to play in this without having some sort of insurance policy if they get hurt.

00:31:16
Speaker 2: Listen, deep down, no team wants their players to play in this thing, deep down, like they will never say that because they can't say that, because Edwin Diaz. We'll use Edwin Diaz and he hurt his knee and missed the whole year for the Mets that year. Right, God forbid, somebody has something like that happened to get and it affects a team season like you did for the Mets that year. So I know these games mean more than playoff games to Scott and Eric, but at the end of the day, they're just exhibition games. Yes they mean a lot for your country. Yes they mean a lot to the players, but deep down the teams will never admit it. But no team really wants any of their players playing in this.

00:31:54
Speaker 3: That's fair, I agree.

00:31:59
Speaker 1: Is it fair to the player though, to not let a team play or not let a player play, because I mean, technically, I mean they are your employer. Your employer, I guess, does have the right to say you're not going to play.

00:32:13
Speaker 2: Here's my question, Alana, if God forbid again, Carlos Crea goes in place for Puerto Rico and something happens, and he's out for a long time, and the Astros were counting on him or out tuove either one and the Astros are counting on them. And then it the Astros don't make the playoffs because Carlos Korea, god forbid, missed the entire season. That's a problem. That's that's something that the Astros deep down or like, man, I really wish you wouldn't have played, but we didn't tell him. No, we should have, but we didn't want to make him angry. It puts everybody in a bad spot. There's no good time to play this. It just puts everybody kind of in a bad spot, and you just pray and hope that nobody gets injured.

00:32:53
Speaker 1: I think that's a good point too. There is no you can't do it at the beginning of the season. You can't do it at the end of the season. The season is you know, it's too long. There isn't a great time to play it. But I do think it is so important, especially if you see the rise and the interest guys from Team USA. I mean some of the superstars are saying, you know what, I'm playing in this It's important to me now, probably more important to Team USA now than it has been in WBC's in the past. I mean, it's a it's a tough it's a tough road to to ho there when you know you want to play for your country.

00:33:28
Speaker 2: Younger. A lot of them are younger. Though also a lot of them, the USA players are a little bit younger. The schemes and the position players. It's a little less. You really worry about pitchers obviously in arm injuries, but a lot of the US players are on the young Bobby Wit you know. So listen, let's just let's just hope and pray that nobody gets hurt. Okay, that's it. Let's let's hope we have unbelievable games like we did last time, nobody gets hurt, and at the end of this we say baseball is amazing, like we all know what it is, and go USA.

00:34:00
Speaker 1: Go USA, all right? Another thing coming out here breaking news from Jeff Passon, a ESPN shortstop. Jacob Wilson and the Athletics are in agreement on a seven year, seventy million dollar contract extension. That's a lot of money for the A's that includes an eight year club option, Sources telling him Wilson twenty three, finished second in ALE Rookie of the Year voting last season. I believe to Nick Hurtz's team rate right after hitting three eleven, three fifty five, four forty four. What do you think about this?

00:34:25
Speaker 3: Ek great for him. Anytime you can get your money, anytime you can get your money up front, you look at the but you know, for me, I also would look at the earning potential for him seven years, seventy million, So he's giving up one or two years of his free agency. But earning potential in the arbitration process is RBIs how often you spend time on the field and dingers And he doesn't necessarily do that. And I don't think he's taking this because ooh, I'm afraid of getting hurt. I think they've built something in Sacramento. I was almost gonna say Oakland in Sacramento where it's like, these guys want to be here. Rooks signed, Soderstrom, just signed loal Dog, Lawrence Butler signed like these. This means that they are putting those offers out there. I know back in the day they offered, they offered Matt Chapman to stay there and it wasn't enough money and He made the good decision too, and he made a lot more money doing it. You can never tell somebody it's not a good deal for you. I mean, Jacob's dad played in the Big League, so he knows. He knows, you know, how finite careers can be, and they can't. You know, it doesn't always you don't always hit three eleven. And that's actually down from where he was before. But to me, I think it's a great deal. I think it is something that will set obviously him up for life, but it's also giving him certainty over this next seven years and allows him to go into free agency. I'm sure there's some kind of team option at the end too, So at thirty or thirty one years.

00:36:06
Speaker 1: Old, yeah, eighth year club option. I remember Guy's money. Grandel guys one time told me, get as much money as you can when you can get it. You know, like you don't know what's going to happen. He you doesn't know what's going to happen within the next seven years. But there's something to be said, aj and you certainly know more than I with the length of time you played in the BIGS and your contract negotiations, there's something to be said about having that certainty that at least for seven years he knows where he's going to be. And I mean ten million dollars a year is nothing to you know, nothing to shake a stick out.

00:36:33
Speaker 2: Ye Listen, he got his money. He got he got money that will set him up for life and not everyone's given this opportunity, so it's hard to tell somebody not to take it. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for him, you know what. I'm happy for A's fans, and I'm happy for the A's in general. They've signed some of these guys. They have a team that's going to be around for a little while. But I will say this, it also makes you easier to be traded because of the because know exactly how much you're going to make for the rest of your contract. So yes, as great as it is, and you know that, and everyone's let's pat the A's on the back and say way to go Sacramento A's and Vegas A's. But at the end of the day, also you can be traded unless you have full note trade, which I doubt any of these contracts have. It also makes easier trade because when you go to a team, you can say Hey, you can have Jacob Wilson. He's got three years thirty five left on this contract. That's a steal in today's market. Boom, there you go.

00:37:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, well he'll be when he hits free agency, he'll be thirty. That's still relatively young. Before we say goodbye and get to Kratz's hats, I wanted to give a shout out to our girl, Emily Walden. She does a tremendous job. She does a lot of stuff in the Tigers market, she does a lot of minor league stuff. She's a Michigan native. She was in remission from cancer and unfortunately the cancer has returned. But she's going to fight this just as fiercely as she did before. But with this type of diagnosis, obviously it's a lot of time away from work and she could use our help. And I know that the baseball community has rallied around Emily before. I'm just asking if you can, if you're led to, if you're if you're in the position to do so, please go to her gofund me. You can see it there under my ex and her ex as well. It's on Instagram as well. Just help her out. She does so much for the sport that we all love. And you know, hopefully we can support Emily Emily as well, So if you're led to do it, I appreciate that very much. All right, before we say goodbye, how about krat's hats? What do you got on today?

00:38:33
Speaker 4: Ka?

00:38:34
Speaker 3: I mean for Kenllley maybe maybe Producer Ladies for Kelly Jameson is a Tiger's.

00:38:39
Speaker 1: Hat and forgetting Yeah, I love it.

00:38:43
Speaker 3: And this is Producer Ladies, one of her favorite, one of her favorite teams.

00:38:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. It's a nice that's a nice hat. All right, guys, have a great weekend. Appreciate you guys very much. Letting me pinch hit today for Scott Broun. Have a great weekend, everybody. Foul Territory rolls on. We'll be back on Monday. We'll see you then. Take care.