Fair Territory: Kyle Tucker's impact on Mets/Dodgers/Blue Jays, Red Sox sign Ranger Suárez

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo and Alana it could be Kyle Tucker Day. But right off the top, we have some big news on the WBC. Mister Clayton Kershaw has announced that he will be pitching for Team USA as well. In addition to schoobl and Schiens and all the other guys that we've seen sign up.

00:00:27
Speaker 2: It's going to be an unbelievable starting rotation. Ken Rosenthal for Mark de Rosa and Team USA. And I love this for Clayton Kershaw. Obviously, he announced his retirement. We know that he's not going to be in Major League Baseball next year. But this is an opportunity, I believe, for the future Hall of Famer to be able to don the USA jersey and start doing things that he wasn't necessarily able to do allowed to do when he was playing for the Dodgers. You know, he doesn't have to worry about when he's going to be making his first start, he doesn't have to be worried about is he healthy or not. So for Clayton Kershaw to be able to be a participant for Team USA and the WBC. I think it's awesome, one final hurrah for one of the greatest to ever play for the Dodgers, Ken.

00:01:08
Speaker 1: And remember in twenty twenty three he wanted to play, but there was some kind of insurance issue Alona, so he didn't get the chance. Then won't be a problem now and Clayton Kershaw a member of Team USA. But we have a lot more to get to and this could be, as I mentioned at the top, the day in which Kyle Tucker makes his decision. I actually thought it was going to be yesterday. It might not be today, but we have this thing looming in our sport. Ken.

00:01:34
Speaker 2: Is it a situation where it just may come down to where Kyle Tucker wants to go? Everyone seems to think the decision may be made today, But I don't know that there's a team in the forefront. Maybe it's just where Tucker feels the most comfortable. Am I right in saying that?

00:01:50
Speaker 1: I believe that you're right to a degree. The question here is what does Tucker want? Now? We've heard reports of the Blue Jays offering a ten year long deal. Does he want a long deal? We've heard various times that Kyle Tucker is not a guy who necessarily wants to play forever. So then if it's a shorter term deal with opt outs, if that's the other option on the table, would he want to play for the Mets because he's a low key guy, might not want New York? And does that point to the Dodgers as the team because they can offer the same kind of short term deal with opt outs. None of this is known right now. His decision will speak volumes. Maybe he does want the long term deal, and maybe all of this talk about him not wanting to be playing forever is bunk. And maybe he does want to play in New York and is willing to do it and get the opt out and take it from there. There are all kinds of things in play here. But what's really interesting is these are three big time teams right now. The Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers both in the World Series last year, and the New York Mets, of course, spend a ton of money, and the implications for each of these teams along will be the immense depending upon what he decides.

00:03:03
Speaker 2: Ken with the three teams, they're all heavy hitters, big players. Would any of the three surprise you.

00:03:09
Speaker 1: No, I would not say it would be surprised by any of the three. Now what's interesting is Toronto is a player here in part because two of their outfielders, Dalton var Show and George Springer might be more of a DH now are up for free agency at the end of this season. They need a long term solution in their outfield. Tucker would fit perfectly in that regard. He see he's from Tampa. The Blue Jays train in Dunedin. We know he's visited their complex. We heard about that early in the offseason. In that sense for them, he is a really good fit for the Mets. I wrote this yesterday. It's a little more curious. You're gonna have two fifty million dollar corner outfielders. That's a little odd, certainly, something that's never happened before. And neither one of them is a plus defender. Tucker was at one time, but hasn't been lately. And this is a team that has talked endlessly about improving its defense. And then there were the Dodgers, looking right now at basically a left field opening. They've got Alex call there as a possibility. They've got the kid that bringing in from Triple A the Triple A PCL MVP last year. He's another possibility they could platoon those two. And they have a definite need for an outfielder in the wake of the Michael Confordo signing, which did not work out well for them obviously. So right now they're sitting down pies and center or perhaps a corner if Tommy Edmond cannot recover from ankle surgery in time to play center, and then Tayo Hernandez probably in right, or he could move to left if they signed Tucker. So the Dodgers actually have a need for Tucker too. How far they want to go contractually that remains to be seen.

00:04:50
Speaker 2: Insane to think a guy that hit two sixty six could be getting a fifty million AAV. Listen, it's a good gig if you can get it. Ken. Let's switch our focus now to the Boston Red Sox. It seems like they're thinking more about run prevention can versus run production signing Ranger Suarez. But you told me earlier today in our production meeting that you don't think the Red Sox are done. They didn't land a heavy hitter in Alonso or Schwarb or Obviously Alex Bregman is now with the Cubs. What do you make of the Suarez signing.

00:05:19
Speaker 1: Well, they can't be done. First of all. Now, I have no problem with what they did here in pivoting from Bregman to Suarez short term, because what they have now is a surplus of starting pitching. I know that's hard to say, and teams talk about that and then it suddenly disappears. That can happen, of course, and they also have what we've been talking about for I don't know months now, a surplus in their outfield. They have the ability to go trade for an infielder now, Katel Marte, that's someone that they talked about prior to the Diamondbacks taking him off the market. Seems to me it would be kind of odd for the Diamondbacks to change their minds now and suddenly tell Katel, you know what, we aren't going to trade you, but now we are going to trade you. But there are other options available. Ezach Parides from the Houston Astros, Nico Horner from the Cubs. To me, that's a long shot. I don't think the Cubs want to do that, but that is a possibility. Brendan Donovan less so because he hits left handed. They already have too many left handed hitters. So from the Red Sox perspective, Suarez is a bit of a departure for them. He's not this big, tall, hard thrower that's what they traditionally signed, but his pitch ability is off the charts. He is a guy that has proven himself in huge moments in the postseason. I like the signing for them. I don't know that twenty six million dollars a year for them is too much or too much for Ranger Suarez. That is about where I would have slotted him. So while this deal is unusual for them and he cost them draft picks where Bregman wouldn't have. And also, as Buster only a ESPN tweeted yesterday with the deferrals, the offer that they made to Bregman was actually for less in present day value than the offer they made to Suarez. That's inexplicable, hard to even believe. You see the tweet from Buster right there, but that is what they did. They blew it. They came back with Suarez and no deferrals. Smart move Red Sox, and now it seems that they have the ability to go out and get another hitter in addition to Wilson Contreras. They do that, maybe it's Paradis, maybe it's someone else they do that. They suddenly look like a formidable group.

00:07:31
Speaker 2: Okay, so you mentioned that they decided to go, you know, obviously after him, no deferrals. They're also going after a guy ken Ensuarez. It's a little bit older kind of breaking protocol for what the Red Sox typically do. Does that give you a sense of desperation because they missed out on Bregman or is it more of listen, we now have a very formidable starting rotation with Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, now Ranger Suarez, obviously Brian Beao some talented young guys at the back end of the rotation potentially. Or is it just like we're going to focus on pitching, we'll still have time for another bat.

00:08:04
Speaker 1: Well. They obviously reacted to what had happened with Bregman. They were embarrassed by it and should have been now. They probably were talking to Suarez the entire time and had him as an option based on how things might go. But it clearly was a response. In my opinion, they might say, well, hey, we're cool. You know, we were not necessarily guaranteed to get Bregman, so we had to have other things in place, which is true. But the speed with which they acted certainly indicates that for sure they had a plan in mind or an ida in mind that accelerated when they got embarrassed by the Bregman departure. So here they are, Here they are, and Suarez is a different kind of picture for them, but I still like him an awful lot. I believe this is going to be a good signing for them. And now when you look at them, I didn't love the idea of Sonny Gray as a number two, but now okay, to go Crochet left, Sonny Gray Wright, Suarez left, and then Oviedo and whoever else you want to mix in there. They've got a ton of options. That's a good position to be in.

00:09:10
Speaker 2: I'm dis just in right now on fair territory with Ken Rosenthal Alex Bregman. Ken says he's going to participate in the WBC. So not only is it going to be future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershak to be future Hall of Famer Alex Bregman in the WBC. What do you make of it. And do you think that had to be a conversation with the Cubs.

00:09:26
Speaker 1: I would imagine it did, and I would imagine he expressed to all the teams that were talking to him, Hey, I want to play in the WBC, and that's something that I'm going to do. I would think he had the leverage to do that, and it's a great addition again for Team USA. This is the most loaded Team USA in the history of the World Baseball Classic and there's going to be I don't know, i red call it pressure, but there will be an expectation that this team performs really well. Now the last team did. They went down to the final pitch against Team Japan, lost when Shoho Tani struck out Mike Trout. But this team has Aaron Judge, cal Raley, Alex Bregman, Trek Scooble, Paul Skeins, go right down the line. It's an incredible collection of talent and they're going to be fun to watch. And a side note on Bregman here, the initial round for Team USA will be in Houston, so he will get to play in Houston, and I'm sure he's still quite well remembered there because of his role in two World Series Championships.

00:10:31
Speaker 2: They played World Baseball Classic. Always a good time. It's going to be upon us before we know it. Much more to come here on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Get those questions in for Grill and Ken, and don't forget much more information as far as the Red Sox are concerned. Robbie Hyde covers an emotional week in Red Sox Nation on Monster Territory. His latest episode details Ranger Suarez, rounding out the Socks rotation. Subscribe on YouTube and rate five stars whenever you listen Monster Territory and the entire Feld Territory Network. We'll be right back with Grill and Ken right after this.

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00:12:13
Speaker 2: All right, well, welcoming back to fair territory with Ken Rosenthal. It is time to ask Ken some questions. We start in Toronto. Michael would like to know could the Blue Jays pivot to Bellinger, meaning Cody Bellinger if they don't get Tucker, or would they go back to Bo first. I think Bo's gone. What do you think, Ken?

00:12:31
Speaker 1: I've thought that all along, and the greater need for them certainly is in the outfield. But this question raises a really good point. The team that doesn't get Tucker, maybe they do get involved with Bellinger, whether it's the Dodgers or whether it's the Mets, or whether it's the Blue Jays. And the assumption has been and it's still the right call, that the Yankees will resign Bellinger, that that's going to happen. But once Tucker goes, assuming this happens in sequence here, once Tucker is gone and off the board, those teams might step up their pursuits of Cody Bellinger. And maybe it's not fat accompany for the Yankees. So this is something to watch in the hours and days ahead.

00:13:16
Speaker 2: Okay, So we go from whether Bellinger's going to sign somewhere if they don't get Tucker to the Baltimore Orioles, which in the Al East can they have done some things? So this question is in regards to the o's from Rhino Thunder sixty eight, what do you think the Orioles do for pitching?

00:13:32
Speaker 1: Good question now from ber Valdez still out there, Zach Gallen's still out there. Those are free agents. I don't know that the Orioles are loving the idea of giving up a draft pick, but they have said they would do it, and they would do it. They didn't have to do it for Peter a Lonzo, who had gotten a qualifying offer last year. Then there are trade possibilities now Freddie Peralta would be a one year guy. There's Mackenzie Gore right down the road from Baltimore in Washington. I don't know that there are many more options Trek Scoogle and don't expect to be traded. I know the Tigers have not shut the door, but teams never shut the door. So the Orioles right now, it looks like to me Valdez would be their play. Now. I don't know that from any inside perspective or anything like that. Michae Elias, of course familiar with Valdez from his time in Houston, and Valdez would be for them a really good addition in addition to what they've done already, which is Shane Boz and Zach Eflin on top of Trevor Rodgers and Kyle Bradish in that rotation along with Dean Kramer. So one more would put them in a really good spot.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: Ken Brandon Donovan seems to come up in a lot of different conversations about where he's going to land in twenty twenty six, Saint Louis Perfecto's wants to know. Looking at donovan suitors, who do you believe is the favorite? Could nowt Bar get paired in a deal to Seattle to help fill rightfield as well? Remember, of course, that Arenado now no longer in Saint Louis, so there's some more news. As far as the Saint Louis Cardinals are concerned.

00:15:04
Speaker 1: I still see Seattle as the favorite, and the reason for that is their farm system is one of the best in the game. San Francisco is in the mix and has been for Donovan for quite some time, as Katie Wu reported, but their farm system is not very good at all, and they don't have much to give that the Cardinals would necessarily want. Then there is Kansas City. They've been kind of on the fringes of this thing the whole time. I don't see them necessarily outbidding the Mariners, but they do have some interesting young pitching in particular. So those are the teams, and I do believe he'll get dealt and the idea of neot Bar and Donovan together to Seattle, I could see that being a possibility really quickly.

00:15:45
Speaker 2: Circling back on from Berveldez, are you surprised Ken He's still available.

00:15:50
Speaker 1: A little bit, but there have been questions about him that incident with his catcher last year, makeup in general, that's been one thing. He's a little older for free that's another thing. So given the pace of this market, I can't say I'm shocked, but at the same time, his moment should be coming pretty soon.

00:16:09
Speaker 2: Okay, talking about the New York Mets. Our next question here on Gorilla and Ken the Metropolitans. A lot of it is about whether they're going to get Tucker or not, but this one wants to know. Are the Mets more likely to look for starting pitching through free agency or through the trade market.

00:16:24
Speaker 1: Well, ditto to everything I said with the Orioles, but the Mets preference has been a trade so that could be paral to it, could be Gore, could be someone else that we don't have in mind necessarily with from bra Valdez, I could see the Mets doing something short with him. They do not want to go long term with starting pitching. We've seen that time and time again play out, and I wouldn't necessarily rule out Gallon for them either. Depending on how things play out here.

00:16:50
Speaker 2: All right, We're going to see what happens. In terms of the Mets. I think everyone's just really can trying to figure out where the heck is Kyle Tucker going. There's a question here that says, do you think by the the week we would see where Kyle Tucker senns I would imagine right most folks thinking it could happen today, Ken.

00:17:05
Speaker 1: Yes, that's my expectation today, tomorrow, sometime this week, and as you just pointed out, a lot of Once that happens, the outfield market will open up. Bellinger will go, and then some of the lesser outfielders Harrison Bade or Austin Hayes, guys like that, they'll be able to find their homes too, because right now it's all contingent on Tucker and not just the outfielders. By the way, there are pitching moves that are contingent on Tucker. A team might think if we don't get him the Mets, for instance, if they don't get him, they will pivot in other ways and perhaps invest more in a picture than they might have otherwise.

00:17:43
Speaker 2: Man Tucker the man of the hour, at least the man of the day. Another question on Kyle here, what do you make of the fact that the Mets offer is public, but the Jays and Dodgers offers not public. In regards to Kyle Tucker, I.

00:17:55
Speaker 1: Don't know what to make of that, and I'm not going to say where I think that figure came from, although I think I have an idea where it came from. But getting that number out there is probably in Tucker's best interest because it would push the two other teams higher, and that generally is where you see these things play out the way you see these things play out, So that certainly is a possibility that his side wanted it out there to obviously make the other teams jump. But I will not say exactly again what I think about where that came from, because I don't know, and sometimes things come from places that are unexpected. I know this for a fact having done this a long time, and it's just interesting that it happened that way, And certainly it does work in Tucker's favor if he indeed wants those other teams to come up in their price.

00:18:50
Speaker 2: Drive up the market. I love this question. Our last one here for Grill and Ken. Alex Bregman will wear number three with the Cubs because Nico Horner wears number two. If Ken were a Cubs fan, would he wait to buy that Bregman jersey in case number two suddenly became available.

00:19:06
Speaker 1: I would wait, just to be sure. You never know in baseball, you never know in the offseason. But the question ultimately is do I expect the Cubs to trade Nico Horner their current number two? And the answer to that is no. I just do not understand why you would make moves for Edward Cabrera and Alex Bregman win now moves and then go trade a second baseman who is coming off a magnificent year. I don't care if he has just one year of club control remaining. Sign him to an extension and keep your twenty twenty sixteen as strong as possible. I do not expect the Cubs to trade Nico Horner. Might they trade Matt Shaw? Perhaps more realistic, But even then I would like to keep Shaw too for depth, and give Gregman days off, give Horner days off, put him in the outfield at times. It's your best possible team with all of those guys.

00:19:56
Speaker 2: How about Alex Bregman Just by Nico Horner a Porsche or Rolex, and then Alex Bragman can get number two and you can just go get the jersey right now. I mean, I think Alex Bregman will be wearing number two at the beginning of twenty twenty six. All right, coming up after the break on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal, we're talking about our dudes and dorks of the week.

00:20:16
Speaker 3: We'll be right back, bet I'MGM account holders today. How about in any sport parlay boost token. You can score a bigger payout if your wager with that token. Hits tokens can be used on parlays and on same game parlays. Gambling problem or concerned, there's help called one eight hundred gambler. Hey, when you get a chance, subscribe to Foul Territory on YouTube. We are getting very close to three hundred thousand subscribers on the channel and love all of them, so we'd love you to join us on that channel as we break down everything going on across the sport. It is baseball the way it should be covered at Foul Territory. Give us a sub.

00:20:53
Speaker 2: Dude, dude, dude, all right, Ken, who's your due.

00:21:02
Speaker 1: To the week? Ranger Suarez and so often in baseball, Lina and you know this from having covered the game as long as you have, we don't have a full grasp of the backstories. When a player signs a free agent contract. Ranger Suarez five years, one hundred and thirty million, that's what people know. What people might not know is that he is the son of a Venezuelan farmer. He signed for twenty five thousand dollars. That was his big bonus. Twenty five thousand dollars in a relative sense in baseball, that's nothing. He also took four years to escape the phillies of Venezuelan academy, so he didn't get state side until his fourth year in pro ball. And now look at him, five years, one hundred and thirty million. Ranger Suarez due to the Week.

00:21:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, I love that living the dream and fulfilling a dream. I'm sure not only for himself but for his family. My dude to the Week is a guy that I love that can just make fun of himself. And if I want to bring up a tweet here from Carl Rabbits, if we have it, but Carl Rabbits was talking about the fact that of course Alex Bregman, you know, is going to wear number two because he wore number two because Dansby Swanson in the same year that he was drafted, was drafted number one. Okay, so Alex Bragman was a little irritated that he wasn't taken number one because he's that competitor. So that's why Alex Bregman wears number two. It's a well known story. But Vinnie pass Quentino tweeted this, this is why I wanted to wear number three hundred and nineteen, but three digit numbers aren't allowed. I love that he was a drafted what the three hundred and nineteenth pick, and he's having a fine career. So Vinnie pass Quentino and your humor, you are my dude of the week. Okay, time now for the dork of the week. Ken this one on a much more serious note, Who is your dork of the week.

00:22:54
Speaker 1: Well, it's getting to the point alion with the Angels where we might have to rename the award the Artiber Dork of the Week. We once had a John Fisher Dork of the Week. We abandoned that, but the Angels seem to be in this category every week, and I encourage everyone out there to read Sam Blum's story yesterday about an Angel's prospect who was in a car accident last September and is in a really bad place and he doesn't know if the Angels are going to keep his insurance going after this month. He's twenty two years old. His name is Real Foster, and he's a guy who had some promise, had done some things as an outfielder coming up in their system, former thirteenth round pick. It was a horrible situation that happened. A woman was driving drunk. He was the passenger in that car. He also was drunk. He was not wearing a seatbelt. Okay, but we have seen time and time again organizations step up for players in need. Maybe the Angels will do that, and we don't know. They did not comment for this story, but they need to do it. And it seems that so often this team is in these kinds of situations and we don't need to recount them all here, but the Angels of Dorks of the Week until proven otherwise in this case, and if they step up, we will be happy to acknowledge that on the show.

00:24:12
Speaker 2: And they should step up. And it just reminds me of a team up the Five, the Los Angeles Dodgers who continue to have Andrew Toles on the payroll. Andrew Tooles has dealt with a lot of mental issues. He's schizophrenic, diagnosed as a schizophrenic, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have kept him on their insurance plan to try to continue to get him the help that he so desperately needs. Whether he's taken advantage of that or not. Continues to be seen on a year and a year out basis, but they're still in touch with his family as they try to get Andrew the mental health that mental health help that he needs. So again, take a page out of the Dodgers' book, because they're doing the right thing. And when you're a team that has the money that the Dodgers have, of course, and the money that Ardi Moreno has, of course, you can do the right things. Some things are just bigger than baseball. All right, we welcome you back. If you're still here, we appreciate you guys listening and watching on YouTube. We're going to take a couple of more questions here from the chat. Are the Yankees still in on starters? If so in free agency, can or via trade?

00:25:15
Speaker 1: They just acquired Ryan Weathers for for prospects from the Miami Marlins. I don't know that they'll do anything else. I would not expect it to be a major move necessarily. Remember, they've got Cole coming back, They've got Schmid coming back, They've got Rodin coming back. Actually in reverse order of what I just said, Rodin first. So they needed someone like Weathers to be a bridge. Remember they had been talking to the Marlins about Edward Cabrera, and then once Cabrero went to the Cubs, they pivoted to Weathers. Could they do more? Of course they could do more. They always can do more. But their focus right now is Bellinger, and if they do not get Bellinger back, then it's a whole other question. How they go about finding another bat of that caliber? Yeah? About that?

00:26:00
Speaker 2: All right? One more question I think here on as we get ready to sign off from the YouTube folks, what happens ken to Alec Boom. We haven't talked about the Phillies at all today, but he's not going to be there. Where do you think he ends up?

00:26:13
Speaker 1: I don't know. And the question obviously refers back to Bobachhett and the expectation by many in the industry. Matt Gilb has written about this for The Athletic that ultimately Bishett will wind up of Philly and probably at third base. Once that happens, Bom goes now. They've been trying to trade him for the better part of a year now, haven't been able to accomplish it. Could it be the Red Sox. I guess it could be the Red Sox, but they're aiming other players too. It could be any number of teams with Alec Bohm. He is a good player. He is not a bad player. This guy is an above average Major leaguer and I would think, even though he's got one year left, it's about ten million that the Phillies could get something of some quality in return.

00:26:58
Speaker 2: All right, Kyle Tucker, all of us in the baseball world, all of us that love this sport so much, please sign so we can figure out where you're going and the rest of those dominoes can fall. Thank you guys for watching and listening. Foul Territories Next, Todd Frazier, Eric Kratz and Scott Braun Welcome, Padres, pitcher Mason Miller, Angels, starter Grayson Rodriguez. Fair with Ken returns on Monday at ten am Eastern have a great week. Everybody