Milwaukee Brewers 2026 Season Preview + POBO Matt Arnold and P Kyle Harrison join FT @Brewers camp

00:00:08
Speaker 1: You know a j The Brewers do have a back to back champ for Manager of the Year but also for Executive of the Year. And you're sitting next to the great Matt Arnold right now.

00:00:18
Speaker 2: I know.

00:00:18
Speaker 3: That's what I was gonna get on about. I didn't even know that he won those awards until I pulled up his wiki page. So I thought that he'd be like Murph, carrying the awards around with him everywhere. But he doesn't even have a quarter zip on, so how can we expect him to to win a third one?

00:00:32
Speaker 4: It's tough, man, I mean, if you got is that the quarter you gotta wear the quarters if to get an award, I don't know you to be a GM you have Oh yeah, I got plenty of I got a bunch of those.

00:00:41
Speaker 5: I got plenty of those. It's a little warmer today. I don't know.

00:00:43
Speaker 4: I was trying to go with something a little thinner, but I don't sporty. Yeah, a little sporty. I'm I'm not sporty. No, I mean that's not I'm not an athlete. No, I try.

00:00:53
Speaker 2: But the best shape of your life.

00:00:56
Speaker 4: I know, coming to most people coming to camp in the best airline I'm probably in the worst my life. No, I'm doing all right. Well, yeah, we play a little pickleball with the guys and staff coaches for front office. I call like our front office group is kind of the G League a little bit like when we play together and then we get the coaches involved, and that's that's the NBA.

00:01:14
Speaker 5: So we have those guys are really good.

00:01:16
Speaker 4: Who's the best, oh Man, probably somewhere between Matt Erickson and Jason Lane. Those guys are. Those guys are both exceptional. So and I love playing with him. To keep you humble, Layer's really good, Lefty with some with thunder, It's it's good.

00:01:31
Speaker 5: He's really good.

00:01:32
Speaker 2: Are you a blue bit over the net guy or you I.

00:01:34
Speaker 4: Got a little I got a little hammer. But it's uh, it's a it's a it's a mixed bag. I just, you know, I'm not consistent enough. Like, those guys are really good, and I just love to play. It's like whiffle ball, you know, It's just so much fun and it's it's it's way better than being on a treadmill, you know, So I love it.

00:01:53
Speaker 6: Murph calls you guys the Ivory Tower. Is that a?

00:01:57
Speaker 7: Is that a derogative term that you prefer not to use. Or is your pickleball name the Ivory Tower.

00:02:06
Speaker 4: I don't have any pickleball name. Uh, but no, I I don't look I mean, I I think it's uh Murph. Murphy has all kinds of nicknames for everybody, and usually they have a double meaning, so that can be fun depending on what he's he's saying, and maybe there's an underlying meaning to to to things. But no, he's he's got nicknames for all of us. Man, and he comes at you and and he he wants to keep you humble. I think that's the most important thing with with Murph is uh coming to work every day, working hard, being about the team, you know, and all the great things that he brings. And I love working with him.

00:02:40
Speaker 3: By the way, is that why you weren't at his award when he got his second manager? Were you too busy a playing pickleball or be accepting your award?

00:02:49
Speaker 5: Okay, none of that.

00:02:50
Speaker 4: So last year, if you remember the year before, I I gave the speech to it to announce his award. This year, this year we had we had all those cancelations with the weather, so like all of our flights got canceled going to New York. I mean they canceled all of our flights going going in and out of New York.

00:03:06
Speaker 5: It was a mess.

00:03:07
Speaker 4: I'm not going that good man. We got to come on a few more games to get there, but that was okay.

00:03:13
Speaker 5: We had a good year.

00:03:13
Speaker 2: You didn't want to my speech. Is that what happened?

00:03:15
Speaker 5: I would love to hear your speech always. Yeah, okay, I would always.

00:03:20
Speaker 4: I tried to had flights booked and everything. We were going to go, but we didn't.

00:03:23
Speaker 5: Uh it.

00:03:24
Speaker 3: We need to call mister Antonosio and figure out the PJ situation.

00:03:28
Speaker 5: Uh, you can make that phone call on.

00:03:32
Speaker 1: The show was streaming on Foul Territory Lives, so he was able to catch it. There, no big deal.

00:03:37
Speaker 5: He wasn't matched.

00:03:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, so there you go. We provided the live stream question for you just because AJ mentioned and joked about it. I don't think I've ever asked front office exact this. What are your thoughts on best shape of his life? When you hear that, when you see that in an article, what does it mean to you? And how often does that actually mean anything? In the grand scheme? Obviously, you want your players to be in shape, but best shape of your life first couple of weeks of camp seems to be kind of a running joke these days.

00:04:03
Speaker 4: Sure, yeah, it's funny. Like I think back in the day, you heard it all the time. You know, guys would come in and say, I'm in the best shape of my life. I think now we can actually measure a little bit more of that, and so guys are guys are coming in with intake and the physical process, and so you can kind of get a better sense of what that looks like from guys coming in. So if they're if they say they're in the best shape of life, you can actually tell if they are, because we try to get baselines on guys coming in and out of camp. But you know, I'm certainly not at that point that nobody wants to see.

00:04:35
Speaker 3: That is your intake. You get on the scale with the little handles. It gives you your body mask.

00:04:40
Speaker 4: Wygo, you know, a little marbled meat. I don't know if it's not. You don't want front office. You don't want the most delicious delicious.

00:04:47
Speaker 2: And it is the most expensive.

00:04:49
Speaker 5: That's right.

00:04:50
Speaker 3: You guys had an interesting offseason and you're you're in charge of what happens. How hard is it to trade a Freddy Peralta, How hard is it to trade Durbin? How hard are the he's moved to Megan? And how far in front of things do you have to stay as the Milwaukee Brewers to win ninety seven games again like you guys did last year?

00:05:09
Speaker 5: Yeah? Really tough.

00:05:10
Speaker 4: I mean, you move guys like that that mean a lot to the franchise, mean a lot to the room. You know, don't take that lightly at all. We've had to do this for a number of years here with Devin Williams and Corbyn Burns, Josh Hater, etcetera. Like those are really hard, hard on the franchise. And I think, you know, we have a great support group. I think around to try to insulate ourselves with good coaches and good you know, obviously good character guys that we have in the room. And I think a lot of times when you make those kind of moves, it's also saying we want to bet on the people that are still here. You know, it's not anything against the people that are leaving, but we really want to do what we can to bet on the people in the room and then also bring in talent to help us win now and tomorrow, you know, And that's always the balance that we're trying to to. We're trying to walk that line every single day here with the Brewers.

00:05:54
Speaker 7: When I look at when I looked at the team going into about three weeks ago, I said, this was the year that since twenty eighteen when I was there, it's like this team is always there, always there, always there. Do you guys look when you do your projections and say what would it mean to this team and could we be a World Series champion if we were to add a Trek schoobl if we were to add a one year piece instead of losing the one year piece. Do you guys make those projections and say no, it'll never happen, or you just say no, we're not going to waste our time with an exercise like that that could put us back three or four years.

00:06:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think Krasy, I think that's a great question. I mean we've done that in a lot of cases. I mean going back to Yasmani Grendal and even this year of bringing back somebody like Brandon Woodruff as the highest aav of any pitcher that we've ever had in this franchise. You know, I mean to have the support from our ownership to bring back somebody like what do you mean so much to our franchise and our room and the huge games that he's pitched in that really means a lot, you know. So we have gone out, Mike Mustak. We we've bringing brought in a number of those types of guys. We just can't do it all the time, but we've had great support to do so over the years, and and you know, when the time is right, you know, we felt like the time was right with with Brandon Woodruff and we're we couldn't be more thrilled to have Woody back in our in our mix here.

00:07:14
Speaker 3: By the way, krats as bad at you. Why because when you brought Grandell and you had to fire him. So he oh he still has yeah, still has feelings for that.

00:07:23
Speaker 4: Oh no, I still love you, Cratsy. I mean, come on, man, come on, we loved having you here, so you're always welcome.

00:07:29
Speaker 6: Not enough, not enough. I could have been there, We could have been somebody.

00:07:34
Speaker 5: Here we go. We were somebody. A great run man, you get hey.

00:07:37
Speaker 7: Huge in nineteen. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. It's totally off topic. We've talked about grand All. When they brought grand All in it's spring training. I was walking by it counts, goes Craig. Council goes, well, you know what, the catcher has to bat four times a game too, so I feel like this is a good upgrade.

00:07:57
Speaker 3: And I was like, oh, well, the catcher doesn't have a bad four times. They can get pinch it for their second at bat, maybe cratzy, depending on how the game's going. I don't know what that was like for a lot of my time, but I used to have to be the guy would have to pinch it for the other guy.

00:08:18
Speaker 7: Yep, seventh thinning, you're gone. You had too bad at batch, You're out of the game.

00:08:22
Speaker 1: To say you, Hey, Matt, I have a question for you. We had the you know on and off because the reporters are good at getting as much info as possible. Conversations with are they going to trade Freddie p or not? So what is that communication like with you and Freddie and with the agent where it's like, I think you're good, maybe not. Things are picking up again because I'm sure you don't want to just constantly be making phone calls. But Also, this is the guy who has earned respective the org been there for a while, and you want to be as communicative as possible, especially as you get closer to spring training and he's gonna suddenly be in Florida instead of Arizona.

00:09:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, no question. Freddie and I had a great relationship. I've known him since he was nineteen eighteen years old when we first got him, and always tried to keep the line of communications open with him and his agent, Seth Lovinson, and so we have really good relationships with those guys. Tried to be very open and honest, and it was a two way street, you know, just making sure we're on the same page and what's going on, what's happening, and trying to make sure that we kept him in the loop. I think the worst thing to do is surprise people on these types of things, and just having those conversations, being open and honest with your guys. Having that kind of culture here something that really really matters to me certainly. And I love Freddy to death. I was talking to David Stearns yesterday about him, and it sounds like he's doing great over there, and I'm a huge Freddie Perulta fan. I hope he has a great season, a great career, nothing but the best. Wish nothing about the best for Freddy.

00:09:52
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00:10:58
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00:11:31
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00:12:03
Speaker 7: I think when gms say that sometimes I feel like it's eye wash with Matt Arnold, with David Stearns before you. It's not eye wash. It's actually honest. The communication is there and you guys care about the communication. But my question is on Freddie p Corbyn, Burns, Josh Hater and Devin Williams, which one was the toughest communication because of anything that happened, because of how it was going with not necessarily like oh man, you know, it's a tough relationship and each relationship is unique. But of those the big guys that have been traded recently, which one was the toughest to communicate too in the sense of like, you know, ah, man, like got close to this guy. This was at the beginning of my tenure. You were assistant GM during a couple during one of those trades.

00:12:52
Speaker 4: Sure, yeah, I mean I think it's a good question. I think they're all they're all different, they're all challenging in their own ways. I think probably the hater one just because it happened in season. You know, the others were were more in the off season. And when you do something like that with your closer in season, I totally understand, you know, the ramifications around that and how challenging that can be to digest for everyone, for our fans, for our clubhouse, for our front office, like everybody. I think that's those are certainly challenging, But you know, you're able to zoom out a little bit and sort of understand what that what that pain looks like. And fast forward. Now you have somebody like like William Petreras in the in the clubhouse, you know, and and couldn't be more thrilled to have that guy. He's been a warrior for us for a lot of years. And so again it's just the finding that right balance. But the you know, going through those processes, especially in season, are certainly challenging.

00:13:42
Speaker 1: Hey, Matt, why do some of the trades take so damn long? This is the question from fans. Sometimes they're like it finally happens in late January, or even we just saw the Durbin deal in February. Do you think a lot of it has to do with other moves like free agents finding a home and then teams jump back into the trade well, or is it, Hey, we have a conversation with some teams, feel like we want this next tier prospect that we're looking for, and finally it comes around at that point, Like, what do you think is one of the biggest reasons why the stall happens from November December up until close to spring training.

00:14:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a good question.

00:14:19
Speaker 4: I mean, some of it's probably just deadlines, right, Like deadlines are powerful in this game, and so when you have team you know, moments where you're about to report to camp, or you're you're about to start the season, or there's a trade deadline like those, those deadlines are impactful to speed up conversations, you know. But but ultimately you know they're they're all different and unique, and you're always one phone call away. You know, you can feel like you're far apart, and then you know one phone call can change that, you know, And then so you're layering in that conversation you're having with the other team, but then at the same time you're also talking to the rest of the market and seeing what happens and things can emerge. Maybe there's an injury, or there's a situation where somebody else makes a trade and there's a need there and somebody else emerges that was that was in the mix that you didn't an dipate, And you just want to be thorough, you know, And so I don't know if we you know, you don't want to miss out on anything and move too fast, but you want to miss you know, move too slow and also miss out on something either. So it's just trying to find that right balance and and do what's best really for both sides.

00:15:13
Speaker 5: You know. I think when you you make.

00:15:14
Speaker 4: A trade, whether it's a Durban trade or a Freddi Peerult trade, like hopefully works out for both sides.

00:15:19
Speaker 5: You know.

00:15:19
Speaker 4: I think that's they're getting good players, you know. There's when you're getting a guy like Caleb Durban, who meant a lot to our franchise. The Red Sox are getting a really good play there, and we hope we are as well, you know, with with Harrison and Johann and Hamilton, Like we're really happy with those guys. And again, I just hope when you're making good deals with with teams that works out for both sides.

00:15:38
Speaker 2: We had price on.

00:15:39
Speaker 3: We already talked to Bryce, We've already talked to sal We've already talked to miss.

00:15:43
Speaker 2: Any extensions in the.

00:15:44
Speaker 4: Future, always open, Yeah, I mean you well, I mean it's a two way street. I mean we can reach out for sure. I mean, let's we can go on a little walk and talk. I'm an agent, that's up to you, that's coming from them, So you can negotiate that one if you want. But no, we we love those guys and and uh obviously we've done that with a number of players here, and certainly always open to having those kind of conversations.

00:16:09
Speaker 5: Okay, I mean always open to having the coma.

00:16:13
Speaker 3: That's fine, that's fine, that's GM speak one on one right there. Last thing for the Rays. You were a raised guy. You have Sterns you mentioned was a raised guy. Freedman was a raised guy. Brandon Gomes and the Dodgers was a raised pitcher. What do the Rays do because there's they're just raised people. Him Bloom is a raised guy. They are just spread out throughout the league.

00:16:33
Speaker 2: What are the Rays do? Because every team wants to be the race.

00:16:37
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:16:37
Speaker 4: I mean, look, it's it's had a lot of really good people, you know, And I think it starts with people. That's that's the thing we've tried to do here more than anything else. It's it's just have good people, whether that's in the clubhouse or the front office. And I think like just partnering with guys like Eric Neander and him and James and Andrew and Matt Silverman and so many people there that I was fortunate to partner with for for many years really helped me get better. And I think we were able to challenge each other and and and learn from each other. We all had kind of different strengths and weaknesses. And a partner with those guys, you know, I consider them some of my best friends, you know, And I really care about him and I really enjoyed partnering with him.

00:17:12
Speaker 2: Does make it easier to make trades when you worked with them.

00:17:14
Speaker 4: All sometimes you know, and sometimes they you know, they'll uh, they know they know how you you negotiate sometimes because and we know how they negotiate, and so you can kind of figure out quickly, but you can get right to it and the conversations are obviously really natural with those types of guys, so they're they're great to work.

00:17:29
Speaker 2: So it was Freedman like the godfather of all of you.

00:17:31
Speaker 4: It's kinda I mean, I don't know. I don't don't tell him that, but well we had him on the other day, so clear. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, he's he's kind of graduated in the clouds now and he's like doing stuff for the Lakers, and I don't know, he didn't come to media day, like I don't know, he's he's a little big, don't know, he's changed a little bit. Yeah, I've shared this with him. This is not Yeah, when you win World Series.

00:17:53
Speaker 5: I get it. Yeah, I get it us.

00:17:54
Speaker 2: Plus I'm not bringing up the series with you all last year, so we'll just skip that. He has a little bit of uh.

00:17:59
Speaker 5: Sure clout right now a little bit. Yeah, he does, wait and well deserved. He's great. He's really.

00:18:03
Speaker 1: It's good one nerdy stack craction because that's what I do here. I don't think Stearns was in the raised tree. I mean, obviously you guys know each other, but no, no work there, right, So yeah, my.

00:18:16
Speaker 4: Partnered partnered here uh in Milwaukee for the first time and he's great. I mean, he's as good as it gets.

00:18:21
Speaker 5: Man.

00:18:21
Speaker 4: You talk about eight plus people and like always super well prepared, just the best in the business. I really really love working with David.

00:18:29
Speaker 1: Well Matt awesome to catch up with you. Really appreciate the time. Thank you for joining us. Good luck this season.

00:18:35
Speaker 5: Thank you guys, appreciate you having me.

00:18:43
Speaker 1: Were season previewing the Milwaukee Brewers. They won the most games in Major League Baseball last year. We're going to go through a roller coaster right now, are you ready. We're going to do additions and subtractions, but we're going to keep reminding everyone how good this team was last year. They are going to be missing significant pieces. So let's look at the fact that Freddy peralta top of the rotation out of the mix right side first, Okay, Caleb Durgan, Durbin moving on to the Red Sox, Mears and Collins in that Royals deal. Also Monasterio in the deal with Durban and Rhys Hoskins ends up signing with the Guardians. On the left side of the screen. They do add arms. They like Kyle Harrison a lot. You'll hear from him later on the show. Angel Zerpa. They like him a lot as well. Gary Sanchez is back, Luis ran Hifo to play all over the diamond. So Kratz, you're a former Brewer. I feel like we go over this every year. They do not get a lot of hype from projections. I don't think they get a lot of hype from media. I don't think they get a lot of hype from odds. Bet MGM has them at eighty four and a half wins. Fangrafts has them at eighty two wins. You pointed something out to me today. I think it was you. Actually, no, it was producer Lady. The Pittsburgh Pirates are projected for one more win than the Milwaukee Brewers in twenty twenty six. Is that possible or a disaster prediction by Fangrafts.

00:20:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean anything's possible. But to me, it's about did the Brewers overplay? Were they not seventy nine wins good last year?

00:20:27
Speaker 8: No?

00:20:27
Speaker 6: They were.

00:20:28
Speaker 7: They figured out how to win games. I don't buy into the buy into the playoff teams, regular season teams, all that stuff. As much as you know we talk about it, I think they figure out how to win games. I think they figure out how to play as much as you can in this game without an ego. And I don't think the Pirates are better than them because of the experience that they are returning, because of the fact that I don't know what Connor Griffin's gonna be cam Paul Schemes. You know, are they gonna score enough runs for Paul Schemes to have another cy young year? Well he didn't need it last year, So does it automatically give them more wins? I think the Brewers are a better team than the Pirates, but I don't think they are much better than what the projections are. I think they could be, they could be a little bit above five hundred, and I think it's a little short of the playoffs where where they could be because of what Freddy Peralta brought to this rotation and to the bullpen, I.

00:21:34
Speaker 3: Think that, uh, I think they're I think they're gonna be still over five hundred. I'm never going to sell these Brewers short every year. This is the year they're gonna fall off until then, I actually see it with my own eyes. There's a reason why they traded away. I mean, they trade them on the sterio and they got Rinhifa, right, so they're kind of maybe up that a little bit. They made some moves and every time we question what are they doing, what are they doing? Well, they have Woody Big Wou Woodriff coming back, right, they get Sprot, they get Harrison. There's a reason why they went out and traded for these guys. And they always seem to be trying to stay ahead of this curve of when they're gonna start in the downcycle. And they've done a really good job of being ahead of this curve. And remember, they lost Hater. Oh, the world is ending. They lost Devin Williams. The world is ending. They lost Corbn Burns. The world is ending. They lost Willia Domas. The world is ending. Now it's Freddy for now, it's Freddy Peralta, and it's Durvin right, the world is ending. Well, the Brewers just believe in themselves. Murph has an unbelievable way of talking to these guys and getting to believe.

00:22:40
Speaker 2: So listen, I.

00:22:41
Speaker 3: Think they're an eighty for eighty six win team the way they're constructed. And do I think the Pirates are better than them?

00:22:48
Speaker 2: No? Do I like what the Pirates did? Yes?

00:22:50
Speaker 3: But I still think until someone should approves it to me, I'm not gonna bet against the Brewers. I made too many mistakes doing in the past.

00:22:57
Speaker 7: I mean they got rid of Isaac Collins and Durbin, two guys that were three and four in Rookie of the Year voting. Would they have gotten any votes for MVP or anything. No, But if you look back to twenty twenty four when they picked up Joey Ortiz, Joey Ortiz was I think I would have to look it up, but I think he was a he was almost a three war player. He had a drop off in the season last year for twenty twenty five as the essentially he was their shortstop and he had a drop off. So it's not like everybody just has career years. So for them to have a good season, not everybody has to have a career year. Everybody has to contribute though, And I think when I when I look at their projected lineup, when I look at their projected rotation, I see it being top heavy. And I think the one thing that Murph talks about is do something to help the team win. It's you know, people will say, oh, it's a college type of thing. And Murph kind of bristles at that, but it really is a mentality of what are you going to do to help the team win, because in pro ball it sometimes is rare because you look at a Garrett Mitchell who's been injury laid, and you look at a South Freelick towards the bottom of their lineup. How do you get paid? Home runs? You know, RBIs, stole bases, all that stuff is what ends up getting you paid. They are bought into what it takes for this team to win. When I say they're top heavy, this lineup, Jackson Churio, Bryce Terrang, William Contrere's Christian Yelich, they all have to have above average years. They all they are the guys who drive their team just like any other team. Their names aren't as big. Bryce Terrang, I think was fourteenth in the MVP voting, and those guys have to continue to produce at that level for this team to be able to withstand the I don't know what's gonna happen if we call up Jet Williams, is Joey or Tiz a big league shortstop, like all those things have to get figured out. And they do have that top of the order and top of the rotation pieces that are almost like like, you can't they can't miss. You can't have a bad year from those guys, and expect this team to get over those projected wins.

00:25:20
Speaker 1: Also, you said RBIs get you paid. Those don't get you paid. But you're saying, you know the personal stats and arbitration. Sure, some of the personal stats get pushed aside with a team like this, and Pat Murphy has this unique ability to create more team baseball. It's not an old school versus new school thing, at least not in my mind. AJ. It's a selfish versus self liss thing. I think sometimes you look at a team and you're like, it's not all clicking together. And last year with the Brewers offense, you were like, this isn't full of superstars, but it's all clicking together. And then if you can just maintain level and stay in the five hundred range, you get one pop where you get hot and all of a sudden you win ten in a row or whatever they did. It was a lot and boom, you blink, you're a ninety seven win team.

00:26:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I think that the way murph Ron's this team, we've talked about this, and he doesn't love this comparison. That's why I like bringing it up to him is he runs it like he was a to the college coach a little bit. It's a little bit smaller ball. It's a little bit we're gonna take the extra base, we're gonna play great defense, and we're just gonna out fundamental a lot of teams. And they can win a lot of games like that, and they've proven that fact. And I love that way to play because there's action, there's excitement, there's pressure on the other teams, and m listen. Murph just does a great job of getting everyone to come together. He's a leader of men. He's funny, he's quirky, he's all those things that Murph is. But at the end of the day, this guy is a leader of men and he knows how to push the right buttons.

00:26:56
Speaker 1: And with that, I think the Brewers will be good and I think they will be better than the Pirates. They also have a good farm system. Pirates too too, but Bruce have a good farm system. It was a little bit of an issue for them like five years ago, and they've really built something up and they continue to get stronger on the young core department too. We'll see how Brandon's Sprote and Jet Williams look like in the Freddie Peralta deal. So I think the Burers are going to be a pain. Are they going to win ninety seven games?

00:27:20
Speaker 5: Probably not?

00:27:21
Speaker 1: But could they win eighty six? They win eighty eight? Could they win the division? Absolutely? Could they make a playoff spot?

00:27:27
Speaker 2: Sure?

00:27:27
Speaker 1: Could they just miss the playoffs because the Cubs got better and some other teams in the division got better. Maybe the Reds have a full run of a year. Sure that could be the case too. We have one of the newest Milwaukee Brewers, Kyle Harrison, is here. Kyle, great to have you on the show and tell us about the whole process here because it happened pretty late. You're probably like, here we go getting ready Red Sox spring training. Oh wait, I'm going to Arizona.

00:27:51
Speaker 5: Right, No, one hundred percent.

00:27:53
Speaker 8: You know, was out there in Fort Myers for a week early and got out there early. You know, was you know, trying to go out there, and yeah, I couldn't make it through the physical I guess, you know. So, uh No, I'm like, like we were talking about earlier, just happy to be back in Arizona. Man, and no man pump for this opportunity.

00:28:11
Speaker 2: You have no idea how good spring training is in Florida, though I don't.

00:28:14
Speaker 5: I don't, I know.

00:28:15
Speaker 3: So you almost got to go to God's Country for a while for about seven weeks, and you have no idea what how much it's how cool it is to have like beaches and shakes and water and trees and all these cool things that they don't have in Arizona. Now that now the travel is better in Arizona, right, So I'll give you guys that, but you know, Florida's.

00:28:33
Speaker 5: Oh trust me, I was looking forward to it would actually you.

00:28:36
Speaker 3: Would have sweated when you're pitching out in Florida. We've been all these crazy things. You live here, so it obviously is better for you to be here. And I try to explain this all the time, explain how important those extra six to seven weeks are just at home.

00:28:49
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I didn't even realize that. It's funny you say that.

00:28:52
Speaker 8: You know, the off season just felt a little shorter because you know, I've been out here, you know, for spring training for what four or five spring trainings now, and yeah, just you know that two months kind of extra two months is huge. You know, they able to sleep at home and recover, you know at home.

00:29:06
Speaker 5: You know, it's awesome. Man. So uh, that's the biggest thing. You know.

00:29:09
Speaker 8: I'm just happy to be in a familiar place and a little bit of a commute in the morning.

00:29:12
Speaker 5: But not too bad.

00:29:14
Speaker 7: You were already out you said, you're already out in Fort Misery for a week. Correct, that's what you just said.

00:29:19
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's funny you call it that. I've heard that only a couple of times.

00:29:22
Speaker 7: Okay, well only the people that well, you were in the good side of Fort Myers, the Twins side of Fort Myers. That's fort that's Fort Misery.

00:29:29
Speaker 2: There.

00:29:29
Speaker 6: You go, take us through.

00:29:30
Speaker 7: Take take the fans through before we get into your stuff. Take the fans through what it is like. You're out there, you have an apartment getting everything back out to Arizona. I know you live here, but it's not like, oh cool, get my glove, I'll get my cleats, and I'll just stroll onto the plane.

00:29:46
Speaker 6: Like there's more than that.

00:29:47
Speaker 7: The team has to cover your apartment that's out in Florida.

00:29:51
Speaker 8: Correct, one hundred percent, you know, and I'm lucky enough. I know a great guy over there, Cutter Crawford, and I was living out of his place, so it made the transaction a little easier over there. So yeah, man, but like you said it, you know, it was like got the rental car all figured out out there and then uh, you know, it's just a lot of moving pieces. And yeah, it was was back the Arizona the next day and here we go again, you know.

00:30:14
Speaker 5: Just ready to go exactly.

00:30:16
Speaker 8: You don't have had, you don't have a family, just a girlfriend and yeah, it's very very to do everything right. She takes care of a lot of it. So yeah, I mean, yeah, you know, like you're transuming. Krats is like twelve kids.

00:30:26
Speaker 3: Yeah he got traded, he got he had to transport like twelve kids back and forth. Oh yeah, so it's a little bit different. What did you think when you got traded? Because it's already your second time being traded. It's not like you're an old old guy, right, Yeah, you know, it's crazy it's twice and for some big name guys, yeah.

00:30:41
Speaker 8: For sure, in a short amount of time too, you know, the two teams. But you know, for me, it's just you know, after that first one. Like I've been telling everyone earlier, it's like, yeah, I knew everyone in San Francisco very well, and that was more of the shock, you know. But you know, we didn't really get my feet settled into Boston. So it's you know, once it happens once, you know, Man, I'm like, you know, it's baseball at the end of the day, and I'm ready to just get the ball and go compete.

00:31:03
Speaker 5: Man. That's it. That's all you got to look at it.

00:31:07
Speaker 6: All right.

00:31:07
Speaker 7: So you so you played in the PCL, the Pacific Coast League and the IL.

00:31:12
Speaker 6: We talked about travel before.

00:31:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, obviously it's the minor leagues. But were you ever able to get your feet under you making that transition you changed an entire new league.

00:31:24
Speaker 6: You obviously want to be in the big leagues.

00:31:26
Speaker 7: You know, you have the pressure of being a centerpiece for the Raffie Devers trade, all of that going on. How could you have made it or how could the team have made that transition easier for you?

00:31:40
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, it's a tough question.

00:31:42
Speaker 8: You know, I personally enjoyed my my experience over in Boston because I got to try new stuff. Man, you know, I got to experience experiment with the cutter. You know, it didn't go go too well down to Worcester there a little bit kind of throw it for a strike for a little bit there, but got the experiment with that a new change up as well and throwing a sinker to lefties. So I think by the time there was honestly cool. They just kind of learned new things, take different things from different guys and the coaches that were great to me. So no, man, it was just taking what I could from there and then now applying it to my game now and just seeing how I could grow day by day.

00:32:16
Speaker 1: What is the tinkering balance? Like when you're with the new team like Boston, they probably come to you, like you said, with some ideas. You want to try it out, but you also want to put up numbers, you want to perform. And then now you head to Milwaukee here and did they have some information or some conversation with you about anything different and how you balance that with performance on the field.

00:32:40
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, I'd say, you know, when I got here, you know, it's a very very chill environment. You know, they kind of let you run the show. You know, hookies out there watching you every day, he's on you during catch play and holding you accountable. So it's just been little talks here and there, you know, worrying about the arsenal stuff later as I get into games more and more or and no, man, you know, it's just there's still a lot of confidence in here and I've I've sensed nothing but great thanks from these guys, and I'm just excited to get better each and every day here.

00:33:10
Speaker 5: Man. It's it's a great organization and I'm just happy to be here.

00:33:14
Speaker 2: What do you think they do different here?

00:33:16
Speaker 8: Sorry, I don't know, man, It's it's hard to say, you know, just because I've only been here for what a week and a half, so, but I'd say just the attention, the detail to everything, you know, catch play. You know, I was telling Hooky, you know, I'm like, I haven't worked this hard and catch play in my you know, five years I've been a pro ball and it's just little stuff, you know, an external cue.

00:33:36
Speaker 2: To play catch?

00:33:36
Speaker 5: Do you know they answer that question play catch.

00:33:39
Speaker 2: Because you're not supposed to play.

00:33:41
Speaker 5: You're supposed to have a catch.

00:33:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, it's called catch play.

00:33:44
Speaker 8: It's a catch play, you know, it's it's uh, you know, it translates to the mound, you know, and that's what you know. It's crazy that's taken me this long. Toy kind of realize that. But you gotta treat every day, you know, like you're just working hard man, you know, that's it. And you know they're looking at my external hughes, you know, setting up cones, you know, in front of a home plate to just keep me in line, you know, keep everything in there. So just a lot of different stuff that I'm trying. And it's cool, man, it's cool experiment. And yeah, these guys are great.

00:34:14
Speaker 7: You haven't been there very long. What's the one thing you constantly keep hearing? You talked about catch play, talked about the work. What's the one thing that's a constant that you're hearing throughout from Matt Arnold when he traded for you to Murph, to Hooky, the pitching coach, all that stuff.

00:34:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, that we don't I mean honestly that we don't care.

00:34:34
Speaker 6: You know.

00:34:34
Speaker 5: We just we want to work hard.

00:34:35
Speaker 8: And you know, standings, projections, all that stuff. You know, we don't care about that stuff, you know, And that's something I've I've felt and it's just about the work each and every day. And we work hard here man, and it's it's cool to see.

00:34:52
Speaker 2: Does Murph I have a nickname for you yet?

00:34:54
Speaker 5: Not yet?

00:34:55
Speaker 2: You know, does he know your name? Does he call you by the proper name?

00:34:57
Speaker 5: He does?

00:34:58
Speaker 3: He does every everybody he calls by something, right, So you haven't gotten to that.

00:35:02
Speaker 5: I haven't gotten to that point yet.

00:35:03
Speaker 8: You know. I got him a little cup of ice the other day. You know, I was, I was shaking a little bit. It was down in the dugout. He was asking me. You know, hey, you've been in big leagues before, right, you could fill me up so someone can find some ice. And I'm over there over thinking the world of it. So I think he's gonna have some fun with me for sure.

00:35:17
Speaker 2: Okay, did you grow up a Giants fan because you grew up in the Bay Area?

00:35:21
Speaker 5: Yeah?

00:35:21
Speaker 8: No, I wasn't really a Giants my fan, because you know, we just go to the A's games right there, you know, little little tailgate play catch. You know, it's a couple of glizzies. I mean, walk down behind home plate, get the bleacher. Growing up going to those games.

00:35:38
Speaker 3: So then it didn't break your heart that much when you got traded from the Giants.

00:35:41
Speaker 5: Not too bad, you know, just the relationships.

00:35:44
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, but.

00:35:45
Speaker 5: No man, no man. Obviously that was a team that drafted me.

00:35:48
Speaker 8: Being home was awesome, but no man, this, as you know, baseball season consumes you anyway, So it's it's baseball.

00:35:54
Speaker 5: Man.

00:35:54
Speaker 3: Well, since your as I was thinking of, you're a Giants fan, your family could have talked about the legend that was me as of San Francisco Giants. They did retire my jersey.

00:36:04
Speaker 5: Ye, my dad was a Giants fan. I'll give you that.

00:36:05
Speaker 3: So yeah, sure, so just make sure you're reminded them that you met a guy who's retired by the Giants.

00:36:10
Speaker 2: I will let him hold out and then you.

00:36:12
Speaker 1: What real quick while we're on that, because you know, we don't talk to a ton of players and necessarily grew up in the area and we're going to A's games.

00:36:21
Speaker 5: Did you did it.

00:36:21
Speaker 1: Break your heart when you saw that the team left and they're in Sacramento now, but obviously they're going to Vegas. I don't think oh.

00:36:30
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, minor leagues. I mean last year to Sacramento. So yeah, man, you know, just yeah, I definitely playing that last game there with the Giants.

00:36:39
Speaker 5: I didn't pitch in it, but I was sitting.

00:36:41
Speaker 8: That was my first time playing a game there in the dugout and just standing up in that dugout, I was like looking up at the you know, second deck.

00:36:47
Speaker 5: It was only a second deck.

00:36:48
Speaker 8: I was used to seeing third decks, and I'm like, yeah, I'm going to miss this place, man, just this is where you know, I grew up going to games. My brother was the biggest Coco Crisp fan. So yeah, man, you know, it was just an awesome spot and for sure gonna miss it.

00:37:00
Speaker 3: Then when you went to the Red Sox, didn't Coco Chris get in a fight with the Red Sox when he was with the Red Sox or against the Red Sox?

00:37:06
Speaker 2: Which one was it?

00:37:06
Speaker 5: Which one was it?

00:37:07
Speaker 6: Yeah?

00:37:08
Speaker 2: He was with the Red Sox. He went after James Shields right yeah, yeah with the race.

00:37:13
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:37:13
Speaker 2: So when you then you.

00:37:14
Speaker 3: Became a Red Sox where you're like, i know, put the same uniform on as Coco Cris.

00:37:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, my brother definitely was probably high.

00:37:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it. You grew up it.

00:37:22
Speaker 8: You went to day LaSalle High School? Yep, disappointed my dad. I didn't play football there yeah.

00:37:27
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, what was it like going to a football school.

00:37:29
Speaker 8: It was, uh, you know, it was good, you know, but baseball wasn't far behind. That's what I didn't even like four hundred games in a row. It was like a documentary on Dayla style football. Yep, when the game stands tall and the movie that came out what crap like twenty thirteen, you know, something like that.

00:37:46
Speaker 5: So that's some history there.

00:37:47
Speaker 8: And definitely wanted to have a summer, want to have a future in baseball, I felt like. So I had to, you know, unfortunately not play football there, but couldn't run the vier anyway.

00:37:56
Speaker 2: So if you were a quarterback, would you have been like a dropback?

00:38:00
Speaker 7: Yeah?

00:38:01
Speaker 8: You know, I like to think I had an armed but you know we ran them veer, so you know, we just I wasn't fast enough.

00:38:06
Speaker 5: Man.

00:38:06
Speaker 2: You can do all the fakes and stuff.

00:38:09
Speaker 8: Well, that wasn't my game, you know. It was more of the drop back a little quick. We left the quarterbacks look weird.

00:38:14
Speaker 2: When do you throw in a game? Here?

00:38:16
Speaker 5: I want to say next at the end of this week.

00:38:18
Speaker 8: Next week I got to go a little bullpended Day Live VP coming up soon. Two ups, So we'll be in the game here soon.

00:38:25
Speaker 5: I think.

00:38:26
Speaker 2: Are you excited?

00:38:27
Speaker 5: I am? I am?

00:38:28
Speaker 8: I am a good opportunity here, and just the guys are great. You know, you know how many pitchers you use in the season somewhere of stressing, you know, we're using a lot of guys. So yeah, man, it takes a village to you know, get to the postseason.

00:38:42
Speaker 3: When you face the Giants. Well, I guess you played the Red Sox too. Will there be a little more adrenale for which one? Maybe for the Giants or the Red Sox.

00:38:50
Speaker 5: I don't know.

00:38:51
Speaker 8: I don't know personally, you know, I just think I think there's gonna be adrenaline every time I go out there, man, I think.

00:38:57
Speaker 3: But you know, there'll be a little there'll be a little more spike for probably for the Giants because they drafted you in trade first, right, you were rolling your retsy for a short time.

00:39:06
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, I have no bad feelings, but you know, you know it as well as a player. You know, it's just you want to go and improve yourself any time, you know, show them what they're missing to say it, right, you know?

00:39:16
Speaker 5: Okay, Yeah, I like that.

00:39:19
Speaker 1: Well, Kyle, we really appreciate the time. Great to see you. Yeah, welcome to Arizona and we'll talk to you during the year. Bet I'm Jim Futures. Here's a special ninety plus wins. Dodgers aren't on here. It's too high. They're not going to put them on the board. But it starts with the Yankees and Mets at minus one twenty five, Phillies one fifteen to one hundred one hundred, Mariners minus one ten, and then you get into the plus money teams like the Braves and Blue Jays at plus one oh five, the Cubs at plus one fifteen crafts. Last year, there were eight teams that one ninety are more games? Which one is your favorite from this list.

00:40:04
Speaker 7: Because of the money and because of the team less things going on around them. The Mariners, I think the Mariners in that division, they did it last year. I think they learned this is what it takes for us to make it to the playoffs. They seem like they're in Oregon that's not afraid to make moves. Obviously signing Nailor and making the two acquisitions, the two big acquisitions. It's a trade deadline last year. So I'm gonna go Mariners, because that's who I got coming out of the the American League West Okay, And they're all close here.

00:40:35
Speaker 1: The ones that we're showing between one twenty five minus won twenty five and plus one fifteen. AJ's their team on the board here you feel really good about for ninety plus wins.

00:40:43
Speaker 3: Well, the Mariners I picked them to win the AL and the blue Jays. The blue Jays are plus money. I mean, they won ninety four last year and everyone feels like they got better. So I think the blue Jays are another one that should should be up there. The Cubs, the division got has gotten better, so that's the one thing I worry about. With the Cubs and the Phillies, I think will probably figure out a way to win ninety games. It's actually surprised to be the Yankees and the Mets or the two that have the highest odds. Maybe that's just because of where they're located in a little East Coast bias, but I think the Mariners and the Blue Jays and me are the two on this list that make the most sense.

00:41:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Yankees and Mets being the same as kind of wild too. I think the Mets, ceiling wise is just as good as the Yankees, but I think the floor is much lower. I think the Yankees floor is much higher than what the Mets have just based on so much roster turnover. But the projections really like the Mets.

00:41:35
Speaker 5: Clearly.

00:41:36
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