Fair Territory: Trey Yesavage’s shoulder injury, Seiya Suzuki injury update, WBC review

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo. Before getting started, I want to thank Tim Kirkchin for hosting on Monday with Alana. And I'm going to admitute Alana admitt it right off the bat. I've got a little bit of a WBC hangover. I'm going to south through today. I'm playing hurt a little bit. But man, that was something else.

00:00:23
Speaker 2: I tell you it has come and gone.

00:00:25
Speaker 3: I hate that every three years, but what a blast that it was. And I tell you what, Ken, it was a lot of fanfare, a lot of celebrations, but some moments really stood out.

00:00:34
Speaker 2: What for you?

00:00:36
Speaker 1: Well, Thank goodness. By the way, it's only three years. I don't know if I can do it every year, but let's start with one that I know we've both identified. You take it away, all.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: Right, Show Hey Otani.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: I mean, and I know everyone thinks I'm a Dodger homer, but I think you just have to be a baseball fan to appreciate. Maybe I don't even have to be a baseball fan to appreciate with show, Hey Otani not only getting emotional pre tournament when he saw the Japanese flag. It was a beautiful, seamless transition from the flag though Tani's emotion. But the grand Slam, the batflip, I mean, just everything that this guy does, tremendous numbers of course during the WBC that just has carried on from last season with the Dodgers. This matters, guys, the base of the game, both domestically and internationally. Show Heyo Tani. It was pretty pretty sweet to see ken a lota.

00:01:27
Speaker 1: I'll go with another one from the Japan side of the tournament, the pool in Japan. This was when the Czech electrician Andreas Satoria got an ovation in Japan. They knew it was his final game. Now, the backstory with Satoria is not just that he's an electrician, but that he struck out Otani in the twenty twenty three WBC And it was just a really sweet moment and he stood on the field, he took it all in. It was really just touching to see how the Japanese fans were embracing this player from the Czech repub or Chechia, i should say, And it was one of the more heartwarming memories that will all take from the tournament.

00:02:08
Speaker 3: It just goes to show you that just because you know, you don't have to be the size of Aaron Judge to make an impact in this game. I mean, this is a very non assuming, unassuming person, and he delivered brilliantly in both of the World Baseball Classics that he was in. Somebody that has a bit more of a well known name, Ken Vinnie pas Quentino obviously plays for the Kansas City Royals, but he was the absolute ring leader of Team Italy and being able to obviously have the three home runs in one game, and then the espresso shots for each home run, and then the double kisses and all of the things. We know that that Ned Colletti of course was the architect of the team in terms of as the general manager, but Vinnie pass Quentino really was the rallying cry for Team Italy, and the attention paid to Team Italy and baseball well has gone up leaps and bounds because of this tournament and kind of the Cinderella story of what Team Italy was supposed to do, all led by Vinnie Pasquentino.

00:03:09
Speaker 1: A lot of you're absolutely right, Team Italy in many ways was the story of the tournament. This was our Cinderella, and those guys were a riot with the espresso chugging and everything else that they were doing. The Armani jackets. I remember at the start of the tournament. Initially the espresso was too hot and the trainers of the athletic trainers of Team Italy kind of had to take over and pre make the shots so the players weren't burning their throats. That was just a fun team to be around, and man, what a performance they had. Now I'll go with another one right off the bat. This is advancing to the championship game. Bryce Harper's two run game tying homer in the eighth inning, not just the homer, but the full Harper effect, the trot around the bass third base, He of course salutes coming around third and Nanny points to the US flag on his jersey, and then coming home he pumps his fist in a big way. At that moment, so many of us thought, Okay, US is going to figure this out. They haven't hit really the way they should have the entire tournament, but they're gonna get there. And it didn't happen. And it didn't happen. Why because of the team of course that they faced and Team Venezuela what a tremendous run to the WBC title. Their first WBC title, it was their first final, and you saw throughout the tournament, but especially that final night all of the emotions on display. And this Bryce Harper as well, greeting the members of Team Venezuela after the game. But the Venezuelan passion that we saw and the emotion that we saw, just the way that they played, the way they went about it. It was a lot for me, one of the cooler things that I can remember in any ballpark. And I'll give you a funny story too, and a lot of you'll appreciate this as a former sideline reporter during the Venezuela Italy game the semi final, when they made their run. I think it was in the eighth inning. I can't remember exactly, but Venezuela of course got that one inning. They got it really going. Crowd was going nuts in Miami. There's a ton of Venezuelan's in Miami. And I'm standing in the photo pit where I always am, and you have contact with fans. They're right behind you. Know, there's usually a netting that separates the reporters and the photographers from the fans, but you're right there. And at one point when that rally was going on, there's stuff coming out of the stands, water and beer and peanuts, and I'm getting nail and I turned around just kind of looked around and this Venezuelan and fans said, Ken, have you ever seen anything like this? And the answer, of course was no, I had never seen anything like it. And congratulations the team venezuela amazing performance and just cool to see how they reacted and how much it meant to them. It meant so much.

00:05:58
Speaker 3: It's such a beautiful tournament and the emotion was so real. And I love what you said about Bryce Harper. Obviously he was the offense in the final game for Team USA, but pointing to the United States flag when he's rounding the bases, and we all thought that would be a lasting moment in a victory for the United States, but you had mentioned it quickly, Ken, when Bryce Harper went and congratulated each member of the Venezuelan team, I thought that was such a class act. Another moment that stood out to me and we didn't even discuss in our production meeting, was when Team USA sent Team USA Hockey sent Team USA Baseball all of the game warn jerseys, and you know, it's like, I think it was PCA that had Jack Hughes's jersey, and seeing the guys walk in with the hockey sweaters, I thought was such a cool moment. Because we've talked about it at length Ken how the WBC some guys say perhaps it's a little bit more important than a World Series championship, and how I would like to see baseball back of the Olympics with major league players in the Olympics. It doesn't matter what sport it is when you're watching the Olympics, right, I always go back to when they're doing the cross country skiing and they're shooting. I apologize, I don't know the name of the sport, but you're watching for the jersey. You're not watching for the sport. And I think that's what makes this so unbelievable to watch, is when you put on a USA jersey or Venezuela jersey, your team Italy or Brazil or you know, Chetsia or whatever. It is so important to these players. So that really stood out to me too. But when you're talking about Venezuela in general. You talk to him after the game, can A you henne O Suarez with the emotion he has the Venezuelan flag draped over him coming out of the dugout Palencia. Before he even threw the final out of the game. Can he had tears on the mound coming from his eyes. We all know that baseball is a product of levity for people. It's an escape for people. We all know what's happened to Venezuela in terms of civil unrest over the course of the last five, six, seven, eight years. But for Venezuela to be able to say that they're the best in baseball, at the emotions that were shown and the path that they took to get h I tell you it was a very special moment. I'm so psyched that you were able to be their phenomenal coverage all around the board, and I can't wait for the next one.

00:08:10
Speaker 1: Well thanks, Alana. It was a privilege and a pleasure. It was just so much fun. And I always tell people I remember saying this before the tournament. I believe on our show that if you don't like it, I get it. If you don't believe that it should be taking place in spring training when we're getting ready for the major league season. I understand that concern, that criticism, but what I always tell people is just watch the games. The games are amazing, and we saw that again in this WBC.

00:08:35
Speaker 4: Now back to the major league portion of our program and our schedule. We've got some news out of Blue Jays camp this morning, and it's disturbing news, not necessarily surprising. Treya Savage, the great rookie who had that amazing run in the postseason last year, is going to start the season on the injured list with a shoulder impingement.

00:08:55
Speaker 1: Now they've been slow playing with him. They feel he's going to be okay. But this is the fourth Blue Jays starting pitcher to go on the IL. Or who will start the season on the IL Shane Bieber, of course, he has yet to throw off a mound four on fatigue is his situation. Jose Berrios, he has a stress fractor in his elbow. Boden Francis has already undergone season ending UCL surgery, So they're left with a rotation that is still pretty good. Don't get me wrong. It's Gossman and Cease and Scherzer and Cody Ponce and Eric Lauer, who was feeling he was going to get left out early in camp and now you're the fifth started out. We need you, buddy. So that's where the Blue Jays are.

00:09:36
Speaker 5: It's not ideal, obviously, but what they'll try to do is obviously get through with the rotation pieces that they have, and then as these players come back from their injuries, they should be in a better place, assuming, of course, no one else gets hurt.

00:09:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right about the remainder of the rotation.

00:09:56
Speaker 3: Can thank goodness that Dylan Cease went there right, Thank god that Max Shr's are really wanted to go back to Toronto obviously. Kevin Gossman just said yesterday on foul Territory because foul Territory was at Blue Jay's camp, he'd love to finish his career in Toronto.

00:10:11
Speaker 2: So they still have some good guys there.

00:10:13
Speaker 3: But it's a shame to hear that the left shoulder impigment with excuse me, with your savage is a right shoulder impingement rather with you savage is happening.

00:10:22
Speaker 5: All right?

00:10:22
Speaker 3: Another bit of news, if you will say a Suzuki, do you have an update with him and the Cubs can.

00:10:28
Speaker 1: No the Athletics. Patrick Mooney has reported that they're continuing to evaluate him and it's a strange posterior cruciate living. It's obviously not ideal, but Craig Counsel believes that it's actually good news. You see they tweet from Patrick there yesterday. The club is going to wait until the weekend before making a decision on his Opening day availability. Opening day is overrated. If the guy's not ready for opening day, no harm, no fouls, can start the season in five days and ten days, whatever. But as long as he's not going to miss a significant amount of time, that is good news. The other significant injury in this tournament was to the White Sox catcher Kyle Tiel, who was playing for Team Italy. But overall, by and large, there weren't many injuries in this tournament. Now, could there be a carryover effect with some of the pitchers, yes, of course, But for the most part, that fear that all teams have about their players getting hurt, those fears were not realized. And as much as the team sit on the WBC managers and coaches to protect their guys, seems like the WC managers and coaches did a pretty good job, and of course some of this is luck as well, and of course injuries happen in spring training as well. I always kind of get amused by all the worry and all the pressure that the Major league clubs put on the WBC clubs. I don't know that the major league clubs do such a great job keeping their players healthy, and yet they're in a constant panic about the WBC.

00:11:56
Speaker 2: Honestly, Ken, we've talked about this before.

00:11:59
Speaker 3: Some of the wacky injuries that have happened to guys Chris Sale riding a bike clip barm has fallen up the stairs with a rack of beer on his back, or whatever the heck it was.

00:12:08
Speaker 2: Things happen.

00:12:09
Speaker 3: But getting out of the WBC relatively unscathed, I will take that as a win. Fair territory with Ken, Rosenthal continues. In just a moment, we're going to be back from with a few words, and we're going to be back with Grill and Ken.

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00:13:30
Speaker 2: All right, we.

00:13:30
Speaker 3: Welcome you back to Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal Ken. Our first question here on Grill and Ken is from Elvis Santoyo. When discussing a player's decision to participate in the World Baseball Classic, the focus tends to be on the potential negatives, makes sense, risk of injury, leaving the team to schedule those types of things. What are some of the positive things that are less discussed effects.

00:13:51
Speaker 2: I love that. Take the silver lining.

00:13:54
Speaker 1: I love that too, Elvis. And it's a great point you're making, because there is a lot of positive now. The biggest positive obviously for players is they get to play for their countries, and that means a lot to so many of them, including the US players. We'll get to that in our next segment. But another positive for players, and American players have spoken about this, perhaps a little bit more in depth than other players from other countries, the idea of being with so many quality players, sharing ideas, sharing information, being around each other and just kind of vibing off each other, for lack of a better phrase. Young players learn from the older players. Bobby with Junior, for instance, in twenty twenty three, learned from the veterans Roman Anthony. This year, of course, he played a pivotal role, was all tournament, but just being around Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for him, that was a big deal. So, yes, there are a lot of positives to playing in the WBC. I'll give you one more. Carlos Santana had just joined the Arizona Diamondbacks this season, and the Diamondbacks allowed him to play even without insurance because they they wanted him to be with Martee and Perdomo on the Dominican Republic team. These are new teammates. They wanted them to get to know each other. So there are all kinds of positives. And there's one more I'll mention too. I know I keep saying one more. Griffin Jacks mentioned this to me that you have to prepare quickly obviously for the WBC, and once you get in the game action. He felt he wasn't necessarily ready, but he got ready real quick. So it does prepare players for the season in that sense, Ken.

00:15:27
Speaker 3: Could the WBC be any sort of auditioning platform for players, Perhaps not on major league not on a Major League Baseball roster, but think about the eyes of the world on all of the games and all of the players. Perhaps if a guy is trying to make his way to the big league level or another professional team someplace, the KBO or whatever it is, could it be a kind of a jumping off point for a guy trying to get a.

00:15:48
Speaker 1: Job a lot And that is a great point too, And I'll give you two examples of this, John Birdie playing for Team Italy, the infielder veteran was without a job, still without a job, but his performance, well, maybe that will get him a minor league deal somewhere as the season gets closer. And the other one, this is not major league related, but it was really interesting that first US Brazil game. Joseph Contreras, the son of Jose Contreras. He got Aaron Judge to ground into a double play. He's seventeen years old. Did he raise his draft stock? Oh? I believe he raised his draft stock. So there are all kinds of benefits. Now, he obviously is not a major league player. It's a different scenario. But you get what I'm saying here, and a lot of you're right that. I'm sure there are certain players who improve their standings in their organization. Some of those Team Italy young players certainly did, and yes, there are benefits in that way.

00:16:41
Speaker 2: The E line wants to know.

00:16:42
Speaker 3: Ken In regards to Rocky shortstop Ezekiel Tovar's value has it grown due to his WBC performance. He had a great tournament.

00:16:51
Speaker 1: Tovar is a player who is coming on, and he reported to camp in great shape, looking really athletic, and he's a guy that was all ready an emerging star. But he played with a certain level of intensity in this tournament, as a lot of players did that. Maybe we haven't seen to the same extent. It's a lot different playing for your country than for the Colorado Rockies, let's face it. So I expect Tovar, who already has won a goal glove, to continue improving offensively and to be someone we're talking about in the All Star conversations going forward. He is a unique player. The Rockies love him, love his maturity, love the way he goes about it, his professionalism. So yes, he is a rising star.

00:17:32
Speaker 3: I think the Rockies are going to be better this year than they have been in recent past. They have some new ownership, not ownership, but leadership. I'llbe it, same owner, some same lineage, but looking for some outside ideas, which I think is going to be good for them. Okay, another question here, Ken is in regards to Connor Griffin. We keep talking about this young man. He was just on the show a couple of days ago on foul Territory when we were at Pirates Camp. Is Connor Griffin, nineteen years old? The best prospect that we have ever seen. That's an interesting adjective.

00:18:04
Speaker 1: That's a strong comment, and we're all always victims of recency bias. Now, is he one of the better prospects we've seen?

00:18:12
Speaker 5: Yes?

00:18:12
Speaker 1: Is he kind of at the level where Trout and Griffy were at the same stages of their careers, just in terms of not hype, but the way teams view them. Yeah, I would say he is. Now. That doesn't mean he's going to break with the Pirates and open the season with them, but there are teams that have internal metrics on him based on his minor league performance, that rate him really highly, almost shockingly highly. I had one tell me that he would be the fifth best shortstop in the major leagues right now by their evaluation. That's incredible. He hasn't played a major league game yet, So yes, he is one of the better prospects we've seen in some time. And whenever he gets to Pittsburgh, it's going to be a really exciting.

00:18:53
Speaker 3: Moment, all right, So more exciting perhaps or better prospect than Steven Strasburg or Paul Skimes.

00:19:01
Speaker 1: Both those guys are pretty big prospects, and there was a lot of excitement over both of them. Both were number one picks overall, and the draft Connor Griffin was not so alta. We could make a list of guys and those are two good ones who have been hyped and had anticipation around them. Connor Griffin is in that category. I don't know if he's the best prospect we've ever seen. I don't know that you can raid him that way, but he is in that kind of conversation that will take place when we talk about, Okay, who were the best prospects ever to reach the majors. Roman Anthony was a great prospect last year when he reached the majors. So it's kind of a subjective thing, but he is way up there.

00:19:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's a man among boys, I guess in terms of obviously his stature, his body, his physique and his poise and just the way that he goes about his I mean, he's nineteen years old, Kenny's already married. There's something, you know, just a little bit more mature, it seems about Connor Griffin.

00:19:57
Speaker 2: Nice young man.

00:19:57
Speaker 3: Of course, I enjoyed getting to know him a little bit earlier this week. All right, much more to come on, fair territory a few words after this, but we're gonna hear a dude and dork of the week in a moment.

00:20:08
Speaker 1: Dude, dude, dude.

00:20:10
Speaker 3: D all Right, Ken, I think I'll go first on my dude of the week. Earlier this morning, it was announced by how He Rose, the long time radio play by play announcer for the New York Mets, that this season will be his last in the booth. I love how He Rose. He's always done a tremendous job. Obviously, he's covered the Metropolitans for decades. He's so well regarded, pretty revered. And congratulations Howie. You deserve to go out on your own terms and in your own way. And we had a comment Ken in our chat from armand is amazing how he Rose announced his last season as Mets radio announcer. Do you have any stories with Howie? Obviously this is someone that you've known for a long time as well.

00:20:56
Speaker 1: I actually don't I know how how he to say hello, And obviously we've talked over the years, but I don't have any particular stories. But a lot of what is so cool about this is that he is revered that fan base the New York Mets fan base loves him. They've listening to him. He is an encyclopedia of Mets knowledge. That's gonna be a big loss in some ways. The institutional knowledge he has of this team, there's no one else who will ever have that. He's been there for all these years and it's been a joy to listen to him. He's a class act. Everybody loves him. It's just a great choice for Dude to the Week. I will go with Team Venezuela's manager, Omar Lopez, who is someone that we don't talk about much when we talk about future managerial candidates, and yet he should be in that conversation. And you saw what he did with this team in the WBC. He said it was a little bit different than some of his past teams because the guys, the younger guys, were quieter and he wasn't so sure about them. But obviously they got there and he got them there. And he has a terrific personality. He's got charisma, he has all the things you would want in a major league manager. And I know everybody wants to hire the next big college manager, the next thirty one year old. How about a guy who's kind of been in the trenches forever, a guy who has paid his dues. We've gotten away from that. It bothers me, we've gotten away from that. Here is a candidate who would make a lot of sense the next time openings arise. Omar Lopez due.

00:22:23
Speaker 5: To the week.

00:22:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, I loved his embrace with Francisco Cervelli after Italy lost to Venezuela as well. All right, time now for our dork of the week. All right, Ken, I'm going to go to the Giants. They're gonna make their foul poles with a Chick fil A sponsorship. Listen, I love Chick fil A. I'm always bummed when I want Chick fil A and it's on a Sunday because they're closed. I love the chicken sandwich, extra pickles, It's amazing. But Ken, there's not a Chick fil A in the ballpark. There's not even a Chick fil A in San Francisco.

00:22:59
Speaker 2: What are we doing?

00:23:01
Speaker 1: I don't know what we're doing a lot, but I know this. The Giants are going to get a check from Chick fil A, and that's what they want a check. So this is what drives teams, It's what drives the League. It's what drives really the entire American economy. Everybody looking for the next check world no different ourselves than individuals, So.

00:23:19
Speaker 5: I get it.

00:23:19
Speaker 1: It's just a little weird that there's no Chick fil A available at the park or in the city.

00:23:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, you gotta go to you gotta go to Oakland to get your sandwich ken. All right, who's your dork of the week?

00:23:31
Speaker 1: My dork of the week are all of those people out there who believe the Team USA players did not care as much as the players from Venezuela, the players from the Dominican Republic. No, they might not have shown that they cared as much as those players did. They didn't have the outward passion that we saw from the other countries. But obviously they cared, and they cared a lot. You saw that when they walked off the field after getting to Meddle. Some of them were taking the metals off. They didn't want silver, and this whole notion of the other countries want it more. Well, I would say the Dominican Republic probably wanted it more than the United States. But did they win. No, they got beat by the United States because guess what, the US guys wanted it to. So it's so funny to me. Ten years ago, fifteen years ago, we had the unwritten rules. We were talking about celebrations by certain players in a negative way. Oh my gosh, how can you do that? It's an offense to the game. Now, if you don't do that, that's an offense to the game.

00:24:35
Speaker 3: Just stop it.

00:24:36
Speaker 2: These guys can off your mind.

00:24:38
Speaker 3: All you need to know, America is that we got a massive smile and a woo out of Paul Skiings.

00:24:44
Speaker 2: That's how much they care. Paul Skiin smiled. Everybody.

00:24:47
Speaker 3: Thanks for getting in your questions for Ken. We appreciate it. Ken as always, thank you for all of the insight. Don't forget everybody. Fair Territory returns on Monday with Ken. Until then, have a great wait. Don't forget Dodger's territory this afternoon at three pm Eastern.

00:25:02
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