Braves Hire Two More Coaches and MLB Free Agent Predictions

00:00:21
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Himmer Territory podcast. This is episode two. My name is Brad Roland and I'm joined on tonight's podcast on a Sunday evening in our traditional time slots by Scott Coleman. Scott, I'm not gonna ask about the NFL. How are you hello, Brad?

00:00:38
Speaker 2: I have to say before we officially started recording the show. For those watching on YouTube, Brad's name in the lower third was changed to Sad Falcons Fan. I poured one out for Brad before recording. We are not going to talk about the game today. And officially, Brad, it is the off season for Major League Baseball. I think the last time you and I did a podcast, we were still kind of been that purgatory period between the World Series and the off season officially beginning. As of Sunday night, there has not been a damn thing that's happened transaction wise for the Braves or anybody else in baseball. But I don't know, maybe in the next week to ten days we'll start to get some movement, maybe in early signing, maybe some trades. There's usually a little bit of activity before Thanksgiving.

00:01:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, it will start to heat up a little bit, and just to say at the top of the show if people are new to the show, we will not usually open with football talk, but it was a rare occasion where I am a Falcons fan, Scott as a Colts fan. We don't usually square off Scott and I on sports. Our other co hosts, Stephen and Sean are like rivals in multiple sports, whereas Scott and I are really not. So as a rare occasion, the Falcon should have won today will be bet alone for now, and we're also part of foul Territory as a network. Check us out on subscribe to the podcast just search hambora territory and a fairit podcast platform. We appreciate you being here as always, but yeah, it's been kind of busy, but not in a you know, frantic way. The biggest thing, of course, is that Wat Weiss is the manager you want to talks about that in emergency fashion only five days ago, basically at this point, and since then it's been reactions to the coaching staff. The most richart show on this podcast feed was Steve and Sean talking about a pre major day of contract decisions only three days ago. Now with Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson not having their options picked up, for example. Let's listen to that show for a deep dive on that, but we'll get to some later on. We'll get to some of the internet's MLB free agent predictions. It's always a fun game for siccos like us to go through the kind of three major projections at MLB trade rumors, Fangrafts, and ESPN. They kind of go with their top fifties, et cetera. With like actual dollar projections. We'll get to that later on, but first, there actually is some news in between our last recording and now. The Braves have added They have not finalized yet, keep that in mind, but they have added more to their coaching staff. So on Friday they put out there that Tony Mezzolino is the new third base coach and Jpe Martinez is the new bullpen coach for the Braves. Of course, that comes after a couple more things right now, it's previous to that that Sean Steven discussed. But Scott, how are you feeling about the coaching staff right now? Acknowledge that there is still at least one spot open. The bench coach role was still open, but these are pretty interesting and honestly pretty big names compared to what these jobs are, and the Braves are clearly investing in also notably changing over a lot on their staff.

00:03:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we will dig into Tony Mansolino and JP Martinez a little bit more in just a moment. But I want to say something, Brad off the top. If folks heard our show right after the Braves hired Waltwiss, I think it was fair to say we were both a little underwhelmed because it felt like the Braves were just going to run it back. And at the time I at least felt, based on some of the messaging that the Braves might just kind of run it back with a lot of the coaches, from Rick Kranitz to Tim Hyers, to Eddie Perez, Freddie Gonzalez, Tom Goodwin, and that was something I really felt like was going to be a step in the wrong direction. That being said, Brad, on paper, this new coaching staff is as good as there is and as qualified as there is in Major League Baseball. You have coaches who have been interim managers in the past, you have very highly regarded pitching coach now in place with Jeremy Hefner. You have a highly regarded first base coach in the mix, and now your bullpen coach, Jp Martinez is a former pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants, and the Giants have thrown the ball really well. So I think we are still somewhat cautiously optimistic that this is all going to work. But in the last couple of days in particular, I think the coaching staff hires have been really strong across the board, and I'm excited to see how they round out this group.

00:04:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's fair. We were relatively underwhelmed.

00:04:51
Speaker 2: You and I.

00:04:52
Speaker 1: We were not killing it either. Like there are people that were much more negative than we were about the hire of what weiss. But I am encouraged, as the word I we use about out the not that they have to change everything, you know, some of the pushback that we did get and trying to go too deep into the pushback that we always get sometimes, but it was like that we were trying to run away from Brave's history and it's like, no, the Braves have been really good for a long time. We should we should acknowledge that the Brase that's done very well for a long time. We're not saying otherwise, you should embrace that, but what you shouldn't do necessarily, in my opinion, is just like stick to things, just to stick to them. And that was kind of one of the fears. Not necessarily that was going to happen that way, but that was one of the in the back of my head fears. Yeah, this is a young staff, which I it's not, you know, you don't have to be young to be good. It's not an ageous thing. But I think that generally as a stand in for maybe some higher energy, it's a different staff around. Welwi Sue was an older first time not first time manager, but it's first time manager with the Braves. And I think that everyone that they brought in we always acknowledge like we don't know everything about these, especially coaches, and it's it's hard, man, It really is like you're relying on secondhand information. But a lot of really positive reports on all the guys that they brought in, very very qualified staff. You know, we our guys Stephen and Shawn talked about Hefner and Richardson already, but Hefner has been wildly, wildly praised across the board. Basically for his working with the Mets, and it's always a good sign when Mets fans are mad that they're losing a coach, which definitely was the reaction that I saw. I'm pretty sure you saw the same thing I did. Richardson's been really really praised for his especially base stealing and like base running acumen over there at first base. And then the new guys we'll talk about now like still, Like, for instance, you're getting a guy who was literally a pitching coach last season on a successful pitching staff, and he's now going to come in and be your bullpen coach. Like that's not you know, obviously it's overqualified or at least at the minimum, very very well qualified to be a bullpen coach. So for me, this does help the perception in the end. We did say this a number of times in our last discussion, you and I, but in the end, you gotta win. That's kind of all that matters. But it's vibes and attitude, Yeah, I think it's I think it's fairy. I feel a little bit better now between the Highers and also, like I don't know about you, people that people in my life, people that I know are around the team, and like some of that's maybe spin. I've certainly my guard's always up to not be spun black people around organizations, and I mean that on the basketball side, football side, or whatever. My guard is trying to be up on that. But I do think that all the positive reports that I've heard, you can't help but be a little bit more encouraged than you were five days ago. Yeah.

00:07:27
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And let's talk about these two new coaches. The Braves have announced. JP Martinez is the bullpen coach one more time. And Martinez has been with the San Francisco Giants since twenty twenty one. He was an assistant pitching coach with San Francisco from twenty one to twenty four, and then he was elevated to the full time pitching coach in twenty twenty five. And sure, JP Martinez is not the only reason why the Giants have been a really good pitching squad the last couple of years, but you know, since one the Giants rank seventh in Team ERA, first in fifth and second in EXBP over those five years with Martinez as the assistant pitching coach and now pitching coach. That's encouraging and truthfully, this guy feels overqualified to be a wullpen coach and I'm curious to know if he and Hefner are going to work in tandem or what that dynamic will be. But again, man on paper, this is a really strong group on the pitching side for the Braves, and I mean the Braves pitching has been so good the last few years. Losing Rick Kranitz was a legitimate loss and hopefully there's a new voice in the room or voices in the room who can really kind of help advance this pitching staff that has otherwise been really good the last few years.

00:08:44
Speaker 1: For sure, I think that that is one thing that is a little bit not scary. But Cranits we know is really good. Like that's the thing about Rickkranitz, Like he's extremely respected. The results have been really really good. That was the one area of the staff where it was like there's a little bit of may not fear, but like anxiety about not having your Creandits because we just know what he is and it's been established and he's good. But going out and getting Hefner and now Martinez, that's as good as you can realistically do to replace. For credits, and they've gone younger. It's different. I get all that there's uncertainty because of that, but I'm certainly in the encouraged side of things on that. And you know, mans Allino was just an interim manager for one hundred plus games, Like, what was your reaction to that, because you know, that was the Freddie Gonzalez role that they brought in Freddie mid season. That was the whole thing there, And I get why they did that. It was it was a good a good band aid and what was definitely a problem at third base probably prior to that, but that's traditionally been third base coach has been traditionally a role that has some gravitas to it. A lot of former managers or you know Rod Washington of course, was a former manager who who's at that spot for a long time with the Braves. It's a relatively prestigious role. Usually works with the infielders, for example. But matts Allino was again just a manager and things like that was a pretty good addition from what we could see on the outside.

00:09:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, So on Saturday night, I was doing when anybody he does on a Saturday night. I was watching college football and I was doing a bit of a deep dive into Tony Mansolino, the new third base coach. I'm sure everybody was doing the same thing while Alabama and LSU were on TV. But Mansolino, as you said, third base coach with Baltimore since the twenty twenty one season and became the interim manager for the Orioles this past year about a month and a half into the year. If you guys thought the Braves had a down season, and they did, the Orioles were the American League twin of the Braves because everything went wrong for Baltimore this past season. And I will say so when Mansollino became the interim manager for the Orioles, Baltimore was fifteen and twenty eight in the middle of May. Once Mancellino took over as the interim manager, the team went sixty and fifty nine over the last one hundred and nineteen games, much more respectable and just kind of reading around the tea leaves, it seemed like Mansollino was maybe a somewhat of a candidate for the full time job with Baltimore. It seemed like you just kind of got the ship back on the on the right path because it was Baltimore was a disaster to start. They were a five hundred team from that point on. And just reading around man Selina a little bit more, it sounds like he is number one, highly regarded as a great people person. He will command the respect of the players around him, also does good work and the infield is an infield coach. Maybe not the greatest x's and o's guy as a manager, but that's not going to be his concern with the Braves because he's standing at third base. So again, on paper, it feels like a really strong hire, a man of high character, someone who has done the third base job and the majors for five years at this point, reasons to be encouraged. And god knows, we saw an adventure over at third base for a decent amount of twenty twenty five before the Braves finally had to step in and make a change.

00:11:53
Speaker 1: You did not know this, but I actually watched an entire Manslino press conference his post postseason like the manager postseason presser. Basically the Origoles had put it on YouTube in full. When I watched the whole thing, you can try to get a feel. Obviously, it's day to day. I hope we're not talking about third base coach, right, That's the thing, Like day to day once they hire Freddie Gonzalez, do we talking about Freddie Gonzalez more than once the rest of the season. I would say probably not, Like it's that's it's a only if there's an issue position as far as on the outside is concerned. But I thought he handled it really well. There were questions that he was asked about, you know, whether he wanted to be the full time manager basically, and he was kind of like sure, like, but we don't know what that's gonna happen kind of thing. I thought he handled it well. It's one press conference, but you and I are not so far apart in doing weird prep for third base coaching hires. But yeah, I'm encouraged, man, Like, I mean, we don't want to go over moorn about it. I don't think that you should change your entire read of the organization based on who they're hiring to fill out wal White's staff. But I think that all things equal, if you asked me five days ago what the staff would look like, I am encouraged. This is on the higher end of what I thought the staff was going to look like. So that's that's a pause. The bench coach higher that matters a lot. We don't know who's going to be. Maybe it'll be Eddie Perez, mayble to be internal. We just don't know. But that's the one guy that not every time, but that's usually the guy who steps in when the manager gets ejected or gets suspended or gets fired, any of those things. So that that's kind of the insurance policy guy and usually a relatively not a huge name, but someone who we probably know will be the bench coaches my guess. Yeah, we'll see what we'll see. When that happens, we will definitely talk about it. But in the meantime, that's the one big spot is still left.

00:13:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and one more time the folks missed it. We alluded to it quickly earlier. But the belief is that Tim Hires, the hitting coach, will be back again. He is under contract for twenty six and it makes sense if the Braves want to bring Tim Hires back. As frustrating as a chunk of the past season was, I'm not going to fight him on it too much. I think there's kind of a thing with hitting coaches. It's kind of like an offensive coordinator in football, where if you're just changing it over a year after year after year, it's tough get different messaging, different systems. Now. I know football and baseball are not perfect apples to apples, but we'll see on Tim Hires. I think we're all gonna be holding our breath a little bit and see how the team performs come March, in April and May. But I just wanted to at least say out loud that the belief is that Tim Hires will be returning for a second year as hitting coach.

00:14:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I believe dB even just like flat out reported like a source confirmed to him that Hires was back, So that we assume that. I think it's been further in that direction in the last couple of days, So that's the assumption. I think it definitely helped Tim Hires that they had a better second half of the season offensively. I think if they had finished where they were at one point, he might have been in some trouble. But between him already being under contract, which does matter. It's not that much money in the grand skeep of things, but it matters. It's money they have to pay out either way, and that encouraging progress that we saw late in the season. You know, I'm tied with it. I'm not. I've seen a lot of negative reaction to hires being back. I understand that, but I also am not particularly on that side of things. I'm okay with him gettinghim a chance. If it goes badly this, I think we'll probably guessed that he might be in trouble. But that would apply to anyone in that spot, I would guess. So that's right, Yeah, what happens.

00:15:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's hope it doesn't get to that point. And I am I am curious to also see with a new manager, maybe the Braids do add another uniformed coach somewhere. That is something that's become a little more in vogue in baseball the last handful of years. You know, an in game video coordinator is a job the Dodgers have. That's what What was the name of the bench coach the Dodgers had. We almost hired.

00:15:31
Speaker 1: Brad Danny Lamin. Scott had a long day. Scott's up early to watch the CLT this morning.

00:15:36
Speaker 2: Everybody, my brain is, my brain is not working. But teams have different than kind of the traditional hitting coach, pitching coach, like they've added more roles to the bench and we'll see if the Braids do something there.

00:15:47
Speaker 1: Yes we will anyway, that's our coaching staff check in for today. In a second, we'll get to Drake Balwin, who has a big day potentially on Monday, and then some free agency stuff at the end of the show. In the meantime, a word from our partners.

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00:17:01
Speaker 1: Okay Scott. Before we get to pre agents, it's a big day on Monday for the Braves and Drake Baldwin. This is not gonna be a twenty minute preview, but Rookie of the Year will be announced on Monday. Finally, we've talked about Rookie of the Year for several months at this point, but also not recently because nothing's happening. The season was over. Baldwin was always gonna be a finalist. He was, but now the announcement is going to come as we're recording. That's literally in less twenty four hours. Baldwin is one of the three finalists for naturally Rookie of the Year, along with Cubs pitcher Kate Horton and Brewers third baseman Caleb Durban. I've said this before. I know you have two. My belief is that Baldwin should win. I feel very, very convicted in that. I believe strongly that he should win. I also think he will win, but with less conviction than that he should win. How do you feel about it? How do you feel that the stiction at this point?

00:17:51
Speaker 2: Anytime you open up voting to the Baseball Writers Association of America, Yeah, I have to hold your breath just a little bit. And statistically, it is hard to make any kind of a case against Drake Baldwin, to be honest, Obviously you're comparing a catcher to a pitcher in Kate Horton and a third basement in Caleb Durban. I mean, I would sure think that either Baldwin or Horton are going to win. But I mean, if you want to go with the newer stats, Baldwin had both a higher war on Fangrafts and Baseball Reference than Horton. In Durban, he had an eight to ten OPS, which is just a nice, pretty number. It's north of eight hundred, so voters will hopefully see an OPS north of eight hundred for a catcher and go, oh wow, that number sticks up. And he was just so consistent. He had nineteen home runs one hundred and twenty five WRC plus. Defensively, Baldwin was really solid back there. Just steady is how I would describe Drake Baldwin. It wasn't like it was an adventure really at any point for him as a rookie. So I think Baldwin will win. I think he deserves to win, and of course if he does win, the Braves do get that extra draft pick, which would be really bad unofficial for next summer's draft.

00:19:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you laid it out there perfectly, but I'm glad you mentioned the ops. If you go through this is an all of major league baseball. If you look at the guys who were primarily catchers this season, Drake Baldwin was fifth in all of baseball and ops a catcher, not among rookies, among all major league catchers. Yeah, and the only guy that was, like, the only two guys that were like considerably ahead of him were Cal Raley, who was incredible this season, and Will Smith, who's a perennial like all star player. You know, that's one it's one stat, but that does tell you that Baldwin hit all season long. He had enough played appearances where it's not some crazy gap because he had a little bit less than Durban, but not by a ton. It's four hundred forty six played appearances, a one twenty five WSC plus nineteenth home runs. Like you said, he has a pretty solid lead in both Fangrafts and Baseball Reference war Like, I'm not going to litigate which one you like better as a listener, whatever, Aileen Fangrafts generally speaking, But no matter which way you slics it, BA was the best player at these three guys, most valuable player of these three guys this season. And you're right the Betty market that we covered during the season, Horton was higher than I think he should have been, and that maybe he is an indicator. But also I'm glad you brought this up, Like this is a thirty person baseball writer panel and it's not even known until the end of the season who it's going to even be. There's a lot more randomness than there probably should be, in my opinion with this award voting, So it will not stun me if Baldwin loses. I gotta be honest with you, but with you of that that I think he should win. I think he will win if you ask me to choose. I don't see how you can look at this body of work and not pick Baldwin personally. The only reason why he wouldn't is if someone really, really, really really loves Ky Horton's era, which was two point sixty seven. Yeah, his peripheral is more as good as that. I get it. Like, but hey, you could argue reasonably that era is quote unquote what counts. It's what happened versus the process of it all. We have more process driven. But hey, I get what people will go with the ra I get that, But when you factor in the workload, the contributions Baldwin had all season long, I think you was still better. Even if you lean firmly on era for Horton, I would still go with Walwin. And that's my encapsulation. But we'll find out in about twenty hours. Here is reporting this scout something like that.

00:21:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well, man, I hope Drake wins and getting the draft pick.

00:21:19
Speaker 1: Which would be around pick thirty.

00:21:21
Speaker 2: It also comes with a slot bonus of upwards of three million dollars for the Braves, and we know that. I think it absolute worst. The Braves have a top eight pick. I don't believe mathematically they can fall out. I think they have six best odds in the lottery and just mathematically they could not fall below eight. So you get the money and slot that comes with at least a top eight pick. You add the pick around pick thirty, assuming that Baldon wins, and then you have a high pick in the second round the third round, the Braves would have real ammunition to go out there and really load up the farm system. Of course, they might lose one of those draft picks if they go out and sign a big name free agent, which we're going to talk about here in a minute. But regardless, let's hope Drake wins. He is deserving. He would be just another name in a long line of really talented Braves to win Rookie of the Year, and hopefully those thirty Baseball writers who are voting on this award leaned towards Baldwin, even if Caid, Horden and Durban are both deserving candidates as well.

00:22:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, and if he wins, we will talk more about the draft pick stuff and specific as part of that recap of his win that happens. You mentioned a couple of guys who are still on the team now that won this award. Michael Harris won in twenty twenty two Ron mccunya one in twenty eighteen. Previous to that for the Braves, Creig Kimber one in twenty eleven. It's a long list for call one in two thousand. I remember that very vid league as I'm an old person, but it's not as small Listrice. I've had pretty good success Rookie of the Year, and hopefully on Monday evening or Tuesday whatever we talk next, we'll talk about Drake Baldwin winning Rookie of the Year, as I believe he should, and I think you agree with me based on your responses to this discussion. There you go. Okay, Scott, let's talk about some freegans. The Internet's favorite activity in early November is these free agent lists, because, as you often lament, there is not a you know, shotgun start of free agency in baseball and the way that there are other sports. And this is the NBA for agency would ala to be over by now basically because it started, it started a few days ago. Nothing happened.

00:23:25
Speaker 2: Yep.

00:23:26
Speaker 1: Literally no, I mean, unless I'm unaware of something. No one has signed a deal that I'm aware. No, But there are a lot of too, so in the other sport that I cover, the NBA, the majority of deals happened in the first like three days and really one day, but especially the first three four days. Baseball is the exact types of that. So in the meantime we have the stand in for that, at least on the internet. Is these three kind of major publication projections that kind of lay the groundwork for our kind of discussions. Now, these are not from teams. These are from I think smart people Kyle McDaniel and Big Clemons Ete. These guys do a good job with this, but it's not it's not exact science, and we're not saying that it is. But wib trading rumors, ESPN and fangrafts broughtut their like top fifties basically with projections, and that means years and dollars. Sometimes they'll mention teams. It's not like it's not it's not a full like, hey, team will sign this player to this contract, but it's like, here's the deal that we project and here are a few teams that are associated with that player. The braves are tied a lot of guys. I don't know how you want to do this. There's like different buckets of people. For instance, I think and you can correct me if you think I'm wrong on that about this, it's there's a lot more pitchers that I think makes sense for the Braves the position players. Yeah, just because the Braves have a clear need at starting pitcher. The Braves have clearity right now and release picture after what they did the other day with kin Lee and Pierce. And on the position player side, they only have one or two positions that they really need to add or be helped with. And if you combine that with the players available, like as we discussed a million times, there really are only two shortstops that are starting caliber that are available, and one of them is not a shortstop in my opinion, So that makes that makes things very interesting on that side of things. I will leave it to you, Scott, where do you want to start? Dealers' choice? Where do you want to start? First on this projection, rud.

00:25:19
Speaker 2: Let's start on Hassan Kim, who has We've probably talked about Kim more than any other player on the team or off the team since the season ended.

00:25:27
Speaker 1: With good reason, I would say yes, yes.

00:25:29
Speaker 2: So we have talked a lot about just the unknown of what kind of market that Kim is going to have, this offseason. So let's hit those numbers quickly. Those projected numbers from MLB Trade Rumors, Fangraphs, and ESPN. LB Trade Rumors predicts two years and thirty million dollars for Hassan Kim, And actually three of the four riders who weighed in on the exercise with trade rumors picked the Braves to sign Hassan Kim, so two years and thirty Fangrafts similarly had two years and twenty six million, and ESPN actually had one year in sixteen million. My big takeaway from that, Brad, I know we've talked about what is a crazy deal for Kim and where is the limit for him? And again these are just projections. Players will beat them, players will underperform them. But those numbers are nowhere near the one hundred million dollar figure that's kind of been talked about for Hasan Kim. I mean, two years, thirty million, That would be a grand slam signing for the Braves, even at fifteen million bucks year, Even if they did another year, even at three years and forty five million bucks, sign me up man like Kim would at least be your shortstop for next year. You could move him to second base if they move on from Azzi Albi's and at fifteen million bucks. Sure, twenty years ago that was a lot of money, but I mean that is the going rate for like a starter in Major League Baseball. It's hard to sign a every single day position player for I mean, even ten million dollars is hard to find that that feels like a really fair deal and hopefully won the aides can lock down with Kim.

00:27:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I have thought it was a little bit interesting that some of the people that are a little bit closer to the brave side of things, like Brave's focused media, have been projecting some pretty outlandishly high numbers on Hassan Kim, and then you see these numbers come in and I don't know that. I don't know which side's right to be, to be one hundred percent truthful, I don't know. Maybe there is a Scott Boris four year, eighty million dollar deal sitting out there for Hassan Kim, I don't know about. That's definitely possible. But the split I found interesting between what the national folks are saying and what people are like maybe forecasting for Haslan on the high side, I don't know. Which one is true. I'm with you though, if it's three. If it's three for forty five, I'd be okay with that. I wouldn't be overjoyed, but I'd be okay with it. If it's any of these projections. Two for thirty, two for twenty six, one for sixteen, Yes, yes, and yes for me, I am not. At the same time, I'm not telling you the hastng Kam is some awesome player. I think he's a starter. There are some injury concerns defensively that year. It wasn't alf like there. He is not a player without flaw. If he was, he'd be getting a lot more than this. Keep that in mind, everybody. But I think, given the options, given the situation the Braves are in, given my feelings on Bobaschet's defense, all those things, put it in. And by the way, what it cost to trade for shortstops any of that stuff, I would pay Hassong more than this, like if it was two for Honestly, if it was two years and like thirty six, I would still do it. Eighteen million a year, cool short term deal, fine, sign me up two for forty I wouldn't lose my mind because guess what to your deal short term, Ferry Alex, I don't know. We will not be this long on all the other players, but I think Hawsong is the again, like you said, the most interesting of all of them because of the braves, clear and glaring, and the Braves have many needs that the number one need on the entire roster is shortstop. It's not not a huge surprise. Look at the roster right now and tell me it's not shortstop. I would look at you funny.

00:28:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's absolute shortstop. And let's talk about Bobaschett briefly. Bishett is going to get paid big time. Although there was a pretty big discrepancy from the three projections on Bishet. So trade rumors eight years two hundred and eight million dollars for Bobaschet. Fangrafts had seven years and two hundred and three million dollars, Brad seven years and about thirty million bucks a year for Bobachhett. ESPN was much more muted. Five years in one hundred and thirty man. Bobachet's is a really good player, but the defense scares me. And I mean eight years to Bobaschett is lunacy. I six years feels like one too many. Probably, if if Baschet's markets does not materialize somehow and it's in that five year range at like twenty five million per I would at least make a phone call if I'm not extra to feel it out. But I agree, I would definitely lean more. I don't know if he's gonna get two hundred million, that big round number of two hundred million dollars, that is a boatload of money. You better be getting a star. I know that salaries have gone up, and they're only going up if you put two hundred million dollars guaranteed into Bobachett's name. I don't know if any gms are going to do that, maybe if they're really desperate. But yeah, that's uh, that's kind of my take on it. I don't think Bobaschet's going to be a brave but if his market maybe doesn't develop, or if some of the big suitors for him go elsewhere, then stranger things have happened.

00:30:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, five for one thirty. I think people probably assume that I don't like the sheet at all because I've mentioned the defense a lot. I think that's the kind of deal where you have to make Nicoll And also, I still wouldn't play with a shortstop that that's just a Hey, we got to figure out some something for Ozzy Alby's kind of contracts or you know what's what else? Could Welles could bobchet do kind of contract if four, he.

00:30:42
Speaker 2: Could probably do it for twenty twenty six, maybe twenty twenty seven.

00:30:46
Speaker 1: But I don't I don't want to watch that, but I understand what you're saying. I don't want to watch him play shortstop.

00:30:51
Speaker 2: Hey, if he carries an eight to fifty ops maybe yeah, it's give and take. But yeah, I think we've said, we're well documented. If Obaicet signed with the Braves for a reasonable deal, will come on, will be pumped because he's a really good hitter. But ultimately I think he's going to go back to Toronto.

00:31:07
Speaker 1: Quite honestly, he certainly could, and I think you'll have some offers, especially if you if you buy the defense being okay, every reason to pay him a lot of a lot of money because he's a good hitter who's also pretty pretty young by free agency standards. He's not he's think he's Easter twenty seven. He's pretty young. Yeah, anyway, more to come in a second. We will get to other hitters briefly, and then a lot, a lot, a lot of pitchers who might have at least make sense some sense to the Braves. We'll get into all that and more after award from hers. All right, Scott, a couple more hitters to talk about. These guys are I think we probably assume less likely than others around the Braves. But you pulled some names. One of them I'll do. I'll do the boring one, just to throw it out there. Marcelo Zuna made a couple of these lists. You might have You might have heard of him. He's a former Brave. I thought it was interesting. He was projected to get fifteen million dollars annually on both lists that he made. One of them was a one year deal, one of was a two year deal. This won't surprise you, Scott. If the Braves gave Marcel fifteen million dollars, I'm going to be very unhappy.

00:32:10
Speaker 2: I would too, I don't think so. If he has no market and other things have fallen apart, then maybe you could do. I mean, I might give him half of that. I might, I think half of that.

00:32:22
Speaker 1: It would be what I would want to do if I want to do something at all, because I just don't think that Braves. I don't think he's good enough anymore to warrant being a every single day dheah, and if you're paying him that he's got to play every day, that's the plan. You don't pay a guy fifteen million dollars un once you're the Dodgers. You don't pay fifteen million dollars a year to be a part time player. That's what I would say. And I don't think. I think Marcel's is still honestly a pretty good hitter. I really do think he's a valuable hitter, but not a every single game hitter. And we know he can't pay defense, so that's what he'd have to be.

00:32:55
Speaker 2: And then the other two big hitters, Kyle Schwarber got big time projection, and Schwarber is older, but he of course had I mean, he's going to get MVP votes in a couple of days here, but Shworeber anywhere from three to five years and upwards of one hundred million dollars. I mean, it's worth a phone call if I'm Alex the Topless. But I'm guessing that the Phillies or another just absolutely starved for offense team is going to give probably a reckless contract to Schwarber. The most guaranteed money that any of the three sites gave Schwarber was one hundred and thirty five million over five years. I would take the over on that, and again that was the highest projection that he got. I think Schwarber is going to get like a four year, one hundred and fifty million dollar contract, and he's a hell of the hitter, but I don't think the Braves do it. And then Cody Bellinger is somebody who in theory makes sense for this team as an outfielder, as DH would obviously take Cody Bellinger's back. But again, all three sites upwards of five years, upwards of one hundred and forty million dollars, when the Braves don't have like a screaming need for an outfielder, I just don't think it's going to be the Braves.

00:34:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually I still do think I am more interested in a big time middle of the order hitter who probably has to be an outfielder given where the Braves are. Then most people seem to think that the Braves could be interested in that kind of player. I like that idea better than most people. Do you know, if it's Cody Bellinger, it's Cody belenjer on't I doubt it. To be very clear, I don't think it's going to happen, but I would be probably more intrigued by that than some I think that is a bigger need than some Braves fans think that it is. But I get that it's expensive and Alex as to this day, as we always say, Alex has never given out a deal like this to anyone externally, and even his internal contracts have been is it still twenty two million is the most he's ever paid anyone average annual value, that's true, twenty five a fleet.

00:34:48
Speaker 2: That's that's the ballpark Alex likes to work in.

00:34:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's never gone above that, and I would be surprised if a player like Bellinger or a player like Schwarber got less than that or even that number. So that means you have to go to different level. Maybe one day he will, I would guess, but maybe not this This one's all right, Scott. That's not a full on list of all all the hitters, but it's gonna be. It's a podcast. We can't talk about all of them in one space. The pictures man, there's a lot of these guys. We don't have to talk about all them individually in deep dive fashion, but if you want, we've got to hit on the kind of tiers of dollars. Does that make sense as a grouping exercise? That was your idea. I will give you credit for that.

00:35:26
Speaker 2: There's there's quite one. There's a lot of starting pitchers available, and they're in big ranges, like guys who are going to get twenty five million, thirty million a year, and then guys who are gonna get like one year deals that might be of interest as well. So there's there's a wide range here.

00:35:43
Speaker 1: There are, and there's actually a pretty big, like Bravesy range of starters. And what I mean by that is like short term but high dollar, which is tends to be what Alex likes to do, short term deals. But before that, there is a three pitcher tier, and really the top two we're kind of their own tier. But from bra Valdez, Dylan Cees and Ranger Suarez are all projected to get nine figure contracts by these services. Valdez in the five for fifty sorry, five for one to fifty ish range cease. A longtime friend of the podcast, Ali tre Rimbers, actually gives him seven years and one eighty nine. That's a high number. The rest of them are in the five one to fifty range like Baldez and Swar is a little bit lower, but it's still like five for one fifteen or five for one thirty. Like it's twenty plus million dollars a year for five to six to seven years on these guys. Anything to strike you besides the cease number that is interesting to you, because look, that's it. There is a dream scenario out there for a lot of Brais fans that the Braves might just go out and say, finally we will spend money on one of these guys. I will believe it when I see it. But what is your reaction to that trio at the top?

00:36:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think if I had to rank them, least likely would be fran Berveldez. He just doesn't feel like a brave am I am?

00:37:01
Speaker 1: I off there? He just doesn't I agree at that, especially if this is the price point. I can't see the Braves doing that. I think, uh, I think you probably heard things that I've heard too. I've long thought that if they, if they were gonna do this for a free agent, it would be it would be cease. Yeah. Yeah, but even then, he's not paying seven eighty nine for Dylan se'es. I'm pretty sure I love that.

00:37:23
Speaker 2: So I was gonna say so if Dylan Sees gets, will split the difference from fangrafts in ESPN five years and one hundred and fifty million. That's thirty million dollars a year for Dylan See's.

00:37:35
Speaker 1: It's a lot of money.

00:37:36
Speaker 2: That is a lot of money. It's a lot of years to commit. But I'm not gonna sit here and lie Brad if the break, if we got the blue box at the Brave Sign. Dylan SE's, who when he is right, is a bona fide ace, And you think about him with Chris Sale and Schwallenbach and Strider. I mean, dear god, I mean that that would be so much fun to add Dylan SE's and always strikeouts.

00:37:56
Speaker 1: But yes, it'd be very much, it'd be it'd be very fun. Yeah. Also, you don't care about this because you're not. He's also from He's also from Yere. He went to school here, like there's that's the lot. There's lots of boxes that Dillotis would check that are Bravesy boxes except for the thirty million dollars a year thing.

00:38:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he's a Scott Boris client, which is not a total roadblock, but it is an impediment to some level. And then you know, of these three, though, Ranger Swarz is interesting to me. I don't have to tell people listening to the show just how good this guy is. I don't know how he does it. He just comes ninety mile an hour, fastballs and cutters and god knows whatever else, and nobody hits him hard, and every year he doesn't. Suarez has not made thirty starts, but he always makes like twenty five or twenty six. Maybe that's by design by the Phillies to keep him a little fresh with their pitching depth. But you know, if Swarrez is gonna be around five years and one hundred and ten, one hundred and twenty million, I think of this group, that's probably the most appealing to me. Not only would you be taking him from a DIVI rival, but swar Is because he does not rely on throwing ninety eight to be successful in theory he might age a little bit better. And while he's never been someone who's made thirty starts and thrown two hundred innings, he has been largely durable, does not have any big elbow or shoulder problems that have popped up over the years. So Suarez is really interesting to me, and I would be thrilled if they added it.

00:39:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. He excels in limiting hard contact. He's elite at that, like truly elite at that at that one particular aspect, So I'd be in. He's a little bit cheaper than season and above as wist by these projections. He's also he's he's kind of halfway between the top two and the next tier of list of the projections, which is Michael King, uh an old friend of yours. I know you're big. You've been a big Michael King guy for a while. And then Zach Gallon, who I know places in your back always has played in your backyard in Arizona. That's a weird one, Zach Gallon, because it's all over the place on him. I mean, even I guess even King. There's one projection hasn't been taken, the qualifying offer, which is a big difference from like four for eighty, which is the other projection on Michael King. But these guys are kind of in their own tier two because they're the only ones projected to get more than three years by several lease outlets at that like twenty million dollars a year. Figure like four to eighty is like the mid tier like projection on these guys. That's a lot of money too. And there Gallan has been an ace. It's been a while. It's been a while, but he has been. King kind of never has been, but he's been really good, like a really good number two kind of guy, basically that kind of quality of pitcher. I know how he pulled on Michael King in general. Are still are still on the train?

00:40:39
Speaker 2: You know, I'm on the Michael King train. Although the one concern is that he has basically had one great year as a starting pitcher. It was in twenty twenty four, yep, and he was he was terrific. Michael King was fantastic, But that's kind of it. And he's had elbow problems, he's had a shoulder problem. It was a pinch nerve, which which is odd, but I wouldn't I'm not a doctor, I wouldn't imagine a pinched nerve with Linger also had a finger problem a couple of years ago when he was with the Yankees. So King does not necessarily scream durability, which is what we have talked about the Braves needing with the injury risk that comes with sail and seeing all the injuries that just tappened this past year. But if Michael King is on the mound, I feel confident he's going to be really good and really effective. If he gets like a four year, eighty million dollars deal, that's probably my cap for him. And then you know, with Zach Gallan, Gallon two three years ago was as good as anybody in baseball, but you know, he did not have a very good season, especially in the first half. He was really bad. It would feel kind of risky to me. I'm not a huge Gallon guy at this point, seeing just the way he's kind of fallen down. But if maybe the Braves feel like they could make some tweaks to the pitches he's throwing, or his approach or whatever it might be, and kind of get a bit of a discount on a very talented guy. But I don't know I mean Gallon, if it's a big contract, I don't know how cool I would be with that.

00:42:06
Speaker 1: Last year, there was one guy I like loved at their price point, and it was Nathany Evaldi.

00:42:13
Speaker 2: Me too, Me too.

00:42:15
Speaker 1: That was our podcast stance we were we wanted Nathany Evaldi. They didn't do it. We wanted him at at the reported press point, and we have said that it was I think it was like three for seventy or something. I can't remember what the number was, but it was like in that range, three for seventy five, a real number, but we wanted them to do that. They didn't do it. I don't know about you. There's no one on this list that I'm like, I feel that way about, whereas like that is the guy I want. Now, there are guys that I would like at their price points. There's this next tier down that have uh there's five guys in this next relative tier, And what I mean by that is they're projected to get between like like sixteen and twenty million dollars a year on a one to three year contract, like basically the number three kind of number three starter money eighteen million dollars a year for a relatively short contract, and they are these players. This is not in order. Chris Bassett, show it to Ivan Naga, Merrill, Kelly Brenda Woodruff, and Lucas Gilizo. They're all kind of in that same general tier. Jild is a little bit lower than the other runs, but he's kind of closer to them than the rest. Do you have a favorite in that group that's like, hey, I would do that at this kind of price, boot because they're all very different pictures, Like Bassett is my favorite picture, but he's also old. That's there's always there's lots of give and takes on Old Beason. By the way, even Naga has a Amma. Naga and Woodruff have qualifying offers attached, which makes them complicated.

00:43:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, And as a reminder of the Braves would lose a draft pick of some kind if they sign one of these pictures with a qualifying offer. And to just for note and housekeeping purposes, Michael King has a qualifying offer. Ranger Suarez, Dylan Ce's Primbervelds all have qualifying offers, so.

00:43:55
Speaker 1: It's easier to do that, by the way, on a big like for instance, if you're going to give Dylan c the money that he commands. A qualifying offer is not going to be what the reason that you don't do it? Probably, Yeah, it's a much different calculus when it's like, oh, we're gonna pay two years and thirty five million for Brandon Woodruff and also give and also give a pick, Like that's that's kind of a different Does that make sense to my making sense here? It's like it's just one more thing to add to it, whereas like, once you're in for five years plus and one hundred million plus, the pick, like it matters, but it's just like another thing to throw on the top, whereas like gonna have a qualifying offers to sign Imanaga to a two year deal is like a pretty big swing in the value I think.

00:44:34
Speaker 2: And my issue with this kind of group, So let's take Imanaga and Woodroff out, because I think there's a real chance they take the qualifying offer, and I just don't think the Braves are going to sign them and lose the pick. But you know, Chris Bassett, Merrill, Kelly Lucas gi Alito, my big question to you, and we don't know the future, but could you see one of those guys starting game two of a playoff series. Ooh, game I kind of don't. I mean Toronto wasn't starting Bassett towards the end. They had him in the bullpen. They didn't trust him. They preferred to go with other guys towards the at least in the World series.

00:45:11
Speaker 1: My old Like that's that's gonna be thirty seven on an opening day? Yeah, and like that's that's not Charlie Morton old, but it's old. That's that's not like I think he's the best picture of the three. But you're right, I mean he did, just he wasn't starting by the end. Also, you know Merril Kelly is thirty six, thirty seven too, Like he's up there too. Like these guys are not young by any means. If you would said Game three out of been like yes, get game two. I don't know if I would classify these guys as number two starters. I think you're paying these guys, this this group to give you depth sounds too pejorative, strengthen the middle of rotation, Like you're not gonna hang around, you know, it's not gonna be your whole season, not gonna ride on them. They're not special Strider upside wise, they're not swallowack upside wise, they're not sale upside wise. These guys you're hoping to be third starter quality guys, which, by the way, people will be. People are always surprised when this kind of picture gets paid seventeen million dollars a year. Yeah, but that's that's what they're worth. I mean, it's honestly, I'm not doing this because it's me. It's kind of the Morton discussion we've been having for years, not last year Morton, but before that, like before he was forty, like the late thirties Charlie Morton, when it's like, hey, he's not an ace anymore, but he is gonna eat innings for you and make seventeen to twenty million dollars And it's not sexy, but it's short term, the risk is not that high, et cetera. And as you well know doing this podcast with me for a long time, there's a giant split in the fan base anytime there is a picture like this, because somebody's gonna be like, wow, that's that's an eighteen million dollar picture to have a three point eight era like well, yeah, that's what this guy costs. I'm sorry, that's what they're right.

00:46:53
Speaker 2: Like, if we got the push notification five minutes from people listening to the show that the Brave signed Merrill Kelly for two years and thirty four million dollars.

00:47:01
Speaker 1: I'm fine with that, by the way, it would be fine.

00:47:05
Speaker 2: But it wouldn't you know, it would be like, okay, cool, Like you're probably gonna get an e ray E ray In like the high threes. He's not an ace, he's not going to be a cy young candidate, but he there's value in a Merrill Kelly type or a Chris Bassett type. Selfishly, I hope the Braves aim a bit higher, I really do. I hope they're willing to spend the money or go out and make a trade for someone a little better than this.

00:47:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it. That's it's more like Alex. I mean, it's it's so funny because you know, every piece of intel we have as far as just looking at what Alex has done now for a long time, tells you he doesn't want to give a starting pitcher a big money, long term deal, Like he's just never done it. People are gonna say, Strider, that's not the same thing giving an internal guy an extension who had it, by the way, perform at a cy Young level when he got that extension. That's not the same thing as giving Dylan Ceese a six year contract for one fifty, you know what I mean. It's not That's a different kind of thing. I'm not saying he won't do it, but I in my brain, I got to see the Braves do that before I think they're gonna do it. And I think because of all of that, like they got they went down that they went down. I don't I don't know how far they went down the hole on Garrett Crochet, but like they were in on Crochet as a trade guy for instance, Like I think Alex is more willing to do that and trade for a bigger ticket pitcher than he is to give out one of these deals. Maybe I'll be wrong, Maybe it'll be a sea change this year. We don't really know, but man, I it feels to me like the most likely.

00:48:33
Speaker 2: Scenario is that Alex signs one of these guys in the like Merrill, Kelly, Chris Bassett range and people are gonna hate it, I understand, or goes out in trades for a Sonny Gray or an expensive starter who is Isny it Isnny Gray into every single show this offseason. I'm gonna keep track. But a Sonny Gray type where you might have a more favorite contract, but then you have to give up prospects of hum degree. This is all a sliding scale calculus for the front office of do we want to give a big contract, do we want to give up a draft pick? Do we want to give up prospects in the trade? You know, I would like to think that Alex in his office has a giant whiteboard with the names of like thirty starting pitchers who are either definitely available or might be available, and just try to find that sweet spot of what makes the most sense for this team.

00:49:27
Speaker 1: I have a quick question. I probably will move on if you have two choices. Okay, you have to trade for Sunny Gray, giving up something, not a crazy package, he's only he's an old but like you're giving up something a value, not a total home run zero return trade. You do that given what he is owed, which is thirty five million this year, and then a club option or you sign let's just say Merril Kelly's is just that's the game. Merril Kelly to two years thirty million, which one which one of those, would you want to do Marrick Kelly. Marrick Kelly is half the price, Sonny Gray is better? Which one? Which one of those would you want to do in a vacuum?

00:50:10
Speaker 2: So, I mean, part of my answer is how much money would Saint Louis throw in. I'm I'm not paying. I'm not paying Sonny Grade thirty five million bucks? All right?

00:50:19
Speaker 1: I actually I actually would, but only if they just gave him, gave him to me, Like if you said, if if they called me right now, and I'm Milex. Granted, it's not our money. We always say that, but it's not our money. And Alex said, we'll take Sonny Gray and we'll pay all the money, but we're not giving you anything back. Like you can have you can have our one hundred and thirty fourth ranked prospects that we have a player in the contract, a player on the deal. But like, if you want to, if you want us pay his money, that's it. That's the return as you get off his money. I would, by the way, I would do that now. Granted, part of that's because I like the fact that it's only one year and the Braves do have some solar flexibility. But we're down the rabbit hole. But it's interesting have a because it's like, hey, you and I like Sonny Gray. You love Sonny Gray, but he does make a lot of money.

00:51:06
Speaker 2: He does. I think my answer to your question is, with the assumption the Cardinals would cover some of Sonny Gray's salary, I would rather go out and trade a middle to your prospect or two for Gray than add Merrill Kelly, because I think Gray is a better picture, has more upside all of those things.

00:51:24
Speaker 1: But you don't know.

00:51:25
Speaker 2: I mean that that's of course. The one thing we don't know is what are the asking prices in dollars and in prospects? And you know, I think my hope is they just add someone. They have to add somebody.

00:51:36
Speaker 1: Brad Oh, you and I agree wholeheardly on that every time we do this, someone in the comments is going to be like, well, the Braves have so and so and so and so, whether I promise you we know who they have in the organization, they still need a picture. They might need to so yes, we can talk about guys like on a lower level, we'll fly through these I like Tower Mallley as a like cheap version of these players, like a one year, twelve million dollar or two years for twenty kind of guy who is a discount Chris Bassett like I like Tyler Mallley as a pitcher, which is why I'm saying that. Another name I throw out there, Brad Keller I've been describing as this year's Bernaldo Lopez, and what I mean by that is a former starter term reliever who kind of might start again, and he probably won't be as good as Ronaldo was in his first year starting again when he had like a two yar, But Brad Keller is kind of like that swingy guy, and the Braves some success with this kind of pitcher. Ronaldo, of course, Grant Holmes last year was kind of this, this realm of player. I would not be surprised to see the Braves in on brad Keller and his projections are like eleven or twelve million dollars a year, which is not nothing, but that's a reasonable asking price for a swing pitcher.

00:52:49
Speaker 2: Basically, yeah, I think one of the trade rumors writers actually pick the Braves to sign brad Keller. So maybe a player worth going in and digging in on. Maybe we'll do a deeper die than obviously if we ever hear a rumor that the Braves are in on Keller, then we will know.

00:53:03
Speaker 1: At some point we're going to dive into all these guys more than we have today. We're trying to coach on the entire list, which is why we're flying through these guys. But yeah, we will do some some segments on these guys as it become interesting to us.

00:53:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I would hope the Braves name higher than a Tyler Molly or a Brad Keller. But maybe they can add two pictures Brad. We we don't know how much money they have to spend.

00:53:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would like it if they if the second guy they added was Tyler Mallley or Brad Keller, That's kind of what I would be trying to do if I was the Braves. But lastly, before we got here, there were six names of high leverage relievers that got real contracts, just in order of money. Edwin Diaz, who I think is not going to be a Braves guy if I had to guess, follow by Devon Williams, Robert Suarez, Braves own rysel Iglesias, Ryan Helsley, and Pete Fairbanks. Those six guys are like real high end relievers with real high end dollars attached to them, anyone I want to talk about those six guys. Russell's obviously is someone to point out. So Russell is two years and between nine and thirteen million dollars annually is three projections? Sounds right to me for Ryssel Glaziers.

00:54:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds of that group like the best bargain. And also just familiarity with Iglesias, especially the way he finished the year. I mean, of this group, I think Iglesias is the most interesting. You know, Devin Williams. So if Devin Williams gets four years and sixty eight million dollars, which is what trade rumors thinks, no, no thanks, I'll pick unless the Braves have like one hundred million dollars to spend this offseason, but I don't think that's likely. That being said, if Devin Williams gets two years and twenty four million, or even three years and forty five million, which is what Fangrafts and ESPN say, I would take Devin Williams all day long as the new closer for this team. My guess I lean more towards him getting like four years and sixty seventy million dollars. I don't think he's going to be a bargain, but an interesting name. Edwin Diaz does not feel.

00:55:01
Speaker 1: Like a Brave.

00:55:02
Speaker 2: I do like Robert Suarez, and we've heard the Braves are interested in Robert Suarez.

00:55:07
Speaker 1: He's he's interesting.

00:55:09
Speaker 2: Another player, kind of like Williams, where if his market is crazy, I'd probably pass and go for Iglesias, but if Suarez is reasonable, sign me up. But similarly, there are some closures here who have real intrigue I think, and I could see a handful of them being Braves come opening day on March twenty seventh.

00:55:27
Speaker 1: I know that it worked, but with Brycel and the years and dollars that it took on for Risel, I will acknowledge that that deal fully worked for the Braves. Outside of about six weeks this year, that worked really well. I'll acknowledge that I am not in favor of the four year, big money reliever contracts. Yeah, in general, I'm not someone who wants to sign those contracts. So if you're right, if the biting gets to that point on any of these guys, I probably out, but I would be in favor of them signing one of these guys, whether it's a Glacis back or Hellsley has some Braves history. I don't know if he wants to become of the Braves organizationally, we'll see. Pete Fairbanks was a name that was kind of a surprise to be available. He had a club option, right, I live as a club option with the race that they decline kind of surprisingly so that big guy. I would definitely give nine to ten million dollars a year or two. I'd be in on that. But the Braves are you know, listen to Sean Stephen for a deeper, deeper dive on this. But the Braves did they signaled something by not picking up Kenley and Pierce the other day. And I don't know if that's a signal that Alex is changing his ways finally to not have so much money in the bullpen, or if they're going to turn around and spend it on Roberts Warez. I don't know, but it means something. We'll see, we'll find out.

00:56:46
Speaker 2: Those non tender decisions or the declining of the options were fascinating. I don't know what Alex is thinking with his bullpen, and truthfully, it is so thin out there right now. You have Dylanly who's good, no real questions about Dolly. You have Johamanez coming off major knee surgery, didn't pitch last year, and you have Aaron Bummer who was coming off a shoulder problem that cost him the final month of the year. And that's about it, Brad, I mean, and now that you have to have your whole bullpen figured out by Thanksgiving. But it is pretty thin out there. I know they have a couple of guys in the system who might be in play for jobs next year, especially if they need to move some money around. And I do agree wholeheartedly. I don't want to carry a seventy million dollar bullpen next year, even a fifty or sixty million dollar bullpen.

00:57:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been one of our it's mine. I'll speak to myself. It's been one of my hiccups with Alex over the years. I think they have spent too much on the bullpen generally speaking, and they it worked at times. But it's funny that the famous night Shifts bullpen wasn't expensive. Will Smith was expensive, but the guys who made up that group that year when it caught lighting in a bottle and it was Matt Sick and Luke. Those guys weren't expensive. Yeah, it's in Bullen. Bullpen's are really of all old it man, they just are.

00:58:03
Speaker 2: Will Smith got a big contract, even ken Lee Janssen. What was Kenley's contract? Like one year? And there was a lot of eighteen million I think. I mean, so is it an organizational and a mindset shift for Enthoughptless with the bullpen or did he not want to guarantee twelve million dollars to two good but non elite relievers. And again, you can always give Tyler Kenley a call in a couple of weeks and work on something. Maybe Alex is thinking, hey, let me get my closer figured out and then I'll figure out what I want to do with spots five, six and seven in my bullpen.

00:58:36
Speaker 1: We agree on that, Scott. Anything else you want to add this is obviously we covered a lot of ground here. We purposely wanted to touch on all of the guys that were kind of interesting. We will have deeper dives on these players, I promise you. If there you already allude to this. But there is a rumor like a real report on any player. We'll talk about the player almost certainly on the show and obviously beside anybody. That'll be a deep dive and an mercy podcast. But anything else to add for you go.

00:58:58
Speaker 2: Oh, this is a long show, Brad, it was coming up on an hour.

00:59:02
Speaker 1: It's Sunday night. This is what we do on Sunday nights.

00:59:05
Speaker 2: We're just talking about We're not watching Falcons highlights.

00:59:08
Speaker 1: So listen, listen, listen. Uh, you know, Okay, I'll let it go. It's fine. I'm sorry.

00:59:15
Speaker 2: I had to get that jab in. I have nothing else to add. I hope the Braves go out and sign one or two or three of the players we just talked about, or make trades, go out improve this team. I really don't know what to make of them saying no to those couple of believers. And maybe they're stockpiling a bunch of cash and they want to go out and add a couple of high named players. Maybe it's going to be a repeat of last offseason and they're gonna pinch pennies. That's a terrifying scenario. The other scenario sounds like a lot of fun, and that's the one I would go with.

00:59:48
Speaker 1: It does sound more fun to spending money on players when it's not our money in particular. That's right. With nothing else to add baseball wise, and we will have more to talk about. I promise you. I will just leave you with one Atlanta Falcons that on the way out the door. The Atlanta Falcons have not a lots more games in a row, but they in the last three games. The Falcons are three for twenty nine. On third down, Scott, thank you for being here. I appreciate you being here, even though you're a Colts fan. Has been a wake since six in the morning. This is watch your tea Bay in Berlin. For reasons passing understanding. Go Colts again, not today, but go Colts again. I root for your happiness, Scott, just not today. Thank you sir for being here. Ask for everybody else. We appreciate you being here genuinely on the podcast. Subscribe to Hammer Territory anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, et cetera. We very much appreciate you being here. Follow us social media. There was a brief hiccup with our Twitter account. It's back at Hammer Territory. Follow us there, follow Scott, follow me if you want to one more time, one more please subscribe, tell your friends, and we'll see you all next time.