Bucs option Konnor Griffin, Contract extensions for John Schneider, Ross Atkins & Cristopher Sánchez

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to a brand new Furish episode of Vowel Territory alongside Aj Pierzinski and Eric Kratz. I'm Alana Rizzo in for Scott Braun. Do not worry, guys, Scott Braun is back tomorrow. I am just pinch hitting for him. I think he might be at some sort of bodybuilding competition or something. I'm not sure what Scott's into at the moment, but don't forget to join the conversation hashtag ft live on Twitter, and of course you can get your comments in the chat. Check out our merch at foul Territory shop dot com. Good to be with you both a lot to get to, gentlemen, so let's charge the mounds.

00:00:38
Speaker 2: Charge about.

00:00:41
Speaker 1: AJ a couple of inches away from a World Series championship. In twenty twenty five, the Toronto Blue Days have awarded both John Schneider, their manager, and Ross Atkins their GM an extension, so it looks like they're going to be around Toronto for the foreseeable future. It looks like Atkins it was extended until twenty thirty one and John Schneider was extended until twenty twenty eight. Good move.

00:01:08
Speaker 3: Here.

00:01:09
Speaker 4: Absolutely, what's not to like about this move. I just wish the only thing I don't like is that we were just there and they could have announced it when I was sitting next to John Schneider or Mark Schapiro, either one. You could have told us that this was coming down the pike. But good move for both these guys. Listen, John Scheider was probably on the hottest seat of all going into last year, and all he did was take that team to Game seven and inches away from beating Alana's Dodgers in the World Series. So I love this move. Ross Atkins made some moves, John Schneider made some moves. They got Vladdie extended, They went out and made some signings this offseason Akamoto and some other things. So I love this move. And the Blue Jays are doing exactly what you're supposed to do as an organization. When your team is good, you go out and you use the money that you're making off the team and you spend it and you reinvested in the organization. And they're doing that to a t. So congratulations Snids and congratulations Ross Atkins. Be there for a while, at least getting paid for a while.

00:02:02
Speaker 1: Eric It's crazy because, as AJ was just saying, it seems like, you know, John Schneider was kind of on the hot seat. Is he going to make it through the rest of the season. What kind of moves is he making? What's going on here? It's amazing e K how winning changes everything.

00:02:18
Speaker 3: H Yes, it does.

00:02:20
Speaker 5: And they had been winning, and I would have said ross Atkins was even on more of a hot seat than Schneid's was, because he went from building a winning team. I think he made a lot of good moves to the fact that he didn't bring enough offense back, didn't bring back a guy like Matt Chapman who played Platinum Glove defense for him at third base, and like it was pitching in defense, and then they just needed to add a bat and they never did it last year, and they added Anthony Santander. So essentially the players are the ones that picked up ross Atkins on this one, because Anthony Santander didn't even play. But the trade to me, I think the trade for gabrielle Moreno, which looked terrible, where they traded Gabriel Moreno to the Diamondbacks and then he ended up going to the World Series. Blue Jay fans were up in arms, and ross Akins stayed the path. He knew Dalton Varshow was going to give them goal glove defense in center field. He knew what type of team they wanted to play around, and they extended Alejandro Kirk. He was able to extend obviously with ownership's approval. Vladimir Guerrero. They didn't go after bow. Is that gonna end up hurting him?

00:03:30
Speaker 3: Well?

00:03:30
Speaker 5: They fill in now with Andre Semenez, another goal glover like he built a team that is has his fingerprint on it. Only thing I don't like about this is he Schneids should get a longer extension. It's really not that long of an extension for a manager, But you know what, that's that's where we're at right now. Besides council, very few. I guess Dave Roberts's was long also, But besides those guys, not many guys are getting more than two maybe like a third year option contract.

00:04:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, look at Kurtsuzuki, he got one year. That shows you the faith that Ardie Moreno has in him. But the Angels are a disaster anyway. I would like to see. Of course, Schneider be kind of tied to Atkins and extend him to two thousand and thirty one. It's funny we were talking about both of those guys, perhaps on the proverbial hot seat, but it was just a couple of years ago. I feel like you, guys, as you will start with you, that we're constantly talking about the window closing with Vladimir Geruro Junior and Dante or Bobaschet together right. Well, obviously Vladdie is there for the long haul and Bo is now a member of the New York Mets. What do you think was the biggest change for the Blue Jays in terms of being able to get to where they were when a couple of years ago it seemed like they were so in flux and here we are thinking they could have easily won the World Series last season.

00:04:53
Speaker 4: Uh, just stability, good pitching, the right moves, all of the above. And listen, Bo's not there anymore. Fine, they have Jimenez, they have a Kamoto, they have other things. You know, David Schneider, Ernie Cleman has stepped up for him, right so, But I think for some reason when they signed Bo to that extension, it just changed everything in this organization. The fan base, settled down and said, oh we got at least we have Vlad forever. It gave the organization confidence, and I think it just took them to that next level that the Vlad signing, along with the pitching now you know, Gosman, Bassett, Sures or Beaver, all the moves that they made along the way all helped you Savage coming up and being a stud I think. But the Vlad contract is what started it off and got this thing rolling in the right direction. And now listen, they're expected to make the playoffs again like they did last year. I just think it was the Vlad extension that got all this rolling. And now Schneider's off the hot seed, Atkins off the hot seed, and they can just go do their job, which they've done fairly well because they have made the playoffs a lot lately.

00:05:54
Speaker 3: I think. Yeah.

00:05:54
Speaker 5: I think it's one of those things too that people say, well, then everybody should extend the certain guy. Well, not that there was a cloud hanging over the fact that Vladdie would have been a free agent, but just the fact that it gives some type of stability to the fact that, you know, maybe there was some pressure taken off of George Springer, we don't know health wise all this stuff. George Springer had an incredible year after having some down years and making that contract look like whoa, this is legit while also adding his leadership. Alijnd Kirk ended up getting extended. Does Alijandra say yay or nay to that contract extension without Vladdie there?

00:06:34
Speaker 3: We'll never know.

00:06:35
Speaker 5: Does Dylan Ce say yes, I want to sign with Vladimir? Where you know where Vladimir Guerrero is going to be for a while. He's a transcendent type of star for the Blue Jays. Would he have been the same type of star for another team? I don't know, but I think there's rare times when a guy who was born in Canada because his dad was playing in Montreal, drafted by the Blue Jays, came up through the system, had some you know, flashes of really incredible superstar years, and then you extend him. I think the Blue Jays kind of took a little bit of a gamble hoping that he was going to be the guy that they thought he was, and then you just saw you saw him really take off in the playoffs. You almost hope he has a better year this year than he did last year during the regular season, because he's like, WHOA, I can really lock in during the playoffs?

00:07:26
Speaker 3: Can I do that? For one hundred and sixty two?

00:07:28
Speaker 5: If that's the case, you're talking about Vladdie as an MVP type of candidate for the next four or five years in a row. And that extension gives them a lot more stability along with the rest of the lineup saying, hey, you know what, we're going to have this identity, and that identity was low, strikeout, lots of contact and see what happens, and everybody saw it.

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00:08:56
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was a recency bias, but last year's World Series was the World Series I've ever seen. It's exactly what you wanted. Game seven, coming down to the last thing. A j are the Toronto Blue Jays the team to beat in the American League? Who is better than them right now on paper going into this season?

00:09:17
Speaker 4: Honestly, I mean the Mariners would make the case. The Yankees would make the case just because they had the same amount of wins last year. But I think the Blue Jays if they everything, I can't. This is what's funny about baseball. Everything lines up. Everyone stays healthy, right, It's like, yeah, it's always if everyone stays healthy.

00:09:35
Speaker 2: I mean I think the Yankees, Blue Jays and Mariners.

00:09:37
Speaker 4: Are probably the pride of the of the American League for me, and I think you right now, because the Blue Jays are the way they played in the postseason, you'd have to put them number one.

00:09:46
Speaker 1: I agree, They're not the only ones in terms of Russ Atkins and John Schneider Eric that got an extension. Recently, the Phillies have also extended Christopher Sanchez. This is not his first extension either, they extended him back in twenty twenty two, but good on him. His new deal essentially has the Phillies picking up his old club options in twenty and twenty nine and two thirty tomes are Lucky, who, of course covers the Phillies plus adding thirty million per season in thirty one and thirty two and a thirty three club option worth forty four and a half million dollars. Interesting ek because the Phillies didn't have to do this at that time, but they did. What do you make in the move?

00:10:27
Speaker 5: I mean, I think I think if both if both parties are amicable in this, like if Christopher Sanchez says yes, I would love that that is thirty million is less than you know a lot of pitchers that some people say today I'm better than then he saying, okay, I'll take a little bit off the table for the guarantee that I get this money. So I love it for I love it for Christopher Sanchez. I love that he was able to you know, really his first full season of not being like in flux.

00:11:04
Speaker 3: Even in twenty four.

00:11:07
Speaker 5: There was talk Clowd, you know, you don't know where he's gonna fit in in a rotation. He definitely has solidified his spot in a rotation, but he was coming off with twenty three where he had you know, he had some time where it was like rotation triple a bullpen. And so his career in the big leagues, while he has some years of service, is kind of young as a solidified guy on this rotation, and so for him, it's like, sure, that's a recency bias for him. He's like, he's thinking, I remember what he was like to get sent down in twenty twenty two, in twenty twenty three and say well, I don't think I deserved it, and now they're dangling thirty million dollars out there for you per year. I think it's a I think it's a great move for him, and I think it's also a good move for the Phillies because you see what if he becomes that ace, that the money that he could come in, you know you're gonna have to and you need an ace because Nola's getting older. Wheeler's contracts ending and he said he's not playing after this contract. You don't know what Andrew Paynter is going to be. Jesus Lozarda has already extended. So you have two really good lefties that have some stability because they know if they get hurt, they're still paid. But the Phillies also know they have two really good lefties in their rotation for a while.

00:12:24
Speaker 1: AJ resident GM on foul Territory Jim Bowden said that this is setting a horrible precedent because the Phillies didn't need to do it at this time. He tweeted that the way that the Phillies reworked the contract of Sanchez sets a horrible precedent for teams. Great for Sanchez, to Ek's point, generous of the Phillies, but now a player that has far outperformed has agreed upon contract might ask his club to do the same. SXM eighty nine top of the r that's he is promoting his show. But anyway, the point is, do you agree with Jim that this is a terrible precedent. I mean, obviously team friendly to a certain extent. However, it's good for the player to get that security, get the bag when you can. What do you make of it?

00:13:06
Speaker 2: Why is this bad?

00:13:07
Speaker 4: This is bad for Jim Bowden because he was a former GM and he wants every team to get a cheap deal. But man, good for the Phillies for recognizing a guy that they won in their rotation for the next how many ever years and they get it done. I don't understand how this is bad for anyone other than I don't know who this is bad for other than other.

00:13:26
Speaker 2: Gms, But that's their own problem.

00:13:27
Speaker 4: If they got a guy that wants to do this on their organization, then go do this.

00:13:30
Speaker 2: And you have an owner that's willing to do this. I don't ever understood this.

00:13:34
Speaker 4: This guy just signed a deal for you know, that sets his family up for the rest of his life and his family's family up for the rest of their life.

00:13:41
Speaker 2: Why is this bad? This is good? This is what we want in baseball.

00:13:44
Speaker 4: We want guys that will stay with an organization for a long time. Guess what the Phillies just guarantee Christopher Sanchez if he wants to be a Philadelphia Philly to what twenty thirty two, twenty thirty three. I think it goes to that's seven more years that they have him locked in, and we don't know what's gonna happen with the CBA. So Sanchez is dang, you guys are offering this much money and the Phillies say, hey, we have this money.

00:14:07
Speaker 2: How is this bad? It's this isn't going to be every team.

00:14:10
Speaker 4: I mean, listen, if every team was going to do this, the Pirates, the Marlins, the you know whoever, the Rockies, they don't do these things.

00:14:16
Speaker 2: But the Phillies did. So good for the Phillies.

00:14:18
Speaker 4: This is good for the game, This is good for Christopher Sanchez, and this is good for the Philly fans.

00:14:23
Speaker 1: I agree with you that you mentioned. You ended there aj with this is good for the Phillies fans. Eric, you live in Philadelphia. You know what those fan bases like. I mean, what is it like? What does it say to these fans like, hey, we're willing to spend the money and keep arguably our race in a Phillies uniform for the next six seven years.

00:14:41
Speaker 5: It says that they're not just willing to do it for a little while. They've been willing to spend the money for a minute now, you know, ever since they brought in Harper, then Castianos, then Schwarber, then Trey Turner, like it was like almost Boba Schett. This offseason, the Phillies are in a spending mode. Middleton. Middleton is an owner who wants a ring, and he's he's willing to go out there and continue to spend. This signifies that the fact that they went and extended Hayes, Loose Lozardo not that long after Ranger Suarez, who was a successful pitcher for the Phillies, signed and exten signed a contract with the Red Sox. They got Hayes, Louiselizardo locked up, Now they have Christopher Sanchez locked up. Philly fans are gonna say, Okay, we're gonna still have pitching. Yeah, some of these some of these stars are gonna age. Trey Turner's gonna age. Bryce Harper is going to age. They are the two with the really the longest contracts, So it shows Philly fans that they're not just going to take an abrupt twoenty thirteen hiatus from making the playoffs, like, ah, we just can't you know, we have all these aging stars. We're not gonna make any moves. And then they brought in some some guys in the front office that, in my opinion, made some brutal moves that that set the organization back. But I think John Middleton is saying, this is what's going to be the future outlook for the Phillies, and we're going to continue to try to win by spending money, and Philly fans are going to continue to pack the seats. Hey, if you hit the age where everything feels a little bit more difficult the jim yes, but everything like energy crashes in the afternoon.

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00:17:19
Speaker 1: The regular season opener is just days away. It's a night game, the New York Yankees the San Francisco Giants. We don't have to have another weekend, gentlemen without Major League Baseball. That counts a couple of names I wanted to talk to you about in terms of players being optioned to at least begin the regular season. First of all, any surprises that perhaps stick out to you, EK will start with you. Dylan Cruz, Bryce Eldridge, Hisan Kim, Christian Campbell of the Socks. Anybody kind of stick out.

00:17:47
Speaker 3: To you, come in. I'm gonna take the easiest one. Connor Griffin.

00:17:51
Speaker 1: Connor Griffin, Yeah, that's.

00:17:53
Speaker 3: That's not fair.

00:17:54
Speaker 5: Like to me, while he may not have had the spring training that they wanted them to have wanted to have, you look into his numbers and you go, okay, like what if he had hit four hundred, would this have been different? Would this have been a you know, would they have sent him? And then the question would have been, well, who cares what he hit in spring training? So when you bring up stats, I just have a hard time saying, okay, like he should have made the team or he shouldn't have made the team. To me, the question has to be the Pirates clearly want to win. The Pirates went out and they added offense. They didn't add offense for like five six year transition here, No, they added offense for this season and possibly next season. And so is Connor Griffin better than Nick Gonzalez Triolo at short like whatever that's going to be at shortstop? Is he one of the best nine guys that they can put out there? And if he is, to me, I think he should have been on this roster. And I hope it's nothing else. I hope there's nothing else that you know went into this decision. But to me, if they don't believe that, then who cares what he did in spring training?

00:19:05
Speaker 3: Tell him beforehand?

00:19:06
Speaker 5: Hey, you know what, we don't see you as somebody that's ready to be in the big biges.

00:19:09
Speaker 1: Are you talking about just the manipulation of the contract in terms of that type of thing? Is that what you mean are you talking about? I mean, it's a lot to put on a nineteen year old though, right AJ. I mean, well, Eric, let me allow you to finish your thought there. I mean, what do you mean by that? You hope that?

00:19:23
Speaker 5: I just mean, like, I hope there wasn't contract extension talks that weren't agreed upon. I hope there wasn't, you know, some type of service manipulation so they can have him for another year. I hope there wasn't some of the old tricks that I think have kind of been mitigated against because of well it's in the CBA, I think things. You know, there's incentives to call up the best players. I just hope there's not something else something like that going on that's like, oh, man, like really like he's not obviously I don't see him every day. But I also don't sit there and go, oh, the Pirates, they make so many good moves. We talked to Babba Chandler. They called him up. He was a starter's entire career and they call him up to throw out of the bullpen. And he kind of hinted like, oh, he's got to earn it. He was kind of told that he's got to earn it.

00:20:13
Speaker 3: What. No, he's a starter. He's going to be a starter for you for a long time. What are you doing?

00:20:19
Speaker 5: So I go into the situation going, is this everything? Are we getting all the information? Because I could care less about spring training stats.

00:20:28
Speaker 1: I agree with that, Aj. Is it too much to ask of a nineteen year old kid to come up? I mean, you met him, you talked to him when you were at Pirates camp. Is the maturity there? What do you make of him starting the season at least to begin with in Triple A.

00:20:43
Speaker 4: I think the Pirates needed to put him as their shortstop and opening a shortstop. I mean, I've said that, I'll be on the record saying that I think that this is not a Chris Bryant situation for me, this is a I don't know why he's not their starting shortstop.

00:20:58
Speaker 2: If he's going to be their Listen, and here's what's going to happen.

00:21:00
Speaker 3: We all know this.

00:21:01
Speaker 4: He goes, he's going to go down to Triple A, more than likely it's going to be freezing. He's going to get off to a decent start in a month, then they're going to call him up, and then they're going to say it wasn't service time manipulation. It was he just needed to get better because he hit one eighty in spring training. I don't care about the spring training stats. If the Pirates are really trying to make a run and trying to win their division and trying to make the playoffs like they say they are, for me, Connor Griffin should be on the team.

00:21:23
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough. Anybody else, Guys that kind of stands out to you, I'll read the list.

00:21:27
Speaker 5: I don't.

00:21:27
Speaker 1: I don't expect you to have it off the top of your head. Christian Campbell of the Red Sox. This is a kid eka that they gave a pretty decent extension to. It was like forty million or something a couple of years ago, and he is starting the season in Triple A. Jason Domingez, the Martian Justinson Garcia also of the Pirates. Anybody else, stick out.

00:21:48
Speaker 5: To you one thing more with Connor Griffin before you go there, because Christian Campbell he signed a eight year, sixty million dollars deal just in spring training last year and now he's changed positions and he's back in Triple A. To me with Connor Griffin too, he's going down to Triple A to do what nothing against Triple A pitchers. I played in Triple A for a long time. The best pitching you're gonna see is gonna be in April, because there's guys that are like, oh, we don't know we have a spot forty man, blah blah blah. You're gonna see better pitching, but in general, you're gonna see ninety to ninety four aw rs and you're just going to get guys throwing out of the bullpen that may throw ninety six to ninety eight. You don't know where it goes. You don't control the zone very well, and you you build up numbers or if he doesn't do well, so to me, it doesn't look good for Conor Griffin. So yes, can he develop? Yes, you can learn. You can learn a lot of things if you have like veteran guys that are there that can help him make that transition. But it just seems it seems like I watch for a team that wants to win. But back to the list, back to the list. I have to pull the list back up. But to me, it's it's Jason Dominguz, Jason Domingaz. If you go by numbers, you go wholl This guy had an incredible spring training as a player. You're sitting there going, I had an incredible spring training. So did I really have never have a shot? As soon as they brought Cody Bellinger back in, who was a late sign right before camp, Like, is that when you know my ticket to Triple A was?

00:23:23
Speaker 3: Pitt was punched.

00:23:25
Speaker 5: Because Jason Domingaz his his issues. His issues were he couldn't hit right handed. Okay, he he got quite a few at bats against lefties. He did well. So the numbers are there, Like what does that mean? The biggest thing is he's never really had setbacks in the sense that you know, he was the Martian he got a record signing bonus. They thought he was gonna be the next Mickey Man or even our own pinstriped territory. Derek Lewandowski was like, oh my gosh, Jason Domingoz is gonna be unbelieved. Reality is, you have to do it in the big leagues, and when you're in the bright stage of New York, you don't get four hundred at bats to figure it out. And we swing it back to Connor Griffin. The Pirates can give Connor Griffin four hundred at bats to figure it out, and that's where he should be figuring it out in the big leagues.

00:24:18
Speaker 2: For me, it's still in Cruise.

00:24:19
Speaker 4: Dylan Cruz was about the second pick overall in the draft a couple of years ago out LSU behind Paul Skeans. And he's ever hitting the big leagues and from what I've heard from people, he won't make adjustments. There's adjustments that need to be made. They brought in different hitting coaches, they brought in more of a drive line attitude to him, and he needs to Maybe they're talking about making him swing changes and this and that, and he hasn't done that, and he has been He's the one Christian Campbell. He's never making this team. So that's not a disappointment. He's got his money. That's why you signed these extensions because if it doesn't work out, you still have sixty million dollars in the bank, right But for me, it's still and Cruse. Dylan Cruz was supposed to be the guy who was the face of the Nats franchise going forward, and it hasn't worked out.

00:24:56
Speaker 2: It's become James Wood and c. J. Abrams. So for me, it's still in Cruise.

00:25:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean real quick on Cruz.

00:25:04
Speaker 5: I think it's part of a generation of players that have said, you know what, the organizations go, Yeah, Triple A is not as good, We're gonna call you up to the big leagues. And you're talking about like Hall of famers that got called up to the big leagues without any minor league time, and you know, right around the league. Now you're talking about Dylan Cruise, Wyatt Langford. Obviously Paul Schemes is working out, it's gonna be He's gonna be legit. But very rarely do you not need some seasoning in the big in the minor leagues. So I'm kind of contradicting what I said about Connor Griffin when I say that, But there's like there's history that like it takes a little bit to Not everybody has the same trajectory just because they were awesome in college.

00:25:48
Speaker 1: I think it depends too on what your big league club is. There's certain guys that are going to toil away in the minor league because there's people blocking them in the big leagues. There's no reason Connor Griffin shouldn't be the starting shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates to start twenty twenty six.

00:26:02
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00:27:11
Speaker 1: Look out, guys, you never know when you're gonna get whacked in the face with the bat. Look at this on deck circle near accident. This freaked me out when I saw this the first time. So Paul de Young is swinging right, he's basically timing the picture. In the on deck circle, Jason Dimingez comes out of the dugout and the Marsian almost gets drilled by a bat. Scary, scary right.

00:27:32
Speaker 5: Glad he had an appercut. Glad he was working on getting that back hip into it, because had he gone straight level swing, Jason Dimingez.

00:27:42
Speaker 3: Would have been cooked.

00:27:43
Speaker 2: He wanted to.

00:27:44
Speaker 3: He wanted to.

00:27:45
Speaker 5: He wanted to get on that first bus back. There's usually first buses back, or there's you know, a ride. Oh, I gotta get back to I gotta get back to Tampa kind of thing.

00:27:55
Speaker 3: He goes rolling out of there. That could have been just sent down.

00:27:59
Speaker 1: That is Uh, that's one way to get on the early bus. I've been hit on a baseball field five times, four with the ball, one with the bat. Two of the balls that hit me hit me in the head, one was in the back, one was on the hand, and then I got hit with Carlos Gonzalez's bat on the left side. Have you guys, I mean, you're pitch your catchers, so you're constantly getting hit in the face and the mask and all the things. But have you almost been hit by a like how many times you've been hitting in the head with the backswing.

00:28:31
Speaker 4: I mean it happened a lot. I mean not a lot, but it happened. It happened a few times a year. Yeah, it wasn't that stuff happens. I've seen a guy actually seen a guy get hit in the face. I don't, I don't. I actually did see a guy get hit in the face by a bat. I forget who it was, but I did see that happen, and it wasn't good. They broke their I don't want to say they broke their nose or bust at their lip or something. So I actually have seen this happen. It was It was crazy. It was kind of the same thing. They weren't paying attention and the guy swung and didn't realize with someone behind him and hit them. It happens. It's not good, but yeah, this stuff happens. It's scary world out there. Be careful. You gotta, as I tell my son, you gotta have situational awareness on what's going down.

00:29:10
Speaker 2: I make sure.

00:29:11
Speaker 4: I mean every time there was anyone with a bad I was always walking around like And that's why.

00:29:15
Speaker 1: I'm glad that they did put the nets up. I know ek people had differing opinions of putting nets up along the baselines, but there's so many people that go to games that are not paying attention to what's happening on the field, and they have little kids down there. They're not paying attention. There's somebody that obviously does not have catlike reflexes that can take a screaming line drive right to the noggin and it could kill somebody. I'm glad that they have the nets. Have you seen anything like that on the field, Eric, or you know, if someone got hit with the backswing or whatever.

00:29:45
Speaker 5: The video when we talked about this, the video of Ryan Braun swinging on the top of the dugout and he caught Jean Sigura back when they were both playing together with the braid like the Brewers like that one was, but I wasn't. I wasn't there live for it. So no, I've never seen anybody get hit like that. But fans, you talk about the nets, man, I'll never forget one. In Indianapolis, I was playing Triple A and a mom got hit in the side of the head and like immediately she projectile vomited and she had her kids there, Like it was just an awful scene that every like. It still gives me chills to think about. But we also talk about all your injuries. Aj got hit one hundred and twenty nine times a lot, and you're talking about the four times you got hit in the hand.

00:30:31
Speaker 3: He got one hundred and twenty nine times. That's a lot of baseball.

00:30:35
Speaker 1: That is. That's a lot. That's a lot. And I'm not trying to compare my injury stage. It is by any stretch of the imagination. But I also was not suited up and all four tiersome. Here's a fun fact for you boys. All four times I got hit with the ball were all in the San Francisco visiting well, all four times. So that is a death a death track. No, I was on the air, I mean.

00:31:00
Speaker 3: Sometimes didn't like the Dodgers. They didn't like the Dodgers Rogers.

00:31:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I was also with the Rockies too, so it was like an NL West thing as well. But yeah, that's crazy. Remember when Chris, my husband, got hit in the face with the ball ninety three miles an hour fastball he was he was playing for the Diamondbacks and a pitcher. It was like garbage time. Diamondbacks were up huge and this kid comes in, has no idea where it's going, hit him right here, broke three of his teeth.

00:31:24
Speaker 3: He had.

00:31:25
Speaker 1: He had to cut out a huge piece of his lip. That was That was a good time. That was a good time. Anyway, Moving on same thing, Jeremy Meyer, our director, saying, in here a producer. Same on the tea box. No drivers to the Chicklets watch out, don't stand in people's backswing, all right, Ryan Divish, who covers the Mariners. A statement from Randy a Rosa Renna. I understand that with opening day a few days away, I don't want it to be a distraction call. And I have talked and I apologize for what I said after the game. Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates. He's family, and we are both focused on helping the Mariners win the World Series. This comes off of the cuff of Randy Arozarena wanting to shake Cal Raley's hand and he said, no, nay on today. So they've they've squashed this.

00:32:13
Speaker 2: He was told to say this.

00:32:14
Speaker 3: Let's be honest.

00:32:15
Speaker 4: I'm sure you didn't say this out of nowhere. He was told to say this because, again, like I said earlier, the guys who they can trade, they can trade Randy Roserena, guess who they ain't trading. Cal Rowlin, guess who they I mean. Let's be honest, this is it Randy and Cal talk. They had already talked. I don't understand why this became such a big deal because it only became a big deal because Randy said some things about Cal later on that he didn't need to say after the whole thing, and Cal told him not to do it. He told Naylor not to do it. Now, Naylor handled it better by making a joke out of it. Randy then proceeded to say some bad things about Cal. I mean, we all love Randy's personality, we all love the fun times he has.

00:32:55
Speaker 2: On the field.

00:32:56
Speaker 4: But you don't, I don't care what happens. You don't cuss out a teammate after anything.

00:33:00
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.

00:33:00
Speaker 4: You take the team in inside the locker room and you talk to him when you get back to Mariners camp. You handle it internally. You don't cuss him out in front of the world, So I think did. Randy was told, hey, we need to squash this because even when he went back to Marrinors camp, he kept us in going. So it's over now. Hopefully we don't have to talk about it again and the Mirrors can just go try to get to the World series for the first time in their existence.

00:33:23
Speaker 6: AJ This episode is brought to you by our friends at Fox One. Fox one is where you can watch AJ Piersinski and I get this email every week. Now AJ that says what to watch this week on Fox One. That give the weekly watch list, and now that is going to be full of Saturday MLB games with a little bit of you, a little bit of Ken Rosenthal and your friends.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: Absolutely that starts next Saturday, Skuy, you can watch all the games on the Fox one app. You can watch college basketball, you.

00:33:52
Speaker 4: Can watch college football, you can watch they have Indie car, they have Nascar, and they have great shows.

00:33:57
Speaker 2: Fox one is the app that really does have it all.

00:34:00
Speaker 6: Start your seven day free trial today, offers her subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Box one streaming now.

00:34:12
Speaker 3: It will be a distraction.

00:34:14
Speaker 5: Stop like they're going to play. Randy wants to play for his free agent year. Cal is going to do Cal things. It won't be a distraction.

00:34:24
Speaker 1: Okay, this is scary. I didn't know about this. I don't think many people knew about this, guys. But MLB dot COM's Brian McTaggart, who covers the Houston Astros, wrote an article that said Carlos Correa and his son nearly drowned in a lake last summer. That's insane. He nearly drowned on a Minnesota lake last summer. His brush with death has brought him closer to his faith and has given him a new calling. I promise you, this is a quote. I promise you that if you saved me from this one, I will serve you, and I will serve you forever. So apparently he has started organizing aj Bible study at his home last offseason. He's delivering a thirty minute sermon at a retirement home in December in front of you know, twenty to twenty five people that'll do it. You know, when you have a brush with death, especially when your child is involved, that's got to give you some perspective.

00:35:17
Speaker 4: No, yeah, one hundred percent. I'm never going to knock anyone faith or what they do or good for you. Carlos Korea, I'm sure it was a scary incident. Didn't DJ Kali the rapper, didn't he have something like this, have one on a jet ski and he also did this something like this. I thought it was I thought I saw a story about something like that where he almost died on a jet ski and he kind of did the same thing. So good for you, Carlos Korea. It's weird we just now are hearing about this later almost, you know, a year later.

00:35:45
Speaker 2: Whatever.

00:35:45
Speaker 4: And then also wear your life jacket. People, wear your life jacket. Make sure you have a life jacket on. And make sure your children, which I believe Carlos Is did have one on. Make sure you wear your life jacket. And there are people around that are paying attention to what's happening in the wad.

00:35:58
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:35:58
Speaker 1: So Korea managed to reach booeye Ek, but slipped off of the booy he fell under the water. This is again according to the article by Brian McTaggart. He fell under the water and grabbed the chain and during his left hand with Kylo's weight on his shoulder. Kylo is his oldest son. By the way, Koreas switched to his right hand, then his left, and back to his right. Oh my god, that's terrifying. To stay above the water. He yelled toward the boat for help. It was his last gasp. I can't think of a more horrific death any anything that your child is involved in, obviously, but I can't think of a more horrific death than drowning or perhaps being you know burned to death, but imagine the terror in Carlos's mind, in his son's mind, and whoever was watching. That'll make you rethink some things.

00:36:45
Speaker 3: I can't.

00:36:46
Speaker 5: I can't imagine it. I'm glad they're safe. I'm glad it brought him closer to the Lord. I'm glad it put him in a spot where he's appreciating you know, every day that he has. And you know, as a veteran on a team, you start making impact on different people on your team when you're you're really intentional about everything, intentional about your relationships. So you know, there's a positive that came out of this, and that's it for him.

00:37:15
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:37:15
Speaker 1: He also talked about in the article, spoke of the challenges you guys he endured as a player, fracturing his ankle in two places in the minor leagues in twenty fourteen, and how that injury later caused both the Giants and the Mets to back out of mega deals with him. Seven years later, he wound up signing with the Twins after leaving the Astros at the end of the twenty twenty one season. Obviously, he is back with the Stros. I imagine he'd finish his career there. I'm just happy that he's okay, and I'm happy that his son is okay. In case you missed it, a big week for Andrew Painter. He makes the Phillies opening day roster. He gets engaged in the same week his fiance Shelby said, we both got promoted this week. So good for these guys. Very nice week for Andrew Painter and his future bride Shelby.

00:38:11
Speaker 2: It's a big weekj Congratulations in.

00:38:14
Speaker 1: Your in your life, that's the biggest week.

00:38:17
Speaker 3: Uh week? Sure?

00:38:19
Speaker 2: Sure, Like maybe.

00:38:23
Speaker 1: You had a baby in the same week that you got a hole in one. I don't know.

00:38:26
Speaker 3: It's got to be some It's just kids. Just kids birth, that's it.

00:38:32
Speaker 4: It's kids kid's birth, is I mean? But then you have more than one, so then you've got to pick a favorite.

00:38:37
Speaker 3: So sure everyone a favorite for him and then he can pick my favorite.

00:38:43
Speaker 1: That's tough though for you though, because you have three to choose from. By the way, congratulations to Jeremy Myers Iowa Hawk Eyes. They beat A. J. Pearson University of Florida Gators in a thriller A J seventy three to seventy two. What happened.

00:38:59
Speaker 2: Uh, Iowa made shots when they had to. They played better.

00:39:02
Speaker 4: That's usually what happens to Lona when you lose in these games. The other team launches threes and makes them and they play better. Congratulations Iowa.

00:39:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wouldn't know what that's like. I went through Northy Colorado. We're never in the tournament, all right, guys, have a great night. Scott Brom's back tomorrow. Appelad