Aftermath for Mets & Blue Jays after Bo Bichette/Kyle Tucker deals

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Gottaway.

00:00:07
Speaker 2: Hey, it's Draftneck. Mark joining us right now, one of the star hosts of the metst Up Show and podcast. You can catch it YouTube or wherever you get your pods. Also can catch plenty of content from Mark all over YouTube and everywhere else. Mark, Happy birthday week to you and what's your happiness meter? After the past twenty four hours have transpired?

00:00:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's been a crazy one shout out turn in thirty finally hit that milestone.

00:00:31
Speaker 4: But losing Kyle Tucker. I was like, great, love that great way to end the birthday.

00:00:36
Speaker 3: Wake up this morning, getting ready to talk about how Kyle Tucker hurt, and then Boba, Schet's a met out of absolutely nowhere.

00:00:42
Speaker 4: I didn't see that one coming, dude.

00:00:45
Speaker 1: Incredible.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: So I have been listening to almost every episode all off season long, and I remember, I think it was the previous episode. I know you guys did an emergency episode today, but the previous one was talking about the Tucker interest for the Mets, and you and James Shana were kind of split, right, you were trying to be a little more optimistic. James was like, nah, this I think he said, like this as Dodgers written all over it, and he nailed it. So take us through psychology there of why you guys thought that would go down and then how out of left field the Bobashett factor felt.

00:01:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, with Kyle Tucker, I mean, I think I definitely I'm a METS homer.

00:01:20
Speaker 4: I'm a little.

00:01:20
Speaker 3: Biased, and I just I wanted to believe that Kyle Tucker was going to be a Met. He's just one of the twenty best hitters I think on the planet at the absolute worst. And the contract offer was so aggressive that I thought, again, similarly, SHOWE Steve Cohen.

00:01:33
Speaker 4: Where there's smoke, there's fire.

00:01:34
Speaker 3: But obviously he ended up picking the Dodgers, and I think we all kind of knew it was going to be the Dodgers. James just he's got to keep me level sometimes, which is why he had to check me there and make sure that everybody knows. We still thought it was gonna be them, So that one hurt. But he would have been a great fit. So the idea that like the Blue Jays were coming in, I never really fully bought that Tucker was going to be there. It did seem like it was for the Dodgers, that he kind of was at least pushing that the Mets were giving these offers, and then for Bashet this morning, I mean, that's just it's it's a lot of money. We've seen a crazy amount of money the last twelve to eighteen hours on the free agent market, between Tucker getting nearly sixty million a year, I know, there's Deferman, then Bobaschett going forty mili plus a year. I didn't expect him to get forty million a year, and I definitely didn't expect it with the Mets.

00:02:19
Speaker 4: But at the same time, I'm happy.

00:02:21
Speaker 3: I'm happy, Like the Mets desperately needed a right handed bat in this lineup. They're clearly making a choice that they want to get new people in, new players, putting them in different positions. A little bit worried about if he plays third base, how he looks there, but the bat's legit and adding that to the Mets lineup, that's never a bad thing.

00:02:39
Speaker 5: I asked Ken Rosenthal about an hour and a half ago, the same question. Is the Mets lineup better today than it was if they brought the exact same guys who they had last year at the end of the year.

00:02:52
Speaker 4: No, I don't think it is.

00:02:53
Speaker 3: I still think I would have preferred Pete A Lonzo over Bobaschett, and I think that's something that Mets fans are probably gonna struggle with in how you think about this team moving forward. The lineup offensively not better. I think defensively this team is better. I think that was one of their issues last year. I also think that we're gonna see guys step up this year, like I think Francisca Abraz at the end of the year showed that that bad is what we thought it could be and that will help this line up a lot. But I do would have preferred Pete A Lonzo over Bo. I think losing Nimo hurt. We still don't have two outfielders, like I trust Carson benj whenever he is ready, but you don't want to put that kind of pressure on the kid coming into opening Day.

00:03:28
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think.

00:03:29
Speaker 3: They're still crazy enough to say a lot of holes in this team. But we're definitely better off now with Bobashit than we were without Mark.

00:03:38
Speaker 6: What about the other two guys that might be pushed out of the play in third base? We had twenty twenty four, it was Van Doo's's job and twenty twenty five it was Beaty's job. And now we have both of those guys still probably only can play third base, and now there's a third base. So what happens with those two guys do we conceivably see because hitting is a problem, do you see any world and where one or both because we know Endos can play first as well in badh and he's got a pretty good bat. Like where those guys get moved and maybe there's some big league ready pitching out there because pitching is a problem. What do you see happening with those two guys?

00:04:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I think to talk about Batty first. I think Ken said in one of his tweets or an article recently how Baty they might see playing a little bit first as well as his name was very active on the trade market. So I think that if Baty were to be moved, it's going to be for a starting pitcher. I don't know who that would be, but I think with the control and what he showed in the second half of the season, Baty's definitely got some value right now. But also that's why I think the Mets would want to keep him in the fact that he can play third, he can play second, maybe he can play a little first. And I know this is a pipe dream, but in the past he played even left field for a couple innings I think for the Mets, and they tried that out a few spring trainings to go. Maybe he takes over the Jeff McNeil role where he's more of a super utility man. But I do think that if the right starting pitcher is available and Brett Batty has to be on the trade to get that guy, seems like the Mets might be willing to do so. Now for Vientos, I'm not one hundred percent sure what they do with him. He's kind of just a first basement right now, more of a DH And while we saw the Heights in twenty twenty four, where he really was a huge reason why that team got out a run, twenty twenty five was the complete opposite. He just wasn't the same hitter that we saw and expected. I don't think that the Mets should lose faith in Viento's but with the way that roster crunches work, with the way that options work, with the limited positional flexibility that vent has, Viento's has. I think it's tough to kind of imagine where he fits into this team, especially now with the addition of Bo. So maybe that's a trade, maybe that's trying to win a job out of spring training. But I think the Mets still have a ton of moves to make and those guys will definitely be a part of them.

00:05:39
Speaker 5: Two words I asked you about the lineup, but two words we keep hearing from the Mets, whether it's David Sterns or Nimo as he went out the door, run prevention. Are you at the point where you're like, I'm fine with it, I'm able to sit with my hands just folded, Or are you're gonna watch every game thinking about run prevention like I don't know what's gonna happen.

00:06:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like, I think it would be crazy for any Mets fans to think that, like Bobachhet's gonna come in and be a goal glove third basement. So then it comes to the conversation of how bad was Pete a Lonzo's defense firsut, what will Bobaschett's defense look like at third? And then how different will their bat be. That's gonna be the big thing that I think every met fan goes back and forth with this year. I think they did improve defensively, like Simon in that second base is a huge, huge boost, and I think they still are going to address the outfield defense at some point. But yeah, hearing run prevention being as prominent of like talking point for David Setns this offseason, and then seeing some of the moves like Horey Polanco probably can play first base, but he's never really done it, so defense is still a question mark there. Bobachett's never played a professional inning, I think at third base, not even in the minor leagues. That's still a question marked there. That's that's one of those where Krats, I think you're right. I might be crossing my fingers a little bit more this year of like, I hope these guys work out these positions the bats, though, I trust it's the gloves now.

00:06:59
Speaker 5: One of the things that Scott said was Stevie Cohen woke up this morning and was like, crap, I didn't get Tucker. I'm going after Bo. My argument was, I don't think he slept last night. Do you think Stevie Cohen the way that he came into New York and is like, this is gonna be a winning team. I want to become the team of New York City. I want to be this like all the things that he said, do you think he is enjoying the way it is going? Based on the splash he made last year with Juan Soto and the fact that he trusted David Stearns' is pitching up until May sixteenth ish his pitching plan, do you think he enjoys the way it's going or do you think this move solidifies the fact that he's like, David, great job, get out of my way. We're getting bo because I cannot lose out on another guy.

00:07:52
Speaker 3: I'll be honest, I hope Steve Cohen's not happy with how it's going. That's still haven't done anything, So it would be be honestly awful if he was like, hey, this is going pretty well. I mean, I think we know he's pretty excited about the project that's gonna be going on Citney Field in the next coming years. That's probably a big thing that's helping him out. But for this Mets team, like I do think this was a bit of a move that was a.

00:08:12
Speaker 4: Little on tilt.

00:08:13
Speaker 3: Like I think he got a little frustrated with what happened with Tucker. The Mets seemingly gave a pretty good offer to him, maybe something that Steve Cohen thought nobody could beat. So it does feel a little bit like he kind of pushed the chips all in here and said, we have to go get this next guy.

00:08:26
Speaker 4: This is the guy I want.

00:08:28
Speaker 3: I know that it's been reported that the Mets had been talking about that this was the plan all along, that if they didn't get Tucker, they'd moved to Bischet, but we hadn't heard anything about it. So for me, from an outside perspective, I think that Cohen definitely got a little frustrated with what happened last night and they decided to put all their money and put their chips into Bobachett and hopefully more moves coming coming forward because this team still got again a lot of holes.

00:08:50
Speaker 6: I want to talk about pitching one more time. You know, we have six starting pitchers out here for in the depth chart, including you know, three of the real young guys and Jonah Toong Sprote and Noel MacLean, who file accounts should probably be the opening day starter, but the other two Jonah and Sprote two questions two parter. First, outside of those guys waiting in the wings, who's the next young guy prospect guy to come up and in the starting pitching category, And if it comes down to these six guys in spring we're competing for the fifth spot, do you think it's conceivable? Is this something that you see Stearn's doing or maybe getting some value out of say Jonah Tom's the sixth guy outside looking in, do we make a decision on maybe getting a long getting some long innings out of them, some more big league time, or possibly turning them into a back end guy because there's a lot of swing to miss here or is this going to be a wait and see because of the because of the wealth of the of the pitching, do you think anyone could be moving to the bullpen?

00:09:46
Speaker 7: Is what I'm trying to ask.

00:09:47
Speaker 3: Definitely, I think I think Sproton Tom could definitely be guys early on the season in the bullpen, especially because with Tong, we know that the fastball is great, the change up's awesome. We need to develop that third pitch. So until he gets a third pitch that's more consistent between the curveball and slider. I think bullpen long relief role is kind of what makes the most sense going into opening day this season. We're spread I think, like similar to what Stearns has done Milwaukee with guys like Burns and Peralta and Woodruff. They kind of all started in the bullpen until they got to a point where Sterns and the Brewers felt comfortable enough to put them into that rotation, and then they fill in pretty seamlessly. So I think, yeah, those guys will be good back in arms that can give us some length in the bullpen, and that's never a bad thing to have too, especially with how often the best starting pitching couldn't go deep last year.

00:10:30
Speaker 4: You don't want to necessarily.

00:10:32
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be hard to expect Sean and I necessarily right out of spring training to be able to go six seven innings.

00:10:37
Speaker 4: Code I saying to those kind of guys.

00:10:38
Speaker 3: So to be able to have tongue and sprot in the bullpen to piggyback off of them if they do go shorter in and outing. I do love that flexibility, and I am still very excited to see what strides forward these guys make during in spring training because the last time we saw them was at the end of the season. So maybe Jonah Tong has developed that curve ball, that slider to become a third or even a fourth pitch now that he can use to help get out left hand batters and right handed batters, But.

00:11:02
Speaker 4: That will still be be determined.

00:11:04
Speaker 3: A guy that you mentioned, though, that's maybe a little bit slept down, a little under the radar in the system. We obviously have Christian Scott coming back from injury that I think is gonna be a big part of this team too down the stretch. But Jack Wendinger, he absolutely dominated the miners last year, had one of the highest ka walk ratios in all of Minor league baseball. I think because of all the big name young pitchers that the Mets had, he's been slept on a little bit. But you're starting to see him kind of float around that top one hundred prospect list, and twenty twenty six could be a big, big year for him if he keeps striking out batters like he has and limiting the walks. It's just it's hard not to get excited about a picture like that.

00:11:38
Speaker 5: Next move you see and next move that you want to make this. Yeah, that smile back on your birthday train, because old birthday cake is totally fine unless you left it out and it got stale. So we can't let the Mets get stale here. So the next move you see happening, and the next move you want to happen.

00:11:58
Speaker 3: Okay, so I mean move I see happening. I think that it's gonna be Franbervaldez. I just it feels like Framber's been kind of on the Mets radar all off season, especially with they're gonna go that aggressive with the Bobashett contract. I would assume that they're gonna go that aggressive with Franbravaldez too, especially for the qualifying off for stuff. Now, I think that the Mets will definitely push in some of the chips on Frambur, and I think you'd be a great fit in this rotation. I would love to see them go out and trade for a Freddy Peralta or again, if you're asking my birthday dream, if Terrek Scoopble is ever available again, I would love to go after him. But I think that's I think that's an insane one to ask for. Freddy Peralta seems more realistic. That's someone who I'd love to see the Mets go after. I think they're gonna be focused on pitching and then maybe they address the outfield again.

00:12:41
Speaker 4: And the Cody Bellinger rumors have been so hot and cold.

00:12:43
Speaker 3: I can't I can't get a rid as a Met fan on anything going on this offseason, let alone what's going on with Cody Bellinger in the Mets interest. So maybe it's him, maybe it's on the trade market, maybe they really just believe in Carson Bench. But truthfully, for me to feel better and what I expect the Mets to do next, I do think it's gonna be on the starting pitching market.

00:12:59
Speaker 4: I think it's Framber.

00:13:00
Speaker 7: Valdez pecking order, and we need a pecking order.

00:13:07
Speaker 5: Okay, National League East pecking order today, January sixteenth, Lock it in, Mark.

00:13:16
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go Phillies one.

00:13:17
Speaker 3: Still, I think until the Mets win that division, the Phillies are still the best team, and you look at them top to bottom, they're good.

00:13:22
Speaker 4: I think the Mets are two.

00:13:24
Speaker 3: They were pretty close last year and it really took a spectacular, spectacular collapse at the end of the season to not make it into the playoffs.

00:13:31
Speaker 4: I think Braves are three.

00:13:32
Speaker 3: That team just had a weird season, and I would like to see them be healthy before I can feel confident about what's going on in Atlanta. Four Marlins, five Nationals. I think the Nationals are a clear tier even below the Marlins.

00:13:45
Speaker 5: Can you definitively say, because I got roasted by this secret like Twitter channel chat that doesn't allow outside met fans in last year, can you definitively say, like I tried to respond to them and they didn't let me respond.

00:13:58
Speaker 7: I was like, we're visual, They weren't vicious. It was fine.

00:14:02
Speaker 5: They just said stuff like your ball and you're fat, you had a brutal career, all things that are very very true and not that hurtful. But can you definitively say the Mets today today without your franber Valdez and Tarrek Scuble trade, are they better than the Braves?

00:14:23
Speaker 4: I think so.

00:14:24
Speaker 3: Something happened last year with the Braves where I like a lot of the moves that they made. I don't think the Braves are a bad team, but I also was weirdly one of the guys last year very early to it, where I was like, I don't think the Braves are going to be necessarily.

00:14:35
Speaker 4: As good as we expect them.

00:14:36
Speaker 3: I had them missing the playoffs, I had them finishing in third place last year. My predictions one of the few things I did get right. But at the same time, like that team's getting older. We saw some of the Bats not be as strong as they were in previous years. I think while there's definitely supposed to be some regression backs to the mean positively for them, I also think at times like this might just be the version of the Braves. It is tough with that rotation. Spencer Schrider was horrible. I don't think he's go to be that bad, but you kind of have to see it till you believe it. Chris Sale is getting a year older. There's a lot of question marks there. I think them and the Mets are very close. I think they're in terms of talent and what their kind of goals are this year. I think those teams can be interchangeable in that two to three spot. But I do think that there is a clear difference between the Mets, Braves and then the Phillies at the top.

00:15:20
Speaker 5: Mark completely off topic, happy birthday, but I have to ask I haven't watched all the Mets up episodes, but maybe you explained it is that a Jabbari Blash jersey hanging up? How on earth do you have a Jabbari Blash jersey? And how have I never seen it? And is it only because of the number that's on there that you have in hanging out?

00:15:43
Speaker 4: I think that adds to it.

00:15:44
Speaker 3: Jabari, I think knew what he was doing when he was picking that number out in Japan. But to make a long story short, Jabari Blash. When I first started my YouTube journey, I was making MLB the Show videos and one of the best videos that I made at the time was using a lineup of common players, which are the lowest rated guys in the game. I saw Jabbar's name threw him into the lineup because it's an awesome name, Jabari Blash, and in that video he performed incredibly well. So from that moment, on any chance I got on my channel, I used Jabari in a video fast forward he gets moved from the A from the Padres to the Yankees.

00:16:15
Speaker 4: I'm a Yankee hater.

00:16:17
Speaker 3: That was like one of the worst days for me, like ever on YouTube where my favorite random player ever gets traded to the team that I hate. I make a video reacting to it gets way more views than it ever should have for a Jabari Blash reaction. Jabari sees it, reaches out to me, We become friends, and then we meet each other. He's one of the nicest guys ever. Truly, like one of the reasons why I'm still doing what I am today because a major league baseball player reaching out and like, just show me love and respect was really cool. And then when he moved to Japan, he was like, Hey, I want to send you a jersey, like I appreciate you, know what you've done for me and making my life positive and all this kind of stuff. So, uh yeah, Jabari my favorite player ever, nicest guy I've ever met. Got to hang up the jersey he sent me there without a doubt.

00:16:59
Speaker 1: Wow, that's some duo. Yeah that's cool right, yeah, crazy, But that's.

00:17:06
Speaker 7: As and as he's a monster too.

00:17:08
Speaker 5: If you've ever seen Jabari Blash in pursuit, I was in camp with him one year and I was.

00:17:12
Speaker 7: Like, Oh my gosh, how are you.

00:17:14
Speaker 5: That's like that large of a person. He waffles baseballs. But I'll say this for Scott, Yes, giggity.

00:17:22
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you stole my line. I'm not even kidding. I was waiting for it on the outro. Now I don't even know what to say. I need my teleg to change.

00:17:33
Speaker 2: Uh gigh Mark, thanks man, you're the man. Happy birthday and everyone check out messed up, which we're about to show more about in a second.

00:17:41
Speaker 1: But appreciate you.

00:17:43
Speaker 4: Thank you, guys. It's go mets.

00:17:47
Speaker 7: Hey.

00:17:48
Speaker 2: Mike Wilner is back on the show and I'm sure you'll get plenty from his pod. Uh, this will be too deep left field with Mike Wilner. Mike, it is great to have you back on the show, although maybe not the greatest time.

00:17:59
Speaker 1: Right now for Blue Jays.

00:18:00
Speaker 2: They should mostly be happy given results from last year offseason in general. But have we reached the greedy point with the fan base that expected Kyle Tucker to also land in their lap?

00:18:12
Speaker 1: What's the reaction up in Canada today.

00:18:14
Speaker 8: I don't think it's it's greedy.

00:18:16
Speaker 9: I think you know the way the Blue Jays were throwing their weight around in this offseason and snapping up Dylan Cease right away.

00:18:24
Speaker 8: And throwing almost forty million.

00:18:26
Speaker 9: Dollars at a reliever they kind of expected one of Tucker or Bishitt to wind up here in Toronto, and I did too.

00:18:35
Speaker 8: I thought the Blue Jays were absolutely.

00:18:37
Speaker 9: Going to sign either one or the other, and to not get both or to not get either, is pretty disappointing. But I don't think from a greedy sense. I think from a team building sense, it feels like they're still maybe a bat short of where you'd like them to be right now. I mean, this is a team that did lead the major leagues batting average and on base percentage last year, but was middle of the pack in Homer's and it feels like they're really counting on if this is it, like, if they don't make the move on Bellinger or make a trade and get somebody else, you're really counting on George Springer to repeat what he did last year, and now he's thirty six, and you're counting on a big bounce back from Anthony santan Dare that may or may not happen after he lost an entire year. So I would say less greedy and more it sort of felt like this was almost inevitable and now it hasn't happened.

00:19:34
Speaker 5: Before we pivot to Bellinger, and talk about the possibilities of that. Which one do you think hurts more? The fact that they didn't bring Bo back or the fact that they didn't sign Tucker when it was like, okay, like which one because you talked about power, because the power with Tucker, But then you talked about the lineup and what they did last year. Bo was part of that. So which one hurts more?

00:19:58
Speaker 9: I mean both to twenty five homers too, So there's power there. I was gonna say thirty, but I'm not sure he's gotten a thirty. But there's power there. And obviously that home run he hit in Game seven of the World Series was beyond ridiculous. When you say hurts Bo hurts more. I've said it a few times over the course of this winter. It just it's not gonna feel right for the Blue Jays to open camp, to take the field, whatever, without Bob Bashett. Now, he's been part of this organization for a decade. He's been part of the team since he got called up in August of twenty nineteen in Kansas City. Got a hit in his first big league at bad and something like twelve doubles in his first ten games or something as set a major league record. He's been an integral part of this thing and a running mate of Vladimir Guerrero Juniors. And it's just gonna be so weird. This will be the first time that Vladdie has played on a team without Bo since twenty sixteen, I believe, which is wild. You know, for a full season. He was up a few months earlier in twenty nineteen than Bishet.

00:21:13
Speaker 8: But and you know, Bo is.

00:21:18
Speaker 9: Maybe, outside of Luisa Raise, the best pure hitter in the game. And he's got way more pop than her eyes too.

00:21:25
Speaker 8: He will grind in.

00:21:26
Speaker 9: At bat, he'll foul off a million pitches and then he'll just smack a double the other way. He's just such a so hard on pitchers and so much fun to watch. But then you know, Kyle Tucker is left handed, he doesn't strike out, takes his walks, has the power. Seemed like the perfect fit behind vlad in the lineup, and so that hurts too. And I think that's what the Jay's front office saw a little bit more, and they were more intent on Tucker than they were on Bo. But Bo should have been done months ago here in Toronto. He wanted to stay, but I guess either he wanted to shop his offers or the front office just didn't want to meet his price. But it should be said they didn't want to meet Vlad's price last year either and had to be forced into it by ownership. That took until April, and they didn't have that luxury this time because Vlad wasn't a free agent and Bo was.

00:22:28
Speaker 5: Was there some feelings hurt by Bo? You talked about the connection between him and Vlad. They've been together the whole time. Vlad was hearing extension talks Bo. From all that we've heard, he was not hearing extension talks. Vlad got his extension after BO had a down year. I mean, I think BO would even say that. So do you think this relationship was a little severed maybe two three years ago, when in my opinion, you said they should have been locked up months ago? I think BO should have been locked up up years ago.

00:23:02
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, like put me in back in twenty nineteen. And I'm signing Bo and Vlad to you know, Ronald Acunya and Ozzy Albi's contracts for sure, but also you know, if I'm doing that, I'm also signing Jordan Romano and Danny Jansen and Cavin Biggio and Alec Manoa to contracts like that, and some work and some don't. But yeah, they they could have saved themselves hundreds of millions of dollars by being more proactive and by having more faith in their players.

00:23:30
Speaker 8: For sure.

00:23:31
Speaker 9: As far as the more recent extension talks, I don't think.

00:23:36
Speaker 8: I mean, if it rubbed Bo the wrong way, then.

00:23:39
Speaker 9: You know, he's got to look at himself, and I don't think it did. But coming off a year like Bo had in twenty twenty four, after he missed half the season, hurt and hit two twenty five and had the worst year of his career, there was no way to sign him for an extension. I mean, if the Blue Jays had made an offer there, it would have been way short of what Bow wanted, and rightfully so. And if Bo had come in with his number it would have been crazy high coming off of the injuries in the year. So it really was not a good fit for an extension, which doesn't mean they couldn't have revisited it at the All Star break this year when we saw Bow was back to being Bo, and we kind of understand that that's his level of performance when he's healthy. But as far as an extension last winter, there was just no number that would have been remotely close for both sides.

00:24:32
Speaker 6: I love the optimism that it would have been an option to sign to an acunya an Ozzie Albi's deal. I'm assuming Azzie in this situation as Bashet, but he's got an ex MLB player for a dad. I don't think seven to thirty five. Maybe it would have been on the table, but maybe something close. I do like that a lot, though, So now we know that bo is not on the table anymore, and as well as Kyle Tucker. Of the free agents that are left, who do you think could be the best maybe top two fits to help the blue Jays in twenty twenty six.

00:25:05
Speaker 8: Well, first of all, I agree with you on the Albu's thing.

00:25:07
Speaker 9: I was just talking strategy and as opposed to Tigers but.

00:25:10
Speaker 8: Lots for seven or eight years.

00:25:13
Speaker 9: But yeah, that would have been swell, but too many major league dads in that they didn't need the money for sure. Cody Bellinger obviously stands out as the next best fit, especially when the Blue Jays seem to have been so focused on Kyle Tucker, and Bellinger has shown he can play in the Al East. He is a very good defensive outfielder as opposed to Tucker, and defense is something that the Blue Jays seem to really want. It's a weird fit, but Tucker would have been a weird fit, and they were willing to make it happen because you've got Addison Barger, You've got Anthony Santanderra and George Springer. And while Barger played a lot of third last year, Cosmo Komoto was here to do that this year, and you would assume that they didn't give him sixty million bucks to be a part time player. So you wonder quite how the dominoes are going to roll that way. But I would imagine that Cody Bellinger is the next target. And if not, look you've got Nathan Lucas. And Nathan Lucas, while he's been an average major league hitter, was a leadoff good enough to be a leadoff man in a World Series game and score the winning run in that game. You've got Joey Loperfido who came up last July and was ridiculous for six weeks, who might get a chance as well.

00:26:37
Speaker 8: But it does feel like, you know, if.

00:26:40
Speaker 9: You're if you're acting like a bully in free agency and you're taking aim at the Kyle Tuckers of the world, then a pivot to Cody Bellinger should not be out of your reach at all.

00:26:53
Speaker 5: I think there's probably some more versatility there because you're gonna lose Dalton varshow soon. You don't want Anthony Santan dere laying and is into his last years of his contract in the outfield. So yeah, I think I think Kyle, I mean, I think Cody has more versatility. Are the Blue Jays the number one team in the American League East as we sit here.

00:27:14
Speaker 9: Today, Yeah, I think so. Boston's improved their pitching. But just to catch up to the Blue Jays, right, You've got a top four in your rotation of Gosman, Cse Bieber and Yes Savage and Jose Barrios is your fifth or Cody Ponce, who just had the best year anyone's ever had in Korea. That's that's pretty good. And as much as Jeff Hoffman gave up that home run in Game seven of the World Series, Jeff Hoffman was a solid closer. Jimmy Garcia is terrific. Taylor Rodgers Tyler. I can't tell the twins apart. Whichever Rogers the Blue Jays wound up getting.

00:28:00
Speaker 8: Is Tyler ridiculous? Tyler, He's I mean stupid.

00:28:04
Speaker 9: A six twenty ops against both sides for a knuckle Draggers, that's amazing.

00:28:10
Speaker 8: The bullpen is solid.

00:28:12
Speaker 9: Could use a capital C closer to push everybody down, but doesn't need it. And again it's it's a tremendous defense and a very good offense. So yeah, the Yankees haven't done anything. The Orioles haven't done enough. I do think the Blue Jays right now are still the best team in the Alias.

00:28:36
Speaker 7: Is there a.

00:28:39
Speaker 5: Scenario that we look at and we say the Blue Jays are a sleeper team for a trade because everything has been free agent? Yea, everything has been in that free agency. But when you have a season where you're coming off a World Series and you have the Nathan Lucas, you have the Ernie Clement, you have the Addison Bargers, which the casual fans had no idea about. Are the Blue Jays in a position do you feel like they've built up so much cachet that they'd be fine getting rid of some of their big league talent to land that one last piece in a trade, because all that we've heard about the Blue Jays mostly has been money, money, money, money, money, money, and then bring this trade in to give them that final piece.

00:29:26
Speaker 8: Yeah.

00:29:26
Speaker 9: Absolutely, you know all those extra pieces, right, Lucas and low Berfido, David Schneider, even Jose Barrios, though that's a tough contract to move. Lucas is tough to move also because he's thirty one and he's only had one full season in the majors. But you know, there, you could dangle Addison Barger to get that one final piece. There are pieces that this team can trade. They have a surplus of players, and they have some solid prospects in the lower miners. So absolutely, I'm not putting it past them to make a deal. We're still a month away from a full squad at spring training. There's lots of time to do things.

00:30:10
Speaker 8: And it's true we have absolutely been concentrating on the free agent market so much.

00:30:16
Speaker 9: Probably because of Cease and because of all the Tucker talk from the beginning of the off season. But they are well positioned to make a trade if there's a fit.

00:30:27
Speaker 1: Hey, last one for you, Mike.

00:30:29
Speaker 2: We'll do it quick and you got to jump and I want to promote your pod one more time. Blue Jays fans perception of the Dodgers. They fall just short in the World Series, and the Dodgers have beat them in some signings lately. Hey, I think this is a golden era right now for the Jays. And in summary, we've capitalized for sure, right or they've capitalized on all of the money they made, all the attention they're grabbing. But got imagine they just despise the Dodgers at the moment and how they've grabbed Show and some others or is it more like us against the not the world? But what was it during the World Series? We don't need you something along those lines to show, hey, right.

00:31:11
Speaker 9: And the same thing will happen, Well, the same thing would happen to Tucker. I guess the Dodgers are here this year, so yeah, the same thing will probably happen to Tucker that we don't need you chant. It was amazing with showhy there in Game one of the World Series, and I think you know, the Dodgers are now what the Yankees and Red Sox used to be here living in the Al.

00:31:32
Speaker 8: East for the last forever.

00:31:35
Speaker 9: The Blue Jays had a ton of very good teams between nineteen ninety eight and twenty and fourteen and couldn't get a sniff because the Yankees and the Red Sox were the big bullies.

00:31:47
Speaker 8: On the block.

00:31:48
Speaker 9: And now the Dodgers are that, And I think it's great. I mean, I'd much rather the sixty million dollars go to Kyle Tucker every year than go into the pockets of the Dodgers' owners and Rogers, who owns the Blue Jays. The Jays, honestly are like their entire payroll is a rounding error on the Rogers balance sheet because so much of their money comes from cable and wireless, so you can afford it, go spend it. Better to spend it on the players than to keep it for yourselves. But yeah, Jays fans are not happy with the Dodgers for sure. Otani Sasaki. Now Tucker feels like the Mets finished second to Tucker as opposed to the Blue Jays there because he was looking for I guess, the short term, high value deal. But it's great to have a villain and for a while they're the Blue Jays where the villains in the American League this offseason, And they may still be, and they haven't been for a very, very, very long time. But yeah, everybody hates the Dodgers. I don't think they're ruining baseball. I think it's great. I think more teams should behave like they do, and I'm glad that the Blue Jays are starting to. But there is zero love loss. I've had a couple of people already in the last day tell me that the only that they want the Blue Jays to win the World Series in twenty twenty six, but it will only taste really good if they do it against the Dodgers.

00:33:17
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:33:18
Speaker 2: Wow, see that Trevor is greedy. We don't want just the title. We want a title over the Dodgers.

00:33:24
Speaker 1: But I love it. Hey, I love it.

00:33:26
Speaker 2: You have to be unreasonable, yes, as a fan in this sport. Mike, thank you so much for the time. Appreciate you. We could show the board here for Mike to call it out on his own Mike, just where everyone can catch your show.

00:33:38
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's deep left field. The new episode came out yesterday before Tucker and Bow signed, but we're going to get a bonus episode up tomorrow to talk about the two signings. But in this one I talked to Ernie Clement and he talks about Game seven and the aftermath, and he said at the time he made a pitch to bo At Bischett's wedding last weekend or two weekends ago to come back to the JAS, and that he was kind of hoping they would sign both.

00:34:07
Speaker 8: Tucker and Bushett.

00:34:08
Speaker 9: Now that's greedy, but that's what you would expect from a player.

00:34:12
Speaker 1: We love it. Oh, I want to hear all about that.

00:34:14
Speaker 2: Ernie Clement's an awesome personality too, so looking forward to catching that.

00:34:18
Speaker 8: Mike.

00:34:18
Speaker 1: Thanks again, great to catch up with.

00:34:19
Speaker 9: You anytime, guys. Thanks for having me a word for video.

00:34:24
Speaker 8: Good.

00:34:29
Speaker 2: Leo is just basking in cash right now. Your bet MGM futures and changes in line movement for the Dodgers after they signed Kyle Tucker. So you have the open price, the before KT and the after KT. So they were at plus three hundred Kyle Tucker signs. That line now moves to plus two twenty five. It's almost two to one odds for the Dodgers to win the World Series. I don't know if we've ever seen that National League they're at plus one p thirty one point three to one odds and then to win the NL West.

00:35:04
Speaker 1: That's the real crazy one too.

00:35:06
Speaker 2: Minus three seventy five has now jumped to minus six fifty six fifty to win a hondo for the Dodgers to win the National League West.

00:35:15
Speaker 8: Damn?

00:35:17
Speaker 1: Who thoughts on this movement here? And how?

00:35:21
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess you can touch it, but it's just really tough to get any value out of this.

00:35:28
Speaker 6: Trevor don't I'm I'm sure someone's doing it, but yeah, I even without Tucker, I mean, like, you're not going to make a ton of money. I mean, anyone out there who's like, I'll do three to fifty for one hundred for them to win the West, Yeah, it might be out of the window now or sorry, three seventy five for for one guy to move it that way, especially with a guy with a bunch of team, with a bunch of MVPs on already probably a gut punch for the people who who are preparing to make that just to have some little bit of security because they've won. I don't know what is the one what like sixty of the last sixty one or something visions. So I mean, good luck, guys. If you there is no sure bets, as they say, but as it goes, that might be your best.

00:36:15
Speaker 1: This might be the.

00:36:16
Speaker 6: Best direction you've ever been able to go in order to feel confident at all.

00:36:20
Speaker 7: About anything going your way.

00:36:22
Speaker 5: So I mean to move the lines like this. People don't know lines or anything like that. The NL West one is it's wild. I know it's not a dollar for dollar compared to the World Series, but for the World Series odds to move almost an entire point is crazy. And the fact that they're almost a two to one favorite to win the World Series, not against another team. When they were down in the series last year, I bought them at two hundred plus two hundred, and they were just playing the Dodgers like there was just another team. You have twenty nine other teams. That's where everybody feel the Dodgers are to win the World Series. But the fact that the NL West shifted almost double, you almost have to put down twice the amount that you had to just to win one hundred is a crazy number. But it's also a number that says, dang his team is good.

00:37:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.

00:37:21
Speaker 2: So it's just crazy to see one signing make an impact like that too. The Dodgers were already heavily favored, and when you add Tucker and a win projection that goes into models like this. That's what's crazy, Trevor. Now, I don't know if the the win added here total for Kyle Tucker will actually impact. Like I'm curious to see the win loss number, right, the win total number for the Dodgers. So do you think some of that has to do with the way that they manage their pitching staff throughout a season and they really pump the brakes on guys to make sure that they're going to be ready for October. I bet the jump there is not as significant as the odds moving towards them just doing.

00:38:05
Speaker 1: What they need to do.

00:38:06
Speaker 7: Right.

00:38:07
Speaker 2: It's crazy to think this way, but Trevor, I actually think the Dodgers are able to look at the landscape of where they're at division wise and be like, Okay, we can take it easy on these pitchers at this time period, since we're up eight games at the moment on the division. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but they are making sure, of course they're in a comfy spot. They take the division down and that their pitching is going to be ready for the postseason. I don't know if that made any sense, but the impact of that contractor makes of course going to okay, what do you got for us?

00:38:38
Speaker 5: So just the other day we locked in the Dodgers under at ninety nine wins, today one hundred and three and a half.

00:38:51
Speaker 1: These Oh see, that's awesome. See that's what happened last year.

00:38:54
Speaker 2: And then if you smashed the under, you were you crushed it right, Dodgers finished with what last year?

00:39:00
Speaker 1: Ninety five wins? I want to say, I'll look it up.

00:39:04
Speaker 7: Three wins?

00:39:04
Speaker 1: Was it ninety three?

00:39:05
Speaker 7: Yeah?

00:39:06
Speaker 5: I thought I thought they were closer than ninety three, But I have it right here.

00:39:09
Speaker 1: Ninety three.

00:39:10
Speaker 2: So they were in the hundreds last year heading into the season, right, it might have been like one oh one point five whatever it was, and that was an easy hit. I think that's going to be the same case again here. I don't think this team's winning one hundred four games. I think they're gonna go through all kinds of pitching, injuries and fun and they're just gonna be like, cool, we don't care.

00:39:27
Speaker 1: We're gonna win enough games.

00:39:28
Speaker 2: We'll win ninety seven games, but one oh three point five that's the number.

00:39:35
Speaker 7: Them three point yeah, and I don't see win that many.

00:39:39
Speaker 1: They get lucky.

00:39:40
Speaker 6: Yeah, if everyone's healthy, they could, but then it's not their goal. It's not their goal. The one oh seven was because no one got hurt a few years ago. That's why they won one hundred and seven games.

00:39:48
Speaker 7: Yeah, but they have.

00:39:50
Speaker 2: I was gonna say guys that went deep in October and then a lot of dudes that'll be involved in the WBC too, But anyway, krats.

00:39:57
Speaker 5: No, I don't think it's necessarily injuries. Like the Braves had injuries. They had dudes that could not come back. The Dodgers have guys that were hurting. Can we call it the mitigation? Like they were just mitigating through the season, Like it's okay, Like I get it, Blake Snell, you're barking a little bit. You know, we want you to be full strength. We're gonna let you build up as much as we can. Then we're gonna throw you on a larger, a longer rehab assignment. We know we have show Hey, we know we have Yamamoto six day guys. Is Roki gonna come back to the rotation at some point doubtful, But is another six day guy? Like they're spreading these guys out, and that's where I see it being really tough, and I'm locking in.

00:40:43
Speaker 7: I'm doubled.

00:40:44
Speaker 5: I guess I'm essentially doubling it down because I bought it at ninety nine and I loved it. I can't not love it at one hundred and maybe less than one hundred and four. Theyn one hundred and three wins or less, and I'm taking it. Sorry, the game is, it's too tough, The NST is too good, and I don't think the Dodgers want to put everything that it takes to win one hundred and four games into it.

00:41:07
Speaker 7: I could be wrong.

00:41:08
Speaker 5: They're much better team than one hundred and three wins, but I don't think they care.

00:41:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, older position players too, right, amazing team. No one thinks they're not going to win the division. All that, but just a different situation. Hey, we're showing you the bet MGM Poker Spade Online Championship. It starts in two days and runs through February first, the eighteenth of January through February first, and also you can play a little poker with Todd Father, Danny Graves, and myself this weekend. If you're in the Cincinnati area and you'd like to join us over at Redsfest. Actually the poker tournament self sold out, but I think you can still pop up and hang out. Will be at Redsfest, Todd, Father and Danny, and then we'll also do a special Q and A at Tom's Watch Bar on Sunday. That's at the Banks right around the ballpark there, Sunday, January eighteenth. That'll start at twelve o'clock twelve o'clock Classic Time, twelve o'clock Eastern Time. We're on YouTube. I can say whatever I want. Gambling problem or concern, there's help. Call one eight hundred Gambler