MLB power rankings update + Cardinals SP Dustin May joins FT

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Hey, let's hit Power Rankings. We'll mix it in throughout the season. We are hours away at this point from the start of the season. We'll do previous predictions, the whole thing very soon on FT. But let's look at the CBS list and actually, you know what, before we do that, before we show it, please, I'm actually going to see if I can get AJ's attention this way, since he's not the biggest fan of power rankings. They also did a tier within the article. Matt Snyder wrote this article, and let me know if you like this tier, AJ. He put favorites in its own category, one favorite right which he said he would always do one favorite you know who that is Dodgers. Then he has a next tier of four strong contenders. This part I thought was pretty controversial. He had the Yankees, the Blue Jays, the Mariners, and the Cubs as strong contenders in their own tier. And I'll just give you the next tier and then we'll skip the rest. But he said, this next tier is you need a few breaks, as in there a little more flawed or have more questions than the team list right above it Tigers, Mets, Braves, Phillies, Brewers, Astros, Red Sox. I feel like the second and third tier has some.

00:01:16
Speaker 2: Question in it.

00:01:17
Speaker 3: We can we show those I mean, the Dodgers are going to be number one of my power rankings to Yer, so you can just go ahead and put those there.

00:01:22
Speaker 1: Right, Let's look at the power rankings that he put together from one through thirty. So we'll show you the top ten first that they're listing heading into the season. And this can change from spring training. For example, they drop the Braves down a couple slots with all of the starting pitching injuries that are going on. So here it is Dodgers one, Mariners two Blue Jay's three, Yankees four, Cubs, five Tigers, six, Mets, seven, Braves, eight, Phillies nine, Red Sox ten. There will be a lot of people freaking out.

00:01:56
Speaker 3: Uh, Dodgers, fine, I'm just amazed, the Mariners, Blue Jay, the Yankees, Tigers, before we gets the Mets or Phillies. The National League has proven that it's been better the last few years. So why is the Cubs five and the Mets seven? Braves eight? I mean, how are the Phillies behind the Braves? I mean the Braves with all the injuries, Like, are we serious like this? This list is I mean, it's his. Whoever did this, it's his list.

00:02:22
Speaker 2: So, but the.

00:02:24
Speaker 3: Phillies behind the Braves with what the Braves are going through, not only on their starting pitching, for they have Chris Sale and Rinaldo Lopez and then who we got there, right, I mean Elder, I guess, but it's like, I don't know, I don't know. This list is interesting to me, but the Dodgers are right yep. How do you put the Mirrors ahead of the Blue Jays and Yankees? The blue Jay's beat the Marrors last year and it got better. Everyone thinks the Yankees are getting cold back. I don't know, I think, I think maybe, I don't know. It's an interesting list, but he put his list together and that's what he's doing.

00:02:54
Speaker 1: Remember Ken said on Inside Scoop how Fangraft still has the Braves slightly ahead of the Phillies.

00:03:00
Speaker 2: You sure about that? Does anyone agree with that? Right now?

00:03:03
Speaker 3: I mean Strider's out, trolling Box out, MS, Schwarver's out. I mean, we don't know we're gonna get from Lopez. Joey Wentz is out for touring acl I mean their bullpen is better with the Glaciers and Suarez. But offensively, what do they get because offensively some of those guys struggled. So I don't know, it's interesting. I mean, I've been a Brave fan forever, but there's a lot happening there. Profars out obviously.

00:03:29
Speaker 1: Yep, profars out. Did you see Rinaldo Lopez last start? How the velocity was like eighty five to ninety and then they asked them about it only because it's this late in the season and the same thing happened last year.

00:03:41
Speaker 2: And then five seconds later the shoulder popped up when that low. I mean, you know you've watched Rinaldo for years.

00:03:49
Speaker 3: Hopefully he's healthy. Yeah, we don't know, though nobody talks about it, so we don't know, right, But I think WBC hide some of that stuff where it's like we don't see it. Just brought up about de Grom, like why is de Grom not the opening day starter? Not that Evaldi's not, but like some of this stuff is going to really start to come out in the new news cycle once the season starts, Like if Rinaldo Lopez shows up with shows up with eighty five to ninety in a big league start, a hard time he'll do that. Like I think too much velocity talk is it can get in a way sometimes, especially a guy at the end of spring training wants to make it to the first start of the season healthy and then bang go into the season.

00:04:32
Speaker 4: But who knows, we'll see. I think the real debate is are the Phillies better than the Mets in your power ranking? And that to me, that's where the debate should be. And he actually has the Braves above the Phillies, So we kind of lose that debate with that.

00:04:47
Speaker 1: What about the Brewers at eleven? We want to show the middle eleven or the middle ten, I should say, but it begins with Brewers at eleven. He has Astros twelve, Royals thirteen, Orioles fourteen, As at fifteen, them up a bunch of spots, Padres at sixteen, Rangers seventeen, the Giants at eighteen. He has the race checking in at nineteen and the Guardians at twenty.

00:05:12
Speaker 3: I think the Brewers probably should be higher, but just my opinion, I'm not going to write them off until I see him. I mean, the rest of this list is fine. This is kind of where you get into the mishmash of anything can happen, So yeah, this middle ten is fine. I think the Brewers may maybe switch the Brewers and the Braves, but the Brewers in the top ten until they're proven otherwise. But yeah, I mean this is kind of a mishmash of stuff. And then I mean the race. I mean they all need, all these teams need something to go really right for them to get into a postseason with a chance to win a World Series. Surprising. I'm also kind of surprised the Giants so that I thought they'd be twenty one twenty because they didn't do anything early this offseason. I think this middle tier here, they're all pretty much middle tier teams because we did we did this last year, Like who from the last tier? Would you be like, ooh, they should be bumped up into this middle tier? And I think the middle tier I think I really think the Rangers are going to be better than the Astros. Obviously I'm talking about it at this point the season. I think the Padres are going to be better than the Athletics. Now we can't really justify that because the Padres are in the West. I think the Padres are better than the Giants, so it's good that they're ahead of them.

00:06:25
Speaker 4: I think the Royals.

00:06:26
Speaker 3: I think the Royals could be.

00:06:28
Speaker 4: A top ten team just because or at least a top twelve team because I think they're going to be a playoff team. I am doing my power rankings, my predictions, and I think rit today they might be a team that makes the playoffs. I think they're going to make some adjustment. So I think this group is all the same. I think we can just like kind of mix them around, and I think there's some things that I just I have a hard time believing looking at this. I think the Rangers should be above the Astros. They should be moved down a little bit, The Royals should be above the Rangers, and the Padres should be in front of the Athletics.

00:07:03
Speaker 3: So what does that look like.

00:07:04
Speaker 4: It's a few number slots, but I think it's a I think it's you know, on this list are the teams that you're going to sit there and go which of these teams are going to be out of the playoffs and which of these teams.

00:07:15
Speaker 3: Are going to be in?

00:07:16
Speaker 4: And they're looking at that last spot.

00:07:20
Speaker 5: Hey, it might be time to have a heart to heart with your phone and be like I love you, but you cost too much.

00:07:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not paying this much anymore.

00:07:29
Speaker 2: That's it.

00:07:30
Speaker 4: I mean, why would I go more than fifteen dollars a month. Mint mobile can give that to me and I get.

00:07:36
Speaker 1: All the same coverage exactly and you don't have to deal with the crazy bogus fees or free perks that actually end up costing more. Mint Mobile plans for premium wireless start at just fifteen bucks a month, and all plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest five G network. If you like your money, mint mobile is for you. Shot plans at mintmobile dot com slash territory that's midmobile dot com slash t E R R it O r Y. Upfront payment of forty five dollars for three month five gigabyte plan required equivalent to fifteen bucks a month. New customer offer for first three month only, then full price plan options available.

00:08:17
Speaker 5: Taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile for details.

00:08:22
Speaker 1: I try to look for themes too as we shift to the bottom ten and see which fan bases might be pissed that they weren't in the middle ten. They don't love the National League Central the Reds lost Hunter Green aj but they made the playoffs last year. Hunter Green missed time last year. Putting them at twenty two, I thought was a little harsh. Based on the talented starting pitching that they have besides Hunter Green, the signing of Gino Suarez, I think they're going to be in the mix. He kind of smashed the Pirates too. I actually took an excerpt from what he wrote there. He said, injury prone Brandon Lowe, washed up Marcelazuna, and Ryano doesn't move the needle a ton for me. So he still doesn't like the Pirates. So anyway, it's Diamondbacks twenty one. You put the Reds of twenty two, Pirates twenty three, Marlins twenty four, Cardinals twenty five. Right, so you've got three National League Central teams in the bottom ten here, then Angels twenty six, Twins twenty seven, White Sox twenty eight, and that's twenty nine thirty is Colorado, of course?

00:09:22
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the Reds and Diamondbacks you can make a case for moving higher. But who's spot aally gonna take? The Guardians who won the division last year, made the playoffs, and where are you gonna move teams. The Pirates are the Pirates, Marlin's same car. I think the Cardinals are maybe too high on this list because they're not really trying this year. I mean I would probably throw I would actually, I'm trying still trying to figure out how the White Sox are below the Twins on everything we would see.

00:09:45
Speaker 2: So I mean, I don't I agree.

00:09:49
Speaker 3: I think the White Sox should at least be in front of the Twins with the moves the White Socks are trying to make and doing things, and the prospects they have coming. The Twins are the same team with al Pablo Lopez. We don't know where Joe Ryan's at. It's just I don't know. The Twins weren't very good last year and they traded away a bunch of their guys. So I mean, the National's Rockies whatever, you know, The Angels are in about the right spot. I just don't know how the White Socks are behind the Twins.

00:10:11
Speaker 1: I keep saying that I agree the White Sox are going in the upward direction. I think the Twins are very clearly going in the other direction right now. But if we look back aj at the middle list, so the Rays are at nineteen, they're in there, and the A's at fifteen. I know we expect the A's to continue to improve.

00:10:32
Speaker 2: I like their young core.

00:10:34
Speaker 1: I think we all do, but they're all position players. Do we think that the A's barely did anything with their pitching? Do we think there's enough pitching that's going to come through and make this a top fifteen team in the league, Like if we're just matching up, let's, for example, say the A's and the Reds.

00:10:52
Speaker 3: They're counting on the offense.

00:10:53
Speaker 2: For the A's, Yeah, they have some seventh spots.

00:10:56
Speaker 3: Is the offense.

00:10:58
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:10:59
Speaker 3: This will move, this will move, it'll be it'll all be different. I just think plus so many people do this. They do it to get people talking. And so hey, if we jumped the A's of a bunch of people wonder why. And if we move the if we put certain teams down in the bottom, people will wonder why. So we're talking about it just like everyone else. So we'll be talking about this this list, and that's what they want.

00:11:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, if you want to win, you got to have pitching. And I think the teams that have pitching can be moved on this list. I think that's why maybe the Marlins are a little bit too low. They have They clearly showed they know how to win last year in a tough National League East so I think the Reds are yes, hunter Green, the loss of Hunter Green is huge, but they still have a really good rotation.

00:11:42
Speaker 3: Young, some of them unproven.

00:11:46
Speaker 4: But I think Lodolo took a little step last year and I think you'll take the next step again this year. I just think there's I think I think the groupings are pretty close. I think you can mix and match in those groupings, and then like the the eighteen to twenty two, they're all pretty close. But it's really the haves and the have nots.

00:12:09
Speaker 2: How many teams do you think on this list have a chance to win the World Series?

00:12:14
Speaker 3: On the full list, I mean thirty teams have a chance, but I would say.

00:12:20
Speaker 6: Six.

00:12:23
Speaker 3: Well, I know more than that. If you have the Phillies at nine, they have a chance. Yeah, I mean, if you stop the Mets have a chance, The Red Sox have a chance because of their pitching. The Brewers have a chance because they always seem to figure it out. I mean yeah, I mean I think eleven, twelve, I mean, if you get outside the top twelve, then you start getting into it. I mean, the Orioles still if they're everything. It's again, if everything works out, the Oriels have a chance. The Rangers have a chance because you have de Grom with all the in Mackenzie Gore and you have Skip Schumacher has been great. I mean, there's a bunch of teams have chances. But realistically, I mean there's only probably seven or eight teams that can actually do it. But everyone, I mean, a bunch of these teams have chances.

00:13:07
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:13:07
Speaker 1: They brought up in this article the twenty three Rangers, which is only a few years ago, and Snyder in the column said, I remember in spring training saying to another writer, I don't think they will even make the playoffs, but I could totally see the Rangers winning the World Series.

00:13:21
Speaker 2: I really get that. That speaks to me.

00:13:24
Speaker 1: Sometimes you look at a team and you're like, I don't know if this team's gonna make it in but if they do, and then you start looking at what you always bring up, they're starting rotation. To me, that's what stands out. Sometimes you look at a team and you're like, eh, borderline. A lot of things have to go right. But if they do one, two, and three in their rotation makes a lot of sense. I think this is where a team like the Brewers.

00:13:45
Speaker 3: And if the Rangers figure out how to hit there with their rotation, they could be really good.

00:13:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, because things change in the playoffs and you don't need as deep of a bullpen and you can have right a little star power.

00:13:57
Speaker 4: So but things change from you to you. We would have never said that about the Rangers rotation. We were like, oh my gosh, this lineup is going to be ridiculous. They hammered, hammered, and they haven't made the playoffs the last few years, the last two years, but their rotation has started to get better. And look what they did last year. They dominated their rotation dominated. We thought the reds oh Man, look at all these young guys that are coming up from the position player core, and all of a sudden, they're starters, are the ones that are kicking it. So it's like, we don't know exactly what it's going to be. We think we have trends, we think, hey, this is what should probably happen, and then you play one hundred and sixty two games and we really find out.

00:14:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, and of course the trade deadline changes things. The key acquisition for Texas back then was Jordan Montgomery and you saw how valuable he was during that playoff run. Massive, massive change once he entered the mix and the rotation for them. All Right, we'll bear back on FT. Let's bring in a veteran signing from the off season. Lad to the show. Dustin May is ready to go. Uh uh, Dustin, we got to do a little flip. Let's try and flip sideways. Yeah, yeah, let's see perfect. Yeah, thanks for joining us, Dustin. How you doing and how did camp finish up? We're talking about some of the youngsters like JJ Weatherhold learning that he made the team.

00:15:25
Speaker 2: That's got to be cool for you to see. You can remember that for you back in the day.

00:15:29
Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, feeling great right now. Camp was Camp was solid. Definitely my first camp in a while that I felt good the whole spring training. So I definitely excited about that. And yeah, it was very cool to be a part of that, seeing JJ get told he was making the team and everything.

00:15:45
Speaker 6: So very excited for him. He's a great kid.

00:15:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, more on you.

00:15:52
Speaker 4: Oh, just just talk just talked about you know, you being in camp and like being healthy. How draining is that through spring training? And then when it doesn't happen, do you realize looking back, like, oh man, like that was kind of draining on me.

00:16:06
Speaker 6: Yeah, no, one hundred percent. It's it's definitely been. Uh, it's definitely been.

00:16:10
Speaker 7: A long five years of not being able to have a fully good feeling spring training since basically COVID.

00:16:16
Speaker 6: So it was definitely very.

00:16:20
Speaker 7: Very big morale and like mental boost that I was able to get through it fully clean and actually feel good on the on the outside of it.

00:16:29
Speaker 1: All Right, I'm gonna try to play director one more time. Can you do two flips on your phone? Wait, cab, go to his single so I can see if this lines up the way we wanted to, right, Okay, hold on one and then the other side too. I don't know if that did anything. No, that's good. Okay, I'm being told that's good. Never mind, just just the.

00:16:53
Speaker 2: One flip that feels usually it's gone. I'm getting I have direction. Just leave it. I've been told.

00:17:01
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm trying to do too much, which which is important to not do in spring training. I wanted to ask you one more question about Weatherhold and just watching you know, a team that's got a lot of young guys in a young core that that's going to come together here, how difficult is it for you to see players thread the needle during spring training where you want to get better, but then you want to see results. And then for some guys and on on a team like the Cardinals that has many young players and some battles going on, you do have to put the results up so that the team decides who's going to break camp on the opening day roster.

00:17:37
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:17:37
Speaker 7: No, I definitely I've been on that side of things where or it's not guaranteed and you got to earn your spot.

00:17:42
Speaker 6: But like you're also.

00:17:45
Speaker 7: Working on things coming through spring training that you were trying to put in a place in the offseason, and like coming into spring training, like if it's not working, like like do I stick with this?

00:17:54
Speaker 2: Do I do?

00:17:54
Speaker 6: I bang it? Do I try to revert back to old ways?

00:17:57
Speaker 2: And there were a lot of there were a lot of.

00:18:01
Speaker 7: Hands in the pot on some kids, but I mean I could see that a lot of guys were grinding and there were there were definitely some good results for some kids in sprint training.

00:18:09
Speaker 3: For sureusin Forget Forget the results and isn't that what it was? How did Ali tell JJ? Did he call him into the office, did he do something cool like Skip schoe Marker did, or he told the guy on the mound that he made the team? What was Ali? How did Ali tell JJ? And how did the rest of the team find out?

00:18:26
Speaker 6: I'm honestly not sure.

00:18:28
Speaker 7: I was I was kind of in the clubhouse when and he kind of came out and guys were like telling him congrats.

00:18:34
Speaker 6: So I'm not exactly for sure how how of it went down.

00:18:37
Speaker 3: I was hoping Ali would have big meeting in the clubhouse, you know, because I keep saying, like, it's tired when they call you into the office and they say, oh, you made the team and they have to hidden camera and the GM's there, like let's do something different, right, Like let's come up with some cooler ideas. And I thought Ali, I mean, John Jay has nothing to do all day, so I thought he could come up with a better idea.

00:18:56
Speaker 7: No, I honestly I have no idea how how it all went down. I was just I was just very excited for him. I mean we could kind of see the writing on the wall, but we were waiting for the anauncement coming and we were all very very excited for him.

00:19:13
Speaker 4: 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.

00:19:24
Speaker 1: You know, you might have been reading about low tee and you see your doctor about it and they want to give you basically shots every week for the rest of your life.

00:19:33
Speaker 5: Oh cool, that sounds fun.

00:19:35
Speaker 1: And then you dig deeper and you realize what you're signing up for, and it's three grand a year to shut down your body's natural production forever.

00:19:41
Speaker 2: That is brutal.

00:19:43
Speaker 4: Mars Men gives you the same benefits of optimized testosterone energy, strength, focus, without shutting your body down. No synthetics, no needles, no dependencies. It's like hitting the reset button on your hormone factory instead of shutting it down for.

00:19:56
Speaker 5: A limited time.

00:19:57
Speaker 1: Our listeners get fifty percent off for it life, plus free shipping and three free gifts that men go to Mars dot com. That's men go to Mars dot com for fifty percent off and three free gifts.

00:20:08
Speaker 2: When you check out.

00:20:09
Speaker 5: After you purchase, they're going to ask you where you heard about them, Please support our show and tell them we sent you.

00:20:15
Speaker 1: Hey, Dustin, I want to go back to your free agent process and tell me how you landed with the Cardinals and you know what the conversations were like with them versus other teams to help you make the decision process.

00:20:28
Speaker 7: That really stuck out for me was the medical staff here and the Cardinals, and they had all the hope, or not all the hope, they had all the trust and the thought of the ability that they would be able to keep me healthy and like they would really do whatever I needed and keep me on my regimen to be able to get through the year fully healthy and feel good coming out of it, like being stronger and healthier throughout the year and not breaking down. So they laid out some plans and stuff and what they had done in the past, and it really just meshed with kind of what I was going going through in the last couple of years. And then also on the on the pitching side, I felt like me and Dusty kind of had a really good kind of bridge between like what I wanted to work on in the off season, like what he thought I needed to work on. So I thought we were very like ying and yang with that, like we kind of wanted the same thing, so I felt like we were on the same page.

00:21:28
Speaker 6: So that was a big contributor to UH.

00:21:31
Speaker 7: For me, it was kind of getting my arm path kind of back into like what it was pre my second surgery and then kind of figuring out a change up and then he was all for me bringing the curveball back.

00:21:45
Speaker 6: So I was really excited to hear that because.

00:21:48
Speaker 7: It's been a conversation in the past, but it's kind of always gotten shot down.

00:21:52
Speaker 4: Why do you feel like it got shot down analytically? Like it didn't results oriented, it didn't create what you guys in the team was looking for.

00:22:03
Speaker 7: I felt like it kind of just didn't match my arm path back in the day. I felt like higher high armslot but higher. I feel like it has allowed me to be able to bring the curveball back into the repertoire and I feel like it's going to play pretty well because it's a bigger speech chane.

00:22:19
Speaker 3: A lot of teams do. A lot of teams do that because there's certain people that always say, Oh, I want to throw this pitch more of that pitching more. Do they allow you input on that and because you said you seem to like your curveball, so the more teams say hey, were there are certain teams to say, no, we don't love that pitch. You can't throw it.

00:22:37
Speaker 2: I don't.

00:22:37
Speaker 7: I don't really think they were saying no. I think it was more so just let's get to spring and see how it goes. And honestly, that was kind of what my thought process was with it. I was like, I want to get to spring. I want to throw it against some hitters. I want to kind of get their viewpoints on it, and especially they are like live it bees against some of our guys, Like I threw a lot of them and they were like, no, it's it's good, Like it's not popping and it's not like coming out of a different look. So I definitely very excited to hear that. And it's five or six miles an hour slower than my slider, so I feel like it's going to give a lot more depth to my arsenal for sure. And adding the change up like back to the to the group as well. I think adding both of those is gonna allow for a lot more question marks on what might come.

00:23:20
Speaker 3: Well, now you're a true starter, you got like seventeen pitches like every other starter a base Welcome to the Welcome back to the starters world instead.

00:23:26
Speaker 7: Of being I never believe not It's not just sinker slider anymore. Like it was so definitely very excited to see how it all pans out and works throughout the year.

00:23:37
Speaker 3: You mentioned this was your first spring in a while healthy, and I know you lost some weight because of the incident you have, But what's your fighting weight? What's your what's your fighting weight that you want to be at? And are you at that right now? And can you maintain that during the season.

00:23:51
Speaker 8: I I feel like I'm close to it. Before my before my surgery, when I lost on my weight out, I was two. I'm at like two eighteen to two twenty right now. So I feel like I'm at a very comfortable spot. I feel really really strong, be able to hold this weight pretty well.

00:24:09
Speaker 7: Like I'm not having to like force feed myself to maintain. So I feel like I'm in a really good spot at the moment.

00:24:15
Speaker 3: What is force feeding?

00:24:17
Speaker 4: Because there's so many like high school baseball players who are like, Bro, I'm on the games, Bro, are you like a six raw eggs? Just slug it down kind of guy, or do you got to eat chicken and rice?

00:24:30
Speaker 6: I eat a lot of spaghetti.

00:24:32
Speaker 7: Spaghetti is my go to so I feel like I can and carbload and protein load of that. But yeah, during the off season, there was definitely a lot of a lot of pasta and a lot of a lot of venison eating.

00:24:44
Speaker 4: All right, So you could have been on Team Italy for the WBC because if you had some pasta, you could clearly be on Timm Team Italy. But what do you what did you see about this?

00:24:52
Speaker 6: I mean, say, sorry, I did hear you?

00:24:58
Speaker 4: Oh no, I was just I was just saying about the but this team the team. You don't know a ton about a team until you get there. You sign with the Cardinals. What are you impressed with that you feel like could turn some heads this year in the sense of you guys winning more games than I think you guys are going to win, and a lot of people think you guys are going to win.

00:25:20
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think our pitching staff is very underestimated.

00:25:25
Speaker 7: I think we have a lot of guys on the staff that have some really good tools in their clock, in their box, and I feel like they're going to be able to come out and show it because they're going to actually have the opportunity this year to go and kind of have a runway. I feel like they're going to give guys their chances this year, and I feel like we have a lot of guys that are ready to take that next step, especially on.

00:25:46
Speaker 6: The pitching side. I feel like we have some really, really talented young guys.

00:25:53
Speaker 2: Hey, I've got one.

00:25:55
Speaker 1: So obviously you were traded last year, but you spend time with the Dodge, so we always like to point out, Hey, there's a ring coming through. I was looking at the calendar. You've got them at home at the beginning of May. You've got them in LA in September. How does that work? Have you talked to them? Do you get to do it on the field? Is it just like a more low key Hey, here's the ring. Have you guys figured that part out yet?

00:26:20
Speaker 7: I have not been reached out to you about that, but I'm very excited to get I'm very excited to see it, excited to see the guys again.

00:26:28
Speaker 6: So yeah, looking forward to that.

00:26:30
Speaker 3: Wait, hold up, what do you mean you don't know where you're gonna be. Aren't you going to be in Saint Louis. You just brought up the trade deadline at that You're Saint Louis.

00:26:38
Speaker 2: No, I mean, I don't know. Louis Cardinal.

00:26:41
Speaker 3: They love everybody in Saint Louis.

00:26:43
Speaker 2: No.

00:26:43
Speaker 7: I would love to stay. I would absolutely love to stay. I did not sign here to get traded. I did not sign to look at that.

00:26:50
Speaker 6: But I mean you can't. I mean, I've been through one. It's hectic.

00:26:54
Speaker 7: I found out literally three minutes before the deadline was closed that I was getting traded.

00:26:58
Speaker 6: So I don't know what that's going to look like.

00:27:01
Speaker 7: And I don't want to get to that moment and then oh, I'm not going to LA so you get the mail of the ring ship to you. So I don't want to have to go through that. So I would like to at least get it when I when I see the guys, that's fair.

00:27:14
Speaker 3: Plus you get a plus, you get a great ovation in Saint Louis. They'll cheer for you no matter what.

00:27:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well, and it's it's good for the young guys to look at it too and be like, hey, oh yeah.

00:27:25
Speaker 7: I'd definitely like to have it in the clubhouse with the guys to see because there's a lot of guys in there that that that don't have one, so it'll be it'll be cool to bring in for sure.

00:27:34
Speaker 1: Can you go over the craziness that that went down there for you last year where you mentioned it's like minutes away and you're like, oh, cool, I'm moving now.

00:27:44
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:27:45
Speaker 6: So we so we were in Tampa.

00:27:48
Speaker 2: I had.

00:27:50
Speaker 7: Me and me and Vessio were actually at a casino and I get a call from from Goings and he was like and this was literally, like I said, maybe three or four minutes before the day line goes down, because I had heard all the rumors and everything, and I was talking with my agent about it and he was like, dude, I'm seeing the same stuff you are.

00:28:07
Speaker 6: I'm not hearing anything.

00:28:08
Speaker 7: And then Gums called and he was like, hey, we're trading to Boston and I was like all right, and then the whirlwind kind of started and I was like, shoot, I need to get back to the hotel and kind of be available to be on the phone because I'm sure I'm about to get a lot of phone calls. And yeah, I got like twenty phone calls in the span of like ten minutes. So definitely got bombarded right after that. The trade deadline is not a fun process for the fans or whoever wants to ask about it.

00:28:35
Speaker 6: You're going into a whole new environment and whole new everything.

00:28:37
Speaker 7: You're meeting all new people, all new players, and trying to trying to get your feet settled, and it's it's definitely a whirlwind of emotions because you're comfortable in one spot and then you just kind of get shipped off to another. So yeah, there's definitely a lot of things that go into it, but it was definitely fun to experience something different.

00:29:03
Speaker 1: So I have one more on this that I think adds another layer in addition to new team, new surroundings. Got to figure out where you're living real quick, right in the thick of a playoff race. To Usually, I think most teams that are in the hunt think that they have pitching whisperers where they'll be like, all right, here comes a player, and we're going to tell them all these things that we've been seeing and this is why we traded for him. So I'm curious, and I'm a little bit going off narrative and what I watched last year. But you used the sweeper heavy I know the Red Sox were really into the cutter. Can you explain kind of like how that process goes on the nitty gritty of the pitches, but then also how someone like you was supposed to navigate that. You're coming from another org, You're in the middle of the season, you're going to hit free agency, and here comes a team that traded for you saying we would like you to do this instead. How do you navigate that and like even disagree with them on certain parts if you want to.

00:29:55
Speaker 2: No.

00:29:56
Speaker 7: It was definitely cool to get over there and hear some different minds about how much stuff would work. Because I had definitely wanted to throw more cutters, more force teams, but it just wasn't in kind of like the game planing stuff during my time in LA at the.

00:30:09
Speaker 6: End of the year.

00:30:12
Speaker 7: So getting over there and they were just giving me ideas and stuff. They were very open to hearing me out and saying no, but definitely I wanted At that point of the year, I really wasn't throwing that great, so I was kind of up to doing anything, and then my nerve thing happened in September, so I didn't really get to finish the year out the way that I would have liked to at least being healthy. So definitely it definitely sucked on that end, but I feel like the stuff that they were wanting me to add in was definitely something that I wanted to do, so I bought into it. I like it.

00:30:43
Speaker 1: Well, thanks for the explanation, Thanks for joining us, DUS and always great to catch up. Do you really appreciate the time and the conversation and good luck have a great opening week of the season.

00:30:51
Speaker 6: Man, Yeah, much appreciate it. Yeah, thank you for having me on.

00:30:55
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:30:56
Speaker 1: That's Dustin May Saint Louis Cardinals and we have a Cardinal Tear toy show by the way too with Matt Holiday, Lanceland, Kyle Gibson, and Jim Hayes, part of the Ft Network.

00:31:05
Speaker 2: You might hear from Dustin at some point on that show as well.