Braves sign Robert Suarez & Yaz, Milner to Cubs, A’s get Leiter, Rule change could kill hitter timeouts

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Things are happening, Winter meetings, sessions are done. Everybody left Orlando pretty much, but I guess I'm still here. Shout out to the team. It was a great few days. A lot of hard work behind the scenes to put it all together, many guests that joined us, and actually I got to spend some time with our monster territory host that is Robbie Hyde. He does an awesome, awesome job postgame after every single Red Sox game all year long, and then fills up the content in the off season. Todd Father, he's a little newsbreaker now. He broke a little news last night and then everybody else jumped on this morning, Robbie Hyde said, Mark Lighter Junior signing with the A's, he was told he was correct. One year, three million bucks. The A's pick up a little relief piece. You got to watch Lighter a little bit too.

00:00:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's Tom JRiver guy. That's that's that's my guy.

00:00:59
Speaker 3: We used to work out in the all seasons together, you know, facing live and you know, we would go outside and at thirty five to forty five degree weather, like Kratzy knows all too well before we would hit summer. Good for him, you know, I think this is kind of a new little start for him, you know, to kind of get this going here, maybe maybe even get him going for a couple more years after this. Dude, he's not a bad reliever at all. He throws well. He has a really good twelve to six breaking ball that he uses.

00:01:26
Speaker 2: Splitter is his favorite pitch.

00:01:28
Speaker 3: But I think kind of getting out of New York, getting out of you know, the realm of living right down the street pretty much is going to bode well for him. He's with the team that is pretty much getting a new stadium pretty soon, and you know why not.

00:01:42
Speaker 2: I think this is a great signing him.

00:01:43
Speaker 3: He can go out there and be himself, not really worry about much and just go out and dominate and pitch and be b Mark, be Mark Junior. You know, it's funny. I was talking to a couple of my guys in my travel ball team. Go to his dad who does a lot of training for pitching, and I talked to him every once in a while about you know, his son and stuff like that. But he's got a good head over his shoulders. His dad is really incredible guy. He's helping out the youth here a lot and I'm happy for him. I'm really happy for him. I think this is a good fit for him, kind of to breathe a little bit and go out there and play baseball.

00:02:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean he's a guy that's kind of bounced around a little bit. You know. The A's A's added somebody I love to see. I'd love to see them, you know, continue to push. They have a young core of guys that they tried to add. You know, when they added seven reno last year. To me, this year, we'll say this offseason will say whether or not they added seven reno. They made the other moves. I'm blanking on who else they added last year because they had to, like show me this year. I get it. You traded Mason Miller. You got a nice little haul back. My opinion is like, don't stop like this. Make this move to Vegas three four years from now, b when you guys are hitting on all cylinders and I think a little move like this is great, But don't let the Luis Sevarino trade talks dampen the little bit of spending that happened last year.

00:03:20
Speaker 1: I know one other move they made a year ago, Jose La Clerk that did not work out injury. I think he only ended up with else ten appearances because the little clerk actually got some decent coin. He was what coming off the Yeah, right, you know little jose La clerk, and I mean the year before he won a World Series or was that the year before that? Twenty three twenty three he won a World Series, right, right, and then he signed for ten million bucks. He had shoulder surgery, so that didn't work out also due to injury. But anyway, I'm with you. Yeah, if you're the A's, I know they've kind of leaked out what their spending trajectory is going to look like heading into Vegas. It's not going to be nearly what they said. Shocker. They're not going to make as much in Sacramento. They haven't been selling like they thought they would. I think they're going to struggle with attendance unless they are really freaking good. So we'll see if there's more activity from them the rest of the off season. But let's get some breaking news. Atlanta Braves building up their bullpen. Now it's Robert Suarez three years of forty five million bucks. Jeff Passon breaks it and then Ken Rosenthal adds that he heard Iglesias will remain the Braves closer and Robert Suarez will be the setup guy. That could change depending on how things look during the season either way. Kratz, that's a nice little one to two punch eight nine. I know Iglesias had his struggles early on in the season, but then he was gangbusters for them down the stretch. They bring him on. I really like Robert Suarez, he too.

00:04:52
Speaker 4: I mean, not many people knew about him until he burst on the scene and twenty three No. Twenty two and he ended up giving up that home run to Bryce Harper, but he has he really has a unique set of you know how how he faces guys. Can he do that? Can he continue to do that with predominantly fastballs, predominantly that late life fastball in the seventh eighth inning. I'll tell you the bats in the seventh and eighth are not necessarily the same at bats as in the ninth. And Iglesias, I think, at the end of the year plus with this contract, earned to be the closer. But there's gonna be there's gonna be a nice competition here, and really I get it. Everybody knows three outs are three outs, but I'll be interested to see how they really deploy Robert Suarez. Well they deploy him in the seventh if you're facing the Phillies, you know, Schober Harper Turner in the seventh or is he gonna be a strict eighth inning guy. I'll be interesting to see what Walt Weist does.

00:06:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think you're totally excuse me, totally right on that.

00:06:05
Speaker 3: I mean you can say that now you know, spring training will dictate that a little bit. You know, maybe you know something happens where it's like, all right, we might use him in this situation or not. You wish kind of more guys were a little more receptive to that kind of thing anyway to win. And I think this is a monster pickup for the Braves. I think this is a really good pick up Suarez. His strikeouts were up, his control was down, or was better to last year. I mean, he's a guy. He's a towering figure. To me, at least, it looks like every time he gets on there he's stoic. He doesn't really change his mindset too much, and he just goes out there and pitches. Whether he does good or not. He points to the Lord and he just keeps on going. So for him, good for him. Three years forty five. I thought that was an awesome pickup. He'll go the braves again.

00:06:50
Speaker 2: Man.

00:06:51
Speaker 3: They are not afraid of going out there and spending in getting some guys, and it's and it seems like it's like, oh, man, you know, they're not the Dodgers spending millions of more like double or triple that amount now forty five thirty here and there. They're defining ways to get these these guys to come over.

00:07:07
Speaker 2: And I think this is a really good pickup.

00:07:09
Speaker 1: Do you guys like better, Devin Williams or Robert Suarez? They signed for very close money.

00:07:18
Speaker 2: For me right now, I.

00:07:19
Speaker 3: Would say Robert Suarez just knowing on the fact of what last year's performance.

00:07:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh last year's performance. It's a good call. It's not even close. I mean, yeah, we have er plus right, and teams look at a lot of things. They're looking at that pitch shape and stuff plus and expected numbers, right. I mean, there have been plenty of guys this offseason, for example, with four plus, the era's getting a lot of money. Devin Williams is one of them. Robert Tuarez has gotten it done with the traditional numbers too, Kratz. I mean the ERA has been south of three back to back years, and the ERA plus Parking League adjusted one forty four this past season one forty nine the year before.

00:07:58
Speaker 4: I disagree Devin Williams. Why Devin Williams. I get it, the peripherals are there, But what are you looking for in a ninth inning? Are you looking for strikeouts? Clear advantage? What are you looking for in a long term contract? When I consider three years a long term contract, Devin Williams will be Robert Suarez's age when his contract is over. How is Robert Suarez going to age? What kind of miles did he put on his body banging around the minor leagues, banging around over in Japan till he was thirty when he made it to the big leagues. To me, I'll take because the money's similar. I know he had a better year. I know Robert swaz had a better year. But in my opinion, watching Devin Williams, I felt like he was not used correctly. The pitch selection was not used correctly. If the Mets can now they have a new pitching coach. But if the Mets can figure that out. I think this is a I think this will be the better contract.

00:09:00
Speaker 3: Let me let me ask you this though, But he's he should be in control of his own pitch count. No, if that's what you're saying, I'm not trying to call you out, but him and the catcher should be on the same page.

00:09:10
Speaker 4: Right.

00:09:10
Speaker 2: So that's where it's like I hear you.

00:09:13
Speaker 3: But at the same time, it's like, you're in control of these outcomes here, dude. If you don't want to throw your change of four or five times in a row, you don't have to. I felt like for him and Craty, I'll let you get your point. I felt like his fastball wasn't there last year in my opinion, and it made that change up look a little bit weaker. Because now, all right, if you're not throwing strikes with the fastball, I'm gonna sit on that change up he threw.

00:09:35
Speaker 4: He threw ten percent more change ups. You have to establish your fastball no matter what. Like I get it, his change up is bugs Bunny has the highest spin of any change up. Like guys don't see it. But it's like we always talk about with Tommy Kinley, you can't just keep throwing it. Oh wait, you can, but it is it's something that when you pop that ninety five, when you when you're able to touch that ninety seven, I think there's I think there's part of it new, a new area, and you are one hundred percent right. I am not saying that. He said, oh, you know, the pitch calling was was incorrect. But when you go to an organization like the Yankees, when you go to an organization like the Rays, the I'm trying to think of other pitching pitching prowess teams, like you want to believe Hey, you know what, they're gonna unlock some stuff. You want to believe that. Okay, I hear what you're saying. My pitch, my changeup. That's my pitch. It's the goat. It's gotten me to where I am I can use it more. Okay, I will, I will. I'll trust you. I'll trust you. At some point, you have you make the choice. And every time he grips that ball, he's making the choice. Whether he's just like yeah, sure i'll throw a change up. Yeah sure I'll throw a change up. Yeah, he's making that choice. I'm just saying I think there is not everybody is built the exact same way that their pitch is. What is going to like ultimately, go to it, go to it, go to it, go to it. I just don't think that's always the case.

00:11:08
Speaker 1: And one has a better fastball, one has a better change up, Todd Father, I mean, that's clear cut, right. Devin Williams is known for his change up, Squarrez is known for his fastball. You're trying to just get to it and use it as much as possible. But I'll take the heater, yeah, because you have to.

00:11:23
Speaker 3: If you're not establishing your fastball, then as a professional, if you can't find it, like I said before, if you can't find it for a strike or you're not thrown as often, I.

00:11:32
Speaker 2: Know I'm getting two.

00:11:33
Speaker 3: I'm getting at least two change ups, still.

00:11:36
Speaker 2: Hard to hit.

00:11:36
Speaker 3: I'm not saying Devin Williams is a bad pitcher. I hope people understand. I think he's really, really good pitcher. I just think the fastball wasn't ultimately there last year. And when you take away a pitch from professional pitchers and then the next one is usually their best pitch. I'm gonna take my chances all day and know that I'm going to get at least two of those change ups if I work the count.

00:11:57
Speaker 1: Right fan question, Buddy said, love it. Do you think we need one more bullpen arm or get a starter and put Holmes or Reynolds in the bullpen. I think they might sign a bullpen arm, but it's not going to be anything close to high leverage. They've got the high leverage taken care of, and now you can mix and match and see if you can find value for a middle relief slash setup guy. That would be my answer for now, Kratz. We'll see what happens with Lopez and how he looks heading into spring training. I could see a world where he ends up shifting back to the bullpen. I think Holmes is a starter, and apparently Holmes is in a really good spot already this offseason, and I think they're going to keep turning him to be a starter. That's just my take. We can get some Braves expert analysis on hammer territory and for our hammer guys, but I think it's safe to say they're not also going to sign Pete Fairbanks. Do I think they should? Yes, I'm the biggest believer in super bullpens for what it does during the season and then of course in the postseason, and it gives you in in case one of these guys has a bad year. That stuff happens all the time too.

00:13:05
Speaker 4: Or you just are dominant. Like I'm not saying I was at the genesis of super bullpens, but the twenty fourteen bullpen where we went and for the Royals and we went and lost Game seven of the World Series. That's a good problem to have. You know what happened the next year, dudes get hurt. Other guys have to step in. So yeah, of course you want to see the Braves go and get somebody else if you're a Braves fan. But one thing I think organizations need to continue to know what their superpower is. I'm talking back. Since I started watching baseball, the Braves have produced pitching. The Braves have produced starting pitching. Now they're still producing starting pitching. Look a look at Holmes, look at Waldrop, look at Smith Schalver, look at Ian Anderson, and they're in their run back in uh when they won the World Series in twenty twenty one. They produce star pitching. And nowadays, when you're producing starting pitching, you're not producing dudes. That they are just throwing like little cutter, sinker. All this stuff I forgot Schwellenbach. You're producing dudes that throw hard. They can transition those guys to the locations in the bullpen that to me, I think they need from now on. And that's why the Braves are really set up because they always produced some type of young pitching to come up.

00:14:23
Speaker 1: And I think Suarez, because he was such a late bloomer, is still evolving more so than most relievers at his age. Of course, you've got to maintain the fastball velo at a high level when you're so fastball reliant, but he almost doubled his change up usage last year. It's not a great pitch for him. It's all about the four seam and the two seam. But to offer a different look I think was important. That was kind of the scattering, important on how he can get a little better in twenty five, and he was able to maintain the results. Also, keep in mind a lot of the blip came when there was a tip situation, right the famous picture slash video last year with the red Sox and the tablet tablet, and I think it was Cora and the dugout showing the difference in the pre pitch setup with the fastball and the change up, and it sounded like teams were on that. And the report came out, pagers are like, yeah, obviously we already know about this. Sounds like they fixed it, So just throw that out there. Remember that.

00:15:15
Speaker 4: I want somebody. I want somebody to come out one time and be like, no, we had no idea. Thank you ESPN, Apple TV for getting that shot. Whoever it was that got the shot, Like, no, I had no idea, Like don't don't ever let me be a big league manager. I will play some games like that and be like, are you guys kidding?

00:15:37
Speaker 1: I would love that. I would I would die for those postgame interviews Todd Father where Krats is like, oh my goodness, I can't believe they picked that up for us, guys. I'm gonna have to be quick on this press conference today because I have to go talk to our team about how to fix this tip that we already have known about for three weeks and our team's been working with him on every bullpen session, but just throng it out there for numbers purposes. Point is, I'm I'm a big fan of Robert Suarez. I do want to get quickly to Mike Yuztremski. The name is well known, but also the player's been really solid and consistent for years now, and he signs up with the Braves. That one was last night. So while we're on the topic, you get mikeyusz Stremsky added to the mix, and it gives them a lot of flexibility. And here's someone who had a really nice season. It's two years, twenty three million bucks, so that takes it through twenty twenty seven. There's a club option for twenty twenty eight that's either seven million dollars or a four million dollar buyout, which essentially means, if he's still cranking pretty good, you're going to take that because it's only a three million dollar difference, so it almost to me looks like a three year deal for thirty million dollars for him. So I give them a lot of credit for adding someone that I think will give them flexibility. And we don't know what Sean Murphy's going to look like when he first comes back, So assuming Drake Baldman is the catcher you've got, hopefully for Brave purposes, du Bond and Nystremski. That can give them flexibility even as bats off the bench to right. One hits lefties really well, one hits righty's really well and opens up some DH time for guys like Olsen and Riley. I think they want to start to mix those guys in with a little more DH time if possible, so that they can get in their mind better offensive production and not be rolling out the one sixty games for everybody in the field.

00:17:12
Speaker 4: Olson's not coming out. Olsen wants to play every single day. That dude's gi me a DH once a month. I think it's your boy. I think it's your boy who's in right field. I think it's a Kunya. I think you understand that he probably wants to be out there every day too, But that DH spot you don't want to put. You don't want to put a Kunya DH and then run out what they've run out the last few years. They've tried. Obviously they had to, they had to bounce, you know, they had to really figure it out with kelnick Eli White was kind of was filling in like different different spots, and then they got profar last year. Look what happened with that, Like you you understand that your superstars in the outfield position need have some you know, maybe maybe some days where he gets off his feet and dhs. Maybe Acuna doesn't like it, and maybe I'm completely wrong, but the issue with Yaz is if you're not playing him every day, which I get it they won't. He's thirty five, So what does that look like for him? What does that look like? How does he stay ready? Because to me, I think there's there's not every day at bats for him and until certain things shake out this offseason. I'm I like the signing because he's a very productive bat. He's a good piece, and I think they got the I think they got a good number for him, But I'm just wondering where at thirty five he's going to get his every day at bats. And maybe they think, hey, we're good with paying fourteen million for for a you know, for three hundred and fifty at bats.

00:18:50
Speaker 1: Well, it's ten million a year essentially if you're looking at a three year deal, right, and even if it's two, it's it's what eleven and change something like that. If you're taking that number and you know they need depth out with a lot of injuries. Profar also can do a little DH time. I mean, your Stremski's going to hit against right handed pitching and he's going to for the most part, sit against left handed pitching these days, right, So that's your flexibility. I'm off the bench, reliever comes in, boom, big at bat for Yas. I think these are depth moves. The Braves are like, we have money, we can spend on a guy who's like a three and a half outfielder. Right, He's not going to start every day, du Bond, He's not going to start every day, hopefully if they land their shortstop, which I still think could be someone like Kim So. Anyway, I really like it from a depth perspective for Atlanta. These are two really good moves. In my mind, Atlanta is going to be a force again next year. They're going to be a pain in the ass in the NL East. In my mind, I don't know how you guys feel, but you get a Kuna full season, the whole deal. So good start the off season for the Atlanta Braves. Let's get to a quickie signing that will throw out there before our next guest. Hoby Milner one year, three point seventy five million, Chicago Cubs. Kras did you run across him? Because then I guess it was Milwaukee after you were there. But anyway, very unique picture. But he had a great year and the Cubs are rebuilding their bullpen back up, so I'll take it. I'm all for different looks. I like the variety out of the pen.

00:20:10
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I faced him in the minor leagues when he was coming up Phillies kind of a kind of just a funky, a funky look, a different look from the left side, and he's created himself a nice career. I didn't realize he was a free agent already, but I think his his value will be in how he's used, in the sense of you can't overuse him. And it's not just a lefty lefty situation. He's able to He's able to get outs against certain types of hitters because of the action and the look on his ball. A lefty coming from this way doesn't have high V low but has done it for a long time, and you know he's one of those lefty lefty has a pulse and will travel. A surprise is I know war is and everything, especially for relief pitchers, but I'm surprised to see that his strikeouts were as high as they were, I mean, fifty eight strikeouts, I'm sorry, as low as they were. Fifty eight strikeouts and seventy innings. But he goes out there in posts and he's going to be a piece to that bullpen for him.

00:21:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, he keeps the walks down and he gets weak contact. He gave seventy innings of work last year and ends up getting himself a nice little paycheck. Cubs bullpen, they lost a lot of guys, and they traded away Kittridge again but got Polentcia. They signed Mayton. I think porter Hodge has a high ceiling. Got Milliner in there and Brown. If he's sticking in the bullpen, there's enough going on. I mean, hopefully if your Cubs fan aside is more of a bullpen guy and a swingman to fill in for start, so he's there, Luke Little it's starting to come together where it's looking pretty good and everyone knows what the Cubs should be doing next, and that's also focusing on starting pitching. Du Leo Vet MGM futures. We've been racking them up, Todd Father, n Elsai Young Winner. We're looking for value and actually there's plenty of value in my mind in all three here you're getting decent odds. Paul Skin's at plus three hundo, so it's three to one. You got four and a half to one on Yamamoto, and Christopher Sanchez at ten to one odds. What are we thinking here, Todd Father, I mean we're just showing the top three. Of course you can go deeper down. But you like any of these?

00:22:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like Paul Skins, man, I just don't.

00:22:32
Speaker 3: I mean, it's the top pick. The guy has just been incredible. I think you go with him at the top and then yeah, I mean plus one thousand. I don't think you can go bad with that. For Sanchoz. I mean it's it's an easy yeah, it put whatever you want on it, but you gotta take a guy that's down below there.

00:22:50
Speaker 2: I do like Sanchos too as well.

00:22:53
Speaker 1: I think he nailed it for me Kratz because he didn't say Yamamoto. I love Yamamoto, But the Dodge take care of their pitchers during the season. They've got twenty starters, and I know that starts to dwindle, but they're well aware that Yamamoto pitched a lot in October. So that's one where I'm shying away.

00:23:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, I can't get on the fact that Yamamoto's gone blue past his starts, that he's the amount of starts he's ever had. And I get it he pitches once every six days, but he you know, I just don't see he could have the same production. But I don't see the same amount of innings because they're playing for another ring, which I don't blame him. Paul skeens, this is huge. This is a huge you know, that's a big number for me for the Favorite plus three hundred. I really like that number. And when I go down the list, I would love to drop a little bit on Logan Web and maybe because if it were was maybe more like sixteen to one. Right now it's twelve to one. Hunter Green, I think has taken that next step. I think Hunter Green's figured out how to stay healthy. He's taking the next step of how to be a guy who doesn't have to you know, at just emptiest clip in the first three innings, he's now pitching and still getting those numbers at twelve to one. I really like Hunter Green to win the sy Young. I feel like, you know, we could have somebody that could step up like Christopher Sanchez stepped up this year and take it if it's not Skeens, because Schemes has shown he's not letting anybody else win this award.

00:24:25
Speaker 1: M hmm, I like that one. Hey, bet MGM's not now live in Missouri too, so take advantage of that new sign up offer. Bonus code foul up to fifteen hundred dollars on a new player offer on your first wager with bet MGM. Make it legendary. You get that paid back in bonus bets if you don't win, up to fifteen hundred on that bet, depending on what you play. Gambling problem or concern, Call one eight hundred gambler for any hit. Todd Father right off the jump here for his thoughts and then krats can take over. Minor league rule change experiment could eliminate hit her timeouts. Todd Father. They're trying to take the game time down because it's actually creeping back up again. We're at two hours and thirty eight minutes. The league would like it to be two and a half. They're trying to game plan. We do see a timeout per at bat essentially for hitters, so they're going to experiment your thoughts on this.

00:25:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't mind it. I don't mind it at all. You know, I've always had problems trying to read what MLB is trying to do. You know, you get one time out for plate appearance. I don't mind that.

00:25:29
Speaker 2: I know.

00:25:30
Speaker 3: I'm probably sure everybody's gonna use that, you know, just because pitchers trying to speed you up. Yeah, I don't mind doing stuff in the minor leagues trying to check it out to see if it'll work in the big leagues.

00:25:43
Speaker 2: I don't mind that.

00:25:44
Speaker 3: But if it's if it's very far fetched, then you know, it's a bigger issue. But I thought everything was working well.

00:25:51
Speaker 2: You know.

00:25:51
Speaker 3: Besides, you know, all of a sudden, you know, now we can you can tap your head if you want another, you know, if they want them to check the pitch. I think that's really good. But ultimately, yeah, I don't, I don't. I don't see the big problem in this. I think this will be just fine.

00:26:05
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're saying that. I think Kratz is gonna disagree. But Kratz, they're doing this also because of the ABS challenge system, and they think it could creep up the minutes and they just don't want to get back to three hours again. The pace is good, and hey, for me, I'm just giving you fan perspective. Krats, krats. It's not just the time, it's the pace. Like hit her time out and I gotta wait thirty seconds for him to, you know, fit fix the jockstrap and do all the bs and think about what he wants to do the rest of the ab screw it. I want to watch the game keep going.

00:26:33
Speaker 4: We're telling, we're telling Tied to get out of here, so I just want to push his screen and just like get it at like, see see how that happened. I control this I control this show. For that comment, No, that just shows that Todd didn't need the minor leagues. Todd didn't need the minor leagues. Just dudes that are grinding in the minor leagues. There's guys that need to like, oh man, everything's going so fast. I gotta I got to create a routine. Hitting is not just oh whack it. No, it's like you're figuring out the time and you're figuring out, Okay, what did he just do? How did that change the situation that we were just in? How is this, Oh crap, I got a bug in my eye. Like, I get it. There's a lot of eye wash timeouts, you know, Jose cabiiro is probably the best at it. But it's also part of the gamesmanship. It's also part of the fact that you can, like you can change how the pace of an at bad is going. And it's hard to explain without you actually being in the moment and saying, hey, why did you use the time out there? I wanted to slow him down. I felt like he was landing all of his pitches. I wanted to figure out, hey, would he double up on this pitch or whatever it is? And you're taking that away from the minor league guys. I hate I hate it because these guys have no these guys have no recourse. There's nobody standing up for him, and Major League Baseball just says, you're our guinea pig. We're probably gonna actually take away low a in a little bit because we're a bunch of cheap punks who don't want to pay for kids' dreams to develop into big leaguers. Because dudes do come out of those leagues. Dudes do. It's not all just it's not all just first rounders. It's not all just second rounders or big bonus guys. And I lean towards that. And to me, when you take this away from a hitter when they're facing dudes that throw a billion, and especially in low A, I mean it is, dudes are throwing rocks up there, they're throwing balls. You know, they'll paying a slider down in a way and then you'll get a hundred running up and in at your chin. You need a second, You need to take a breath. And I hate that they would take this away from these guys for what for what? Scott, three extra minutes? Stop like that? To me, in the big leagues, you think you think the timeouts are saving or save three extra minutes in the game.

00:29:03
Speaker 1: More than that, I do. I think it would be closer to ten. You got to think about it. Let's say we have a long inning. Right there's been ten dudes at the plate, they all call time out. That right there could add up to a few minutes in an inning alone, and even in a short inning, right three AB's batter time out. I don't know what the average timeout is, but it's not five seconds. Probably at least ten to twenty.

00:29:27
Speaker 4: I'd be up for I'd be up for a time out, like a ten second timeout if you're a quarter timeout, if you're cutting, if you're splitting hairs, I'd be up for that. You can say, okay, you know timeout and then they you know, they give this and they reset the clock to ten seconds, and at ten seconds then they reset the clock like there's there's timing there. I feel I feel bad for the pictures. I think the pictures in the big leagues need a timeout. They need to be able to step off with nobody on. They need to step off, and they're not.

00:30:00
Speaker 1: Giving wait krats, hold up. Two things. Number one, you can step off. It just counts as a step off, right, And if you do that.

00:30:10
Speaker 4: Nobody with nobody on, you can't step off.

00:30:13
Speaker 1: The clock is running, okay. You also can call time out and have a little chit chat with your catcher. That's allowed.

00:30:19
Speaker 4: That's a mountain visit.

00:30:21
Speaker 1: I know that's part of a mount visit. But that's a thing. The other thing that I think is important is discretion. The reason that we have human beings on the field that get paid quite well to police the game is for a moment when there's serious chin music and a guy needs a moment, right ball hits a catcher in the nuts, let's fake like we got to clean the plate. I think that's the way that you help to bridge the gap. The problem is most abskrats don't need it. I know that you feel as if a player needs it, but it's the same conversation that I had with pitchers when they were anti pitchclock, and the pitch clock has been one of the best things for the sport. And the only reason we didn't have it five to seven years ago is because the league and the player's side do not get along. We should have had that long long ago. But anyway, we have it now, and to me, the game is crisper and it is a much better viewing experience. I know I'm going to get plenty of pushback from the old school fans that never want to see a single thing change. I am actually old school because I grew up watching the game in the eighties and the nineties, and for me, that's when the game was at a much better pace and we've gotten back to that. They're just trying to figure out ways to make sure that it doesn't creep back to three hours because the ABS Challenge system could add minutes to it and could add a little bit of a slower pace. I don't think it's going to make a big difference. I don't think the ABS is going to suddenly add ten minutes. But they're just concerned that teams and players are really smart and they figure out ways to take advantage of every single rule in every single system, and that is their job. Their job is to win and their job is to thrive. So the league is pushing back and making sure that we stay more in that two and a half range and we don't get back to two forty five fifty three hour plus games. If you think this isn't the right thing, then offer other solutions, because they're not going to let the sport slow down again.

00:32:11
Speaker 4: Okay, I need to see I need to see the number. I need to see the number of how slow it's actually gonna get to with ABS and with the timeouts, Like there needs to be a cap with like what we're taking away because of the fact that I know what my mind is doing in the box. We talk about it all the time with Max Munsey on here. We talk about all the time. With winning teams, you have team at bats boom, first pitch out, guy comes up. Second pitch of his at bat, ground ball. Now we're at three pitches, two outs. Okay, you come up, you're taking two pitches. Pitchers in a groove boomy, lands a curveball, lands a heater. Now you're down oh two. Your mind isn't like, oh, it's okay, I'll just see a baseball coming at me here. No, your mind is like, gosh, darn it, that's the worst time that could happen. Timeout. Timeout. I need to slow this down. I need to re group. I need to know I have one pitch left and I haven't even really had a competitive at bat yet, and I'm O two. Because there's times when you have six hundred at bats in a season, your mind is just like, oh my gosh, did I come up to the plate, oh two, Like they're like now batting Eric Kratz, oh in two, and you're like, what the what the heck? Like there's times that that's going on, and I think the timeout allows you to slow that down, and you have to learn that at the minor leagues because when you get to the big leagues, who baby stuff starts going fast?

00:33:42
Speaker 1: Okay, do you want one time out per inning for hitters. One timeout per hitter is an issue. Two timeouts per inning for hitters, Okay, see we can negotiate. Now we can start to work off of that. And it does give you one other thing you have to pay attention to. But these are smart hitters, and if you put it in a place where they can see it and they're well aware of it, I think that's your spot. And again, if something anti Larry happens like chin music, guys freaking helmet flies off, there's discretion here. But just for your average inning, if we have an inning where there's six dudes at the plate, that would take us from six timeouts to two. And the one problem in my mind with baseball ten years ago was unlimited timeouts. Then we started limiting the mound visits. That part alone is still underrated. You know. I bring that up all the time because that was my prime days of being at games, and the amount of times that certain catchers in baseball would call timeout almost every ab and go have a chit chat with their picture was insane. And half the times you talk to the picture and they'd be like, Yeah, that's just their thing. They're doing it every ab Now, that was terrible that was done, and that was where you were taking advantage of rules because we didn't used to have that right. The rule never existed that we had to limit the timeouts, but it was caused by gamesmanship on the field. So are we negotiating right now where we get two timeouts in an inning? And should you text one of your buddies at the league office? Is Rolla Banya's or some like that still working there. I can text Michael Hill, maybe one of those guys the league office and throw that their way.

00:35:06
Speaker 4: I would love it, But I just want I just want somebody to look out for the minor leaguers and not to use them as freaking guinea pigs. Don't raise the mound, don't extend the mound. This isn't like indie ball. I get it, you know, I feel bad for the indie ball guys, but you know, maybe that's the place to try it. Not a guy who's getting his feet wet and it's the first time he's ever been away from his home. Facing dudes are throwing one hundred and you're like, oh, yeah, I'm just trying to survive here. Holy crap, I saw I saw in a Jason Stark's article Low A where they would start this. In the three Low A leagues, Low A hitters average is at two thirty one. They hit two thirty one on average because of how tough the pitching is. Right now, you're gonna make it this is will make it tougher for hitters. I completely agree. It will make it tougher.

00:35:59
Speaker 1: For I agree with you that part. I don't dispute. And they have to experiment somewhere. They're not going to bring things straight to the bigs. They have to do it somewhere. There's only so many places where you can experiment. I'm with you. It sucks. It's not ideal. It could cost a player in a b that costs him a spot on a team. But I don't always have the best solution. I'm just saying the problem is they get worried about pacing game time. It's a good debate. We can bring it on with AJ and more Todd Father at some point. Now, let's lap we're so good today three o'clock on the dot, three hundred thousand subscribers is the next goal for us. We're getting close. I'd like to get there either right before right after the new year. That'd be nice. So tell your friends if you're watching us right now, and we'll be on tomorrow to cover more trades and signings, and we're on every single weekday baseball the way it should be covered. And it's not just te Fair Territory Special edition episode tomorrow with Ken Rosenthal, which I'm very much looking forward to, a recap from Ken on winter meetings, and really it's not just the recap on what happened, it's what he's hearing while he's there. I see Ken in the lobby the whole time. I did a lot of like little shoulder tap, like I'm passing by you. I'm not going to say a formal high because I know how busy you are, and I see him walking with front office people and chatting with them. So it's cool to see Ken really in his element. And he'll give you some word tomorrow on what else he's hearing about what's coming up next in terms of trades and signings. Also, Dodgers' Territory five o'clock Eastern today a special time for them two o'clock West Coast as they'll bring on Jerry Harriston Junior to talk about what the Dodgers have done so far this offseason, which is actually more than most teams. They signed Edwin Diaz. We'll see what's next. One thing we didn't get to that I hope they get to on Dodgers' territory today is continuous rumors about taoscar Hernandez being floated in trade talks. Their jam Brandon Gomes kind of shut it down. But if you keep seeing it float out there by people that you trust, oh no, no, We'll see what Alana and Clinton have to say, along with Jerry kratsat's on the way out, and then you can say to goodbye.

00:38:06
Speaker 4: I love seeing all the all the uh, all the rumors too about Trek Scubel to the Dodgers. Love love seeing all these rumors. Some people that are saying they have insight on it. Crazy to me. But anyway, we'll see, We'll see what happens, and then all these people who are just throwing stuff out will be like, oh yeah, I told you, Oh yeah, right, Okay. If I say everyone's gonna hit a homer, somebody will hit a homer. Marlins. I think they're gonna have a bigger part of this off season than what people think. So I wore my Marlins hat today.

00:38:40
Speaker 1: That's a good prediction. And yes, some people do predict a homer on every ab and then you're right once out of you.

00:38:46
Speaker 4: Know, clip that clip that Scott said Peter Lonzo was gonna hit a homer. Tyler O'Neal is gonna hit a homer on opening Day. Tyler O'Neil, I'm saying it right now. Clip this December. If he's healthy, he's going to hit a home run one opening day.

00:39:06
Speaker 1: That is his thing. We'll see you tomorrow more Toddfather Kratz, Me and guests,